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!

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 :)

My Baby is here, Christmas Preparations, and Reading On

 Hello Friends,

I hope you are doing well. I had my baby boy on November 30th, 2022. We have named him Evan. It has been a busy few weeks with him and adjusting to his schedule. I have been so busy with feedings lately and we haven't been sleeping well because he wakes up very often and prefers to snuggle with us. I am up every 2-3 hours during the night with him at this point. He is so adorable and we love him so much. 

Photo below is of Evan and I at the hospital before we left to go home for the first time with him. Very exciting time and there was a really nice tree in the lobby to take a photo in front of. 

Millie is getting used to him being around. She sniffs his head and sometimes goes up to him. But she runs away when he starts crying.

My Arches baby blanket is coming along and I have knitted more of it.  The pattern is by LJM Designs and I found it on Ravelry. I noticed some issues in the knitting last week so I frogged some of it. It is a nice pattern so far but I have to keep track of the row I am on because it is a 16 row repeat and each even row is different. I hope to finish this blanket for Evan early in the New Year to use during the Winter. I am still reading Book Lovers by Emily Henry. In the past few days I have been reading more while Evan naps and during feedings. I would like to finish reading it before the New Year. 

We are in the middle of a winter storm in Toronto and it has began to snow. Unfortunately with this storm and some illnesses in my family, we had to postpone our Christmas Eve plans because it will be pretty bad out there with a lot of snow and slippery roads. Hopefully next week no more sicknesses and the roads are clear we can plan for a day to do our gift exchange and dinner. It has really felt like such a different Christmas this year and has flown by. I have been getting ready for Christmas this week. Really up to this point I haven't done a lot of decorating. I have been ordering a lot of gifts this year because I am not going out with Evan and still healing and can't drive at this point. I am doing well with healing from a c section and feeling less pain lately. 

I have put up a little tree this year in the corner by the window that is usually in our office area. It works this year because last year Millie climbed it a lot and we just wanted something easy this year as we had Evan and knew we didn't need any extra stress. She has knocked this one down a few times already.

Joining along with As Kat Knits for Unraveled Wednesday.

Thank you for visiting my blog today! I can't believe that today is Christmas Eve Eve. Today I watched some of Elf and wrapped more gifts and did some laundry. I hope that you are enjoying the holiday season! Happy Holidays to you and your family!

Knitting Baby Blanket and Reading On

 Hello Friends,

I hope you are doing well. I am well and I am on my maternity leave now. This week I have kept busy with getting things ready for baby's arrival. I have been washing baby's clothes, swaddles, and blankets. We will put together the crib and bassinet this weekend and almost done putting the change table together. I am 37 weeks now and feeling lots of baby movements. I have had a bit of pain in my left side by my ribs so have been taking it easy to heal this week as well.

I started knitting a baby blanket for our baby. I am using the Arches Baby Blanket pattern on Ravelry by LJM Design. I am knitting it on size 4 mm circular needles for the length and using the Snuggly Wuggly yarn by Loops & Threads in the colorway pale blue.  I have only knitted 8 rows of knit stitch so far then will start the pattern after a couple more rows of garter stitch.  I am looking forward to starting to knit the arches in the pattern. Millie was interested in the needles in my project bag and what I was doing. She is a very curious kitty!

I am going to be listening to The Happiest Baby on the Block by Harvey Karp. I am looking forward to listening to this in the next week and learning more about keeping my baby happy and comfortable after he is born. I am continuing to read Book Lovers by Emily Henry.

Photo source

Joining along with As Kat Knits for Unraveled Wednesday.

Thank you for visiting my blog today! I am excited it is getting closer to Christmas now. I haven't decorated much at this point, I have only put the Christmas wreath up on our front door. I will probably put our Christmas tree up next weekend. I won't be participating in Blogmas this year unfortunately because our baby is due very soon and I will be so busy. I look forward to participating in Blogmas next year and reading other's posts this year.  I will still post some of my favourite Blogmas posts each week but it won't be daily. You can check out my past year's posts by going to the pages tab at the top of screen and selecting blogmas.

Have a great day!

Finished Knitting IONA Baby Hat

 Hello Friends,

I hope you are doing well. I am doing well and it is now getting closer to our baby's arrival. I am 36 weeks and 4 days today. Tomorrow is my last day at work before I start my maternity leave. This week I have been wrapping things up with work and preparing for a new stage of life.

I have finished knitting the IONA baby hat by Marianna Mel. I am loving how it turned out. I think of how sweet it will be to see our baby boy wearing it.

Pattern notes:

Pattern: IONA baby hat by Marianna Mel

Needles: US 6 4.0 mm

Yarn: Snuggly Wuggly yarn by Loops & Threads in the colorway pale blue.

Notes: Ravelry notes

Joining along with As Kat Knits for Unraveled Wednesday.

Thank you for visiting my blog today! I hope you are having a great week so far and have a good weekend.  It is so special to share these steps along the way with you as we prepare for baby. In the coming weeks we will be getting ready for baby's arrival and I will probably be knitting more baby things and share them with you soon!

Have a great day!

Baby Shower, Progress on Knitting Baby Hat, and Halloween

 Hi Friends,

I hope you are doing well. I had my baby shower on October 2nd. I loved the décor and the food my mother in law set up. My sister and mom worked on and carried out the games. I received so many wonderful gifts. I am so excited as I am moving along in the pregnancy, but also getting a bit nervous. I am 35 weeks now and feeling bigger each day. We still have some things to get for the nursery to set it up I will share once we have it complete hopefully by the end of the month. I am so excited to be going on maternity leave in a week and a half! My last day of work is next Friday.

These cupcakes were so cute and also very delicious!

This was one of the games at the shower my sister put together. People had to guess what baby item were in the bags under each letter. 

Loved the food they put out and this fruit plate was so pretty.

I am working on knitting the IONA baby hat by Marianna Mel. It is such a fun knit on straight needles. I have been excited to knit this project. Just thinking of my baby wearing it one day is so exciting, and makes me want to be knitting it all the time. Knitting baby knits is the cutest. I have knitted most of the hat and next is to start knitting the top and decreasing. Below are photos of the hat folded and how it will look and then just flat the way it looks as I am knitting it.

For Halloween this year, I bought this cute pumpkin maternity shirt on Amazon and I handed out chocolates and candies. We got a lot of children this year! we had around 50 in the first hour and had to take down our decorations way earlier than I thought. 

Last year I bought Millie Bat wings for her first Halloween, but she was spayed and had stitches, so I didn't try to put them on. This year she really was fighting it, so I didn't push too hard. It would have been so cute if she wore them for awhile for a photo!

Joining along with Unraveled Wednesday over at As Kat Knits a weekly yarn along to see what others are working on :).

Thank you for visiting my blog today! I hope that you had a fun Halloween and have a good rest of your week.

Knitting for Baby and Updates

Hello Friends,

I hope you are doing well. It has been so long since I have posted on here. I have missed this space. I have just been so preoccupied with getting things ready for our baby due in December it is getting so close now and we still have some things to do to prepare the nursery and to buy for baby's arrival. I had a wonderful baby shower at the beginning of October and I will share photos soon. We received so many clothes, books, bath items, and essentials for baby it was great. This month we started painting the nursery, we ordered the baby crib, change table, stroller, and car seat. 

I started knitting a baby hat for baby and it is nice to be finally working on a knitting project for him. I found such a cute baby hat pattern on Ravelry called IONA Baby Hat by Marianna Mel. It is knitted on straight needles. I started knitting it in the round and noticed the pattern was off, so I switched to knitting on the needles instead of in the round. I am liking the pattern of the hat so far it looks nice. I chose the baby blue color for our baby boy I bought Snuggly Wuggly baby yarn by Loops & Threads in the colorway pal blue and knitting on 4 mm circular needles.

I am slow in the reading department jumping around from reading Book Lovers by Emily Henry to some other pregnancy books. I will try to pick up my reading again soon and hopefully once I am on maternity leave starting November 11th I can have more time to relax, read, and knit.

Millie has been doing well. We have moved her toys and litter out of the second bedroom now to start working on the nursery. She still has a lot of places to go but I have noticed she seems a bit out of sorts sometimes, but there has been a lot of change and big boxes of furniture and things coming in.

I am now 34 weeks pregnant. This week I really started to feel big and pressure in my belly. Baby is doing well in there and we are only 6 weeks away now! Time is flying by and we are so excited to become parents.

Joining along with As Kat Knits for Unraveled Wednesday.

Thank you for visiting my blog today! I hope you have a great rest of your week.

Vacation, Updates, and Knitting Socks,

 Hello Friends,

I hope you are doing well. I forgot to update on another trip we took in August to Grand Bend with Liam's parents. There was a nice beach there and we stayed at a cute cottage. It was a nice time away one weekend. I really liked our cottage trips this Summer with family a chance to be outside more and enjoy the weather. 

I have been knitting the first sock using the perfect pair pattern that the yarn Loops & Threads came with on the label. It is reminding me how much I love knitting socks. Yesterday I spent a lot of my afternoon working on knitting and turning the heel, and now I am knitting the foot. I am looking forward to being done the first sock, and then working on the second sock. Then I will turn my focus to knitting cute baby knits. I am due in early December, so I better get knitting! 

Last weekend we celebrated my sister's birthday and went to a nice restaurant by the lake. It was a beautiful day outside and nice to go out to a restaurant for dinner and sit on the patio. We went for a walk with my family after dinner and enjoyed the beautiful view of the lake. 

I am 26 weeks pregnant as I am posting this, and 27 weeks tomorrow. Time is flying by! I am planning the nursery now, adding things to our baby registry, and thinking of baby shower plans. Baby is doing well, we are having a boy! He is moving a lot lately and kicking lots.

Thank you for visiting my blog today! It has been a great Summer with family cottage trips and moments spending time outside. I am so ready for fall now though. I love the chillier mornings and the holidays to look forward to. This fall also means getting prepared for baby and lots of fun things to start doing and planning for. 

Have a great weekend!