Knitting Scarf, Change Approaching, Reading On

 Hello Friends,

I hope you are doing well. I have been busy with my toddler and still on Maternity leave that lasts for up to 18 months in Canada. I am on month 15 now and thinking about going back to work in a few months. My employer is very good with people coming back from Maternity leave and trains and works with us to transition back into work. I think it will be a good transition back. So far my work is still remote so I will be working from home which I really love. Evan has a spot in a local daycare and we are looking forward to him starting. It will all be a change in the next few months that will be exciting, stressful, and full of emotions. I have been with him for 15 months now and we have a routine and things we do. I have loved being with him so long to see his milestones and spend special moments together. I also nursed him until 14.5 months so it was really nice to be able to do that. I started weaning in December and took it slow to follow his lead and how I was feeling as well. I was thinking today how that will change and there will be a new routine. But that is life. Always changing. 

I have been continuing to work on knitting the Rough Rib Scarf by on Ravelry. I like this pattern it is very simple and the same repeat each row. I love knitting with the thick and quick bulky yarn too it is so soft and nice to work with. I hope to be done soon so Liam can wear it before it warms up outside!

I have been reading Tom Lake by Ann Patchett and Whole Brain child by Dan Siegel. I am liking these books and hope to finish the Whole Brain Child soon. I think I will use the teachings more as Evan gets older since they are more geared towards older toddlers and up. 

I got these cute barns with animals on Amazon for Evan. It is called Learning Resources Peekaboo Learning Farm. I was looking for some other toys to work with him on colors, numbers, and animals. I love how this is such an open ended toy. There are five barns with five animals: horse, duck, donkey, pig, and cow. I saw a video Ms Rachel did so I use the similar vocabulary when playing with him like open the barn, color of the barn, number, and animal and the sounds they make. It has been fun and he gets excited to see what animal it is and we say peekaboo because he loves peekaboo games with us. 

Millie has been busy and always following us around she loves lots of attention. The first photo below she was zooming around and she gets hyper and dives into her hammock. 

Joining along with As Kat Knits for Unraveled Wednesday. 

Thank you for visiting my blog today! I know I said I would post on Sunday but didn't have it ready that day. I will work on getting back to my posting schedule because Sunday is a great day for me to post since Liam is home and can also help with Evan. 

Have a great day!

Knitting a Scarf, Homemade Playdough, and Reading On

 Hello Friends,

I hope you are doing well. I have cast on a scarf for Liam. I am following pattern Rough Rib Scarf by Cindy Colbert from Ravelry. I am using the yarn Lion Brand Wool Ease Thick and Quick in the colorway Navy. It looks darker in the photo below than it is. It is nice to be back knitting again, I had a break after finishing the stocking for Evan at the end of the year. I am about halfway done now and just switched to the second skein I had. 

I finished reading It Starts With Us by Colleen Hoover. It was good! I liked the first book of the series It Ends With Us better. There was just more drama I guess and so much happened that was emotional and just really intense. The sequel is more calm and a continuation of the story where they left off with a lot of reflecting back to parts I read already in the first book. I have started reading Tom Lake by Ann Patchett and just a few pages in but seems like it will be a good story and I like her writing. I did read her book Commonwealth and enjoyed that one.

I made playdough for Evan on Tuesday this week during his first nap. I used a recipe from Living Well Mom. I let it cool then put it away and played with Evan with it after lunch that day. Since then it has kept very well in a Ziploc bag in a Tupperware container. It lasts a few months according to the Erika on her blog. I will let you know how it goes! I want to make more in other colors. Evan really enjoys squishing it and he does taste it as well but I have peace of mind know it is safe for him if he has some because of the natural ingredients. 

Millie has also been doing well just relaxing and also zooming around. In these photos she is more relaxed. The photo on her cat tree is her favourite spot. Lately she is sitting on the chair I grab to sit with Evan when he are in the kitchen. She always likes to be a part of what we are doing.

Joining along with As Kat Knits for Unraveled Wednesdays. I link up with her knitting and reading link up parties once and awhile and it is nice to see what others are also blogging about and working on :)

Thank you for visiting my blog today! It is a snowy day here in Toronto and it motivated me to be cozy this morning reading and knitting, and then blogging in the afternoon. Hope you are enjoying the week! It is almost the weekend :) I will be back here on Sunday for another post see you then!

 Have a great day!

Knitting Pumpkin Hat, Puzzle, and Reading On

 Hello Friends,

I hope you are doing well. I finished reading It Ends with Us by Colleen Hoover. It was such a good book and definitely a page turner for me. I felt like reading it all the time to see what happened next. I asked for the next book in the short series; It Starts With Us for my birthday in anticipation that I would love the first one. I am so glad I did because I can't wait to get started on her sequel next. I cast on a pumpkin hat using the Cozy Pumpkin Hat pattern by Ksenia Naidyon. We are going to the pumpkin patch soon with Evan, so I wanted to knit him a pumpkin hat to wear while we were there. It is getting cold out too so will be good for him to have the festive hat to wear. So far I have knitted the hem and a bit of the body of the hat but still a ways to go to finish it. 

 I worked on my puzzle a bit this weekend that I haven't done in a long time. This one with the cats and books is fun to work on and there is a lot of detail. I managed to get some time to work on it when Millie was busy looking for a fly so she didn't attack the puzzle. It is just part of the puzzle below. 

Millie is doing well. She was busy with the fly lately I think it flew away I haven't seen it for awhile. She is so gentle with Evan and he is still so excited when he sees here and she sometimes rolls over onto her back in a friendly way. 

I was so happy to be able to take Evan out on a walk and use the Arches baby blanket I knitted to keep him warm. Soon it will be too cold and we will be getting him a zip up for winter walks in the stroller. Evan is also doing so well.  He is almost 11 months old now and wanting to walk and crawl everywhere. He is eating so many solids now and he is so curious about a lot we have around. 

Thank you for visiting my blog today! I hope that you are having a good start to the week and had a good weekend. I am getting excited for Halloween now. I won't be doing too much, but I like to watch a Halloween movie and have some candy and chocolate on Halloween night. 

Have a great day!

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!

Happy Spring, Knitting, and Updates

 Hello Friends,

I hope you are doing well. This past week was busy with keeping up with Evan and running some errands. I find the weeks go by fast while on maternity leave. I know I felt like this with work too that the week went by fast, but sometimes they went by slower than now. I like that my days are filled with baby cuddles, smiles, and playtime. There are also busy and some challenging times to but we can always get past them and learn from them. I like seeing him meet his milestones and so grateful to be able to spend the 18 months maternity leave getting to know him and supporting his development. It is the first day of Spring tomorrow and I am feeling the change shift a bit already with the sun shining more and with daylight savings time it has been lighter out later. It was snowing today though, so it still feels pretty wintry here in Toronto.

I have knitted a lot this past week. I think I am getting more into creating a routine that allows for doing things I love to do. I can usually knit a bunch while Evan is napping like on Friday I was lucky and got to knit for a long time while he was taking a nap. Knitting is a priority of mine lately. I really want to finish the blanket because I am excited to use it for Evan's walks in the stroller in the Spring. I am still reading Book Lovers by Emily Henry. I read a bit of the book last night but I didn't read much last week. 

I haven't done a plant update in so long,  I only have two plants now since we got Millie. I used to have a couple of philodendrons. One that was given to me by my mom, and one that I started growing from a cutting. Those are poisonous to cats so I gave them to my sister. Now I have the African Violet below that is still doing pretty well, no flowers yet but should flower soon this Spring. Millie doesn't bother with that one. The bamboo plant that is in the bathroom doesn't get much sun I moved it so Millie wouldn't eat it. Two of the stalks have died there is one remaining that I am thinking of repotting and putting in our bedroom on the high shelf away from Millie and see if I can bring it back to life. As the weather gets nicer, I look forward to having more plants outside on our rooftop terrace and our front porch.

On Friday night I had some wine and worked on my puzzle. It is a Cobble Hill puzzle that has both cats and books, two of my loves. The funny thing is when I work on my puzzle that has cats on it, it is easier if Millie isn't around because she likes to pounce on the pieces and chew on them. I like to do the puzzle when she is upstairs or napping.

Millie was enjoying the sun shining this morning on her cat tree. 

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

Thank you for visiting my blog and I hope that you have a great weekend and great week ahead! 

Weekend Working on the Puzzle and Relaxing

 Hello Friends,

I hope that you are doing well. The weekend flew by again and I didn't do as much as planned. I spent Saturday getting groceries, studying for my LOMA course, doing Laundry, and relaxing. On Sunday I studied more and then I chatted with my parents on Facetime for quite awhile and then relaxed and worked on my puzzle. Later on in the evening I watched Before the 90 days and planned my my Happy Planner for the week.

I worked more on the puzzle I had taken a bit of a break with the puzzle lately. It was nice and relaxing to work on it more.

I bought Millie a couple of new toys this weekend. Here she is below playing with the new toy that springs up when you push it down, has catnip inside and a feather on top. She went crazy over this toy right when I gave it to her. She was rolling around with it and was so playful.

Thank you for visiting my blog today! I hope that you also had a good weekend and have a great week ahead!

Weekend Family time and Relaxing

 Hello Friends,

I hope you are doing well. This weekend flew by and I really enjoyed it. I went with Liam to visit some friends on Friday night, then Saturday I spent a lot of quality time at home. On Sunday, my family visited and spent time with us and Millie. It was a great weekend and went by too quickly as usual. Here are some photos from the weekend of Millie.

She loves sitting in bags and I haven't seen her go into boxes, but she did this weekend it was so cute.

When my family came over, my dad threw a blanket over Millie and then she was cozy so she stayed all wrapped up like a burrito. 

After my family left, Millie was napping for hours and this is her finally waking up and cleaning.

Thank you for visiting my blog today! I hope that you had a great weekend too. 

Have a great day!

Knitting Cowl and Reading On

 Hello Friends,

I hope you are doing well. I am happy it is Wednesday and getting closer to the weekend. This week is going by a bit slow, but it was fun on Valentine's day Monday. It felt special celebrating with Liam and with some work activities during the day. 

I am still knitting the Copy cat cowl by Verna Glass on Ravelry. I am getting close to being done and hopefully will reveal the finished cowl next Wednesday. I am loving this pattern and find it so relaxing to knit while watching TV.

Millie is my favourite coworker. She keeps me company while I am working sleeping on the bed we have set up for her on the desk.

I am still reading The Bookshop of Yesterdays by Amy Meyerson. I have been enjoying the story more and more. I have been reading a bit every morning, so I am getting more reading in now that I am sticking to my morning routine and reading is a part of that routine.

Joining along with As Kat Knits for Unraveled Wednesday.

Thank you for visiting my blog today and I hope that you are having a good week so far. Hope to see you again Friday for the Friday Focus post.

Have a great day!

Knitting scarf, New Project, and Reading On

Hello Friends,

I hope you are doing well. This week has been going well at work and I am happy it is Thursday tomorrow and getting close to the weekend. I have been working more on keeping to my goals and also enjoying posting blog posts three times each week. It is nice checking in more often on here compared to once each week last year.

I picked up the project Blustery day in Berkley scarf again by Bridget Dean. I am close to finishing it now and will share the finished project soon. I am using the eco-luxe yarn by loops & threads in the colorway blush blend. I am using US 10 6 mm needles. Millie is always interested in what I am doing and started chewing on the needles.

I casted on a new project last night. I am going to be working on Copycat cowl by Verna Glass. I am using left over yarn from my twisted headband last year, Lion Brand Heartland Carlsbad Cavern. I am knitting it on circular needles size US 8 5mm.

I am continuing to read Expecting Better by Emily Oster and Bookshop of Yesterdays by Amy Meyerson. I have been working on reading a bit each day at least 10 minutes and making more progress to finishing these books.

Joining along with As Kat Knits for Unraveled Wednesday.

Thank you for visiting my blog today! I am happy to be almost finishing the scarf and look forward to wearing it soon to keep me warm in this colder weather. I am also looking forward to knitting more of the cowl. I hope you are all staying safe and having a good week so far.

Have a great day!

Knitting Blustery Day Scarf and Reading On

 Hello Friends,

I hope you are doing well. I am happy it's Friday and finally the weekend! It has been a busy week and I need some time to rest and relax. I was knitting more of the Blustery day in Berkley scarf found on Ravelry.  It is coming along well now and I am enjoying the relaxing easy pattern to get back into the flow of knitting. Millie is always interested in watching me knit and bites the needles and plays with the yarn. Soon after I took this picture she started sleeping while I knitted.

Millie is now 6 months old and she is so fun and sweet. She likes to run around the house and she has been meowing a lot lately to let us know what she wants. Today I found her in her room on the cat tree perch looking out the window while Liam and I were working. She is more independent now and likes her alone time as well. We were happy all went well with her incisions from her spay and she has healed nicely. I am happy she can resume her usual play and is back to her usual energetic self.

I have been reading The Bookshop of Yesterdays by Amy Meyerson. It is good so far I think I will enjoy the story. I am still wanting to finish The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin, but have to get my hold back from the library.

Joining along with As Kat Knits for Unraveled Wednesday.

Thank you for visiting my blog today and hope that you had a good week and have a great weekend!