The Perfect Baby Sampler

Okay, I think I mentioned in an earlier post that my son and his lovely wife are expecting their first baby in either December or early January.  I fianlly found out what they are decorating their nursery in and I wasn't sure I could find any baby sampler that might fit their theme.  They're using forest animals and they found some lovely items at Ikea that they are going to use.  Now I've been stitching a long time and have, well, let's just say I have LOTS of patterns.  I've collected a few baby samplers in anticipation of this very project.  But did I have any thing even remotely resembling forest animals?  Of course not!  I had jungle babies (which I love) and I had Noah's Ark (which has animals, right?) but no forest animals.  So I went searching on the internet and wouldn't you know it?  I found exactly what I was looking for.  It's a European kit so I had to order it from Sew and So.  I've dealt with them before so I wasn't worried about that.  Well, I received it in the mail the other day and it is, as I said, perfect!  It has a fox and a bunny and a squirrel.  It has a bear and a hedgehog and a deer.  All of these were specifically mentioned by Chris as being a part of the Ikea set.  So here is the sampler that I'm going to start stitching just as soon as I finish my part of the Christmas presnt.  Chris and Annette, if you're reading this, back out now please.  I want this to be a surprise so go find something else to do now.  I'm going to assume you still listen to your mom, Chris, so I'm going to post the picture now.  Remember no peeking, you two!

The kit is from Vervaco and uses DMC thread.  It does have aida cloth but frankly it's getting hard for me to see evenweave or linen, even with a magnifier, so I'm kind of glad it's aida cloth.  I can't wait to get started on this.