Vacation Time!

Well, we are headed out for almost a week of vacation today! We'll be surrounded by family, the Lake of the Ozarks, and (hopefully!) peace and ease.

So, of course, what better time to "catch up" on some of those things that I've been wanting to do, but just haven't found time for?

I made a pit-stop in the supply-buying madness yesterday, at Barnes and Noble to pick up some good reading material for our time at the lake.

Here's what I got:

Pete and I are (a little belatedly, I might add!) now into the "preparing for birth" stage, and this book is amazing! I'm half-way through a friend's copy, and liking it so much that I knew I had to buy my own.



This book has so many great, cute projects that are "adjustable" depending on the fabrics you choose. I love it! Not only is it giving me great inspiration for the Shop, but the projects look simple enough that I just may be able to have some of them ready for Babykins when she arrives. :)

And this book is one I've been wanting for a long, long time. The little Miss will be born sometime in October (you know, give or take those two weeks on either side of the due date) ;) , and I think a Pumpkin Hat is required.

Hopefully I can get that on the needles soon- then maybe I can join the ranks of the W.I.P. women! (We'll see how those grand plans go.)



So, that's the extent of my "me" purchases for the vacation. And, really, are they actually "selfish" purchases if my child(ren) will be getting the benefits from them? ;)

We'll be back on Sunday night, and I'm hoping to post pictures from our travels soon after.

Happy Week to You!

(Now, back to the packing...)

For the Knitters Out There...

I'm not sure, but I think this might just be one of my new favorite places to visit on the web.
(Could have something to do with the fact that I'm still searching for the perfect project to make for my baby girl.) :)

They're brand new, and look very promising for free patterns.

Checking In

Hi all.

Thought I'd just pop in this morning to let you know I'm still around. ;)

These last couple of weeks have been a bit overwhelming-
on the 4th we lost the young husband of one of our good friends to cancer,
and his funeral was last week.
It was a long and emotion filled trip, but we're so very glad we made it.

Then on Saturday Pete's grandma passed away, and her funeral is this week.

So, it's been an emotion-filled time for us around here since July 4th,
and the posting (not that it was terribly regular to begin with this summer!)
has gone by the way-side.

But, life does go on- which is both a comfort and a struggle at times-
and I hope to be back again on a regular basis soon to update you
(anyone who does read this little 'ol blog) ;)
on the happenings of the summer, the baby's progress, and my new business venture.

So, until then, happy days to you! :)

6 Months And "The One"

Well, we are now into our sixth month!
Looking back on all our previous losses it seems almost unreal to be this far along.
Things are going so well, and much more quickly than I anticipated!

I think I may be starting to enter that "nesting stage" I've heard so much about.
I'm chomping at the bit to get our master bedroom finished (it needs a complete re-do, from walls to flooring), so we can move into it (baby will be sharing a room with us for the first few months), thus giving us room to finish her actual bedroom (it also needs a complete re-do; floors, walls, everything).

The frustrating thing is, I can't do a thing on either of those projects- it's all hubby's domain.
I am doing my part in trying to get all of the non-essentials moved to the basement (whew- which is a whole 'nother organizational disaster area) so he can get started, but when it comes to the actual labor of working on the rooms- I'm benched.

So, I've been doing my darndest to get the rest of my "nest" organized.
I've gone basket crazy I think- our house came as a true blank slate- not even any built-in storage space (you know, a linen closet would be divine- come to think of it, an actual full-size closet itself would be wonderful- all of ours seem to have been built out of whatever nook or cranny was left), so baskets have become my friends.
The idea is to, in the end (I'm hoping by my due date!), have a house that looks calm and comfortable inside, where everything has a home of its own.

We'll see how that goes.

In other news, I do believe we have found "The One" when it comes to the name we've chosen for the baby.
I will add the disclaimer that this could possibly change when she's born- you never know, we could have a miraculous flash of enlightenment and find that some other name we'd never considered works better-
but baring that, this little one's name will be...

(Any of you out there who may find this name distasteful in any way, please keep your comments to yourself.
We're not asking for opinions, just sharing with you.) :)

As for a middle name, we like the idea of our first girl sharing mine (Kail- pronounced "Kyle"), and our first boy sharing Pete's (Roy).
Both are family names that have a lot of significance for us, and we're excited to share them with the next generation! :)

And, in still further news (not baby-related), our Etsy shop is finally up and running!
Woo-hoo!
My mom and I have been slowly working on this little project of ours,
Mama & Nonni Handmades,
since the first part of the year- and finally we're seeing progress! :)

There's a clickable link on the left side of the blog, if anyone is interested in checking our little shop out.

That's all for now, I guess.

Happy (belated) 4th of July!