September = Sock Monkeys!

Posted on September 20, 2014 by Ali

I’ve been busy plugging away at my Sock Monkey costumes (Which are sold OUT! Woo!) and my kids have been busy learning new tricks. Like Effie can now sit up! This is very exciting for her- and she is thrilled to bits about it!’

She also got the opportunity to model a party hat at Sam’s third birthday party!

Sam wanted to try on the Sock monkey costume that was being mailed out this week, but once I got it on him he got a little sullen and decided that maybe it wasn’t as fun as he thought. I think it looks good on him, though!

Effie got to ride in the back of a dump-truck. She loves being included in whatever Sam is doing, and that’s usually building things with his Duplos and hauling still around in the back of his dump truck. Sam got a HUGE container of Duplos for his birthday from his cousins Josie and Ezra and pretty much for the last 2.5 weeks he hasn’t wanted to play with anything other than those- it’s been amazing for his independence. He will sit and play with those blocks for HOURS every day- which means I get to knit whenever Effie is napping or playing with her big brother!

He calls this Mater’s “Pirate hat”. I think it’s awesome and very clever!

Effie hasn’t been sleeping well (Thank you, four-month-sleep-regression!) So we’ve been doing a lot of coffee. Since it is starting to cool down, naturally I’ve been making myself some pumpkin spice lattes!

And also because she hasn’t been sleeping well she’s been spending tons of time in the wrap on my back (Which I FINALLY figured out, thanks to some kind friends) and she’ll happily talk and jabber and pull my hair for a few hours up there, which is great when the dishes need to be done or dinner needs to be cooked and she isn’t happy about being left on the floor!

Sometimes being the baby means getting laundry baskets put on top of you. Life is rough for the baby, you know?

But in other news, I just had a photo shoot this morning with Anselm Photography (Wonderful woman and amazing eye for pictures!) to get some professional shots of the sock monkey costumes and mermaid costumes! We had a very tiny, very new little squish model the mermaid costume for us and it is BEYOND cute. I can’t wait to see the finished images!

Cabled Bonnet and Jacket

Posted on July 7, 2014 by Ali

I got a custom order for a bonnet and coat- and was super excited that I finished it right before my family got here so I could have my darling niece Josetta model it for me!

Many thanks to my sister Erika for lending her daughter as a model and for snapping these pictures for me!
Details:
Made with: Drops Merino Extra Fine Yarn.
Raveled: here.

Life lately…

Posted on June 11, 2014 by Ali

Well hello there! Sorry for the lack of new knitting projects to show you, but my two kiddos are keeping me so busy I haven’t had a ton of time to knit. I’m working on a few commissioned projects and will have those to post about soon, but most of my time is being eaten up by my little munchkins!

The sweater I made Sam last summer finally fits him (Just in time for the hot weather! Hah!) But hopefully he won’t grow too much between now and the fall so it should still fit him then.

The littlest member of the household is sure keeping me on my feet! She is a rowdy little girl. If she isn’t asleep she pretty much demands to be held up, looking at your face and wants to be talked to. She isn’t happy chillin’ in the swing or bouncy chair unless you are in her face talking to her. Which means she gets put in the wrap a lot so I can get stuff done around the house. She loves being attached to mama! So opposite of Sam in that regard (he was always a ‘give-me-my-space’ kind of kid) But she is SUCH a happy girl! She smiles constantly and coos up a storm!

She’s about 10 1/2 lbs right now (Seven weeks old today!) and very VERY long! She’s already wearing 3-6m pants, but still wearing NB and 0-3m shirts- she’s all legs! She certainly didn’t get that from me…. Sam and I are shorties, so she must have inherited some of her dad’s height!

We are working on getting a schedule down for naps and such, but she is pretty unpredictable right now, but she’s a pretty good sleeper so we are all getting enough rest. The weather has been GORGEOUS this week, so we’ve been playing outside in the sandbox every day and even hit up the pool on Monday with some friends! It was a bit breezy, so as soon as you got out of the water it was chilly, but sitting on the side with my feet in the water was a pretty delightful way to spend the afternoon!

This is a busy week for us- Tomorrow is our 5th anniversary, then Saturday is Paul’s 33rd birthday, then Sunday is Father’s day. I am having a bit of trouble coming up with three separate gifts for him, he is so hard to buy for!

Oh, and I had a question for you, dear readers! Do any of you meal plan? If so, do you use any kind of website or planning system? I’ve been doing it the last few weeks again, but finding it hard to keep track of what I’ve made (and I keep forgetting about the recipes I’ve made and liked) and find myself pouring through Pinterest boards again and again searching for recipes! If you have tried any, please comment and let me know what you’ve used and how it worked for you!

38 Weeks!

Posted on March 31, 2014 by Ali

Welp, still pregnant! She doesn’t seem like she wants to come out any time soon, she’s happily baking away in there. She is very, very active. She keeps flipping around. She is head down for right now (And better stay that way!) but flipped transverse this past weekend, then flipped head down again. A few weeks ago she did some big somersaults and ended up breech for a week, but we got her all sorted out, so hopefully she won’t flip back up! I’m kind of amazed she still has room to move so much, considering I’m measuring around 41 weeks right now (eek!)

Sam is very excited now about his baby sister coming out to ‘play’. He poke my belly button and says “Come out soon, baby sister!” I am hoping she decides to listen to him soon and come out, but we still have a week and two days til my due date, so I guess we should just be patient.

Sam’s newest obsession is “Curr Story” (Toy Story) and he requests to watch it nearly every day. I have a hard time saying no to that face! He tells me that he “reary reary rikes Hoody” (really really likes Woody). I gotta admit I am ok with his obsession with Toy Story, and I’d much rather watch that than Thomas the Tank Engine (his previous obsession).

Spring has finally sprung here in Idaho and it’s absolutely gorgeous out today! Got four loads of laundry done and folded (and put away! The hardest part!), bathroom bleached and scrubbed and the whole house clean and the windows are open to let everything air out- so wonderful after such a long winter to be able to have the doors and windows open and not be freezing. I’ve also been doing a ton of knitting for baby girl that I realize I haven’t shown you guys yet! I need to do a major photo shoot, I just wish I had a baby to model these things on- they’re always cuter on the baby, aren’t they?

Apple Picking

Posted on September 26, 2013 by Ali

This past weekend we went apple picking with some good friends. Sam wasn’t terribly interested in the apples, but was pretty much in love with the tractors.

We’re planning on making some apple butter with the delicious apples we picked, and maybe some fruit leather as well, if we have enough apples! And, my sisters and niece and nephew are coming out tomorrow and I couldn’t be more excited to see them! We’re planning trips to the Farmers Market, seeing the Homecoming parade downtown and a few other fun things. I can’t wait to see them, and I love how much fun Sam has with his cousins.

And happy HAPPY news, I’ve made it to 12 weeks with this little TizzyTong! I am thrilled. I got to hear the heartbeat yesterday at my midwife appointment, and all is looking great. We are beyond thrilled that we’ve made it this far, and praying for a healthy and full-term pregnancy!

Easter

Posted on April 4, 2013 by Ali

We had a great Easter- we were able to spend it with my aunt and uncle and my cousin and his family.

Sam even got to wear his very first suit!

The pants were pretty big on him, so his shirt wouldn’t stay tucked in, but I still think he was the most dashing little man at church! I even got up the gumption to curl my own hair!

We also had crazy-nice weather, extremely sunny and warm, which for end of March in Moscow could mean snow, could mean sunburn- you just never know! We lucked out big time! I worked Saturday, so I had to miss Sam’s first Easter Egg hunt, apparently he wasn’t really into it, he didn’t quite get the point, which at his age is pretty understandable. But he does love opening the plastic eggs! He got two Easter baskets (One from Paul’s mom and one from Paul’s Dad and stepmom) and so he’s been getting lots of treats. The kid goes nuts for chocolate! (Hmmm wonder who he got that from… ceeertainly not the Kvale side!!!)

But today Sam and I are home sick. We’re both getting over an upper respiratory thing which has us both coughing lots. He’s on hour #3 of napping and I just got the house in order- which is hard if you have to stop to cough every 30 seconds! So I think I’ll drink some tea, knit and watch some Netflix instead.

We are a work in progress.

Posted on March 16, 2013 by Ali

I’m not a great mom. Don’t get me wrong, I love my kid. He is fed, he is clean, he is happy, but I’m not a great mom. I am impatient. I am selfish. I’m temperamental. I don’t like being woken up at night and I lose my cool quickly when I am tired or hungry (and I am usually one or the other.) I often feel as though I am not doing ‘enough’. He often watches a TV show once I pick him up from the babysitters because I can’t muster up the energy to run around the backyard and play with him. But we carry on. You can’t give up or take a day ‘off’ of being a parent. 1 year olds aren’t very good at waiting around for you to get your act together to parent. It’s hands on. It’s in the trenches. It’s pb&j in your hair, yogurt on your shirt, drool on your pants and I think I just stepped on a fruit-snack.

Sometimes it hits me that , holy cow, GUYS, THEY LET ME HAVE A KID. (I’m not sure who “they” are, though) I thought a few times right after Sam was born, especially after my mom left and Paul went back to work and I was home alone for the first time. “Um… they trust me enough to leave me on my own with a newborn?” WHAT. And then suddenly that new baby is 18 months old and talking and communicating and being hilarious and awesome. And I still don’t know how to be a ‘mom’. Some of it comes naturally, when he cries, check his diaper, make sure he’s fed, etc. Baby was easy. But now that he’s got more personality and I need to be doing things like teaching him manners, teaching him to not throw fits, how to obey, to listen to his mama, etc I’m finding it increasingly difficult. I thought it would come naturally to me, I’ve always thought I was cut out to be a mom, but man, this is hard work. You know, at least attempt to help them grow up to be a functioning member of society, but no pressure, right? And then there’s the thousands of different ways you can parent, do this, do that, don’t do this, don’t do that, and most of all don’t do this one particular thing because then your kid will grow up to be a psychopath, all because you let him cry in his crib? Whaaaaaaa?

Though we have crappy days and I am overwhelmed at the thought that I am in charge of taking care of a real-live human being, I am constantly humbled and blessed by so many women (in my family and in my community) who show me in very real ways what it’s like to be a parent. How to be selfless and how to be kind and gentle, even when you don’t feel like it. To be constant and consistent with discipline and love. And that’s not an easy job. Though I may not be a ‘great mom’ yet, I am working on it- working on patience and humility, love and kindness, and trying to remember that Sam is a person, too. Not just a ‘baby’, but a person with real emotions and real needs and needs real love. He needs my attention more than Facebook or blogging. He needs me to show him how to respect and love and care for others and how to be nice. And we’re both a work in progress.

Sheesh. Who put me in charge anyway?

Workin’ Mama.

Posted on March 7, 2013 by Ali

I took being a stay at home mom for granted. I could come and go as I pleased, I had enough time to keep the house in order, to keep the kitchen well stocked, dinner made, the toddler entertained. Not so much these days. I always feel as though my head is just barely above water, and that there are a lot of things that are being neglected. It’s either a clean house or a happy kid. It’s making a cup of coffee instead of prepping dinner so I don’t fall asleep at 6pm. It’s being content with a messy house and embracing the fact that things are a little disorganized right now and probably will be for a while.

…And then there’s the guilt. Letting someone else have my kid for the majority of the day. I feel so incredibly guilty that I don’t get to be the one to spend the day with him.I know he is happy hanging out with his buddy (He is watched by one of my close friends who has a son very close in age) and I know it’s good for him to socialize, but I just can’t get over the guilt of not being there for him all the time. I don’t feel like I am doing anything ‘well’ right now. I feel like I am half-assing it at being a mom, half-assing it at work, half-assing it at being a wife. Especially with all of Sam’s heath issues right now. (He is getting over a double ear infection, a sinus infection AND a horrible case of the croup. He’s on antibiotics and had some steroids so things are shaping up!)

It doesn’t help when people say things like “Oh wow, I don’t know how you do that. I could *never* do that. I’d miss my kid too much.” or “I don’t want someone else raising my child for me”. And to an extent, I can agree. I didn’t think I “could” do that. But hey, you learn to do what you have to do when you run out of other options. It really stings when people say things like that, I already feel guilty enough about missing milestones, new words and fun new skills. And part of me just feels sorry for myself for having to be at work around 6am every day, which means getting up before the crack of dawn, being in a rush whenever I am at home and not spending as much quality time with him as I should/want to.

But right now I am just trying to focus on the “Be thankful” part. Being thankful we can pay our rent, that we have reliable cars, that we can buy groceries and clothing, that we have good health insurance. I am trying to be thankful, even though that means my floors don’t get vacuumed and the dishes sit in the sink for a few days. I have to remind myself that there’s only 24 hrs in a day, and at least six of those need to be sleeping hours. Do you know how hard it is to try to go to bed at a reasonable hour when you’re married to a night owl and he’s been successfully pushing back your bedtime for the last 3.5 yrs?

Any other working mama’s out there that can share some advice? Or even just words of encouragement would be more than welcome!

I’ll be back to your regularly scheduled knitting posts just as soon as a certain somebody in California (cough, cough MARY cough, cough) receives their package, then I can show you the contents that I made for baby Hugh!

And yes, I used the word “ass” three times in this post. Can you believe it?

New van, yay!

Posted on February 21, 2013 by Ali

….And just because i made a point in my last post to say that February had been nice so far… we got snow today. Luckily it is pretty much melted and it didnt amount to much, but we had a busy day otherwise. After work we bought a new minivan! (well, new to us!)

And this isn’t a recent picture, but Carlie (Sam’s bff’s mom and his babysitter) took this picture, I cracked up. I think he’s trying to give himself a root canal.

Also, I am getting a new laptop. WOO! Mine is being held together with packing tape right now and the screen flashes off and on and turns purple. It’s weird and looks possessed.

Great use of a tax return, in my opinion!

My hair, my boys and some slippers, oh and one more thing….

Posted on December 30, 2012 by Ali

So I decided to dye my hair red for Christmas. It took three tries to get it actually red, apparently my hair is stubborn or something.

Also, Paul let me sleep in this morning (UNTIL 9AM! Woo!) And when I woke up I came out into the living room to this.

Is that not the cutest thing you’ve ever seen in your life? I’m pretty sure it’s the cutest thing I’ve ever seen. I like these boys.

Also, Sam is pretty darn good at roadtripping (We just got back from Tacoma on Saturday night)

I love how he crosses his legs in his carseat. I am biased, I know, but come on, how cute is he? He also got an awesome table from Grandpa and Grandma and Aunt Carrie for Christmas and it’s pretty much his favorite thing.

He likes to push it up against the piano and play some tunes for us. Usually while wiggling his booty in the air.

And some Christmas knits, as promised! I made felted slippers for all of Paul’s sisters!

And, drumroll, please….. I’ve got a job! A full time one, at that, starting on Monday morning, so I’m going to have to take a break from custom knitting, at least until I get my footing with my new job. I’m sad, but I know that it’ll be a big relief for me to not have to worry about knitting deadlines while working full time and trying to be a good mother and wife. I’ll be sure to let you know once I am ready to take on more knitting projects for other people, but for now I think I’m just going to have to cut cold-turkey! I’ll still be knitting for myself and for Sam, so Knittybutton will (hopefully) still stay somewhat relevant!

I’m really excited about this new step in our lives and hoping it will be good for everyone and that the transition won’t be too hard on Sam. He hasn’t been with babysitters much, so this will be a bit of a new thing for Sam. But he is pretty good at adapting, so I’m sure he’ll be great getting to hang out with his buddy all day. But not gonna lie, I’m a bit nervous! I haven’t worked a ‘real job’ since I was pregnant with Sam, so this could be interesting, but I’ll be glad to have insurance again after a long time without it!

And I’m sure this will make my New Years Resolutions a bit harder (be better about meal planning and cutting out processed foods). Although, come to think of it, maybe not sitting around the house all day will make my constant snacking habit easier to kick!

Any New Year Resolutions on your end?