entertaining firstborns

the benefit of having two children is starting to really kick in! i have been working on dinner and my new crawlng/ pullling up baby is not here fussing at my feet, crawling after me as i move across the kitchen... trying to pull up on my legs, desperate for attention... no no- she is squealing with delight as her brother knocks things over w/ his cars! i guess it is double the trouble double the fun ;-)

hats off

here are our new hats... anna's is crazy and fun and of course i couldn't get the size right! it is a tad too small. but isn't the crocheted edge so fun ;-)

the funky flower button will hold the strap in place so she can't take it off

and here is my cloche- a fun 2o's style hat. a fun pattern to knit... my first hat that started at the top instead of the rim... tricky st first, but overall a great way to work. the pattern is "belle cloche" . i found it on ravelry.com .... if you are a knitter/crocheter of any sort you should really join ravelry (free)... i don't know why i resisted! you can search for patterns by yarn, gauge, free, top rated, ease.... anything! and you can see picture of other people projects. i highly recommend it. and it cracks me up every time i got to the home page and it says "where my stitches at" ... i know ridiculous that i find it so funny...

anna passing 8 months

she is almost nine months... so it is about time i posted her 8 month pictures. her hair looks quite red in a lot of these pictures. sometimes in real life it looks that way to- how fun!

loving her daddy

waving

and some more waving... see what i mean about the waving!

finally in the ground

i planted bookcoodles (sp?) of daffodils paired with hosta in the fall... but i just never got around to getting my tulips in the ground... until today. is it too late? i don't know yet!

in other news-- anna is crawling. she has been so different about it... elisha had this desperate need for speed and she is very calculated and elegant about it ;-) and she'll stop to wave every so often, to show you how thrilled she is with herself. as fun as all the new stuff she is doing is-- waving is still by far her favorite! she waves to the pretty things in her room all the time... a very friendly lady!

and along the same lines... she has also been pulling up. on occasion. that occasion being the middle of the night accompanied by much crying. needless to say- i am exhausted!

andrew and are making plans for some major backyard landscaping. we have been reading all about creating "rooms" in your yard... and reading a wonderful resource --"the backyard homestead"

i drowning under all the ideas i have for things to sew/knit/make... i have taken pictures of the anna's and my new hats; when i upload them i promise to post.

i am also working... as in maybe at some point getting paid for at least some of the designing i have been doing! more on that later ;-)

dirty hippies?

in highschool i remember thinking hippies were so cool... the tie dye, bell bottoms, long hair and beads. the grown-ups informed us that they really weren't so great-- there was a drug culture that was undesirable... not to mention, they were just plain dirty and smelly. while in college i didn't go the drug route, but i did go to enough concerts where i was surrounded by a thick fog of illegal smoke to decide that the scene really was not for me.
well, here i am all grown up (i guess- since i 2 kids, i must be?) and realizing that i am still very much drawn to those dirty hippies ;-) i have just followed a trail of links from a blog i read and am so interested in this whole "no-poo" thing! http://babyslime.livejournal.com/174054.html here is an interesting article on it.... i need to figure out how to link things, don't i?
not only am i considering tossing out the shampoo... i am also attending a "chicks in the city" symposium on raising urban chickens. and andrew just bought me a book that i am so excited about : The Backyard Homestead- producing all the food you need on just a quarter of an acre! our gardening has not been super successful thus far, but we have great hopes. and the huge three sectioned compost bin andrew built over Christmas should make a big difference on that front.
as i am blogging away from home, you will have to make do with no baby pics :-(

these are the days caffeine was made for...

these have nothing to do w/ the following post... just here for those who only come here to see the kids... you know who you are ;-) (doesn't anna look like the gerber baby?)

we have been hit by a stomach virus. i was sick all sunday night and as weak as a day old kitten on monday... which is not a good thing when you have an 8 month old to nurse and carry around and a 2.5 year old to keep up with. andrew had to stay home from work to watch them until noon and then my dear mother graciously entered our contaminated home for the afternoon and monday night. oh... i thought i would be the only one... maybe it was just food poisoning... but no! tuesday night mama back home was sick as a dog and our little e was as sick as he has ever been. we were up from 2 am on... and he wasn't able to keep anything down until almost 2pm. i was almost ready to take him to the er to get fluids. so far anna has only been fussy and a few especially smelly dipes... and andrew felt queasy for a day. i pray we are in the clear! last night i was up every other hour with one or the other (sometimes both)of my babes as e was still feeling poorly and anna hungry(apparently a mama recovering from a stomach virus w/ no appetite and distracted by caring for another sick child isn't a good food source during the day.

i started the day about as grouchy as ever... but thanks to a cuppa the earl (grey) i am now swimming out of our sea of contaminated laundry and dishes ... not to mention the goodwill finds i picked up hours before getting sick. it was perfect timing to have picked up a handful of new movies from goodwill-- some old classics that are now new favorites ... the original charlotte's web, madeline, swiss family robinson, an a couple more richard scary videos (i love still having a vcr!)

if you are still with me...

i promise i will post some picture of the latest projects. i really want to share-- i know i am so behind!

baby, it's cool outside!

here are some pictures of warmer times ;-)

i just saw this on pottery barn's website... i really like it. i think i will make one next year.

i finally took the ornaments off of our tree today. what do you think about me admitting that ?;-)

it takes me a little time to get my feet on the ground after Christmas. we usually get a few house projects done that week between Christmas and new year, but then new year's day always knocks me on my butt. it really is a bit dramatic how my whole system all of a sudden says " HIBERNATE". january is dark and cold ... and we have had a few tragic deaths in my family during this particular month in the past. all in all-- i feel a desperate need to get under the covers and stay there for a month at least. well, w/ two littles around here-- that ain't happening.

we are staying in a lot, trying to keep warm... and i am knitting a lot... just seems right.