My new nephew!!

My nephew Lowan Thomas Oakes arrived this morning at around 6:00 am. He's a beautiful baby! Congratulations Rhiannon & Kyle.

Happy (Belated) Easter!

Happy (Belated) St. Paddy's Day!

Austin was here for spring break; we had a great time, but it's been very busy! We missed him a lot this winter!

My grownup girl

Teagan had a big day today.

We took her to get her ears pierced.

The other girls at daycare have their ears pierced (since they were babies), so she asked if she could too. I'm not big on the baby ear piercing thing, since I feel like it should be her decision, not mine. Not like pierced ears is a big deal, really, but that's just always been my philosophy. Anyway, she said she really wanted to and stuck with it all day. I could tell she was nervous when we got there, but she was such a trooper, she didn't even shed a tear or move a single centimeter when they punched those earrings through. It made me want to cry, though, for my big, beautiful daughter who seems so grownup with those little fake pink gemstone studs. It's supposed to be alexandrite, which is one of June's birthstones (the more traditional being pearl). Of course, she'll have to wait till she's 18 for a tattoo and most other piercings. She gets to be fully responsible for all that business.

Mohawk Hat in Progress

I'm knitting a mohawk hat for Rich from the book Pretty in Punk. I have the entire hat knit, now I just have to add the fringe that makes up the mohawk. It has ear flaps and i-cord tassels. Rich is getting a black hat that will have some teal in the mohawk. It has been so much fun to knit, and I nearly succeeded in completing it without him knowing, but Teagan spilled the beans last night. The exegesis of how I ended up knitting this hat is somewhat lengthy to type, but basically Rich said he thought a mohawk hat would be cool and assured me that if I ever knit one, he would definitely wear it, even when he goes to work on the slope. That was my cue to find a pattern and knit one. This particular hat is knit in two pieces that are seamed together. I really like it's deep crown. Since I have a ginormous noggin, I like a hat that stays in place and covers my ears. I can't wait to get the mohawk fringe on it!!

So here it is. I didn't get a great picture of it before the batteries in my camera died, so it's sort of from the side/back.


In keeping with the mohawk theme, I gave poor Aidan a mohawk the other day, with his tiny bit of hair on his big ol' head. But isn't he so cute? I love these striped pjs.

And finally, to even out my photo representation of my lil'uns, here's Teagan at Village Inn downing some whipped cream-laden hot cocoa after a night of ice skating.
For anyone who cares, the Iditarod is taking place as we blog, and Lance Mackey is numero uno, followed by Jeff King. When my parents were here, we sadly only caught the last two dog sled teams going through Anchorage. Oh well, maybe next year we'll catch more of it.

Also, I've been moderately obsessed with the revealing of Sarah Palin's pregnancy. Sarah Palin is Alaska's illustrious governor, who has been dubbed as one of the hottest governors in history, or GILF. I don't think she's getting the kind of publicity she should, but I think it's rockin' that she's going to give birth to her FIFTH child while in office. She's 44, 7 months pregnant, and NO ONE NOTICED! Kudos, Sarah. And to anyone who doubts a woman can have a baby and run a state...SP's gonna show you how all of us hot workin' mama's do it every single day!

Taxes and houseguests

I just got done with two weeks of houseguests. It was fun, but now I have to catch up at home. I have lots of good pictures, but no time to post a thoughtful, inspiring entry. I'm also trying to get my taxes done and organize my financial life. Ugh. It's a lot of work. Here are some pictures from the past few weeks.

Aidan with his Mimie.My dad and I at our friend's cabin near Willow, AK.

My mom and Aidan.

Aidan and I at the cabin.

Teagan in the window seat at the cabin.