longer out than in!

today is my son's 9 month birthday... i may be one of the only moms out there who is strangely sentimental about this milestone. he has now been outside of me longer than he was inside. maybe it is b/c i am one of the few who loved being pregnant... but i am kind of sad. he's growing up so fast (i know i'm being silly... he's not really grown up yet).

i tried to take some nice photos of him like i did on his 8 month birthday.... the photo session took a more photo-journalistic turn (man oh man is he a busy boy!) --it is "a day in the life of a 9 month old boy"

i am nuts!

so i went to a consignment sale today... and i have to just say, girl clothes are ssoooo much cuter than boy clothes. or at least there are more cute girl clothes than boy clothes.

i walked out w/ almost twice as many girl clothes as boy clothes !!! you may be asking yourself ," isn't her child a boy? is she pregnant w/ a girl?" yes- i have a boy, no- i am not pregnant again. i am just nuts! everyone i know has girls so i am hoping that some of them will want to buy these darling cute clothes from me... hey, i fought the crowds and picked out the good ones--- maybe i should start charging all you girl's mommies to be your personal shopper!

happy 3rd anniversary to us!

it is our three year anniversary today. these are some pictures from our honeymoon (on cumberland island) to commemorate the day... i don't have any wedding pics on the computer, so these will have to do. my brother-in-law just got married last weekend. it is a special wedding time of year for us!
andrew received a pair of leather work gloves... romantic, i know! for some reason i like to limit my present ideas to the traditional anniversary gift guidelines: 1 yr = paper, 2 yr = cotton, 3 yr = leather... 50 yr = gold. ...thus, the leather gloves. we have been fortunate enough to take a little get away vacation every year so far and that is really the romantic part. this year we are excited to go on our little (24 hr) get away to 'serenbe'. its only an hour away and our little one will be having a grand ole time w/ his 'big mama'. it will be our first night w/ out the babe... but i think we will all be fine. we figure one of the best things we can give our son is the foundation of a healthy marraige between his parents... so hopefully taking a little time away will help us keep a healthy happy marriage!

creative genius

so... my previous post inspired me to share more of my creative projects (instead of simply my procreative one = little e). it's important to have a creative outlet to stay sane when your #1 companion everyday is 1/26th your age. this is what i have been up to: this is my 'happy valentine's day playgroup' brownie cake... my first time baking in a silicone pan (one from the $1 spot @ target no less). hopefully the broken heart isn't an omen ;-)

this is the bottom of the first "simply plain jane" sling that i have made for myself. it is a dupioni silk that will look beautiful with my black dress that i will be wearing to my brother-in-law's wedding this weekend... now i just have to make e something to wear!

this is one of my dining room chairs... i have been slaving away on this project. i have been sanding, priming, and painting our dining room table and chairs black... and i'm recovering the seat cushions.

here are my knitting projects. you can tell that i have made a little progress on my shawl. but there are many more balls of yarn to turn into shawl. the light blue will be a hat for little e... if i ever figure out how... hopefully i will before winter is over!

for all the cloth diaperers (is that a word?) i have made a cute little wool cover and wool longies are a work in progress.... both created from goodwill sweaters (that goodwill stop scored me a jogging stroller for $20!)

knit knite

i'm sooo excited about the knit knite i will be a part of this week... in fact, so excited that i couldn't wait until the knit knite to get started on this knitetime knitting adventure. i jumped the gun and had my mama show me how to start when she was here a week ago. you see i made the mistake of stopping into this AMAZING knit shop --- KNITCH (1052 st. charles ave atl 30306-- in case you and your purse are willing to brave the temptation)-- in the virginia highlands area. i love textiles! i love tactile textiles! much like forsyth fabric store, this place wooed me and i have fallen in love. this seems to be the order in which i do things -- i fall in love with the tactile experience of a material and then i have to learn a skill that involves that material so i can experience it fully ( and avoid looking like a crazy by just collecting and petting fabric, yarn, etc.).

so now it is yarn. which can be more expensive than you would imagine. andrew is so puzzled as to why one would buy yarn to make a shawl that costs more than you could buy a shawl already made.

i, however, cannot WAIT to wrap myself up in this shawl. it will be so much warmer and cozier than if i had simply bought it off the shelf. i have imagined it. i have explored so many yarn possibilities. i have started and restarted and restarted the knitting of it until i got it just the right width (i hope b/c i'm NOT unraveling it for a 4th time!). i have touched every inch of the yarn from which it is made. i have pictured the countryside of uruguay and the sheep and the rural women who have been a part of this handspun wool before it came to me. i keep imagining all the years of love i will have for this shawl, my first knitting project. i picture myself wearing it as i create other things... as i tend my herb garden when there is a chill in the air... as i load the kiln in my studio when the air turns my breath into fog... as i paint oil paintings in my dream studio years from now (when i finally have said studio and when my child[ren] are grown and leave time for this luxurious activity).

so you were here for the beginning. you have seen this special shawl at its small, skinny beginning.

dog's best friend?

while fighting our dog, otis, off of the high chair while feeding e, i realized-- i am my dog's least best friend! andrew feeds him @ night and gives him a treat before going to work every morning. while my sweet sweet son tries to share all of his food w/ otis. he will be eating an animal cracker and (much to my dismay) he will hold his hand down to the side of the high chair in between each bite (can it be called a bite if he has no teeth?) to let otis have a lick. i am, meanwhile, showing no love to our dog as i swat him away and very firmly tell him NO!
it is sad to realize that my first little boy (of sorts) feels so unloved by me. maybe he realizes in some way that i provided him w/ this little treat dropping friend he has found.

Well...

e is now pulling up ( to his knees) when he wakes up from his nap. of course he doesn't know how to get back down so that is distrubing to him.

to day he decided to "cruise" -- i think that is the term. he pulled up and held onto me, then reached for the table leg to start moving around the room... however, he slipped and fell down, and hit his head... so i don't know if he'll give that up for a while?

i have some 8 month pics i took... i think some turned out really well. i want to make a slide show of them but have yet to figure out how ... so i'll post a couple as a teaser and y'all will have to stay tuned.