It has actually been so long since I’ve written regularly that I’m not even sure what to write to catch up! Now that is bad.  Bad, bad blogger!

Guess I’ll give an overview of what we’ve been up to and post a bunch of photos

The baby is 4 months now and she’s gotten so big! I can’t believe how fast she has grown.  She can hold her own head and even almost sit now.  She smiles and is starting to laugh.  Last week was the first time she laughed for me.  It was the funny little, hesitant laugh, like she wasn’t sure she was doing it right or perhaps was slightly startled when she realized she was the one making that noise.  It was very cute, we were playing peek-a-boo and when I popped up from behind the cloth I was “hiding” behind she started to laugh! That made me laugh which made her laugh again . . . it was all very cute.

Mimmo is 3 now and has become such a “big kid”.  In fact, he’s so big he’s as big or bigger than some of the 4 year olds we know! He’s wearing a 4 and sometimes a 5 for clothes (I think he may be in the 5s by winter!) and he’s up to a size 11 shoe!  At his physical this year we found he’d gained 8 lbs and grown 6 inches in the past year!  I’m no expert but that seems like a lot of growing to me!

 I’ve been trying to make sure that he got to do lots of fun summer things this year even with a new sister.  I didn’t want him to not have a good summer just because of the baby and how much harder it is to get out with two of them. 

We’ve gone to the beach in Gloucester with his cousins for swimming lessons;

to a friend camp in NH where he got to swim with Dom;

he helped his dad with a painting project one day.

We went to the Stone Zoo with our new playgroup friends; and to the Aquarium with other friends (no photo, forgot the camera!);

We drove to NY for Dom’s Aunt & Uncle’s 50th Annivarsary;

and Mimmo was invited to a day of Preschool Summer camp which he LOVED!

We’ve also had a birthday party or two;

hatched a few baby chicks (3 hatched)

We also went to St. Anthony’s Feast at the church where Mimmo went on the rides this year!

And there is much more but I’m going to split it into a second post since I haven’t been able to get through it all yet as the photo thing is moving really slowly . . .

I also have knitting and spinning content but they may require a third post . . . . stay tuned!

Mimmo’s Barlett Raglan, started April 30th, 2008, finished May 21st, 2008
Pattern: Basic Top-down Raglan
Yarn: Bartlett Yarn Fisherman 2-ply
Needles: Size 8
Dimensions: Child’s size 4 with extra long sleeves
Pattern Notes: Should fit next year as well, though I may need to add to the body length
Would I knit it again? Yes, I’ll be knitting at least 1-2 of these a year forever.

Nope, they are not twins ;)  These are our kids, the left is Caterina at one day old and the right is Mimmo at 3 days old.  These pics were taken almost 3 years apart!

I had them blown up and framed for D’s father’s day surprise - everyone who saw them at the craft store thought they were twins!

Knitting wise I’ve a bunch of project stuff to update and photos to take - several projects that just need ends woven in or buttons sewn on or a seam etc and a couple of new things - hopefully I’ll get a chance to do that and update it here sometime this week . . .

Here are a few pictures of the new arrival and the rest of us . . .

Margaret called me about 40 minutes ago…Caterina arrived at approximately 5:15 a.m. this morning! 6 pounds 15 ounces, 19 inches long, 13 inch head circumference, Apgar scores were 9.

Mom and baby are doing well, Caterina was nursing when we talked, I’ll be heading down later today to take a picture and spend the next two nights with them. They will be coming home on Monday.

I’ll take a picture of the two and give you an update when I return from the hospital tomorrow morning.

This morning the three of us went out to breakfast together - for pancakes at ouf favorite little local diner.  Its something that Dom and I used to do frequently together before Mimmo came along and its something that the three of us have done together something like weekly since he arrived.  Today was strange, knowing it would be the last time that it was just the three of us going out together.  By the next time we go we’ll be 4.

When we got home we did a variety of the usual things and I worked hard on my “to do” list - things like making sure the laundry is all done - washed, dried, folded and put away and empty hampers and baskets; like toping off the waterer and feeder in the chicken coop; like making sure there were diapers and wipes for both children stocked near the changing table.  I wanted to be sure that anything that really needed to be done had been . . . after lunch (homemade pizza - YUM!) and a short nap while watching Peter Pan, the little guy went off with Nonna for a bit and while Dom got ready for work - one last shift before he’s out for the next 10 days - I left for a final bit of down time.

I got in the car and drove away from reality, responsibility for a couple of hours.  I went to the Barnes and Noble down the road, got an iced tea/lemonade drink and picked out a stack of knitting books to browse through.  I found a comfy chair and just sat leafing through the books and enjoying the peace and quiet of being able to sit for that long and basically do nothing. 

I even got a special treat for myself - a copy of “A fine fleece” which I’ve been eyeing since someone brought a copy to knitting one night.  I don’t really buy many knitting books anymore, partly because I have so many already, partly because of a tightening budget and partly because, truth-be-told there haven’t been all that many that interest me lately.  This book I had to have.  Its the first “pattern book” I’ve seen come out in a long while that had many patterns I feel I would actually knit.  I think, over time, its possible I would knit more than half of the patterns in this book, and that doesn’t happen often.

When I came home after my little break I got to do a bunch of fun things like sweeping, moping and vaccuming, more laundry, making beds up with clean sheets and picking up seemingly endless toys.  Now the house is clean. . . or at least as clean as its going to get before the baby arrives.  There is no laundry in the hamper, all the floors are clean and the dishes and kitchen are cleaned up.  It will be interesting to see if the others can manage to keep it that way over the next ten days or so.

I’m no closer to delivering than I was last week - unless something changes drastically in the next few hours . . .  and so we are scheduled for an induction on Friday morning, early.  We could have had a later morning apt. but I’m concerned that the later we go in the more likely they’ll have had enough “walk-ins” that we get bumped to another day or a much later time or something . . . not only that, but the earlier we start the better shot I have that she will actually arrive on Friday . . . if she does I might be home by Mother’s day on Sunday which would be nice, otherwise I could be there until Monday . . .

I’m still knitting away on things like baby socks and little hats - and Mimmo’s sweater from time to time.  I may even take it with me to keep busy while I’m at the hospital waiting.  Afterall, once they start the induction they will likely hook me to enough wiring that I can’t go anywhere. 

We’ve set things up so that M can post an update here once the little one has arrived and I’ll post again sometime after we get home.  I can’t wait to be able to post baby pics!

C’s “February Shawl” Blanket, started March 25th, 2008, finished April 28, 2008
Pattern: EZ’s February Shawl from Knitter’s Almanac
Yarn: Misti Alpaca: Suri Silk
Needles: Size 6 Addi’s
Dimensions: Unblocked: 36″ Square; Blocked: 37″ Square
Pattern Notes: I added a knit on border with Faggoting stitches and a garter stitch “binding” - it was pretty easy and went quickly.
Would I knit it again? Yes! This was a great, quick baby blanket pattern and could be done in almost any yarn - using a luxury yarn with a simple pattern makes for a very fancy feeling blanket that is still a quick knit.  I’d definately do this is washable wool as a gift blanket . . .

Here is the baby blanket that the Monday night knitting group made for her:

Isn’t it pretty! I think she’s really going to like the bright colors and its the perfect size for using with the car seat and stroller - which since we’ll be out and about much more than when the little guy was a baby is great!

And here is the one that I recently finished out of the Suri Silk:

This is super soft and very pink - I plan to use it to bring her home in . . . but it isn’t the most washable fiber so it will be more of a special occassion blanket than an every day kinda blanket . . . but it was so soft I just couldn’t resist

And here is the 3 of us together at Easter . . . weeks ago and I’m already the size of a blimp! Now just imagine how much bigger I am at what, like 6 weeks later?

And isn’t the little guy adorable in his suit? Too bad he’s had to wear it like 4 more times since then for all the funerals we’ve gone to lately . . . but he sure is cute!