Florida, Here We Come!

We had two weeks of interminable limbo and then hooray! Peter has a new job. We’ll be moving this summer down to DeLand, Florida because Peter got a job at Stetson University. We are sooooo excited to be moving down to warm weather and the beach!

Here are two of my special people on a lovely day up here in Potsdam – our warmest day yet at 85 degrees.

Nadia found her tummy.

She also thinks that the sweater I made for her belongs on her head.

She Walks!

Nadia has been taking a few steps here and there on her own for about a week. But every time I manage to get to my video camera, she plops back down and begins to crawl. Today I finally got her in action!

On The Road Again

We had some shocking and dismaying news today. Peter did not get the job at SUNY Potsdam for the 2009-2010 school year. That means that we will be moving again but as of yet we don’t know where. We could use everyone’s prayers and good wishes for a quick and easy job search; our 3rd year of searching in a row. Although I’m not thrilled at the idea of packing and moving again to a yet unknown location, I do hope that the next place has more options for me and my business and more things for us to do with small children.

This Saturday, my new 40d arrived in the mail. Since then, I’ve taken enough photos to fill up both my 2Gb and 1Gb card. Yikes! I hope I’ve narrowed it down enough to be bearable, however, this post will still be very photo-heavy. The camera is really very nice. The shutter has a great “ker-thunk!” to it that I would love to have in my 35mm film camera. The images are way sharper than my 300d but in the end, film is my one true love. Due to our upcoming move, I may have to sell this camera and it will be hard to part with.

Again, as always, I don’t know what the color on these is actually like since our laptop has a strong blue cast to it.

I really wish this one was film…digital b/w just isn’t the same.

Three Going On Thirteen

Jonah has had quite the attitude lately. He’s mouthy, he yells and he’s disobedient. He used to be so pliable and easy going. I thought all that brouhaha about the terrible two’s was an old wives tale. But I guess he’s making up for lost time. I had him in more time-outs yesterday than I think he’s had in his entire life. It’s the throwing himself out on the floor while weeping and screaming that really gets to me and I think ugh! How will I ever deal with a teenager?! I like to joke that when the kids hit 13, we’ll ship them up to their grandparents since they’ve gone through this once already and it should be a breeze for them. Hahaha!

Here’s the Drama Queen himself, in all of his silliness. Looks harmless, doesn’t he?

If one child is being difficult, then the other should be extra easy just to lighten the load, right? No, Nadia doesn’t subscribe to that philosophy. In fact, it’s my belief that she’s even more high-maintenance than Jonah was at this age. However, she also seems to have a larger vocabulary than Jonah did at age one. I’m going to bore you and make a list of all the words Nadia says. I’m a truly horrible scrapbooker (thank goodness for my mother-in-law and her wonderful scrapbooking talents) and I don’t take the time to write in baby books. This blog is the only record of things that they have done. Let’s hope the Internet doesn’t break!

At age one, Nadia says: hi, bye, mama, dada, night-night, more, mine, this, eye, book, uh-oh, wow – she also puts words together, usually “Hi Dada” or “Bye Dada.”

She signs: milk, more, sleep, please and plays peek-a-boo. When you ask her what a dog says, she barks. For a duck, she quacks. I’m sure I’ve forgotten a few. As I remember them I’ll edit this post and add them on.

She’s really close to walking on her own. She loves it when someone holds her hands and helps her run around the house and gets ticked when we stop. She’s a climber, too (unlike Jonah). She can climb up our very steep stairs (with someone following closely behind) and has already fallen down them (just a couple) and given herself a big bump on the head.

She eats everything. Fruit, veggies, fuzz. LOL. I call her my dustbuster because if there’s a piece of fluff on the floor (all of that spinning fiber and yarn around), she’ll pick it up and eat it. I’m surprised she hasn’t pooped out a sweater yet. Heh. Speaking of sweaters, I’m about 80% done with my first baby sweater for Nadia – a seamless kimono wrap sweater. I have one sleeve left, the tie and then blocking. Maybe I’ll have some FO photos next week!

Our perfect princess giving me her best “watch out world, here I come” look.

All four of these images are digital (GASP!!!). I’ve been thinking lately about getting a better DSLR since my 300d is broken (but marginally useable). I like the bigger files (compared to our digital point and shoot) and sometimes it’s just easier to go straight from CF card to computer without all of that film scanning in between. Our CPA was kind to us and we got a nice tax refund so that was the push for me to upgrade to a Canon 40d. It should be here sometime next week. Be prepared for photo overload!

If the color is wonky, there are two reasons. One, I’m a b/w shooter so color spaces confuse and irritate me; two, the color on our laptop has a decidedly blue cast and so I never know if the color adjustments I make look any good. We’re still looking into getting some sort of desktop and with any luck, we’ll have a decision made soon.

Spin Crazy

A wonderful friend of a friend loaned me her Ashford Traditional spinning wheel on Monday and I’ve been avoiding laundry, dishes, all cleaning and cooking in favor of spinning yarn. Poor Jonah and Nadia can only look at the wheel, not touch. Surprisingly, Nadia listens when I tell her no if she gets too close to the wheel. At least, she hasn’t broken anything yet.

Here’s the lovely wheel and a bobbin 2/3rd full of a soft and silky merino/mohair blend. I am have sooooo much fun! I don’t even have time to post on facebook, that’s how focused I am on this wheel. Sounds serious, eh?

I’m looking into buying a new DSLR (yay tax refund!) so I can start doing headshots up here at Crane. So I thought I’d take out my 300D again, even though the autofocus is broken and it gives me a double image. I like our digital point and shoot but the files on a DSLR, even my old-technology one, are so much better. Obviously, the optics are better and the sensor is bigger but I always forget that until I pick it back up again.

Anyway, here’s Nadia at naptime today.

Fresh M.I.L.K.

After coming home from knitting group last night, I opened an email from the Fresh M.I.L.K. competition telling me that I was one of 150 finalists and that as a finalist, I had won $500! How cool is that? I’ve been in quite the photography funk lately so this is such an awesome boost up!

This is the photo I submitted – it’s of my friend Carry and her daughter Cate when she was 3 weeks old. It will be published in a book, along with a short bio and headshot of me. I could hardly sleep last night and I’m still floating on air today!

Cowboy Junkies

Jonah got a cowboy hat as a present for Nadia’s birthday and they both looked so cute wearing it. Jonah even did a cowboy pose completely on his own.

I often have to wake Nadia up from her afternoon nap so we can go get Jonah from preschool. This does not make her happy.

And one of Jonah giving me a brief moment of stillness.

Birthday Girl

I apologize for the lateness of this post. We have had one crazy busy week. Thank God next week is spring break!

We haven’t yet coughed up the cash for a real desktop. I think we’ll be using our laptop for a while.

Nadia turned one last Saturday. *sniff* It’s amazing to me how fast that first year goes.

Jonah gave Nadia a “birthday hug” that morning.

Nadia wore a gorgeous outfit from Nana and Poppa.

Wearing the birthday crown that I made for her.

After the big cake smash, using her spork like a pro.

Wearing the cowboy hat Jonah got as his present on her birthday.

If I leave the room, even for two minutes, when she sees me again Nadia wraps her arms around my neck and hugs me so tightly. I love it.

Bunny and a Hat

Boo! Hiss! The motherboard on our 15 month old desktop is toast. Stupid HP! Peter and I are researching a Mac to replace our crummy neverending line of crashing PCs. Hopefully in the next week or so we’ll be back up and running. I like our laptop but it’s just not the same.

I finished Nadia’s bunny over a week ago and I just realized that I haven’t posted a photo of it yet. It was pretty simple to make but I didn’t enjoy all of the seaming of arms and legs. My sewing and embroidery skills are severely lacking. Must. Practice.

So here’s the bunny which still needs to be wrapped up before Saturday. Can you believe she will be One Year Old in less than two days?! My baby is going to be ONE!

Her felted birthday crown that I still need to secure in the back so she can wear it.

A sock that I began as another birthday present but it turned out to be too small. I’ll knit the mate to this later and send it off to someone with a younger baby. This was my first time knitting Fair Isle and it wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be.

And finally, I made myself another hat. I know, I think I have a problem. But I really wanted to try this pattern and I really wanted to work with this yarn so it was a match made in heaven. It’s super duper warm – almost more than I need now that spring has started to arrive. But it will be perfect for the sub-zero temps next winter. Besides, isn’t it pretty?

Please Wait

We are experincing technical difficulties. My desktop computer has crashed and needs to be repaired. Thankfully, the laptop still works but until desktop is back up and running I won’t be able to post photos.