Am I the laziest blogger on the face of the earth or what?

I have no words. As I have been knitting my fingers bare, I haven't had time to let you all know what has been going on here. So, as it goes, I must depart already...
Tomorrow?

Joining the masses

I have relented. So far I have not joined the masses of people who have knitted those patterns where when you say the name another knitter instantly knows what you're knitting. The February Lady Sweater, Monkey Socks, Jaywalker socks.

Here it is, my current work in progress:


It's my very own Clapotis (cla-POH-tee, blame the American designer living in France)
I'm knitting it in Bernat's Baby Coordinates, the only yarn that I have a ton of because I bought it for another project, which I changed my mind about. It's kind of a bumpy yarn, so it's got an interesting texture. I can't wait to see what it does when I drop the stitches for the pattern. It's going really fast, too. I started this night before last and I'm already a quarter of the way through it. Strange enough, I'm really excited about this project and I'm really glad it's going fast as the last couple of projects have ended in disaster to the degree I will not reveal.
Updates in a few days, stay tuned!

What's sat?

Elias pointed to the DVD player and movie and asked "What's sat?" He's 13 months on Wednesday and he already says "what's sat?". Interesting that it's his first sentence. What does that mean? Jude's first sentence was "Drink, please.", and he has naturally followed with relatively good manners (please, thank you, good morning, etc) and a hearty appetite for milk. Elias doesn't say please (yet) and licks his lips when he wants a drink out of a sippy cup (he does something entirely different when he wants to nurse, and I'm not going into detail. Let's just say I stand away from him in the grocery store when I see he's getting hungry).
I've always encouraged the children in my life to be curious. I believe the teacher in the book series The Magic School Bus would say "Ask questions, make mistakes, get messy". And with exception to the get messy part (I can administer only so many baths a day), I want my kids to learn from what they do. There is only so much I can teach them. I can guide them in the way they should go, but they have to take the steps. It's something many of my friends who are raising their kids stuggle with. How do I teach my child that they don't have to go and make the same mistakes I did? The simple, but hard, answer is: you can't. No, really, you can't. You can only suggest, direct, and hope for the best.
Look at your life, the mistakes that you have made. Look at where you are now. Would you be here, at this very moment if you hadn't made those mistakes? Now, the more important question: Did you learn from them? Is the person you are now smarter than the person you were then? That, my friend, is maturity. Learning, growing, sharing, hoping for the best.
So, the next time Elias says "what's sat?" I get to smile, teach, direct, and hope that he doesn't fall flat on his face as many times as his mommy did. It's not so good on the nose.

If acheivements were measured by sanity.

So I've been reading the blog of my sister-in-law Lena. Love that girl! She keeps up with, count 'em, 3 blogs and chases after her two beauties/tyrants who are 6 and 4 all the while half way through with cooking baby #3. AND is a freelance sports writer who's hubby is in Scotland until the 17th of January. God bless her. And I am sitting here, exhausted from reading her blog, thinking about how I never write on my own, and wonder what I would do if Mark left the country for 2 weeks. I think I would be bald when he got back. Yep, definetly bald. Perhaps covered in chocolate. And an empty bottle of Reisling (or 5) on the counter. Salut to you, Lena!

Cheating

Dear Blog,
I have something to say. You might not like it. You might cry a little, yell a little, throw your words up in contempt. And I wouldn't blame you. So, here goes...
It's been a while. So sorry. You know, two kids, fussy internet access, no sleep. It adds up. And, here it is, I found Facebook. Ohhhh, I heart Facebook. You would not believe how nutty some of my friends are. And it's nice to talk with them on a more regular basis now that we are all spread across the country. The best is comparing pictures of our kids. Yes, I have posted pictures on another website. and wrote words. Funny ones, sad ones, anxious ones. Displaying my heart-felt feelings for all to see on another medium. I'm so sorry. I can't promise I will give it up, my Facebook. But I will pay more attention to you. I have some pictures and stories to tell you. I can only hope that with these new accounts of our lives filling your screen space you can forgive me. Please, please forgive my absence.
Sincerely,
Angela

And we're moving...

So, Wednesday I looked down and Elias was not where I had placed him. And he wasn't doing that backwards half-scoot half-roll thing he's been doing for the last 2 months. I walked away, turned to face him and called. He looked up, grinned that goofy "I'm so cute gotta love me" grin, and crawled to me. That's right---crawled right to my feet and whined that "Pick me up" whine. He hasn't slowed down since, either. Yesterday he decided that crawling wasn't enough. Jude has a big wheel type trike in our living room and it's just tall enough for BooBoo to pull himself up onto. And he's using it as a modified walker. THREE DAYS after crawling. I guess he's wanting to keep up with big brother.
Then, of Friday, Mark called me up saying that he just looked at a duplex he found on craigslist. We've been looking for a place to live since our apartment started collapsing into itself and it started raining inside whenever we had any kind of real rain (and I live in the GROUND FLOOR). Back to the duplex...so Mark tells me about it and he says I'm gonna love it. He takes off an hour early from work and we pack up the munchkins and head over. The landlord and his wife and dad are fixing it up as the last people did a number on the place. I looked around and fell in love. There are two bedrooms (good sized), 2 bathrooms, a garage, a cute kitchen, a fireplace, new carpet, paint, linoleum, a covered porch and A BACKYARD!!! Jude instantly loved it and was playing chase me with daddy right then and there. Elias worked his I'm So Cute magic with the landlady. The price was right so we signed our application right there. And at 8pm I got the phone call I have been waiting for for 2 years---"It's yours if you want it". Do I EVER! So, As of the end of this month my apartment days are over...
Another amazing twist for our amazing Friday (sealing it all off as the day being an act of God) Mark got his first account for his new business.
The Westover Family is on our way!

Jude's Favorite Color

For some reason I never really thought about what Jude's favorite color was. I'm not sure why, it just hadn't crossed my mind.
Well, about 2 months ago whilst knitting myself a pair of socks, Jude asked for his very own. I agreed and yesterday took him to Joann Fabrics for some yarn.
I figured I would just grab and go, but a little last minute experiment of comparing colors chose the yarn for us. I grabbed a green and a yellow and he chose the green. A blue and green and he chose the blue, a blue and red and he chose the red. Red and yellow: Red. Red and black: Red. Red and Green: RED
After we got home and I looked around at Judes things I started to notice something:
Jude's favorite movies:



Jude's Favorite Tee:


Jude's favorite cars: (yep, that's 3 Lightening McQueens)


Jude's favorite sunglasses:


Now, Jude's soon to be favorite socks:


Good thing he looks good in red, huh