I'm old!
And no it's not because I am technically a year older, because my age isn't really old in the grand scheme of life. BUT! The fact that yesterday I woke up and decided that for my birthday I wanted a clean house! Oh my! I've become my mother! With the help of my children we managed to clean the entire house except 3 1/2 rooms - my room, kitchen, William's room (which needs organizing/tossing of toys that I started last week) and the last half of the bathroom which requires someone else to clean the kitty litter since I'm not supposed to, then just me mopping the floor. I climbed on chairs and wiped at dust, I vacuumed corners that haven't seen light in years (between bookshelf and sofa). It looks good, now I just have to avoid the kitchen, because I've run out of steam. ;)
I have to say though that after the doctor diagnosed the anemia, and I started on iron supplements that I feel great! I have energy, I don't have to nap, I can clean my house. I'm like super woman on speed! ;) Ironically I'm waking up earlier and earlier, this morning being 7 am.
We woke up to a thunderstorm this morning. Arianna bolts upright in bed... looking around with her sleepy head... "What was that?" Apparently she was not expecting a thunderstorm. William woke up about a half hour later, same thing! Then he proceeded to give myself and Ari a lesson in lightening safety; stay away from windows, don't play in the rain. Aislyn woke up a bit later, and knew it was a thunderstorm. Made me laugh.
I received Miss Pickle's take home outfit in the mail today. It's soo tiny and sweet! I hope she isn't a huge baby or something, lol. It's very overcast here today, so the coloring isn't 100% accurate.
Correction: I was inaccurate when I stated that William's webkinz was Cat Soup, indeed that was one of the contenders in the beginning, but he had decided to name him "Kitty Sauce." Which seems 10x worse. But that is the name, and here he is decked out in his threads. sweater pattern here
Saturday I made this cute little hat, I was hoping it would match the take home outfit once it arrived, but it's not quite the right shade for the pale pink flowers. So I'll need to find some yarn that matches better. This was an easy knit, I'd say beginner lace maybe? I mean it is lace so it's not as simple as garter stitch. ;)
Vine Lace Baby Hat
I snapped this photo of Ari the other day while she was coloring first thing in the morning. Her hair is all the wild and crazy. She's growing it out, which requires she first put effort into brushing it, once I remind her she is quick to hop to it. She hates when I brush her hair.
I tried having Ari take a photo of me for a new belly picture, but alas she scares me holding my new camera, she can't seem to hold it steady to not get it to blur (its very sensitive), and she always chopped off parts of me. So this is me attempting to take it on my own, lol...
And this is pretty much what I feel like, and I fear will look like by the end! eek.
I swelled in the hospital so badly with Ari, in fact her entire pregnancy I was so uncomfortable in my own skin. It hasn't been as bad this time, the only big difference in my life is that I don't work or attend college right now... so I'm not on my feet hiking campus in the winter, or working on my feet 35 hours a week on top of it... I think it helps. Another theory I will not be testing. ;)
Friday, March 28, 2008
let's be cliche for a moment...
Of all the foods offered in this world, I'm happily munching on a pickle. Wha? Pregnant woman eating a pickle, alert the press, I know you've never heard of such a thing. But it's the perfect food (that and green olives), because you can't eat much of them, and they cure cravings for foods you do not have accessible.
I have some 70 plus days until this baby pickle arrives, and no longer having the "90 day return" excuse I have purchased a few items. One of which is her take home outfit! It hasn't arrived yet, but when it does I will be sure to share pictures. It is from the Zutano line that I posted the other day. I can't wait!
Here's a ticker with a day countdown incase you wondered where I pull these numbers from. ;) I plan the c-section on Tuesday so I'll probably get a whole new ticker for counting down to maniacal chaos. Think the nurses will go on about "how crazy I am?" or "how busy I will be?" ;)
I finished knitting the baby blanket, hooray! I love, love, love the comfy, squishy, snuggly finished project, I just have the hardest time investing in a larger project. But my "one knit project at a time" made me push through and got it done.
I cast on a sweater for Willis' webkinz, strangely named "Cat Soup"... I don't know where that name came from, all I know is that when I registered it on the official website I had him give the pet an alias, of which he decided "Cake" was a good one. I wasn't sure if they'd ban the account because they might find "Cat Soup" inappropriate. While my son has no ill intentions in the name, it doesn't conjure the loveliest of images.
I'm trying to talk my mom into having me and the kids over on Sunday, in celebration of my birthday. I've decided that when you get older the only real use of a birthday is to guilt people into babysitting your children. Since I don't have anyone to spoil me for my birthday other than my children (I forsee a pile of handmade cards in my future), I thought spending the day with the woman who birthed me might be pleasant, not to mention she annually does a birthday dinner *hem* my s.dad does the cooking *hem* but mom is burnt out apparently from Easter last weekend, when my sister and her family made an impromptu visit demanding the fixings. So it may just be a weekend of running errands and picking up garbage in my front yard, which some neighbor apparently thinks is a good replacement to a garbage can. Other people's garbage really gives me the heebie jeebies. While I realize it's unlikely to catch disease, I see each piece of garbage as a carrier like the monkey in Outbreak.
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
farewell chicago
Ah back home, back to all the things that I left behind. We got all the bags unpacked right when we got home, and laundry is caught up again and put away. Now if only I could reclaim my counters from the mountains of Easter candy.
Jeremy wanted to get the vehicle checked up before I left for Chicago after it's episode on Sunday going to my moms. So we did that, and the guy didn't put the fuel line back in properly and alas... we were leaking gas. This was Thursday night, we were supposed to leave by 8 on Friday morning. They fixed it without cost.
The drive up on Friday was agonizing, I get sick from this pregnancy more than I did with the others (at this stage in the game, Ari's morning sickness still takes the prize). Friday I spent the morning curled up, ill, and not sure I'd make the trip, didn't make it out of the driveway without having to get out of the car to get sick, of course as a car drives by. My driveway is on a very unused road, and the chances of a car driving by is rare, let alone at that exact moment. Alas we made it up, the kids were well behaved until the last 20 minutes, Ais decided to exploit the use of the middle seat by poking her brother and sister.
Birthday Cake Decorating
My s.mom made a cake for Ais since her birthday is coming up, and I kept telling the little gal that it was my birthday cake, since my birthday is before hers. (Shes been asking nearly daily for months when her birthday is.) Dad was set in charge of the decorating, and he's a bit of a control freak... by the end he had paid the kids off with spoons of frosting and finished the sides by himself. It's supposed to be a ballerina bear.
Easter morning chaos
My s.mom spoiled the kids with their baskets and gifts, and we did the mandatory Easter Egg hunt. She fills some plastic eggs with one dollar coins, and the kids went crazy for those.
Chicago off I55
I love this city, I get sad when I have to leave it. Dad wanted this photo taken, I've taken it before on a foggy day, two Octobers ago.
Shedd Museum photos
Two of my sisters were sick, so we went in my Dad's van with him and my youngest sister, Ari's best friend. They are only 5 months apart, but Makayla is a very tall girlie! I got in trouble in this photo for using my flash, the rest of the photos are flashless.
Shark in the deep
Nemo & Marlon
The Dolphin Show
Looking out at Lake Michigan and the city
Watching the Beluga Whales
Sweet Penguins
Ari and Makayla asked lots of questions. My favorite was Ari asking how they "fertilize the egg" lol. The woman answered it in her ear and not on the microphone; Ari couldn't remember what she said.
Miss Ais calls Teddy Grahams "Graham Grahams." I love that.
I should probably get back to my grocery list, and I hope to finish up the baby blanket today too so I can get started on other items.
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Tomorrow, oh tomorrow...
How easy it is to put something off for tomorrow! We all know the saying, don't put off for tomorrow what can be done today. Realistically though, we can't do everything in one day, and sometimes it is good to delegate something to another day. But I can't say that is my case at this exact moment. I need to clean my house again, I could put it off for tomorrow, but I shouldn't, because it's bugging me now, I have tons to do tomorrow, and nothing big planned for today. So I will not put it off, but oh how I'd like to, oh how I'd like to have someone else come wash the dishes that pile after just one meal with all these rascals.
I've heard many women complain while pregnant that "they are pregnant, not disabled". I remember being flustered a few times with past pregnancies with things I was capable of doing, but people thought they should do for me... that would be nice right about now. "Oh dear, let me carry up all the laundry, and vacuum the floors cause I know your back aches.... let me stop by the store to buy you some groceries cause taking all those kids has got to be exhausting." And I would gladly accept it all! ;)
I'm looking for the perfect, newborn take home outfit. I love doing this, and I like my outfits to be newborn sized, not 0-3. Sure they don't get to where them forever, but you can hold up an itty outfit and say, "I brought you home in this tiny thing." I love that. I really like kimono style tops and while I've found some (posted a few back days back), I haven't found any in a newborn size, until now! Zutano to save the day!
Here is their newborn *girl* prints, they come in all different styles, including wraps and kimono.
How sweet are those? Unfortunately I am not going to pay roughly $38 plus shipping for a take home outfit. So I'm looking for them on clearance, so far to no avail, but if anyone sees them on sale, let me know, I would be very grateful.
Sunday we head up to the farm for my dad's birthday party, it was just us, with my other sister working, and no clue on the youngest one, she's never around to begin with.
My Dad took the kids out on a hike, and until the younger two fell in mud they were happy little clams. Once their knees hit the mud though he had to wailing kids coming back from the fields. Apparently William spent the entire time crying "Mommmyyyy!" How sweet is that? Sweet of course only to me, and not for my Dad who had to actually hear it. Here they are warming up while their pants dried off, they wanted cocoa but by the time they got back it was near time to hit the road.
I passed my Glucose test, woot! I actually wasn't concerned over this, until my nurse called me back, I screened it cause I didn't know the number (yes I admit to screening unknown numbers!), and it was my nurse. Eek. They never call if the results are good, so I called her right back and thankfully it wasn't me failing my test, how bad would that have been!?! But instead just telling me that yet again I'm anemic. I had this with all of my girls now, and it explains my constant exhaustion, my dizziness, and nearly passing out from time to time... so I have to pick up more iron to take on top of my prenatals. With Ais I was on two iron supplements plus my prentals to keep my iron at the minimum range. That my dear friends is a lot of iron. Surprisingly I didn't have this issue with my son at all. Not sure if there is some medical correlation or just a coincidence, I'm not planning to have anymore to test this theory. ;)
We are taking the vehicle into the shop for a few check ups, before me and the kids hit the road to Illinois. I have never driven this trip without another adult, and since being with Jeremy I've only driven it once without him, and we had *just* started dating, and I drove up with my cousin. So it's really weird to think of going alone, not only that, but my Dad and s.mom go to bed sooo early. Before being with Jeremy I had friends out there, but they are of course all grown up and moved on. So this is my next big step to overcome, because as silly as it may sound, it's sad for me to drive up alone, and sleep alone, and go to the Shedd Museum alone... *yes the kids will be there, and my dad/family, but I'm talking about with the man I married, who we'd have inside jokes, and who enjoys looking at Museums the same way I do. I'm going to miss the companionship.*
I should get my house cleaned, and bathe the kids, and have an accomplished Tuesday, since Saturday went so well. I have the kids up in the girls' room helping to straighten that mess out. I do not remember ever making as big of messes as these guys do, granted I was an only child until I was 7, and even then I was alone in the summers at my Dad's house.
Saturday, March 15, 2008
accomplished saturday
I woke up in good spirits this morning, it was Saturday after all, and my first Saturday off since Feb. 23rd, so it was long overdue. Jeremy never could understand why I enjoyed weekends so much considering I stay at home mom, but I still do daycare, homeschool, and web work... weekends matter to this girl. Plus I can finish my blog design without feeling guilty having paying clients to give my attention to.
I have quite a bit to report about yesterday, it might be painfully slow on my end as I am the referee yet again! Gah! I do not want to be a ref, or have to say one more time to not hit, jump on furniture, or to pick up their mess... I'd like to send them all to bed with the constant fighting by Ais, the whining by Ari, and the stubborn Willis, but being only 5:40, I think it's a tad early.
Friday I had my glucose test, due to issues with the hospital I was over 20 minutes past the hour to get my blood drawn. Seems I should pass without issue just from that minor error with their registration. Why is it, that me, with no medical degree have more common sense than someone who works there? Baby girl's heartbeat was 140, and she was measuring a bit ahead still (didn't ask for the exact number), and so with some persuasion (a hidden talent of mine), I will be peeking at the little miss on April 1. And also setting up the c-section date too, so it will be a big day for me. :)
Last night I dragged the troop down to the mall so I could get my hair cut, it's been since September and it was due. I don't mind it, I'll like it more in a week or two, but that's the usual story. It's pretty short, and I woke up and said to myself, "I need a headband." So I made one. It's Heather Bailey's pattern, and it comes in sizes for adult, children, and babies.It's far from perfect, an iron would make sewing easier especially for this particular headband, but I made it work and I'll admit I'm quite proud of myself. I didn't have to phone Kris once on this... now the baby top I am working on will have to wait for another day cause with the blog/photos/kids/headband I'm exhausted, and I still have dinner to make.
Before all the wild behavior, we did have a good morning with clay. The kids have been itching to break this new clay out of the packages and start molding, and after breakfast that's just what we did. William made a great "Man in the Yellow Hat" and when I asked them all to make "Aliens" the response was pretty fun! Here's just one photo of Ari's dinosaurs.
I cast on my next big project for knitting, Aayla Knit Blanket for the little miss. It's Knit Picks Crayon in buttermilk and pink. It's very soft and squishy, love this yarn. It is a mindless knit which means I can pay more attention to the details on Cold Case or more often than not a Disney flick.
I had snapped a few photos recently of the kids for my blog, I wanted some fresh ones that were bright and cheery like the spring that will come to the midwest at some point. Here are the three that made it to the top.
Now I'm off to finish making The Pioneer Woman's Chicken Spaghetti for dinner.
image courtesy of the pioneer woman.
Thursday, March 13, 2008
baby goodness
I sit down to do a quick update, I'd like to get into this again, because it's nice to look back on and all of that fun stuff. And here it's telling me the site is going down for an outage at 5 Pacific... which is my time. now. So let's see how accurate they are with their timing and if I can actually post!
The woman I babysit for requested I give her my maternity leave schedule as soon as possible. If that isn't an eye opener about the new baby, then I don't know what is!(because late night bathroom trips and a large stomach isn't visual enough for me apparently). I have my glucose test tomorrow, hoora for that bad boy. yuck. I get to spend at least one hour sitting at the doctor's office, I haven't decided what to bring with me yet to entertain me.
So my Dad emailed me letting me know also that my due date was fast approaching, and what was I going to do for a vehicle... Simple math says that as of June my family will no longer fit in my vehicle, and that this should be remedied if I plan to go anywhere. Oy Vey! The complications involved in this are just astronomical. I won't even get into all of it, but I've told myself from the beginning that I will not fret, that something will work out (God I hope so!), and now it seems I'm getting to the point that I need to start looking into this, and getting it figured out. I don't know what I'm going to get or do yet. I'm tired of making decisions, someone want to just do this thing for me, only slightly kidding. ;) Maybe I need a life coach like on Gilmore Girls.
My sister came over the other night, we got a pizza, googled weirdo people, and laughed about nonsense. It was nice. :) I got to see my nephew too, who I rarely ever see ironic as that is.
Isn't Landon getting so big? Erika cracked me up saying how when William was little, she thought to herself 'I hope my kid doesn't have a big head.' and her little Landon indeed has a large noggin.
My own little rocket scientist. **heart** This is William when he was 5 months old. His little noggin grew faster than his hair could keep up. He doesn't have a hair problem now though that's for sure.
Last photo for the day, I have only taken the above two photos since I last posted. I was full of energy today and planning to take over the world by sewing a top for the baby girl, and as I told Kris I got stuck on step 2... oh so pathetic I am. ;) Hopefully she can help me out tomorrow and I can get this top finished and move onto the nicer fabric.
Until next time, adieu!
Friday, March 07, 2008
is there a bottom?
Winter can be quite beautiful, as the photo above shows. I snapped this next to my parent's farm. We (kids and I) enjoyed watching the sunset, and all the pretty colors, against the dark tree line and over the white snowy fields... breathtaking (more so in real life than the photo). But soon after we hopped out of the car, into the chilly air, and hurried indoors. The kids actually built a snowman the next day and it warmed to 31 degrees, let me tell you, we thought we needed shorts. And you think I'm kidding. ;) It just shows how warped your perception gets in life.
You know the complaint that SUV drivers do not use their vehicle the proper way, aka driving them on off road terrain. Welll.... that case would not stand a chance in my pokey town, oh no. The roads are worst than off road driving. It's gotten so bad that people are at a stand still in traffic to avoid driving over a pot hole, cause seriously, is there a bottom? I've found a few that swallowed the front of my SUV, I'd hate to be in a car, you might never come out.
Of course the neighboring town repairs their roads so this isn't an issue, it's literally noticeable just crossing the city borders, and we are connected towns. There is discussions on what roads to avoid, which is just sad when it actually takes over conversations about the weather.
On another front I snapped those cutie toes the other day. I am working on a new blog design while doing other projects, and all I need is to fill up the photo spaces with new ones. At the rate I've been taking photos it should only take a month to fill the five spaces.
Proof above that I've done some knitting, even I surprise myself at times. I've been in a creative funk since fall, I hate it! Every time I feel like I'm creeping out, something pushes me back in. I got gorgeous yarn for Christmas from my parents, and it's still in the box. I did take it out to snap photos for ravelry stash, but back in the box it is.
In response to my post about purchasing/creating for the new sweet pea, well I've finished the above project. I dyed the wool myself with cherry, pink lemonade, and lemonade kool-aid and varieties. I made these true newborn size, meaning they are tiny, and oh so cute. Posted specifics here. I also purchased some fabric that was on sale to try to sew an outfit, now I just need to unbury my sewing machine.
Likewise I found a few things that are sweet: chocolate/pink kimono top, Kimono Coverall, Kimono bodysuit, Travel System.
We've had an indecent dolly running around these parts, and being that it's still wintry we needed to remedy this quick. I cast on last night during Lost, and hope to finish it today. It's going to be a simple dress when it's all said and done. The doll we purchased from Jen at my boho baby back in 2006! This girlie is still kicking it, you can see her in her original clothing here.
credit: ellasmama
Ais will be FOUR in about 40 days or something, we counted it out in the car the other day as she is most anxious for this momentous occasion. She loves horses and dolls and dressing them. I was thinking it'd be great to get her a nice doll she can dress, and that I can make items for (the above doll is 12" and I can't sew clothes that small without difficulties). I was looking at craftster and saw the cutie above. They have buttonhole arms, which I love, so they are poseable. Alas I am not talented enough to make one, and they aren't for sale.
Well there you have it, I think I ran through everything I wanted to mention, off to finish my grocery list, and head out the door. Oh one last thing, home depot has workshops for kids ages 5 and up, check here to see what is available in your area, it looks like they make toys. I'm hoping to catch the next one here.
Sunday, March 02, 2008
101 days to go....
We spent the weekend at my mom's, you see the woman I babysit for headed down to Vegas, and I took care of her son for the five days she was away. She got off the plane, stripped off her extra layers, and walked down the street with the sound of people swimming in pools... I really have no desire to ever see Vegas, but at this moment when everyone is thinking 40 degrees is high... I have to say the desert sounds appealing.
A weekend at my mom's might sound relaxing, considering that I now have two adults to help out with the four kids, but in many respects it's exhausting! Kind of like a mini vacation, with lots of luggage to carry (even for one night, that adds up quickly with five people PLUS dogs! Yes I brought the dogs cause they can't stay home all day without being let out.), then we are a guest in a home, so there isn't a ton of their toys, they have to be careful because my folks aren't used to children, so scissors on coffee tables and prescription pills on sofas is a normal occurence. Granted the pills were in a purse, but it wasn't closed. Then add the bathroom sink not working, and Drano all over the place, yikes.
But I enjoyed the company and they babysat all the kids Friday night so I could go out to eat with Kris, get some adult conversation in. It seems like ages since I've done anything with her, I don't know where all my time is going, but I'm pretty sure a lot of it is wasted, seeing as I can't recall what I did before the weekend, couldn't of been that important. Then I went and saw Semi-Pro, the new Will Ferrel movie. I adore him, I know his characters and acting is all pretty much the same, but he is in many of my favorite movies, I enjoy laughing, and he reminds me of my days watching SNL and the cheerleader skits.
I'm ready for spring, and yet totally unprepared. I've been telling myself when it gets to 90 days until the due date/c-section (I schedule that this month) that I will then do my shopping. But honestly, I haven't found any outfits that strike me as must have and the big items that I picked out, I need to wait for 90 days because most of it is pink, and if she becomes a he in the next 101 days (until my due date!), then I'm out of luck with a son in a pink stroller. So 101 days to go until my due date, and considering I'll be going before then I should be getting close to that 90 days, but I just have no oomph or great anticipation for the shopping aspect. Nothing is good enough for my limited funds LOL. I see a cute outfit, which she is going to need since Jeremy had me good will most of our baby stuff this past summer cause "we were done" , but I think - $10 dollars for ONE outfit... man I could buy gas ($3.00 a gallon, seriously?!?!), or bread, or paper towels... fill in the blank, there is always something to buy.
I suppose when I get to 90 days, Ill tell myself, hey I have 90 days left, that's a long time. And really why do I need the stroller/car seat this second, it's not like she is here yet to use it. ;) I'm a chronic procrastinator, and I don't "nest" as many pregnant people do, at least not since my first kiddo. What I'd really love to do is paint my main floor, but seeing as you aren't supposed to while pregnant, and I can't imagine anyone wants to come do it for me, it is destined to stay ugly. You may think, oh hey painting is nesting.... don't get too excited, I've been wanting to paint long before I got pregnant. But now that I have it all visioned out, I really want to do it, this second, this moment, because while I procrastinate, I'm also inpatient.
