Thursday, September 28, 2006
Sock update
They are coming along well, and I have smartened up to do the heel in just knit stitch (as opposed to the knit/purl craziness). Thats pretty much all I've been working on, and that is current - not one more stitch has been added since that pic. I'm finally on to the round and round bit, but I think it's coming along well. I've been writing the pattern down as I go so a) I can do the 2nd one just like it and b) I can share the pattern with others. I'm sweet like that!
Not really a lot else going on, Friday night I may go to a USF football game, then Saturday night to my Moms place (with a short stop at the y.a.r.n. store while I wait for her to get out of a meeting. Shhh) and to see my grandma and grandpa, then Sat night I'm meeting up with a few crocheters, a few friends and my favorite bartender to watch Monty Python and the Holy Grail outside by the river for free. Jake'll go with me, Tony'll have his kids and hopefully Hans and Kerry will come with their girls and it'll be loads of fun. We'll be crocheting (well, I'll be knitting I think unless we dont have enough light, then I'll be crocheting) and carrying on.
More later if I can think of something.
Babyville: Most babies turn upside-down around this time but will continue to rotate until about week 31. If your baby ends up breech, your doc will discuss the options with you then.
Wednesday, September 27, 2006
Yesterday's post today
Once we got inside - an hour after they started herding people in - they were showing snippets of An Evening With Kevin Smith... one of my favorite sit and watch dvds. At 2 the people putting on the show came out to present a winner of the "Future Filmmakers Award" and we got to see his film. It was very interesting, and he did a good job. Then Kevin came on. He looked like this:
Sorry for the fantastic quality of that pic, but no flash photography allowed, and these were with my phone. It was a great show, that started off with Kevin saying this was his first time in Florida this time of year and "What's up with the butt fucking bugs?". I guess if you're not from around here, and not used to love bugs they can be kind of disturbing and, uh, pornographic. It really was a blast and I saw and heard a lot of very interesting things. I just wish I had taken more pics. I saw a shirt (in pink) that read "Sex, Drugs and Dungeons & Dragons". Yeah. Anyway, Kevin talked and talked and talked. The thing was supposed to be over at 4, we left at 5 and he was still talking. We would have stayed if a) we didnt have dinner reservations at 5:55 and b) our butts werent asleep from 4 hours on crappy chairs.
Dinner. Yeah, that was THE best steak I've ever had. We went to Yachtmans Steakhouse at Disney and really, YUMMO. Expensive, but yummo. Thankfully we had a gift card. One of my favorite parts of dinner though was seeing a lady that didnt know how to use a pepper mill. She kept twisting the little silver knop on top and then looking at the bottom of the mill confused as to why the pepper wasnt coming out. Luckily for her (and me because I was SOOO close to laughing out loud) one of the 10 people at her table helped her out and showed her how to use it. This lady was older than I am and confused by a pepper mill. I didnt think that could be possible. They were American, not from elsewhere, so I dont know. I have always known how to use a pepper mill. Strange. Anyway, we went up to our room at the Boardwalk and we saw the fireworks from our balcony. They looked like this: http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a250/brandeekins/2006_0923_210625.jpg
and this: http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a250/brandeekins/2006_0923_210740.jpg
It was nice. And not smoky and not loud and no walking was involved.
On Sunday we went to Downtown Disney for a little bit after breakfast then back to the room to wait for the in-laws to bring our child to us. They came and we headed for the pool. They really do have a cool pool. It looks like this: http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a250/brandeekins/2006_0924_125814.jpg
Jake did a lot of this: http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a250/brandeekins/2006_0924_1320372.jpg
and this: http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a250/brandeekins/2006_0924_1526431.jpg
Hans, Kerry, Aliceon and Heather came out and joined us at the pool. It was a blast. They did this: http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a250/brandeekins/2006_0924_151956.jpg and this:
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a250/brandeekins/2006_0924_151922.jpg.
Then they had to leave and Jake did this: http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a250/brandeekins/2006_0924_160823.jpg (actually that was the next day, but I thought it would be funny here!)
Me and Kerry did this: http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a250/brandeekins/2006_0924_152503.jpg
and most of the time I was doing this: http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a250/brandeekins/moresockknitting.jpg or this: http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a250/brandeekins/sockknitting.jpg and ended up with this: http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a250/brandeekins/2006_0926Image0011.jpg and started this: http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a250/brandeekins/2006_0926Image0013.jpg. Great fun.
After swimming we went to Dinner at Fultons Crab House. Very yum. Got back to the room and saw more fireworks.
Monday we got up and did more swimming after breakfast. Then to Property Control where I got this for Baby Sean: http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a250/brandeekins/2006_0927Image0001.jpg and Jake picked out this: http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a250/brandeekins/2006_0927Image0002.jpg
then we went home.
Thats enough for now after Babyville: Sean is almost fully formed about now and finally looks like a miniature human instead of other-worldly. Bones solidify and baby kicks. Sometimes it feels more like a lurch, reminicent of the loch ness monster.
Friday, September 22, 2006
Progress!
I still have not looked in the stash for something appropriate to re-start Sean's sweater in. I am leaning toward Simply soft which I have - not sure if I have the blue, but that will be easy enough to find. I just hope that it is not hard to knit with. We'll have to see. I should be able to tell if I'll like it by row, oh, 2. Also, now that I have metal needles (size 7, not 6, which is ok... really) that will help too.
My main reason for posting today, other than to say I've got more sweater than I had yesterday, is to do babyville. I went Awwwww, and figured you would too. Also, I will not be in the office on Monday so I'll post that now too. Monday's my favorite since we get sizes.
Babyville: Baby might begin to suck his thumb around now (awww). Vernix, which protects the baby's skin from amniotic fluid, covers the entire skin. Lunar Month 7, 24 weeks LMP baby weighs 1.32 lbs or 600 grams and is 11.81 inches or 30 cm long. WOW! I'm running out of ruler! How exciting is that!
That's it for now. I probably wont post this weekend - I'll be visiting Orlando and seeing Kevin Smith. I am SOOOOO excited! Love Kevin Smith. We're spending Sat and Sun night at the Boardwalk Inn at Disney, Jake will be joining us Sunday. Sat is Kevin almost all day with dinner at Yachtman's Steakhouse (yummmmmo) then Sunday the in-laws bring the kid, we hang out by the pool, buy crap at property control (the place where cast members get to buy stuff cheap like last season's stuff, overrun stuff and things guests have lost. It's a great place for Christmas presents. Too bad they dont sell yarn. Then we have dinner for us 5 at Fultons Crab House (seafood. No really.) Again, yummmmmo. Then home on Monday. It should be loads of fun and Tracie's sock will get plenty of camera time, I'm sure. Travis says he wants me to bring my swimsuit. I laughed. Out loud. Because that's funny!
So, more on Tuesday.
Thursday, September 21, 2006
I'm fine, no really.
Crochet and knitting. Last night was a crochet night at one of the gal's houses. I worked on Tracie's Christmas sock - I'm almost done with the Gusset, then the round and round part. I am pleased with how it's turning out. I do have to say that it is VERY DIFFICULT to not cast on another pair now that I have my new Lorna's Laces yarn all caked up from Saturday's fiber-in (thanks Tra for the cakking). I love that yarn - and I have 2 of them. One for Dani's socks, one for Tracie's. I only meant to make her one pair, with the Lorna's Laces, but when I saw this other yarn at Sip & Knit (the one I'm doing now, the green one) it just screamed socks for Tracie. I also got the same yarn in a slate blue color - no idea who for. I'll have to figure that out. So it looks like Tracie will get Birthday socks (in November like me) and Christmas socks. What a lucky girl, I tell you! BUT I will finish these, then do Dani's, then finish Mom's sweater (maybe not then, but congruently) THEN other Tracie socks.
I actually organized my project tote - which is helpful when lugging around 3 projects (well, I'm currently lugging around 2 but I swear I'm gonna put Mom's sweater in there too!). I have each project in a gallon ziplock with their tools and patterns. Well, I have the yarn for Mom's in there but I was running too late to get the rest out of the bedroom this morning, so her yarn is in it's ziplock on the coffee table. It will make it here, I swear. Also, last night Tracie gave me size 7 metal needles to try again on Sean's sweater. I havent had a chance to look in the stash for a better yarn either.
Babyville: Baby can hear mom's heart and stomach. These types of sounds are comforting to a newborn too. A special type of fat called brown fat develops. This keeps baby warm at birth. It also provides nourishment while your milk is coming in.
Tuesday, September 19, 2006
Babyville, and some other stuff
The brain is rapidly developing. Fatty sheaths that transmit thought are forming. Eating protein is very important to help develop this.
23 wks LMP - Baby weighs 1.10 lbs or 501 grams and is 11.38 inches or 28.9 cm long.
Meconium, the baby's first stool is developing. You'll see a lot of this come out after the baby is born.
On a side note, not in the calendar - these contractions (Braxton Hicks) are making me crazy. Every time I get up to walk or stand I'm getting them. It's not that they hurt, but they are uncomfortable sometimes and so often - Kerry says I have an irratable Uterus. I am an irratabe Mommy, that's for sure! Here's me on Saturday in my cute new Mommy shirt:
Here are a few pics from the yarn shop, also on Saturday:
Tell me that is not the most adorable! I so want to do that to something in my house!
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a250/brandeekins/directions.jpg (you know, i'm hating blogger right back!) - this is me talking to mom to get directions to the yarn shop, er shops. SHH!
and http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a250/brandeekins/mathburns.jpg this is trying to figure out how many times 3 goes into 51 - and hence how many stitches to put on each dpn for Tracie's Christmas socks. Math, it burns.
and http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a250/brandeekins/yesiwaswrong.jpg where the very nice knitter from the beautiful Sip and Knit made me realize I knitted wrong. Whoops!
And a few more from Convention:
Me getting my Palm Read. She said I've got a committment coming up and that I'm very emotiontional. Spot on, I'd say!
This is the lady staff, with me on the end - that's probably the best baby pic I have from that week - that'd was 21 weeks.
And Gnomebert standing on a blinky ice cube that's not blinking. NO I did not put him there!
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a250/brandeekins/blinkyice.jpg
That's it for now. That's really enough, now isnt it?
Monday, September 18, 2006
Pics
We're starting off with heel flaps. On the right you see the way I WAS doing it (read: the wrong way) and on the left you see Tracie's Christmas sock the way I am doing it now. It's still not beautiful, but its better. It's supposed to look like one continuous stitch... you arent supposed to be able to tell where the heel flap is. Whoops!
Next we have the toe join. Here are my 2 toe joins on socks that are supposed to be identical... Yeah, not so much, but I am getting better. Left is the not right way, right is the correct way but I am still not crazy about it.
Here are the buttons I got for Sean's sweater... arent they the most adorable!
And I found those adorable buttons at a WONDERFUL yarn shop called Sip and Knit in Maitland (near Orlando). Love love LOVE this shop! Unfortunatly, Tracie got all the pics from there, and hopefully i'll be able to theive some and put them here.
We also went to a 'Fiber In' which, frankly, blew. We paid a $10 cover to get in for 20 minutes to visit a shop from home. I was the only one to buy anything, and that was only 2 skeins of sock yarn. It's sad really. Here's what it looked like:
Gnombert enjoying the yarn
And http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a250/brandeekins/2006_0917Image0002.jpg of me and Tracie recipricol blogging (sorry, the pic thing crapped out on me. Love you blogger).
That Sat was Hans and Kerry's anniversary and he made us meatloaf (and by us I mean himself, Kerry, their girls, me, Tracie and my son)(yes we crashed their party)(and YES we got thanked for it). This is Hans making cream cheese frosting: http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a250/brandeekins/2006_0917Image0004.jpg from scratch. Tracie took a pic of me enjoying the leftovers of said frosting, and again, I will try to theive it for here. Here are the kids eating the wonderful meatloaf, tatos & aspargas that Hans made. I need to knit him an apron... in pink. With lace. http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a250/brandeekins/2006_0917Image0008.jpg
Sunday we went to the Fondrens for Jason's birthday. Jason is my brother in law, he turned 29. I swear that he and Travis are brothers, same parents and everything. I get asked this often, this is why: http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a250/brandeekins/2006_0917Image0013.jpg
That is Jason, Travis and half of their dad (sorry Dad...). Twins, only their mother can tell them apart? yeah, not so much. And in honour of Jason's 29th birthday, I had him hold the sock. He played along, but it was a bit blurry, whoops! Its only when I got to work today that I discovered a need for batteries in the camera. Here is what I affectionatly call "Jason and the sock", ahem:
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a250/brandeekins/2006_0917Image0017.jpg
Well, that's it for now. More when I get the pics from Tracie.
Sunday, September 17, 2006
You learn something new every day!
Speaking of Tracie's Christmas socks, here is what I decided. She knows about them, so this isnt a suprise, and I can talk about them! I decided to knit like I had been doing because it looks just fine, until I get to the heel flap (the previous area of contention) and knit the right way so the stockinette comes out right. So far, so good - I'm about 4 rows into my heel flap and it looks like it's supposed to. Imgine that.... fix the stitch and it looks nicer! Magic. So I will go now, watch the rest of a not-so-great football game, and work on the sock. I'll post a pic tomorrow. If I forget, remind me.
Happy Sunday y'all.
Friday, September 15, 2006
Not a good day
(warning: LOTSA whining here)
In yesterday's mail I got a comforting note from my Insurance company. I had known that the hospital that is closest to me was no longer going to be covered by my ins (along with 12 others in the Bay area). But, I my docs office told me that because of being pregnant they do a transistion of care thing so that I can go anyway. And that is almost correct - if I were less than 3 months from delivery, gave birth less than 6 weeks ago or were a moderate or high risk pregnancy then I could still go there. I have 3 months and 24 days to go, I am not moderate or high risk (since we know little Sean is in my uterus) so I am screwed. I called the docs office to find out what other hospital they go to and there is one. Yay. It's in Plant City. Oh. But that's only 10 miles away. yay. But it's affiliated with one of the few hospitals in town that I wont go to. Oh. But it's NOT that hospital and I wouldnt have to go there unless Sean needed level 3 nicu. yay. But it's in Plant City.
(As an aside for those of you not from here, Plant City is the Strawberry capital of at least Florida and possibly the Milky Way. They have LOTS of strawberry fields, horses and state parks. Its a pretty small town compared to the rest of the Bay area, and the parts I've seen are dusty. The people I've heard from there say City like the Pace Commercials where they say "New York City!". It's not a bad thing, just different. Very different.)
Big BUT, at least I dont have to change doctors 22 weeks in. Because that would suck ass. Moving on.
(Whining over. Thank you.)
I took Gnombert on a field trip to Dave's office. Dave is our Marketing director and a big Gators fan (we like him anyway). He has a book shelf full of all manor of Gator and RV parafanaila (we ARE in the RV Industry after all), so I thought Gnombert would like to play over there in Daveland. Here's what it looked like (we all know that blogger hates me, and now that it's in cahoots with photbucket I'm pretty screwed, so please click.)(sorry.)(not suprised.):
Gnombert checks out the RV.
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a250/brandeekins/2006_0915Image0004.jpg
Go Gators!
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a250/brandeekins/2006_0915Image0001.jpg
My hat won't fit in this cart, I think I need another.
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a250/brandeekins/2006_0915Image0002.jpg
Here's to hoping today gets better. Cheers.
Thursday, September 14, 2006
Thursday 13 part 2
Thursday 13
my 13 favorite Gnombert pics:
1. http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a250/brandeekins/2006_0622Image0002.jpg
Behind the cut for those of more, um, sensitive and delicate sensibilities. I swear it was an accident!
2. When Gnombert was very nervous about flying.
3. Drunken Debautchery - Thank you Tony!
4. Mr Gnome goes to Washington! This is my favorite one so far!
5. Oh No! The yarn monster has claimed it's first victim.
6. Everyone should take time to stop and smell the roses!
7. Gnombert reporting for duty!
Well, thats it for now because y'all know... blogger hates me. Let me try with another post to get the rest.
It's a gnomnapping
Here's what he's been up to:
Red Lobster on Sunday because I sure as heck wasnt cooking!
Helping unpack at the Office on Tuesday:
Playing hide and seek on my desk:
Playing with the Pen Pony from Damarys' desk:
I'm sure that he will have more fun in the days to come, and I'll show you that too.
In Babyville: A heartbeat can be heard without specialized listening equipment. Real hair and toenails are beginning to grow. Baby continues to urinate and drink amniotic fluid which is exchanged every 3 hours.
Tuesday, September 12, 2006
Oh what a week!
Before I left, we took Jake to get his 5 yr old pics. Here are a some of my favorites:
Then on Sunday after Church we went to this carnival thing at my Mom's Church. This is my mom and child 'jousting'.
Tuesday we packed the Budget truck and we looked like this (well the girls did anyway):
That's Damarys, Desiree, Lesa, me and Patty (l to r). We headed down to Bonita where I promptly and perpetually kept forgetting my camera. More accuratly I kept forgetting to wear pants with pockets to hold the camera. Here are a couple, with more to come later - when i'm not quite so busy trying to find my desk.
Me with Michelle (and the gnome) - my contact at the hotel and the reason I'm still sane(ish):
I had some more but you know my relationship with Blogger - I'll post more later. It really was a great time with almost everything going smoothly and just a couple problems. The highlights - I found Heaven on a plate, met my next ex-husband and watched a LOT of alcohol being consumed. It's fun being the sober one at times like this.
Monday, September 04, 2006
my last day off for a while...
I'm thrilled that Tracie is coming, it will be so much fun! I usually try to get my room near Damarys' (the admin assistant at the office, and also one of my best friends) but now I dont need to! I feel somewhat bad that I wont get to spend all that much time with her but it is a beautiful resort with lots of fun stuff to do so she wont be too bored... becides - she'll have her crochet with her!
I suppose that's it for you.
Saturday, September 02, 2006
Weird Dreams about knitters
Anyway, I dreamt that I was at my grandmother's house and to the door comes Stephanie Pearl-McFee (www.yarnharlot.ca/blog ). The three of us are talking about knitting and she's whipping out a Christmas stocking out of blue chenille thick and quick (because that is SOO much a Christmas color. Moving on). She was knitting it so fast, it seemed like only 5 stitches and it was bigger than my hand! So she and My grandma were talking and i was desperatly searching for the sock so it could have it's pic taken with her. I was so upset that I couldnt find it. Thats when I woke up.
Weird, I know. Who's next - Laurie? Anyway, sleep tight lovies... sweet dreams!
Friday, September 01, 2006
Whoops - forgot babyville
Baby's body hair, including eyebrows and lashes begin to grow. Small hairs called lanugo cover baby's body and face. Most of it falls out before birth.
I'll do next weeks too... since I wont be here:
- Right now baby's skin is translucent. If you could see the baby you would also be able to see his bones and organs too!
-21 weeks LMP (Note: Legnth is now measured heel to crown instead of crown to rump) Baby weigs 12.70 ounces or 360 grams. Baby is 10.51 inches or 26.7 cm long.
-Baby's getting strong and Mom can feel some movement. This is called quickening
-22 weeks LMP Baby weighs 15.17 ounces or 430 grams and is 10.94 or 27.8 cm long.
Baby news and gnombert
Here's how I did it. When I picked him up from school, I had a printout of the ultrasounds sitting on his seat. He saw it and asked me if it was a boy or girl. I told him to read the word on there (where it says boy). He tried to sound it out, but Thank You English for being difficult for a 5 year old, he couldnt figure it out. So I told him it's a boy and he immediatly looked back at the scan:
Then I told him to look at me and show me what he thought. This is what that looked like:
Trust me, he's thrilled. He's even started calling the Baby Sean - after he told us that because he has a friend named Sean we need to find another name. Silly silly boy.
Anyway, Wed night I went to a crochet thing at Dani's place to show off the baby sono video (Travis claims he has the magic to take the vhs and put it into a media file on our website... once that happens I'll give you the link) which is only about 5 minutes. We also had eating, annoying gnomebert, crocheting, showing off of projects, presents and the picking of the jewelry for my thing next Sat. Here's what it looked like:
The group:
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a250/brandeekins/2006_0830Image0009.jpg
Annoying Gnombert (why yes, that is cake frosting on his hat)(NO, I did not do that to him)(I swear)(I have witnesses)(Tracie, stop laughing):
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a250/brandeekins/2006_0830Image0005.jpg
(sorry, Blogger hates me again apparently)
That's me ALLLLL the way to the right, and that monkey was one of my presents - I also got that baby blanket on the arm from Stephanie - a group gal that MOVED! Anyway, she was with us in spirit, and presents, so it's ok.
Anyway, I am off on Monday and we leave Tuesday for Convention once the mail comes so I'll probably not be able to post until Next Tuesday (yay job that gives us the Monday after Convention off so we can recover). Have a great holiday and week.