Big Changes

Well, belated Merry Christmas everyone. Despite being snowed in for 3+ days, or maybe because of it, we had a pretty great Christmas around here. We were all pretty spoiled this year, Junior got a mountain of toys, Jaime got a sweet set of computer speakers and an Oreck. Yeah, I bought him a vacuum for Christmas, and he loved it, here's the proof:



And I got an iMac!! I'm so completely in love. It is taking a little getting used to, but I'll get there. Yaay!

So besides the new computer, there are a few other new things in our lives. Starting Monday I officially have a new job. In the past three years I have worked my way up from a part-time student to the head of my section. I have been acting in this position for a couple months so it isn't a huge change, but now it is real. I am in charge, eek!

There's even something new in the bathroom these days. (OK, that could go so many bad directions) Junior has his own potty now! We finally decided to try this potty training thing. I'm a little scared and we have no idea what we're doing, but Junior has gone potty before bed the last two nights, so I guess we're on the right path.

As they say, the more things change the more they stay the same. With all the new going on life is still pretty boring aorund here which is just how we like it. There's been some knitting, some spinning, a bit of reading, and lots of just hanging out with my two boys and enjoying life.

I know I probably say it every time, but now that I have a computer to myself and it is in a convenient place I'm really planning on updating more often. Here's a random bit of cuteness to get you through till the next time :)

New Year, Same Old Me

(4/143)
Happy New Years everyone!! I hope you have all enjoyed looking back at the past year and looking ahead to the next.

When I think about 2008 all I can see is how damn lucky I am. I have never been happier in my entire life. The depression has lifted. (Don't get me wrong, I get down sometimes just like everyone else, but I can move through it and past it now.) I have the most amazing family. I have a job that I love and that is pretty darn secure (knock on wood). While all around me, all around the world, there are people losing their jobs and their homes here we are having one of our most stable and prosperous years ever. (NOT that we're rich, just that for once the money I bring in is pretty close to covering the bills. It hasn't been like that since....ever.) Enough reflecting. Point is, '08 wasn't bad.

The wonderful thing about starting the 101 in 1001 in December is that I don't have to make any New Year's resolutions. I feel like I pretty much covered all the changes I want to make and the goals that I have already. I just need to act (my downfall).

Here are some belated Christmas pictures. Meant to get a post up, but I suck. Christmas was pretty fab. Jaime even enjoyed it and he is a Scrooge. Junior really helps put some magic back into the holidays.






me, Junior, and my mom or "Granny Jenny"

Suburban Farmgirl?

What can I say? I'm a total Violet (of Lime & Violet fame) follower. First she got me addicted to Plurk. And then, the Plurkette Hencircle. I tried to hold out, but they she mentioned a project. I LOOOVE projects. So this is project #1, my introduction.

I'm Vicki, hi. I have a wonderful husband, Jaime. We've been married for almost a year, but we've lived together for 6-ish years and been together for over 7. We have a sweet boy, Junior, who is almost 11 months old (can't believe that). His middle name is trouble, and he has the sweet smile and beautiful blue eyes to get away with most of it. Jaime and I are working to re-claim our relationship after adjusting to the baby.

I work for the US Geological Survey as a budget analyst. It isn't what I had always pictured myself doing, but I have a thing for numbers. I LOVE my job. I work with some wonderful people and, while I don't always understand what the scientists are doing, I know it's important work. I'm so lucky I can leave my baby with someone I totally trust, Jaime.

I used to have lots of hobbies, in the pre-Junior days. I'm also still adjusting to having a baby (and a job). I have just recently realized that I need to take care of myself. Even if it's just 20 minutes for an exercise video and an hour for knitting before bed, I need that me time. Eventually I will get back to reading (I miss you reading!) and scrapbooking (god knows I have the pictures now). I would love to really throw myself into quilting and spinning. And I've always been down for some random craftiness.

The only other big aspect of my life if my mom. She was diagnosed with breast cancer my freshman year of college (she put off telling me so I would be able to concentrate for finals). She opted for a double mastectomy, so fortunately that cancer hasn't been a problem since. Less than a year later, however, she was diagnosed with leiomyosarcoma in her uterus. This isn't a cancer that surgery can make go away, it just hides for a while. There is no recovery. Since then she has been through multiple rounds of chemo and radiation. She has had surgeries to remover tumors in her ureters and her lungs.

Sooo, why the desire to nourish my inner farmgirl? I need simplicity. I love the whole idea of creating. I also love the idea of the sisterhood, the connection. I have been thinking a lot about connecting lately, especially as it relates to my blog. I was thisclose to retiring the old blog. But I just couldn't do it. I love being able to share myself with this community.

For anyone visiting my blog for the first time, I hope I've given a pretty good picture of who I am. And if anyone else is still reading, hopefully I've shared something new. I can't wait to see what adventures and projects are coming up.

Day 4

This was just all fun and games. But then Jaime and I made a bet of who could make it the whole month posting every day. Now this is serious business. His link is in my sidebar, Can You Dig That? , if you happen to be interested in video games.

We're already to Sunday again, which is bittersweet. I love my Sundays, expecially during football season. I try my hardest not to have a reason to leave the house. Junior has the right idea.

Daily baby pic

taken today*

But of course Sunday means tomorrow is Monday. Oh well. For now, the Chiefs are about to play, Junior is napping and I get a chance to make some more progress on Miss Dashwood. My kind of day.

*I am going to try to post current pics from now on. Ya know, instead of reaching back to September like I had to yesterday...

Changes

This new life of mine is just filled with changes. I've always been big on continuity, stability. Change scares me. I get really anxious when I have to go to a new place or try something new, even when I know it will be good. But lately, I've come to embrace the changes that are taking place. Looking back at all the changes I've been through, I realize that everything that has happened to me has happened for a reason, to get me to this amazing place where I am now. For once in my life, I wouldn't trade places with anyone.

So, it's been a month since I've posted and so much has happened I hardly know where to begin.
I'm now back at work and that has gone so much better than I thought. I really enjoy what I do. I love the people that I work with. Being back at work makes me feel human again. I have a reason to get dressed in the morning, I am more than a pair of breasts. And Jaime is just AMAZING as a stay-at-home dad. Of course, he's almost too amazing. Ever since Junior got home, I've felt that Jaime was just a bit more in tune with the him. That has become even more apparent now. Jaime always knows what Junior needs, can always make him laugh or "talk." It's hard not to feel like my being gone everyday means missing out on the bonding. I've gone from the one Junior needed every 2 hours to feeling like they don't need me at all. I'm trying to frame the situation, and remember that it is good that Junior is home with someone who loves him and who is so good with him.



My mom is back to doing chemo. Can't remember what the last update I gave on her was, but they found a tumor in each lung that were recurrences of her leiomyosarcoma. They were able to remove both and now she's doing one week a month of chemo in the hospital. She has had a few issues with this round, but overall she's still doing really well. Of course, she is just completely in love with Junior. I try to make sure that they get plenty of time together, even though she isn't able to babysit anymore.



Life means change, especially with a sweet boy growing so much everyday. Guess I better get used to it.

Victory!

As I speak, Junior is slumbering away...in his crib! I really don't think he's slept there since his first week. Man do I regret letting him get out of that habit. We finally decided that it was time for him to learn to sleep on his own and not on top of one of us, especially since I go back to work next week (eek!). I hadn't had much luck, but today it just clicked and he's had two good naps there. My secret is a swaddler that my mom got from a garage sale. I was just never able to wrap him up tight enough and he'd always startle himself awake with his flailing.

Actually, it's been a big couple of days for the little guy. Yesterday out of the blue I decided to try feeding him without a shield and he's been eating fine without it ever since. I started on a nipple shield in the hospital when he was having difficulty latching on and while I'd tried without it a couple times, it just never seemed worth the screaming. Now I feel so free! I can nurse him anywhere without needing to worry about having pillows just right and a clean shield. And on a lesser note he has officially switched to size 1 diapers.



In other news, Friday Jaime and I got married. We've been married through common law for a bit, but we (I) wanted it to be official. As soon as I get the chance, I'll be going down the the Social Security office to chance my name. It's all very surreal

Freedom

I'm temporarily baby-less and it feels so good. Jaime took Junior to the store so I could have a few minutes to breathe. It's nice being able to knit (or blog) without having to worry about whether he'll need me rightthisverysecond. We even get to go out for a birthday (mine was Saturday) dinner tonight while my mom watches the baby.

So far I've eaten two chocolate chip cookies for breakfast, knit a bit on my forget-me-not socks, and posted this. Who knows what kid of craziness I'll do next!

Here's a newer shots of my handsome boy. I can't stay away from him for long. He's getting to be such a big boy.



I love that little guy more than I could have imagined, but he can be such a booger. He sleeps a fair amount, and even for some decent stretches at night, but he can only sleep on one of us or in his bouncy seat. I've been sleeping on our couch for over a month (it was more comfortable for the last week or so of being pregnant as well) because he won't sleep in his bassinet or crib (and so that Jaime can get some sleep since he's still working). I seriously miss bed.

I really have to say that this mother thing is so much harder than I expected. I know that sounds dumb, I should have known. But with my experience with kids and infants I thought I had an advantage. Well, I don't know if I've been working with numbers for too long or if kids this young are just a different animal (my best guess), but I have NO advantage. It's better now, but I've had some rough moments when he won't stop crying and nothing is working and I just break down. I'm supposed to be good at this and know how to make him feel better and sometimes I just don't. I'm so logical that in my mind when he cries he must want one of a finite set of things that have made him happy in the past and when none of those work I feel helpless.

Ok, end of vent. Despite those moments I'm really enjoying this new little person.

Two Weeks Later

And a crazy two weeks it had been. A public thanks for all the recent comments, I haven't had nearly enough time to respond to each; I haven't even sent out baby announcements yet, eek. We won't even talk about his baby book... or knitting.

But I think I have time for the abbreviated birth story. Well, we went in Tuesday the 14th to get ready for induction, and they started the pitocin Wednesday morning. I was in labor through most of the day, even got to have an epidural put in twice. The doctor came to visit around mid-morning and said that twice Junior had reacted negatively to contractions and we could either keep trying or just go ahead with a cesarean. I was a little scared by the though of having a surgery and having to recover while taking care of a newborn, so I opted to wait and see how things progressed. But by afternoon I wasn't making much progress and Junior had another episode of lowered heart rate, so I ended up having an "emergency" c-section. Sadly the epidural didn't end up working well enough, so I had to be put to sleep and Jaime had to leave the room. Not what we had envisioned, but at 4:46 Junior was born. After a bunch of fuss over him being too big according to ultrasounds, he came out at 6 pounds 14 ounces and by Friday had shrunk down to 6 lbs 6 oz. We were all pretty surprised.





Since then of course it's been all baby all the time. He still hasn't quite gotten down this night versus day thing. Each day seems a little better than the last as we figure him out. Thank God for Jaime; he's been amazing. Although I was the one with all the baby experience, admittedly not with any this young, he is often much more in tune than I am. We've seen the doctor twice since getting home and Junior is growing and doing just fine, up to a full 7 pounds as of yesterday.



I haven't managed to ruin him yet!!

In Which A Bad Weekend Makes For Good Crafting

It's all over. That's a plus. So Jaime's car tags expired at the end of July. But being broke now, and with the promise of money coming out our ears by mid-month, we really had no choice but to wait for the money to get him new tags. But I'm not doing a darn thing, so he had been taking my car to work. No biggie. Not ideal maybe, but nothing terrible.

Until Friday (only the 4th), when we both woke up from an afternoon nap (hey, just cause I don't do anything doesn't mean I can't get tired...) to find that his car was gone. We assumed that someone in the apartment office had it towed. Yeah, great! Jaime flipped out and after I finally calmed him down we spent the rest of the night trying to remember what "normal" was supposed to feel like. He talked to someone in the office Saturday, but she only works on Saturdays and had no idea what was going on. She seemed to deny that they had anything to do with it, suggested we try the police, and gave the name of the tow company they use. Hmmm, first hint that things weren't adding up.

So we searched for the phone number for this tow company, but they had no listing in the phone book or online. Must not get much business that way huh? Called the police station and they said that they can't tow a car from private property. Haha. Another dead end.

Meanwhile my wonderful Mommy, whom I may never speak ill of again, assured me that by Monday she would be able to get us the money we'd need to get the car back. Sure, she'd already given me $60 so we could pay our rent, but she's just that good. I got a lot of knitting done that weekend. Not much sleep, but my nervous fingers were flying! Here's some proof.

In honor of UFO August I've gone back to working on my Clapotis. It is so slow! And, I'm going to need another skein to make it as long as I want it. But I made progress none the less. You can click here for a close-up.

Sunday I went with my dad to Topeka (1.5-ish hours away) to see my Aunt Cathy in the hospital. She has been there for over a week now with some bad bladder infection turn kidney infection. I assume she isn't home yet, as I told my dad to keep my updated, but she was doing a bit better when I saw her. (Her kidney function was up to 25% and she had pretty much stopped hallucinating) On the trip, I got some work done on my socks. Gotta love passenger knitting.

Monday we called the office to get the number of the tow company. She apologized up and down, claiming that the tow company makes a sweep every so often and she didn't know whose car it was and she's soo so so so sorry. Hmmm. And gave us a cell phone number for the tow company. We called, they had the car. WOOOHOO! Yes it sucks, but it's better than it being stolen. Oh, and they'll even tow it back. No need to go to them. Again, I find this whole thing VERY ODD. But we want the darn car back, so ok.

We got the money they told us we needed, plus a little towards the car tags which we had to go get that day too. They called and said they were on their way, and to watch for them at around 11:45. Jaime, not wanting to miss them, goes outside at 11:30. At 12:30 they call and say they're running late (really??) and are probably 15 minutes away. At 1:00 they finally show. I watch from a window, and notice that they are having to jump start the car to get it parked. Hmmm, is that normal? I don't know much about cars, obviously.

Jaime comes back upstairs, not so happy. Turns out that the battery is beyond dead. The power locks wouldn't even work. The tow guys claim that the dome light was on when they picked it up. I don't believe it for a second myself. Oh, and they tried to charge us an additional $50 for towing the car back here. Which they didn't mention when totaling the charges over the phone and giving us no choice in the matter. Jaime said he only had $25 extra and they decided that was ok. People can be so kind.

So the car was back in the lot. And after an hour sitting on the floor at the DMV, we even had it's new tags on it. Sure, it won't move, but at least we know where it is. Jaime decided that he could change the battery, now we just needed the money to buy a new one. He was going to ask his boss for a loan, but he was away for a few days and it was making Jaime crazy not to have his car, and this whole ordeal, fixed and done. So I asked my mom for a wee bit more money. I will not complain the next time she asks me to vacuum the ceiling for her. At least not out loud.

Yesterday, Jaime got the battery and switched them out. I was terrified that after all this, something else would go wrong, but it seemed to do the trick. AHHHHHHHHHH!

I've also gone back to spinning again. I've been doing one length every day, and I can see such an improvement over the last skein I spun up. It isn't completely even, but much much more so. And I'm getting pretty good at adding in a new length of roving and even at reattaching the roving when there's a break. Those two things have been giving me the most problems so it's nice to be figuring them out. Of course, I still spin the spindle, park it and then draft, but it works for me so I'm not stressing it.


WW Update
I lost another good amount this past week, 4.2 pounds. I've so far lost 22.4 pounds and I'm so happy. I'm just a little over 10 pounds away from making my big 10% mark and I'm hoping to have it gone before my birthday in September. Wish me luck!

Have a great week everyone. I sure am going to try to :)

Such A Big Boy

Yep, today Jaime turns the big 2-6. Which means he's really getting hassles for being "nearly 30." I just love that he'll always be older than me, hehe. Here's a few shots of our day so far.



Jaime waiting patiently for his gifts. Yes, I did make him sit there with his eyes closed while I took a picture.



And the gift of choice for the manly man? A mandoline slicer of course. Not that there's anything wrong with that. (And he really likes it too. Go me!)



And a cute picture of both of us, now that I've figured out how to put my camera on the tripod. That's all I've got for now. We ran a bunch of errands this afternoon and we're doing the whole cake thing tonight. I'll be sure to snap a few shots of that too.

And there'll definitely be a crafty update this weekend. Really!

WW Update
Had another underwhelming loss last week, down 1.2 pounds. I'm just hoping for any loss this week. I haven't been that good. I've followed plan and all, but I just feel like a day where gummy bears was my breakfast shouldn't really be considered a success.

Support

First order of business, a tardy Saturday Sky for Sandy.



Unfortunately, it's looked like this for a couple days now. I love the rain, and the supposed cool-down (it still feels pretty warm out to me), but sun sure is nice.

And now for the main subject of this post, my sweetie Jaime. This whole weight loss thing has been a big adjustment for both of us. Sure, I'd hinted in the past that I'd like to lose weight, but he laughed it off saying he liked me round and soft. Of course this was nice to hear, but not exactly motivating. When I decided to join Weight Watchers, Jaime figured it was another time (and there have been many) when I was doing something just to make my mom happy. So he wasn't thrilled and I didn't really talk to him about what I was doing, not the program I was on or anything.

After about a week, though, he realized that this was different. I am truly doing this for myself and no one else. Since I started WW I've had a totally different attitude and I'd like to think that it shows. So he started asking questions about the plan I was on and how I was doing. He said he really knew I was serious when he offered to get us breakfast from McDonald's (a nearly weekly routine for us) and I said I wasn't interested. He has since then been completely supportive.

He has encouraged me not to give in, but he has also reminded me not to deprive myself. He pushes me towards balance and a lifestyle that I can live with as opposed to a diet. He knows that I can't handle certain things and he makes sure not to bring them in the house. And when I was discussing how I wasn't sure if I could keep up the routine once I was back in school (ya know, once I have to leave the house more than once a week...), without even thinking he said that working out 5 days a week was awesome enough and I didn't have to exercise everyday. He actually said I was doing awesome. And he doesn't say awesome, um, ever.

So this is just a big public thank you to Jaime. I won't say that I couldn't do this without him, because I've gotten to a place where I know that I'm worth the effort just as I am. But he makes it so much easier.



I love you Pookie. Thanks for everything.

WW Update
Sheesh, nearly forgot. I had a whopping loss of .4 pounds this week. I was hoping for more, but it's still a loss.

Olympic Project

So I mentioned in my last post that I may have picked the wrong project for these Knitting Olympics (too lazy to link, but it's in the sidebar for now). Yeah, I loved the yarn I got and really the stranded knitting wasn't as difficult as I thought it would be, although I could still work on my tension. The problem, is that this is what I had exactly one week into the Olympics.



I got REALLY into knitting it needless to say. I would have had it done in probably 3 days or so but I had schoolwork and "life" to attend to. All joking aside, I'm terribly proud of it. I love the color and it matches my squiggle scarf (photos on my projects page) really well. In fact, I went to the doctor with my mom and everyone there was gushing over how amazing it looks. Of course, as I said, I'm not thrilled with my tensioning, but it fits. I'm definitely going to have to find some more stranded knitting to play around with.

Other than that I haven't been doing anything terribly fun. School has been nuts as I had 3 tests within a 24 hour period. I survived however and think I did fairly well. Only 3 weeks till spring break, woohoo! I'll be sitting on my butt and knitting, but I still can't wait.

As for the engagement, so far everyone has taken it really well and seems pretty happy for us. Strangely enough, my dad was the one who brought up the actual wedding, which for some reason I didn't connect to the engagement. So, being the person that I am, I've now started "thinking." We won't be getting married until at least fall of next year, which is what I'm pulling for, although Jaime seems to think that's too soon. But let's face it, he's gonna be freaked by the whole thing no matter when it happens. We've talked about a few things and we even got so far as to thinking about who all we'd invite. It's funny, we both figured that we weren't going to be able to think of many people to invite (who'd actually show up) and we'd have this tiny wedding, but we came up with over 100 to invite and over 80 who we think would really show up. Sakes! That's what big families can do for you. I'm not sure my dad knows what he's in for lol.

Thanks for all the sweet comments last post. Guess it takes a ring to bring out the lurkers, just teasing. It was nice to feel so loved. Hope you have a great evening and good luck to everyone trying to finish up something tonight :)

We're Engaged!

Not that it was huge surprise, but last night Jaime proposed. It was the most amazing evening. He was worried about not being able to make it something over the top, but while it didn't involve skywriting or anything it was completely us. We ordered some carry out from the best Chinese place in town and had a terribly romantic candle-lit dinner. He even bought some wine glasses so we could drink our wine out of something besides plastic cups. Anytime I can eat dinner without shoes on and feeling free to burp if necessary I'm happy :)

After dinner he got nervous and it was so sweet. He gave a little speech for a few minutes, how he feels about me and us and everything. Then he got down on one knee and asked me to marry him. I was crying too hard to actually say yes, but I nodded.

Here's the ring. It's really really hard to take a picture of my own hand and make the ring look even remotely decent.



I'm a happy happy girl! One of the best parts was when I called my mom this morning and she was happy for me. She and Jaime have had their differences, but they're both getting along pretty well now. It just meant everything to me when she said she was looking forward to his joining the family. It's so hard when two people you love can't get along.

Well, that's my story. Sorry if it was too gushy. I hope everyone else had a great Valentine's Day. Today I have a million things to do unfortunately. I'll post an update on my Olympic Knitting soon though. I think I may have picked the wrong project, but we'll talk about that later.

Have a great day!