Oh Happy Day!

Nope that's not me on Mother's Day...it's the two best people to spend Mother's Day with! Look at that sweet tiny little Lia. Daddy got up early with her today, made me breakfast, and told me we could do whatever I wanted today. Well I wanted to go to the IMA Arts Park for a look-see. We got there early and wandered around basically on our own. It was great. Then we headed back home for some Daddy grilling while Lia and I goofed off on the patio. Now Lia is napping, David is mowing, and I get to do whatever I want. So that means I'm heading out to the deck to sit in the sun with my knitting and ignore the dishes in the sink...guilt free! Ahhhhhh...this is how Mother's Day should be done. A+ award for my hubby!

Happy Mother's Day Everybody!

Action Shot

Lia seems to be always on the move these days. She also seems to be 'talking' more and more. Sometimes real words, sometimes not. But one thing I know is that she has somewhere to go and something to say about it. This leads to a new problem for me...taking action shots. I normally take pictures on my phone. Definitely not high quality pictures nor quick. A lot of the pictures I get Lia has moved or is halfway out of the frame before it clicks. Anyway, here are some shots of Lia in action outside on the deck the past few days...

Talking to me about her beach ball...

Whew Mommy its windy!

Busy walking...

Starting to shake her sillies out.

For those of you keeping count, Lia seems to be getting two new teeth on the top. She has been all about fingers in her mouth. Turns out there is a new tooth in the front and a molar starting to show up in the back. She still has a lot more teeth on the right side than the left!

Oatmeal Sandbox

This morning Lia needed something new to do, so we got out the good ole oatmeal sandbox. It was a lot of fun and if she ate a little, no big deal because it is just oats! And Lia did taste it at first but quickly discovered she didn't like it and dug right in to playing. The best thing about oatmeal sandbox is that I just scooped up whatever ended up on the floor and then swept. Easy peasy clean up. I suppose if you had a playmat you could put that under the whole mess and then just pour it in the dish when done...but we don't have that fancy stuff out here in the country! Actually I do, but it is just some plastic cloth I bought at JoAnns. And it was in the basement craft room and Lia was already playing by the time I thought of that little gem!

Lia deciding to get in the 'sandbox.'

Kung Fu Lia...Hiiiiya! She's got great form!

Playing nicely before she decided to get in. Note Wilson's paws in the background. He wasn't sure what was going on but stayed close in case it was fun.

Busy stirring things up a bit!

Lions and Tigers and Bears! OH MY!

Today was library day. We got this funny little book where you put your head in the hole and become an animal. Lia thought it was really funny when Mommy put her head in and made animal noises. Pretty ingenious if you ask me. Lia enjoyed seeing herself in the mirror as animal girl!

Lia the snake...

Lia the tiger...

Lia the elephant...
This last picture is of Lia when I tried to get her to go outside. At this point I had asked her, went outside myself, and talked it up as if it was the most awesome place in the world. She wasn't having it...too busy reading her new library books!

Big GIrl

Lia is enjoying her lunch after a busy morning. You may notice her hair is uncut. David forgot about our haircut excursion and had made other plans. It was okay because it just means more time I get to spend with her sweet little mullet. You may also notice the big girl cup in the picture. Miss Lia has learned to drink through a straw. She is definitely getting new skills all the time. We are practicing saying please. It seems to be most effective when she wants picked up or more food. We're working on "up please" and "bite please." And it is the cutest thing to hear her say it. I think I'd give her just about anything if it was followed with please. Mommy's a softie.

Stay At Home Weekend

With the gorgeous weather this weekend, I am so glad David declared it another "Stay at home" weekend. That means no driving. It was great. We cooked out and ate outside. Lia played with her Gymbo on the porch. David flew a kite. We enjoyed every second of it.

Today was back to reality. Laundry to wash, dishes to do, Gymboree class to attend. Miss Lia will be heading out this evening for her first haircut. I'm have lots of nerves over it. Should I? Is it time?

Project 1: Done

I have been carefully working for about two weeks minus a couple days on this shawl. Granted I didn't knit on it everyday. It is for a special friend of mine going through an incredibly difficult time in her life. It is called a "hug to keep" in the knitting with Debbie Macomber shawl book. That's not it's official title, but it's the general idea. If you are really interested post me a comment and I'll dig up the pattern to tell you the official name. Anyway here's the back of it as modeled by Lia's high chair...

This is the front view...

This is it all stretched out along the back of the couch. I'm holding the camera crooked...our picture on the wall isn't crooked!

I really love how the edges have the ruffled looking seed stitch and the middle is stockinette. I also like that the back looks entirely like seed stitch so you can wear it either way! I gotta be honest I was pleasantly surprised by the striping effect of the yarn. I thought it was going to be more variegated. All in all I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out, how the pattern was, and that Lia didn't unravel it this morning since I left it on the coffee table last night!