Halloween Inspiration

I don't know that I will be able to get involved in any Halloween festivities this year.  From what my doctor said on Friday there's a good chance I could be in the hospital having our next sweet baby boy, or I might even have already welcomed our tiny little bundle into this world and have to send someone out for an orange and black newborn set!  I suppose it could be pretty cool to have a Halloween birthday, although I was hoping to make it to November before having to be induced.  Only time will tell. 

Of course, I love to dream of all the fun ways to get involved in decorating and celebrating.  I'm not big on some of the ideas surrounding All Hallows Eve, but I love the time of year and think it's so much fun for the kids.  It renews some October energy in me and makes me want to share in the excitement.  I do have a glimpse of hope that maybe I will still get to carve a pumpkin this year.  (I would be sitting, after all.)  It's unlikely, but in the spirit I thought I would find some fun inspiration to share. Click on the photo for more detail.

I hope those of you who are able to take time for some festive projects will enjoy them extra for me!  Happy October!

Cold Weather, Warm Heart

I had to take a brief study break this afternoon just to reflect and share with you how amazing people can be. I know a lot of crazy, terrible stuff happens in this world every day, but so do a lot of heartwarming, thoughtful, and caring acts.

This afternoon Gabe took a longer nap than usual, and Thomas went across the street to play with his friend for a while. I used the opportunity to catch up on some long overdue studying. Meanwhile, our fourth overnight visitor and helper, Brian's mom, was here all the way from Wisconsin, just to help out while I was/am down. Today she took care of some of the most dreaded cleaning things that I would probably never get to, healthy or otherwise (i.e. cleaning the tops of our ceiling fan blades). I am in awe at how helpful our family has been. Everyone who is able to help has already done so, and the rest have offered their support and prayers. Truthfully, from my perspective, I don't feel all that terrible. I suppose I probably feel like any other expectant mother who's only one month away from her due date. Plus, my blood pressure has actually been significantly better on bed rest. It's hard some times not to feel guilty for accepting so much help. Of course, I'm still trying to follow strict orders. Each day now I reflect on all that is happening around me, and I am so thankful. Today when, on top of everything else, Brian's mom returned from outside with a pan of ziti from the neighbors, I couldn't help but feel positively overwhelmed with gratitude.

I would love to extend my thanks to everyone who has helped or offered kind words. You know who you are. I only hope I am able to return the favor some day.

One final thought for today: never underestimate the effect it might have on someone when you take a moment to bring them flowers or cookies--or whatever your specialty. When they say it's the thought that counts, they sure do mean it, and benevolent acts don't often go forgotten.

These needles are hot!

Whether I like what's coming off them or not, they sure have been busy. I figure I'm making up for lost time.

Slipper for Tom, constructed from granny squares (okay so that's a hook, not a needle... )

Simple ribbed newborn hat made from gifted yarn (Thanks, Mom!)

Cable and moss teddy bear sweater (one of my favorites, however imperfect)

Christmas elf hat for the baby

Teeny tiny newborn socks and mitts

Super soft swirl balls using stash yarn (I will definitely be making more with some brighter, more fun colors, once I find them.)

Very simple, very pink slipper socks, gifted to my sister because they were just a teeny tiny bit loose for my liking

Yet another simple ribbed newborn hat - but I love it - SO soft and stretchy

In cables, the tiniest of the hat collection, probably only useful if this little one decides to make an early entrance

The first of the hats and my least favorite of the bunch... I'm hoping it will look better on the baby's head, but it is big so he may not be able to wear it for a while.

I also started an incredibly soft yet probably way too big infant sweater (even though I checked my gauge and still came up with a tighter knit than the pattern calls for).

I even lengthened Nana's scarf, bit by bit, in between projects. (Excuse the old picture; I'll take more once it has been bound off and blocked.)

There were also a number of projects that didn't go so well.

This was going to be a mitten, but I made up the pattern and sized it all wrong. I will probably try again one of these days, and who knows? Maybe I'll have another simple pattern to share with you all.

I forgot to take a picture of the sock-turned-Christmas stocking. That was only a half-fail. The final product wasn't actually half bad, considering the circumstances.

In case you're curious, all of the above projects, with the exception of the fails, can be found on my Ravelry projects page.

My remaining plan, depending on how much longer I can manage to bake this little bun, is to finish the little sweater and Nana's scarf and then complete two small projects I have promised to others. If by some miracle I still have any time and/or knitting left in me at that point, I will either finish yet another WIP or make a new series of swirl balls to gift to all my nieces and nephews this Christmas.

I have to get this all in while I can, after all!

Renovations

The big day is here. Our aforementioned outdated attic bedroom is undergoing a major overhaul this week. Brian and friends tore down all the old walls, insulation, and flooring two weekends ago, and we had an electrician come in last week. Today we watched the construction crew come in, and it was pretty entertaining. Our contractors had a big truck deliver all the insulation and sheet rock, and since replacing the windows was already part of the job, they knocked out the window over the garage right away, and the truck driver used his crane to lift all the materials up to the window for the men to load inside. It was amazingly quick and a lot of fun for the boys to see. My dad came here to help with the kids, and he pulled Gabe's high chair into the living room so that he could watch out the window while he ate his breakfast. Tommy and our neighbor across the street watched from outside. Everyone was pretty excited! I would have taken a few pictures had I not been ordered to the couch.

I don't have a good before picture because I planned to take one right before all this started but was put on bed rest too soon. I did, however, save the photo from the original listing:

The picture is a bit deceiving. The space is actually much larger than it appears. If you look closely you'll see two small tables with lamps. Next to each of those is a twin size bed. In the area closer to the front of the picture we had enough room for our king size bed, a night stand, a dresser, some large boxes, a desk, and a craft corner. It's a big room! We plan to use the far end as the nursery and the remaining area for our bedroom (but still keep it all open as it was before). We aren't changing the size of the closets except to better expose the radiator at the far wall. What we are doing, however, is getting new insulation, walls, windows, actual closet doors, carpet, and paint. Out with the yellow, brown, and peach! The new carpet will be gray, and we're thinking of using a very light shade of blue for the walls. If all goes as planned everything might be done some time next week. We're excited to see the final product!

I have plenty of other blogging catch up to do, but today has been stressful. I feel like standing and moving around a bit, but I just stretched my legs for a minute, and when I sat down again I took a couple of blood pressure readings, and they were up again (not terrible, but up some). I opted to load up youtube and find something soft and soothing to listen to, and this is the song I found. It's one of my favorites. I thought I would share.

Insanity

As some of you may already know, it has been a crazy week. Thomas was sent home from school early on Monday after needing his inhaler twice within three hours. He had to miss a whole week of tae kwon do mostly in follow up to that, which really stinks because it was board breaking week, and he has been gearing up for the board breaking portion of his upcoming competition in October, so we were planning to go to as many classes as possible. He has been on prednisone since Monday afternoon, and it's helping, but he's still not 100%. Just to complicate matters, I might still have brought him to class yesterday, but my blood pressure recently decided to play its ugly pregnancy game again, and I spent five hours being monitored in labor and delivery after my doctor's appointment on Thursday. It all resulted in a strict order for bed rest, understanding that I do have a little one at home, but with strong encouragement to get help from family and friends so that I can still spend 99% of my time lying on my side. YAY. So. No running Thomas and Gabe around any more. Even though all the side lying totally stinks, and I am already sore from not moving around, it's what I'm not able to contribute to Thomas' schedule that is really killing me. Plus I love this time of year, so the last place I want to be is couped up inside. Seriously, can I please scream? You all know I want to but won't because I'm not like that, but... AAAaaaaaa!

Long story short, it was a long week, and it's going to be a challenge to manage the bed rest until the baby comes, but I will do my best because I of course want to keep this baby healthy in my womb as long as I can. I will continue to try and remember the positive points, like the expected upcoming visits from family to help out. I will also try to use the opportunity to catch up on some of that knitting I always dream of but never get around to. And, when days like today happen, and I can't be at Thomas' first soccer game or whatever else he is involved in, I will thank Brian for indulging me by bringing the camera along and allowing me to relive as much as possible through his photographs. ...I do think soccer was, so far, a success!

Blue Skies

My Saturday Sky

What a beautiful day! We spent all afternoon and evening enjoying every bit outdoors.

I hear we're in for more fantastic weather tomorrow. Ahh, September!

Wednesday Randomness

I'm sitting here, drinking a delicious cup of raspberry tea and dreaming of what I'm going to do next. I figure once I've finished this post I might try to whip up a quick baby hat with some of the oh-so-soft and beautiful yarn I bought today:


I received some money and a gift certificate for my birthday this year, and I took advantage of the opportunity for some (mostly) guilt-free shopping. I really enjoyed it. I managed to get a lot for the money too: three long sleeved maternity shirts (one was free as a buy one get one free offer), a newborn sized Thanksgiving themed sleeper and a little fleece outfit for the baby plus a sleep bag (baby jammies that also act as a blanket over the baby's feet), a super soft stuffed monkey for Gabe (of course), a Mr. Potato head for Tommy and Gabe to share (couldn't help myself), plus the yarn pictured above, and I still had a little left over for some coffee and treats! I don't usually spend my money all at once like that, but since I stopped working I've been so careful with money that I guess I really appreciated the chance to shop just for fun. I'm sure I won't get to do it again for a while. Christmas is going to be extra tight this year. (I almost saved the money for that... although I suppose a couple of the baby things might be Christmas gifts).

After our little shopping trip today, Gabe and I came home and watched for Tommy's bus. Have I mentioned how excited he gets? Here he is, spotting one down the street:


He still makes that weird "ghckghck" sound at the end of lots of his words. Henceforth, he had either just said, or was about to say, "BUGHCKGHCK!" (for "BUS!") at the time that I snapped the photo. :)

He also loves trains and airplanes, which is fantastic because we hear both often at our new home. Not only are we pretty close to an Amtrak rail, but we live near a military base and airport, and these things make several repetitive circular flights over our neighborhood at certain times during the week. They fly really low, and every time Gabe hears one he finds it, points to it, and says, "Ro Ro!" which is Gabriel for "Airplane!" (Yeah, I don't get that one either.)


When we were in the car today I was identifying red and green lights for him by saying either, "Red Light! Stop!" to which he would answer, "Uh Oh! Bop!" or "Green Light! Go!" to which he would enthusiastically shout, "Go, go, go!!!"

He's just so stinkin' cute, I tell you!