crafting

Christmas is a time for pulling out that machine of yours and making some goods!  Although, I'm loathe to admit I'm not making anything for my girls this year.  I am hoping ("hoping" being a key word) to knit this sweet blanket for my third-born.

**source**

 I imagine it in creams and blues and greys.  Does that say anything??  I have a wonderful boy name picked out... but, no girl name.  Sweet little Ruby (my fav) just got eternally x-nayed by Trav.  Boo.  Back to the drawing board.

Anyhow, I've been making some fun things I thought I'd share.  I just completed a beautiful nativity cross-stitch (that I began in August!) and am working on getting it matted and framed.  I spent a lot of time on this puppy, so I don't mind spending a pretty penny to have it nicely preserved.  Yet, when I got my first quote this morning of $220, I was quite taken aback!  I need to shop around some more, I see...  I'll share a photo soon of the framed piece.

This easy project is fun, fast, and personal.  I have three neighbor ladies that are dearer than dear to me.  We all live within four homes of one another and have the same aged children.  We watch each others' kids at the drop of a hat, trade date night babysitting, watch monitors, come over for no reason, share recipes.  These women are why I LOVE base housing.  We also all love our Canon DSLRs.

The camera strap tutorial I used is found here.  I ordered the hardwear off of Amazon for under $5.  I also purchased a quarter yard of fabric each, but you could probably get away with 1/8 of a yard.  Easy to make and fun to wear.

And what's that in the background??  Why, it's our felt advent tree!  The same pattern that my parents used as we children were growing up.  We use this fabulous book, Family Celebrations, as our guide through Advent.  Not only does the book have the pattern for the tree and each symbol, but it also has ideas on how to form family traditions for Valentine's Day, Easter, Pentecost, birthdays, Independence Day, All Saints Day, Thanksgiving, and more Christmas.

The devotionals are short, yet Scripture-packed & very centered on Christ and why it is so necessary that He came into the world to save us.  True to my memory (as we did this very tree every year growing up), our little women love our family Advent time in the evening.

(Bottom (L-R): Jesus is the Alpha and Omega, the Word, He made all things,  our sinful hearts need Him, His sacrifice is why He came.
Top (L-R): He is the light of the World, God's greatest gift to us is Jesus, God's love is why He sent Jesus)

Welp, that's what I have for now, folks.  Must get on to dinner-making, and laundry folding.  Thanks, as always, for tuning in.  Love ya.

randoms

1. Chocolate make me so happy.  Last night, we didn't have any chocolate and this depressed feeling settled over me.  Travis went and bought me some ... I felt it was the most romantic thing he could have done.  Should I consider this PROBLEMATIC??

2. The Children's Place is having a great sale right now.  $10 for kids jeans - the kind with the elastic-button-expandable waistband, too (the best kind).  I bought Bella two pairs for this upcoming winter.  And I had to seriously chop off both my hands to not buy every other ADORABLE piece of clothing for my girls.

3. Our time here is coming to an end, and fast!!  On one hand, I'm anxious to get back to our own home, our own comfy bed, the girls in their own room, to my sewing machine... but on the other hand, I'm not ready to never see my husband anymore.  That makes me quite sad, in fact, and in that case, I've decided I'd like to stay here indefinitely.

4. I've been reading and knitting like a fiend.  Both things I adore.  My sweater (remember?  I started it a year and a half ago - literally??) is nearing its finish!  I'm still loving it, thank goodness!

The body is done!  Just working on the sleeves now...

5. I do declare that Summer-girl is turning into Bella #2 when it comes to Dada.  She MUCH prefers him over me, and she's quite vocal about it.  Even last night, she woke crying and was quite upset.  Trav went and got her and she continued to scream and scream.  Until her hand touched his scratchy chin.  Then she immediately went silent, sighed "Dada," and lay her head on his shoulder.  NO JOKE, people.  Then, of course, Trav melted and snuggled her into oblivion.

6. The race-people sent us some pictures from our race a month ago.  I'd like to point out this muscley-looking leg of mine:

I'd like to point it out, because I think they may have edited that in.  When I look in the mirror, I see no such muscle.  Maybe that has something to do with the fact that I haven't run since our race.  Maybe...

7. And because we all love a good Bella story (and maybe because they happen way too often), I'll end with our most recent embarrassing episode:

We treated ourselves to Red Robin Sunday evening after Trav finished writing a paper.  While waiting to be served our food, the manager came walking around to everyone's table, checking how things were.  When she reached our table, this reasonably large, black lady drooled over Summer and Bella.
How are y'all???
Oh heavens!  They are TOO cute!!
What's y'all's names??
I love those curls, honey!!
Too sweet!!!


Of course, Bella didn't want to talk/look/respond/acknowledge the manager.  After some threatening coaxing, we finally got Bella to tell the lady her name and say thank you for the copious compliments heaped upon her. After a few minutes more of courteous conversation, she was fixin' to move on.  That's when Bella interjected.
Um, excuse me, lady?
Yes, Sugar?
You have BERY big boobies.

Etiquette.  Our next objective in parenting Bella will now be social etiquette.

booties

I've been a mite obsessed over knitting these booties as of late.  They're quick and simple and now that I have the pattern memorized, I can knit anywhere.

My favorite part about the booties??  They actually fit and stay on the baby's feet!  Those of you with younguns know how difficult it is to find a pair of booties/shoes/socks that stay on the child's feet to keep them warm, especially these poor winter babies.  

So, half my friends are pregnant and/or having babies, and I've been knitting like a fiend, pumping these pretties out right and left.  Love giving homemade gifts and love knowing they'll be useful.  I made Summer some before she was born and she models them proudly nearly every day... along with those adorable thighs.

If you're a knitter, I'm attaching the pattern as a PDF file.  I would give credit where credit is due, but I honestly have no idea where the pattern originated... so know it's not from my own bitty brain.  Click here for the Knitted Booties pattern.

Totally love-hate

I'm a knitting fiend right now.  I'm on my third hat in four days.  But, this is totally me.  Knitting and I... well, we are almost constantly on a love-hate relationship basis.  I either love it and can't let the needles leave my fingers, or I hate it and never want to see another skein of yarn within twenty feet of me.

Here's Bella's hat:

She TOTALLY loves it (which makes me feel like a hero) and couldn't wait to plop it on her head as soon as I finished.  You can't see that well, but I knit double-stranded: the variegated red along with some sparkly red yarn, so it shimmers.  Always a plus in any little girl's book.

Her favorite part?  The little "tail" at the top, so she can pull it off.  She also loves that Baby sister has a matching one.

I simply can't wait to see both my girls in red hats, giving me a piece of sunshine in this already-dreary winter...

DAY 4: A PHOTO FROM THE LAST PLACE YOU WENT ON A HOLIDAY
I don't know who says, "holiday" anymore in lieu of "vacation".... but ya.  My mom is trying to convince me to name Baby's middle name "Holiday", since she's due around Christmas.  No thanks, Ma.  She thinks it's darling, which to that, I have to say, Then why didn't you name any of us that??

Without further ado:

Bella and Mama atop some rock in the Rocky Mountain National Forest.  How I LOVE this place.  You probably remember that we "holidayed" here during our birthday weekend.  What a blast.  I'm in dreadful need of a holiday right about now.  With Thanksgiving, Trav's two extended trips scheduled, Christmas and our second-born due all within the next six weeks... I'm kinda having frequent melt-downs.  Can I re-take this holiday???

perfect gift

I found the perfect thing to make for Bella this birthday.  I mean, perfect.

photos: Rachel Borello Carroll

She loves ALL things small and lovable - like stuffed animals or babies.  But especially if they're mite-sized.  And these little creatures are just 5.5" tall.  Perfect.  I knit up one of the baby dolls in just a matter of hours.  Really, so easy and it just uses up left over yarn.  

Trav thinks I should make our family out of them.  This one would be me.  :-)  I need to get yellow yarn for Bella's blonde locks!

A passle of these will be adored by her come September 3rd.  I'm absolutely positive.  Find the pattern here.

*

Trav had his check-up appointment for his surgery and unfortunately, we didn't get the news that we were hoping for.  I can share more later, but if you think of us, we'd appreciate your prayers for God's wisdom and a peace in His plan.  Thanks, friends...

indulge

What I do indulge in after Bella goes down??

My sweater.  It's a huge project (for me), but I'm still in love with my yarn, needles, and expected outcome.  I hope that feeling lasts throughout the knitting process.  I'm definitely on a knitting HIGH right now, which I don't expect to last (proven over the years by trial and error).  So I need to finish while I still don't want to gouge my eyes out by said "beloved needles".

Oh, and I also indulge in Bella's Easter candy after she goes down.  I'm expecting my teeth to fall out at any point in time now.

Here's a sneak peak at a project I tried my hand at this morning... tutorial/how-to to come!

Happy Tuesday!  Thunderstorm warnings for our area tonight - gotta love it!

this 'n that

I always dread the question: "What have you been up to lately?"

Mostly because I can't remember anything I've been up to, but I feel busy and exhausted all the time.  I know I take care of Bella, housekeep, and try and love my husband throughout the week, but that doesn't seem as though it sounds very busy, does it??

Usually my answer to that annoying question is "This 'n that..." or "Same ol', same ol'."

Here are some of my "This 'n that's" that are keeping me busy (or at least occupying my mind-time):

- Housework: does everyone else feel as though it is never-ending??
- I need to get crackin' on Bella's quilt.  Haven't worked on that thing since Christmas!
- I want to sit down and complete our love story.  But, in order for that to happen, I need peace, quiet, and a relaxing state of mind.  All of which I can't seem to find.
- I have another writing project that needs to be completed by April, and another by Sept.  Both are weighing on my mind.  And again, I just need the perfect, peaceful environment to write.
- I have a list of 5 books that I want to read.  Can't seem to find the time anymore, which makes a pre-baby-voracious-reader (such as myself) feel quite sad and lost.

- I found a lovely "featherweight" cardigan pattern and I've begun to knit it.  Somehow, though, the synapses in my brain farted and I forgot that baby sweaters are a lot easier and take much less time to knit than adult sweaters.  Good thing I love my yarn and love the pattern.  My goal is to finish it before my brother's wedding in May.  Good luck with that one, J.

I got to talk with my sister and bro-in-law last night on skype.  They're living in S. Korea now so it's always a special treat to connect with them.  Uncle Jamie specifically requested a video of Bella, saying that he didn't want the next video I posted to be of her at her prom.  So here she is, Jamie, your niece - saying hi.

weekend

*sigh* My wonderful husband just left to go do the grocery shopping for me.  Bella is napping, and I have an hour to myself in a blissfully quiet home.  I detest grocery shopping.  List of my three worst chores (from worst to least-worst):
1. Mopping floors
2. Grocery shopping
3. Cleaning bathrooms (tubs, in particular)

I've been busily up to nothing.  You know how that goes... I can't for the life of me remember what filled my day, but by the end of it, I'm exhausted.  Here are a couple of things that have been filling my time, though:

1. Friday night, Trav and I had our "rearranging-date night."  We rearranged our living room to create a play area for Bella and a more open space in the center of the room.  As always, I was in a bad mood and ready to give up just 20 minutes into the ordeal, but he made me push through and I ended up loving the results.  Our new layout even makes me love my green wall again.   *phew*

2.  I picked up some fabric in the remnant pile at Hancock Fabrics to cover those nasty pillows on the couch. An off-white, textured fabric - and I'm using this pattern.  Never done anything like it, but it sounds fairly simple.  I'll finish those tonight (hopefully).

3.  A dear friend of mine had her second baby on Friday morning.  A boy.  I'm hurriedly trying to whip up some infant hats for him before the weather turns too warm.  So much fun to have someone to knit for!

4.  And of course, Bella dear.  I love this picture of her because it encapsulates her personality completely:

~ on top of a table - she's always busy climbing or scaling the heights of anything vertical
~ her toes wrapped around the edge of the table - a daredevil at heart... she loves to push the limits
~ one pant-leg up and one down - crazy, mess of a child (today she informed me that she did NOT want to wear a dress to church today, but would rather wear her day-old, dirty jeans in the hamper.  I did not allow that, much her to and Travis' dismay.)
~ peering/searching for her belly button - she loves to find that thing... always looking for it and always thrilled when she discovers it yet again.

Happy Sunday!

sicky Sunday

Poor Bella is sick.  She woke up yesterday with a nasty cough and it persisted ALL.DAY.LONG.  She was also running a low-grade fever, so we just took it easy by remaining at home most of the day.  Last night, I swathed her in garlic, Vick's rub, and gave her a dose of ibuprofen.  She slept alright, coughing every now and then.

But this morning, she woke up with a fever of 103 and just looked (and sounded!) awful.  Poor baby.  The *only* good thing about her sickness is that all she wants to do is cuddle in my arms.  I love holding her against my chest, scratching her back and smoothing her hair.  Helps me cling to these last baby moments of her...

Trav's at church and Bella's snug in bed, warm and dozing... hopefully healing.  I'm enjoying some quiet moments, loving this book I picked up at the library yesterday.  I love libraries.  They are so full of *free* treasures - it's amazing that I tend to forget about how resourceful they are!  I get to keep this book for a month and it's full of small, sweet knitting projects.  Let's see how many I can accomplish!

my first...

... sweater!

Yep, I just finished knitting my first sweater. It is for Bella (start small...) and I really am pleased with how it turned out. I *surprisingly* didn't make any mistakes and it was a fairly easy pattern to follow (from this book).

Of course, it's too big on Bella now. I did the 1-2 yrs. pattern, but Bella has always been a little small for her age, so... with my luck, it'll probably be the right size during summertime. Oh well. I did make it a gender-neutral color in case a future son may ever wear it. :-)

Very fun, very fun. Now onto my hundreds of other projects that must get done before Christmas!!!

me, right now

Friday afternoon and it's freezing & bleak outside.

But I'm snuggled up on our chair & a half, blanket draped across my legs, Hazel nuzzled on my left, my pidge scarf (gift from Aunt Janet) secured warmly around my neck.

I have broken into our Halloween stash only once to sneak a bit of chocolate. Chocolate on days like this are mandatory.

Baby is sleeping & I'm about to pick up my newest knitting project. Yes, the love-hate relationship has begun again with Mr. Needles. (In case that wasn't clear, I'm in love as of last night.)

And, I'm looking forward to spending my evening with these two people (three, if you count the kitty... Bella's sidekick).

Tomorrow evening, Bella the Bumble Bee will make her grand debut. Stay tuned for guaranteed cute pictures! Let's just hope it warms up from this dreaded 40*!!

*what to write about...*

So, I'm feeling blog-less. I have sat down in front of the computer at least 6 times the past couple days and contemplated what to blog about... but to no avail. My brain's not happening, peeps.

Bella's birthday is coming up faster than I know what to do (3 weeks!! Eek!) and I saw this cute little number and think I'm going to try and knit it for her. I can't imagine why on earth I'd want to work with soft, warm yarn... as the past week it's been in the high 90's with MUCH humidity!! But, that's what knitting does to me: takes me by surprise. It really is a love-hate relationship. Some days I love it... can't put it down. Then, I hate it and never want to see another skein of yarn in my life! Thankfully, I'm on the upswing of this relationship and I think we both might benefit by a little time spent holding hands...

(Pattern found here)

Bella's walking more and more on her own. She is amazing me every day by how MUCH she knows. One smart little cookie I have on my hands. She's been signing "more" and "all done" to me at meal times (which is very helpful) and seems pretty pleased with herself now that she's mastered The Wave. She waves hi and bye to every.single.person/animal/inanimate object we walk past. She has become quite the joy to have around and those days of yore, when screaming was the norm and tears were an every day occurrence, seem so long ago. I praise the Lord for that!

As for me, I'm trying to get used to not having family around anymore. :-( I miss my sisters and mom, brothers and dad, nieces... I have conjured up a couple projects to keep me busy around the house (some new bedroom ideas...) and I'll be sure to take and post pictures if I ever get around to completing the projects. :-)

That's all for now! Better make the most of Bella's nap time... it'll be over way too soon!

adorable

a-dor-a-ble: –adjective 1. very attractive or delightful; charming

I finished Bella's bonnet. It is a-dor-a-ble, if I do say so myself. It wasn't even that hard, too! I love projects like this one. Here's a precious video of her for you to enjoy as well...

warm wednesdays

Bella and I went to the park this afternoon and played on the swings. She just absolutely loves to fly through the air, and we love seeing her giggle and smile. Such a treat. It is SOOO warm here (and I mean really, truly warm. My sister called me yesterday from MN and said, "It's so warm here - I'm loving it! It's like 40 degrees!" Sad, Betsy...): 70 degrees is what my thermometer is saying right now. I have a ton of things I need to get done today, but I'm hoping to catch some time on my back porch and knit or read in the sun. Doesn't that sound heavenly??

It hasn't always been warm, though. The past couple days have been frigid, but I get so stir-crazy in the house while Trav's at work, I beg him to go on walks with me when he gets home. I make sure to bundle my little girl up, though, so she doesn't suffer. Yet, ALL of her hats do this to her (see above picture). Maybe it's because she has a small forehead, I don't know... but it makes me laugh and drives her nuts. Sooo.... I've pulled out my knitting needles again and am aiming to make her this precious bonnet (see pic below). This will hopefully solve the problem.

Bella joined us for dinner last night in her Bumbo (great invention!) and she chowed down on three orange wedges! Boy oh boy... did she love those! She had so much pulp on herself, the table, the Bumbo, and us by the end... her bathtub was full of orange pulp that night. We got some pretty cute video too...

Bella has begun sitting up, too. I'm making her practice everyday (which she's growing to like more) and she's getting quite good at it! Both Travis and I can't believe she'll be 6 months old next week. Time has flown by (in some aspects) and we are loving getting to know this little personality. She's a hard egg to crack, but when you succeed, it's worth all the effort.

We finally set a surgery date for her lip repair: March 18. So, just a couple more weeks now and we'll be heading back to CA for her second surgery. We're not really keen on going through everything again, but I think it might be just a tad less stressful, seeing as we kinda know what to expect, we aren't just reuniting after 10 weeks of being apart, etc.

While I've been busy keeping tabs on Bells, Trav has been gone a lot. I feel as though he's this third housemate of ours that shows up every now and then to live with us. Work has been filling his time, along with TDY's, flights, learning a new type of jet (the RT model of the KC-135... if that means anything to you). He also just committed to coach high school boys in baseball this spring, and got asked to play for the base's softball league. Along with playing for our church's softball team, he has quite a handful of opportunities to choose from. I wish I could encourage him in all areas, knowing how much he loves baseball... but I needed to be honest and say I couldn't handle him being gone that much. I don't want to make him sacrifice, but isn't that just life? Full of opportunities and sacrifices. We'll see how much he ends up with on his plate (hoping that another deployment doesn't pop up too soon, too!).

This is super long and I apologize! Happy Wednesday!

bella's Russian "ushanka"

Well, at least that is what the beanie looked like before I put that cute, little fabric posy on it: a Russian fur ushanka. But, I have to admit, my little model makes pretty much anything look cute, no matter how badly Mommy messed up in her knitting.

Bella has been wearing tons of caps lately, as the weather is still quite frigid in the Midwest and she still has no hair to speak of. I dressed her in an outfit recently that had black in it, but alas! no black beanie in her hat drawer! Shame! So, I had to make her one. Yet, with no real pattern, too chunky yarn, and my impatience, it turned out alright. A friend of my sister's sells these precious little flowers and they spice up any outfit or accessory.

Ta-da!

Snakes and snails and puppy dog tails...

Now wait a second, before you start telling all your friends we're having a boy... this is not an announcement!

A good friend of mine from college is having a little boy (as is everyone else!) in just two months or so and Travis and I just picked out this gift for their little family. I thought the onesie was adorable/laughable, so I thought I'd share it. Travis is hoping for a boy just so he can go back to Target and get one of these for our possible son! :-)

And aren't these booties adorable?? Mom gave me the pattern and I whipped them up lickety-split! The yarn was so fun and the little ribbon around the ankle helps them not slip off the feet and gives it an extra "kick" of cuteness...

That's what I've been up to lately... Travis is flying his last ride on Friday and then we're outta here! More updates on the move later... gotta start dinner. See ya!
-------------------
By popular request: here are pics of the new haircut. Excuse the imperfection of my photogenic abilities... I am tired and ready for bed here... :-)

Santa's little elf!

Yes, I have been busy busy busy... but not necessarily with people and relationships and things to go to... I've been a busy little elf! I've decided since I have so much time on my hands, and since Travis is starting to get more and more busy and involved with flying, I'm going to busy myself with making gifts. And I'm enjoying myself!

Travis and I did get to travel and spend our four-day weekend in Oklahoma City last week and the highlights for me were visiting the yarn stores! Here are some pictures of what I bought and what I'm working on... I can't post all my project pictures, because some things need to stay as surprises!

(A beautiful shawl... made with HUGE needles!)

(My modeling... nevermind how gorgeous I look...)

(Isn't this yarn beautiful?? Made for someone special...)

(Making little blankets for my two favorite little girls in the whole, wide world!)

A fun weekend

The Lord provided a fun, good weekend for us, surrounding us with friends and family and encouraging comments all along the way. One of Travis' best friends, David Chambers, came to visit and they had a blast. It was good to see Travis forget about the assignment and pilot training for awhile and just "play". David, Travis, Tommy, & Aaron Kiser were inseparable the whole weekend long. Filled with racquetball, tennis, golf, Frisbee golf, and board games, this weekend was full of friendly competition and laughter (and a lot of cooking on my part!). This picture is when we drove out to a state park where we barbecued and played some Frisbee golf. My friend, Amanda, came and we knitted our elephants together.

God has been helping our attitudes towards our assignment. It's going to be challenging in certain areas, but we are even getting kinda excited to move on, hopefully rent/buy a house (depends on prices in the area), and see what He has in store for us in Wichita. Kansas is in the middle of the ConUS, so everywhere is not too far away, right?

I finally finished my little knitted friends. They are adorable, if I do say so myself! The bunny will be for Suzannah and the elephant for Charlotte. I used a size 5 needle on the elephant (instead of a size 6) so that is why she is a little smaller. I'm so excited to give them to the girls... they will love them! Christmas seems so far away! I think I will make some more for my two cousins that are pregnant, too!

Did y'all have a good weekend, too? I sure hope so! Oh, and I just listened to this great sermon by John Piper while I was finishing up Charlotte's elephant. I remember hearing it while in college, so I looked it up to listen to again and yes, it was just as wonderful. I encourage you, if you get some time, to sit, listen, and be encouraged by the Word.