3 of the 4 seasons

We went to a really fun playground yesterday called Smith Memorial Playground. SUPER FUN! The park is located in Philadelphia, has 6 acres of playground space and a 24,000 square foot playhouse. And the best part - it is FREE. If you live in the area, or will be visiting Philly soon, I highly recommend it. They have lots of cool stuff like a huge wooden slide, a mini town to "drive" around (complete with parking meters), and even sprinklers to run through!

After playing outside all morning, my son came home with a nasty heat rash all over this chest and back. I have been encouraging him to run around naked. I think we might stay home today to give his skin a chance to cool off. It has been unbearably hot this week. I am soooo over summer. Fall sounds like a little piece of heaven, right here on Earth.

Because I am longing for colder weather, I have been busy crocheting again. My new specialty is winter hats. This is my latest creation...

So cute and so easy to make! I am thinking about doing a craft show again. I talk about this every. single. year. Despite all of my talk, I have never actually set-up a booth at a craft fair. Apparently, I just like talking about it.

Relieving stress

I've been feeling a little overwhelmed lately. I have been stressed and angry and sad. I desperately needed a distraction. So on Tuesday I headed to the craft store to gather supplies for a few projects. I have crocheted tops for 5 sets of hand towels, made Porgie a new hat, and I am in the middle of crocheting a cardigan sweater. Using all of my excess energy, I crocheted the hand towels and the hat in one day. But I needed something more. That is when I embarked on the adventure of making a sweater. I am fairly confident that I am not going to be able to finish this pattern. It is really hard. However, it has proven to be a great distraction. I haven't called my insurance company in two days! Woohoo!

Honing my old lady skills

As you know, I love crocheting. Lately, I have been getting really crafty. Remember my adorable hat? Well, now I have something even better! I present to you, the old lady dish towel contraption....I know that your grandma had these in her kitchen, and you probably think they are lame, but you are wrong. These are the BEST dish towels ever! I hang them on the drawer handles in my kitchen. They are very convenient, and they always stay put. Since we don't use paper towels anymore, I use my fabulous hanging dish towel to dry my hands.
I know that you are jealous of my mad crocheting skillz. It is official, I am completely and totally AWESOME.

A hat!

So, I have been really busy lately. Of course I am a boring stay at home mommy, so my version of busy and your version of busy are probably not the same. I am usually "busy" when I create projects for myself - like painting a room or baking cookies or going to the Aquarium. Last week I was chatting with a friend via email. We were talking about her awesome new knitting skills. She recently made a hat! I was jealous of her skills, so I decided to try my hand at making a hat too.

For those of you who don't know, I taught myself how to crochet about 3 years ago. I chronicled the process on my blog. For evidence go here and here and here. I am really good at crocheting baby blankets and scarves. Everything else is a challenge. I tried making a hat a few years ago, and I failed miserably. Fast forward to Friday. I found an adorable pattern for a hat and decided to try again. For the first hour, I kept screwing up and unraveling my creations. But then something clicked in my brain. Suddenly the pattern made sense, and I started making progress on my very first crocheted hat!

The pattern I had was for a newborn, so I decided to add a few stitches to the pattern so that the hat would fit my kids' ginormous heads. This plan did not work out very well, because the end product was a huge ( I mean HUGE) hat. It was even too big for my head. I guess I got carried away with adding extra stitches.

Determined to make a presentable hat, I started over. And this time, I came out victorious! It is a little misshaped in the back, but I am still super proud of my hat...

I am all crafty and shit

I have been a crocheting fool lately! I think it is the election season. While watching the presidential debates or even CNN, I crochet to keep myself from SCREAMING at the television. These claims that Obama is "paling around with terrorists" really piss me off. McCain and Palin are planting these ridiculous ideas in their supporters' heads and then acting confused when people yell "Terrorist! Kill him!" at their rallies. AHHHH! Wait - what was I talking about? Oh yes, crocheting.

So, I usually crochet scarves in all one color. Like this...
But I have lots of scrap yarn laying around, so I decided to combine some colors. The scarves turned out really cute...I am working on another scarf right now - it is purple and blue. Election day needs to hurry up and get here, because I have no idea who I am going to give all these scarves too.

Getting and giving

I am super excited to announce that I won something!!! Isn't that amazing? Danielle was giving away a basket filled with Munchkin products. I entered to win, but another person was selected. BUT, then it turned out that the woman who won lived in Malaysia. I guess it was too expensive to ship the basket to Malaysia, so another winner was selected. AND IT WAS ME!!! I am very excited! Thank you Danielle!

Since it felt so good to win, I have decided to hold my own little contest. I will make a handmade gift for the first person to correctly identify what Izzy was eating in this picture...


Remember, I can make lots of cool stuff like this or this or even this.

Stream of Consciousness: Part 14

We are very busy over here in Cakerwakerville. Next week, I have a follow up appointment with my surgeon, Porgie has her 2 year well visit, and Izzy has his 6 month well visit. The following week we will be celebrating Porgie's 2nd birthday. In addition to her party, I want to take her somewhere fun - like the zoo or the aquarium. The week after that, Porgie and Izzy will have their pictures taken professionally, Porgie will see a pediatric cardiologist, and Izzy will be going back to the GI doctor. When I think about all of our appointments, my head spins.
__________

John is sick. I have been running around the house spraying Lysol on everything he touches. I know that the babies are going to get sick, and it is going to make the next few hectic weeks even HARDER.
__________

Porgie has been having some temper tantrums lately. Up until this point, she has always been a very easy going child. But now, she screams and throws objects on the floor in a fit of rage. It is adorable and annoying all at the same time.
__________

I finally mailed all of those handmade gifts to my blogger friends. Here is a picture of my craftiness...__________

Speaking of craftiness, I am thinking about signing up for a local craft fair. I want to sell scarfs, baby afghans, pot holders, coasters, etc. The only problem is, I am not sure I'll have the time or the energy to make these things. I am still on the fence about whether or not to sign up.
__________

Izzy hasn't been nursing much lately. He is down to about 4 nursing during the day. This wouldn't bother me, except that he only wants to nurse for about 5 minutes at each of these feedings. He is only getting about an ounce of food at lunch time, so I am positive that he is not filling up on solids. Maybe it's teething? I try not to worry because he is such a chunky little guy, but of course, I still worry.

Stream of Consciousness: Part 12

My babies are sick. I am drowning in snot and vomit. HELP!!!
__________

I went to see the doctor about my gallstones last Friday. I will be having surgery on Monday. I am a little nervous about the anesthesia, but I am sure everything will so smoothly. They are using a laparoscopic procedure, so I should be back to normal in about 5 days. Sounds easy enough.
__________

To prepare for the surgery, I have been pumping like a mad woman. Despite all of my efforts, I have only managed to freeze about 12 ounces of milk. I am hoping to have at least 24 ounces for the day of the surgery, but I think I am going to buy a small can of formula just in case. I am really upset about this, and I am not sure way.
__________

I took Izzy to the GI doctor last Wednesday. His stools are still acidic, and he is still spilling sugars. Grrrrr. I am pretty frustrated, because I have been working really hard to eliminate soy, eggs, dairy, citrus, and peanuts from my diet.
__________

I have almost finished crocheting the gifts I promised to make for my blogger friends. I'll post pictures when I am finished.

I really enjoy crocheting, and I find it to be somewhat relaxing. I am thinking about offering to make baby blankets for a little extra cash flow. But that sounds like a lot of work, so I probably won't. Have I mentioned that I am LAZY?
__________

And here are some photos for little old you...

Spaghetti sauce girl

Mmmmm... Cloth tastes sooo good.

My babies on a bench.

Craftiness

I finally finished Izzy's scarf. Since he is too little to wear a scarf, I tried to get Porgie to model it for me. It didn't work out very well, but here are the photos anyways...You get the idea. It's a blue scarf.

Scarf for my baby

I crocheted Porgie a scarf. She looks super cool and hip and stlyish. Don't you think...She looks so cute, I am thinking about making myself a matching scarf. Of course, I won't look nearly as cute as she does.

I can crochet

So, we all know that I don't clean, I can't cook, and I am fairly dimwitted. But, I do have a few redeeming qualities. Did you know that I can crochet? Oh yeah, I think I've mentioned it here and here and here. Damn, I am irritating.

Anyways, since I found out I was pregnant again, I started working on a blanket for the new baby. I am one of those annoying people who always get things done super early. In school, I always had my final project done months ahead of time. While teaching, I always had all of my lesson plans ready a full week in advance. In mothering, I finish my baby's blanket when I am only 14 weeks pregnant. Damn, I really am irritating.

I decided to go with a gender neutral color scheme - white, yellow, and green. I love the design, and I think it looks wonderful. I can't wait until December, when I can wrap it around my precious newborn baby.

Porgie really likes the new baby's blanket. The afghan I made for Porgie was knitted very tightly. However, this blanket is much looser. Porgie likes to put it over her head and look through the little holes. She is such little cutie.

Creating keepsakes for Porgie

So, I finally did it. I made Porgie a baby blanket. Needless to say, I am extremely proud of my crocheting skills. I know what you're thinking, 'When did Christy turn into a 90 year old woman?' Apparently, it happened last month- thank you very much.

For those of you who are interested, I taught myself how to do most of the basic stitches using this book. Then, I went to a crocheting class offered at a local knitting store. Shortly after the class, I purchased this book. It has tons of adorable designs for baby afghans.

I have to admit, I really like crocheting. It is a great way to occupy myself when I have some free time. Also, I feel an incredible sense of accomplishment when I finish a project. However, the thing I am most excited about is having a beautiful, handmade keepsake for Porgie when she gets older.

_____________________

On a different note, Porgie has mastered the art of crawling. Since acquiring this skill, she sleeps like this...