getting there slowly

I made myself a deal. I WILL finish this sweater in February. In fact, I WILL finish this sweater this week. No more excuses. No more wishing that I could be working on something else. It is past time to buckle down and get going.

So I stayed up way later than I should have last night and finished the hood.

Overall, I am still proud of it. The mistakes that I made are glaringly obvious to me but not to anyone else in the house. The one mistake that I think is the most noticeable, SweetPea adores so its staying.

Of course, now SweetPea wants this to be a dress instead of a sweater. Um yeah, not going to happen, baby girl. But the flow on this is gorgeous and it twirls. When she spins, it flares out beautifully and does put me in mind of a dress. Once I finish the sleeves, it will be ready for the task of picking out buttons. I originally wanted to order some fancy buttons for this but now, I am thinking that plain and simple buttons might be the best. If it was a plainer sweater, cutesy buttons would be the obvious choice. But the cable work on this makes me think that the buttons would just get "lost" in the rest of it.

The decision will ultimately be up to SweetPea. And I am a bit excited to see what she comes up with this time.

and it begins....

I cannot believe how spaced out I have been this week. Its been a terrible week and I have been trying my hardest to ignore it. But my feelings have been hurt time and time again and blogging, picture taking and even knitting has just taken a back burner. I haven't wanted to read and have actually been putting off starting my classic for the month because I have been so miserable.

But that wasn't the point of this. Its more just an excuse on why I am so late in telling PorkChop's thrilling news. Our little gummy bear.....

cut his first tooth on Thursday! Its just barely peeking through his gums and number two is RIGHT there but the gum keeps swelling and pushing that little second tooth back down. My poor PorkChop has been a bit miserable as a result and I can't blame him. His little gum keeps getting blood blisters and has bled a few times. Him and mama have shed many tears together over this.

I cannot believe that my little six month old boy is losing his gummy smile. My last baby is proving that he will not be remaining a little baby much longer.

Look who's moving

My mom had three children with three totally different styles of "getting around" as infants. I crawled for one day, got rug burn, so I got up and walked the next day at nine months. My younger sister was a crawler. She loved the speed and ease of crawling and didn't feel the pressure of getting up and walking. My youngest sister was a butt scooter. She didn't want to crawl, didn't want to walk, just scooched around on her behind.

All of the older kids were crawlers. For varying lengths and starting at differing ages but all were crawlers.

Right now......

PorkChop is a butt scooter.

Its pretty cute watching him push his little hands down on the floor between his legs and scooch around to get into things that I don't really want him eating. Its even funnier watching him get excited and flap around like a baby bird, slowly going forward. But backward is definitely faster. And he has learned to turn himself around backwards to go forward.

Will he ever crawl? I am not sure. He was my earliest to inch worm around on his tummy but he gave it up the earliest too. He has never used rolling as a means of transportation, preferring to use the "pick me up, mama" method.

So for now, I just delight in having a little floor cleaner. Might just need to start adding some feathers to his britches. If PorkChop is going to be sweeping the floor with his rear, he might as well do a good job of it.

C/3 week 1

This week (and next) we will be working on the letter C and the number 3. I don't like the chosen nursery rhyme for this week, since its actually a tongue twister ("How much wood can a wood chuck chuck") so instead, I taught SweetPea "Mary, Mary Quite Contrary". We are also working on the song "C is for Cookie" and "Who Stole the Cookie from the Cookie Jar". The cookie jar game has become an instant favorite! We usually spend a good fifteen minutes a day figuring out who stole the cookie... before breakfast, during lunch, after snack, when we should be brushing teeth.....

For our baking, we made cinnamon raisin oatmeal cookies. Our craft turned into Valentine themed decorating (made a letter C out of foam and conversation hearts). Other than that, we did our normal work pages... cutting, pasting, sequencing, matching, coloring. All the things that SweetPea really looks forward to doing each morning. Our calendar time isn't going so well. She just cannot grasp that we are not in January anymore. But she does know that her birthday was this week and that her birthday is in February so I guess that its a good start.

She showed me that she knows which "birthday cake" is hers on the calendar and which one is mine. And she can pick out which holiday is Valentine's day and which is President's day. I think that next month we will start working on the days of the week a bit more. Even though we do go over them each day, I think that I will come up with a way to play a game with the names of the days to make them more "familiar".

girls have Cooties

I asked my family to please bring either books or games for SweetPea's birthday. My nephew G did as was asked and brought Cooties for her. Perfect game since it doesn't require any reading, it really fun and teaches math skills.... SweetPea's current passion!

Just like with CandyLand, SweetPea has turned into the Cooties champ! Out of the seven or eight games that we have played since her birthday, I don't think that she has lost any! Either she is really lucky or she is a really good cheater. And yes, I am aware that she HAS learned how to cheat! She has figured out how to pick up the die on the number that she needs, shakes her hand and then places the die on the table. Of course, this is followed by a celebratory dance because she got the number that she needed. Bad as it sounds, it is really cute.

Happy Valentine's day

Happy Valentine's day! I am not one to get too emotionally invested in overly commercialized holidays but how can you not want to spoil your loved ones on a day set aside for showing your love? Yes, I am a sucker for Valentine's day and Sweetest Day both. Enough so that I went out last night after spending since Sunday night in the hospital with PorkChop to get each of the kiddos a small box of candy, hubby some dark chocolate (and he bought himself a new PS3 since his bit the dust while I was away) and PorkChop.... well, he got some boob and a "get out of the hospital" free card.

Probably not our best idea but we went to Peanut's class Valentine party. I took the littles to Punk's Halloween party so she wanted to lay claim to Valentine's day. So I spent the morning hours making cinnamon raisin oatmeal cookies with SweetPea (partly for the parties and partly because we are working on the letter C this week), sewing a festive holiday shirt for SweetPea as well, and preparing hubby's favorite dinner for tonight (French onion soup in bread bowls). Somehow, even with all the set-backs, we made it to the school in time for the party.

It was pretty cute. They had a photo guessing game (you had to guess who was who from their baby pictures), a create a lovebug station, Valentine inspired bingo, a bean bag toss and a make your own goodie plate station. SweetPea remembered two of the girls from Peanut's birthday party and went and spent the entire party sitting in the one girl's lap. Since I didn't want to expose PorkChop to anything, he spent the party in the pack while the boys and girls took turns peeking in on him.

We even made a special stop in Punk's classroom to say hi. Oh my goodness... the sixth graders were wilder than the fourth! It made me really glad that I didn't end up volunteering in his classroom!

I even did something for myself today. Since Fairytale Frocks and Lollipops was running a sale, I bought two patterns that I have been dreaming of since I first saw them.... Studio Tantrum's Hermosa wave shirt and Redondo flounce skirt. I cannot wait to get them and get started on some frilly things for SweetPea and Peanut.

a first for us

Yesterday began what was one of the most scariest times in my life. PorkChop hadn't been feeling well for a few days but I just assumed that it was teething. His fever was high but he was still acting pretty normal, a bit more clingy but his normal happy and content self. During SweetPea's party though, he decided to stop eating. All together. I would offer the breast and he would just rear his body backwards and howl, huge tears running down his cheeks. By early afternoon, he wasn't wetting any diapers. We decided about 8pm to take him into the after hours clinic at the hospital before it closed.

When we got there, it had been at least 7 hrs without a wet diaper and even longer since he had eaten. He still wasn't interested in food and his eerie crying fits were getting closer and closer together. Thanks to some motrin, his fever was at bay at least.

PorkChop was seen at 830pm and because of his age and the history of illnesses in the family (SweetPea had an ear infection, Punk had both ears infected, Peanut was starting to complain of the same), it was decided to admit him through the ER for some IV fluids.

We were told at first that it would be a few hours and then he could leave. But with the length of his fever, his refusal to eat and his lethargy, they decided that it would be better to admit him overnight to the pediatrics ward.

Hubby took the older kids home, including my poor birthday girl who didn't understand one bit why mama and her baby were staying behind. I kept trying to offer the breast and my poor little man just kept refusing and looking at me with such sadness that I wanted to break down and cry. I didn't though. I was too afraid that if I started, I wouldn't stop.

Instead, I held PorkChop through six attempts to get a blood draw, through two more attempts to get the IV started, through a catheter to check for urinary trouble and an RSV swab.

I didn't sleep a wink that night having PorkChop not in the bed next to me for the first time since his birth. And the poor little man was so exhausted from the lack of fluids and the testing that he slept for four straight hours for the first time ever not snuggled up in my arms. Three bags of fluid later though and that ended. Once the IV fluids began kicking in, PorkChop started to become more like his normal self. He perked up, slowly ate from the breast and began wetting again.

Results came back that his body was fighting something but they never could pin point exactly what. Best guess was that it was some kind of viral infection based on my description of his slapped looking cheeks most of last week.

It never would have occurred to me before that such a mild appearing "cold" could be so concerning so quickly. None of my children had ever been hospitalized overnight before even though we had made other ER trips for various illnesses. Just the mental image that I carry of my PorkChop screaming (from hunger they guessed... ) but unwilling to eat, wanting to snuggle and just sleep, to being hooked to an IV is something that I will not soon forget.

I will take more time to snuggle him, to love on him, to have a bit more patience. We were lucky that nothing was seriously wrong. But what if it had? What would I have done without my baby?

Happy third birthday SweetPea

Wow... where has the last three years gone? Gone in the blink of an eye.... the baby girl that daddy caught in our home has now surpassed being a baby girl and a toddler girl and has entered the realm of being a preschooler. If I can find her birth story, I will share it. Sadly, the last place where I know that it was posted was taken from me and I am not sure how to go about locating it.

We celebrated SweetPea's big number three with a dinosaur themed party. We had three little girls over, besides all the siblings and most of the immediate family. I made a dinosaur cake complete with a volcano, blew up more balloons that needed and even created an excavation site in the kitchen using sand and a bunch of "treasures".

The little girls had a blast flinging sand all over the place while uncovering small tokens and dinosaurs. Even the little girl in attendance who didn't care for dinosaurs squealed with delight every time she unearthed a new one from the sand. We played a game similar to "pin the tail on the donkey" only it was more "pin the skull to the brachiosaur skeleton".

I loved watching the three bigger girls all hold hands and run around in a circle screaming something that might have been "Ring Around the Rosie". Peanut had fun joining in on most of the activities in the name of "helping out" while Punk and Pickle spent more time with cousin G.... who proved that he really is the best big cousin in the world by joining in the games with SweetPea. Poor little PorkChop was still feeling crummy and just wanted to lay in mama's arms and whimper all day. We did get him to play with the girls a bit but only because his favorite girlie toddled over to him and proceeded to grin at him.

let the celebration begin

Wow! I don't think that I could have (or really should have) tried to pack any more into today. Between birthday preparations, sewing that needed to get done, cleaning and baking, today has been insane! And its far from over yet. I would love nothing more to curl up with my feverish little man and catch some sleep myself but I just don't see it happening.

The big celebration today was taking SweetPea and Peanut to Build a Bear for SweetPea's birthday. It was both the girls first time going and I think that they had a good time. Peanut picked out a fennel fox and SweetPea picked out a purple (of course) bear. The place was crazy busy being a weekend, being a crummy day to be outside and being that the mall was hosting a robotics competition. Oy! But we still made decent time, only spending about 90 minutes there which included building our new friends and allowing SweetPea to dress hers. Peanut already is talking about going back for her birthday and I would love to take PorkChop for his.

At home, I completed SweetPea's birthday skirt and shirt, got the ribbon sewed onto her birthday sweater, added buttons to her army outfit and baked two cakes. Yes, for her birthday cake I needed two separate cakes.

don't think that its going to happen

Being gone for a week was good for my soul, good for my peace of mind... really bad for my goals.

Yes, this was supposed to be given to SweetPea on her birthday.... which is Sunday. I haven't finished the length requirements that she wants yet, haven't done the pockets, hood, or even the sleeves. Taking six days off of knitting/sewing has really put me behind. It was worth it, don't get me wrong. I am just feeling the pinch now that we are that much closer to SweetPea's big day.

I did manage to get most of her birthday skirt done today. And PorkChop's shirt and longies are complete. I am not sure that I am going to be able to get SweetPea's chef's outfit done but I can always give that to her for Easter. Or just because. I like the idea of just because more.

I still need to figure out how to make a dinosaur cake too. I have some ideas which is much better than I was just a few days ago but it would mean getting creative and not doing "exactly" what SweetPea wanted. It should be ok though.... I just need to remember that she is only turning three and that a cake is more important than a specific cake.

I hope.

welcome home?

Wow, as if I wasn't behind enough, let's just shove more in my path, shall we?

SweetPea's third birthday and party are Sunday and really, this road trip, while a very welcome break from our norm, couldn't have come at a worse time. I have so much to prepare for and no time to actually do it. Add in that we had stowaways on our return trip and my limited time just became more limited.

We ended up making an emergency trip to the doctor's today for SweetPea. She has been feverish since Wednesday night but today, she was complaining of pain in her belly button region bad enough that she was in tears. This the same child that doesn't cry for anything (pain related). After listening to her sob unrelentlessly for an hour, we made the decision that a trip to the doctor might be in order. Turns out that she has an inner ear infection and major constipation. Wow, who would have guessed that from the child that pooped every day while we were gone?

Poor Porkchop has been feverish too and his little cheeks are really starting to tell the tale. My baby looks like someone slapped him across the face and he is miserably warm. I am guessing that its just viral though from his face so I am waiting it out.

Then Peanut and Punk had school conferences today. Whew... yeah, let's cram a bit more in there. Punk is actually doing better this marking so far than last. His teacher would like to see him use his voice a bit more in the classroom (I wonder if she would like to take him after school hours a bit since she thinks that he is quiet!!) and a bit more organized but other than that, he is doing well. Peanut, on the other hand... her conference didn't go badly. We signed her up for math tutoring since she is still just not getting it. I understand that math will never be a "favorite" subject for her but her aptitude scores and what she does in class are vastly different. So we know that she CAN do it, its just a matter of doing it now.

our Chicago road trip

My goal was to blog every day for a year but with being out in the windy city for five days without internet access (ok, so I HAD access but chose not to use it because I wanted to focus on my family time instead), I figured that breaks from the net could include breaks from the blog. Maybe I will eventually go back and fill in with pictures from those missing days but for now, I am just going to sum everything up in one post.

Friday, we (everyone but Pickle who went to his mom's) took off about noon for what we thought was a weekend road trip to a southern suburb of Chicago. We made pretty good time and actually got to our destination with enough time for the kiddos to check out the hotel's pool. Some place where we spent the majority of our hotel time.

Saturday, we got to have dinner with friends of mine that I hadn't seen in 7 years! I got to finally meet her daughter whose baby shower I attended back in 2004.

Sunday was just a lazy day of relaxing. We were going to sight see but hubby got back to the hotel too late so we decided to put it off until Monday when we were scheduled to leave.

Monday, hubby got told to expect to be there "just one more day".

Tuesday, hubby got asked to stay again "just one more day". Instead, we both decided that the kids had missed enough school for this round so we headed home. We made a stop at the Willis Tower and had an amazing afternoon 1353ft up in the Chicago skyline. Made it back home about 1030pm.

a peek of a shadow?

Happy Groundhog's Day! And in true form... Phil said that we will have six more weeks of winter! Woo! How does he do it?! I mean, its absolutely amazing that a groundhog can read a calendar enough to know that in just six more weeks, spring will be here. Then again with our weather this year, I am not going to complain about more winter. As long as our winter weather continues the way that it has so far.

And speaking of amazing.... Can you believe how big PorkChop is getting?! I was totally shocked this morning watching the way that he is grabbing the blocks, really using his hands and starting to use his fingers to pick them up instead of just pushing them around and hoping that they go where he wants them to. Yet again, just another sign that he won't remain my "baby" forever.

Another milestone is awaiting PorkChop tomorrow.... our family will be going on a road trip to the Windy City with hubby. He has to work nights from Friday to Sunday, so since it will mean just two days off of school for the bigs, we will be going with him. I am looking forward to it... Four days of swimming and relaxing and sleeping in.... Ok, who am I kidding?! But it will be a nice break from our normal every day routine. And a good chance to see just how well PorkChop does during long car rides.

Because of the road trip, I am calling today our last day of tot school for the week. I am the mama and the teacher so I get to make the rules. Hopefully, we will be able to come back from our break feeling refreshed and ready to go.

here we go again

A new month is now upon us and with that, a new sweater challenge for me to do! Up this month, a "gold" Lavanda sweater for SweetPea. When I first envisioned this sweater, I just knew that I was going to go with some custom made dinosaur buttons to match SweetPea's birthday theme/outfit. Instead, now that I have tickled the yarn a bit, I am thinking of something sunnier, something brighter.... Not flowery or "girlie" but something more sun-inspired. I find myself singing "You Are My Sunshine" whenever I pick up the needles. And its kind of fitting since this sweater DOES remind me of a warm, sunny day.

I know that I raved about the sweater that I did in January, but I really think that this one might even surpass it. I love the purples of SweetPea's birthday sweater but to me, the purples look older. This color is just so.... so..... fun. Its bright and warm and sunny and just makes me smile to look at it. Not to mention that the yarn is so soft and squishy.

I decided to challenge myself a bit and add some afterthought pockets to this one. I have done a hood before, so that's not new. The amount of cable work is a bit of a challenge (or at least, more than I have ever done in a single project before) but its the pockets that I am most looking forward to trying. Wish me luck! I do not want to mess this one up!