April 24, 2012
by Sarah
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2 Weeks of illness…

All three of us have been sick for pretty much the last two weeks. Jadzia was the first down on April…11? Oh man, the days have weaved together… Price was next. And I was last–felled last Wednesday.

And now…

 

I have pink eye. The doctor thinks it is most likely due to either wiping my nose or Jadzia’s nose and then touching my eye. I think of all the days we’ve been sick, yesterday was the hardest. Because everything I read said pink eye was highly contagious, I tried to minimize contact with Jadzia. Which meant that when she walked up to me with her little arms outstretched, I had to say I couldn’t pick her up because my eye was sick. As if she could understand me–all she knew was momma wasn’t picking her up. And then the baby hysterics started and it about near broke my heart all day.

I really can’t wait for all this sickness to come to an end. I still have the situation with my eye and a seemingly never ending cough, Price still has a cough, and Jadzia still has a runny nose. Going to need to come up with some kind of epic weekend when we’re all better. Maybe a trip to San Antonio or Austin…

March 19, 2012
by Sarah
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All wound up…

Most of my free time lately has been spent in Spring Cleaning mode, and that has included pulling out some knit/crochet projects that have stagnated and to clean up the small (in knitter’s terminology, ya’ll) stash of yarn I do have. I spent about a week photographing pretty much all my stash, so now everything is for the most part accounted for, stashed in ziploc bags, and stored in two huge bins.

And spending all that time with my yarn and on Ravelry has left me with the desire to KNIT ALL THE THINGS! Specifically stuff for Jadzia so she can wear it before growing out of it. Here are some of the things I’ve either finished off or were quick-ish knits…

 

Mina’s Vlad Shawl

This was a pretty quick knit that I donated to our church youth group to help raise funds for their trip to New Orleans. It had a pattern repeat that was easy to memorize and I finished it over 2 weeks–working on it when Jadzia went to bed at night. LOVED the dusky pink color of this yarn… Almost didn’t want to part with it.

Star Wars Hat for Chris

This hat was a huge pain for me. I started this back in September for his birthday and I did actually finish the main part of the hat back in September, right before his birthday on the 22nd. BUT THE LINING, OMG. Knitting stockinette, with nothing fun to break it up is so booooooooring. That is what took me forever and a day. But it’s done. I’m thinking of making an R2-D2 hat for Jadzia, but with no lining and a ribbed K2, P2 brim. In pink. With a little pom at the top. Would be cute! (I’m the one wearing it in the photo.)

Country Kiddie

I knit this up fairly quick because I really haven’t worked on stuff for Jadzia like I’ve wanted to. I bought the pattern in the smaller size and hoped I could size it up or down depending on yarn weight and needle size. I ended up casting on for this to do a trial run and I think it’ll work! This yarn is a little Flashdance-y to me, but looks adorable and vintage-ish on J with her little Ramona Quimby haircut!

 

Right now I’m working on a Color Affection shawl that I hope I can finish in time for when we go see The Hunger Games. I’m using Sunshine Yarns’ Hunger Games colorway and it looks almost like camouflage when paired with the other colors I’m using. Love it! Not sharing a photo because all I have is really poor iPhone photos that just don’t do it justice. But I hope I’ll have some soon! And after that, I’m thinking I might finish a few more in progress things before starting anything new… Or I might just work on one of those 458 queued items… Yikes!

November 8, 2011
by Sarah
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I bet she’s sitting in her crib looking pitiful…

Right now, all is quiet in the house, save for the tapping of computer keys. Price put Jadzia down to see if that makes any difference. She cried for about 45 minutes, off and on, but she did that last time and I peeked in to find her awake and staring at the door. Oh, well. Let’s see if it holds for the night.

So, with help from my mom, I finished off J’s costume just in time for Trunk or Treat the day before Halloween. It was only slightly too small in the legs, which meant that they kept popping open and as the night wore on, she figured out how to get her feet free. I ended up having to glue in velcro dots with fabric glue because the snap tape was just not working with me. I must’ve tried to sew that in about 5 times with no luck. It all worked out in the end, and I think she made for a cute alien.

Halloween night, on the other hand, was a little depressing. We didn’t have nearly as many trick or treaters this year, and since I bought tons of extra candy to avoid almost running out like last year, we will now be eating Jolly Ranchers and Nerds until NEXT Halloween. I don’t know if it was because Halloween fell on a school night or if the demographics of our neighborhood are changing. There were tons of houses with the lights out, though. I guess next year, Jadzia will just have to Trunk or Treat it and just go visit our family friends down the street on actual Halloween night. It’s safer, but it makes me a little sad since last year it was so festive on our block with trick or treating fizzling out about 9 p.m. This year it was pretty much done with in our neighborhood by 7:30.

I’m starting to slowly add more to my plate–doing some web tinkering for our church, volunteering to head up a few projects, and picking up some knitting projects again.  It doesn’t sound like much, but when Jadzia cries when I leave her side for more than a second, it’s pretty major. We’ve been trying the crying it out during the day so that I can try and get some housework done, but that’s been about as successful as getting her to cry it out to sleep. (Like right now, she’s doing her on and off crying again.)

I wish there was an easier way, but as I keep being reminded–we must’ve “spoiled her by holding her all the time.” Do I regret doing that? Only when it’s 11 p.m. and she’s been crying like a banshee for me since 9:30. Either way, I feel like I’m letting her down. If I pick her up and take her to bed with us, am I squashing her independence? If I leave her there to cry her little head off, am I damaging her little psyche? There probably isn’t any harm in it, but these are the thoughts that run through my mind as we try letting her “cry it out.” We’ve tried a few other techniques to get her to sleep or spend a few minutes by herself, but they’ve been a bust, too.

Price says it’ll be easier when she’s older “and we can reason with her.” Really. How can you “reason” with a tantrum throwing 1 or 2 year-old who wants to sleep with you? I can’t wait to see him try, though!

October 27, 2011
by Sarah
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Catching Up…

We’re headed straight for Jadzia’s 10th month on Nov. 1. Normally time feels like it zooms by starting in October for Price & I, but this year it feels like we just blinked and poof! October was gone.

This month was super eventful. Jadzia fully grew in her two lower front teeth (or her lower central incisors if you’re technical) and started pulling herself up into a standing position without any assistance. We also saw her adventurous side. I don’t know how many things she’s tried to pull down on herself (and succeeded at times) or how many places she’s attempted to leap from (our arms included). And her problem solving skills amaze me everyday.

But I think my favorite development of late is her dancing and “singing.” Whatever she’s doing, if she hears the theme music of her favorite shows (Yo Gabba Gabba!, Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, Backyardigans, Fresh Beat Band) or familiar songs, she’ll stop what she’s doing and do a little dance and it cracks us up! We’ve been trying to get it on video with no luck whatsoever, but we’re hoping we’ll be able to catch it soon.

One thing I’m finding amusing is that prior to being a Stay At Home, going out and doing things wasn’t a priority. I was a total hermit and loved it. But now that we have Jadzia, I’ve been trying to make sure we’re out and doing things and meeting other people. Growing our circle. And oh, how our social calendar exploded (or at least it seems like that) this month. We’ve had birthday parties, Oktoberfest parties, play dates, church group meetings, a beach day, Sunday afternoon rollerskating, and Halloween festivities. And Price has had to deal with additional on-call days/weeks due to a co-worker moving, so that’s added to the frantic feeling of the last few weeks.

I’d say that I hope it would slow down, but with the holidays approaching, that’s seems like crazy talk.

So at the very least I’m hoping for some meaningful downtime, which is getting harder and harder to come by. The itch to knit has been growing, but Jadzia’s clinginess has prevented me from doing much more than sitting in the recliner holding her. I’ve been working on a plan to try to get her to be more independent, but it keeps getting off-track by grandma visits, but that’s a whole other post.

So I’m hoping by month 11, I can say J is sleeping in her own crib. Wishful thinking?

August 30, 2011
by Sarah
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Things have been crazy & Planning J’s 1st birthday

First Swing Ride

There seems like there is always something to do and I sometimes forget I need to stop and enjoy this first year. There’s been cleaning (and slacking) and planning (and bypassing those plans). We’re already thinking about what to do for Jadzia’s 1st birthday–how weird for it to feel like just around the corner.

I know that I need to get a lot of it sorted now because for us, when the holidays start (for us, we count Halloween), it’s like a snowball that goes out of control. Next thing we know it’s Easters (haha! Nacho!) and our tree is still up or something. (Jadzia’s baptism gown hung on our mantel from March to AUGUST! for goodness sake.)

So, the plan is for the little one to have a NYC/New Year’s themed birthday party. I initially wanted it at our home, but the growing guest list ruled that out fairly quickly. Now we want to ask our church to borrow their fellowship hall. The other details (so far)…

  • We know we want a hot dog bar (I’m looking at pre-making them at home and wrapping them in checkerboard wax paper) with a bunch of different topping options. And fries as a side. Figured that would be the most cost-effective food option. (We’ll also have some veggie options.) I’ve only been to NYC once, but I have to tell you. My best memory is my friend and I stopping and indulging in vendor/stand food (we stayed away from the sketchy ones).
  • We’ll have a smash cake for Jadzia to go after and cupcakes for everyone else.
  • The invitations are going to be poppers, inspired by this pin on pinterest.  (Found them for $4/doz on Oriental Trading!) This is what actually spawned the whole idea of a NYE/NYC themed party.

from Oh Happy Day

  • I’ll be making a NYC themed coloring book and making little art totes for favors. I found a seller on Etsy who makes molded crayons, so each tote will have an Empire State Building crayon set in the party colors (purple, black, maybe silver? or gray) as well as a regular crayon set.

I think it’s a pretty good start so far. I think it’s all going to hinge on if I can get the invitation to work right. I’ll be working on other decor ideas I pinned on Pinterest and see how they pan out.

If all else fails, there’s always Yo Gabba Gabba, right?

June 22, 2011
by Sarah
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I wish there were more hours in the day…

And that I didn’t want to spend the majority of them asleep.

There’s so much I want to do (I love my Pinterest, but there’s nothing more depressing than having a crap ton of ideas on  your boards and not a one done), but no way for me to do it all. Mainly because of my little teether.

Jadzy, the teether

She is super unhappy and clingy lately and some days NONE of the teething aids we have for her work (not even the “freeze a washcloth” type suggestions). Some days I’m barely able to put her down and to use the bathroom. So that means time for crafting (and yarn bombing, boo!), browsing on the computer, working on the house, and even sleeping is minimal. If anyone thinks that being a stay at home mom is cake, they’re dreaming. You are literally your little person’s whole world. They can do nothing without you and by golly, they will let you know it ALL THE TIME.

I’m loving every second of being a stay at home mom more than I thought I would. I think if I had to miss one of her little toothless smiles because I was still working at a job I was unhappy at, I’d be inconsolable.

But man. I really can’t wait for the time when she’s able to entertain herself again long enough so I can go pee.

June 10, 2011
by Sarah
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A New Beginning

I keep starting and stopping on these things. But I think it’s important I figure out some way to document Jadzia’s progress as she grows and learns. So here’s yet another attempt at blogging.

That’s Lady J up there in the site’s header. One of the rare times I actually caught a smile that didn’t result in a blurry mess on the camera. Up until recently, the only camera “in residence” was our Sony Cybershot (which took the photo in the header). But I recently bought a Nikon D3000 thanks to a good deal at Best Buy (and Uncle Sam–thank you, tax refund!). It took me a while to decide on what kind of DSLR to get. I didn’t want something to overpower me and after seeing the photos on Young House Love (who use the Nikon D3000), I took the leap! It’s going to take me a bit to get comfortable with the different settings. I’m learning slowly, but surely. And oh, how I love it!

I thought it was important to go ahead and get a better camera since we’ve been working pretty diligently on The Jadzia Project. You know… now that we’re over 5 months in. (Eep! Where has the time gone?!)

Also, what exactly *is* The Jadzia Project, you might be asking. Well, towards the end of my pregnancy last year, I was trying to figure out how I was going to document Lady J’s first year. I was looking at different options for the right fit (oh, Pinterest, where were you last year?!) when, while I was checking out one of the blogs I regularly follow, I read that the blogger was getting out of the digital scrapbooking game for a while. She put up a ton of her templates at dirt cheap prices and one of the sets was for Daily 365–it allowed you to input a photo EVERY DAY! I snapped it (and a ton more) up and haven’t looked back. So, for the past 5 months, we’ve taken photos of J and I’ve put them into the templates and decorated them up using various digiscrapping elements and papers. The plan is to gather it all together and use Shutterfly to turn it into an album for us and for my parents. (Not that it hasn’t stopped me from printing out a bazillion photos of J.)

I think what I might do is link up some of the resources I’ve been using for photos/digital scrapbooking/tutorials for The Jadzia Project. I mean, I’ve worked in graphic design for a while, but these digiscrappers put all I’ve ever done to shame! So jealous…

 

(*Note: I was not at all paid or perked for mentioning any of the businesses mentioned in this post. These are just what I’ve been using personally.)