july thirty

Today was a good mail day!

First, I received these lovely embroidered bibs for Mackenzie. The were made by Sherrie's mom - thank you Mrs. N. They're awesome. Her mom makes them for a local baby shop in their area... Neato! Sherrie's been trying to convince her mom to open up an Etsy shop. I think she totally should. I'm putting these bibs away for when Mack's about 5-6 months old and we start him on solids!

I also received a delicious package from my Summer of Yarn Love Pal. I received a skein of Paca-Peds yarn from the Alpaca Yarn Company, in the Singin' the Blues #601 colorway. Love it! I also got some gum (best kind of candy to get me!), a really neat knitting sweater keychain (matches the earrings I make!) and a Where's Woolly book, by Usborne books. Thank you pal! I love it!

My pal is very sneaky! I have no idea who they are! The first package was postmarked from NH, USA and this one was postmarked from MA, USA. Very good pal! I'm definitely not figuring out who you are now! I'm darn curious too! I can't wait for August to get my final package and learn who they are!!

So, as it turns out, both my boys are stomach sleepers. For the longest time we tried procrastinating putting him on his stomach. Sean was a stomach sleeper from early on. It's funny that I feel I'm being more over protective with Mack. Aren't I supposed to be more laid back and easy going and at ease? Definitely feel more nervous with Mack. I think it's because I was too laid back with Sean and fell out of routine and out of schedule with him, that I want things to be different with Mack. Anyhow, I knew it would happen, and he sleeps better (and longer) on his stomach. He's got great control for a 6 week old baby of his neck, and I'm totally not worried. Plus, I only let him sleep like this if I am next to him in the same room. Would never leave him alone this young on his stomach. Eventually I will, when he's got full control of his neck. But if he's in the bassinet, and I'm right next to him, and he's more comfortable this way, then why not.

Sean was photographed last night as I mentioned by my next door neighbor. He is an amateur photographer and sends in photos to the Montreal Gazette for their photo contest. Apparently the photos he took of his daughter didn't come out, so he asked my mom if it was okay to photograph Sean for the contest. (Honestly, I wish I'd gotten a phone call about this. I would have said yes, but still, a phone call would have been nice asking my permission). Anyhow, from the 4-5 photos that I was emailed of Sean, this above photo is my fave. Apparently he made a HUGE MESS with the ketchup after this shot was taken. I wonder if it'll make the contest! I don't know how many people apply to win.

I called the daycare around the corner from my house today and spoke to a lady who apparently knows me. I'm hoping this is a good thing. Anyhow, she took my name and Sean's info down, and the usual girl who is in charge of the waiting list, etc. is on vacation, so I'll call back next week to get more information and see how long the waiting list is... I'm hoping for my sake, Sean gets a spot there soon! I'd basically be using it as a babysitting service for when I need to do groceries/errands and can't take both kids, or if I have some work to do, I can drop him off and he can play with his friends there. I already know (as well does he) some of the kids that go there.

Spent the afternoon off the Island of Montreal visiting Angela. I did some great damage to my visa, buying the boys both clothes (and some shoes and a purse for myself). Ah, retail therapy. Sometimes, much needed. Had dinner with Angela & her fiance, and then headed back home to bathe Sean and put him to bed. (This putting him to bed awake thing is working. Though, the pouting and tears he gives when you put him in his crib for a nap or for bed at the end of the night just makes my heart melt. It's super cute and makes me sad). We had a nice day visiting with Angela.

What is your favorite supper for a hot summer evening?

Fave supper for a hot summer evening... Hmmm... I enjoy a good Angus burger on the BBQ with cheese of course. (Swiss or Provolone cheese).I also enjoy the hamburger buns slightly toasted.

july three

I received some lovely mail today! A beautiful skein of Scouts Swag Sock Club (2nd Installment of 2008) in Stocker Pond. Yep, I love it. Finally a colorway I like (I wasn't 100% fond of the first installment, but I'm still not able to find online how it knits up? Has anyone knit it up yet? Ravelry has nothing).

Sean loves giving kisses to his brother. He tries to pick him up - but there is no way I'm letting him. I have to explain to him that Mack is not a toy, but his little baby brother. I'm hoping one of these days he'll get it.

Kisses galore. It's really cute how Sean tries to kiss as way he puckers up! I love it! I love my boys.

This afternoon my mother took me on some errands. First I needed the post office, as yesterday when I tried to get to the post office, there was a line up like I'd never seen before, and then we headed to Mack's doctor's appointment. We were seen right away, and first he was weighed. He has gained about 30 grams a day in the last three days, and is now at 2840 g which is just 5 g below his birth weight. So in 5 more grams, he's back at his birth weight. 2840 grams is 6 lbs 2.6 oz. (So almost 3 ounces). I am sooo happy that he's gaining weight.

With further discussion with Dr. F, I decided that I am going to do the clipping of the tongue-tie. It'll help him eat better, latch on better, and possibly (though there isn't enough research yet) prevent a speech impediment later on in life. She decided to see if she had the proper tools to do it at her office at the medical center, instead of having me come down tomorrow to the hospital where she works. Luckily, she had the tools there, and was able to do it right there on the spot.

It did bleed a little bit, but nothing severe. The bleeding did stop by the time he was done eating though. They have you put the baby on the br.east once they are done the procedure. It was nothing, and I think Mack was more distraught by the bright light in his face & the hospital gown that was tying him down, and also the fact that he really wanted to eat.

I'm glad I did it, since it won't harm him in any way by having it done. I've been getting a lot of emails in support (I do plan on emailing everyone back when I get a few moments to do so), and I see that I am not alone with having a child that has had a tongue-tie. Makes me feel better about the situation & doing the procedure.

This evening I watched the movie Sex & The City with my mom & sister. I really enjoyed it, though it was a long movie. 2 hours and 16 minutes. It did feel a bit long. The story was totally not what I was expecting, but I liked it regardless in the end. For the 2nd half of the movie though, I really hated Big.

Summer of Yarn Love Contest: I have to blog about my favorite Summer time memory:

That is a good question. I think my fave summer time memory is a time back when I was about 8 or 9 years old and it was a time where I had no worries in the world, and we used to go out in the neighborhood and collect caterpillars. I'd collect some and put them in glass jars with holes in the lid, so they could breathe, because I wanted to see them turn into butterflies. I can't recall any of them turning into butterflies, but I do remember the act of collecting & saving them!

july two

Just as I was waking up and feeding Mack this morning, Angela arrived. She came over to spend the day with me. We had lunch and then finally got out of the house (getting out of the house is a whole other story!) and ran a few errands. I got my property taxes paid 25 minutes before they closed for the day (yep, life with a newborn!) and I tried to go to the post office, but there was a line up like I've never seen before (and I have no idea why, because income taxes have been over since April 30th).... so we left and I did some banking and we got blue slush puppies. Slush puppies are great on a very hot summer day!

When we got home, we checked out my garden:

Not really sure if this is a weed or if my Red Globe Onions are supposed to be like this? Anyone have experience with vegetable gardening onions?

My strinlgess bean plants are massive! I'm not even sure where on this plant the beans will come, but I'm very excited to see how they will! I totally thought that by now, there would be something growing on this plant, but now, I don't know how long it takes?


And my Paris Island lettuce is HUGE! We've been using this lettuce as well as the Black Seeded Simpson to have fresh Caesar Salad each day until today (we're out of Caesar dressing & croûtons, I need to buy more). I love being able to pick fresh vegetables that I planted from seeds from my own garden. It's great.

And my tomatoes are growing larger! I love it! I can't wait to see how large they grow.

And my cherry tomatoes are growing too!

And take two of my cucumber plants are doing great. YEY!
We're going to have cucumbers!
This is just one of the two plants!

I found these flowers in my front yard. As I said, new stuff is blossoming in my yard. Anyone know what these flowers are called? I love how white & pretty they are.

Remember this plant (above)? It's blossoming!! I cannot wait to see what they look like!

And there are flowers like this that are about to blossom as well. Curious to see what they look like fully bloomed. I like that they are pink. I heart pink. Pink rocks.

Mack likes sheep. Just like his mommy! Ok, so his mommy bought him clothing with sheep. Mack doesn't know yet that he likes sheep. This outfit, 1 month size is WAY too big for Mack. The pants keep coming off. It's kinda funny. He's still pretty much in preemie sized clothing. However, some of that preemie sized stuff is big too. And socks don't stay on his feet, no matter how tiny they are. When we go to the doctor tomorrow to get Mack weighed again. I tell him every night that I hope he's gained some weight, that it's very important. However last night, he ate and ate and ate, and then didn't keep it down. So he had to eat some more because he had an empty stomach. Poor little fellow.

Mr. Mack's tiny feet. So precious. I love them.

My thinker. I wonder what he's thinking about? I love this pic a lot - I had to share it.

I got some lovely mail today!! From my Summer of Yarn Love Pal! Thank you! I love it! I got some Koigu KPPM, a row counter, some new brand of gum that I've never seen before (I'm a huge gum chewer!), some gorgeous silver earrings, some really cute stitch markers, a Thomas & Friends book for Sean, and a really pretty card. Thank you pal! I love everything!

The beautiful flower arrangement that I received from "Cherry". Some of it was dying, so I put it into my own little mug and made a smaller arrangement. I think it looks cute!



Tonight I watched What Stays in Vegas with Angela. I thought it was really cute. A fun comedy. Was in the mood for one, and it did the trick! There had been such bad movies out lately, I'm glad that there are finally some movies that are coming out that are great/good.

Secret Pal Question of the Week #4:

1) What yarn (that you don’t have/haven’t used) would make your stash “complete”?

Yarn to make my stash complete: I would like to get some Sundara Sock Yarn, Paca-Ped Sock Yarn and some Wollmeise Sock Yarn to make my stash complete!

2) What yarn do you never want to be without?

Blue Moon Fiber Arts Socks that Rock, as well as Colinette Jitterbug! I think those two are my fave sock yarn right now.