Happy First Half Birthday!

Eliza Marian, my sweet baby girl.

Dreaming of Glass Tile

Drool.

About the Kitchen...

Where to begin with this boring kitchen? The double oven and stainless appliances are the only real draw. Everything else is builder basic blah. I keep staring at these pictures, trying to figure out why it feels "off," and what to do about it. For starters, the island feels a bit too small. I think it's because the top has so little overhang. It seems stunted. Also stumpy: the upper cabinets under the soffet. Not only am I losing valuable cabinet space (which I need for all my damn cake paraphernalia), but the ceiling seems really low. Oooh, I can't wait to take a hammer to that thing! And not to worry, I'll reuse those cabinets in the laundry room and my sewing room.

Also getting the boot: the hideously dated lighting and the Formica countertops. I might be able to live with just replacing the island's top with something more appropriately sized. Counters don't all have to match, right? But this kitchen is crying out for a backsplash, and I wouldn't want to put a lot of time and money into only to highlight the counters I don't really like.

I also find it strange that they didn't put a cabinet over the refrigerator, even though there's an upper cabinet right next to it. So, add that to the list, along with a new set of cabinet hardware. Whoever came up with this idea for cabinets without pulls was a dull man indeed.

I'm probably going to have to live with it for a while to decide what it really needs. Then I'll have to get to work on my handy-dandy family for some help. But, here are some of my idea for starters:

I love the idea of darker cabinets on the bottom, either a dark walnut stain (on the left) or painted gray (on the right). The uppers have been replaced with taller, white versions and the soffet is gone. I also switched out the light fixtures for stainless steel, modern ones. The one over the sink is an extra from my beloved in Lexington. The island top is wider and longer, with an overhang in the foreground for seating. My sketch shows granite (why not?), but I also like butcher block, and it would be a heck of a lot cheaper. And finally, my favorite, pale blue glass subway tile for the backsplash. That part makes my heart sing, and it's finally getting me excited about this kitchen.

Now, the next question is--how can I pull this off? To be continued.

Eliza's First Word!

Video here!

I can't say I'm not jealous.

We (Almost) Have a House

Wow, what a crazy week with our real estate! Not only did we accept an offer on the house in Lexington, but we decided to go for it on the big house here. Woo-hoo! Unfortunately that means I've spent a LOT of time the last few days on really boring stuff like printing tax documents, getting insurance quotes, signing mortgage applications and talking to movers. What I WANT to be doing is picking paint colors and deciding how to fix up the kitchen.

But first things first--we applied for the mortgage and are doing the inspection on Wednesday. The closing date is April 29th, so we'll have plenty of time to get everything packed up. Man, I am not looking forward to that part of it. What I AM excited about is a) NO TRAIN NOISE, b) having a garage, c) showering without fear that someone else will need to flush or wash their hands somewhere else in the house, and d) having a couch that isn't covered in toy cars and stuffed animals, because there's actually a place for the toys to go. Oh, and having a garden again. I've heard that the deer will eat anything though, so I'll have to look into deer-proofing. Shouldn't be too hard, right?

Happy thoughts to get me through the boring, tedious stuff. Also, to keep me from watching the news all day in horror about Japan. So scary and sad for them. Once again I'm counting my blessings.

House Hunting

It's high time we settled down. Four states in under four years really is a bit ridiculous. Fortunately, the job situation is finally satisfactory to the current bacon-bringer. So, here we go, looking for a house to buy! Whee!

Okay, so it's really not that much fun. Mostly it's a lot of staring at the computer and sighing. A couple of times I've actually gone out with the real estate agent to look in person. It's been a bit disappointing so far. The older ones either need too much work or are too small. The new ones are mainly out of our price range altogether. We have severely limited our options by sticking to this awesome school district, which we'll eventually be utilizing. This awesomeness apparently doesn't come cheap.

Then this week when I looked at this house.

Pros:
Plenty of space
Finished basement for toyland
OK yard with new deck
Needs little work
Up the hill and away from the more heavily-polluted areas in the district
Quiet cul-de-sac with lots of families

Cons:
Cookie-cutter neighborhood (not much personality)
Kitchen feels a bit cramped for such a big house
Smallish lot
Higher than our original (more comfortable) price range
Would add about 5-10 minutes to Ben's now 45 minute commute
We'd have to make our offer contingent on selling our KY house, or get a "piggyback" mortgage and risk financial ruin if it doesn't

So, the cons list is relatively harmless, but that last one is a real doozie. We're leaning toward making a contingent offer if someone else doesn't scoop this one up soon. The chances of that seem pretty slim though--there were two other showings today alone. It does give me hope that something else will come on the market when the timing is better. Spring is a-comin'!

Experiments in Bibbage

I was inspired by the garter stitch bibs in "Mason-Dixon Knitting," but I wanted mine to be a bit more shapely. I also wanted to personalize them. The accent color on the purple one was not quite contrasty enough, but it was a good exercise in intarsia knitting. Likewise, the "e" didn't show up well in the green by just doing it in reverse stockinette against the green stockinette background. A quick chain stitch border fixed it right up though. Best of all, they are absorbent and will wash well when all of those wonderfully-colored baby foods come along next month!

Eliza at Five Months

Height: 26 inches
Weight: 16.5 pounds
Clothing Size: 6-9 months
Number of socks/shoes that will stay on her feet: 0
Foods: Breast milk (from the freezer) and soy formula, about 36-40 oz. per day
Activities: Swatting and grabbing toys on the play mat (and often yelling at them), turning on her side and occasionally on her tummy, kicking her legs like crazy, learning to sit up/doing crunches, rubbing/scratching her head for comfort.
Smiles At: Anyone who smiles at her.
Laughs At: Jonah, especially when he runs back and forth in front of her or when we play "chase" and she "catches" him. Mommy will sometimes get a laugh too. She still loves to have her feet gently shoved near her face--major funny stuff.
Recent "Firsts": riding in the big stroller, riding forward-facing in the Baby Bjorn, sitting in the booster seat, rolling all the way over to her tummy.
Sounds: grunts, sighs, "mmm", "nee"(when mad), "dddd," pterodactyl-like shrieks of happiness, R2D2-like hums and coos.

Hey, It's a Blog!

Well, here we go again. It's been a while since I had a blog, but I'm finally in the mood to do one again. Mostly just as a sort of personal journal of my knitting and family adventures, but also so I can talk about things in more detail than I can on Facebook. As hard as it is to believe, I have accepted that not everyone wants to know all about Jonah's book reports, or how I fought with my knitted rope basket, or look at endless pictures of Eliza. So here is my new place to do just that.