his story

Only the cat will sleep in the baby's crib at the moment, while baby is content to sleep in his little bassinet in the middle of the living room. Morning, noon and night he drifts off to sleep and we walk around him, picking him up when he starts to stir and coo. (The cat likes to lay beneath this bassinet and paw at his diapered butt through the layers of cloth when she thinks it's time that he should wake up. I'm constantly shooing her away. Strange kitty.) The dog is always at the edges of everything. Nosing her furry face and paws into every photo.

I put together a shutterfly book about our journey to Logan, my pregnancy and his birth. It was a fun exercise and I got a lot of closure from it. It's like I couldn't relax until I knew that part of our life was documented and put somewhere where we can look through it and remember. We intend to read the book to Logan as he grows. I've already flipped through it what seems like a hundred times.

We've also been reading other books. Right now Logan seems to scan the pictures on the pages, but I think he's reacting more to the tone and cadence of my voice than anything else. I so want him to love stories and reading.

Lots of projects in the works, but some are nearing completion. I've got the baby sweater out today and I'm knitting the final length of sleeve. Then I only have to block it, photograph it and put it away for future use. I'm going to have some yarn leftover and I can't decide if I should make some mitts or a hat. If I make the mitts I can look at the color turnovers and contrasts all the time when I'm wearing them. That may be the way to go.

I laid out my star quilt in the middle of our living room last week and basted it together following these instructions on Amanda Jean's blog. Her tutorials are so helpful. I had a lot of fun with the back of the quilt - it's in the background of the photo with all of the baby books. I grabbed a bunch of random squares and sewed them in a strip up the back. I'm going to machine quilt this blanket in a spiral starting in the center. I just need to go out and buy a walking foot for my machine. Hope this goes okay. I can picture exactly how I want it to look in my head and I really want it to turn out that way. I intend to bind it with bright magenta fabric.

 I've also got to finish my tweed baby blanket because the baby shower for my friend is coming up soon. I'm excited to clear my crafting plate so I can start and/or finish other projects.

Happy Wednesday!

Jill

yarn along (02)

I think we got about 8 to 10 inches of snow through the afternoon yesterday and into the evening. It's been blowing around, eluding the shovel of my husband and our friendly neighbors who have all put an effort into digging the neighborhood out.

It's fun to see snow of the rooftops as I snuggle in the house with our little one, but one cannot always stay indoors in February. I had an appointment at the clinic this morning, so I had to dash out of the house quickly this morning to clear the snow off the car (even though my husband did so at 6 am) it was covered with snow again.

Our baby has been such an exciting blessing that I haven't even mentioned some of the hard parts about being a mom. (Like having a c-section after 59 hours of labor and then having a blood clot in my leg a few days after being released from the hospital.) All of these things are seem really minor and very manageable after struggling with infertility. Other people deal with and have to overcome a lot more, so my husband and I have been very grateful that my recovery from my c-section has been good and that my blood clot is responding to treatment. I'm on blood thinners for the rest of February, thus my appointment at the clinic this morning - to make sure my blood is in the right range. Modern medicine is a miracle.

I am loving every moment of knitting this little sweater. The pattern is "Flax" by Tin Can Knits. The yarn I'm using has such a spread of color and color combinations that each new row makes an interesting contrast to the one before it. I couldn't stop taking pictures :) :) :)

What am I reading? I started this book last night. I saw it on Julie's blog this summer. I really liked the cover (I'm a bit of sucker for those things) so I decided to give it a try. I'm about 20% into it and I'm still now sure how the plot is going to develop, but it is a curious beginning indeed. I'm also thinking about finishing this quilt that I started a few years ago, so I have a stack of quilting books beside my piles of yarn. Jenny's star quilt has inspired me. I'm also eyeing the Freckles quilt out of Scrap Republic, could this be the next quilt that I make (that takes me three years to complete)?

Only time will tell.

Lots of doing and dreaming this week.

xo Jill

a walk

Quick, while the leaves are still on the trees, snap a picture! We got out for a walk this past weekend. So many people have commented how wonderful this autumn has been. The leaves seemed to glow bright for weeks and weeks.

It's a rainy and windy day today and the leaves are finally gone. I miss them, but from what I hear we may be expecting a dash of snow this upcoming weekend, so that will add some excitement to the landscape. I've already noticed that the advertising around me is turning to snowflakes and holidays. November is always a month that seems to pass in a flash for me. We have a party at work this upcoming Monday and then the real celebration happens at the end of the month.

I've been making comfort foods. Lamb and spinach lasagna, warm, crusty bread and soups. I love it when a pan of leftovers saves dinner after a busy day at work. All you have to do is pop a plate in the microwave and in a few minutes you have a meal sitting on the table. In just a few weeks we'll all be trying to figure out what to do with the last of the Thanksgiving leftovers. Bring on the turkey and the stuffing!

I've got to find more ways to get both Garrett and myself in these photos. I've realized over the past few months that I'm posting just me and Bree (because Garrett took the photo) or just Garrett and Bree (because I took the photo) or just Bree! I've been trying to get a good shot of us all for our holiday card, but so far I've had no luck.

I'm busy today with home study renewal stuff. We need to go in for our annual sit-down interview with our lovely social worker, Kathi. The biggest thing that happened to us this past year was the adoption of our rescue dog, Bree.

Sending love,

Jillian

apple orchard

Last weekend we stopped by the apple orchard that my husband's grandparents used to own when he was a boy. He spent many October days there sorting apples and helping out in the orchard. He had lots of fun stories to share as he led me around the farm.

"This is different." He would say. "They didn't have a fire pit here when I was a kid."

When we were in the barn he commented on how small it all seemed to him now. Of course, I thought, everything seems huge to us when we're kids. Some days I wish I could go back to being a kid again. Especially in the fall when the leaves are so crunchy and the nights are so crisp. Who would you choose to become on Halloween night? Would you skip down the sidewalk with your friends feeling nothing but joy and anticipation over your bag full of candy and the school days stretching out in front of you?

Last night - which was Halloween - I made a big pot of chili for dinner. As we sat down at the table Garrett commented that pretty soon we would have our hands full on Halloween. Meaning he hoped we would be blessed with children soon. I felt so grateful for him in that moment - reminding me of what we have to look forward to - not our school days, but our kid's school days and costumes. 

We'll bring them to the orchard someday and let them sit on the tractor and pet the goats and tell them how "Daddy used to work here." And all of these days of waiting for things to begin and of forcing myself to stand strong on the sidelines of motherhood will shrink from the huge mountain they are today into a mole hill. A mere speed bump on our journey to become a family.

Praying for you little ones!

XOXO

Jillian

lake rebbecca

Lake Rebbecca, MN

Garrett and I loaded up the dog on Saturday and headed west to stretch our legs and find some adventures. We're still learning all of Bree's quirks. One of them is that she gets car sick. We're not sure if it's because of anxiety . . . or because she just gets sick in the car. We were smart enough to pack some spare towels, because she did end up getting sick in her crate, but we cleaned it up quickly and she was fine after that.

The destination was worth the effort. We were able to park the car and take the dog for a walk along the lake and into the woods. It's that time of year when the leaves are just starting to turn. The nights have been chilly around here. We woke up to a light frost on Sunday morning.

I had a good start to the work week today. I'm glad I have my job to keep me focused and busy. Both Garrett and I have signed up for community education classes this fall. I'm taking a yoga and dog training class and he's signed up for two nights of volleyball. I'm also going to try to get in on the local knitting circle that meets at the cafe up the street every Tuesday. Busy is good.

There was a wedding going on at the park as we were visiting it. I thought their sign was really cute. Best Day Ever! Makes me smile.

Happy Monday!

Jillian