Getting ready to send off 2013

It seriously seems like yesterday when we were just welcoming 2013, and welcoming Nathan into the family. With our little guy's birthday so close to New Year's, it hits home how quickly the days are passing. Then again, this past year has been really fun, so maybe that's why it went by so fast.

This year on Facebook I attempted to post at least one photo for video every day. It turned out to be a remarkably good photo diary of every day life, particularly since the kids featured quite prominently in them. I've been going through my old posts just to look at them and reflect on the year. Here's a few favourites that I think really captured our first year as a family of four.

Up until he was about 4 or 5 months old, Nathan was the type of kid who needed to be held in order to nap. I think I was more okay with that this time around. Knowing that he's our last baby probably was a factor.

This was Andrew and Nathan's first ride together at Canada's Wonderland. I loved how happy Andrew was to have his little brother with him, even if Nathan didn't totally know what was happening. 

Nathan has been hitting all his mobility milestones faster than Andrew did. I'm not sure why that is, but I suspect it's because he's not as heavy as Andrew was so he doesn't need to build up as much muscle. I still remember coming in to check on him after his nap and being greeted by this sight. He was just so happy with himself that it was hard to stay shocked for too long. Needless to say, Jamie's first task when coming home that day was to lower the base of the crib. 

Despite the look on Andrew's face, he loved meeting Mickey. It was on this trip that he became obsessed with Ariel, and the rest of the gang from The Little Mermaid. This was a trip that Jamie's dad arranged, and it was for the entire Wells clan. We had a truly amazing time, and I can't wait to bring the boys back to Disney World when they're a little older. 

The entire crew enjoying dinner on our last night at Disney

When Nathan was able to sit up and crawl around on his own, Andrew seemed to become more interested in what his little brother was up to. No big fights yet, but Nathan did get his first bloody nose thanks to some roughhousing.

This was the first year where Andrew actually started to grasp Halloween. I took him out trick-or-treating, and he really liked it. We only did about 5 houses before he got a bit scared and asked to go inside, but he liked the whole process of getting candy. These photos were taken at a Halloween party with friends.

Andrew had stopped drinking a cup of warm milk before bed for a while, but wanted to take up the habit again when Nathan would have his bottle before bedtime. Now, Andrew will say something to the effect of "And now gonna have milk together," before laying down with Nathan for their pre-bed drink.

Here's Nathan at around 10 and half months old (almost 11 months, I think) being a total cutie. I took this photo on an unseasonably warm day. I think it captures his cheerful nature.

There will come a day when Nathan will be embarrassed by this picture, but until then, I will post it proudly on this blog.

I've got a few more of Andrew playing in the snow, but I will save those for another post, probably lumped in with a recap of Christmas. I'm hoping Grandpa Wells didn't get the boys too much stuff, but it wouldn't be the same if he didn't.

Now, on to the requisite crafting stuff (this is a craft blog after all). I managed to finish one thing, and make good progress on another.

I finally finished the blanket! Yay! I took so long on it that I've decided not to give it to Nathan, but gift it to my brother and his wife for the baby girl they are expecting in April.

And here's all the progress I've managed on these socks in the past 5 or 6 months. Pretty dismal. I'm making the heel flap right now, so I suppose I'm about half way done? I'm not sure what I think of the way the yarn colours are pooling, but I'm not going to frog it at this point.

And that's about it for me. I'll try to post a little more often despite my lack of crafting. There's always stories to tell when it comes to the kids :) Take care!!

Trying something new

I'm guessing it was on the news enough lately, but just in case anyone wasn't aware, Toronto experienced a big rainstorm on Monday that resulted in widespread flooding. A GO train was flooded and passengers had to be rescued, and some people even abandoned their cars when they becane submerged in water. The Don River crested, and flooded out the DVP. All in all, pretty spectacular stuff.

Thanks to all that flooding, we lost power for just about 2 days. Not the most fun I've ever had, particularly in some of the hottest, humidest weather we've had in a while. I'll spare you all the details, but let's just say that it's hard to explain something like that to a 3yr old who just wants some milk to drink and some light to read by (or fend off whatever gremlins he thinks are lurking in the dark).

This resulted in me eventually seeking refuge at Jamie's aunt's place so that Nathan and I wouldn't have to hang out in crowded coffee shops hoping for some AC and working outlets. Thanks to that respite, I was able to start some socks using a technique that I've long been interested in trying - two at a time socks on circular needles. So far so good. I'm enjoying the color, and while I could probably do with longer circulars, it's not a super difficult technique to get the hang of. Not sure how long it'll take to finish, but at least I'll have a pair instead of a lonely single.

A world of firsts

Since becoming parents, Jamie and I have been lucky to see a lot of firsts through our kids, and just because Nathan is repeating what big brother Andrew did 3 years ago doesn't make it any less special.

There's first foods.

First swing ride.

First pair of sunglasses.

 First attempts at sitting.

 Even a first "girlfriend".

Andrew's had a few firsts recently too. Like his first bike helmet, which he likes to wear for everything except riding his bike.

 First time having a popsicle with a buddy.

 And most recently, his first time scaring me so badly that I felt dizzy with adrenaline after the crisis was over.

That is a picture of the shoulder of my pyjamas stained with blood after Andrew had a bad accident this morning. He took his little chair to the safety gate blocking our basement in order to look at the cat that had run down there in an attempt to escape, hoisted himself up on the top bar, and then proceeded to flip himself over the gate, landing on the ground with a face plant. Poor kid earned himself a bloody nose (and hence my messy shirt), and a pretty big goose egg on the forehead. After some crying and lots of hugs (and more than a few blood-soaked Kleenexes), Andrew was back to his usual self in no time. I, however, did not feel like myself afterwards. I think I went into mild shock from the adrenaline after it was all over. Even now, 12 hours later, I keep reliving that moment where I peeked around the corner from the kitchen just in time to see his body tip over the gate, that terrible thud, and even the heartbeat of total silence before he started screaming. I'm grateful that things weren't worse, but this was a really hard reminder that I can't always protect him from things.

I know this is supposed to be a craft blog, but...

Unfortunately, I haven't really been doing any crafting to speak of lately. I've cast on for an infinity scarf made out of alpaca, but I've barely made any headway with it. Still, I thought I'd give a little update on how life's been going.

Nathan is just about 4 months old now, and I feel as though the days are just racing by. He's still waking me up at night all the time, and I won't lie that the interrupted sleep isn't taking its toll on me. In the past 3 days, I've sent Andrew out the door twice without his shoes. Oops. Still, I know this won't last forever, as with the gummy smiles, and lazy days of just cuddling. Andrew turned 3 on Monday, and it hit me that I'm going to be registering him for kindergarten in January. Since having the kids, I feel really aware of how much can change so quickly. I mean, I'd been working at the same job for 5 years before having Andrew, and things always seemed to be the same old, same old. But in the last 3 years, we've watched Andrew go from a newborn to a headstrong little boy who loves Lightning McQueen and rocket ships, and isn't afraid to tell us that. He knows all his letters, can count to 30, and has so much to say that it sometimes astounds me that all that started from a blank slate. I want to remember how he sits in my lap and tells me "I'm so happy to see Mommy!", or the fact that he is happy to share toys with Nathan as long as they're the broken ones. He runs in the backyard like a mad man, but stops in his tracks when an airplane flies overhead, reaches up with his little arms, and claims that he's going to touch it. There's so many little things that I want to remember about my kids at this point in their life, and yet it's often so hard to write those things down. Still, that doesn't mean I'm not going to try.

New Year, new stuff

So, it's been a while since my last post. A bunch of stuff, both crafty and not have happened. Let's start with the biggest news.

Hello, Baby Nathan!

Baby Nate showed up on January 3, 2013, and has been a wonderful addition to our family. He was in a big hurry to show up, and we were seriously half an hour away from a home-birth. Only Jamie's nervous nature and our midwives' sensible advice prevented that from happening. Here's a few more photos, since you really can't have enough photos of cute babies.

I didn't manage to finish his blanket before he arrived, but we've got so many from Andrew's baby days that I'm not worried. Still, I want Nathan to have something that was just his, so I'll be sure to finish it before too long. Being a second child myself who always got hand-me-downs from my older brother, I'm pretty conscious about making sure the younger child gets new stuff too.

Andrew's been adjusting to being a big brother, and more importantly, having to share our attention with Nathan. Can't say the transition hasn't been bumpy, and it continues to be a challenge, but we're happy with our family make-up. Here are some photos of Andrew to round out the kid-related part of this post.

Chinese New Year dinner at the grandparents'. We could only get him into half of his celebratory outfit.

With moments like this, we get the feeling that things will be okay. Then again, the camera didn't capture  Andrew diving onto Nathan.

In crafting news, here are some photos of things I finished since my last post.

Here's the finished doggie toy that I gifted to my good friend's daughter for Christmas.

Finally finished the Milkweed Shawl

Made this scarf for Andrew, which he refuses to wear

Just finished this hat for Nathan. I've since blocked it, but you get the idea

There's a bunch of stuff that I'd like to make for myself, but I'll save divulging those until a later date. Jamie is going away on business soon, so I'm pretty sure there will be no time for crafting until he gets back.

Planning for the holidays

The last little while hasn't been devoid of crafting, though I've been pretty slow with things. I have some fun DIY stuff that I've been doing, but I can't post it here just yet because they're Christmas gifts that I'm planning to give away.

I do have a couple things that I've been working on gift-wise that I CAN post about here. The first is a Citron that I've just set out to block tonight.

It's made out of Dream in Color Starry, in the colour In Vino Veritas. This was a great subway knit since it doesn't take a whole lot of brain power. I was a little surprised how much bigger it got after blocking.


Another thing I've been working on is improving my crochet skills. I'm currently working on a doggy amigurumi toy pattern called Buffy.

As you can see, I'm not exactly done yet, but I've been having a lot of fun with it. Since it's a toy, I just picked up some acrylic worsted weight at Michaels. Cheap and cheerful. I've finished all the limbs, and am working on the body now.

In other news, I've discovered Pintrest recently, and have been having lots of fun with it. Mostly, I've been using it to keep track of recipes I'd like to try, DIY projects, and some helpful hints for organizing and/or cleaning the house. Very domestic, I know. Still, I've learned a bunch of nice little tricks that have come in handy leading up to the holiday season.

Hope you're all doing well!

Vacation!

So, we just came back from vacation in Orlando, Florida, and we had a fantastic time. This was Andrew's first trip to Disney World, and based on his reaction, this will not be the last. He. Loved. It. He probably won't remember going since he's only two and half, but Jamie and I certainly will.

Waiting for the Disney shuttle bus to take us to Animal Kingdom

As you can tell from the photo, I'm getting kinda big. That made things a bit more tiring on this trip, seeing as Andrew still wanted me to play with him and do stuff with him, but since I had no responsibilities after he went to sleep, I would just shower and go to bed right after him. I had brought knitting with me hoping that I could get some done, but it just didn't happen.

In the lobby of the Art of Animation Resort.

Halloween decorations!

Dumbo at night

Andrew giving us his "say cheese!" face

Andrew loving Cinderella's Carousel

"Hi, Pooh!"

Posing with Buzz Lightyear

Andrew went crazy for Lightning McQueen!

Checking out Guido's tires

 We have a bunch more pictures with characters and stuff, but they were taken our Disney PhotoPass, so I don't have those photos just yet. We're going to buy the CD of them, so I'll post some more pictures up when we get it. We had a super time, and we can't wait to go back again!