New City, New House And A New Baby!

So much has changed in our lives in the past 7 months that I hardly know where to begin. Going month to month seems like the way to go.

July and August:  Both months saw us packing up the house and hosting birthday parties.  Its amazing how much stuff our family has accumulated in the 9 years that we have lived in this house.  I'm glad I took the time to go through our things and pack well.  I even took the time to keep a binder with inventory sheets with all the boxes and contents. I cant begin to say how  much this helped with unpacking.  The kids mostly hung with their friends and did some pouting about moving.  understandable considering we were about to move them across the state.  My baby belly continued to grow, I was still losing weight and feeling generally exhausted and sore.  By the end of August Cael knew something was up and started to gt very clingy and fussy.  It seemed to throw off his whole schedule.  Not good!

September:  We moved out on the1st.  We were very fortunate to have family come and help. Saying goodbye to friends and family was tough.  Especially for our girls. School started on the 3rd.  Ray was excited but nervous. She is such a champ.... she loves her school. Alaina hadn't smiled in months.  But when we walked around her new middle school she actually smiled.  When I got in the car I cried.  I still tear up thinking about that smile.  She was so unhappy about the move so that smile meant a lot to me.   It still took her a few weeks to really start to like her school and make a few good friends.  But that smile.... that smile did so much for us all.

October:  We finally got keys to the house.  It was a forclosure so it was a mess.  We still couldn't move in. And with my due date rolling in fast I really couldn't do much to help.  My folks made the drive over to help Curtis scrape, clean, and paint. And by the end of October we finally got to move in.  Over the month the kids started to enjoy their schools and the Spokane more.  Making the final move into the house was so needed.  Staying with family was wonderful and it couldn't have gone more smoothly, but being in our own space with our own things really made our lives more comfortable and settled.

November: This month was pretty much the "waiting for baby" month.  Everyone (excet me)was busy trying to uppack and keep workingo n the house.  I however couldn't.  This pregnacy was tough on my whole body and I pretty much just wanted to sleep and rest.  Baby finally arrived on the 20th.  I'll do a seperate post about him later.  We had family in the house for much of this month.  It was wonderful and our holiday was peaceful and happy in our new home witho our new babe.

December: Still setteling in really. And waiting for that snow that everyone keeps mentioning.  (it never really came) The holidays were the usual busy that happens.  But, we got to spend Christmas here ate home with my folks.  It was really really nice.  We drove over the pass to see family for the New Year.

January: We spent the New Year at my mother in laws house.  Lots of family and friends got to see the new babe and the kids got to visit their friends that they have missed so  much.  Traveling with the new baby and 3 other kids was more tiring and stressful than I thought it would have been.  But, I wouldn't trade that trip for anything. We were really missing our family and friends.

I guess that brings us up to date.  I'll be doing more posts about our projects and events over the next weeks.

Newborn & Small Diaper Sewing

I still can't believe I need to make diapers again.  Making these newborns and smalls has been great though.  They are soooo tiny!  I really loved to cloth diaper that first year.  And, while I don't mind doing it now (Cael is almost 3 and should be potty trained within the next 3 months or so) it's harder now that he is eating and drinking like the rest of us.  We've had more stinky diaper issues and staining issues during the last 18 months or so.  Anyways... I read though my posts that i did on diaper and diaper patterns.  I'm sooo glad that I made those posts.  It was nice to remember my favorites and what I liked and didn't like.  I decided that based on that I wouldn't do any newborns.  They only fitted for about 6 weeks or so. 

On to the stash! 

 Two wool covers made from felted sweaters.  Both are LDD's.  The one on the left is a small and the one on the right is a newborn.  I LOVE velcro for covers and I hate doing up tons of snaps during diaper changes.

 I think I might be one of the few who don't like prefolds.  They always seamed to thick and I could never get them on right.  I saw some tutorials for turning them into prefitteds so I tried that.  I think I'll really like these.  On the right are toddler size.  But I think they will fold down to a medium / large.  The ones on the right are infant prefolds and are a nb/sm size.  I'll make more as I find the prefolds.

 These are almost finished... they just need their velcro tabs.  All are Rocketbottom Step 1 Diapers.  I think I'm going to love love love these.  They will snap from a NB to a Small and are supposed to fit 8-18 lbs!  They are all pockets with microfleece liners.

 6 Very Baby Sm AI2's.  The top ones are serged and the bottom ones are turned and topstitched.  I love the Very Baby pattern and highly recommend it.

3  Very Baby Sm Fitteds.  These are sooo soft and squooshy.  Made with stretch terry and some other terry cloth and zorb in the soakers. 

3 NB LDD AI2's.  I know, I know.  I said no Newborn dipes.  But, I had some scrap PUL that was just barely big enough for the NB size so I decided to make them.  I know they will get used in those first weeks and I'll probably be glad for them.  Especially if this baby decides to be smaller than his brother.

This isn't the end of my stash.  I did receive a box of diapers from another cloth diapering mamma.  I did take pictures before I boxed them up but for the life of me I can't find those photos.  But, the box included both newborn and small fitteds, covers, AI2's and some woolies

So Much Baby Knitting!!!

Whew.... It's been a crazy house around here since my last post.  I finally have a moment to sit down and blog!  A quick catch up:  The house is mostly packed, has been on the market and is now pending.  We've gone on a road trip to Spokane and picked out our favorite parts of town.  We are now looking for rentals and should be moved within the next 4 weeks.  The kids have been home and busy helping with all fun things that happen during the summer.  Hanging with friends, packing, swimming, going to the beach to see grandparents etc.  During my "down time" I've been knitting like crazy.  It's portable, and I can sit and knit and then stop easily without leaving any mess.  Plus... most of my sewing stuff and all of my spinning stuff has been packed. 

  So below is what's finished or almost finished.  (I did make some matching booties for the handspun longies, but I haven't taken a pic of those yet.) Right now I have a 1/2 circle blanket and a newborn umbilical hat on the needles.  Pics of those later.  I've posted the names of the pattern plus the link to my Ravelry page in case you want more info on yarns and size.

 

01 - Gift Wrap Romper

02 - Jungle Gym Overalls

03 - Handspun Butt Knits Longies

04 - Evie Pants

05 - Milo Vest

06 - Newborn Pebble

07 - Newborn Puerperium Cardigan

08 - Shadow Stripes Hat

 

 09 - Newborn Vertebrea

10 - Stay On Baby Booties

11 - Gift Wrap Bonnet

12 - Stay On Baby Booties Worsted - sorry no rav page for these.

This last week I made some time to start sewing my newborn/small diaper stash.  There are 6 more pockets on my table now waiting for velcro.  I'll do a full post on these later.

First Load Of Boxes Packed!

Were moving this summer. Across the state to the Spokane area. We really love the Idaho panhandle too. We'll be going to check out rentals within the next month. Anyways... My first major hurdle in packing is done and I'm feeling really good! Our laundry room has always been considered “The Pit Of Dispair” It's always been stuffed with large clear bins filled with extra fabrics and art supplies. Over the years it's also become the place to put all that stuff that we still wanted to keep but didn't know where to put. I wish I had taken a before photo. I started out slowly bringing out random things and re-boxing anything that we were keeping. It ended up that almost ½ of the stuff ended up in the goodwill, garage sale, and garbage piles. I really couldn't believe the amount of stuff that had piled up.

I'm following this woman’s packing method and absolutely loving it! If your moving and some of your stuff will end up in storage this is certainly the way to go. I won't have any trouble finding things when we unpack our home or when we search the storage area for something.

Here is a picture of the “Pit Of Dispair” area in the laundry room now. All nicely cleaned out with neatly labeled boxes with plenty of room for more boxes as I work on the other rooms.  Origionally this area was filled almost 3/4 of the way up that window and the shelves were stuffed.

And, here is our garage sale pile. It goes all the way back to the slider. And, with the garbage and the goodwill the pile was as tall as the table. I'm not sure where to put our garage sale stuff. Hubby is working on his car in the garage and there just isn't room... so this stuff may stay inside for quite a few weeks.

On another note, I'm feeling better today. I found some free maternity clothes on Craigslist from the nicest women ever. They are in the wash and I'm excited to try everything on. The pants will all be to big, but we all know I can alter them on the sewing machine!

Also, just check out my freezer. All those meals and readied ingredients just make me smile. Tonight, my hubby wasn't hungry due to a late lunch so it was “Every Man For Himself” night. Ali ate a bean burrito and Ray made Mac & Cheese for her and Cael. It was her first time making it alone and she smiled the whole time. She was so proud to sit down and eat it with her little brother!

What?! Baby #4?

 

Yep... you see my sidebar and the above photo right.  We are expecting baby #4 on December 1st. Our little one in the ultrasound above is 13 weeks 4 days along. 

This little one is a surprise for us.  We are still in a bit of shock even though we are feeling excited about him/her.  I mean really.... just look at that profile.  For my past 3 babies the first ultrasound was done between 6 and 8 weeks for dating purposes.  Those ultrasounds look mostly like a peanut.  This little one shocked me.  He/she is a fully formed little person about the size of a lemon all curled up.  Perfect spindly legs and arms.  Pearly spine, stomach, bladder, and that beautiful fluttering heart.

How am I feeling?  Well,  I'm tired, cranky, nausaus, weepy and feeling huge.  None of my regular pants fit.  So Saturday I pulled out some older pants from my closet and revamped them into maternity pants.  They are much more comfy, but I'm still in that "I feel huge, but you can't tell I'm pregnant" stage.  This little one is pushing out much much faster than any of my last 3 did.  My midwife says it's because my muscles are good and stretched out by now.... yeah.  Soon shirts will be a problem too.  As most of the ones I have still fit but don't cover the maternity band.  That's ok though... just more sewing fun to be had.

How are the kids and hubby?  Well, the kids were shocked but happy.  And, of course Cael won't really understand what's happening until baby arrives.  Hubby is doing good too although he is certainly craving a good meal.  I can't seam to pull myself into the kitchen to cook lately.  I sorta fixed that today though.  I did some good freezer meal cooking today while I felt good enough.  There are at least 12 meals in there to help out on those days when I just don't want to eat... which is pretty much every day.

I figured I would kinda track my pregnancy here.  So far I've had just the 1 appointment with my midwife.  All is well but she wasn't able to find the heartbeat.  So, she sent me off to get an ultrasound.  I wasn't surprised by this.  It wasn't until my 16th week or so that they were able to get Cael's heartbeat.  Anyways.... the ultrasound went fine.  The tech said "Did you know you have a tilted uterus?"   Yes, I knew.. but just kinda forgot about.  She told me that that was why the midwife couldn't find the heartbeat.

Weight: -10 lbs
Food Cravings... well all I want to eat is bagels and chocolate.

A House Full Of Fiber

I finally got some good acid dyes.  I've only ever used the basics... egg dyes, kool aid, etc.  I now have 10 colors of Jacquard Acid Dyes.  They are soooo amazing to work with.  I purchased about 5 lbs of fiber from the Sheep Shed and went to town dyeing.  The house smelled like wet dog/sheep for a few days, but in the end I got some lovely dyed fibers.  Some of which are for sale in my Etsy Store and some I've been busy spinning up.  Don't forget to use that code I posted a few days ago for a 10% discount!  ATU42

Here's what parts of my house looked like.... a soggy wet mess.  I can't wait for the weather to be good enough to hang thing outside to dry in the sun.

 I made some mini skeins and dyed them in the base colors that I have so I can have swatches.  I also mixed some colors and made samples for those too.  I ended up knitting those little samples up into squares for reference later.

Past 6 Months Of Knitting

I've done a ton of knitting over the past 6 months or so.  I did a lot for Christmas and some just because.  Click on the links under each project to be taken to my Ralvery page with more details.

First up is my darling daughter in her matching 3 piece set.  The little sweater was made with the Juliet pattern.  Super cute pattern and very fast and easy knit.  She'll be able to wear this one for a while.  The gloves are Constellation gloves that I altered to fit her and the hat is a Kittyville hat.  She loves all the pieces and has worn them a lot.  The gloves and hat were Christmas gifts.  Also... the yarn was found in a rummage sale by my mom.  $5.00 for 10 skeins of yarn!!!!  I still have 4 skeins left I think.

This beauty is called the Rainbow Casu Cowl.  I loved this pattern and the yarn was great to work with.  It knit up fast and is soft and squooshy!

 The Meret Beret was new to me.  I don't usually knit beret's.  Next time I'll knit the band on much smaller needles as it's a bit big.  I need to use some bobby pins to get it to stay on nice.  But, the yarn is soft and I've worn it a few times.

 Jane.... The man they call Jane.... Come on... you know you want to sing it out loud!  This little cutie was a Christmas gift to my Firefly loving sister in law.  She loved it.  Wanted to wear it as a hat... hehe.  I was actually planning on making it a hat, but I just didn't have enough yarn.  She loves tea so this is perfect for her.  I almost kept it for me I loved it so much!

 Fingerless gloves for my mom.  Finally!  She's wanted a pair forever, but I've never found the right yarn as she is alergic to wool.  When I saw this yarn, I knew it had to be gloves for her.  I made them long in the fingers so she can fold the cuff down or keep it up and tuck her fingers inside when it's really cold.  She got these as part of her Christmas gift and loved them.

Gradient Mitts knit up for my MIL's birthday.  It's my handspun.  I've been hoarding this yarn for years.  It's always been one of my favorites.  It was always destined to belong to my MIL, I just didn't know what to make until I saw this pattern.  These are photographed on my daughter... they fit my MIL much better.

Another gift for my mom this last Christmas were these Beachy Broadripple socks. I love love loved knitting these.  I'm going to be getting more of this yarn so I can make a pair for myself.  They are super cozy on the foot and the pattern is really pretty and easy.  She loved these too.

 

These Vanilla Latte socks were finished just this last month.  They flew off my needles.  I really love this yarn.  They were supposed to be for me, but they ended up being way to big.  They fit my hubby great, so they are his now.  These were my first toe up socks.  I love making socks this way and will be doing most of my sock knitting toe up from now on.  I got to use up all my yarn!