My First Blanket

This past week I crocheted my first blanket.  Typically, my favorite pieces to crochet are usually "small" projects such as a scarf or a hat.  I enjoy how I can complete it in just a few days and then move onto my next project.  I have been leary about starting a blanket because I worry about the committment it takes to complete such a huge project.  I am worrired it will become menotinous and I will end up not wanting to finish it.

So, to ease myself into the world of crocheting blankets, I started with a baby blanket.  I figured it's a blanket...Just on a much smaller scale.  I made it for friends of ours who just had an adorable baby girl.  I found some soft, smushy, colorful yarn and an easy granny stitch blanket pattern and went to town. 

This is what I ended up with...

Close up of the stitches.

Before finishing off the blanket, I switched to white yarn and worked two rows of it around the blanket.  I thought that added a nice contrast.  I then switched back to the pink, colorful yarn and worked  up a scalloped border to add a nice "finishing" touch.

Close up detail of one of the corners.

I am happy with the finished project.  I call it my "Rainbow Sherbert" baby blanket.  Don't the colors kind of remind you of rainbow sherbert??  (Ugh, now I want a scoop of rainbow sherbert on a sugar cone!)  I am now working on another baby blanket for some more friends that are expecting a baby.  They aren't finding out the sex of their baby (so exciting!) so I'm using a really soft white, green, and yellow yarn for that blanket.  I refer to it as the "Lemon-Lime" blanket!

On another note, someone has decided he loves my yarn.  Not only does he love it, he loves to unravel it and spread it all over the living room.  I HAD been keeping all my yarn in an open basket in the living room.  It might be time to get something with a lid...

He knows he just has to look at me with those big blue eyes and all is forgiven.  I know, I know, I have to get that out of my system.  And, I will.  Eventually.  For now, those big blue eyes (and cute little tongue) are completely innocent and forgiven!

First Tooth!

As I mentioned in my previous blog...Evan has his first tooth!  He fought a long, hard battle to get that tooth (and I was right along side him through the fussiness, not sleeping, and chewing on everything) so I figured it should have it's own blog.  I've been trying to get pictures of it for the past few days.  But, trying to get a 10 month old to stay still long enough and smile big enough to get a picture of a tooth barely peaking out over the gums is almost impossible.  However, after many, many, many attempts, I succeeded yesterday morning!

Now, just in case you missed it.  Because, quiet honestly, you very well could of.  It's a very tiny tooth at this point.  But, it's definitely there!  I've gone ahead and discretely pointed it out for you...

Yay Evan!!

10 Months...

I cannot believe my baby is 10 months old already!  It literally seems just like yesterday Jimmy and I were anxiously awaiting his arrival and then, even more anxiously, welcoming our sweet little baby boy into the world.  And, to think, in 2 months we will be celebrating his first birthday! 

10 months time has brought Evan very many milestones.  He has gone from barely being able to lift his head, to rolling over, to sitting up on his own, to crawling (which he has mastered quiet well!) to pulling himself up, to side-stepping while holding onto an object.  And, just within the past week he has become very good at standing on his own for a few seconds.  Soon he will be taking his first steps and the whole world will be within his reach (which scares me to death!)

It has only taken 10 months, but Evan has his very first tooth peeking through!  He is eating almost anything I put in front of him.  He eats everything from green beans, to peas, to sweet potatoes, to chicken now.  He even had his first taste of pancakes just the other morning!

Evan has become a very independent little boy.  He no longer is interested in me showing him how to use a new toy or how to accomplishing a new task.  He enjoys figuring it out for himself.  And, he no longer wants me to feed him.  He wants to feed himself using a spoon.  Which, if I might say, is very entertaining to watch.  He gets so excited when food actually makes it to his mouth since most of it either ends up back on the tray or in his lap.

I have started practicing and using baby sign language with Evan.  I have only been doing it for a few weeks now, but I can already tell he follows my hands and is aware of the different signs I use.  We are only using a few signs at the moment.  Such as, Please, Eat, More, Hurt, Stop, and Finished.  It is a work in progress, so we will see how it goes!

On the other hand, Evan is more talkative than ever!  He "talks" to everything.  Max, Paddy, Me, his toys, his feet.  Basically anything that will listen.  Just the other day, while I was cooking dinner, Evan was sitting under the dinner table (his favorite spot) "talking" up a storm.  I asked him, "Who are you talking too?"  He responded "Da Da!"  Now, I realize it was just the next "sound" to come out of his mouth.  And, that he doesn't quiet grasp the concept of Mama and Dada yet.  But, it still was amazing to hear and put a huge smile on my face!

Every morning I walk into his room and I am reminded of how much love fills my heart for this little man.  I am amazed at how much he has already grown and how much he as already accomplished.  It only makes me anxious and excited for his future!  There isn't anything his laughter or hugs do not make make better.  I see his smile and everything in the world seems right.

From one day old to ten months old. Take a look for yourself at how much Evan has grown in the last 10 months! 

He looks less like a baby and more like a little boy (and more like Jimmy!) with each passing month! 

This little guy definitely has my heart wrapped around his little finger!

I Love It...

When I come across a rather simple solution to a nagging issue! 

We have VERY hard water here in San Antonio.  If I had know this when Jimmy and I were looking at rental properties, I would have put a water softener at the top of our "must have" list!  I knew that the hard water had slowly begun to fade our dark clothes.  But, I had no idea how bad it had become until I saw a picture taken of Jimmy and I during a March of Dimes walk we were participating in. 

Look at Jimmy's shirt and my pants!  I was so embarrassed when I saw these pictures!  Our black shirt and pants are so faded!  After seeing these, I was on a mission to find something to bring our dark clothes back to life and prevent future fading.  I was discussing this problem with my mom and she recommended Woolite Dark Clothes Detergent.  I immediately bought it after her recommendation.  It is AMAZING!  Just after a few washes it's already made our dark clothes look better and hopefully it will keep all future dark clothes looking vibrant longer!  It's a little pricey.  I spent about $12.00 on a large container.  But, if you think about it, you wont use it with every load, just the dark loads and it will keep your current clothes looking newer longer, preventing you from having to buy new clothes down the line. 

So, if you have hard water and you've noticed your dark clothes starting to fade like I did.  I would definitely recommend Woolite Dark Clothes Detergent!  Just a little tid-bit of information I thought I might share!

Splash Pad Adventure...

Evan and I recently went on, what I am calling, a "Splash Pad Adventure." 

The first question you may be asking is, "What is a splash pad?"  Don't worry, I had the exact same question when I first found out about these marvelous attractions.  According to my favorite information site, the all knowing Wikipedia, a splash pad is "an area for water play with no standing water."  Basically, it's a place with a bunch of fun fountains, sprinklers, and spray nozzles for kids to run through and enjoy the cool water on hot summer days.  And, here in San Antonio, we definitely seem to have an abundance of those hot summer days!

Second question you may be asking is, "Why was it an Adventure?"  Well, let me first begin by saying Evan and I were meeting a friend of mine I have known since the 5th grade.  Being a military brat, I haven't had the opportunity to stay in touch with a lot of my friends from my childhood.  Suzanne was the exception.  No matter where we lived or what we were doing at the time, we have always stayed in touch through the years.  And, just recently, Suzanne, her husband, and her three adorable boys moved to San Antonio.  This makes me a very happy person!  So, back to the adventure.  Suzanne called me and told me that she and her boys were making a trip to Fort Sam Houston (an army post here in SA) because it is suppose to have a pretty nice splash pad and she wanted to know if Evan and I would like to join them.  Of course, I was up for it!  We were to meet them at 3:00.  I did my research and determined that in order to get to Fort Sam Houston, since it is on the opposite side of San Antonio, by 3:00 I had to leave my house no later than 2:30.  And, I was on the money!  I pulled through the gate of Fort Sam Houston at 2:58!

Perfect timing, right??

Wrong!

I COMPLETELY underestimated the size and sheer complexity of Fort Sam Houston!  I must have driven through SIX different gates and asked all SIX gate guards how to get to the splash pad.  Some of the gate guards were very helpful and gave me great directions (I just had no idea where I was or where I was going!), others gave a look of "Really woman...you have a line of cars behind you waiting to get on base and you want me to take time to give you directions" and than others gave me a look of "I have no idea what a splash pad is, let along where it is located."

Well, Evan and I eventually found the splash pad - at 3:45.  That's right, 45 minutes after I pulled onto base for the first time and an hour and fifteen minutes after leaving my house.  But, I have to say, even with all the trouble, it was worth the trip.  Evan had a blast!  He loved the fountains and sprinklers.   Here are a few pictures I took of him while he was playing. 

He was having so much fun and moving around so much it was almost impossible to get a picture of his adorable smiling face!

Here is a picture of the complete Fort Sam Houston Splash Pad. 

 It really was a lot of fun and Evan and I will probably go back again.  Especially since I now know how to get there without taking the complete visual tour of Fort Sam Houston!

Like Father, Like Son

It has begun...

Mommy's Little Helper...

I am sure there will come a time when this isn't cute...

But, for right now, he is (and everything he does is) the cutest thing in the world!



P.S.  Sorry for the sideways video.  I used my phone and I cannot figure out, for the life of me, how to rotate it!
And, for the record, it's just paper in the garbage can.  So, NO, I was not letting my son eat dirty garbage.

I'll See You Next Month...

Today is the second day of August!

Why am I so excited?!?!

Beause I am now officially able to tell Jimmy,

"I'll see you next month!"

I miss him so much and I am definitely counting down the days until he is home and my family is together!

(This awesome picture was taken by our friend Lauren shortly before Jimmy left.  Thank you Lauren for getting such an amazing picture of the three of us!)

Young's Jersey Dairy

While in Ohio, I brought Evan to one of my favorite places.  Young's Dairy.  When we lived in Dayton, Jimmy and I loved visiting Young's Dairy.  We would play a round of mini golf at Utters n Putters, hit a few balls at the batting cages, or practice our swing at their driving range.  The fall was always the best season to visit Young's Dairy.  We loved being able to go and pick our own pumpkin from their pumpkin patch.  The BEST thing about Young's Dairy...their homemade ice cream!!  Whether it was with a group of friends or just the two of us, we always had a blast. 

So, you could see why I really wanted to bring Evan.  I just knew he would have a blast.  Since they didn't have clubs short enough for Evan, we decided to skip Utters n Putters...hehehe.  But, they did have goats out at the petting zoo!  He enjoyed feeding them.  At first, he was a little hesitant, but after he saw me feed them, he warmed up to the goats a little.  We ended up not staying as long as I would have liked because it was a very hot day in Ohio.  But, I was able to get a few good pictures of the time we did spend there having fun! 

Here are some goodies Evan got while we were there!!

We had so much fun!!