The non-stitchy news

Didn't want to throw all this into the WIPocalypse post as it really doesn't have that much to do with it but we've had all kinds of other things going over the last several days.

First of all, thanks for all the comments on my WIPocalypse stitching and welcome to all the new followers. It's always nice to know that someone out there is reading and I promise I will get over to all of your blogs soon.

We have had a new addition to the family. My cousin (Luke's Mom) had a baby boy on Saturday night, Mason Oliver. Mom and baby and big brother Luke are all doing fine so far. We went to the hospital to see them on Sunday. Josh was quite interested in the baby and did a very good job of being gentle. I asked him if he wanted a baby like that at his house and he said "Sure!" Let's hope he's that enthusiastic when his own baby brother comes home.

You may remember the jungle birth announcement I stitched for Luke a few years ago. I wanted to do something for Mason too but have had the hardest time deciding until now. I finally ordered a Vervaco kit which will hopefully arrive soon. I know this will throw my WIPocalypse plans off for awhile but I knew I was going to do it and I would like to have this done by baptism time if possible. A lot will depend on how fast it arrives and how fast I can make it to the LNS because there is no way I'm stitching on the Aida in the kit.

Anyway, Sunday was also my birthday. We wondered for awhile if Mason might be sharing my birthday which is also my grandparents' (his great grandparents') anniversary but he arrived just in time to be a Jan 7 birthday instead. Anyway, in addition to getting to hold that cutie on my birthday I also got some lovely things from my family. A few gift cards, some Starbucks cocoa mix, a panini sandwich grill, and dinner out with my family. My choice was Hacienda for the awesome chocolate frosted birthday cake. I did have to endure singing and a sombrero to get it but it was worth it, well worth it. I think my teenage brother thought the sombrero and singing were payback for when I did it to him (twice!) but honestly, not that embarassing. It was much more fun to keep the sombrero on afterward and torture him as it was completely uncool. Oh well, I was an uncool adult to start with, might as well be really uncool and embarassing. Josh, on the other hand, thought the sombrero was the coolest thing ever.

And finally, and I'm sure completely coincidentally but I still consider it an excellent birthday gift, Downton Abbey started showing on PBS Sunday night. If you haven't seen it- World War I era British costume drama, very dramatic, very well done. Now I know that it has already aired in other parts of the world but us poor Americans have been waiting very impatiently for the second series until now. I completely missed this show when the original series aired the first time and actually caught the uncut UK version on Netflix later after hearing about it on NPR but this time I'm watching it as it airs on US television. So far so good, the first two hours went by too quickly and I've already found myself wishing I could have waited a few weeks for the whole thing to come out on iTunes so I could just watch it all in one or two long viewings and not be left to wonder what happens next for a week at a time.

Josh has had a big week too. He finally made the leap from pull-ups to real big boy underwear. He's done really well, only a few accidents. He's very proud of his new undies and does not want anything to do with diapers so hopefully this will continue to be a relatively smooth transition. I'm just happy not to have to change diapers even if it is only temporary until the next kiddo comes along.

I think that's about it for excitement around here for now unless you count the snow warning we're under. They're predicting possibly a foot by tomorrow. Yuck. Kinda makes me wish I had one of those nonessential jobs that get snow days but pharmacies don't often get those. Oh well, better get to bed- I'm sure I'll have to be up extra early in the morning.