More kiddie pics

I haven't been knitting much at all. But tomorrow we're headed out on vacation, first to G's mom and stepdad's in Yakima, WA, then to the Oregon coast and Portland. G drives and I knit. It's quite the arrangement we have worked out. So I wound up some new STR to start a new pair of socks on the road tomorrow. I've lined up a couple of stores to hit while we're at the coast. Plus we'll head to Powells (the best bookstore EVER...I swear). I'm really looking forward to this trip.

But in (sort of) knitting-related news, Catie has "learned" to knit. It basically consists of her sticking needles into the ball of yarn, but it was too damned cute to not take pictures.

And in Jack news, he's continuing to eat . And eat. We're now up to just over 11 pounds.

Doesn't look like he's missed too many meals, eh? If only he would figure out he ought to eat more during daylight hours, and use those night time hours to let mom and dad get some sleep. He's still a little backwards of the sleep schedule, but we're getting there. That's what I'm telling myself anyway.

Another fun-filled Saturday

The Continental knitting is progressing. At least the knit stitch is, anyway. I'm getting much better at it, though am still having problems with tension and getting the yarn to slide through my left hand easily, but not with too much slack. The purl stitch, though, is a whole other story. I'm continuing to struggle with that one. When does it "click"...both with my fingers AND my brain?

Today G taught his Boot Camp for New Dads class and took Jack with him, so Catie and I had a "girls day". Well, a couple hours at least. We went to McDonald's for lunch. I know, I know...but I thought she could play on the playground, which I thought was indoors. It wasn't, and it was a little chilly. She proceeded to drink apple juice and suck the ketchup off her french fries. I don't think she took a single bite of food. From there, we headed to Barnes and Noble. Where we split a chocolate chip cookie. Well, I ate most of the cookie and she picked out the chocolate chips and would only eat those. Is this going to be a trend? Then we looked at books. I wanted to buy this, but they didn't have it in stock. The website LIED! So we headed home after a bit, and are spending yet another Saturday night knitting and reading. Exciting life we lead, eh?

Because I have no knitting pics for you, unless you want to look at my Continental knitting swatch, here's a couple of kiddie pics for you.

Catie in the bath: and Jack snoozing after a long night of nursing. NON-STOP. Exhausting. For both of us.

When did I grow so many thumbs?

Tonight my mom and I took a Fair Isle knitting class at Drop A Stitch in Boise. I'm decidedly an English knitter. So for me, it was a lesson in Continental knitting as well as Fair Isle. And apparently I hold the yarn all weird in my right hand too. So tonight I'm trying to learn:

1) a new way of holding the needles and yarn that's in my right hand
2) to knit Continental
3) to work with 2 colors at once, all the while...
4) doing all this using both hands at the same time.

Good Lord! I haven't felt that uncoordinated in years. Hence the "thumb" title above.

After 2 hours, I had this


And a close up.I started out with a pattern, but couldn't even master the technique. So I simply proceeded to alternating back and forth between the two colors...every other stitch one row, every two stitches the next, etc.

I think I might like knitting Continental. I've decided to try and master that first, then move on to more than one strand. But it was fun. This is going to open up a whole new world of knitting for me!!!

Shearing Day

We're all well at home. Jack is growing by leaps and bounds, and probably weighs close to 10 lbs. already. He's gaining a pound a week. Outfits that were way too big on him when he came home now fit almost perfectly. Catie is being a great big sister (most of the time anyway). I'm having a great time staying home with them. If only maternity leave could last forever...

On Friday, the sheep shearer came. I wasn't sure how it would go. We have a big open pasture, with no smaller pen to put them in. So we brought the sheep into the back yard. He simply walked up to a sheep, grabbed it, and got to work. This is Aran getting her haircut:and Lacey getting hers:

Oh..this feels so much better. Now I have 2 garbage bags full of wool, anxiously awaiting a date with the bath and carder. Time to get busy and start spinning all this up.

And finally, a couple of mother/daughter and father son pics...awwww

New bathroom pics

We're settling in nicely at home. Jack is doing great. He had his check up today...he's gained an amazing 9 ounces in 3 days!! Further proof he's a little piggy, and I'm a cow. Just call me Bessie.

So our bathroom is 98% done. We're waiting for a part to extend the showerhead, so we can't use the shower yet, but everything else is pretty much done.

The pedestal sink, new lighting, and new medicine cabinet...

And the best part...the clawfoot tub (made in 1894, and salvaged from my grandparents' house in southern Oregon), and new tile floor. The contractors tried hard to talk us out of tile, but I've had my heart set on this type of tile since I bought the house 5 years ago. More costly, but it's what I wanted. Unfortunately, the subflooring was all rotten, so replacing that was a pretty extensive (i.e. expensive) project, but now, we have an incredibly stable new floor. And I can soak in the bathtub every night after work.

Now it's back to Jack...he's waking up. Eat. Sleep. Poop. Repeat. But I wouldn't have it any other way.

Home at Last

So I fully anticipated staying at the hospital until Saturday. This morning we got a great surprise when the doc said we could go home today instead. So G, Jack, and I loaded up and headed to my parents to pick up Catie. They didn't know Jack had been discharged, so were surprised, to say the least, when we showed up with the baby. Then after a little "adjustment" time between Catie and the new baby (alternating periods of her kissing the baby and then crying because she wanted to sit on someone's lap, but Jack was there), we headed home.

I haven't been home for about 5 weeks. So I got to come home to a nice clean house with a brand new bathroom and brand new baby. I got to take a nap in my own bed. I got to sit on my own couch and nurse Jack. Splendid!

So without further ado, let me introduce you to Jack Edward Decker.


After he was first born:Our first together shot before he was whisked off to the nursery:
I love this picture of G's and Jack's hands:
Holding Jack for the first time in 4 days...2 tubes out, 3 to go.

All snuggled up and ready to head home:


Catie meeting and kissing her brother for the first time:

Life is good.

It's a...BABY. Okay...a BOY!!

Well, it's been a rough past few weeks. As you may have read (though I don't have too many readers, I'm so sporadic at posting) the preeclampsia set in the beginning of February. So I spent one night in the hospital, and then got to go home on bedrest. The just after my last post, the blood pressure shot up again, so I spent a week in the hospital. Where I did manage to get a whole lot of knitting done.

Then it was back home for a week and a half. And through all this, we've been staying at my parents' house because the bathroom remodel wasn't done. I was scheduled to be induced on Wednesday, Feb 28. But Tuesday night, I went into labor on my own. So I was up all night contracting. We went in to the hospital Wednesday morning, and I was 4 to 5 centimeters. My doc broke my water, and off I went.

Jack Edward Decker was born at 5:05 pm on Wednesday the 28th. He looks a lot like his daddy, and is so much darker complected than compared to Catie. He was 3 weeks and 2 days early. But still managed to come in at a hefty 7 lb 4oz. Had I gone all the way to his due date, he probably would have been 9 lb. Ouch. Unfortunately, he had some respiratory issues, which we hoped would resolve. But they didn't, so at about midnight, he was transferred to the NICU in Boise. He was intubated before they left our hospital, and stayed on the ventilator until Saturday morning.

So Saturday morning, they took out his breathing tube. Today they took out one of the IVs from his belly button. And this afternoon we got to hold him for the first time since the first couple of minutes he was born. I was quite teary. Hopefully I can actually start to nurse him tomorrow, and I'm crossing my fingers we can go home by Wednesday or Thursday depending on how he does.

The bathroom will be done tomorrow. I hear it looks great, but since I haven't been home in a month, I can't say. But boy does that clawfoot tub sound good right about now.

We're staying at the hospital, and I'm using the terminal in the waiting room to post this. I have no way to get pics on here, but will as soon as I get home. Take my word for it though, Jack is pretty damn cute.

Knitting and Pregnancy Updates

Well, bed rest is still fairly yucky. The monitoring has all been good so far. BPs are up and down. My next non-stress test and ultrasound is Monday. But boy, I'm tired of daytime TV. Even HGTV and Law and Order are getting old. But the knitting is coming along nicely.

Catie's sweater came out great. I made a 24 month size. Other than being a little long, it fits her great.

And now, on the adorable model. Do you know how hard it was to get her to stand still to try and take a picture? I couldn't get a decent forward facing shot...she kept moving and/or trying to grab the camera.

My current project is the Birch shawl from Rowan. I started it last summer for The Amazing Lace, but obviously didn't get too far. Now I'm about 10 or 12 repeats done, and am quite proud of how it's turning out. Catie's block wanted to be in the picture too.

Other than that, not much else is up in my world. George is timing how long I've been on the computer...giving me dirty looks that it's time to get back on the couch or something. If this bedrest thing doesn't kill me first, it may kill him. Or maybe it'll just be me that kills him. Either way, isn't this pregnancy thing all his fault anyway???

Forced Knitting Time

Just the other day I was thinking I'd like to start maternity leave. You know...spend some time sleeping in, knitting, getting ready for the baby. Well, be careful what you wish for.

Sunday morning, G checked his blood pressure (he's on BP meds). I thought I'd check mine just for the fun of it. Well, my 157/94 reading wasn't really what I was looking for. So I checked it a few more times over the next hour, and it stayed up. I called my doc and headed into L&D. Where it was still up. So I had some blood work and got sent home to collect a 24 hour urine. Ain't nothing like saving your pee for a whole day. Well, Sunday night I had two horribly high BPs. 196/102 and 173/112. And the results from my 24 hour urine came back with too much protein. So all this prompted a referral to the high risk doc in Boise. Where I then got admitted overnight for observation and steroids. "Just in case"...to help mature baby's lungs should he/she have to born early. So now I'm on bed rest. No work. Nothing but bed, recliner, or couch, with the occasional brief stint on the computer. When maternity leave is forced on you and you have no choice but to sit on your butt, it really sucks. I had pre-eclampsia when I was pregnant with Catie as well, so it wasn't entirely unexpected that this might happen. Though I kept telling myself it's more common in the first pregnancy, and then not as likely later on. But I'm living proof it can (and sometimes will) happen again. This time, though, I'm 33 weeks instead of 35. That makes a big difference.

But I did finish knitting Catie's sweater. I still have to sew up the hood and weave in the ends, but other than that it's done. Tonight, I'm planning on getting reacquainted with my old friend Birch. With how much time I'm now able to devote to the needles, it ought to be done within a few days as well. So I'll have a few pics to post coming up soon.

Weekend update

Well, the bathroom remodel officially started yesterday. We have no shower, so we're showering at my parents' house. But YAY!!!! I'm so excited. I'll try and get pictures on here this weekend of the "Before".

Yesterday Catie got her first haircut. She was sitting on her little booster seat at the salon. She wasn't a big fan of the cape. But I got all sad as I was watching her get her hair trimmed. She didn't even get that much cut off...just trimmed. She had shaggy bangs and a mullet-type thing going on. More proof that she's growing up. Afterward, it was incredibly apparent she is DEFINITELY not a baby anymore, and has morphed into this little girl. Somehow we went from
THIS:

TO:


It's weird. I just looked at her yesterday and saw nothing resembling a baby. But I guess we're starting all over again in a few weeks.

And now I'm off to get ready for the pre-natal massage. MMMM.

Mostly Catie pictures

I switched to the "new" Blogger...whatever the hell that means. Hopefully this post will come out as planned.

There's been some knitting going on here. I started one of the felted boxes from the Mason-Dixon Knitting book, but the gauge off...it's too tight and is hurting my hands to knit it. I initially figured, "Hey, I'm gonna felt it anyway," and thought I'd press on, but it's not even fun to knit. I guess I'll have to tear it out and start over. I finished the body of the tunic sweater. It's now onto the hood and sleeves. Then I figure I better start working on something for the new baby. We're on countdown to D-day (7 weeks to go--time flies). I think the skin on my belly might explode or split open or something by then.

Along those lines, we're trying to organize Catie's room. It's amazing. I bought this house right out of residency, when I was still single and right before I met G. I thought 1200 square feet and 2 bedrooms was HUGE. Now we're climbing all over each other. I finally got C's bookcase painted and put the books in it over the weekend. I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. But now that she has her own "big girl bookcase", I'm surprised. I thought she'd have more books to fill it up.
We're starting the bathroom this week. We've bought new light fixtures and a new medicine cabinet. I can't wait for that clawfoot tub. So we'll be spending a few nights at my parents when we have no usable toilet or shower here. For 5 years, I've been wanting to get the bathroom done, and finally, we're actually doing it.

And now...just a couple of cute Catie pictures. She was very into the piano tonight and spent a good 20 minutes just banging away on it. Not so good for the headache, but cuter than heck.










And she's very into teeth right now...brushing them, saying "teeth". Pointing out mom and dad's teeth. So...for your viewing pleasure...here she is, showing them off to the world.

YAY!! We can take pictures again.

So why is it that when you don't have a camera available, kids do really cute stuff that just asks for a picture to be taken? The dogs got new beds for X-mas. While our camera was broken, Catie discovered that they're pretty cool places to sit. So we got our new camera a couple of days ago. Luckily, Catie still likes to sit in the dog beds.

I'm a little freaked out by the fact that she doesn't look like a baby at all any more. She's a little girl. It's sad, and cool all at the same time. She still doesn't "get" the idea that there's going to be a new baby soon. I'm not quite sure how that's going to go. For that matter, I'm not sure G and I will manage this whole 2 kid thing, but I guess we'll all figure out a way.

In knitting news, here's a picture of the new sweater I'm working on for C. It's a V-neck sweater with a hood, knit in the round. I'm through the top part, and am to the point where I divide for the sleeves. So for a while, it's just plain ol' boring knitting in the round. I like the Knitting Pure and Simple patterns because they're just that--pure and simple, though sometimes a little boring. I guess it's time to branch out and try some more challenging patterns. But in the meantime...

A productive weekend...sans photos

Well, it's been a pretty good weekend. I started a new sweater for Catie on Thursday night. It's the baby tunic here. It's in a light blue, that's pretty close to the same blue as her eyes. I'd show you a picture of the WIP, but alas, George dropped the camera a couple of nights ago. Now, I've dropped the camera more than once, but apparently when it's dropped from a height of 5 feet, it's less detrimental that when dropped from the height of 6 feet. That extra foot did something bad...the ring around the lens broke, and the camera makes a very ugly sound when you try to turn it on. So, who knows? We may end up with a new camera out of the deal.

I worked some more on her bookcase as well. I've gotten 2 coats of paint on, and now am just waiting for that to dry so I can seal it. Then maybe we can get some of her bazillion books coralled. I try not to buy her tons of stuff, but that's where I'm weak...I figure an excess of reading material (and puzzles) is a whole lot better than an excess of other random toys. I hope that's not just bad justification on my part. Again, hopefully, if the camera is fixable, I'll have a couple pictures up in a few days.

What else happened this weekend? I delivered a baby. Had lunch with a couple of friends. Started putting info into Quicken (one of my New Year's Resolultions is to pay off credit card debt and be more organized--hopefully this will help). We ordered new tile for the bathroom floor. It's a 1 inch hexagon pattern...black and white. Very "old" looking. We're hoping to get started in a week or two on the actual remodeling. Yay!! Soon I will be soaking in a hundred year old claw foot tub after the end of a hard day!!!

Fiesta Bowl and a Stocking Cap

I don't know how many of you out there are football fans, but dang, what an exciting Fiesta Bowl tonight. BSU 43-42 in overtime...and regulation play came right down to the wire as well. I'm not even a huge BSU fan, but I have to root for the home team. They done us proud tonight.

I finished G's hat today as well...Fleece Artist in Cashmere. I kept trying to convince him while I was knitting it to just let me have it, but no such luck. It's just a basic 2x2 rib cap. In addition to freakishly large feet, I unfortunately married a man who has a freakishly large head---26 inches to go with his size 15 feet. I should have thought about all that before I married him...the knitting consequences.But to disprove the fact that he's all bad, he was especially kind this year and got me this:

A Strauch drum carder. Please forgive the stash mess behind the table here. I'm very excited about the carder, and think I'll probably get more spinning done now. That whole hand card thing just wasn't working out for me.

And now, it's way late and I have to get up and head into the office early in the morning. So goodnight, and congrats to the Broncos.

HAPPY 2007!!

Happy New Year Comment Graphics


Happy New Year to All. I started my blog a whole year ago, and have been posting sporadically. One of my goals is to be a bit more consistent in the whole posting thing.

Hopefully the holiday season has been good to you all. We're getting ready for Baby #2...the due date sure is creeping up quickly. Less than 3 months to go. We're trying to get Catie's room more organized...she's gotten a new bookshelf and toy box for Christmas, and I'm working on getting them painted. Hopefully I'll have a picture of at least the bookcase in a day or two. I'm working on a new stocking cap for G. It's the first time I've ever knitted with cashmere. OH MY GOD. That is one luxurious fiber.

New Years Eve was spent at home...or rather I should say in the bathroom. I picked up some nasty stomach bug, and it hit me with a vengeance yesterday afternoon. Truly an exciting way to spend the evening, isn't it? So today, the big plans are to lay low, hang out on the couch, watch a little (or a lot) football, and finish the cap, if the GI tract allows. Cross your fingers for me.

Stay tuned for pics of my new Christmas toy...a drum carder!!!

An eventful week

2 posts in less than a week. Damn, I'm on a roll.

It's been a pretty good week. We've decided to remodel our bathroom. We live in an old (1910-ish house). It has a fair amount of character, but the bathroom sucks. So does the kitchen, but that's another story that will have to come later. The bathroom is pretty big, but has a ton of wasted space. There's a generic sink/cabinet, a toilet, and a shower. No storage and no bathtub. Miss Catie Grace isn't a fan of showers. AT ALL. And she's getting way to big for a bath in the kitchen sink. So we're biting the bullet and redoing the bathroom. I want to make it look more like it would fit into the era the house was built...clawfoot tub, pedastal sink, a cool tile floor, and hopefully a built in cabinet. I'll post pictures once we get going.

Thanksgiving was a good day. I made bread for the first time in years. The first batch burned on the bottom because the oven was too hot, but the second try...mmm, just right. I had this epiphany that I should start making bread from scratch. All that kneading is good for the soul. In reality, when I'd have time to do that, I'm not sure.

I took my 1 hour glucola earlier this week, and failed miserably with a sugar of 158 (should be less than 140). So this morning, I headed into the hospital lab for the 3 hour diagnostic test. I passed!! No gestational diabetes, but I'll probably keep an eye on my sugars anyway. The good thing about having to sit there for three hours while they poked me every hour was that I got some knitting done.

I was able to finish a pair of socks. They're the Calla Lily socks from Sundara Yarn.
I didn't take any other knitting with me, so then I just got to take a nap in between blood draws. Not an ideal way to spend a Sunday morning, but not horrible either, by any means.

The big news of the week is that after 17 months and 3 days, Catie started walking!! I was getting seriously freaked out and worried about her development. Friday night, she finally just decided to get going. She's still pretty unsteady, and doesn't take more than about 20 steps or so, but she's vertically mobile. Woohoo!! We have a cute video, but I can get it to load on here right. Take my word for it though, it's most fun to watch.

Knitting progress (and baby progress) update

Well, I spent the weekend on call. But it wasn't a bad weekend at all. I got a fair amount of knitting done. Catie got X-mas pictures taken. When they're back I'll try and put them on here. Damn, I have a cute kid.

As far as the knitting goes, I signed up for the Petals Collection from Sundara Yarn way back in the summer time. I'm 2 sock patterns behind, but I've been working on the Calla Lily socks. The first one is done. The second one is progressing nicely. The heel is turned. The gusset is done, and now I'm onto the foot. The home stretch. The pic is dark, but here's the sock with my new "sock basket".I've decided not to cast on anything else for awhile. We'll see how long that bright idea lasts. I have 3 pairs of unfinished socks sitting in my basket. 2 of them are for me, so it's no big deal if they don't get done for awhile. But one is for G, and every so often he comments he'd like to have another pair. The one pair I did for him has developed a hole---now the question remains...to darn or not to darn? Part of me is tempted to just toss 'em, but them I remember his size 15 feet. It takes a LONG time to finish a pair of socks that are that big. Plus I have a shawl or two to finish, plus who knows what else I can't think of right now.

Pregnancy is progressing nicely. I'm huge. I'm 22 and a half weeks. And I'm bigger now that I was at probably 30 weeks last time. Granted, I weigh more. But I don't feel like the baby is any bigger. Maybe it's just that everything is all stretched out or something. Seriously though, excuse the little fat roll in the back, but check this thing out:


And last but not least, some ultrasound pics. We had our ultrasound a couple of weeks ago. I'm finally getting my butt into gear to post some of the pics. One the left we have a nice face shot. Quite an adorable little alien, wouldn't you say?

Below is a foot. AWWWW.

Voting, and a little quandry.

Did you vote today? I went after work, anticipating a long wait, but it wasn't bad at all. I was in line all of about 3 minutes before I got to head to the booth to punch my card.

So, as most of you know, I live in Idaho. For the past several weeks, we've been hearing ads like, "Candidate X...too liberal for Idaho." The state where Republicans are calling other Republicans too liberal. It kind of makes me giggle. So I had to go and cast my vote, for what it's worth. I guess I'll know tomorrow. Go blue, that's all I have to say.

I did something last night that I haven't done in months. I actually broke out the spinning wheel and did me some spinning. Not tons to show for it, but at least I finally did something. I finished a sock the other night too, but it's a little small. I'm debating whether to make the 2nd one the same size and gift it to someone, or if I should frog it and reknit it. Any suggestions? I guess this is proof that, maybe, sometimes, I should check my guage.

While we were on vacation, we went to Beehive Woolshop in Victoria. I discovered Fleece Artist sock yarn. I bought 2 skeins, and G went back and bought me 2 more. For an anniversary present. How awesome is that. Yarn for an anniversary present. Seriously. Jackpot, baby. So now I have the dilemma...do I start a new pair of socks with the new goods, or finish one of the 6 WIPS I have. I know what I'd prefer to do, but.....

Victoria, the lovely lady.

Hello. Yes, I still exist. I feel like I say that a lot here. We're back from vacation and unfortunately had to fall right back into the grind of work. I spent one day in the office, and then 5 days working in the hospital. Our anniversary dinner consisted of Taco Bell at 9:00 at night after I got home from work. Sad, but true. Now I'm on another 5 day stint in the office. I compared my workload to this time a year ago. I'm twice as busy as far as patient load goes. No wonder I feel like I can't keep up.

Vacation was wonderful. As is the case with most vacations, it's hard to come back to work. We went to Victoria, BC. I really think I could live there. We stayed in a time-share condoright along the water. This is what we were forced to look at every day


It was a tough job, I admit. But somehow we managed to survive. Rough, I tell you.

We ate lots of good food. Went to some really cool places. I got to spend lots of time with these two characters. I read a book. I knitted a baby sweater (but unfortunately forgot to take a picture of it before I gave it to its intended recipient). I started a new hat for Catie. I bought some yarn (details another day). I slept in. I sat in the hot tub--sometimes 2 or 3 times in a 24 hour period. I had high tea. And there's more. But I'm probably boring you to tears. Needless to say, we had a most excellent time.

And then, life came crashing back down around me. 12 hour days. Stacks of charts. Sick patients. Can't I just be on permanent vacation? Maybe I could retire early? Is 32 too early?

Anybody out there remember me?

Once again, further proof that I suck at this blogging thing right now. But I have had a crazy couple of weeks. My mom's been in the hospital. I've been slammed at work. I lost the last part of a sock pattern. Not to mention some jewelry. Whiney, I know.

But bright and early in the morning, we're headed to Victoria, BC for a 10 day vacation. It's where we went on our honeymoon, and we're going again. Yay!!! I'm very much in need of a break. Long work hours combined with pregnancy is kicking my butt.

So I'll see you all in about 10 days. Happy knitting.