Outcome of Chaos with Family Pictures

We ordered our family pictures last week and had so many to choose from. I told you before that our session had to be done in phases because of the uncooperative kids we had. They really didn't seem like our kids that day.

Purple Bears and Babies

Kalie, who I consider my niece, had her baby girl on Tuesday at 2:07pm. When she found out she was pregnant with a girl, she asked me to make a bear hat, like I made for Khloe for her birthday, for her little one.

Baby #3?

The hubby and I have been talking a lot about babies within the last 6 months. This is probably because everyone on my facebook is either pregnant or having a baby. Doesn't help that I am going to be visiting a newborn today. It seems like forever ago that I was pregnant. And honestly, I miss it. I also feel like it has been forever since my babies were little teenies. OK, so they were never teeny (Nolan weighed 7lbs, 14oz at birth and Ryenn weighed 9lbs. 1oz at birth).


June 16, 2010

July 3, 2011

Randoms of Minnesota

Although the two main places we went were the Minnesota State Fair and the Mall of America, we also visited other places. We had two girls night; Wednesday when we first arrived and the following night. Martha, our amazing and gracious hostess, took us out to Salut Bar Americain on Wednesday night. It was a french style bar. We sat on the patio because it was amazing outside. Martha and Susan, my mother-in-law, got Smokin' Cosmos. They were so neat! Allyson got, what she calls, an old man's drink (something with whiskey). I got what was called a Pool Boy. Of course this ended up as the joke of the night.

Mall of America

On our second full day in Minnesota, we did some shopping. We started the day with a feast at IKEA for under $10 for 6 people (that's including 2 babies)! Where can you go for that little of an amount?!


IKEA Feast

After eating we shopped for a bit in IKEA. We got some things for the house (Tupperware, knives, cutting board, etc. ) and a play rug for the kids. It's a road rug where the kids can drive their cars on the fake roads (already a huge hit). We also found a few dressers we really loved for our bedroom. We were unsure of what size would be best, so we decided to wait.

Minnesota State Fair

When Allyson told us we were going to the Minnesota State Fair, I never imagined what we walked in to. I was imagining a small area with a few food vendors and cheap carnival rides. Instead we walked into a fair that looked like a smaller version of Michigan's Adventure Amusement park. It was ridiculous! There were streets filled with food vendors, buildings full of animals and other local products, rows of carnival games, and the midway filled with amusement park rides. We were there for like 5 hours and barely scratched the surface of things to do.

So many people!

And the Winner is....

I had a good turnout for the blog giveaway. I did have some entries that did fulfill the entry they said they did, which I know can be confusing because I have done the same thing. But we hae a winner! I am excited to announce that Kami has won with her entry!
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Kami will be letting me know what it is she wants to use her credit for! I am thankful for all of you who particitpated and am already looking forward to my next giveaway, which will be soon!

Procrastination Averted!

As I have said before, I may be the biggest procrastinator you will ever meet. It keeps getting worse. I think in my subconscious I am seeing just how long I can put things off. However, I do work much better under pressure. Usually pressure from the clock.


All of us last year at the Sculpture Garden in Minneapolis

Sunny Sunday

Family fun days are the best. We went to the park today and the babies loved every second of it (Nolan actually threw a fit when we had to leave). My mother-in-law and Allyson called earlier in the morning to see what our plan was. They then asked if we all wanted to meet at the park for Nolan and Ryenn to play. So after nap time, we all headed to the park. Ryenn kept trying to dig in the wood chips and eat them. Nolan kept hiding in the bushes. They went on the swings, the slides, and just ran around. It was so nice to get out of the house on such a great day!

 

Modeling Photo Shoot?!

I never in a million years thought that I would be modeling for anything. Granted it is for Allyson's magazine so I kind of have an in with the boss, but still. I never thought I would feel comfortable enough with myself to model. But after losing so much weight, it was really a no brainer when Allyson asked me. I was excited and felt more comfortable after dieting.

Adaly Myles Place is 1!

Today is Adaly Myles Place's 1st birthday! It seems like just yesterday that I was talking through the set up of my Etsy shop with Allyson. I started with a few photography props, but have grown to over 30 products available.

Photo courtesy of K Newborn Photography

Teasers of New Girl for Holla Knits Fall

I recently talked about the mystery knit that I was working on for Allyson for the fall edition of Holla Knits. Today I finished it. I had to do a bit of altering. Allyson helped me figure out that my knitting in the round gauge is different than my regular gauging. This makes complete sense, seeing as every knit that I knit in the round is off!

 

17 Day Diet Helper and Progress

With my weigh in this morning, I was somewhat discouraged. I started working out (well half way through the week I decided to). I also knew that I would have plateau for a minute, which it seems I have, because I ate pasta and ice cream on Thursday for Adam's grandma's birthday.

FO Stockings

I finished the stockings this past Friday. They turned out really great! Adding the names completed them so much more than I thought they would. I am mailing them out tomorrow, and can't wait to hear how she likes them! Check them out!

New Promises

I promised myself a lot of things when I started this blog, and haven't really followed through on them. I promised to date nights for the hubby and I, weight loss by June, and reading a ton. This hasn't happened simply due to the unexpectedness of life. On January 1, I didn't think that I would be starting school or babysitting from home. However, these two aspects have been a huge factor in my life.

WIP Holla Knits Mystery Knit

When I got the yarn last week, I was in heaven. It's gorgeous and soft and, well, GORGEOUS!!!Working on this knit has been a bit monotonous, due to the immense amount of stockinette stitch. I feel that I don't have much to say about this knit so far that won't a) give away what it is, b) tell too much about the pattern itself, or c) again give away what it is.

Weight Loss Progress

I haven't been posting on my weight loss because I kind of had a food relapse. Don't worry, at the moment I weigh less that my last weight post, but that's thanks to the past week of dieting. I gave up on dieting for a while because I was stressed with school, family issues, and the possibility of being pregnant. This last one was the worst of them all. I was 10, count them 10 DAYS late!

Ruffle Princess Dress

I have been wanting to make Ryenn a ruffle romper for quite sometime. When I finally got the supplies for it, I knew I needed it for our family pictures. I got to work on it on Saturday morning (yes the morning of our pictures).

ruffled bodice

I ran into trouble when I ran out of the lace for the ruffles. So Instead of calling it a waste of time, I found matching tulle from my basement and added a skirt. It turned out so well. I will still be making a ruffled romper someday. But for now, the dress is better than I would have imagined!

Princess Dress

Baby Hammock

I sold a baby hammock on Monday that I knit up on Tuesday and mailed out on Wednesday. I am just praying that it makes it to the UK before her due date (end of August). I had leftover yarn from another hammock that I made a while ago that made it super simple to just whip up. Sales are always a good thing! I will share pictures of the little one in the hammock as soon as I get them!

Princess Skirt

I must admit that I love Pinterest! I find so many projects on there daily. It is hard to keep up with the things I find. When I stumbled upon the tutu with a boa attached, I tried a mock version of this for Ryenn for her birthday party (I promise this is the last thing about their birthday's until next year).

fluffly tutu

It turned out alright, but next time I will make some changes. First, I will add an actual boa, rather than the skinny version of a boa. Next, I would buy more tulle for the skirt. This one was a bit transparent which is not what I wanted. It was a last minute thing and did the best I could. I was happy with the outcome because it matched her shirt so well. However, next time, I will make those necessary changes.

Birthday girl in her pretty skirt

WIP Stockings

Although the title of this post is work in progress stockings, I have finished four of the five stockings. I still need to stitch on the names for each one AND finish the fifth one. They look better than I anticipated though. I always seem to expect them to turn out looking very amateurish even though I have been knitting for almost three years now.

Stockings

Nonetheless, they are nearing completion. The weight of this project is lifting of my shoulders. I started this project a while back but put them aside numerous times, but finally made progress near the end of July.

Return of Holla Knits

I am proud to report that Allyson's baby was a huge success! Holla Knits' debut edition was beyond words! Every pattern was amazing. The designers involved had such great talent. I was so glad that I was able to help at all (by test knitting the Umbre Lovre and Put a Belt on it).

NEW YARN!!