Shower fun :)

Well, I've been busy crafting for Christmas time, so just in case any of those people happen to randomly come to this blog, I can't put any pictures of my creations on here.  But since Amanda has had her shower and her surprise shawl is fully made, I can put lots of pics up of the shawl and show it looks now that it's all done!

We are having my brother's wedding shower at my house in September.  That should be fun.  I have gotten some of the stuff I ordered for the shower favors so far....they are going to be adorable!

I personally think Amanda's were adorable as well :)  Made a Lemon Sugar Scrub and put it in little jelly jars and then put a little slice of soap on top in a clear bag with colorful crinkle paper at the bottom and cute ribbons to tie it up.  Cutest favors I've done yet.  I think Kayla's will be just as cute, but that's my opinion.

Happiness and Sadness

Well, so much for writing every week.  Eh, is what it is.  I was reading a post of one of my fabulous online friends, Amy, and she very eloquently said she chooses to be happy.  Every day she chooses to be happy and sometimes are harder than others.  Got that right.  I think I'm generally a happy person and I try not to let the little stuff get me down.  But hey, every once in a while, too much crap gets to me and I have waaaay too much stress and too much on my plate...and I crack.  Not quite literally, but might as well have.  Hey, I think depression isn't anything to be ashamed of.  And I'm pretty sure that's where I'm at right now.  And I'm lucky to have a great support system and some super kick-ass family and friends, around me at work and there for me even when I don't see them nearly as often as I'd like...and a fabulous community of online friends in my Anacondas Nest of snakes in my Slytherin group on Ravelry.  I can't say enough about the encouragement and good thoughts they all send my way.  I'm grateful to them all.  And I want to be happy...but I think I need to make it through what I'm in before that's going to be an everyday thing again.

I started working out at lunch with Annie.  I feel great afterwards, which is a good feeling.  I need it.  I need it for physical and mental.  And I push myself, so that's all fabulous for me.

My wee man is 1 year old!  Monday was his first birthday, and it was celebrated at the doctor because he has another ear infection.  This poor kid, I swear.  But he's still a happy little dude.  We are having his birthday celebration with his Baptism, which time and circumstances did not allow us to do earlier, at the end of May.  Loooots of people will hopefully be there, but we only do first birthdays, so we do them up.  Why not?  I just hope I can hold it together for it all.

And on a happy note, I won a book from that fabulous Amy mentioned above and I got it in the mail early this week!!!  A book of crochet patterns of all different hats for parent/child....they're so friggin cute!  I am in the midst of working on a blanket for a shower, I made flowers for Quidditch on Rav which went to Caim for her Barbie house, and a square I turned in for Care of Magical Creatures class that went also to Caim as a Barbie house rug.  I've done a monster, working on a Minion....and I can't say specifically what my Owl is, it's a gift, but when it's done, it should be epic...but I am STILL waiting on the 2nd round of yarn for this project!!!

So lots on my plate, good things, but still lots.  Just keep swimming....

Going to try more...

I'm going to try more posts.  Maybe a weekly post?  I'm not sure if anyone reads this or not, but hey.  Is what it is.

I've got several things going craft wise.  I'm starting a surprise for someone...and that's about all I can say about that.  Crud...that's anticlimactic.

I was asked by not 1, but 2 people at work to make something for them!  I'm so honored!  I am making a Minion for Christine's son and I'm making a 3 eyed monster for Lili's nephew who is suffering from cancer right now.  Lili just did a fundraiser and is going to see him over Easter weekend and loved the one I already made, so I'm so excited to make one for her to give to him!

Speaking of Easter weekend, I can't wait because Alex is coming to town from Germany!  I really hope she can just stay with us, but we'll see.  But she'll be here on Good Friday, just a little over a week to go!  I'm so excited to see her, she's someone I met and volunteered with at LeakyCon in 2012 and I've kept up with her...and she gets me and the nerdy Harry loving person that I am!  We can talk nerdy stuff like that, she's the same age as me....and it's so awesome to learn about the different stuff from across the pond and all.

Anywho, I have to get going on swatching that, uh, special gift....and I have to get going on that monster for next weekend.  Hmm....too much going on at home, painting, straightening, cleaning, unpacking (still).....and getting a garden started.  We're going a little huge with our first garden...way I look at it, even if it all doesn't take, in the long run, if only some of it takes, we'll still be saving money with buying some less produce....but here's to hoping that more will take than less!

Been a while, but that's life

Yeah, life gets in the way.  So my wee man is going to be a year old in less than 2 months!  I'll have a 4 year old this summer! What?!  And my dad has had surgeries on his hips he's recovering from, so my kids are experiencing daycare at home with an awesome long-time friend, and it's going pretty well...except the girls are both stubborn, but they survive.

I've learned to crochet, and I love it, now that I grasp it.  So this is pretty much what I've done since November last year....

There you go!  I'm not going into anything else but this.  This is my escape, reading and crocheting, knitting and spinning, which I haven't done either of those in a little bit.  But that's life.  At least I have some outlet, right?

Well, well, never enough time

Yep, there's never enough time.  Not enough time to focus on my kids individually enough for them not to somewhat act out.  Not enough time to knit.  Not enough time to spin.  Certainly not enough time to keep up with cleaning, laundry, and shopping enough to be good enough to be on a diet to lose some freaking weight before I am in the 2 weddings next fall.  Yeaaaaahhhhhh.

Ah well.  My little girl got better with swim class.  Till halfway through.  Then she tackle hugged the other girl so much to play with her, she ended up tackle hugging her face down in the water.  Lovely.  I profusely apologized to the parents, who were way cooler about it than I probably would have been had it been my kid, and that little girl wanted nothing to do with her all class, I don't blame her...but 3 year olds don't really get 'personal space'.  So she just kept on trying to play with her, saying sorry, giving her hugs, all the stuff she does at home, and the girl practically fled the pool every time.  That was it.  Done with swimming.  Maybe she can try swimming after we get her into a preschool or something where she can learn listening and accountability and stuff in a structured environment where she can't accidentally drown another child.  THEN maybe we can put her into another swim class.  Maybe she'll listen a little better then if she's gotten a structured preschool environment.  I just don't know.  Half the time I feel like I'm not cut out to be a mom.  Like I should be more equipped to handle this and somehow be able to figure it out, and I just don't.  I just don't.

The wee man has a tooth that came through, but he's normally such a happy little guy.  Completely sleeps through the night.  We're hopefully going to be moving next month, so home has been in an upheaval.  Of course, right around the holidays.  And because of that I have spent all my spare time on things concerning that.  So there has been no crafting time.  I can barely keep up with crafting for my HPKCHC class turn-ins that I have to do because of time shortage.  I wish I could bake and submit a class.  I would have gotten that.  That my girl can be a part of and it's mommy time and we work well together.  Harumph.

I so want to knit for the holiday.  I went from wanting to knit like 10 things to parring down that I wanted to spin 1 skein and knit just 3-4 things...to OMB, I better finish these pants I started 2 months ago for the wee man before he grows out of them, and I just want to knit 2 things for Christmas, and I don't know if I can even do that!!!  So frustrating!  That's my outlet and I can't do it.  So I've got all this pent up crafty energy and I can't relax cause I don't have time to craft and relax at all.  Not like I expected to relax with a 3 year old and a 5 month old, that's not it, but at least at night or something, a little extra time, maybe if they napped on the weekends I'd get 4 hours, 2 on Saturday 2 on Sunday....not even 1 on each day do I get where they are napping at the same time.  Wee man doesn't even really  nap.  He sleeps through the night and takes little cat naps unless he's sick, but otherwise, not much.  So that's really a no go.  Ugh.  This will pass, I will craft again. I just want him to wear the pants.  I'm going to have to do a little at lunch every day or something...when I'm not working on transcripts at lunch sometimes.  Grrr.

Anyway, hopefully we will have a good Halloween next week.  I can't believe it's almost Halloween.  This is nuts.  But I'll post pics of Little Red Riding Hood and the Big Bad Wolf after Trick or Treating next week :)

That kid, really? Lovely.

So I love my kids.  And the Little Caim is a hard nut.  We have had our share of troubling times with her behavior, she's definitely an independent one.  Doesn't help that she's smart and gets bored easily.  It's constant, constant vigilance and positive attention we have to give her, but the moment we stop, she's throwing a baseball around the house.  Like last night.

We've tried spankings, time outs, reward system, allowance, taken away a majority of her toys...nothing consistently works.  She's ever evolving with discipline and trying to get out of things.  Yes, my 3 year old.  Am I one of those parents?  One that never should have had kids cause I can't hack it?  I truly don't feel properly equipped for her.  She is beyond my parenting realm and capability, this is how I feel.  And that seems like a cop out, but I am at a total loss.

Let me share what prompted this little bit.  Last night was our first tots swim class.  Now, I am fortunate enough to have a husband who works a different shift...not so fortunate for communication always, but fortunate that he can watch our children in the morning.  I also have the blessing of my dad who is retired and can watch the kids in the interim every day until I get home from work.  This is a lovely and lucky thing to have.  I am grateful, beyond grateful for all the family help I get.  But I feel she is not socialized enough.  She has cousin socialization, and at holidays and parties there are 7 of them between my 3 cousins children that are ages 2-9, so this is perfect.  She gets along well with them, plays well, but is still kind of the loner kid.  That's what happens I guess.  But she makes her way.

So I put her in the tot swim class.  We've been talking it up, very excited, and she also has to listen to the teacher.  Yes.  We have to listen to the teacher.  Well, one her butt hit the water, all bets were off. She literally did not listen to anything the teacher said.  I am not exaggerating.  She was even put in a time out and didn't listen.  Lovely.  I was actually hoping she could test into the advanced tots class, she already does all the things they want her to do in this class, but she can't test out if she's an utter beast.  She has to show she can listen, not just do the required things they have to do.  And that sucks.  She is bored, she does all this stuff already at my parents' pool, has all summer long.  But instead of just listening and taking her turn and doing it so she can be better engaged, no, we have to just literally run up and down, pick up toys when we're not supposed to, swim out with stuff we're not supposed to on our own, not listen to anything.  Then when the teacher says, okay, we're going to use this brick floaty thing that she's been trying to play with, it gets thrown, and instead of going and retrieving it, she stands there with her arms crossed and another kid from another class goes and gets it.  Lovely.  I have the defiant, won't listen to anyone, do what I want, pain in the ass kid.  The one that she went home and complained to her family about, I  know it by the look on her face.  I have THAT kid.  The one the other parents look at and go, what the hell?  Why the hell can't her parents reign her in?  What's wrong with her? What:'s wrong with them?  Yeah.  THAT kid.  I HATE having that kid.  I never thought I would be that parent.  And I know, this is only one class.  And there is no "oh, she's only 3 years old." excuse, because there sat another girl in her class, who did everything the teacher said, sat all nice, didn't even get up for anything, and turned and waved to her parents nicely, they waved back, meanwhile my Beast is off galavanting and playing with water pipes and things.  Lovely.

I can try to reward her.  She gets no more of her TV shows or the pool at my parents' house, which sucks cause it's finally friggin hot out again, but I can't do it.  She gets those taken away and will have to earn them back by behaving in class tomorrow.  I can't take her out just now after one class because I want her to realize that she has to be in that setting, whether she's used to it or not, and she's going to have to get used to it and following some rules.  Right now we use incentive of a sticker chart at night for cleaning up our toys and we get a dollar allowance every week after we fill up the week.  Pretty much half the days she says she doesn't care what we do or take away, doesn't care that she sees the money sitting there on the fridge and she can't have it, she doesn't want to clean up.  Fantastic.  We do 3 strikes and time out.  If she gets up from time out we start the time all over again.  She was earning back toys for being good, but that stopped cause I would say, hey, don't you want such and such back?  You can't have it unless you behave or unless you do such and such.  The response I repeatedly get is, "that's fine."  And she moves on.  Really???  We're talking prized toy possessions....nothing makes a dent.  I don't keep the television on at night.  She plays ABC Mouse and she's been learning with that, and I take that away and it stings for a minute and then she says she doesn't care.  She just doesn't care.  Could care less if she finds a piece of string and paper to play with, she'll make it into whatever.  Doesn't make a hill of beans difference to her.

So how the hell do I get her to listen?  I know she needs tons of stimulation.  But that's not life.  Life is not always what you want or need.  She has to learn early that she's got to account for herself and she's got to follow direction and rules.  That's how the fucking world works, dammit.  Maybe some day she'll have a teacher that can get through, but that's at least 2 years off with her only being 3, so what am I supposed to do.  Maybe when we move I will be able to get her in a preschool thing at night.  I can't do too many things at night now only because I have my own sanity to think of, my job, I can't have so many nights that I have commitments when I have to be in court late some days.  That just won't work.  So I have to make do.  But until then, what?  I just let her do whatever?  I can't do that.  She just won't listen.  I don't know.  Someone said, oh, were you there and was she constantly looking at you during the class.  Good thought, but she only even saw me the last 10 minutes of the class.  I can't be around, and that's fine with me, for any other classes except for the first and last...but that doesn't make a different.  I wholly believe that.  Hopefully the reward and incentive of the pool at the 'rents on Thursday will make Wednesday's class a little better.  I was thinking of taking the kids to the zoo on Saturday, maybe that will be an incentive.  But I don't want too many incentives and then what about next week?  What do I do then?  I'm just baffled.  I truly cannot tame the Beast.  I have tried little tricks.  A friend of mine, Amy, told me to get her to be good in a store, have her 'make' her own list, help get stuff off the shelves, cross stuff off while we shop....that worked like magic.  What the hell can I do in this instance?  I am a lost mamma who can't figure out what the hell to do for my own kid.  Fanfriggintastic.

I don't care how cute she is....

it doesn't make up for her horrid attitude.  She's highly embarrassing, I am mortified, horrified, and furious.

Life, death, and Ravelry

So it's been a little bit.  I'm not going to apologize for that.  Life happens.  LOTS of life.  And some endings of life.

When I last wrote it was March, I was pregnant.
On April 11th we tragically lost my sister in law, Karla, to a horridly mutant strain of cancer, we don't even know what type of cancer it was so rapid growing.  And the mutant part?  The doctors coined it that, not us. She went in for pneumonia and died within 2 weeks.  They said if they had seen her 2 months previous, she wouldn't have even had signs on a cellular level.  Utterly tragic to lose someone so vibrant and young, only 30.

Well, on Cinco de Mayo my BABY BOY was born!

He was 6 lb, 8 oz, and though I have an easier time than most in not having to push much and having only several hours of pain, when an epidural doesn't work and you have high blood pressure normally...I give MASSIVE kudos to anyone who does that naturally.  Although, I think had I not had Pitocin with this birth it would have different, a little more easy going like my daughter.  But that is life.

He's not so small now, he's also allergic to soy and lactose at this point, he's got colitis so he's on a special astronomically expensive formula, too bad my body quit on me and I couldn't have kept breastfeeding, cause I would have been even more exhausted, but I would have lost a bunch of weight and it wouldn't cost like the formula does.  Eh.  It happens, I guess.  He's got reflux, so he's on Zantac, and when he gets to the point where he's put on too much weight and he needs a dosage uppage?  You can tell.  He can't hold formula down and it's rough.  So it's a good thing we went to the doctor yesterday.

Little miss turned 3 in June.  My goodness how time flies.  She will start a swim class the end of the month.  She's sooo looking forward to it.  I kind of hope they test them and we can move her up to the advanced tots, because she does what they ask already, but since she learned it with me and not through them, they won't allow us to just put her in there.  She's so big!  And with curly hair to boot.  What a stitch she can be.

I've started back to work, so that's an adjustment.  The hardest part was going back after spending 3 months with my Little girl and her personality.  I started Thursday Aug. 1, so on Friday she looked me up and down and said, where are you going?  I said, I have to go to work again.  She burst out crying.  That's the hardest part.  I really got to know her and finally got into a good routine.  Ah, such is life, I guess.

We're hopefully going to be moving to St. Charles were schools are better in late fall/early winter.  There's many things in the works, so it's been an exhaustive 3 months off, although enjoyable, tons more than the last maternity leave.

And although it doesn't mean anything to anyone NOT on Ravelry, I am a Charms Professor for the HPKCHC.  I LOVE it.  I truly do.  I have been a Slytherin in the cup on the knitting group in Rav for 3 'terms' now.  Each term is 3 months, with a month in-between.  So I guess I've put in a full year.  I was a '2nd year' and decided I wanted to be part of the Slytherin Staff, and joined the Slytherin Sunshine Committee. And if you know me, you know that although it sounds like it's an oxymoron, it's not.  At least I think so.  I think I am pretty sunny most of the time.  Blunt and I swear, but I laugh and smile a lot....so I consider that sunny.  And I LOVE the Slytherins.  We're a fantastic group of people, if I do say so myself.

And so I started May 1st with my first term as a professor.  I figured if I could do it while on maternity leave with things in the works at home and also having to do some work on the side with a brand new baby and a toddler?  I could do anything with the cup.  Maybe not ANYthing at THIS point, but eventually.  Maybe.  But at this point being head of the big swap in Slytherin and a Professor for the cup is good for me.  I'd love to be a middle snake for a nest, but I LOVE my Anaconda nest, so unless I'm staying with them, I'm not going anywhere.  I don't know if I'll be a Charms Professor again, but I am still going to be a Professor for next term.  At least I asked to be :)
I haven't had much time to spin or knit.  I so want to.  It's my relaxation.  But that will come in time when things get more settled.  So until then, I'll just have to look at my yarn and fiber longingly and maybe get in a little here and there at lunch or when Hubs is driving the car and I can knit.  Seeing as I'm in the middle of a pair of pants for the Wee Man, though, I should finish those so I don't finish them when he's too big for them and Little Miss has a big pair of pants for a dolly.

So I'll update as I finish that stuff.  But as of now I've only spun up 1 skein of orange Merino/Silk blend, started on an art batt from Jazz Turtle which is awesome, but I don't have time to sit and spin more of, knit a pacifier buddy that keeps the pacifier attached to the car seat so I can grab the rope and stick it in Wee Man's mouth when I'm driving without hunting around for a lost pacifier, and I knit 1 blanket square the month that Wee Man was born.  That was a lot and it was simple stockinette stitch.  But hey, you do what you can, right?  Right.

So till I have more to write about, my new knitting endeavors, moving, the kiddos