P.C.P part III

Good lovely day to you! I hope you are having a wonderful day, we've had a busy week so far filled with appointments and running around of the town. I have a something to show you!


I don't remember if I mentioned this project before. It's actually way old, I started it last year sometime so long ago I don't even remember when it was started. But it was for Amelia. I know when I first started it I told her it was for her but over time she forgot and I stopped reminding her. I was finally able to pick it back up and finish it.


After I was determined to finish it for her it didn't take all that long. I worked on it at nap times and after the girls went to bed. At nap when Amelia would wake up she would tell me how much she loved the blanket and ask who it was for, the only answer I gave was it was or someone very special. She got really concerned when I bought some new yarn for a new blanket for Alyssa, she sweetly asked when I was going to make a blanket for her. How awful can a mommy feel when her little girl thinks that she would make all this neat stuff for others and not her. And by the way, Amelia has tremendous faith in the fact that I can make anything. Everyday she comes up with something new to add to her list of "mommy, make this for me," I'm up to a mermaid tail, a purse, several princess dresses, a cat possibly two cats actually, and other odds and ends. It's flattering and daunting at the same time, and I hope she always keeps that faith in me.


She loves blankets anyway, not like Alyssa does though, Amelia is my animal baby and Alyssa is the blanket baby. Amelia is constantly stealing my blanket and dragging it around the house and hiding under it.


The closer I got to the end the closer I got to spilling the beans. I'm not very good at keeping secrets of things that I'm making for anyone. I love to make things for others and I love to make others happy. When it was all finished I put it in a bag and gave it to her like a present because, well, it was a present!


She has this weird lack of showing emotion she gets from her dad. She's a serious little girl that sometimes borders on painful! Haha! She was such a serious baby too, she would look at you like you were an idiot if you tried a new thing to make her laugh. She was so serious in fact she didn't do a lot of talking or babbling and being a first time mom I didn't worry about it because I didn't know about it, but comparing the way Alyssa babbles to the way Amelia didn't is mind blowing. Though when Amelia finally did start talking it was still in the normal time range but it was still a relief. Sorry, didn't mean to get sidetracked.


She was excited, don't get me wrong, but there wasn't the fanfare I was imagining and I should have known better thank get my hopes up.


There was the immediate wrapping and twirling around in it. Pulling it over her head and laying down on it.


She even brought her coloring book over and lay down on it, I think that was my favorite part.


She sleeps with it everyday now and I love that she loves it. I have grandiose visions of her using this blanket forever. Taking it alongside her for sleep overs, summer camps and trips, the blanket she needs to watch movies on movie nights, when she goes to college her roommate will ask her where she got that awesome blanket and Amelia will say that her amazing mom made it for her years ago, and then the roommate will be jealous. I had a lot of time to think about the lifetime of this blanket while I was working on it!


But I'm glad it's finished and being loved. It's a huge blanket, it's as long as mine but this one is wider. It's 60x81", I made it giant on purpose because I wanted her to grow into it or if she wanted to cuddle with me or Elliott under it it would be big enough for everyone to use.


It's Lucy's pattern. Except I did my own edging, To straighten out the ripples, on the top of the blanket I worked sc, ch 2, sc in the corner, 2 sc, 2 hdc, 2 dc, dc2tog, 2 dc, 2 hdc, 4 sc, 2 hdc… So on across to the next corner. The dc2tog should fall on the two decreases of the previous/last row. Then sc, ch 2, sc in the corner and sc down the side to the bottom/chain row. Bottom corner: dc, ch 2, dc, 2 dc, 2 hdc, 4 sc, 2 hdc, 2 dc, dc2tog… The dc2tog should fall on the increases from the first row. This will “straighten” out the ripples but I recommend doing more rounds on the border to make it look straighter, and work two dc, ch 2, two dc in the corners with each additional row. I think I will add one more row of gray just to close it all in. It's super soft and cuddly and most importantly, Amelia adores it.




P.s. In case you were curious, I used Hobby Lobby's I Love This Yarn in graybeard and the neons in green, blue, orange, and fuchsia. Washes amazingly!

Where in the world...

Have I been? I dunno, I can't really explain it. I tried to write a post so many times but it didn't feel right and I never got very far. I've just been doing the same thing I always seem to be doing; playing with the two A's, doing yard work with the bearded one, and hooking on my down time. Does one really get down time being a stay at home mom? Sometimes! Until one of the babes wakes up, or one of the dogs throws up, and either seem to happen on the nights that you get everything done early and you get optimistic about ALL the free time you'll enjoy. Want to see some of the things we've been doing?












































(this is one of my favorite pictures because of Alyssa's photo bombing with her white noise machine, playing with the light and Amelia being all model-like)























(she was washing her face, she wasn't getting her mouth washed out!)


There's some more stuff that I've been up to lately, but I feel like this is getting too heavy with pictures and no captions, but I'll save those for another day. I just wanted to stop by for a quick hello and to tell you we're all well and very happy, and I will be back very soon to actually tell you about the things we've been doing.

Happy trails, friends!

P.s. if there's a picture you'd like better explained, let me know! :-)

Three Years

Three years. That's:
1095 days
26,280 hours
1,576,800 minutes
94,608,000 seconds

I did the math.
Three years ago yesterday, my little Amelia barged her way into the world. I was a due February 5, 2010, I was progressing but not enough and not having any contractions. We were going to set up an induction date of Monday the 8th but they were full and went ahead with my originally wanted induction date of the 11th, since it's my dad's birthdays. I was ready to be done with pregnancy and wanted my little girl out already. We were so sure she wasn't coming out on her own we went and had our taxes done on my due date. On the 10th my mom and I went shopping, I cooked dinner, and straightened up the house. The morning of my induction day at 530am I started having contractions. Got up, went to the bathroom, took my shower, still contracting. Every five minutes. If you know Amelia you know this is just like her, wanting to do it on her own when she knows your going to do it. We got the hospital with Elliott trying to make me feel better by making me laugh asking me what the ratio of Stanley nickels were to Schrute Bucks and I would have to reply, "same as the ratio of leprechauns to unicorns." (if your an Office fan you'll know what I'm talking about). We got to the hospital and into our room about 7am. Got my epidural pretty quick because I was in pain and already a 4-5cm. I slept most of the time and about 1230 was really hot and uncomfortable. My wonderful, amazing nurse Abby came in and checked me just as my doctor came in too. I was ready. They got everything set up and me in position to push. I'm not sure how long I was pushing but it wasn't long, less than 30 minutes, and my big headed stubborn Amelia was born at 144pm at 8.5 oz and 20 inches long, with bright red fuzz.


One of the three top favorite days of my life. Bet you can't guess the other two.


This little girl amazes me everyday and I love her more everyday too. I'm so proud I get to call her my daughter and he calls me her mommy.


We had a Lorax party for her on Sunday with all the family. It was so much fun. I made the cake, a Thneedville hillside with truffula trees. And a surprise inside.


Rainbow insides! I had a lot of fun doing her birthday this year.


We had truffula decorations.


Balloons.


And of course delicious food that Elliott and I made. He was such a great help with all of this, he did a majority of the cleaning and kept me calm through all of it.


And of course, who could forget the Lorax mustache cups. I know I can't.


It was all worth it when she saw it all and we surprised her and she ran and hid for twenty minutes. Alyssa ate up all the attention that Amelia wasn't getting. Alyssa thought it was all great fun and loved seeing all of her favorite people, walking around like crazy to any outstretched hands beckoning to her.


Then Monday we all crashed and just laid around. In the afternoon we went out and about and took the girls to eat at T-Rex Cafe . I don't have any pictures because Amelia was terrified of some of the dinosaurs despite the fact that she loves them. Then Alyssa had a meltdown. But we still had fun, and came home and put everyone to bed early! Thank goodness too, everyone was super tired.


What a happy birthday day had by all. Happy birthday little bear.

Small Hello

Good morning! How are you? I'm good. Survived Thanksgiving, my dad and sister came as had dinner with us. This is my third year cooking dinner for my family, first with my dad and sister joining us. Each year I get a little further behind in all I do to get ready for it. My first year everything was done and on the table exactly when I said it would be. Each following year I've been rushing to get the rolls in the oven, the gravy made, and some other odd instances that make me feel frazzled. But it was all delicious and I had a great time with my family. That's what matters right? I hope you had a fabulous turkey day also!


I did not get my thing done for Thanksgiving. I started and was doing pretty well but then it hit me that Christmas isn't that far away and I still have so much to do to get ready for that.


I'm making everyone's Christmas present this year. I have a pretty good start on all of it but I need to stay on top of it if I'm going to make it.


I'm half done with this present. It's fun to work on and it has a lot of meaning in the colors.


Plus I'm working on some mantis for my aunt. Four for Christmas and another one for another time. I have one and a half finished.


That's what I work on after the girls go to bed. All other crochet things are worked on during the day. Then there's another blanket I've started but don't have a picture of, and a quilt I have to get done. Plus something I'm contracting to Elliott to make for me. And don't forget the endless hats and scarves I'm going to make. My goal for this year is to get it all done BEFORE Christmas. If I keep up the good work I'm confident I'll make it. Maybe I'm being overly optimistic though. We'll see! I'll keep you posted.


Oh! I just want to show you a few things. Starting at the bottom and going clockwise, that's Alyssa newborn, 3-4 months, and 8 months. It's ridiculous how fast time is flying.


There's Amelia as a newborn, one year, and today. She'll be three in 2 months and some change. Where does all the time go? Must have been all the fun time I've been having with these babies of mine.


We bought Amelia some pink Christmas lights for her room, I've been wanting to do it since last Christmas but Elliott said she was probably a little too young last year.


She loves them! I figured she would. I'm just glad Alyssa doesn't know that her big sister is getting something she's not. Next year might be a different story! Well, I'm sorry there's not more to show you. My mom and step-dad just got back into town so we've been hanging out with them all week. But I'll get pictures of the other stuff I'm working on for you next time!

Hope you have a great day!