So exhausted

This past holiday weekend was simply exhausting for me. Emotionally and physically. I have forgotten how easily tired I get in the 3rd trimester and completely over did it. Aaron and I had a weekend long conversation about a huge life change and we don’t have any resolution yet. Add in the mix weather and allergy related headaches and you’ve got one exhausted woman.

So instead of actually posting, I’ll leave you with some cute pictures of Ella and Aaron washing cars this weekend. Click on them to enlarge. 🙂

3rd trimester

Week 28

Hello 3rd trimester. You’re officially kicking my butt. Not only am I more exhausted than in the 1st trimester but my clothes are beginning to not fit!

Miles seems to be settling down and preferring one position over another lately. He also kicks so hard you can see my entire belly move! Ella never did that, so it’s quite the experience. Something else I’ve notices is that whenever Aaron touches my belly, Miles immediately kicks where he’s touching. Aaron is the only one who elicits that kind of response.

I feel like there has been a significant amount of growth over the past two weeks. Some mornings I find myself bumping into things I didn’t knock into the day before and have to readjust how I gauge distances all over again. I’m also going very distinctly OUT as opposed to Ella when I went carried extremely high and went out to the side.

My Fiber Problem

I promise this won’t be a post filled with too much information about bodily functions. I’m referring to another type of fiber, the kind you use to create things!

When I was pregnant with Ella, I never really got an urge to nest. I think this time around is trying to make up for that with double the force!

Side view. Buttons will go on this ear flap for the strap to attach.

For Christmas last year, my mom gifted me a certificate to the local yarn shop. I’m ashamed to admit I didn’t actually use it until a few weeks ago! I didn’t want to waste my money on yarn for a project that I wouldn’t have time to complete in a relatively prompt manner. There is already a project in my closet that I pull out only during times that I have a solid hour or two to commit to focusing on it. Considering that I have a toddler and another one on the way, that silk lace shawl sees the light of day maybe 4 times a year.

Since I’m feeling the urge to nest, I got yarn for three different projects for Miles. With my mom’s generosity, I even had enough left over to splurge a bit on some luscious yarn for myself to make a completely frivolous scarf! I surprised myself and even got the 2 hats finished within a week’s time (his bringing home from the hospital hat and a winter hat. It’s the first one on the left) and am now plugging away at a sweater in a coordinating variegated yarn to go with his winter hat.

I like how the yarn is knitting up for his sweater.

Ella has been watching me, fascinated, while I knit and purl. She loves to pet the yarn and it is a huge struggle for her to not dig into my knitting bag and pull out unused needles to play with. I think, after I finish this sweater and the scarf for myself, I’m going to start in on a pea coat with a matching beret for her. She’s been super excited, talking about mama making hats for “Mys” and I think it would thrill her to no end to have something made for her. An aquantance of mine gave me a stack of probably 30 vintage knitting and crochet magazines and patterns. In them, I’ve found the most adorable things to put on Ella (that’s where  found the coat pattern)!

And yes, you don’t even have to ask. I’m on Ravelry as candiedginger. My queue is up to 3 pages with the most random and eclectic things mixed in with items I will actually use my rare quiet time to knit.

Before I close, I have another confession to make. I’m attempting to plan on attending (without my toddler!) the Midwest Fiber and Folk Art Fair this July while hugely pregnant. I recognize that I have a problem but am unwilling to do anything about it. 😀

Wordless Wednesday

Feeling Miles kick

Whoooooo are you?

*insert the original CSI theme song here*

Yesterday alone, I had 47 blog hits. My highest day, about 10 days ago, I had over 180 unique hits! So it’s time to fess up, folks! I use to think my Mom was the only one who read my blog (Hi Mom!) but obviously I’m mistaken. I recognize a few ISP locations, like the House of Parliament (Hi Marg!), but the rest of them? No earthly clue.

So would you do me a favor and comment? I’d love to put names with my numbers. And I’ll know if you look and don’t comment *insert steriotypical librarian glare*.

An Ella Update

This month, Ella turns 19 months. For those of you who aren’t into the whole month age thing (I wasn’t until I had a child), that means she’s almost 2. More like 1 and a half.  Just over the past few weeks, there has been an explosion in her personality! She’s trying to talk more and picks up on words daily. When she’s grunting and whining for something, we ask her to please use words to tell us what she wants. It’s simply amazing to watch her stop and think. You can almost see the wheels turning in her head! Just the other day I told her that, even though I knew she was hungry and wanted a snack. She sat for a few moments in silence and then made smacking noises with her lips followed by adding “yum yum”.

She’s very insistent on telling us stories, even though we don’t know exactly what she’s saying. The big orange cat in our house, Phillip, is called “No No Kitty” by Ella because he gets into trouble so much. Well, a few weeks ago, No No Kitty got out of the house and it really traumatized her. She was crying and signing for him to come back! This has been the never ending story that has been told to us. Ella points to the front door and says “No No Kitty! Bye bye! No no!!!” and she won’t stop saying those phrases until we acknowledge her by saying something like, “Yes, the No No Kitty got outside but Daddy caught him and brought him back. Aren’t you happy that he’s safe inside?” She nods a response and wanders off to go play.

Her latest story incorporates her newest word, “boom”. Late last week, there was a HUGE thunder storm and Ella would comment on the thunder every time it cracked. We would respond with something like, “Yes, thunder makes a big boom doesn’t it?” Now she’s pointing out the window and jabbering away unintelligibly except for the word boom. And again,we have to acknowledge her story by repeating it back in our own words before she’ll let it go and move on. Not that we mind, it’s rather entertaining. 🙂

Ella also seems very excited about having a new baby coming to our family. I didn’t realize just how much we talk about Miles until I noticed her patting her baby doll’s back and saying “shh shh shh Mys”. She also brings me toys and says “Mys” over and over again. When I ask her if they’re for Baby Miles, her grin almost splits her face and she nods excitedly. We ask her often if she’s going to teach Baby Miles how to smile, how to play, etc and she can hardly contain herself when she agrees.

I’m hoping this sticks around when the reality hits this August.

Spotlight On Blogs

To the side of this post, you’ll see a list of links to blogs and websites I frequent. I thought I’d take one or two from each section and share with you why I enjoy reading them!

Artsy and Eclectic

Angry Chicken — First of all, how can you NOT chuckle at the name? The blog has nothing to do with being angry or chickens, it’s just a random title the author pulled out of her imagination. This blog is full of her projects, ramblings about her 3 daughters, fantasy shopping, and fabulous pictures. She strikes me as the sort of person who I would love to get to know in real life. If we ever moved to Portland, Oregon, I’d have to resist the horrible temptation to look her up. Because, you know, that’d be kind of stalker-ish.

The Purl Bee — This is a fantastic arts and crafts site that covers a wide range of hand crafts. Everything is beautifully created, all creations have free patterns and clear directions attached, and is just so much fun to look through! It’s a good thing I have impulse control, otherwise I’d have 57 different projects started by now and not a single one finished.

Edible Places

Karina’s Kitchen aka Gluten Free Goddess — Aaron has a gluten intolerance (not full blown Celiac disease, thank God) and really should be on a gluten free diet. At first, I was completely overwhelmed by the prospect but this blog showed me that GF food can be amazingly tasty AND budget friendly!

Bakerella — She’s been featured all over the internet and television. I love looking at the amazing creations she comes up with for delicious, fantastic looking desserts. Her Easter basket cupcakes are probably one of my favorites and I can’t wait until Ella is old enough to appreciate them!

Fabulous Friends

Mrs. Soup is one of my dearest friends. She was the matron of honor at my wedding and she flew half way across the country to fill that roll, if that tells you anything. Even though I talk to her regularly, I still get a kick out of reading about her day, seeing pictures of her adorable new daughter and amazing husband. Her blog is just starting out and I’m sure she would love the encouragement of seeing people pop by. P.S. She’s addicted to comments. *wink*

Thistle Creek Photography — This is the photoblog of my dear friend, Michelle, who has taken amazing pictures of my family over the years. The pictures I posted on Aaron’s birthday post? Yeah, she did those in a series that I have hanging on my walls. I really enjoy seeing her work, since I don’t get to see HER often enough. She’s just come out of a couple month slump of not posting, so I’m hoping this will encourage her to keep it up.

Frugal Fun

Deal Seeking Mom — Who doesn’t like multiple posts a day filled with great grocery and shopping deals that you don’t have to hunt for? I skim her blog probably once a day, after dinner, and figure out if anything will fit in with our grocery plan for the following week. It’s not just coupons that draws me, however. I enjoy her writing style and sense of humor as well.

Wordless Wednesday

Week 26

Clean floors

A friend came by the other day and commented on how the floor space in front of my sink and counter were so incredibly clean. At first, I wasn’t sure if I should take it as her gently prodding me to mop the remainder of my kitchen floor. Thankfully, she continued and said that the floor in front of her meal prep area was always the most dirty and disgusting and she wanted to know what I did to keep it gunk free.

I had to laugh. Up until about 3 months ago, she would have never said that about my kitchen floor. But then my daughter learned the joys of “washing dishes” and requests to clean the entire contents of my tupperware drawer multiple times a day. Of course, the water never says in the sink and I mop up in front of the counters more times than I wish to count in a week. Here’s to hoping this is a sign she’s not domestically disabled like her mother!

Moral of this story is? If you want clean kitchen floors, get yourself a toddler who loves to wash dishes.

Let's hope this lasts when she's old enough to clean up after supper!

Happy Birthday, Aaron!

Today is my husband’s 24th birthday! We celebrated our birthdays this weekend as a couple but tonight we’re grilling out as a family. Ella and I will be decorating his cake (THAT should be interesting) and we’ll sing happy birthday to him.

While these were taken last year by our friend Michelle, I still feel that these represent his personality and sense of humor perfectly. A picture is truly worth a thousand words.

Happy birthday, dear. I love you.