snowy days are great for knitting.

When you look out the window and see grey skies and white roofs, you know it's time to knit some hats! {What? Everyone doesn't automatically make that connection? Huh.}

I've been working on a few new additions to the big box of baby hats that currently resides in our bedroom. The box is filling up because I seem to make lots of girly hats and/or hats that are too small for Will to wear. Therefore, they go in the box until I find someone to give or sell them to. I may need to buy a bigger box. I have lots of ideas.

This is definitely the most...ah, whimsical...one to date. A big pink cupcake with sprinkles!

My sweet hat model:

He has no idea...

Next up, I've been wanting to make college hats {yes, even though I am a 2 percenter through and through, I do realize that most people would like to show some school spirit on their babies' heads.} I think I want to make the logos a bit smaller in relation to the hat size, and I still need to do some fine-tuning on the stitching of the logos. Although I guess they're always going to look a little homemade. Because they are homemade.

Aggies and Longhorns seemed to be a good place to start:

These are too small for Will, so the monkeys modeled.

I also finally finished my green scarf from way back when I started this obsession hobby. So now I'm working on the matching hat. I'll post a pic when I'm done, as I am sure you are all on the edges of your seats. ;) Happy snowy Monday to all!

meeting Carter

Can you even stand how cute this guy is?!

Today we got to meet sweet baby Carter, my cousin Brent and his wife Tilly's new baby. We had such a great time cuddling with Carter and catching up with Brent and Tilly. We didn't end up with a picture of Will and Carter together, as Will is a bit of a liability around a 2 month old. ;) But it was great to get the boys together, and I know we will have many wonderful playdates in the future. We are already looking forward to seeing them again on Friday when they make their way back through Dallas at the end of their roadtrip.

Look at those dimples! I am in love.

Will loved spending some time with his Uncle Brent...

...and Aunt Tilly!

And I clearly enjoyed Carter.

So did Mom/Mimi/Aunt Kathy

And then it started snowing!

Brrrr!

Uh, mom....what IS this?

Such a fun day!

sorry dude...

Will - I am officially apologizing in writing for posting pictures of you wearing a flower hat on the internet.

OK - now that that's out of the way, I'm kind of excited about my flowers! The idea is that I put buttons on the back of these little flowers, so they can be switched out on plain hats to give you different looks! Fun, huh? In an effort to preserve Will's manliness, I did take some pics of the hat just sitting on the table, but I think it just looks better on.

But here's one of the pieces separately:

And I made a tiny newborn one too!

But it looks best on a baby, right?

I have lots of hat ideas, but apparently, many of them are girly. Probably because I'm kind of girly. After the flowers, I moved on to hearts. I wanted to learn to knit things into the design of the hat, so this was my first attempt. I made it in the tiny size because making the hat goes so much faster. Gonna need some tiny baby girls to give these girly hats to!

For now, George volunteered to be my model.

{His head is a little big, but what can you do?}

And finally - Will's girlfriend, Harper, wore the hat I made her the other day, and her mommy sent some pics! I just had to post a couple because she is so darn beautiful! LOVE!

Will sneezed...

...and then this happened:

Hope this made you giggle on this post-holiday Monday.

happy 2011!

Happy New Year! 2010 was pretty much the best year ever with the addition of Will to our family, and we had a great New Years Eve celebrating 2010 and looking forward to 2011. Will had a fun evening with Mimi and Duke, and Matt and I headed out to 2 NYE parties. We started the night at Club Wonderland, where we enjoyed delicious gumbo and fun times with friends. Then we headed over to Club Wilbur {No, he did not call it that. It just seemed like I needed a name.} where we played lots of Catchphrase and toasted the new year. It was a great night with great friends!

The three of us - Will was not so much interested in taking photos at this moment.

Heading out sans baby!

The girls

Mel got the party started with a little dancing. :)

Will had to wear my New Years crown the next day....

...because he wore one last year!

merry christmas!

What a very merry Christmas we had! It was a very busy couple of days, and very fun. The family celebrations started with Christmas Eve in Lucas with Matt's dad & Deanna, then we had a quick Christmas morning at home, followed by Christmas morning at Matt's mom's house, and Christmas afternoon with my family. Although Will doesn't quite get Christmas yet, he had a great time with the families, the presents, the decorations, and the excitement.

To begin the weekend, Matt got to try the beer that he and Jonathan made in his new kegging system. {a birthday present from last year that he finally got last month} Although I am not always the hugest fan of the process of beer making, {think large vats of boiling goo, sticky floors, and garage refrigerators rendered useless because they are full of huge jars of fermenting beer} I have to give the boys props on the end result this time. It's good, and the keg is a pretty great alternative to having to bottle and cap all five gallons.

Some people have orange juice on Christmas Eve morning. Matt had a small glass of beer. You know, because he could. And because it was finally ready to drink...he's really not an alcoholic.

We headed to Lucas on Christmas Eve night to celebrate with Will's Grandpa Robert {grandfather name still TBD} and Mama D. We enjoyed a great meal, and then it was time for pajamas {for Will only} and presents.

first Christmas gift!

Not totally sure what to do, but the tissue paper is fun!

We didn't end up with pictures of the toys {which were plentiful!} but look at this awesome hat:

Of course, Will enjoyed chewing on the packaging most of all.

Will and Grandpa

Will and Jonathan

Will happily stayed up way past his bedtime until he became a hot mess.

Time for bed!

Looks like Santa came while Will was sleeping!!

Will uncharacteristically slept in on Christmas morning, probably because of the late night partying the night before. He was happy and ready to see what Santa brought when he woke up.

Santa brought a new car!

Will's favorite feature of the car was the box.

Perfect height for standing and beating on the top.

Santa also brought some books, toys, pajamas, puffs, and stuffed animals.

What a fun morning!

Then we headed to Nana's house for Christmas breakfast. {and of course, presents too!}

first present at Nana's

a puzzle!

Will got so many fun new toys!

And there were gifts for everyone. Will helped me open mine...

I love this - they both seem very perplexed by this one.

new camera for Ryan!

basketballs, soccer balls, nerf balls, oh my!

{I promise Matt got gifts too, but he was the photographer that morning so we have no pictures of him. oops!}

After a delicious breakfast and a nap for Will, we headed over to Mimi and Duke's house. Mema was there, and we had a great time hanging out, opening presents, and eating a fabulous Christmas dinner.

Will, Mimi, Duke & Mema

Santa came here too!

{Will must have been a very good boy this year...}

Very excited to open this big box....a red wagon!!

Surrounded by fun new toys, and Will picks this to play with - a canister of Gerber cheese crunchies. It was his favorite toy of the day. Not kidding.

See?

And there it is again.

{We didn't even have to open it, although he does love cheese...}

Will helped Duke open his gifts.

Matt played with his new Nook.

Mema looked beautiful!

Will & Mimi

Will played in this little rocker, which belonged to his Mimi when she was a little girl.

{Please note the extreme amounts of drool. I brought three shirts, which we rotated between Will and the dryer all day!}

Our family of three

{and the cheesy puffs can}

The fun continued the day after Christmas, when Will really got a chance to see all of his new toys. Matt assembled the wagon while Will ate breakfast, and he took a ride around the house in his pajamas that morning.

I think he likes it!

All bundled up to ride down the sidewalk

We've been assembling and playing with new toys ever since Christmas! Will is lucky to be so loved by so many people. We all had a wonderful Christmas, and I am already excited about next year, when we can start telling Will what Christmas is really about. {I mean, the toys are cool, but there is a bit more!} Merry Christmas to all!