Tomorrow's Memories

7 Reasons You Should Hire a Knitter

2014-04-24T01:51:00.000-04:00

Having recently updated my resume just because it's good practice to do so, I realized that a lot of the positive attributes I found myself listing can be attributed to being a knitter. Since I love knitting and a number of my older posts clearly indicate that, I've comprised this list to help all potential employers out there not be so quick to dismiss that "knitting" blurb listed under someone's hobbies.

(Please remember these are generalizations and my own observations and not meant to paint all knitters with a broad brush. Everyone is unique and special and there will be knitters who don't exactly mesh with what I've written and that is ok!)

7. Attention to detail

Knitting any project whether a simple baby blanket or lace shawl requires the knitter to have a certain way of looking at even the smallest details. An entire pattern, even a simple one, can be thrown off by just a single stitch out of place. An experienced knitter will be able to find and fix a mistake without anyone else being the wiser once the project is finished. The knitter can also see if there's a mistake in the pattern as well, experience tells the knitter something won't look right and they'll be able to avoid the problem.

6. Patience

Many projects are time consuming, especially large projects or projects using a thinner yarn (socks, shawls, etc.). Blankets knit with a thick yarn can take anywhere from hours to weeks or months to finish. One sock could take a month or longer to complete. "Instant gratification" for a knitter means a project you can complete in a weekend, it is a very rare project indeed that can be started and finished in one day. A lot of projects also require some type of finishing work even after the pattern is complete. Ends of new stands of yarn need to be woven in, or the finished object (affectionately called an "FO") needs to be blocked. Blocking involves soaking/misting/steaming the object with water then physically shaping it and waiting for it to dry. Wool can take a while to dry.

5. Giving Nature

Generally, people who are knitters will knit gifts for their friends, family, or co-workers. I don't know a knitter who has kept every single thing they've made, except maybe a brand new knitter who has only just finished their first scarf. This type of person makes a great employee for a variety of reasons but e biggest one is that they care about the people around them. Serious, they spend hours/days/weeks/months in a project just to give it away and not enjoy it themselves! Yarn isn't cheap, even "cheap" yarn isn't cheap, and time is the most precious commodity of all, knitters freely and happily give both to others.

4. Adaptable

A quick look through projects on Ravelry.com and you'll start to see a trend. Many projects contain notes about modifications (or "mods") made to the pattern by the knitter. While newbies may follow a pattern exactly (nothing wrong with that!), many experienced knitters will modify a pattern to suit their needs as they go along if something doesn't look or fit quite how they'd like. Knitters can also look through a pattern and plan their modifications out, a great example is sock patterns and heels. There are many different ways to knit a heel (none of them right or wrong) and a knitter can choose what works for them based on yarn, color, wearer's preference (if not themselves), speed to knit, etc. So many options exist and knitters make good use of them all!

3. Grateful/Appreciative

Knitters know how long it takes them to complete projects. They understand how much work goes into lengthy projects. Everyone loves handmade gifts, everyone knows that a great deal of time and care went into them, but knitters recognize exactly how much work went into something and are especially grateful when the same care is lavished on them.

2. Forethought/Planning

Many projects require more than just the thought "Gee, I'd like a scarf." How much yarn is required? Will there be multiple colors? What size and type of needles are needed? More than one size/type of needle? Often times, even though the pattern will tell the knitter most of these things, variations will occur as everyone knits differently. Most people even knit differently depending on the type of needle or brand of yarn. This difference is caused by the tension of the yarn as it is held by the knitter and is called "gauge." A gauge swatch is an important part of a project, even though it rarely ever makes it into the final product. A swatch is essentially practice, the knitter ideally uses the same yarn and needles as they intend to use for a project and makes a small piece of sample fabric. Most often this is a square, but sometimes it is a tube or miniature sock or lacework. Gauge is important when sizing is important, which is usually the case in garments or lace.

1. The Bigger Picture

Because of the nature of knitting, a knitter has the ability to see the bigger picture even when in the middle of minutia. Knitting is creating a whole something (sock, shawl, blanket, sweater, whatever) out of a combination of stitches. Each stitch has it's place in the row, each row it's place in the pattern, and together they all form the finished object. A knitter looks at an unwound hank of yarn and sees not just the yarn but the potential of what the yarn can become. A knitter looks at the first few stitches of a sock cuff and sees the whole sock. One stitch among many might not seem important until it's gone, then the hole that's left is obvious. One stitch supports the other stitches around it, conversely one stitch requires the support of others. No project in the world is one stitch on it's own but the culmination of hundreds (or thousands or hundreds of thousands) of stitches working together. The same can be said of employees within an organization.

Tower!

2013-08-31T08:37:00.001-04:00

So much for my goal of posting every week! I'm barely getting this one in for the month of August! We have been crazy busy all summer, despite not going to the pool very much, only going to the zoo (thanks for the membership Mom!) once so far due to weather and work schedules, and not going on vacations. I've been busy at work, not to mention any time I get some leave saved up someone gets sick and I need to stay home (though one time it was because Noah decided 0200 was a great time to play for two hours and I needed some extra sleep), so other than the random Monday holidays, I haven't taken much time off. I'm hoping to take time off around Thanksgiving, we'll see what's the in budget for travel first though.

Update on the boys! Joey is speaking so many words now, and even putting together (not just copying) 2-3 word sentences! It's so cute and so much fun, I love that he's able to better tell us things now. He still shuts down verbally when he's upset, and his meltdowns have gotten a lot worse (and more difficult to diffuse), so I guess he's definitely a full-fledged toddler! He surprises us everyday with what he knows and can do/understand and he loooooves to be helpful. I love having a Mommy's Little Helper, he likes to help me put laundry in the dryer, he puts dirty laundry in the baskets (sometimes mixes with clean but that's ok, the contribution is all I care about), and he even helps clean up his toys. I'm trying especially to make sure when we visit friends for playdates that he helps clean up a little bit, just so that he learns he can't go somewhere, be Hurricane Joey, then leave without helping. He doesn't protest though, sometimes I think he makes messes specifically to clean them up ;) He knows some colors and can say some of the names (my favorites are "purby" for purple and "yelgween" for either yellow or green), he's learning to count but at this point it's only repeating what he hears. He is still a picky eater though to his credit he will at least *try* things we give him. Fruits and veggies are difficult though knowing me and my eating habits, that's really not a surprise. I'm trying to do better, and I'm also finding recipes where I can sneak things in ;) Joey likes building towers and knocking them down, that's currently what is keeping him occupied while I type!

Noah's current mission in life is to eat everything off the floor, including (but not limited to) crumbs, dog hair, and leaves. He is pulling himself up on everything in sight, his latest feat was pulling to standing in the middle of the floor using only my legs to push up on--he almost made it too! He is quite the little chatterbox now, has a whole range of syllables ("ma-ma" was first though, makes me so proud!) and he is quick to let us know when he is displeased with something! Overall he's pretty laid back and a bit more independent than Joey was at this age (just hit 9mo a week or so ago) but he's got his snuggly moments too. Mommy is still the boys' favorite parent and Noah is extra clingy when I get home from work and on weekends. It's a good thing I enjoy babywearing because otherwise nothing would ever get done when I'm at home! I like being able to strap the baby to my back and get a few chores done. Noah likes it too, lately that's been the only way he gets a decent nap. For a little while we were in the throws of the 9 Month Sleep Regression, but I think we're finally coming out of it. There were a couple weeks where his naps lasted 15-20 minutes if we were lucky and he was up almost every hour at night to nurse (if he wasn't then it was every 2 hours + Joey would wake up and want to nurse too). The past few nights have been similar but a little bit better. Normally he's a very good sleeper and normally he doesn't need to be on the boob to sleep, that's how I figured something developmental was going on (no signs of teeth, no extra drool or messy diapers or swollen gums). We are still going strong on the cloth diapers! It took us a whole two months, if not longer, to go through a box of disposables from BJ's! Normally we go a box a month with Noah (Joey is a box every 1.5 months, give or take) so by using cloth at home during the day (I use them when I'm home on the weekends and we go out, but I told Dan he doesn't have to use them for out-and-about) we cut our disposable usage in HALF! I'm hoping next month we can do even better, we had a couple of rashes this past month so he was in disposables for a few days every couple of weeks.

That's it for now, the boys are running around like nuts and Dan is still sleeping and Noah is getting ready for a nap. I'd like to shower but I would also like to nap, last night was not a good sleep night for Noah or Joey...

Ordinary Days

2013-07-02T05:11:00.001-04:00

I have a tendency to wait until there is something I deem interesting going on in our lives before I'll sit down to write a blog post. I forget that more often than not, the posts I go back to read later are the ones where I simply talked about an ordinary day or one small event that might not mean much to anybody else but meant the world to me. So, with renewed determination to post more regularly, and because I'm on a goal-setting trend, I would like to try and post something about us on Tuesdays (my knitting posts don't count, plus those are usually on a Wednesday or Friday) and if there's nothing major going on, I will think back over the week and pick something that made me happy or sad or made me think. My days are flying by one into the other and my boys are getting big so fast I feel like I come home from work and they're taller than when I left in the morning! I hope that by choosing something to focus on, it will help me slow down and cherish the little things that we sometimes don't realize we love until they're gone.

Joey's gone back to his milk-spitting thing, I though maybe his new Cars sippy cups would deter him but that's no longer the case. I tried to focus his spitting by showing him how in the bathroom sink while we brush our teeth, his major interest there is the faucet and any bubbles circling the drain. The other day, right before bed, he was too quiet. I should have been suspicious, but I was tired and Dan was just home from work and we were talking about our day. I was about to go into the bathroom to change and brush my teeth when I saw Joey in his room with his mouth up to one of his bigger toys. I thought he was licking it but on closer inspection, he was putting his mouth up to it and letting the milk dribble down it. There was a rather large puddle at the bottom of this toy (thankfully it didn't hurt the toy). I have no idea why he does this with milk and not water, maybe because the water is clear it's harder to watch as he does this? Anyway, with a major show of restraint on my part (I find it very difficult to exude my normal amount of patience at the end of a work day), I firmly told him "no spitting", took his cup, and gave him a wet washcloth and made him clean it up. I think for a normal toddler that would have been punishment, but he likes cleaning and did a surprisingly good job at getting all the milk up, so he might have considered it an award. Oh well, at least I didn't have to clean it up while he laughed or something.

Noah is still not-quite-crawling. He can get to what he wants through either rolling or scootching, but not full on crawling yet so we're enjoying his limited mobility while we can. Joey was a "late" crawler/walker but he never got up on his hands and knees doing the rocking thing that Noah started doing a couple months ago (which is ADORABLE, omg!), so I thought maybe Noah would crawl earlier than Joey. Nope, still content just sitting or rocking lol. He's highly motivated by the iPad, even when it's off he likes looking at his reflection. Noah can sit himself up from the crawling position though so that's something new! He also just recently figured out how to clap and does it a lot when he knows we're watchiing, little showoff. I just love this age, he's old enough to interact with, but still very much a rolly-polly, non-mobile baby. I do nothing but snuggle and kiss his chub when I get home from work most days.

I love how excited the boys are to see me when I get home. Noah sits there and screetches his happiness (we call it "baby pterodactyl") and Joey runs around showing me all his toys like I haven't been home for days/weeks/months and didn't just play with that toy with him the night before. Depending on how their day went, if both boys need a nap, we'll pile into the big bed and nurse until we all fall asleep. Considering how early I get up for work, and how often I'm woken up in the middle of the night to nurse, naps are still a very, very good thing.

This spot is commonly referred to among co-sleepers/bed-sharing parents as "the mommy hole"--which when you type it out looks terrible, but we all get a laugh ;)

This test video brought to you by iSight...

2013-06-23T15:30:00.000-04:00

We'll see if I can more regularly post utilizing as a video blogger...

WIPW: Molly, Sunshine, and a Surprise!

2013-06-05T00:30:00.000-04:00

I'm happy to say that I have made some progress on Molly's first sleeve, albeit minimal progress at best, I'm doing what I can with two little boys underfoot. It's primarily my car-knitting project because the sleeves are easy enough to remember without looking at the pattern constantly like my other WIPs. I chose the largest size to accommodate *ahem* the ladies if you catch my drift, however the current circumference of the sleeve is definitely much larger than my arm so I foresee extra decreases in my future to prevent my skinny arms from swimming in them later. I'm still loving this project, it's been a joy to knit and the yarn, oh the yarn! I can't say enough how much I adore knitting with Madelinetosh. It's like knitting with an odd combo of butter (smooth) and a cloud (light) but oh so magically delicious!

My sleeve stripes line up perfectly so far!

Next up: When Skies Are Gray. This by far the most intricate lace pattern I've done, but now that I have a couple of the repeats down, I'm happy to say it's gotten at little easier to work. I can actually read the stitches much more easily AND can hold a conversation while working the chart (*most* of the time!), a great feat indeed! I have to admit that I balked at the direction "work 38 repeats of these twelve rows" because the 6 repeats I did for Umaro were fun but seemed to go on forever! Granted the Umaro repeats were 28 rows compared to Porcellana's 12 rows, but still, after a while no matter how fun the rows, I fear that repeats will get tiresome. This is my pump-time project, on average I can get through 3 rows per session which gets me close to one repeat at week give or take an off day. The Malabrigo is crazy soft! It does have a tendency to felt to itself and fuzz like crazy after it's been knit but overall it's a lovely yarn and I love that I didn't have to pay for it ;)

This is my surprise! A few of the moms in my due date club from Noah (shout out to my Turkey Mamas! <3 you all!) did a Mother's Day "secret sister" gift swap and this is what my partner got me! It's a gorgeous hank of worsted weight wool. I'm waiting for the perfect pattern to appear to me before this beauty is on my needles. The colors are super fun so I need something truly worthy of the yarn to properly show off the wonderful colorway (appropriately called "Treefrog").

I do also have a pair of socks on my needles in my first ever attempt at two-at-a-time and toe-up socks, I just don't have a picture yet. I decided to size them for toddler feet because I CO the pattern mainly to practice the magic loop for socks technique and figured a smaller size would get me through a whole pair more quickly than my-sized socks. I anticipate them being pretty darn adorable.

As always, don't forget to check out Tami's for more awesome WIPs! Keep up the good work everyone!

WIPW: Sunshine When Skies Are Gray

2013-05-22T18:57:00.000-04:00

Last week I CO the Porcellana Cowl. I won a skein of Malabrigo at Eat.Sleep.Knit's store earlier this month and I chose the lace weight in their happy Sauterne colorway. As soon as Knit Picks released the cowl pattern, I knew that's what I wanted to knit the Malabrigo into! I don't get much time to work on it, though this week I made more progress than last because I brought it into work to knit while I pump. I had a bumpy start, which I also did with my Peacock Shawl last year, though this was not nearly as frustrating. Initially, I had a dropped YO or two, frogged once and restarted. My second attempt was much better, my first hiccup was just not reading the chart and stitches quite right, after that it was just a missed YO but because I already had a few rows established, I was able to find where it was supposed to go and pick it up. I finished row 11 (12 rows in the repeats) at my last pump session of the day, so the pattern you see is what repeats 37 more times, oy!

I'm happy to show off Molly again! Substantial progress was made in the car driving from MD to GA and this past weekend, thanks to lots of knitting-while-pumping and putting off starting Pocellana, I grafted my shoulder panels to the back panels! I learned two things:

1. Mattress stitch is cool
2. Don't learn a new skill on diagonal-biased material unless the new skill accounts for the diagonal.

Don't forget to check out Tami's!

My panels didn't quite graft evenly...

Our First Family Vacation! (Part 1)

2013-05-18T22:05:00.002-04:00

Chillin' on our Atlanta hotel

Where to begin with our first family trip/vacation?

I've mentioned Theo's wedding a couple of times now. She currently lives about 10 hours away from us (driving with breaks) so I knew it would be an interesting trip for us to say the least. One thing that I absolutely love about Dan is when I mentioned where the wedding would be, he didn't say "maybe we'll go", he said "when we go". There was never a doubt that we wouldn't get there, despite having two young kids in car seats for a very long drive.

The plan took some working out but eventually we had it pretty much nailed down: leave really late (or early depending on how you look at it) Thursday night and spend most of the drive while the boys are sleeping, check into the hotel, take a nap, cruise around the city Friday and Saturday, drive over to the destination town 2 hours outside the city Saturday evening, go to wedding Sunday morning, head home, stop halfway to see Dan's grandparents, spend the night, drive the rest of the way home Monday. The first leg of our journey took much longer than anticipated due to an unscheduled stop at Wal Mart. What I had not considered was how little I would be nursing during the trip and I didn't pack my manual pump to help with that. Noah had switched into what I call "night time sleepy mode" for the majority of the ride down and slept A LOT. He only ever nursed from one side when we made our planned pit stops, so that left me getting full pretty quickly on the other side. Not having smartphones, I used my GPS to locate a Wal Mart not too far off the highway and we headed for it. Joey had also been upset when he wasn't allowed to play in the driver's seat anymore and had to go back into his car seat, so the other idea behind justifying the Wal Mart stop was to get him a toy steering wheel to amuse him.

Checking out the Cow-Nose stingrays.

We found the Wal Mart, I got the manual pump and a steering wheel for Joey (that sang and lit up, so he liked that--not as much as the actual driver's seat but enough to distract him for a while). We were finally back on the road. We got to our hotel much later than we thought but just after the earliest check-in time so that worked out in our favor. Dan decided to lie down and attempt to nap while I let Joey run around and play in our hotel room. Noah was amused by the pack 'n play because we hadn't used it for him yet, so that was new for him too. One of the cool papers we found in the hotel lobby was a website where you could order take-out from several local restaurants, and this website had delivery drivers who would bring it to your hotel room! The fee was pretty small ($5 per restaurant) and from what I could tell the prices of the food were about the same, so rather than put everybody back in the car or order potentially more expensive room service, we tried this cool service. Apparently there was traffic downtown and the driver was a bit delayed (I got a phone call apologizing) but our food arrived and still warm so we were happy.

Watching a diver putting food down for the fish.

The next day, we went to the Georgia Aquarium which was AMAZING to say the least! Dan and I had gone there on our honeymoon but because of delayed flights and traffic, we barely got there an hour before closing and didn't get to see much.

BELUGAS!

Whale Shark!

Manta Ray!

Helping push.

Joey's turn on my back!

Noah likes the stroller too!

FO Friday!

2013-05-03T17:40:00.001-04:00

Fresh off the needles a few minutes ago! My Back To Work Socks :)

I promise better pictures will be coming. Don't forget to check out Tami's! http://tamisamis.blogspot.com/

Scourge of the Sea Monster!

2013-04-27T08:29:00.001-04:00

I'm currently giving Joey a bath. Right now, "giving Joey a bath" typically means "fill the tub with water and let Joey burn off energy by playing" and if I'm lucky I can hit him with some shampoo and soap when he's too busy to notice. The difference in baths between the two boys is amusing. I love it for both though. Joey at Noah's age was content to sit there and either suck on a washcloth or fall asleep, but Noah absolutely LOVES kicking all the water out of the baby tub! He's not still a minute when it's his turn for a bath! I've abandoned the froggy bath buddy because he doesn't need it to keep warm anymore, he's constantly kicking warm water up onto himself!

Joey likes splashing too, but much differently. He also loves screaming, that's not limited to baths though, he screams/yells all the time. I think it's a toddler thing, but it could just be a Joey thing.

Noah is now 5 months old and I'm still trying to figure out how these months have flown by so quickly! He is rolling all over the place, and prefers to sleep on his side or tummy because that's how I typically find him sleeping now! He can push himself up 90 degrees (a milestone we check off at pedi appointments) and Dan even caught him up on hands and knees once so far! He fell right down but at least Dan saw him do it! The two bottom teeth have poked through and the drooling has started back up again so I've got my eye on his top gums. I am counting my blessings that teething has not changed his sleep patterns/habits like it did with Joey. Noah is definitely more in line with other babies when it comes to teething symptoms, he's a little extra fussy sometimes, drooling a lot, and chewing on everything. Joey just chewed on everything and his sleep was disrupted (not to mention he wanted to nurse all. night. long.). Of my two, Noah is the better sleeper so far *knock on wood*. He is approaching the age where Joey stopped sleeping well, so we'll see what happens over the next few weeks. 5 months is an age where they start building "sleep associations" that can take a long time to change if you fall into habits that you aren't always going to want to maintain. I don't want to say "bad habits" because nursing to sleep is a nice way to unwind and reconnect and I don't mind nursing either of them to sleep, but if you want to be able to rock them and just put them down and you're not there yet, around 5 months is the time you want to start moving.

Joey's sleep associations are better than they used to be for sure. We're still co-sleeping (which I don't mind so much since I'm working full time, I get all my snuggles in while I can) and there are nights where Joey wakes up while I'm nursing Noah and has to wait. Sometimes he just lies back down and that's it, other times he fusses, still other times he fusses and gets himself really worked up to the point where Dan has to take him out before he wakes up Noah. There used to be nights where if he didn't nurse the he didn't go back down (and there was almost always a meltdown), so forward progress has definitely been made. We're using our upcoming trip to Georgia to see how well he does in his own bed. I'm not sure how well this will work since his routines will be thrown completely off in addition to already being in a not normal place. I'm thinking if he does well, then great! If not, then I won't completely blame being in his own bed since there are plenty of other factors that could contribute to a wakeful night.

Joey says so many words now! He's in a "parrot" phase where he will repeat things we say but he will also initiate words as well. About 90% of his words we only know what he means because of context because he doesn't say them very clearly but I know that will come with time and practice. Still no real sentences (besides things like "bye daddy") and he has yet to call me anything specifically. He says "Daddy" to Dan and in reference to Dan all the time, but he hasn't said "Mama" or "Mom" or "Mommy" or anything for me. Nada. We have no idea if it's on purpose because I'm at work all day or what. The "M" sound isn't one of his more frequent sounds, but I know he CAN do it (he points to my boobs and sometimes will say "oms" because we call them "nom-noms", he will also say "me" when he wants something). My favorite things he says are things we've been coaching him on and he FINALLY will say now! He does a lot of the typical "what does a cow say?"/"moo!" stuff, so for months I've been saying, "What does a zombie say?" and trying to get him to say "Brains!" in response. He only recently actually started responding to that one, he used to just smile when we said "brains" because he thought it was funny. I will also ask "What does a pirate say?" and he'll say, "Arrr!" because there was an episode of the Backyardigans about pirates and they literally spent the whole episode singing "A pirate says 'arrr'" so Joey learned that one pretty quick.

WIPW: As The Heel Turns...Again!

2013-04-24T05:20:00.006-04:00

Yes, another post like Tami's about WIPs, I promise I'll do a family update soon!

After finishing my Classy Cardi, I once again turned my attention back to my lovely socks. While I've already knit two Christmas stockings, which are basically really big socks, this pattern was my first adventure into heel flaps, turning the heel, and knitting to "two inches shorter than desired length". I'm exceedingly happy with how quick, fun, and easy this pattern is and how my socks are coming out. I'm so happy that I'm already planning my next pair and hope to knit them two-at-a-time.

I'm currently just past the gusset after turning the heel, I finished the decreases yesterday and I'm now "knitting all the stitches as they appear" until it's time to start the toe decreases. This part went quickly with the first sock and I'm knitting the second one faster than that. I'm not sure if it's because I'm so close to finishing or if I'm just that much quicker this time around.

Also still on the needles, and will undoubtedly be the subject of many more WIPW posts to come, Molly! Progress continues slowly partially due to the fact that each row is 217 stitches and partially due to working full time and having two kids under the age of two. The infrequent moments I steal to knit throughout the week are still so much fun, I love this pattern and this yarn! I'm just about finished the second set of stripes (which is actually the third if you count each panel as a set since they were separated when I first worked them). I don't have the pattern in front of me, but I know that shortly after the next set of stripes I will start dividing for arm holes. It may take me just as long to knit this pattern as I spent oogling it before getting the yarn, but that's ok, everything about it is worth savoring.

Where the panels were joined together, may have to go back and tighten.

Right panel close up.

WIPW: Hello Molly!

2013-04-03T19:58:00.001-04:00

I give you the beginning of the right panel of Molly, my Delancy Cardigan! I'm now on the start of the left panel (they get joined before the next set of stripes) and Righty is hanging out on my extra long cable to keep me motivated! I'm knitting with Tosh DK (in "Cloak" and "Molly Ringwald", thus the name) and it is an absolute dream. I'm totally in love with anything Madelinetosh, so I might be a bit biased, but it's still amazing to knit with. This is my first real DK weight project and I even took the time to swatch! Turns out I needed the recommended size (US 8), in spite of my loose gauge after changing from a thrower to a picker. I'm still glad I swatched, initially I was assuming I'd have to go down a size or two, but since I didn't I shouldn't have to make any mods/adjustments.

I have drooled over this pattern for months. Gone over color combinations using the color picker on Eat.Sleep.Knit.com's site. I've envied every wearer of an FO on the projects page of Ravelry. Finally, finally, thanks to our nice tax return and my comitment to finish my other cardi, last weekend I CO Molly. What little chance I've had to knit has been relaxing and enjoyable (except the part where I wasn't paying attention and only did 2 CC stripes instead of 3 and went like 6 rows back into MC before I'd realized what I'd done, oops). We have a long road trip ahead of us in a month to visit SOMEONE and celebrate her wedding (*cough*Theo*cough*) so I anticipate making loads of progress in the car. I'm doing something new on this project: weaving in ends as I go. It's amazing and feels so much more secure than when I go back and use a tapestry needle. I first looked at directions for this a long time ago while I was knitting my second-ever-project, but the pictures made it look more complicated than I was ready for so I put it out of my mind and didn't ever really think about it again. Until Molly. I should have remembered it sooner. Pretty much if you've done any kind of colorwork, you can weave as you go, that's all there is to it.

That's all for now, I managed to type this whole thing one-handed while holding a baby, go me! Check out Tami's for more WIPs!

FO Friday: Just in time for Spring

2013-03-22T00:30:00.000-04:00

Just in time for warm weather to come around, I finished my cabled wrist/armwarmers. Yes, these are the very same ones you read about Wednesday. They are that quick. Seeing as I don't know when I'll BO my next FO, enjoy fancy pictures of these mitts :)

I did a few rounds of st st on the thumbs before the 2x2 ribbing. I also only did 6 rounds of ribbing to keep it proportional-looking with the rest of the glove.

Tubular CO looks so good, so professional!

Don't forget to stop by Tami's for more lovely FOs!

WIPW: Sweet Georgia Cables!

2013-03-20T05:02:00.000-04:00

I am working on what is officially my second pair of wrist warmers. My first pair was little more than just a knitted tube with a thumb gusset. That's actually exactly what they were. There was some garter stitch at the beginning and end, but the rest was plain stockinette with no shaping at all. These are ever so much more delightful, both to knit and in appearance! The pattern is Vancouver Fog and the yarn is Sweet Georgia Yarn's worsted weight, colorway Boysenberry.

Technically there's not really any shaping with these gloves either, the difference though is that I know about gauge now. And these are supposed to be smaller and stretch to fit your hands. I did learn a new skill with these bad boys though: the tubular cast on. O. M. G. this is one of the most beautiful cast-ons that I have ever done. So professional-looking! I will confess that I did not bother to do the Surprisingly Stretchy BO because they're bottom-up, my fingers had plenty of space and didn't really need the extra stretch at the end.

They knit up sooooo quickly. And if the working mother of two children under two says something knits up quickly, you best believe it! I can manage to do nearly a whole mitt in a single weekend, a major feat at my house currently! The first mitt is finished and is now awaiting it's nearly-done mate. I'm on the thumb increases, the end is near! I'm almost sorry Spring and warmer weather are close and I won't be able to get much wear out of them...almost ;)

In other news, progress on the Classy Cardi continues. Slowly, but it continues. I'm hopeful to have it finished by May so I can CO another project either before we leave or in the car as we drive down to visit Theo :) I'll get more use out of this project than the mitts because the AC in my office is brutally cold in the Summer. This will definitely be a year-round FO, if I can ever manage to actually finish.

Thanks for stopping by, don't forget to hit up Tami's!

Ultra Mega Extreme Update!

2013-03-18T20:04:00.001-04:00

It's been far too long since a proper update. This is mostly due to the fact that I dislike typing with one hand. I can do it, but the slower-than-normal pace frustrates me, especially on the touch-screen of the iPad.

Noah is getting so big!!! This picture is outdated because he had his 4 Month appointment last Friday (he'll actually be 4 months tomorrow). I need to do the next picture soon, before I know it 5mo will be here!

Noah is no longer a heathen! He was finally baptized on March 2nd, which was itself awesome, but what made it really unique was we held it on a "Popeless Saturday in Lent". Because Benedict XVI stepped down, at the time Noah was baptized the conclave had not met yet to start the election for the next Pope. Not a whole lot of sacraments happen during Lent, since we're supposed to be sacrificing and preparing ourselves for Easter, but babies are allowed to be baptized pretty much whenever, so Noah got his first sacrament during Lent. Our favorite priest Fr. Cibelli was able to come down and administer the sacrament for us again, he did Joey's and he con-celebrated our wedding so we have this wonderful tradition of priestly continuity as we've begun our family and as we've grown together in the faith.

Family picture!


Joey looked snazzy in his suit from Aunt Cheryl!

I can't believe how big the boys are getting! Joey has more teeth than I'm comfortable holding his mouth open so I can count and Noah can roll over from back to tummy! They are both really good together, though you can tell that Noah does things just to keep Joey from doing them (nom-noms anyone? Noah totally fusses so he can nurse instead of Joey). He's also on the verge of being able to sit on his own, he can sit propped but is oh-so-close to doing it all by himself. Joey just yesterday showed us that he knows what a train says. We were over at Dan's parents' house, he was playing with trains and we hear him going "choo-choo!", we had no idea he even know that was the sound they made! Sure he watches Thomas the Tank Engine, but they use the actual whistle sound effects and we say "trains", we don't say "choo-choos".

Oh and the running. The running everywhere. The running from one room to the other 3 feet away. The running around the corner. The running in place. Joey has two speeds: Fast and Faster. That's it. He simply must run EVERYWHERE. Except, thankfully, when we're out in public. He is currently very, very good at holding hands and walking right by me or Dan. We still don't trust him in parking lots, but we're slowly letting him walk next to us more and more.

Noah is wearing 6mo sized clothing, some stuff is even 6-9mo! He's right about where Joey was clothing-wise, but I keep telling Dan I think he's chubbier than J. It's hard working full time and being away from them so much, I really miss them and I'm glad that I can keep busy otherwise I would be absolutely miserable all the time!

Kind of a Good Hurt

2013-03-09T13:00:00.001-05:00

Motherhood is painful.

For many the pain starts long before the child is in their arms. Whether it's another negative pregnancy test, morning sickness, or watching your child grow through pictures until the papers come through saying it's time to pick them up. The pain doesn't stop when you're holding them close, it only gets worse. Every news story takes on a whole new meaning, what if that had been MY child that was injured, or even worse, killed?

Sleepless nights don't stop when they get older. Toddlers cutting molars need comforting too. You're up rocking them when their ears hurt from infection and wishing to take their pain away, crying when you realize you're doing all you can and it's not enough. What parent wouldn't happily shoulder their child's pain to keep them from suffering?

Then there's pure, unadulterated joy. Your baby looks at you and smiles for the first time, and you know it's not gas, that smile is totally for you. The look of pride on your son's face when he takes his first steps. All that pain is washed away, if only for one perfect moment, when your child hugs you.

Motherhood hurts, but it's kind of a good hurt.

My breastfeeding tattoo.

My third tattoo is a modified version of the international breastfeeding symbol. I got it to pay tribute to the special relationship I have with my boys but also as a badge of honor for all that I've been through on my journey through. Tattoos are kind of like being a mom, they hurt for a while in the beginning, but when all is said and done, you're left with something beautiful that you can be proud of.

Happiness is: A big box of yarn!

2013-02-19T16:56:00.001-05:00

It's here!

*Swoon*

Dream in Color Classy in Some Summer Sky to finish my cardi

Sweet Georgia Yarn worsted in Boysenberry for some fingerless gloves

Tosh DK for my striped sweater (had them wind it all for me)

My Yarnathon Welcome Packet, mini skeins: Dream in Color Everlasting Sock and Shibuis Staccato Sock

New Harmony tips! Size 6's and some more cables

Oh the difference 25 yards will make!

Mondays

2013-02-18T20:00:00.000-05:00

Today was a good day :)

Despite being stuck at the grocery store for an hour with a flat tire waiting for Dan to come rescue me (though he did get to use his cool air pump thing that plugs in to the cigarette lighter). I did find out that the international aisle at Shoppers has some good stuff.

As The Heel Turns

2013-02-15T05:16:00.001-05:00

My BFF over at Arcaneknits joined this cool Work in Progress Wednesday thing so I decided I wanted to play too, even though it's now Friday! If you're just joining me, hello and thanks for stopping by!

Currently on my needles: A Nice Ribbed Sock

This is my first real pair of socks. I've knitted two Christmas stockings so far, they're kind of like socks but not really. I'm using size 0 dpns and Blue Moon Fiber Arts Socks That Rock lightweight yarn. The colorway is Happy Go Lucky and it's not as bright as this picture makes it out to be. I just finished turning the heel and I am about to pick up stitches on the second side and join the whole thing together again. I'm pretty pleased with how quickly this project is progressing. It's my first Pump Project--something I'm only working on while I pump at work (working full time and breastfeeding is not so much fun but at least I can knit!). On a good day I get a total of 1.5hrs (3 sessions) to knit but at the very least I get 1hr (2 sessions). The first picture is from last Wednesday and the picture below is yesterday, what a difference! In just a week I turned the heel and finished the gusset decreases! I'm now onto "knitting the stitches as they appear until two inches shorter than desired length". I will be bringing the sock home with me from work tomorrow to try on and get an idea of how long the foot will need to measure before I move on (I'm not taking my shoes off at work, I don't feel like explaining what I'm doing), but I'm fairly close to done. And by "fairly close" I mean another week or two-ish.

Oh what a difference a week makes!

I have another WIP but no pictures. I also have yarn coming in the mail for a sweater, fingerless gloves, and another WIP that's been hibernating for way too long. I'm so excited to get my package! That's all for now!

Back to Work I Go

2013-02-05T05:35:00.001-05:00

This week is my third week back at work. I stayed out as long as we could afford (even with PTO I still had to put money away for bills) but I knew eventually I'd have to go back. I like my job and love my co-workers, this is the happiest I've been professionally in a long time, but it was hard enough leaving Joey to go to work and now it's twice as hard leaving two boys at home. Noah was kind enough to start smiling at us before I went back, I'm going to miss a lot of firsts but at least he saved this one for me.

Noah smiles so much now, he's so much rounder and filled out, I definitely had that moment of "he doesn't look like a newborn anymore". I still can't believe the differences between him and Joey that we're already seeing. Noah is definitely not as much of a snuggle bug as Joey, he likes to cuddle but mostly just with Mama. Joey would fall asleep nursing but wake up if I tried to unlatch him, Noah actually unlatches himself! There are times Noah actually fusses to be put down, something Joey never did, but they do share a dislike of pants! When we're home, Joey almost never wears pants. Dan discovered that Noah enjoys kicking while bare-legged, we can get a good twenty minutes out of No-Pants Noah before he's ready for something else.

Pumping at work is both easier and harder this time. Easier because I have a schedule that's consistent and allows me to sign up for spots in the nursing mother's room where we pump at work. Also easier because of nursing both boys, my supply more than meets Noah's needs so even on "low milk days" I'm still bringing home more than he ate while I was gone. That was something I struggled with when I went back after Joey, usually I only matched his intake, I was only ever a couple days ahead at most. This time I pumped like a fiend when my milk came in and let Joey nurse as much as I could while still giving Nah first dibs. I now have an abundance of milk and I'm slowly stocking the chest freezer my parents bought us as a baby gift (there's other food in there too right now lol).

Pumping is harder this time because of the way timekeeping works at this job. I'm not paid for the time spent away from my desk if I'm not working on something related to the contract. This makes an 8-hour work day more like a 9.5-hour day (I pump 3 times while at work unless the boys both nurse before I leave, then just twice). It also is difficult if I need to make up hours in the event of a delay or closure due to weather. I don't have any PTO left so it's either make up the hours or don't get paid at all for the time missed. Staying even an extra hour means I'm really sore and ready to nurse by the time I get home. The only upside to being off the clock while I pump is that time is then completely mine. I have a special knitting project just for pump time and when I finish that I'll find another one because it helps me relax and not think about the pump (which helps with getting more milk).

Off to work now, enjoy these pictures :)

Decisions I Hope Never to Make

2013-01-17T00:45:00.001-05:00

There's been discussions in my online mommy group about everything under the sun. Some discussions are personal while others are lighthearted and fun. One of the most recent is whether or not we (anyone in the group) will be having more kids. Having 2 kids under the age of two, it's easy for me to see the side of those who are happy with the size of their family and are done having kids. It's easy for me to understand the appeal of no more interrupted nights, no more diapers, and no more tantrums. I can absolutely understand the desire to move into the next phase without looking back except to say, "Remember when...?" I've seen the struggle that can go with making such a permanent decision, I appreciate the difficulty and the emotions that go with it.

But that struggle is not for me, at least not willingly. In high school I would have told you (and I did tell several people) that I wanted 12 kids. I don't really have a number any more, but I can tell you that we're not done having kids. I've always wanted to adopt so that will hopefully happen somewhere down the line. Our answer when people ask us how many kids we want is "As many as God gives us". After Joey was born, and all the nonsense with the surgery afterwards, I cherished every moment of his babyhood and squishy-ness because I didn't know when or if I would be blessed with another baby. When I found out I was pregnant with Noah I was so happy and relieved. Since he's been here, I've made sure to enjoy as much as I could. The quiet moments spent nursing at night, baths in the baby tub that Joey has been too big to use for a while now, even diaper changes have positives (Noah doesn't fight and try to run away...yet). I don't know when the next baby will bless us, so in the meantime I'm trying to enjoy everything as though he's my last. If, for whatever reason, we are only blessed with two kids, I don't want to miss anything because my mindset was "Oh we'll have more, it's ok." I'd like to say for sure that we'll have more, I would love more, but I don't know what God has planned for us and frankly, I'm kind of relieved to have left that decision up to Him. If I were to decide that we were done, I would always wonder if it was the right decision or if we were missing out on another blessing. By leaving it up to God, I don't have to wonder, I can just go about my day, comforted knowing that I'm going along with His plan.

I'm not a bystander though, definitely not. Dan and I haves prayed and decided that we'd like at least a couple years before the next baby. Especially because we know now that being pregnant causes my milk supply to tank. It's my goal for each baby to breast feed and delay solids for as close to a year as we can get due to my food allergies and the higher risk of my kids acquiring similar allergies. I look forward to meeting our next baby but I also look forward to a break from being pregnant and watching my boys grow.

Allons-y: A DC Yarn Adventure

2013-01-04T17:25:00.000-05:00

Lyndsay with her awesome new yarn + bag!

Allons-y = French for "Let's go" and favorite phrase of my favorite Doctor (#10, played by David Tennant). Also technically, we were in Alexandria, VA and not DC but we used the DC Metro and were mere miles away from our Nation's Capitol, so basically DC (plus "VA Yarn Adventure" does not sound as epic). I found out several months ago that a somewhat local yarn store was one of the flagship stores selling a particular brand of American yarn that Lyndsay likes by a designer that we both like. We discussed the idea of a faux knit-along where we both knit patterns of his with his yarn. Further contemplation on my part determined that it would be possible to travel the 1+ hour trip via public transportation and thus not keep the barely-one-month-old Noah in a car seat for prolonged periods of time. And so the trip was planned! My Christmas present to Lyndsay would be her tickets on said public transportation (as well as yummy lunch at 5 Guys across the street from the shop) so that all she would have to pay for was yarn. She got me some absolutely delicious sock yarn (I imagine because she remembered prior conversations about my desire to actually knit a pair of socks) that I need to take pictures of because it is a stunning shade of "Jeanne Pink" and should match my hat and mittens quite well!

My new yarn + bag!

As it would turn out, unpaid maternity leave is not conducive to buying massive amounts of yarn for large projects that are not Christmas presents for anyone but myself, thus my purchase for our faux knit-along would have to wait until another day. I did have it in the budget for some chunky yarn for a shawl that's knit with large needles for a more instant-gratification project (and that's coming along nicely, again pictures are forthcoming). I purchased two hanks, which turned out to be a good thing, because the initial yarn I was planning on buying was not in stock. My cardigan has waited this long (it was seriously summer the last time I worked on it) so it can stand to wait a while longer. The trip ended up being way longer than I had planned for, and I felt guilty for taking Lyndsay away from her family for so long, but the yarn store was amazing and completely worth the trip! Next time, though, we'll be driving. Despite the distance, Fibre Space is way better than my local yarn store (only about 15min from my house and less than 10in from work) both in selection of yarn and stock.

2012

2013-01-02T01:27:00.001-05:00

I'm a day late with my annual New Year 's Eve post, but close enough right?

This time last year:

-Joey wasn't walking or talking

-I wasn't even pregnant with Noah yet

-I was still working part time

-I tackled my first big lace project (ended up finishing it on my birthday)

This past year:

-I have a toddler AND a 6-week-old

-Joey is walking and talking, he has a sense of humor and points out things he sees

-Noah is awake for longer periods and is starting social smiles

-We got a dog and she'll be back living with us sometime after I go back to work

-I'm back to full time with a salary and vacation/sick days

-We lost a dear friend from church but rejoice that she's no longer in pain and can watch over us

We had such a great year and I'm so thankful for our family and friends. The love and support has been a wonderful blessing, I don't know where we would be without it! I can't wait to see what 2013 brings for us, Happy New Year!

Life Since Noah

2012-12-22T22:53:00.000-05:00

My boys at Thanksgiving dinner.

I can't believe that Noah is one month old already! Time has gone by so fast, even faster than it felt when Joey was this little. My whole maternity leave has felt like one long weekend, what with not going to work. Dan's been back to work since the week after Noah was born, and we don't always have someone over visiting so frequently it is just me and the boys. I love saying that, "the boys". Plural because I have more than one, such a blessing! I don't get nearly as much done around the house as I did before, even while 40 weeks pregnant I still managed to do some things. The only chores that get done on any kind of a regular basis are laundry (for what should be obvious reasons) and dishes because we don't have that many place settings to begin with. Other than that, I'm lucky if I get to vacuum once a month. Luckily, Noah likes being worn and I can put him in the sling and actually not be stuck on the couch the entire time Dan is at work. Some days. Other days I am stuck on the couch with the exception of going to the bathroom or getting food for Joey.

I wouldn't have it any other way though. They're close enough in age that they will (hopefully) get along most of the time as they grow up. Joey is already a fantastic big brother, he tries to share his toys and likes to come over and "talk" to Noah. Joey has also been spotted attempting to give Noah fist bumps, so sweet! This isn't to say that Joey has been an absolute angel since we brought Noah home, he is still a toddler and just because we brought him a brother doesn't make him any less of a toddler. We still deal with crying fits on a daily basis, thankfully though they happen at home *most* of the time, but overall he is still a great kid (as if I could say anything else about my own child). Today I caught him spitting milk on the carpet (something that happens more frequently than I'd like to admit, we can't figure out why he does it) and took his milk cup away from him and told him for the millionth time not to do it. I couldn't get to the soggy milk carpet puddle right away, but before I could do anything, Joey comes over with a burp cloth and starts wiping the carpet himself! He got hugs and kisses and a high five from me for doing such a good job (he actually missed the puddle completely, but we hadn't even asked him to clean it up so the thought totally counts!). This wasn't the first incident of cleaning either, he's actually pretty helpful when it's something easy. The other day, he had pulled all of the wipes out of the case and they were all over the living room. While I was putting them back (seriously, they go on butts, they don't need to be sterile), Joey ran around and brought me each and every one to put back in the case, without me asking him to! He's also helped my grandmother sweep her patio, I may have to invest in toddler-size cleaning tools...

Noah is doing fabulously! He was 9lbs 12oz at his 1 month checkup, which is 2lbs 11oz above his birth weight! He's still wearing NB-sized clothes, though some of the 0-3mo stuff is starting to fit, 3mo is too big but probably not for much longer. He pretty much nurses and sleeps all day long, but his awake periods are getting longer and we've started to get hints of social smiles from him, but nothing caught on camera so far! I love love love gummy, baby smiles and it looks like Noah is going to have dimples like his brother and daddy *heart melting*. He's also a champion pooper like his brother, nearly every single diaper I change is a poopy one, good grief! It was several months before Joey switched to his every-few-days schedule, in the beginning it was just like this. I would like at least a few changes in a row to require only one wipe, that would be nice. I do have to say that Noah's diapers are considerably better in the smell department than Joey's are (thank you solid foods, /sarcasm). I keep meaning to pull out my cloth diapers and see if Noah fits them yet so we don't have to buy quite as many, since we're now buying for two kids. I get big boxes at BJ's where they're cheaper, but it's still pricey. I am thankful that we're not buying formula, both for financial reasons and health reasons. Joey only just recently had his first cold--the first time ever that he was sick! Going over a year without being sick once is pretty amazing and I'd like to keep that trend going with Noah and hoping to get through this cold/flu seasons without any more illnesses for Joey too.

Christmas is in a few days and I'm so excited! This is the first year that Joey will have some idea of what's going on. He doesn't really know who Santa is yet or what the deal with the presents is, but he loves seeing the decorations everywhere we go and he especially loves Christmas trees. Also pulling ornaments off the trees, we have to watch him with that. He likes opening presents, he still doesn't care so much about what's inside, he just looks for more paper to tear. Christmas morning will be fun :) Maybe next Christmas I'll have finished knitting stockings for ALL of us, I'm super slacking, only Dan and Joey have stockings right now. Even then, Joey's doesn't have his name on it yet and Dan doesn't know where his is. We're super on top of this haha. I'm almost done with gifts, just a few finishing touches on a couple and I'll be done. Yesterday we braved the crowd and the late bedtime and took both boys to a friend's "End of The World Party" (supposedly the world was going to end yesterday according to some ancient civilization's calendar) and we had a blast! Joey was exceptionally good about not pulling their ornaments off their tree and entertained himself by eating chips and climbing up and down their stairs. Noah slept almost the whole time, only woke up to eat once and I took that opportunity to change him as well. I loved getting out of the house and talking to other adults, it would have been nice to stay longer but we opted to head home prior to any major meltdowns from Joey (who was slightly upset to leave, but not as bad as he could have been had we waited longer). Our plan was mostly a success, Joey fell asleep in the car on the way home but woke up a bit later. I'll have to talk about our night time routine a little later, but Noah is asleep right now and I'd like to take advantage of that and knit with this awesome yarn Lyndsay loaned me to see if I like it :)

Knitting Bucket List

2012-12-13T00:23:00.000-05:00

As I sit here and rock Noah to sleep (eventually please??), I'm looking at pictures of my past knitting projects and wondering if there's any kind of "bucket list" out there for knitters of things every knitter "should" learn or do. I'm finding diddly squat other than Pinterest boards and blog posts. So, here's another blog post with my personal knitting bucket list:

1. ~~Knit a sweater~~

2. Knit a sweater that I'll actually wear more than twice - cardigan in progress, that's a sweater!

3. ~~Knit a scarf~~

4. Knit myself a scarf - need to just suck it up and finish one

5. ~~Learn how to do cables~~

6. ~~Learn how to do lace~~

7. ~~Knit a shawl~~

8. ~~Knit a pair of mittens~~

9. ~~Knit a pair of socks~~ - I knit two Christmas stockings, that's a pair!

10. Knit myself a pair of socks

11. Actually finish knitting something for my kids

12.~~Knit a blanket~~

13.~~Knit a hat~~

14. ~~Learn how to do stripes~~ - see previous pictures, I love stripes!

15. Finish a colorwork project

16. Quit my job and open a yarn store - I wish!

17. ~~Learn how to double-knit~~

More later, the baby's finally sleepy and so am I!

Noah's Arrival - Part 2

2012-12-06T16:33:00.003-05:00

After Noah was born, I did have to get out of the tub to get cleaned up. Of course at that point, I was holding my new baby so I didn't care where I was. With the help of the midwives and Dan and my doula, while holding Noah, I got out of the tub, was toweled off, given a blanket for Noah and walked over to the bed. Walking was not fun, but I was soon given ice packs and things started to feel a little better once they were numb ;) Noah and I stayed skin-to-skin for a long time after we got out of the tub, a standard practice at the birthing center and one that I loved. When I had Joey at the hospital, first I had to tell the nurses that I wanted to do skin-to-skin after he was born and we only got to do it for what felt like a really short time before he was whisked away to get cleaned up and checked out. Noah came out pretty clean, thanks to being born in the water I'm sure, but the midwives were not in any hurry to take him away from me. We even started breastfeeding when he made fussy noises, he latched on and sucked like a champ, everyone was very pleased to see it :) I even still held him while getting stitched up, I almost didn't need the stitches but I would have healed up funky without them, so I got 2 haha.

We stayed the minimum of four hours, where my postpartum nurse did final checks on us (made sure I used the bathroom and that Noah didn't have any respiratory issues), and then we headed home for some much needed rest! I tried taking a nap at the birth center, but it wasn't my bed and I was still too wound up from the delivery. We ended up getting home just after midnight and Joey stayed at my parents' so that we only had to worry about getting up for Noah that first night. Noah slept better than Joey did his first night and for that I was grateful, we still have nights where I wake Noah up to eat because he enjoys sleeping so much. That happens less now that he's two weeks old and loves the boob, but sometimes.

Recovery this time around has been SOOOO much different. Between staying at home, not being pumped full of drugs, and knowing what to expect, I've had a much easier time recovering than I did with Joey. If you had asked me the day Noah was born what I would do for the next baby (hospital with epidural, or no drugs and go home early) I wouldn't have known for sure what I would pick, but now that I'm a couple weeks into recovery and feel almost 100%, hands down I'm going back to the birth center! Joey has been amazing with Noah. We're still working on how to be gentle, but for the most part he is wonderful! When the home visit nurse came over a few days after Noah was born, Joey was extremely protective of Noah when she pulled out the stethoscope and was listening to the baby breathing. Joey did not like the strange lady putting something on his baby! Joey also likes to show off Noah whenever someone comes into the house, just like he likes to show off some of his toys ;) He's even better about seeing Noah nurse than I expected. The first couple of times he was jealous, but now he knows he needs to share and even waits patiently for it to be his turn! Sometimes Joey is in full-on toddler-mode and needs some nom-noms right then and there, and we're working on making tandem nursing more comfortable for me since the boys are two different sizes, but for the most part having both of them nursing isn't as difficult as I thought it might be.

Noah's first couple pediatrician appointments went well. His first was a few days after he was born since the birth center doesn't have a pediatrician on staff and there were a few things he needed to have done. Then our pedi likes to see babies a week after they're born for a weight check, where we found that Noah was not only back to his birth weight but had surpassed it! At that point, his cord stump had fallen off but still looked a bit funky so the doctor used silver nitrate to help cauterize it and seal it off. We went back today for a second treatment of the nitrate because his bellybutton is deep and there was one tiny spot that needed just a bit extra. At today's appointment, Noah weighed in at over 8lbs! That means he gained more than one pound in 17 days, which is awesome for a breastfed baby (usually they will gain weight slower than babies who are given formula).