my day

What I'd like to do today: Sit someplace warm, with coffee and tea and lots of friends, and just gab and visit and enjoy the day. The kids would play nicely together and not need intervention. We would admire the cuteness/inventiveness and have a fantastic time. The sun would be shining and I would have on something new and flattering, with no stains.

What I need to do today: I need to go to the grocery store. We are out of bread. I have no idea what to make for dinner. I have nothing to eat for myself besides luna bars, eggs, and grapefruit.

What I'm actually doing today: I'm nursing the baby and trying to get her to sleep so that I can scour the house and find every single pair of scissors and put them up on top of the fridge. Why?

Because when I'm nursing the baby and think that Niall is playing with coins and I can see his back... I can see him... He's really snuck into the kitchen and climbed something to get a pair of scissors so that he can ruin something that belongs to me. In this case, a ball of BFL dyed by Mosaic Moon. I'm making britches for Eleri out of this, and wanted to save the rest to make her a soaker for this summer. Why did he feel the need to do this? I don't know.
It is his method. to destroy. anything. everything.
Yes, I restrained myself and put him in his room before I could kill him. No, I did not keep my cool and had a screaming fit at him first. He is still in there. If he values his life, he will stay there. I may or may not feed him lunch. I am that angry.
It's not just the yarn... it's the constant destruction of everything. He breaks toys, crayons, dishes, cameras... I could go on and on. We actually bought a keyed doorknob so I could lock the games, craft stuff, and small pieces toys away from him. That doorknob is worth its weight in gold.
I did salvage the yarn.

There will be enough to do what I want. So there's that anyway. And another morning gone down the tubes.

Anyone want a 4 year old?

Your Government in Action

I feel heard.

Dear Mrs. Davis:

Thank you for contacting me about consumer product safety laws. I appreciate hearing your thoughts on the issue.

In response to countelss recalls of children's projucts, namely toys manufactured in China, Congress passed the Consumer Product Safetly Improvement Act (CPSIA) in October 2008. After many months of serious deliveration and extensive debate, the House and Sentate were able to make major reforms to the Consumer Product Safetly Commission (CPSC) and implement several new safety standaards. Among the most noteworthy improvements specifically for children's toys were mandatory reductions in lead content,, mandatory third party testing, and tracking labels to easily identify the origin of children's products. The new law also provides for a ban on phthalates in children's toys. Phthalates, which are chemicals used in plastics to make them more flexible, have been the subject of much debate given the possible developmental impacts they may have on young children.

I belive CPSIA will protect American children from hazardous imported toys. However, it apperas that some portions of the bill are causing significant confusion for thrift stores, consignment shops, and very small businesses. The new regulations imposed by this law are slated to take effect on February 10, 2009. I do not believe it was the intent of Congress to shut down family-owned, small businesses with the passage of this legislation and implementation of the new regulations. In response to concerns raised by my constituents, I have contacted the Senate Commerce Committee to determine what steps the CPSC or Congress can take to resolve these issues expeditiously while still protecting children from hazards.

Again, thank you for contacting me. Should you have any additional questions or comments, please do not hesitate to let me know or visit my website at http://burr.senate.gov.

Sincerely,
Richard Burr
United States Senator

Facebook ramble

I recently came across a couple of old friends on Facebook. And when I say old friends, I mean old friends. Friends from kindergarten and first grade. Friends who I'd always wondered about - where are they now? - but never thought I'd "see" them again. And poof. There they were... Betsy Hagar and Jimmy Hall, right there on Facebook.
My memories of childhood are faded, of course. I moved away from Indiana when I was 13 years old, so 20 years ago. Man, has it really been 20 years? I've found that most of the memories that are solidly layed down in my brain happened after puberty, but there are still those flashes from my earlier childhood that stay with me. How Betsy was one of the tallest girls in kindergarten and I was the smallest, so she was always the mommy and I was always the baby. I admired her for her fashion sense, because she wore 2 polo shirts with the collars popped up and her socks matched them. And I remember going to one of Jimmy's birthday parties and being happy that I could wear my sandals because his birthday was in May and it was finally warm enough to wear them. Or how we picked on each other like little girls and boys do because God forbid you actually be nice to someone of the opposite sex or you'll be accused of liking them. Of course, I adored them both.
I remember seeing the moving Stand By Me and hearing the line "friends move in and out of your life like busboys in a restaurant," (which may or may not be paraphrased. I never said my memory was that good.) and feeling so deeply sad over that. I couldn't deny the truth there, but I could be sad about it.
It's part of my personality to try to reclaim pieces of my past. It's like finding little bits of myself that have fallen away as the years have gone by. The books, pictures, toys... they remind me of the games I used to play and the faces I once loved and thought I would love for forever. And I do still love these old friends. It's almost magical, to be able to connect after all this time - 20 years! - have gone by. I can look at the pictures of their kids, and they can see mine, and we can remember what it was like when we were kids and our biggest worry was if we got to be in the gym or in the classroom for recess, and those awful timed math tests. I remember how loud Hungry Hungry Hippos was, and how I'd hide behind the big red mats at the end of the gym when we had to play dodgeball. I remember swooning over Mr. Sands and speculating that Mr. Whitacre always wore a green tie so the boogies wouldn't show when he wiped them on there. The big green slide on the playground, and how the boys would always drink their jello through a straw at lunchtime. Making bookmarks in the library and playing tetherball outside... it's all in there, and now it's just a wee bit closer than it was yesterday.
Good times.

Purple!

I started this way back during the middle of my pregnancy with Eleri and got all the way to the second sleeve before Niall got ahold of my clicker and went merrily clicking through the house - so I didn't know where I was in the decrease pattern anymore. Pregnancy apathy set in, and it went to live in that space between the couch and the bookshelf.

I finally got it back out for some reason or other, and then when Michelle was here for a short visit I showed it to her, so then I had to get it done.

Pattern: Knitting Pure and Simple Baby Cardigan
Yarn: Carmen 100% Cotton from Goddess Yarns
This is yarn that Kim bought, and then gave to me when she decided to stop knitting. She's crazy.

The Pixie approves.

I should know by now...

If it's quiet, it means that Niall is up to something.
Like using a gluestick to glue googly eyes to his face.
That's what you'd do... right?

It's starting to melt

But we enjoyed it while it was here!

Snow Day!

It isn't often in NC that you wake up to outside looking like this.

What this means is that the kids will be up and trying to sneak outside before 7am. So what you do is you scramble trying to find clothing that will keep them warm when you live in a climate that doesn't usually require more than what people further north would consider a jacket.
So you bundle up the baby.

Who is pretty much clueless but is happy and excited because something is going on! And you make the kids wear their footie jammies under their clothes because you don't have any long underwear and go outside.

I think Niall made that face last time we had a big snow. But he'd still be out there if I hadn't dragged him inside.

Rowan enjoyed it, but got cold quickly. Lightweight. We need to just get a bunch of waterproof mittens to have for this rare occasion. His hands were the problem. But he had a blast while he was out there.

And it's still coming down out there. I expect we'll be out in it again after lunch. One of these days I'll get my hands on those blue plastic sleds that roll up. I always want them on the rare snow event, and never remember them between times. But they'd be super easy to store, so I need to get them.

Eleri

Could you eat her up?

facelift

What do you think?
I have to do something when I'm stuck under a baby half the day. :)

Opening back up

I think the babymoon is over. I managed a pair of britches for Eleri in an okay amount of time, so I'm pretty confident that I can knit for other people again. I'll be contacting the remaining two people on my list and seeing if they still want woolies.
After that, well... there's that whole CPSC lead thing... Wool as a natural fiber should be exempt, but someone said that that only applies to undyed yarn. I don't know. I'm far from expert in that kind of thing. Do I think the feds would come after me? One little knitter in a sea of millions? No not really. But who needs that lurking over her head?
So with that, I'm going to be changing prices a little bit and will go totally YYMN. That's Your Yarn My Needles for those of you who aren't up on the lingo. That will also light a fire under my knitting behind, because I'll really have to use my time wisely if I have something that belongs to someone else. So... with that.
I'm Open!

I'm hilarious

really. I am.

Extreme knitting

I finished these last night, but haven't woven in that last end because y'all have to see...
Let's get in the right frame of mind first.

I chose a light purple for the waist and cuffs, because I was afraid of running out of yarn to make small britches. I know I would have enough, but I feel the psychological need of padding. So anyway... chose the lavendar because I thought it looked pretty.
There is some pooling strangeness with the green on one side and the pinks/purples on the other side in the body, but I don't rip back for pooling unless it's superugly. This is ok.
I parceled out my lavendar into two balls for the cuffs, so I would know I had enough.
I had a bunch left over after the first leg cuff. I mentally gave myself a pat on the back for being so thoughtful as to assure my sanity.
Sometime between that first cuff and the last one... the larger ball of cuff yarn walked off (on little Niall feet). I didn't realize this. I thought I had the good ball with me as I began that last cuff.
And then it seemed to get small really quickly. You know how that happens. You're whipping along knitting and ZOOP! there goes the end of the ball.
I started to sweat. I also may have been muttering some things about Niall that weren't exactly complimentary. I looked for the bigger ball, but I couldn't find it anywhere. I decided to stick it out and see.
I won. Barely. But I won.

Oh and the missing ball? I found it this morning under the microwave.
Well played, Niall. Well played.

8 years.

And it's only gotten better.

Christmas

I'm not going to write and post a bunch of Christmas pictures. There are a quite a few, but I was not feeling my best so there aren't as many as there could be and what's there isn't that great. They'll be up on snapfish soon - I'm going to make an effort to do that again.

Christmas morning was really good though, and Rowan had the best reactions. His face for almost every present that anyone opened looked like this:

The boy was excited.
We had fun. We played. We ate turkey. We played some more. It was good.
Eleri didn't do much, but she looked cute.

Longies by Cece of Knit Candy. Yes I bought some knitting. Hey, it was on sale, and I should support other knitters, right?
We're stretching Christmas out too. Tonight we made a gingerbread house. It's dairy free!

Tomorrow John and I will celebrate our 8th wedding anniversary. Sharon and Scott will stop by for lunch. And Mamaw is supposed to get here on Thursday since she missed Christmas. I love this time of year!

2 months old

It's hard to believe. Life with her on the outside of my body goes by so much faster than those last few weeks of pregnancy went.
She's a dolly. She's a very sweet little baby, and hardly any more evening fussy time. The non-dairy diet has really helped her a ton. I won't kid you - I hate it. But she's worth every bit of denial.
Maybe it's because I'm older. Maybe it's because I wanted her for a couple of years before I finally got to have her. But I'm really marvelling at these baby days. I love her toes, her grunts, her warm little lump status... She's everything a baby should be and more, and I thank God every day that he sent her to us.
But anyway. Here are her 2 months portraits. She's wearing the same outfit that she came home in. I'm just impressed that she still fits in it!

You are going to notice that I have a new toy

because the number of pictures is going to go up a bit.
Also, our old camera had focus issues, and baby smiles are fleeting and hard to catch.
But looky here!

The combo of new camera + Eleri being more generous with her smiles = WIN!
Isn't she cute? Lisa N. gave us the bow yesterday. Eleri wants more bows and some binkies for Christmas.

I forgot to tell you about our tiger

Rowan got a stuffed tiger from the Rainforest Cafe when we were in Vegas this summer. He named it Katamari (after a video game) and it's been his constant companion. Kinda reminds me of Calvin and Hobbes.
So when we went to the Holiday Express last Sunday night (sorry, no pictures of that. It was dark.) and they had face painting, Rowan jumped at the chance to get half his face painted like a tiger.
We would have gone for the whole thing, but at $5 a half...
He loved it. So much that John had to be careful doing his bath so the face paint wouldn't get washed off. He managed to keep it for a good bit of the next day too before it got smeared everywhere and we finally had to wash it off. There were tears involved and I had to promise to go to the library and get a book on how to paint faces.
He made a pretty good tiger though!

Learning the ropes again

Tommy and Fran got us a new camera for Christmas. We actually got it a day or so ago, but I've been studying the manual and then yesterday we spent all day at the mall for the annual visit to see Santa. No it doesn't take all day, but we have to spend time in the play area/germ pit playing with our friends too.
So anyway, last night I hauled it out for its inaugural run. It was night, and the room was poorly lit, and I had to use the flash, but I think we got something cute anyway.

And we did see Santa yesterday. The boys lied about behaving and put in their request for a Wii. I no longer have the threat to not take them to see Santa to get them to stop fighting, but I do have the supreme weapon in the pre-Christmas arsenal....

If they're really naughty. We go back to the big guy and they have to tell him what they did.
You wouldn't believe how well that works.

the lunch of the beast

Yep.

One cheeseburger happy meal with chocolate milk and fries.
One chicken nugget happy meal with chocolate milk and fries.

total:

$6.66

Also: it's love when you get happy meals for your little guy on his birthday and drive home with the smell of McD's fries all over the car, when you can't have any, because McD's has a dairy additive in their fries. Seriously. Fries. I'm stockpiling karma.

Taken out of context....

this could be alarming.

Today is Rowan's last day of school before his track break, so we needed to send in Christmas cookies for his teacher and the aide. So last night Rowan and I made cookies.
I was making the dough before dinner so it could chill and we could cut cookies after bath time.
Rowan didn't know what I was doing. He didn't really pay attention. He just knew I was in the kitchen.

Here's the thing. Our cookie recipe calls for 2 Tbsp of whiskey. Straight up whiskey.
He comes waltzing into the kitchen right after I opened it up and added it.

He takes a whiff. His eyes light up. And he says... "Hey that smells like Christmas!"

Yep. Whiskey smells like Christmas.

1 month old today!

It's hard to believe she's already a month old. And at the same time, it's hard to believe that she hasn't always been here.
Eleri is doing well. At our ped visit earlier this week she was 8lbs 15oz (almost what Niall weighed at birth - yeesh!) and she's starting to do much better since we added zantac to her world and removed all dairy from mine.
But enough of that. Y'all want pictures. From today:

And because it's cute

No baby ever got so much love from her big brothers.

Right before the big foody holiday

We get some depressing news. Eleri has reflux, and the most likely culprit is dairy in my diet.
So I'm off dairy. All of it. Even the dairy hidden in the bread, and cookies, and lunchmeat. yes! Lunchmeat has a dairy component. Go figure.
and nutella has milk in it
as does the "non-dairy" creamer for my coffee

It's a whole new world. But she's worth it.

So far today I've had peanut butter toast and a ham sandwich (Hormel natural meats are dairy free at least). I'm feeling a little deprived, so I'm researching how to make cornbread and pumpkin pie without involving the cows.

hair

back in the saddle

My first knitting since having the baby.

It's eating his brain!
Pattern: Brainmonster. Yarn: cheap wool ease. Kid: happy
Luckily the stars aligned and I got it done today, just in time for the cold weather tomorrow.

Just for Mamaw

Because she was irritated at the snaps on the diapers. ;)
Eleri wanted you to know that we're also kickin' it old school.

She still likes to eat every 2 hours, and thinks that 3-7am is time to make a lot of noise.
I am tired on a fundamental level. John takes her in the morning and gives me an extra hour of solid sleep. I think I leave the planet during that hour. It's essential.
We went to the grocery store yesterday. It was my first solo outing with Niall and Eleri. The blonde cashier with the blue eyeshadow came and got my cart and steered it into her checkout line even though I had waaaay more than 15 items. Eleri snoozed in her pouch the whole time, and Niall was his usuall niallating self. I had to remind him to not manhandle the merchandise about every 3 minutes. Par for the course. By the time we got home I was sweating profusely, but I had accomplished! wee!
Which reminds me, we've been watching a lot of The Sound of Music lately, since Rowan is learning some of the songs in his music class. The boys love the part where Rolf kisses Liesl and she yells WEEEEEE! in the rain. Cracks me up.

2 weeks

At the ped yesterday: 7lbs 9oz. 19.5 inches. She's growing!

:)

Fran: She's such a pretty baby.

Rowan: Ya. She's just like a movie star.

fresh

Well and happy.
Real update some other time.

37 weeks visit and pictures

Dear baby, Any time now.

37 weeks visit was this morning.
My BP was slighty up. 130something over 80something. Don't remember exactly.
No protiens or anything bad like that though, so no worries.
They put me on the monitor. The pixie looks good. And lo... there were contractions on the monitor.
Only 2, because they came 10 minutes apart and I was on there for about 20 mins total, but they were there.
I even felt one of them. Very mild but it made my face heat up.
It's very gratifying to see that little bump on the paper. Let's hope they are
doing something, and will come more frequently and get this party started.
Fluid levels are good, measurements good, see you next week.
Next visit is scheduled for Oct 27. I'd love to have the baby that day instead.
That was Dad's birthday.

anyway, here are pictures! As I said, it's overall time here now.
Nothing else fits!

Niall rewrites schoolhouse rock

He was singing yesterday...

"Lolly lolly lolly get your badgers here!"

Fr. Alex

I love our priest.
He's from Columbia so he can't vote, but he has been watching the election
with a very serious eye. He said that he will not advise us on who to vote for,
because that's not his job. (love him) But that since he's been asked the same
question over and over by the students (it's the University parish) he wanted
to tell us his thoughts.
He also warned us to keep in mind that he is from a country where politics
and religion are so tied together that it's impossible to separate them.
He fears any kind of tie of religion and politics, because what he grew up
with and what he knows is so corrupted.

It warmed my heart so much, that I wanted to share this with y'all: (paraphrased)

We can't define pro life in just one area. We have to look at life as a whole.
Pro life is not just abortion. You can't call that one thing pro life.
You have to take care of ALL life.
Do you take care of the poor? the homeless? the criminals? the elderly?
the war? the immigrants?
Life isn't just about the unborn. It's about all of us, and how we care for each
other, and how we take care of the world that we will leave to our children.

Not bad for a guy who still struggles with English.

babycrafts

Finished: the boppy.

almost finished: the coming home outfit. Need to weave in ends and put the cherry on the hat.

I'm going to go drink more of that raspberry tea.

---------------------------

Colleen passed on today. Her body is now at peace. Send prayers to her family, that they feel love and healing as they grieve. Thank you God for her life, and for those precious moments she got to spend with those she loved. We will still be holding the auction for her. I'll repost the link closer to the day.

Still here

Really, I wouldn't be stalking me yet. I'm pretty sure I have at least another week and a half left here. The house is coming together. The laundry has been conquered (as much as it can be. There is always more lurking). I have a few more things to knit and do, but mostly it's about trying to slog this body through the day.
I am incredibly, incredibly tired. I'm also prone to hormonal crying at least once a day. It happens.
The baby linens are washed. The crib is still in pieces - but we'll set that up when baby is here. She can sleep in the baby hammock which is all set up, washed, and waiting.
The carseat is washed and in the van. Not installed, but it's in there.
Diapers are washed, stacked and waiting. Clothes washed and put in drawers.

Things left to do:
- install carseat
- turn playroom into guest room for Mom and Fran for when they're here.
- make Halloween costumes for the boys
- pack bag for hospital
- knit
- try and sleep for longer than 2 hours at a time (not gonna happen but I can hope)
- try to bring some sort of order to our bedroom and the corner of despair (that corner by the treadmill where we put pictures, random boxes, and things we just don't want to deal with right now)

I laugh at whoever says "enjoy these last few weeks." So easy to say. I'm looking foward to lying on my stomach again.

36 weeks

I am in my own way.

Auction Link

Come and shop.



Thanks.

Taking time now

I've finished Sarah's britches in green (picture to come) and they'll go out tomorrow.
Other than that, it's time to take some time. I'll be knitting for my own baby for a bit now, and working furiously on some extra knitting for a special fundraiser.

Many of you know that Colleen of Spiffy Knits has been fighting the good fight with cancer. I do not want to capitalize that word, even though we all say it like that. I don't want to give it that much due. The updates are not good, and I regret that I never got any of her yarn to work with. I always thought there'd be time. She has been one of our own on Soggy Granola, and when you hang out on a small forum with someone like that, and share pictures of your children... you think that they'll always be there.
I will be posting a link to the fundraiser closer to the date. There will be some beautiful items up for bidding, raffles, buy it nows... All proceeds will go to her family for medical bills, things for the kids, and whatever they need.
It breaks my heart that she won't be able to watch her kids grow up.
It hurts even more that their memories of her will be cut so short.

Check back for the link. And peace be with you.