Stitches West 2009

Today, our family went to Stitches West 2009 at the Santa Clara Convention Center. This is an expo for all things yarn and knitting (with some crochet). Andrew and Blake got roped into going with me to this extravaganza.

First off, here is a photo from when we moved. The Stitches West photos were taken with Andrew's cell phone because we forgot the camera. This happened to be in his phone when I was uploading the pics to post here.

Poor Blake squished in the Eurovan with all our junk.


Onto Stitches West...
So what does one wear to a knitting convention? A hand knit item of course. Blake is wearing the sweater that Sandy, Andrew's sister, made for him. He is slowly growing into it and it is the softest thing you have ever felt. Thanks Aunt Sandy. The Baby Legs are leg warmers for babies that Grammie so nicely provided Blake with. Not hand made, but super fun.


Here we are enjoying some wool. I wore my Beco baby carrier so Blake could enjoy all the yarn and the chest strap snapped two minutes into the show. I carried him around for the first half of the marketplace and then had Andrew carry him the last half. Jeesh, I pay a fortune for the thing and it lets me down when I need it the most. Andrew said we could have fixed it on the spot if only we were at a sewer's convention. Darn knitters with their huge needles.


So what does one buy at a knitter's convention? Um, Girl Scout Cookies of course. The only thing I purchased at the show were three boxes of GS cookies. We had to try the new flavor this year (Dulce de Leche) and to our dismay they weren't very good. Stitches West 2009 was a dissappointment and I don't think I will be going back every year. Maybe it will get better if I take some classes, but I have enough unfinished and yet-to-be started projects in the pipeline.

Freedom!

Blake took his first steps this morning while him and I were playing after breakfast. Shannon grabbed the camera and caught him trying walking a few more times. Check it out below:

On the Horizon

I just found out that the rental we moved into was built in 1964. My brain is now swimming with decorating ideas. I think I made Andrew move to a new house just so I could obsess about rearranging the furniture and sewing new drapes. The look I am going for will be indie-retro-bohemian. I would love for it to all look like this:



Andrew may not be into that much pink! Anyways, off to go collect more inspiring ideas.

Settling In

There is only one drawback to moving into a new home and that is figuring out how to cook in the new oven. I should have taken pictures of the brussel sprouts I roasted the other night. They were little, black morsels within the first ten minutes of cooking. Against my morals, I bought some frozen cookie dough from Trader Joe's (cookie dough is not a hard thing to produce on one's own) and creamated them last night. It was so sad to smell cookie heaven and then one minute later smell cookie death. We ate the tops and called it an evening.


My child came down with a fever (his first) on Sunday. It only got to 101 degrees at its worst so I thought he had a mild flu. Then today, tiny bumps covered his whole trunk. I called the advice nurse and she said it sounds like he has Roseola. Poor blotchy boy. Here he is in his sick sadness.


Okay, so he was only mad that I wouldn't let him hold the camera. Here is what he really is acting like. He has stopped eating solid food and makes up for it by nursing on the hour. He wakes up frequently in the night so I will look forward to getting some sleep when this is over and done with.

We're In

We did it! We now call Palo Alto our home city. So far, we are loving it and look forward to the day when we can relax instead of unpacking boxes. Blake moved like a champ and even napped in his Pack 'N Play while the movers moved us out of the old house. I promised Andrew we are here for a good, long time. The only way I would ever move again is if we bought a house in Santa Cruz (a girl can still dream big). Thanks again to my parents for helping us move out. My dad worked so hard and my mom watched Blake the whole time. Now onto the mini tour:

Our front porch:


If you follow the path to the left of our front porch then this is where you end up. The door leads into the kitchen:


Our backyard. We call the shed LuLu's big dog house because she loves the privacy and protection in there:


Looking the other way in our backyard (sliding glass door from the dining room):


I actually adore this kitchen:


The older stove. Blake can turn all the burners on so we are looking into knob covers:


The fridge:


Our family room with the front door:


More front door:


I am sure the furniture will change hundreds of times before I settle on the perfect arrangement. Once other rooms are straightened up I will post them too. Now onto unpacking more boxes.

Moving In

Shannon's parents have been up since Friday afternoon helping us move the last of the stuff, re-install blinds at the old house, and unpack here. They've been a huge help.

Of course Blake has been helping us unpack quite a bit as well, as the pictures show...

Blake unpacking toys.

Blake unpacking baking tins.

Unpacking cupcake sheets.

And helping get us moved into the freezer.

We Are Moving Again!

Once again, I am moving our family to a different city. This time we are going to be calling Palo Alto, CA our new home. I love moving because it gives me a chance to purge the things I know I didn't need in my life (a drastic motive I know). Unfortunately, I still own so much stuff. How does this happen? The majority of boxes in this picture are things that belong in our china hutch. I am obsessed with baking pans. I can't believe how much stuff I own relating to making baked goods. There is no excuse to ever buy a loaf of bread or bakery item ever again.



We moved our washer/dryer set to the edge of the garage to get ready for the movers. That meant we had to put back the washer/dryer set that came with the rental. Since they have been sitting so long the ignitor switch was out in the dryer. So here are Blake's clothes drying in the bathroom. Once again, why do I think my son needs this many clothes?



Our guest room, then office, then guest room again awaiting its new future.



This is what happens when Teenie's rope accidentely gets thrown on top of boxes.



David came up to deliver a bed and was nice enough to take the futon back with him for Jessica. Blake rode around on his shoulders and loved his new vantage point. He was smiling so don't let his serious look fool you.



Now, less blogging and more packing. The movers come tomorrow so wish us all a quick and painless move!

P.S. It broke my heart last night to pack my knitting projects away. I am having seperation anxiety.

More Projects

It's official! We are moving to Palo Alto in nine days. We found a fun rental only three miles from Google so Andrew will be able to bike to work in a matter of weeks. It is a three bedroom, two bath duplex with a low-maintenance (but well taken care of) yard for the dogs. It is 1,700 square feet so we will be gaining 200 feet of extra space. The duplex is great for these reasons: on a cul-de-sac, two-story so the dogs will be limited to the downstairs meaning the upstairs will remain relatively cleaner, there is an attic with tons of storage, it is across the street from a nursery and a tot park, the neighbors all seem to have small children, and it is in walking distance from a gourmet grocery store and ice cream shop.

Blake got invited to another birthday party so I made the little girl some legwarmers (picture above). I hope she likes them and I hope she gets to wear them since the weather is so warm already.


A few weeks ago I made this hat for Aden who I used to nanny for. He turned six on Jan. 26th so I saw it fit to make him a skater beanie. Usually I have skateboarding in mind, but he is a hockey player so I sewed on a hockey puck patch once I finished knitting it up. Aden's mom says it fits and once again I hope he gets to wear it even though it is in the 70's.

Off to sleep so I can wake up and get into super packing mode.