Learning to Breathe, Pt. 6

Happy June!! I don't know where you live, but in Northwest Ohio, it is cold today. Like, cozy sweatpants, long-sleeve shirt and warm slippers kind of cold. Thankfully, this cooler weather will be short lived! I am not a huge fan of the heat, but some warmer weather would be great.

Do you have big plans for the summer? No big summer vacations are in my calendar for this summer. But I am looking forward to something that will be happening in the next 2 weeks. My new precious niece will be arriving on the scene! No words can truly describe my excitement. My mom and I will be making a trip to Wisconsin in early July to love on her.

In the meantime, I am feverishly working on a baby blanket that I have been very lazy about completing. One thing I really enjoy about knitting is the evidence of something accomplished. It isn't finished just because I knit a row, but there is visible progress.

I don't know if I am really making any progress in learning to breathe. The busyness and monotony of life sometimes takes away the moments of quiet. In those times those moments are needed the most. Hopefully, as the summer really kicks off in full swing, those moments of quiet can really be appreciated and enjoyed.

Snapshots Into My Life

What I am seeing through my lens this week.

This picture is actually a few weeks old. My mom and I drove up to Ikea so I could pick out a desk for my craft room/home office. I knew exactly what I wanted to see just had to navigate through the wandering crowds. I am pretty happy with how it looks. If I ever get my craft room in shape, I will share it.

When I was in NYC a few weeks ago, we had Thai food. I had been craving it ever since. It is so yummy! I was able to satisfy my craving with my favorite Pad See Ew.

I have been in the mood to make cookies for a while, but since I have so many frozen from Christmas I didn't feel it too necessary. I finally caved and made these to-die-for Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies. This will not and forever be my go to recipe. I also froze the cookie dough so I could have some self control.

This week we found out if my brother and sis-in-law were having a girl or a boy. I chose the blue nail polish, but I was wrong. It is another GIRL! I couldn't be more happy!

Since my mom and I couldn't be at the reveal, I got us cupcakes to celebrate. I think I need to get cupcakes to celebrate more things....like finishing a load of laundry or going to the grocery store. These need to be celebrated too!

The Blanket

As you can imagine, when I found out I was going to be an aunt, I was beyond thrilled. As a relatively new knitter, I wanted to take on the challenge of making a baby blanket for this new little baby. I pinned several ideas, but this was by far my biggest project yet. Up to that point, I had only made dish cloths and a few scarves.

I found a pattern I liked, but wanted to modify it a little bit. The blanket was like a rainbow and a little girly if the baby was going to be a boy. So I started with green. A good baby neutral color. When we knew the baby was a girl, I chose pink as the alternate color.

Although I didn't work on the blanket consistently, it took about 6 months to finish. Toward the end, I was ready to start on something new. The blanket is much larger than I thought it would be. It is definitely bigger than a typical baby blanket. According the the instructions, the final size should be about 36x42. It would say that is about accurate.

Whether or not Brynley likes it is not really the point. She is only 4 weeks old, so I don't think she will have much of an opinion about it anyway. I wanted to make her something because I love her and this is a way I can show her that. I choose to spend my time making something that I hope will someday be special to her because her aunt made it just for her.

Next week, I will finally get to hold Brynley and give her the blanket. She lives about 10 hours away from me, and this will be my first opportunity to get up there to see her and her newly minted parents. I am so happy she is a part of our family and love her so much.

Welcome to the World, Brynley Cadence!

Are there dates in your life that all the sudden have a new meaning? Yesterday was one of those dates. I woke up like any other Thursday until I read the text message my brother had sent several hours earlier. "At the hospital. Baby is coming soon!!!" That message completely changed my perspective on the day. And then a few hours later, I received a picture of my beautiful, newly-born niece, Brynley Cadence.

To say I was beaming would probably be an understatement. This precious little girl had made her entrance into the world after months of anticipation. August 22 now has new meaning. As a family, we will celebrate her birth for, God-willing, years to come.

Her birth gave me a new title...aunt. I look at my aunts to see the special places they have in my heart. Of course, I am closer with some more than others, but they are women I love dearly.

Since my brother lives in Wisconsin and I am in Pennsylvania, I am not going to meet my new niece until the end of September. But I can't wait to shower her with love and spoil her. Since isn't that my job as an aunt? Spoil her rotten and then give her back to her parents.

I am so excited to be an aunt, but I am more excited to have a niece. I am at a point in my life where I don't know if I want my own children. However, that doesn't mean that I don't want to be around kids. So I figure that being an aunt is the best of both worlds.

It is hard to believe that my brother is a dad. Even before Brynley was born I could see how much my brother was enamored with her. She has him wrapped around her tiny little finger. My brother and I were fortunate to have a dad who loved us and wanted to spend time with us. Unfortunately, Brynley is not going to have the opportunity to meet him, but I know that my dad's influence will show through the way my brother loves his little girl.

Brynley, I am so happy to finally see your sweet face! I love you more than you can possibly know. But your Heavenly Father loves you even more. He knit you together for His purpose. I pray you seek Him with your whole heart. I love you, my dear girl! Auntie Colleen