Here's What's Up

* Something cool:

My grandmother (the wife of my grandfather that just passed away last month) recently gave me my dad's first pair of Levi's! These were probably worn around 1962. Being a lover of vintage and all things of family value, this was quite an exciting gift to receive! I can't wait to try them on Elliot.

* A few days ago we found our cat, Indy, hit by a car at the beginning of our cul de sac. When I first moved into our home in February of 2009, he ran in the door one day and we have had him ever since. Even after we had him fixed, he was a feisty cat that never seemed happy but was always happy to receive our love. It's been an emotional month in general so it goes without saying (yet I will still say it) that I took it pretty hard. I will miss him very much.

* My little man is getting so big. He has such a beautiful smile. I am so overwhelmed with the desire for another child. I don't know if I have ever felt as needed as the time I have been a mother. It has given my life a purpose I always lusted after and now completely embrace.
Most of  my friends (which is a very short list) do not live close by. I have no one that I "hang out" with on a regular basis. I see my mom when she can steal away a few moments...she is my best friend, someone I don't know what I would do without. Never that elusive "friend" though...one that hasn't moved away, kept too busy for those frequent chats and visits, or gone through lengthy spells of discord. I have to admit I am in one of those really achy, lonely spells where all of this is extremely apparent.
But every morning I do have one of my favorite (physical) constants: Elliot. He is my company and joy throughout my days. He is never too busy for me and thinks I'm brilliant, funny and extremely fun to hang out with. He has gotten me through these past couple of months, holding me steady each day until his dad comes home. I love him more than these words do justice.

* On the subject of friends, a dear friend of mine since junior high is getting married in September. I am so excited to be there to celebrate her marriage. I am sad that she will be moving to England after the wedding, as I rarely see her these as she lives down south. 

* Saturday I have a shopping trip planned with my mother and grandmother. I am really excited!

That's about it...

Here's what's up

* I have a love/hate relationship with my mornings since Josh started working at Cigna. He leaves our bed much too early, usually with me whining for him to quit his job and stay home and snuggle with me forever. I know, what a supportive wife, right? This is usually mumbled while I'm half awake, so by the time I have gone back to sleep Josh comes in with Elliot and lays him in the bed next to me. Most of the time Elliot quickly returns to sleep and we snuggle in bed for another half an hour. Why get up early when you can snuggle your chubby little boy under warm covers? Yes, the theme here is snuggling. Around 6:30 Josh comes back in to the room to kiss me goodbye...more whining commences and we have another round of "We don't need money to live, stay home!"

When I finally make it out of bed with the child, I am in full "I love mornings" mode. I give him his bottle, which he finishes in about 5 seconds, grab a hot cup of coffee and leave him to his devices while I enjoy a little time on the computer. I check on him over my shoulder every so often and usually catch a scene like this:

The love is usually inspired by the fact that I am close to 2 years of not working. This glorious period may end very soon since bills continue to pour in with a $1000 price tag on them, so for now I am going to love every moment of it.

* I am obsessed with this peanut butter:

I have always been a big fan of peanut butter, but this is truly White Chocolate Wonderful. I bought this second jar so I could make a batch of peanut butter cookies for our Monday night Bible study group. The first jar never made it's way on to anything...I ate the entire thing by the spoonful over a few days. Actually, I may have had a few bites with banana until I felt the banana was impeding the delicious flavor of the White Chocolate Wonderful itself.

* Joshua and I both had our cars serviced on Monday. On the upside, Josh took a vacation day so we would be able to get both cars done at once. On the downside, our Focus required new tires ($$$) and the Fusion required a new battery, battery connector and air filter along with the oil change (more $$$).

I am watching our lovely tax return that was supposed to pay off our credit card go very quickly towards a whole bunch of other things. Life refuses to take these lemons and make me a glass of refreshing lemonade. It just keep squirting the lemon juice in my eyes.

* Elliot is finally crawling!! I briefly mentioned this in my last blog but I feel it needs some more attention. After 9 whole months of refusing to do anything other than work on his "Downward Facing Dog" and various other yoga moves, he finally is CRAWLING. I somehow think my excitement over his mobility will be short lived. 

* We had to wait till Tuesday to pick up the Fusion from Exeter. Once we got the carseat transferred back to the Fusion, we decided another round of Frosty King's delicious seasoned fries was in order. I prompted Josh to call some friends of ours, Jason and Katey, to see what was up and how their son, Nolan, is doing. Apparently every Tuesday Exeter has a small farmer's market which was happening just around the corner from where we were eating. Katey sells handmade soaps at a booth there, so Jason met up with us when he got off work and we all walked to her booth and played catch up for awhile. Usually I am a total crab about unplanned nights like that, but it was a lot of fun to run in to people and see how they have been doing. 

Plus, I love babies. So, bonus!

I am going to attempt to try out my sewing machine today. I may decide I have no energy to leave the house and play around with my crocheting instead. We will see.

Here's what's up

* I have been without a sewing machine for the last two+ years. I have wanted to buy a new one but everytime the funds are there they end up having to go to something that falls in the "need" category instead. The machine is nothing fancy, in fact it is several years old and probably a model meant for beginners...but a sewing machine it is nonetheless.
 I finally tracked down a number to call for replacement parts, ordered my pedal and manual and was planning on waiting patiently till the end of April for them to arrive as the pedal was back ordered. However, there were packages waiting on my doorstep on Tuesday that hailed their early delivery! I cannot wait to dig in to my stack of fabric and whip up something exciting!

* My latest obsession, in place of sewing, is crocheting. ILOVETHIS! Stephanie showed me some basics back in January and since then I have become truly obsessed. It is all I want to do! I am constantly looking through patterns, checking out new yarns, reading about recycling old fabrics to make my own rug yarn! Sewing gives me the same feeling of excitement in regards to creativity, but crocheting is different in that you are actually making the fabric of your project. So neat! Here are a couple of my most recent projects:

Elliot has decided he loves my yarn. Observe:

*After having a very late Bible study on Monday, Josh decided to call in "sick" from work the next day. It was so fun getting to sleep in and have coffee together that morning! Around lunch time we got ready and met with Rob for a reunion Taco Bell hang out. Then we headed downtown to shop the antique stores. It was a day of many steals. I found a really cool gecko decoration for my dad to hang on the fence for only $3, a pretty blouse for me (navy blue with tiny white bows printed all over) for only $10 and a really cool tin for Elliot's nursery for $2! I didn't get pictures of the other two but here is the tin:

I think it goes well with his forest animal theme.

*During our Monday night Bible study prayer card time, I was really encouraged and excited about some of the plans I have for our church's nursery ministry. All of the girls chimed in with thoughts, ideas and plans of action! I can't wait to see it all come together and truly hope it helps awaken a desire for younger generations in our congregation's hearts.

*Tomorrow Josh will be helping at his mother's school, Sundale, for the third year for an event called Weird Life. I believe it has a connection with Young Life, but is for elementary school age. He leads worship before the speaker. This year they are having a bonfire, which could potentially be a lot of fun! I've been helping Josh prepare his list of songs to sing and in this process he believes he has discovered that I can sing. Ha! He is now calling it "my secret." It has been the running joke of this week and has caused endless fits of laughter from me. Apparently I haven't let the world know I have a mediocre voice. I'll get right on that! 

*And at the last minute I am adding that I am fairly certain I will get to see a good friend of mine this weekend. Something to look forward to!