The Pony

Sissy in a pony tail! She is such a big girl and she knows it.

Sicko

We are so tired of being sick...going on week 4 of this terrible cold/flu bug and no sign of it letting up. It wouldn't be so bad if EVERYONE wasn't needy at the same time. And if we could go out and do something fun without fear of getting everyone else sick. Between the ear infections, pink eye, and the hacking that is going on around here - we are a sorry bunch.

But I've been very productive knitting - finished making another hunter hat I lost (after wearing it once...) and am getting close to finishing my shrug. Hopefully I can get unstuck on the shrug tonight - I made some modifications that are tricky to fix.

Carter is growing up fast all of a sudden. His vocabulary is growing exponentially again - he uses lots of suddenly, actually, prefer, and makes this weird clicking sound when he starts a new idea - where did he pick that up? He is loving preschool, mostly playing with his friends and the play dough. It seems like other kids are painting and creating lots of artsy things and all carter wants to do is the play dough. So this week I made some at home - Sabrina likes it too, but it only keeps them busy for about 10 minutes. Now, if I could just come up with 10 more of those ideas I might be able to really boost the productivity of this household!

Sabrina is so girly too. She brushes her hair out of her face in a very grown up way. Loves wearing dresses. And likes to pretend with dolls. I broke down and bought her a Barbie the other day - Easter Barbie was at safeway for $7 - how could we pass that up? Being home sick for weeks will make you buy just about anything to keep the kids busy and happy. She's so articulate now - she can communicate what she wants very well. But she is also little miss temper tantrum when she doesn't get her way. Intense, face bright red, arms wailing, scratching, angry temper tantrums. So watch out! Our mantra right now is "don't give in" "don't give in" "don't give in"...

But we have been enjoying the sunshine and dry weather. Today Jason cut down a cedar tree by our house - it was very exciting. And we've started our walks with the double stroller again - the kids like to get out of the stroller now and push it or just dawdle and that really reduces the exercise benefit of the whole walk. But it is good fun, so it balances out. The frogs are coming out and we walk across the street to a huge puddle/small pond where they are really loud. Sabrina loves all the different sounds - frogs, birds, airplanes, etc - she gets really excited when she recognizes them.

Generally loving winter and our house and the island. Life is good.

Finished but not loving it

Anyone who knows about my knitting habit likely knows that most things I end up knitting I'm not crazy about. I'm still learning why that is and as frustrating as it is, knitting is relaxing for me and something I can do while hanging out with the kids so it satisfies my need to 'feel' productive.

Take the latest:


I'm not sure why I thought a beret would look good on me. All the women in the patterns I looked at are so chic. And I'm chic (right), so then the beret should look great! Not so much. First it is huge. I have a big head but this hat is huge. Second, it makes me look like a blob. Not what I was going for. Jason just cracked up and insisted on taking a picture - so there you go. I'm about to rip it out and just make a ski cap. I really like the color of this yarn, I can't wear much green but I like this one I found in Hawaii while we were there. In case you want to make it, it was in the most recent issue of Knit Simple magazine.

Some finished objects to share:

I finished Teva's capelet and I hate it. The pattern was messed up - the shoulder shaping was confusing because somewhere along the pattern they forgot about 20 stitches, so that was frustrating. I finished it up as best I could but the shoulders looked silly when I put it on and the neck was too wide. It was a bit too short and it made me look like a blob. Not sure why I keep picking blobby patterns to make. So much for using up my stash. Think I'll make a vest with the yarn instead. Right now it is shoved in a bag. It was a good project to learn how to make cables, though, so not all is lost.

Things I'm currently working on:
Cowl neck from Last Minute Knitted Gifts - http://www.purlbee.com/cashmere-cowl/
And I love the Fitted Knits book I just got and cast on for these quick ones first:
Back to School vest - http://yarncrawl.typepad.com/fittedknitsalong/backtoschool_uneck_vest/index.html
Shug - http://yarncrawl.typepad.com/fittedknitsalong/twotone_ribbed_shrug/index.html

like i need another craft...

i took a needle felting class in october and it was so fun! i made a little lamb and a penguin out of raw wool and it actually turned out cute. anyways, my friend marci gave me some alpaca and i am dying to work with it. not sure yet what i'll create with it but i wanted to document the steps before i forget. so here you go.

1. washing alpaca fleece: http://www.owning-alpaca.com/washing-fleece.html
2. cool characters and teachers site: http://www.woolpets.com/

well sabrina woke up - so much for a brain dump. at least i can clean the fleece now!

what's done is done

well, i did it. i wanted something new and i got it. 'nuff said.

fall photos!

i'm uploading and sending out new photos from kodakgallery*. if you didn't get the email link, let me know and i'll send it to you. things we've been up to over the past month are captured there including:

• our recent trip to appleby's (who knew it would be such a great photo op?)
• scrapbook weekend '07 and my favorite pictures from lindsey's wedding
• our impromptu picnic on the beach (shiver - bad idea in november but couldn't resist a sunny day!)
• my bolero sweater i've been knitting for sabrina but ran out of yarn so one sleeve was longer than the other. i've since fixed it but it is a little big for her so maybe it'll work in the spring since it is short sleeved now?
• playing in the leaves. it really feels like fall around here, the crisp air and all the maple leaves on the ground. we get to see even more sunshine now that all the trees are bare!
• and mr b. carter and i made an ugly doll. he wanted one but i couldn't justify it so one day when sabrina was sleeping and carter didn't want to nap we whipped up this tooth shaped doll. he loves it!

* why am i still using kodakgallery, you might ask? for a few reasons, but mostly because it requires people to sign on so i know who is watching my kiddos. plus my family (read grandparents) know how to use it and all of our pictures are stored over the past 5 years. plus uploading is easy and i don't have to pay for space. so i've got a great/free copy of all of my favorite pictures.

what to do with my wednesday

our day started at 6.30am today and we were having a hard day by the time 8.30 rolled around so i knew we needed to do something and get out of the house. so we headed to silverdale to return some things to target (generating cash :) and went out for lunch. i wanted to try the new weight watchers menu at appleby's and i hadn't been there in a while. the salad i had wasn't very good, but they comped me the salad and i just ate a chicken strip from carter's plate. however, we shared a small dessert and the kids had so much fun eating in a new place. sabrina did this funny thing with her spoon - she was so proud that she could hold it in her mouth without using her hands - and we were cracking up. almost rolling on the floor, uncontrollably laughing. everyone said my kids were so cute (duh!) and we had fun tearing up the place. it was definitely kid friendly - and it helped that they put us in a back corner so we could run around a bit. a souvenir for you from our trip...

knitters tea swap 4

hey there,

i'm just going to pretend that i've been posting regularly all this time. when there is a lapse in posting it is hard to get started again because nothing feels significant enough. anyways - i finally posted a thank you for a knitting swap i did online. i forgot to take a picture of the package that I sent, but it was fun to get a nice surprise of tea and yarn. you can see my post and picture here.

We're back

I'm finally back online after a tough few months. Adjusting to our expanding family is taking all of my energy right now. I used to think that people called fussy babies colicky, but I now understand that Colic is a very real (and difficult) thing to deal with. I'm excited that Sabrina is here and am looking forward to the next few months getting easier. I'll go upload photos and repost links once they are ready. Hope all is well with folks and would like to talk to you soon.

It's a girl!

We found out yesterday that our second baby, due April 9th, will be a girl. Needless to say, we are very excited for this new adventure and are frantically trying to get ready.

First Birthday

We celebrated Carters first birthday on September 3rd at Hood Canal and had a great time with our family. He was not into the presents or cake, but more excited about playing with his cousins. Who could blame him? We've had a great first year and I'm looking forward to next year. Some final monthly milestones for you:

• Carter is blubbering, all the time. He is talking away to himself when he is reading stories or playing on his own, and he'll walk up to you talking gibberish and expect you to understand what he wants.
• He's surprisingly good at communicating what he wants and it is clear that he understands a lot of what we are saying. You can tell him to go find his shoes and he'll track them down from his bedroom. Some of his favorite words include ball, shoe, hat, truck, up, down, boat, and Chewy (Keith & Maria's dog who is staying with us this month).
• He loves books. He likes you to read to him, but he turns the pages and determines the pace. And he'll take all of the books off his shelf one at a time to have you read them to him. He also sits and reads to himself.
• He pretends to talk on the phone. He holds the phone up to his ear backwards and starts jabbering. Really cute.
• He's doing better at playing independently - he loves taking stuff out of the kitchen cabinets and getting into the garbage. Time to install some locks on the drawers...
• He's fascinated with buckles - tries to unbuckle his highchair or car seat.
• Easily frustrated if something isn't going his way. And he gets overstimulated quickly if there are too many people around or it is too noisy - Gets very fussy. He also started biting when he is mad. We've got to work on that.
• He's a good eater - loves eggs, grapes, edamame, beans - pretty much any finger food that isn't crunchy. We've got to work on the vegetables a little bit. Still having a reaction to tomatoes, sweet potatoes, and carrots. But it is nice because we can feed him food that I prepare for dinner.

I posted new pictures to his first year album from the birthday party. I've also created a new one for his toddler years since there were almost 180 pictures in the other album. Enjoy!

11 months

Almost one year - I need to get busy planning his birthday! The highlights

- Carter is starting to understand that objects can go inside other objects. It is very fun to watch him carefully remove a block and then put it right back in the bucket. Really cute.
- He carries around a big truck his grandma brought him that he can also put stuff in the back and take it out and put it back in and take it out and put it back in.
- Loves walking - will take your finger and walk back and forth. Most of the time though he pulls himself up on furniture and then takes off across the room without help. No place in the house is out of reach now - and he loves practicing this new skill all the time. He also grabs onto the Jeep on the ExerSaucer and walks around in circles dragging the jeep with him.
- Carter is a ham - he's totally social. He'll walk up to folks and get right in their face to force them to look at him. He loves playing with other kids and doesn't understand when they get scared (because he's running to them to talk or wants to give them 'kisses' with his teeth!)
- Teething - Is working on his 8th tooth right now.
- Is starting to get adventurous with finger food. Is still very picky about texture and takes some coaxing, but last night he liked to munch on noodles, cheese, peas, and tomatoes.
- Favorite toy is a wooden alligator on a string he pulls behind him walking up and down the hall.
- Talking a lot - now has entire conversations with you in jibberish, he likes to join in on any conversation in person or on the phone, and can say up/down (one word more like p-dow) in addition to truck, dad, mom, dog, annika (an-ka). sometimes will mimic words right after you say them.
- Still not loving the sign language we are working on. Will use all-done but the rest he understands but won't use himself yet. He's already trying to say the words we want him to sign.
- Started to throw temper tantrums when he doesn't get his way. Starts screaming, face all red, body all stiff, pulling at your arm or finger hard and arching his back so you can't hold him. This is going to be fun...

I quit

I've decided to quit Amazon at the end of September. I'm feeling pretty good about my decision to stay home with Carter and focus on our family right now. It was a surprisingly freeing decision - while I could figure out how to make it work and my part-time gig is pretty nice - I choose to step out of the paid work force. I was really scared that if/when I did make that decision I'd close a lot of doors in terms of future opportunities to work on something compelling and exciting. Let's face it - we work in a culture where mom's aren't really valued and taking time off of work for a long period of time is suspect. The other risk is that I've developed an expertise in an industy that is rapidly changing and while I've focused on building a general management skillset - I'll have to sell myself pretty agressively in the future. And of course as soon as I made that decision I got a ton of external director and vp level job opportunities at local companies that were almost too good to pass up. But it was easy in a way because I don't want to work full-time. Carter is way too much fun and having two working parents is really stressful. I'd rather simplify our life and enjoy this time as a family. As soon as I made the decision I felt much better - I'll let the future take care of itself.

I'm also excited about leaving Amazon. I thought I'd miss work more than I did - being on maternity leave gave me some perspective on how crazy Amazon really is. It isn't a fun place to work anymore and I'm ready for a change - I've been working in online marketing at Amazon for almost 6 years.

I didn't anticipate how challenging motherhood is either. Not only am I caring for Carter (nanny), but managing the family finances (CFO), coordinating our activities/volunteering/planning for fun stuff, cooking (chef), running errands, cleaning the house, and taking care of myself has been crazy. Caring for Carter has required me to be the most creative I've ever been. Plus I'm having a blast.

So come October I'll have time to reconnect with friends and take care of my family.

10 Months Already!

The past couple of months have been very eventful and full of big milestones. We've been camping twice and hung out at Hood Canal a couple of times. It is getting harder to live in the moment and soak it all up - but we're having a great time watching Carter's personality develop even more. Here are some more milestones to share with you:

• Eating well - likes everything we've tried so far. Starting to feed himself cheerios, though isn't excited about anything else I've put in front of him.
• Reads books to himself - cracking up at little faces as he reads the stories
• Still loving his bath - now splashes and reads books
• Talking to the birds and dogs on our walk (first official word is Dog)
• Walking along furniture and with one hand
• Carrying things with him when he crawls or walks
• Loves to dance to music or rythms
• Looks to the sky when he hears airplains and gets excited when he finds them
• Fascinated with buckles and straps
• Getting used to camping in the camper. The first couple of times were a nightmare - he wakes up and doesn't know where he is. But he loves playing in the playpen Jason made for him.
• Teething like crazy - now has 4 teeth on top and two on the bottom

I posted more pictures in our online photo album if you'd like to see them. Some fun camping pictures from our trips to Kelso and Kalaloch.

8 Months

Technically we are at 8 1/2 months - but better late than never, right? Here's the latest milestones:

• Mastering holding and minipulating objects - but still explores everything with his mouth
• Playing with ears and plays with his hair while drinking his bottle
• Walking around the coffee table, sofa, etc and moving between objects that are close enough to hold onto
• Vocalizing a lot - Carter likes to talk and will walk up to a chair, pull himself up to standing, extend his hand high up in the air, and yell at the top of his lungs
• Waves like an expert when people come or go
• Knows that when the garage door opens someone is coming home - knows that when dad puts his coat on he's leaving for work
• A little separation anxiety - when I leave the room he gets upset and when dad goes to work he cries
• Allergic to carrots and sweet potatoes still
• Loves typing on the keyboard and pulling off letters
• Re-learning how to fall asleep on his own
• Three teeth and more coming on top
• Attacks other kids when he greets them still - tries to give them kisses by pulling them on the ears to come closer
• Doesn't like loud environments
• Loves playing in the mirror - giggles, waves, and talks to himself
• House is now babyproofed - loves outlets and cables
• Likes playing with dogs - chases them around and pulls their tails

Congrats Lindsey!

I'm excited that my little All-American sister just landed an internship at Nike in LA working with their entertainment group upon graduation. Just one more dream she's accomplished in a long and impressive list. Way to go!

More pictures of Lindsey here.

Ear Infection!

I probably should have detected this sooner, but we found out this morning that Carter has an ear infection. Poor kid has had a hard time sleeping and started pulling at his ears a little bit this weekend, but has been his normal self until he woke up this morning screaming bloody murder! He should start feeling better tonight with the antibiotics and hopefully we'll be able to start getting a full nights sleep again.

WestSide

We are in the process of becoming members of WestSide Presbyterian church. It was a hard decision to leave my home church, but I'm excited to join a church closer to home and make new friends. Pastor Paul Smith is a dynamic, bright speaker and I'm learning a lot. I highly recommend his book 'God's Plan for Our Good' - it tackles tough issues including the sovereignty of God, presense of evil in the world, and human freedom in a way that is easy to understand.

7 Months

This month has been high-energy. It is amazing to me that Carter is still developing so quickly - you would think my lists would get shorter, not longer! More highlights for you:

• second tooth popped through on bottom - really cute when he smiles now
• waving at people to say hi or bye
• standing up as often as he can - will use anything as a prop to stand
• babbling sounds like real words instead of same thing over and over
• not sleeping through night anymore - wakes up once or twice but can be rocked back to sleep pretty quickly
• picky eater - as well as being allergic
• understands NO
• bath time is chaotic - immediately rolls over and slips all over the place
• gives kisses and reaches for people
• likes to watch dad working in the garage or on the camper
• crawling really fast - still need to baby proof
• no fear - crawls right off our bed or would lunge down the stairs
• hair is getting long enough to curl
• in process of changing schedule to two long naps (1.5-2hrs) instead of a nap each feeding cycle - carter is much happier when he takes longer naps
• still likes to read books
• started water babies class on Weds and he loves splashing me in the face!
• doesn't like crowded or loud places

More pictures posted in his one year album.

6 1/2 month milestones

This month was very exciting. I couldn't wait for the whole month before creating new milestones. Carter kept us busy as he started to become mobile. Highlights:

• Crawling forward and scooting backward
• Propping himself up with one arm by himself in an almost sitting position
• Communicating very well - excited when you read his favorite book, communicates when he wants more food or is done eating, wants to be picked up or go to someone else, when he is bored, hungry, etc.
• Plays independently for longer periods. Favorite toys are his teething butterfly, keys.
• Standing while holding onto something (play table, crib, etc.). Tries to grab the mobile in his crib by pulling himself up.
• Persistent attitude - is a good problem solver
• Loves talking to people (especially ones he knows, though he will smile at just about anyone)
• Sleeping 10-12 hrs between feedings at night
• Eating 2 meals/day (allergic to most veggies - good excuse eh?)
• Tooth popped through on lower left
• Loves it when you sing to him - especially 'the wheels on the bus go round and round'
• Took Easter pictures with his cousin Elyse
• Loves playing with himself in the mirror
• Is a wild man in the bath - splashing like crazy with his hands and feet, tilts his head to the side so one eye is under water and he can gulp the water