CMAD-ness!

Ok, so I've actually been working very hard on all those projects that I had posted about when I was in my CMAD manic phase, part 1 -the buying phase. Part 2 has been the actual gittin'-down-to-bizness phase and has involved much cutting, pinning, sewing, knitting, measuring, and a bit of improvising thrown in for good measure.

I seem to work fairly well when given a timeline for projects. The girls had requested their costumes for Halloween so those were something that needed to be dealt with first. R requested a devil dress and A decided to be a bunny after much deliberation and many other costume ideas. At first, A wanted to be an "Ariel in her bride dress", then a "fairy", then a "cheerleader", and probably a few other ideas thrown in there somewhere. But, she eventually decided on being a bunny when we were at the fabric store looking through the McCall's catalog and she came upon the bunny costume pattern. I made doubly sure that was her final answer and once I was satisfied that I was not going to end up with an unworn bunny costume and 4-year-old in tears over the never-made bride's dress we went through the store and found appropriate white fabric (I love fleece - easy for me to work with and nice and soft and bunny-like), pink fabric for the inner ears, elastic, and a zipper. We also found a suitable pattern for R's dress and some great red fabric with a swirly pattern that looks like flames all over.

I got to work pretty quickly cutting out the patterns once we got home. A was kind enough to entertain herself in the playroom for quite a while that afternoon while I cut away to my hearts content. It actually took me about 1.5 hours to cut out all the pattern pieces and then cut out the fabric for the bunny costume. R's pattern was much easier...three pieces to cut for the dress compared to about 15 for the bunny! Here are the results of the hours spent cutting, pinning and sewing:

R's devil dress


A's Bunny Costume
(body in first photo - mitts, spats, and hood with ears in second photo)



Oh, and I forgot to get a shot of the back of the costume but there is a cute bunny tail attached at the back. I will post pics after tomorrow's halloween festivities of the girls actually IN their costumes.

My other recent CMAD adventure has been knitting myself a pair of socks. With the cooler weather upon us I was itching to get back into knitting but didn't want to commit to a huge project - especially because of everything else I'm trying to work on! So, I happened to have a conversation with a woman while in the waiting room at A's gymnastics class and found out about this great yarn that is dyed to allow you to make striped socks without ever changing yarns. Sounded like fun and I figured socks wouldn't take too long but I was a bit apprehensive of the whole "turning the heel" part of sock-making. But, when I went to the yarn shop to peruse the sock yarns I had heard about I got a lot of support and encouragement from the yarn store owner and from a couple of other knitters who told me to give it a try and ask if I needed any help. Well, I'm proud and excited to announce that just last night I turned my very first sock heel WITHOUT ANY HELP! I was kind of confused when I was reading the pattern but I just figured it knew better than I and followed it to the letter. Sure enough, I managed to make the heel and was able to, in hindsight, figure out what the hell the pattern was making me do with that heel. I like to be able to understand what I'm trying to accomplish but sometimes it is only after the fact, when you look back and see what happened that you can figure out how it all came together. There has got to be some kind of life lesson in that statement but I'm too excited to get back to my knitting to think it out on any profound level. So, without further ado he's a pic of my first ever nearly-complete sock! I have to finish knitting down to the toe and then of course, being in possession of two feet, I have a second sock to make.



I'll let you know when I get that second one done - maybe I'll even post a picture of my feet in all their cozy stripiness!

Oh, and as for a quick quilt update. I have not had much time to devote to the quilting what with the costumes and all but I did manage to finish cutting out the gazillion triangles for all the blocks. I ran into a bit of a snafu when I changed my colors around because I ended up not having enough dark purple fabric and my local store (that is closing soon!) didn't have more!! I frantically searched far and wide and found a midwestern fabric store that had some in stock. After about a week and a half in which I panicked and wondered if I was going to have to get a new dark purple replacement fabric I finally found and then received the new piece of fabric and was busy getting the pieces cut out and ready for the sewing phase!

And remember how I talked about my CMAD enablers? My MIL is a huge enabler and I have quite a few enabler friends. But, the scariest part is that I also have enablers right here in my very own home. The girls love to do arts and crafts and of course they need costumes every year and they ask for dress-up clothes and quilts and the like. So, they are big source of inspiration and encouragement for my obsessions. But, did you ever think that Rick would be another enabler? Yup. I am married to yet another enabler. I'm doomed. Here's the email he sent me this morning:

Subject: Link for you...

...I enjoy makezine, you'll probably enjoy this link as part of your daily surfing:

http://www.craftzine.com/blog/


So, I went and checked it out. I found this particular entry very romantic and original! And this knitting project looks fun and practical! Hey - I wonder if I have any black fleece hanging around? Time is tight but I'd love to make this for little miss E for Halloween!

I'm not sure he realizes what he has done.......

Back on track...or trying anyway

Things have been touch and go with the walking for one reason or another. My toe is not yet 100% and when Lauri and I did make it out one morning recently my toe had other ideas. Our walk got cut short because I was having some pain and strange tingling sensations in that toe - yuck. We managed about 25 minutes that morning instead of our usual hour-long walk, but it was something. Yesterday, Lauri was feeling kind of crappy so we did about 40 minutes and called it a day. Turns out it was a good idea since she is feeling even worse today and wasn't up for walking at all - poor dear! Sending some get-well-quick vibes her way!

The mornings are very dark right now so I did not want to go out walking alone. Instead I grabbed my mp3 player and headed to the basement to log some time on the dreadmill (a term coined by one of my online weight loss buddies). I managed 2 miles in about 35 minutes and then did a couple of weight lifting exercises. My weight is slowly but surely creeping in the wrong direction and I really need to get back to business - ugh.

In related news I've spent time finding pants that fit me well and are not elastic waist lately. I decided that part of the journey out of elastic waistland is mental and I just need to find pants in my size (whether I like the number or not) that fit me well, feel good, and make me look less like the SAHM that I am. It is REALLY hard these days to find pants that are not in the "modern fit" style that is so popular with the young and hip...or rather hipless! I try on those labeled "below the waist" or "low cut" and find that all my lovely flabbiness hangs over the top of the pants. Quite a sight to behold. Ewwwww... I know there are young girls out there who can wear these pants and a few moms who seems to have born with some damn good genetics. I'm just not so blessed in that department. Then there are those who think they can wear that style and just let it all hang out...excuse me while I go gag myself with a spoon...yuck. Do they really think it looks good or are they just unable to find pants that fit them so they settle for what's "in style"? I know how hard it is to find pants that fit me these days....not many places carry pants that fit the old-fashioned way! Sigh. But, I refuse to wear what is "in style" if it means I'm going to walk around with fleshy parts dangling and making other people want to vomit. So, I looked around and I did have some luck at JC Penney (not the most fashionable of places, I know...) where I found some nice dressy Docker's that were labeled "sits at waist" and were not elastic waisted, even if they do have a good deal of comfy stretchiness to the fabric! Baby steps out of the world of elasticity! I have yet to find a decent pair of jeans for myself, but I'll keep you posted. This area is not exactly a shopping mecca so I need to venture a bit further from home to find anything besides Target, JC Penney, and Old Navy. And I rarely buy clothing for myself online. I really need to try it before I buy it when it comes to most clothing items - particuarly shoes, pants and bras.

The journey continues...

Walk like no one is watching...

So, it seems that our little miss E is capable of walking fairly well. She has just been a bit stubborn about sharing her talent. While I have not actually caught her in the act of walking I think she does practice in secret when she knows she is not being watched. She is quite stable and can take a step or two but when I've tried to entice her to walk with a favorite toy or her paci she usually gives me this look like "yeah, in your dreams" and starts cracking up. She thinks she is so funny. And she is certainly on to my little game and refuses to partake.

Unless, of course, it's on her own terms.

Last night, I think she decided that she'd practiced in secret long enough and she was going to give her debut walk strutting herself across the living room floor for the amusement of her adoring crowd. I tried again to play the "come and get it" game but figured I'd get that same self-satisfied guffaw from Her Highness and that would be the end of that. So, I picked up her brand new baby doll that the girls got her for her birthday and gave her a big, happy smile while holding the doll juuuust out of her reach. I encouraged her to come and get her baby doll. To my amazement she immediately took a step! And then another! Being the mean mom that I am who likes to torture her own young I kept that doll just out of reach and forced her to take yet another step. On a good day she'd give me the satisfaction of only those two tiny steps and that would be the end of it. She would plop down on her diapered behind and refuse to stand up again and heckle me from where she sat. But, not this time. This time she actually seemed to enjoy the game and showing off her newfound bipedalism. She took two more steps and I let her get close enough to grab the prize dolly - so proud of her accomplishment that I felt the need to reward it. But, oh no! She wanted to keep playing 'the game' so she actually pushed the doll back at me and proceeded to take a few more frankenstein-ish steps - all the while laughing and looking so very pleased with herself. We cheered her on as she continued with her plodding, teetering baby steps across the rug - seventeen in all (yes, I counted!). Then she grabbed the baby doll and thumped down onto the rug and gave us the biggest, cheesiest grin as if to say "I did it!"

Way to go, baby girl! Momma is so proud!

(As I bury my head in the sand refusing to acknowledge how much this will enhance her 'stinkeroo'-ishness when it comes to getting into trouble! Watch out world, here comes E!)

As promised...

A few snapshots from the 1st birthday!
The balloon obsessed one in her glories.


What? No beer until I'm twenty-one? Heh.


The obligatory messy cake pics!





What's that international dialing code again?


A wagon big enough to share!

Little Miss E turns 1!

Breaking News!

As of 2:25am this morning Miss E officially turned into a 1-year-old!

Her due date was October 10th and one of my fears was that she would come a few days early and that she and A would end up sharing a birthday. But, who was I kidding. R arrived 6 days late and A arrived 5 days late. E was not about to be outdone by either of her big sisters and she hung out in utero for a full 9 days past her due date! She would've stayed in even longer but I decided it was time to get the show on the road and asked to be induced. I went in the morning of the 18th and my midwife was confident that I would be having the baby that day. Ha! The joke was on both of us. I had thought my third would come early, I hoped that the labor would be quick in comparison to my first and second, and my midwife felt that I was a "prime candidate" for induction at that point and things would go quickly once we kick started the process. We started off with a minimally invasive induction method and she told me to walk the halls and let the nurse know when the contractions started.

So, we walked. And walked. And walked.

I napped some. Rick and I played cards. We spent a boring day waiting for something - anything - to happen. Nothing happened.

I had been admitted at 10am and by 4pm it was obvious that the minimally invasive approach was not working. E was happy to be where she was and my body was not anxious to evict her - although my mind was in overdrive. My midwife had been in to check on me throughout the day and when she came by at 4pm she gave me the option of going home (uh. NO! Not happening!) or going to the next level which was to break my waters. After a short deliberation I went for Plan B which actually kick started things very quickly. And I was hopeful that I would soon have my baby girl in my arms.

Ha.

My body just don't work that way! I started contractions at about 4:45 and by midnight I was not even half-way dilated and I was SCREAMING for an epidural. They had to call Mr. Epi-man in from someplace not too far away but every minute felt like an hour. Finally at about 12:30 I got my relief and then I slept. Miss E continued to take her own sweet time. She came out into my midwife's arms at 2:25am.
Nine and a half pounds of perfection!

Proud midwife.

The girls were able to come in to meet their sister the next afternoon. Our family was complete and we were all together for the first time:


E fit right in to the family right away. She was a very content and calm newborn and the girls loved her to pieces from the very beginning. Although there had been a time when we had thought we were done having babies after A was born, it is now impossible to consider our family without our sweet baby E. She is such a blessing!


She has the best and most contagious laugh. She is clever, observant (see clever link!), opinionated, funny, and so very lovable.


She loves her big sisters! They are a constant source of inspiration, amusement, and delight for her. And the feelings are mutual.


She is quite the mama's girl. She is still nursing multiple times a day (and at least once most nights - yawn) and she does not like it when she is around strangers and mommy is not in her direct line of sight.


Today she is the Princess of the Day!


We love you, E! You are an amazing little person and we are honored to be the ones to watch you grow, learn, laugh, love, and become the person you are meant to be!

Happy Birthday, lil pun'kin!

(Mom's 1st birthday cake creations)

Update on Life

Thanks Tuxbaby for asking how things are going!

Life has been pretty hectic since my last post. On Saturday morning, R woke up and was feeling chilled which I thought was kind of odd. I went out to do a few errands and when I came back I found out that R had taken a nap (unheard of since she was very small!) and was running a fever. The fever came and went all weekend and she was lethargic and sleepy - poor thing! By Monday she was back to her chipper self but I followed the school "rules" and kept her home because her fever didn't break until sometime Sunday evening. I think it was good to give her the day to relax and enjoy some special time with mom and dad (and E who was napping for part of the day). She didn't seem too upset about missing school so I think she realized that she needed that day too. The fever did put me a little on edge because her last fever experience was due to the Lyme Disease - however, it ran its course and she seems back on track so I have to stop worrying, I guess, and hope for the best! Motherhood is a constant source of worry -- and I hear that it never really ends. I think I tend to be a worrywart about certain things - justifiably or not - but I'm an odd mix because I would also categorize myself as an optimist and I like to find the good in things and don't want to think about the bad. A sort of a Pollyanna, if you will. Sometimes life throws me for a loop though and I am as good as the next person at wondering about the worse case scenario. So, I guess the thoughts of chronic Lyme Disease were in the back of my mind this weekend.

As for A - she has become accomstumed to the inhalant drill. She sits nicely, breathes deeply, is no longer fearful of the mask (phew), and knows that she needs to take a drink of water right after her dosage so as to avoid "nasties" in her mouth (thrush). So, things are going well on that front. Yesterday I had her parent-teacher conference at preschool and that went very well. Two of the three teachers are well acquainted with R and our family in general so it was a very comfortable meeting and it was nice to talk about how well A is doing and the fact that she felt right at home from day one because of all the time she spent there during drop-off/pick-up for R for two years. I asked about any concerns they might have in respect to her hearing ability in the noisy school environment. I know she hears well when it is one-on-one at home but this recent hearing screening 'failure' has me wondering if she has had difficulties in other situations. Thankfully, it appears that she is hearing well enough that she is getting along fine. Perhaps this Friday when we go in for her rescreening we will find that last week was a strange fluke or a very temporary situation because of fluid in her ears that the meds may have taken care of already. I'm hopeful. The rest of the meeting went well and I got to hear glowing reviews of her social/emotional/play skills, her excellent speech/language skills, her fine and gross motor skills (parent and teacher alike were celebrating her ability to pump herself on the swings which is a recently acquired skill!), and her status as a "great model" for others at circle time where she sits attentively, listens well, and shares appropriately her thoughts and ideas. That's my girl! She is such a sweetheart who is empathetic and kind but with a dash of temper when she feels she is justified! LOL She is loving her first year at preschool and the teachers love having her in the class.

As for little E. She is nearly one! Her big day is on Thursday and I have yet to finalize plans for that special celebration. My in-laws will be coming over for dinner that evening and we are just planning a small family party with dinner, cake and ice cream and of course presents. Her big present is a Radio Flyer wagon that her sisters can pull her around the yard in -- I think the big girls will like it as much, if not more, than their littlest sister. I have plans for A to go on a playdate on Thursday afternoon with a preschool friend so I have time to get ready for the evening celebration. Like it or not, there will be a full recounting of the event complete with messy cake snapshots of the birthday girl later in the week.

Rick was also on the casualty list this past weekend. On Sunday he started with a sore throat and clogged sinuses. He felt pretty crappy much of yesterday but is back to work today and feeling quite a bit better - he is finding those zinc cold lozenges to be helpful in kicking the cold pretty quickly. I can't take extra zinc while nursing which is a bummer but my immune systems seems to be doing a better job of keeping the colds at bay for some reason...thankfully! And somehow we are rarely sick at the same time which is a blessing in an of itself! Having him home yesterday was actually a boon for me (albiet at his expense!) because I was able to get a lot of running around accomplished sans kids! I had to do the preschool drop-off and pick-up, go to the parent-teacher conference, run a grocery errand, drop snacks off at R's classroom, and bring A to and from gymnastics. Busy day - but having Rick home made it a lot less stressful (for me! LOL).

Today is another busy one. I did preschool drop-off and ran to Target for a few things. Now I need to have a quick lunch and E is currently napping. At 12:30 I need to leave to pick up A from preschool and then we are driving down the "big mall" where they have a portrait studio at JC Penney so I can have A's 4-year and E's 1-year portraits taken. I realized last week that I had not yet made time to do it and I wanted it over and done with. Call me obsessive but I have a thing about these yearly portraits. I love having them to look back on a to see their progression as they age and in part my personal obsession comes from having relatively few pictures of myself to look at because I was baby #5!! I am already behind on E's baby photo album and I am trying desparately to catch up because I want all of them to have their own pictures to look back on and I want to make sure I have those memories to cherish forever. They grow up way too fast... So, anyway, we have a time crunch this afternoon because their appointment is for 1:20 and of course it is really two sittings we are dealing with and I need to be back on the road by about 2:45 so I am home in plenty of time to get R off the 3:30 bus! Plus, R has her 4:00 art class today!! Phew. So, lots of running around and a small prayer that it all goes smoothly. I realize that I am doing this to myself - so I am trying to keep it in perspective and just get through the day, the week, the month. October is a busy month and we have yet to even get into the full swing of the "holiday season" and all that entails. What was I thinking when I practically "planned" these two October babies? ;-)

Ah well, it's all good stuff so who am I to kvetch? I had book club last night and we talked about a great book that I think I mentioned here before. It is called A Walk on the Beach by Joan Anderson and it's about a friendship she formed with Joan Erikson (wife of psychoanalyst Erik Erikson) that occurs on Cape Cod when she is in her 50's and Joan Erikson is in her 90's. It is a great read with a lot of great quotes about keeping yourself open to new experiences and finding joy in every day things and always taking the time to play no matter how old you are. I need to keep some of those quotes handy when I find myself getting too caught up in the daily grind. It also talks about keeping your body moving and fit because it is the only thing you have to get you through this life. Treat it kindlly and keep it moving so it has the strength to get you through all the learning, living, and doing of life. It was a very quick read and although I could not completely identify with either character I found a lot of great wisdom in the book and it makes me want to read more about and by Erik and Joan Erikson.

Our next book is less "real" and perhaps a fair bit less thought-provoking. But, I'm looking forward to it nonetheless. We are reading Zorro by Isabel Allende. I'll let you know what I think when I've finished - which has to be in a few weeks when the book club meets again!

Ok, time for some lunch and then the crazies of the day will continue!

Say what?

A had her 4-year physical yesterday afternoon. The usual drill for my kids in this situation is to go in, get weighed and measured, wait a long time for the doctor and then have the doctor spend not very long checking over whoever is there for the appointment and get sent home with a clean bill of health (and perhaps a shot or two in there somewhere). And we usually get a comment on how small their file is -- well, before the days of laptops and touchscreens we did -- because we almost never have to go in between yearly visits. Lucky us!

However, that was not the case for poor Miss A yesterday!!!

First off, she failed her hearing screening. Totally unexpected! She seemed to understand the directions and sat and participated willingly but her thresholds were waaay off. Normal hearing means you hear the tones as low or even lower than either 25 or 20db (depending on the tone) and her lowest thresholds were mostly at 35db or greater with only one or two at 25! Ack. So, later the doc ordered a tympanogram and those were also completely off. Very low - almost flat in both ears - which would seem to indicate a middle ear infection, fluid in the middle ear, or something similar. The doctor had already checked her ears and even checked the mobility of her tympanic membranes. Her ears looked fine and the doctor did see movement but the tympanogram showed that the movement was pretty minimal.

That leads us to the next thing - which may be the cause of the (hopefully temporary) hearing loss. She had a persistent cough all last fall/winter which was worse at night and after being out in the cold and/or running around outside. We had her seen last December about it but they sent us home saying it was probably a cold and eventually it did go away but it seemed to take a long time. This fall it started up again when the temperatures dipped. This past week was unseasonably warm and the cough went away. But, I mentioned it anyway and the doc thinks she has cold-weather-induced and/or exercise-induced asthma so she gave us a script for a steroid called Flovent HFA and this face mask/tube thingy to administer the inhalant. A is now on this very low-dose steroid inhalant (two puffs twice a day). If it seems to stop the coughing in cold weather we are to continue until mid-April! Blah. She was traumatized by the face mask last night but we finally got her to do it and this morning went much better. I was afraid that I was going to have to fight her to get her to do it every time and I was already frazzled from the day! It was already past her bedtime, she was cranky, I was tense and I probably didn't handle the situation as well as I would have under normal circumstances but we finally got her to take the meds with the face mask and this morning she was a whole lot less intimidated and took it like a champ. I was dreading the thought of forcing the stuff on her every morning and every evening for the next 6 months!

And finally, poor little baby got three shots yesterday (IPV, MMRV, and HIB...if I remember correctly). So, she says her arms are still sore at the injection sites, she won't let me take the band-aids off, and she's been rather whiney today - for good reason!

I'm freaked by the asthma thing and freaked by the potential of a hearing loss (although I've never noticed a significant "issues" in that regard so I'm hopeful that it is related to the asthma somehow...maybe some fluid in her ears or inflammation or some such). She will have a follow-up screening next week when I bring E in for her 1-year appointment. And I also already made an appointment at the University (at my old department, no less!) for her to have a complete hearing evaluation. I called the audiology director who I know and she recommended that we have the testing done regardless so that if she does have issues down the road we will have a baseline to look at.

This whole appointment threw me for a loop yesterday! I was frantically calling insurance to find out about coverage, calling the audiology department to talk to the director and make an appointment, etc... I just want to cover all bases and like I said, I'm very hopeful that it is a temporary situation - the asthma may not be temporary and that stinks for poor A - but at least maybe the meds will clear up whatever is causing the hearing issues.

So, if you are the praying type, put a little prayer in for her. She had such a rough day yesterday. She has requested that I sit and watch "Annie" with her this afternoon so I think that's just what we'll do to decompress today.

Oh, and in other news from A's appointment she weighs 43# and is 42.2 inches - 90th percentile in both so she is growing quite well and the doctor was pleased with A's reports on her eating habits, excercise, bike helmet use, and the like. So, there were good things happening at the appointment but I just wish I could have had a boring appointment as is the norm around here!

I'm just praying that next week's appointment for Miss E will be completely normal and boring. Please? I really can't take any more "excitement" around here.

A few birthday snapshots

Just wanted to share a few of the pictures from the weekend birthday celebrations.


The big 4-year-old birthday girl!


The soon-to-be one-year-old girl (if she only gets balloons for her birthday she'll be thrilled...I could not keep her away from them)!


The infamous unicorn pancakes for breakfast!


I loved this card that R made for A. She drew a picture of a poodle in a cornfield (?? LOL) and wrote the entire card without any help. Awwwwww...


The girls at the party had a fun time getting all gussied up and playing "pin the horn on the unicorn"!


The unicorn cake. Ta-da!


Opening one of many awesome gifts (N, on right, gave her a jewelry box that plays music and has a dancing ballerina - life is good).


Saturday evening we celebrated both A's and our friend Meri's birthday. They each got a candle to blow out on the cake.

We had a fun weekend of celebrations but I was so beat after all was said and done. Rick thankfully allowed me to take an hour and a half nap yesterday and then I got to bed early last night. E slept fairly well last night which also helped me feel more human this morning.

Oh, and in other news my toe is finally healed enough that I can get out walking again. I'm going for 5 times this week and managed to get out yesterday and today with Lauri for our 4-mile walk! Trying to get back on track!

Happy Birthday to my sweet girl, A!

My sweet girl, A, turned four at 6:56am this morning.

She arrived on a Sunday morning five days past her estimated due date. The last week or so of her pregnancy was a very emotional time for me. I was anxious to meet her yet wondered how I would manage as a mother of two. I'd imagined what she might look like and how R would react to her new sister. I had the same fear that I'd heard echoed by other moms when having their second baby - will I find a way to love this new baby as much and as fiercely as I love my first? It now seems like such a silly thing to be afriad of - there was and is enough room for A just as much as for E when she entered my heart and our family and there is still plenty of love to spare! Love abounds - it grows bigger and stronger just as our family grew and as our girls grow bigger and stronger with each passing day.

But, how is it possible that she has grown and changed so much in what feels like the blink of an eye. I still think of her as my baby girl - the one with the full head of hair and the round little face, all swaddled and cozy in that hospital bassinet.
Not yet one day old....

Our sweet second girl fit into the family so nicely. She was so loved by her big sister R from day one. R always wanted to hold her and love on her (sometimes a little too roughly!) and once she became old enough to play they became thick as thieves. They are sisters in every sense of the word. Yes, they fight. But, they have their moments of tenderness, protectiveness, and conspiracy together. And now that one-time baby is now a proud big sister herself. She welcomed E with a heart bursting with love and affection and although she is not too keen on E slobbering on her "stuff" she loves her little sister and will often tell me how very cute E is.
Four months - I had already cut those bangs once!

A is so loving, sweet, caring, and at times an opinionated little thing who I love to pieces. Once she learned to speak I began to hear "Mommy, I love you!" many, many times a day and I never tire of hearing it.
One-year-old with her beloved swing.


She is a smart girl and so very social. She made friends last year in daycare and with the kids at church school and now she has a number of sweet little friends at her preschool this year. Tomorrow is her party and in honor of her turning four she has invited four of her friends - 2 from school and 2 from daycare. She loves being at preschool and has many things to tell us at dinnertime about her day and all the wonderful things she did.

Sassy 2-year old on the potty.

She loves Barbies, horses/unicorns, dogs, playing dress-up and playing with any kind of "people" (dolls, plastic disneys, barbies, dollhouse people, etc...) and playing with her big sister and her many friends. But, she is also very good at playing on her own and her imagination is vivid and active! She just recently learned to pump on the swings and is very proud of her accomplishment - and we are so very proud of her and all her wonderful accomplishments and just proud to be her parents and call her our very own sweet A.

Three-year-old Princess A.

She has asked for a Unicorn party and I have made a cake with a rainbow on the top and bought a plastic unicorn to put on top. I bought unicorn plates and napkins, and I drew a unicorn for a 'Pin the Horn on the Unicorn' game. She is THRILLED! Her party is tomorrow and they will be making necklaces, playing games, eating pizza and cake and ice cream. There will be gifts and smiles and laughter and joy. I am hoping she has a birthday to remember.

Big girl pumping on the swing!

When she woke up this morning I told her she was soon going to be four (at 6:56 am) and I had her come out to the dining room where I have already decorated for her party tomorrow and where all her gifts from us were laid out. She got to open her gifts (she loved them all - so easy to please!) and I made her pancakes as a special breakfast. I did my best to make unicorn-shaped ones and made face, horn, etc. with decorator frosting.
Life is good!

We had planned to order pizza for dinner, per the birthday girl's request, but plans changed and she opted instead for a burger and "smiley" fries from a local eatery. She proudly told the waitress it was her birthday. She seemed to enjoy her special meal but I think the day was growing long and my birthday girl's stamina was giving out.

Our not-so-little ham.

So, it was home and off to bed for the birthday girl - who will have more celebrations to dream about tonight and to experience tomorrow.

Sweet dreams, my sweet A. May all your birthday wishes come true!

Love, Mom

Projects Galore!

Disclaimer: If you think you might be a CMAD sufferer (see description below) you are advised to read the following craft-related blog entry with EXTREME caution. The author of the following blog entry will not be held responsible for creating craft-related hysteria or spread of CMAD through blog transmission. Proceed with caution and keep all credit cards out of reach during potential CMAD exposure.

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I feel like I'm on a manic quest to find and start as many projects as is humanly possible at the moment. I don't know why I've accumulated so many in the last few weeks but I've had this burst of energy directed at craft projects of late. You'd think after my most recent post where I'm feeling anxious about getting stuff done around the house and for upcoming birthdays that it would be the last thing that I would want to add to my plate right now. But, oh no. It's as if I am maniacally trying to make life even busier and packed full of obligations - self-induced or otherwise. Maybe I've developed some kind of mental illness - Craft Mania Affective Disorder (CMAD) - individuals who suffer from CMAD have the overwhelming urge to purchase various tools and materials in the textile, fiber, paper, wood, clay, paint, beading, or other associated craft media (often in more than one materials category in a very short stretch of time) and have delusional and grandious ideas of starting all crafts simultaneously and completing them in a markedly brief window of time. They are often found wandering craft stores fondling various craft-related products and in their dreamlike state they envision projects being completed perfectly and with very little effort while their mundane household and/or work responsibilities are neglected as the craft projects begin to take over their every waking moment. They are known on occasion to forgo basic needs such as bathing and eating (chocolate and other caffeine-filled foods and drinks excluded from neglected food items as it provides additional feelings of euphoria and stimulation) in order to attain some level of progress on their varied and time-consuming craft-project obssessions. They can be seen exposing their portable and semi-portable projects in public venues in a desire to complete that one extra stitch, row or other associated incremental efforts in the few minutes that they are waiting in line at a gas pump, in doctor's offices, or at an offspring's extracirricular activity. In extreme cases the craft projects might even be accompany the CMAD sufferer into the bathroom (provided craft is a wash-and-wear item).

In the last few weeks I have purchased the following craft project related items:

Yards and yards of quilting fabric
Yards and yards of apparel fabric
thread
sewing machine needles
3 skeins of sock yarn
a pattern for a knitted jacket
knitting needles - both circular (size 2) and double-pointed (sizes 1 and 2)
winter/Christmas-themed foam stamps
self-hardening clay
beads

I also came home with two freebie sock patterns (for above mentioned sock yarns) and I have been searching eBay for additional knitting needles and a pattern with which to make a "devil dress" for R to wear for Halloween.

So? Do you not see the illness inherent in that list? Judge for yourself whether I fit the profile or not.

Right now I have concurrently no less than FIVE (yes...five!) incomplete projects underway. I am working on the following:

• a skirt from some of the apparel fabric for A (it needs a zipper and waistband and then I'll be done - so that's not too bad...or am I just showing more signs of my illness to be rationalizing like that?)

• a pair of socks using some of the sock yarn and double-pointed needles (my next sock project will be to try the circular needle method of sock creation...see? I'm sick, I tell ya! I can't even stick with one method of sock production and be happy that it comes out ok. Nope. I have to try new and interesting methods that are likely to cause me to have conniption fits if I can't get it just right!)

• no less than TWO cross-stitch projects that are going to some day be given as very belated gifts. One is very labor intensive and the recipient is aware that she might be in for a very long wait for the item she has requested be made for her and the other is a much shorter project that I am hoping to have completed as a 1st wedding anniversary gift since it never got completed this past spring as the wedding gift I intended it to be.

• a quilt for A's bed - a project that is a monster project in and of itself (I truly am a glutton for punishment). I asked for some 'mad money' in the form of a gift certificate to a local quilt shop and my MIL obliged with a sizeable one (she is such an enabler - you should see the craft room she built in the basement of her new house - it is quite possible that we are constantly reinfecting each other just by being related and living in close proximity). I had to run out and spend tha mad money almost immediately because said quilt shop is actually CLOSING at the end of the year (upon hearing that news think I was suffering craft deprivation related tremors and a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach). I bought plenty of fabric to make the quilt top but will still need to go out at some future date and purchase backing fabric and quilt batting. It's never-ending, I tell ya. And speaking of enablers...I have a dear friend (yeah, you know who you are!) who got me going on my latest quilt-making frenzy with her recent post about a beautiful quilt she is making with her mom. You can get a sneak preview of that quilt by clicking here.
  

And in my defense - although I'm sure the case has been made quite clearly from the above list of projects - the last two craft items were actually purchased for the girls and not for my direct use, but their acquistion caused me to spend even more time that I don't really have browsing the aisles of Michael's salivating over stamps and card-making supplies (hence the stamps purchase) and other assorted crafts that I don't need to be looking at let alone actually buying!

And now for a little CMAD show and tell just because I can.

Here's the start of the first sock (made with this neat yarn that I learned about that is dyed to change colors specifically to make nifty stripey-patterned socks!):


And as for the quilt...well, I bought some great fabrics and tried out the first block the way I had intended to use the fabrics and came up with this:



Something didn't seem quite right so I decided to take the picture and use photoshop to create a virtual quilt by cutting and pasting this block mutiple times in a new file to see what the blocks would look like once they were pieced together. I was quite unhappy because the focal point was not what I had expected. Rick helped me play around with the placement of some of the triangles and The Man, himself, came up with the following rearrangement which I LOVE and which works exactly as I had hoped! The Man is multi-talented in ways that I was not even aware! Here's the new block configuration:



Much better! Basically the green and the dark purple triangles switched places and came up with a much more focused center to the design. I think it's going to be great when it is done! I will be using the blue butterfly fabric as my large outer border and I might even do a green or dark purple thin accent border or use one of those colors as my edge fabric. Of course, I have to make 30 of these blocks and then sew them all together before I even need to worry about the backing, edging or quilting aspects.

I wonder if there are any other CMAD sufferers out there who would care to join me in some intensive crafting therapy sessions. If we got a large enough group together maybe we could get a group rate on craft supplies therapy bills.