Preggo Rebel

I don't try much to hide the fact that I am a pregnancy rule-breaker. Chocolate? Started that up around week 15 when the nausea went away. Soft cheese? About week 20 (don't even get me started on how much blue cheese I've had in the last month). Wine? I finally said screw it and ordered (and enjooooooooooooyed) a glass of red at my sisters Bachelorette party at 25 weeks. Sushi? Started sneaking bites of Matt's spicy tuna around 30 weeks. I'm of the opinion of everything in moderation and my body will tell me when I shouldn't be consuming something.

This week it is Chai. OMG, I've been totally craving it the last week. The weird thing? I've only drank it once in my life before now. I happened to be crusing around the grocery store the other day (BAD idea to let me do this BTW, I can't tell you how many random items have made their way into our pantry as a result) and for some reason the box of Tazo concentrate caught my eye. I read somewhere that because it has caffeine and spices (Anise I think?) in it that it's bad blah blah blah... but I had a glass last night and baby DMC and I are still here to talk about it. Yum.

Anyway, not sure why I told you that story but what I MEANT to blog about was how hard it's been for me to SLOW DOWN and keep my feet up when my body is clearly telling me to (oh HAI Braxton Hicks as I type this). I know I'm only a couple days away from being full term and at this point labor wouldn't be risky, but I still feel like I have so much to do. Rooms to reorganize, clothes to wash and fold, swings and rockers and monitors to put together.


Katy clearly has no problem relaxing and putting her feet up.

I've also been kniting baby items like mad. MAD I tell you. I hope that Fresno plans on freezing over this summer because I have clearly forgotten that I live in a DESERT and DMC is going to be born in late May or June.











It's seriously a little nuts.

I've also now got an uncontrollable urge to knit socks again. Which I don't usually wear. ESPECIALLY FROM MAY-NOVEMBER.


Cest La Vie. At least I'm using up some stash yarn from like 5 years ago.

---

Other photos from the iPhone. My rose tree, AKA the Pride of the Backyard, is blooming and I LOVE IT.


I plan on sitting under it tomorrow morning with my sock and chai (shhh... don't tell the preggo police)

AND


Matt trying out the BabyBjorn. It's a good look on him. All he needs is a beer in one hand and a cigar in the other and he's a shoe-in (or shoo-in? I can never remember) for Father of the Year.

I think we should put Viva in there since she's about the same weight of an infant, but I don't think either of them share my enthusiasm for this idea.

5.5.2010

Baby DMC's first time @ the Elbow Room, our local hangout of choice.



Matt & I at Sissy's wedding


Please ignore the fact that I desperately need some lipstick!!!

Baby items are taking over our house and our lives!


Zen Knitting with Eco wool and garter stitch:


Pre-Natal Vitamins are doing AMAZING things for my fingernails


And quiet nights at home with Katy

---

34 Weeks. Less than 6 weeks to go. O. M. G.

This One Week In April...

It's no secret my blogging has gone... downhill. I'm not going anywhere, hoping that the desire to document my life for the unknown internet readership (except for family - hi Dad!) will return once the kiddo is here.

Anyhow, where I've left off on composing actual posts I've picked up on daily photos with the iPhone.

So here's a glimpse of the past week:

Opening Day @ AT&T Park, year #7


How young is too young to get kids listening to Keith Richards?


Amazing rainbow @ the U. after a freak hailstorm


Really Katy, make yourself comfortable wherever you see fit.


Flora in the yard is exploding and I LOVE IT.


And imagine that, my kid is being difficult.

15 Weeks

Note: I LOVE the look on Katy's face in this photo.

How far along? 15 Weeks (actually 15w6d, so I'm sliding in under the buzzer here)

Total Weight Gain: 1 lb (+5) since pre-pregnancy

Maternity Clothes? Splurged and bought the 1969 GAP Maternity Jeans and I LOVE THEM. I can still get away with my regular jeans, but need to wear them unbuttoned with the Bella Band.

Stretch Marks? Nope. Started using Burt Bee's Mama Bee every time I get out of the shower for preventative measures.

Sleep? Sleeping great, actually.

Best Moment This Week: Getting all the fun little baby gifts for Christmas. I want to sleep with the stuffed elephant my sister-in-law got the baby because it's so soft and cute!

Movement: Starting to feel slight movements around every other day.

Food Cravings: Pickles and Pickled Radishes. French Fries. Plain Yogurt.

Gender: Still feeling Boy

Labor Signs: Lord I hope not!

Belly Button - In or Out? In

What I miss: Raw sushi. I would give anything for a slab of ahi right now. And wine. Not alcohol, but the taste of real wine, not the alcohol-free stuff.

What I am looking forward to: Shopping at Motherhood Maternity for the first time next week

Weekly Wisdom: When you are being emotional and insane, trust your DH that he's probably right and you are over-reacting.

Milestones: Consistent movements from the Bean

Tis the Season

It's finally starting to look and feel like Christmas around here. We've spent lots of time staying out of the blustery weather outside, opting instead for a fire and cocktails (ahem, MOCKTAILS) on the couch.






Katy's ready too.

It's been a low-key Holiday season for us; I opted out of my yearly Christmas Brunch because this Bean is still giving me fits of morning sickness and wasn't able to commit, and we've missed both of our company Holiday parties for other non-Holiday related activities. But with the cold, foggy weather and the house now smelling like pine and mulled cider, I think I'm here.



I've also got some knitting mojo back. I've got three more baby gifts due by February (including something for a set of twins!), but I've shifted back to knitting for myself. I'm working on a couple new sweaters, sized to fit my new preggo shape so I've GOT to finish them this season. The first you can see in the above photo is Sedum, with Knit Picks Caldena. The speed of large gauge is offset by seed stitch, but I love this cardi so I'm dealing with it. It's my goal to have this finished by New Years, so I can take it to the Cabin. As always, we'll see how that goes.

Here we are as of last night:


The 2nd sweater is Peasy by PiPiBird (I just LOVE all her patterns. I already knit Buttercup, and it's one of my favorite sweaters).

I needed something to offset the bulkiness of Sedum, and I already had the yarn so this was a perfect fit.



This is what I plan to take to with me over New Years to knit, along with my sewing machine and some baby patterns. The Bean has revived my desire to bring my sewing skills up to par with my knitting skills, and long stay at the cabin amongst falling snow is the perfect backdrop.

And Then It Was Thanksgiving...

Once again, the entire month of November completely passed me by. We hosted Thanksgiving for the 2nd year at Casa WnN and it was a complete comedy of errors (more on that in a few).

Happy Thanksgiving!
(PS - Do you know how hard it is to get a dog to look at the camera?)


Katy to the left...


...aaand Katy to the right


Anyhow, I forgot to take a photo of the food, but it was basically exactly the same as last year, so take a look at that and imagine it on the counter again. I did get a photo of the table though:



I had visions of creating this warm, cozy household for dinner time but since it was 75 degrees outside, we opened the windows and turned on the fan instead.

I did remember to take one more photo that day.



I'll give you one hint: That's not Thanksgiving leftovers.

Yup, we're expecting a baby (hence the blog silence for the last couple months.) I've had no desire to wake up early and sit down at the computer to blog, I'd much rather stay in bed! We're due June 13, 2010, making me 12 weeks along. The belly is here to stay, although it's in that weird middle stage that looks more like a spare tire and less like a cute little maternity bump.

I'm starting to feel better, which is a blessing and a curse because when I felt yucky nothing sounded good to me (to eat or otherwise), but now I'm starting to miss wine, sushi, blue cheese, and hot bubble baths LIKE CRAZY. But it's worth it.

So without further adieu, meet Baby C at 10 weeks in his/her cute little gummy-bear stage:


It's still sinking in that this little dude/tte has taken up residence inside me. Even more, I can't believe we are already 3 months along!

---

So Thanksgiving was about 10 seconds away from becoming a train-wreck this year because of Baby Bean. I'd been feeling great the few days prior, and thus agreed that I was completely feeling up to hosting again this year. Of course, Thanksgiving Day came around and BAM. I was so sick I could barely lift my head off the pillow. DH, bless his heart, jumped in head first and attempted to get things going.

Fiasco #1: DH made the marinade for the meat, but put the 3T of salt that was supposed to be used for sprinkling at the end INTO the actual marinade and I caught it about 30 seconds before the meat went in, resulting in trip #1 to the grocery store for a new set of ingredients

Fiasco #2: DH started peeling the 5 pound bag of potatoes for the gratin. I was in such a fog it didn't register when I saw him peeling them into the sink, that I should remind him that the peels shouldn't go down the disposal. So the sink completely clogs, resulting in trip #2 to the store for a plunger, and trip #3 to the store for some Drain-O. Neither worked, so he had to take apart the entire plumbing to manually extract the peels. It is now 12:30pm, guests are due at 1:30pm.

Fiasco #3: I put my beloved Dutch Oven into the oven to heat it up for the bread I was baking, not realizing some Tabasco sauce had leaked inside of it (don't ask how that happened). So after 30 minutes in the oven at 450 degrees, the inside was a total burnt mess.

There were a few other miscellaneous casualties of the day, but I'll stop there. I do believe it will be a Thanksgiving we will remember for a long time.

So anyhow, I've actually been knitting like crazy (tons of baby stuff - not just for me, I also have about 6 friends who are preggo as well!) and have lots of FOs to share. I'm going to enjoy the rest of my Furlough Monday and will be back soon.

Miss Me?

26 days without a post? That might be a new record.

Anyway, instead of attempting to pick up where I left off, we are going to fast-forward to the past weekend.

Matt and I were craving a little alone time so what did we decide to do? Drive to the coast. With the dog. Because nothing says romantic getaway like:



People, I have never in my life seen a dog this happy.



We drove to San Simeon and just sat on the beach for awhile. It was an absolutely lovely day. Perfect.





We then drove back to Cambria and checked into the Creekside Inn. I should stop here and say that Cambria is one of the most doggie-friendly towns we have been to (well, short of Florence but we can't hop in our car and drive there).



Katy got a treat at check-in, so she was sold. Since it was still early, we enjoyed a beverage and the view from our patio.



We then walked into town, browsed a couple shops (where Katy got even MORE treats... I swear, I don't think the dog ate one bite of her everyday food because she got so many treats!) then headed to Mustache Pete's for dinner. Kudos to this place for not only allowing Katy to come to dinner with us, but so honoring my craving for a plate of crab legs (not even on the menu!)



We were asleep by 10pm which was heavenly. We must be getting old because only 2 short years ago, we would probably just be heading out the door at 10pm! Anyway, it was a great 24 hour trip and I'm looking forward to doing it again soon.



Time to go home Katy!

Obligatory Knitting Post

Contrary to the fact that I haven't really talked about it on Ye Old Blog, I am still knitting.



I've got an embarrassing amount of WIPs, and have really only been working on Elemental Boatneck. I've finished up both the sleeves and am almost ready to divide for the front/back on the body piece. I sucked it up and ordered a 7th ball of yarn, because I knew if I didn't add at least 3 inches of length to the body I'd never wear it.



If you click to enlarge that photo (look to the lower right), you will see the battle wounds the body piece sustained when I accidentally dragged it half-way across the parking lot at Whole Foods on Tuesday. Apparently the yarn was still in my purse as I exited the car... oops. I tried to spot clean it, but I'm hoping the Euclean can take care of the rest.

On a final note, do you know how hard it is to knit and watch TV when you have this staring at you, sending you body language that screams "PLLLLLLLLLLLLEASE throw me the ball!"


Please ignore how ridiculously dusty the coffee table is. It's amazing what some flash photography can bring out!

Traveling Bandit

Since I got confirmation that the recipient got her gift in the mail, I can now share it on here.


Click for bigger

Traveling Bandit
Pattern: Springtime Bandit by Kate Gagnon Osborn
Needle: US 8 / 5.0 mm
Yarn: Berroco Ultra Alpaca / 1.75 skeins = 376.3 yards (344.0m)

I knit this shawl for a friend who is leaving on a world expedition at the end of this week. Since I can't "hug her goodbye" because she's 10 states away, I had to knit her a hug instead.


Click for bigger

This yarn, which is a FABULOUS match for the pattern, was purchased a couple years ago with this same friend in mind. Something about the color and warmth of it reminded me of her. I'm glad I was able to find the perfect thing to make out of it.

---

All my attention is now turned to Terracota Ruffles:



I'm on the ruffle part with 550 stitches on the needle(s). Every stitch is the same regardless of the row, so why is it bugging me that each round takes so long to finish?!?

Finally, do you know how hard it is to photograph a dog that is in constant motion?



Hi Mommy!