Knitting Baby Blanket, Plants Update, and Reading On

 Hello Friends,

I hope you are doing well. It has been busy around here lately with Evan starting to walk and crawl. He still needs assistance with walking and I hold him up a lot to walk to wherever he wants to go. His crawling is coming along too. He reaches for what he needs and he will move his legs a bit to grab items but still working on it. It has been fun to see how much he is growing in the past week. It is feeling a lot like Fall now which I love. I love the cooler air and sweater weather! I have gone on one walk so far with Evan in this cooler weather and I loved wearing a sweater and Evan was in a onesie and cozy. 

I have been knitting the Arches Baby Blanket. I unfortunately have run into another tangle! I can't believe it. I know I sometimes toss the blanket onto my shelf to go get my baby but it seems like a lot. It is Snuggly Wuggly wool by Loops & Threads. I will untangle this week and still really aiming for a Sunday finish and blocking this weekend. Millie looks like she likes the blanket, as I was taking photos of my blanket she walked on and laid down. She seems to approve.

Evan is almost 10 months old I can't believe it! He is now making lots of sounds and really lets it be known what he wants to do. Here he is playing with Millie below. She has started to be a bit weary of him because he can move around a lot faster so she comes near but keeps a distance now.

I have really been loving the Carter's brand of baby and kids clothing. I go to the store nearby sometimes but mostly like to put in an order through the Carter's site when they have good sales for the upcoming season. Amazon also carries Simple by Carter's and I love just being able to order onesies or whatever he needs quickly. I loved this shirt below the says "Daddy's mighty guy" baby clothes are so cute!

Here is Evan below looking through his Toronto ABC book. It has been one of his favourites and one he is always happy to have read to him. It is also fun for us to think of all the places we can bring him around Toronto in the future when he is older.

My African violets are doing well and the one from my old apartment on the left is thriving with flowers now. I love seeing how it just blossomed over the Summer. I bought the one on the right this Summer to add another plant. African violets are okay to have with cats so they are my new go to and they look so pretty. They are really resilient too and even if they aren't watered for awhile they can come back. The bamboo plant below is down to the last stalk but hanging in there. I used to have it in the washroom when I was worried about Millie biting it but she is pretty good with plants so it is back on the kitchen counter near the breakfast bar. I think it does better here with the light and gets more water.

I have just started reading It Ends With Us by Colleen Hoover. I think I will like it just from the way the book starts. I like the chemistry between the characters and I am looking forward to reading more. I plan to get the book It Starts With Us as the sequel once I finish It Ends with Us.

Joining along with As Kat Knits for Unraveled Wednesday. 

Thank you for visiting my blog today! I hope that you are also having a great week! I hope to come back Sunday with good news of completing my blanket. 

Have a great day!

Knitting the Arches Baby Blanket and Reading On

Hello Friends,

I hope you are doing well. I got the yarn untangled finally this week! I was untangling as much as possible and then I decided to just cut what I couldn't untangle anymore. I thought the yarn might be weaker in those spots and don't want to affect the blanket once it is done. I am so happy to be knitting again. It felt so silly that I was spending my valuable knitting time just untangling! I missed knitting and following the pattern. I am continuing on with the Arches baby blanket and I am getting so close to being done. I feel like it is so long since I started knitting it now, last November right before I had Evan. I have knitted during his short newborn naps and then through his longer naps now as an infant. I have more time now during his naps for cleaning, preparing food, knitting etc. It is a good feeling. I wanted the share some photos of the blanket now I have about 2.5 repetitions left to go. I am on the 12th repetition of 16 row repeat now of 14 repetitions of the pattern. So the end is in sight! then I will bind off for the final row.

I am still reading Every Summer After by Carly Fortune. It is really good so far. I am looking forward to starting to read It Ends With Us by Colleen Hoover hopefully next week. I have been reading Self- Care for Moms by Sara Robinson here and there and I like the advice so far. It is so important to work on self-care all the time especially in the busy times of being a new mom.

I bought a cute pumpkin mug from Indigo recently that I have been enjoying drinking from in the morning. I am so happy it is almost Fall and I am thinking of decorating soon.

Joining along for the link up over at As Kat Knits for Unraveled Wednesday.

Thank you for visiting my blog today! I hope that you enjoy the rest of your weekend. Let me know in the comments below what you are working on and reading this week! Take care :)

Untangling Yarn, Baby Updates, and Summer Days

 Hello Friends,

I hope you are doing well. It has been over a month since my last post! Time really flies by so fast and I think especially in the Summer. I can't believe that we are at the end of Summer now even though it goes until end of September, it feels like end of Summer once it is back to school for the kids and it is getting colder outside. Nights are also getting shorter around 8 pm now it is getting dark. I am happy though, because I love Fall the most of the seasons. Pumpkins, pumpkin spice lattes, sweater weather, and Halloween! It is Evan's first Fall and Halloween this year and I am thinking of costumes already. I found a cute outfit for Thanksgiving and want to get some onesies and clothes to wear that are more fall colors. I just ordered him a couple of the Karen Katz lift the flap books one is Baby Loves Fall and the other is Where is Baby's Pumpkin. I can't wait to read them to him.

In knitting, I unfortunately ran into the tangled yarn problem once again so it has really halted my progress on the baby blanket. I work on untangling a bit during baby's naps and make some progress on getting it untangled. I have cut and weaved in new yarn before but I am trying not to this time to just avoid having to weave in more ends.

In reading, I started reading Every Summer After by Carley Fortune. I restarted reading it because I had put it down to read book Lovers by Emily Henry. I ordered It Ends With Us by Colleen Hoover. I hope I like it and will ask for the next book for my birthday if I do.

I have been making some solid foods for Evan. I mostly have given him pouches and jars of food and have been working on making more for him to have variety. I made peach puree that he wasn't a big fan of. I also have made sweet potato, and cherry. He didn't like the sweet potato on its own so I found a recipe in my organic baby food book with a cherry and sweet potato combination that he liked yesterday. I bought some mangos to also cut up for him to try in little pieces for a meal today with banana. Now that he is 9 months he will be having chunkier purees. I find lots of ideas in the Big Book of Organic Baby Food by Stephanie Middleberg. I like that in this book there is some guidance on what to feed your baby at each age. This gives me an idea of what I can feed him based on his skills and age. There are also recipes once he is toddler and older for meals we can have together one day.

Evan is growing and learning and he is getting big! He is 9 months old as of yesterday. He loves to stand assisted now and he gets on his hands and knees looking ready to crawl. He is so sweet and laughs at peekaboo and when we blow our noses. I made this laundry basket activity I saw one day on Instagram account. He enjoyed it I had it up for a couple of days. 

My plant outside is doing so well. It really expanded since my last pic! It definitely thrives out on our rooftop terrace. I moved our plant from our front porch up here too and it is doing better getting lots of sun and water.

I got this sign for Evan's nursery on Etsy from OliveBranchHomeDecor and I have been loving it above his change table. The day I put it up, Millie had to be there to investigate and see what I was doing. I have a few other pictures to hang in his room and a rug I want to order still a work in progress.

I have been enjoying my Maternity leave and it ends in May 2024. I have been having busy days with Evan. We have our routine and we spend time nursing, trying foods, going on walks, playing, singing songs, practicing new skills, and just having a good time together. As he gets bigger there is so much more to do with him. I want to go on more walks to stores with him and more visits to family and friends. Maybe check out a program at the library for babies. 

Joining along with As Kat Knits for Unraveled Wednesday. 

I will try not to be a stranger this month. I am planning on posting weekly on Sundays again in September. I really miss blogging when I have been away. I will catch up on your blogs now too. I hope that you all are enjoying your summers too!

Have a great day!

Knitting, Reading, and Plants Update

 Hello Friends,

I hope you are doing well. This past weekend was busy with family plans so didn't get to posting. The past two days have been nice, Liam has been off work Monday and Tuesday for Canada day weekend. It has been nice having more family time and always great to have his help with the baby. The past four days we have been sleep training Evan using the Ferber method. We took the Taking Cara Babies course. It has been working so well so far. He takes some time to go to sleep but then does settle after we go and reassure him. I recommend it so far if someone is thinking of taking the course.  Our baby is 7 months now and we feel he is ready at this age for the training. I took this photo below on the first night. He was crying in between pop ins, so I was knitting and journaling while I waited. It helped me to feel calmer and deal with my stress. My Arches baby blanket is getting closer to being done. I have been knitting more at night now while we are training Evan. I am almost done this 11th repetition, then there are just three more to go! I have some other projects in mind, so I am looking forward to finishing the blanket to get started.

I did some reading outside during Evan's nap last week. We had a few days of bad air quality so it was nice to finally be able to sit outside and read and get some air (not sure how fresh). I am still reading Book Lovers by Emily Henry. I am really wanting to finish it soon to move onto Every Summer After by Carly Fortune. I did start reading it, but will wait now until finished this one.  

I have this plant upstairs on our terrace and it is doing pretty well now. It gets a lot of sun and rain being up on our roof. I love this kind of plant II also got it a couple of years ago for the terrace. It survived while my poor marigolds struggled.  The plant I bought originally started off pretty low in the planter, and now it is really growing out and even more since this photo I took last week. 

I bought this beautiful arrangement from Canadian Tire a few weeks ago, and I am really loving how it looks on our front porch. There are a couple different plants and flowers. I love how the flower in the middle is blooming now. I have a water bulb in the back that helps me to keep the plant watered. 

I still have my African violet and my bamboo plant inside that are doing okay. The African violet isn't flowering but keeping the plant alive, the bamboo is down to one of the three stalks now also keeping it alive. Hope to maybe encourage them to thrive soon. I will try getting more soil for the African violet and not sure what to do for the bamboo plant but just keep watering it. 

Joining along with As Kat Knits for Unraveled Wednesday.

Thank you for visiting my blog today! I hope you are having a good week. There is a heat warning here in Toronto today, so I am just getting things done around the house. 

Have a great day!

Life Lately

 Hello Friends,

I hope you are doing well. It has been awhile since I posted! I have been busy with Evan. He is now 6.5 months old and he is learning and growing a lot. He sits mostly unassisted and he is starting to roll to his tummy. He is such a fun and cute baby.  We are laughing at the cute things he does and it is such a fun age. I managed to get some time this morning to knit, also to take photos, and blog. He has longer naps sometimes that allow me to get in more time to do things. I threw in a load of laundry, gave Millie brushes, and got her breakfast. Then I sat down with my coffee, knitted, and then blogged. It has been a nice morning. He will probably wake up any minute.

I have been working steadily on the blanket. I knit when I can find time now I have around 4 repetitions left to go then will wash and block the blanket. I have shown Evan a bit of it and he likes to touch the blanket and also play with the tassels on the knitting bag. I hope that he likes the blanket and it is cozy for him to snuggle with soon.

Millie and Evan have been developing their relationship. He reaches out to pet her and she is gentle and doesn't react too much. We keep a close eye when they are close together. I don't want him to grab her tail or hit her by accident and that might cause her to get defensive. So far so good. She likes to join us at mat time and walk around him and observe what he is doing. She won't pass him if he is kicking or moving his arms around too much. If it is safe to pass, she will slowly walk past him and he will follow her with his eyes and smile and sometimes try to reach out to her.

In reading, there hasn't been much of it lately. I really want to improve on this in July and increase my reading. I do love to sit down and read a good book. Book Lovers by Emily Henry has still been on my shelf and I started Every Summer After by Carley Fortune. I like both of the books and will work on adding more reading into my days.

Thank you for visiting my blog today! I hope you are having a good weekend :)

Knitting the Arches Baby Blanket

 Hello Friends,

I hope you are doing well. I haven't been on here as much lately time is going by so fast and the weekends are getting busier with plans with the warm weather here now. I've made more progress on my knitting and happy to say I am more than halfway done the baby blanket. I have 5 repetitions to go!  It has been a slow knitting project for me knitting when I can find a moment with a baby. I love how it is turning out so far. I am following the Arches Baby Blanket pattern on Ravelry by LJM Designs. I love how simple the pattern is written to follow it and how the pattern flows so nicely. I really love the design with the lace and think it won't be a really heavy warm blanket for Spring because of the eyelet stitches. Here are my notes on Ravelry so far.

I am reading Every Summer After by Carley Fortune. It is great so far when I can find time to read it is an easy read. I still have Book Lovers by Emily Henry on the go too. I will be reading both for awhile.

My friends came by to visit Evan this past weekend and brought these beautiful flowers. I was thinking of planting them outside since they came in a pot and I need some flowers outside right now. 

Joining along with As Kat Knits for Unraveled Wednesday.

Thank you for visiting my blog! I will try to post more frequently and keep to my Sunday posting schedule. I really love checking in here to update on knitting and life. I like reading your blogs too and will also try to make more time to visit you :) 

Have a great day!

Easter Weekend, Knitting, and Updates

 Hello Friends,

I hope you are doing well and had a good week! I was going to post on Monday after a busy Easter weekend with family, but the week went by so fast and didn't get to posting. I am posting today though on Friday, and it is a happy and sunny Friday. I always am so excited on Fridays now because I look forward to spending time together as a family and Liam isn't working and I get more me time haha. I get my time during the week during naps and when I can find it. My Mother in law helps me once a week too and she comes to watch Evan and I go get groceries, go to an appointment, catch up on tasks like laundry etc. It really helps to get that time as well. Easter was great we went over to Liam's mom's place, my MIL who helps with Evan. We had a lovely turkey dinner and it was nice to see people again and them to see Evan. Then on Sunday, my family came over so my mom and dad, my sister and her husband and my nephew Luca. It was busy here with two babies and a cat lol. I really enjoy having them here to all be together to share a meal and make memories. I put on a little Easter egg hunt for Luca and it was cute to see him going around looking for the eggs. Evan mostly napped and spent time in someone's arms taking it all in. I made baked chicken and roasted carrots and mashed potatoes. We also had some cauliflower casserole from my parents and had appetizers before and a lovely Easter cake I forgot to take a photo of. 

I also put together an Easter basket for Evan for his first Easter. I got Luca the same wicker bunny basket that had bubbles and some bunny glasses inside. He used it for his Easter egg hunt too. I got Evan a book called You are my Sunshine by Caroline Jayne Church. I used to sing this song to him while I was pregnant so it is a special song for us. He likes it as I sing and flip through the pages. I got him a Sassy ball that has different parts that stick out to explore. I also got a Skip Hop dog that has different colors and fun things to explore. 

The arches baby blanket is coming along. I have been knitting a couple of rows a day during naptimes. It is so peaceful and calming to knit while he is sleeping and a nice quiet activity that won't wake him up. I am almost at the halfway point in the blanket. I can't wait to be able to use it on our stroller walks this Spring. I better hurry because the weather has been more like Summer lately at 26 degrees Celsius today.

I am still getting a lot of cuddles from Evan and he is 4.5 months old now. He is growing so fast and really doing so many fun things now like talking a lot and smiling. He is reaching for toys and he is rolling over from tummy to back. I am really trying to slow down and enjoy him while he is so small and look forward to seeing all the things he learns and can do as he grows. 

Millie has been doing well too. She keeps an eye on us while doing mat time and she likes to perch at the back of the glider in the nursery. She also does this when I am nursing and she keeps us company. I try to also give Millie lots of attention too she likes being brushed and she is always asking us for more attention and to get her toy crinkle balls from under the couch.

Joining along with As Kat Knits for Unraveled Wednesday.

Thank you for visiting my blog this week! I love to come on here and to reflect on the week and to share things that go on and progress on my knitting. It really holds me accountable and I love to look back on past posts through the years. 

Have a great weekend and I will be back to share on Sunday!

Knitting and Puzzle Progress

 Hello Friends,

I hope you are doing well. Happy April! This past week flew by and I got some knitting done on the arches baby blanket by LJM designs on Ravelry. I am happy to see more progress on it now and it is getting longer. I look forward to using it on our stroller walks and the weather is still cool now but there is hope for warmer weather around the corner.

Evan has been doing well. He is growing and learning a lot now. It is fun to see him progress and we do lots of mat time during the week. He is four months old now!

Millie keeping us company sitting on the glider in the nursery during nap time. She is happy sometimes to be close by but keeping her distance.

I was working on my puzzle again this past weekend and made some progress. Millie was attacking the pieces every once and awhile but then stopped and rested and let me work. I didn't get all the edge pieces set up like usual but working on getting that done now. I didn't read at all last week I will work on reading more this week.

Thank you for visiting my blog today and I hope that you had a good weekend. What are you working on this week?