What I Made

Last year I made a scarf that, well... came out pretty horrible. I made it lengthwise so it came out too long and too thin. Plus it was just a plain double crochet throughout and it was really boring. So before fall and winter comes back I'm remaking the scarf, and here it is so far:

 It's about a foot long already. I undid the scarf from last year and am reusing the yarn. This pattern shows off the colors so much better. I can't remember the name of this yarn but it's soft and kind of unraveled.

 Here's the pattern up close. It is a basket-weave stitch that I found from this YouTube video.
It's really simple but creates an interesting pattern. The scarf is turning out very plush and I know it will be cozy and warm for the tough Colorado winters.

In other news, Julian is now able to sit up with only a little help!  He's growing so big and strong at just 4 months old. He can stand too while you only need to hold his arms to help him balance. He hates tummy time but loves standing so I really think he'll be walking before he can crawl!

Well, either way it will happen before we know it. He's so precious right now, chubby and laughing but not really able to do a lot... He's the perfect image of a baby. Julian is just now acting interested in food. He doesn't want to eat it but when I sit him on my lap he tries to grab my plate or bowl. Two weeks ago he grabbed my bowl of oatmeal and completely jammed his hand inside! He ended up covered in oatmeal, it was hilarious. He ate some banana straight off of the one I was eating just the other day! It's so exciting and fascinating to watch all the changes and growth he is going through every day. I love this kid so much!

Well thanks again for reading and keeping up with things, hopefully I will have another video up soon!

Have a great night, goodnight!!
Lily

Sleeping through the night!

So it's been about a week since I wrote about getting Julian back on a sleep schedule. In that time, he's gotten waaay better! There's still some nights he sneaks back into bed with me (crafty little guy) but he's already slept through a whole night. It was only once, but that's a big deal!

Every night he's asleep around 7, except on Mondays where I get home later so he's in bed more around 8. This first chunk is the easiest for him to get through. Then he'll wake up anywhere from 9-11, and I'll feed him and put him back to bed. This is where he sneaks back in bed with me, if he does. If it's past 11 and he's having a difficult time going back to sleep, I just kind of give up. But if I'm already in bed I give him a chance to fall back asleep, as long as he's not actually crying. He's been able to wake up, wiggle around and shout a bit, then put himself back to sleep two or three times now, at least that I was awake to see.

So my goal is to have this down pat by the time he's 5 months old, so I have about 3 more weeks to go. So far it's going pretty well.

For more of Julian's progress and fun we've been having, here's a video from July when he was three months old. Enjoy!




Thanks everyone who's watched my videos and a special thank you to my first subscriber! Yay!

Getting to Sleep

Today (last night, really) I decided that I was going to drop all other goals that I've been working on and focus on just one: getting Julian to sleep through the night. He has done this only ONCE in his own crib, and once in a bassinet.

This last month I've been really lazy about Julian's bedtime routine. During my visit to Austin, I didn't have a separate place to put him to sleep. So, he slept with me. I found out I could nurse him back to sleep without even having to get out of bed or even fully wake up. Yes, cardinal sin of all sins for babies, but for the past month Julian has mostly slept in bed with me, at least part of each night.

But although I'm able to be lazy and stay in bed with him, he also sleeps for shorter periods of time with me. When he was born I was proud that he could sleep for 4 to 6 hours, but now, he barely makes it to the 4 hour mark. He's actually sleeping worse than ever, in my opinion, so I'm going to sacrifice my comfort and sleep that I've gotten used to for the next month to get back into a good routine, and cross your fingers, he'll mostly be sleeping through the night by the time he is 5 months old. (Oh yeah, he just turned 4 months this Tuesday!)

This came to my attention yesterday when I went over the papers sent home from his recent check-up. According to them, he ought to be sleeping through the night more now and I need to reduce nighttime feedings, especially if he's just using my breast as comfort and he's not really hungry (which I'm 100% sure he's dong). 

So I'm going to start out with the Johnson's bedtime approach with their Lavender bedtime soap and lotion. I'll come back in a week and update everyone on how that's going, which is hopefully well. 

Haha, ok, he woke up from his nap (that's another thing we need to work on - longer naps)

Bye!!!

1,000 Views! And my First Videos

First of all, thanks everyone who has been reading my blog. Signing in today I discovered that I have over a thousand views now! I've always tried to blog and haven't been great about keeping up with it, but it's much easier when you see that someone is actually interested. So thanks!!!

In addition to my blog, I have made a couple videos with some tips on how to fly with a baby, thanks to what I learned on my recent trip to Austin. I was really nervous but thought it was a good opportunity for a video. I've got part one and two up now for your viewing pleasure!





I hope these can help someone out... there's a lot of other (better) videos about flying with babies but hopefully my quality will only get better with time.

Keep reading and I should have some more videos here soon!

Lily

More Furniture Shopping!

So like I said in my last post, this past Sunday the four of us soon-to-be-roommates headed on over to American Furniture Warehouse to see what they had.

Julian actually drove us there. He's growing up so fast!

They had some great deals on 3 piece couch sets which we will probably get one or the other...

 

 or...

The first one is a bit softer and... ONE dollar cheaper!

Other than these two couch sets we didn't see a whole bunch that we were really in love with... Just a couple small decorations.



















Everyone tried out these tiny kids recliners... Julian really loved his, probably more than the Poang!

Renato and Jesse got a little romantic in the huge Home Theatre area. 

And how could it be complete with out a giant beanbag? This thing was ridiculously expensive though :(

 We went to Target also to look at their kitchen stuff but I didn't take any pictures. Now we have a rough idea of what we're going to get and from where.
This Friday we're actually going to make a holding deposit so that when an apartment comes up in October we will have first dibs! Hopefully soon you can see some of these things actually being bought :D

Thanks again for reading,

G'night,
Lily

Weekly crafting and a sneak peak...

So in an effort to create more I've decided to focus on one small project a week. This is really important because soon I'll be extremely busy: I just returned to work and in a month the fall semester starts. Last week I made a skillet handle that I found from Tasty Crochet. I never really burned myself but it was a hassle having to find a rag or oven mit in the middle of cooking. Here's mine, I used Lily's Sugar'n Cream which I just had some lying around.

 

It was so easy, and definitely not fancy or very pretty for that matter, but it was a quick and practical thing for me to make. This week I want to work on my bobble blanket, which YES I'm still not finished with. I pretty much gave up on it, but I want to finish what I started. It's such an awesome stitch and the colors I have look so wonderful together. I don't think I have enough yarn for it to be a full sized blanket, which is why I stopped, but at least it can be a large pillow? We'll see... 

Anyway, this past Sunday Renato, Courtney, Jesse and I went to American Furniture Warehouse to check out their furniture and Target to see what they had as well. That'll come later but for now here is a sneak peak.... The folks at AFW aren't too smart... 

Bye!!!

Lily