Festival Weekend

So last weekend was the weekend of Festivals. First up was the Great Lakes Fiber Festival (not rows of bowls of Cherrios like my dad pictured, but animal fiber). I went to the Ravelry meetup but it was really more of a Cleveland Knits West meetup. That was more than ok, though, since it was so nice to see everyone! And even though I was tempted by all of the wonderful yarn and surrounded by the best of enablers I stuck to my budget. Which was literally an envelope full of my husband’s poker winnings from the night before. Here’s how much yarn a night of poker can get you:

6 skeins of Lamb’s Pride Bulky in Avacado (will probably become this):



And one 8oz braid of Creatively Dyed Wool/Seacell roving:

And while I had a great deal of self-control at the festival I’ve had none since I’ve been home:

Yeah. I’m halfway through that roving and it’s only been a week.

Next up was the Greek Festival:


The baby had a ball – she hung out in her little carrier and people watched while we ate gyros and honey balls (really should find out the real name for those).

Mmmmm gyro baby.

She even posed for a family picture:

This weekend is going to be much more subdued. Big plans include playing basketball, going for a walk, dying yarn (my new base yarn? Is AWESOME. Sucks up dye like you wouldn’t believe), watching the Cavs game, and thinking that my friend Sarah made the right decision.

Coming out of the fog

So I’m finally starting to feel like the baby fog is lifting a little bit. Between her sleeping through the night more consistently and the big Baptism party we threw being over I’m actually starting to get my life back. Or something to that effect. Signs things are returning to “normal”:

1.) This is my second blog post this week.

2.) I did this the other day:

It’s just some random fiber that I got for Christmas one year. I don’t know what it is but it has a really short staple length and it’s really bouncy.

I’m just rockin’ the only type of spinning that I really know how to do. Basic two ply. Someday I’ll learn how to do something else… someday…


3.) We are having a little cookout/cavs party tonight. It’s not the barhopping of days past but chilling with the group and a glass of wine is going to feel really good.

4.) I have two finished objects to show you:

Granted they are just washcloths and they still need to be blocked but still – I finished something! They are both for my friend who is doing the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer 3 Day walk. She needed some door prizes for one of her fundraisers and I thought these would be kindof fun:

The pattern is the Awareness Ribbon Washcloth (Ravelry link here) and the yarn is some random cotton I’ve had forever.


5.) I did inventory today:


Yeah remember that Destination Yarn thing? Where I started up this really cool business and then couldn’t do it anymore because I got all pregnant and sick and then had a baby?


It’s time to revisit that.


So far I’ve only listed some old favorites (Copenhagen, anyone?) but stay tuned – there’s some very fun new colorways coming soon.


6.) I went on a bike ride. The last time I was on the bike I was about 12 weeks pregnant and it resulted in me puking in the street, in a neighbor’s yard, in my back yard, and finally in my kitchen sink. So I may have only gone a few miles but I didn’t puke so WIN.

7.) I’m going to the Great Lakes Fiber Festival tomorrow. Without the baby. I’ve left her both with Matt and with my mom for a few hours before… but not for nearly this long. Honestly I’m not really nervous. Matt’s great with her and a full day of “daddy time” will be good for both of them. Plus I’m super excited about the Ravelry meetup. I’ve been so out of the knitting loop lately (Cookie came out with a book? Really? Totally didn’t know that until last night.) that it will be good to catch up with everyone.

So yeah. I know things have changed forever and I’m fine with that. And I know I smell like spitup about 90% of the time and I’m also fine with that. But I have to admit – it feels nice to reclaim a little bit of my pre-baby world.

Does this mean you’re actually going to finish one of my sweaters?

Blurry

So I have meant to post – and started posts – so many times I can’t even count. But the bottom line is the past month or so has basically been this:

Or this:


And then this happened:

And I have to be honest – baby smiles are even more amusing than yarn.

See what I mean?

But now that she’s starting to (knock on wood) sleep a little bit more I have big fiber-related plans. Lots of knitting content coming soon. Until then here’s another smile:

So fun

Toys

So the baby’s favorite toy is Dexter:

She stares at him and has big reactions any time he looks at her or gets closet to her.

Dexter’s favorite toy is anything that’s hers:

He curls up with the boppy whenever he can and has eaten 2 nipple shields, 3 pacifiers, and a parrot.

I’m just glad they like each other.

Happy Birthday to Us!

Right. I wrote this a week ago. And just now have my crap together to blog it. Better late then never!

So today (last Friday) is my 29th and my little girl’s one month birthday. Crazy how quickly time flies! And how different life was on my 28th.


Pic taken before my friend Jill's wedding. The baby is 11 days old.

This month has been bananas. I’ve meant to blog so many times but wow newborns are such a time suck. Either she needs something and I’m on it… or she’s happy baby and I just want to stare at her or play with her. Neither lends itself well to surfing the internets or writing anything more comprehensive than a tweet. So how about I just write a list of stuff I’ve learned?

1.) The only thing more pathetic than a guy with a cold is a newborn with a cold. And I wouldn’t wish being in a house with both on anyone.

2.) The suckybulb aka brain sucker aka I have no idea what the thing is actually called is the best parenting gizmo ever. Throw in some saline drops and even with the worst little sniffles you’re in business.

3.) For breastfeeding a dose of sudaphed has much scarier warnings than a half a shot of whiskey. Also hot toddy’s made with special organic mother’s milk tea are delicious. Oh yes they are.

4.) When the umbilical chord falls off (hers did on April 5) it’s supposed to leave behind a gaping flesh wound. And if you call your pediatrician on a Sunday afternoon and ask them “how much puss is too much puss” they will laugh at you.

5.) Newborns grow really quickly. She’s already starting to grow out of her 5-8lb size onsies which is a bit sad. Those were the only thing that even remotely fit when we brought her home.

6.) Newborns also develop really quickly. She’s already lifting her head all the way up and turning it from side to side during tummy time. And she coos at her little animals. But the best is that she’s so very VERY close to smiling it’s not even funny. Her face makes the motion and sometimes it’s situational. Like yesterday she was on my lap trying to tell me a story and Dexter came over and put his face in her face. She lit up like Christmas. I swear it was a smile. But I think it’s more involuntary than not. Soon it will be real, though.

7.) Everything takes about 5 times longer than it used to. For instance her baptism invites. Still not mailed out. And it’s only a month away (May 17th for all of you friends/family types out there!)

8.) It is possible to survive on less than 6 hours of very broken up sleep over a 48 hour period. Not fun, but possible.

Us on Easter. I am exactly as tired as I look in this picture, and she was flipping adorable in her little bonnet.

And that’s where I stopped writing. But with babies there’s something new every day so here’s a few more observations from this past week:

1.) It is possible to play Rock Band while nursing.

2.) Trust your instinct is still the best advice I’ve ever received. There was a whole thing that went down where after much research and googling and reading and agony we decided to blatantly ignore the pediatrician and stick with feeding her breastmilk exclusively. For so many reasons that was what seemed to be best for her. And since then she’s gained over a pound in 2 weeks time. She’s now up to 7lbs 15 oz. Exactly where she should be. So the pediatrician who told me to supplement with formula? Can SUCK IT. Boob food rules.

And finally:

3.) Curry stains look exactly like newborn poop stains.

Aren’t you glad I’m back to the blogging thing?

Sleepy morning

Baby has taken all of my blogging time… but since right now my world looks like this:


I thought I’d take a second and let everyone know that we’re doing well. I’ve even managed to sneak in a little knitting!

This sweater – just a basic top down raglan cardigan – was going to be my labor knitting but instead it has become my knit while nursing knitting. It’s going slow but at least it’s going!

Oh and just for the record? I’m much more capable of dealing with projectile vomit with a full night’s sleep. Yup. 6 hours. Uninterrupted. So right now the world is a bright, sunshiny, place. Even if it does smell a bit like spitup...

You know what mom? Just because your camera has a macro feature does not mean you have to use it.


I agree with the kid.

Also I'm not sure if she's been going for distance or volume but either way I'm impressed. Kid's got mad pukin' skilz.

Speaking of which - If I spend all of my showering time blogging I would seriously regret it so that's all I've got for now...