Carnival Blog: How I Spent My Summer!

This truly has been some summer! I think most of us (at least those of us here in the US) experienced the coldest and rainiest summer on record. But needless to say, I didn’t let that put a damper on most of my summer fun.

So I will just have to give you a little bit of the ups and downs of the Baker’s summer. My days are filled with watching little Ava grow. At the beginning of the summer, she was just barely sitting up while being supported. Within the past two months, Ava has progress to the “I only want to stand” stage; although she now sits up, as fast as I put her down, she has grabbed onto something and is standing with that little expression of “look at me, it won’t be long now that I will be into everything!” I bought little Ava her first baby doll the other day, and it didn’t take long for that to be her favorite little friend.

The end of June was met with the announcement from my son Ryan that he would be moving out on July 1. Although I still have one more son home, I do admit I did shed a few tears when I walked into his empty room the day after he left. Unfortunately they do have to leave the nest one day. Leaving with him was our newest member of the family, Jada (his little Bengal kitten). My cat, which I never really named, we still just call her kitty, really misses her little playmate. She is a very quiet and shy kitten, and from the second Jada arrived, never gave her a moment of peace. But I can say now that she really loved every minute of being chased around the house and even sat on. With every ray of sun, a cloud burst seems to follow. Little Jada, who was just 6 months and only 5 lbs, passed away last week while at the Vet for the minor procedure of getting spaded. There are still no answers, but it really did affect all of us. “The cloudburst doesn’t last all day” The Vet was so upset herself that she gave Ryan the money to replace Jada (which was a show cat), and 2 days later tiny little Dexter joined our family to fill the void. He is just as cute, although not as crazy, yet.

Jada.5mo. Dexter .2mo

Kitty.

Well, I don’t want you all to think the rain dampened our summer and our spirits, I spend most of the summer (after recovering from falling off a ladder, and am still pretty bruised up a month later), preparing for a most special and exciting event: The Baby Shower! My daughter’s first baby (I am assuming there will be more), is due Oct 3. I spent most of the summer sewing away to make a baby quilt for my first little grandbaby. Of course, my daughter wanted a “vintage” Winnie-the-Pooh quilt, a bear which was always her favorite. It was not easy to find that fabric, but after much searching on EBay and online, the material was bought, and the quilt done just in time for the shower, which was last week. I planned an outside garden party, yes, I did take that chance with all the rain this summer; but somehow knew my little angels would come through for me. So the party was a complete success; and her brother Keith, had a Winnie-the-Pooh cake made especially for the occasion! Now we just have to wait for little Zachary to arrive in the Fall.

In between all of this sewing and planning and moving and accidents, and of course, working on my jewelry, I did manage to have some time for myself to enjoy with friends. Last night I had dinner with some friends from HS, one of which has been a friend since elementary school. So if you don’t find me here chatting and blogging, you might find me sitting at “Starbucks”, or having dinner or lunch with my friends; or taking a peaceful walk along the Sound watching the sailboats floating by. I guess one doesn’t always need to travel to enjoy their time, it seems a summer or anytime can be filled with the love of your family and closest friends who are always there for you.

Dinner with friends July 2009/ Family at Kelly's Wedding