Merry Christmas

I hope everyone out there has a wonderful holiday season.

After a bright Hanukkah, and a sweet Christmas, I wanted to give thanks for everything I have. In the new year, I hope to get back to blogging regularly and share all the knitting, kid and cool stuff that I can.

Merry Christmas.

I Can't See the Stars

So my dad calls me the other day just as I am trying to pick up the boys' room and corral them screaming into the bath. He says if I go outside just right now, there's this comet putting on a beautiful show that you can see with your naked eye.

I tell him thanks and will do because I don't have the heart to say that from my front stoop on a relatively clear night, I can't see any stars. Just streetlights and claustrophobic rowhouses.

I have to admit, I didn't even make the effort to go look. And that makes me feel particularly awful, considering I can remember being as young as 6 and my dad waking me up in the middle of the night because we could see Saturn's rings clearly in the telescope.

I need a break.

I know I get like this sometimes when the days get shorter and colder. It's just compounded this year that there are two small, noisy, wiggly beings to wrestle into cold-weather gear and it takes a half-hour to get out the door on a good day.

So my apologies for not blogging. There has been knitting occurring. Maybe I can pull it together enough to show you from vacation. I'm contemplating taking my computer.

I just need a break.

(HA! Now I don't feel as bad: Check this out.)

Happy Thanksgiving!

I'm blogging from the front room of our friends' house in Raleigh. We're celebrating Turkey Day with our other "family" here in NC.

As my astute readers will notice, I did not post any of the blog ramblings that I promised the other day. I am still battling this cold, and it's only slowly going away. But this week, I promise...more pictures and more posts.

Besides I have to tell you about my awesome husband's plans for the stash room...I love the Cap'n.

There are lots of things to be thankful for this Thanksgiving: Good kids, good friends, good family and one great Cap'n. (Oh, and yarn.) ((But maybe not sweater patterns. Grr.)

More later...

Kvetch First, Knit Later

Let's just get the kvetching out of the way, shall we?

1. I am in a Pretty Miserable Situation. PMS, get it?

2. Both kids have spent the last week sick with a fever and sniffly noses. But, you know, on alternating days. Cuz that's how they roll.

3. Another person who also lives in our house is sick and waiting for the Big Ole Boat O' Sympathy to dock at his harbor. But it's not gonna. It crashed into the Iceberg O' Apathy and sank to the bottom of Couldn't Care Less Bay. Because....

4. I am sick. Wah.

5. And today the boys are feeling a bit better. So much so that they decided to take alternating naps and keep me up ALL. DAY. LONG.

6. Did I mention I only got about 4 hours of sleep last night?

Okay, kvetch over. Let's see why these children make it through to see each new day.


Grampy and Grammy pimped our park ride. Swwwwweeeet.

So I like finished a baby sweater? In like a week? And it's like totally awesome? But like, I have no pictures? Because it's like, way too dark? And apparently I've like, been possessed by a Valley Girl?

Yeah.

Tell ya what I'll do. Because I'm in a listing mood, I'll tell you what posts you can expect in the week coming up, and you can tune in if something interests you. Or just to place bets on whether I actually blog when I say I'm going to. (I would not take that one if I were you.)

Here:

1. The Harlot's Hat, or Happy Belated Birthday to Me
2. In Which I'm Liable to Kvetch More About Being Sick (gotta save room for this one)
3. Super Secret Knitting, or Why Knit for Warm People?
4. Baby Sweater Uno
5. Baby Sweater Dos
6. Travel Knitting That Answers the Question of Whether I Cast On Madly for Two Fingering Weight Hats Tomorrow to Finish in a Week
7. Happy Thanksgiving!

See you at the races...

Oh, Burger Cheese!

I really, really am trying to reduce the amount of curse words that I throw around. But can I get an "amen" that it is very difficult to do at 5:30am when you went to bed at 1am and have been woken up at least 2-3 times for nursing duty?

The problem is that EVERYTHING Slim hears, he repeats.

After an "oh, f*#@" out of him today while I was changing his diaper, I apologized to him and told him that Mommy shouldn't say that and neither should he. I made some suggestions like "oh, cheeseburger" and "oh, dinosaurs" to say instead when he (and I) are frustrated.

So while we were downstairs feeding the Little Lion, and he could see that it was difficult for me, he said, "Mommy, oh burger cheese!"

Amen.

Cute Photo Post

Just call me Ms. Obvious re: headline. I can't think of anything else to say, except that it's been a while since little boy pictures have been posted and we've had a proper update on the fam.

Back in the summer, while it was still hot, we had a great visit with Auntie. She really saved our butts again with helping us unpack and with free babysitting. The boys enjoyed having her here.


The Little Lion has started eating solid food, and this is a photo of his first day with rice cereal. This week, his first tooth (bottom right) popped out. It's strange how the time has passed more quickly with Number 2 vs. Number 1.

Slim is talking like crazy and loves to paint. I think he's going to be a performance artist, as he feels like finger paints are more body paints. He's getting to be a real character.

This is Slim's very first self-portrait with his camera. My mini auteur.

I've been knitting, and I have more posts to share with you now that the photos are downloaded. But it's late, and the noisy dishwasher is getting on my nerves, so I've got to get upstairs.

Saved by the SD Card Drive

Yay, Grampy!

We have boy pictures...

Trick or Treat

In my first year with a real house with real trick or treaters, I have learned one very important thing:

Four big bags of candy will last you just over an hour.

Note to self: Next year, more.

Pirate Slim had a good time and took his first picture of himself with the camera. The Little Lion helped pass out candy, and one of the neighborhood kids helped me decorate the porch.

Knitting on a super-secret project is proceeding, and all is well. (Except the pictures being held hostage on the camera....)

Happy Halloween, y'all. I'm off to bed.

Hellllooooo, Giant Time Suck!

I have very, very, very good reasons for my suckassery in blogging.

A) I am a mother of two small children. Free Pass for Life! Or Until They Turn 18!

B) My husband is trying to tear out our kitchen within the next month. I want to let him, but except for, you know, the subsequent lack of a kitchen.

C) I really am going to apply to law school. Really. This year. Really. I swear.

D) I have been writing. Fiction, of all things.

E) I got off my lazy butt, found that Ravelry invitation from July (!) and joined.

Oh. My. God. Why am I such a loser who gets an invitation to join all the cool knitting kids online, and then I sit on it for three months?

'CAUSE RAVELRY ROCKS. HARD.

(I'm muthaknitter if you're on there and wanna friend me. heehee.)

So I put in all the books I could remember off the top of my head (23) and all the WIPs I'm going to publicly admit to (5) and joined some groups. (Look, ma, friends!) I have already spent an inordinate amount of time surfing patterns and people.

In fact, I think Ravelry will help me redeem the unmitigated disaster that is my first sweater. You know, the World's Warmest Sweater of Buttery Goodness (TM) first blogged about in February 2006. Yep, you heard the year right.

It deserves a post all its own, with the horror properly documented in pictures. The Cap'n has agreed to photograph the evidence. And should I ever get out of this hell known as No SD Card Reader, I will be able to download the photos to my computer and blog them.

Because really, the adorability that is the Little Lion's sweater, the coolness that is the Harlot's hat, the wonder that is Lady Eleanor (finally fringed this weekend!) should not be missed.

The State of Things

I just made myself laugh so hard I cried. Either that, or I was about to cry anyway.

So there's been a load of clean laundry in the basket waiting to be folded for 4 days. The other basket is MIA. (Apparently, there is thing in the house called the "laundry room"? Must check to see if it joined friends there...)

So what else is there to do with the three loads of laundry that have piled up in the last 4 days besides kick it out of three rooms (kids bdrm, master bdrm, bthrm) and down the stairs?

No, really. Kick it.

Besides making me laugh at my abominable housekeeping skills, it is an A.W.E.S.O.M.E. way to get rid of the dog hair collecting on the stairs.

Plus: It feels good.

Onward and upward, I say.

Blog posts are pecolating in my head, and except for crapped-out photo thingy, you would have scintillating musings to read and pictures to peruse about a knitting goddess, a FO and a surprise new thingy. (NOTE TO GRANDPARENTS: Your grandchildren's photos are being held hostage on an SD card by a malfunctioning card reader, courtesy of your grandsons who like to pull computer cords and short them out. Save the cuteness.)

But sometimes, truly, life does get in the way of knitting. Those law school apps won't write themselves, alas. And social services truly frowns on feral children.

How Harry Potter Almost Ruined My Marriage

Praise Dumbledore! The Cap'n is finally finished with Book 5.

The Cap'n and I have been late arrivals to the Harry Potter phenomenon. We only started reading Book 1 to each other in the car on the way to NYC in June. We finished it just before he left for Iraq.

I read Book 2 and Book 3 in a day each before he left, so he took those with him to Iraq.

I was no better than him...when the boys and I traveled to Indiana to visit my family, I took full advantage of the free babysitting and devoured Book 4. Before I even finished, I sent my stepdad out on a mad hunt for Books 5 and 6. I ended up finishing Book 7 in a night (9:00pm to 4:30am).

I still miss reading the books. I am glad that I was able to read the series in one go and not have to wait in between installments. I really thought they were marvelous, a tad overwritten, but a wonderful story with great characters. I wish they had been around when I was going through my teenage angst. I thought she did a great job of capturing what it means to grow into oneself.

The Cap'n remained a skeptic through Book 3. "They're okay," I believe I heard. When we got back from Ocracoke, he started on Book 4.

And that's when Harry Potter almost ruined my marriage.

For the last three weeks, the Cap'n's preferred bedtime companions have been those not-so-little volumes of Books 4 and 5. He finished Book 4 sometime after midnight one night and immediately cracked Book 5.

His schedule has been staying up to 2 or 3 in the morning to read, and sleeping in late. We do recall, do we not, when the children wake up? Let's just average it out to 6 a.m., to take into account those 5:30 mornings and those 7:00 mornings.

Some of those mornings, the Cap'n was very lucky that I couldn't make the Avada Kedavra work.

So back on the Grand Tour of 2007, I left Books 6 and 7 in NC so my dad could read them. They are still there, and are going to stay for a while. Maybe the Cap'n can have them around Thanksgiving and Christmas, so he has a few days to dedicate to them.

We're going to have to parcel out the remaining Potter.

Warsh the Slate Clean

Tap, tap.

This thing on?

Hello again.

What do you say we just warsh the slate clean? Start afresh. Forget the last three and a half months and call it a new day, a new blog, a new muthaknitter.

Hmm?

Here...




A humble warshcloth. The Mason-Dixon ballband warshcloth, to be exact.

It's one of a matched pair, out of the incomparable Sugar 'n' Cream cotton in red and Christmas colors (red, green and white). Two balls, two warshclothes. Both gifted in thanks for a wonderful vacation on Ocracoke Island after three very stressful months.

And, yes. Those are the only two knitted objects I have managed to complete in months. Thanks for asking.

Let's see. When last we left the Muthaknitter, much excitement was brewing re: a new house, a new baby and a move.

"Let me 'splain. No. There is too much. Let me sum up." -- Inigo Montoya, The Princess Bride

Bullet points for brevity:

• We moved.
• The floors weren't quite done.
• They fixed them.
• Then we unpacked.
• My sister visited, and she helped us unpack some more.
• The Cap'n packed for Iraq.
• I tried to find a renter for the new house so I could travel.
• The two renters I found fell through.
• I packed the boys and I for a long trip.
• The Cap'n left for Iraq.
• The boys and I drove 3200 miles to Indiana, NC and Brooklyn.
• I read all 7 Harry Potter books in 3 weeks.
• The Cap'n came back from Iraq.
• We left for Ocracoke for vacation.
• We came back from Ocracoke.
• We unpacked again.
• The Little Lion turned 6 months.
• My sister came to visit. (We didn't make her unpack this time.)
• I celebrated my 31st birthday.
• I MET HER! I HELD THE SOCK!! REALLY!!! SQUEE!!!!
• The Cap'n's dad is visiting.

I know I'm forgetting some things, but you get the idea. It's been busy. I am tired. Really, bone-numbingly exhausted. Not "gee, I sure would like a nap," but more like pin-a-note-on-my-shirt "You must remember not to shake the children" tired.

No one told me how things change when the kids outnumber you. They are on tag-team nap schedules, and one likes to get up early and the other stay up late. It's a good damn thing they're cute, or they would have been on the evening news by now.

I am going to try to blog a little each week to dip my toes back in the bloggy water. I've been inspired by the new Vogue Knitting, and really want to start some new things. But I'm also anxious to put a few FOs behind me, and with some fringe here, a sleeve there, I should be able to make progress on them.

Anywho, a jolly hello out there to any readers I have left. I've missed the blog, and I promise to keep you all up to date on the new and improved Chez Muthaknitter, blogging from the block, NOFla-style. (That's north of Florida, for you DCizens.)

I leave you with the clan on the Hatteras to Ocracoke ferry, safe and sound and happy after a summer of moving and traveling. (Shiny, happy people alert!)

Things I Have Learned...

That the Cap'n is going to poop rectangular red masonry objects when he notices the (second, oops) big box of knitting and yarn supplies in the growing Pile O' Boxes. (Two-year-old in the 75th percentile in height for his age included for scale.)

That I have more sweaters than I thought I did. A shamefully large number of sweaters, in fact. And none of them handknit.

That I will dig through previously mentioned, menacingly large Pile O' Boxes to dig out the photo retriever thingy from the first knitting box because I love my loyal blog readership. (Hi, you two! Or on good days, three!) And we can have a proper, photo post.

Dining room past

Dining room present

Yeah, the laptop accessories reside in the knitting bag(s). That way I know where they are. It's called "creative use of space."

So, anyway, I finished packing the last of the boxes that we still had left over from our move two years ago. You win a gold star if you noticed the sentence construction: "finished packing the last of the boxes," as opposed to "finished packing." Wow. We have a lot of stuff.

Until the Cap'n brings home more boxes tonight, I'm hanging out with the D-Boys and grabbing a little blogging and knitting time. Yay, me!

Slim had his 2-year checkup and measured tall and thin (25th percentile). The doc wasn't worried, though, so his nickname sticks. And she said his picky eating habits weren't anything to stress about either.

Now for some FO action...I know the suspense has been unbearable. I proudly unveil to you...


A Square.

(Not exactly what you were expecting, huh?)

But it's a very special square. For one thing, it's going to go to Laura to help Rebuild Greensburg as soon as it gets a nice SOAK. Secondly, it's made from a leftover skein of Noro Kureyon from my Lady Eleanor. I believe it's colorway 188.

I can't tell you how much the Lady Eleanor knit saved my sanity during the middle of night feeding sessions post-delivery. I learned so much doing it, and I loved every minute. Until I can do a proper photoshoot (and knot the damn fringe!), I'm going to hold off unveiling the shawl. But I wanted to pass along the love of this yarn and the pretty colors that I got to enjoy. I hope it makes someone else feel happy in Kansas.

Now that it's quiet in the house (both boys asleep at once! Woo! And Hoo!) I'm going to watch Reno 911! and work on my most favorite current WIP, the Stripz sweater from Minnowknits out of Manos Cotton Stria.

This yarn has marinated in my stash since maybe early 2006(?) when I bought the yarn and pattern to make for Slim right after I learned to knit. When I cast on a couple weeks ago, I wasn't sure if I would have enough yarn to make the 2yo size for him, even though I bought an extra skein, so Little Baby is going to be getting this one.

The Cap'n pointed out that it would be smarter to only make sweaters for Slim, that way both boys would get to enjoy them. But that logical observation was made after I finished the back, so this one's just for Little Baby. Slim will get plenty of sweaters in the future. Besides, doesn't Little Baby look happy to get a new sweater?

To the needles!

Reason #38475 Why I Hate Moving

Going through and packing your closet and finding clothes that you wore for work (I had another dream last night that I was back at my old job) that definitely don't fit you anymore.

Yard sale, anyone?

Blog posting may be a little slow this week. The movers come Friday and we're nowhere near ready.

I know I've been teasing you with talk of an FO and some mighty cute WIPs, but I have to find more boxes first. Despite living in this cramped little space, our stuff has multiplied.

Much like the dog hair tumbleweeds that I'm pulling from every corner...

Hopefully we can quickly get the wireless up next week at our new house, but a higher priority is getting the gas turned on. No cold showers for me, thanks.

Back to the coal mines...

A Day of Note

And now he is 2.

I think I did better with this birthday than his first. We had the pool party, people actually came, and we celebrated with pizza and a big cake. Much better than his single cupcake with one candle and a lonely mom last summer.

Yet.

This is still a day that matters more to me than to him, at this point anyway. He's a happy-go-lucky, easygoing kid -- his birthday day will be one like many others: We went to the park and walked the dog this morning, took a nice long nap and now we're off to the Natural History Museum to see the moon rocks and animals.

But I can't help but remember this day in North Carolina where he was born, the long labor that preceded it, the family and friends that were around to welcome him into the world. Such a challenge and such a reward.

I am so happy that I became a mother. Just as much the second time as the first.

But we've seen a lot of changes over the last two years, and I guess that this day always makes me think of life before kids and before we made the big move to D.C. I am no more than ambivalent about our move here to the city.

In two years, I don't know that I've fully integrated the changes of becoming a mother, leaving the workforce, and moving away from family and friends to a cold (welcoming, not weather) city. But I'm trying. I'm really trying.

I don't regret a single decision I've made alone, or with the Cap'n as a family. I will probably always wonder what would have been if we would have stayed in NC and made it our home. But even as I write this, I know that I would have regretted the decision to stay there more because we would not have had the opportunities we've had here, for the Cap'n at work and for me to stay home with the kids.

In some ways, having kids has made me feel more empowered and confident than anything I've ever done before (or probably will since). And on the flip side, it has uncovered all the uncertainties and anxieties I've ever harbored about being "good enough" too.

The responsibilities of these two tiny human beings makes me want to strive to do my utmost, very best every moment with them, and it makes me realize that I'll never be perfect and will probably fail more times than I succeed.

But it makes me want to strive. And I truly believe striving to be your best is at the heart of the best relationships.

I hope my boys will always know that I want to be my best for them. And that I love them with all my heart.

FOcused on the Positive

This has been one of those days...with Little Baby eating through the night, Slim up at 6am, Slim napping for only 45 minutes in the stroller, to everyone finally falling asleep at 8:30pm. In the meantime, I'm center-stage as Child Entertainer Extraordinaire.

So let's FO-cus on the positive, right?

I have been incredibly remiss in posting two crafty gifts we are loving. First is a non-knitted object gifted by my cousin, Elizabeth.

Liz gave me my first baby knit, a stroller blanket for Slim when he was born. I was in awe of it, but unaware at the time how much it meant to be able to give a hand-crafted gift to a new baby. Now it is one of my treasures that I hope Slim will still have to hand down to his kids.

So when her baby came along, I had to gift a knit. I used up some rainbow-colored Lorna's Laces in the stash to make a wild baby hat. I still haven't finished up the blanket I originally started. (shhh!)

When Mom told me Liz had something for Little Baby, I expected another fantastically cool handknit. But when I opened the package, my mind was blown.

Y'all. She quilts.

Aaaauughh! Now I have to learn another craft. I mean, how cute are these little pirates??

But I admit, the pirate quilt is so cute, I've been shy about using it alot. But I think I will take it along with us as a play blanket for the Little Baby while Slim is running around at the park.

There is another (not my) FO that we have been using nonstop. A certain Crafty Caroline made a visit to D.C. recently with some guy (kidding, Scott!) and gifted the Little Baby with a gorgeous organic cotton baby blanket. Every time I think to take a picture of it, Little Baby is already wrapped and covered for bed.

It's funny...Caroline and I met through our hubbies and hung out, but we really bonded through our blogs and shared love of knitting. Go congratulate her on the new house and leave your thoughts about what spinning wheel she should pick up! (And her mom met the Harlot! Squee!)

Did I ever share KnittinSis's cute little baby booties?

She used the same yarn as I did for Little Baby's kimono sweater. He is so incredibly yummy in the pair.
What else? Oh! Yarn pr0n!

Not that Lady Knitterly had anything else to do (leave behind the Met, knit socks, pack, move across country, start a new job), but she gifted me with an A-M-A-Z-I-N-G package of yarny goodness in trade for a couple skeins of Black Purl Lorna's Laces I traded her.

We're talking Trekking in colors that would have been my absolute first choice if every colorway of Trekking had been laid out in front of me.

We're talking baby alpaca that almost jumped right onto the Options needles for a lacy sumpin-sumpin. Nevermind I have no idea how to knit lace.

And then the laceweight mohair...ooh. The. Laceweight. Mohair. I want to use it right now.

Oh my God. There are so many projects, so little time. I already have more WIPs than is reasonable, and even less time than before to work on them.

But I'll wait until the next post to run through the WIP list and share a FO of my own.

Made in the Shade

It's been a busy, busy place here at Chez Muthaknitter. Slim said his first sentence today, just three days shy of his 2nd birthday:

"I wan col piza!"

[Translation: I want cold pizza!]

The Cap'n says he's now prepared for his Animal House college days.

We had a wonderful pool party to celebrate his birthday early. Slim and Little Baby got decked out in their summerwear.

We had family from L.A., Indiana, New York and Maryland join us, as well as friends from D.C. It was just the right size party for a little boy who got too many presents to even know what to do with them. Today he only played with each toy once. "We're the best no-repeat station for your workday!"

Oy. Work on the house is already attempting to drain the bank account. More on that and yarn-related news tomorrow...

A House and a Home

Well, there's been action, but not here on the blog...


On Thursday, the Cap'n and I got the keys (and a hefty mortgage) to our first house here in D.C. We're so excited to be moving out of the cramped little apartment we've called home for 2 years now. Although, I am starting to feel twinges of nostalgia about it being the first place Little Baby came home to.

I have to admit, I've been feeling a little down lately, a little stressed/anxious/depressed. I think I'm coming around, but it's been difficult. So I appreciate you hanging in there with fewer blog postings.

I am hoping that the next month of packing and moving will yield some positive excitement, though probably not a lot of knitting time.

However, I'll try to post tonight or tomorrow with some exciting knitting/yarn content...some of it my FO, some of it other FOs, some of it straight-up yarn pr0n.

As JenLa said recently: "We've got a blockage!!"

Knit Update

At 11pm exactly, I cast off and wove in the last stitch on Lady Eleanor. Just blocking, crochet-edging and fringing to go. I need to pick up a Size H crochet hook to finish this off.

Wow. I love it.

Probably most of anything I've made so far.

There's one more UFO that I want to get done over the next week, and I will count myself very successful. But it's being a real pill, so I may get frustrated with it and toss it back in the storage bag.

What to cast on next?

Possum in the Day

I felt for this poor girl (I'm sure it's a mom) when I saw her in our neighborhood the other day as I was walking the kids home from the park. It's a bit how I've felt lately, like I'm not in the right time or place at the right moment.

It's been more than a week since a blog post, and I haven't been doing much knitting either. Lady Eleanor is on the last full row, and I'm dragging my feet on finishing her. I think I'm going to miss this knit. What do you do when you're having so much fun with a project you don't want it to end?

The Cap'n is gone again for work (4 times in the last two months since Little Baby was born), and the boys and I need to find more activities to do. We've hit Air and Space and Natural History twice each within the last month. Toddler yoga and music classes only fill up two mornings a week.

I've started packing for the move next month, but I need to get the place really clean for an open house that our landlord wants to hold in two weeks. The Cap'n thinks magic packing gnomes are going to take care of everything in the next 3 weeks, but I can really only get things done when the boys are asleep. Which doesn't give me any time to rest.

And if you have any good mojo to send us, please keep it coming our way to make sure this house closing goes well on May 31.

Little Baby weighed in at 12 POUNDS, 6 OUNCES at his 2-month checkup, which despite the 4-pound gain, only puts him at the 50th percentile. Yet he's so much bigger than Slim and his 10th-percentile-weighing-self. We'll get an update on him at his 2-year checkup next month.

So let's tally: 1. Moving, 2. New Baby, 3. Work absences (for the Cap'n). We'll forget: 4. Law school apps, 5. Summer birthdays (eek! I gotta plan Slim's party!) and travel.

Boy. I am tired.

A Meme on Mother's Day

Dudes! It's my first meme tagging! And on Mother's Day!

First, a belated Happy Mother's Day to all you moms out there. Over the last two years, I've learned to appreciate that much more what my mother, stepmother, grandmothers and step-grandmothers have gone through.

This is the most joyful and the most difficult thing I've ever done. As I told the Cap'n today, many times in my life I've battled anxiety and depression. I've even been suicidal. But since having the boys, I've found more meaning to life. I still get down and still struggle, but now every day has potential and goodness because these two little boys came into my life.

They're cute, but I'll have to post a pic of Slim's new scrapes from face-planting down the stairs of our building. Oy.

Now on to the meme: The rules are to post 8 random, interesting things about myself and tag 8 other people. So here goes:

1. One grandfather was a farmer and the other was a professional wrestler. I think that dichotomy is still present in my genes.

2. It's a running joke in our house that I went to school on the "short bus." I attended a special program at the middle school when I was in elementary school, and then I went to a "special" high school for my junior and senior years. Let's just leave it at "special."

3. Three classmates in my "special" high school killed themselves within a six week period at the end of my senior year, including one on prom night. It's one of two sets of events that formed me as a person.

4. I walked on hot coals.

5. The Cap'n and I got lost in a canoe in the Everglades and had to sleep in the boat getting bitten by helicopter-sized mosquitoes. I don't swim well, and there were alligators around. And I still married the guy. (P.S. We did make it out.)

6. I miss reading. It's been one of my lifelong loves. In fact, the first thing I ever stole was my 5th grade teacher's copy of "The Odyssey." And I still have it. I used to spend whole days just curled up on the couch with a good book. I just haven't had that luxury since having the kids.

7. I randomly quote lines from "A Christmas Story" (It's a major award!) and "The Muppet Movie." (It's a myth! A myth! Ye-th?)

8. I have "The Cat in the Hat" memorized. Handy on long car trips.

Okay, I'm tagging Caroline, Carrie, Laura, Lolly, Karida, Hannah, Sarah-Hope and Maryse. My feelings won't be hurt if you don't do it, but it was fun!

Just Keeping Track

I've been meaning to do this for a while anyway.

Here's a meme I caught at Miss Ewe's to tally up knitting you've done or plan to do. Fun.

Items in bold have been or are being knit.
Items in italics are ones you plan to knit.
Leave the rest plain.

Afghan
Shawl
Socks: top-down
Socks: toe-up
Mittens: Cuff-up
Mittens: Tip-down
Hat
Sweater
Cardigan
Toy/doll clothing (unintentionally: the first hat I made Slim fits his teddy bear)
Baby items
Slippers
Graffiti knitting
Scarf
Household items (dishcloths, washcloths, tea cosies…)
Purses/bags
Stuffed toys
Jewelry
Gloves
Cuffs/fingerless mits/armwarmers
Pillows
Rug
Shrug/bolero/poncho
Hair accessories

I-cord
Garter stitch
Stockinette stitch
Moebius band knitting
Drop stitch patterns
Slip stitch patterns
Domino knitting (=modular knitting)
Twisted stitch patterns
Two end knitting
Continental knitting
American/English knitting
Cable stitch patterns (incl. Aran)
Lace patterns
Buttonholes
Fair Isle knitting
Norwegian knitting
Holiday related knitting
Bobbles
Knitting smocking
Steeks
Fulling/felting
Textured knitting
Kitchener stitch
Swatching
Long Tail CO
Entrelac
Knitting and purling backwards
Intarsia
Tubular CO
Short rows
Thrummed knitting

Knitting with metal wire
Knitting with camel yarn
Knitting with silk
Knitting with recycled/secondhand yarn
Knitting with banana fiber yarn
Knitting with bamboo yarn
Knitting with circular needles
Knitting with soy yarn
Knitting with your own handspun yarn
Knitting with alpaca
Knitting socks (or other small tubular items) on one or two circulars
Knitting with someone else’s handspun yarn
Knitting with dpns
Knitting with cotton
Knitting two socks on two circulars simultaneously
Knitting with wool
Knitting with beads
Knitting with self patterning/self striping/variegated yarn
Knitting with cashmere
Knitting with synthetic yarn
Knitting with linen
Knitting with dog/cat hair (again, unintentionally: Mia's hair is part of everything I make.)

Participating in a KAL
Charity knitting
Designing knitted garments
Publishing a knitting book
Teaching a child to knit
Knitting to make money
Dying with plant colors
Knitting items for a wedding
Teaching a male how to knit
Knitting for a living
Dying yarn
Knitting art
Machine knitting
Darning
Writing a pattern
Knitting for preemies
Freeform knitting
Knitting a pattern from an online knitting magazine
Knitting on a loom
Knitting a gift
Knitting for pets
Knitting in public

Break On Through

I need to break on through to the other side.

Other side of stress, other side of exhaustion.

There's not been nearly enough knitting on this blog lately, or in real life. One block at a time, I have made it to the two-thirds point on the Lady Eleanor stole. She's going slower as she gets longer, but it is going to be fabulous when I'm finished.

It's hard to knit and sleep at the same time, and with Little Baby up most of the night, I need to fit in more sleeping while they nap.

More photos when I can...

Cute Overload

Little Baby, originally uploaded by vrkdorell.

Okay, by popular demand (of the grandparents), I have officially sent the cuteness quotient at Flickr through the roof. I think this is the page. I like the Flickr function for posting photos to the blog, but I need to fiddle with the photo size settings when it posts. Also, should I get a Pro account to have multiple sets? Anyone? Bueller?

Anywho, I am completely overwhelmed. I need to take deep breath, make some to-do lists and knock through everything. I'm a little freaked out by it all: babies, house, moving, weight loss/exercise plan, etc. Oh, and yeah, I do need to get working on those law school apps for next year.

A knitting blog post I read (can't remember where) said this one time: We don't do anything half-assed around here. It's whole-assed or not at all.

I love that. So we're going at it whole-assed around here.

Hopefully I'm just not making an ass(w)hole of myself while doing it.

FYI, I know I did not post a Weight Loss Wednesday update. I did not weigh myself, but I don't feel like I'm losing anything. I know I did not exercise enough (no yoga...boo), and I was hitting the chocolate.

I did jog a couple days, though, and I could feel the difference in my energy level on those days. So I am going to rededicate myself to the exercise portion of my weight loss plan and try again on the salad additions. Wish me luck.

(The coffeeshop where I am blogging from ((on my free afternoon!! Thank you, Cap'n!!)) gave me a free iced latte and I am about to vibrate through the roof. How is it I can drink Diet Coke day in and day out, and one coffee sends me flying?)

There is so much to blog about, but I'm also supposed to be working on a budget and bill paying. Remind me to show you the baby knit(and quilt) additions next time...

The Heart of Our City

There are lots of things to like about D.C., but there are only a few things that make it "our" city, the place we call home. One of those is Eastern Market.

Yesterday, Eastern Market caught fire and burned. Flames from a dumpster climbed up to the roof and gutted the building.

The Cap'n came home late from work the night before last and woke me up saying, "Eastern Market is on fire. It's gone." I couldn't understand what he was saying. Even after taking a jog down there in the morning, I'm having a hard time imagining living here without the market.

We visit the market at least twice a week. I can reel off each one of the stands in order, starting with the lunch counter: seafood, Union Meat, Canales Meats, pasta, deli, The Sweet Shop, veggies, poultry, cheese, Calomiris and Sons veggies, Market Poultry, and flowers. On the weekends, people come from miles around for the outdoor farmers' stands and flea market.

Flora and Tom at Calomiris always give Slim a banana everytime we go by. Mr. Inman at Market Poultry sells awesome duck, which the Cap'n has turned into the most fabulous confit. The Cap'n also has trained Slim into a real taste for the Russian tea cookies at the sweets counter.

And it's gone.

I've sent a letter to Mayor Fenty to encourage him to live up to his promise to rebuild the market. Now is not the time to debate where to find the resources or funding, it's time to restore the history that our community has lost.

It's hard to realize that you most miss something when it's gone. Now I wish I had taken more photos of the inside of the market so you could see what it was like. I don't have any photos of the fire, but there are some online at the Post.

I want to be able to take Little Baby back there for his banana from the Calomiris stand, too.

On Vacay

Malcolm, Oren, Leo, Ginny, originally uploaded by billandamir.

I just wanted to post quickly to the blog to test the Flickr posting function and show off one of the pictures our friends took of us while on vacation in South Carolina.

Little Baby and I are off on the bus to meet the rest of the crew at the Arboretum after they pick up our Safta.

I have much to tell: baby handknits in the wild (and more on the way!), clicking while I walk, etc.

More soon!

Growing and Growing

Well, here's a second quickie blog post for today to alleviate the mortification of posting my before photo earlier.

Some things besides my waist are growing around here. My Lady Eleanor is now more than halfway done and has definitely left the travel knitting phase. I can barely work on it over the baby while he's nursing anymore either. The stitching may slow down on it a bit, unless I can squeeze in some time in the evenings with both kiddos asleep.

HAHAHAHAHA. I crack myself up.

Little Baby is definitely growing alongside Lady Eleanor. At 5 weeks, he weighed in at the Breastfeeding Center at 10 pounds, 13 ounces. That's 2.5 pounds in 5 weeks!! Can I get a woot-woot?? He's not so little anymore. (Toys shared by big brother.)


When I took Baby Dos downtown to the doctor, I actually took out the Jaywalkers for the first time in almost 6 weeks. I've been utterly monogamous (and loving it!) with Lady Eleanor since Little Baby's birth, but like I said, she wasn't going to make a Metro trip with me and Little Baby in the sling.

So the socks are growing by a few rows, though I hate to work on anything else while I've got such momentum on the Lady.

The stash has grown a little, but only from prize yarn. I won this lovely, soft Merino Oro laceweight yarn in an oatmeal color from Wanda. Thank you, Wanda! It's perfect for a lace shawl. Leave me comments on your favorite patterns....

Our excitement over the house is growing too. I don't know if I've mentioned this on the blog before, but right now the Cap'n and I sleep on the futon in the living room with Little Baby nearby while Slim has the entire bedroom to himself. It's the only way that any of us can get any sleep in this 550-sf apartment.

I can't wait to sleep in my own bed in my own bedroom again! July can't come soon enough...

P.S. I tell you: Stay-at-home mothering can be good for the soul. As I was dancing around the living room this afternoon singing and acting silly, both boys had eyes only for their momma. Great times.

Of course, they were probably thinking, "How did we end up here?"

Weight Loss Wednesday

Well, there are some updates here on the weight loss front. I think I've made progress over the week.

I don't have a new weight to post. Since we don't own a scale, I'm not actually monitoring the numbers that closely. I don't want to focus solely on the weight.

But I have my official "before" photo. Ugh. You'll only get it small.

I'll focus on the positive: This is me after coming back from my first run post-baby. Instead of focusing on my lack of a waist. Oh well. Moving on.

Isn't amazing (yeah, amazingly horrible) how it takes a photo to really show you how things are, and not how you think they are? I mean, I knew my bedroom was messy, but I didn't know it was that messy! Ha, ha.

Since last week my exercise routine included:

• A yoga class with Slim
• A yoga class by myself
• A 4.5 mile beach walk
• A 2.8 mile power walk
• A 1.8 mile run/walk

So I have almost met my exercise goals. I also have been adding salads to my meals, and I tried not to go overboard eating at the wedding this weekend.

I've been going online to try to build up more support for this weight loss journey. I'm taking Lolly's recommendation to use Peer Trainer as another online community for people looking to lose weight. It has an online log to keep track of your food and exercise, which I need to keep me accountable. I also used this calculator to figure out my BMI, as part of my motivation to lose weight.

I wish I had something funny or inspiring to say about this, but I'm feeling a little overwhelmed about trying to lose this much weight after taking my picture this morning. I know that I eventually lost weight after the first baby, but it took a year and then I got pregnant again.

Baby steps, right? (I can't type that without thinking of that movie. Now that's funny.)

Home Again, Home Again...

And we are doing a jiggity-jig.

The wedding this weekend in South Carolina was beautiful, and we had a great time celebrating with friends we had not seen in a while. The drive was long, but both boys did well. I also got in some good knitting time on Lady Eleanor. I'll try to get more photos up as soon as I find my camera.

We had more than just the wedding to celebrate, too. Our house offer was accepted!

There's so much going on right now...as usual. Life is never boring around Chez Muthaknitter. I'll try to update more tomorrow.

Bloggy Inspirations

I've been inspired by a few of my co-knitbloggers over the last few days, and this post is going to play off their writing considerably.

Laura issued a weight loss challenge Monday. I'm now one month post-baby, and I am itching to get into shape and fit into my old clothes. One could say that controlling my weight would be a way for me to get control over at least some area of my life amidst the chaos of baby, toddler and house searching.

If one had ever taken Psych 101. (See what you get when you visit my blog? Sarcasm for free. You're welcome.)

I did not gain as much with Baby Dos, but I am way over what I was pre-Slim. But more importantly, I don't feel like I'm in shape. I'm getting back to walking a lot (44 blocks yesterday pushing 50 lbs of stroller and kids!) but I'm not sure if I could run around the park.

I have a life goal (probably not this year, but maybe next) of running a marathon. And as my dad, a longtime runner, said, I should probably be able to run at least around the block before actually starting marathon training.

I also want to learn how to eat healthier. It's always been my weakness, and many years ago, I had a particularly unhealthy relationship with food and eating. I am addicted to sweet things, and I want to learn how to say no to candy bars and yes to green things.

So I'm going to join Laura's Weight Loss Challenge and try to meet some goals while cheering my fellow knitbloggers on in their weight loss goals. Here we go:

Deadline: September 23, my 31st birthday (I wanna be one hot mama in my 30s!)
Starting weight: 186
Goal weight: 156 (pre-baby weight) In 22 weeks, this should be doable.
Exercise goal: Twice weekly yoga practice and running 10 miles a week
Food goal: Eating a salad for one meal everyday (with or without additional courses)

Yarn goal: No stash acquisition until my birthday

Yarn REWARD: A skein of really nice (and I mean N-I-C-E) yarn for every 10 pounds lost

Like Laura, I want the blog to keep me honest and accountable. I will try to update the blog every week or so, and I'll get the Cap'n to take a starting photo of me tomorrow. Luck to all of us!!

Carrie talked recently about the crumbs of life. I've been thinking about the image of crumbs when I think of how my time is broken up into tiny pieces while spending 24/7 meeting the needs of two tiny human beings who rely on me. I think back to the years BK (before kids), and I miss the time I had alone to myself to daydream, to read and to just take naps whenever I felt like it. (Imagine what kind of knitting I could have accomplished!)

Sometimes, even though I know I'm doing an important job taking care of the boys, I question if I've lost my way. I wonder if I'll only be known from now on as someone's mom, and not as my own person. I wonder if I've left the path I was supposed to be on in life.

I think I'm tired and need sleep.

But back to blogging...all I have now are crumbs of time to blog, to knit, to shower, to exercise, to kiss my husband, to read, to sleep. I have to make do, somehow. I have to get more organized, to make each of those moments count. It's all I can do.

Hannah asked what inspires us. It reminded me that I've also been meaning to do a regular blog posting on the "Everyday Creative." I am often inspired by the things around me in my home. We have alot of the Cap'n's mom's artwork and some fiber pieces that I'd like to feature on the blog as they inspire me. They help me take advantage of those crumbs of time as they come along.

I haven't put much time in on Lady Eleanor lately, but I'm hoping she grows this week. I'm at Tier 15 of 35, but I will probably go up to 40 if I have the yarn. We're heading out today for our friends' wedding in Edisto, S.C., so hopefully 9 hours of driving time will translate into some progress. Unless I fall asleep first.

And I have to say a big "THANK YOU" to Wanda. I won some beautiful laceweight yarn in her 3rd Blogiversary contest. That's the second contest I've won in the last few months.

I guess I'm one lucky knitter.

And for those (family) here just for baby pictures, a new hand-me-down for Little Baby so we can all play trains on the floor:

Feeling the Love

Gather ye blog time while ye may.

There are two restless, but still napping babies in the house, so after getting a couple more stitches in on Lady Eleanor, I want to get down some thoughts in the peace and quiet.

We've got the love around here.

Brotherly love...

This one pretty much sums up their personalities: Slim with his mouth open talking or screaming and Little Baby with his eyebrows knitted up as if to say, "what's with him?" (And Lady Eleanor resting in the background...)

Slim adores the Little Baby. He wants to hug him and pat him and share toys with him. And pacis, let's not forget those.

I'm already seeing some benefits of having these two so close together. But as I was describing to the Cap'n and to my midwife, it's overwhelming. I've not got the baby blues, but I feel outnumbered and outflanked for the better part of the day.

Perhaps I've got to get a new strategy. Think like the Spartans at the Hot Gates and outmaneuver the siege. Those boys haven't gotten me pinned down yet.

Baby Love...

It's been a different experience with Baby Dos. There wasn't the immediate adrenaline of infatuation brought on in large part by first-time parenting anxiety. It's been more like, "oh, here you are, kid. You're wonderful."

He's such a good baby, a good eater (not so much a sleeper) and already starting to smile. I adore him, just like I do Slim, but in a different way. And he's fit in so well to the family. It's like he already wants to be sitting up and taking part in the conversation around him.

Stroller Love...

Our Excellent Adventure continues. (KnittinSis thought it was a "Bill and Ted.") I can't believe how easy our new Phil & Ted is to maneuver and get out and around the neighborhood. It was expensive, but it's already paid off.

Knitterly Love...

The Lady Eleanor went on a ride with the Cap'n, our realtor and I to look at more houses. I'm 2/5 of the way through the tiers of rectangles, but just now through 1/3 of the yarn, so I think I may end up making it a little longer. I'm going to use up every smidgen of Noro I have.

Neighborly Love?

We put in an offer on a second house that I like better than the first one we tried for. I am crossing my fingers. There were a bunch of kids' toys on the porch next door, so we might even have some neighborhood play buddies for the boys. I like the location of this house better (closer to stuff to walk to) and it's in much better/move-in condition. Send some house vibes our way.

City Love...

Check out the new yarn pusher on the block! Neighborhood Fiber Co. is run by the awesome Karida, who plays a large role in my ongoing yarn obsession (though she probably doesn't know it). For one, she first gave the Cap'n recommendations of books to buy for me as knitting Hanukkah presents, so she is ultimately to credit for Scarf Style and the current Lady Eleanor. Also, she taught the sock class that got me hooked on socks, too! And she probably thought she was just working at a yarn store.

I'm going to take credit for inspiring Kingman Park (my favorite!). Go. Look. I dare you not to love it.

Husbandly Love...

Reason #52,789 Why I Love the Cap'n: Everytime he comes home from work trips (like today from an embed with the National Guard in Indiana), I can't help feeling fluttery and happy to see him. He's the best.

Sorry no knit pictures...but we'll try more tomorrow...I'm going to try to make shorter, more frequent posts so it doesn't take me so long to get these posted.

Knittin' Mama

Okay, so this knitting update starts pre-Baby Dos' arrival. Goodness, almost a month ago now.

When KnittinSis came to town with Uncle Ben, we couldn't miss my LYS's Daylight Savings Savings yarn sale. Since Uncle Ben was along as Slim's babysitter, KnittinSis and I waddled (okay, that was just me) through the store fondling yarn and debating patterns.

I did acquire some Claudia's in February for my new Jaywalkers (still OTN), but that had been my only stash enhancement since December. And with 20 percent off storewide, I had a hard time resisting, especially one of my favorite yarns.

And Now...

An Ode to Worsted Weight Yarn Made By Noro

Kureyon, how I love thee.
Let me count the ways...
You keep my sanity
in late night knitting/feeding sessions.
You fascinate me
with your color changes.
Purple,
green,
pink,
magenta,
navy,
black.
All hail the power of entrelac blocks.
And the speed of knitting
with worsted weight yarn.

Ever since the Cap'n gave me his first knitting-related present (two Hannukahs ago) of Scarf Style, I have ogled the Lady Eleanor stole, both in the book and at the KAL. Mostly, I fell in love with the name and the description at first. The entrelac? Eh.

But coming across Kureyon on sale was too tempting to resist. I knew it would look beautiful in the stole pattern. So it came home with me from Stitch. All mumbletwelvemumble balls. KnittinSis walked out with some stash enhancement too, but I'll let her comment on it, since I can't remember all of it. Plus I think some of it is maybe for a surprise present??

In that first week home from the hospital with Little Baby, I cast on for Lady Eleanor one night around 2am. I was the only one awake, feeding Little Baby and staring longingly at my knitting bookshelf across from the couch. All I had to work on were the Jaywalkers and a laceweight scarf in a Feather and Fan pattern. I needed something big, and I needed something fast.

That first tier of half triangles looked like ass. No joke. I had swatched on both the US10.5 needles called for in the pattern and with US11s. I went with the 11s because it got me better gauge. But in that first row, the fabric on US11s was really loose. It really didn't start looking like something until the second full tier.

I am really happy with my choice of needles, though. The Knitpicks Options set made it really easy to switch out the needle size on the swatch, and I've really enjoyed working with them.

And this project has forced me to learn a new skill: knitting backwards. Actually, I mastered purling backwards first, and only now, at Tier 10 out of 35 have I got the knitting backwards thing down. I checked out this tutorial and this Knitty advice beforehand. My difficulty in picking up the knitting backwards trick is because I purl Combination style and had trouble figuring out how to wrap the yarn coming backwards.

But if you've made it this far, you deserve a picture of the Lady Eleanor progress so far. A row here and there over about a month adds up! I'm almost done with ball 3, and am more than 1/4 of the way through the tiers of entrelac blocks.

So that's the belated knitting update. I am chugging along with my knitting, and while I still look longingly at my other pattern books while nursing and reading Dr. Seuss for the nth time, Lady Eleanor is a satisfying way to keep my sanity from sneaking off the way the dog does from Slim.

I also am belated in thanking Maryse for a beautiful skein of Schaeffer Anne that I won as an entrant in her mismatched sock-shoe contest. It brightened my day on one of those difficult first days home with the new baby and Slim while we were all adjusting to each other.

There are still those days, but the three of us got out of the house this morning in our great green rocketship, aka the new Phil and Ted stroller for the boys. I love its maneuverability and lightness, and I'm even able to still make my grocery runs with both boys.

I'm also contemplating starting a new blog with daily updates of pics and baby news, but that's just in my head so far. I'll let you know if something comes of it. I'm thinking of calling it the D Boys blog, but check out the urban definition. Maybe not.

And hopefully we'll have a house update by next week. More searching tomorrow...

It never stops at Chez Muthaknitter.

Time Flies...

...when you're sleepless with a sick toddler and baby with day/night confusion.

I am sorry it's been two weeks since I blogged. I have been writing blog entries in my head at 3:30 in the morning while little baby and I have been up together. But it's so hard to type one-handed, I haven't sat down at the computer to even check email.

There's all sorts of news to blog, but we'll have to give the bulleted version:

• Baby is a charming little thing, growing like a weed and eating through the night. At two weeks he was already at 9 lbs, 3 oz., a pound up from birthweight.
• Slim has run a high fever over 103 for two days, but we think it's just a sore throat and not strep. We hope.
• We put an offer in on a house, got countered, came up and countered again, and were rejected. The home owner thinks she is sitting on a gold mine. One that happens to be eaten up with termite damage and in need of a complete renovation. It's one of those things that makes me hate living in D.C. But we can't give up. If we add one more toy, onesie or Cheerio to this tiny little apartment, us 'rents are going to go nuts.
• Grandpa DiDa and Grammy had good visits with the D-boys. Hopefully we'll get more visits with the fam, maybe in a house with more room.
• Knitting has been happening...slowly. But it sure does help with the sanity-keeping.
• We made our first out of town trip with both boys, taking a wonderful break outside of Philly on the farm. Little Baby got to go to his first play, an interesting production about a hostage-taking situation.
• I have seen the movie "Cars" four times in a week. Thank goodness the soundtrack is good.

There are cute, new pics waiting to be downloaded from the cameras, but I'm back to cuddling a sick kiddo and typing one-handed, so it'll have to wait. It'll give me a good reason to take new pics of the knitting project, too.

Where The Boys Are

5 diapers in 2 hours.

Wearing two of the big three (spit-up, pee, poop).

Hi-dee-ho, early motherhood!

As the Cap'n said to a friend, at least we didn't wait so long as to forget the routine. It's actually seemed easier this time, as far as the diaper changing, dressing and feeding goes. New baby is a hungry little lion, and he's already back up to birth weight.

I really was enjoying my 6 hours straight of sleep a night, but I guess at some point the sleep deprivation will make me forget what that felt like.

And when Slim cuddles up next to me and the baby, I treasure those domestic moments.

So why did my half hour of sleep this morning involve a dream of me being welcomed back enthusiastically to my former job in North Carolina? hmm...

It's been a wild ride since Friday the 16th. The Cap'n wrote up a beautiful narrative of the labor and delivery, and since then we've had a good visit with Grammy, the bris, and Leo's first Metro ride.

It's going well...busy and exhausting. There was even a round of sock knitting finished on that Metro ride, but I would hazard a guess that these are going to be the Jaywalkers that never end, based on my current rate of stitching.

In one of those nights up on the couch with My (new) Brest Friend and the baby, I did start a worsted weight project to save my sanity. I'll probably put the knitting in a separate post for those just here for the baby pictures.

But not to worry, handknits will always have an honored place around this house...

(ETA: Thank you so much for all the warm wishes and congratulations and emails! I so appreciate it, and I'm sorry I haven't had a chance to write back to everyone yet. If I owe you an email, give me a little more time. I hate typing one-handed.)

March is in like a...

Leo is here!




This is Knittin' Sis checking in with a quick post for all of you waiting on baby and mom news.


First, the stats:
Born on Friday, 3/16/07 at 11:26am
Weighing in at 8lbs 2oz and 19.5 inches long
Marsha Stalcup, Certified Nurse Midwife, assisted in the delivery. As you may recall, this means Leo's mama must relinquish those yummy socks she put on the line in her deal with the universe. Mama reports that the delivery went well and Marsha was a huge help. Mama also reports that the Cap'n was wonderfully calming and supportive.
In the photo above, Leo is enjoying the coziness of a handknit baby blanket made with love by Renee.

Knittin' Sis/Auntie and Uncle Ben got to spend lots of time with Slim this week as Mama tried to relax despite being many days overdue. I guess the relaxing evening Mama spent with the Cap'n did the trick as her labor started without medical intervention.



Mama promises to put pictures of Leo in his handknits for an upcoming post. For know, I'll put up some of the photos we took at the hospital.


Knittin' Auntie just got finished with matching booties for Leo's sweater and hat ensemble. I intended to have them done before Leo got here...and he certainly tried to cooperate by staying in Mama's belly for several extra days...but my days were filled with fun with Slim, and I just finished the booties on the long drive back to Indiana. They'll be headed to DC on Monday. Luckily, I have no concept of the size of baby feet, so these booties turned out quite big and will hopefully fit Leo for several weeks.

Lots of love to my Sis, the Cap'n, Slim, and Leo. What a wonderful family!