Knit Jones

Trick or Treat...Better Late than Never

2011-11-06T15:54:00.002-05:00

It's been forever since I posted. Life is busy and I have too many blogs to keep up with...this one tends to fall by the wayside because I hardly have time to knit anymore. I'm down to maybe an hour a week.

Anyway, we got walloped with the surprise Nor'easter last week and my whole town basically lost power. Halloween was delayed until tonight...which meant I had that god forsaken candy (which I made the giant mistake of opening) on my dining room table for another week!

Miss A will help us answer the door but we didn't do a costume for her this year. I was very uninspired by anything at Target this year and knowing she wouldn't be going trick or treating didn't help me in the motivation department to venture beyond Target's red walls.

I think A will have fun answering the door and seeing the other kids; I think she'll be ready to go next year. But for this year, we will enjoy staying nice and warm and cozy...it's chilly here!

Baby Knitwear

2011-07-09T16:21:00.003-04:00

Ok, this is cute but would you really pay $35 for this for a 1 year old? No thank you, Gap. Especially when you can knit....which is what I plan to do. I can pretty much just look at it to be able to tell what to do so I think I'll whip this up for her to wear in Fall. I'll post a pic when I'm done to compare...

Rainy Day

2011-06-25T08:06:00.002-04:00

We've had a string of rainy days here...which is fine on work days (except that we have a ton more walk ins, I guess people get bored and when you're bored, what better to do than go to the doctor's office!) but it's a problem when it interferes with our weekends!

I only went to Stroller Strides once, I don't think it's for me, but I stayed on the mailing list because they have lots of great activity ideas and seem to know what's up in the area in terms of parent/child venues. Some recent activities have been strawberry picking, a family festival complete with rides, face painting, and a pie eating contest, and something called Free Fun Fridays where there is free entrance to select museums on Fridays throughout the summer.

I also get good tips from daycare, Miss Christine mentioned that there is a place near here that is an indoor play area that includes a miniature grocery store, craft area, miniature post office. It seems more catered to 2-4 year olds but it's so cheap that we might check it out. They have an infant play area but it's pretty much what our library has but I'm curious to see what the place is all about and to see if it's something we might revisit as she gets older.

On top of that, we desperately need to get to Costco today, we are running out of diapers and wipes! Not sure if we will drag her there or if one of us will just scoot...those are our rainy day plans!

Patio

2011-06-12T13:10:00.002-04:00

Here are the before and afters of the patio. All the work was completed in two days. Too bad the weather has been complete crud since it was put in and we haven't been able to use it. We bought a fire pit and we have a little bistro set that we used on the deck of our previous apt. M used it last night to grill out for the first time of the season...here's to hoping it's more moderate this week and not either raining or 97 degrees!

Patio

2011-06-07T11:48:00.003-04:00

So, I totally forgot that our patio is getting installed today. I heard a big rumbly truck driving down the street and looked to see what it was and realized they were stopping in front of our house! Crud! I didn't have any make up on and still had my jams on which is ok because it was just a tank top and yoga pants.

With all of the planning for M's birthday, I really forgot about it. And it's not like I planned anything major, it was mostly just forcing him to finally decide on his birthday meal and dessert, but I guess between birthday planning, mothering, working it slipped through the cracks.

I'll post our before and after pics...they think it will take them 2-3 days to do. We are excited and the timing is great, we're having some friends over this weekend to grill out and now...enjoy the patio!

Memorial Day Weekend

2011-05-30T20:09:00.004-04:00

We had an action packed week/weekend...early in the week, Miss A had a fever for a few days which had us second guessing whether or not we would be able to actually have our action packed weekend, but it all worked out in the end. She did miss a day of day care but it resolved within a few days and she's back to her normal self.

Anyway, Friday we went to the aquarium..we've been to a few kid friendly restaurants that had fish tanks and she really liked it. We got discounted passes through the library so we thought, what the heck. We headed into the city and spent about 90 minutes at the aquarium and Miss A was kaput. We tried to revive her with a feeding but she was pretty much all set with the fishies for the day. After being gouged $18 for parking, and that was the validated rate, we headed home to pack for the other adventures of the weekend.

Bright and early Saturday morning, we headed up to Vt to visit M's parents. Most of M's extended family have not met A yet, so the whole family was coming over on Sunday. She was great in the car, pretty much slept the whole way, waking up just before our usual pit stops and then falling right back to sleep when we got back in the car. The naps in the pack and play were dicey the first day, and she cried off and on for the first hour after going down for the night but then she was fine. The next day, she napped much better, charmed the pants off all of the family, and avoided her usual day 2 meltdown. She went to bed without any issues and actually slept straight through ( I think part of the reason for the success is that she can't drop the pacifier out of the side of the pack and play like she does with the crib). The ride home was fine, she slept for only 45 minutes of it, but I sat in back and played with her and we successfully avoided any major meltdowns.

We have one more day together since I don't work on Tuesdays and then it's back to the grind on Wednesday which will be a rude awakening!

Multi-Stripe

2011-05-06T11:06:00.002-04:00

I have this strange love of using things up...like when you finish the toothpaste or when you have a huge thing of laundry detergent and it's finally gone. I feel that same accomplishment with this sweater...look at all the yarn I'm using up. The thickness of the stripes depends on how much of that color I have left....satisfaction!

The Multi-Stripe

2011-05-06T06:43:00.003-04:00

Why am I making yet another sweater for myself and not Miss A? Because I have tons of DK weight non machine washable yarn to use up.

I'm making a multistripe sweater to use it up, and oh is it gratifying to see all of these small scraps of yarn finally being used up. I'm winging the pattern, heavily inspired by Elizabeth Zimmerman's designs...just measuring how many stitches per inch and then figuring out your own measurements and casting on that many stitches. Pretty darn easy.

I would show you a picture of the progress by my lovely external flash is out of batteries so I'm sure the harsh light would distort everything. I'll post one today after we take our weekly trip to Target to replinish supplies.

Happy Mother's Day everyone!

Keeping My Head Above Water

2011-04-25T19:50:00.003-04:00

So I'm surviving as a new NP. Last Thursday and today, I took 6 walk ins each day. They are usually the 'easy' ones, like sore throat, ear pain, or the ever dreaded headache. They can also be difficult because it's usually an 'oh, one more thing' type visit...as in, you're under the impression the visits done and have one hand on the door and then you hear,'oh, just one more thing. I need refills on x,y, z and i don't q is working anymore for these five reasons, can you switch me to something else? Also, I want referrals for a, b, c. ' It's times like those that you really have to put your foot down and remind them that the reason they came in was the sore throat and that you would be more than happy to schedule them for next week to come in and discuss the 17 other medical issues.

When I go in on Wednesday, I am scheduled to do 6 physicals and 1 pap, and I'll have labs and xrays that I sent out today that will be back by then. Wish me luck!

New Job

2011-04-18T20:13:00.002-04:00

Just a quick post about the new job.....A has conjunctivits in both eyes so between that and the new job I'm wiped. So far, so good. At this point, I have only seen one walk in on my own but I have been doing a lot of shadowing, reviewing charts, and looking up everything in the world. I do have a pelvic exam scheduled with me for next Wednesday, so I'm hoping that someone has a patient that lets me do one on her prior to me being by myself and doing one. There is another new grad, G, who has been there about 3 months. There is a more veteran NP, J, who has been there two years. So far, most days are very busy. I'm sure they are both eager for me to get up and running to take the burden off of them! Still waiting to find out what my first prescription will be.......I'm guessing atorvostatin but we'll see.

New Job, New Clothes!

2011-03-29T19:44:00.002-04:00

I decided to step out of the box and try on things that I like on the hanger, even if they weren't me. That blouse is especially not me but I thought it was really pretty on the hanger, but the flowy-ness of it is usually not my friend but it's actually flattering (I didn't get the ivory, there's a a taupe color which is what I got instead). Both of these dresses are 'me' but I'm not really a dress person. The yellow one is my favorite! Also, the denim sheath dress is not exactly the one I have, well it is but it's going back because I found one in the same vein that is much more flattering.

Hiatus

2011-03-28T08:21:00.005-04:00

Well, last Thursday was my last day at the job I've had for 6 years, in the department I've worked in for 8 years, in the hospital I've worked in for 9 years. Alas, I have 2 weeks off in between ending one chapter and starting another. Today is day #1. Here is my list of accomplishments today:

Dropped A off at daycare

Rearranged tupperware drawer

Cleaned half bath

Washed load of blankets for guest room

Went shopping

Went to the craft store

Cleaned full bath

Put laundry away

Cleaned off stairway

Picked A up at daycare

Before and After...Bathroom Edition

2011-03-21T20:04:00.005-04:00

These are the befores of the half bath...

These are the afters.....

The Nurse Practitioner's New Clothes

2011-03-17T11:55:00.004-04:00

It's time for a wardrobe make over. I am doing a major job transition and I think the new place might be a little dressier. I have kind of let things slide as I got more and more comfortable in my job at my current employer, I'm looking forward to cleaning out my closet and throwing away things that don't fit that I've been hoping to get back into. I have so much in my closet that I never wear.

I'm also kind of looking forward to reinventing myself. For example, I never wear skirts or dresses to work because the shoe issue confuses me. Being in a clinic, open toed shoes are not appropriate...so I guess pumps are the way to go but for some reason the whole issue confuses me and it just becomes easier to wear pants.

I'm going to try not to think about the cash involved and just go out and get the things I need. I can't really think of the last time I bought multiple items at once aside from cheap maternity clothes, but I think I spent less than $200 on that whole wardrobe. I think with the new job I deserve to splurge a little!

The pic on the post is one of my early purchases. Totally not something I would normally wear, but I really like the tie waist. I figured it wouldn't look very good on me, which is why I usually don't buy things like this but it actually looks nice. I didn't even wait for a sale, I bought it full price. Then, the day after, it went on sale but Banana Republic gave me a price adjustment for the difference. I really like it and I'm wearing it today, supposed to get up to 60 here!

Squeak Update

2011-03-09T11:20:00.004-05:00

I was on edge all day yesterday, my plan was if I saw it, me and Little A were going to be out the door in seconds flat. I didn't see it all day, but the anticipation of seeing it was almost worse! I scanned the baseboards of every room every time I entered, I carefully opened doors and looked at the counter tops. Nothing. I hoped maybe this was a one time visit and that I would get a good night's sleep last night.

Just to be on the safe side, M put out two peanut butter filled traps in our bedroom since that's the only place we heard it. He had band practice last night so I was alone when attempting to go to bed, except for my mother who was coaching me from distant lands. I used her advice and slept with our lamp on so that it would stay wherever it was, I didn't hear a single peep. Until 230 when Miss A woke up. I am not sure if that agitated it and it started squeaking or if it had been softly squeaking and I hadn't noticed. Anyway, I heard it and M didn't hear it at first. To me, it sounded like it was right near our heads below the bed. M finally did hear it after an especially loud squeak and we both jumped to the middle of the bed (this occurred even with the lights on).

We pulled the bed away from the wall, nothing. We could hear noise like it's little claws against the wall but we could not see anything where the sound seemed to be coming from. We are considering the idea that maybe it's in the wall, but the one thing that makes me think it's actually in our room is that I found a little wad of shredded paper near my closet....it could be Clete because he's been known to do that but it could also be our rodent perp.

We have yet to see anything...it's so irritating. After we tried to go back to bed last night, I could hear it's chirping/squeaking through the night and other random noises, like the sound of it messing with possibly a lamp cord and then another sound like it was moving some other things that are on the floor. Both traps remain empty....

M is going to vacuum our room today (it's been awhile) so that we can tell if there is more shredded paper showing up. Here's to hoping tonight is better....I know this tired feeling all too well from when A wasn't sleeping through the night. Hopefully this is a short reprieve from the wonderful full night's sleep we have been getting.

Things That Go Squeak in the Night

2011-03-08T08:41:00.002-05:00

So last night, it was not baby A that woke me up at 224 am. It was a weird squeaking noise....I listened for awhile longer and am so sure it's a mouse! I woke up M and of course the critter was silent for about fifteen minutes but then he heard it to. Of course, because I was up, I had to pee so I had him escort me to the bathroom.

Once I was safely back in bed, he decides to check out his closet which is where it seems to be coming from. He turns on the light and simply stares into the closet, as if the mouse is going to be standing atop his mountain of clothes flashing a sheepish grin. Of course, he doesn't see anything. Plan B, get the cats. He first brings in Boigie who would be scared of his own shadow, so back downstairs he goes to get Clete while visions of carnage are flashing through my head. On the other hand, I would like to go back to sleep without listening to 'squeak squeak squeak' all night. The cats settle in on the bed for all of a second while the critter is quiet, they get bored and after a scuffle with each other, they both want out. Thanks for nothing!

I didn't hear much after that and eventually fell asleep. I woke up again around 445 and heard it again but somewhere else in the room. M, trying to make me feel better, said it might not even be in the house but in the wall. Or it might be a bird. Yeah right.

So far I haven't seen anything amiss this morning, I keep looking over my shoulder though.....I'm operating on high alert today folks :)

Half Bath Remodel....Day 1

2011-02-27T19:25:00.002-05:00

Painting and trim touch ups are done....what do you think of the color? We really like it, feels warm and cozy and I'm almost wishing I chose this for our living room! But I'm sure I can find other warm and cozy colors when we actually get around to that.

Cabin Fever...

2011-02-27T11:59:00.002-05:00

Today I'm dreaming of....

Open windows and fresh air
Crickets chirping (as long as they keep their distance)
Using our patio sat
A picnic lunch with A in our backyard
Walking around the neighborhood with A in the stroller (she too, is yearning to be outside. Trust me I can tell)
Having the half bath done

MY NEW JOB! I found my first NP job and will be starting in early April. I'm nervous but really excited at the same time. It's very strange to be wrapping things up at my current job, I've been in that position for six years! It's bittersweet in that I generally like my job (there are days where I can't stand it but we all have those don't we?) and I'm comfortable in it. I'll be going into something totally new, with lots of new responsibilities where I'll be totally outside my comfort zone. But, there are many things that I'm looking forward to. Using that shiny new master's degree, meeting new people, new patient population, a commute that's drastically shorter than my current one, learning new things....

Running

2011-02-27T11:28:00.002-05:00

I tell you, having that Log Your Run widget on my blog sure has guilted me into running more than I usually would! By the way, I can't always see it on IE but it comes up all the time with Google Chrome (incidentally my border is much more aligned on Google Chrome).

Anyway, here are my totals so far:
January: 6.3 miles (yeah, I know...pretty weak)
February: 14.2 miles

2011 total: 20.5 miles/3:27:48 (hours run)

Bathroom Reno Day #1...in pictures

2011-02-26T20:32:00.001-05:00

A keen eye will show you our nosy cat who just couldn't stay away and at one point ventured onto the back porch and was found just sitting there waiting to come back in. He's all talk I guess.

Half Bath Remodel

2011-02-26T20:11:00.003-05:00

This weekend, our contractor got started on redoing our half bath. Unfortunately, we will live with no half bath (and the contents of the half bath and the toilet, vanity, granite top, mirror are in our dining room and on our dining room table) until at least next weekend. My understanding is that he will be back to lay the tile and do the grout work. Then he needs a plumber to come in to do the toilet and vanity, then he can install the lighting and finish things up. This is going to be a longer process than I thought it would be, I was envisioning them coming back tomorrow and finishing up without really factoring in that he needs a plumber for some of it. Luckily, he put the washer and dryer back so I have laundry access for the week.

Today they demo'd the bathroom, there is no floor in there and they painted and touched up the trim. The new paint color is really nice, the bathroom looks small right now though. Not sure if it is the darker paint color or the fact that there is nothing in there so it just looks like this tiny space. I'll post more pics tomorrow of their progress.

Here are the before pics....

Weekend Recap

2011-02-14T09:29:00.002-05:00

M's parents were down for the weekend...we went out to eat with them for the first time since A was born! This was a typical thing for us to do pre-A, we've all got a touch of the foodie gene in us, so we would try out different foodie worthy restaurants when they came down which all had to change when we had A. We had to resort to ordering in and the area we live in has crap for food. There is one great Indian restaurant which isn't that close to us and 2 pretty good Thai restaurants and that's it.

So it was a major milestone this weekend when we actually went out to lunch at a kid friendly chain restaurant (a major compromise for all involved) and went to brunch yesterday morning. Of course, A was good as usual so it was a nice time for all of us.

A continues to pretty much sleep through the night after doing only one night of the Ferber Method. She now will occasionally wake up and cry for 5-7 minutes, but then puts herself back to sleep. Last night, she was up for awhile just kind of babbling so I did go in and give her the pacifier but mostly because I was sick of listening to her babble because it kept me up, thinking that it was going to turn into a cry any second.

This week is exciting, I think the renovations will start on our bathroom. I have to make sure I take those before pictures and then some during pics. We finally decided on the paint color...Benjamin Moore 'Colorado Clay'. We were thinking of something a little more brown initially but M was worried that it was too monochromatic and it didn't have any flair. It was very stately looking but I worried the richness of it was too much for the small space. The Colorado Clay brings out the accents in the tile and the granite countertop and is a nice contrast to the vanity, which were the reasons that we were liking the darker brown color. This color is more vibrant, has the orange undertones I was initially looking for, and is lighter than the other color.

We can't wait for our contractor to get started!

The Ferbs

2011-02-10T14:56:00.003-05:00

So, we're doing it. We're Ferberizing....Miss A has yet to sleep through the night (I think once when she was ten weeks old she slept for 10 hours straight, that would be the only time). She's almost 8 months old and this tired Mom thinks it's time!

We've gotten so used to being up in the middle of the night it's almost not a big deal anymore. It wasn't, anyway, until she decided a few weeks ago that she wanted to randomly get up for 90 minute intervals during the middle of the night and our usual tricks no longer worked. Or they did, till we had to put her in the crib and the silence would last about five minutes and she would be whining/crying again. We would quickly run in because we didn't want her to fully wake up again. This, of course, was reinforcing the whining/crying/waking up.

I started reading Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child which my friend S recommended and it was hitting home that our soothing techniques of picking her up, rocking her, singing to her in the middle of the night were just reinforcing her and encouraging her to continue getting up in the middle of the night.

The lure of Ferberizing aka progressive waiting/gradual extinction is that it has fairly quick results. And sure, the nights spent Ferberizing will be filled with crying and little sleep, but that's not that much different than what we are currently experiencing where she's waking up and we try to figure out which soothing method will illicit the least crying when we put her back down. So if we're going to be up for 90 minutes in the middle of the night anyway, why not work on getting rid of this little sleep problem?

Last night was the first night we did it and we kind of modified it to what we are already sort of doing. When she cried last night, we waited five minutes before going in to comfort her. We patted her back and butt, gave her the pacifier etc but just did not pick her up. We could always quiet her down and pretty much as soon as we did we scooted out. We had to do this six times before she fell asleep 75 minutes later. Better odds than our normal nights, although listening to her cry, especially towards the end, was absolutely torturous. She was pretty hysterical by the end of it and it was hard to calm her down even when I went in there. Eventually, after some back rubbing and soft singing, she got it down to a mere whimper and I could get her to take the pacifier again. After that, she was quiet but I stayed a bit long to pat her on the back and make sure she was comfortable. After that, she did whine a little bit more but by 3 minutes, she was quite. About 30 minutes after that I heard a little cry, and then nothing more till we woke her up at 620.

We are totally committed to this and are gearing up for tonight's cryfest....but it will be so worth it when she sleeps through the night! We can't even really imagine it at this point!

Bathroom in the Dining Room

2011-02-07T14:11:00.002-05:00

Just for now...thank goodness. K (contractor) picked up our purchases from Lowe's yesterday with his nifty large and in charge truck and brought them over. M was more than excited to open each box (he's saving the toilet for tonight) to make sure everything looks ok. It all looks really nice together, but we still can't decide on a paint color! We both like one that is kind of a darker taupe but wonder if it's too dark. It looks really nice with the wood and tile though. We also had a sample of a light tan-ish one but it looks too peanut buttery and they didn't have samples of any other lighter tan/taupe colors. I think this weekend we are going to head over to Ben Moore and see if they have samples. They always look so different on the wall, I'd prefer to see it up before choosing to have my entire bathroom painted in it.

K is planning to start next week on the bathroom, he assures me that I'll be out of a washer and dryer only for one day while the tile is installed and setting. Whew! I'll be sure to post before and after pics! Exciting!

Decisions Have Been Made

2011-01-30T15:35:00.002-05:00

We took a family trip to Lowe's today and made our final decisions on the vanity, countertop/sink, tile, grout and toilet. We got a bunch of paint color samples to ponder...I didn't want to get too matchy matchy with the tile, grout and counter top but the only things that make sense to my Type A brain are colors that are in the countertop. We chose a granite counter top called 'Desert Gold' which is a lighter colored granite with varying brown flecks, some black flecks and some that are almost a salmon color. I wasn't too keen on the salmon part but when we priced out the other options (of which there weren't that many) it made the most economical sense to just suck it up.

Our options for other colors were to do a special order which jacked the price up about $400 more and I still didn't love any of the colors. I think my problem is that it's hard to visualize what will look the best when all of these individualized pieces are in one room. We're basically taking a guess....

So anyway, our original idea of an orange in there is pretty much out, nothing in that tone seemed to make sense when we held the granite near it. The ones that actually jumped out were tans or taupes that actually complemented the salmonish color that I initially didn't like.

We chose a lighter colored tile with a darker tone grout so we were also trying to find paint that will complement both of those. We have it narrowed down to 6 different tan/taupe colors in varying hues. They're taped up in the bathroom now so we can see how they'll look in different light, maybe one will stand out....but they would all pretty much work with the granite and flooring so hopefully the lighting will help us make the decision.

We let our contractor know that we bought all of the pieces, he will go pick them up in about a week and then we will iron out exactly when he will start. With our luck, it will be the weekend that M's parents are coming down to visit!

Baby Consumerism

2011-01-26T10:49:00.001-05:00

How cute is this little dress from Old Navy? The answer: so cute.

Bathroom Reno

2011-01-25T18:04:00.003-05:00

So our contractor can start on the bathroom in a few weeks...we just have to find time to buy all the stuff (tile, grout, vanity, vanity top/sink, hardware, paint). I called Restoration Hardware and of course, they don't carry the Dillon hardware in the oiled bronze in the store and there is no option to ship it to the store and pick it up to avoid shipping. So it looks like we will be paying $80 in shipping! At least, everything we need from there is 25% off until February 2 to make up for it.....

Nuptials

2011-01-24T13:57:00.002-05:00

I can't believe Little Bro got married this weekend! He's 30...he's not really Little Bro but he'll always be my Little Bro. We went home for the wedding and A was an absolute dream! She slept on 3 of 4 of the plane rides and was playful and quiet on the one she was awake for. The trip was a whirlwind but it was great to see everyone...lots of family and friends that I rarely get to see.

The wedding was wonderful, I was pretty emotional but did not have a total meltdown. That happened more at the rehearsal dinner when we received the bridal party gift which was a wine glass that H had hand etched with their initials and the date of the wedding.

I looked at my Mom and she looked at me...game over. I'm very happy for J, he's very happy. They are off to SF for a few days before settling into their new marriage.

Bathroom Reno

2011-01-15T19:30:00.006-05:00

Today we made some headway on the bathroom renovations....the contractor sent us the estimator but forgot to attach it, so we at least know it's done and it's on the way. We went to Lowe's and to another bath showroom to look at vanities and countertops. We went to the local place first and found this vanity. It's about $650 without the countertop, sink, or fixtures. It's solid wood.

Then we stopped at Lowe's to see if we could find anything similar but cheaper. Honestly, we don't care if it's solid hardwood or not. We just couldn't even find anything we liked looks-wise at Home Depot the other weekend which is why we tried the showroom. Any improvements we make in our bathroom will be great, anything to get the boring lowest end possible countertap/vanity combo that's currently in there out. So we found this vanity which is similar in color, we liked that it has the legs like the more expensive one instead of just sitting squarely on the ground.

We also kind of wanted to go cheaper on the vanity itself because we want to get these nice fixtures from Restoration Hardware. We're planning to get the fixtures below, the toilet paper holder, light fixture, and the towel ring (which is a square).

Then to finish it off, we will have to still choose the counter top and sink (I think we are going to go with a combo set from Lowe's), tile for the floor, and the toilet. I was initially against getting a new toilet, ours works just fine and isn't a toilet a toilet? But M prefers to get a new one since we are updating everything else. We looked and found one that has a cool almost crown molding looking top to it that I think we will get.

After all of that, we will have to finally decide on that paint color. Decisions decisions.

Bittersweet

2011-01-14T11:26:00.000-05:00

She's doing more on her own now, including sit up...but at least she still needs a little help from Mom.

Re-Design

2011-01-11T17:14:00.003-05:00

New Year, New Design. I was sick of the other one for awhile now but 1. my time is limited and 2. I don't know what I'm doing in the world of web design.

I'm still tweaking somethings but I like it much better so far!

Weekend Wrap Up

2011-01-10T08:47:00.002-05:00

Best laid plans....right? We had planned to go to Vermont this weekend to attend M's extended family's late Christmas shin dig. We spent Friday night packing up the entire house to accommodate Miss A's needs, lined up everything by the door. Earlier in the week, we emailed our friends that we would be staying with on Saturday to make sure we were all set. They were planning on making home made chicken pot pie for us and pancakes on Sunday morning before we set out for the get together.

Then, M started talking about how his stomach was bothering him ever since he ate avocado at lunch mistakenly (gives him indigestion/heartburn) and that he was feeling kind of chilly and hot at the same time. We decided to see how he felt in the morning before making any decisions...morning rolled around after a timultuous night (A picked up a bad habit this week of being fully awake and ready to not sleep anymore at about 330am every night since last Monday, it would take us over an hour to get her to go back to bed...very exhausting) and M was not feeling any better and was still having the chills/feverishness. We decided to cancel with our friends who were pretty disappointed but understood. We were going to play it by ear as far as driving up on Sunday just for the family thing but in the end, it wasn't worth it. M still wasn't feeling the greatest and the idea of driving 4.5 hours to spend 3 hours up there, then another 4.5h in the car again seemed like lunacy. If it was back in our pre-parenthood days, maybe but I certainly didn't want to put A through 9 hours in a carseat knowing she's not one of those kids who really cherishes the time in the car.

Instead, we had a quiet weekend at home and I should have really gotten more done than I did. I was rather sloth like but that's ok. We got the house somewhat back in order (and unpacked all of our gear piled neatly by the door from our Friday night packing session), went grocery shopping. I worked on my mittens from Mostly Mittens...I usually test run knitting books from the library first to see if they are worth ordering. Most aren't, but this one is the book that keeps on giving. There are lots of different patterns, but they are all in the style of the 'Komi' people but the color possibilities are endless and they are all done from basically the same template, so once you've got it, you're good to go. I ended up ordering it from Amazon last night, along with a high chair for A! It will sure be nice to not use her bouncy seat anymore.

I talked to day care this morning about bringing some food to day care and we are all set to start bringing it on wednesday. Yesterday, before each bottle feeding, I offered solids till she was sick of them and then offered her a 6 oz bottle. Last night was the first night in a week that she hasn't gotten up for at least an hour so maybe there is something to what my Mom said about her needing more calories during the day...or it's dumb luck. We'll find out tonight I guess, she's not getting any solids at day care today.

Running Widget

2011-01-05T09:17:00.004-05:00

Thanks to Anonymous who sent me the link to get this handy little running mileage tracker! Now I have to get M involved because I can't figure out how to resize it so I can actually see it.

I'm hoping I can run again on Friday morning. My plan is to try to do it during her first nap which seems to be about 35-40 minutes. Perfect length of time for a work out.

Running

2011-01-01T11:10:00.002-05:00

I saw a widget on someone's blog that tracks how many miles they've run in a year..I have yet to figure out how to get this on my blog so until then I'm just going to keep track of it in posts.

I think...no, hope, I can run more this year. A is taking more predictable naps and she is napping in the crib so that will be my chance to run. She's been taking a 35 minute nap in the morning and afternoon a longer one around 11 or so.

So to kick off the New Year, I have run a total of one mile so far. Yes, only one. It's been awhile, I have to ease into this!

Total Miles Run 2011: 1

Back to Life, Back to Reality

2010-12-30T08:54:00.002-05:00

Well, that was a whirlwind of a week! I can't believe that Christmas has already come and gone. For some reason this year, it felt like it was just suddenly the week of Christmas. Maybe it was because we didn't have snow till earlier that week...it just felt like it came out of the blue. Our Christmas was great, lots of family came to our house this year to celebrate A's first Christmas. We had so much fun and she raked in way too much loot! She has so many toys now we don't know where we are going to store them all. She has an abundance of really cute outfits that I can't wait for her to wear. She obviously didn't 'get' the whole Christmas/gifts thing this year but she is currently really into grabbing things and pulling so she did open a few of her gifts with some assistance. She would concentrate really hard to reach out and grab a piece of the wrapping paper and then she would just yank away and the person holding the gift would sort of rotate the gift so it would actually get unwrapped.

Let's get down to the food. Christmas Eve was hors d'oeuvres which is a family tradition. This year we had the following: phyllo dough pizza (me), tomato basil squares (C), cannibal sandwiches (H), deviled eggs (Mom), reuben dip (Mom), cranberry orange dip (C), tortierre (CY), pate (CY), Hello Dollies (C)....and countless cookies and candies.

Christmas dinner turned out great, I repeated the meal I made two years ago which was the first time we hosted. I felt justified in doing this because only half of the people were there last time. The standing rib roast a la Bon Appetit was wonderful and made for some great left overs. I also made the spinach porcini stuffing, some mashed potatoes that I added ranch dressing and some cream to, and roasted asparagus. There was so much food everyday all day it's a wonder I can even button my pants at this point. Christmas Eve we traditionally do hors d'oeuvres.

We still have many left overs which I am now trying to eat sparingly as I get back to reality and can no longer afford to gourge on all the goodies at whim. Thank you New Years Eve/my part time schedule for making it a short week and giving me M tomorrow at home to help out. Next week is going to be a real bugger when we get back to full time reality.....

Sick Shnooks

2010-12-15T16:57:00.003-05:00

Shnooks baby is sick....green booger, nose dripping, sneezing, coughing sick. Poor little thing. She's tolerating it well, and it was bound to happen sometime. Here's to hoping she's on the mend by the time company starts rolling in next Wed :)

Christmas Menu

2010-12-13T14:36:00.002-05:00

I feel like I have so much to do before my family comes next week...I'm still menu planning and that includes the cookies I'm baking this weekend! The cookies I'm planning on making are snickerdoodles (made some this weekend so I already have the dough frozen), compost cookies, chocolate chip cookies, sugar cookies, chocolate earthquake cookies and whoopie pies. M is a big fan of chocolate whoopie pies with peppermint frosting..he's fixated on some that his mom used to make when he was little and every recipe she thinks it was, he assures her that wasn't it. I think he's given up on finding 'that' recipe now, and is just looking for a solid whoopie pie.

I am planning appetizers for Christmas Eve but have yet to pick them. I am considering doing miniature chicken alfredo in a large shell and a phyllo dough pizza that I've made befor and is very tasty and very easy. Aside from that, I'm unsure.

The main course for Christmas Day is a standing rib roast recipe from Bon Appetit a few years ago which was excellent the last time we made it. There is a spinach and porcini mushroom stuffing that goes with it, I think I'm going to make an au gratin potato casserole (also from Bon Appetit), rolls, I need to decide on a vegetable yet...

For Christmas morning, I'm making cinnamon buns.

I've started making my shopping lists and timetables....but I still feel so scattered!

On top of the meal planning we need to:

clean the house
get liquor
iron the curtains in the dining room (we just put them up right out of the package with the intentions of ironing and of course never did)
find A a holiday outfit
get a tree
decorate the tree
bake the cookies
find the rest of the Christmas decorations

I'm sure the week is going to fly by...I can't believe one week from tomorrow the family is starting to filter in!

Home Reno

2010-12-09T16:08:00.007-05:00

M and I are planning on redoing our half bath this winter...my head is spinning with paint colors!

We have long term plans to rip up the carpet in the living room and replace with hardwood and when we do, we will paint the living room, downstairs hallway, staircase and upstairs hallway. The idea is to do a taupe/brown/tan type color in the hallways and staircase and then do a darker shade in the same color family in the living room.

Then, because that won't jive with the bright yellow in the dining room, we'll need to paint the dining room. I like having yellow in there and I think it needs a light color because we don't get very much sun, but I think I would go with a more subdued yellow, more creamy.

My other thought was a bright orange in the dining room...crazy I know, but I love orange and thought it would look nice and crisp with our wainscoting.

Which brings me to my bathroom dilemma. Do I pick a bathroom color that flows with the current dining room color or pick something more neutral that will go with the future dining room color? My other dilemma is that I keep looking at taupes/browns for the bathroom but I shouldn't do that if I'm going to be using those colors in the halls and living room. Now I'm thinking of a creamy egg nog-y type color. It would like nice with our white baseboards and is neutral so it would blend with the room colors regardless of what they are, but is it too boring? My initial thought was to do orange so you can see this was a quite a leap...

We are thinking of a vanity kind of like this....I think M prefers the dark wood but I could be conviced to go with white...

ny thoughts readers of the blog?

Santa! Cookies!

2010-12-08T11:17:00.003-05:00

I'm ridiculously excited about taking A to see Santa on Sunday! M thinks it's silly because she obviously won't remember it and no amount of explanation (it's for us, not her) seems to get him in the spirit.

It's at the town country club which has a nice little restaurant too, we might parlay this trip to Santa into our first lunch outing with little Y since I'm sure the place will be over run with small children...I'll be ok with being out with her there if she starts to cry.

I'm plotting what outfit she should wear, I think one that Grandma Y gave her will fit the bill nicely.

This weekend we are having a couple over...I have to make some cookies and pick up some egg nog. What cookies should I make? I'm debating between our friend B's snickerdoodles or a mint chocolate cookie recipe that J's sister sent. The downside to the mint cookie is that M won't touch it if it has chocolate so the snickerdoodle's just might win.

I have to seriously get finalizing the Christmas menu..did I mention I'm cheating and making the same meal I made last time I hosted? I really don't have time to sit and pour over cookbooks at this point so I'm taking the easy road...sort of. Those recipes weren't the easiest to make. Next weekend is the annual cookie baking day with S and A and the kids, so I have to figure out exactly what I'm making. I'm excited that this year there will actually be lots of people at my house to eat them! We have to find time to get the tree also....so many things to do and not enough time!

Thanksgiving Recap and Other Assorted Tidbits

2010-11-28T10:36:00.002-05:00

Thanksgiving was nice, M's parents came down for the holiday and it's always fun to have them. It's always a nice low key time, full of cooking, wine drinking, and now....baby ogling. We had the usual suspects: wine, turkey, mashed potatoes, homemade rolls (my contribution), green beans, cranberry sauce, and stuffing.

The next morning, I maded a buttermilk crumble coffeecake thing, everyone else liked it, I found it a bit boring and I don't think I would use that recipe again.

The inlaws left on Saturday so we decided to check out a new bookstore/cafe that recently opened in our town that really has nothing of interest. I was thinking it wouldn't be very good, a half hearted attempt at both, but we were pleasantly surprised! The parking lot has been full since it opened (this place has been listed as coming soon since we moved here a year and a half ago). It's very cozy inside, the cafe offers some sandwiches/wraps and salads and an assortment of baked goods and coffee. The cafe has a roaring fire with leather couches and chairs around it and lots of tables. People were lingering, reading magazines and chit chatting. Little Y was a trooper, she was quiet the whole time and was entertained by this little salt shaker toy that she has. We were sort of doing a trial run for actually bringing her to a restaurant and she passed. The next time we are free we might try going to lunch, like the old days!

In Little Y updates, she has now tried rice cereal and contrary to what my mother said, she is still waking up every three hours at night. There have been two times where she has eaten the entire serving of rice cereal, tonight I think I'm going to double the serving and see what she does with that. Maybe she'll sleep if the quantity is more...

We got some holiday decorations up yesterday, we bought two topiaries to go next to the front door, and a berry wreath for the door. I have some berry garland that I wrapped around the light in the barrel by our drive way and M wants to try to put some lights on the topiaries today. I need to get around to picking out this years cookies and finalize the Christmas menu so I can place an order with the butcher. Due to Little Y's arrival, both sides of the family are coming to our house this year so there's lots of menu planning to be done. My MIL had a great suggestion of having some of the other guests cook for some of the non Christmas nights since people are going to be here for a few nights before and after the actual holiday.

We aren't really doing gifts this year, although I keep teasing M that if he has the desire to buy me something, a nice new kitchen stove would make his wife very happy...and I'm sure he wants his wife and mother of his child to be happy, no? I really enjoy Christmas with no gifts, it's so much less stress and now more than ever, we just enjoy having family around, drinking holiday drinks, telling family stories for the millionth time, and laughing, laughing, laughing.

Mall Walker....

2010-11-10T12:59:00.002-05:00

I finally did it...I had been entertaining the idea of mall walking with A for some time now and the number not budging on the scale in conjunction with my need to stare at something other than my own four walls finally won out. And I didn't even buy anything!

We went yesterday and I'll plan to do it again in the future. A was entertained by the skylights and plentitude of things to look at, but I think next time we'll try a different mall. This one didn't have any elevators that weren't in anchor stores. We were there for about 2 hours and she even fell asleep (I think I've mentioned before that Miss A rarely sleeps in the stroller) at which point I took the liberty of browsing in a few stores (and was surprised to see that there were a few appealing items in Forever 21...aren't I way too old for that? Maybe it's because I feel old that they suddenly looked appealing).

Friday, we're going to try grocery shopping for the first time. My mom did it with her when we were home for the wedding and she said she was watching the lights the whole time. She does fine in Target, so I can't imagine this would be any different

This weekend is somewhat busy...I may be going out for drinks with a work friend on Friday, M has to work on Saturday morning, I desperately need to get on the treadmill, there needs to be a trip to Target, then Sunday M has band practice and then the whole thing starts again...

Baby Y's First Plane Ride

2010-11-08T13:08:00.002-05:00

First of all I will tell you, we did in fact, survive. A was so wonderful! As soon as the plane started moving she was out like a light for the duration of the flight. On some of them (we had four) she would wake up as we were starting to land so then we just fed her and she was totally fine. She did not do as well after the feeding was done and the plane was no longer moving because we had already landed and we had to wait for people to get their stuff together. Mental note, do not book seats near the back of the plane, we need to get this baby off the plane and quick!

I also learned that we had to pick a seat with an infant air mask, I'm still not sure how we would know that while booking seats online but for both of our smaller flights we were placed in the first row which meant we had nowhere to store our luggage. This required a bit of preplanning on what exactly we would need from the diaper bag, but we managed just fine.

In Detroit yesterday, we encounted a two hour delay because of an engine leak but this gave her time to make the biggest messiest diaper while we were still on the ground rather than dealing with it in the air. I don't think she would have been a happy camper for long sitting in that. M was the one that changed her and he went through most of our wipes cleaning her up, luckily we weren't detained longer. It got on her pants and we came to the realization that our extra outfit had been used as pajamas by Grandma and we forgot to reload a spare outfit. She wore just her onesie and a blanket on those little chubby legs on the way home, but she was fine.

She adapted very well to the different schedule when we were visiting, we had some minor problems getting her to calm down enough to put her down but eventually we got there and she went back to her waking at 1230 and 330 schedule. She's back at daycare today and we're back at work....what a whirlwind weekend!

The house is horrendous right now, hopefully she takes a nice long nap tomorrow because the house is in a serious state of disrepair. The luggage is literally laying in the middle of the dining room floor, I'm sure one of the cats will be cozily sleeping in it today.

The wedding was great, it was nice to be a part of all of the pre-wedding festivities and then to be in a wedding for the first time!

Halloween

2010-11-01T14:03:00.002-04:00

I can't believe Halloween has come and gone already! A was a little duckling this year, I'm not an inventive or creative person so I grabbed the cutest off the rack thing I could find (thank you Costco). It was the little duckling suit with extra padding in the belly region and yellow and orange striped tights. She was super cute and didn't fuss all that much when we put the little hood up even when it went over her eyes. We managed to get some cute pics of us outside by the pumpkins on the steps and then some more inside where it was a bit toastier.

We had planned on putting the costume back on her when trick or treating started at 6, but by that time she was already having her last bottle o' the eve and rubbing her eyes. The schedule is key so we opted not to bother.

We got 17 trick or treaters this year, which is about the same as we had last year. Most were very polite but a few didn't even say thank you and disobeyed my instructions to take one treat bag! She took the treat bag and then she kept grabbing more and more until finally I just pulled the bowl away. I think the key is that I should be handing it to them, not letting them choose. There was another girl who kept asking me what was in the treat bag (2 fun size bars in each one) and I kept telling her candy not realizing that she probably was asking what kind. I put different candies in each one so I wasn't sure what was in that particular one. She figured out that she could look through the side of it to see, and then was like, 'Meh'...put it down and began foraging through the bowl, presumably for something better.

Seriously young one...you take what's given to you and you love it! You love it! Back in my day that's what we did. (Dana Carvey, anyone?)

That's to go..and step on it!

2010-10-29T21:04:00.003-04:00

There is a Starbucks sort of close to our house, sort of not. This Starbucks was the first place I went by myself after becoming a Mom. It was somewhat of a drive, further than the Dunkin' Donuts, but yet close enough that I didn't feel too far from A. This Starbucks was also the first drive through I took A through. It has become a good excuse to get out of the house and is one of the highlights of my day!

Anyway, yes, it has a drive through, this is a key point. I remember thinking this was odd, when I started seeing Starbuck's with drive throughs...it's not like it's quick for them to make you a coffee.

I knew this would potentially be disastrous to bring A with me through the drive through, we might have been better off just going in but I figured it was far enough away that she would be sleeping by the time we got there and she wouldn't notice that we were at a deadstop for five minutes while Mom's Carmel Macchiata was being procured. Another important factor was the 'getting dressed' factor. If I go through the Starbucks, we can look shlumpy and no one will be the wiser thanks to Juicy Couture velour pants becoming acceptable dress. And no, I am not saying I was wearing it, just that it's lowered the bar for all of us and I have never been happier.

The trip backfired...the drive through took too long and Miss A (aka the Princess and the Pea) woke up as I was waiting at the window. You would think this might put a spring in the step of the barrista but no. I actually don't think I've ever been asked so many questions when ordering at Starbucks as I did with a screaming child in the backseat. 'Would you like to try Via?' Would you like a receipt?' 'Would you like to try a sample of our coffee cake?'

Seriously! Shut the front door and just get me my stupid overpriced coffee! This car needs to get moving so my heart can stop being ripped out of my chest and my lovely A can resume her fitful nap as we enjoy the fall foliage on our short journey home.

Flying with Babes

2010-10-27T14:08:00.002-04:00

I am in a wedding next week....uber excited for being home with family and attending said wedding but uber NOT excited to fly with an infant. Everyone tells me to enjoy this time when she's nonmobile, but man, we are dreading it.

There's so much to bring and then there's the worry that she'll be THAT kid on the plane, the one that cries from take off till landing. We're planning on bringing the bjorn for walking around in the airport, checking the car seat plane side, and holding her on our laps. The only problems is that she really doesn't like that. She prefers to be walked around. With me, she prefers to look over my shoulder, with M she prefers to be held in a seated position so she can look around. I foresee lots of walking up and down the aisles with her...

I am also not enthused about breast feeding (even with a shield) in public. I haven't done it up until this point, we use expressed milk whenever we go to a friends or we have company (for the most part). But it seems that feeding her with the boob is going to be the easiest way to go because I don't have to lug my pump, cooler, inventive ice pack (ice packs are not allowed, people suggested using frozen fruit).

Hopefully she will be very tired that day and will sleep most of the flight. I should say flights, we have a 2.5 hour flight, lay over, and then another hour flight. Ugh...

Things I Want...Baby Edition

2010-10-16T21:42:00.003-04:00

New post...it was too difficult to add more pics to the previous post.

Iris and Ivy Check Coat and Dress $48 10/16/10

Things I Want...Baby Edition

2010-10-16T21:03:00.009-04:00

Now that I have Baby Y, I seldom think about clothes for myself but I'm really enjoying buying her clothes! Most of it was needed, she needed more socks, I was perpetually searching for a hoodie, and she needed pants. I think I've satisfied all of those needs and all for sale prices. Here are some things that are cute that I would never be able to justify buying, even on sale.

Ok, blogger still sucks for uploading pics. Even using Google Chrome, two of my pics just disappeared. ugh.

Shearling hat-$16.50 10/16/10

silky ruffle front top $19.99 10/16/10

striped boatneck sweater $21.99 10/16/10

Ruffle Sleeve party dress$22.50 10/16/10

Captain Coat $49

.50 10/16/10

Baby Shrug, Donesville!

2010-10-16T20:27:00.003-04:00

Knitting baby stuff is great, two days max and you're done and onto the next project. This baby shrug was super easy except for picking up stitches along every imaginable edge. Super annoying, and whenever I pick up stitches I never get the amount the pattern says I should be picking up. Kind of like making cookies, the recipe says I should get 36 and I'm looking if I get 18.

I blocked this sweater which was the first time I had blocked anything, mainly because I just bought a blocking board last week. For years, I was convinced I could make one and keep the $70 in my pocket. Then I became convinced I could not, in fact, make one but then refused to pay for shipping.

I went to a store last week and bought it with birthday money for two years in a row that I never managed to spend.

The sweater turned out nice although even after blocking it tends to billow out over the ribbing for some reason. A wore it yesterday and spit up on it after about ten minutes of wearing it so we're about to see how it holds up being washed.

I, as usual, bought way too much yarn so I'm on to making her the Pom Pom Girl hat.

I'm also finishing up the cowl neck on the Francis Revisted revisited sweater...yes two revisits because this is the second time I'm making this sweater but I've changed up the pattern. I'll post pics when hers doesn't have spit up on it and mine is done and blocked.

Baby Shrug

2010-10-08T20:30:00.004-04:00

The bad news: The adorable dress in the previous post might be a smidge too big for A for November's wedding.

The good news: My brother is getting married in January and she's certain to fit in it for that.

I'm making a baby shrug to go over it since it will be cold no matter which wedding she wears it to (picture taken from Ravelry).

I found a yarn that closely matches the bright pink dots from the dress. Should be really cute!

Baby Consumerism

2010-09-29T20:30:00.003-04:00

Here's what I just bought for A to wear to a wedding we're going to in November...

Momofuku Compost Cookie

2010-09-26T14:16:00.003-04:00

So I was really excited to try these cookies...the premise is that you make a chocolate chip cookie dough recipe and add in some salty and some sweet and skip the chocolate chips. We decided to use potato chips and peanut butter M&Ms.

The recipe is a bit odd, asking you to mix once all ingredients are integrated for a whopping ten minutes!

We threw in the first batch and they completely flattened and burned, we had to scrape and scrape just to get them off the pan. I read the comments on the bottom of the recipe and almost everyone is having the same problem. Some people are freezing the dough (which I'm now doing), and lowering the temp to 375 and adding 1/3c more flour. We'll see if this helps. I hope so because these were going to be a thank you for the baby gifts that M's work group gave us. I'll keep you posted on how they turn out.

Make this recipe with reservations for now...

Ok new info...first I tried freezing the dough for about two hours and cooking at 375, still flat as pancakes. Then I added 1/3c flour, refrigerated for 24 hours, and cooked at 375 and that finally did the trick. After all was said and done, they are good but not great. Next time, I would just make a basic chocolate cihp cookie recipe and do the add ins instead of chocolate chips. This was just totally not worth it.

Things I Want...

2010-09-22T15:34:00.001-04:00

Double-cloth Colletta $298 at JCrew

Knitting

2010-09-19T15:53:00.002-04:00

We have got A on a quasi-bedtime schedule so she's going to bed between 8-9 which gives M and I some time to just chill. How do I spend that time? Knitting.

I'm knitting a cowl neck sweater that is heavily adapted from a pattern on Ravelry (Francis Revisited). It's a great burnt orange color, I'll post a pic when it's done. And becuase one knitting project is never enough, I am almost knitting a Snowflake Scarf. I'm using some bulky cream colored yarn and double stranding some hand dyed red/pink yarn from my stash that I've been trying to use up. I couldn't use it in the blanket I'm knitting because it's not machine washable which is kind of a necessity for a blanket. In addition to that, I finally sewed up the armpits of a fair isle sweater I made during my pregnancy.

Pics of all to follow.

Mom to the Rescue

2010-09-19T15:33:00.002-04:00

Ok, so I figured at some point my mom instincts would kick in with someone else's kid and it happened for the first time on Saturday. I was really bothered by this for the rest of the day and angry at this baby's mother.

I was at a local consignment shop checking it out to see if I can get A some clothes for daycare there ($2 for onesies and $5-6 for outfits is not a good deal to me when I can get them the same price at Target new). Anyway, there was another mother there with an 8-9month old who was crawling all over the dirty store floor.

The woman decides that she's buying some of the bigger items so the store owner helps her take them to the car and she leaves her kid in the store crawling around on the ground and the stores doors are open! Right outside the door, like two feet after you step out the door is the parking lot!

I watched him out of the corner of my eye and then he started crawling out the door. There was a small step to get out of the store and he of course, didn't compensate for it with his crawling and hit his poor little head on the step :(

I ran over and picked him up and carried him outside and asked the woman if he belonged to her and she said yes (not yes! thank you! oh my gosh!) I told her what happened and she just said, "I still forget that he crawls.."

So you planned to leave him alone unattended in the store, you just forgot that he crawled? Ugh, the whole situation really disturbed and disgusted me for the rest of the day. That poor little boy.

Parenthood

2010-09-10T08:56:00.003-04:00

I'm the mother of a 2 month old already! Seriously folks...time does fly and realize this when you have children. Even though I look forward to new developments and milestones that tomorrow might bring, I find myself already nostalgic over how small A was when we brought her home, how her newborn outfits hung off of her and how tiny tiny tiny she looked in her carseat.

Here's the rundown on A:

She is much less fussy (I cut out caffeine but I'm not entirely sure it's that vs. establishing a routine)
She coos and almost giggles when she sees her toys (the current faves are the mobile or barn babies)
She has become a fan of the bouncy seat and the swing but is not entirely sold on the stroller (this is unfortunate because we are doing a charity walk on Sunday...3 miles)
She has slept for an 8 hour stretch at night a few weeks ago and M and I are anxiously awaiting a reoccurence!

My break is up...the boss is waking up :)

My Name is Earl

2010-09-02T16:13:00.002-04:00

Well, here in Massachusetts we are being told to expect some fall out from Earl. I'm crossing my fingers that we do get a nice storm, but I think the Y family is too inland to experience anything fun, although the entire state is being declared a state of emergency.

In other news, tomorrow is my birthday. I forgot about my new role as Mom and asked M what we should do for my birthday. Oh right. The plan includes feeding A, changing A, and putting A to sleep. That's ok though, she's the best birthday gift one could hope for, her smile will melt anyone's heart :)

My big plans for the weekend include a solo trip to Target to get a few essentials..I might also eyeball some clothes to get me through till I can really fit into my own pants again. Even though I've lost most of the weight, my pants are still pretty difficult to zip and button...things have shifted and I think it's going to take some time till they shift back, or at least to a point where I can comfortably wear my pants. I read another blog where the woman just had a baby, she said that it took her seven months before she felt reasonably like herself again. She gave up around month four and bought some pants to get her through, and without exercising or losing any additional weight she was able to wear her own clothes again at seven months.

Luckily, I also have a groupon for the Gap as well as a $50 gift card...perhaps my trip to Target will involve a scenic tour to the Gap as well.

Things I Want...

2010-08-30T10:48:00.003-04:00

Pottery Barn Francesca Quilt

$199

trip to g-ma and g-pa y

2010-08-30T09:02:00.002-04:00

first of all, excuse the lack of capitalization. i'm typing with one hand while arden sleeps in my other arm. we made the first trek to vt with baby a,. she pretty much slept the entire way up, we stopped once for a feed and change. we hung out with j and d on saturday which meant another car ride. she slept through the whole visit which gave us plenty of time to visit. the rest of the night she was pretty fussy, i take that as payback :)

the ride home didn't go quite as well, we topped twice and she was still pretty fuusy. she cried herself to sleep a few times after crying the cry that makes me want to pull over right on the side of the highway to console her. sge was fussy the rest of the night.

we decided to make the switch to the crib since the bassinette was already out of our room for the trip. we figured she would have a bad night because of the big weekend, then a change in her sleep environment but she did great! she went down about 9 and woke up at 330 which is our longest stretch yet, she went back down after eating for another 2.5h, we were very surprised.....and somewhat rested.

Pampering...

2010-08-18T10:14:00.003-04:00

My mom is visiting which means I finally have time to go get the massage that my inlaws gave me as a graduation present way back in April. I decided on a stone massage....this is my first massage ever. I'm not sure how relaxed I'll be with strangers touching me but I'll give it the old college try...

Mom's Night Off

2010-08-13T10:18:00.002-04:00

Last night, I got a night off. M plays in a band and resumed practice on Monday night which meant that I was home with A all day, saw M for dinner, then he had to run off to practice, it was about 14-16 hours of straight baby care. And it was a fussy day for A, let's just say it was a long day. The agreement all along was that I would get a night away since M would continue with band practice.

This week, I chose to use my time on Thursday night. I was trying to come up with places to go and things to do, then I realized I just wanted time to do some things for myself around the house. I chose to do an exercise video (this post baby ring around my stomach isn't going anywhere on it's own, people), knit, and watch the latest episode of Mad Men. I secluded myself up in our bedroom and made it most of the way through the episode before I found her crying too jarring to continue.

Maybe next time I'll actually go somewhere....but it was still nice to have a few hours where I could just chill sans baby.

LL Bean Signature?

2010-08-04T19:49:00.002-04:00

Ok, what is this? I haven't heard of this before but received the catalog in the mail today. I was figuring I would see the usual somewhat frump ville fare of the usual LL Bean catalog but instead, it featured much more JCrew-esque threads. There were several things that I would wear, albeit after they are on sale at the end of the season because they also come with JCrew-esque price tags. Here are the things that caught my eye:

Darn, I can't save them as pics...guess I'll just post the links
Mohair Blend Cardigan $ 69 (8.3.10)
Heritage Nubuck Tote $149 (8.3.10)

Run Knit Jones, Run!

2010-08-02T13:20:00.002-04:00

Finally! The day I have yearned for as I watched the last season of Biggest Loser, the day I could run once again! After about three to four months of pregnancy, it was no longer comfortable to run. And I'm not talking running at high speeds, but the bouncing caused this pressure that couldn't have been good, so I walked on the treadmill for the remainder of my pregnancy but I just couldn't work up the same sweat and couldn't get that same "Mission Accomplished" feeling.

Last night, I decided today was going to be the day that I would run on the treadmill for the first time. We bought it in January or February and have never actually run on the one we own. I took it easy, I just ran at 4.3 and did one mile. I felt that familiar burn in the back of my throat that I get after not running for a period of time. I look forward to feeling my abs burning tomorrow...

I plan to have a date with the treadmill as often as possible...it's a great break from being a milk machine!

Baby Pics

2010-07-28T13:43:00.002-04:00

I'm not one of those Mom's who's willing to post baby pics really....I only feel ok with posting the more abstract ones that could be any baby. It just creeps me out for some reason...so here are some for you to enjoy without getting too up close and personal.

We are in the midst of shattering our previous bassinette sleeping record, she's been down now for about 70 minutes which is a great feat for us. I have hopes that some day she will do this at night so M and I can once again sleep in our bed upstairs at the same time!

A has been out for a few walks in the stroller and was a little baby rockstar on our trip to Baby's R Us to get a sleep positioner to help us transition her into the bassinette. Next up, a trip to Costco by the end of the week for more diapers. Yes, we've nearly gone through 192 newborn diapers since 7/15/10.

Baby Y!

2010-07-21T16:04:00.003-04:00

It's been awhile since I posted but it is for a good reason! Baby Y graced us with her presence on 7/15/10 at 313pm.

I was really lucky with the birth. I started having contractions at 2am, went to the hospital around 12p and was found to be 8 cm dilated already, started pushing around 230p and delivered at 3pm.

Of course, I opted for the epidural which was so wonderful! One of the midwives suggested that since I came in almost fully dilated and had been able to manage the pain, I should try natural childbirth since I was so close anyway. Hell to the No thank you very much.

I'm so glad I got the epidural...I can't say that enough.

So we are home now, adjusting to being parents of an insatiable newborn. The breast pump is the key to getting any kind of sleep and I'm slowly building up a stockpile so that eventually I'll be able to leave the house! M and I have been taking turns getting up at night to feed her since we now have the bottles.

Baby Y doesn't like sleeping anywhere but on either one of us so we haven't been able to transfer her to her bassinette yet so that means taking turns either staying up with her in the middle of the night while she sleeps or taking light naps on the couch while she sleeps. It's true what they say to new mothers, you'll never sleep soundly again. If we are on the couch and I'm snoozing while she sleeps, if she moves or breathes more deeply I'm suddenly alert and readjusting her position, my position etc.

Here's to hoping we can use the bassinette sometime soon so we can both sleep in our bed at the same time!

Hair Cut At Last

2010-07-11T08:42:00.002-04:00

I was desperate to get my hair cut before Ms. Y arrives; I imagine it will be difficult to extricate myself from the house for 2 hours for quite awhile. I called and my stylist couldn't get me in on a Saturday till 7/24 which I was sure, would be after she was here but I took it anyway and they added me to her cancellation list.

Delightfully, I got a call earlier this week that she could take me this Saturday at 330. When I got there, I noticed the door said they were only open till 3, but I was sure they told me 330. Guess what? She stayed open for me!! I love her. She apparently only works every other Saturday and saw that I was also on the cancellation list so she figured I must really need to get in. To add to her awesomeness, she dried my tshirt in the dryer after I got stuck in a massive down pour on the way in to the salon. She also informed me that she was actually going to charge me less for cut (I have curly hair and it has to do with getting relicensed to be able to do the cut that she's been giving me for nearly 7 years, she hasn't done it so she doesn't feel like she can charge for it), and she gave me a sample of some new oil that she thinks will help with the curl vs. humidity battle that is waged throughout summer.

In return, I tipped her based on the previous cost for the cut and then some for being so accommodating. She told me that she would be willing to stay open for me in the future, given the fact that I'll have a little one soon. She is so wonderful!!

I can never tell much about the cut till I wash it and style it myself...today we will see.

Knit Jones, MSN, FNP

2010-07-03T10:43:00.003-04:00

Yes indeedy, I passed the boards! I was soooo relieved and am really enjoying rejoining my life, already in progress.

The exam was a challenge especially at the beginning. I had heard that they will stack harder questions at the beginning, I guess to just shake your confidence? Anyway, I found that to be true. The first 20 questions were hard and I felt like I was getting most of them wrong. Then I regained my confidence and stride and hit lots of questions which were really obvious and I started to feel a little better. I decided to go through all the questions and go with my gut and then go back through and review all the questions. Some of the ones I was stuck on, I read with a clearer head the second time through and would notice a word or phrase that helped me decide on an answer with a clearer rationale for choosing it.

I was surprised to see very few medication questions, I had thoroughly reviewed antibiotics and their coverage and didn't get a single question about them. I can't say that I felt like I got a lot of questions in one particular area...a few thyroid questions, a few cardiac murmur questions, some growth and development, some female GYN, headaches, abdominal pain. There were also some on follow up...what interval would you follow up, would you follow up or should you refer? I would say the difficulty was on par with the reveiw questions I had done but there were a few that I had not encountered any of the terms and really had to guess including one about identifying a breast mass. The choices were fibroadenoma, papillomatosis, mammary ductal etresia, and ductal papilloma. I had no clue at the time but looked it up when I got home and the correct answer would have been fibroadenoma.

Even after the secondary review, I finished with about an hour to spare, luckily test taking time frames have never been an issue for me. I was so so happy to see that I had passed, I started shaking and my eyes welled up with tears. This is truly the end of a very very long road. I was emotional for the rest of the day, I am back to my mantra of 'I can't believe it's over'.

I can finally focus on the remainder of my pregnancy and getting things ready for baby Y. I hope she gives me a little time to enjoy my new found freedom!

Day of Reckoning

2010-07-01T10:38:00.002-04:00

Tomorrow's the big day...the day my entire graduate education comes down to but...no pressure or anything.

I am taking the FNP certifying exam tomorrow, 9am sharp. Just got the confirmation email so it must be happening. I'm surprisingly calm, although, as I'm writing this post I do feel like I have butterflies in my stomach..or is that the baby kicking?

I have extensively studied for this exam, I go overboard when it comes to things like this. I started reviewing during the last semester of grad school. I have listened the Fitzgerald review cds many times over. I have used about 5-6 review books, read umpteen sets of guidelins and have done 4500 review questions. I have to keep in mind that this exam is to determine the safety of an entry level nurse practitioner, I'm not supposed to know everything about everything.

But like I said, I'm actually very calm about the whole thing, relatively speaking I'm sure. I have devoted basically 2 days every week to studying for the entire day and as the day approached I began studying on lunch hours at work as well as evenings and weekends.

Wish me luck Knit Jones-ers....here's to hoping I can help my school keep their 100% passing rate!

BBQ

2010-06-28T13:09:00.004-04:00

The BBQ was fun, it was nice to see all the people that I haven't seen in a long time. Unfortunately, most of the people I invited had conflicts, but our mutual friends were there. We probably had 15 or so people over, it felt nice to use our deck and patio set. We were unsure if we should lock the cats in the basement or trust that people would read the 'Please keep our kitties inside, keep door shut' signs. We left them upstairs and people were very respectful and made an effort to keep the door closed.

I made the phyllo pizza with mozzerella and cherry tomatoes from the latest issue of Bon Appetit. It was quite a hit, not a single piece left by the time that M went to grab a slice. I don't relish working with phyllo so I grabbed the package that said 'extra thick' slices and it went remarkably smoothly. The recipe is fairly easy, which is not my typical impression after attempting to make something from that mag. It was so easy that I don't need the recipe to make it again.

We have more chips in our cupboard than a vending machine right now, I have never had this many bags in my house ever. We have tons of ground beef left over, I'm planning on making spaghetti sauce and freezing it into meal size portions so that after the craziness of life with the baby sets in, we can just pull a container out and have instant dinner.

Nesting or Cleaning?

2010-06-25T16:25:00.002-04:00

People ask me if I'm nesting, honestly I don't think I am. I'm catching up on all the things I've neglected because of school. Today was a banner day....we have the BBQ coming up this weekend and there was lots to be done, especially with everything still sitting in our bedroom from when the flooring was laid.

My accomplishments for the day:
5 loads of laundry mostly due to destruction of 'the mound' on M's side of the room
Swept steps
Reorganized my closet
Rearranged dining room for party
Put out some of the plates/utensils for the party
Added some things to the hospital bag pile
Studied
Ran to the library to donate books
Put away pillows and extra blankets
Put pictures in office that are going up on the walls
Stored empty picture frames

Accomplishments earlier this week:
Placed all the books back on the book shelf, now located in the office instead of our bedroom!
Moved printer back to office
Partially organized desk

Post Grad School/Pre Baby BBQ

2010-06-24T16:04:00.004-04:00

M and I are hosting a BBQ at our house this weekend. I have sequestered myself away from most of my friends for the last year to finish up the hell that was/is/forever shall be called grad school and would like to see them before Baby Y makes her debut. As a result, I convinced M that we needed to host a BBQ, some of friends haven't even seen the new house yet.

At the time I planned the BBQ, I was thinking that most of my studying for the boards would be done, and in reality it probably is. I have done just about 4000 test questions and read about 4 review books in addition to listening to review cds (over and over and over). I apparently didn't recall the feeling I had before NCLEX when I was planning a day of frivolity; that I could never amass all of this knowledge before the test and that there was always more studying that could or should be done. But alas, the party will go on and it will be a nice forced study break. I'm on information over load right now and can't think about fixed S2s or DRSP risk anymore. I wake up asking myself questions about the appropriate time to screen a DM1 vs a DM2 for microalbuminuria (5 years vs at dx) and I'm really looking forward to the test being done.

Anyway, I got sidetracked there. Tomorrow I will need to spend most of the day cleaning and reorganizing the rooms upstairs to make it moderately eye appealing for our party guests. I have most of the supplies but forgot a few things (ice, hotdog buns, relish). We asked people to bring their beverage of choice and a dish to share, we're supplying the meat and then I'm making a Mediterranean pizza I found in the latest edition of Bon Apetit (made with phyllo dough to test my patience).

I'm really looking forward to seeing everyone and being able to enjoy our deck, patio set, and back yard. And no studying for an entire day!

No More Plywood!

2010-06-15T15:24:00.002-04:00

Our contractor done us good...he laid all of the flooring in one day and we are ever so grateful! Here are the before and afters for the baby's room....

Here are the before and afters for the office.

Incidentally, contractor #1 did end up calling us back after he dropped off the long awaited quote and we didn't call back. He wanted to know if someone had undercut him and M told him that wasn't the issue, the problem we had was the huge delay in getting the quote. If I'm not mistaken, it took us less than a month to talk to #2, sign the contract, order the wood, and have it installed. It took the same time frame to get the quote from #1.

We are also using #2 to replace our basement door and look at some siding issues on the back of the house. We're just waiting for our door to come in. I'm much less enthusiastic about that and so glad the flooring was done first. I swiffered the walls today in the baby's room and the office, next up is the hallway. Then I'll clean off the baseboards (we're talking loads of sawdust people), and then finally clean the floor and we can start to reorganize and move things back in.

Lip Gloss/Stick/Tube Things

2010-06-14T12:54:00.004-04:00

I have a small obsession with these lip gloss/tubes/hint of color/is it lipstick or lip gloss things....I have now tried a bounty of them and thought I would give you my opinion in case you too, spend way too much money on these little buggers and want the low down so you can cut to the chase. It's getting to be a 'perfect pair of jeans' situation over here....

L'Oreal-I tried to go to their site to find the exact name of the product but there site is not really to show off their products...it's more corporate-y. On that note, did you know that they own Maybelline, Lancome, Giorgio Armani, Kiehl's, and Shu Umera? Anyway, you get what you pay for with their version. It was probably $5-6 dollars and the most sticky concoction ever. Careful on a windy day with this stuff, it is like a venus fly trap to your hair. And really watch out if you have shedding cats. It's not pretty

Lancome Juicy Tubes-I got this duty free while crossing the border from Canada back to the US so I got somewhat of a deal on it. Definitely less sticky than L'Oreal but still has some stick factor. It has a nice tint to it, not too splotchy and not too nonexistent either. Sometimes I feel like things say they are 'tinted' and not so much.

Nars Lip Gloss-I was a huge fan of the potted lip gloss but that whole idea is just so unhygenic....why would you want to stick your finger (into a very sticky substance I might add) and then put it on your lips. I would prefer the help of a lip wand thank you very much. I still have some of the potted lip gloss but the sticker with the shade listed on it has long worn off so I found myself at Sephora this weekend looking for the closest thing...I tried one and unfortunately here is where I disagree with the term tint. I can't recall which color I got off the top of my head, but it's very glossy with little color. The good news about this one is that it is not very sticky at all. Just wish it didn't look clear.

Clinique Lip Gloss-I was drawn to this one because the color looked so dark in the tube but I was assured by the sign that it looked great on any lip tone. Call me a sucker. This one goes on rather splotchy, you have to really smack your lips together to get the color to even out and by the time you're done doing that, the richness of the color seems to have dissapated. The bonus? It's the most non sticky one of the bunch! Price wise it was the second cheapest. Perhaps I will revisit my local Sephora and try another color.....I try to have a rule that I have to wait to buy new lipstick until one has been used up, this rationale doesn't always work....

Les Fleurs

2010-06-11T18:58:00.006-04:00

A few weekends ago we finally made time to get our hanging plants and shade plants for the side of the house. The bottom picks are on the side of the house where the sun don't shine...so M wanted to create various beds with shade plants. This is the attempt at the first bed, we are entertaining the idea of doing some edging at some point but we'll probably save that until all of the beds are planted, with our luck Home Depot will discontinue whatever we start with. M could tell you the names of all the plants, but aside from knowin that there is a fern or two in there I'm clueless. Enjoy the pics.

Flooring in a Fortnight

2010-06-11T18:51:00.003-04:00

It ain't pretty......but this is the last time you'll have to see it. Tomorrow (finally) the flooring is being installed. This is the sad state of affairs on the second floor of the Y residence post carpet removal. The two spare bedrooms have been carpet (and stuff) free for the past two months (we didn't think it would take this long to get going with a contractor but I'm sure you knew that from my previous posts) but M left the hallway carpet down till today. Not pleasant on the tootsies!

I'll most certainly post the after pics, after these eye sores I'm sure they will be the apple of your eye. Yellow is the baby's room and red is the office.

Surprised Indeed

2010-06-10T18:57:00.002-04:00

Today I was thrown a surprise birthday shower at work....I knew it would be coming at some point but I had no clue it was today. My first thought was that it was so early to have a shower...but then it dawned on me that in only 2.5 weeks I'm full term. So no, it's not too early.

I had protested the shower early on for various reasons: interesting work politics, dislike of being the center of attention, lack of a true registry, a sea of obnoxious pink. I was told the shower wasn't about me, it was about little Y and there would be one regardless of my feelings on it.

The running joke with my coworkers was my distate for pink...sure pink accents here and there are ok but as soon as people hear you're having a girl, they go into pink overload and pink is totally not my thing. Pink is uninspired...pink baby clothes is to a baby shower as roses are to Valentine's Day. Let's show some originality!

After lunch, I suddenly noticed that I was the only one in my entire office suite except for my boss who was in her office with the door closed. I became suspicious also when I saw one coworker whispering in conspiratorial tones with another coworker even though I was the only one there. The icing on the cake was seeing a coworker running down the hall with a gift bag sneaking into the conference room. At least these tip offs gave me time to apply one last coat of lip gloss :)

So with the running joke being that I hate pick, the entire conference room was decorated in pink and the cake had hot pink frosting on it. I suddenly noticed that all of my coworkers were wearing pink and I had even complimented one of them on their sweater first thing in the morning!

I was really touched by the effort everyone put into the party and to the wonderfully thoughtful gifts. We were given a Target gift card with a substantial amount of money on it as well as cash from the late gift contributors. In addition, we got:

a baby carrier
lots of cute baby clothes
hats
socks
burp clothes
slippers
books
stuffed animals

It's unbelieveable how much people want to give you when you announce you're having a baby, I'm glad everyone ignored my protestations and threw me this great baby shower!

Liftoff!

2010-06-09T13:25:00.002-04:00

Ok people...the moment we've all been waiting for....the flooring is being installed this weekend! So far, I'm in love with this contractor. We had our issues with his payment scheduled but he was willing to restructure it because of our concerns. He has been wonderful with communication and actually uses email! He came over for the contract signing and to get the first payment on 5/28 and said it would take about a week for the wood to come in. He called to let us know the wood was in and that he had made arrangements to have it delivered on the morning of 6/8/10. Last night he emailed to say that he had arranged for him and the flooring guys to come over this weekend to start AND finish the floors!

This is great timing, we have the in laws coming to stay with us next weekend. I'll take one last before picture and post it...

Knitting Related...

2010-06-08T12:50:00.003-04:00

I think I found the perfect project to use up a boat load of my yarn stash. It's the Autumn Haze blanket from Comfort Knitting & Crochet: Afghans.

I really love using the Berroco Comfort yarns...there is some minor pilling after heavy use but it's machine washable and incredibly soft. I made a blanket for my in laws previously with the Comfort Bittersweet and it's holding up great and been through several washes. So I tend to gravitate toward this yarn when I need a worsted weight that will get some heavy duty wear.

I have tons of Bittersweet left over, small amounts of other autumn like colors and then I think I'll pinch hit with a deep plum and a rust orange that are not Comfort but still worsted weight. It will be great to get rid of that yarn!

I aslo like that this pattern doesn't seem overly monotonous, you get to change it up every few rows.

Ikea, I Wanna Love You

2010-06-06T09:20:00.002-04:00

So, my mom flew out late last week partially in case I decided to go to graduation and partially because she was dying to see me pregnant and really wanted to partake in some of the baby shopping.

And yes, I did go to graduation but skipped the main ceremony and only went to the College of Nursing ceremony. In the end, I'm glad that I did go. It was nice to have closure and see everyone one last time. As predicted, my name was butchered even though we spelled it out on cards phonetically which the announcer read from....whatever.

Anyway, yesterday was Ikea day. Hubster, Mom, and I took the trek and found a bookshelf for M's recods, Mom and I both found duvet coveres (one and the same), we contemplated getting a dining room table but held off for now, and found a dresser, crib, mattress after much debate. By this time, my lower back and feet were killing me. We finally head to the warehouse only to find that the only thing in stock was the shelving unit M needed for his records.

I was so annoyed!!! My back and feet were killing me for nothing, to think of the time we wasted pondering this piece versus that piece when it didn't matter. We asked at the checkout and the woman told us basically that we would need to arrive early to have our best shot at getting the item and to check online first. Then she quickly told us that even though it says it might be in stock on the website, it might not actually be in stock when we get there because people might have it in their carts and haven't checked out yet. So basically, you're taking your chances.

So needless to say, the search continues for all of the baby gear. The whole point of going yesterday was to get this done and we have nothing to show for it. The plus side is that I read Baby Bargains so long ago that I couldn't remember if foam mattresses were better than coil, how to judge a good mattress etc. Today we are venturing to Target and Baby Depot at Burlington Coat Factory to finally get this job done. I will cry a thousand tears if we come home empty handed.

Graduation

2010-06-03T13:47:00.002-04:00

So the dust has settled, I'm officially done with my Master's program and I'm adjusting to the non crazy life of working part time while studying for the boards on the days that I used to have clinicals. Enough time has passed that I'm no longer over zealous about attending graduation, but I still can not totally make up my mind!

My mom is flying in today, not for graduation but would go if I decided to go. The reason for the visit is to glimpse me while pregnant, before that baby bump goes away and she has a new granddaughter. We're planning on doing some baby shopping and catching up since school kept me so busy for the last semester.

Here are the pros and cons of graduation
Pros

Won't regret not going
Memories
Worked really hard for degree and it would be nice to be recognized

Cons

33 weeks pregnant
2.5h main ceremony directly followed by another 2 hour nursing college ceremony
No time for lunch
Need to be at University by 8 for 10am ceremony so I can line up,which means leaving house by 645a, getting up at 6a.
Do I have to stand for that long?
Sitting in uncomfortable folding chairs outside for 2.5h
Dealing with parking
Inane chit chat and family introductions with colleagues
Losing a day of visiting with Mom to attend

I was totally leaning towards no and then got an email from the College of Nursing today with all the details and someone reminding us that we should be so proud. I guess I can still be proud without attending though.....

Stay tuned for final decision.........

Contractor Update

2010-06-03T11:16:00.003-04:00

So, after some tinkering with the contractor's contract, we have finally hired him and the wood has been ordered (allegedly). We had some issues with the payment schedule, he basically wanted the finaly payment to be only 10% of the total bill. We didn't really feel comfortable with that, it is a pretty small job so that last amount is under $1000. Where's the incentive for him to finish? In the end, we doubled the amount we'll pay him at the end. We are paying 50% up front at contract signing which will serve to cover the materials and then another chunk after day 1 of work (it's only supposed to take 2 days).

The pic is of the wood we are getting. It's Bruce Red Oak Seashell stain. The planks 3 1/4", we have 2 3/4" (I think) downstairs and liked the bigger planks bigger.

We signed the contract on Friday with K, he says it will take one week to get the wood and then it needs to acclimate in our house for a few days before the installation. After that, it should take 2-3 days to install. Finally! I think I'm more excited about reclaiming my bedroom and putting things back in the babies room and the office than having nice new flooring!

8 Hours of Childbirth Ed

2010-05-22T18:21:00.002-04:00

We survived....it wasn't as boring as I thought. I was 100% familiar with the medical aspects of the talk but it was worth it to go to hear about how I'll feel during the progression through the various stages of labor. We practiced some relaxation techniques, some that I can do alone and then some pain management techniques that M can help me with.

They gave us a checklist of things that we might want to bring with us on top of the obvious things....hard candies, magazines, movies, my own robe etc. It was also suggested to hold off on the nursing bra for now and get a nursing tank instead since my milk won't come in until about 72 hours after birth...who's to know at this early point exactly how big the girls will get.

I will hold on to a few key phrases to get me through....there are only 12-20 of the worst and most painful contractions, even though I hope to long have an epidural by this point. Also, she kept saying that each contraction, even early labor at home, is getting you one step closer. As much as I've enjoyed cohabitating with Little Miss Y, I'm getting really excited to get the show on the road.

As bizarre as it sounds, I'm really intrigued to see exactly what the contractions feel like and how much I can handle.....I think the answer is going to be not very much but maybe I'll surprise myself.

Clinching the Contractor!

2010-05-22T18:02:00.002-04:00

Oh happy day...a contractor contract is in the works! We finally got a quote from #1 but it was past his fourth deadline that he set. While we were waiting, we spoke and met with contractor #2 who came recommended from a friend in the area who's using him for a much bigger job.

He undercut the first guy by a few hundred dollars but the more important thing for us was that he had the quote ready when he said he would and he primarily communicates through email. He has been very responsive, another positive note is that the person we know who is using him found him through recommendations of people in his neighborhood that used him. They also have a great website with a portfolio of their work as well as a list of references.

We had to do some finagling with the contract, initially he wanted the final payment at the end of the job to be only $500...we didn't feel that was enough of an incentive for him to actually finish the job so it will now be $1000 at the end. We will pay him one chunk when we sign the contract and then another chunk at the end of the first days work (it's only supposed to take a few days to do this).

He is planning to stop over next week to have us sign the contract and has apparently already got some flooring samples for us to look at. He said that he can actually start the work of the job within the next two weeks and it should only be a few days.

I'm so excited that we have a rough idea of when this will get underway..I'm sick of having an ugly upstairs! It's been that way for about 2 months now, it's time to get back to normal.

Baby Knits!

2010-05-21T17:11:00.002-04:00

Here are some socks I've started for Baby Y...I usually detest making socks because it's just as bad as making sweater sleeves. You just want to get the show on the road and then realize that you have to repeat what you just did. I usually have the problem that I never follow a pattern exactly; I trick myself into thinking that I'll remember what I changed up where but I never do and I never take great notes so that leaves me guessing on arm or sock #2. Baby socks should be more doable, they should knit up nice and quick. I don't have really small needles, the pattern calls for a 1 but I'm knitting them on a 3, she'll have to grow into them. This is the Frankie Striped Socks pattern from Vintage Baby Knits.

This pattern is from a truly vintage baby knits book that my MIL gave me. She knit things for M from it when he was little. I still have to add buttons but I haven't had a chance to run out and get them. I screwed up on one of the arms and made one of the inseams garter stitch while the other is straight, but as we just discussed, I abhor doing sleeves. It is what it is. This also turned out large, I made the smallest size possible but it looks like she'll be waiting a few years before she will wear it.

Friday Happenings

2010-05-21T08:57:00.002-04:00

Today's plans include:

Not working!
Sleeping in (only till 745a but that's what happens when you can't make it up past 10)
Treadmill (done!)
Listen to diabetes review podcast
Meet S and S for lunch
Study
Call Costco to see where M's birthday gift is....I ordered him a composter on 5/9 and recieved an email saying it went to 'fulfillment' and have heard nothing since

Freedom Begins!

2010-05-18T20:12:00.005-04:00

I write this as I sit, completely relaxed on my couch watching M play baseball on the Xbox with a cat stretched across my lap. Normally, I would be halfway through my Tuesday night class, trying not to fall asleep.

Today was my first day of my school free schedule, I kept my hours at 30 so I have Tue/Fri off. I accomplished a lot today, but not everything on the list. Here's what I did:

Treadmill
Called various pediatrician offices
Studied for 3 hours at the library
Lunch at home
Grocery shopping
Made dinner (MIL's mac and cheese recipe)

This weekend was also enjoyable. We celebrated my newfound freedom by spending the day in Cape Ann. We took the scenic way up and meandered around the towns for the day (till my back started hurting and we had to call it quits). We then arrived home to find a surprise gift from M...a Canon Speedlite 430 EX II! I really want to brush on my photography skills for the babies arrival. I want to be able to take some great photos and really wanted the fill flash because I'm sure the bulk of our time will initially be spent indoors and a harsh flash isn't flattering for anyone, even the world's cutest baby. I'll post some pics soon that I took illustrating the regular camera flash vs the fill flash. You can really see the difference.

Here are some pics that I took on Cape Ann this weekend...

Contractor Update

2010-05-18T20:09:00.003-04:00

Well, #2 just called and is sending over a contract with the quote to M sometime tonight. M was just saying earlier that he was doubting this guy would get back to us but I told him that I thought he would. We were going to give him through tomorrow and then we were going to call. This is a breath of fresh air that he called us before we had to chase him down. After we review the contract (if we decide to go with him), he's going to start bringing over samples of flooring. He says that he can beat our first quote but only by $200.

I personally thought it was strange that he would ask how much we were quoted and stranger that M told him, look what happens when I leave the room!

To be continued....

Finito, Fine, Finished!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2010-05-14T13:03:00.002-04:00

Ladies and Gentlemen of the interwebs.....I'm pleased to inform you that I did survive and that I am in fact a Master.

My last day of having to do anything grad school related was yesterday (short of turning in my final clinical hours and evaluation). Yesterday, the graduate students had to present (either oral or poster, and who would choose oral that's just crazy) our capstone projects that we've been working on for about a year.

I presented it to about 4 people, it was a breeze. And it was extra breezy becuase it was the.last.thing. i had to do. Even if I royally screwed it up, I was still graduating.

There was a breakfast, the morning presenters, a few keynote speakers, lunch, awards and then I headed for the hills. The festivities went on all day but most of my class wasn't even showing up unti the afternoon so I felt that I had put in my time.

I spent the rest of the afternoon shopping and trying not to fall asleep. I intended on buying a new wallet, I want something that's real leather but without logos and junk on it. That is surprisingly hard to find. Needless to say, I did not return home with one, but instead, some of my favorite towels from Pottery Barn. For some reason, the blue ones were on sale and it will actually match our upstairs bathroom.

I spent the entire car ride in this morning asking M, "Can you believe I'm done? I mean, really? That I never have to go back there again?" I think he can believe it as evidenced by the following comments ,"Well, it was bound to end at some point." and other such variations.

But seriously...I'm still incredulous and still fear that someone will tell me that I have to just one more thing before I'm done or that I've missed some major class I should have had....

Can you believe that I will have free time this weekend? Time that is free....not time that I have taken as free time that should have been used for studying so I feel guilty during this stolen time slot...but totally free!!!!

Contractor Saga Cont'd

2010-05-13T20:00:00.003-04:00

Ok, so here we are at Thursday, the self imposed deadline (third times a charm) for contractor #1. No Quote!

At least we have plan B paying us a visit on Saturday morning, this ball needs to get rolling!

Contractor Saga Cont'd

2010-05-10T19:22:00.002-04:00

M got the name of a contractor that a coworker, who lives not one mile from here, is using to do lots of repairs on a home he just purchased. M left a message this afternoon and the guy already called us back, he'll be coming on Saturday morning to assess the job.

Don't get too excited yet, contractor #1 also called us right back. Speaking of #1, M called him this afternoon to ask if we should be expecting any quote at this point. He is now saying he should have it to us by Wednesday or Thursday. In theory then, we'll have this quote ready to go so we can compare with #2 (assuming we don't have to beg and plead with them to give us a quote).

We were told they weren't the cheapest quote, but the coworker felt that his portfolio and references were the best. The nice part is that they have an extensive website complete with pics of all the renos they've done. They also have testimonials and references (with phone numbers) right on their website.

Hopefully this goes well and we can actually get started.

The Final Final Countdown

2010-05-06T13:43:00.002-04:00

I did. I went to the last class of any structured program that I'm ever going to take in my life! I have zero interest in pursuing a DNP or a PhD and I can't fathom that I every will. On our last night in class, we were basically told that if our interest is purely clinical, the MSN is the way to go and there is no need for another advanced degree. We were told that the DNP would be recommended if we wanted to do some clinical, some research, and teach. The PhD would be if you primarily want to work in academia..ugh no thanks. The only way I would consider another advanced degree is if somehow it was required to practice clinically and it doesn't sound like it will go that way.

Unfortunately, the last class lasted about 30 minutes longer than our normal classes because it was taught by my advisor and the head of the entire FNP program. A few things annoyed me about the last class (surprise, surprise). We were asked to evaluate the class but 'not to be too hard on people'. She asked us to give verbal feedback to her rather than to slam the course. I don't agree with that, it's very intimidating to provide feedback to the head of the program in front of the entire class. Interestingly, there was no space for comments. I do cherish the moment I get to review the entire program though, because I have much to say about the lack of organization and clarity.

Anyway, people said that information about credentialing, billing, certification exams, and malpractice insurance would be most useful at the beginning of or mid way through this semester instead of being scheduled for the last night of the class when nearly everyone has already chosen which certifying test they will be taking. The professor basically said that we recieved that information when we took a class about the role of the NP which is true, but that is the first class in their program. That was back in 2007! That was before any of that information was remotely relevant.

We had many questions earlier in the semester about the differences between the two offered exams and really received little to no help. Classmates looked up info, created word docs, and sent them around to other classmates. This would have been helpful as a planned topic during the course since many nights there was no scheduled content and we talked about case studies. This valuable information was crammed into 10 slides which started during the last 20 minutes of class (when we were already over the normal allotted class time).

All in all, my suggestions for the program:

Much improvement needs to be made as far as placements go. Placements were often left up to the student, relying on connections...which is problematic if you need a peds placment and you've worked with adults your entire career. Also, depending on where you're placed, you might have a broader or more narrow experience than others. For example, one of my preceptors would not allow students to do 'male' exams (testicular, rectal, prostate) so I'm coming out of the program with no experience whatsoever. Luckily, I finally got a placement where I can do pelvics because my former site also would not let students do those.
Customer service was completely lacking with my advisor until I was in the last year of the program. After this past year, I now see that these students are where she focuses her energy but when I had questions prior to that I wouldn't even get an email back. It was bad enough at one point that I was very close to talking to the dean.
Better site visits. Almost every semester that I've been in clinical, my visits were postponed until the very last minute. The point of the visit is to make sure you know what you're doing and that the placement is adequate. Neither of those can be assessed properly if I'm being visited on my last day there.

2010-05-03T20:05:00.002-04:00

M cleaned and stained the back deck stairs this weekend (I'm not a complete slouch, I wasn't helping because I'm not supposed to be aroudn the fumes). This is the before pic...

This is the after pic. It really was dull and worn before and now it looks nice and fresh. We have to do the deck itself too but trying to find a weekend where it doesn't drop below 50 and it doesn't rain is tricky at this time of year....

Contractor Saga

2010-05-03T14:45:00.002-04:00

As you know, the contractor stopped by mid April to talk to us about our plans. He promised a quote in one week. In one week, there was no quote. We figured we would operate on contractor time and not call him again until it had been nearly 2 weeks. M called and left a message and asked him for the quote. He called back nearly a week after M left the message saying that he had started the quote but that he was really busy finishing up a house and he hasn't had time to finish it. The latest is that he is planning on dropping it off sometime this week. M did tell him that we are on a timeline because of the baby's due date and we need to get moving on this and that basically, if we don't have the quote by the end of the week we need to move on.

I'm sure it's a relatively small job, but seriously, is it that hard to pick up the phone and say that it's going to take him a bit longer than promised to get us the quote? I was in favor of moving on after he didn't return M's call but M wants to give him another shot. We have had several neighbors tell us he's done things on their homes, including an entire addition, and they were very happy with the work. The problem might be just getting him there....

Examination Eligibility

2010-04-30T12:25:00.003-04:00

I'm confused...I previously applied to the AANP to sit for the exam. My impression was that they wouldn't fully process my application until they had a copy of my final official transcripts showing the last course was completed and I could send my official official transcript with the degree conferred date after I sat for the exam.

Yesterday, I received a pdf file of a letter that is also being sent to me in the mail telling me that I am eligible for the test and that I'll be receiving a letter from the testing center within 5-7 business days. When I get the letter, I'm supposed to call and pick a date to test. What happened to waiting till I completed the course? Maybe I can book the test while I'm still completing the course but can't actually take the exam till the course is done?

I guess I'll wait and see if there is more information with the letter....

Home Stretch

2010-04-29T11:20:00.002-04:00

Dudes! I have one class left! I gave my left in class presentation and turned in a final paper on Tuesday night. I took an exam for my online class yesterday. The remaining hoops include:

Completing remainder of pediatric and OB hours (will finish the week of May 10)
Take final exam for online class
Create poster
Order said poster
Present poster on 5/13 for Research Day

Can you believe that? I want to pinch myself...freedom is so near and I can't grasp it! Life without school looming over me!!! Is this for real??

More Home Reno...

2010-04-26T20:49:00.002-04:00

Ok, here were the color choices for the office....we decided on the red.

Here is M working on it....

This last pic shows the color pretty well...we took the tape off yesterday so I'll post an updated pic later this week along with a before. Unfortunately, we don't have the new hardwood floors yet...see post about our lethargic contractor.

Weekend of Homework

2010-04-26T12:40:00.003-04:00

Well, it wasn't the most exciting of weekends...well I guess in some ways it was. I worked for about 6 hours on Saturday on a paper and presentation that is due on Tuesday. Why is this exciting you might be asking? Because, it's the last true paper that I have to do before being bestowed with my MSN. I do still have to finalize an abstract, make it into a poster, and present the poster but that is the last and final hoop to jump through. That paper has been completed for awhile now. The upside was that it was nice on Saturday, so I did most of it outside on the deck.

Boigie was meowing at the patio door constantly, so I tried again to bring him outside. It sort of worked, he was more calm than last summer when we tried this and he enjoyed laying in the sun but something startled him and he kind of leaped forward and the collar came completely off. While I'm certainly for collars that don't strangle my pets, I am thinking there is limited usability with this one....what good is it if it's just going to unlatch? Luckily, he wasn't skittish of me and I could grab him and toss him back in the house. Unfortunately, his taste for the outdoors couldn't be tamed, now that he had a taste of it he wanted more. For the rest of the weekend, as soon as he heard the door unlock he would come running and want to be back out there. We'll have to think of a better solution....

In home improvement news, we are STILL waiting on the contractor for that quote! I'm thinking it might be time to move on. We are not off to a good start and we haven't even started anything! He cancelled our first appointment as he was supposed to be showing up and M had left work early to meet him. Now it's taken him over 2 weeks to get us the quote when he said it would take 1. If it's taking him this long to just write some words and numbers on paper, how long is it going to take him to nail boards to the floor? Yeesh...

M finished painting the office which is actually what made me realize that we are much further behind than I thought we would be at this point. When we were first looking at colors for the baby's room and the office, I thought his plans of finishing both rooms before the flooring was laid was a pipe dream...and yet here we are. Anyway, the color is lovely. I'm glad M had a penchant for the red instead of boring blue. We decided on the Ben Moore Sante Fe Pottery and it's a soft red/pink/orange color. The room looks nice and fresh with the white trim and the white in between the chair rails where the wall paper used to be. I have pics, I promise I'll upload tonight.

I realize I haven't written much about knitting even though this blog is technically a knitting blog, or started that way and then other parts of life took over. Rest assured, dear reader, I'm 80% done with a sweater for Little Y and I also couldn't resist the Anniversary Sale at Webs so I'm working on a sweater for myself. How could a knitter resist Cascade 200 for about $4 a skein, that's almost halfprice! I'm making a Paton Cabled Yoke sweater, it's one of the first sweaters I ever made but I made it with cheap yarn that didn't breath and the sweater was so warm it was unbearable. I have learned much since then, so it's a take two.

It Must Be Happening.....

2010-04-19T09:39:00.003-04:00

There is outside evidence that I really am graduating in a few short weeks. Before I get into Exhibit A, I would like to take this chance on Marathon Monday to compare my grad school program to a marathon. At first, I was going along just fine, not really realizing what I had gotten myself into but knowing that I just had to keep going. I don't quit something once I've started it.

It was ok in the beginning, not overly time consuming and just required some slight finagling with regular life. This was the situation until halfway through the program when clinical's started. At that point, the intensity cranked up. I like to think of this part as the Heartbreak Hill of grad school. At this point, your mentally tapped because you are seeing patient's for the first time pretending you know what you are doing. In addition to the clinical hours, there is time spent in the classroom and in lab. There are now two days that I had to finagle my schedule at work.

Then, I hit last semester...2 full days of clinical in addition to about 6 hours of class each week (3 in person and 3 online). Presentations galore. Major rescheduling at work. During this semester, there was an upheavel at my clinical site and I had to find random people to precept me until I could find something more permanent. Semester ended, I didn't die but I really thought I was not going to make it to the end of the semester. Even though I had only one semester left, it felt so far away and that I was really far from graduating.

Fast forward to this semester, same schedule as last semester. Minor upheavel a few weeks ago with my clinical site because I wasn't seeing enough pediatric patients but I got moved to a far less stressful environment. The assignments were roughly the same as last semester with the addition of finishing up a major project. Class schedules were the same as last time. I began to think that there really was a light at the end of the tunnel....I had hit the runner's high. Formal count downs of classes began, talk of taking the boards began, letters about graduation fees were sent to my home. I wasn't being delusional, the finish line was near! Other people were noticing this!

This brings me to today, I'm on autopilot and I'm in the last three miles of the finish line. After you've done 23 miles, what's a few more! I can do this, and I did do it for the past three years! Since January 2007! I'm now starting to think of myself as a superstar, it's so close I feel like I'm starting to glimpse life without school. I listen to other people talk about their grad school programs and it's very different than mine. I was not paid a stipend to be a student, I did not get the luxury of making my own schedule and could not afford time away from clinicals and studying to become someone's research assistant or TA. This program was grueling and not for the weak! This is why I feel like a superstar....I did it and lived to tell!

As promised, the evidence that I really am graduating!

Letter from Citibank telling me my previous loan is coming out of deferment with a 'seperation from school' date of 5/21/10.
Letter from the government telling me about grad school student loans pay back options
Letter from AANP confirming that they have recieved my transcripts and are just waiting for my final transcripts which will trigger them to send me a testing date window
Graduation gift from my inlaws! Pregnancy massage(s) here I come.

The proof is in the pudding...hopefully my running shoes last till the end!

School Minutae

2010-04-16T10:02:00.002-04:00

Here's the latest:

I finished my second of three presentations. I haven't even started the assignment for the third presentation, but it's not due till 4/27.
I have one more test and one final for the online class
The instructor for the in person class is going to see about cancelling the last class which would mean 4/27 is the end. I'm not holding my breath, I could not really see my advisor (the one who has to ok this) being good with that. Even if we don't get to cancel it, we have only 3 more classes!
I have an almost finalized version of the paper about project I did last semester
Once that's finalized I have to create an abstract and then refine that into a poster for presentation on 5/14
I learned that there is a slim chance I could take the boards before I give birth. I have heard you can sit for the exam with your final official transcript without the degree conferred date listed on it, they just won't pass your scores on to the state until you send them a copy with your degree conferred date
Next week is school vacation week so I have no peds clinical so I'm squeezing in some extra hours at OB. I should be able to finish both the week of May 10, worst case would be the week of May 17.

Spring is...springing

2010-04-11T20:41:00.002-04:00

I know it's Spring because our seasonlly non-denominational welcome mat has made it's appearance! Gone is the snowman and the autumn leaves. I do look forward to their appearance every year, but come February, I yearn to see this one! Talk to me in July, I'll be looking forward to the autumn leaves again.

Sign of Spring #2...nearly budding tulips that my ever so thoughtful husband bought me last year, potted, and kept in the basement until it was safe for them to make an appearance

To Do List

2010-04-11T19:39:00.002-04:00

This weekend I accomplished a lot on my abstract/final paper. I have to get the abstract ok'd before I can design the poster for my presentation on research day at school so I had to make it a priority, the end is nigh after all! I spent more time on that than I thought I would need to but my advisor kept emailing back with further suggestions. As a result, my to do list is growing...

Non School Related List
I need to:
1. Pick up the bridesmaids dress from David's Bridal
2. Take my car in for th 60k tune up
3. Find time to go to Ikea with M to pick up baby furniture

School Related List
1. Finish Abstract
2. Begin layout for poster and complete by 5/7
3. Do Symptom Analysis paper
4. One test
5. One final
6. Talk to registrar about releasing transcripts ASAP
7. Continuing studying for boards