You Say Boxer, and I Say Boxer

The English language is confusing to be sure, but I have discovered that some words with multiple meanings can come in handy for covering up a conversation that didn't need to be heard by little "royal" ears without stretching the truth. Here is my case in point.

Last night while we were getting the girls in bed, the king and I were talking about what kind of unders our little guy might wear. I told him about a friend's little guy, and how he sports boxers and how cute they were. Then Princess #1 pipes up from her room (across the hall): "Are you guys talking about boxers?"

After a quick glance at one another we answer in the affirmative. And she wants to know why we are talking about the neighbor's dog which happens to be a Boxer (how convenient). And we reply that we want to know how she can hear what we're saying now, but not when we're sitting at the dinner table having a conversation.

And *GIRL* Hats and Hats

Even though Princess #3 is still waiting for her hat (when I ordered yarn for the older two, she declined to make a choice and of course, now she wants one), I thought I would post some pictures of the older two's latest head-gear. It is the pattern Capitan done up in some more of Jill Draper's amazing handspun yarn (baby's toddler hat is in her yarn as well). If you are a knitter, her yarn is so worth ordering, plus you will be supporting an indie-spinner/dyer. How cool is that?

Princess #2 doing school in her new hat, colorway is CMY. She likes it because it doesn't itch!!


Princess #1 has worn her hat non-stop since completion. That feels good! It is in the Butterfly Wings 2 colorway.

The sistah's showing off their inner gangstahs. ;)

Baby *BOY* Hats and Hats and Hats

I have a weakness for hats. Especially on my children. So that is why the knitting for baby has so far consisted of, you guessed it, hats. Here are some photos of the finished projects modeled by Princess #3 and *scary* Isabella (Princess #1's life like doll).

This hat is knit with completely wonderful handspun yarn I got from a seller on etsy.com. I love how squishy and thick it is. So much so, that I couldn't make a baby hat with it, instead I made a toddler hat that should fit him next winter and hopefully the winter after that. That is how much I love this yarn!

This hat was a special request by the king. It looks like the golf cap my Grandpa used to wear, complete with a little brim. It is knit with yummy Malabrigo yarn and is so incredibly soft. It is itty bitty, but should fit him from newborn to summer since the band is nice and stretchy.

I love this pattern. It is great for using up the leftover sock yarn balls that seem to languish in my yarn tub. And I love stripes. It should fit him come fall.

Overheard in the bathroom: Part II

Tonight while I am elbow deep in kneading bread, Princess #3 yells, "I'm all done!" since she has finished with her business.

The king heads in to help her, bless his heart, and I hear this:

"Hi, I'm Daddy and I'll be your wiper tonight."

The man cracks me up.

Happiness Is . . .

. . . a fabulous nap in a fabulous get-up! Here is my "Fancy Princess #3".

Happiness Is . . .

. . . Olive Garden salad and breadsticks delivered unexpectedly to your front door by a dear friend! Yummy! Thank you for the treat friend!!

Already??

We are just about to the third trimester for those of you keeping track, but not quite there yet. Silly me thinking that the tiredness and achiness that comes with those fun-filled last weeks would hold off til the appointed week. Wishful thinking to be sure.

However, as I looked at the calendar this afternoon, I realized that with the changing of my due date (the good direction!) at my last appointment and with the way my babies usually come early, that my tiredness is right on time. I'm just wishing the honeymoon period (2nd trimester) would last just a tad longer . . . obviously this baby is not my first!!

I Need Revenge!!

Princess #2 came tearing through the house after being punished (e.g. made to do a despised chore w/o compensation) for fighting with her sister, screaming, "I NEED REVENGE!!!" I asked her if she even knew what revenge was and what the word meant. And she replied with: "I know what revenge is, I am six! And besides I only wanted the good kind of revenge!"

Well, as long as it was the good kind . . .

Name Game

The princess' have been dying to name their brother, so as a result I've been fielding some wild ideas all week and thought I'd share some them with you. . .
*Abednego
*Shadrack
*Bob (Princess #3's idea!)
*Meshack
*David
*Ezra
*Murdock
*Shrek (Princess #2's idea!)
And that's all I can remember for now. Good thing we do not run a democracy around here, if so I can only imagine what his name could be!!

Fear vs. Faith

WARNING: BLOG POST CONTAINS OVERT RELIGIOUS OVERTONES!!
(Thought I'd better put a disclaimer, seeing as I usually keep things light around here.)

I have been convicted this past week of my arrogance. Let me explain. About a week ago, I had a follow-up OB appointment during which we went over the ultrasound results. When you hear the phrase, "I don't know how to say this, but . . .", you know that nothing good is going to follow. So when I heard that phrase last week, I braced myself mentally. You see, I'd heard it before, approximately 6 1/2 years ago . And I remembered the fear and anxiety that followed. My midwife explained that baby had a cyst in his brain. She was very encouraging, not too worried, she had never seen one amount to anything in her 30+ years of babies. I decided that I wanted a second opinion and made an appointment to see the same specialist who had helped us with Princess #2.

I did my research on the cyst and if it was bad, it was very very bad. Like your baby dies bad. And I started talking to God about this specific thing. I started off with telling Him, what's up with that, you give me this baby only to take it away-that doesn't make any sense. It wasn't until I got to the point (took til Thursday!!) of telling Him that it was okay for this baby to NOT be okay, that He started talking back. And I don't mean like talking talking, I've never experienced that, for me hearing Him is being prompted to read a passage of scripture or stumbling onto a blog or conversation that adds wisdom. Through it all, I came to the realization that it is completely arrogant of me to expect a healthy, live baby. If I believe that God knows and wants what is best for me, (and I like to think that I do) then who am I to question if He chooses to take my child from me or gives me a baby with a handicap, as His ways are perfect.

This all came to sharp focus on Sunday morning. Our pastor had a great message, during which he shared an insight on 1 Corinthians 10:13 ("No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it."). He asked "How do you know that you can hold up under a trial? . . . Because it is happening to you." This was just a balm to my heart. It makes me sound less crazy for saying I'm at peace with whatever the outcome of this little life. No matter what comes my way, I can handle it because of this promise of God's faithfulness.

So we had our appointment with the specialist yesterday. Believe it or not, I was more worried that somehow the "boy parts" wouldn't be there than about the cyst (you try believing after you've had three girls!!). The tech confirmed that baby is indeed all-boy and then went to look at his brain. He couldn't find the cyst. It was literally gone. He very carefully took a look at every other part of baby, paying special attention to the parts that could be affected if this was the very very bad version, and everything looked great. In fact, baby is beyond healthy, weighing in at over 1 1/2 pounds!! Amazing.

Was this process pointless? Maybe to some. But for me it made me think, it made me aware of sin in my life to confess, it humbled me, and in the end eternally grateful for the chance to raise this little man to be a follower of the One True God.

Murphy's Law?

So I'm wondering why my car seems to use less gas now that the prices have dropped almost $1.50/gallon this past week?

Is is just me? Or is it Murphy?