patiently waiting for a random moment*

the last couple of weeks have been pretty busy around here.  the blog needs food!

summer has finally caught on and our sunny days have been full of fun trips here and there - and then of course by the end of the day we're all exhausted. i've been doing a bit more freelance design work lately during naptimes, evenings and weekends and also not helping my general ability to keep up-to-date is our newfound obsession with lost. of course i should have been watching this years ago but i never got into it until last week.  now that we've started in on the boxed sets (thanks kim!) we're hooked.  

we've been to many parks lately, on many playdates, started an informal swimming class, have visited maplewood farms, science world, the beach and much more.  we've been baking with blueberries, sampling the first peaches, splashing in the world's tiniest inflatable pool on the patio, going for walks, thrifting for pillowcases and eating corn.  coco has been enjoying his turn as a good-natured conscientious objector to bedtime.  

later today we're heading to a family bbq, later later today we're hoping to assemble our freshly-delivered new bbq.  i have a stack of shirts to sew, a skirt to make, a pattern to develop, gnomes to ship, matters to attend to and photos to organize.  

just a few random photos then to keep us going until i can manage a real post.  enjoy!

* or for a piece of long-hidden easter chocolate, in the case of the first photo.  ;-)

friends with wheels

a few weeks ago we made the trek to langley to visit with gramma & grampa and a friend that lives next door. her little guy james and cole had a blast out in the yards - it certainly made me wish for a space of green to call our own! i think cole got his first taste of battling for the driver's seat.

and a few days later we went to a fun birthday party in surrey's bear creek park for a friend's baby girl's first birthday party. i'd never been to that park and the playground there was fantastic! a water park, bathrooms (thank heavens), shady areas on the playground and everything. and there was a wagon! cole and the birthday girl, maryn, loved riding in the cart and grampa dave was happy to oblige with unlimited towing.

just sittin' on a doorstep

cole loves sitting on the ledge between the living room and the balcony. we've thought about whether to add some kind of gate or something for safety but so far he's been minding our requests to stay inside and of course we don't leave the door open unattended... but he does love to linger on the crest until we go out with him...

cole and his green thumbs

for some reason i kept forgetting to download our recent photos. we've got a good few weeks of pictures that need showing for the various grandmas and other curious folk... starting with: cole's love of balcony gardening! stuff is really growing on around here - oh man, that's horrible but i can't make myself untype it:

three weeks ago, before everything was planted:
about two and a half weeks ago:yesterday:

he loves to touch the leaves and to help water them (which is good because i usually kill all my plants by forgetting to water them). he really enjoys swatting at the smallest japanese maple - it's a bitty little thing and i'm not sure how much of cole's love it can stand! ;-)

i didn't go too crazy for the gardening this year - although i of course bought more than i had planned on when overwhelmed by choices at the store. everything was so green! and fragrant! and full of potential! and of course i'd love to grow a tomato (i didn't get one) and i probably have room for an enormous blackcurrant bush (i didn't get that either because i don't)... i stuck to a passionflower, the tiny maple (named victoria) and a nice taller but still smallish maple (named winston). i always name my maples after british leaders - i'm not sure why, but started and we've managed to either leave planted elsewhere or dehydrate our way through charles, charles II, oliver cromwell and prince harry. also filled a few large pots with herbs - they're all smooshed together and smelling lovely. cole likes to rummage around the pots and he always comes out smelling like mint - got a few kinds of that too (english and kentucky) so i can make some mojitos with freshly plucked mint this summer.

What have we been up to, you ask?

Well, we've been busy around here lately...

When I was at the Spring Fling I agreed to take a table at another fair-type-thing, this weekend's looming Yaletown Baby & Toddler Fair. It's at the Roundhouse and is more of a baby-related event for moms and moms-to-be, rather than craft event, but they have a craft section and I was asked to participate and figured it would be good. I might be crazy though, because I have really no time after doing other projects! I'm feeling alternately frazzled and ready... Making more gnomes, lots more bunnies, more felt pins and so on. On Sunday Jamie took Cole for a walk to Granville Island while I made more gnomes while eating Easter candy and watching British history dvds...

Other than sewing, we've been doing some relaxing local stuff... Visiting with friends, starting on a big freelance design project for the company I was with before mat leave, trips to the library and a good trip to IKEA by myself on Saturday which didn't result in the coat stand I was after but did leave me with some kind of pulled muscle between the chicken wings (you know, that area of your back? The technical term escapes me and am too busy to Google.). At random intervals it feels as though I'm being stabbed through the breastbone (for some reason I feel the twinge there). I blame pushing that heavy, listing IKEA cart. I was trying to be speedy and had to kind of throw my whole self at the cart when reeling around corners...

Anyway, for the sale, I've made a bunch more bibbler drool kerchiefs to go with the bibs and toddler scarves that I have already. I figured I needed some better photos of them in action (ie - yes, pregnant ladies, these bibs fit actual babies. I didn't think so either before I had a baby! Now since you don't already have a baby go and stay out all night!) and Cole was happy to oblige... Some of the funnier shots:


And this one 'cause I think Cole is just so darn cute...

Happy St. Paddy's

It's been pretty quiet here on the blog front lately. I've been really busy with making things for the etsy sale, so although we're still doing things, taking photos and you know, living life, I find I'm not left with enough time to post!

I couldn't resist the lure of St. Patrick's day though, so after returning all the phone calls and emails that I'd neglected recently I figured it was time take some photos of Cole wearing green and write something...

We're Irish-y around here so of course we have to celebrate. I think I've got about 12% Irish background on my Dad's side (the usual British Isles mix - Scottish/Northern Irish/British and French, I think it goes, combined with a half-dose of Ukranian from my Mom). Jamie is probably about 1/2 Irish - must be, what with the 'Mc' and all! I was really glad, by the way, to gain a 'Mc' name through marriage - I love the graphic possibilities of that little 'c'.

Despite hanging upside-down while pregnant to kiss the Blarney stone, I'm not finding a lot of words coming to mind today. Where is all that (Guinness-infused?) eloquence I was promised? I'd better stick to slow-cooking my Irish stew and posting these photos of Cole horsing around this morning. Enjoy!