january thirty-one

Today I worked all morning and then did a postal run in the afternoon while the boys napped. I like going on Saturdays because it's quiet at the post office. It took the girl over an hour to run my parcels through with tracking numbers and all that jazz... She kept telling people to go do other shopping and then come back, that's how long it would take. I had that many packages to go out. That's another reason why I went on Saturday, instead of during a busy time during the week.

This evening we went to my in-laws for dinner to celebrate my sister-in-law's 30th birthday. Sean had fun playing games with his 6 year old cousin.

Mack got to try cream from the birthday cake and LOVED it.
He was grabbing at the spoon for more and more and more!

Even Mack got to hang out with his cousin. They all had a good time. I'm glad! We don't get to see them often, as they live near Québec City. But it's still close enough that we get to see them once in a while.

Dinner was nice, and I got to enjoy my mother-in-law's homemade lasagna. Her lasagna is to die for. Really. I make it sometimes too, but it never comes out as good as hers does. I can't even tell you why, since she's the one who showed me how to make it.

Plopped myself on the couch now, Jamie's at hockey tonight, so I'm going to catch up on some TV and knit. Just what I need. I want to work on my step-mother-in-law's vest.

There is only a few spots left in the February Sock Club, so if you want yours, snatch it now. I'm featuring a Montreal handpainter who's yarns are to-die-for as well! Even more so than my mother-in-law's lasagna!

january thirty

I got a nice package in the mail today from my Fave Things Swap Pal. She sent me her fave things, and in it there was some Green Tea (which I'm a huge fan of lately) and Drops Alapaca Sock Yarn. It's soooo freakin' soft, I love it. I had no idea that Drops made yarn, but I've knitted their patterns before. I got stitch markers, a bath bomb (never used one before) and some chocolate that I'm sure Jamie will eat. (I'm not a huge fan of chocolate, and I'm currently watching what I'm eating - more details about that another time).

Today I got great progress on my Step-Mother-in-Law's Striped Modular Vest, but it's not that striped, so it'll be her Varigated Modular Vest then! She picked the yarn and the color, so that's what she wanted. Seems like this will be a super fast knit, I'm certainly not complaining. I'm sure it'll be a fast knit. It's her birthday present from this past December, so I better get cracking! (Had some other deadlines to finish first).

Mack tried strawberries today for the first time and loved them. Probably because they're sweet. He devoured almost an entire jar. Mack's been doing pretty good with the food eating thing. We have a check-up next Friday with his doctor, I'm hoping by then he has gained weight from the last check-up and is back on track in the percentile for his age. He had gone from being born in the 10th percentile, to being in the 25th percentile, to back by 6 months of age into the 10th percentile. I'm not sure what's up with that, but I'm hoping now that he's eating more solids, that he's back on track. We'll see next Friday!

Tonight we had 2 of Jamie's ex-co-workers over for a 5 à 7. (Though, they arrived closer to 6pm). We had prepared veggies and dip and Jamie made 2 rounds of Nachos. We had wine and beer and even some scotch (not for me thank you!). It was nice. They ended up staying past 9pm, and it was great catching up with them and shooting the shit. I did get to work on a bit of the vest while they were here, while we chatted. It was really good conversation, and both boys behaved themselves very well tonight. I was very impressed. They both even went to bed at a reasonable time, together (in their respective rooms).

Not sure what the plans for tomorrow day are besides having to do a huge postal run, but tomorrow night we have my sister-in-law's 30th birthday dinner at my in-laws with all my in-laws. (Jamie's dad, step-mom, Jamie's mom & her wife). It'll be nice to see my nephew as well, it's been since his birthday since I've seen him last. I'm sure there will be knitting time!

january twenty-nine

Today I received some mail from Elann.com. I received a gift certificate from my Falling for Ewe pal as my last package. I really want to get my hands on the Debbie Bliss Stella / Pure Cotton book, so I ordered that, as well as 6 x 50g skeins of Sock it To Me sock yarn. Not sure yet what I want to do with them, but definitely some sort of colorwork.

I've been obsessed with wearing my Scrabble Letter Earrings lately. I just love them. If you'd like a pair of your own, I sell them in the shop! They're so fun to make (and I need to update the picture on the site as I've perfected the way I make them now, and they look better!)

It's super cold out these days, and today Mack and I stayed in all afternoon and got a few things done around the house while the cleaning lady was here today. It's weird, I find myself the most productive when she's here, to get some of those house chores done. Like most people, I'm not a big fan of doing house chores. But they do have to get done.

There are a few spots left in the February Sock Club! It's almost sold out, so if you wanted a spot - come and get it quick. I'm featuring a Montreal handpainter for February, so that's neat! You'll be getting a pattern, sock yarn, stitch markers & other goodies. Don't miss out!

Tonight was a chill on the couch/watch tv/knit night. There was a habs game on, so we watched that, and I cast on for my mother-in-law's Striped Modular Vest, though, it's not really striped, since I'm not using striping yarn. She chose the yarn, Cascade 220 Dip Dyed in Storm. I'll post progress pictures tomorrow, seems like it's going to be an easy knit.

Pictures to come next week of my first design of 2009. YEY! I just have to wait a bit for the sock clubs to get to their destinations first! Once they are starting to be received, I'll post the pics!! That'll be next week though. So stay tuned!

january twenty-eight :: 25 months old

Sean is 25 months old today.

He's truly my silly kid.

When I dropped of Sean this morning at school, in his cubby was a paper with information for Valentine's Day and the list of all the kids in his class. They beat me to it! I was going to jot down all the kids name's, and now I don't have to! It's so cute that they're going to have a Valentine's Day Party.

This morning Mack had his music class again.
They thought he was too cute last week in the fish hat that he should wear it again.

Though, I thought he should be a spider this week. What do you think?

I think he looks mighty cute as a spider. These hats are totally awesome.
(From the USA apparently, I asked).

This afternoon Mack was being very fussy and so I decided to try to get him to take a nap. I decided to lie down with him. We napped for over 2 hours. I can't even tell you the last time I napped during the day. Not since before Mack was born. When Sean was born, I used to nap a lot when he was napping, or nap cuddled with him. Now that Mack is in our life, I don't nap. There is just too much to do during the day, since I like to spend my evenings with both boys, and so I try to get all the stuff I have to get done, during the day. On the weekends, it's rare that both boys are both napping at the same time, for the same length of time, but it does happen where there will be an hour or so that both boys are napping, and usually Jamie & I will hang out then and watch a tv show or a movie during that precious quiet time. But that 2 hour nap that I had today... I tell you, what very much needed. I am just so exhausted these days, and I'm glad to have been able to crash on the couch with Mr. Mack. I got to cuddle with Sean a lot when he was a baby, and not so much with Mack these days. I'm glad that I get to do this as well with Mack now. Even though it won't last too long.

This evening I decided to brave the nasty cold weather and head out to knit night. I had a really good time with Amy & Ariella. We went to a local Second Cup, and I fell in love with a painting that was on the wall at the coffee shop. I got in touch with the artist, and it looks like I'll be purchasing it. I need to contact her tomorrow. Anyhow, this evening, we had excellent conversation, and I got to finish the sock I've been working on. All I have to do is graft the toe shut, which I'll do tomorrow. Too tired to do it tonight. Within the great conversations we had tonight, it is such a small world. It's amazing how many connections Ariella and I, or even Ariella, Amy & I have together. I guess it's also a small world in the Jewish Community. (Makes it even smaller I think). It's also kind of nice that we know the same people. I can't even explain it. And it's amazing how people meet and cross paths with each other in life. I feel really blessed to know the people I know, and to be friends with the people I'm friends with. I feel really lucky.

january twenty seven :: 32 weeks old

Mack is 32 weeks old today.

Just as I love Sean more and more every day, my love for Mack grows as well every day.

He's almost outgrown Judy's Grandmother's Baby Sweater (which is 6 month size). I can't believe that he won't fit into it anymore soon. He's growing up so fast!

This afternoon Mack & I went with my mother to visit Jenn. Henri will be 3 weeks old this Thursday. He's so tiny! I forgot how small they are at that age. Mack (who is only 7 and a half months old) is super BIG compared to Henri. It was a nice visit, and Mack was curious with Henri, not sure what to make of him. It was cute.

On the way home I checked out this grocery store that's around the corner from my house. I'd never been there before, but I can tell you that I'm impressed. They have a great selection of fruits & vegetables, and I am VERY impressed with the quality of their veggies that I picked up. I also picked up a few other items that I needed for dinner, and I think I'd definitely shop there again. They're within walking distance from my place, but I wouldn't walk there in this weather.

This picture represents Sean right now. On. the. go. Never. stopping. for. a. minute. He has a lot of energy, and doesn't know how to sit still. I need to start looking for activities on the weekend to keep Sean active. During the week he gets gym time and music and dancing and all those types of activities at daycare. Wow, am I exhausted every evening after chasing him around. I'm starting to feel it more and more every night.

I need to remember tomorrow to take a pen & paper with me to daycare tomorrow to jot down the list of names of the kids in Sean's class. I don't know what's usually done, but I bought valentines for his classmates. I thought it would be super cute. I just need to find out what the other kid's names are. (Their names are all on a cork board in the classroom with their birthdays, so I can just get it from there tomorrow). What do you guys do for your kid's friends for Valentines day? Anything at all? This is the first year Sean's anywhere in a class type environment, so I really want to do it!

Jamie & I hung out again this evening, and we watched the Habs game that was on TV. (We missed the beginning of it, since Sean watched some Caillou before he went to bed tonight). We let him watch some TV before bed every night, sometimes it's Caillou, sometimes it's Sesame Street and sometimes it's Barney. We let him choose. He likes having options. Most of the things these days, we give him this or that. This way he gets to choose. It's much better that way. And he feels in charge of what's going on. (Ok, I'll admit, I just spent sometime on the Sesame Street Website that I just hyperlinked - it's totally cute. Grover does this whole shtick when you get to the page, it's totally cute. Go on - check it out!

january twenty-six

This morning we had our 5 senses class again, and today we played with feathers as part of the senses thing. Every week they introduce something new that has to do with senses. Mackie doesn't like the taste of feathers.

I'm not sure what this whole thing with these faces he makes is... but it's too damn cute. He does this lip pouting thing.... I just love it. Adorable.

I put a feather behind his ear.... I don't even think he noticed that it was there!

All in all we had a good time playing with feathers, and it was a lot of fun. I stayed a bit after the class to talk to the teacher and another mother, about every day stuff... it was nice.

This afternoon I sat on the couch and knit. I haven't had a day like that in forever. I just needed it. Catched up on tv shows that I missed while I was out of town, and knit. Worked on the sock project that I have been working on, it's almost finished. Details on that will follow shortly. My first design of 2009. I should be able to post pictures within the first week or so of February. Stay tuned.

This evening, I hung out with Jamie, 24 was on tonight. More knitting was done. I'm on a roll, I swear! This sock will be done in no time! I think I'd gone through a slump with my knitting at the beginning of January. I had a period where I just didn't feel like knitting. Not even sure why or how that happened. But, thank goodness, it's over. Back out of the slump!

There is still a few spots left in the February Sock Club, if you haven't signed up yet, don't miss out! It's on sale until the end of the month.

january twenty-five :: 108 weeks old

Sean is 108 weeks old today.

Today was a really long day. Sean refused to nap. Today there was no negotiation on that one. He was babysat this evening, and I didn't want to give him to the babysitter without a nap, so it was a fight to get him to nap. Over an hour of kicking of screaming and we finally got him to nap, though he didn't nap very long. That's two days in a row of him putting up a fight to nap. Which is weird - because he naps just fine at school. Argh! We've never had issues this bad, both days on the weekend. Maybe he's coming down with something? Maybe his 2 year old molars (which I haven't seen yet) are coming through? I don't understand it. He's still way too young to give up his afternoon nap and he doesn't function without it. By the time I had gotten Sean to nap (he screamed for Mommy the entire time, didn't want daddy - actually told Jamie to get out of his room), I missed a party that I was supposed to take Mack to. One of this friends turned 1 on Friday. (His first friend to turn 1).

The reason for the need for a babysitter tonight was for the All Stars game. It was held in Montreal tonight, due to the Habs' 100th season. We were lucky to get tickets as well, as they were very hard to come by (Season ticket holders were offered their tickets, just not in their original seats, so we sat somewhere else).

There was knitting at the game (not on my Habs socks, because even though there were a handful of Habs players on the ice, it wasn't a Habs game!) so I worked on something else (color of the yarn has been eliminated until I can show you what it is). Though, the sock is progressing, and I've turned the heel, and it's look fabulous!

The game was fun, it was the East vs. the West (Conferences) and we (the East) won 12-11 in a shout out. What a game. A lot of great goals scored. Some funny ones too. It was a lot of fun! A lot of excitement. We sat infront of a company group and they were really loud & obnoxious. There were 2 girls out of the entire row and they had no idea what was going on, and were just gossiping the entire time. It was rather annoying. There was an 8 year old girl sitting with her mom behind us that kept asking retarded questions about the game, and her mother had no idea what to answer. I was thinking why did they bother coming if they don't even appreciate/understand what's going on. I can't stand people like that at a hockey game. So super hard to tune out! I tried tough, and concentrated on the sock I was knitting & the game. My friend's husband who sits 2 seats over from us at games came to find me. He was also offered tickets in the section I was sitting in, but sold them to someone as he got seats closer to where our section originally is, and a better row. (Our season tickets are front row of the section, but our All Star Game tickets were 7 rows back.... with less leg room). (I missed our seats let me tell you!) He made fun of me for "sewing" at the game, but I let what he says go in one ear and out the other. I wanted to scream at him "It's knitting".... but I let it slide for tonight...

january twenty-four

Why is it that on a day where I want to sleep in, my beautiful little 7 month old gets up at the wee hours of the morning. He does sleep a full night, but if he goes to bed (too) early, he gets up (too) early. Sean doesn't have swimming tomorrow morning (synchro competition or something) so maybe I'll get to sleep in tomorrow morning.

I picked up some mail this week at the post office, as there was a missed package slip while I was out of town. One of the packages I missed while in Florida was from Handgefaerbt.

Handgefaerbt Merino Basics in Minotaur.

Handgefaerbt Merino Basics in Atlantis.

Handgefaerbt Merino Basics in Hydra Pound.

Handgefaerbt Merino Basics in Dunkler Regenbogen.
(I'm not sure what the English name of this colorway is).

And, in my order was a free skein! How super sweet of her. There is no colorway name, but I'll call it Rainbow. Handgefaerbt Merino Basics in Rainbow.

Now, I must warn you. She doesn't ship to Canada. So I had to put my grandmother's address in Florida as the mailing address, and then send her an email afterwards, to see if she would indeed ship to Canada, and for me, she did. Hoepfully she'll be able to do the same for you - if you are interested in buying her yarn... but if you don't have a US address to put down, maybe contact her first.

I love the yarn. It's so soft & squooshy. Delicious. I can't wait to find time to knit with it.

Today we decided to do the Costco thing. Wow, is that place a disaster (zoo) on the weekend. But, we had a list of things to get, and so we went. We made it out of there in under an hour, not even sure how that is possible? One of the items I was interested in getting, was size 3 diapers for Mack. Apparently they were 12$ off per box. (From 48.99$ to 36.99$). None left. Sucky. Not a single box. That's a huge sale! Oh well.

This afternoon was a fight for Sean to take a nap. I just don't get it. He naps perfectly at daycare. He refuses to nap at home. We even tried the crib. He wouldn't nap there either. Just screamed for us to come get him. After trying for over an hour we just gave up. Boy was he a disaster this evening until he went to bed (early).

Mack tried green beans tonight for the first time, he seemed to like it. I steamed green beans for us as well, with our dinner, and decided to pull out the jar of puree for Mack. I hadn't tried a new food in a few days, so I figured it was time. He's still got a lot of types he hasn't tried yet, but we're getting there, and the feeding is going better. He's understanding now what to do with the food when it's in his mouth.

Hung out with Jamie, we watched the Skills Competition on TV (All Star Game weekend), and I got some knitting done. Jamie plays hockey on Saturday nights, so he went off to do his thing. I was happy to be able to veg on the couch, watch some TV (catch up on TV shows) and knit.

january twenty-three

Sean wanted to wear my gloves & hat today to school. There was no if ands or buts. He wants what he wants when he wants. While it's cute seeing him in my hat & gloves, I don't like how stubborn he gets, as it's cold outside, and I would have actually liked to of worn my own hat & gloves. I was able to confiscate it from him once we arrived at daycare. Mornings at daycare have been wicked hard since getting back from vacation. He's not interested in leaving me in the morning, throws a little tantrum, but after that, his teachers say he's okay. Phew!

(For those of you who are wondering, Sean hasn't soaked through any daytime diapers since we've been home, only once this week he woke up wet, but other than that, he's been dry. Thanks for all your concerns about why he may be soaking through his diapers).

Ah, Friday. Today was a busy day regardless.
I was hoping for a nice relaxing afternoon, but that never happens, right?

I did manage to bring back to the store cans and bottles for recycling. I couldn't believe that I had 16 dollars and change worth of cans accumalating. Jamie was starting to get annoyed with them, and said if I didn't bring them back he'd throw them out next garbage day. Yeah, it was about time I got them back to the store.

My in-laws came for dinner this evening, and we ended up ordering in. Usually my mother-in-law makes dinner for us, but today was a busy day. That's okay, we enjoyed our meal regardless. Next week I want to learn how to make vegetable soup. I'm going to see if she has a day free to teach me. I'm sure it's super easy, but I'm a visual learner....

Robyn's Nest received a shipment of Circular Needles. They're available in 11 different sizes ranging from 1.5mm-5mm (US0-US8). They're my own brand and they're awesome, lightweight and I love knitting with them. They're stainless steel, and 32" in length. Come on by and check them out. (They're the ones I was giving away for free with purchase a few months ago, they're now available in stock!) I do recommend them! And they're on sale for a limited time only! My new year's sale is still going on, as well - until the end of the month.

january twenty-two

This morning I got a lot of work done, and feel good about today's accomplishments. I had a 2 o'clock appointment today, so I wanted to make sure that I got everything accomplished before heading out the door.

Tonight I headed out to West Island Knits, and picked up this "knitted" mug while I was there. How cool is this mug? It's cabled & knit. I'd seen that Amy had one, and had to get one myself. I just love it. Especially since winter is tea drinkin' season.

Tonight at West Island Knits we were a nice group. I decided to leave Mack at home tonight, since he's been going to bed like clockwork at 8pm and honestly, I wanted a night to myself, after being away with them for a week straight out of our elements, I wanted a night to relax and just knit.

Eugenie brought me back this beautiful bookmark from her Christmas vacation, she traveled to Argentina & Chile (I'm not sure where exactly this bookmark is from, but I know it's made of the hair from a horse). It's really neat. Thank you Eugenie!

It really felt good to be out of the house tonight. I really needed it. Once in a while you just need to have some time with friends. I really like our little group, everyone is comfortable with each other and we all get along great. I love it. I'm so happy that I have a knitting group in my local area to enjoy. Hear hear for uninterrupted knitting time!

january twenty-one

Today was back to the grind. Busy busy. We started our music class this morning. We missed last week as we were in Florida. Mack really enjoyed this class. The first half hour is up in the gym, though I find it a big waste since Mack's not really mobile yet.

The 2nd half hour is in the music room. Today Mack got to be a fish. They have a big bag of animals and Mackie just looks too cute as a fish. Don't you agree?

He's just sooo delicous.

Getting into the groove of the music!

After music we ran to the pool and I had my aqua strollers class. I love that class. I just love being in the water. And I just love the teacher for this class, she's awesome.

This afternoon I had too much to do, so I skipped the movie of the week for the Mom & Baby movie. Maybe next week. Too much to take care of since I was away all last week. So I ran around doing errands all afternoon.

This evening I hung out with Jamie as last night we got in late and didn't really get to hang out. It's good to be back to normal and to just chill at home. Back to regular scheduled programming. Even some knitting time was well appreciated this evening. We caught up on Big Bang Theory this evening.

I decided that I'm going to grow out my hair. I don't know what possessed me the last couple of times to cut it, and now I kind of regret it. I can't wait for it to be back to ponytail length. I can barely get it in a ponytail that stays these days, which sucks. There's always ends all over the place. I'll be happy once it starts growing some more. I feel that lately it's been growing really slowly. Is that even possible?

january twenty :: 31 weeks old

Mack is 31 weeks old today.

This morning when trying to figure out how to pack Elmo to bring him home, we joked around about me wearing Elmo at the airport, and taking him onto the plane. I decided to try him on. Sean got a kick out of that. Elmo fits perfectly in the Snugli.

So Sean decided he wanted to wear Elmo too. However, the sling is rather large on Sean. It was cute anyhow! My funny little boy!

We got to the airport early as we had to have the car rental back for for 1:00pm, but only had a 4:15 pm flight. My mom ran around with Sean in the airport, he couldn't sit still. She took him on walks, and kept him entertained. Amy & I were happy to find free wifi at the airport. That helped us pass a bit of time.

Our flight left on time, which is good. It was supposed to leave early, and then there was a major traffic jam for the run way (apparently it was rush hour at the airport) and we got into the air.

It was a long flight home. Sean couldn't sit still in his seat and he didn't nap today. He decided to play the "Let's see how loud I can scream" game. Fun. And my 2 kids were the only 2 kids on the flight. So they knew where it was coming from. Sean also wanted to turn off and on the light above our seat. They turned off the lights half way through the flight, so he got to see that there were lights above our seats. In order for him to reach it, he had to stand on top of the arm rests of the seat. Argh! That was a disaster. Amy & I on numerous occasions had to sing different versions of "the wheels on the bus" over and over again to Sean, to get him distracted from what he was complaining/screaming/whining about.

We had 2 blonde stewardesses on this flight and they were really good to Sean. He flirted with them of course. What else is new, he likes blondes. at one point we had to get the stewardess to tell Sean that the light was broken, so that he wouldn't play with it anymore.

I got to knit 2 rows on the plane. That's all I was able to get done.... hoping to have more knitting time once I get home! Traveling with 2 kids = no knitting time!

We got home in record time, the flight ended up being under 3 hours, but since we were the last off the plane, and until we went through customs and then til we got our luggage, it was almost 9 pm by the time we got home. What a long day!

Sean crashed hard on the way home from the airport - knew it! He was snoring as we transferred him into his pj's with a clean diaper and into his bed. Mack also fell asleep and was an easy transfer to his crib.

I don't even want to think about pre-vacation laundry (I came home with all clean laundry) or unpacking my suitcases tonight. Going to go hang out with Jamie and have a glass of red wine.



ps- I've located some Munchkin Single Serve Formula Dispensers, and shipped them to a friend's house in the USA (couldn't find a single place online that would ship to Canada). I should have them soon! YEY!