We've been

Somehow, somehow, somehow I can only manage to squeeze in a post once a week.  Here's what we've been up to:

.: enjoying sweet visits with family.

.: staring at the knitting needles in a blur before my eyes as I try to whip up this for Neva for Easter.

.: taking great delight in a newly installed porch swing for Frances.  Pushing my smiling baby in the afternoon sun with a cup of coffee in hand?  Yes please.

.: watching in amazement as Frances walks around eating anything and everything in her path.  Particular favorites include: banana, butternut squash, rice and beans, daffodils, cheese.

.: pausing for a moment as I collect diapers off the line at night to smell the woodstove burning.

.: seeing how they grow just a little bit each day.

.: reminding myself to hold them just a little longer tomorrow.



Looking back (but not too far)

Frances has been one year old for two weeks now, so I guess it's time to get some pictures up from her big day.  It was simple and sweet, a day full of joyful reflection and gratitude for this wonderful little person being added to our family.

At one year, Frances is really such a joy to be around.  She is very cheerful, laughing and babbling all the time.  She is always on the go, always wanting to keep up with Neva.  How we love her!

And....I thought we'd celebrate the Spring Equinox with another video!  Neva has been quite sick with a nasty cold this past week.  When the sun finally starting peaking through the clouds yesterday I knew it would do us all good to get some fresh air. 

Hmmm...two minutes of Neva blowing bubbles?  I'm not really sure if that's interesting to anyone else but me!!

Happy Birthday!

Happy 1st Birthday to our sweet Frances!  I've loved you since the moment you were born!

(more pictures from our day to come later this week probably...)

A lot about knitting...

As with any celebration around here, the days leading up to Frances' birthday have been a flurry of knitting.  Knitting while kids are eating, knitting while kids are playing, knitting whlie Frances is nursing (yes, it can be done!)  On the needles there in my basket is this sweet little dress from possibly my favorite pattern designer.  I've had my eye on it for a while as a birthday gift for Frances.  As excited as I was to begin, it sort of became a sizing nightmare...ripping out, starting over at least three times.  So, it definitly won't be finished in time, but luckily Frances is not yet conscious of time in any practical or conceptual manner.  I did finish up a little bunny for her (which you can see in the basket too) and now it's a matter of trying furiously to make another one so Neva can have one too.  The pattern is very simple and sweet, a favorite in the Waldorf classroom and it comes from this great book. 

On the topic of knitting projects, here is what I made for the girls this Christmas (better late than never!)

The baby sophisticate for Frances, a quick and simple knit, very classy with the shawl collar.  I tried to get a picture of her in it, but they all came out blurry because she never stops moving!

A squirrel pillow for Neva!  Neva had been admiring this squirrel at our yarn shop for so long I decided to make her her very own.  A crazy pattern by the daahhling of the knitting world, Ysolda Teague, but so much fun to knit. 

And finally something for me!  An enormous and incredibly warm cowl from this pattern.  Using a super bulky wool, it was so quick to knit up and has already become a winter staple for me.  I even wear it to bed sometimes!

Probably my sister is the only one who cares enough about knitting to have made it this far in the post...way to go D!

First Steps Video?!?!

I don't know which is more exciting....Frances' first steps or my figuring out how to post a video!!

(Obviously the first steps)

Watching, remembering

We've been joyfully watching the crocuses peeking out all over our yard, a hopeful reminder of spring on its way.  I was thinking the other day about another year passing by, especially as we get ready to celebrate Frances' first birthday.  It reminded me of this picture...

....which was taken last year, when Neva and I spotted the first snowdrops along our morning walk, just a few days before Frances was born!  I remember being so heavy with pregnancy, secretly wishing that Neva didn't want to stop at every flower to say hello.  As seperated as we've all become from the natural cycles around us, it was a powerful reminder that we are still so deeply connected.  How comforting to know that in all the changes that will inevitably come in the years ahead, the crocuses will always arrive, announcing Frances' arrival.  How like the small crocuses she is, our bright and cheerful little one.