Moving Right Along

It’s been an eventful few weeks. We celebrated Iain’s second birthday party a few weeks early (on June 13th) so that the big event could be celebrated without A) me going into/being in labour and B) a brand new newborn. That plan went well as baby number two is still safely (though heavily…) contained within. Here are some shots of the big day.

The van's official introduction to 'Mommyhood':

The outdoor decorations (unfortunately, after a couple of rainy days, it was too wet to host most of the party outside. We moved out later in the afternoon):

Some of the guest shoe collection:

Iain loves balloons and so did all of his guests! These balloons provided endless entertainment and made it all around the house:

The finished cake. This was a bit of a coup. I like having a theme to plan a party around and Iain loves horses (which he calls 'neighs'). Therefore, the invitations I designed had a horse on them. I wanted to decorate a cake with a horse but the cake pan from Wilton was discontinued. I checked locally for a cake pan but wasn't willing to part with $30 for the only beaten up one I could find. Enter ebay (which I rarely use) and a $6 USD pan and here it is!

And here is the birthday boy!

I picked up Mudder from the airport this past Tuesday. Anyone who knows my mother will know that this was a big deal as she is terrified of flying. However, after considering her options (e.g. driving here by herself or taking the bus/ferry/bus which would take over two days), she decided that flying might be the best option of all. She seemed to do well or at least was feeling good enough about the whole one way experience (she will be returning to the island via ferry with us on July 24th) to give Iain lots of big waves and smiles as she came down the escalator to arrivals. For his part, once he saw ‘Gramma’, Iain didn’t stop smiling. He wasn’t quite brave enough to run into her arms however, one she bent down to give him a hug, he wanted ‘Up!’ immediately! They have, pretty much, been inseparable ever since. They are upstairs playing a rendition of golf/hockey as I type.

I am working on designing thank you cards for Iain’s birthday (I made his birthday invitations) and then getting onto the new baby announcement and thank you cards (designed already in my head which is a wonder). I am also doing some knitting. I finished a set of 100% Misti 2 ply chunky baby alpaca fingerless mittens (I got mine from Wool-Tyme online) from this Tangle pattern (and just realised that I have them upstairs, ready to send in the mail and forgot to take a final picture – argh!). It’s a really quick and fun pattern if you’re not me and want a quick and fun pattern. I may have started these this time last year and only finished them about a week ago. Ahem. Moving right along, I have another glove almost finished for another family recipient. Another late birthday gift but not as late as the ones above which were due in July. Of 2008…! I’d hang my head in fibre shame but I’m so pleased to have a genuine knitted FO that I’m too proud! Oh, the alpaca is gorgeous and I have leftovers from knitting two gloves - yeah! This is also a one skein project.

As for baby number two, there are no signs of an imminent release program apart from the fact that the baby has really dropped. S/he is giving me some cramps but not too many and, thankfully, I can eat again. In fact, since Mudder arrived and I’ve been put on a ‘nap at least once a day’ program, I’ve been feeling pretty good. Still tired but almost human. It’s been wonderful – my mother actually LOVES to do laundry. Seriously. She loves it and loves to hang it on the line, take it in and fold it. Too bad I didn’t inherit that gene! Then again, she also does not mind cleaning up after a meal one bit and I MUCH prefer for cook or bake and have someone else clean up after me. Therefore, we’re a great team.

DH has two weeks left in the Canadian Forces. He has mentioned that me having a baby early would help him retire ‘early’ but I’ve been ignoring his and Mudder’s offers for me to go and wash walls. After all, the baby isn’t due until July 4th and my recollection of the whole labour experience is just less than two years old (aka fresh in my mind). Regardless, I likely should get my hospital bag packed. Right now I have about three piles designated to go with me but really haven’t concentrated on getting too organised with putting it all in one bag.

Here’s a belly shot from June 7th. I know, I know, I’m overdue for a new one. I’ll keep that in mind for this week.