Birthday Week

Ramblings

My birthday was a few weeks ago and I had a wonderful week! Monday Weston and I went out to dinner and then went mini-golfing (at a cool new 3D neon place in town. It was a bit crazy!) which was a lot of fun.  On my actual birthday, Sawyer and I made cupcakes, and that night I taught knitting. Sawyer also got me a nice present... he bought me the movie Bridesmaids and a bunch of my favorite candies so that I could enjoy a movie night. He's so sweet. :) Then on Saturday, I went to an all-day weaving course courtesy of my parents. It was so fun!! I left with a finished scarf (pictures soon) that I love and a lot of knowledge so that I am able to use the loom I bought myself last year for my birthday! I am excited to get to weaving now that I know some more about all the ins and outs. 

Oh, and in case you don't keep track of the weather where I live, we have broken the record for snowfall and it is officially the SNOWIEST WINTER IN ANCHORAGE!! WOOP!!! So exciting. It has been such a wonderful winter.... but, I am ready for summer to be here! The sunlight is getting longer (it is still light at 8:30-9pm) and the days have been warmer... now I hope it doesn't flood because of all the snow!

Right Around, Baby

I enjoyed the weaving class so much that I decided to take a spinning class from the same lady. It is a beginning spinning course, and while I am not a beginning spinner, I knew that I would learn a lot of the technical aspects of spinning that I didn't know about, based on how she taught the weaving class. (If you are local, I'm taking these classes at Far North Fibers.  I highly recommend it, as Pamela is incredibly pleasant and knowledgeable) I had such a great time at class last week! There are three German women in the class and they have no experience spinning... it is fun to watch people learn, but it is a bit of a learning curve, and I could tell by the end of class they were ready to go! I think they will be surprised how quickly they get the hang of it though... I already learned quite a few things in the first class, and Pamela and I chatted after class about what I was wanting to learn and how she would run a bit of a separate class for me in the coming weeks. Her and I have a lot of the same feelings on fiber-y things and it was a lot of fun to chat with her! I'm really looking forward to class on Thursday!

Mini-Me

Check out Sawyer's blog for updates on how his Easter weekend went! Other than that, his last molar (well, last of these four we have been dealing with for like a month) is almost through. It keeps popping through and then the gum covers up one side again over and over. :( Poor guy. I think we have almost beat it.... just in time for his K-9s to start bothering him. I hate teeth. 

He got two different mini-Nerf guns in his Easter baskets (one from me, one from Grandma Henderson) that he was LOVING today. One he is able to pump and shoot on his own, the other is one I have to shoot for him... he just loves shooting them at the window and then chasing down the darts. I'm pretty sure that is what we did most of the day! The dogs hate the guns (even though we have never shot them, and they aren't loud) and are going nuts... They also hate the mylar balloon I got for Sawyer (a giant bunny). I thought it would be fun for Sawyer to punch it and play with it (under supervision, I realize balloons are a big choking hazard, I watch my child!) but once he saw the dogs were scared of it, he decided he was too! Goofball. So that was $11 (yes, $11 for a stupid ballon. I only did it because I thought he would love it) that was wasted... oh well!

Sticks and String
I finished my headband for my class sample and have started knitting a super secret project (no details, as it is a test knit for a soon-to-be-published book).  I think the headband is pretty nice, I just have to write up the pattern now! 

On my Soapbox

Last week was the local election here in Anchorage. I won't go into my feelings on how things turned out (well, yes  I will, I was disappointed in my town, as usual. I do not understand the people that live in this city and the results made me want to pack my bags and move to the woods. I actually agreed to move to Talkeetna, where a CAT is the mayor. Yes, a cat seemed like a better option than what happened in my city....) but there was quite a hoopla over the voting process. More than half of the polling places ran out of ballots. The city is claiming there were enough ballots, they were just "poorly distributed" around town. Which seems odd, since in the TEN YEARS I've been voting, this has never happened. And turn out wasn't any higher than normal, in fact it was on the average to low end (again, disappointing Anchorage, you have the right to vote and you choose not to!? WHY!?). People were waiting in line for 2+ hours to get a ballot, were voting on photocopied ballots (no word on if those will be valid) etc. It was just a giant s&^* show! Honestly, I think they should re-do the election. I do not expect the results to be any different, and honestly, at this point I don't care. What I do care about is everyone getting their chance to vote. I know that if I had been asked to wait for two hours, there would have been no way for me to do that. I had Sawyer, and he is not going to stand in line for two hours! I probably would have figured something out (because I haven't missed an election since I was able to vote, minus the one when I didn't live in the state) but it would have been a hardship. I can't believe there isn't more of an uproar about this! The whole thing is a mess, and I have a feeling it wasn't exactly an accident....

And, a random picture of me at the Easter egg hunt we went to on Saturday.... only because I never seem to post pictures of myself and Weston for once took one where I didn't look terrible. :)

Radio Silence

I'm alive. I promise to post about what I have been up to soon. With Weston in Florida last week, I had no computer, and this week I've just been running around like a chicken with my head cut off... for reasons I don't really understand. Probably has to do with the fact that Sawyer has decided to start waking up at ungodly hours of the morning.... Anyway, I still have the birthday wrap up to do and I start a spinning class tonight! :) So, expect stuff... And, have a great Easter weekend!

Easter Hat!

In the Kitchen

My mortgage guy sends out a quarterly newsletter, which often has recipes. (Strange, yes, but he is a nice guy and I always enjoy getting them. He is pretty funny...) There was a recipe for pumpkin bread about a year ago that I have been meaning to try and finally got around to making this past week. It was delicious. Which was lucky, since I had doubled the recipe and made 12 loaves! HA! But, they were gone in a week (Weston took four to work, I took two to knitting class, and we ate the other six at home) and I was busy mixing up another batch tonight. 

Mini-Me

You can check out what Sawyer has been up to on his blog... he has been busy helping me make his Easter cards, pumpkin bread (and cupcakes!) and just being cute. 

Sticks and String
And, now, what we have all been waiting for!! The reveal of Sawyer's Easter hat! He thought it was a fun game to rip the hat off right as I was taking the picture, so this is the best one I have. Check his blog later this week for outtakes from the picture shoot... there are some good ones!

The hat isn't from a pattern, it is based on one that I have seen on Rav, but I knew I could just figure out the math and do it on my own, so that is what I did! It fits Sawyer perfectly, so hopefully he will wear it when we go hunting for eggs soon. I'm still plugging away on his Sweet Pea sweater. His polar bear hasn't been started, so it probably won't be an Easter gift, as I have to knit a class sample that is due April 1st as well. I will be posting later during the weekend about my birthday, and I have a lot to share about that! I had a wonderful birthday week! Have a great weekend... I'm going to be at a weaving class all day tomorrow! EXCITING!

Quick Bragg-y Post

Mini-Me
Sawyer pooped in his potty today. What!?! This is amazing. Who knows, he might actually catch on to this whole potty thing quicker than I expected.... either way, I am super excited for his progress!

Sex... or rather, Gender

Mini-Me

Sawyer peed in his little potty today! It was so exciting! I was so proud of him. He is really aware of when he goes to the bathroom, but seems happy to just pee wherever he happens to be standing (wouldn't want to stop playing) so I was very excited that I was able to get him to go to the bathroom and sit long enough to go pee! I think he is also getting another tooth, as he seems to be restless at night. He is obsessed with taking his water cups to bed (which I started putting him to bed with when he was sick) and he *has* to have two of them... crazy kid. 

Sticks and String
I am busy knitting away on Sawyer's Easter hat. Pretty sure that will be done by the end of the week. I'm really happy with the way that it is turning out. I'm hoping that the details really make it look wonderful....

On my Soapbox

So, as you know if you have read my blog for a long time, we chose not to find out the sex of our baby when we were pregnant with Sawyer. We went into it being excited to have a baby and just wanting to have a healthy baby. I don't fault people for wanting to know, I see the appeal of that...(And in fact when I was about 37 weeks pregnant I almost caved and asked the midwives to tell me... I wanted to know so badly that day...) I tend to like to be different and not go with the flow, so since everyone finds out, I don't. ANYWAY. I know quite a few pregnant people right now and a lot of them are having boys. (Which, as the mother of a boy, I think is wonderful. I find boys to be fun and exciting... but I only have the one and know nothing different) What I don't care for is when people find out the gender of their baby and then get all disappointed about it. I see things posted on Facebook (which remembers everything) and other places about how they are "disappointed" and "really wanted a girl". Boo hoo. Some people can't have babies. Some people don't have healthy babies. Maybe, you should be appreciative for what you do have and be excited to be bringing a life into the world.  If you go into having a child wanting to have a certain sex and then get all disappointed, think about how that baby feels! I remember having Sawyer and when they put him on my chest, there was nothing I could be disappointed in. My baby was here. I had worked so hard and here he was. I was just so happy that we didn't even check if he was a boy or a girl for probably about 5 mins! I just hope people realize how lucky they are to have healthy babies.....

Ramblings

In other news, Wednesday is my birthday! I love my birthday... this year, my parents are treating me to a weaving class! I'm so excited! So all day Saturday, Sawyer will be spending the day with the grandparents and I will be weaving a scarf! I'm hopeful to learn tips and tricks so that I can become a weaving fool... 

Home again, home again

The Internet has destroyed this post three times. I'm tired of writing it.....

Summary: Weston and I went to Valdez for a few days and left Sawyer with the grandparents. He had a wonderful time and did great. Weston and I were both sick and spent the entire time in the hotel watching tv. It was quite pitiful. Here are some pictures.

Sick

Mini-Me

Sawyer is really sick. Super runny nose. Bad cough. Crabby attitude. His teeth are still bothering him... he's basically falling apart. He has had to sleep with me the past two nights. Sunday night he just slept and it was fine. Last night he was restless, had to have his hands in my hair, and basically drove me nuts. I haven't slept for more than 2 hours straight in the past two days, so I am on edge too. I hope he feels better soon, and I wish there were more I could do for him....

Right Around, Baby

Sawyer did sit with me and do some spinning yesterday! He was quite intrigued by the motions and was very good about not touching too many things. It was really nice. Of course, it only happened because he was sick, but I will take the little moments like that where I can get them. 

Sticks and String
I finished the first cable repeat of Sawyer's Sweet Pea cardigan last night. It looks pretty awesome! I should measure it, but I think I have to do at least 4 more repeats....

Ok. Back to caring for my sick child. Which involves lots of reading and cuddling. I do wish that he would let me read more than two different books all day.....