What Do I Knit?

Today is Friday. On any calendar, this is just another day of the week but for me, this is special. Why? Becuase I have started a new job and my days off are now Thursdays and Fridays. Today will be spent running earrands, doing housework, snuggling with the kid, and possibly knitting. That last one is really more wishful thinking as the rest of the list will take up most of my day.

In a little less than two weeks our little clan will be traveling to Mt. Rainier where Michael will visit his very first full-fledged naitonal park. It is very exciting. I have mostly figured out what we will be taking for food and what pictures will be taken when we get there, but there is still one question that needs to be determined: "What do I knit?"

This will be a three hour drive (not including the time we need to stop to feed and change the kid) and it is imperative that I have something to keep my hands busy so I don't go completely bonkers. There might be another one of these to keep in the tradition of my National Park Knitting, but we shall see.

I'll Take It

These have been challenging days in the Daniecki home. This little dumpling has been awake at all hours of the night and up bright and early (this morning, it was 5am). 

I'm sure that I have mentioned a few times on this blog that motherhood is demanding and very exhausting. It's interesting, it's not at all what I had imagined it to be like. Neither is marriage. When I was a little girl I knew that I wanted to be a wife and a mother but I learned quickly that those two things are very different from the games of dress up, playing house, and walking the dollies that filled the time of the only three girls in our family when we were together.

I longed to be married and to have a child. I wanted to be the smiling wife that would cook delicious meals for her man and the charming mama that would dote upon her children and bake cookies for their little friends when they came over. Then it happened.

Fast-forward several years and here we are. My dreams have come true and I am indeed a wife and a mother, but not that stereotypical lady from the 1950s that has it all together. No, that is definately not me.

My hair is never coiffed (no time for the beauty parlor), the house never smells like cookies (instead, there is potpourri hidden in clever places to cover up the small of Michael's latest diaper blow-out), and Alex has come to accept that our usual dinner hour is around 11pm.

There are mountains of laundry (sometimes clean and just needing to be put away), the dishes are constantly piled up, and the cat, well, the cat has learned to fend for himself. 

But, despite the frazzled theme that is my life, I'll take it. I'll take it because it is by far the biggest blessing I have been given. It is a gift to have a child, a home together, and a man that understands and doesn't say anything when he has no clean socks and I burned dinner again because the baby needed some attention. I'll take it because it is mine.

Enjoy your day and enjoy the little video below- outside time is one of Michael's favorite things to do.

Changes

Yesterday our family got some lovely news. About Easter time we learned that another great-grandbaby is on the way and yesterday we learned that the wee child is a boy. Liam will be joining the Headrick family in October and his parents (my cousin Amy and her man, Stephen) couldn't be happier.

This is all so exciting. This is a new year full of new blessings and it's wonderful to see the family growing. Of course, this means that another sweater (or twelve) will be in the works (including the one my mum is stitching up for her). Michael will have another playmate, and Grandma will have one more reason to get out of bed each morning and fight her Alzheimer's.

These are good changes. Now, if you will excuse me, there is a sweater that needs to be cast on.

Quietly

We had a rough start to today. Alex is sick, Michael has been fussy (teething pain is awful) and Rito just wants attention. Right now, they are all sleeping and I am so thankful! I am updating my blog, enjoying the peace, and having a bit of a knit on something wee to keep my son warm. We are all settled into our new home and are enjoying the extra space. The garden this year is more of an experiment to see what will grow on our stoop and how well, so there isn't much other than berries and a few herbs and tomatoes. 

Michael has been a very good helper bee with preparing the garden:

The above photo is of four generations (my grandmother, mother, myself and my son). This was taken on Mother's Day and is very precious to me.

Last year on the same day, we took a photo of the four of us, hoping that Grandma would live through her Alzheimers Disease to meet her first great-grandchild and the Lord granted that prayer. She loves the little guy and I must say, the feeling is quite mutual.

Happy Mother's Day

I used to think Mother's Day was overated. The cards, the flowers, waxy chocolates purchased at the very last possible moment before mum woke up to eat the overcooked scrambled eggs and gulp down the watery coffee. It all seemed so commercial. And then, I woke up to this and it all changed my mind:

I still think Mother's Day is a bit of a scam- one day to celebrate our mothers, like them or not, and then forget to call, visit, or otherwise thank them for all the time, effort, money, and love they poured into our lives. I realize that this may upset a few mothers out there, and I'm okay with that. I'm not against Mother's Day itself, just the idea that we only need to honor them one day a year. 

Let's remember why we are mothers, let's remember why we love and appreciate our mothers. Let's take this day and stretch it out a little longer than one short season.

To my own mother- I love you. Thank you for helping to shape me into who I am today. Thank you for teaching how to be a mother to my own child. I love you.

New Home

Today our little family moved into a lovely new apartment with enough room for play, dining and breathing. I'm sorry it's been so long since I have last updated this blog, but I want you to know it hasn't been forgotten. I'll try to post again next week......

Pictures

Today is Thursday and a little wonky. Not that all of my Thursdays are wonky, but I think this one will be. Alex worked the early shift today so he had to get up at 4am. Michael decided this would be the time that he also would wake up. So, here we go again. I got up to feed the boy and then we snuggled for a bit. Actually, we snuggled a lot, because when I finally woke up and looked at the clock it read 9:47am. Wow, I was more exhausted than I thought.

So now we are both up and fed and getting started on our day. Right now, Michael is talking to the little boy in the mirror and practicing his crawling skills. That's right, he's crawling now! And teething. Oh the teething. I think I may need a vacation from the kid before they come in- the crying, the drool, the late nights. Oye. He is sitting up on his own now too- it's amazing how fast he is growing. Every week he is doing something new.

He is kind of starting solids- not too sure about them yet

Learning to use a napkin after meals (you're welcome to his future wife...)

Making new friends

Dying Easter eggs!

We have started going to the park (he's not sure about the sunglasses, but I think they are rather cute...)

And of course, we are teaching him to read- this is my favorite children's book The Very Hungry Caterpillar.

I would love to write more, but Michael has a cat toy stuffed in his mouth...Love to you all, and I'll try to write again soon.