Summer in Winona

I haven't been updating the blogs because I rarely get two hands free, and it takes too long to type with one. Elías is growing a ton, but still prefers to be held, which limits my ability to do a lot of what I would otherwise. Juan has been busy keeping Julian entertained. So, the two little guys are keeping us on our toes.

In addition to two growing boys, Juan has been nurturing our garden produce. Here are the first things we harvested. From seed to table- pretty cool. Julian spent the last two weeks at soccer camp. For two hours a day he got to practice his moves and play with other kids his age. It was fun to see him in action.
The days are passing quickly and yet leisurely at the same time. My mom and aunt were here visiting at the end of June, and that visit seemed to just fly by. Here they are on the green of WSU listening to Celtic music straight from Ireland. It was a part of the month-long Great River Shakespeare Festival held yearly here in town. This event was part of the Prelude on the Green series held each weekend before the evening performances.
Our group was the envy of the other attendees, due to the amazing spread created by Sue. Doesn't it just make your mouth water? I have one more drool-worthy photo for today. The 4th of July project Julian and I tackled last week.
He is completely responsible for the decoration as well as most of the ingredient insertion. Great job, no? And the cake was super delicious- it is, of course, a Barefoot Contessa recipe. Vanilla cake with cream cheese vanilla frosting. It didn't have a chance.

Baby Knits

Here are the other baby projects I finished before Elías came.

The first is from Jil Eaton's Pipsqueak Knits. It's called criss cross, and yes, the buttons are supposed to be asymmetrical. Next to it is the orange ball Kate knit.These are called Blu, from the new Mason Dixon book. I have certainly had my embroidery skills challenged with these baby projects!They are knit from Rowan's Denim yarn, so shrink and fade just like real jeans. (Shrinkage is factored into the pattern).

Elías is not impressed with his stroller

Wait a second, this isn't where I fell asleep...What the heck is this thing???GET ME OUT!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I put the birth story on my other blog, for those who are interested. Yay hypnobirthing!!

Knitted Items

I kept forgetting to take photos of the cute baby clothes I got from the shower. (They'd be cuter on him, anyway). In addition to organizing and hosting the whole event, Kate and Sue both made figlet some adorable baby items.

Kate made figlet a couple of things, one of which I have a picture of now. It's the sweetest, tiniest little newborn vest I've ever seen, and it's even knit with my favorite yarn, Rowan's Felted Tweed. I love, love, love it!She also made him a ball that looks like an orange, I'll include a picture of that in the next round of knitted photos, probably later today.

Sue made figlet an outfit, with adjustable cardigan, booties, and bunny hat, which everyone just squealed over. Here's a detail of the bunny's face.I can't wait to see him in these precious items!

I have been good about restricting my knitting to evenings only, once I'm done writing and such. A few weeks ago, the hospital let go one of the two midwives, due to budget reasons. Even though she was not my primary caregiver, I saw them both equally and depending who was on call, she could have been there for figlet's birth. I was very upset about this decision, and wanted to make her a gift to say thank you for all her care throughout my pregnancy. I had hoped to get it done to give her at my last appointment with her, but classes were still in, so it just couldn't happen. I have it blocking on the porch right now. It's a lace cowl that is a bit out of season at this point, but will be nice for fall, I hope.I also finally finished the embroidery for figlet's stroller blanket.I have been slowly chipping away at the lace scarf using the yarn I bought in New Orleans. I'm not in a rush to finish it, so it only gets worked on occasionally. But I am on the second ball, so I know I'm half-way through.I actually have a couple of other things, too, but forgot to get a picture of them. Hopefully I can do that today and get those up later.

Baby Fun Weekend!!

Two weeks ago, week 36, was very exciting in the baby department. Friday we headed up to the cities to take Julian to the airport early Saturday morning and after a day (mostly) window shopping at Ikea and the Mall of America, we had dinner with our friends Silvia and Thamizh in Uptown. Silvia is due any day now, so we are anxiously awaiting the big news. It's funny how much the photo perspective changes the appearance of a belly bump, so I have to include three pictures to really show the big picture.


Sunday my very generous friends threw me a baby shower. Several people later commented to me what a great shower it was, so I think it's safe to say that we all had fun.



We got lots of books, as well as clothes, toys, blankets and other necessities. It was a wonderful variety of gifts that really have us ready for his arrival.

Another great thing about the shower was getting us into "baby mode." Classes had just ended and we needed to start thinking about what we had left to get and do. I think we have the perfect amount of things for figlet- just enough, and not too many of anything. There are a couple of things we are still waiting for by mail that are due to arrive by his EDD, but if he comes first, we'll be ok without them.

Today is my 38 week appointment, so I will probably be posting my progress (if any) on the baby blog for those who are interested.

Wapasha's Prairie Community Gardens

Between days of rain, we have had some really lovely weather here. Tuesday evening was another garden workday. I went from a one-hour yoga class to two hours in the garden and thought I would be sorer than I was yesterday. I've included some photos of everyone working hard. The garden is in a beautiful spot next to the big lake, and that rock you see on the bluff is Sugarloaf- one of Winona's landmarks. Before the native Americans were driven away, this area was known as Wapasha's Prairie. When we signed up for the plot, we were asked to submit name suggestions. This was Juan's suggestion and it won the vote, so he is very proud of this. To the left of the photo is Winona Community Hosital, where figlet will be born within the next month or so. This area was absolutely nothing a few weeks ago, so we've come a long way quickly in spite of the rainy days.Everyone worked hard that evening.It was a fun evening, and we went home, scrubbed up and happily fell into bed.

Busy Weekend

Julian arrived on Friday morning, so we have been busy all weekend with non-stop activities. I'm kind of looking forward to work tomorrow to get back to a somewhat normal routine! I was able to write that morning while Juan went to pick him up and bring him back from the cities, and I escaped today for a couple of hours with the result that I have about 5 pages left to revise on my second chapter. I had hoped to finish it completely this weekend, but I am very close and hope tomorrow I can get it done.

Juan has been very busy nesting these past couple of weeks. He converted his office into a room for Julian. It is small, but very cheerful and I think he appreciates having his own space. He'll be coming back in June for the summer, and then we'll probably be moving into our own place, so this decorating energy is in lieu of the nursery for now. Figlet will just sleep with us in our room the first few months, anyway. Here's the latest stash-busting baby project. Juan got me Chic Knits for Stylish Babies for Christmas, and this was one of the first patterns to catch my eye, though I didn't have a color scheme in mind at first. These yarns were in my stash and were all the same weight- and I really like them together. It is not blocked in this photo, so looks a little wonky, but at least you get an idea of it. The open part on the side is a zipper- in case it's hard to tell from the photo.
Friday we went to the pool, so this week's belly pic is a glaring white me (some of that is the sun coming in from the window, though I think I am actually reflecting off the rays :). Meridith got me this suit, and I love it. It is still covering my belly well and is super comfy. After swimming we celebrated the beautiful spring day (it got into the 70s) by having a cook out and bonfire with some friends by the river. Saturday, we celebrated Earth Day at a couple of venues around town that had activities set up for kids of all ages. Here is Juan and Julian showing off their Latin hip moves ;) Today we spent a rainy afternoon working in the community garden. We bought a plot (16'x16') and are very excited to be a part of this new community project over the summer. But more on that in another post.