An Everyday Adventure

I know this post is super late…sorry.

We spent Thanksgiving day with one set of Terry‘s grandparents. We celebrate Thanksgiving & Christmas in the same day with them because they usually leave for Arizona within a couple days of the celebration.

Abigail got a sock monkey her Great-Grandma made her.

Abigail with Great-Grandma, Great-Grandpa & some cousins:

Then we drove to my parents house and celebrated Thanksgiving & birthdays on Saturday (11/29).

I got an awesome set of purple glasses:

Alyssa got an outfit to match Abigail‘s:

Terry got an AMC gift card (we used it on Christmas Eve to go to Four Christmases)

Paul got some Camo Socks:

*sorry the picture is blurry

And everyone tried out Terry‘s Ab Roller:

Next up was Christmas cookie/candy making.

Abigail got to hang out with Great-Uncle Terry & her cousins Jody & Natalie:

I got together one night with some gals from college and we made gingerbread houses:

In line at Gerten’s waiting to meet Santa

On Santa’s lap

Christmas is coming so soon! I had a small amount of knitting to finish before Christmas but I pretty much gave up because it’s stressful to have so many things that have to be worked on and finished before a certain date. I prefer to relax or play with Abigail in the evening rather than feeling so much urgency to finish this or that particular project. I’m working on the Hemlock Ring Blanket adapted by Brooklyn Tweed & the Rainey Sisters at the moment. I’m using Cascade Ecological Wool and it is truly wonderful to work with! This is such a nice pattern because once you get to the Feather & Fan section there are 4 rows of stockinette stitch in between each pattern row so it’s great for working on in the car! I’m working on row 57 right now with 44 rows to go.

Truthfully this whole year has sped past me like a freight train. Who would have thought that having a new baby would use a lot of your free time? I love all the time I get to spend with dear Abigail, and she has grown very attached to us! The smiles, hugs & sloppy kisses when we get home are a true joy for both Terry & I. Though generally her kisses are only bestowed upon me!

I got a Cookie Press from Pampered Chef earlier this year because I know how much Terry likes spritz cookies. Making those is on the agenda for Saturday morning/early afternoon and then Kathy is coming over to watch Abigail while we go out. We’ll maybe do a little Christmas shopping since we’re out but it’s going to be a date night for us! I’m excited! I really like hanging out with my dear husband!

We’ve got about 1/2 the presents bought so far and none of them wrapped so that will be our Sunday and Monday project, along with finishing the purchases. We’re celebrating with Kathy on Tuesday so we’ve got to get those presents ready first! Everything else we can finish on Wednesday because we both have the day off! Abigail will have a shorter day at daycare so we can finish the last few things and then a Christmas Eve service at our church!

Have a fun last weekend before Christmas!

Sunday afternoon we drove over to Grandpa Mike’s condo. I got some knitting done on my Monkey socks, Terry set up a new cable modem & wireless router for his dad and Abigail looked cute (as always)!

Abigail looking at pictures with Grandpa Mike

Aunt Tracey teaching her how to text

Abigail is 6 months old today and she had her 6-month check-up at the doctor too!

She weighs 17lbs 7oz & is 26.5 inches tall!

More pictures are coming soon!

Last weekend Abigail spent quite a few hours with her cousin Melanie (who is 1 TODAY!). She decided sitting up to play (like Melanie does) is so much better than laying down and playing. She is becoming quite the master at it!

The two cousins (Abigail & Melanie) wore matching dresses on Sunday but I guess we never even took a picture of them together! They were very cute!

She also realized that tags are the best part of toys so here she is trying her hardest to get the tag and chew on it!

I did get some knitting done this weekend despite my cold.

That picture was on Friday night. After going to knitting last night I’m 1/2 an inch from starting the toe!

I also worked on a pair of mittens for Abigail while we were driving on Saturday but that was the worst day of my cold so I didn’t even get one done!

…for neglecting the blog for the last week.

A good friend of mine lost her job last week, then I got a cold & went away for the weekend so I’ve been busy.

Here’s my cutie on 10/15

and on 10/19 in the sweater I knit her (btw, it didn’t fit her as well a week later!)

That same day Terry went mountain biking with one of his friends from work.
This is Charlie,

Terry & I found out today that Charlie & Meagan are having a baby in May! Congratulations!

I don’t have the pictures uploaded from the weekend so that will have to be another post!

This past week Abigail has been sleeping better. She’s only getting up once between 4am & 5am rather than a couple times throughout the night. She also really likes sweet potatoes, thinks peas taste pretty good and isn’t totally sold on green beans. She did really want to try our pizza last night but I just don’t think it would taste the same pureed!

I had never heard of this place when Terry suggested it but I now realize people usually call it Taylors Falls or St Croix Falls. There actually aren’t “falls” anymore but we won’t get into details!

Terry decided we should go here as part of my birthday celebration and I thought it was a great idea! Terry‘s mom came with us as an extra pair of hands to help with Abigail (but we really like to hang out with her too!).

We took over 400 pictures & it was absolutely beautiful so even though there are a lot of pictures in this post, it’s a very small percentage!

I worked on a pair of socks, learned how to use my new compass (really not that hard!) and then we ate some brats off the grill!

It was a wonderful day!

We got Abigail in the backpack then started out on our pothole tour!

I was knitting during the tour but I was trying to be careful and not drop a needle into any of the potholes!

No matter how much I liked my needles or needed them I don’t think I’d climb down to get one that dropped!

Abigail only made it in the backpack for a little while until she got hungry, thankfully our tour was basically done then. So we sat on part of the cliff and enjoyed the view!

The St. Croix River

We stopped at Schoony’s Malt shop for a little refreshment & to avoid the Asian beetles that were everywhere!

Abigail liked the view on the bridge to Wisconsin

Kathy & I were shocked to see potholes on the Wisconsin side too!

She enjoyed the fall walk in the sling/wrap

so much that she fell asleep! I had to tuck her head in so it wouldn’t flop around

Terry almost convinced his mom to scale the side of the cliff, but she decided getting in a pothole was more her style!

Terry was a little concerned while he was in this pothole, he said the “bottom” didn’t feel very solid!

She woke up!

We found a couple little friends along our walk

Here I am contemplating the Abigail sized pothole

Mommy you’re right! This is fun!

Now for Daddy’s idea!

What’s that?

The pine needles and pine cones were more interesting than mom!

What a cutie!

Terry took this awesome photo

On our way home Terry was looking everywhere for a yarn shop for me to stop at and I didn’t even ask him too! We found a cute one in Lindstrom, Miss Elsie‘s Yarnery. It’s actually part of Cottage Gifts so they have more than just yarn! I found some great yarn, Nashua Vignette, it’s a bulky superwash wool in very pretty colors! I picked out the Distant Mountains color. I started a hat on Monday and I just have to do the finishing on it tonight and then start the matching mittens!

What a week!

My birthday was last Wednesday and I turned 26.

Remember the cake my super wonderful awesome sister made me? Well, I brought it to work on Wednesday to share with everyone. More than one person asked if I made my own birthday cake, but I made sure they knew it was my sister! So we had cinnamon rolls for breakfast and immediately after that we had chocolate cake.

Then the girls took me out to Macaroni Grill (thanks for taking the pictures Andrea!)

And after an awesome lunch of Penne Rustica I got another chocolate cake (our nice server actually gave us 2 of these! We brought one back to the office for the guys!)

I also got flowers for my desk from the office and they are still looking great a week later!

After work it was time for more celebrating!
Abigail got me a compass, survival whistle(also includes waterproof matches, flint, etc) and a single burner propane stove!

Terry got me an awesome lightweight sleeping bag and a really great set of stainless steel pans! I’ve used them a couple times and I really love them!

Abigail really liked the tissue paper in my presents!

Here is my 3rd Chocolate cake of the day

We didn’t eat it right then thankfully! We opened presents first so Abigail would be awake and happy for the pictures then we went to Famous Dave’s for supper.

This was her first time sitting in one of the typical restaurant highchairs and she had fun looking at people and playing until just before our food arrived! She did the same thing the next Saturday so we’re changing our strategy–we’re not going to put her in until our food arrives then at least we’ll have a few minutes to eat while she plays!

When we got home we did not eat chocolate cake thankfully! It was a small cake but we ate it over a couple nights which made it more of a treat!

Today the office had a little birthday celebration for Andrea and I because last week all the department heads were gone. So guess what they got me? A chocolate cake! I think I’m going to need a little break from chocolate for awhile!

We celebrated 6 birthdays this past Sunday. I’ll just give you a few highlights.

I’m pretty sure she liked her present… It was some material to make a tablecloth, placemats (maybe) & napkins plus some paint to match. She asked for all these things because she’s going to make an orange & yellow tea set and she wanted material to go with it.

Terry & I got the Three Wisemen to add to our Nativity Set & special cakes for each of us!

Deb made a cake for me to bring to work on my birthday and she made Terry a cake for us to share on his birthday because it’s all the way at the end of the month. It’s hard to see but it says “Terry 28″ on his cake. He won’t be 28 but he thought Deb was turning a year older than she actually was so she had to tease him back!

I gave Jeannette the Caledonian Mist socks I finished knitting that morning. She moved too fast for Terry to get a clear picture. Later she said that they really kept her feet warm! I’m so glad she likes them!

Abigail with her oldest uncle Jon:

Playing piano with her cousin Cora:

With her cousin Jenna:

With uncle Dan:

The sisters knitting:

I’m working on a hat for Abigail and Deb is working on her first sock! My mom is casting on for her second sock in the far left of the picture.

And I can’t forget to show you Melanie’s first taste of cake!