My grand return to blogging!

Well hi there!  If anyone is even listening....(echo, echo, echo).

I haven't blogged in over two years.  You could say my life has changed a bit in the past two years.

I have a lot to share about this new addition to my life and how it's changed my outlook on everything from "free time" to crafting.  (What knitting??)

I AM still crafting...but most of my crafts are kid-friendly, either stuff he can do with me or stuff I make for him, and sewing.  I can't even tell you the last time I picked up knitting needles. 

I mostly am restarting the blog as a way to chronicle Barrett's early years and share my favorite moments, frustrations and craftiness with the blogging world.  Facebook status updates just don't carry the same weight, you know?

And who knows...maybe I will abandon this project yet again like my several attempts to get it back on track in the past.  BUT I have one important weapon I have lacked in the past....INTERNET ACCESS!  (Gotta love living in the boonies!)

So...if anyone is still out there, leave me some love and let me know you're there.  And if I just blog solo for a while that's ok too!

Here I am!

I'm thinking that I should just officially declare a vacation from blogging as my current post rate is about once every two months. :)

If there is anyone left reading this, I'm here to report that all is well.

Just a few quick photos to share

This was taken on my birthday, Nov 15th when I was 16 weeks along.

This one was taken at 20 weeks.

I am now 24 weeks and it's time for another photo! I'll probably get Doug to take one tonight, but I'm much rounder than that last one.

On Dec 23rd we had an U/S and discovered that we are expecting a little BOY on May 2nd (or thereabouts). I don't have any u/s pics to share though, forgot those. That night my husband decided to celebrate by totalling his car.

No, he wasn't drinking and driving or anything like that. He swerved a deer that ran out in front of him and drove through a fence. He's totally fine, but the car is obviously not. Ugh. It turns out that the day his mom found out she was expecting a boy his dad drove his car into the side of a mountain by falling asleep at the wheel. He is fine now too, but was pretty badly injured back then.

Anyhoo, all is well and hopefully I'll get a few more posts published before I have pictures of a real live baby to show you! In the meantime you can probably find me at my parents' house playing with my little brother's awesome Christmas present....Guitar Hero World Tour. SOOOO much fun!

Mystery Solved

Over a month with no post! I know, I know....last time I promised a fun post and then radio silence for almost two months. Well, a few months ago.....

I must have taken about 6 tests over the course of a week just to "be sure". We decided to wait for the three-month mark to tell anyone at all, including friends and family. We just wanted to be sure that this time was going to be different than what happened last time. I had an initial doctor's appointment around 5 weeks to determine the approximate due date, then another appointment at 13 weeks for our first ultrasound.

(*Note: I have tried about a dozen different ways to get these u/s pics to show up better, but finally I had to resort to just taking pictures of the u/s papers. The scanned pictures wouldn't load properly into blogger. As if that wasn't headache enough, the darn things keep coming up sideways....I give up! Tilt your head to the right and enjoy!)

So that should about sum up by absence. I didn't trust myself to blog without slipping up about our HUGE secret. Not to mention the first few months were a little trying. I was nauseous mostly in the evenings, so dragging the laptop to Panera, the land of a million smells, was pretty much out of the question. Add to that the intense fatigue that comes with the first trimester, and well, there you go. I am feeling MUCH better now. I have just outgrown all my regular pants and I'm starting to show a bit, but only if you already know what to look for. My baby bump isn't quite noticeable as a baby bump, just a little extra weight around the middle right now. As of Wednesday I will be 16 weeks along, due date of May 2nd, 2009!

Now that my secret is out I'm sure I will be posting more regularly, so feel free to stop by and say hi!

Anyone still there?

Holy moly! I can't believe it's been more than a month since I last posted! There hasn't been a whole lot going on over in my world. I haven't really knit anything. (I opted out of doing the Knitting Ravelympics that I posted about last. Too much pressure.) Doug got a new job and I've been adjusting to his very weird schedule. By weird I mean, he is working a M-F 9-5 job. He is home EVERY evening and weekend. That is so bizarre by our standards. It's been a real treat to have him home in the evenings, but werid to not have any weekdays with him. That used to be our errand-running time, and it's been an adjustment to do all that stuff on my own.
No pictures for this post, sorry. I hate posts without pictures, but I just happened to be near a computer when I realized how neglectful of the blog I've been lately, so I had nothing planned. The reason for my long-awaited (ha!) return to blogging? I just got an email that notified me that my SITS day in the sun was coming next Wednesday! I need to do some blogging between now and then so I will be back with pictures and all later this week/weekend. Hopefully.
I have a really super-cool post planned, but probably not until sometime late next week. (That should keep you clicking back, right?)
See you soon!

Link-o-licious

Most of you have at least heard of the Knitting Olympics that are hosted by the Yarn Harlot. They coincide with the winter olympics and only happen every four years. I participated two years ago and didn't quite finish my project. (Although I did FINISH it eventually, a rareity round these parts.) For the summer olympics another group (Ravelry) is hosting the Ravelympics. Same idea....cast on a project during the opening ceremonies and finish before the closing ceremonies. No fair using already cast-on projects, it must be brand spanking new. So I had debated about joining in with this round and I intended on it, but I let life catch up with me a bit and now it's already been two days and I haven't cast on yet. I'm torn. I'd really like to start a project but I have done none of the legwork, ie. picking out a pattern/yarn, etc. I have plenty of yarn to choose from at home and books and books worth of patterns, so that's not the issue. But I'd need to figure out what is actually knit-able in 15 days. So what should it be?

A sweater? I have three of four that I'd really like to make that I already have yarn for, like the
Tangled yoke Cardigan, or the Hourglass Sweater (rav link), or Buttony, or Rusted Root. But I don't think knitting a whole sweater in 15 days is really that reasonable. I mean, maybe, if I had nothing else going on and it was a slow time of year at work. But I am going out of town, celebrating my hubby's bday, and work is c-r-a-z-y right now. I guess Rusted Root could be forced off the needles fast enough, but it would be a huge stretch of my abilites.

So maybe some socks?
There are so many choices. How am I supposed to choose from all those wonderful patterns? Plus there is the problem that all my sock needles are a little tied up at the moment.

Maybe I will just sit this one out. Hmm. I'll have to decide today if I'm going to so I actually have time to knit something. ::scratching head:: Tough decision.

Thank you all for your supportive comments about my jewelry! I really appreciate the advice. I think I will give Etsy the ol' college try, but it will take me a bit to get some stuff together and get the store up and running. I'm sure I will plan some big post to celebrate when I open my Etsy store for real. So keep your eyes peeled for a big party!