Memmed

I got tagged for a meme from Carrie. I'm supposed to tell you 6 things about myself that you don't know. Since I don't know who you are, it's hard to decide, but here goes...

1. I've been a vegetarian for 10 years as of this summer! To celebrate the hundreds of animals I've saved from a cruel death, we got an SUV with leather interior and a DVD player...I guess you have to balance things, or just become someone you don't want to. Actually, our honda pilot is a low emission vehicle and has an eco setting where it uses less gas. And, they are made in the US, so there ya go.

2. I've met a ton of famous people (or, well, I used to). Pat Benetar's husband, the drummer of the cars (wait, it gets better), Bonnie Rait, Julia Butterfly, Sting, Robin Williams, Sean Penn, the writer of Thelma and Louis. My husband met Mr. Rogers, I think that's even better than all of mine! Most of these celebrities I worked with at Rainforest Action Network, the rest are from #3 Interesting Fact. (Except P. Benetar and the Cars dude, that's another story!)

3. I worked with Koko, the gorilla that uses sign language. Most people find this interesting. It's how I met my husband and some of the best people in my life (Maria, Gillian, Marilyn, Micheal), it's also one of the worst days of my life-when Micheal the gorilla died.

4. I like to read the fine print on commercials. It's amazing what they'll try to get away with.

5. I like words you can type with one hand-water or treat are my favs. So is Carter! This is handy when breastfeeding but you have to be on the correct side.

6. I seriously need a pedicure.

PS. Holiday update as soon as I download pics.

Meeting the Old Bum

My grandpa used to call Santa an old bum and I'd get so upset! Here are the kids, meeting the man in red! We waited for an hour, Butters really wanted to talk to him. He told Santa he wanted a turtle. What am I supposed to do! Two cats and a dog are enough. I suggested he ask Santa for Jelly Beans..

Merry Christmas!

Santa Flies With the Jet Stream

Santa came to our house a little early this year! We enjoyed some old traditions and made new ones. We decided to do Santa with the kids, it's fun to have a little magic in your life, even if you are devastated when you find out the truth! We thought the threat might come in handy also-Santa is watching you need to be good!



We opened presents in the morning, the guitar was a big hit! DH (dear husband) made a yummy breakfast-waffles w/berries and cream and eggs. Then we made yummy treats and let Butters lick the spoons!

We also had the memorial for Great Grandpa this weekend. Butters did well, but I guess I tried to prepare him too much. He kept telling people very loudy, "WE NEED TO BE QUIET IN CHURCH. GRANDMA, WE NEED TO BE QUIET." The baby was hungry the whole time and pooped in the middle of it, right next to the person videotaping, and it was loud. Clyde was everyone's favorite and always smiling, the church had to use the overflow room. The pastor asked how many people were his students and there were a ton of hands. Makes me think about being a teacher.

Saint Nick

Growing up, we had a tradition on Dec 5th to leave our shoes out for St. Nick to put presents in. He was a guy who would put money in the shoes of poor people or something? Sounds a lot like Santa Claus, I know. The story was a bit spotty, but what St. Nick means to me in a nutshell is a new ornament, fifty bucks* and a Russel Stover chocolate Santa! St. Nick still visits, via UPS, and this year we got to teach Butters and Slim about it! My mom always finds us the perfect ornaments.

I thought I'd be a cool mom and let him have the whole Santa and decide if he wanted to eat it all or save it for tomorrow. At first he shared it and then didn't show any signs of stopping, so I changed my mind, "let mama have it and we'll save it for tomorrow!"

"I can take bites, you can hold this wrapper."

He relented, but the damage was done, he spent the next two hours spinning in circles.

*Ha!! I tried to trick my sisters, St. Nick only brings twenty! I wanted them to think St. N likes me better!

Blog Time

Not much time to post these days, mainly because Butters is on the computer more than I am! He navigates, drags and clicks and inverts the screen image (half an hour for me to figure out how to fix that one). It's amazing to watch him-2 1/2 years old and he is on the road to eye strain and carpal tunnel. Or, maybe his generation will evolve away from computer related ergonomic injuries.

The Girl is 2 months Wednesday and smiling up a storm. She's got the cutest little Elvis smirk. That's one of the little things I don't want to forget. The way she squishes up her face when she stretches to look just like Butters as a baby. Her big eyes when you hold her upright, taking in the world. There are a million little details I need to commit to memory. Too bad I can't remember anything these days!

We were up late nursing last night and Snoop Dog's reality TV show came on after my trash TV (Girls Next Door-I know, I know, I'm an enigma-a feminist who watches BadForWomenTV). It was funny for the first 15 minutes. Snoop has a bumper sticker that says, "My Kids are the Schizznit." Anyway, I went to bed before the end and I don't know if yoga helped his stress levels or not, I can't imagine him being any more relaxed. He had a nickname for all his kids, "This is Cloe, we call her Choc." What's the point in naming your kids if you never call them by their name?

We lost a special person in T's family this weekend, his grandpa. I feel so bad for T, I don't really know what to say to comfort him. He was lucky to know his grandfather as an adult, all my grandparents passed away by the time I was able to drive. But it came as a surprise, we just saw Grandpa at Thanksgiving and he was teasing me like always and still very active. Grandpa was a wonderful person who volunteered, built strong houses for people, taught hundreds of students and had a BS in BS from BS. We'll miss you, Grandpa!

Snow!

Snow all afternoon on Saturday and rain all day today, washing it away. The boys enjoy the outside, while the womenfolk stay inside just like on Rudolf the Rednosed Reindeer ("This is man's work."), Luna finds a heat register and I (try to) knit and online Cmas shop.

E is wearing an outfit bought by her Dad, he claims it was from the girl's section but I disagree, what do you think? I think it adds about 10 lbs but she could wear anything!

Teachings

Nothing says Christmas like a skyline chili ornament (I made it!), the Oscar Meyer wiener song blasting from an ornament and potty training!

We put up a tree this weekend and I told a naked-from-the-waist-down Butters what all the ornaments were from as I put them on the tree, and he took them down. I told him about the Millennium Falcon, the peanuts gang, monkeys, guitars and Santa on a cable car-we have a very eclectic tree.

I love teaching my boy about the world and experiencing it all over again with him. But there are some thing I never thought I'd have to teach him. This was our breakfast conversation the other day, looking out the window:

B: I'm looking for a airplane. I don't see a airplane.

M: What else can you see?

B: I see a bird, birds can fly. Penguins can swim.

M: That's right!

B: Penguins live where it's so cold and I say, Brrrr!

M: You are so smart! (Pause) Okay...stop licking your milk off the table!

I knew I had to teach him the alphabet and manners and how to pee pee in the toilet, put there are phrases that come out of my mouth that I never dreamed I'd have to say!

On the drive down to the In-laws (which took 2 hours longer than usual), B was looking out the car window and he said, "I see garbage." We had to teach him about the lazy people in the world that litter. I thought of other bad things that happen in the world that I'll have to explain as well. Some day, I'll have to tell him about Republicans who refuse to give health care coverage to children!

We had a nice Thanksgiving, Butters loves playing with his cousin. We also got Elfed!

No Judgement

I'm never on time (anymore)! Something always happens when you are planning to walk out the door-someone is hungry, someone poops and then needs a new outfit and then I need to pee again, etc.

I was rushed trying to leave for knitting group yesterday, I get a little flustered when we are running late. But it's about having fun, I'm going to knit for chrissake! We get to the library and I discover I forgot to strap the baby INTO the car seat! My friend told me we are all allowed to give ourselves one mistake a day, but that's a pretty big one. It makes me think of the mom who has 5 kids and forgot about the baby in the car. When I only had one I thought, how horrible! How could you EVER forget your child. I'm not saying it's excusable or that I've done it, but I can kinda understand HOW you could forget... anyways, here are some pictures of the kids from today. Happy Thanksgiving.

He said he is putting a hat on her head! She liked the attention.









Here she is getting a kiss from brother, which looks cute and sweet and gentle until I tell you that he gave her the scratch on her forehead. We are working on that...

by the way, Butters is still in his PJs and it was like 1:00 in this photo!

Order of Importance

I shower in order of importance. When the husband isn't home, I put the baby in the bathroom with me in a bouncy seat (for her protection), the dog outside and Butters in front of the TV (at least I know where he'll be.) I never know how much time I have before someone starts to get upset (baby, dog or 2 year old) and this ensures that I am never ever alone. So, it's the hair first (naturally), then the important bits, if time-the rest of my body and face!

My day starts off with order chaos as well. Dog needs to go out, Butters wants some chocolate milk, baby needs to be fed, I need my coffee. What comes first? In this case, the dog because it's probably raining, then chocolate milk, then let the dog back in, then feed the crying baby. I feel so bad for little E because Butters never had to wait for things and he could nurse and sleep in peace, whereas she has someone headbanging her half the time.

Notice who was last? Not the baby, woman, ME! You didn't even think of me, did you? I'm so going to earn my mother's day present(s).

Peppermint Mocha

We had a visitor this weekend-Aunt Butt Pincher! (She doesn't like having her photo taken).








Butters shows how gentle he can kiss. We've been dealing with some over activity in that area. He goes a little wacky when I nurse the baby and has bumped heads with her a number of times. I have to go upstairs or I yell too much. If anyone has some extra patience they can send me, I'll take it!





Aunts give you chocolate. Mere was a huge help with the baby and Butters. Gave me a chance to work on some Christmas knitting. And gave T a lot of free time. Ironically, the morning she left was the worst night yet. Ellie was up every 1.5-2 hours. Butters woke up and couldn't decide what he wanted-his bed or mom and dad's, T had to get up at 4:30 am to take Mere to the airport. So, by 7 am when Ellie got up for the last time, all I wanted to do was get a few winks of sleep before Butters woke up for the day (usually around 8)...

Here's what was outside my house at 7:30 AM, yes, it's a jackhammer!

It's nothing a Peppermint Mocha from Starbucks can't solve. I didn't get one today, but I had one yesterday (maybe that's why the baby was up?) anyway, they are super yummy.



Speaking of the holidays, here are some great posts and places to visit for gift and making your own gift ideas. I can surf the Internet with one hand holding a baby, but I just can't type much, hence the short posts. T is holding baby right now!

Vintage Chica
Cool Mom Picks-great site for responsibly made toys
Sew Mama Sew

Catch Up

We went to Olympia this weekend. Baby went on a nursing strike, but luckily I had the family there to help. Got help from a lactation consultant and now we are back to growing big!







This is how much you can knit with a baby on your lap, nursing at 1 in the morning and 3 in the morning and 6 in the morning, every day for the last 3 days.







This is what we are doing right now. Baby in the sling.








No, no, no. Butters is becoming more opinionated about his picture being taken!

Happy Halloween

Butters is a pirate.

Opening My Own Bakery

Things are going well, baby is 17 days old today and I feel like this is my first chance to actually write something other than captions. Trouble is, I don't know where to start and my brain is mush. I'm basically living on nighttime 'naps' (you can't call it sleep) and coffee (but not too much or you'll keep the baby awake).

BabyGirl is doll, she's beautiful, she's perfect and she sleeps about 98% of the time! I've been having trouble getting her to latch on, it can take up to an hour sometimes then by the time she eats, poops, eats again, outfit change, it's about 2 hours to feed her. My friend is a co-leader with LLL so I got some good tips. It was encouraging to hear that everyone has trouble breastfeeding. She said all kids are different, even my body is different than with Butters. He had no trouble pointing this out as he lifted up my shirt today and told me about my belly button and how the baby grew in there, then he said, and I'm surprised I didn't start crying, "Mommy has rolls!" Hence, this post's title.

We are getting out a lot, we need to with a 2.5 year old! I was able to fit into my pre-pregnancy jeans this weekend-a joy to actually zip a pair of pants! We've been having a lot of visitors and we had our coming out to the knitting group, E wore the Zimmerman sweater I knitted. I think she likes it. There's a pic at the top, she looks like she is saying, "I'm ready for my close up." I took photos of Butters all the time, but never because of his outfits, I had to get some of the baby today in her pink clothes.

T is looking at Ellie sleep right now and he just said, "Maybe we should have another one." Yeah, right.

C's Grandmother is an amazing seamstress; she made him a pirate costume for Halloween worthy of the stage. Trouble is, he won't put the thing on. "No, No, put it away." He screams. He said he wanted to be a pirate. I think we'll have to photoshop the thing on him. Take a pic of Butters by the door and a pic of the costume and morph them together! Butters has been amazing lately. He makes the most amazing comments and seems to have grown so much in the last few weeks. He's a great big brother, very gentle with the baby, unless he's trying to climb on my lap while I'm nursing her. He asked me to put the covers on him tonight and after I did he said, "That's great, mama."

I'm feeling the urge to knit a sweater for myself. Like it's the only thing that will get me through this time, I need to make something for me. I want to make the top Wicked with some purple Cascade yarn I was petting a few months ago at the shop. I need a quick, mindless knit and I need it to be all about ME. I've got so many other beings depending on me right now and crazy things happening. When I put my shoes on this morning, there were 5 raisins in the left shoe. We found a mouse in our basement. And Luna, our slightly morbidly obese cat, is sick. Mama needs some yarn and a new project.

She's Hungry Again!

Open eyes, blue for now but it looks like they'll turn brown. She is past her birth weight-7.11 lbs as of Tuesday. Growing like a weed!
















Older brother likes to give her kisses and "touch her gentle on her head." She doesn't seem to be enjoying it in this photo, but usually tolerates it!











Amazing Fall day (T took this from our yard).











Giving birth at home was totally amazing. I mean, yes, it was painful and parts of it really sucked (like puking!), but I got to labor with my family around me, we didn't have to take a car ride anywhere, and I was in a comfortable welcoming place. My husband laid next to me in bed and I was on my side, hugging him to death and asking if it was okay to push. "Let your body do what it wants to," Ali, my midwife said. I did, and it did and the baby came easily. Her being 2 lbs lighter than her brother probably made a big difference also! I felt fantastic afterwards and when Butters woke up in the morning, he had a baby sister!

Something familiar...

Baby Ellie














Butters

Thank You Grandma

We miss you already...

One Hand

typing, holding baby in the other. Only photos for now!






































Sorry, no red hair, P. Mookie!

"Baby Come Out,"

Those were the immortal words of Butters on Friday morning when he woke up to discover he has a baby sister!






























We are all doing well. More details to follow, here are her stats:

Born at home on October 12, at 3:06 am
Weight: 7.5 lbs
Length: 21 inches
Name: Eleanor Meredith

I Am Still Pregnant

And feeling every inch of it! More contractions last night and then...nothing. My midwife said that's very typical with second labors, you get started and stop, start and stop and then you just keep going. I'm hoping tonight-we keep going!

Today is my husbands birthday! Will he have to share his cake for the rest of his life (and her)? Will we sing, "Happy Birthday, Baby WhatsHerName, and Daddy, too I guess....Happy Birthday to you!"

Will his cake next year look like this:

Happy Birthday
Baby WhatsHerName

(oh and Daddy, too)

Stay tuned!

Santa Baby Dress

Still no baby here yet.... This is a dress I designed and knit for the holidaze. I'll be selling the pattern and teaching a class on the construction at Let It Rain in Mukilteo. More details soon.

I had some contractions last night but nothing since. Won't be long now! I see Adelaide has jumped ahead in the (non-binding) name poll. We are going to wait and see what she looks like to decide the name.

Drandma is Here!

And she bought her silly glasses.












Look who decided they needed to nap again, the Seahawks game was boring but it wasn't that bad!







This was the drop off after falling asleep in the car. He looks huge, doesn't he. Didn't fall alseep until 10:30 pm on the days with naps, I think I like no nap better!

Honey Do

This is how the story ended: T at the table, reading the owners manual. The old hot water heater at the curb.

It started 12 hours earlier, with a comment from me that my shower wasn't very hot that morning. T went downstairs to check things, "swish swish swish," went the carpet. New hot water heaters aren't that expensive, we wanted to go with the energy efficient model or the instant heat models we read about online, but we had to go with what was in the store (which was shorter than the old one b/c they don't make them anymore...) We thought we'd save money on the installation ($1200), T said, "I think I can figure this out." It took 12 hours, 2 men (thanks for coming up, Grandpa!) and 4 trips to the hardware store. But, he did it.

I think I rely on my man's handiness too much, I don't even try to hammer a nail in the wall to hang a picture, I ask him to do it. But, I also remember the Plaster Incident of 2001, when the newly installed wall shelf came crashing down along with half the wall plaster, "We can't have shelves on these walls, we CAN NOT have shelves."

Bad things come in threes, about 36 hours after the Hot Water Incident of 2007, the windows started leaking when rain came from the north. Then, I discovered where all the installation is coming from that the dog gets into-we've got animals under the roof pulling it out and running all over the yard with it! Now we just need a dry day to fix all this...

Pillowcases

My aunt, P. Mookie (not her real name) has been teaching me to sew and quilt and has encouraged a fabric addiction. This is a good thing as I've been making gifts for people and it's gives me some great ideas for new things to create with my hands. I do think there should be some kind of personality test involved with picking new crafts-do you like to iron or press things? Do you compulsively buy things? Do you see the point of cutting up a large piece of fabric into smaller pieces and sewing those small pieces back together into a large piece of fabric?

I have a legacy of crafty female stock to call on-mostly quilting and embroidery, not many knitters like myself. P. Mookie taught me how to make pillow cases and she's made a number for us. Last time I was at her house, she gave me a new batch, I unfolded them, took a look, made sure to comment how much I liked them, folded them back up and put them down. "Who folded these like this?" My aunt asked, with a little laugh. She took each case, folded it in half, in half again and then thirds.

I brought the cases home and showed my mom. She opened each one and folded it the same way as my aunt, half, half and thirds. My mom and my aunt have made different life choices, but they came from the same stock of strong women who have passed on a number of traits, including the proper way to fold a pillowcase. It's funny how close sisters can be, but we always know exactly how to make the other one mad (I'm speaking from my experiences on this one.) My sister Dithy likes to pinch my butt, I'm in a constant clench in her presences and I'm conscience of who is behind me. Luckily, I was granted the pregnancy dispensation, but that will become exempt very soon. Hopefully, I can ask for a breastfeeding one next!

I remember a day when my mom showed me how to fold a pillowcase and I brushed it off and decided to do it my way. For the record, I've changed the way I do it now, and here it is demonstrated on some birthday gifts I made for Butter's friends. We've got at least 7 birthdays in October (friends, my husband, his mom and the most important birthday coming up!) You'd think people would find something better to do in January!

I always ask other mothers if their children of opposite gender are still close. I like the idea of my matched set, but I wonder if they will be close. Close enough to be honest with the other and know how to make the other one laugh and also cry with the pinch of a butt! If they are pinching each others butts' as adults, I'd rather not hear about it.

Best Part of the Day

The best part of my day is first thing in the morning (unless it's 6:30 am.) I'm usually snuggling with Butters in a warm bed, waiting to hear his first words. The boy has a touch of profundity syndrome, as my friend Ann and I used to call it. Anything he says sounds very profound, but also points out the obvious. Similar to Legolas in Lord of the Rings, "The men are nervous and the horses grow restless."

The other morning, Butters opened his eyes, stretched onto his back and said, "Levi. Sleeps. On. A. Yellow. Bed." And, he does! You have to say it in a monotone voice and hear his non-inflections to get the real feel for this. Today he said, "Mommy's shirt has holes." And, it does! It's a waffle long underwear shirt that I've worn forever, it's practically threadbare. I borrowed it (read: stole) from my dad in high school.

Lately however, much of the focus on our conversations has centered around something new. He uses his name and speaks in the third person, but I'll include his pseudonym to protect the innocent. "Butters has a penis. Dad has a penis. Mom, don't have a penis. Mom has gyna." Yes, we are very proud of having a penis and although I tell him don't want one, I was tired of just hearing about what I don't have that I gave in and told him what I do have, a vagina. He calls it a "gyna." It sounds so medical, though. I wish there was a better child-friendly name for it. Although I proudly read this book on the bus, I'm not ready for my 2.5 year old to reclaim that word!

Right now, I'm in what I call the Chocolate Pudding Phase. I ate A LOT of it the last 2 weeks with the boy and started craving it yesterday. I made some with silken tofu, I know that sounds gross to most of you but with Tofu Mates, it's awesome. It makes me feel like I'm eating healthy, when I'm actually not.

PS. Yes, he is wearing a shirt that says, "Question Authority." He wore it to school on friday! I'm totally going to put it in his CO file so that they don't try to draft him in 16 years if we get to that point (again).

Za-Zimmerman Baby!

Baby Girl will be a decked out, Elizabeth Zimmerman style! EZ was a knitting author/yarn seller/self publisher who changed the way knitting was done in the 60s/70s and now she's making a comeback. She encouraged knitters to un-invent patterns and figure things out for yourself. Some call her the grandmother of knitting, she could even knit from the back of a motorcycle. Her pattern books read more like humorous journal entries.




This photo includes three sweaters: Liane made the blue and orange Baby Surprise Jacket, the pink and brown was knitted by Carrie and I made the pink-lilac February Sweater in the lower corner. This was my first Zimmerman project and I loved it. I made some modifications, did the top in Stockinette and the sleeve on 2 circs so there was no seaming. I made the buttons from polymer clay. I am grateful to these fine crafters for taking the time to make something for my daughter. The time involved and the love that is put into each stitch will be passed down to the next generations.

In other crafty baby news, I finished a rag quilt for the baby girl. Here it is stretched on the couch with my belly in the corner for scale. I picked purples, pinks and oranges, they don't all go quite together, but it's okay for now. I figured if I'm surrounding her by this much pink, I need a little balance, so I cut the fabric strips in a Fibonacci sequence. Fibonacci was a man who liked numbers, his sequence, 0,1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, etc is represented in nature and pleasing to the eye. You add the first number to the second for the third (0+1=1, 1+1=2, 1+2=3, etc). He's also known for the golden ratio and various other formulas. His wife probably figured it out, but he's got the credit. Butter's girlfriend is encouraged to say, "I'm beautiful AND smart," by her mom, and that's what I was thinking for this blanket.

So, two more weeks to go, I'm ready to not be pregnant anymore, but wait for Grandma to get here! If anyone has an opinion on a name, vote on the sidebar and help us decide!