A whole new world

There is a big milestone that comes along with turning 1. You get to face forward in the car, unless you are Emma and you have to wait because you don't weigh enough. But, there's no weight issues with Burrito so.....





Verdict, He's in love. Stares out the window the whole time. No time for naps in the car though, there's too much to see. Which is not good for mama...but whatever makes my baby happy.

It's my Birthday - Let's Party

It's official now - there are no babies at our house. Bobby officially turned one on the 19th.
We celebrated the usual way with a big Newman/Woolsey extended family party.


And Bobby delivered a great 1st birthday cake eating performance. I think at some point he even licked the plate to make sure he got all the ice cream in his belly (He probably learned this from Jacko).

knit sampler

Technically I have been finished with this project for a while, I just haven't gotten the picture posted until now. It did however take me way longer than I thought it was going to. Instead of having a million little knit sample squares I decided to make them into baby blocks so that Bobby (or Emma) could stack them and knock them over. They have been a big hit.

Bobby's not sharing

Update on new truck: Emma pleads on Will's behalf for a new truck so that we can all fit together (the old one was a three seater). Well...Bobby has basically told Will to "Go get your own truck Dad, this one is mine"

Of course he's only allowed to drive off road and with both hands on the wheel.

Bobby's shenanigans

Bobby's newest obsession is to try to to put things around his neck like a necklace. Anything long enough is game, Emma's necklaces, string, my work name badge lanyard, you name it. Today he found the cat collar and thought he'd give it a try.

I've tried reasoning with the Boy - here's the face I got when I said we don't put things around our necks and that he should hand over the collar right now.

all the pretty horses

Any given Saturday morning you could find Emma getting out her shoebox of horses and setting up camp in the living room. Bobby is usually not permitted to play, but is allowed to watch...depending on Emma's mood that day.

Apparently, my yoga mat was too perfect a road to resist playing on. Actually it serves as a stage for quite a few of Emma's games. A bed, a road, a boat. And occasionally I will catch her trying to do downward dog on it.

In response to Emma's "Bobby's too little comments" he takes action. If he can't play, then he'll just eat them all.

largest setting

What do you think Will?

A Haunting Good Time

2008 Halloween in Review.

Just so you know - I realize that I have failed Bobby in his first ever Halloween, I have no excuse. But I did let him come trick or treating with us even though he didn't get to partake in any of the candy. Next year little buddy, next year.

We carved pumpkins Wednesday night with Nicole. Emma thoroughly enjoyed it even though she wasn't allowed to have a turn with the knife.

I had planned on dressing Emma up in exactly the same costume as last year. A ladybug. I can heard the collective groans now "How could you/don't even think about it" And my only comment to that is that Emma should start growing then so that the outfit wouldnt' STILL fit her and so that I wouldn't be tempted to put her in the same thing. But then I remembered that she has a really cute Raiderette Cheerleader outfit her Uncle Roc got her for Christmas last year. She hasn't worn it yet because....see sentence above....she hasn't been growing. So, costume problem solved.

After some minor role playing with Dad on how to knock on doors and say trick-or-treat we were ready. Originally Emma and Aubrey were going to go trick or treating all by themselves (and Clint of course) but once the other Woolseys heard we were going they wanted to come too.

Their Eyes were Watching God

Their Eyes were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston

I picked this one because it seemed like I had heard about it somewhere and I know they made a movie out if so it must be good right. At first I didn't like the story, I couldn't figure out where the plot was going. It probably would have helped if I had read the synopsis before diving in. I guess because it was written in 1937 and is set in the south I assumed it would be about slavery and segregation. About half way through the story I realized I was mistaken so I quit waiting for something bad to happen and that's when I started really enjoying it for what it was a women's literature, romance tale. The story takes us through Janie's (the main character) three marriages on her quest for love. She marries once to please her grandmother, once for the money, and once for true love.
Overall, a good read.

Eat Pray Love

I just finished Eat Pray Love by Elizabeth Gilbert. I don't think I knew what it was about when I picked it - I don't think I would have intentionally chose 2 mid-life crisis stories back-to-back like that. The layout is a little strange at first, but once I got used to it, it was fine. I ended up really enjoying the storytelling. Liz did a good job describing her yearlong soul searching quest, down to the food, atmosphere, people. Since it was mentioned in her book that the divorce was long a drawn out and how she would have to pay some of her book royalties to her now ex-husband. I decided to do some investigating on what other books she'd written. I hadn't really heard of any of them, they didn't look like my type for now. But I did find her current website interesting and turns out she did marry again. Again, and this book was true, not many people get that lucky.
Verdict: Loved it.

I have an alarm clock, his name is Bob

I have an alarm clock his name is Bobby and he is quite reliable. I laughed to myself yesterday as i was getting ready for bed. I reached to switch on the alarm clock and then I stopped. Why bother, I have Bobby. He will reliably wake up at 5am and demand breakfast. So I slept peacefully until I heard the familiar calling from down the hall. I scooped him up, snuggled him into bed, and went back to sleep.
I think I might need to work on his snooze feature though. The next time he woke me up it was 6:40 - which is not nearly enough time to get ready and out the door on time.

Book Report: The Mermaid Chair

The Mermaid Chair by Sue Monk Kidd

I picked this one up since I loved the Secret Life of Bees. It started out freakishly similar to Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya sisterhood. Turns out it is quite similar in plot to that story with an added midlife crisis thrown it. I found myself thoroughly enjoying the story yet not really wanting to. It disconcerting to me to think that one can just wake up after 20 years of marriage and decide you don't want to be there anymore. I suppose if you look around in our society it does happen - though it's heartbreaking for me to think about. Putting my emotions aside, I loved the storyline, plot, hook-line-and sinker. The ending though perfect for me (it ties everything up into a neat little package) is a little unbelievable. I don't think that someone who throws their marriage away, has an affair, has 30 years of irreconcilable differences with their mother can have such a fairytale ending.
Would I read it again - heck yes, 4 out of 5 stars.

Trip to See Steve

The Woolseys went to see Steve, Juliann, Jessica and Thomas over the weekend. We had a great time. Finding I had no morning sickness this time around (as I am not preggo) I couldn't come up with an excuse not to share the driving time with Will. I took the first leg, both ways, and most say I'm pretty proud of myself. That's the longest driving in one sitting that I've ever done. Armed with a thermos full of coffee, jerky, and a few good audio books I passed the time away quickly. Emma did wake up around 1am to inquire where we were going and could I share my chips with her. Of course I indulged her.

The visit was fun and I wished we could have stayed a little longer. Emma earned her Indian name right off the bat - "Avalanche". Want to know how she got it, you'll have to ask Steve.

We were treated to horseback rides, sightseeing around Coeur D'Alene, and some great food.

Emma warmed up quickly to Steve and Juliann, she didn't show her usual stranger danger shyness. She and Steve tried hard to master the monkey bars in the backyard - next time I think. At one point I hear from across the yard "I think I might fall and get a pretty good bleed" in a perfect British, Charlie bit me kind of way. I couldn't help but chuckle to myself.

The best part was getting to see the family and as I sat and watched Emma learn how to blow darts and run around silly, I was reminded how many many years ago Steve use to lift us up to dangle off the roof and how he was always the best person to have on my team in snowball fights against Jacko and Luke.

Old Will Woolsey had a farm

Old Will Woolsey had a farm, E-I-E-I-O.
And on this farm he had some......CHICKENS, E-I-E-I-O.

Hee hee, I just called him old (But he is getting there). Yep, that's right, check that one off Will's I need to do before I die list. We acquired 6 chickens from a friend of a friend. It put a big of strain on the schedule for September, because we had to take them right away and we didn't have a pen built yet. So, Will worked feverishly to get a functioning pen built - he is still putting the finishing touches on it.

Emma loves the chickens, I hear Will and her arguing all of the time about who's chickens they really are. Will has named the cute little Rooster Dobby. Then there's Big Red. The others aren't named yet. Emma goes out every evening when we get home from daycare to throw scratch and collect eggs. It has been a little trying to explain that you cannot crack and eat the fresh eggs. She thinks all eggs come hard-boiled. So we've had a few casualties but they are becoming more rare.

The rooster crows every morning just about as early as Bobby likes to wake up. They're going to be best friends I can tell.

So, as Emma would say, "Get your own chickens, Dad."

Can we go back to day 1

As we celebrate bobby's 9 mos birthday we also welcome a new addition to the extended Woolsey family. Mitch and Sheri had their baby girl, Chloe, yesterday. She is beautiful and tiny and small and adorable as all babies should be. It makes me wish we could start over with Bobby - just to have him be baby brand new again - I would love that.

It seems as if Bob has kicked growing into high gear. It took him forever to figure out the crawling thing and now at 9 mos he prefers to stand. Hard to believe. One of his new favorite past times is to pull all of the wine bottles out of the wine rack. We'll be in trouble with this one.

So, here's to you Bob - and try not to drink all of my coffee.

My Knifty Projects

Okay - no laughing seriously.

1. This one technically isn't knit but it's the first thing I "made" - a baby blanket for Chloe Lee

2. I made Emma a handbag for her girly stuff. She mostly keeps her horses from Aunt Jacko in it though.