:)

I'm trying to figure out what to tell you

Because I really don't know.
I have pics. They're on the camera. The cord is around here somewhere, but I'm not sure where.
I've been a little tired lately, because Eleri has been doing the fighting sleep thing, so it's been a long time between sanity breaks.
See, part of the problem is that creeping thing she's learned how to do. The video was really cute, wasn't it? She worked so hard to get across the floor to get that shoelace.
Now picture it as she's coming after YOU, so she can pull on your shirt to nurse, again. And she's moaning while she does it. And maybe one of her arms has gotten caught inside her sleeve so she's lurching along, one armed, moaning, and planning to eat you.
Yep.
She's also figured out how to get up that little lip of wood that separates her crib from my bed. So last night when she woke up wanting to nurse (before we came to bed. She is in our bed when we're there. The crib isn't used for much) she managed to climb out of the crib onto my mattress and was dragging her way across there and I was trying to pee before she could get to the edge and hurl herself to the floor like a giant, moaning lemming.
Because she has no sense of the edge. I tested this by hanging out on the bed with her while she slithered around. When she got near the edge, I held on to her ankle. She paused, and I was all proud of my smart baby, but then she went right over. I'm glad I wasn't so sure of her smartness as to let go of her.
So it's been a little nerve wracking around here. I'm hoping that tonight she decides to sleep a little more and moan a little less.

Not Friday, but I figure I owe you one

One week lost to the great beyond

So Eleri was sick last week. She had a fever that just would not go away.

She hasn't slept on the boppy since she was bitty, but that's about as far away from me as she would consent to being. Her fever hovered around 101 and I had to give her Tylenol every 4 hours. She just felt rotten, and thus I didn't get anything else done. Not even posting here.

In all of that, Rowan had his first day of second grade!

He's holding up his fingers to say: Second grade, day one.
This picture is acutally at the end of the day, since Eleri kept me up for a good chunk of the night before, Rowan and John decided to leave me sleeping and get to school without waking me.
Second grade is going well so far. I still have a hard time wrapping my head around the year 'round school. He's going back to school, but it's not fall. Cool weather is not just around the corner. We still have hot, hot August to get through.

Eleri finally started feeling better again yesterday. It was a relief to see our smiling baby. It had been so long, we'd almost forgotten what it was like to not have her yelling at us. That's what her cry was like. It wasn't really a cry, it was more of a "ruuuuuuuuuuhhhh!" *shudder* Ya. Last week was rough.
But last night I was able to put the finishing touches on a baby gift.

That's the Miss Dashwood hat, done in caron simply soft and with the picture taken under really bad lighting conditions. But it's cute, and I'm going to make one for Eleri, too. I'd be tempted to keep this one if it would have fit her, but it's for a new baby and her head is too big.
I also have another baby gift to mail.

This is the Sugarbubbie Halter dress, done in a yarn called Marble that I got at Great Yarns.
I also finished Eleri's snowblossom soaker, but have yet to get pictures. I need to weave in the ends. Why do I hate that part? It only takes a minute.

oh yeah

I had big plans when I wrote that last blog post. I was all set to strap on my shoes and get going. I forgot that part of motherhood which states that the children are going to foil you every chance they get and it's going to take you a good week to get started.
They tag team you.

Today is the first day of second grade, so I planned on walking Rowan to school. We have to walk him into his classroom. That's just the way he operates. No sending him in to go there on his own - when it's something new Rowan needs us to go through it with him at least once. I'm okay with that. I was always nervous on my first day of school, too.

I did not count on having to begin my day at 3:30 though. And I did not sleep well enough for this to happen. But a certain member of this family decided to poo in the middle of the night, and now won't go back to sleep. It's times like this when I wonder how I'm still sane.

It is time

I keep track of my weight in 5lb brackets. It's never the same two days in a row, but fluctuates between the 5 and 0, and I'm not telling you which 5 and which 0.
Really, the number isn't as important so much as how I feel. Well, the number has been a little important up to now. I've been waiting for it to get low enough so I won't destroy my knees if I start running. Bad knees run in my family, and mine make interesting noises and do creeky things.

Mom hates me running, but nothing helps me get in shape better. And I would rather run for half an hour and eat what I want than walk for forever and have to count calories. Counting calories does not work for me.

So, since I had a baby at the end of October and our town has a 5K at the end of October, I thought that would be a good fitness goal for me. I think that a year after having a baby, I should be able to at least complete a 5K. Not win. I'm not stupid. But I should be able to do it without major issues.

Enter the Couch to 5K program. I've done it before. It's what had me running before I had Eleri, and what had me wearing jeans that I bought while I was a college student. I still have the jeans! I want to wear them again. Not only that, I want to feel better and be fit. I saw my friend Julianne at BJs Wholesale last weekend. She'd just finished her first triathelon. Not only did she look strong and happy, she looked fantastic in her jeans. I want to be there, and I'm finally down enough poundage to start. Woo!

No, I'm not looking to do a triathelon. I can't swim for diddly. I just want to look good in my jeans.

So I've printed out the schedule. I can't promise that I won't be doing some of the weeks more than once as I get this post-baby body back into shape, but I can promise that I will be doing them. I'm even taking a before picture. Maybe some day I'll post it, along with my after picture, or maybe it will just be for me. Time will tell.

Pretty awesome

He was supposed to have been cleaning his room.
I couldn't really yell at him though. I mean, come on! I couldn't discourage this!

I don't get tired of this

Knock knock.

Who's there?

Piggy tails.

Piggy tails who?

My piggy tails fell out while I was sleeping, and now I look like this!

Yes, I know it's not really a knock knock joke, but they're all the rage around here.

Somebody has a case of the Mondays

even though it's Tuesday.
And I have no idea where Monday went. It must have happened at some point, because we went to the dentist and Niall had no cavities, and Eleri pretty much didn't nap, and I'm so sick of the not sleeping crap I could... well... I don't know what I could do. I'm too tired to come up with something.
2 factors here with the not sleeping:
A) separation anxiety - someone thinks that she has to be physically touching me at all times, and when she wakes a little and finds me not there, all hell breaks loose
and II) Someone is learning how to slither, which means a developmental milestone and she has no choice but to sleep in her crib or she'll end up on the floor.

Try explaining that to a baby.

Friday Flick!

No one is the center of attention around here, is she?

Yo

Jenn, can you believe these are the same glasses that Tipton used to wear?

Michael Jackson?

Really?
I remember sitting on the floor in Kim's room, looking at the inside of the Thriller album and him with the white tiger, thinking that he must be the coolest guy on earth.

Rowan and I watched some videos on Youtube tonight.

We'll taunt him about this some day

This is from when Mom visited us a few weeks ago. She wears makeup. I don't. Therefore, makeup is fascinating.

Some day, after his first drag show, we'll sit around and laugh about how it all started with Mamaw in the bathroom. HA!

Reclaimation

Feeling better! Now all I have to do is reclaim the house and my life in general from the clutter and piles that happened while I was down. But it's summer... time to relax.

Could you get any more relaxing than that?

Today's agenda: the garden. The combo of leaving it for SC, and then coming home and being sick for a week wasn't good. The weeds were taking over. The garden looked more like lawn with a few plants poking out here and there. It's not going to be that fantastic this year anyway, being the first year in the soil and all, but this was way bad.

But, it was a great opportunity to try out our new baby pool, with built in shade!

The way it's situated provides optimal shade for the baby, but horrible lighting for pictures.

It's only big enough for her, but did that stop the boys?

Not a chance. It worked out well, though. Rowan made sure she didn't tip over and I got some weeding done. And then Rowan decided to get out, so of course Eleri tipped over and I had to jump to grab her before she could try breathing water. That put an end to the weeding and pool time for the morning. I could use another couple of hands, some days...

We got some good playing in, though. Is there anything cuter than a baby splashing?

productive

Cough that is. Not me. I'm so far from productive I'm going in the other direction.
Well, that may not be entirely true. I have been knitting dish cloths. Because that's about my speed at this particular point in time, and I have that bin of cotton from when they put it at 99 cents a ball and I went a little nuts. I've made a vow to get it knitted up so I can be done with it, since I'm not knitting for anyone else. I may never be knitting for anyone again. It seems like the time. First there was the whole lead testing laws, and now paypal has started charging fees on even funded things, and I'm really enjoying the not having anyone on the list and the knitting whatever I want, even if it's a dishcloth, without worrying about what I'm supposed to be doing instead. It's nice.
And it's Friday. That's nice, too. I thought I had a video, but I can't find it.

cough

That's about what I'm saying these days. I cough so hard and so long that I get light headed and sometimes trip my gag reflex. It's lovely. Add in Niall watching me hurl and commenting, "Ew, Mom! You're really really sick!"
Ya think, kid?
So anyway, precious little of anything has been going on around here. Bare minimum. No knitting. I really want to curl up and make myself a log cabin blanket, but who has the energy? And I don't have the yarn I want for that, anyway.
I am on antibiotics now. It's getting a little better every day. There is a light at the end of the tunnel.

I don't even have a title for this one

We are alive. Went to SC to visit. I picked up this most horrible cold I've had in ages, so I'm getting through that. We stayed in jammies all day yesterday, and when the neighbor kids asked if the boys could play, Rowan answered, "You can't come in because my mom is sick, and we're having a jammy day so I'm not coming out."
Either he liked it, or he just wanted to keep playing the wii.
I'm going to the doctor if I'm not well by Monday.

What's bad, is that while we were down there we went to Ikea for the first time. We got so much stuff. I want to tell you all about it, but it's going to have to wait.

hee

We're sick. Eleri has a fever. I can feel my heartbeat in my nose.
Here. Have a picture. I watermarked it, so that's what that is.

Last day of first grade

First day --- last day. What a change!

It was his last day of school, and this morning the first grade class put on a few plays that they wrote themselves. Rowan was in one called "Animal Olympics." He was the dolphin, and he won the swimming race.

reading his lines

And of course, Rowan was the kid whose little brother wandered up to the front during the play because he wanted a mask, too.

It's blurry, but you try taking pics from the back of the room while holding a squirming baby.

There were refreshements, and we got to take pictures with Ms. D (baby due tomorrow!) and Ms. G.

Then the littles and I went back home and Rowan finished his school day. He got to eat lunch outside, cleaned out his desk, and said goodbye to his teachers and his classroom. It was a good day, and he said he wished it was a little longer so he could see everyone more.
It won't last long, though! Second grade starts July 7th. We have a lot of summer to squeeze in!

I know. I know.

Do you ever have one of those days when you just feel snarly?
When you try all these things to make yourself feel better...
a little music... a little knitting... a little sewing... some dancing with the kids...
looking at a few websites... watch a little tv... play a game...
and nothing works.
You just feel all RAWR! and snarly...

yep.

Tomorrow is the last day of first grade. Don't worry. I'll take pix.