What a week...

We had quite a scare last weekend. Lots of stuff I won't get into, but we ended up calling my midwife because we were scared something was happening to the baby. Fortunately, everything ended up okay; the ultrasound showed everything was physically fine, scary symptoms stopped and I was soothed. Unfortunately, one of the things that had been happening to me was Braxton-Hicks Contractions. Yah, I said contractions. They're nothing really to worry about, being "fake" or "practice" contractions. Most women don't even feel them, but who ever said I was normal. :) Man, those were uncomfortable!!! So, I got put on bedrest for a while. After three days, I started feeling better, but I was a good girl and stayed in bed a whole (boring, tiring, annoying) week. I still can't push myself or really even do much at all around the house, but at least my butt's outta bed!!! *cheer* Good thing I like to read (and good thing we have a library)! I easily read a novel and a half a day. Good thing also I have a fantabular husband. He's been SO helpful around the house & taking care of me.

Besides napping and reading, I also got lots of knitting done for baby! My current baby project is knitting socks and washcloths in the bright colors we're using. I found these two patterns that were knitting-newbie-friendly and I've been a knitting-newbie-fool over them! :)


The baby tube sock pattern can be found at Bev's Country Cottage and the polka-dot washcloths at gimpykatkpatterns. Hurrah, ladies, for these adorable & simple patterns!

I also finished my husband's second hat that I mentioned in my previous post. He's thrilled with it and wears one or the other of them every day!


We have another OB appointment scheduled tomorrow -- a regular appointment. It's for the anatomical ultrasound... they look over every morsel of the baby to check for any physical issues that might be present and if Squidge cooperates, we'll be able to FIND OUT THE GENDER! Weeeee!! Hubby's SO excited about that. *giggle* I am, too, but I'm mostly giddy about how damn cute he's been about the entire pregnancy so far. *wishy-washy* I have such a dreamy husband. :) :)

"You hardly ate anything..."

Let me start this by saying I love my mom. I'm grateful to AND for her. So, while anyone who knows me (and maybe a few who don't) might think this is yet another rant of me picking on my well-intentioned mum, let me say: it isn't. She just HAPPENS to be the one who said this phrase to me at lunch today.

Maybe it's because I'm in my second trimester of pregnancy... or maybe it's because she's my mum and that's what moms do... whatever the real reason, I looked at her plate, still mostly full from the double-layer of Chinese food she'd mounded on it at the local buffet place (two eggrolls, two terryaki chicken strips, two of this, two of that)... and I was amazed at the standards to which Americans stuff their gobs.

Both my husband and my mum LOVE Chinese food. I like it, just not as much as they do, plus being pregnant kinda changes your appreciation (and tolerance) of a lot of things. But I suggested Chinese as the only time they get it is when the three of us go together and that's not very often. Anyway, I had a plateful of food (single layer, thank you very much), taking a tiny bit of this and that, plus a little bit of salad (I can't get enough salad, even at a Chinese Buffet restaurant, hehe). When I was done, I did have quite a bit left-over on my plate, but there was a definite difference from when I started! I wasn't going to force myself to clean my plate if my stomach didn't have the room for it all.

So then out comes the above comment from my mom that just kinda boggled my brain. I'm not perfect. Don't let me sound like I am, that I eat only single portion sizes and measure everything, never once letting junk food pass my lips. *laugh* I have my favorites that I chow down on and I DO eat junk food... but overall I'm a fairly healthy eater. Looking around the restaurant tables showed me dozens of others with full plates who may have even said the same thing as my mom. So how did we as Americans get to this point? Most of us are "the other kind" of "healthy eater," being very overweight and not finding anything wrong with how many of us have heart issues or diabetes.

Without going on further, let me just say it staggers my mind. Still now, almost 9 hours later, obvious by the fact I turned on my computer just to write about it, it's floating around in my head.

Let's end this with a few good notes. Last week, I had my first second-trimester ultrasound. *sing song* Do you see what I seeee....?

Squidge LOOKS like a baby! Hubby and I keep being giddy at each other by out-of-nowhere saying, "Squidge has a face!!" Each ultrasound is a hint MORE exciting than the previous and each time we're astounded, not believing that could be possible. :)

Mother Nature celebrated Winter Solstice yesterday with a heck of a Nor'Easter, dropping a ton of snow on us. My husband, who temporarily is working night shift, came home this morning having to trudge thigh-deep through the snow to get up our road to get the snowblower. *chuckle* He had fun. No, really! He even snow-blowed me a big ol' heart shape in the back yard. (Do I have a sweet guy or what?!)

A crafter's life is a sad one. It's an addiction, really, one that usually only the spouses of said addicts want to cure. *giggle* Yah, I've got a new hobby. At least I think I do. I'm knitting! I finished an afghan for my husband a few weeks ago (and it's practically like a child's "Wooby" -- he uses it ALL THE TIME -- yay!!) and last night I made my first hat!


It's a little too big on me. As soon as I proudly showed off my handiwork to my hubby, though, it found its new home. :) He wore it to town today and I felt all wonderful both at how much he loves it and the compliments my mom gave it! Plus, at the store, he picked out another yarn color for me to knit him a second one. ;)

I hope whatever you do or don't celebrate, everyone has a wonderful and safe end of December. Remember to carry your holiday spirit throughout the whole of the next year. Being nice and having fun shouldn't be limited to one day of the year. It certainly isn't in this house and I hope it's not in yours. So smile -- or I'll throw a snowball atcha!! ;)

Ever sport the "deer in the headlights" look?

Well, WE sure have been, here in this house!! After four years of trying to have children, ten months of which we worked intensely with an infertility clinic, we FINALLY got what we've been wishing for: I'M PREGNANT!! WahooooOooOoo!! I'm in my fifth week, due sometime around June 9, 2009. Multiples are a strong possibility, due to several reasons -- this thrills us!! I still can't believe it. Everyone has been SO wonderfully supportive and excited with us -- I send you all my love!

I've been commissioned to create a baby quilt for a friend's friend. It's turning out adorable, if I do say so myself! Dark blues and greys make-up a nighttime sky with cute yellow applique stars and moon that I drew myself. She had the baby early, so it obviously won't be done for baby's arrival, but at least this way I know his name and can embroider his birthdate on it!

While quilting is the stronger passion, I learned to knit this year, too. I decided to make a couple lap afghans for the living room... one for my husband and one for me. I've only learned the basic garter stitch for now -- I was about to learn how to purl and move on to other stitches when my husband saw the knit swatch and liked that so much, he requested that be how his afghan be made! Easy to please... I like him! :) I've completed the three panels of his afghan and last night taught myself (with the help of a great tutorial at knitty.com) how to connect the three panels using the mattress stitch. I was so proud of myself & hubby was tickled pink when he heard I was so close to finishing his project! (Confession: I have a HORRIBLE time finishing gifts for him. It's become a running joke between us over the years. I'm determined this time and promised him before the year was up, he'd have it!!) Off to work more on it...!!!