The things my daughter says...

Wiggles is 15 months old now, and has really started to find her voice. She's moved beyond just the mind-erasing ear-shattering screams to actually start to express what she wants with words. Granted, most of her words can't be found in a dictionary but she is able to at least usually get us to understand her. :)

Here are a few things that she says (with translations!):

"I dot dis!" - I got this! (typically in reference to a toy, usually a stuffed animal)
"Peas zhoos?" - Please, juice?
"Oooh dat!" - Oh, I like that!
"Whassis?" - What's this?
"Oooooh yesh!" - Oh yes! (Happy, and in response to questions she doesn't know how to answer.)
"Feesh!" - Fish!! (the doctor's office has a fishtank, and the fish are highly entertaining for her.)

And my personal favorite: "Nekkid peegies?" - "Naked piggies?" This one stems from me putting socks on her and once telling her she needed socks because her piggies were all naked! For some reason this is the one phrase she has really picked up on. I'm thankful she only says it to me, in the morning, while putting on socks. Hopefully she doesn't start pointing at people's feet in sandals and telling them their piggies are naked this summer.

She still uses her words like "dis" and "dat" to point to various things for identification. She also makes up words and babbles for specific objects. It's such good fun listening to her talk, even if ninety percent of it is mere babbling.

Dearest little ones,

I love you both so very much. I will always love you both! I might get angry with you, put you in time out, make you cry, disappoint and embarrass you - but this is all part of my job to help you both grow into beautiful and strong young ladies.

Every mom has an idea of who their little ones might grow into. I do too! But I promise I will put my dreams and wishes for you aside to help you achieve YOUR dreams. Please don't let me forget that each of you are your own person.

I have huge expectations from you both. Even though you can't talk yet, and one of you isn't born... I expect you both to grow into wonderful young ladies - the kind of person others can look up to.

I hope that I can be everything you two might want in a mother. I hope I can remember that sometimes the important things in life are not the laundry and the dishes, but that sometimes it's okay to let that go in favor of a tent in the living room, counting marshmallows into hot chocolate, or sitting on the front porch with you waiting (with snowballs!) for your father to come home from work. I hope I can learn from you as much as you can learn from me.

Most of all, I want you both to remember that I'm always always here for you. I am a great shoulder to cry on and I will always let you. I am a great listener and I will always listen to your problems, questions, hopes, and dreams. I want to be your best friend, your partner in crime, your favorite cook.... I want to be so much for both of you.

Being your mom is a huge learning process for me too. I know I'll mess up. I know I'll make mistakes. In the end though, I want you to know that I will try my very best.

So very much love,

Your Mom

Vacation!

We got back from our vacation almost a week ago, so it's about time I get back to this. :) 

I took Wiggles out to Pennsylvania to meet my Grandmother. We had a wonderful time out there and I really wish we could have stayed a little bit longer... Wiggles adores her Great-Grandma and was constantly wanting to snuggle her and play! We had dinner with lots of family and got to catch up a little with lots of cousins. :)

We did so much better on the flight out there than I expected. I had never taken her on a plane before so I braced for the worst (not to mention packed the diaper bag for an apocalypse of some sort). Security didn't take as long as I thought with a baby, and she actually fell asleep on takeoff! While she was awake I tried my best to keep her occupied with a new toy and snacks, but she found out that waving to random airline passengers was a lot more interesting. 

Overall, it was a lovely trip! I hope to head back out to see my family again sometime soon.

New Years Resolutions

#1. I've probably made this resolution before, but I need to blog more. I'm putting a reminder in my phone to post something every week, so hopefully I can stick to it. :) I would love to be able to have everything in one place - random reminders of what my babies are up to and how much they are growing, a record of my knitting projects and pictures of what I finish, and just basically keep a journal and keep all my weirdness contained to a corner in the internet.

#2. Don't buy yarn until my stash is gone. I've decided to include fiber in this one as well... it must be spun. And used. The raw fleeces I have are the tricky part- I can't wash them at home because Hubby is allergic to lanolin and I hate watching him be so itchy for weeks on end, so yet to determine what will happen with those. Hubby has agreed that I am allowed one day of yarny shopping though.... the Estes Park wool festival in June. I will go with a set budget in cash, and no checkbook this time! This resolution does have one small loophole (I mean not a loophole...) where I am allowed purchase of yarn for specific gifts where I do not have the right kind/color in my stash.

#3. Finish one knitting project (or crochet, or spinning, or weaving) per month. This can include WIPs that have been neglected. Basically, get everything off needles.

~In random news, baby #2 (otherwise known as Peanut) will be joining our family in April!~

What's new Lately :)

I haven't written a post in a while- my deepest apologies! Allow me to update you on what has been going on...

First, we have a baby girl!! I know I have mentioned her in a few posts before, but never really gave any details. :) We call her Wiggles, and she is the most beautiful sweet little (pooping) thing there ever could be. It's been interesting so far with the many ups and downs, but the ups are always outnumbering the downs! She just recently turned 3 months old! I can't believe so much time has gone by! She's 24" long and wearing 6 month clothes... NO idea where she got her height. ;) She smiles all the time, and is learning to sit on her own. She still refuses to roll and shows no interest in toys yet (Mommy's hair is MUCH more fun, as are tea towels).

Second, I now have a full time job. No, it's not in the home like I wanted... but I do enjoy the work. It's hard to leave Q at home while I'm away and I miss her like crazy all day long... but watching those bills crawl down farther and farther is worth it for now. Hubby is still working on his degree and when he is done, I won't need to work away from home anymore and I can be the mommy/crafty person I want to be. :) I'm still working on knitting projects here and there, but probably won't be finishing my sweater this year. Any extra time I have is spent with Q! She is my world and so much more important than hobbies. 

On my Needles

I thought I would share what projects I am currently working on, and the ones I intend to finish this month!

Project #1: Christmas Knit for Mom

This one I had some problems actually getting going. I planned to have them done before Christmas, but ended up delivering my daughter instead, so not a lot of knitting happened right before Christmas. Then I hit another road block, since the yarn I was using was not cooperating with me- the color pooling was awful and making these nasty stripes, so I ended up trying a couple different things and ripping it out and restarting about 5 times. I finally changed needle sizes, and while I am still getting some odd pooling, its a spiral instead of creepy stripes and I am much happier with it. (due to the nature of the internet, I am leaving out the specifics on this project so Mom doesn't see it!)

Project #2: Something for Me

I am working on a cabled sweater for myself. Probably will not be done anytime in the near future, as I have huge project ADD, but someday it will be awesome. :)

Project #3: Hexipuff Blanket

This one is part of the 366 in 2012 Ravelry project, where you make one hexipuff for the quilt per day. I'm behind, but not horribly behind. Someday this will be a cute little quilt for baby girl! :)

Happy New Year!

Happy new year to everyone! Best wishes and such... and good luck on all those resolutions!

I never make resolutions, simply because I tend to break them. This year however, I have made a "to do" list for the year. No specific order or priority, but hopefully all items will be completed!

1) Keep the house in good order. Cleaner than current, and keep up with the dishes and laundry and such.

2) Cook from scratch more. We don't eat out very often, but I can see it potentially becoming a (very expensive) habit. Sub-item here: learn to cook a potato. Mashed does not count.

3) Go for a walk with the little one as often as the weather allows (obviously not in the freezing wintertime!).

4) Finish my knitting projects. Make sure to get all projects off needles this year!

5) Learn to do Orenburg Lace shawls- the proper way, not the cheating way I have been doing them...

6) Find a job I can do from home. I want to be able to stay home and take care of my baby- that's my first priority. However, bills tend to happen and a second income would be great at this point.

7) Travel to at least one place this year. Maybe out to see my sisters, but preferably out to see my grandmas... Pennsylvania and Tennessee. I haven't seen either in years and would love to have the chance to sit and chat with them again!

8) Design a knitting pattern.

9) Learn to create my own sewing patterns. Has anyone ever noticed that the exact thing you want to sew never has a pattern? Or at least, I can never find one.

10) Be the best wife/mother/friend that I can be!