Where have I been?

Where have I been? . . . for the past month and a half? Well I have been sick every day all day, moody, tired all the time, irrational to the point of scaring my husband I think . . .yes I am pregnant. . .not going off the deep end . . there is a legitimate excuse for my behavior. I am ten weeks along and due May 13th . . our plan worked too. . .just after tax season and back for College audit season! Woohoo!

Although I am still quite early everything seems to be going well I have all the symptoms in the book. We were able to hear the baby's heartbeat on Friday which was very exciting! He literally touched the device to my stomach and there the heartbeat was. . .no search involved at all. . .and it sounded very strong! Everything looks great! We are thrilled since we have been a little nervous since it is quite early but after hearing a heartbeat it really feels real.

I have also been stewing . . .trying to decide where to deliver. The two runners are Dartmouth or Bennington. Rutland is so out. I just don't feel safe there for various reasons and I want to feel safe and happy and I want the best. My plan is to tour both facilities, I like the idea of water birth and or water labor which to me seem relaxing for both the mom and the baby. Both hospitals have these options so I am going to tour both sites before making my decision. Unfortunately I have to switch from my obgyn which I have had for years but I if that is what I have to do so be it.



Now my crafting. . .

this is it. . .I haven't knitted in weeks. . .haven't sewn, haven't scrapped, haven't stamped. Just haven't had the desire . . .I have been glued to the couch with my preggie pops and water.

Thankfully the first trimester is almost over and I am starting to feel more ambitious these days. I actually put all the laundry away this weekend and did some much needed cleaning. Good thing there is only two of us and we don't generate that much dirt.

Itunes users . . .just beware to make sure your account is not set up to your bank account. I have had my account for years. . and i love itunes but someone hacked into my e-mail, got itunes to send an e-mail to change my password, changed my password and my e-mail notification and charged $420 in songs to my account. Thankfully I noticed it and shut them down before they drained our checking and savings. . .but now I am out $420 for a while. Make sure you have your account set to a credit card since these are monitored more heavily by the credit card companies and if it does happen you don't get stuck waiting to get your money back. Its a pain . . trust me!

Well that's all for now. . .off to make my little sweet pea some lunch and maybe just knit something today . . . .can't wait until I have a sex to knit for. I am very board with unisex stuff!

Keep the vision

of mustard yellow with cream cabinets. . .don't get caught up in the blue. . .really . . .follow it through. Now I know Joel isn't impressed but it will come together in the end. . .I can see it.

now I personally love the color but then I love sunflowers and it reminds me of the 18th century. What can I say. . it is just me. But then again. . some people like the baby blue and it makes me want to vomit.

I did sneak in the start of the cabinet buts I haven't finished one yet. . .will work at night this week for a preview.

Never know what you will find . .

in old houses . . . although stripping wallpaper is never fun. . .seeing what's underneath is always interesting.

Now that the porch is painted we shifted gears to the kitchen. Remember the ugly yellow and blue striped wallpaper with flowers? Well now we get to spend a week looking at this . . .

Doesn't that just look smashing with the baby blue! Don't worry. . .those are going soon. My favorite home improvement store Nail It Down is mixing me up a very nice mustard yellow and once that is done those cabinets are turning butter cream. The kitchen will make you hungry just by looking at it.

I also think the yellow will bring out the stainless steel appliances that we are acquiring one by one. Like the refrigerator. . .sorry stove. . you'll have to wait a little while :( But I love this refrigerator. . having the freezer on the bottom is really the way to go. . .and the double doors and all the temp controls. . .just amazing.

So we accomplished this all this morning. Yesterday I spent the day entertaining friends with a Stampin' up workshop . . .lots of fun. . .I even got out my kits to go from Trena and worked on them last night and early this morning (up at 4 am. . .couldn't sleep).

So cute! Just a few more to go. Well that is all. . .I am wiped! ttfn.

The right buttons?

Top-down Raglan (used pattern adjustments from sixoneseven blog)

Size: Newborn

Yarn: Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino

Ribbon: by Stampin Up

Happy to say I finished this latest number is less than a week. However, I am still unable to find the right buttons. They must be unisex and can not be too heavy . . . so my favorite Danforth pewter are out. Any ideas?

Slow improvements

Slowly we are making our way to completing those summer home improvement projects. I finished the trim in the living room this weekend. Joel got the porch primed and we started painting. Unfortunately the weather has intervened with that today but it looks great so far.When we first bought this house I really wished the porch was bigger . . but now that I am painting it. . .I am really glad that it doesn't wrap around the house. Painting it yourself can really change your perspective. Barley isn't much help with painting but she is great at scraping . . . .

And now that the living room trim is complete. . .the next project is the kitchen. The wallpaper is so not me. I have picked out a nice mustard seed yellow to replace this. . .

and for now I am painting the cabinets a cream color until we can save enough money to replace them all. I might change the hardware to a polished nickel too. At least that will give them a face lift.

We are suppose to buy a new stove next month (I have been holding out until the tax holiday - which is the 22nd for purchases under $2000). But now the refrigerator is giving us a hard time so we might be replacing that instead. We shall see. .it is kind of on life support right now and things are not looking good :( Either way one by one. . .they will all be replaced to stainless steel to someday go with the cherry cabinet plans I have.

On the knitting front. I am almost finished with the top down raglan that I started last week. . .very quick and mindless. I just need to find buttons, block it, and take photos. I also started a seed stitch hoodie out of superwash cascade 220. . need to take some photos of that also. Love the color! Well off to have lunch, clean up, then work for a little while. ttfn

I'm Back!

for real this time. I have been slacking for several reasons. . .studying. . .sewing. . . .painting. . .but mostly just being lazy and not wanting to be on the computer.

I am really going to try to post something once a week. How else to people know I am alive. . .they never see me :)

So here it is Rita-roo. . .a post . . . and a completed project. I started the sweet pea right before I left for a short vacation in Maine. It is out of Queensland Bebe Cotton/Soy. Great yarn . . very soft and fabulous to work with. I would use it again for sure.

I did make some additional changes this time. I added an eyelet row and threaded some green ribbon to give it unique touch. I really wanted that pea pod look for my little sweet pea to be some day.

and a matching hat of course:)

ooooh maybe tomorrow I will post the Green Mountain Fiber Event photos from today. . .very exciting. . spinning. . dyeing yarn. . .lots of cool things.

ttfn

New Hobbies

With all of the hobbies and responsibilities I currently have. . .why add another?

Well. . . I have wanted to sew for a while now. Purchasing a machine has really been the only thing standing in my way. Do I make the initial investment or borrow one? Or get a used one? I was also really scared because I know how I can get sucked in so fast!

I have so much yarn that I could literally not leave my house for an entire year and still not open the last bin.

This is getting a little over whelming . . .not to mention ridiculous . . . so I have made a promise to myself to take one sewing project at a time. . . .not to mention a yarn diet.

With that agreement in my head I went to Williston last Saturday for my regulation exam (CPA) . . .after 3 hours of mental strain plus being finger printed and monitored like I was a criminal! Seriously people. . .so not worth the effort to cheat. . .just learn the material! I drove over to Strawberry & Rhubarb to pick up my new Bernina sewing machine.

Great shop, the owner is fabulous and the store is very inspiring! Very big on my list . . .if I don't want to buy everything. . .then something is wrong. . .very wrong. I basically wanted everything!

Project #1 - Pillows for the couch

Joel has been complaining for months about couch pillow. . .this is mostly because I threw out the pillows we had at the apartment before we moved. They were way past their expiration date!

So with that in mind I purchased some Moda fabric - called "twiggy" (so us) and some chocolate brown fabric for the back.

and I spent all day Sunday creating these

Project #2 - Baby Quilt

Here is the pattern. . . .but I am using the "twiggy" collection. This is free on http://www.modabakeshop.com/ really great site with some very useful tips.

I ordered a Jelly Roll from fat quarter shop online which will give me enough to do the squares plus I have all the left over from the pillows. This is going to be so cute! I can't wait.

Hope to have some progress soon! ttfn