Christmas time is almost hereeee!!!

This week Matt is back to work which is always lonely. Isabel has one half day left at school tomorrow though, and then she is out for Christmas break which we both are super excited about!! We have some big plans and lots of Christmas baking in store! We are making our own gingerbread house this year! Isabel has been busy at school making some seriously awesome stuff! I love how this school has her doing all the fun Christmas projects that I remember from when I was a kid, here is some of the stuff she has brought home

She made the garland behind the Santa as well as the cute Santa!

And a present for Matt and I =)
I have gotten all of my Christmas shopping for Isabel completed (what a relief) so now it is just time to wait for Christmas to come! I am really excited for Christmas this year! I think I am going to make a prime rib this year for the dinner, I have never made one before so I am excited for that as well!
I finally got some maternity clothes in the mail yesterday, I was really in need of them!

Here I am at 18 weeks :)
All my pics turned out a little blurry tonight and I have no idea why...
I can't wait until the end of the month when we get to go visit our family in Pendleton and Walla Walla AND we get an ultrasound and will find out the sex of the baby!!! I am hoping the weather holds so we can for sure make it there and back!
Well my little chatterbox is demanding my attention and I need to dip her in the bath! :)

How cute are these two!? ;)

A Trip To Elko

Sooo today we headed to Elko to visit the Walmart and do some massive grocery shopping, lucky me! I think it is so odd how the towns around here seem to have no plan, like someone just started throwing up houses and the stores followed at random, everything seems so spread out and randomly placed. I decided to take some pictures of Elko, the places I have been so far there anyway...

These are both taken from different areas of the Walmart parking lot, it is kind of set up on a hill....

Every town has one :p

These are both taken going from Walmart to the downtown area

Casino at the beginning of the main street (no idea what it is called but I think it is Idaho Street...)

Another casino down a side street...Erica Paradise!!! Lol.

My love in front of our bank =)

Going down the main street

This is our drive home...Stretch of freeway between Elko and Wells!
So that was my day today...Maybe next time I will get brave and photograph Wells! :)
But just so this blog isn't too dreary.......

Here is Isabel this morning before school eating breakfast with her hair in curlers =)

And a smiley Charlee, the cutest, most hairy dog on the planet!
Time for me to go get my girl to bed and frost a chocolate cake I baked this evening! =)

Major Life Changes

Wow! It has been a long long time, and how much has happened!! The biggest change in our lives is that we have moved states away from home to a small town called Wells, Nevada...and wow what a change this has been for all of us. I almost feel like I have entered a time warp in this tiny town. Adjusting was a little difficult but for the past few mornings I have woken up happy and I am feeling more and more content. I am so lucky to have my husband and my baby girl and also the tiny being in my belly who I just can't wait to meet! Isabel has started school here and she is really enjoying it which is a big relief for me, when she is happy it makes it easier for me to be happy! We have been working on her reading and she is actually reading very well, she is so amazingly smart! Here she is reading to Chuck! :)

Lately I have gotten a couple awesome gifts in the mail! I love getting mail so getting these packages really made my day!

A window cling, a potato sack, an advent candle, and some nativity stickers from my Aunt Tamera for Isabel and I! I loved all these things so much, in fact the advent candle is so cool I don't want to burn it! :)
Then from my friend Megyn I received two ornaments in the mail for Isabel and I...This is mine

SO CUTE!! I am so grateful for these things! A big THANKS to both lovely ladies!

I have been working on a sweater for the baby! I am making a pattern called the Pea Pod Baby sweater by Kate Gilbert and it is turning out so nice! I love the leafy lace pattern in it and the leafy ribbing..

I have just one and a half sleeves left and the neck finishing and it will be done! Yay!

I am so excited and anxious for this baby to arrive! We get to find out the sex at the end of the month and I absolutely cannot wait! I am nearing 17 weeks and, aside from some awful food cravings, everything is going well!

Here is me at a little more than 16 weeks!

Well time for me to get going and be productive before the night is over! I can't decide if I should bake a cake, knit my sleeves, or hem some pants for Isabel! Decisions decisions... :)

Back To School and More....

Been quite awhile since I have sat down to write a blog. It seems like there is always something that needs to be done or someone that needs my attention, or both, and I don't even have a "real" job. Speaking of that, I recently spent time over at my sister's house and it seems amazing to me that she holds it all together. Her responsibilities are insane with 6 kids, 2 dogs, a husband, and a full-time job. I have no idea how she manages as I only have one kid, a husband, one dog, and no job, and I still feel like I don't have enough time in my day to accomplish everything I want to.
I got Isabel off to her first year of school which has left my days a lot quieter. It is such a bittersweet feeling sending your baby off to school, I cry practically every morning after I drop her off...

                            Here she is on her first day of school ready to take on the world!
I have been getting quite a bit of knitting and sewing done with my house empty during the day, but have not been great at taking pictures unfortunately. During my stay at my sister's house we decided to knit Halloween bags, I had so much fun with the first one that I decided to alter the pattern and make a second one....

                                                       Mr. Boo-Man and Kitty
Aren't they just too cute!?
I did start the cutest hat for Isabel which I was so excited about but I ended up having to frog the whole thing because I did not check my gauge and the hat turned out to be big enough to fit a giant...Needless to say I was very unhappy!

                                                  I just had to take a picture of it.
In other news, I just found out yesterday that I am pregnant. I took two tests and both showed a big, fat positive. Matt and I are both super excited but also super scared and praying that we will be able to keep this one. It is still very early. I have a call into the doctor to see if starting progesterone therapy is something I should consider doing. I am trying to stay positive and I am glad I have support from others.

                            These two are my favorites :) (Isabel in a jumper sewn by Mama of course)
Without anything profound to say, I will sign off and head back to my couch and my snuggly Charlee for awhile, ah bliss.
                                     

Busy, Busy, Busy!

Oh how I wish there were more hours in the day to complete all I would like to. It seems like that between housework, cooking, and caring for Isabel I don't have much time to squeeze in other tasks, although I do try. Isabel and I have had appointments every single day this week and do not have an appointment free day until Sunday and oh I cannot wait! Aside from running around like crazy trying to get us both ready for school to start, I have been trying to keep up on some sewing and knitting for Isabel's school wardrobe...Not too much sewing accomplished but I did sew my friend an awesome bag which I am excited for her to get in the mail!!!

I used Amy Butler's Birdie Sling bag and I was super happy with the results! I also knitted the front of a vest for my nephew for his birthday..

                                                       The little owls make me happy!!! :)
Also have made a little more progress on the knee high socks, although not as much as I would like.

                                                              I am loving this yarn!
Isabel and I have been reading The Secret Garden every afternoon and evening and I love the book so much as it brings back sweet memories of my own childhood and I find that I am having to stop myself from reading further in the book after my sweet punkin falls asleep in the middle of a chapter. I absolutely love sharing these precious stories with Isabel and I love discussing the chapters with her and hearing what she is taking out of the book, listening to how she views and processes the plot in her mind.

                                                                    Ah, so precious
I am so excited to start on the AG series I was given by a lovely friend in my knitting group. She gave us the complete collection of books for the girls Molly, Samantha, Kit, Felicity, Kirsten, Kaya, and Josefina. Isabel and I were so thrilled with the books! A big THANKS to her!!!
Well I am off here to go work on my socks until Matt gets home, the rest of my housework can surely wait until tomorrow! :) BUT

Here is a picture just because I am pretty sure I have the best, cutest, most lovely dog in the whole wide world!

Back to School...Almost.

Wow how time does fly! Isabel is already about to go off to school for the first time! I can't believe that my little baby is already a kindergartener. It seems like only yesterday she was a tiny baby. I have been busy getting Isabel ready for school which has included appointments with teachers, doctors, and dentists, along with shopping for school supplies and sewing and knitting like crazy! I recently finished Phoebe's Sweater for her to wear and it turned out great!

I still have to sew on the buttons and block it but I was super happy with how it turned out! I also completed a little pair of leg warmers yesterday

Isabel loves them!!

Had a great visit yesterday with my sister and her family, stayed until 4am!!! Needless to say, today I am exhausted! Yet with my whole family asleep, I am awake embracing the silence and working on my next project...A pair of knee high socks for Isabel of course!