Nolan's First Haircut!

Today marks a big milestone in Nolan's life; HIS FIRST HAIRCUT! He is getting so big so fast! It makes me sad to think that he won't be my little beeb some day. He is going to be 2 in just a few short months and I can't even begin to think of where all the time has gone. I know that we are a busy household with two little ones, but I would like this time that we have to go a bit slower.

Baby Nolan at birth

 My good friend Heidi, who does amazing hair and is the one who chopped my hair all off , was the one I recruited to cut his hair for the first time. He wasn't a very still patron, of course. He was sat in his high chair with crackers, my cell phone, and Liz playing games with him on her cell phone and all this is what got the job done.

Heidi cutting his hair

 He looks so much older now that he doesn't hair baby fluff growing all over the place! He did a lot better than I thought he would. I was imagining tears and anger due to having to sit in one spot (something he doesn't do very well). He is too busy to be stopped for anything. He even fights diaper changes!

Best picture I could get after he was done

I Got Sunshine....

March has been a roller coaster in the ways of weather. Right now I have the heat on because it literally at the freezing point outside. You can't ask for a better month though as far as abnormally good weather. We Michiganders have been spoiled. Well the nice weather, and the fact that miss Ryenn still has a very bald little head, has made me think about investing in sunhats for her.

Isn't she sweet?!

When I got to the store, I was planning to buy a bunch of them. For starters, they are EXPENSIVE! Like $15 per hat! Not expensive for one, but for as many as I wanted to stock up on. I could have easily spent $100 or more just on covering my beeb's little noggin. Secondly, they only had one cute print and all the rest were solid. I was disappointed to say the least. Then it hit me! There are so many fabric choices and I have a sewing machine, why not make them myself?!

My bald princess

I found a few tutorials online that I will have to alter to get exactly what I'm looking for, but think this little project should be easy enough. I plan to add these to my Etsy shop as soon as I finish a few this week. I have some left over fabrics from my mother-in-law that I will be using for the prototypes, but I have already begun shopping online for other prints for little miss Ryenn! She is going to be decked out in these hats. I will have at least one to show you early next week.

Parky Park and the Baby Bunch

Only in Michigan can you spend a whole week in shorts, laying out, and playing in the park just to turn around the next week and need the heat on for freeze warnings. I enjoy the warmer seasons in Michigan thoroughly while I count down the days when its cold until it will be warm again. I have been spoiled this March with the 70 and 80 degree weather. My kids have enjoyed it too. Nolan throws a fit when we have to come inside after playing outside. He enjoys romping around in the back yard with the dogs, playing in the dirt, and loves going down the slides at the park near our house. Ryenn went on the slide with me and wasn't too thrilled. She liked the swings much better. She does love to see me or Adam play with the dogs. Moose, our Saint Bernard, is a big dummy. He chases sticks around the dirt like he is a cat. Then when he can't catch it and Ryenn is hysterically laughing, he runs over and tackles Xandar. I decided just to share some of my kids' playful pictures seeing as I am working on the same sweaters (my knit-along Delancey for the Sweatshop of Love and my second Delancey for my older's sister's birthday) and didn't make much progress this week due to an overload of homework (finals, rsearch papers, labs, etc.). Enjoy!

Nolan on the big boy slide by himself

Ryenn on Nolan's tricycle

Nolan on grandma's trampoline

Nolan on grandma's swingset

Ryenn's first time in the grass

Nolan pushing the Mac Wagon

Ryenn's first time on the swings

Still pushing the Mac Wagon

My little acrobat

Fun with Whip Cream on her high chair tray at Aunt Jessi's house

Double Delancey

I am making huge progress on my knit-along Delancey cardigan. The construction of this sweater is genius and so interesting. I am loving the garner and gray so much. This week we started our sleeves. It finally looks like a real sweater!

I also decided to knit the same sweater for my sister Jessi for her birthday. I chose to do a more neutral color pallet for hers. I chose the same gray (Dove Heather in Swish DK by Knit Picks) from mine's stripes for the main color. I then paired it with a golden yellow (Caution in Swish DK by Knit Picks).

I am hoping to have hers done in about a week and a half. This is going to be a tough goal with so much homework due next week, but I am willing to face the challenge.

Holla Knits the Sequel

I mentioned before that I was going to be knitting another sample for Allyson for the Holla Knits launch issue. I didn't think there could be a better pattern than the Umbre Lovre, but then I knit the second sample. This was an amazing knit full of gorgeous cables.

Cabley Goodness

This knit was amazing from the time I received this beautiful hand dyed yarn. I am feeling very spoiled and am not wanting to knit with anything other than hand dyed yarn. Its an amazing weight and fabulous colors. Allyson knows me very well because yellow is my favorite color. This is a goldeny yellow with gray accents. The gray sort of looks purple in some lights but I swear it is actually gray.

Great details

The details are amazing. The different stitch styles are so intelligently blended and used. It was one of the more difficult knits, technically speaking, I have knit (besides the Aidez confusion nightmare). I am not a pro at some of the elements but Allyson made this pattern very user friendly.

I am very excited for the rest of the patterns to be released because I have seen some finished samples, pictures, and works in progress. I am getting anxious to knit selfishly! And the big news, for those of you that don't follow me on twitter, I am designing me very first pattern as soon as I get the yarn delivered. Knit picks, here we come!!

Lost in a Sea of Homework

I haven't been keeping up on blog posts, but I swear for good reason. I did finish up and make progress on some knits, which I will share this week. For now I am just going to explain college classes while having 2 kids.

It's amazingly difficult to find the time to do the mountains of homework that are due on a daily basis with kids that aren't able to care for themselves. I've also added a third little one to the picture part time who turned 1 in October. So that's 2 running around and 1 crawling everywhere.

I've managed to get everything done on time and with great success which is a huge surprise to me. I have written 6 ( and that's not an exaggerated figure) research papers for one class and its only the third week. I also finished one of my classes this past Wednesday after 3 weeks (it was an accelerated course) and aced the final exam! I realized this past week that around June-ish of 2013 I will finally have my Bachelors in Criminal Justice.

I haven't missed out on the good things in life though by burying my head in the books. Ryenn just turned 8 months and she is doing so much. She is crawling and has said momma. She also started waving today! And Nolan is starting to communicate what it is he wants; food, drink, down, up, which movie he wants, etc. They both are getting so big so fast.

My husband and I just celebrated our second wedding anniversary on the 5th of March. Adam is by far the greatest man I have ever met (though trust me, I've known some real doozies). He has been so helpful and supportive with my schooling. He even got me a brand new laptop with a bit of our tax refund. I couldn't ask for a greater husband and friend to be by my side in life.

I'll also be sharing some big news later this week. Any guesses to what it could be? I won't be sharing until later this week, but would love to hear guesses.