Funnies

If you are a guy or a particularly modest lady you probably don't want to read the first paragraph. Just to warn you. Otherwise scroll on down...







OK, so we are at the YMCA this afternoon for swim classes, Gideon is in the nursery and Gabe is going potty and I have to go and that means Zion has to come in the stall with me. Well, it's that time of the month (see why the warning, you can stop reading still if you want) so I pull out a tampon which was in my pocket as I already checked my purse at the desk.

"What's that, Mommy."

"It's for Mommy."

"A special treat?" At this point I snort with laughter. In my own head of course.

"No sweety." (Definitely NOT a special treat.)


Gabe's turn and if you skipped you can start reading again.

On the way home from the Y we drive by a pasture that has two gorgeous bay horses. The traffic in front of me slows. Aw, too bad for mommy - yeah, right! Surprisingly I hear Gabe say in a dreamy voice "I wish I had a real horse." I sigh and say "Yeah, me too." Then he says "Well, not really. But I do wish I had a penguin."


Can't leave Gideon out. He drank using a straw today.

I suppose you want more than that. AND he's hilarious. He just is. Most of the time in fact. He has figured out how to climb up on Zion's toddler bed and has been having a blast practising getting up and down the last two nights. Tonight I had to leave the room for something and came back to find all three of them in Zion's bed. Oh, that's just too tempting for a mommy, all three in one place like that. So I stalked them across the room with my fingers all arched and ready to tickled saying "I-I-I-I'm gonna get you!" Gideon was so frantic to get away but was stuck in the corner so he eventually just flopped on his belly with his face buried in the mattress giggling hysterically and wriggling uncontrollably in a vain attempt to avoid the tickles. Too much fun. I left the room just so I could do it again.

Allie is not getting left out of the fun. We made her a "nest" box that is just a cardboard box cut low on one end. We filled it with shredded paper and every day or night we hide treats or veggies in the paper. We also found little treat boxes that are tiny cardboard boxes with holes cut in them and a special treat inside. She has to work at the holes to get to the treat. When these are used up we'll make our own using a paper towel tube, cut holes in it and stuff it with hay and treats. Lots of fun things to keep her busy and keep boredom at bay. No bored bunnies in our house!

Oh and I'm having fun too. I finished my keyhole scarf. The one that I started a long time ago that was supposed to be for Zion but turned out too wide. It's done but I don't have a picture yet. And I've cast on Zion's keyhole scarf and when I'm done with it we will have matchy matchy scarves. I have three projects on the needles right now and somehow they are all scarves. I don't make that many scarves either. Just weird. But I do have one project that I have ordered yarn for and am searching for the perfect pattern and I can't wait to start it. It is a surprise for someone. Not a gift exactly but I hope that it will be a wonderful surprise anyway and well, I'll just have to share more when I can and that's not now.

Rob and I talked again this morning. Now he is close enough to coming home that I have started asking him every call "Do you know when you're coming home yet?" I hope I won't make him nuts but he could get his travel plan any day really. Soon and very soon. It will still likely be about three weeks or so yet I can't believe it is that close. This last year has gone by SO fast. Many unfortunate things have happened. I'll have to do a "year in review" post and revisit some of them as well as the good things too. I am calling this past twelve months "Refiner's Fire", I must be pure as gold now (or pretty close to it) as I feel like I have definitely been refined. Over and over again.

Back to the Birthday

I realize I have a lot of catching up to do post wise. Particularly because I have a lot of photos. I was going to post about our trip to the zoo today but realized that I never posted Gideon's birthday pictures. I was getting his pics and videos ready and then my mom passed and I never got back to them. So without any further delay I present to you the photos from Gideon's birthday:



One of these days I will learn how to get the videos off my camcorder and post those too. I had already captioned these pictures prior to my mom's passing and only needed to write the post to put the slideshow on the blog. It was interest to go back and read some of the captions because Gideon has changed so much already. I point out that he's nearly crawling and now he's nearly walking. I point out that he's drinking soy milk with his cake and shortly after that we discover that soy makes him very sick and now he's on rice milk. I also got the pit for the balls so now the kids can all fit into a nice big ball pit in the living room (when I choose to set it up).

I also want to mention that Gideon has ten teeth. Yep. TEN! All eight of his fronts and two molars and one more molar just about to bust through. He's a silent teether for the most part, doesn't fuss about them (or I'm very unobservant which is equally possible). I never even knew he had molars until I was tickling him mercilessly one night and could see into wide open mouth.

He's also got a few words under his belt. I'm most excited about him saying "Hi Dada!" which we've been practising for a while. I went to show a friend the other day how he can say it and when I said "Say 'Hi Dada'" Gideon not only said it but put his hand to the side of his head when he did it as if he was holding a phone. I am very much looking forward to the near future when he will be able to say "Hi" to his daddy without having to do it over the phone. I've also noticed the last few days that when I tell the kids it's time to say grace before meals that he clasps his hands together too. Awwwww, so cute. Yesterday at bedtime he told Zion "nigh' nigh'" with his little fist opening and closing. One of Gideon's favorite things to say is "uh oh". Oh, and don't forget "kitty" which was one of his first words. He also signs "more" and I'll introduce "please" and "milk" next.

Just Put One Foot In Front Of The Other

..and soon you'll be walking out the doo--oo-or! (Little Christmas special flashback for ya there, do you know which one?)

I can't believe that I forgot to write about this yesterday (or maybe I DID write about it and I forgot that I did - either way my memory is terrible). Gideon took his first steps last night! We were playing in Zion's room and I stood him up to help him practice his balance and the next thing I know he took three (very quick) steps to me and fell in my arms. I don't know who was surprised more, me or him. The look on his face said "Good Lord, what am I doing?" as if it was the riskiest thing he'd ever tried to do. If only he knew how risky it was to try to eat the cat's puke he found on the floor earlier that day. Ew.

Adding that Gideon is nearly 14 months old. And just for the curious, Gabe took his first steps also at 13 months old and Zion took her very first step on her first birthday.

What Could We Have Been Up To...

...for me to not have blogged in so long? Well, let me answer that. In no particular order:

For starters, knitting has pretty much taken over all my spare time. And some of the time when I should be taking care of chores. Ah well, the laundry will still be there tomorrow. And the day after that... I knit the above towel and washcloth for myself! I've done a few before but gave them all away. I did knit a burpcloth for a friend and it was too small in my opinion so I kept it for a dishcloth. Now I'm in love with handknitted dishclothes. Oh my goodness! I want to keep knitting them to replace all of my storeboughts and then more for washclothes for bathtime too.

I think I showed this scarf once before and talked about how it was wider and shorter than I wanted it to be (one of those one-skein patterns so I couldn't add length, only had the one skein) so I frogged it (ripped it out). The whole thing. I knit it narrower and thus it came out wider. This pictures shows how it is all knit solid (and knit entirely of twisted stitches) and then every fourth stitch is dropped to make those cool gaps.

Here's the scarf after all the rows have been dropped and pulled. It's still a smidge short for my taste but at least now it's actually wearable as a scarf. And I really love the colors. This picture doesn't give it justice.

We also went to a sprinkler park with Jamie and had a blast.

Gideon really loved the water.

Zion really loved the water.

Gabe really loved the water.

Absolutely LOVE scrunchy nose smiles!

At first he thought it a bit cold. (Don't blame him, I did too!)

Afterward we all enjoyed some Popsicles which we bought at the ice cream truck that appeared to permanently park right there in the park. Smart ice cream man!

We have also had some fun play dates right at our house. Sarah and Gideon are only a few months apart and are pretty equal as far as milestones. They frequently use each other to pull up and stand. Now we're just waiting to see who will walk first.

Gabe is passing on his love for trains. Whether he likes it or not. Gideon sometimes forces the matter and Gabe has to put up with his derailing the trains.

"You're not supposed to EAT them, Gideon!"

We've had some wicked cool storms lately. Here's one blowing in. The thunder has been tremendous. I love it! The one we had a few days ago had thunder SO loud and it seemed to be positioned right over our house that I jumped out of my skin every time it BOOMED! Zion and Gideon slept through it as it was nap time. Gabe says "It doesn't scare me."

Gideon is done with his "no wheat" trial and got to enjoy one of his very favorite meals, pasta with marinara. Look at that satisfied smile. After reintroducing wheat Gideon has experienced some eczema and bowel issues but so far no vomiting. The thing will be to see if we can get him back on a full wheat diet without vomiting. So far so good though I'm working him up slowly.

And yes, that's a perfect handprint in marinara sauce on the side of his head. Now if I TRIED to make a handprint on purpose like that you KNOW he'd never cooperate. Well, at least I have the picture. :)

Turns out we are raising another lover of books. At first he just loved to clear off the bookshelf. Then one day he actually opened one and now I often catch him sitting and "reading" to himself. It warms my heart. We have also been enjoying a lot of stories at bedtime while we also have "bunny time". At the end of each day we all go up to Zion's room and let Allie out of her cage. She gets to hop and jump around while we do pjs, play, pray, and have a story. It has become one of my absolute favorite times of day.

And though this picture is on here last (only because that's how blogger added them on) Jamae is definitely NOT least. Isn't she beautiful?! *sigh* I got to go up to attend Jamae's high school graduation on the 9th. I know it wasn't as hard for me as it was my sister but all I could think about was how I'd been in the room when she was born. How did 18 years pass so quickly? As they say, the days are long but the years are short (my mantra on certain days). I love you, Jamae!

I also got to take Zion on a special "date" to see both Jamae and Jessa dance at their studio's end of the year recital. Zion and I got all dolled up, her more than I, and I got a sitter for the boys (thanks, Erika!) and we went just us girls. Well, and Uncle Bob and Grandpa Jim but still. She wasn't sure to think at first. She kept saying it was "scay-weee" but I think it was just the "bigness" of the theater and all of the people.

There is much more that we've been up to, like a trip to the zoo, but this post is getting a little photo heavy and I'd like to get some knitting done before bed (told you it's taking over). More to come.

Princesses Don't Get Sick

Gabe threw me for a loop the other day. We're hanging out at Jamie's the day of Jamae's graduation (woohoo, Jamae!) and all of the sudden Gabe comes to me and says "Zion's been sick right?" Picture me confused. I said "Yeah. So have you and Gideon and me and pretty much everybody." He looks equally confused and says "But Zion's a princess." Suddenly it comes to me. There's this commercial running these days that has all these little kids talking about germs. The point being that kids know nothing about germs. One of the shots has a dressed up little girl saying "Princesses don't get sick." Gabe is so literal. He couldn't reconcile the fact that the TV was saying princesses don't get sick, the TV is always right, right, and that his sister is a princess ('cause I call her Princess all the time). How sweet is that?! I mean, about the part that he really does think his little sister is a princess. Awwww.

He must not be taking into account our bedtime prayers tonight which Zion interrupted so she could shout at Gabe "Smell my stinky feet!" Do princesses have stinky feet?

Presto Chango

Another room transformed before our eyes. This time I let the kids help. Well, to an extent. I started last week by turning Zion's old was-used-when-we-got-it changing table pictured here (though not in its usual spot):

Into a cute shelf for her critters and her books:

Then the kids and I (mostly I) applied zoo animal decals to Zion's walls. Mr. Zebra will make sure that you turn the light off when you leave the room.

And a silly monkey hangs from one of her shelves.

There is also a lion and, of course, an elephant, Zion's favorite.

I finally got Allie's new house put together. It is, ahem, a little larger than I pictured it in my head and in fact kind of makes Zion's bed look teeny. Oh well, she's a spoiled bunny. Zion likes me to drop down the door in the front so that she can stick her head inside. She'll stay like that for ... hm, I actually don't know I always have to make her come to dinner or go to bed or something before she'll stop on her own.

I also found her a cute coin bank - also an elephant! It's the little yellow thing right there that you can barely see 'cause it's not a very good picture.

Allie started to get free time in Zion's room last night and she really seems to like it. The kids love it. They get a little exuberant and I find myself sounding like a broken record "slow/settle/calm down, down, down for cryin' out loud/Pete's sake/or we won't be able to play with the bunny ... arg!" But it is too much fun, once Allie feels relaxed and playful she starts to run around and jump and kick in the air. Too cute. Oh - and Gideon! Gideon! I nearly forgot. Last night he was just crawling as fast as he could after that bunny, making his "I'm crawling as fast as I can" noises and as soon as he caught up to her he'd try to tuck her under his arm like his little stuffed animal and put his cheek on her back. My goodness it was so cute.

I have been searching for zoo themed bedding and I found some of the CUTEST! Yeah. It was only in twin. :( Sad, sad, sad me. So now I'm just searching for any brightly colored toddler bedding that isn't themed. Harder than one would think. Apparently somewhere there is a law that says girl toddlers must, absolutely MUST have a Dora or Disney Princess room and therefore that is all the stores will carry. I will not be thwarted, I will find it and it WILL be cute, darn it!

Allie must really like her new home 'cause she's just all sorts of relaxed. So much she doesn't even bother getting either all the way in or all the way out of her nest before flopping over. Silly girl. Zion was very concerned when we gave her a handful of baby carrots tonight. She picked up the largest of the bunch and turned to me worried, demanding "Too big! Cut it!" I had to assure her that it was fine and "See, watch Allie eat the carrot. She just takes tiny bites and she does just fine." She came back at me, eyes stern "Cut it!" a couple of times before giving in and conceding that Allie did seem to be doing fine with the other carrots (by that time she'd eaten half of one of the others). So our little bun has a feeder with pellets, a rack with Timothy hay, fresh water, a litter box, a nest, a rug so she doesn't have to stand on the wires if she doesn't want to, a salt block, mineral chew, pinecones to chew on, a berry treat block, a shaky carrot toy that she loves to pick up and throw and fresh veggies once or twice a day. Nah, not spoiled, not one bit.


Oh, and a bunch of super kids that just love her bunches including Gideon who had just been put to bed before pictures were taken.

This Week

We have had a busy week. The sun has been nothing short of gorgeous so we have been enjoying the out of doors in abundance. The kids in the wading pool, me on the patio swing, all of us sipping lemonade (I make some pretty darn good lemonade) and we got in a day at the park with lots of friends and a day at the zoo with more friends. Pictures will come soon but tonight I felt compeled to start a new knitting project which is, of course, a gift so I've got to get on it. I've got three things on the needles right now, one project that's due to be frogged (ripped out) and reknit and another gift needing to be knit. Well, to be accurate, a number of things are on my to-knit list but these are the immediates. Anyway, the needles call but I'll be back soon.

A Loving Reminder

...to keep praying for us. Not that I think y'all have stopped but I just thought it was worth repeating. We are down to two months until Rob's return home. I'm starting to feel butterflies every time I think about it, we are ALL so excited. That said, Rob got really, really sick recently and had to spend a few days in bed and receive fluids via IV. Apparently a possible stomach bug or food related illness is to blame as he is not the only one to have fallen ill. This happened at a time when I was just starting to breath a sigh of relief that possibly we here might actually be healthy for more than two days straight. Poor guy. I feel OK sharing this with you since I heard from him this morning and he is back on his feet and feeling better.

A few nights ago here it is very likely that we had an unwanted middle of the night visitor of the sort who is looking for things to carry off. After hearing noises and seeing that our back shed was open I called the local Sheriff's office which is only minutes from our house and three wonderful officer's searched our yard and found no one. Whew! I guess I should be glad that I don't have that shed organized enough to actually store anything in it. Ha ha on them.

And if you've been reading my blog for very long you've seen that our family is going through it this year and that's not even counting this surprise deployment.

So if I could ask that you could continue to pray for all of us, our health, safety, that we would thrive and not just survive during this time of separation and whatever else God puts on your heart.

Prayer works and if you have any doubt I'd like to remind you about my friend Lawanna. A little over a year ago I blogged that she was diagnosed with a brain tumor. She and her family opted not to treat other than with prayer, at that time the doctors gave her about 6 weeks to live. A few weeks ago Lawanna stood up in front of our church to declare that her tumor had shrunk from the size of a golf ball to the size of a pea. How awesome is that?! Yeah, pretty awesome! God is good!

A New Little One For Us

I get hankerings for all things small and fuzzy and some things big and fuzzy the way some women get baby cravings (though I get those too sometimes). I have wanted to add another critter to our family for a while now I just hadn't decided exactly what kind. Well, my family had rabbits growing up of both the indoor and outdoor variety and bunnies kept leaping, no - hopping to mind. About a month ago I was at a baby shower and got to chatting with one of the other guests and she mentioned that she has rabbits. I told her that I'd been wanting to get my kids - OK, me, one for a while and she told me that she would give me one of her bunny's litter. Last weekend we went to her little farm and picked out a bunny. Thankfully we were all in agreement that the spotted one was the one we wanted. Turns out we picked a little girl who Gabe quickly named Allie.

Isn't she cute?!

Aren't THEY cute?! Zion and the bunny took to each other right off. Allie doesn't seem to mind Zion's exuberant nature one bit and Zion can't get enough of that bunny. I set up the Play Yard in the living room so that Zion can hang out with the bunny and I don't have to be right there. Allie loves to run around Zion while she sits there and jump and kick which makes Zion laugh hysterically. I bought a nice cage for the bunny before we brought her home but darn it all if the company didn't forget the screws! So once I get those and assemble the cage it will be in her room. The bunny will also get to be loose in there sometimes so she can really run around and play someplace safe. I'm sure the two of them will be in many pictures to come!

Home Yard Improvements

Oh the things I will do to get my brother Jordan to stop by when he's in town. The promise of a paying job is sufficient and it gets me something I've been wanting for a while too, a planter around my poor little tree. The rain kept eroding the soil away at the bottom assisted by the critters who would scratch it up a bit to make a cool spot to lay.Start by estimating the circle that you want to make.

Then dig down to level the ground and start putting in the stones.

Be sure to take a break once in a while. All work and no play ya know?

Once all the stones are in place fill with good soil.

Then add the plants of your - or my, choice.


I opted for hot pink Petunias for the center and white Alyssum on the outside. I placed the stepping stone we made from shells from the beach where we spread my Grandmother's ashes on one side and put in Pansy seeds on either side. The Pansy seeds were from my Mom's memorial, they were her favorite flower. Now if I can keep the dog from stepping on what he thinks is a bare spot they might actually come up.

I'm so excited for the flowers to fill in the space. Alyssum is one of the best smelling flowers in my opinion. We had some in our window boxes on our house in Rhode Island and they literally made our summer evenings so sweet.

I placed a suet holder and a bird house in the tree and have a seed feeder that I need to find a spot for. A little bird haven. A few weeks ago I got scolded by a little bird that may have been a finch. I was standing about where the stepping stone is, this was before we made the planter, and this bird lit on a branch in the tree and twittered away at me over and over until I stepped away. Then it took my spot which was where the suet holder was and preceded to enjoy its dinner. How cute is that?! Almost like I was Snow White or something. Little birdies coming down and having a little conversation with me. Sweet!

Gabe's Turn

My oldest is so creative and it warms my heart to see him showing that in ways that don't include batteries. Do you remember Pattern Blocks? I remember them vividly from Kindergarten. One of the few strong memories I have of that time in fact was me playing with them in my classroom. I picked up a set for our very own. Today Gabe made a rocket ship.

I was quite impressed with the ship itself.

Then he added a man in the ship. I love his imagination and his heart. Today while I was in a rush to get us out of the house (I actually fell asleep when the kids napped and when I woke up forgot I had dinner plans with friends, can you believe it?!) I overheard him telling Zion very matter of factly "Now Zion, I'm going to help you get your shoes on and you need to not have a fit." Awww, how sweet is that?

Keeping Us Guessing

Well, who is that big boy?! Yessiree Bob, that's my boy all sorts of crawling and pulling up and getting ready to walk. He has been feeling so good, the difference between him now and him two months ago before he was hospitalized (and was sick and we didn't know it yet) is amazing. He is a bundle of busy, busy, joy, joy. His grin melts your heart. He has me wrapped around his little finger. I sense that I will have a difficult time keeping up my discipline standards with this one. Uh oh! The first step is admitting I have a problem right?

He is going to keep us guessing though. He had absolutely NO vomiting episodes for an entire month after coming home from the hospital, longer actually, and has been gaining weight like gangbusters as well as checking off those milestones that he missed while he wasn't feeling well. Then he had two vomiting episodes one week apart. These happened like most of the others as he was finishing a meal (and then continuing in small amounts for about an hour) but there was very little in common between the two meals. His pediatrician has recommended we take him off of wheat for a few weeks then introduce it slowly. It could be he has a wheat sensitivity.

So the list of things that he can't eat is growing: dairy, soy (did I mention that after replacing his dairy with soy he developed severe eczema and diarrhea?), peanuts, and now wheat. I am lucky to be "near" (45 minutes away) a very good health food store that carries a reasonable variety of foods that are dairy-, soy-, nut-, wheat-free. I found dry cereal, cookies, animal crackers, pasta, baking mix, cookie mix, among other things which include this fantastic Cherry Amaretto Coconut Milk ice cream - yum! The problem being that the prepared food is so expensive. So I'm hunting around and picking people's brains who have been at this for a while as far as ways to cut cost and ideas for a wider variety of things that I can feed.

My hope is that after this hiatus from wheat that we will be able to reintroduce wheat to a certain level. It is hard to know exactly how much he can have of all these things that are making him sick because he doesn't really show that he isn't feeling well until he starts to vomit. Poor guy. This will be easier once he can speak and tell us (and a LOT easier if he just grows out of it).

Always Be Prepared

Favorite blanky made by Grandma Judie - check!

Lovie - check!

Paci - check!

Silk jammies - check!

Black shiny shoes in case Prince Charming shows up about 16 years early - check!

And don't forget your beauty sleep.

Miss Me, But Let Me Go

Judith Eileen B*

December 14, 1949 - May 4, 2009

Miss Me, But Let Me Go

When I come to the end of the road

And the sun has set for me,

I want no rites in a gloom filled room

Why cry for a soul set free!

Miss me a little, but not for long,

And not with your head bowed low.

Remember the love we once shared,

Miss me, but let me go!

For this a journey we all must take,

And each must go alone;

It's all a part of the master's plan

A step on the road to home.

When you are lonely and sick of heart

Go to the friends we know,

And bury your sorrows in doing good deeds,

Miss me, but let me go.

by Robyn Rancman

______________________________

I've been spending the last few days with Jamie preparing things for my Mom's memorial. It will be a simple potluck with friends and family. Jamie and I have been going through photos and I found this poem that seems to fit perfectly. The photo is my Dad's favorite of Mom.

One Day At A Time

Thank God we only have to get through one day at a time.

This morning I went to the walk-in clinic while a friend watched the kids. The doctor thinks I do have some sort of infection not just bronchitis and a lot of inflammation. So I've got two inhalers and some antibiotics to help get rid of this cough and wheeze and maybe my voice will even come back. Wouldn't that be nice? (Don't answer that unless you are agreeing!)

I came home to get the kids lunch before taking Gideon to his one-year check and follow-up visit. Wowza! My baby boy gained a little more than a pound since his last visit and tipped the scales at 19lb 6oz. Yippee! So he is doing great off of dairy. Except he started having eczema and diarrhea which is kind of ironic considering that at the hospital the doctors were reluctant to test him for dairy allergies because he did NOT have these symptoms. Now he's off dairy and he GOT these symptoms. Now his regular pediatrician thinks that it's the soy. So now he's off soy AND dairy and I have to go find some rice, almond or goat milk all while keeping my fingers crossed that he doesn't develop issues with these things too.

Fast forward to after nap and after fixing my gas fireplace thanks to a friend who walks me through the steps over the phone and after forgetting to put the fireplace screen back and after putting Gideon on the floor to play and after me sitting down with Zion and then just to the point where I hear Gideon squeal in pain. Yeah, go to that point in time. That split second where I know exactly how I failed to keep my baby safe and a few minutes before I pile us all in the car to go to urgent care bawling almost the entire way there. Not just because Gideon won't stop crying or because I'm sick or tired or frustrated or mourning or because I feel incapable of taking care of my home and children or even that prayer maybe, just maybe, doesn't work after all because all I pray for anymore is our health and safety and yet we spend almost all of our time sick or injured but I guess because of all of those things at once.

Or maybe it's just because Gideon's doctor told me that I should cut out dairy too and I really love milk and since I don't have any cookie dough in the house I was really craving some ice cream with peanut butter and chocolate syrup. Yep. It's probably that. See - my sense of humor is returning all ready. Now off for one last - hurrah. I can drop ice cream starting tomorrow!

Laughter Is The Best Medicine

Children are great to have around when things are "supposed" to be sad. Completely oblivious to the emotional state of things Gideon has started crawling all over the place encouraged by an evasive Tantie that he wants to be with ALL the time. Yeah. I pretty much don't exist once we walk in the front door of Jamie's house. That's fine with me. I need a break right. And Zion is her typical self causing us to crack up all the time. Gabe has his nose shoved in his Nintendo DS. That's OK, he can have some extra play time right now.

And while I could entirely blame the laughter going on right now on the children it wouldn't be true. If my sister and I inherited one thing from my mother it would be that we should always be ready with a joke. Laughter is the best medicine. Even in the time of mourning. Especially in the time of mourning. We met with the funeral home yesterday. We may have seemed a titch insensitive. Oh well. I wish everyone could discuss the care of their loved one's remains with a smile on their face. Yeah, we're sad. We just don't wallow in it. What would be the point of that?

No Title

I couldn't figure out how to title this post. It's hard enough to write. In the wee hours of the morning yesterday my mom passed away. She had, if you know me or have been following my blog for a while, been sick off and on and had come close to passing away many times. In the last couple of weeks she had been doing really well, we had some great conversations and my sister who popped in on her recently said she was looking really good, that she was up and around and doing well. So, even though she had a long history of illness we are still surprised that she is not with us now.

This week my dad, my sister and I are making arrangements for her service or memorial or party or whatever we end up having which may or may not include skydiving with her ashes (going skydiving had been a lifelong dream of hers) and everyone being required to wear pink, her signature color.

So now I'm off to try to write her obituary. Trying to define her "dash" in what, 200 words or less? My mother, born Judith Eileen B*, born December 14, 1949 - (there's that darn dash) May 4, 2009 ...

Finally!

Finally finished and given so now I can post pictures. It actually didn't take that long to knit but since I was so excited to give it to my friend Alta that time seemed to drag (not, I'm sure, as much as it seems to be dragging for her in her last few weeks of pregnancy). The other day was sunny so I got to take a picture in natural light. Maybe a little too sunny though as the colors seem a little washed out but anyway, I digress (it's my superpower).

Little baby kimono, shoes and pacifier holder. I wish I could think of some cute little name for the paci thing but I guess that's not where my creativity lies. Wasn't (mostly) designing the thing enough?

A better look at the paci keeper. I found a paci that has little eyes and nose like a frog and a frog button.

And tiny little shoes! I'm fairly amazed that these turned out even close to the same size. I've never knit anything in a pair before so I was half expecting one to be much larger than the other or something like that it being my first time and all. They are shaped slightly different since I'm not the greatest at seaming yet but still. All in all, they actually look like a pair of shoes.

And finally the little kimono shirt. I knit one of these before if you recall but this time I thought I'd try it in stockinette with a seed stitch edge instead of garter. I like it!

And I even managed to box it up all pretty. I am not a good gift wrapper. Ask my sis. She will get a great deal of joy in telling how I am not a good gift wrapper. For this I took time to lay everything out and fold tissue over it all nice and pretty in a simple white box that I tied up with grosgrain ribbon that matched the color of the yarn. Not too bad if I do say so myself.

Now I'm working on a waterfall scarf knit with ribbon yarn. This will be a fun experiment since the pattern does not call for ribbon yarn and you knit the whole thing up only to drop every fourth stitch and let it run the entire length of the scarf. I've not worked with drop stitches before so I can't wait to finish and experience the thrill of dropping stitches totally on purpose (usually that's a bad, bad thing). This appeals to my naughty side which is usually told to be quiet. And most of that probably doesn't make sense to most of you so just keep checking back for a picture.

*In case you are wondering, I had written this post a few days ago and scheduled it to post on Monday. I had totally forgotten that I did this until after it posted. So no, I was not joyfully writing about my knitting on the day my mother passed away.

How To Create A Happy Gabe

1) Order Super Mario Bros. wall clings with his birthday party supplies - but hide them and wait.

2) Secretly sneak upstairs a couple of months later when absolutely no surprise is expected to apply said wall clings while the babysitter is at the house and keeping the kids downstairs.

3) Call Gabe up saying "Gabe, something happened to your room!"

Be sure to wait with camera posed so you can catch this expression:


And this one:



When he discovers Mario on his bed and the walls a plethora of Mario's friends and enemies and other assortment of items from the Mario games.

And finally if all steps are done properly, a happy Gabe:

Gideon Update

On a happy note, Gideon had his development evaluation and the Physical Therapist confirmed that he's about 2-3 months behind his typical peers in regards to crawling but she also feels that it was due to being sick so long (I KNEW it!) and that he will catch up very quickly on his own. We have a recheck set up in about a month. If he is still not crawling then he will have some therapy to help him out. I don't see that happening as he is very nearly there. Up on his knees, rocking back and forth, reaching for toys on his hands and knees, going from hands and knees to sitting and back again. He does tire easily and the PT did comment on that so I am supposed to help encourage him to stay longer periods on his hands and knees to help build his stamina.

On a sour note, the moronic idiotic just plain stupid (I am trying to be nice) insurance company has rejected the doctor's referral to a nutritionist. Apparently they don't feel that a was-less-than-one-year-old suffering from weight loss and with a newly diagnosed whey protein allergy should see a nutritionist. Well, it's not the first time that TriCare (oops, did I just reveal who I was dealing with here?) has refused to pay for something. In fact, after reading over a pile of EOBs that came in the mail the other day I'm starting to wonder if they pay for much of anything at all. I think they need to rename themselves to FailCare. I've had many insurance companies in my life and TriCare so far ranks as the worst. I won't go into all of what I have been through with them because this is Gideon's update post. Shutting up now. About that anyway.

Gideon has a cold. Or environmental allergies. But his very sniffly nose started in the middle of the night and I don't know how likely that is for allergies. Poor guy's nose was running a marathon today and his eyes were red and puffy. Just what he needs. Last night he kept waking and crying but falling back to sleep before I went to him and it sounds like we're in for that again tonight. He has kept his appetite though and I am excited for his next weight check on the 7th. He looks like he has gained weight and I'm not the only one to notice.

Well, I am yawning fool to stay up so late (again) but at least I got a very important knitting project done (pictures later as usual) and then got to work on a new knitting project that I started today. This new one is a snazzy scarf made from ribbon yarn that will have rows of dropped stitches. This will be more for warmish weather and was inspired by the colors of the yarn that goes from bright blue to maroon to orange to sage which actually sounds kind of yucky in writing. I'll get pics up of that soon too. When I have time (translation: when I next choose to neglect household chores, kids or other projects).