Our new blog is up!!

Hey guys!! I just posted the first post at our new blog!! You need to go check it out and let me know what you think. Also change all of your bookmarks to that new blog since this will now be the last post on this blog.

Here is the address: http://watsonfamilyjournal.blogspot.com

Be sure to let me know what you think of the design!

See you over there,
Kellie

Just a little over 8 weeks til the due date

It's hard to believe that we are getting so close to welcoming Alyssa into the world...but then it seems like each day is just dragging!!! I am getting more miserable each day it seems like...but I am trying to hang in there because I know that we still have several weeks to go.

Since it has once again been awhile since I have posted to this blog...I have several things to post about.

NEW BLOG
I have started to think about the name and design I want to change our blog too...this will probably happen in the next month or so...but don't worry, once we switch over there will be a static post with a link to the new blog and I will make sure it stays up for a while so that everyone can get the new blog.

VACATION
My hubby surprised me last week. He told me Thursday that he was taking Friday off and was whisking the family away to Galveston! We had a really good time. Friday was very pretty weather and we were able to play on the beach. Saturday it turned colder but we spent the day at the Moody Gardens Aquarium and then at Space Center Houston. We all had a really good time...it was just way too short!!! We have decided though that we have got to go back to the Space Center. We weren't even able to finish everything there before he had to leave.

Here are some cute pics from our vacation.

Seth's first experience on the sand (I don't think he liked it getting in his sandals)



Mommy's first step into the water - it was COLD!!! But after the initial shock it actually felt pretty good!! My legs and feet were really swollen from the car ride and that cold salt water really felt good on them.



Digging our feet in the sand - Aaron did not like AT ALL the feeling of the sand shifting under his feet when the waves receded. He would dig his heels into the sand to anchor himself. (of course Mommy liked burying her feet in the sand...it felt good!)



I just love this picture of Daddy and Seth! Seth really loved the ocean!! He had so much fun that day!


Mommy and her boys after dinner that night!


Here we are on the tram at the Space Center. My boys are such hambones!



More Alyssa Stuff
Of course I can't make a post without mentioning something about Alyssa. Here is a picture of her latest outfit -- complete with a bonnet and booties.


Here is a picture of the carseat - a transformation from a boy carseat to a girl carseat. I found the cover at Target and then I made the canopy (which ended up being quite a chore...but I was excited about the fact I was able to find fabric that I already had stashed away that matched!!)



I hope you enjoyed my long post today!!

Until next time,
Kellie

Happy Valentines Day!!!!

Look at what I just got!! These 1 1/2 dozen roses and box of chocolates were just delivered via UPS from 1-800-Flowers - my Valentine's gift from my hubby!!! Isn't he the best?!?! He just made my day... and by the way...I just finished the 7 pieces of chocolate!! What did you expect?!? I am pregnant and have been craving chocolate!!!

And this isn't the end of his Valentine's giving - he is taking me tomorrow on a little shopping spree for Alyssa!!!! Isn't he the best?!?! He is exactly what I need right now (and any day for that matter)!!

Until next time,
Kellie

latest sonogram and new pretties made

Hey!! Well I have two posts in one today - how exciting is that?!?!

First off - the latest baby news. We had a sonogram on Monday! Everything is looking great. Alyssa is weighing about 2 1/2 lbs. She is about a week ahead of schedule on her weight...which is not bad considering that by this point both boys were at least 2 weeks ahead of schedule!

Everything else with the appointment went well.

Here are her pictures! Don't you think she is a doll??

The first one is of her face...it is at the right kind of looking at us. You can see the forhead, right eye, nose, mouth and chin pretty well.



And here is confirmation that no boy parts grew since the last sonogram. She is definitely still a girl - which is a very good thing since her room has already gotten pretty girly!


The second thing I have to post are two more outfits that have been crocheted for Alyssa. This first one I am pretty sure I have not posted yet (if I have please forgive me...this pregnant forgetful mind can be really bad sometimes). This is still my favorite thing that I have crocheted. It was so easy and so quick and I think turned out absolutely adorable!! I cannot wait to see Alyssa in this!!

If you would like the pattern to this dress you can get it at http://www.buttonspecialties.com/pdfs/BabyDress.pdf

This second one is the outfit that I just finished. This one took a lot of time. This is a baby bunting (but I did not sew the bottom shut so that it can work in the carseat. It actually is a lot prettier in person than it is in the picture. This is the outfit that I am considering for the coming home from the hospital outfit. I want to find a cute bonnet pattern and booties pattern to make to go with it. I was going to give the link to the pattern but for some reason that website is down. If you would like this pattern leave me a comment and I can give you the link. I am sure they are just running maintenance on the site because it is a huge site (Lion Brand Yarn).


Until next time,
Kellie

We are still here

Hey everyone! Just thought I would drop a line and let you know we are still here. I know it has been a while since I have posted and I apologize for that. Life has been a whirlwind the past couple of weeks. My grandmother went home to be with the Lord on January 11, 2009. She is going to be greatly missed!! I headed down to my parents as soon as I heard to be with my mom and we did not return home until yesterday. Now we are just concentrating on getting things back to normal.

I am starting to gather things to start decorating the nursery so look out for pictures to come soon :-) I am excited about that. We also have to transition Aaron into a big boy bed in his new room that he will be sharing with Seth. It looks like we are going to have the opportunity to be able to get them some nice furniture for their room and I am also super excited about that! (once again there will probably be pictures posted on that as well)!!

I did have a few pics that I thought I would share. These were from us flying kites on January 2, 2009. We have a big field in front of our house - perfect place for flying kites. This was a beautiful day and perfect weather for kite flying and we had a nice time. Notice that I am in shorts? The next day it was FREEZING!!! You gotta love Texas weather!!



Aaron loved sitting in the grass holding his kite. He would hold it for a pretty long time and then let go and say "uh oh, uh oh, uh oh" Thankfully Daddy didn't have it flying too high so it was pretty easy to retrieve.


I contemplated on putting this pic up and realized I have not posted any pregnancy pics from this pregnancy...it's funny, with Seth, I was posting pics almost every week of my growing belly...there were only a few with Aaron...and this one I just see myself as fat and don't want to share: :-) But people have asked so there you have it - a pregnancy pic.


This was from another day...this is my little monkey! He is like a cat though...he can get himself up there but then he cries because he can't get down.

A sweet moment...


Until next time,
Kellie

Crocheted Baby Sweater

How much fun has it been to learn crochet...especially when I found out that we are having a little girl!! I am just having a blast making things for her. I have made several items now (I need to get pictures of the other items up as well) but I wanted to get this one up because I wanted to put the instructions to make this up for others. I found this wonderfully soft and adorable yarn at Hobby Lobby last week...it was regularly over $8 a skein but they had it on sale for $1.99 a skein. Of course I could not pass it up!! I got home and thought I would look online to see if I could find any patterns for it (I have come across TONS of free crochet patterns online). To my suprise I didn't find ANY!! In fact I found a bunch more posts of others looking for patterns to use with this yarn. So I decided to look through some of the other patterns I had found to see if I could find one that works and I did!! So I thought I would post what I did in case there are others out there like me that are looking for patterns for this yarn.

First 0ff the yarn that I used is Baby Bee yarn, this is a yarn that is exclusive at Hobby Lobby Stores. I used the Dilly Dally line in colors Charmed (the main color) and Angel Girl (the edging and collar color). Note: This yarn is very soft and very cute but is a bit difficult to work with...the larger the hook the better because it is hard to see your stitches in this yarn.

The pattern that I have listed below is a modified pattern. You can click here to see the original pattern. I want to make sure I acknowledge the original designer because all I did was make modifications from her design.

Sizes: 6 months

Measurements (that I took on my completed sweater):
Chest= 22" | From sleeve to sleeve (flat)= 18 1/2" across | From collar base down= 10 1/2"

Materials:
Baby Bee Dilly Dally Yarn: MC-5 OZ |CC-1 OZ)
Crochet hook sizes: K,P

3 Buttons (3/4")-Thread and needle to sew them with

Gauge:
With " K" hook, 4 sts=2"
With "P" hook, 5 sts=2 1/2"

(I measured this guage with my crocheting so this guage matches the measurements above)

SWEATER

NOTE: CH 2 counts as first st of row.

WITH "K" hook and MC yarn, Ch 29

YOKE
1. Sc in second ch from hook and in each ch across. Ch 2, turn (28 sc)
2. HDC in next 3 sts, 3 hdc in next st, HDC in next 4 sts, 3 hdc in next st. HDC in next 8 sts, 3 hdc in next st, HDC in next 4 sts, 3 hdc in next st, HDC in last 4 sts. Ch 2, turn (Refer to diagram below for st placement of this row ONLY. The 28 sts are from row 1, before the 3hdc increases for the corners).

3-6. Hdc in each st across, putting 3 Hdc in middle st of each corner. Ch 2, turn

SLEEVE HOLES
7. Hdc each st to first corner, middle st. Ch 2, skipping sts in between, hdc in middle hdc of next corner. Hdc across back to middle hdc st of corner. Ch 2, Skipping sts in between, hdc in middle hdc of next corner. Hdc across front to end. Ch 1, Turn. DO NOT FASTEN OFF!

BODY
8-18: Using "P" hook, Sc in each st across.Ch 1, turn
19: Sc in each st across, Ch 2, turn
20: Hdc across. Fasten off.

SLEEEVES (Do not turn these rnds.)
Attach MC yarn and with "K" hook to middle st of underarm with sl st, ch 2, Hdc around (I got 20 sts around). Join to top of ch 2.
Next 5 rnds: Ch 2, Hdc in each st around. Join to ch 2.
Next 2 rnds: Change to I hook, Ch 1 and work sc's around. Join. Fasten of at end of last rnd.

-CUFF
1. With "P" hook, and CC yarn, attach with sl st to any st. ch 1, sc in same st and *sc in next 4 sts, sc next 2 tog. Rep * around. join. CH 1, do not turn
2. *Sc in next 3 sts, sc next 2 tog. Rep * around. Join, fasten off.

REP all of "SLEEVES" for other sleeve.

EDGING AND BOTTON HOLES
1. (RS)Attatch CC and with "K" hook to top right side of sweater front. (Decide which side will be right side(RS) and work the following row with RS facing). Sc down the front, putting 29 sc. Work 3 sc in corner. Sc around buttom, 3 sc in next corner. 29 sc up on other side. Ch 1, TURN (WS).
2. (WS) Work across this front and the bottom in sc, do not put any extra sts in the corner turns. The large hook will keep it from curling. When you get to the other side, at that other front's corner, *Ch 1, sk 1 st, sc in next 5 sts. Rep * to top (5 botton holes made. Ch 1, turn.
3.(RS)Sc around ENTIRE sweater edge, putting 3 sc in corners at bottom of sweater, and at top of each fronts. Join, Fasten off.

COLLAR
1. With "K" hook and CC, attatch yarn with sl st to first st of front of neck.(RS or WS facing). Ch 2, hdc in each st of next around to other front corner. Ch 2, turn.
2-6. Hdc in first st and in each st across collar. Ch 2 turn. Fasten off at the end of row 6.

Enjoy!

For those of you who keep up with my blog...sorry for the absence...things have been crazy since Christmas and I just haven't had time to get back on...(this week I have enjoyed crocheting in between getting caught up on our laundry that got severly backed up!!)

Until next time,
Kellie

Polar Express

We enjoyed the Polar Express ride yesterday!! Click here to check out all of the details on the post on Bristol Cowboy Academy!!!

Until next time,
Kellie