The List.

So the other day week, I made a list of things to get done. It went like this

1. Clean the kitchen.

2. Vacuum the couches.

3. Dust the ceiling fans.

4. Laundry.

5. Scrub the baseboards.

6. Weed the garden.

7. Make Lovey for M.

8. Finish Quilt for A.

9. Second grade socks for Chickadee.

10. Update blog.

I wrote this list on the chalkboard in my kitchen on the 11th. Today is the 17th. The only things I've managed to get done so far is to clean the kitchen (because I do this everyday), do a couple of loads of laundry (only because we can't live without diapers and towels), and I did manage to weed a small corner of the garden the other day.

What is not on the list is: play with the kids, take Chickadee to ballet practice, chase Gus, walk the dogs, pull Gus out of the dog's food, wrestle Gus back into his diaper, go to story time, buy groceries and school shoes, take Chickadee to book club, set up the water table outside, feed the cat that is not ours, try not to lose my mind. Which is what I actually did.

But by some miracle this morning Gus didn't wake up me before or even at the same time I did. He's my early riser. As in he wants to be out of bed and up for the day no later than 6am. This morning however, he was still sound asleep when I got up at 6:30. So I took a leisurely shower, took some time to blow dry my hair and then, since the little man was still sleeping, I turned to my list. Out of all the things on there what did I decide to do? Update the blog. Everything else seemed too mundane. Of course Gus is awake now. I'm frantically typing this to get done before he realizes that he does not, in fact, have my full attention. 

I have been somewhat productive this week.  Somehow I did manage to make a couple of hats for Addie. This one with curly Q's  is my favorite hat ever!

This is the Ainsley Baby Hat by Nadine McLeod.

 I used Be Sweet Bambino. Which is an amazing blend of organic cotton and bamboo. It feels heavenly! 

And now I'm getting ready to start the promised Second Grade Socks. Chickadee and I started this tradition when she went off to Kindergarten. Every year on the first day of school she gets to wear a new pair of socks hand knit by Mama. That way I can be with her on her first day. This year she picked a surprisingly blue yarn. I love this color. She picked it to match the silver sneakers we bought. 

You can't really tell from the picture but the deep blue yarn has silver thread running through it. It's actual silver. It makes the socks antibacterial and antimicrobial. This is Dream in Color Smooshy. Wonderful stuff. The colors are a bit addicting but it's wonderful nonetheless. Did I mention that second grade starts in 7 days?!?!

Before I can knit though, we're off to the library for story time and then Chickadee has Nutcracker practice. I'll be back eventually soon.

Keepin' It Real

So, it's 0230, do you know where your baby is? Mine is on the living room floor, no diaper, dumping out all of his wipes (including the liquid) and tooting away. He's been awake since about 1:00am crying and fussing and kicking his mama. I tried taking him to bed with me to nurse which resulted in him screaming, pulling at my nipple and generally thrashing around. Definitely NOT sleeping. So, I thought he had gas. Put him on his belly. Tried holding his knees to his chest. Walked around while swaying and singing. Nothing was working. Then I thought, "hey, let's try changing your diaper". He looked at me as if to say "gee mom, what a great idea, what in the heck took you so long?". So I took his diaper off and the smell of ammonia knocked me over. Like he had managed to pour straight ammonia into his diaper. YUCK! His little diaper area is all red so we're spending some naked time in the living room at 2:30am. And he totally has gas. Now that he's crawling around and getting his toots out he feels much better. I think the funny faces he's making is helping the most. I love this little man. Stink and all. Even no sleep and all.

I hope your day is going as well as mine so far. Only not the being up at 0230 with a fussy baby part. 

Adalee

I promise that I haven't run away to some far off island in the middle of the ocean (yet!). Just when I thought that this year couldn't possibly get any crazier, it did. My wonderful sister-in-law, Renae, is a labor and delivery nurse going back to school to become a midwife. Last year she took time off work and came and stayed with me for the birth of my son. And not just a little bit. She stayed for three weeks. I was horribly grouchy most of that time and she still stayed. Luckily for me.  She made such a tremendous difference in my birth experience and my life. I was overjoyed to have her share in that time with me and our family. Thanks Ian, for letting her stay with us.

Now Renae has given birth to her own precious little baby.  Adalee was born on July 20th, seven weeks too early with a condition known as Trisomy 13. The prognosis might seem discouraging but little Addie isn't worried. She has been approaching each day with such joy and exuberance! She weighed just over 2 pounds at birth and she has steadily been gaining weight over the past couple of weeks. She had a PDA (a congenital heart defect) that has healed on its own, a substantial hole in her scalp that is closing up without plastic surgery and after a brief time on the ventilator she is now breathing well on her own.

I can't begin to explain  how much we all love this beautiful little girl. She has shown such strength and love in the short time she's been with us. I was lucky enough to be able to spend some time with her and her Mommy and Daddy this past week. It was a very humbling experience. Ian and Renae are so proud of their daughter and with good reason. She is perfect. Adalee has brought our family closer together and closer to God. She has touched each one of us so profoundly there aren't enough words in the universe to describe it. I can only say that for me, being near Addie feels like standing in the palm of His hand and feeling His breath on my face.

Please say a prayer (or two or a hundred) for Adalee's continued journey. Please pray for her health to continue to improve, specifically that her brain continues to instruct the rest of her body to function normally. Pray for the health of her Mommy and Daddy, to guide the hands and hearts of her caregivers while she stays in the NICU and that everyone who meets her continues to be so blessed.

Here are a few pictures of Addie. Shared of course, with her parents permission.

Adalee has her own Bible verse. This is not it. This is a verse I came across this morning that reminded me of her.

You have come to Mount Zion, to the heavenly Jerusalem, the city of the Living God. You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly, to the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven. You have come into the presence of God. (Hebrews 12;22-23).

No idea. . .

Really. I. Have. No. Idea. How. This. Happened.

Here's the true story. . .

uh-oh. what just happened?

 what have I done?

cheerful whistling will somehow disguise the fact that somehow 

 

THIS:

 somehow just showed up in my online shopping cart. 

THEN, it had the actual nerve to arrive, completely unannounced yet somehow addressed to me, at my house. Hoo-rumph!

(I'm just kidding, wonderful Mendocino fabric. You know I couldn't resist your charm and charisma. Plus, the mail carrier saw my happy dance from the mailbox to my front door. Not even joking about that.)

It's not exactly cheating on my fabric diet. I did say that I could buy supplies for projects that need to be finished. Well, this is for the bathroom project that certainly needs finishing. My plan is to frame a few of my favorites. (but how to decide which are my favoritist favorites?) The rest will be cut up, added to and made into a shower curtain. I love them. All of them. Here are a few more pictures. Look at your own risk. You may end up wanting them too. . .

This was a completely true story. Even the bit with the coffee stain.

What I learned from this:

1. You can't trust that Mendocino line. It has a mind of it's own and it does what it wants. Including following me home.

2. Be careful where you set your coffee when blogging.

3. I am a way better artist than I thought. My actual office chair is not that nice.

House Things

Last month we went to visit friends in Virginia and family in Ohio and the thing that struck me the most when I got home was just how bare my house is. I don't mean empty. Just not decorated. I don't have a lot of pictures on the walls. No art. No cohesive themes. Unless of course toys scattered everywhere in every room counts. Or dog fur. So I'm going to spruce up a bit around here. I wasn't going to blog about the sad state of my house at first. Not because I don't love you all, but because I secretly want everyone to believe that my house is beautifully put together and everything is always perfectly in it's place. That's just not so. We live in our house. My kids play here, my dogs shed here, sneaky snakes find their way in, we track in sand from the beach and dirt from the garden, and I love it. And I know that most of my friends live in their houses too. So. I'm going to show you my not-so-perfect house and my endeavors to make it more beautific. No, really, that's a real word. Beautific. Doesn't it just roll off your tongue?

Since I'm not a bajillionaire I'm going to go slowly as time and my budget allows. I'll try to remember to take "before" pictures and not just skip straight to the "better" pictures. I'm starting with the guest/kids' bathroom. I decided on a chic, underwater, mermaid, sea creature theme. It's going to be so much fun! I can't wait to share all of my projects. So far my list includes a seashell mirror, new shower curtain, tentacles wall hooks and some art. Be sure to let me know what you think as I go! That way I don't do anything too crazy when the clevers attack. Hopefully.

So here goes. Here is my "before" picture of the small hall bathroom. 

 Hmm, wish I had thought of closing the toilet seat before right this minute. Oh, and the drawer.

Any ideas?

New Projects.

Hey there! I just wanted to share some pictures of my latest projects with you all. I'm having a lot of fun and keeping myself all kinds of busy! I recently reorganized my sewing area and sorted through most of the fabric in the china hutch. My plan is to systematically go through and finish all of the already started projects before allowing myself to buy any. More. Fabric. That's only because this is the only way for me to store. More. Fabric. Do you see where this is leading yet? That's right, More. Fabric. 

Yep, another attack of the clevers bites the dust. Anyhow, back to the pictures. 

baby quilt

I love these colors!

soon to be needle case

As of yet I have the following in various stages of completion:

Quilt for Kaitlyn I finished the top for a long time ago, in 1999, who cares anyway? 

Origami flower quilt

Turkey wall hanging

Dress for Chickadee

Romper for Gus

Renae's Quilt

I have plenty of other projects planned but not started yet. I do hereby solemnly with a somewhat straight face, swear to diligently work only on the projects that I already purchased supplies for. Unless I need more supplies to finish the project. Or just more supplies.

I'll let you know how it goes.

Holy Macaroni!

Whoa! I can't believe that I've let a month go by with no new post! Wow! Time sure flies around here. In my own defense I have been a teeny, tiny bit busy. With the big trip to Ohio to visit family, Aaron leaving for the other side of the world, taking care of the kids, the house, the garden, the dogs and the spotty internet connection. (Why, cruel internet service provider, can't you just let me have one whole, uninterrupted hour of internet?) Phew. 

I have been meaning to post. I've been composing long, eloquent, humorous blog posts in my head at random times during the day. The only problem is that my thoughts aren't remotely transmitted to blogger instantaneously. Including the fabulous pictures (which never turn out quite so well in real life.) Finding a quiet moment to sit at the computer and write has been difficult. And not just because of the guilt I feel about the piling up laundry and dirty bathrooms. It's more because it's in these quiet moments that I'm not too busy to think about everything going on. When I'm busy I don't have to think about my mom still being in the hospital. After more than four months. My poor dad staying there with her. Going to work at 3am so he can be at the hospital from 9am-9pm, sleep a few hours and get up and do it again. Aaron deploying, again. Katie dealing with his deployment, again. (She asked in her very first email to him if he was hurt. We had just dropped him off.) And possibly the worst news of all. My grandmother has lung cancer. Stage 3. 20% survival rate. It's killing me. It's killing me because she's my very best friend. She's always there for me. Always. I can talk to her about anything. And she knows me better than me. She's been witness to my most unbearable mistakes and my greatest joys. And it's killing me to not be there with her every second through this. She's not supposed to be around the babies and I couldn't not be here to see Aaron off. We're heading down there next weekend. Don't tell her doctor that I'm letting her hold her great-grandkids as much as she wants. So please, say a prayer for us. I could really use it right now.