I snapped a few shots of a friend’s son. Noah is a few months younger than the babies and has such a charming smile. I used this as a chance to use more of the actions from Amanda Keeys. I am so enjoying the ability to click once as opposed to doing all the adjusting manually. Anyway here they are!
Oh yes…also snapped a shot of Avery the older sister.
So yesterday the twelfth was the twins birthday. They received no gifts or cake only extra kisses and many salutations. They did however get a chance to play in the mud and get their pictures taken. The pictures of Evan are after his mud bath, which he gave himself. The pictures of Fiona were taken later by our friend Karley Mase. We will have a celebration for them tomorrow including gifts and cake and many more kisses and hugs. I cannot even begin to express the delight I find in my children. The twins have been an enormous blessing as well as a bit of work. I so enjoy watching their personalities bloom as they begin to walk and talk. I am so looking forward to the next year with them. I apologize for the brevity of this post but I hope to post more tomorrow along with more pictures of messy faces.
I used actions by Amanda Keeys on these photos. I am enjoying the Lightroom actions immensly and am looking forward to checking out her Photoshop actions.
Here are the photos Karley took.
So much has happened since I last blogged about the kids. The twins are almost eleven months old and getting SO big. I feel as though I am keeping my head above water (just barely) and at the same time enjoying every minute.
Fiona has seven teeth and Evan cut his first a few days ago and is working on his second. Thus the appropriate nicknames Piranha Face and Gummy. Piranha also fits Fiona because she eats everything in sight, and I mean EVERYTHING. Also because her smile is so toothy and fierce!
I am constantly avoiding being gnawed on. The other day at the Dining Hall (cafeteria of sorts that gives me a break from cooking) an older woman tapped me on the shoulder and kindly asked, “Did you know your daughter is eating the napkins?” Embarrassed I turned to see Fiona shoving paper napkins into her mouth by the fistful. I ended up having to extract a large wad of saturated napkin from her jaws with my finger. I will not delve into the many other things that have found their way into Fiona’s mouth. However, a few of her latest favorites are baby wipes and diapers (even if they are still on her twin brothers bum).
In spite of her frenzied desire to put anything she touches into her mouth Fiona is an amazing daughter. She growls, smiles, and loves to be held and talked to. She is already trying to sing and is standing on her own terrifyingly well. I enjoy her more and more each day.
Evan is delightfully happy most of the time and adores his older brother and younger sister. He is the favorite of the girls because he loves to cuddle smile and giggle in delight when smiled at. He is also stubborn and has a bit of a wild streak when kept up past his bedtime. Evan is sensitive…so much though that one day he was sobbing and I couldn’t figure out why. It was then that I noticed him staring at the towel wrapped around my wet hair with a frightened look. I quickly removed the towel only to have him calm down immediatly. The same sensitive boy loves to be thrown up in the air hung upside down and tossed onto a bed over and over.
Corin is learning to use the toilet like a big boy and is doing a wonderful job. He can communicate very well and loves to pull various visitors around the house and tell them everything he knows.
Summer on a whole is going amazing. I am sick and worn out but I love our new house and how it has allowed us to open our doors to anyone who needs to escape from camp or life.
More soon.
So here are pictures of the two beanies I have designed of late. The first you already saw a picture of but here it is again and also from the side. I bought that yarn I had been drooling over…the hand spun georgous green stuff…mmm. Anyway I tried to make another of my patterns with it and it didn’t work out. So I designed a hat that fit the yarn and I am pleased with how it looks. The first will be up for sale in a week or so in my etsy store and the second will be off to the test knitters in a few days. Weird having all these pictures of myself…anyone up for modeling hats?
So I am looking for test knitters right now and then I should be getting this pattern up on etsy. It is a great hat for summer because of the knit pattern. It allows for a lot of air flow but it also very warm in cold weather. I will post once it is up and for sale. I also may sell the finished product as well for those that do not knit.
So Chester and I were invited to Mauii at the end of summer by another couple. Between not having to pay much for a place to stay or a car to rent they made it an irresistible opportunity. Thus we are tightening our belts (financially) more so than normal. The cause is worth it considering that we are on month 8 of winter (sigh).
So, I am getting a vacation with Chester and two of our dear friends, also I am getting a week in the sun (which is SO needed). WE are going August 18-25th. The wonderful thing is while on our trip we will have our 5 year anniversary!
I am wanting this AMAZING hand spun yarn from sheepingbeauty’s etsy store
But with tightening our budget I can’t really afford to spend that much on yarn as tempted as I may be 
I will just look at it every day until it sells.
And I am in the process of making several new knitting patterns which I will post pictures of later and this scarf I found on a japanese clothing site. I didn’t want to pay the shipping and taxes so I thought I would try making it.
So I haven’t been able to blog as much lately because I have been desperately trying to keep my head above water. LITERALLY So much snow and then life on top of that. It snowed today on the 23rd of May. We have been moving into a new house and trying to prepare for a summer that seems as though it will never come.
The great things are we now have room to stretch, have guests, and sleep WOO HOO! I actually have to look for Corin from time to time because he can be in multiple places causing trouble. We have a wonderful deck on which to grill and sit in the afternoon or evening.
I am selling lots of patterns, more than I thought I would. It is fun having people create something using my directions. I have definitely learned a lot in this first pattern designing experience. I have a few more patterns I am working on. Hopefully they will be finished soon.
I will post more with pictures soon. Fiona is working on her third and fourth teeth so we haven’t been sleeping as much as we would like. I will try to get a picture of her new toothy grin.
So I have posted my first knitting/crochet pattern online. It has been a great learning experience. I gleaned wisdom from those who would share it. The most helpful advice was from one of my favorite bloggers, an amazing photographer/mom/knitting pattern creator. Amanda Keeys
So here it is. You can check out my new Etsy store also if you would like. I don’t have much of a stock yet but I am knitting more headbands nightly so keep your eye out. I am also formulating some cuffs that I will be selling the pattern for eventually.
Here are some pics of the pattern.
And just in case you can’t live without it…ENJOY!
So this post is a little late. The twins turned six months in the midst of a horrible flu that hit our house. Right after that our dear friends, April and Cliff Carey, lost their baby girl Elyse. She was ten and half months old and one of the brightest sweetest baby girls I will ever meet. I am amazed daily by their faith in the midst of such a tragedy. Chester and I went to the memorial last Saturday and it was sweet and beautiful. Cliff got up on stage and read a letter to his little girl. I don’t think I need to tell you how moving that was. In case you want to read it yourself Cliff posted it on his blog.
I couldn’t get the link to work so here it is, sorry you have to cut and paste!
http://blog.cliffordcarey.com/2010/02/my-little-girl.html
I got pictures of the twins but in all of this I haven’t felt up to doing much of anything…well journaling (the old fashioned way). I thought I would post a little preview of the pictures I took of the twins. Hopefully I will have more soon along with pictures of the kids all in one room.
I know what you are probably thinking…”a preview?! If that is a preview I am never reading this blog again…too many pictures.” I should clarify. I want to get more pictures of Evan as there are a lot more of Fiona at the moment. Several shots that I really wanted to turn out a certain way aren’t what I had envisioned. I want to get better at capturing what is in my head so that is why I may have more later. I can hear that Corin is in the crib with the babies so I am going to go sneak a few photos of that to post later.
No pictures today. I can’t justify sitting at the computer editing photos when Corin has the flu and my house is in shambles. So we have been fighting the stomach flu. YUCK! So far the babies Chester and I have not come down with it…just Corin. He crawled back into bed this morning at eight and fell asleep. I think that fully explains how horrible he feels. Of course this happened right in the middle of us moving all the babies into the larger of our two bedrooms. I have painted Chester and my new room a light gray and will post pictures eventually. Chester put the bed in last night and started laughing because nothing else will really fit in our room now. The important thing is the babies have space and will be able to sleep in a crib (for the first time) and not a pack-n-play. Last night was their first time all sleeping in the same room and it was a complete success. I do not assume that it will be this easy from now on because they are babies, after all, and babies are prone to waking up screaming in the wee hours of the night. I will, however, say how blessed I feel that my children have done so well thus far. More later on the room switch. Evan is screaming so off I go!