First Time Sledding

We have been getting a lot of snow this year, especially compared to the last year. I've been waiting for some fresh (soft) snow so that we could try taking Will sledding. On Sunday, we got close to another foot of snow, so we decided Monday was the day.

Not sure how it would go, we wanted to start off really small. The hill behind grandma and grandpa's house was perfect. 

He went down a few times alone, but he was sliding around a lot and not very stable. 

After he lost interest in going down the hill, I showed Will how to "push" Lance into the snow. 

As he pushed, Lance would fall over and make snow angels. Will really got a kick out of it and was laughing so hard.

 Isn't he such a great dad? Will sure loves him.

Will didn't want the game to end, though I think Lance tired of it pretty quickly.

We tried pulling him around the yard a little bit, but it's always hard to get going that first time to make a path.      And it didn't help that Will doesn't understand the concept of hanging on so he would slide off of the sled every few seconds. 

We weren't out for very long, but we had a good time. Will might have enjoyed it more if he had some snow clothes, boots, and gloves that actually fit him. Either way, it was fun and definitely something we will do again, maybe even trying a bigger hill.

Grandma's little shadow

My mom came to visit us little over a week ago. Unfortunately, it was an extremely short visit, but Will sure got attached to her during the day and a half she was here. And I'm not talking just slightly attached. I'm talking full on - can't let her out of my sight, mom can't do anything cause I want Grandma to do it all, following her everywhere - type of attached

Here are just a few of the funny things he did while she was here:

- He wouldn't allow me to change his diaper or get him dressed, because he wanted Grandma to do it.

- He normally eats breakfast by himself, but while she was here he needed "help" and insisted Grandma feed him.

- When he wanted her to go somewhere, he would get behind her and push her until she was where he wanted.

- If he was taking her to his room and she was following behind, he had to turn around every few seconds to make sure she was still coming.

- While he was playing with toys (such as throwing a ball in the air), he insisted that she watch him, and only him. If she even turned her head for a moment to talk to me, he would run over to her, grab her face, and turn it so it was looking back at him.

- If Lance or I tried anything, he would run behind Grandma and bury himself in her legs trying to hide.

- My mom ended up leaving during one of Will's naps. And when he woke up, the first thing he said was ga-ma. And when he couldn't find her, he cried for quite a while, all the time saying her name.

My mom is the best, so it really doesn't surprise me that Will insisted on being her little shadow the whole time she was here. For as long as I can remember, little kids have always flocked to my mom and preferred her over most others.

While she says she enjoyed it, I'm sure it also drove her bonkers.

Crochet

About a month or two ago, a ran into a blog of a friend who is really good at crocheting. Her blog has some links for tutorials and other tips, and I decided it was something I wanted to learn.

Now, I had crocheted a bit when I was pregnant with Will. I made his blessing blanket, but it was terrible. I wanted to learn how to actually follow patterns and make something decent.

After watching many YouTube videos, I attempted my first real hat (not using a loom).

I was able to to follow the pattern and I think it turned out great for my first one! Unfortunately, it wasn't a very good pattern and the hat is very short and doesn't really cover Will's head. But it was a good start and I knew it would be an easy adjustment for the next time.

There is something really exciting about trying something new and seeing a project form before your eyes. There are moments when I'm just not sure how it's going to work, then suddenly it's finished and actually looks like it is supposed to.

I've become a crocheting madwomen. I love it for so many reasons:
1- It gives me something to do when I am bored and need to pass the time.
2- It's a fun and cheap gift!
3- It keeps me distracted and takes my mind away from my stomach aches.

Here are some of the different projects I have been working on:

I have made me a few pair of boot cuffs. Here is an example of what they look like.

 I made Lance this USU hat as well as a hat that looks like a football.

 I've made several hats for our little girl.

Matching sock monkey hats for Will and baby girl.

With some inspiration from a variety of other hats, I came up with this design. Lance wore it to class once and had a guy from USU football team ask if I would sell him one.

 
So I made another one, but a larger size and with larger horns.

He also requested to have his number on the side.

 I was pretty proud of this hat, and somewhat see it go. Lance just got a text from that player saying that 5 other players would like one also. I haven't decided if I'm going to make them or not, as they are extremely time consuming.

 Here is a little puppy hat I made my nephew for Christmas.

Made a hat and boots for my little niece.

 After I got a little sick of hats, I decided to venture out a little and make different baby booties/shoes.
I designed this matching set to go with a little outfit I made.

 I really hope these sandals will be big enough for the summer. Aren't they adorable?!

 And of course I had to make some headbands.

As you can see, I've been having some fun.

Check out theworstedcrochetblog.blogspot.com/  for some tips and free patterns!

34 Week Update

It's been a really long time since I did an update with this pregnancy. I am now just over 34 weeks along. This pregnancy has been a bit rough for me. I think a big part of that is already having another kid. With my first, I could take a nap whenever I wanted or lay down and watch movies all day long if I wasn't feeling well. That isn't really an option when you have a crazy kid like Will running loose.

Our house is a CONSTANT disaster cause I simply cannot keep up with it. And it irritates me to live in such a mess all the time and causes me to be even more moody and grumpy. Poor Lance has had to put up with my 180 mood swings for too long.

I'm not sure why, but I've felt really depressed this pregnancy. I know there are a lot of factors contributing to it, and most are out of my control, but it's still really frustrating. I will be happy and normal one moment, then suddenly I'm super sad and want nothing more than to go curl up in a ball and cry. And I have a really hard time shaking those "down" times. It was really bad a few weeks ago, but I feel like I've been doing a lot better recently.

Lately I have had near constant stomach aches as well. Sometimes I wish I could throw up because it seems it would make me feel better. The best way for me to deal with it has been to keep busy. So I have been working on some crafts. Lots and lots of crafts. Mostly baby items. Lance probably thinks I've gone nuts, but it really helps me pass the time and forget about how uncomfortable I am.

We had a doctor appointment this past week and the baby is measuring exactly on. I remember I grew the most in the last few weeks with Will, so I'm really curious to see if that happens again with this one. I feel like I am already much bigger than I was with Will, so I really hope I don't explode even more. I have already gained A LOT more weight than I did my entire first pregnancy.

I am so ready to be done being pregnant, yet I don't feel ready for a newborn yet. It scares the crap out of me to think that I'm going to have another baby pretty soon. I honestly worry about how I am going to handle it.

My doctor says I am doing well enough that he doesn't need to see me every 2 weeks. So my next appt isn't until almost 37 weeks, when he'll start doing weekly checks. I'm not sure why, but I've had this strange feeling that I may have to have a C-section this time. The only movements I ever feel are below my belly button. My doctor couldn't tell if she was head down my last appt but said there is still plenty of time for her to turn. And if she is still not at 38 weeks, they have a few techniques to try to get her to turn, though they only have a 50% chance of succeeding. While a C-section isn't ideal, I really don't care. And part of me thinks it would be nice just to know the date and not have to play the waiting game.

Overall, I'd say things are going fairly well and getting better (surprisingly). Things were pretty rough for a while, but I think I am past that now. I'm excited for my next doctor appointment and curious to see what the following weeks will bring.

Christmas

It was almost a full household at the Hinton's this year, we were only missing Lance's sister Amber and her family. We always love when family comes into town and it was really nice to see everyone.

It had been a very dry winter so far, so it was super refreshing to have some snow fall Christmas Eve. And it kept falling, and falling, and falling. Somehow it was decided that we were going to bury Melissa's (Lance's sister) car. They were out there for hours. Even I joined them for about 2 hours to help build.

Unfortunately, Lance had to work until about 8pm Christmas Eve, but he was still able to participate in our Christmas program. One thing that was unique this year was we formed a band and played some Christmas music. There was even some narration and an awesome program complete with bios. (Wish I'd got pictures of it.)

As usual, everyone was up by 6am to start opening gifts.

I don't think Will was too thrilled about being woke up, especially when it didn't involved waking up to eat food within the first few minutes. (At home, he wakes up starving and has to eat immediately). He have fun opening a gift or two, but then he spent the rest of the morning pretty grumpy.

 We had a decent pile of presents waiting for him, but he simply didn't want to touch them.

He was much more interested in bothering Garrett or dragging his new chair around to sit by other people.

His "big" gift was a tricycle. And he sure was excited about it. He threw a pretty big tantrum the first time we took him off, and later he wanted to be pushed around as long as we would.

Finally we got to what he was really waiting for ...the food. And he seemed in slightly better spirits after that, and an early nap of course.

We spent the remainder of the day just relaxing and visiting.

Then I had to go into work Christmas night at 10pm. We figured the girls would be with their families most of the week so i volunteered to take a lot of shifts, as I would be one of the few left in town. Turns out I ended up working 38 hours Christmas week, and boy was I exhausted.

When we got back home, our driveway needed to be shoveled pretty bad so we decided to have a bit of a snow day. Will insisted on helping Lance shovel and got mad if he tried doing it without him.

After a while, I finally grabbed a small shovel and bucket and showed Will how to put the snow in the bucket. That entertained him momentarily until he discovered that it was good to eat. That quickly turned into a frozen mouth/face.

And even though it has been snowy and cold, every single day Will asks if we can go for a walk. I finally decided to and it was quite enjoyable. It was so beautiful and peaceful outside.

Hope everyone enjoyed the holidays as much as we did!

Woolsey Christmas Party

 My dad usually has a family Christmas party every year some time in December. We usually haven't been able to go due to work or other plans. But since we really hadn't seen much of my family this year, we decided that we should go.

 We had a nice dinner then a short Christmas program.

 After the program, Santa arrived to deliver some gifts.

 Will had fun tearing open the paper and he was really excited about this new "Cars" cup. Unfortunately, said cup is already broken and in the garbage.

 Will as also got these Christmas pajamas.

It's always good to see family, especially around the holidays.