Socks!

These are my Gyokuro socks that I just cast off today!  Yay!  I was hoping to finish them up quickly so I could MAYBE get one more pair of socks done before the 15th but I don't know if thats really a possibility. I did these in the February CookieA sock club yarn, Alisha Goes Around Richness of Martens Fingering weight in the colorway Genevieve, which is poorly captured by the crappy lighting in my house.  Its really a beautiful and very soft yarn.  I like it a lot and highly recommend it!  

Now to either cast on another pair of socks or get some baking in...hmmm.  The baby is stirring I'm not sure I will be able to get to either.  A girl can dream!  :)

Betty Baker

Well my name is not Betty but I have been baking!  

 Nanaimo Bars chocolate, vanilla, coconut, almonds...its dangerously delicious.

Speaking of delicious these are lemon bars and they are so good.

My kitchen is basically the most dangerous place in the world right now.  I can't seem to stop "tasting" these bars.  This is not good for my mission to return to my pre-preggo figure.  I guess thats what new years resolutions are for...lol.  Two weeks and I am back to working out, I can't wait!

Rainy Day

E and I did some baking today.  It was fun and something I think we will definitely be doing for the holidays. She was really into the mess making portion of the activity at the end.  The stamp cookie cutter of Yoda needed to be dipped in flour between each use to keep the image coming out clearly so she really enjoyed dipping the stamp in it while I put the cookies in the oven.  Then she pushed a lot of the flour on the floor.  Oh well.  I did most of the Yoda cookies on my own and she did most of the gingerbread men and trees.  

 These are the matcha sugar cookies from the cookiea sock club.

 E hard at work for her cookie's.  I love her so much what a sweetheart.  :)

The final product which has been enjoyed a lot! 

Keep on keepin on

Well the house guests have all gone and the hubs has gone back to work so its just the girls and I until we head to Ohio for Christmas.  We were suppose to go to gymnastics this morning but it just didn't happen and I am ok with that.  Yesterday was a rough day.  I wasn't feeling well and I spent most of the day with a headache and cold chills followed by hot flashes.  My body was in freak out mode and all I wanted to do was sleep.  Today I am feeling much better.  The hubs was amazing yesterday.  He kept up with the girls and all the house cleaning.  I am so grateful for how awesome he was.  I am waiting for my friend Melissa to stop by with dinner and then I think the girls and I will head to Kroger or Target.  Probably Target since its closer.  Vivi was up every 2hrs last night which is always rough.  We are doing well though.  I am just trying to keep my food and fluids going today in hopes I won't crash too early.  We reorganized the house a little putting up the crib in Vivi's room and moving some bigger toys in Evie's room.  J also moved stuff around in the living room for the Christmas tree.  I hope to get it up soon so we can actually enjoy it before we leave town.

In the knitting universe I am busy working on my gyokuro socks in the february club yarn.  I really like them so far.  I am on the toe of the first sock and hoping to finish this pair up before Dec 15th.  I have already signed up for Cookie's 2013 sock club (well J signed me up as a christmas gift).  I am hoping I can win the free year though and get the money back.  :)  That would be awesome.  I have april's sock yarn to use up after this but if I don't make it through that I can always get some more entries with the cookies.  I have some that I would love to make starting with the Nanaimo Bars (sp?).  We are out of eggs or I would have started them already.  I made the flourless fiery fudge cookies.  They were pretty good and my father in law loved them so much he wanted the recipe.

I need to head to the store so the animals don't starve and so I can do some baking.

Knitting, Knitting and more Knitting...

Just a quick post with lots of pics because the baby is stirring, the toddler wants to color and I need to reheat my coffee. I have been doing some knitting lately so I just wanted to share.  I am in the CookieA sock club so I am trying to finish up this years socks.  She has added some incentive to finish.  The more socks you finish and the more cookies you bake and post the more times you will be entered to win a free year in her club for 2013.  Either way I am planning on signing up again because its fun.  

 Hamantashchen by CookieA in the club yarn Green Mountain Spinnery

 My prize from sock sniper.  I used sponsor yarn for my weapon and so I was entered into a drawing and surprisingly I won.  :)  It's MissBabs in the oregon mist colorway.

 Solfar in the club yarn for June.  I love these socks they came out great.  :)

Evie pushing Vivi in the swing.  Proof Evie is making strides toward being a big sister.  I wanted to get a video of this but my memory card was full on my camera.  So cute, I love my girls.

Spoiled

This has been an amazing week.  On monday I was blessed with the sweetest surprise,

 my beautiful new daughter Vivian.  

Then on saturday I received an amazing swap package from my spoiler.  I love it so much.  There is a cute notions bag, beautiful Hazel Knits yarn, cute little stitch markers, a magnet, a flashlight that E loves, sewing needles, starbucks card, starbucks via coffee in flavors i've never tried, soak wash, high lighter tape, a little notebook, and a cute pattern.

It has been a fabulous week if I do say so myself.  :)  

Meh

Its not even 6am so excuse the laziness in coming up with a title.  Apparently this pregnancy comes with a little less sleep.  I woke up at about 3am and after trying to fall asleep for about an hour I gave up and got up for food.  I guess I got enough sleep or something.  It probably doesn't help that the aches and pains of pregnancy have been catching up to me this week.  I think the baby has really dropped because I am experiencing that fun sciatic pain from the beginning of my pregnancy...and by fun I mean kill me now, lol.  I finished the baby blanket, a pair of booties and a pair of socks for E.  I need to take pictures to post.  I have been really lazy about that.  Other than that its been pretty much the same old stuff here.  I am helping a friend out by watching her son.  It was really fun yesterday because E had someone to run around with.  They really enjoyed it.  They get a little wild when they are together but it was less exhausting for me because they didn't really need me to help or do anything.  All they wanted to do was run, A LOT.  E passed out right away tonight so I think she was exhausted.  Probably because she doesn't nap and by the end of the day she is done.  We are still trying to get a little quiet time or nap time in when we can but overall she only gives in like once or twice a week at most to nap time.  I have a doctors appt tomorrow so she is going to a friends house for the morning to play and then her buddy is coming over again this afternoon.  All in all it should be a pretty busy day.  I might have to sneak a nap in before he gets here just from my super early morning... I was suppose to be teaching this week but things have come up and honestly I am kind of glad.  This was going to be my last week teaching before handing over my yoga classes but my body feels kind of done and ready for it all to be over now.  I will probably continue to go to class and just hide in the back modifying everything and moving slower but other than that it will be nice to be done with being in front of the class trying to teach but not really feeling it anymore.  I went longer with my first pregnancy but as they say every pregnancy is different.  Plus I have a toddler now which makes it all the more exhausting to keep going.
As far as my swap package goes, I think I have pretty much everything together.  I just need to get the handmade item together.  I'm not worried though.  I have a plan in place for that.  So I am hoping this weekend I will have time to get it done.  Its hard when E doesn't nap and J doesn't get home until later to get something done when I have a lot more energy.  Anyway I am off to make some coffee.  I have a feeling I am going to need it today...lol.

Hatching a Plan

J has been super busy with work and school lately.  He has also been rocking the daddy role especially since I am having bouts of pregnancy exhaustion since hitting the third trimester.  I don't know how he does it, he's an amazing man.  I want to to do something for him to let him know how much I love and appreciate him.  We both love hockey season.  Unfortunately the NHL preseason games have been cancelled due to the lockout so on Tues when we were suppose to watch our first preseason game we were disappointed with the bad news.  We do have a local AHL team though...so I was thinking I would get a sitter for E and take him out to a game.  I am going to have to look at the schedule first to see when we can go but fingers crossed we make it out before the new baby comes.  :)
In other news I got my swap partner for for the starbucks and yarn swap.  I'm pretty excited to get started, especially since I have to boogie on this package to get it out before Nov. 3rd which is 5 days before my due date.  I am hoping my energy holds out.  I can't believe its almost October...where has the time gone?
I am still working on E's fall coat.  I am on the sleeves.  I am hoping to finish it up and the baby blanket.  What I am more concerned about is it fitting...the hood seems a little small but I am holding out hope.  Off to start planning my spoilee's package and figuring out what we are doing today.  I believe it will involve grocery shopping...ew.

Busy and lovin it

I met my demise in sock sniper with a beautiful pair of Moss Rocks Socks in a fabulous color knit in Wildefoot yarn.  They are more of a teal color than in the picture and I think they will fit in really well with the rest of my sock collection.  

 My sniper also sent some wool wash and sock stitch markers.

I have been working on E's Roo coat.  Its slow going but I like it.  I hope she does too.  :)  No pictures yet I forgot to take one when I was doing a quick photo op with the socks.
I taught a yoga class yesterday and then we had a birthday party to go to.  I think E had a great time.  She loves hats and was enjoying her friends explorer hat.  I love her.  :)

Today J and Bob dog left on a camping trip with some friends.  They will be gone a couple days which sucks because I'll miss them but I am really happy they get to go out and have some fun.  E and I will probably go to a park today and then maybe do a little shopping.  Bath and Body Works has a sale on their candles today and I do love their fall scents.  I think I get my starbucks swap spoilee today.  I can't wait!  I think I need to treat myself to a pumpkin spice latte today since its our first girls day.  E got a present in the mail yesterday, a new spongebob dvd.  She loves that annoying little sponge, lol.  

No napping hell

We have entered napping dead space here.  My daughter is only 2 and she has pretty much given up on those pesky things called naps.  They interrupt her play time.  To counter her need to skip naptime I put her in her room for about an hour or so and sometimes she falls asleep (rarely) and sometimes she destroys her room (most of the time).  This is our routine because I need a break during the day.  I am hitting that third trimester exhaustion which sucks.  The low back pain has been coming back again which isn't just hanging out in the low back.  It can make walking really uncomfortable.  I think teaching my yoga classes has been helping some and the days I have off are throwing my body off.  Hopefully class tonight will help straighten things out.
On a more happy note the weather has been beautiful this week.  We turned the air off and opened all the windows.  Its amazing.  I LOVE fall.  It is definitely my season.  It is such a nice break from the ungodly heat we had this summer.  I can't wait for the leaves to change and fall to start showing up.  I love that the pumpkin spice latte is out and that there are pumpkins coming out at the stores now.
I cast on Roo for Evie in purple.  Its a cute little coat and I can't wait to see how it fits.  I am still slowly working on the baby blanket for nugget #2.  Its coming along nicely.  I'm over half way through.  Hopefully I'll continue to work on it because I have been going to bed super early at night.  My target got her socks and now I am just waiting to see where my SIP's will be coming from.  If I'm lucky I'll get them sometime soon.  If not then the death line will probably be pretty long, lol.  We shall see.  I'm off to enjoy some free time.  

Sniper no sniping

I finished my socks for my target last night.  I was determined because I spent all of yesterday paranoid my death socks would show up all day.  They didn't thankfully.  So I powered through and finished them up.  I sent these out this morning:

I hope she likes them and that they fit wonderfully.  It was dicey toward the end.  I was afraid I was going to run out of yarn but I had enough.  Now that those are off the needles hopefully I will live long enough to get some SIP's.  For those of you who aren't familiar with sock sniper just check out the page.  Its a lot of fun.

I cast on the Big bad baby blanket with some FABULOUS plymouth yarn baby alpaca worsted.  It feels so amazing I don't want to stop touching it.  Its for the nugget thats on the way.  Unless E steals it which I wouldn't blame her its pretty freaking amazing.  I might just keep adding to it for a while as the kids grow.  I should make E a baby blanket..or a toddler blanket since she is so big now.  I got the yarn on sale at my local yarn store.  If she finds more she told me she would set it aside.  I picked a nice brown yarn so it should be easy to add new sections to.  I want to make an afghan for our couch next.  A nice warm wool one.  :)

I am off for now.  I need to get back to this yarn.  :)

The weather website is a big fat liar!

I was suppose to go to yoga on the beach today as is our regular Labor day ritual for all the ymca yogi's.  This is the week they close down the building for a few days and then close down the studio so they can refinish the floors, paint, clean etc.  It has been raining out here...a lot.  Its flooded out my backyard and many of my neighbors yards twice in less than a week.  The second time worse than the first, due to the fact the ground was already saturated.  I was really looking forward to going to yoga today especially the outdoor class because its always a lot of fun.  Unfortunately after I had packed everything up and was getting E in the car, the sky opened up and dumped on us...again.  Damn.  So I decided well we are already in the car and ready to leave the house we may as well go somewhere.  So we hit up Target.  E got a toy laptop and a new season of Spongebob.  I thought it would be nice for all of us to have a new dvd to watch.  She loves the laptop too.  Its so cute watching her play with it.  Its looking overcast again and I am thinking it might rain AGAIN!  If it does we might have even worse flooding.  The ground is saturated so it might actually reach the garage this time.  No bueno!   

Some knitting love: 

 Dragonfly Fibers in the dragon base

 I tried to get a better shot of the colors here

 Sake by CookieA

 Sake front of leg

Sake back of leg

It's hard to believe but August is almost over.  Come Sept. 1st I will be competing in sock sniper.  I can't wait!  Its going to be so much fun!  I am trying to finish up the Sake socks before Saturday's cast on.  I am on the foot and almost at the toe.  The downside to Sake is that its SO hard to get it on my foot.  The design is really hard to wear because of the crosses around the leg drawing everything in.  I wish I would have increased a needle size.  I'm not sure how she got this to work on size 1 needles.  I'm not sure how it fits anyone.  I don't have large legs so I think its kind of crazy that they don't fit without effort.  That being said I think my sister has smaller legs than me so hopefully she can wear them.  More Christmas knitting out of the way I guess.  :)  I am off to finish off these socks and chill out because we have achieved naptime for the day!

Anybody got an ark?

 Its raining cats and dogs out here.  It just keeps starting and stopping.  We don't normally have "waterfront" property but today we do.  My hope is that it stays on that side of the fence.  I had to drive out in the crazy to teach my yoga class this morning.  Lets just say it wasn't fun, lol.  My car did not appreciate the weather but we made it there and then had a really easy going trip home.  If we are lucky we will get to go to dinner with our friends tonight.  Fingers crossed.

 I finished my Jedi Mind Trick socks the other day and finally took a picture.  They are pretty sweet.  Someday I will make the complimentary yoda cookies.  :)

With the Jedi Mind Trick socks out of the way and days before cast on for sock sniper I cast on Sake also by CookieA in a hand dyed yarn from knitpicks bare fingering weight yarn, dyed by the fabulous setembrina during ravellenics.  She kindly sent me the skein when I admired it.  I love it even more in person and knit up.  Such fabulous fall colors!  :)
I didn't make it to the yarn store today maybe sometime next week.  :(  The weather was too dicey and I didn't want to get stuck out there in the elements.  They might not even be open today.

Busy Busy Day

Our morning started bright and early just before 6:30am.  I taught pilates, which from me was more of a core -centric yoga class.  Apparently it was good though because I had one woman tell me it was really hard, like the regular instructor usually does, which she likes.  Then I followed that up with yoga.  E actually napped today which was awesome.  I think it had a lot to do with her very early wake up this morning which I actually didn't have to do.  She woke up all on her own and woke me up before the alarm went off.  We played a lot outside.  I used the push mower and mowed the backyard because the grass has really been growing from all the rain.  We walked the dog and played some more and now I am spent.  I have been using extra long bath time to help us make it through the end of the day routine.  She plays in the tub and I knit.  Its been helpful because by the end of the day I am pretty much spent which I blame a lot on pregnancy, lol.  J gets home tomorrow night and I can't even begin to express how happy this makes me, I could cry, lol.  Tomorrow is the last full day of craziness and then we will all be back together.

My socks are almost done.  I am on the toe of the second sock which is good because sock sniper starts Sept. 1st and I need to be ready.  Although thats a few days away so I could cast on another pair and at least get through the first sock before battle begins....or I could work on some christmas knitting....Saturday I think I should go to the yarn store and buy some stuff I need for my future projects.  I also signed up for the Starbucks swap so when that starts I will have to get moving on that right away.

I am loving this weather.  The evenings have cooled and the days aren't as hot.  I LOVE FALL!  :)

Chill out man

1.  The kitchen sink backed up this morning and despite every effort to unclog it and drain it I was left with dirty floating water.
2.  After attempting to become a plumber, at 7 months pregnant, my friend came over and fixed it for me later in the afternoon.
3.  This was after I had, had basically a complete meltdown...awesome.
4.  Took the dog for his first walk since Saturday.  Guilty feeling is finally starting to go away.  Sorry dude its been raining and when its not raining I am apparently running errands or working.
5.  2yo didn't nap again today.  Sadly this one is probably mostly my fault.  If I had told her to take a nap I have a sneaking suspicion she might have.  I think that walk was a lot of work for her too.
6.  I can't remember what I fed my kid today but I am thinking on a scale of 1-10, 10 being the healthiest, it was probably about a 4.
7.  We got to skype with my husband this morning which was apparently not as exciting as actually talking to daddy on the phone.  Don't ask me how.
8.  I am still plugging away on my socks, just a little more slowly.  I believe this is due to the fact that anytime I have free time I am too tired to do anything.
9.  We got our dossiers for our targets in sock sniper.  I am pretty excited.  That means this month is almost over and I get to start something new and fun.  Plus taking out my target will be pretty awesome not only for me but for her target, lol.
10.  My boss called to ask me to teach the pilates class tomorrow.  I was literally the last resort because I am pregnant, so she must be pretty desperate.  I am honestly not thrilled.  Not only because I am uber preggo making core work no fun but also because I have subbed this class before and was taking it before I got too uncomfortably preggo to continue on.  These people know me and know that I know how the class is actually taught so they have expectations.  Expectations lead to added stress...as I said no fun.  Plus I have to make sure E and I are up early tomorrow and out the door on time.  Which means alarm clocks and no sleeping in which we have been doing lately...boo.
11.  I figured out where the weird smell in my dining room was coming from.  Apparently when E peed in her booster seat it leaked through and saturated the cushion on the otherside ( I didn't realize that could happen or that it would be a problem).  Not only is there pee there but milk and other meal related scents.  So I took the whole thing apart and cleaned it with bleach and set it out to dry.  It smells much better.
12.  I got to meditate tonight after E went to bed so now I am feeling very calm and chill which is awesome after such a special day...
 

The red writing

is on the walls, literally.  Its been a somewhat trying day.  E did not nap and was really fussy at bedtime tonight.  So during her bedtime staling, bathroom time with books, I had J call to talk to her because she hasn't heard his voice since Sunday morning.  I was hoping that the reason she was crying was because she missed him and didn't know how to express it.  She was super excited to talk to him and to hear his voice.  The look on her face was amazing.  She definitely misses him.  So I put her back to bed at the end of the call and went to clean up the kitchen.  She was really quiet so I figured she had settled down and was going to sleep.  Then I heard her talking in her bathroom.  I went to investigate and caught her messing around.  So I sent her back to bed and as I was telling her to go to sleep I noticed the wall.  She had colored on her wall and window with a red bathtub crayon.  Are you freaking kidding me?  Its an hour past her bedtime and I am wiping red crayon off of her wall and window.  I sternly tell her to go to bed and leave.  I finished cleaning the kitchen and I sit here now tired and annoyed.  How can something so cute be such a pain in the arse?

On a more positive note I am on the foot of the second sock.  I had a lot of time while I waited in the doctors office to knit.  E was with a friend which was really nice because having to jump through hoops to entertain my kid while I wait endlessly for a doctor is not fun.  I am off to salvage what is left of my sanity and energy before bed.  

One down

We made it through day one unscathed.  I consider this a major accomplishment especially since it rained the better part of the day.  I cooked dinner, baked muffins and went grocery shopping so things must be going well.  Tomorrow I have a doctors appt. and E is going to my friends house to hang out for some of the morning.  Other than that I have to teach my gentle yoga class and make it through yet another night without J.  I miss him.  It sucks sleeping alone and being the only adult in the house.  He was the only person I had an actual conversation with today unless you count the small talk at the grocery store with the check out guy and meat guy.  E was great at the grocery store so I bought her a book of her choosing.  BIG mistake.  She managed to pick the most annoying book in the store.  Its a veggie tales book that sings a song, one song, and she kept hitting the button over and over again.  I was thiiis close to chucking it out the window on the drive home.  Needless to say I held back.  Potty training went much better today than it has lately.  So that was encouraging.  I have been all over the cooking and cleaning keeping the house in pretty good shape.  I believe the nesting instinct has kicked in because normally I would not be this on top of the house stuff.  I played a little more Mario today, not much though.  I also knit a few repeats of the sock but its still not that far along.  I signed up for the Starbucks yarn swap on Rav which should be fun.  My big project I hope to get through before J gets back is organizing my desk.  We are talking about how to set up the baby room which is currently the office.  The current plan is to downsize to one desk and take down his workout station (and put it up in the garage).  My desk is scary.  I have been using it as a dumping ground for all of my stuff.  I'm not even sure how much of it is useful or necessary anymore.  Either way I need to remedy that.  Other than that not a whole lot goin down here.  The one really surprising thing that happened today would be my cat eating the dogs food.  He got really desperate and Bob is not that interested in his dry food so I don't think he noticed or cared.  I just thought it was hilarious and so did J.  I texted him to tell him the new low Ziggy hit.  I feel bad but I keep reminding myself he needs to be on this diet whether he wants to or not.  Its for his health and well being.  Plus he is completely capable of hunting outside.  I'm going to get a little more knitting in and then I need some sleep, tomorrow is another busy day.  :)

Just us girls

Its just little E and I this week.  J has a test to run for work in Cali.  He left today as well as my sister and her boyfriend.  We had a great weekend.  Its really quiet in the house right now.  Little E is on a Pooh Bear kick.  We are on the third playthrough of the movie today.  Normal she doesn't get to watch this much tv but today was a really off day with all the stuff we had going on.  Its going to be hard to explain to her why daddy is at work until Friday....  I am not sure how military wives do it but they are crazy awesome.  Its going to be hard for me too.  I love having down time with him after E goes to bed.  We usually hang out, talk and snuggle at the end of the day.  He give E her bath and helps to get her ready for bed and we both read to her.  Hopefully this week goes quickly.
The new super mario bros came out today for the 3ds so I picked up a copy.  I will hopefully have some time to play.  I might not get much in tonight as I'm already a little tired.  It seems really similar to the last mario bros for the ds and the one for Wii so far.  I'm sure I'll still like it.  I don't think you can really screw up Mario.
My pants shipped today from lululemon.  I'm pretty excited.  They are really cute.  I can't wait to wear them.  :)

My sister and her boyfriend were here for a short trip.  We had a lot of fun.  She brought E her first playdoh set.  She loves it.  We went to the park and played on the playground, saw some animals and went to dinner at my favorite local Thai restaurant.  Then our friends came over and everyone play parcheesi (sp?).  It was a lot of fun.  E loves having company.  :)  She gets spoiled rotten with all the attention.  They did a good job wearing her out today before they left.  She still didn't really nap though, just a little power nap in the car.
Not much knitting went down this weekend.  Just a couple rows on the sock.  I hope to get some done or finish the socks this week.  For now I am off to spend some more time with E before bed.  :)

Good Times

I taught my yoga class today and we worked on Anantasana.

Image borrowed from yoga journal

It was a lot of fun and I didn't have any sciatic issues during class which was an amazing feeling.  I love days when I have a lot of energy for my practice and my body is willing to work with me.  I think this pose is so much fun to play with.  I was so impressed with my class because everyone was able to come into some variation of it.  

I didn't take my pie to yoga today because I couldn't find our stash of plates and forks.  Its probably for the best though as it most likely would have leaked in my car.  Its really yummy I had some today with coffee already.  Next time I am going to make my own base crust (I made the top crust from scratch but not the bottom).  I think the pre-made ones taste kind of funny.  I had one in the fridge to use up so thats why I used pre-made vs homemade.  

Ziggy has had his dry food intake bumped up slightly to see if it would help keep him calm and a little more sane.  So far it seems to be working.  He finished off the bowl and is now napping which is a nice change from him constant circling and crying.  I think we may have cut back too much right away for him.  Oh well its still less than he was eating before.  I want a healthy cat, they live longer better lives.  

E is napping, I could do a little happy dance.  I have to go to Target today when she gets up.  I would really, really like to make it to the yarn store or something to pick up some yarn for another sweater project.  I have a pattern for Roo, which is a really cute kids sweater for E I just don't have the yarn for it.  

  Roo

Plus the new twist collective just went live this week and lets just say there are a million things I want to knit from this issue and the past issues....

Uh oh I feel the siren call of startitis...this could be really ugly or really wooly (which can never be ugly...).

Wonderful Day

E and I had a great day.  We have been slowly working our way into a regular routine again.  The potty training is still hit or miss as I assume its going to be for a while but we are working on it.  I am still going to yoga and teaching my classes which is nice and E is willingly going into childwatch for now.  When I picked her up today they were very impressed with her.  She told me she had to go potty (she didn't) and she also knew her abc's and numbers.  I think its great that she likes to practice her numbers and letters on her own even though we don't drill them with her.  I just use them in context and she seems to find them fascinating so I'm going with it.  I was really impressed when she was able to get her Winnie the Pooh puzzle together on her own though (its for 3 and up and can be pretty tough).

As for Ziggy, he is not taking to his diet well.  J moved his dry food into the laundry room so he would stop attacking the bag every chance he got.  He's a pain in the butt and begging like crazy.  He is possibly more annoying than the dog who loves to stalk me (constantly) anytime I am home.  I love them both dearly I just need personal space.  I already have a toddler (and soon an infant) who needs me pretty much all the time.  It seems unfair to be shackled with very needy animals as well, lol.  

  I have been cooking more which is awesome because I have missed it.  My favorite part is that J and I got to make this particular dinner together.  I love cooking with him.  We have fun doing it and its a great way for us to spend time together while doing something productive.  Soon E will be able to help too.  This dinner was delicious.  Its from the latest Cooking Light Mag its the chicken, leek and potato potpie (too lazy to look up the actual name but thats pretty much what it was).  I will definitely make it again.  Plus we learned how to prepare leeks which we have never done.  So its a win-win.  :)

 Today during naptime I made this yummy cherry, nectarine and blueberry pie.  I love it!  I think I needed to add more cornstarch though because it is VERY juicy from all the fresh fruit.  I had a lot in the fridge and I knew I wasn't going to use it all before it went bad so I figured a pie was a good way to go through a lot of it.  I might take it to yoga tomorrow to share.  I'm pretty proud because as far as I can recall this is the only pie I have ever baked and it turned out great.  As I said I am on a cooking/baking kick.  Some of it is just so I can get through a lot of the food we have in the house.  We have a lot of odds and ends and I would rather clear them out and make space on my counter etc.  

Finally, sock progress.  I knit and then kitchenered the toe while E played in the pool today.  I cast on the second sock when J got home from work.  I'm pretty excited.  Its been a while since I knit socks.  I have to get ready for Sock Sniper and get back into that sock knitting mode.  I've been in sweater mode for so long that its really nice how rewarding it feels to finish something so quickly.
  My sister and her boyfriend will be here this weekend for a quick visit and then J leaves for a work trip on Sunday leaving me and the nugget to fend for ourselves for a week.  I think we will be eating pizza a lot, lol.

14lbs of feline fury

My cat is on a diet.  He is not at all happy about this turn of events as it involves my not keeping his bowl full.  We went to the vet last week and she told me he cannot gain anymore weight and in fact that he would benefit from a dropped lb or 2...  As they have been telling me this for the past year or so I decided to take some serious action.  I guess gaining a pound in a year is a lot for a cat... who knew?  So a few days ago we switched up his food amounts.  This involved a 14lb cat staring me down each night just waiting for the rest.  He tried staring, he tried pawing my shoulder and a little meowing.  I can proudly say that all he got from me was a firm "no" and "go outside and hunt fatty" (ok maybe I didn't call him fatty).  He seems to be adjusting to the change in feeding.  I know he can catch mice because he leaves them all over the place.  So if he is really hungry he has an option.
Still no napping going down here.  Although I can say that she passed out for about 20min in my lap at the Y while we had our snack and social time with the yogi's.  Much to my dismay she woke up when I put her in the car...shocking I know.

The Jedi Mind Trick Socks are coming along really nicely.  I'm glad I just kept going on them.  The pattern does come out right if you just follow the directions.  It just doesn't seem like it will at first.  I am almost done with the first leg which is awesome.  Its a pretty easy pattern to memorize and churn out its just getting past the initial hump that proves difficult.  I am off to play with my yarn a little more.  :)  

Oh hell

I think there should be more warnings about these things.  This time when your child enters the terrible twos and every semblance of a normal life ends.  Your lovely child goes from napping normally, eating normally and being pleasant to being a demon.  You have entered hell keep arms and legs inside the ride its going to get ugly.  My daughter hit the terrible twos full force.  She is trying to make me crazy.  She has completely stopped napping and somehow still manages to lie in bed for 2hrs after bedtime talking to herself.  Where does all this energy come from?  Why is she so cranky in the morning?  She somehow finally passes out around 9/10p most nights and then wakes up around 6:30a.  This seems like some kind of cruel joke.  Her fluctuation is diet are not all that abnormal as we go through phases constantly.  The potty training has not been fun at all.  She does really well one day and then the next day everything goes to hell.  Its the classic 2 steps forward 20 steps back.  Mommy is not amused.  As I said I have entered the hell that is the terrible two phase.  I live in fear of what baby number two will bring to the table.  What was I thinking?  Who wants to go through this more than once?  I am just taking this one slow breath at a time and hoping for the best, lol.

I finished my Ravellenics projects and have stood on several podiums to receive my gold medals.  I am glad I went with a series of smaller projects as I know I wouldn't have had time to finish a large project.  Now all I have on the needles is a pair of Jedi Mind Trick Socks from my CookieA sock club August shipment.  I think they are coming out right but I'm going to be honest and say I am not completely sure.  They are a tricky little pattern but not a crazy charted pattern.  I will have to post pictures when I have better light to take pictures, lol.  As it is I am up late again which is something I need to really stop doing...  I am just finishing up the last of this batch of cookies I baked.  They are oatmeal coconut chocolate chip and they are yummy.  I got the recipe off of the allrecipes website.  It said they made 30 cookies but I definitely got more.   Think it really depends on how large you make said cookies.  My husband was very happy though as he apparently has been craving cookies.  I'm sure E will appreciate one tomorrow.  I am off though its time to get ready for bed.

Random

1.  I made my first pair of french press slippers last night.  They literally only take a few hours to knit up and felt but I didn't get around to felting until this morning.

2.  Reminder to self when felting tie off pillowcase VERY tightly.  I opened the washer to check on my slippers and they were not in the pillowcase anymore...Its all good though.  I just tossed them back in and tied a little tighter which seemed to do the trick.  

3.  My morning got off to a rough start as in we didn't do anything until about 11...

4.  I miss my Y routine for this very reason.

5.  The sciatic pain seems to be happening more frequently which sucks because I want to continue teaching my classes as long as I can as well as living my normal life with a very active 2yo.

6.  My husband deciding I need to be more cautious with my low back put the step stool in my car so our daughter can climb into the car without my needing to lift her.  She seems to like this idea.

7.  The step stool takes up a lot of space in my car.  I don't really care for this idea but my back does.

8.  I spend way too much money at Target, therefore I should never be allowed to shop there.  My daughter just acquired a new dog shaped guitar and a pair of boots.  The boots will probably be useful this winter.  The dog guitar not so much.

9.  My house is perpetually trashed no matter how much time I spend cleaning.

10.  My husband tells me I shouldn't bend over as much since its not good for my back but he is not cleaning the house so my back is most likely screwed.

11.  I don't expect him to clean the house he has an insane amount of work on his plate right now coupled with lots of stress.  He deserves a break.

12.  The olympics are not helping with my need to sleep.

13.  I'm contemplating the next project to jump on my empty needles.  (I actually have a lot of projects on the needles now but I don't really want to work on any of them.)

14.  My toddler is competing in the not napping olympics.  I believe she will be receiving a gold medal.

15.  The french press slippers, when they are dry, will mostly likely go into the save stash for Christmas because I think they are going to be a little big for me.  Damn.  I really wanted them too.

I'll post pictures when they are done.  I have to sew on the strap, add buttons etc.  I think they will go to my sister since she has larger feet...

stepping up to the podium

I am a medalist!  Go me!  :)

For this:

 I am waiting on my medals for this:

It is Habitat by Jared Flood.  Its a great hat and I am tucking it away as a future Christmas gift.  I am trying to get some knitting done for Christmas now so that I have some homemade things to give.  We will have nugget number 2 by then so knitting time will be at an all time low (or so I imagine).  :)  Off to dig something else up to knit maybe a WIP or something else.  My Cookie A sock club kit should be arriving today which is always fun.  If I don't have the yarn today then hopefully by tomorrow, not that I don't have enough sock yarn to start anyway.

Gooooooold

 Owls sweater cascade eco wool in brown. 

I finished my sweater!   I just have to wait on my medal.  :)   I am so excited that I finished it.  Once I finished I decided I needed something new on the needles right away so...

I cast on for Habitat, a hat by Jared Flood.  I love it.  Its from the leftover yarn from my Owls sweater.  I think it will be a christmas gift (can't start too early on those).  My cat apparently loves this wool.

I'm not sure what I will do after the hat.  I might cast on the vogue sleeveless top I picked out or maybe Roo for E.  Speaking of E she is on day one without her pacifier.  She didn't nap and tonight was a little rough but I hold out hope she will give it up pretty easily.  The dentist told me she needed to give it up sooner rather than later to avoid a crossbite.  So we decided this weekend was the best time.  She did really well without it all day and thankfully J was the one to take it away not me.  I am kind of a wussy and would have a hard time listening to her beg for it.  He "lost" it.  It is on the counter where she can't see it.  I think she has done really well overall though.  So I am hopefully she will forget it soon.  Anyway I am exhausted and ready for bed!

Goin for the gold!

I am on the yoke of the Owl's sweater and I am really liking it.  I can't wait to finish it!  I need to buy some buttons to add for the eyes before Ravellenics is over.  I think I will definitely get this done before the Olympics are up!

My garden has produced some really yummy treats.  Our first watermelon that actually grew in my neighbors garden (it snuck through the fence).  The carrots are ugly but I'm sure they are yummy.  The grape tomatoes are great.  I'm not sure if the watermelon just needed a little longer to grow or if it had stayed on the ground too long because its such a light pink and not the best flavor.  Its really exciting though.  We have never grown watermelon or carrots.  :)
E had her first dentist appt today which was kind of exciting.  It went really well, not gonna lie I was a little nervous.  She doesn't do well when we clean her teeth let alone a stranger.
In baby news, just 14 more weeks from today until we meet the new nugget!  I can't wait.  I think it will be fun, obviously challenging but fun.  Tomorrow afternoon we are having a play date at the house, which is desperately in need of some cleaning but we'll just look past that.  I think I will knit while I am still conscious.  Coffee and frozen pizza for dinner, nutritious and delicious...E got a hotdog and various fruits and veggies much healthier than mommy, lol.