2 needle mittens

I love this pattern. Mostly because i don't like double pointed needles. I just lose track of where i am etc with two kids and a husband that need me all the time. I can knit for about 3 minutes before i have to put it down to do something else. I really wanted to knit mittens though so i was very happy when i found Bev's two needle mitten pattern and have used it twice now with good results.

The first time i was a new knitter so i just did one mitten at a time but this time i did both (until the last part) and really loved it because i find you get a little bored after that first one. I'm sure there's a lot of people with one mitten sitting around waiting for the second to get done. Same with socks i imagine. I was very happy to find this pattern and hope someone will find it useful too.

Happy happy joy joy

NOT. I went to the doctor a week ago because i felt funky. Old. Like my knees were aching. Feet too. I chalked it up to one of three things 1) colder weather 2) getting older 3) residual from meningitus i got from West Nile Virus years ago in Colorado. I hadn't been to the doctor forever. Funny once you have kids, you only go for them and forget about yourself. But i figured after years of this knee pain increasing I better go. They drew my blood and i just got the results. I have Lyme's Disease. Not a surprise living in NJ, deer outnumber people here it seems BUT what is really really bothering me is that i need to go on meds for a month, two weeks minimum and they told me i can't breastfeed. This put a pit in my stomach. I nursed my son until he was 21 months. I may just pump and dump for the course of the antibiotics. But my daughter is NOT going to be happy and neither am I. Sucks bigtime. This is our time together. Damn tick. Now i'm thinking that i do need to get both kids blood drawn. I was supposed to do it a month ago but it makes me cringe. I won't even be able to nurse baby girl after that horrible experience. God this sucks.

I was going to post today that my inlaws are coming on Tuesday for 6 weeks so that means you may see more of me or you may see less...i'm not quite sure which.

I was also going to post a very cool two needle pattern for mittens that i've used twice now and love

but that'll have to wait while i figure out how formula works and dig out a breastpump and get some meds etc.

sleep

Will i ever sleep again? My God I'm tired. I'm a person that can go without sleep for a long time. I normally sleep from 12-6 and that's considered good sleep. I'm sleeping an hour here, an hour there these days. I pray to God her teeth finish coming in soon and this goes away. I feel like a zombie.

Stick bug!

We've seen stick bugs in our bug books and in nature centers but never on one of nature walks and yesterday we were lucky enough to find one. Really cool to watch and really hard to see. I just happened to see a twig walking and thought it was strange. It was about 4 inches long. So cool!

Image is from funkman.org/animal/insect/stickinsect.html and you can read more about them here. They really are hard to find because they blend in so well.

Busy!

The last two weeks i've spent at the preschool tagging stuff for the consignment sale. It's been a good way for me to socialize...something i'm not so great at. I've also seen what has come through the doors. Unbelievable all the new donated items. I'm excited to go to the presale. I never go to these sales but this year will be nice i think. It's a huge sale and i've got my eye on a few kid treasures now that i've seen what's come through the door.

I also volunteered for the Halloween party so it's been busy but the nice thing is that after October i can relax a bit. I plan on staying home while the kid is in school (i've spent the last three weeks not running errands during that time which has really put me behind on some things). I never saw myself as a PTA kind of mom but i think i'm heading in that direction lol.

The other thing is that LD actually said to me today "I love school!" What?!?!?!? What kind of drugs did they drug him with? That's not my kid! I like that he does like it. I think it's the girl he makes goo goo eyes with at school. Seriously. My son swoons over her according to the teachers. Homeschool it will be if he keeps that up lol. I've been looking through homeschool resource books too and really mulling over it all.

What else?

Asian Ladybugs have hatched around here and it's so crazy to see. The windows of our house are covered in ladybugs and there are many that cling on to us and end up in the house. It's such a crazy thing to see.

need advice

I'm sinking over here and very tired. Baby girl will not sleep in her crib no matter what i do. I wouldn't mind so much except that she's getting exceedingly hard to get to sleep in the bed and Little Dude loses patience waiting and then they both don't end up sleeping and i go nuts. For you cosleepers, what did you do when you have two? She's so active and just doesn't settle down to sleep...takes a long time.

I feel horrible that i let her "cry it out" two days and yes she did fall asleep after 20 minutes but it was horrible. And yesterday i went to check on her after she finally quieted down only to find her with one hand up on the ledge asleep sitting eyes half opened looking through the slits waiting for her momma. Broke my heart. I just can't do it again. Little Dude took to his crib much easier than her. She has refused since birth and i didn't push it but now that she's so mobile i'm scared she's going to fall out of bed and it also traps me in the afternoon. I can't get on the treadmill, i can't take a shower, i can't do much.

It's just not working. I've ordered a sling for my back (because the one i'm making is apparently never going to get finished) to see if that maybe helps, at least let her fall asleep in there and then transfer her to the bed but that still leaves me trapped. I've given up on transferring her to the crib after falling asleep because she wakes up every single time i begin to lower her in. She's got one heck of a sixth sense. I've tried placing a piece of clothing of mine with my scent but that didn't work either.

Help!

too fast

Everything is happening too fast right now. I feel like we are in overdrive over here. Ever since Baby Girl became mobile it's been crazy. She's growing too fast! 9 months and already on the move. The other day she scaled the stairs. I can't leave her alone at all anymore and it seems like i get absolutely nothing done yet the days fly by. You probably won't see me much. Between Sunday School homework, preschool programs i volunteered for (too many! but fun ones. fall consignment sale, halloween party, etc), and playing defense against Baby Girl and her tactics, there's very little free time which i'm filling with fall cleaning and a tiny bit of crafting (which i'd love to share because i've made some cute things). See you...albeit sporadically. I'll post a few projects over the next few days.