But I just really wanted to boast about what I just made!
Yes, there is only one, and my son has claimed it for a stuffed animal (thus the already stretching cuff)...with a promise from me to make the match. The goal was to see if I could follow the pattern, and I did! I'll probably make some for a few new or expected babies in my life, once I find a better yarn for the softness factor.
I know, I know. It's kinda like 6 months late to be discussing this, but I actually did make a new year's resolution way back then. Just one. And I picked one I could/should be able to carry through on.
I wanted to lose 20 pounds this year. And I did it!
So what if 13 of that came off when my baby was born in the first part of January? That's not the point, people. It was just a little boost in the right direction. I succeeded in losing the remaining 7 and am now at my "prepregnancy" weight. Uh, third baby prepregnancy, but I made it regardless of which pregnancy it was. (I'll be honest...I only gained 20 pounds with Baby J, yet I lost 20 pounds when each of my other two were born.)
My next goal will be to reach my REAL prepregnancy weight, roughly 8-10 pounds more. Even 5 would be nice, but I am someone who prefers not to bicker over 5 pounds with my body. I believe it is healthier to stay 5 pounds "up" than to go up and down like a seesaw with my weight. So, we'll see what happens.
Nothing like a popsicle on a hot day with your best buddy. 
My most recent crochet thing...a cord for Miss C to turn her own light on and off. Her room is the hottest in the house by the end of the day and we like to keep the fan going constantly to battle it. Since the fan and light share a switch, we needed a way to giver her some independence in this little matter--without stopping the fan. (Hush...yes, it was really an excuse to practice daisies, corkscrews and pompoms...what of it?)
This inner tube toy has been a favorite of mine since Little B was learning to sit. However, Baby J has done something the other two have not--climbed over the sides. I'm guessing he missed the point of what it's for. Looks like he's tubin' down the river, no?
Ah yes, a picture of my new 'do. Not my best hair day, and this was taken at the end of a day which should tell you something. But, a picture none the less.
Notice the lack of training wheels here? Go Little B!!!
He ended up going to the emergency room. Here's why:
This story actually goes back to the fact that my husband gets/has chronic sinusitis. I may have talked about this a couple months ago, I don't recall. However, he has battled it more this year than ever before. As soon as it clears up, he's likely to get it again. His doctor told him to get a CT scan, but also gave him a refill on his antibiotic in case he needed it. He used that refill a couple weeks ago and as of a week ago was left with the aftermath of a cough, pretty typical.
As for the CT scan, he was attempting to get the order for it so he could have it done, but had a hard time getting a response from the doctor's office. On Monday, he came home from work saying his cough was so bad his throat would close up and he'd be forced to breathe through his nose.
Tuesday morning, he called the doctor. Since his regular physician wasn't in until today, they put him through to a nurse's voice mail, claiming they'd work on the CT order. The nurse never called back. Wednesday morning (remember, the day Little B was throwing up?), he called and left a second voice mail with the nurse. No one called back. Wednesday evening (when he arrived home from work--where the last post left off), after speaking to a roofing contractor about the top of our house, he tried to called the doctor's office once more right before they closed; he spent around 10 minutes on hold attempting to reach a live person to get a nurse for him--instead he left a third voice mail. In those 48 hours, his cough was consistently bad and the throat closing thing never did change.
So, after that last attempt to reach the doctor's office, I encouraged him to call our insurance company's on-call nurse. THEY answered the phone and told him to call 9-1-1 because their objective computer system indicated that his throat closing up could be a potential allergy and therefore life-threatening.
The battle began. He did not want to upset the kids (or himself, let's be honest) with an ambulance. I did not want to take 3 kids to the ER at bedtime. My husband ended up driving himself to the ER. Ha.
He went to the hospital nearest our home, one we'd never been to before. In roughly two hours, he was headed home. Who'da thunk it? I was amazed. He said there was no wait, they determined his throat was spasming because it was so swollen and he was coughing too hard. They wrote a prescription for a nose-spray steroid (he says he'll go work out now...hardy har har), AND. AND. My friends, they did the CT scan since he could never get the order from his doc's office (he has a great doctor, but the rest of the practice is pathetic). They did that because he'd given them his whole history and explained that he was supposed to get one but hadn't received the orders, blah blah blah. The results: a deviated septum.
Funny...Thursday morning, the nurse finally called him back. He simply told her he'd been to the ER, thank you. And hung up (he was chatting with his boss at the time, anyway, so she was becoming a terrible inconvenience).
Today, he saw that "good" doctor again for follow-up. There wasn't much that could be done except to tide him over for the week. But he needs to see an ENT right away. He's been told he'll likely be having surgery soon. I'm starting to think it can't be soon enough.
And that, my friends, is one more way our week has drug out longer than spaghetti. Sigh.
Up soon: the roof. That incorporated into the week as well and will continue to be a drama this summer, knowing us. (That little teaser is a way to make myself post more...I'm trying, really I am!)
So it is Friday. I really, truly believed it to be Thursday. Don't know why. Somehow in the summer the days start merging--in spite of the fact that Tuesday and Thursday have standing afternoon appointments in June and we'd clearly taken care of it the day before.
I will continue my story about my husband's arrival home. Just not now. I need to enjoy the pending weekend. Have a great one everyone!
So it's been a bit of a long week. Not bad, really. Just kinda packed in spite of staying home most of the time. Crazy is a good word for it. I believe I'll expound for a while:
THE WEEKEND
Father's Day was nice. My mom is of a school of thought that gives space to people...we're a close, close family, and I think allowing space is one reason why that is. Anyhow, she was all about just letting my hubby and I hang with our kids for Father's Day and then getting together another time (we're really good at celebrating things on the wrong day in our family). But, my husband loves--I mean LOVES--my family and really wanted them to come, so when I saw his crushed expression, I told him to call and talk to them. They came. (They LOVE him back...indeed, they swear they keep me because I married him...huh...) So w grilled out, chilled out and hung out. Just a nice visit on a lovely day. Until 10pm. Right before my parents (and brother) left, things got interesting.
To backtrack a little, this last paycheck was what I'd called really tight. And I'm doing the post-partum hair-shedding thing like crazy. My mind has been made up for over a month that a good short haircut would at limit the quantity of hair falling from my head. Friday was to be the big day since my husband had a day off. But, alas, the check didn't allow for it and my spirits were crushed...until it occurred to me that my mom cut my hair about, say, 20 years ago and it wasn't that awful. (Really, 8th grade was 20 years ago...ouch!) Besides, she's known to trim my dad's hair on desperate occasions and it never seems bad. So, I roped her in at 10pm. Outside. Under a spot light. Chin-length became barely-below-the-ear-lobes-length. But really, that wasn't the end of the world. Just less hair to shed; I'm pretty flexible.
I did trim it up some after a good hair washing and seeing what was slightly off. She handled the length, I did the fine-tune trimming. And on Tuesday someone said they liked it. I'd frankly been very nervous since it seemed a bit sharp on my features, but hey, I look like I'm 18 again, so it's kinda funny. I'll post a picture once I get them pictures transferred to my computer (I'm such a total slacker...).
MIDWEEK
Tuesday night, I managed to get to bed around 1am or a few minutes after. Oh, I guess that's really Wednesday way-early morning. Baby J woke me around 2:45am and again around 5am. We've had some long (actually, short seems a better decription!) nights recently, can you tell? However, the clincher came at 6am. Little B came running down the hall calling out, "I'm going to throw up I'm going to throw up!!!" I wanted to crawl back into bed and STAY there. I was in for a long day (definitely not seeing it as short!). I did doze while he hung around the commode as my husband got ready for work, overseeing any major needs that might arise.
But, before 7, I was facing reality and had Little B set up on the couch with a pot for puke. It seems every time he got up, he threw up. Not much each time (face it, puking is a TMI topic), and his tummy seemed mostly empty (thank goodness!) but still, I was dreading it. Somewhere in the last few years, I lost my ability to cope with vomit. I am such a chicken.
I decided this was a pj day and I didn't get dressed except to apply deodorant and make sure I had on presentable pj's since the little boy across the street was bringing over a coke to help settle Little B's tummy (we drink Dr. Pepper and that is not the same for an upset stomach). Thankfully, he felt better by afternoon and was running around and even had a huge dinner (he was starving since he'd only been allowed small amounts of food all day). By the time his energy picked up, I made HIM get dressed (something about the fact his pj's are underpants and an undershirt during warm weather...).
Miss C played in her (recently rearranged) room very quietly and happily most of the day. She'd wander out for some "tee" as she calls T.V. since sick days allow it to be on much more than usual. But then she'd vanish to her room and play some more. Me? I read almost an entire book around the puking, the dishes, one load of laundry and nursing a baby who was more content than usual. I wonder what it says that the day was so tame while Little B was sick? Hmm... Of course, by the end of the day, he was a busy boy since he felt well and I was busy with dinner prep, but still.
Then my husband came home. . .
(...to be continued...)
First, I was reading The Big Trade-Off (Karen not only has an uncanny parrallel to my life in a few ways, she has a most enviable knack for fabulous sewing projects, something I can only dream of since my limited abilities are further limited by the fact my sewing machine is currently in a non-kid-friendly spot--though I do aspire to get better). Oh, she blogs more than I do, too
In my clicking around (okay, I was reading this specific post) I found my way from Karen's blog to The Handmade Dress. Breathtaking awe is about the only thought I had. I found myself enjoying her pictures and reading some posts and looking around at her various pursuits. On her Tutorial she had a basic self-made video of how to crochet. And at last it clicked for me. I've wanted to learn for a long time. I felt I could conquer anything (well...maybe I'm exaggerating just a tiny bit).
So, my next stop was in real life--I found this book at my local library, after perusing a few different ones. She made it so simple. Far from perfect, still figuring out the concept of a "turning chain", this was my sample swatch of the different stitches.
Still not perfect, but definitely beginning to grasp the whole idea, this is my first official project. A scarf for Miss C:
You know those really large Pyrex type dishes...the kind you can put a whole roaster chicken in to cook or serve? Square but deep. With a lid. The lid is also square and deep. And thick. Well, I was rearraning my cabinet space yesterday where all such dishes live. That large, thick, deep lid crashed to the floor...I kid you not, it sounded like a gunshot in my kitchen. See the largest dish on the bottom of that stack? I'm thinking the lid belonged to that, otherwise it was similar in size. I can't see the lid anymore to verify. I'll have to see which one is missing. And yes, the door to the cabinet was open at the time of crashing, so my next task is to remove all the items on that side and wipe it clean as well as rinse/wash the dishes so no one eats fine grains of sand-like glass. I wiped my hand on the bottom of the cabinet and came away with grit all over. Prickly grit. Nice, huh?
All I can say is that if I had not swept and mopped already this week, you would not be seeing pictures of this. And that brown thing is a valentine from Little B to Miss C that fell from some cluttered spot versus being tucked away in her special drawer for little momentos. (I only remopped the area that had the casualty, since I was pretty sure I got it all.)My husband's sister had a baby last week . . . ten weeks early, thanks to Preeclampsia (ie, Toxemia). The typical baby arriving at 30 weeks and 1 day should weigh in around 3 lbs. This sweet girl was 2 lbs 2 oz.
The good news is that the worst seems to be over--she is now being fed 2 cc of breastmilk every three hours, has a fighting personality and appears to be a happy girl from all accounts (her daddy calms her down, her mommy gets her excited, much like their personalities!).
The next two months will be long for my sister-in-law and her husband, and somewhat long for the rest of the family as we bide the time with them; they expect her to be in NICU until close to her due date (which was Aug 11).
My children are so excited to have a "real" cousin...we have distant cousins and "chosen" cousins, but now they have a cousin of their own and my husband is beyond thrilled to be an uncle. I know I'm an aunt, but I suppose it will hit home a bit more when it's my brother who has a baby (this is a man who doesn't even have remotely possible prospect...my hopes are slim for a while yet!).
Welcome little one.
My bed is kinda my own for now...Baby J is in his crib, "side-car" to the bed, and some nights we get an early morning visitor for a few hours, but none of that really bothers me in the least.
The thing is, Miss C goes to bed better than she ever has in her life. She earned her baby bear. Bear, you ask? Yes, she saw an older Furreal baby bear at a nearby consignment shop for less than half the cost of that duck, and I was happy to let her switch her allegiances. Indeed, I bought it while she was out of site so it would not be gone once she filled out her chart (which only took one week--she never skipped a single night!).
Of course, the day she got her bear, which she lovingly takes everwhere, she told me she'd be sleeping in my bed again (I was ready to put the duck back on the chart and try again if necessary). I very simply said, "Oh, you sleep in your bed now" while she looked at me like someone was trying to trick her. So I continued, "Besides, your baby bear wants to sleep in your bed with you." Okay then, it's never been discussed again. Amazing. If she feels the need to join us around 4am or so, she just makes her way to our room without calling out or crying. So easy...(Little B, however, still calls for us if he needs anything in the night.)
So, at bedtime, Miss C is hittin' the hay when Little B is. You must understand that it has been difficult for a LONG time to get her to go to bed, especially after an unsolicited nap. Now, she likes calling across the hall to her brother, "Good night; don't let the bed bugs bite!" She gets ready fast and easy; she's empowered by being a big girl. I'm empowered by the simplicity that is so new at bedtime.
(Now, to make our days that simple.)
