Socks, Socks and More Socks!

Once again I’ve been neglecting my blog in favor of spending time with my kids during the summer and crafting.  Just yesterday I took the boys to the Auntie Shannon’s house and we went swimming in her condo’s pool.  It was a lot of fun.  We actually haven’t been swimming all summer and both boys really enjoyed it.  Even Bug taught himself to go underwater and Fidget was enjoying jumping in when he was wearing his floaties.  Everyone was thoroughly tuckered out, including me.  I could barely focus on our roleplaying game last night and didn’t even have the focus to work on the vanilla pattern sock I’m currently working on.

We’ve also been spending a lot of time at our local library.  Every summer they have the “Summer Reading Program.”  Kids are encouraged to read so many minutes a week and they earn little prizes for their success.  The culmination is an ice cream social with a magician.   This summer the kids made dream pillows (Bug’s was a mouse in space wearing a space helmet so he didn’t eat his cheese house), worry dolls (Bug’s was a ninja), wind chimes using clay pots, and they even tasted jelly beans to vote on the best tasting.  Bug read over 25 hours!  He’s still reading, too, even though the program ended.  He’s got a stack of books that he personally checked out on his own library card!

On the crafting front, I’ve been mostly working on socks.  Since my last craft post I’ve finished 6 more pairs of sock, a Bullseye stuffy and got most of the Spring Flowers blanket done.  Here are some pictures of my complete projects.

These are a pair of belated birthday socks to myself.  For my birthday I went to the awesome LYS, Trumpet Hill, and picked out some sock yarn.  When I was there I was introduced by the wonderful staff, to Opal’s Van Gogh Sock yarn.  The awesome yarn designers took the colors from some of Van Gogh’s famous paintings and turned them into yummy yarns!  Since it was late in the month, Trumpet Hill was running low on colorways, so I picked out a skein of In Variation Nach.  I asked if there was a colorway of Starry Night, since it is one of my favorite Van Gogh paintings (we have a print hanging in our living room) and there was, but they didn’t have it in stock.  Fast forward a couple weeks and I saw on Facebook they’d received a new shipment of the Van Gogh yarn and when I asked, they said they had Starry Night!  Squee!  I rushed over that evening to pick up a skein and also came home with a skein of Vase with Sunflowers, too!  Of course I cast on the first sock as soon as I got home!

Van Gogh’s Starry Night Socks

Barbara (Knittin and Kittens) and I did a KAL (Knit Along) for these interestingly designed socks called Carousel Socks.  We both stumbled over this pattern on Pinterest and decided to give it a try together.  I’m glad we did.  These socks had very interesting construction and we ran into the same issues together, which made getting through the project a little easier.  We’ve both decided that while it was nice to learn a new technique, we probably won’t be making these again any time soon.  They are comfy, though and I do wear mine regularly.

Carousel Socks

Upon finishing the Carousel Socks, Barbara and I decided to venture into the world of Sideways Socks.  This was another pattern that had a unique construction.  We made some major modifications to the pattern after reading notes from others on Ravelry.  I’m glad we did because otherwise our socks would have come out being knee highs!  We also modified the heel to do increases and then decreases around the other side and Kitchener the seam at the top rather than cutting the yarn and rejoining.  I think we’re both agreed again that while it was nice to learn something new, we won’t be making these again any time soon!  lol

Sideways Socks

I’ve also been getting ready for a craft fair in September.  I’ve got some baby blankets and some baby bibs done, but want to have some socks as well.  I pulled out some worsted weight (thick yarn) and made these Broken Rib socks.  They will make great boot socks for someone (with a size 9 foot) here in the great northeast during the cold winter!  They are very thick, cushy and warm!

Broken Rib Socks

Another pair of socks for the craft fair are these Pink Camouflage socks.  These are a size 9/10.  I kind of like this colorway for myself, but I’m going to save them for selling.

Pink Camo Socks

I’ve also started on another pair of striped socks for the craft fair.  I have a feeling these are going to be identically striped socks…fingers crossed, anyway.  It’s the same yarn and colorway I used for the Carousel socks.  It’s called Harlequin.  I really like this color and stripes, so I may have to pick up some more to make myself a pair.  I currently plan to make this pair of socks a size 7/8 so I can have a variety of sizes.

Harlequin Socks

I also finished a pair of socks for Darling Hubby.  His “Whether He Wants Them or Not” Socks.  Unfortunately, I don’t have a picture.  He’s worn them and they are ok.  He said they were a bit slippery and I noticed that they stretched a bit more than I thought.  I think that’s the yarn I used, which is a bit of a heavier sock/fingering weight.  It’s a learning experience.

I also finished a Bullseye amigurumi for Fidget.  He’s on a Toy Story kick.  He loves anything and everything to do with Buzz and Woody.  He has a big stuffed Woody and Buzz, little mini ones and even a talking Woody.  The one thing he didn’t have was Bullseye.  I searched Ravelry high and low for a pattern that I could turn into Bullseye and the wonderful April Draven made one called “Brown Pony” that was exactly what I’d been searching for.  Apparently it had to be renamed because apparently someone was unhappy with it’s former name.    I actually managed to whip this little guy out in 24 hours!

Ride Like the Wind, Bullseye!

I’ve also been working on the Spring Flowers blanket.  It’s been tough working on it since it’s been so hot…I just don’t want to sit under a hot blanket on an 80* day.  I’m getting to the finish line, though.  I’ve gotten most of the border done and then I need to weave in all those ends…I’m kinda dreading that!  lol

So, that’s it for now.  Kind of a big ol’ Finished Object Friday post…

Fraternal or Identical?

I finished another pair of socks in record time this week.  I cast on Monday night at Craft Night (because I was tired of making hexes and because I was at our agreed upon stopping point for the Carousel sock and wanted something else to work on) and had both socks completed by Sunday afternoon…less than a week.  It was kinda a belated birthday present to myself, since my birthday was Friday.

This pair (number 6 on the sock counting tally) is made with Berroco Sox yarn in color 1476.  There’s lots of purples, pinks, blues and white in this yarn.  I love doing plain vanilla sock patterns and using a self-striping yarn. I don’t have to think about what stitch comes next and it’s great for when I want a quick traveling project.   This yarn was super fun because the stripe pattern was random and I never knew what color would show up next.   I just wish the yarn was a bit softer.  It feels almost stiff in a way, even after washing and drying it.

When I started sock # 2 I didn’t have the same starting point in the yarn as the first one, so my stripes don’t line up the same, but that’s ok because I love the colors and the random differences.  Someone on Ravelry pointed out that my socks are not Identical twins, but Fraternal Twins.  I like this line of thinking!  Even though they come from the same ball of material, they are each their own unique entity.  🙂

So, I hereby present pair of socks number six (pair number 3 for me) – Berroco Sox in Purples and Pinks.

Fraternal Twins

Love the random stripes!

I also finally finished Bug’s Red socks.  He was so excited for them that I didn’t want to disappoint.  I finished them at Craft Night on Monday and didn’t even have the chance to wash them because Bug wanted to wear them to school the very next morning.  The pattern I used was A Thousand Kisses and it’s a good pattern.  I didn’t have a good contrasting color yarn, so I left off the X’s and O’s and make the heel, toe and cuff the same color as the body.  I’ve found that I’m just not a fan of the heel flap and the gusset.  I much prefer the short row heel.  The heel flap is great for when I don’t want to think about what I’m doing and just work back and forth, but I love the simple look of the short row heel.  I think for the next time I make Bug a pair of socks, I’ll use the same pattern, maybe with the multi-colors this time and do a short row heel instead.

Now presenting Bug’s Red Socks:

Bug’s Red Socks

I can’t wait to start working on my next pair of socks.  I’m thinking of a pair for Darling Hubby (whether he wants a pair or not!  lol)

Time For A Lego Party!

Bug was so excited for his big 7th birthday party.  We opted to do a home party and just keep it small.  For his 6th birthday we had the party at a local gymnastics club.  It was nice, but in order for it to be worth the money we paid, we had to have a ton of kids.  I told Bug he could choose 6 friends.  He invited 3 from school and 3 family friends.  Five kids came, so it was the perfect size!

Things got off to a late start.  Bug’s school friends were right on time…everyone else was running late.  The 3 ended up playing in Bug’s room for nearly an hour before anyone else arrived.  They were having fun playing with all Bug’s Legos and it was a Lego party, so it didn’t ruin anything.  I think most of my birthday parties growing up where I invited friends we ended up playing around rather than playing party games, etc.

Since our theme was Legos, I did some searching around and found some great idea sites.  The one that had the most great ideas was Homemaking Fun: A Lego Themed Birthday Party.  I ended up using the invite idea, which I personalized and had printed out in color and tucked into Lego brick envelopes that I made using primary colored card stock from my scrapbooking stash.  I cut circles out of lighter colored paper and hot glued them on to make the Lego pegs.  They looked pretty cool.

For the games I used the “Guess the number of Legos in the jar game.”  The person with the closest guess won a prize.  Darling Hubby had the honor of filling the jar and loaded it with all sorts of different shaped bricks.  I would have been lame and just used the rectangle bricks…he used car pieces, wheels, and all sorts of things.

I also used the Lego Toss game.  I used primary colored construction paper to make the rings.  I just taped them together and printed out the numbers using a Lego font I found for free on the web…I didn’t keep the link, unfortunately, but you can just search and you’ll find something.  The kids ended up playing this game quite a bit, even after the prize was awarded.  They even went back to it after the cake and ice cream was eaten and the presents opened.

On Pinterest, I found a PDF of a Lego Bingo Game.  Darling Hubby was kind enough to run out to his lab the morning of the party to print it with the color printer.  All the games were big hits!  For the prizes I bought the little Lego creator kits (5.99 at Target) (airplane, construction vehicle and race car).  They were big hits, too.

I also made gift bags for all the guests.  I picked up some primary colored rectangular gift bags at Target.  I got a 1.5 inch diameter circle cutter and cut up the extra bags to make them into Lego bricks.  If I used a lighter colored paper for the circles they might have shown up a bit better, but it got the point across.  I also printed out the children’s names using the Lego font.  I taped them to red construction paper and used a yellow marker to outline the letters like the Lego logo.  For the contents, I bought Lego mini figures, some candy Lego Bricks and tucked a pencil into each bag.  The mini figures were a big hit.  They all opened them before they left so they could see which figure they got.  The candy got rave reviews, too.  What’s better than candy that you can build with!

We of course had cake, ice cream and fruit and veggie platters.  You’ve no doubt seen the cake that I baked. For the table decorations and place settings, I picked up a party table cloth, yellow square plates, blue napkins, red forks, knives and spoons and green plastic cups from the dollar store.  Darling Hubby also picked up some birthday balloons from the dollar store, too.

There was, to Bug’s dismay, singing.  At least this year (unlike his 2nd birthday) he didn’t put his head down on the table and cry.

Make a wish!

Oh, and I can’t forget to include a picture of Fidget.  I think he’s warning me not to mess with his piece of cake!  He ate the whole thing, too!

Overall it was a great birthday party and one I’m sure Bug will remember for years.  Bug and his friends all had fun, which is the main goal of a party.  And seriously, what could be more fun than LEGOS!

Strawberry Cake From Scratch

Bug’s birthday party was scheduled for February 4th and if I wanted to share in the festivities and eat cake, I had to find one that was ok for me to eat.  All the boxed mixes contain soy.  Bug loves strawberries and asked for a strawberry cake (chocolate was easy, but not strawberry) and that left me to find a homemade strawberry cake…there are some out there, but they all use strawberry gelatin and not having a box in front of me I didn’t know if there would be soy or natural flavors included…plus I didn’t want the added food coloring, especially since I was already planning on dying the frosting red, green, blue and yellow.

Then I stumbled upon this little gem or a recipe.  Rather than strawberry gelatin it used real strawberry puree!  Score!

Here’s the recipe copied from the above link.

• 2 ¼ cups cake flour (sifted)  (I used All Purpose flour, sifted)
• 2 ½ teaspoons baking powder
• 1 cup butter , room temp (2 sticks)
• 1 ¼ cupssugar
• 2 teaspoons strawberry extract (you can use vanilla if you can’t find strawberry)
• 1 cup whole milk , room temp
• 3 eggs , room temp
• ¾ cup pureed fresh strawberries(or frozen, thawed)
• 1 teaspoon lemon zest(I left this out)
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice

  My ingredients

Directions:

Thaw (if necessary) strawberries and puree.  Bring butter, eggs, and milk to room temperature.

Combine sifted flour and baking powder in a bowl and set aside. Using a mixer, cream the butter and sugar. Add eggs 1 at a time; mix well after each addition. Next add pureed strawberries and extract and combine well. Gradually add the flour (and baking powder) and the milk alternating between them until completely mixed. Then add lemon zest and juice and mix well.

Lightly grease and flour a 13 X 9 pan or (2) 8″ round pans. Pour batter into pans and bake at 350 degrees for 25 – 30 min or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Oven times may vary.  (Mine was done in 30 minutes, the recipes author did two 8″ pans that were done in 25.)

The cake just out of the oven.  It smelled delish, really just like a boxed strawberry cake, only better!

So the verdict…Darling Hubby asked me to make it again, leaving the frosting off.  My complaint was that it didn’t bake up fluffy like a traditional cake, though that might have been because I used AP flour rather than cake flour.  It was dense, more like a fudge brownie than cake.  It had good flavor, though.  Most of the kids ate it, but by the time we had cake they’d filled up on fruits and veggies.  lol  Despite the cake being soy free, it appears that butter is going to be another issue, but we knew that was a possibility.  Hopefully when my gut heals from all the soy damage I’ll be able to introduce milk and butter again (cheese seems to be ok for now).

Oh, and if you want to see the finished decorated cake, here ya go.

I followed the recipe for Wilton’s Fluffy Boiled frosting from the can of meringue powder and dyed it red, blue, yellow and green (the primary lego brick colors).  The red was a hit…I just hope it washed off the faces of our guests!  lol  Hopefully I’ll find time to write about the party tomorrow.  The day has gotten away from me and I have things to do before Darling Hubby gets home.  🙂

One of My Favorites

Usually when I need to make a baby blanket for a pregnant friend, I grab my crochet hook and some baby yarn and I get to work.  This usually yields a nice soft fluffy blanket in a matter of days.  When my friend Shannon announced that she was pregnant with her first, due a few months after me, I jumped at the chance to try my hand at something new.  I knew I still had Darling Hubby’s sweater on the needles, but I figured trying a knitted baby blanket would help me along with my knitting skills.

Shannon wasn’t finding out what she was having and I was convinced she was having a boy.  I started on a knitted blue hearts blanket.  After working on it for a few weeks, I saw another knitted baby blanket on one of those knitting shows on tv and I knew I had to try it.  I ran out to the local yarn store and picked up a circular needle in the right length (Joann’s crafts never has the long circulars) and a bunch of soft squishy (and machine washable) yarn in shades of green – which go along with the baby’s room theme and set out to work.

The pattern was so easy once I figured out the new stitch and I finished 4 days before the baby’s arrival  and delivered just 2 days before the baby made its arrival.

I’m happy to announce that I was wrong!  Shannon had a baby girl!  (I’m glad I put that blue hearts blanket into hibernation for a while.) I haven’t had the opportunity to meet her yet, due to conflicting schedules and sickness, but I hope to before she’s a year old!  lol  I also hope that she’s enjoying snuggling with the blanket.

Here are some pictures of the finished blanket.  I’ll admit that while it took a little longer than making a crocheted baby blanket, I’d love to make it again on bigger needles.  It’s one of my favorite finished objects!

Baby Fidget’s Birth Story

I’ve been so busy over the last 3 months with the newest addition to our family that I haven’t had time to sit down and write out Baby Fidget’s birth story.  I’ve actually been attempting to write this post for weeks and never had any luck.  lol  It’s super long and filled with pictures.  You’ve been warned!  lol

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So, the day of my scheduled c-section (Monday, May 17th) we got up as we always do, got Bug ready for school and I saw him off for the last time for the next 2 weeks.  After dropping him off we came home and I had to shower with this antiseptic soap the hospital gave me.  It’s the worst soap ever!  It smells like that alcohol hand sanitizer…my whole body was coated!  Ick!  We arrived at the hospital at 10:30 on the dot and prepared to check in.  I was escorted to a room, given one of the lovely gowns that leave your butt hangin’ out and left to our own devices in the room…let me tell ya, boredom quickly ensued.  I was getting super silly…partly from being nervous about the upcoming surgery and partly because I was excited to finally be meeting the little being that’s been kicking me from the inside.

Last belly pic – 39w 5d

It was nearly 45 minutes before I saw the admitting woman who double checked my information from Friday’s meeting and got me officially admitted. Shortly after the nurse came in and got me set up with my IV. After a bad experience with the insertion of the IV during with Bug’s delivery I was pretty nervous about being stuck. I was stabbed 5 times before the nurse got the IV inserted in a spot that didn’t cause me massive pain. This time the nurse checked all my veins before deciding on a spot and she got it in first try and with little pain. That made me happy. 🙂

Gowned and IV’d

After the successful IV insertion, they hung bags of fluid to give me prior to the surgery. It was practically 11:30 by this point and I was scheduled to go into the OR at 12:30. They opened the IV up all the way to get as much of the fluid in as they could before going down to the room. I met with Deb, the anesthesiologist, who was super awesome and supportive. I told her about my bad experience with the epidural and about how grumpy the anesthesiologist was and it was confirmed by both the nurse, Kris, and Deb that it was probably someone named Paul, who apparently had a reputation for being grumpy and my experience sounded like something he would do…I kindly asked Deb if she would walked me through each step as she was putting in my spinal so I would have no surprises and she gladly obliged. 🙂

As my time to go into the OR drew nearer it became apparent that I would not be going in on time. The section that was scheduled for 8am got out of the gate at least 30 minutes late, which bumped the 9am section back. Toss in a couple emergency c-sections followed by an 11am section that was also late…I didn’t actually get into the OR until around 2:30. While I waited, I had the pleasure of listening to my nurse, Kris, and Deb the anesthesiologist argue about how much IV fluids I should have. Whenever Deb would open up my IV full bore and raise it up to get it all in, Kris would come back in and lower it and turn it down so as to not give me pulmonary edema. They seriously went back and forth for nearly an hour turning it up and down…It was both amusing and disconcerting.

Eventually, the OR was finally clear and clean. The nurses gave Darling Hubby his bunny suit and me my shower cap to put on. It was getting close!

Dr. Darling Hubby

Getting close to going to the OR!

So 2:30 rolled around and I geared up to walk down to the OR. Kris gave me some socks with grippies on the bottom so I didn’t slip and fall on my walk down the hall, and to keep my feet warm in the cold OR. Darling Hubby took my camera and waited in the hallway until they were ready. The OR was freezing and my little flimsy gown wasn’t cutting it. I was shivering uncontrollably and it wasn’t cause I was scared. I was actually feeling really good about the whole thing, despite the setbacks thus far.

To ward off the chill toasty warm blankets magically appeared and were wrapped around me. Someone slipped a blood pressure cuff on my arm and the only moment of sheer panic I experienced the before the surgery started was when that cuff started tightening and tightening and tightening and seemed like it would never stop. My hand started to go purple and I could feel it start tingling like it was falling asleep. Someone had me put my arm down and relax and it slowly started to release. I was thankful that never happened again…

The back of my gown was untied so Deb could get at my back to insert my spinal and, like she said she would, she walked me through the whole thing, warning me when she would be touching me and when she would stick me. It was a much better experience than last time. The medication took effect pretty quickly so Deb had me quickly lay down on the table and soon my legs were feeling warm and then numb. I started feeling people touching me, but felt no pain. The blue curtain was put up in front of me and someone brought Darling Hubby in to sit by my side while they started the surgery.

On the table

I’m not sure how long the surgery itself took. Before I knew it, the doctor told Darling Hubby that he could stand up and watch the baby be born. I’m actually surprised that he did. I felt a ton of pressure on my stomach and a slight pain in my chest (which Deb confirmed was normal) and I heard the baby start crying. Someone commented that he was peeing. The doctor cut the cord and it was a good thing she was wearing a full face mask because when the cord was severed, she was splattered with blood…it was even on the ceiling. lol

The baby was put in the warmer to pink up and get quickly checked out while the doctor went back to working on finishing up.

Baby Fidget just born and in the warmer.

Baby Fidget on the scale

They put Fidget on the scale and he weighted in at 8lbs 5oz.  He was 20 inches long and came into the world (peeing) at 2:52pm…only 2 hours later than he was supposed to be!  lol  He was tiny compared to Bug!

We had one more moment of concern when the doctor began asking for something called Methylene Blue.  It seemed it wasn’t something that they stocked in the room so someone had to go find it and the doctor wanted it faster than it was brought.  Turns out that while she was in there, she thought she spotted a hole in my bladder and rather than just sew me up and let it go, she pumped my bladder full of this blue dye to check for leaks.  Thankfully, there were none.  It was just a little nerve wracking to hear your doctor asking for something “stat” when she’s got you wide open on the table.

I was brought into recovery after everything was done. I think they kept me there longer than they normally would because I was having trouble with my blood pressure being too low.  Every time they’d raise the head of the bed, I’d get dizzy…it was no fun.  Darling Hubby got to spend a lot of time just holding Fidget, who was wide eyed and content just sucking on his fist.  It was so sweet.

Spending time with mommy in recovery

I was eventually OK enough to sit up and they brought me down the hall to my semi private (read: crowded) room.  Since I was the first one in, I got the bed by the window and had the room to myself overnight, which was nice.  Darling Hubby had to leave around 6 to go pick up Bug, who was spending time with his friend Little A.  Since it was kinda late and Bug had school the next day, we decided to postpone the meeting of the brothers until after school the next day.

I had a pretty quiet night.  The nurses brought Fidget in a couple times for a feeding and to get me up to walk around and use the bathroom.  It was around midnight when I got up for the first time and it was bad.  The pain wasn’t too terrible, it hurt, but was bearable.  It was more the dizzy feeling and blackouts I started experiencing that bothered me.  Honestly, it was pretty scary.   Turns out, my blood sugar was rock bottom because I hadn’t had any solid food (only ice chips and the IV meds)  in over 24 hours.  I don’t think it would have been near as bad had my surgery not been delayed 2 hours.  The nurses got me some cranberry juice and I almost instantly started to feel better.  Thankfully, I was allowed to have breakfast in the morning (not the liquid diet I was stuck on for Bug’s birth) and the french toast and fresh fruit I had later in the morning tasted like it could have been from a 5 star restaurant!  lol

I spent the next 3 days just hanging out with my new little man and fighting off the boredom of the hospital.  Darling Hubby had to go to work for the week (there was really no point in him sitting in the hospital room when he could be doing something productive) and Bug had to go to school, so it was mostly just me and the nurses.  Both my mom and my mother-in-law called at one point and my friend Barbara called a couple times.  My friend Leana stopped by Monday night just as I was getting settled into my room and Shannon stopped by Tuesday night at the same time Darling Hubby brought Bug to meet his baby brother.  Other than that, the only visitors during the day were the doctors and nurses.

My new family of four

The meeting of the brothers was kinda what I expected.  Bug wasn’t completely sure of Fidget and was pretty wary of him.  He was really cute when we gave him the big brother gift that Fidget gave him (the Imaginext Batmobile) and he kept telling Fidget, “Thank you.”   He didn’t want to hold him at all and was pretty reluctant for me even to hold him near him.  Of course, he really just wanted to watch my tv…and go home for dinner.  lol  Darling Hubby did manage to snap this picture of them together before heading home for the night.

Bug and Fidget together for the 1st time

Daddy and Baby Fidget

On Wednesday it was better between them and Bug actually asked to hold him.  I love this picture of the two of them.  It’s almost like he’s thinking, “Babies are like platypus’, they don’t do much, you know.”  (It’s from Phineas and Ferb…if you’ve never seen it, go check it out.)

He’s like a platypus, they don’t do much, you know!

I was sprung from the joint, a day early thanks to a slight fib, on Thursday and boy was I glad to get out of there, for 2 reasons.  The first (and best reason) was that I was getting to meet my online blogging (and fellow crochet/knitting and cat lover) friend, Barbara, for the first time.  The second reason was my roommate and I didn’t hit it off and I felt pretty alone in the room with her.

From the moment that my roommate arrived Tuesday afternoon, it was like I didn’t exist and I felt closed off.  She hardly spoke to me and kept the pink dividing curtains around her bed closed so tight it was like she was trying to lock out the world.  It didn’t help that her baby, Henry, and Fidget were on completely opposite schedules.  When her baby was awake and crying, I was trying to sleep and when Fidget was awake and crying, she was trying to sleep.   She always had visitors (and they were loud!) and they complained about everything.  At one point, when she must have thought I was sleeping, I overheard her talking to someone on her cell phone about the fact that she had to share the room and she didn’t like being close to the door and that she only had one chair for guests and a small table and that doctors and nurses were always coming in and out and it was disturbing her.  She referred to her curtained off area as the “pink prison,” but she did it to herself and I have no pity.

For me, it was tough being in the room with her and with my hormones being out of whack and the fact that I was alone and bored, I was already pretty emotional and, probably without even knowing it, she made me feel pretty low.  I’m a pretty friendly person (well, I think so anyway) and I’d hoped that since we both had newborn boys and were both moms that we might just have something in common.  The first day I gave her her privacy.  I mean, she did just give birth and was bonding with her baby and I respected that, but by Wednesday I thought maybe we could get to know each other.  I tried to start conversations when the curtains were open a tad.  I commented on her son, how he was cute, had a ton of hair (he did!), tried to make light of our battle of the babies, tried to offer her the chairs that I had in my corner, even the rocking chair, for her and her company, but all I got were short answers and the distinct feeling that I was unwelcome in my own room.  I was glad that I went down to the nurses station Thursday morning asking to be released before 1pm so we could pick up Bug from school.  I was, thankfully, released by lunchtime…she was still sitting around waiting.

The best thing about getting out a day early on Thursday was that that night I was able to meet up with Barbara and her husband Michael who flew from Colorado to Boston for his work and made a detour to NY to see me and my family and to hand deliver the beautiful hand spun and hand knit baby blanket she made for Fidget.  I’ll have pictures of it with Fidget later on.  We use it all the time, so I’m sure it will show up many times.  Barbara and Michael also hung around for our Thursday night DnD game and were able to experience my game groups’ wacky sense of humor (and their odd dislike of Laplanders…) and first edition Dungeons and Dragons.

I do have to say that Barbara and Michael are just so sweet and we have so much in common!  They are great people to know and I’m glad that I commented on her blog post about a contest for naming foster kittens over a year ago!

So, there you have it.  That’s how Fidget came into the world.  In the past 3 months since he arrived I can’t imagine my life without him or Bug.  Bug is such a good big brother and has been a great helper around the house.  I don’t know what I’m going to do when he goes back to school!  He starts Kindergarten in a few weeks!  Fidget is such a happy baby.  He smiles and talks a ton, loves tummy time, has a thing for kitties and sleeps pretty well.  Hopefully now that I’m back on the blogging bandwagon I can stay on board and keep posting so I have a running record of everything about my 2 boys.

Plan B (or should I say C?) Scheduled

So I had my weekly check up today with a new doctor…she was really nice (though her last name was Hirt!) and I talked her into letting me schedule my repeat c-section (though she did have to go ask someone else if it was ok…)  I don’t know why everyone said I could schedule it and then they all seem hesitant to do it.   She did check me and according to her there is nothing going on…I’d really hoped that I’d have at least a cm or 2 under my belt at this point, esp with the contractions I was having Saturday morning and the pain I’ve been experiencing when Fidget moves just right, but…sadly, it seems that I back tracked a bit from last week when, according to a Dr. Brosnan, I was starting to thin out and almost a fingertip dilated…It’s all a matter of opinion really…I guess that’s why they call it “medical practice.”

Anyway, my repeat c-section is scheduled for next Monday, the 17th at 12:30pm.  Dr. Vu, who performed Bug’s c-section, will be attending.  I go in for my pre-op appt on Friday at 10:30.  Thankfully, Darling Hubby will be going with me.  At any rate I’ll be getting a birthday with a 7 in it.  Bug was supposed to be born on January 17th…that was his official due date…Maybe this 17th was meant to be?

In a way I’m both happy and sad about it.  I really do still want to go into labor on my own and have a successful VBAC, but at the same time I don’t want to be left in limbo to wait and see and find out that Fidget is going to be a big one just like his big brother was, despite the fact that everyone keeps telling me he’s not as big as Bug was.  I don’t want to have to labor for all those hours again just to end up with surgery…I guess I just want to take the short cut and just get the surgery.  I do still have 6 days left to go into labor on my own, so hope is not all lost…I just think I know my body and that seeing as how Bug was so overdue there’s no way I’ll ever have an early baby…without medical intervention.

Here’s a picture I took this morning at 38 weeks, 6 days .  You can see I’m pretty much all belly and he’s dropped…I just don’t think he’s planning an entrance any time soon…

38 weeks 6 days pregnant

Great White Whale

Beached.

That’s pretty much how I’ve been feeling as of late….like a big ol’ beached whale.  I am so uncomfortable in bed.  I can barely roll over.  My hips and legs hurt after a couple hours or so of sleep.  Getting up from bed or just getting up from the couch requires lots of thought, effort and grunts.  I have trouble getting up from the floor which makes playing with Bug and giving him a bath incredibly hard.  Plus, I’m stiff when I get  up and since baby fidget is super low, I’m getting a ton of pain down low.  I’m hoping this pain is helping with effacement and dilation…fingers crossed…

I’ve had 2 dramatic hormone induced meltdowns in the past 2 days because of this.  I’m just so ready to be done with this pregnancy.   In all honesty, I love being pregnant.  I love feeling the baby kick and squirm (so long as he’s not hurting me, which is far too frequent for my taste lately).  I’m just getting tired of the whole thing and want to hold him in my arms, hear his little cry and for Bug to be an awesome big brother!  I still say my pop-up timer has popped (belly button) and I AM DONE!  lol

I’m just at the stage where everything hurts and it feels like I’m going to be pregnant forever.  I know this is totally impossible, but it’s how I feel.  Add to it, the fact that I feel like my doctors are going to just let me go on and on without doing anything.  I know that I can’t be induced or have cervical ripening agents used because of the prior c-section and the risk of uterine rupture, but last week the doctor didn’t even want me to schedule the c-section.

My other issue for wanting to schedule the c-section is that I don’t want to go overdue again knowing that often times 2nd babies are bigger than first ones.  Bug was 9lbs 13oz at 2 weeks overdue (had he been born on time he may have only been 9lbs) and seeing as baby Fidget was 7lbs 12oz according to the ultrasound last week he’s probably just over 8lbs now (probably 8lbs 3oz) I don’t want to run the risk of having to attempt the delivery of another near 10lb baby at 2 weeks overdue…why should I be tortured.  Plus, if we continue to wait, my window of opportunity for a VBAC decreases significantly.  I said anything under 8.5lbs I would give it a go for the VBAC, but as time passes, his weight increases daily and my max weight gets closer and closer.  By my due date he could be 8lbs 13oz and if I go 2 weeks overdue again he can be close to 9lbs 12oz or more.  I know that the ultrasound was just a guess and he could be much smaller  than what I was quoted (say 6lbs), but it just makes me incredibly nervous that I could labor for hours and push, push, push and not get anywhere because he’s too big to come out…I just want to have a plan in place…I guess I rather have the surgery than feel like I wasted everyone’s time laboring when I’m just going to have a c-section anyway…Way to be optimistic, huh?

I do have my 39 week check-up tomorrow (38w6d) and I think I’m going to be adamant about scheduling the c-section.  Plus, there are so many people in Darling Hubby’s family that have May birthdays that I don’t really want baby Fidget to have to share unless he decides to come on his own that day.  Tomorrow is a bad day as it’s our nephew CJ’s birthday…the 19th is Shell’s birthday(my actual due date), the 22nd is our nephew D’s birthday (his mom already told me I can’t have him on that day)…plus, there are various uncles and random people in the days following.  I’m really hoping to schedule the section for the 17th (I love 7’s) as it doesn’t correspond to anyone elses birthday.

Until then, I’ll continue to feel like a beached whale…and I’m sure I’ll probably have a least a couple more melt downs about it…hopefully tomorrow I will get a date scheduled for a c-section so I can have a plan in place…I’m still just hoping that my water will break and I’ll go in to the hospital at 5cm’s dilated like Dr. Vu wants and have a small bouncing baby boy in a few hours without a ton of pain…I’m probably not being realistic, but I can still hope, right?

Baby & Birthday Update – 25 Weeks & 5 Years

Over 2 more weeks have passed…I am finally getting a belly at 25 weeks (I’ve only gained 14lbs so far) and baby Fidget is doing well.  I feel him moving all the time, especially before and after meals, when I’m sitting down, when I’m driving the car, when I’m going to sleep, during the night…pretty much all day long…I’m worried this kid isn’t going to ever sleep!  lol

Here’s a picture of me from Wednesday at exactly 25 weeks.  I still look really tiny…I’m sure I’ll be wishing for this belly back in 3 months when I’m waddling around and HUGE!  lol

We’ve really been working on getting baby Fidget’s room all ready.  (I’ll post pictures when we get it fully finished)  Bug keeps asking me, “Is Fidget’s room done, yet?”  lol  The walls have been painted, the trim and doors painted, we bought and put down the area rug and hung the curtains this past weekend.  The crib is up and cleaned.  I pulled out the crib bedding (I’m washing that today) and put some of the things that need to be washed in the new laundry basket I bought last weekend…I’ll wash it at some point…there isn’t any hurry, really.  I did also buy a new diaper pail since the one we had for Bug broke.  I ordered this “Love You to the Moon and Back” vinyl sticker and picked up some vinyl glow in the  dark star stickers to hang up on the walls.  I’ll do all that when the Moon & Back sticker comes in.  We are taking the nursery pictures from Bug’s room at some point and hanging them in Fidget’s room.  We are also going to move the rocking chair from Bug’s room…we’ll wait to do that since we are still using it to read his nightly stories…we’ll have to find something else to go in that corner and read his stories somewhere else.

I have a small book shelf that we repainted and the changing table in the room, but that needs to be cleaned off (it’s dusty) and I’ll have to figure out how I want to put everything on there.  The big dresser that’s in the room used to belong to my parents.  They got it from one of their neighbors back when they moved to NY from FL…that was like 1970 or something.  My mom was actually really surprised we still had the thing…they gave it to me back in 1998 when I moved out and into my first apartment with Darling Hubby.  It’s come in very handy.  It was in Bug’s room for a while and held clothes that he would grow into.  It still has random clothes in it.  I need to clean it out.  I also went through a bin of 0-3 month clothes that I had up in the attic.  Those will need to be washed, too, and put in the dresser.  I still want to buy a lamp for near the rocking chair and a touch lamp for when you walk into the room.

Last Saturday was Bug’s 5th birthday.  On Friday he brought ice cream cone cupcakes to school for snack.  Here he is with his Daddy and his cupcakes just before we left for school. 

He was so excited about the cupcakes…I, on the other hand, was just thankful that I finally managed to get them finished and looking good enough for the perfectionist in me to send to school.  I made 3 batches of cupcakes before I finally settled on a method that worked perfectly…I don’t plan on making these again anytime soon, but hopefully I’ll remember my little trick!

Here’s Bug getting measured the morning of his birthday.  He finally made 42 inches!  I think he’s a bit short for his age, but he’s been growing proportionately.  He was only 21 inches at birth and 9lbs 13 oz.  He’s 42 inches and around 40lbs at 5 years.  He’s growing, that’s for sure!

On his actual birthday we ran a bunch of errands and ended up at Toys R Us and found out they were holding a Trade In event.  You could trade in any used car seat, stroller, playpen, booster seat or crib for a 25% off coupon to use toward the purchase of a new item.  In getting ready for the new baby, I pulled down the infant carrier we used for Bug.  I recently learned from a friend that car seats can actually expire…I knew that the plastic could get brittle, but I didn’t know how to tell how old a car seat really was.  Turns out, there’s a sticker on it saying when it was manufactured…I’m almost embarrassed to admit that the infant carrier we used for Bug was 14 years old!  😮  It was made in 1996.  We got it from one of Darling Hubby’s Aunts back in 2005…it was already 9 years old at that point…we used it for a few months until Bug outgrew it and put it in storage…it’s been there ever since…well, I’m not going to use a 14 year old infant carrier to cart around my precious cargo, so we took full advantage of the Trade In event.  We turned in the 14 year old infant carrier and an old (I think around 10 years) booster seat I got from my SIL when they moved 3 years ago…Anyway, we picked up a new Evenflo booster seat for Bug (he’s so excited he’s free of the car seat, which he was quickly outgrowing) and a new Graco Snugride Infant Carrier for Fidget.  Unfortunately, we couldn’t use the 15% store coupon in conjunction with the 25% off coupon, but 25% is better than full price!   If you need new baby items and have some older things, go trade them in!  The deal runs until February 20th!

After Toys R Us, we had dinner at KFC, which was Bug’s request.  He was a bit upset when we came home with the food and he realized they didn’t give him his macaroni and cheese that he’d ordered…I couldn’t stand to see my little guy so upset (but didn’t want to drive clear back to the KFC) so I let my food get cold so I could make him some boxed macaroni and cheese.  Guess I do love my little guy!

His favorite present for the day was the Burger Builder that Daddy and I bought him.  He recently started enjoying play-doh and after Christmas decided he wanted the Burger Builder.  Unfortunately, we couldn’t find it after Christmas…so, a few weeks later when I stumbled upon it, I snagged one.  I’m glad I did.  He had such fun playing with it.

Here’s to another healthy and happy year!

Busy, Busy, Busy

It’s been too long since I sat down and composed a post.   I’ll fall back to my typical excuse…life got in the way.

Let’s see…I pretty much need to sum up the month of July!  The 4th of July was a day spent at home.  It was Darling Hubby’s birthday so we fried some chicken, made some KFC style coleslaw and ate out on the patio.  I made a pineapple upside down cake, which is Darling Hubby’s favorite.  We decided to forgo the fireworks downtown.  None of us really like /traffic and Bug doesn’t like loud noises, so we sat at home and watched the downtown fireworks on the news.  The next day we went over to our friends house so Bug could play with his buddy, Little A.

They had a grand time sword fighting in the bouncy bounce

and swimming in the chilly (it wasn’t so bad once you got in) pool.

The next Friday, Auntie Shannon joined Bug and I on a trip to the playground.  We packed a picnic lunch, loaded up the wagon and walked over to the playground.  Bug had so much fun hanging with his cool Auntie Shannon.  They played on all the equipment from the swings to the slides.  I had fun catching up with an old college friend and coworker.

Over the weekend, we went down to visit family.  Saturday we stayed with my parents.  Bug had fun riding in Grandpa’s wagon as it was pulled behind the tractor.  We were collecting rocks to bring home with us to make a stone wall at the bottom of our driveway and it was easier to load the wagon than to carry them!  Saturday was also a good day for wildlife at my parents house.  We saw a Mama deer and her fawn, who was the bounciest thing.  There was a baby bunny and even a tiny hummingbird.   I have pictures of all that, but I haven’t edited them yet…

On Sunday we went to see some of Darling Hubby’s family.  His father, brother, wife and kids came out from New Mexico for a visit.  We hadn’t seen them since Christmas ’07.  It was a nice visit.  We took a ton of family pictures.  Here are some of my favorites.

This past weekend, I got together with Auntie Shannon and 2 of our neighbors and we had a multi-family garage sale.  We didn’t make much money, but we got some stuff out of our spare room and will be donating most of the stuff that didn’t sell to Goodwill and the books will go to the local public library for their book cellar.  I finally got my spare room back and can now move around in there and have room to hang my laundry to dry on rainy days.  Overall, it was a nice weekend.  We had a good time talking and learning more about each other and were able to trade a bunch of stuff with each other.  We picked up a ceiling fan to put in the spare room…the only room with a ceiling light that doesn’t have one (aside from the dining room, which has a chandelier).  We got some new books, a table to go next to our papasan chair on the porch (which we were going to sell, but Darling Hubby decided he liked it too much and took it back) and some other miscellaneous things.  I think I might ask our neighbors if I can have the old black rocker they had.  It’s kinda beat up and needs to be recovered, but it was nice and might be worth the effort of fixing  it.

Other than the big things on the weekends, I’ve been working on finishing Bug’s blanket for school.  I have all the 2″ squares crocheted and sewn together.  I just need to figure out how to attach the fabric backing.  It looks really nice.  I’ll post about it later when I get pictures taken. I’ve also been crocheting various things to give my mil for a convention they are having.  On my Monday night craft night I started making this bag.  If it works out well, I might make one for myself with smaller holes so my stuff won’t fall out.

In the weight loss/exercise department…well, I was pretty bad when we visited family and ended up gaining 3lbs because I kept noshing on the cookies that I baked to bring…sadly, I haven’t been good about working out lately either.  In the past 3 weeks I’ve worked out once…and that was yesterday!  I am happy to report that by watching what I’m eating I’ve lost those 3lbs I gained and one more to boot!  I’m officially down to 148!  I’m trying to be good this week and work out more, but so far I haven’t been sucessful.  Maybe tomorrow!