Quiet weekend

Turns out that none of our projected weekend visitors are going to make it. One group had proposed coming at 10am...let me just say that we were barely ready for our Thursday guests who came at 1pm, so they're coming next weekend when they can come in the afternoon. The others won't be coming because of illness (boo) and work (boo).

I admit that I'm tempted to go to the neighborhood coffee shop with Heather this weekend. Firstly, because I want to try out the sling I made and secondly because I'm going just a tad stir crazy. The stir craziness has really only hit me once or twice, and it is brought into perspective quickly with a visit from friends. But starting Monday, Heather and I will be home alone during the day, and as long as the weather is cooperative, I'd like to feel confident at least walking to the coffee shop for adult interaction. Then again, without R around to make fun of my DVD choices, I might find a renewed enjoyment in staying inside. :-)

In knitting news, the squares of the log cabin blanket are seamed together and I've started a crochet edge all the way around. It may get finished sometime this weekend.

Visitors

(I tried to send this at 2:03pm, but it never showed up...)

We had our first round of visits from friends on Sunday.  Three of my
knitting friends and another couple came over in the afternoon.
Everyone loved Heather (of course) and she seemed to do really well.
Although later in the evening (when a coworker came for a quick visit),
Heather had one of her inconsolable crying periods.  Both the pacifier
and pinkie-pacifier were not good enough.  I fed her 3 times in 3 hours,
but it still took her quite a lot of crying time to finally settle down
and fall asleep.  Once she finally fell asleep on me, we didn't wake her
until it was absolutely necessary.   :-) 

I forgot to mention that Heather's Uncle Dustin (R's brother) came for a
visit on Thursday evening.  He was hesitant to hold her, but R was
able to persuade him.  In contrast, Heather's Aunt Tara (R's Sister)
barely put Heather down during her visit here yesterday.  Except when
Heather needed a diaper change and feeding!

We're expecting to receive more visits from friends on Thursday and
Saturday.  Though we are enjoying our quiet days, it is certainly nice
to see friends and share the new joy in our life.

Now I must go try to convince a cute sleeping baby that it is time to
eat. :-)

Strange and amazing

Heather only woke up twice last night. The second time, I woke up 5 minutes before she did - worried that something was wrong. It was surreal that she slept so much overnight, especially after sleeping so much of the evening.

Also, after she ate the second time, she was alert and uninterested in going back to sleep. R was kind enough to take her so I could go back to sleep once more. All told, I got 8 hours of sleep last night!

I have no illusions that this will happen on a regular basis (especially once R goes back to work), but it did feel good. And Stewart appreciated that I didn't disturb him every two hours. :-)

Heather slept quite a bit this afternoon but was pretty alert later in the evening. Who knows what tonight will bring. I don't think there are any discernible patterns yet, so every night is a surprise.

Tomorrow with have a visit with friends to look forward to in the afternoon. Maybe while Heather is being held by others I can grab a few minutes to work on her log cabin blanket!

Overdue

I've finally managed to caption the Heather photos and Nursery photos we've posted, mass email everyone I know, respond to emails received before today and post on a local message board. Now I just need to get "caught up" here. I was going to post a day by day description of the past week, but that's a bit much don't you think. :-)

My water broke at 2am on Friday and Heather was delivered by emergency c-section 5 1/2 hours later. Her birth was not really what we had envisioned, but we both came out healthy and we got great care, so I have no real complaints. These things can't be planned, right? :-)

The week has been going pretty well. Thankfully, my daughter knew how to latch on for breastfeeding from the beginning and except for a marathon overnight feeding a couple of nights ago, it has gone smoothly. She seems interested in sucking on something almost whenever she's awake (me, her fingers, her clothes, etc) so we were thankful to get the okay from the pediatrician yesterday to use a pacifier sparingly.

We had a good visit with the pediatrician yesterday. Everything looks good and she's back to gaining weight again. She's still a pretty tiny thing, though.

The three days in the hospital wasn't too bad. I admit that never having had surgery before, I was not looking forward to the stay. But all of the nurses were nice and helpful, and the ability to send Heather to the nursery for a couple of hours to ensure that we got *some* sleep was helpful as we were figuring out what we were doing. Especially since I didn't have much mobility until Sunday.

Initially, R and I both found that our instinct was to talk to Heather as we talk to the cats - saying "meow" and calling her "kitty". We are well trained. :-) A week later, this seems to have finally passed. Although i admit I've called the cats "kiddo" a few times, hoping to find a label that works for all of the little creatures in our house.

There is little knitting news. I haven't done any since we left the hospital. I did finish the main blocks of the last log cabin square. But it still need to have the ends woven in and the edge knitted before it can be attached to the rest of the blanket.

Heather is finally sleeping, after a long afternoon of eating, dozing, waking and fussiness. Time for me to try to grab a nap before she gets hungry again...

The three of us are well. We expect to leave the hospital by lunchtime. I look forward to being able to sleep when Heather does.

For those who haven't heard...Heather has arrived! Born on Friday at 7:38 am and weighing 6 lbs, 13 oz. We're all well. More soon

Many Photos

Some of these were taken last saturday while it was freezing outside, but there was lots of sun. Because of the sun and probably the presence of the camera I had kitty help...

R made sure that Nora got a close look at the camera.
Bib #1 from the Marcus and Max Party.
Bib #2 from the Marcus and Max Party.

Bib #3 from the Marcus and Max Party.
Bib #4 from the Marcus and Max Party.A purse I made over the summer. The body is a soy silk and wool blend. The flower is made with kidsilk haze.
Hats I made for Dulaan in January in the post-Christmas knitting release.


Here are the Cherry Hill socks. The upper one was the original attempt and the lower one is the attempt that actually fits my shins. :-)
Both finished...

A quiet birthday

Yesterday was a pretty relaxing day, and I keep telling myself it's the last really quiet day I'm going to have all to myself for a long time. That might sound a little cynical, and I don't really mean it that way. I just realize that there is no way to truly prepare ourselves for the way out lives are going to change when Miss M arrives, especially for me since I plan to breastfeed. I'm sure that I'm going to love being a mother and that the benefits will far outweigh the challenges. But that doesn't mean that I'm not going to miss the current "quietness" of our life from time to time. Even the women I know who love motherhood have days that they miss the pre-mommy days, so I just want to make sure I appreciate the few that I have left.

I slept in (after saying goodbye to R), I read my usual complement of websites, read email, responded to email, opened the door for the men who delivered the glider, made jello, worked on the log cabin blanket, watched "Hitch", watched some "Sound of Music" extras from my new birthday DVD, watched a few "Gilmore Girls" episodes, I talked to my mom and fed myself when appropriate. (I considered going to the coffee shop when the temperature was up to 20, but decided I didn't really feel like leaving the house. That's an urge I will have to fight when I'm on maternity leave...lets hope for a mild spring.) Once R got home, we watched the pilot episode of the original "Battlestar Galactica" series (he recently spent an amazon GC from christmas), I answered several birthday phone calls and we had breaded fish & mac'n cheese for dinner. (We're going out for the official birthday dinner on Friday night.)

If you pay attention to the description, I really didn't leave the couch too many times all day. Surprisingly, I didn't ever have a lap cat, despite a few investigations of what I was doing. Maybe I should have turned down the thermostat. ;-) I also didn't do any painting. I pondered it, but didn't feel like it. I was more in a knitting/watching TV mood. It will get done when it gets done.

Knitting - I finished the bands to go between the log cabin blocks and did a crochet seam between the pieces that are complete. On the bus this morning I started another block with the yellow yarn. Via comments and email, Option #2 was the unanimous winner - thanks for all of those who provided input.

Other Baby Stuff

First, the double-knitted washcloth inspired by the double-knitting episode of Knitty Gritty.

And second, a fair isle hat. The pattern and the yarn are Dale of Norway. The only colors I substituted are the darker green (for a different darker green) and the purple (for chocolate brown).

I've included a photo of the inside, for the knitters who care. :-) Lots of ends to weave in...

Log Cabin Opinion

Now that I go back and look at the picture, the square that is bothering me the most is the one with the navy accent.

Option #1 - Get another dark accent color so that there are two "dark" squares and two "bright" squares.

Option #2 - Replace the navy square with a yellow square (I have yellow cotton) and place it opposite the light green square.

Option #3 - Make a big blanket of 9 squares and use the navy in the center and bright squares all around.

Okay, #3 is really a much bigger blanket than I want, but color-wise, it is a viable option.

The advantage of option #2 is that I have the yarn here. Option #1 requires me to go out in the cold and depends on me being able to find an appropriate dark color - probably a dark green or a dark maroon.

I'm torn. Thoughts?

Cold

I'm not going to whine. The weather is what it is and considering how late the winter weather has come to us I'm not really complaining. We also had LOTS of sun this weekend, to the point that R and I were almost sweating during our Sunday brunch sitting in the bay window of our neighborhood coffee shop. The walk home didn't feel cold at all because we had stored so much warmth while we ate.

And, that was the only time I left the house all weekend. R did venture out on Saturday to retrieve the car from the shop (yay!), put gas in both cars and do the monthly grocery trip for cat litter and other things we can't/don't get at Whole Foods.

I'm still not sure about the pink square for the log cabin blanket. Except for the 2-row border, the square is done. I'm putting off the decision by knitting the solid purple bands that go between the squares. I took photos of the four squares together this weekend and I'll post them for comment tonight or tomorrow.

I also photographed the Dale of Norway hat, the double knitted washcloth and a few things I've made for myself that I've never bothered to document. (I'm much better about photographing things I'm giving away...) There are also some bib photos and pictures from the Meet Marcus and Max party that I need to post. I'm taking tomorrow off for my birthday and plan to deal with some or all of these photos then.

I did work on the baby's room quite a bit this weekend. R hung the pictures that were too high for me and I hung the IKEA shelves and a few smaller photos. I also worked on the mural, which is going well but slower than anticipated. I got the touch up done on the light and medium greens (the letters and the vines), but didn't finish the second coat of the dark green (background) or start the bugs. I was hoping to have it done by the time the glider is delivered tomorrow, but that doesn't seem likely. Oh well. I would prefer to be done painting before the baby comes, but it isn't the end of the world if I'm not and I don't want to push my back to the point that I'm miserable. I just have to take advantage of the time I have when I have it and continue to enjoy the creative process.

I plan to take nursery pictures tomorrow, even if the mural isn't finished. Mostly because the rest of the room will be and I want to make sure the progress gets documented before "the invasion".

Last, but not least, I still feel pretty good. The baby has dropped some, but I'm not having that "bowling ball between my legs" sensation that I've heard others describe and I'm not convinced that there is any significant progress toward labor going on. We shall see what progress the doctor finds on Friday, but I have been continuing to convince myself that she will be late to avoid disappointment. We could handle her arrival this week, but I'm not getting my hopes up. I also don't really need to start thinking about labor before it is absolutely necessary...

Nice to be appreciated

I just had a very good annual review for work. Got a nice raise and the sense that they're going to miss me while I'm on leave. The boss even joked about getting a crib to put by my desk so I could bring the baby in and come back sooner.

Yeah, I really want to breast feed in a cubicle. This is the same person who joked that they wished I could delay the birth for about 6 months. Men are so cute...

Motivation

The process of starting to pack last night made me realize that we only have two hats that aren't pink or lacy. (I'm not taking anything pink to the hospital, just in case something was missed on the ultrasound...) So I pulled the Dale of Norway hat back out and continued weaving in the many, many yarn ends. By bedtime I had only 5 left, so it should be blocking by the time I go to bed tonight.

I'm having second thoughts about the pink accent color I chose for the log cabin blanket. It's a very loud pink, and I'm having doubts. I plan to finish the block and lay it out with the others. If I decide not to use it, it will become the basis for a baby blanket for a little girl coming this summer who has a bright pink room with a purple border. And I'll go to Knit One and find another accent color. It would be nice to finish the blanket before our child comes, but I would rather have a finished project I love than to finish it when I'm not satisfied. Besides, I am taking Tuesday off for my birthday, so there will be lots of knitting time that day. :-)

We tried a new restaurant in our neighborhood last night. It has the potential to be the "family" restaurant that the neighbors say they want. They still seem a bit disorganized (they just opened on Tuesday) and the portions are really big, but my entree was very tasty and there seems to be an interesting variety of foods on the menu. Some neighbors are concerned that the menu is too eclectic, but I think they'll work that out in time and there are certainly enough "typical" options that it shouldn't turn anyone off. We'll see how they do.

Started packing

There is a pile of things to take with us to the hospital. The next
challenge is figuring out what bag it will all fit in. It really isn't
a ton of stuff, but the robe is very bulky. Plus, R will need to bring
the birthing ball, too, I don't want to make it all too awkward for
him. Though I assume he'll leave the ball in the car until I move from
triage to L&D.

The car seat is still a small issue, since we don't have our car back
yet. But I assume, worst case scenerio, R and my dad can install the
seat in whatever car we have during my 48 hour stay in the hospital. We
just hope it doesn't have to come to that. Last time R talked to the
dealer it sounded like the needed parts would be in soon...so let's all
cross our fingers that we get the car back before we have to go to the
hospital.

One Week

I didn't intend to go a week without posting. I think last week was just pretty uneventful (when I could have made time to post) and the weekend didn't involve a lot of time spent at the computer.

But the real reason for the title of the post is because my birthday is in one week. Normally, I would start counting down to the big day about a month before. (And I did take notice of January 6th, both because of it's proximity to my birthday and because I know 3 people whose birthdays fall on that day.) But for fairly obvious reasons I haven't been very focused on my birthday this year. :-) There is a part of me that would like her to come early. I wouldn't mind giving up a relaxing birthday in order to share it with her. But, I also wouldn't mind her being a little late so we can have a few more quiet weekends to prepare and I could get more done at work before going on leave.

It helps that I am not miserable physically. I moan and groan here and there, and changing position in bed and getting out of bed are growing more noticeably difficult. But I am not so unhappy that I am dying for her to show up. Which I think is pretty good for 37 weeks, 3 days. And the knowledge that her arrival is going to change our lives forever makes it that much easier to enjoy a quiet night watching TV and knitting while it lasts... (I also like the fact that there is no guilt associated with eating. I'm going to miss that!)

My next appointment is Friday morning. We shall see if there is any progress. Last week, the doctor was pretty positive that the baby is facing the right way and I don't have any signs of pre-eclampsia, so we don't expect another ultrasound or any interventions, other than the weekly check-ups.

On the knitting front, the first three log cabin squares of the blanket are done and I've started the fourth. I'm still going through options in my head of how to attach them and what to put between them. I did a garter row of accent color around each block and I definitely want some purple between the blocks. I just have to figure out what the "in between" stitch pattern is and what direction it runs.

I haven't done any more weaving in or sewing on the hat or the booties I started. I've been pretty focused on the blanket. Although I did take a quick break from it this weekend to make a double knitted washcloth. I watched an episode of knitty gritty that demonstrated double knitting, and I wanted to give it a try before forgetting what I had learned. I put the first letter of our last name on the washcloth, and I'm pretty happy with the result. I don't think it is a technique I'll use a lot, since it is a little awkward and slow, but it is a nice tool in the arsenal. I could see where it would make REALLY cozy gloves or a reversible hat. Maybe I'll try that when I get back to Dulaan knitting.

Lastly, I had my first ever pedicure on Saturday. Very lovely. And I managed not laugh or flinch - impressive with my ticklish feet. :-)

Restraint

At lunchtime, I needed a little distraction and a little time on my feet, so I wandered around the yarn shop across the street for a little while.

The advantages of having a shop so close to work is that I can pick up a set of needles, some sock yarn, yarn for a small present, etc with little planning. I've even rarely gone there to buy yarn at lunch because I finished my bus project on the way to work.

The disadvantage is that temptation is so close. There are many days that I don't leave the office for lunch (especially in the winter), but when I do it is difficult not to go browse. And I find that I can rarely browse and walk out empty-handed.

But today was an exception. I browsed and I didn't buy. I think this primarily a result of the products the shop carries and not any amazing power on my part. (I was in Jo-ann over the weekend and couldn't resist buying two skeins of kitchen cotton that I will use for baby stuff but don't immediately need. Even less so now that I have a car to drive and don't have to stock up on yarn because I don't know when I will next be in a yarn shop...)

Don't get me wrong, the shop has nice yarn. But when it comes to "basics" their options are not extensive. My other primary yarn shop has a large section of wall filled with Cascade 220 and Lamb's Pride in a variety of colors. This shop has a wall of wool in a variety of colors, but there are more brands and thicknesses, and many of them only come in 3-4 colors. This shop also doesn't have any basic cotton - It's all significantly blended (50 cotton, 50 nylon) or mercerized - which isn't great for bibs and washcloths. Lastly, the shop carries a lot more funky yarns than I think a shop of such a small size should have. I've seen a lot of women in there buying novelty yarn and big needles, so I assume it serves them well...I just have no interest in it.

Anyway, the current possible project I'm mulling over is the circle of fun rug from Mason Dixon Knitting. It would be for the baby's room. I really should do so stash diving before I make any purchases to see if I have the beginnings of possible yarn for this project. Partially, I need to find a cost-effective means of obtaining the yarn, and at the same time I'm not really sure what colors from the room I want to pull into the rug. I might need to wait until we have the glider to see what's what.

(For those who know our registry - yes, there is a rug on there. And yes, I would still like to have it. I'm just not assuming that we're actually going to get it. And even if we did, the room is big enough that we could easily use two rugs.)

Less than a month to go (probably) - My back, a party and TV catch-up

I hit 36 weeks this weekend. On Saturday, this pregnancy will be full term.

Our child will likely be born 2-6 weeks from now.

The most popular question at the moment is whether we are ready. Honestly, I don't know that anyone is really ever ready, so I just keep saying that we're about as ready as we're going to be. There are a few more chapters of a couple more books that I would like to read. There is a little more painting and knitting I'd like to get done. There are a few more things we plan to buy during the next credit card period. But really, if she arrived tomorrow we wouldn't be caught totally off guard.

(Okay, I haven't packed my hospital bag yet, and I have tickets to a show tomorrow night that I'd like to see...but otherwise we wouldn't be caught off guard. ;-)

I had a back relapse on Thursday afternoon. It never got quite as bad as it did Thanksgiving weekend, but it lasted longer and required tylenol and heat to totally go away. In this case I blame vacuuming and mopping from Wednesday night - so those are off-limits tasks for a while. Hopefully the house won't get too bad...or if it does I will be able to convince R to deal with it.

In order to continue using the heating pad and to take multiple breaks, I worked a half day from home on Friday. I completed the task I had intended and got a little straightening up done in preparation for Saturday. I had considered going into work in the afternoon if I was feeling okay, but I took a surprising 1 1/2 hour nap at 10:30 (I didn't think I was that tired...) and the possibility of going in went out the window. Especially as I sat in the cozy house watching the snow fall outside...

Saturday was the "Meet Marcus and Max Party" at our house. It was a lovely time and we actually had four small children in attendance - Finn @ 8 weeks, Max @ 5 months, Marcus @ 9 months and Vivian @ 1 year. They were all well-behaved and fun to watch. It was great to spend the afternoon with some of my favorite ladies and get to see their little ones in action. I was a little worried that it would be overwhelming and put some fear in to me about what we have to expect, but it was actually pretty reassuring. I realize that our newborn might not sleep as much as Finn seemed to or be as content being held by others as Marcus is...but even the occasional crying and fussiness didn't freak me out too much, especially since they all seemed to be so "easily" calmed by their mothers. (I put that in quotes because it might not seem so easy to all of the mothers, but it seemed like it to me!) All I had to do was straighten up the house (which has the added bonus of leaving us with a mostly clean house afterward), make the Stouffer's lasagna and clean-up afterward. Very easy, even at 8 months pregnant. ;-)

Between my recovery time on Thursday evening and last night, R and I got "caught up" on LOST and Battlestar Galactica. We finished watching Season 2 of LOST and rewatched all but one of the Season 3 episodes from the DVR (finally, we have space again!). For BSG, we had recorded the Season 3.0 marathon from 1/15, although somehow it didn't record the first three. :-( We read the episode synopses and I'll be on the lookout for them. The Season 3.5 premiere of BSG was last night, and we finished the last episode of 3.0 20 minutes before it aired. Timing is everything. :-) I didn't stay up to watch it, though I did watch the opening sequence before going up to get ready for bed just to make sure that Adama wasn't going to nuke the planet.

Both for the sake of the DVR and our sanity, it is nice to be caught up on both series. It wasn't even too confusing when we were watching alternate episodes of each one. :-) I realize I am not a "typical" female for enjoying Science Fiction, but I think it is really the genre that R and I enjoy the most together. We're each willing to watch other things that the other enjoys (TV and movies), but I think Science Fiction (a over the top comedies by Mel Brooks, Steve Martin, etc) are where we have the most interest in common. Although I'm a bit more dis-interested by series I haven't seen from the beginning. I really didn't get into BSG until we watched from the beginning, and I had a similar reaction to Firefly and LOST (though not really science fiction, I think it has elements in common).

I also think the DVR is going to be a savior when we have an infant in the house!

Painting

I don't think the mural will be totally done by Saturday, as I had hoped, but it will certainly be far enough along that my guests will be able to get the gist. All that is left to do of the first coat is the dark green around the vines. Then all of the medium and dark green needs a second coat and the light needs a bit of touching up where there is pencil showing.

I'm not going to start the bugs and insects until the rest is done. It was just too hard to see where they should go when the letters and vines were drawn in pencil. I also need to look at my acrylic paint stash and see if I need any colors!

I think I'm going to do a light green background for each insect first, so I won't have to work so hard to get them to show up on the dark green background. I'm also still debating about whether I'm going to add any veining on the vines or just leave them solid.

One more positive

If I would have been in drive instead of reverse when I made my pedal mistake I would have hit our neighbor's car who has the annoying habit of parking in the alley directly opposite our garage. Probably would have done less damage to our car, but much damage to hers.

It could have been worse...much worse...

And yes, I will stop obsessing over this soon and get back to fun topics like babies and knitting.

2 steps forward, one back

Yesterday was better than I expected, although there are still obvious residual issues from Sunday night's "event".

Positives for the car - the repairs are covered by insurance, including most of the cost of a rental car during repairs, and the car has been received by the dealer.

Negatives for the car - we don't know how long the repairs will take and they won't start them until the insurance company looks at the car and approves the estimated cost.

Positives for the garage - R and I made the repairs to the frame of the garage door yesterday. Before we put up the last piece of trim, we ran the garage door and it was running better than it had been before our repairs.

Negatives for the garage - After putting up the last of the trim, the garage door refused to operate. R took it off of the automatic opener, and it moved along it's track just fine. So it is apparently just an issue of tension or sensitivity. (It shouldn't be a major repair, but it will require us to call someone...)
Also, in the semi-negative category, our frame repair was really just a band-aid job. It is stronger than it was, but the frame really needs to be disassembled and rebuilt properly, which is not something we really had the time or inclination for yesterday. It's also unclear when it will be warm and dry enough to prime, paint and caulk the new trim...but given what this winter has been like, it seems likely that we'll get the opportunity before spring

Other positives:

Though yesterday's constant wetness and rain made the job less fun, the temperature's in the 50s weren't bad. Especially when you consider that today's temps are in the 30s and it has been snowing all morning...

We finished before it got dark, and R was able to spend the evening with a friend as planned and I was able to work on the mural in the nursery.

Despite the downsides and unplanned nature of our work, it has been a while since R and I have worked on a home improvement project together, and it is nice to work together as a team. It was as fun as it could be, under the circumstances.

I still feel kind of crappy about the whole thing, but the emotional response to talking and thinking about it seems to have passed. I don't think I'll really stop feeling bad until the car is fixed and the garage door is working again.