Wait, what day is it?

I had forgotten how the time looses its meaning when nursing a little bundle of warmth every few hours. Seriously. What time is it? Wait, what day is it? I am so grateful that dada is home to look after Julian while Lolo and I rest up.*

Julian, it turns out to no one's surprise, is a wonderful big brother. He loves to lay down next to Lolo, kiss his head and point out his tiny hands and toes. He also likes to help tell Lolo about the little piggies. It's all very sweet. I think they are going to be great pals. They sure are off to a good start.

We took advantage of the spring weather this week to go for an afternoon stroll and to show daddy our local park for 2-5 year olds. It was mostly dry so Julian got to climb up and to drive the pretend bus, walk across the fish and go down the big slide. He had a lot of fun and we did too! It's fun doing big kid things with him now. Last time I took him to this park, he was asleep in the stroller by the time we got there! And it was really nice to get out for some fresh air. Extra bonus: we were all good and tired when we got back home!

And then it occurred to me: Holy Easter Batman! I had intended to knit a holiday sweater for Julian. And for Lolo. And make little stuffies. And figure out how to make a felted easter basket. And plan an egg hunt. And Easter is when again? Wha-te?

Naturally, I raided the stash and cast on for this. I've got one sleeve down already and think I just might be able to pull a rabbit out of a hat with a little over one week to go. I'm going to try anyway. At least for the two sweaters. What? I have been known to exhibit symptoms of delusion before ;0)

Plus this time, I have dada in my corner full-time!

*The province of Quebec launched it's own parental leave program last January to try to curb the declining birth rate in this province. The plan is available to everyone (even those who are self-employed) and provides for 70% of your salary for 50 weeks + 70% of dady's salary for 5 weeks. That's how I got lucky enough to have daddy at home for so long. Actually, he feels pretty lucky too. Seriously, how cool is that? This new program is proving to be quite convincing too: the birth rate went up 8% last year in the first year of the program! Go government!

One week

Well it's been one week already since our little lolo joined the nest and I think we're going to keep him ;0)

He's a great nurser and a good sleeper and we're all adjusting nicely to our new family. And though there were many "what did we get ourselves into" moments last week, I'm beginning to feel more confident about being outnumbered 2 to 1 when daddy returns to work in 5 weeks time. Okay, not really but I thought I'd exercise some positive thinking! Renee, how did you do it?

There hasn't been all that much knitting time since we returned from the hospital with our new bundle of joy but I've kept the anniversary sweater close-by and knit on it every chance I get. I now have the back done and probably 3/4 of the front.

I didn't wash and block my swatch and am now wondering how the Rowan All Season's Cotton will react to a soak. Will it grow? Anyone have any experience with this stuff? I think I may have to block the back to see but it seems there is no where left for me to let my knits block anymore now that Julian actually sleeps in his bed. I think I may have to make myself a blocking board one of these days.

Oh, someone's getting hungry again. Got to go ;0)

Presenting baby Lolo...

He's here! He's here!

Our little Logan Henry was born on Tuesday morning, March 13th, at 11:22am weighing in at 7 pounds 8 ounces and measuring 20 inches. The delivery was short, but very intense! My labour started at 10am and I delivered him naturally (there was no time for the pain relief I coveted ;0) just 82 minutes later! We are both doing splendidly and are back home today getting to know each other. Dada is bursting with pride. Julian is tentative and curious. My heart is full.

Thank you for all your well wishes this past week. They really warmed my heart and helped me through an emotional last week of pregnancy.

You guys rock!

Last day...

Well this is it! My family is about to change. Today was a weird day of emotions where we were really excited about welcoming our second child into the world tomorrow and at the same time a little sad that our little family as we have known it in the past 21 months is about to change forever. Needless to say we spent a lot of time gazing lovingly at our little Jujube today thinking about how it was his last day as an only child. And how wonderful he is. And how blessed we have been. How lucky our little lemon will be to have such an honourable big brother to teach him things and to be by his side as he makes his own way.

We sure did take it all in though...

Still pregnant!

But not for too much longer! Yay! I saw my Doctor on Thursday and we set a date for an induction this coming Tuesday at 8am. I was so thrilled when she mentioned it. Like a giant cloud was blown away and the sun started to shine! She also mentioned that she thought I'd probably go into labour on my own before then because everything is ripening nicely...but here we are on Sunday afternoon and still nothing so it's nice to have a date ;0)

Stephen and I had a little photo shoot this morning to document just how big Lolo and I look together. I've put on 25 lbs this time around and am feeling pretty huge. I'm looking forward to finding my old self back and, dare I say it, exercise? I've been resting since December 4th and I'm so itching for nice long walks with the kiddos in our cool new stroller. Getting some fresh air. Perspective. And colour...

So while I hurry up and wait for Lolo's birthday, I've been busying myself with knitting. I did get to stop by my LYS to get the yarn for the Phildar reversible cardi last weekend and cast on for it Friday. The yarn is Phildar Coton Microfibre which I'm not finding that spectacular to knit with especially considering the way overinflated price of $8 a ball -- I need 12 balls for this 6 month size sweater! I used a gift certificate though which made the cost more palatable, but still. I think Phildar yarn is a bust and I'll be looking to substitute next time!

I started with the hoods because it's the only part of the cardi I'm planning to knit as per the pattern. The pattern calls for knitting the sleeves, fronts and back separately for both versions of the sweater (it is reversible) and then seaming them all together. I'm thinking (a) that's way too much seaming and (b) won't that be really bulky and uncomfortable? So instead I'm planning on knitting the hoods and picking up at their base for the neck opening and knitting the cardis as seamless top town raglans. I've considered making both versions of the cardi simultaneously using intarsia to connect the stripped inside to the plain outside, but I think an i-cord edge to seam just the button bands and bottoms together may look more polished...I'll test out my theory on the hoods and take it from there.

An finally, because I just couldn't resist the cuteness, here's a picture of Julian fixing his brother's crib with dada's screwdriver. Gotto make sure they're all nice and secure ;0) What a cutie!

An (almost) perfect scarf

I've been looking for the perfect cabled scarf pattern to use up the super cooshy Knit Picks Panache I've been stashing for some time and came across 144 inches of i-cord's Manitou Passage Scarf quite by accident this morning. It's perfect! It's reversible! Love it!

Naturally, I cast-on for it right away...

It's a surprisingly quick knit (considering it's all 1x1 ribbing) and creates a really plush and thick fabric. Sadly though, I'll have to frog it back because this baby is a real yarn-eater! I got about 6 inches of scarf out of a full ball of Panache...and I only have 4 balls in the stash. That means I would end up with a 2-foot long scarf which isn't halfway to the ideal wrap around length I covet!

So it wasn't meant to be this time. But I will knit this scarf again someday just as soon as I get some yarn for it. In the meantime though, my search for the perfect cabled scarf for my panache continues...

Maybe I'll cast-on for a Besotted Scarf. I've been on such a Hello Yarn kick lately... might as well complete the collection, no? I really like Smariek Knits' Persephone Scarf too but think it would also use up more yarn than I have. Though it is also on my to knit list. I think it would be awesome knit up in a nice soft alpaca yarn...

(See how good I am at the distraction thing? That's a whole post without once mentioning that my little lolo still hasn't made his grand entrance yet! He did give us a bit of a scare today though so dada and I spent the afternoon at the hospital. I hadn't felt him move all morning despite a big breakfast, a bath and a big lunch! And then when my blood pressure reached an all-time high of 160/98 we decided to make a trip to the hospital. Thankfully, everything was fine. Baby is well an my blood pressure settled down. We have to go back for a follow-up tomorrow but it looks like everything is going to be all right)

Still nothing...

Well we tried our best this weekend. We mopped and vaccumed. We took long walks around the mall. We drove over lots of speed bumps in the parking lot. I took warm soothing baths to relax. And even got to enjoy a really nice date night with hubby (*wink *wink)! But still no baby. That means we only have one more week to try to get things going on our own before our doctor takes over and induces labour...




So my strategy for the week is distraction! Since everything is ready: socks are knit, bags are packed, car seat installed, nursery organised, house sparkling, contingency plans for getting to the hospital and arrangements for Julian during our stay there done...well, there really isn't any reason for me to dwell on any of this this week now is there?

So I'm going to will myself to think about other things, starting with the knitting! See that picture up there? It's not a baby knit. No Sir-ee, Bob! That there is a really, really old project and long overdue present for dada. Anyone recognise it? It's Knitty's anniversary sweater that I started working on almost a year ago.

It was intended as a present for my honey on the occasion of our second (aka cotton) anniversary which we celebrated on April 17th of last year. Needless to say it's been slow going. I have the back done and just cast on for the front. I figure as long as I give it to him before April 17th of this year, it'll still count as a cotton anniversary gift ;0)

(See how I didn't think about it for a whole paragraph there? I can totally do this ;0)

My baby knit list

What to do when you have lots of time on your hands and no project on the go...and your baby's in no hurry to come out into the world ;0)


I went through my collection of knitting books for baby and took pictures of the projects I'd like to knit someday, uploaded them up to their own flickr set (check it out here) and wrote detailed source information for each as well as yarn requirements so that next time it's 2:30am and I can't sleep, I can just fireup the laptop, browse some new project ideas and even go shopping online for the right yarn all without getting out of bed! Talk about enabling late night yarn purchases!

It's also really handy because now that I've had to move my yarn and books out of the knitting closet (it's now lemon's closet!) my books are not as readily accessible anymore anyway. I stole the idea from Lolly's knit queue flickr set and think it's just brilliant.

I was a little hesitant to do it at first because 'aren't those images copyrighted'? I know everyone does it, but I'm one of those fearful of the law types so was concerned. But after thinking it over with hubby we decided that it was probably okay as long as I carefully identify the source of the image, am not profiting from it and am not giving away the actual pattern details. I think that sounds fair. At least that's the story I'm sticking to if the police come-a-knocking! I mean if anything, it'll encourage more people to purchase the books if they see a pattern they heart, right? I mean, I ordered the pattern leaflet for this after I saw it on Lolly's list.

It was fun to go through all these baby patterns again and think that I have a second chance to knit all new things for a tiny babe of my own again and I've earmarked a bunch of things for lemon's heirloom set. Here's one I had totally overlooked before but which I think could not be more perfect for a little lemondrop on those cool summer nights:

It's from Phildar Layette Spring/Summer 2006 and the coolest part is that it is reversible! One side is knit from a plushy terry type yarn with little intarsia chick while the other side is knit from a cotton microfibre blend in perfect-for-my-lemon yellow and white stripes. I'm smitten! Naturally, I have to drag the family off to my LYS today to order the gazillion balls of yarn for it!
Once the yarn purchase is secured this afternoon, I'm putting my okay it's really time to have a baby plan into high gear! I'm hoping to pull a repeat performance of the night before Julian was born so we booked a sitter and will be going on a date tonight.

We're going to the same restaurant we went to the night before Julian was born, I'll order the same avocado and blackened chicken sandwich as I did then and then we're off to the movies. If everything goes according to plan, we'll have some fun when we get home at around midnight and my water will break at 2:45 am. Only this time I'll know that's what it is and we can just head out to the hospital right away (when this happened with Julian I thought I wet the bed!)

That would mean my lemon would be born at 37 weeks and 6 days which is exactly when Julian was born. We had a snow storm yesterday and it's a full moon tonight (I think) so really all the stars are lining up. Wouldn't it be great if it actually happened as planned? How I wish....

I'm soooo ready!