two things done!....well, three I guess

Remember the knitted bag?

It's done and ready to be wrapped!

I think the handles are too long. I am going to leave it as is, and take my sharp scissors with me on Christmas day. If the recipient doesn't like them long, I'll cut them off for her.

Next up, Mary's gift! A gnome family that each comes with a blanket and pillow. John's almost done with their wooden beds. He should get them done tonight. (they have light pink mouths, just not showing up very well).

And last but not least, in my spare time (right!) I made these longies for Ellie. It was my first try at dip dyeing! So, before.....
And after!
The cranberry salad, banana bread, and cheesecake are made. The chili is almost done. Turns out that "helping" with the chili actually meant that I was supposed to just make it myself. I still need to make an apple pie tomorrow night, and MAYBE finish Ellie's blanket. I don't have very high hopes for it. It's more of a toddler sized blanket though, and I'll get right back to work on it after Christmas if it isn't done before.

Ellie's sleeping in my lap. It's sucking the life out of me. I'd PAY to take a nap. I'm so exhausted that I don't want to participate in the parties (there's 3 of them starting today). But Mary's awake and I need to put Ellie down and try to get some more stuff done. I'll sleep when I'm dead.

Dear Santa.....send elves!

I need elves. Or more hours in a day. Or not to have 2 kids under the age of three. Or for Christmas to be postponed a few days.

Felted bag--almost done. Just got the guts to stab holes in it for the handle. I knew if I messed it up, I'd be screwed.

Mary's gift--Almost done. Maybe tonight. John's out in the garage working on an additional part to it:).

Ellie's gift--Ugh. Maybe. Thank goodness I got her something off Etsy.

John's gift--Arrived Friday and it turned out great (so glad I didn't try to make it). I really hope he likes it.

Cranberry salad for Christmas Eve is cooling. Need to make banana bread, apple pie and a cheesecake. Oh, and help with the chili for Christmas. Wow, that seems like a lot. I can't believe I made a ham, homemade chicken and noodles, mashed potatoes, cranberry salad, rolls, 2 pies and a cheesecake last year. AND hosted! And couldn't figure out why I was SO FREAKING TIRED. I couldn't believe how tiring and stressful hosting 17 people was. I was just exhausted from it........and then I found out 2 days later I was pregnant:) (although I should have known when the week before I was doing puzzles with Mary and fell asleep at 6:30pm with a puzzle piece in my hand.)

I am hoping to have pics of everything I've made. I may have to do it at night with the flash on as I just don't see having time to do it in the daytime.

Buy handmade.....while you still can?

So, this year I set out give all handmade items for Christmas. Mom got her wrist warmers early, I'm making that felted bag, Ellie got a handmade doll from Etsy, and Mary's getting a family of handmade dolls (if I finish them!). John asked for an apron to wear our in the garage. Instead of buying one at the hardware store, I contacted a friend that sews and asked her to do it. Ellie's giving a handmade toy away in the cousins' gift exchange. Mary's getting a handmade felt cake too. I'm pretty excited about it, because I know each item was made with love, and hopefully gave the maker a bit of extra money that they in turn can use on their family. But what will we do next year?

In August 2008, the Consumer Products Safety Commission passed the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act which mandates third-party testing for lead and phthalates in all toys. Sounds great, huh? The Act was passed after several recalls in 2007 where toys made in China came back with dangerous lead levels. I'm glad that the US is stepping up testing. I want my girls to be safe. But, in a rush to pass the Act, there were no provisions made for small businesses. So now those toy makers must pay for third party testing on EACH item they make at the expense of approximately $4,000 PER ITEM. So, Ellie's cloth $9 doll? That will be $4,009 next year. Sigh. Mary's beautiful, unfinished wooden kitchen?--$4,300. This legislation truly breaks my heart. Even if these toy makers buy their materials from a "safe" (pre-tested) source, the final safety check is the responsibility of the end toy maker. (Large manufactures will also have to do testing, but since many items are made exactly the same, i.e. 1,000,000 of the same Barbie, the cost per toy will not be that much more.)

For more info, please visit: http://www.handmadetoyalliance.org/Home . And please consider taking a few minutes to write your Congress Person and Senator. There's a link at the bottom for a form letter and also links so you can find the name/address of the representative for your area.

Scrappies!

Scrappy pants are all the rage right now in the cloth diapering, wool wearing circles, so Ellie just HAD to have a pair:).

I think these are the coolest longies I've ever made. Plus I can look at them and fondly remember past projects. My headband and scarf from last year, Karen's headband and wrist warmers, another hat I have, a pair of Mary's shorties, a pair of Mary's longies, Julia's scarf from last Christmas, and a pair of longies I knit for Dena's little boy Hamilton (back when he was a little boy:)).

I started working on Mary's gift 2 nights ago. I really need to get going on it. ugh. The only time I can work on it is after she's in bed, and then Ellie's still awake usually. I will get it done though, somehow!

Sesame Street is over, gotta go do some crafts with Mary!

My long day...and it's only 8pm

What a day! John left at 5:30am to go install some equipment for work. Mary woke at 5:45am and although I put her in bed with me, she didn't go back to sleep. Ellie woke around 6:15 to nurse, so once she was done we all got up.

Here is part of what I did today (too tired to remember it all): cooked breakfast, lunch and dinner. Did my morning kitchen and tidying chores. Folded and put away 2.5 baskets of laundry. Did crafts (twice), had a picnic, built a block tent, and played with Mary's new house. Played with baby dolls WAY too much. Made a really good loaf of banana bread. FINALLY finished knitting Ellie's latest longies. Gave Ellie a bath. Gave Mary a bath (which I hadn't done in 2 months--usually John's job, but really fun to get a chance to do it. Well, not that much fun, John can keep that as his job) washed the entire day's worth of dishes by hand while silently begging Santa for a dishwasher:). Kept the fire in the fireplace going all day long. Got Mary in bed without her crying. Poor Ellie was fussing in the swing, but she managed to make it the 6 minutes it took Mary to fall asleep. Yes, that's right. No nap but only 6 mins for her to fall asleep pretty much every night.

Mary is such a big girl. She knew it was going to be a long day. I asked her if she wanted to nap, but she didn't. I did put her to bed 30 minutes early, although I am not sure she knew it. She went the entire day without a major breakdown, although I did have to bribe her with a sucker so I could cut her nails. She ate pretty well for me, which is often an issue when John's not here. I think that's because I'm trying to hold Ellie and eat while feeding Mary too. Ugh. Mary "helped" me do dishes tonight and there were a TON of them. I finished up one handed while holding her on my hip. Ellie was in her little bouncy seat thingy half asleep.

Speaking of Miss Ellie, she's going to be three months old in just a few hours! Wow. She's such a good baby. She's just starting to "do" things and she's so fun to be around. Saturday she spent most of the day staring at her own feet. She pondered them forever. Now she can grab them, but hasn't put them in her mouth yet. She sucks on her hands all the time. She loves to talk and laugh with me. She LOVES Mary. She can't get enough of watching Mary play. She's such a joy. I just told John the other night that it seems like she's always been here.

Alright, gotta get busy on a few more things before John gets home at 10pm. Long day for him too I suppose.

Thankful

Ah, Thanksgiving. Time to see family and eat yummy food. But this year, more than most, being thankful has been on my mind. I am so very grateful for:

Our home and this stunning piece of property on which we live. John for loving me and for being a good Dad. Mary and Ellie for being my daughters, and for teaching me more about love and life than I imagined possible. John's job which allows me to stay home with the girls. Our health. Food in our stomachs and plenty more in the freezer. Free firewood. And last but not least all of our friends and family who love and support us in big ways and small--you are each very special to me.

Smelly Ellie

Yes, that's right, after MONTHS of agonizing over what to name Eleanor, the day she was born I looked down at her in the wee hours of the morning and said "Oh, hello, Smelly Ellie." And here she is, modeling a new diaper that came in the mail today. So there, the secret is out. I call my child "Smelly."

I'm crafty!

I've been busy this week with Christmas stuff and a few other small projects. Ellie had her 2 month check up, and Mary's been busy building tents for her friends. We have a block tent and a tent made out of a table cloth draped over two dining room chairs. Ellie's up to 12 pounds! We tried to squeeze her into a 3-6 month one piece outfit yesterday to go to the store and realized she needs bigger stuff.

So, what did I make this week? I worked on bags mainly. The first one didn't come out very well. I just wanted to see how big of a pocket I needed so I could have one on the outside of the bag that would hold the bag folded into itself. The next bag never made it to the sewing machine (didn't put the pattern on the fold right, even though the pattern says FOLD in huge letters). I am still going to try to salvage the material for a later project though. The third bag came out pretty nice.
The outer is vintage Holly Hobby fabric from Grandma Mary and the brown inner is vintage fabric from Mamaw Judy's stash. We'll be using this bag for library books:).

Folded into the pocket:

So that bag was also practice for the one(s) I'll be giving away for Christmas. I've started on the pocket of the first gift. When it's folded up, you'll see this little guy (he still needs an eye, I've tried 3 or 4 things but haven't been happy with them).

When the bag is open and in use, this little guy will be on the pocket:

I also had time to work on the felted handbag I'm making for the Christmas exchange. It's almost done. I just need to weave in the ends, make the handles and then felt it.

I also sold some of Ellie's small/newborn diapers this week and got some new (to us) ones for her to grow into.The two on the bottom are so soft inside. The inner part is made of bamboo velour. That just has to be more comfortable than disposable diapers! I can't wait for Ellie to grow into these.

Speaking of Ellie, gotta go!

done!

If I never see or make another wrist warmer again, that will be fine with me! The cream ones are for Mom, and she's giving the other two pair as gifts.

Next up, sewing bags for Christmas. And for myself if I have time. And I'm making a felted handbag for the Christmas exchange. I need to get started on it, but I don't have the pattern. I need to borrow the book from the library and haven't gotten around to it. I can knit while Mary watches cartoons, and then sew at night after she's in bed. Ellie goes to sleep around 9pm so that gives me a good hour a night to sew before I have to go to bed.


The weather was really nice here this week, but now it's cold. We did enjoy a few afternoons outside.



Mary loves her little sister! I think Mary sort of finally understands that Ellie is a person. Ellie is getting a lot more vocal and can roll over now, so Mary can "play" with her a bit. Mary loves to hold Ellie's hands and helps me with her baths. I really hope they are great friends growing up.

Flying solo

John's out of town for a few days for work. I could have gone with him, but all of us in the car for 5 hours didn't sound like that much fun. So here I am with the girls. It's the first time he's been gone for work since Ellie was born. Speaking of Ellie--she was two months old yesterday! Time flies!

Yesterday went okay. The afternoon got pretty long and after dinner was sort of crazy, but I got through it. Mary and I were trying to wash dishes, but Ellie was in a bad mood. Have you ever tried to nurse a mad, tired baby and wash dishes with one hand? I'm sure it was comical. I finally got Ellie calmed down, and she let me put her in the ring sling. I washed a few more things, then put her down half asleep and quickly finished the last few items. She started fussing as soon as I let the water out of the sink. I was worried about bedtime, but it went fine. Ellie slept at the foot of Mary's bed while I nursed Mary to sleep. The good thing is that now that Mary no longer naps, she falls asleep in about 10 minutes at night. I hope things go as smoothly tonight (for bedtime at least, last night itself is a different story. I did enjoy sleeping with both girls, although "sleep" might not be the right word for it.).

Mary was up bright and early thanks to the time change! Ugh. Ellie was up too, so we just got up. We have a lot to do today anyway. I've already made breakfast, fed the cats, cleaned the litter boxes, and started the washer to do the diapers. After cartoons, I need to shower, get both girls dressed and then go into town for a bit. Tonight we are going to dinner down at John's Dad's house. Hopefully today will be busy enough that it moves a little quicker for me.

I need to knit! I got two pair of Mom's wrist warmers done, but I'm not very excited about the third pair. I am going to try to start it tonight while I watch election coverage. That is, if Ellie will behave while I knit, and if Mary stays asleep after I put her to bed. Even if I don't start tonight, I think I can start as late as Thursday morning and still be done when she gets here Saturday to pick them up.

Off to get more coffee!! Although I think I might actually need something a bit stronger to get through this day........


Don't forget to VOTE!

Longies done....and now Christmas stuff....really!

I didn't think I'd ever finish these longies. I got to the legs and they were just boring. I worked on them here and there, but never made much progress. Well yesterday I got close enough to the cuffs to see that the end was in sight. Then it hit me! Ruffles! Yes! Then I remembered I'd sworn off ruffles last year after making a pair of ruffled longies for Mary. I decided since Ellie's legs were smaller, it would be easier. Well, it really wasn't. By the time I was done, there were 180 stitches per leg, and they were jammed on the needle so tight (I did the legs separately using a 16 inch circular for the ruffles) that it was taking a good 10 minutes per row for the last 7 rows (times two legs). Then the bind off took forever too. But they are done! They still need blocked so the ruffles will lay better. Oh, and yes, that's play-doh on the floor. That's the kitchen rug and we don't even do play-doh in the kitchen. Ugh. And I vacuumed yesterday!!

Saturday I was at Grandma Mary's house, and I raided her fabric stash. She wanted to give me more, but I told her to let me use this first and then I'd get more. Anyway, these are going to be reusable bags all with the hot pink as the inner fabric. You should see Grandma's stash! Oh my! She has it all folded and labeled by how much yardage there is of each kind. I hope she never sees my craft closet! It's a mess, and I can never locate a dang thing in there.


I promised Mom 3 pair of wrist warmers by next Saturday. So I better get going on those. Two are gifts she's giving and one is a pair for her. I can usually knit them up pretty quick. Then I'll be on to sewing bags. I have more fabric for the actual gifts I am making. The stuff pictured above is all for me!

Mary's hat

I really, really need to finish Ellie's. It frosted here last night.

Ready for Christmas

Last week, I told John I was ready to put up the Christmas tree. Last year we put it up the weekend before Thanksgiving. I wonder how early I can get him to agree to putting it up this year??? Maybe it will get me into the mood to make presents. I did go buy some supplies yesterday. I also saw these little unpainted wooden ornaments. I thought it would be fun to paint them with Mary. I got two for myself and three for her. We started on them today:

Mary wanted to get started with her gingerbread man. I explained they were usually brown, and she was happy with that. I thought we were off to a great start. But then, she wanted green. Then orange, pink, blue and white. It actually came out super cool! I can't wait for her to do the others I got her:).

I stuck the eyes on after she was done (I asked permission first). I might see if she wants me to draw his mouth back on with a marker after the paint is all the way dry.

I started a pair of longies for Ellie on Wednesday, and was off to a great start. Now I'm not in the mood to knit. I sort of started on another Christmas project, but the next step is something I have to do when Mary's not around and Ellie is asleep. I guess that's why I started early. Maybe I can work on it in 15 minute intervals on the weekends.

hats!

What do you do with a million little balls of scrap yarn? You make Hudson Hats! I made one for Mary a couple weeks ago, and almost have Ellie's done.


I can finish Ellie's in probably 30 minutes, but I am down to the part which is every knitter's worst nightmare: weaving in the ends. Ugh. I don't know anyone that likes to do it.


Both of them together:

Mary's had hers on and it looks so cute! I'm sure I'll have a picture at some point this winter. Not today though as it's 80 degrees again.

Now I really, really must get working on Christmas gifts! I don't have anything too complicated to do, and I sat down the other night to make a list and see how long it would take to make everything. I think I can do it in a month or less. I want to make Ellie some new longies too.

In other news, Mary has quit napping. I pretty much had a feeling it was going to happen after Ellie arrived, and I was right. The good news is that she goes to bed an hour earlier at night! So at least my evenings are a bit easier. Ellie doesn't go to bed until 10:30 or 11pm though. Ah, life with two kids:).

Mary and I made a zucchini bread this afternoon. Yum! She's a great helper in the kitchen. And I get my anniversary gift tonight--John's picking up take out so I don't have to cook dinner! Yippie!

I really should start on weaving in those ends..........or start a new project.......or something.

My big (little) girl!

I took Ellie to have her weighed on Monday. She's up to 10 pounds 7oz! So she's gained almost 2.5 pounds since she was born. She just started smiling over the weekend. She's such a little sweetie.

I need to craft! I feel strange when I don't craft. I need to make some time to work on a hat for Ellie and then I MUST, MUST get started on Christmas gifts. I already have a couple done, but I really need to get going on the rest of them. I made a cute hat for Mary last week. It was fun. Ellie is getting the same style. I started it, but haven't had time to really work on it. This week has been pretty busy with other things.

We took our first road trip with two kids! I thought it went really well. It was Mary's first long (well, over an hour) car trip in undies and she did fine. Ellie did pretty well in the car. We stopped once each way to feed her quickly. The trip was just a day trip to Indy to have lunch with my family. It was Mom's birthday and we met her at my Uncle's house. Mary had so much fun with the other kids there.

Alright, Ellie says this blog post is over!

One Month!

Ellie is one month old today! I can't believe it. It really does just seem like I was pregnant (and miserable!!) yesterday. In just the last couple of days, Ellie has started to lose the newborn look and is looking more like a baby. She smiles all the time. I know they aren't real yet, but they are funny! The other night she was fussy, and I was tired. I was trying it all, walking, bouncing, etc, etc. She just looked up and smiled like "ah, this fool! She'll do anything I want if I just fuss a bit!"

In the afternoons, we've always gone outside after Mary's nap. We are still doing that and usually Ellie sleeps in the stroller. But yesterday she didn't want to nap.


(For the record, in theory I am totally anti-paci. I'm happy to nurse her 24/7. But she's an over eater. And a puker. She gushes. So a couple weeks ago, I gave her a paci. I'm hoping it's short term. Otherwise, she'll nurse and nurse and get too much and puke and still be hungry.)

Once the weather gets too cold to go out daily, I've been thinking I am going to do some sort of home school pre-school stuff with Mary. I think I can probably teach her to read this winter. She's already really curious about what letters "smell" words. You know, like S T O P "smells" stop. The other day I was working in the kitchen and I heard her say "P I E....pie!"

I was amazed! Sometimes she'll line up random letters and tell me it says a word. So, since she's into it I'm going to teach her as much as she wants to learn this winter. I'm really excited about it.

Well, as usual, I've been sitting here on the computer while Mary watches morning cartoons and Ellie's asleep. I didn't think she'd fall asleep when I put her in the pack and play. I could have showered! I could have gotten more coffee! But here I sit and blog and surf.

Pants!

Dear Blog,

I haven't forgotten about you. I am sorry I haven't had more time for you. I could try to blog one handed while nursing, but it's just too much work. Again, I'm sorry. I'll try to keep you updated better.

I have managed to find time to craft. Well, I do it in 3 minute intervals, but I have made 2 pair of fleece pants for Ellie. They can be used as diaper covers. I still have 1.5 pair to make. I could finish them in probably 20-30 minutes, but finding that kind of uninterrupted time seems impossible. Like right now, I am have time sort of, but I'm watching Sesame Street with Mary. I could run into the dining room and try to sew, but Mary would be calling my name every 2 mins to ask what I am doing or asking me to come back in here to help her watch. Hopefully I'll get them done in the next day or so and maybe even get pictures. I also knit a hat for Ellie and dyed it after it was done. I am waiting for it to dry then I need to put the finishing touches on it. I've been thinking a lot about Christmas gifts. I know I need to start soon if I have any hope of finishing.

Mary's a wonderful big sister. I think the shock has worn off a bit. She's only told me a few times that she doesn't like Ellie, etc. She still asks a lot if am coming back if I leave her with John. Or if John's coming back if he leaves the house without us. She tells me probably every other day about how she cried when she was eating yogurt (bedtime snack), and I wasn't here because I was in the hospital. And she missed me. She seems pretty insecure. I feel bad for her. Even when I go to another room she asks if I am going away, and if I'll be back pretty soon and will I miss her.

Ellie is, well, a baby. She's nothing like Mary was as a newborn. She's awake A LOT. She only takes one nap per day, and it's a long one. Yesterday she slept for 3 hours and 45 minutes. I think it was 1pm to 4:45pm. Then was up until 10pm. I was so tired and wanted to go to bed but she was wide awake. The good news is that she sleeps super well at night. She slept in the co-sleeper from 10:30 or so until around 2am. I put her in bed with me and fed her. She slept until about 5:30 and then went back to sleep around 6:15am. That wake up is usually the bad one. It's hard for either of us to get back to sleep. But today we slept in until 7:30. So that's sort of her typical day. She's super strong. John and I are both amazed. She loves to sit up while we hold her torso so she can look around. She has amazing head control. If I lay her down on my chest, she can pick her head up and look around. The first 3.5 weeks of her life have flown by.

Oh, how I wish this dang Sesame Street would end! Or that I had some knitting to do. We DVR shows for Mary and then she watches the same ones over and over and over and over..... I have knitting projects to do, but I'd need to actually start a new one which means finding the pattern, the yarn, and the right needles. As soon as I do that, I know Ellie will wake up. That's always how it goes. Today I did chores from 12:15 (when Mary fell asleep) until about 12:50 and then decided to sit with John and watch the F1 race he was watching. At 12:55 Mary woke up. So, I guess I took a 5 minute break from doing anything. I actually was going to sew for those 5 mins, but decided to sit with John instead.

Anyway, that's what I've been up to.

Things are different

Saturday's thoughts:

Today Eleanor is 17 days old. When Mary was 17 days old, we took her out of the house (except for 2 weigh ins at the doctor) for the first time. If I remember correctly, we took her to Petsmart to get cat food. Eleanor actually went to the grocery store on the way home from the hospital (we were out of milk and bananas). The next day we took her back to the hospital for blood work, and that Saturday she went to the bank and out to dinner. The first time we went out to dinner with Mary was when she was 6 weeks old.

We (John and I) used to eat in shifts while the other held Mary (who was always fussy). We've sat down to dinner as a family every night so far. Either Eleanor is asleep or I hold her or have her nursing in the ring sling. When Mary was little, I ate whatever, whenever I could during the day. Now we sit down to lunch with John every day for lunch.

So far today, I (we) have gone to get groceries, vacuumed the kitchen and dining room, started a huge pot of vegetable soup, eaten lunch, and there's an apple pie in the oven. John's out cleaning up storm damage. Mary and I are chilling and watching cartoons (she just got up from her nap and it takes her a while to really wake up). We are about to go clean the kitchen and maybe do a few other chores. Then we'll play outside. Eleanor is napping. I'll just stick her in the stroller and let her finish her nap outside today. Then this evening John's Mom and Jim are coming over for dinner.

When Mary was small, I used to take a 2-3 hour nap with her every day. Now, I guess I'll just sleep when I am dead. Oh, yeah, Eleanor thought that 5:30am was a great time to start the day today.

Ike hits Indiana

Ah, back online again. On Sunday Mom wrapped up her visit and left after lunch. Mary went down for her nap. John's Mom was planning on coming over after dinner to help with evening chores and getting the girls to bed. I was counting down the hours until John got home and things were 'normal' again. Mary got up from her nap, and we turned on Sesame Street. It was starting to get windy. I knew it was going to be some heavy winds and possibly rain, but I figured it just meant an afternoon inside instead of outside. Then the power went out. Then the phone went dead. My cell was dead too. Ugh. The winds were amazing. The entire house was shaking. We played in the hallway, but it was so dark. So we played in the kitchen where we could get to the hall in a couple seconds. The wind just kept blowing. I could hear things (trees, limbs, debris) crashing down all around us. I looked out and the lawn chairs had been blown over. I saw a corn husk go flying by, but all the fields next to the house are soybeans this year. Finally the phone came back. I was in touch with John's Step-Mom and his Mom too. Both were willing to help, but it wasn't like they could do anything. I thought we were safe. John's Mom had power and said she'd bring dinner over. So Mary and I played. Eleanor slept. The wind kept blowing. I think I've read reports of it being 70mph in the area, though I never checked the local paper. The strange thing was that it didn't let up. It blew like that for 3 hours.

Finally, it stopped. But the power was still out. That was fine, as it was almost bedtime for Mary anyway. The next morning, still no power. The yard was amazing. Here's the aftermath.

Looking into what's left of my hosta garden:

A view from the side:

Check out how the top of the tree fell and landed on the other tree (which is the tree the dove had her nest in earlier this summer).

We found out Wednesday that this limb knocked down the power line.

So after calling the power company many times trying to even get through to report our outage, they finally came on Wednesday afternoon. Their tree guys cut down several more trees that were in danger of falling the next time there's heavy winds. We were so excited that we'd have power again. But Wednesday evening came and went and we were still in the dark. Finally, Thursday about 9am it came back on. I think this has been the longest week of my life.

There are actually more limbs/tree tops down than that. And a million sticks. Right now we aren't going to mess with them until the power company's tree service comes back to pick up what they chopped down. I guess the good thing about all this is that we will have plenty fire wood.

Life with my two girls

Well, the days are officially running together. Eleanor is a week old. John went back to work on Monday. Monday went so great. Eleanor napped and Mary and I got to play so much. We did crafts, played outside, jumped on the bed (well, Mary did), and read books. They both napped at the same time in their beds, and I got some peace. Then, yesterday, things went more like I expected. But now I can't even remember what happened. Eleanor was a pooping, eating machine, and Mary was crabby for some reason. I think I said "hang on" to each of them at least a million times. I thought I was tired, but today is even worse. I only got 4 hours of sleep last night.

Today started off early, but I did manage to shower and wash my hair without anyone crying or getting hurt. I had to take Eleanor to the doctor for her one week weight check. She weighs 8 pounds! Woohoo! The doctor said she expects breastfed babies to take 2-3 weeks to get back to their birth weights, and Eleanor is already slightly above hers. When I got home it was an hour after Mary's nap time, but she went down easy. I scarfed down some cold leftovers, and Eleanor was up. She then proceeded to nurse for 4 hours straight. She'd nurse, poop, nurse, fall asleep and I'd put her down. Three minutes later she'd be up again ready to nurse. Poor Mary. Thank goodness I'm nursing her too I guess. She has been asking to nurse when Eleanor nurses and I let her if I have enough room where I am sitting (on the couch or on the bed, can't do it in a chair). So we pretty much just hung out and watched TV and played tea party. At 4pm I thought I was going to fall asleep standing up but I managed to pull it together and make a nice dinner for us. Whew. Thank goodness Mom is coming this weekend (John's out of town). I'm hoping she'll be nice enough to dust my house for me:).

Eleanor rocks a tie dye prefold and a kickin' Barbie band aid.

Cloth is working well for us again. We are mainly using prefolds so far. They look huge on her, but they haven't leaked yet. Well, there's the 2-3 times a day I get peed on, but it's always right as I open her dang diaper to change her. Oh, and today, between the scale and the exam room (naked) when she pooped on me. Thanks, baby.

Pictures!

Wednesday morning at the hospital. We had so many people in the room that morning. My Dad came by with my Grandma Mary, Mom was there, John and Mary of course, and John's Mom Beth with her husband Jim. John's Dad had already stopped by while making his morning rounds, and Cheri stopped by for a few minutes before lunch.

Wednesday night, John and Mary came back for some family time.
We've been super (overly) busy since we came home. We had to go back to the hospital Friday for blood work on Eleanor (since she got discharged from the hospital before she was 48 hours old). On Saturday Eleanor and I went to the local yarn shop for some hat yarn and then we went to the bank. Saturday afternoon John's sister Anna and family came over. Mary and her cousins wanted to go swimming, so Eleanor and I just chilled next to the pool and watched them swim.


Once we got there, Mary discovered that Cheri was putting water in the pool from the hose. Well, the water was FREEZING, but she played in it the entire time. She must have drank a gallon of it too. She did share a bit with Peyton the dog.


I'll be so glad when tomorrow comes, and John goes back to work (even though he's helped me so much the last 5 days), all the visiting is over, and I can get back into our routine.

Yes, she's here!

For those of you that don't know, Miss Eleanor Ruth arrived Wednesday morning at 1:44am. I woke up to a contraction at 11pm, we called Grandma Cheri to stay with Mary at midnight, got to the hospital at 12:35am and she was born at 1:44am! Pics to come, I need to upload them. She was 7lbs 14 oz (almost a full pound less than Mary) and has beautiful strawberry blond hair. She's perfect and LOVES TO EAT. I don't remember Mary nursing this much in the beginning, but I'm cool with it. AND Mary came up and asked to nurse with Eleanor yesterday afternoon. I got them both up on my lap and we nursed together for a few minutes. It was wonderful.

I feel fine! It's amazing. I am so happy to not be pregnant anymore (although I had a 7lb 14 oz baby and have only lost 8 pounds....how the heck does that work).

Pics coming when I can upload them.

Hungry

Have you ever had a day where you were just really hungry? That's how I felt today. I wanted to eat everything in the house. After dinner, we went down to feed John's Dad's horses. They were hungry too. Mr. Blue was so hungry, I thought he was going to climb into our car.
That's through the front window of the car, before I could even get out. The silly horse doesn't even really know us (they just got him 3 weeks ago), but he sure knew it was dinner time!

The other new horse is Miss Ginger. I can't wait to ride her this fall! She's still adjusting to her new home, but I am hoping she and I will get along. She's a pretty big horse. Much larger than the one I had growing up.

John and Mary went into the barn to get the grain. Chico (the horse they got last fall) was in his stall waiting. (He's always starving too! and he's a really messy eater...half his grain falls on the floor in his attempt to eat as fast as possible) Mr. Blue decided to wait outside. Mr. Blue is tiny. John's Dad bought him for the kids to ride. I really hope Mary can learn to ride this fall.


I wish I had a good picture of Chico. He's the largest horse I've ever been around. I guess we just had tiny horses when I was a kid. Anyway, he's super friendly but a little intimidating. He's been living alone all spring and summer. I hope he's glad to have some new friends.

A few more days....

My doctor appointment went fine today. She wanted to induce me on Tuesday, but I flat out said no. I do go back on Tuesday for a Non-Stress Test. So, Firecracker is allowed to cook a few more days which I am very happy about. The doctor said I was the only full term pregnant patient she has that isn't begging for an induction! I told her the baby will come when he/she is ready.

So, John's Step-Mom is out of town tomorrow through Sunday, and his Mom is taking a day trip to Indy one day this weekend. Those are our two main sitters for Mary. I hope the baby either comes before the weekend or waits until Monday. Friday is my b-day, so that would be super cool with me!

We have to find something to do this weekend. I am so sick of sitting around, being large, and waiting for this baby to arrive. Maybe I'll hit up some yard sales. Mary is going to need fall/winter clothes soon.

Patience

I thought that the first 2.5 years of Mary's life had taught me patience. The months of colic, her not napping/sleeping well or through the night, her wanting to be attached to me 24 hours a day for the first year and a half of her life, and now the "why?" stage. There's nothing to do but take a deep breath and remind myself that this too shall pass.

Firecracker is taking my patience to a entire new level. First, it took us months to get pregnant. Then, the first 4 months of the pregnancy I had such bad sciatic nerve pain that I honestly just sat and cried sometimes. It felt like I was dying. It was worse than labor, and it hurt all the time. For the past 3 weeks I have been having contractions for several hours on most days. They started out as annoying and uncomfortable. Now they are painful. Yesterday they were every 3 minutes and got up to 30 to 45 seconds long for about 8 hours. And then I went to bed, and here I faced with another day of waiting, of sitting here with no energy to do anything. I thought yesterday was the day for sure. By the end of the day I was so mentally and physically exhausted that I was hoping I wouldn't have the baby last night. I know I didn't have enough energy to deliver a baby last night. And so, I wait.

Insomnia ramblings

Ah, here I sit at 2:20am. I got hot on the couch and got up to get a drink. Then I checked my email. Then I surfed. Now I am wide awake. It's pretty much the standard set up for me these days.

So, anyway, still here and still pregnant. If I count all the on again, off again contractions I've been having for the last 2.5 weeks I think I've officially been "laboring/in labor" for about 5 or 6 times longer than I was in labor with Mary. I never expected this. With Mary, my water broke and she was born about 7 hours later. Now it's not uncommon for me to have fairly strong, but short contractions for 5-6 hours straight every few days. But then I go to bed and wake up still pregnant. Heck, I'm more dilated now than I was when I went to the hospital when I had Mary. My hips hurt, the contractions hurt, I'm exhausted, I'm confused, and I am scared. The doctor wants to induce me probably Thursday. She might as well have told me she wants to do some sort of freaky shock therapy (not that she'd do that to a pregnant woman of course) on me. To be honest, I hate being pregnant. I didn't like it last time and I don't like it this time. But having Mary's birth go the way I wanted meant so much to me. I have waited nine months to have another natural birth. I am so worried that one medical intervention will lead to another. I don't want to be stuck in a hospital bed. I don't want to push on my back. I don't want drugs flowing through my body or the baby's body. And the worst part? I'm not even freaking due yet!!! I'm 4 days away from being "officially" due (which was determined by ultrasound, and is probably fairly accurate, but could be as much as a week off). And yet I have been up with this wonderful insomnia most nights for the past week hoping I'll go into labor. Even though it isn't time yet. Why can't babies just come when they are ready? Why do they have to come when they are "due"? If my health or my body were in jeopardy, or if there was any indication that the baby was in distress, of course I would use medical interventions to keep us both safe. But I feel fine (aside from being nine months pregnant). I'm not swollen and my blood pressure is fine. I'm a little tired, but who wouldn't be thanks to this insomnia? Having a natural birth just means so much to me and the thought of having it taken from me just really breaks my heart. I won't even get into the reasons I think induction is wrong. I'd end up writing a novel and not going back to bed tonight. And yet I am sure it isn't wrong for everyone. I don't really think it's right, but one thing I have learned about being a mother, and maybe even an adult is that you have to do things the way they work for you. I have some pretty strong beliefs about several parenting issues, but I have learned not to judge others for making different decisions than I would make. I just want to wait. I just want to give the baby a few more days or a week longer than the doctor wants to give him/her. I want it to be my body's decision, not some time table that has been put into place because of medical equipment or guidelines. I am so very, very lucky to be a healthy woman who has had two easy, event free pregnancies. I am lucky that I have carried two babies to term. I just want these last few days to be in peace. I dread Wednesday (my next doctor appointment) so much. I actually feel sick thinking about it. I just want things to happen when they are supposed to happen. But I guess that's too much to ask these days.

Me!

Yes, there I am, looking right into the sun as my picture was taken. I don't think this pic really shows how low the baby is. Probably because these shorts are under belly ones and almost to fall off at any moment of the day. Anyway, that's what I look like today 38 weeks, 5 days pregnant. I think I actually look a little better than the last pic I posted. I think I weigh the same and I was having swelling issues about a month ago. But the heat is back here in Indiana, so I am sure I'll be swelling up like a balloon in the next couple days.

Nothing to report. I go to the doctor late Thursday afternoon.

Thank you, Grandpa Dave!

Grandpa Dave (aka John's Dad) brought us some yummy food from his garden! He brought some last week too, but we ate it before I could get a picture.

Last night I made spaghetti with meat sauce. I cut up a couple green peppers and one tomato and cooked it with the meat. YUM! Mary loves to find the bites of food mixed in with whatever dish we are having and saying--"Oh!! This is from Grandpa!" She also ate probably half a tomato by herself yesterday.

Here's pair number 2 of longies. Pair 3 is just started. It takes forever to wind the yarn into a ball. I actually saw something on the internet that often Purewool comes all tangled up and is a pain to wind. Mine hasn't been too twisted, but it does seem to take longer than usual.

I don't usually knit as much on the weekend, so pair 3 probably won't be done until Monday night. I am not sure if I am going to make pair number 4 next. I think I might knit something else. Knitting the same pattern over and over gets boring quick.

Yesterday Mary and I went to Grandpa and Grandma's pool. It's right next door. We had so much fun. I was a little worried about taking her without John, but he was working. Mary is such a good listener. She was patient with me and knows I just can't move as fast as I used to. When we were done, John was actually walking down from our house. So he, Mary and Grandpa Dave went to look at the new horses that arrived last week. John said Dave was pretty surprised that Mary could already tell them apart (which is actually pretty easy--one is gray and the other is chestnut) and told them both the new horses names. Plus good old Chico, who has lived there for a year already. We tried to pet the new horses last weekend and I wanted to take a picture, but they were still really nervous with their new surroundings. Maybe I'll take the camera back today when we go swimming.

I am trying to take it easy this weekend. But I do have a decent amount of energy. John's got Mary outside "helping" rake some grass. I think I might do some housework.

No news is good news?

I went to the doctor this morning, and despite some decent contractions last night, I'm still at 2cm dilated. Everything else was fine. I am so glad we've had cool weather here (I think it's going to be 75 today)! I don't have any swelling this week. I go back next Thursday.

So, now I can knit! Although I guess I was thinking "boy" when I bought this yarn. Every pair is going to be mainly blue. Oh well, Mary looked great in blue, and I am sure this baby will too.

Speaking of Mary, she's been such a sweet girl lately. Her mind is growing and changing every day and it amazes me! Last night she was telling John that one toy fish had a dark purple fin and the other had a light purple fin. This morning she told me that her PJ pants had light green and dark green frogs. She can sing "Where is Thumbkin?" all by herself and do the little hand motions too. She loves to sing it about a million times a day.

One down, three to go!

That's the yarn on the lower left in the previous picture. These longies are so super soft! I am about a quarter way through the next pair. One of my friends bet I'd get 1.5 pair done, and another was thinking 2 pair. If I get to knit tonight, I'll have 1.5 pair....hmmmm.

I see the doctor in the morning. I'll update when I get a chance.

It's here!

Nope, not the baby! Hopefully that post will contain an actual name for the baby. If we decide on one before he/she is born. Actually, we have a girl name. It's just the boy name that hasn't been completely figured out.

Anyway, it's here! My custom Purewool I have been waiting on for almost a month! I got a great price on it, and it was custom dyed for me. As much as I love dyeing yarn, I know I won't have time to do it this fall.


The eight skeins on the left will make 4 pairs of longies. The variegated will be for the main body/legs and the solids will be for trim. The purple on the bottom right is for a Christmas gift for our gift exchange, the white is in case I do get a chance to dye, and the reddish pink is for me. I thought it would be more red, but it will still work for me.

So, which will come first--4 pairs of longies or the baby? I have the yarn for the first pair in center pull balls already, and I just swatched it up. So I am ready to cast on the first pair tonight. Hopefully knitting ever spare minute of my day will keep my mind off these crazy on again, off again contractions I've been having every other day.

still here, still pregnant

I went to the doctor yesterday. Everything looks good. I am still feeling pretty good too, which is amazing if you ask me. I am only very slightly swollen at the end of the day, and wake up most mornings with it all gone. The braxton hicks contractions I've been having are working, I am 2cm dilated! Progress! I had several strong contractions yesterday evening and last night, but this morning I feel fine. They were strong enough to wake me up last night, but I kept willing myself to sleep. I knew I had to have at least a couple hours sleep. Finally around 12:30am I was able to fall asleep and stay that way. I heard Mary say my name a couple times, but she must have fallen right back to sleep. John went to check on her once, but she ended up sleeping all night long by herself in her bed. Yippie!

The good news is that with all this excitement, I got my hospital bag completely packed. I got the baby's stuff packed too. In theory, I want to use cloth diapers in the hospital. So I packed those, plus some of the little woolies I made and some of the shirts I dyed. I set everything out in the bedroom so we wouldn't have to dig for it in the closet when the time comes. I got the "sewing room" taken down yet again. I mopped the kitchen floor. Today I want to clean up the guest room and put on fresh sheets. I want to get the co-sleeper set up. And clean both bathrooms. I guess what's left is a mix of things for when I'll be gone and we'll have guests here and just trying to stay on top of daily chores.

I really, really need to go to the grocery store in the morning. So hopefully the baby will stay put for another 24 hours.

Nine years in the making!

The most amazing thing happened today! My "Aunt Gertie Plant" bloomed! The real name for the plant is a Hoya. I've had this bad boy for nine years, and it has never bloomed. My great, great Aunt Gertie had a plant like this when I was a child. So when I saw this plant nine years ago, I bought it because it reminded me of her. Today I went to water the plant and was amazed to see the bloom. If you've never seen one, they almost look fake. The flowers look like plastic. It's so pretty though. Here's a pic of the entire plant. It's pretty big. It was tiny when I got it.
I read up on how to get it to bloom when I first got it, but I never had any luck. I wonder what I finally did right. Maybe it's that it lives in the kitchen and I actually remember to water it once in a while. Mom is going to be so excited when she sees these pictures!

I got a decent amount of stuff done today, vacuumed 5 rooms of the house, dusted, did laundry and put some away. Tomorrow Mary is spending the afternoon with Grandma, and I am going to run the last of my 'baby errands.' I don't need a lot, but want to look several places, and it's hard to get Mary in and out of the car several times. It just wears me out.

Back to making progress on the super long list I made yesterday afternoon. Not sure what I'll do with myself if I get it done.

Before and after

Before:


After (all the ones from the pic of them stacked up in the rocking chair, plus some turquoise blue and olive green ones):