Swapped Goodies

When I saw a link on Facebook that amanda was hosting a craft swap I decided to jump on the band wagon.  It's funny, I hemmed and hawed over whether I should join since I hardly consider myself a crafter, much less a blogger.  But I jumped in anyway and I'm so very glad I did.

My package arrived last Thursday evening and I debated punishing myself because I was so very behind on my project for my swap partner.  But I don't pretend to have a ton of restraint and I tore into the package promising myself I would make some serious knitting progress that night.  I was greeted by the sweetest letter from Stephanie and a box filled to the brim with goodies.  I received so many wonderful things but I have to say my very favorite was the knitted sweater for Baby G.  I haven't had a ton of motivation to start shopping yet and this is the very first item that belongs to this baby of ours.  So that item alone would have been enough to make this swap a huge success for me.

However, I also received a box full of other fun stuff. The stitch markers she sent were so beautiful and much fancier than the plastic one's I've been using.  

Garrett is already requesting something sweet in the soccer cupcake wrappers she sent.  How incredibly sweet to include something for the boy!  I also received a knitted dish cloth and heart and a soccer coffee mug which will be put to use this weekend as March rolls in with freezing temperatures.  She also sent one of her favorite book-club books which I'm looking forward to suggesting for my next neighborhood book club.  Last but certainly not least was the jam and challah recipe that I'm going to try out this weekend.

So glad I decided to participate!  More on the package I sent next week.  I was pitifully late, getting my package in the mail Wednesday and it looks like it is going to be delivered today, just in time for the February deadline!

Internet Official

We made the official announcement to family on Christmas.  We've spent the last month and a half since Christmas catching up with close friends to share the exciting news in person and it's been such a great experience.  Last night we shared on Instagram and Facebook to make it internet official: We're Expecting!

Lights Out

Winter is such a fickle thing here in Maryland.  When November rolls around we are always left wondering what the next few months hold in store for us.  Last year we lucked out with very little snow and I don't recall Garrett having a single snow day.  This year has been a whole other story and it's only the beginning of February!  We were hit with about 5 inches of snow on Monday followed up my a pretty significant ice storm late Tuesday night which has left us without power since early Wednesday morning. 

Our property is lined with 50ft white pine's and we always lose a ton of branches in storms.  While Mike was clearing the driveway for me to get into work he realized one of the massive trees had uprooted and fallen into our street.  Thankfully it fell away from the house and not onto it but it is still quite a headache to deal with.   The county came out within a few hours and cleared the part of the tree that was in the road.  Unfortunately the rest of the tree will need to be dealt with.  Mike's not convinced his chainsaw can handle the massive trunk and the plus side of having a tree removal company deal with it would be a head start on mulch for the spring.  We're hoping for a reasonable estimate which will make the decision a little easier.

We have been camping out in the living room the last few nights and trying to make the best of our situations.  We are optimistic that we will have power restored when we all get home from work and school.  Otherwise we may be packing it up and heading to the in-laws for the weekend because camping in the living room with 4 dogs is only fun for a few nights.

Headed Home

My brother Ryan left for his third deployment in early October.  Mike and I offered to help out by taking his two dogs for his 9 month deployment.  In the beginning things were a little crazy, the dogs came to stay about 2 weeks before the wedding and we already have two dogs of our own.  My brother has a huge German Shepherd and a tiny Yorkie.  I always thought we had a pretty big size difference with our dogs, a Cairn Terrier and a Boxer, but the size difference between his dogs is laughable.   It was an interesting first two weeks with the dogs try to sort out the order of the pack and watching the interesting dynamics develop between the four of them.

I think Mike has described the situation perfectly:  90% of the time having 4 dogs is not that much different than having 2 dogs, the other 10% of the time it really sucks. 

Sleeping falls into the later category.  We have a queen size bed and our two dogs have always slept with us.  Adding one tiny terrier was not an issue and my brother assured me that Mishka always slept on the floor.  Which was a relief because she is a big dog.  However, after about 3 nights Mishka decided she wanted in on the action and has been sleeping at the foot of our bed ever since.  It's been an adjustment to say the least.  

Not sure where I'm supposed to sleep here?

The evenings when we get home from work have been great.   Laila and Mishka play tug or war and chase each other around the house which relieves some of the guilt we have from not being able to do evening walks because it is dark and cold by the time we get home from work.  Pecan sometimes joins in on the action which has been hilarious to watch.  He apparently has no idea that he is only about 4lbs and the big dogs seem to humor him when they play 3 way tug of war.

As much as an adjustment it has all been, we have really enjoyed the last few months with the dogs.  It has been chaotic at times and has definitely kept us on our feet but we really are going to miss them when they leave in a little less than two weeks.  My brother's deployment is ending early and my mom is picking the dogs up for their drive home to North Carolina in the middle of the month.  It will be bittersweet to say goodbye and we're already trying to plan a weekend trip down to visit my brother and the dogs once he is home and reacquainted.  For now we are just trying to enjoy the last two weeks with the dogs and ignore the little frustrations that come along with 4 dogs in one house.  I'm also making a mental note to try to get some decent, not iPhone pictures before they head back home.

Mishka decided to help Garrett with his rainbow loom project