I am a cartoon....

I had been doing so well: A few weeks ago, I exercised every day, saw some weight go down. I felt great.

On a Tuesday morning I was leaving for work, the kids wanted to wave goodbye so I opened the blinds on the front window. Their cute little faces peering out, I took a step and thought, "life is pretty good." Unfortunately, I put my foot down on a patch of ice and slipped so that both feet flew out in front of me and I slammed against the concrete steps, then bounced to the sidewalk. I must have looked like a cartoon.

Everyone asked me later if time slowed down for me--nope, it was lightning fast until the moment I landed and could not stand up for several minutes while I waited for my body to stop feeling jarred from the direct hit my spine took. I am certain that parts of me went "SPROINNNNNNG" and those parts are not meant to sproing, under any circumstances.

As I sat there, in the cold, trying to breathe, I could only think, "Gosh, I hope the kids aren't scared or freaking out.'

And inside the house this is what happened.

My eight year old daughter calmly walked to the kitchen (which overlooks the backyard only) and said, "Daddy. Mommy fell down." Then she walked away.

My husband called after her, "Did she get up?"

Angie strolls back, "Huh?"

"Did she get up?"

Angie replied thoughtfully, "I'll go check." And wanders back to the living room.

She returns and casually says, "No. She's still on the ground."

At which point my husband races past her, flings the front door open, and starts to slip on the same patch of ice that brought me down. Fortunately, he catches himself or we would have had a pile of parents outside, in the cold, at the foot of the steps, and two kids alone inside.

At least Angie maintains her composure in the face of actual adversity.

For a few days afterwards, various parts of my body were in excruciating pain, from which I gather my nervous system was sending mayday signals randomly. And I learned that when you hit your spine, acetaminophen is too wimpy to handle the pain. I am okay. I had a mildly scary 24 hours in which my doctor thought I had fractured my spine and would need cement injected into the vertebrae. Fortunately, it's just a bad bruise.

The down side is that the gains I had been making stopped completely because I did not feel up to exercising. My doctor said that I could expect to be in a lot of pain for at least six weeks. Two weeks later, I'm managing a few sit ups, but I'm hesitant to yoga at the moment. If I'm really lucky, and Kian wakes from his nap soon, maybe we'll go to the gym. Maybe not.

I like cartoons, but I would really prefer not to be one!

Everything is new....

Well not really. The house was built in 1951 I believe.

Anyway, I have not been able to do anything crafty due to all the packing and moving and cleaning and painting and carpet removal and electrical work and whatnot. We are almost entirely in the new house--we have a few things to get out of the garage at the old place. We are also awaiting the arrival of some of Grandma Phyllis's furniture so that we can properly put things away.

But it almost feels like home--sometimes I can't believe this beautiful house is ours. I can't wait to get the kids play area set up and my play--err--craft area established. Chas's play area will take longer to establish, but we have plans for that as well.

I love that new house sensation.

Other new things:

One of my favorite cross stitch designers (Martina Weber of Chatelaine of course) has a few new designs in the works: a classical mandala and a peacock mandala. I have two thoughts:

1. I can't wait until I'm done with boxes because my hands are so dry that I do not want to stitch and snag all the silks.
2. I will need more walls to display all the mandalas. Or maybe I just need to rotate them. Of course it would help if I would actually finish one.

Also, one of my favorite fabric designers (Lila Tueller) has a new line and is having a giveaway on her blog. I love her Santorini line--lavenders, greens, pinks and olives (not the color--actual olives), and the new Eden line looks pretty as well.

I can't wait until I can start being crafty again.

Gone Moving

We are eyeball deep in moving stuff to the new house.

Two floods + one house fire and we still have a lot of things (mostly books--how can we get rid of books? They aren't luxuries; they're bare essentials).

Here is my little tidbit to you: Pack things you don't like as much on the bottom of every box you store in your home. Then, when the flood hits, the things you least like are destroyed first.

What's that? Most homes don't flood regularly?

Oh. (so that is why the air quality is better at our new home.)

Anyway....

Thanks to our friends Cathy and Steve for putting in monumental work to help us.

My Dad has been up to help. My Mom and StepDad are here now too.

Thanks goodness for that. We have lots more to do, but it is ours at last.

Holy Mortgage Batman!

I hesitated to post this, because we're not quite there yet. But I think we will close on the house tomorrow and have the keys by Monday. We have been up and down several times in this whole process and, typical, we were up and down several times today.

When we woke up, we thought I would need to sign some things today and do the final close tomorrow. By Midday, it seemed more paperwork had failed to arrive where it was needed (we are an emergency rush so usually it takes much longer) so the closing would be shifted to next week.

By 5:30 and after many phone calls, we coordinated it so that we could doe everything tomorrow. We had to see the house for the final walk-through while the current owner was moving out (and I felt bad about that--but I think he really wants out quickly too).

So as long as I can get the cashier's check tomorrow, we should be good. I hope nothing else pops up to delay us. I hope nothing else crazy happens.

I hated to get pushy, but I really needed to just have the house transfer rather than remain on this roller coaster we've been on the last few months.

It has been such a rough few years. I became a little teary on the way over to the house because it is such a big wonderful thing that is happening. It is a little overwhelming.

because I'm forgetful

Second Grade started this week--I finished Angie's supply bags just in time. But of course there are no pictures. Hubby made a snide comment (I hope they fit) and I cut him off by saying, Are you really talking like that about what I just spent my entire afternoon working on?" Then dear daughter saw them and started to say "I like them..." in that tone that indicates there may be a but lurking. I repeated what I said to her father minutes before.

She promptly said, "Oh no Mommy. I like them."

Sometimes gratitude is spontaneous. Sometimes gratitude is earned. Sometimes gratitude is learned. And sometimes gratitude just has to be enforced with a stern tone of voice.

Also, just in case anyone still reads my blog and recalls our discovery of Kian's heart condition shortly after his birth (here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here and here): We received great news from his last cardiology appointment! He has had no significant change since his procedure two years ago. This is a really good sign because babies with his problem usually require multiple procedures in a very short time. He has tripled his birth weight and we have only needed one procedure. The Doctor was actually a bit giddy--how often do you see a giddy specialist?

This does not mean that he is cured. She described it as, "He has a defect, but no disease." We will go to yearly monitoring and just watch for obvious signs of trouble. We can also expect something to happen when he is a teenager--the next big burst of growth.

For now, we are extraordinarily grateful and sometimes I just tear up when I watch him play with his sister.

I'm such a goofball I completely forgot to post (well didn't forget--life just got in the way). But I'm on a bit of a posting jag tonight so I thought I should tell you all. If you're still reading.

Thanks as always for the good thoughts and support.

More things I never thought I would hear myself say.

Hubby gets a new catalogue.

He gets excited, "Hey, they have a sonic screwdriver!!!!!!"

He pauses and reflects for a few seconds then says, "It probably doesn't really work."

I look at him incredulously, "No Honey. It probably doesn't work."


****************************************

I'm not blogging much, not sewing or stitching much. I am mostly working in about seven dimensions simultaneously.

At work, I'm trying to wrap up my current docket by the end of the month. I have lots to do.

At home, we are waiting, waiting, waiting to hear about the house. The good news is that our offer is believed to be in the correct department right now. Sigh. I'm just hoping that we get some good news soon.

In crafty news, I have made a quilting plan--quilts I want to make. I really need to find the time to assemble the quilt for my clerk who is leaving in a few weeks. I made Love Beads by FunQuilts. It may be awhile before I work on curved pieces again. Or at least until I get a better sewing machine. Which, come to think of it, may be quite a while. Never fear, I have laid the groundwork for this purchase by complaining that I should have gotten a better sewing machine after the house fire every time I pull out my current sewing machine. Dear sweet Hubby has authorized the purchase once he buys his home brewing stuff.

I also need to make two zippered bags for Angie's school supplies. Apparently, in Second Grade, there are no boxes. I'm supposed to be using my fabric, so I thought this would be a good way to do it, but I need more time. Fortunately, school starts late this year so it will be two days after my docket switcheroo.

I'm having a bit of a rough day--work related--but typing this out has helped me remember that it isn't all bad.

I'm still hoping things will get better. Eventually, I will get around to posting project photos. That should brighten up the old blog.

More bad.

Chas's grandmother passed away today. Looks like we will be heading out again soon.

Here is hoping that there is good news around the corner.

The Good, The Bad and the Ugly: The July 2009 edition

Cue Ennio Morricone.

The Good: We put an offer on our house. The seller has accepted but we are still waiting his bank needs to approve a short sale. Also, my brother married his fiance Tina Monday morning.

The Bad: Tina's battle against lymphoma ended Monday night.

The Ugly: The resulting sadness and stress has completely cut off any patience I once had and my parenting skills are at their worst in ages. At this point, I'm just hoping the kids have not been permanently emotionally scarred from my current mood.

Things I honestly thought I'd never hear myself say.....

"No! We are not signing up for 'Man Caves.'"

Really.

Fingers crossed

Good vibes needed please!

The house we loved in May after an open house went back on the market (buyers backed out because their dreamhouse became available).

Things aren't quite in place, but they could be. Just need a little bump to move over the edge.

So fingers crossed.......................

Popping up, err in, err, over?

Hello again.

I can't promise I'll be posting more regularly, but I'll try. I've been very busy trying to find a house, not getting calls back form lenders, trips to the er and an mri, unexpected dental work for Angie, I did some self defense and Tae Kwon Do classes--loved it but had to give it up temporarily for financial reasons, had some very stressful times at work, Chas had some stressful news too and we're gearing up for the end of the school year. That splat you heard was me collapsing in a puddle of exhaustion.

I had a friend and her family over on Saturday (and if you like animal stories you should read about her adventures with Zip--it is amazing and touching). She mentioned that she hadn't seen any wips in a while. So I'm going to try to post wips soon. All my wips--yes all of them. Perhaps I'll shame myself into completing one. No shame isn't the right idea. Perhaps I'll motivate my serial starter self to complete something so that I can start something else. I plan to do it by designer: Chatelaine, HAED, Teresa Wentzler, The Sampler Girl and Everything Else. Doesn't that just give you something to look forward too? And as you and I scan the far outdated wips list on the sidebar, we all realize what a monumental task this will be. But at least it will be fun and pretty.

Since the First Grade Quilt has been finished and my most recent Love Quilt Square sent in, I have happily stitched on all sorts of projects. I've dug out some old favorites for the sheer pleasure of stitching. I've stitched on the Frog Prince and Bedtime Stories, on the Tree of Hope and Hope Perches. It has been fun.

I'm hoping to work on a few quilts this summer. Angie got her first big girl bed--so she'll get a twin size story quilt. I need to obtain some fabric (believe it or not) with mermaids in addition to what I have. I wouldn't mind some wizards and witches too. We are in a bit of a budget crunch, so I don't know if I'll be able to do it soon, but I'll just work with what I have first. I also want to make a napping or wall sized story quilt for Angie's first grade teacher who has been wonderful. I'll try to have it done for the first day of school so Angie can give it to her next year. I also need to do a quilt for my clerk who is retiring. Of course she picked colors I don't usually have so I don't know how I'll manage that by August, but we'll see. It will be Love Beads by FunQuilts and I'll need reds, yellows and blues. I have some blues, but not much of the others. I have some fabric, but I don't think it is enough to to a full size quilt for her bed--she may just have to be satisfied with one for napping.

And to leave you with a random thought:

I was mentioning to Chas that if we won the lottery (and I mean a really big lottery), I would have my own cable channel. And then when my favorite shows are cancelled, I would obtain them and put them on my channel so that I (and everyone else) could continue to watch new episodes of excellent shows (or even my guilty pleasures) instead of hoping for a dvd.

To date, my dream channel would have:

Farscape
Firefly
Journeyman
Pushing Daisies
Life
The Class
The Adventures of Brisco County Junior
Space Above and Beyond
Babylon 5
Earth 2
Deep Space 9

Oh there are others that are escaping me right now, but you get the point. What would you air on your channel?

Just to let you know....

I'm still here.

I have been in the midst of all sorts of things: First Grade Quilt (fabric purchased, cutting mostly done, assembling bits started), then Chas's Grandpa died, some discovery in our personal litigation, a Cinderella Ball for Angie and Chas (no I am not kidding), then we had all sorts of sick, car trouble (both cars) and more First Grade Quilt stuff.

Roll into all that the fact that this is Chas's busy work season and you have precious little time for much else here.

I did play along in the first HAED SAL in January but I still need to scan that in. Sigh.

So much fun stuff so little time.

I hope you are all well.

What a Day (or how I spent my winter vacation)

Just wanted to share a bit of good news with those of you still reading.

Last month was one of Kian's regular heart monitoring visits. Although I had hoped differently, he wanted absolutely nothing to do with being in a dark room with a stranger for an echocardiogram. Not even the Backyardigans could stop him from howling the minute the technician entered the room. Such behavior is typical of a 19 month old. Still, I had hoped he would be miraculously calm just so we could avoid a trip to the hospital for a sedated echo.

So today was the big day. I was up at roughly 3:30 a.m. to be certain Kian nursed one last time before 4:00 a.m. I had a quiet morning to myself while I got ready. We took Angie to an early morning play date with a Karate friend (I am everlastingly grateful to her mom for volunteering to help us with Angie) by 6:00 a.m. and Chas, Kian and I were at the hospital by 6:30 a.m. to go to the Pediatric Sedation Unit.

The Nurse gave us a brisk run down of what to expect then rubbed some numbing creme on Kian's hand and foot. The sedation used on Kian today is the same type used in war zones to treat then move the soldiers--it is really fast acting and gets out of the system quickly too. The best part was that we would be with Kian the entire time and he would remain in the same room throughout all stages of the procedure. She left to retrieve some toys which kept Kian reasonably amused but barely distracted from the numbing creme, which he tried to reach by lifting the band aid every so often. A Child Life Specialist came in to give us more details about what to expect. The Anesthesiologist arrived and told us to be prepared for certain physical reactions. ome parents can be disturbed by how quickly the child drops off so the hospital did a nice job of making us comfortable by having everyone who entered the room give us information that built upon what the previous person said. I'm sharing here so that I don't forget, and to inform any other parent in a similar situation who might happen to wander here.

Basically, we were told that once the drug went through the IV, Kian would lose consciousness in a matter of seconds. The child may cry and the pitch of his cry changes just before he completely loses consciousness. The sedative may burn so they also add lidocaine, which may or may not relieve the burning sensation. The sedation process takes approximately 30 seconds and he would truly be awake one second then asleep the very next. We were warned to becareful because the child may collapse in one direction and many unprepared parents have been cracked in the face with the full force of their sedated child's face. The child's eyes may remain open and there would be rapid eye movement whether the eyes were open, partially open or closed because the child is asleep. The child may also have some involuntary movements for a time. The Anesthesiologist and a special anesthesiology nurse would monitor Kian's blood oxygen levels, pulse and blood pressure throughout sedation. A towel would go under his shoulders to ensure that he was receiving maximum air and he would have oxygen tubes. We were told that once the IV was turned off, Kian would regain consciousness in about 15 minutes. As probably every parent before me, I said I'd like a little of that sedative to take home. The Nurse quipped back, "It will cost you."

Once the numbing creme took effect, nurses arrived to insert the IV needle. As you can imagine, Kian was not pleased with this, especially when they taped his hand to a cloth covered foam board. He did try to karate chop it off after they left and he pawed at it quite a bit. I gently and repeatedly brushed my hands over his chest and belly and that seemed to keep him calm.

At 8:00 a.m. the echo tech arrived and the Anesthesiologist returned for action. I held Kian as they prepared the sedative and added it to his IV. He screamed in pain and my mind checked off that this was probably due to the burning sensation. Chas came up behind me and enfolded me and Kian in his arms while giving me back support. Within seconds, the pitch of Kian's cry changed, the nurse said, "There we go" and Kian slumped down completely with his next breath and stopped crying.

I laid him down on the bed, eyes partially opened, and the tech started the echo. My hands never left Kian--I touched his head, his hair his shoulder. I made soothing noises when he briefly fussed in his sleep--mostly for my own sake I think, since I'm sure he couldn't hear me. It suddenly hit me that something might be wrong, although we had expected that this echo would just confirm that there had been no changes since the valvuloplasty.

The cardiologist arrived to review the images captured thus far. He asked for some additional images, and the tech said, "you want that even though it's not stenotic?" I wracked my brain to remember what that word meant, but I had been awake for six hours on very little sleep so I was starting to feel a bit woozy myself.

The Doctor finally indicated that there has been no change since July of last year. He said there is some slight leakage, but nothing dangerous. The heart has not thickened (that would be the stenosis issue duh) any more and the aorta is not blocked--actually, the doctor said that his (the doctor's) aorta was probably more significantly blocked as a healthy adult than Kian's aorta. Kian's blockage was identified in the echo at a 7 and the Doctor said they don't worry until it gets around 40. Also, what they thought was a slight hole between chambers last year (which no one told us about at the time-grrrr) has appeared to close. We saw the valve directly and were told (for what we both believe to be the first time), that Kian has the outlines of three flaps, but two of them fused together creating the bi-cuspid aortic valve.

Really, as exhausting as it was, the procedure was confirmation that Kian is doing well at this time, though we still need to monitor, we may not need to do so as intensively as we have been doing. Yay Kian and yay us.

They took Kian off the sedation and he woke up immediately, although he needed my arms to support him for a while. And he willingly rested on the pillow while we changed his diaper (a big difference from the olympic wrestling matches of recent diaper changes).

Kian played with the pedialyte and didn't really drink it. The Nurse said it was okay to breastfeed anyway, however, Kian, refreshed from his deep nap, was more in an exploring frame of mind. He finally nursed for a few minutes and we alerted the nurses that we were successful. He walked out of his room on his own, then I carried him down to the toy bin. He did not want the pelican, the spider, the bears or the duck. When I mentioned the Koala, he pointed at it and smiled, so Kian took home a mini gray koala beanie baby.

We went to a local bakery and ate a small breakfast (by now it was 10:00 a.m.) Chas had a cinnamon croissant, I had an oatmeal and raisin scone and Kian had a toasted wheat bagel. We all shared but Kian seemed most fond of the bagel and my scone (Excellent taste the boy has--those were my favorites too). He sat on the wide window ledge, rather than the highchair I had grabbed. Other than the hospital tags on his ankle, casual observers would have not guessed that he had just been released from the hospital having been sedated only an hour before. He was cheerful and curious and had a healthy appetite.

We retrieved Angie from her playdate and arrived home. Chas and I had a brief doze this afternoon and that helped refresh us. Kian has been a bit more clingy than usual, and a bit more moody, but he is mostly himself tonight. Hopefully, he will be completely normal again tomorrow. Kian was quite a trooper today and I'm so proud of both he and Angie. Angie lost her tooth tonight--she was already in bed, but I think she was still wobbling it. She got up and her dad finished the job--out came a lovely little tooth. I think there is still enough time for the tooth fairy to come here tonight.

Getting up so early and having so many medical people working on Kian has given a surreal cast to the day. It's strange to acknowledge, that in some ways, this is our normal, though it isn't really normal at all.

I am deeply grateful to everyone who helped us today. We are tremendously blessed.

Post in which I explain what happened this time....

So we went to my Mom's for Thanksgiving this year. Had a nice time. My oldest brother and his girlfriend came over Thursday evening--she's still doing well. My middle brother brought his family over from the Dayton area Friday night.

We returned home Saturday so that we could accomplish somethings and we could generally recover. After mostly unpacking I turned to my computer and pressed the giant "on" button.

Lights flashed, there were some whirring noises, then it fizzled to silence. I tried again with the same result.

Without warning, my computer was gone.

So, new computer jumped to the top of the must get items and I received an unexpected Christmas present early. Sort of. All the components shipped separately and the actual computer arrived earlier this week. Chas and I were under a strict deadline on another matter, so today was the day for the new computer to be assembled. After I cleaned the debris laden area surrounding my computer desk that is.

Several hours later, it is done.

And it is beautiful. {insert contented sigh here}

So that is what happened, this time.

So maybe it will be once a month

Wow. First grade is really keeping us on our toes here. She has homework and between that, karate and Chas's work season starting up, I've had precious little stitching or blogging time. I'll try to do better, but wow, I make no promises.

I managed to do a little at the Chatelaine Stitching Olympics. I managed to reach two of my over 15 goals. Of course I set lots of goals so that if my attention wanders, I'm still working on a project. But I did manage to earn a silver medal, so hooray me.

I finished one of those everlasting crane medallions on Japanese Garden. I decided to stitch the entire medallion over one, instead of part over one and part over two as charted. I think the finished product looks beautiful, but good heavens it takes ages to do. One down, *erp* three more to go. I hope to finish this some day. I will say that completing one medallion really inspired me to do the rest of them. I have started the second medallion, I'm going to try to do most of the black first to see if that causes the single stitches to lay better. Stormy said not to wait until the end to finish the medallions, boy was she right. I think I would be completely discouraged if that was the only part I had remaining. Somehow, now that one is done, doing the remaining three is not as intimidating since I can mix it with stitching other parts too.

I also managed to to finish the corner ornaments in the Tree of Hope. I love this design. I love stitching trees. I want to find a silk sub for the 3371 in the tree itself, but meanwhile, I'll resume focusing on the silk bits of the tree. Love it, love it, love it. I love all my Chatelaines really.

I also stitched a bit on Watergarden, the Christmas Mandala (freebie) and Polar Lights during the CSO. I am still being good and not joining all the classes screaming at me. I still want a house and I'm staying focused on that. Of course, I have roughly four or five unstarted Chatelaines. Hmmm quick count:

St Petersburg
Celtic
Midi Mysteries 2 and 3
Autumn
Stitching Leporello
Japanese Octagon Box
Illuminated Medieval Sampler
Christmas Mystery (can't remember which one though)

Okay, more than I thought. So really, I don't need to buy any more--darling husband would concur. I have the stuff to start the Leporello, JOB and Autumn right now if I wished. And I could start either of the Midi Mysteries if I made a fabric decision from my stash. I want to join some classes, but I should really finish something first. I'll probably grab the latest Midi before December so that I can maintain my set, but I will exercise restraint beyond that.

This month I've been focusing on Angie's tooth fairy pillow and on the Frog Prince 3 by HAED. A little Angie centric, but that's okay. I want to start one of the Lisa Victoria dragons in my stash and a Sara Butcher design is begging to be started too. I'm also thinking about doing some humbugs for the Holiday Store at school. I have a wedding present that is over due and some Halloween gifties that need to be finished. And I'm wondering if I should make a dress for Angie to wear in the holiday concert and if so, I should start it now so that there is a chance I'll finish it.

I'm full of ideas--I just need to start and finish a few.

Some Anxiety.

For the past six months, I've puttered along, trying to push the mommy worries aside and just enjoy the kids.

Time's up--Friday we face our next cardiology appointment. I don't have much hope that he will be calm during the ultrasound. So we may be going for a sedated ultrasound/ECG at a later date. Mommy dread commences.

He's so busy and eager and full of joy, I fall in love every time I see him. Tonight, he toddled away from me, looked over his shoulder, paused, giggled at me, toddled again, looked over his shoulder paused and giggled, repeated the process until he fell on the floor just as he was moving out of my sight. He is an amazing little guy.

I don't want to ever smother him or his sister with my worries--and oh my goodness how I worry. Sometimes I'm incredibly hacked off that my beautiful little guy will have to deal with this for his entire life. And sometimes I wonder if I'm to blame somehow--was I so stressed after the fire that I caused this malformation.

Maybe it's the dread/anticipation of the appointment that makes the anxiety so strong.

Here's hoping for a good report on Friday.

Good Grief! It is Mid-May Already

How did that happen? I wander through the house, thinking, "I really need to post this." Yet somehow I never seem to make it to the computer.

The HAED Challenge SAL is this weekend so I am finally posting my paltry progress from last month.
I have been busy stitching on the Frog Prince 3 for Angie and on Water Garden for my sil. Well, mostly Frog Prince as Kian has an ear infection and it's easier to stitch on FP, while holding him than the big WG. I need to focus on teacher gifts this month so they are completed by June. I have three to do: one large for Angie's main teacher and two smaller ones for the teacher aide and the other kindergarten teacher, who Angie adores. I also need to revisit the Tooth Fairy pillow so that I can finish charting the letters, then stitching and assembling it.

The problem: I don't wanna! I want to start lots and lots of new things.

I will be strong. I will.

Tomorrow, glory of glories, I have the day off. Angie's school has a Mother's Day breakfast so we are to wear our Sunday best. Only me though. Daddies and Kians are not allowed. This is just for the Mommies. Angie was telling me that they have been practicing songs and baking muffins for tomorrow. I had to create a top secret place mat for tomorrow. Should be fun.

Then on Saturday, we travel to see my Mom, and we'll visit my Dad as well because we have not seen him since he left for Florida in the Fall. So I may not have time for a SAL this weekend, but I sure will try.

Busy, busy, busy

You'll need to go over to my Mommy Monster blog to see how full our lives have been this week.

I did not get as much done on the Challenge piece as I would have liked. Angie's first tooth became extremely wobbly on Saturday and I had to shift gears to get the pocket for Angie's tooth fairy pillow completed and attached to what will become the pillow.

Work is still crazy and hectic thanks to the new program, but since we need the insurance and the money, I hope to remain employed, even though in my heart of hearts, I'd rather be home with the kids. There is some hope that by the end of the year, I will have some relief, although it may mean moving to a different building and paying for parking.

Taxes were very bad this year. Ugh. See previous paragraph.

I hope to accomplish some yard work and gardening this weekend. I hesitate to throw some seeds around as it may still snow, but the flower beds need cleared of weeds and leaves. The weather is gorgeous today. Unfortunately, Angie has a terrible cough and my throat is getting scratchy so this may just be another weekend lost to the sicks.

I hope your weekend is nice.

Happy Birthday Kian

Happy Birthday our beautiful little guy. You joined our little family one year ago and I am astounded and pleased and delighted and thrilled we made it through this crazy year together. Every moment since your birth has been incredibly precious to us.

You give us so much joy and love for such a small person. We are so lucky to have you. I love your big, cheery laugh when you are being tickled, or almost, very, nearly being tickled. I love you bright blue eyes that are radiant with love. I love the focus you give to a new toy or new discovery.

I love the way you knock down every tower I build, whether of soft blocks or Cheerios.

I love that you adore your big sister and always want to be where ever she is. She loves you too and calls you, "My baby boy."

I love the way you crawl when you are excited. I love the "OooooooOOOOoooooh" sound you make when you see something you like. I love that you like to cuddle with me.

I love, and am somewhat terrified, at your climbing skill. You delight us with nearly everything you do, although I will be grateful when you stop putting random things in your mouth.

You gave us a very big scare last year and I know that I will be worrying about you forever.

And as much as I am rambling here, there are not nearly enough words to describe how much we love you.

Stay well, stay happy our beloved boy.

I don't know what to do with myself...

Chas is taking the kids to the grocery store and leaving me here.

Do I stitch? Or grid? What wip should I touch?

Do I try to be productive and tidy and vacuum?

Yes, I laughed at that last one too.