Carseat Cover

So here it is- the finished product. This was one of those projects that started out all fun and misled me into thinking- this is way easier than I thought it would be! And then the fun started. The binding was all messed up, the canopy would. not. work. (and still needs some fixing- someday when I have more patience). And then there was the button holes for the straps to fit through. Oh, now those were just plain fun with the puffy backing I used. In the end it worked out- but just a note of advice if you plan to try one of these yourself- have plenty of Dove dark chocolates on hand. It helps.

Now. Just anxiously waiting to try it out. Ah, let the waiting game continue.

And that's all I'll say about that

Disclaimer: Please read this before continuing on with today's post: All of you who read my blog? I know you. (And if I don't well... You know me. And if you don't then you've gotten to know me through my posts, right?) So the following post is not in any way geared toward any of you. Just want to make sure we're clear on that- I appreciate all of your comments and questions and support so much! This rant is strictly directed at the judgemental, nosy strangers who come right out and say stupid things like, "I just want to touch your belly!" Oh! Well, why didn't you just say something? I've been wanting to touch yours too! Seriously. What was your name again?

Probably the most enjoyable part of being pregnant while going to school is meeting all kinds of inquisitive strangers who feel the compelling urge to make some sort of comment about my expanding belly and the baby that resides within. (Please feel the sarcasm here people. I don't know- it's Monday morning and I feel like if you operate like I do you might need it pointed out.)

Anyways. Take the experience I had a couple of weeks ago for an example. I was at clinical and a woman who shall remain anonymous because I have no idea who she is despite the fact that she broke into personal conversation with me within two and a half minutes of meeting her. Of course she commented that I must be due for a baby soon to which I agreed. Then she said all enthusiastically (and I get this all. the. time.), "So is this your first?" Um... No. Fourth.

Her demeanor suddenly changed from over-excited experienced mom who wanted to pass me all kinds of wisdom to judgemental crazy-woman who thought she had some sort of right to basically imply I'd had too many kids already by her standards. Her tone of voice did this cool 180 thing and suddenly she was all serious and belittling. "Oh. Do you have girls or boys?" Two girls and a boy. "Oh. We stopped at two. Our first was a girl and our second was a boy. Maybe if the second would have been a girl too we would have tried for a third." Ooooh... Thanks for the advice- sorry I didn't follow your rules.

And then there was the woman on the elevator who meant well, but... well. In hindsight there would have been a much easier way to deal with her. She took a look at me and said, "Normally I don't say anything but I'm pretty sure I can ask... So, how's the baby?" Oh, fine. (And to think at this point I could have fore-gone the entire conversation by stating,'What baby?!') "Are you excited?" Okay, first off I don't get this question. Well, gee, let's see- Would you like the real answer?! I'm at clinical two hours away from home three weeks before my due date. My back aches, my pants won't stay up, and I got approximately 3 hours of sleep meshed between tossing, turning, contractions, and bathroom breaks last night. So am I excited? Jumping up and down in the elevator, lady, Yeah! Are you? Are you excited today?

She also went on to ask how many kids I had and this time when I answered she shut up completely and we spent the next 8 seconds in silence until the elevator reached her floor. Oh well. I think we could have been real good friends too.

The final thing I will not miss about being pregnant and going to school- the people who mean well but who can't drop the fact that I will be having this baby in the middle of a semester. One girl when she found out said (with much doubt in her voice), "Oh. Well, good luck with that." Thank-you. Thanks, it's all better now because you gave me your well wishes. And another who just couldn't seem to let it go and kept asking questions like, "But how are you going to do it? Do you have other kids? Who will watch the baby?" All this after I had known her for a mere five minutes.

I understand concern. I'm not faulting people who have natural wonder and who offer good wishes- I appreciate that. It's when it comes down to nosy strangers who are only filling their own curiosity by peppering me with a thousand pointless questions that will in no way make their day more complete to which I have a problem.

And, I don't mind questions so much from strangers-- if they could leave their judgements aside. As soon as they find out this is my fourth kid, or if they somehow manage to discover my husband is in nursing school as well, they take that as their cue to start implying that I'm completely nuts. Guess what- here's a newsflash you probably didn't see coming- I think I'm nuts too. But that's for me to decide. Not the stranger in the hospital cafeteria who suddenly feels it's their duty to remind me that I've lost my mind just like one might drop a piece of silverware. Um, m'am? I think you lost your sanity over there by the salad bar. Hah. No, actually I misplaced that about two babies ago and I've been wandering aimlessly ever since, but thanks- maybe that's yours?

So there you have it. My rant on crazy-nosy, judgemental strangers. Apparently people have this fascination with pregnant woman that leads them to ramble off nonsense comments they wouldn't find themselves saying to ordinary passer-by.

Oh well. I can take it. My list of comebacks is increasing with every meeting. I like to think I'm growing wiser.

And- as a footnote to all of you still reading- you have earned the right to call me crazy any time you want. Go for it.

Sewing mis-haps

Grr. Grumble, grumble, mutter, complain.

That carseat cover I mentioned a couple of days ago? It's almost on it's way to being chopped up into something else. That's how sick of it I am. Today I monkeyed around with the canopy- spending far too long trying to get it right... And when, finally, after a couple hours of muttering under my breath and fighting with bias tape... I was ready to try it out.

So, I put the plastic parts back in from the original, excited to be nearly finished- and discovered it does NOT. fit. Somewhere, somehow in cutting the pieces patterned from the original canopy I made some wrong cuts.

Oooh, oh, oh let's just keep this kid-friendly and say I was not impressed. The thing is- it will have to do. I'm not starting over. I'm much too stubborn for that. Perhaps when the steam billowing over my head blows over I might try to modify it a bit, but more than likely it will stay as it is.

At least the actual cover part is working. So far. Still have to put in holes for the belts which I've been putting off till last because I'm terribly afraid of ruining it.

Ah well. You win some, you lose some, right?

One whirlwind week down... Not sure how it can already be Saturday night but it is. I'm catching my breath for a few days before it all begins again.

We took our older two kids to a hockey game tonight while the little one went bumming with Grandma and Grandpa. I was a bit amused by the fact that my kids knew next to nothing about hockey. Who are the guys in the stripes? Is that big truck going to come back and clean the ice? What do those numbers mean up there- 4 and 4?

Ah, gee. Sorry kiddos. Apparently we haven't been to very many hockey games in your young little lives. When Lydia was the only one we went several times that winter. Then they went to a couple games with Ryan last year, but according to him they lost interest as soon as their candy supply ran out. Such good little dedicated fans they are. Tonight they enjoyed it. Of course a nice size box of popcorn split between the two of them probably helped.

We topped off the evening with a trip to Wal-mart for some essentials- needed some thread and bias tape to finish a car seat liner (cover?) I'm working on. When I pulled out the car seat to wash the original cover a few weeks ago my mind suddenly conjured up an idea to sew up something a bit more fresh. It's close to being done and I'm excited with how it's turning out so far. But it did present with it's share of headaches. At one point I felt as if I was doing more ripping out than sewing. Ugh. That's when sewing becomes a (dare I say it?) chore. Maybe I'll post some pictures when it's complete.

I went into my sewing room... er... the kitchen this afternoon to sew and was promptly followed by two little tag-alongs who wanted to sew as well. So... I pulled out the little sewing machine that was mine when I was a kid (a tough little machine!) and cut some squares for them to make little quilts. They actually did really well and even though I got exactly nothing done on my projects they were excited to really put something together. And, admittedly, it was fun for me to see them take up an interest in something that I enjoy so much.

And with that I'm going to call it a night.
G'night.

Here we go...

So. Tomorrow is the begining of the last semester for us. I hate the thought of this break ending, but I'm ready. I think. Even though for the past week I've been going through bouts of dread and anticipation. And fear and excitement. And nervousness that keeps me up at night and... Okay, you get the idea.

The baby clothes are washed, the house is cleaned (well. kind of.), several meals have been cooked and frozen, jam is made, loaves of bread are in the freezer, the sewing machine has been humming along almost nightly since right after Christmas...

Now, three busy weeks and January will be gone before I even have time to register that it was ever really here at all. At least these three weeks should be the busiest weeks until the final three weeks of the semester. And by then the end will be so close I'm not sure I'll really care how busy things might get.

So ready to be done with this. I've been a student waaaay too long, now and I'm ready to get this semester over.

Okay.
Ready now.
Let the craziness begin.

I'm losing

Calling all moms with experience in potty training...

I've met my match. This kid is impossible. Way too old to still be in diapers but so frustratingly stubborn I can hardly handle it.

Yes, I'm well aware that this isn't the best time to start trying to potty train him... But we've tried so many times in the past when timing seemed impeccable. So when he expressed a mild interest last night before going to bed I jumped on it- all set to go with several pairs of undies and multiple changes of pants this morning.

And then we sat. And waited. And waited. And I loaded him up with juice and water and milk. And we waited some more. And I'm slowly going insane. Because he's so stubborn he's squirms around refusing to go on the potty while I just know the minute he gets back in his undies the waterworks will suddenly break loose.

No amount of bribing works. He's been offered trips to Wal-Mart, colorfully wrapped presents to chose from, candy, and several other miscellaneous prizes. He'll gladly put the undies on- his head swirling with all these great offers- but then he refuses. to. go.

Any advice? Besides try again another day- because most likely that is what this is all going to boil down to once again. If there was one part of parenting I could hand over to someone else to deal with- this would by far top the list. In fact, it's so far above anything else on the list it's been granted a super-special list all of it's own.

Argh.

This Zoo is a Place

So the excellent plan of getting masses of meals put together today crumpled when Ryan got called in to work. And he got called in for tomorrow to, so we're on hold. I refuse to do it all myself. Hey. It was his idea, after all! His hours are unpredictable, but I'm always so thankful he has a job!

I did manage to get some strawberry and blueberry jam made this afternoon- a project that somehow slipped into the evening hours and managed to leave me with three overly rambunctious kids. Eep. The noise level in this house has risen steadily since about 4 p.m. and being the tired mom that I keep glancing at the clock wondering if it's time to tuck them into their beds yet.

Jack & Lydia are running around the house finding "great hiding spots" to hide from Hannah. And the funny thing is- Hannah's just got her own plan going on and could care less about finding her siblings. In fact, I'm quite sure that she doesn't have a clue she's apparently supposed to be seeking out the other two. Yet every few seconds I hear shrieks of, "She's gonnna find us! Come on! Let's go find a secret hiding spot so she can't find us!" Brilliant. You can't lose at this game.

Speaking of games- the kids got a few for Christmas and we've been playing them a bit. I love the simplicity and short time frame of games that have colors rather than numbers on the dice and approximately two rules to follow.

Uhh. Uh-oh. The kids have now moved on and are declaring themselves "Tiggers". They bounce on their tails, Lydia says, Watch me. I'll bounce on my tail, as she poses at the edge of the couch. This might end dangerously. Okay, somehow she landed on her head but bounced up saying, "I'm okay! I'm okay! I'm like a real tigger!"

Next up, it's Jack. His landing wasn't quite as happy as he landed on a little fence for his farm set. And as he held his foot in pain I couldn't resist another teaching moment from the school of Mom- That's what happens when you don't pick up your toys. And the lesson once again falls upon deaf ears as he looks at me oddly and hops back up on the couch.

Now here comes Hannah over the back of the couch. Who traded these kids in for a gang of wild monkeys while I wasn't looking? Perhaps a bit more startling and mysterious- how is it that no one has broken a bone yet today? Excuse me while I knock on wood.

Guess what kids. Bedtime is coming early tonight. (There is a bonus to dark winter evenings after all- they never quite know exactly when their bedtime is... As soon as it's dark they declare it must be 'middle of the night'. I fear this isn't going to work for too many more years.)

Yes, yes, I hear you. I AM appreciating these days.

What Mondays were meant for

What a way to start off the first week of the New Year! Ryan finally had a day off of work so we overhauled our house trying to get it clean and (somewhat) organized before the new semester begins next week. I'm still amazed at just how much can get accomplished in a day!

Ryan defrosted the freezer in the basement and scrubbed it out so tomorrow we're planning to put together as many meals as we can fit in there to make that daily task easier after the baby is born. For a little while anyways. I'm lucky that Ryan likes to cook- so I'll let him take care of most of that while I make some loaves of bread and some jam from all the berries that were hiding in the depths of the freezer.

Why is it that it always seems it's the impending birth of a new baby that makes us kick into action around here? Seriously, besides right before the birth of my other children the only other time I cleaned my house this well is when I was hosting a shower here. A little bit more of this cleaning-frenzy would be nice a few times a year anyways.

It doesn't hurt that I've got a lot of nerves firing around inside of me right now due to school. I know once this semester begins, things will fall into place but right now I can't help wondering how everything is going to work out. In other words, now might be a bad time to ask, but, uh... What have I gotten myself into?! I just have to keep reminding myself: what is meant to be will be. And if it's all meant to work out, it will.

Four months. Four short months left in this crazy journey through school. So apprently scrubbing my house from top to bottom and sewing baby stuff like I'll never touch my machine again is how I deal with the nerves.

I'm going a bit crazy- what else is new?

Ringing in 2010

Welcome 2010!

January, and a whole new year, I am ready for you.

{I hope}

So many changes to look forward to this year.

So much to get done, so many little things to enjoy.

A new addition, a graduation, and so much in between.

Hope.

Happiness.

Health.

Dreams and aspirations.

Faith, family, and friends.

Looking forward, thinking back,

Remembering,

And moving on.

Not giving up,

Not letting go.

Holding tight to those we love.

New paths to travel,

New ways to explore,

While keeping old roads open.

Quiet times,

Celebrations,

Joy in simple moments.

May your new year be filled with all of this and more.

Let the next chapter begin!