Happy Birthday Frito!

Today is Frito's 4th birthday!! Weston and I adopted him from the AK dog and puppy rescue back when I was in grad school. He has been a great addition to our family and he is pretty funny. Here is a summary of his life, in pictures...

The first day we brought him home... he has always been very attached to Weston. And I can't believe he was ever that small....

He has always been a "fat kid" and obsessed with food. The obsession started at an early age....

Like anyone, he had his awkward teenage years... (what is up with his fur?? It is super curly at this point in his life for some reason...)

But, he grew out of that and is now one of the most beautiful dogs I know! And, he has a sense of humor, as you can see in this well captured moment. :)

He is always looking for the most convenient place to spend time...

He now has a brother, Snickers, who he loves a lot...

And he is Weston's adventuring partner. 

Frito, I think you are an awesome dog and I hope that you are enjoying your dog life with us. I hope you and Weston continue to have fun adventures for many years. I will be home waiting for you both. :) 

In awe...

I am in awe of mothers who get things done. I feel like since Sawyer has been born I have been incredibly unproductive. I'm starting to get my act together... I normally can load the dishwasher and shower on top of taking care of him all day, which to me is a major accomplishment. I'm also trying to knit for an hour or so while he is sleeping... and maybe trying to clean my sewing room for a few mins each day. Either way, I am incredibly impressed with mothers who accomplish more than daily care of themselves and their children. Kudos to you!

I guess you will have to take my word for it that he is awake for parts of the day... but can you blame me for not getting things done?? I just sit and stare at him... he's pretty amazing. 

Another thing that I am loving (besides watching Sawyer do funny things) is my cloth diapering. It is awesome. I don't really know what it is I like so much about it, but it is just amazing. I love that I haven't had to go to the store for diapers for him, which is good because I hate going to the store, and it is saving us tons of $$! I would say I go through 10-12 diapers a day, more if he decides to pee right as I'm changing him, but it doesn't matter.... we have 24 diapers and just have to run the washer to get more.  I run the washer every night at dinner just so I don't have to worry about running out of diapers, but because you don't have to fold them or anything, it is the easiest laundry ever. And, I haven't had any problems with the diapers smelling at all. I have a bag that I keep them in by his changing table, then I just toss them in the washer when I'm ready to wash. Easy. And, he has the cutest little poufy bottom. Cloth diapers are a bit bulkier than disposables, but it hasn't been a problem so far. And, his diapers have cool covers (one has trees, and he has a bunch of different colored ones) instead of just being boring. 

In other non-baby news, I'm knitting a hat for a friend in Juneau. She wanted a sample to show how her yarn knitted up to display at her craft fairs and things... I'm hoping to have it done by the middle of next week so I can get it to her before Thanksgiving. It is a bit slow going, but I think I can do it. Here is the Rav link to the pattern. We also bought quite a few bags of Halloween candy yesterday at Target for 75% off. Oh, and we are trying to not go grocery shopping... so we are eating what we have... it has been a challenge. Breakfast is the hardest, because I am a cereal junkie and we have been out of cereal for almost two weeks. We ran out of milk and cheese too. But, I am still very successful with dinner! The other day we had chili, tonight we are having chicken and rice... I am looking forward to going grocery shopping though... I'm hoping that we can make it to the 15th and then stock back up on food. 

Alright, off to go entertain the baby. He is trying to decide if he wants to be awake or asleep... these are the big questions of life...

Surprise! I'm a week old!

And my name is Sawyer Lee. I'm keeping everyone entertained by my funny faces and the cute little things I do. Mom and I are figuring out this whole feeding thing and I am tolerating being changed. She always wants to change my diaper. I hate it. I don't understand why she won't just leave me alone.... anyway, off to sleep again. It's one of my favorite things to do...

Baby and I did it....

Baby Boy Bennett (name TBD, hopefully this weekend) was born 10-20-2010 at 10:49pm. It was a bit of a rough labor (for weird reasons... I only pushed for 2 hrs and was done, so I was very lucky in that aspect, but I was fully dialated and never really felt any pain, so I went from 0-60 on the pain scale pretty quickly...) but Baby and I both made it and we are fine. We were able to stay at the birth center, so I was home at 4 am the next morning and we have been figureing each other out ever since. He's a pretty good baby, not too fussy. The dogs are getting along with him as well. We are one happy family. Oh, and he weighed 7lbs 9oz and was 1'9.25"tall (21.25 inches long :) )

Stashing

Anyone who crafts probably has a stash. (I say probably, because I am sure there is one person who only buys for one project at a time, and then finishes that project... crazy) I have a very large stash. My strategy for stashing up to this point has been "if I like it, I buy it". Well, this leads to a lot of things that don't go together, single skeins of yarn that sit there, and just a lot of STUFF. I have decided to change my stashing strategy. I am now going to try and only buy for projects (and hopefully projects I plan on starting soon) and actually finish things. I'm not so set on the finishing part (because, let's face it, you know me...) BUT I am set on buying with a purpose so that I can go through my stash and make things not just admire it. Along with this new plan comes a large DESTASH. I have started to go through my yarn and fiber and anything that I don't LOVE or have a project for, it going in my destash pile. If you are on Ravelry, my destash page is here.  If you aren't on Ravelry, I have the pictures of things I am destashing on Flickr, here.

Here is a small sample of things I'm destashing....

 

If you see something you like, let me know. I may be willing to negotiate on price. I have projects I would like to start, but no room or extra $$ for the supplies.... There are no prices listed on Flickr, so just shoot me an email of leave me a note here and I will get back to you. Also, keep checking back for more stuff... I have only made it through my fingering weight yarn and part of my fiber....

What is your stashing strategy?? What do you do with things that you have outgrown??

Oh, news....

So Justin Beiber is in the news. For "assaulting" (in quotes because the story kind of sounds like he didn't really do it, and if there was any encounter it was accidental) a 12-yr-old boy. First off, I don't really care. Secondly, I'm a bit disappointed in America that this story was actually in the NEWS hours of the Today show. Gross.

And of course, Joe Miller is in the news again. This time for having a blogger "arrested" (in quotes because he had his private security put the man in cuffs, once the police arrived the man was set free) at a town hall meeting for trespassing. I was unaware that you could trespass at a public event.  I also think that he is a bit confused on what is his private life. I don't consider my work history private. If I were running for public office, I would kind of expect every bit of dirt to be uncovered about me. That is what happens... not saying it is right, but it is what happens....

I just hate watching the news. And I can't wait until November 4th when all the political ads are off the air. There is ONE that I really like, it is put out by GCI (our local cable company (that I actually dislike... )) and it just encourages people to get out and vote. It reminds people that this election is important for Alaska and no matter what you believe in, you should voice your opinion. Which is one belief I can get behind. VOTE.

Baby, baby, baby

I'm about as ready for this baby as I think I ever will be. The new washer (remember, the washer broke... I think I mentioned that...) was delivered on Monday and I finally prepped all of my cloth diapers. I have kind of been finding excuses to do laundry because the washer is so awesome.  It is a whirlpool duet and just amazing. The clothes are washed, sorted by size, and put into the changing table. My bags are packed and ready to head to the birth center. (I think I have everything.... who knows...) My room is still a mess, but oh well. Our bedroom, where the baby will be for at least a while, is clean and ready to go. The midwife said yesterday that the baby is head down and pretty low (which I kind of guessed, because my stomach is in my way and I haven't really gotten any bigger)... any day now. Of course, Baby could still be late, but even late, it is the middle of October, so two weeks... CRAZY. Here is what I look like now.

It's very weird to see myself in pictures... I don't feel like I look that pregnant. I guess I'm just used to it... 

We decorated for Halloween early this week. Which means my fall quilts are out! I find it slightly amusing that I have two quilts for this season and none for Christmas.... I do have all the fabric for two Christmas quilts... it's even all cut out... maybe next year. :)

The scottie dog pillow is a new acquisition. I bought it at the Friends of Pets quilt auction. It matched my quilt perfectly, so I knew I had to have it! 

I had some other things, but they have already slipped my mind. I have an exciting day planned today... lunch with my former teaching team, and then selling my wares at a craft fair. Fingers crossed that I make some $$ so I can treat myself to something nice! :) I will try to remember to take pictures of my booth so you can see it. Off to my busy day!