update to below mentioned knitting

no frogging here, in fact, no need to add any additional increases either... i must have been on crack when i counted the other day because according to what i figured today, i'm right on target and haven't missed ANY increases.

i LOVE my new needles :)

pittsburgh children's museum and new circulars

so on friday i took max, andy, papa and grandma (my parents) to the children's museum for a morning of play, play, play and some more play. sprinkled with a few tantrums, a few tears, a shower and some lunch. ooh and it was all topped off with a nap.

what a fun place! i haven't been there since it was called the buhl planetarium. well, i lie, i was there for a benefit a few years ago but we were only in the cafe area and i didn't get to see and play with all the cool things inside the actual museum part of the place.

max LOVED it! so did the rest of us, including andy. he had a fun time watching all the crazy that happens there.

1st stop, mr roger's neighborhood where max drove a trolley and peeked inside some little doors and played with a huge one of these. it was about 5 feet tall and 3 feet wide. max had a blast with this. i had fun watching him have a blast.

then we moved on to the attic, where there are lots of fun old school things to play with. these are things they had at the old buhl planetarium. from there we played with some match box cars that max thought he could take home with him and he also drove a mini cooper. totally cute.

then we went on to the nursery where max played with a few toys that were probably more his speed than anything else and i fed andy. then we went up to waterplay. where max took a shower and so did i! all the other kids were sorta damp, not my max, he was soaked. he seriously put his head under the water and stood there. he also tried to drink from the spouts, ick... i have some funny video but it's not uploaded yet. after about 45 minutes in this area, max exclaimed that he was all done so we changed him into dry clothes and went to the cafe for lunch where he had a melt down, tried diet coke for the first time (decided he didn't like it) and ate a cheese burger and some fries.

we were in the car no less than 2 minutes when he fell asleep. frankly if i weren't driving i would have been that way too... it was a really fun time and all of us enjoyed it and we can't wait to go back.

knitting report. i'm on row 30 of my feb lady sweater. i found some mistakes and it looks like i'm short either 20 or 30 stitches in regards to my increases. i was tired when i did my calculating so i need to go back and do it again to make sure that my numbers are indeed as screwy as i think they are. however i also decided that i needed new, longer circulars to continue with this project. i was using 32 in size 8's.... and i need to be trying this on as we go so i called yarns unlimited in sewickley to see what they had and i then promptly drove there to pick them up. i got 47 in addi turbo lace circulars and i'm excited to try them out. one thing that i've already noticed is that the cord is super soft and not all squirrelly. i had a pair of cheapo ones from joanns that seriously recoil every time they are left to sit unworked... it's annoying and i can already tell that this will be a nice feature to these new ones :) i'm now well rested and by tonight i'll be ready to recount and refigure my errors and make my decision as to rip or just keep going just adding a few extra increases as i go to get to the right number needed.

go get a drink and take a seat

knitting at the beach, what a treat! talk about relaxing! i finished my bag, i made a HUGE mistake in it and frankly it's pretty obvious but i couldn't figure out how to fix it without frogging it and i knew that if i frogged i would risk messing it up even more.... so i left it because frankly it's a market bag, i'm going to put fruit and veggies in it from the farmers market and really all it needs to do is hold those items. it already looks super as it is and unless i encounter another knitter while using it i would bet that most people wouldn't even notice it... plus it's such a huge mistake that it almost goes completely around the entire bag and it's right in the middle so really it COULD have been deliberate.... finished photos to come soon, i bought ribbon for a strap and i need to sew that on before i will take finished photos of it.

vacation was perfect. chris and i both got a nice break from being full time parents. with so many hands and arms around to hold and play with the boys we hardly held on to them at all the entire week :) willing family members and grandparents and aunts and uncles and cousins ROCK! andy spent nearly NO time on the floor this week... which i'm sure he liked but it meant that he didn't practice rolling over much. before we left he would sometimes do it but not consistently. since we returned home, if placed on the floor or in his crib, he will be on his belly in no time and reaching for anything within reach. he has also started to play with things :) jennifer, the ball and rattle are the top two items that he likes to play with and i've finally managed to get max to understand that they are andy's toys and not his to play with.

another cute thing that happened is max has started to talk to andy. yesterday max was holding a ball, he looked at andy, pointed to the ball and said "ball" to him as if to teach him what it was :) max was very serious about it and he didn't exclaim "ball" to him like he usually does to us. i think he's taking this brother thing very seriously.

ok, vacation details... let's see.... mostly we relaxed on the beach, max collected rocks for us and dug in the sand. by about thursday he was hip to actually getting into the water on his own. chris didn't have much time to relax at the beach due to this. we took the fairy to cape may one day. it was a major time suck. the boat ride took 75 minutes each way and then we had to take a shuttle that took about 30 minutes each way as well. plus we had two kids, camera gear and a double jogger to get on the shuttle bus... that was a little stressful. thankfully again we had some extra hands around. but it was still slightly annoying and way too commercial once we got there. we did have a good lunch and bought some yummy fudge from the fudge kitchen. but while there someone had an accident and the entire town lost power. making shopping without cash a little difficult. anyways, back on the fairy we went, i had a stiff drink to smooth my nerves and that was that. the following evening chris and i had a date night at a cool restaurant called agave, it was a tequilla bar and the food there was OUTSTANDING! best meal all week. we cooked in most every other night, and only managed to have lunch out twice. blah...

one morning the whole crew decided to take a bike ride, i had to stay back with andy so i put him in the stroller and set out to find the local yarn shop. it was called ginger moon fine yarn and antique shop. i found this: http://www.ravelry.com/yarns/library/austermann-bambou-soft
i know, not the same link i gave you in the last post. but in my opinion better :) this will be my yarn for my version of the feb lady sweater. i've swatched, i'm right on with gauge and i hope to cast on tonight after the boys go to bed. it's such a lovely color! photos to follow or be at least uploaded to flickr and ravelry very very soon!

overall, i was really glad we decided to vacation with chris's family. i'll admit, i was a little nervous about it but really it was quite lovely and very relaxing. if you have young children and have considered vacationing with family but thought that it might end up stressful. you might want to rethink it. the grandparents and aunts and uncles had a blast with max and andy and max and andy loved having a lot of time to play with them as well.

ok, back to reality

greetings from da beach version 2.0

hi all! i'm here, we're well, enjoying ourselves and relaxing :)

max is having a great time, he loves playing in the sand and finding lots of rocks for mommy :)

andy is doing well too and enjoying sitting with his grandparents and aunt and great aunt and uncle too :)

i've almost completed everlasting :) i've got the top band to knit then bo and i'm done. as michelle mentioned in her blog, what a dream it is to knit on the beach :) heaven on earth :)

i found a great lys nearby and i think i found my yarn for my feb lady sweater :) amy, you'll be happy it's a beatiful deep purple :) i can't wait to co!

no photos just yet... we've been trying to not do too much computer work while here :)

more updates upon returning home!

yawn....

i need a nap.

i need to put the clean clothes away.

i need to pack.

i need to clean.

i need to relax.

we're preparing to head out of town this weekend for a week's stay at the beach with chris's family. it should be fun, i hope it's fun. i ran to kmart today for a few incedentals and ended up dropping $75.... that's the most i've ever spent there... but i attribute it to having to buy about 8 greeting cards... damn those things are expensive.... it sucks.

max is a horror these past few days. refusing food. cranky pants. coloring on carpets, doors and toys. screaming at the top of his lungs and flinging himself onto every piece of furniture and every floor of every room. it's a lovely sight. i am not sure what the entire reason for this behavior is... it may be some more teeth... it might be that he has some sort of sick... doubtful.... but i think it's called a toddler and being very near to being 2 yrs old and his lack of communication skills.

he is saying new words daily. i really don't know how many things he can say but he can say a lot. but he still can't communicate well. this has got to be so frustrating... i feel his pain. i want to understand him so it's just as frustrating to me.

andy is doing well. he's finally regulating his feeding schedule and not eating every 45 minutes to an hour... he went through a major growth spurt last week so that has tappered off. he's also huge. he is 4 months old now and he's currently wearing clothing that is 6-9 months. he's very long. he is also getting the hang of naps and his nighttime sleeping. a pattern has arrived. but it's very easily disturbed... fun times are ahead while we beach it next week...

on the knitting front. i'm still working on everlasting:

i'm about half way complete. i need to join new balls soon (i'm using two strands of hempathy so that it's sturdy enough). i'll be taking this as my beach knitting. i also checked out ravelry for info on some local yarn shops near where we will be staying. there are three. i think i'll take a little me time one morning and check these shops out. maybe find some yarn for MY lady sweater :)

i might check in once or two next week, in order to do that i have to go to the local library. it's not within walking distance... so that's a deterrent.

until then i leave you with this, my giggly little baby:

baby kimono for petra

i knit my first sweater! and maybe it's doesn't quite count because it's a baby sweater and there is really not much in terms of shaping but i had to do increases and decreases and there is even an eyelet edge :) but i loved this little pattern and i completed it in record time :) i plan on making a few more for new babies on the horizon. i might even try to make one for andy, by increasing the size... however he's turning out to be quite a little porker so i'm not sure how large to make it...

this is the mama to be, she's due aug 10th. and i think she looks great! this past october, she married a good friend of ours, leo, who chris met a few weeks before he met me :) so i've known leo about as long as i've known chris. the three of us used to hang out pretty often and leo is like a brother to me. i've grown just as close to his wife now too and that's awesome :) they are planning on naming their little girl Petra.

here's a close up detail of the ribbons which couldn't have matched any better:
now i'm on the lookout for something new to knit...

mom's night out and a bit of a hodge podge

this past weekend i had my first mom date without any kids or husbands since having maxwell. it was great! my friend annie and i went to see dave matthews. annie is an avid concert goer and i on the other hand haven't been to see a live show in over 7 years i think. it's been so long that i can't even remember the exact date. needless to say, this mom date was totally worth it and i had so much fun that i can't wait to do it again.

the wedding. the wedding went off perfectly! the weather couldn't have been more pleasant. my boys couldn't have behaved any better, the tent couldn't have looked prettier (you can see the fun paper flowers we made in the photo of max below) and the happy newly weds couldn't have been more in love :) *cheese* they are currently traveling the north eastern coast in Maine and plan to be back in the burgh this weekend.


here's a photo that my cousin, johanna, took of my little guy max. so far it's the best photo that captures his cute little outfit :) andy had the same thing on.
ooh, knitting. well.... first, annie wouldn't let me knit while we tailgated on saturday. sooooo, the little bib i was working on did NOT get finished. but i did manage to complete the finishing touches to the sweater so that i could give it to the mama to be on sunday. she loved it, i took photos of it with her. i'll share those in the next post.