More needlework

I've been busy trying to get some crocheting done. I wanted to actually knit our neighbor's daughter a hat but unfortunately, I ran out of yarn! So I improvised and made a neck-warmer instead. It seemed to be a little bit wide so I put a little button on the side. That way she could perhaps button it up so it's more snug around the neck.
I also made a little hat for their other younger daughter. I thought the color of the yarn was really cute and pretty and funny enough, it's called "Chocolate cupcake"! It's made out of acrylic so it's really nice and soft too. I may have to use up the rest of the yarn to make myself a little headband :-)
As usual, my "model" was not very cooperative. He does not like wearing hats! So it was quite a challenge to model the hat.
Anyhow, here is what the hat actually looks like:
That's all the crocheting for now. I need to finish up the two knitted hats for Scott and Julie's little girls. I did sew in the lining for one hat but about halfway through, I realized there was something wrong with it! So we're back to square one on that! :-s

Long weekend in Phoenix

We took a quick trip to Phoenix, Arizona this past weekend. The timing couldn't have been better as we were leaving all that snow on the ground in Tulsa!
Graham did well again on the plane. I was rather worried as he can hardly sit still these days and he has been so cranky lately as well. We had an early flight so Graham was able to travel in his PJ's :-)
The temperature in Phoenix hovered around the low 70's during the day with loads of sunshine. Talk about super NICE!
We discovered a new toy (i.e. the spoon) to preoccupy Graham on those walks.
Mommy and Daddy finally got a chance to go play golf. We were both a little rusty but let the record show that the 2011 bragging rights goes to.... MOMMY! Yup, 1 up! :-)
I think Graham had a good time on the golf course too:
Graham has been such a trooper with us dragging him all over the place all day. Needless to say, he's pretty pooped by the end of the day!
Thankfully the snow is all gone now in Tulsa. And I believe Graham does recognize our home and his own bed. He slept through the night like a baby!

Graham's first haircut

Graham had a lot of hair when he was born. I mean, a LOT of hair!
But after a few months he started to lose a lot of it! He even had a terrible bald spot behind his head!
When his hair finally did start growing back a couple of months ago, there were lots of uneven long strands, especially around his ears (that were driving Daddy crazy!). So after weeks of procrastinating, we finally gave Graham his first haircut! It was a team effort. At first we had him in his Bumbo chair in the tub.
But... after a few minutes, he kept trying to straighten his legs and was leaning/pushing himself backwards to get out of his chair!
So we put his Bumbo chair on the sink-countertop instead and Mommy took over. That seemed to work a little bit better. I think Graham likes to look at himself in the mirror!
Plus, Daddy was better at taking pictures with the camera...

Graham is 34 weeks old this Saturday. It's amazing how quickly time flies. He now reaches both arms up when we get closer to him to pick him up. And of course, priceless expressions, like...
"Nope, I didn't do that." (Notice the lack of eye contact!)

Or... "Yay! I did that!"

And last but not least, "He he he... yeah, I did that :-)"

First snow day for Graham

Our first snowfall of the year started this past Sunday. I finally decided to get Graham dressed to see the "white stuff" up close. I'm not sure if he really figured out what was going on, except for being all bundled up in his snow suit, sweater, gloves and hat!
He wouldn't really smile so I thought I'd put him in a different spot...
Nope... that didn't work either. Still no smile. And even for that brief moment, I was starting to get cold, especially with the wind blowing! I knew I should have put on my hat and gloves!
But we couldn't go in the house yet without taking a picture by the Christmas tree.
At this point, Graham is probably saying to himself, "Losing interest..!" (something that his own Daddy would say!) But my perseverance paid off. I finally got a smile by the 3rd and final photo by the tree :-)

Mommy sews her first pair of pants

DONE! It took me a while to figure it out but it's done! And yes,... MONKEY prints! Would we have picked out any other???
Bobby said that it's comfortable and it's just what he wanted for the whole family. I hope he's not lying just to make me feel good!
Just be sure you don't turn the pants over to look at the workmanship. I had to make a few "adjustments" as I didn't cut the material correctly. I measured and cut based on a pair of Bobby's pajama pants and unfortunately, didn't take into account the elastic band. So it was really tight around the waist during the first fitting session! Thankfully I was still able to salvage the pants!
I'm halfway through my pair of pants and hopefully we'll have some new ones for Graham soon too! Graham of course, will have special ones with footsies :-)

Hats, scarfs, and more!

I've been busy sewing, knitting, crocheting and last night, I finally made my first hat!
Not too shabby! The hat is originally intended for my brother-in-law in MN, but it actually matches a scarf that I have made last winter! So I guess I'm keeping this one. Plus, I think it fits my head quite well :-)
I think I'm on a new record for scarfs this winter. I've already made 2 for my nephew and one for my sister for her birthday in February. My neighbor also wants one after recently seeing a scarf that I had made for myself, with pockets at the end of them. And here are some other scarfs that I had sewn together for a friend and her 2 daughters:
(Julie... if you are reading this, look away now!):
My "model" was not cooperating very well, so it's tough to see exactly what it looks like when worm!
I hope the scarfs will keep them warm as they are moving to Toronto! I'm still working on the little hats for the girls but no promises! I can't quite get the hang of knitting a hat yet versus crocheting!
And oh! I've also been assigned by Bobby to make some new matching fleece pants for all three of us. Thank goodness we're only a family of 3 right now because it will be my first attempt at making any form of clothing and who knows how long this will take! Will keep you all posted on how those go! :-)

Celebrating our 4th Anniversary

Bobby and I celebrated our 4th wedding anniversary yesterday. Somehow, it seems like we've been together for much longer! (in a good way, honey :-) We decided that our new back/laundry doors and storm doors are our gifts to each other (for the rest of the year!) and we also gave each other very nice cards. Oh! We got one from Graham too! I guess we need to thank Grandma for helping Graham write that one ;-)

The three of us got dressed up and went out for a fancy steak dinner. The restaurant lit a candle on our dessert and then presented us with some chocolate truffles to take home for our anniversary!
After dinner, we decided to walk around the outdoor mall and by the end of the walk, Mommy got a new set of pasta bowls and a serving bowl!
So much for no more pressies! I've always wanted some pasta bowls and of course, they were on sale and funny enough, the sales associate insisted that EVERYONE needs pasta bowls! Plus, we're making homemade pasta now too with the new pasta maker that I got for Christmas!
Based on the instructions, you can dry the pasta and store it in a air-tight container. But at the same time, there's also a warning in the booklet on how the pasta/dough to be refrigerated within the hour of being prepared as it contains eggs or it may cause food poisoning! Since it takes forever for the pasta to dry, I decided to just store the leftover pasta in an airtight container and put it in the fridge. It was quite a task though to get it out of the container for our next meal as the noodles are very fragile!
Anyhow, it's amazing how easy it is to make basic egg noodle/pasta. Bobby is convinced that fresh pasta is the way to go and we are never buying any more boxed ones from the store!

It's been a great 4 years with lots of fun memories and now that we have Graham, I'm sure we will have plenty more wonderful memories to create! I love you lots, honey!!! :-x
(PS: Perhaps we can get those matching salad plates next year ;-)

Happy New Year!

Wow! Can't believe we are into the year 2011 now. The new year just seems like any other day. We didn't really do all that much last night. Graham woke up at about 9pm so we all had a chance to talk to Grandpa/Lau Ye in Malaysia via Skype. And then, daddy made a nice fire so we had more S'mores. Yummy!

Random pics of Graham

Graham loves playing (more like chewing) with his rattle baseball bat...
It was nice enough the other day for us to play in his outdoor swing...
Here's Graham posing with our Christmas tree. I didn't set him too close to it because those pine needles are prickly! Anyhow, he wasn't sure what to make out with the dirt and grass.
By the way, yes... I have taken off those red bows off our Christmas tree. The temperature was going to below freezing so I insisted that we go out and get some mulch. While I was mulching, I was feeling pretty creative. We can see it from our bedroom window too! :-)
And oh! Graham had his first taste of mashed banana this past week. He didn't like it one bit! I missed his first bite on video. He actually had the chills when he had his first bite! Here's his reaction to his second bite. Too funny!