Pregnancy

That lovely time in a woman's life when you put on a smile for a picture...

when this is how you truly feel. Nauseous, just want to nap all day long and for goodness sake, daughter, keep your head off my belly!

The cruel realities of dreaming that you gave birth and then wake up to find that you're still pregnant.

Zero fun sir.

I'm used to these dreams in the third semester, but it's just awful having it start in the first trimester.

And then you find out that (luck of the draw) you got a complicated pregnancy that lands you on bed rest until further notice. You can't lift, carry, bend, squat, stoop, or put pressure on your abdomen. Can't do anything with your 11 month old daughter.

(Yep, my doctor's appointment went something like that.)

And you just feel...disabled.

But then you remember that even though things are blech, "Zero fun sir," you are not allowed to do anything, and feel completely disabled, this is all leading to a wonderful final product:

So you pull on your big girl panties and suck it up.

In Case You Missed It...

Just found this post in my draft folder from September 2013:

Here's my summer accounting, because even I forget what all happened that made me feel so busy!

We
birthed: one baby.
grew: one pumpkin.
travelled: approximately 1800 miles to Denver twice and Omaha once.
painted: 4 rooms.
potty trained: Katie for a bit, but not to successful completion.
decorated: 2 wedding cakes.
celebrated: one boy's birthday.
hosted: one aunt + 6 cousins one night, then another night + one uncle; Jake and Amber for a week.

I forgot this video...

Just found this in my draft folder from June 2011:



Tommy discovered this pillow of mine yesterday. He thinks it is so fun to play with. He just laughs and laughs at it being tossed in the air or in his face. This video doesn't really depict that well because he was distracted by the camera. Still fun though.

Craftiness

Just found this post in my draft folder from December 2013:

In December, I tried out making some slippers for Tom and Katie. I wouldn't normally take time to do something like this, but we thought we were potentially going to France (loooooong story), and so I was preparing "house shoes" for the kids to wear. Anyway, here's the "No-Sew" Slippers (they do require sewing, just handstitching and not machine):

I used my fleece socks for a pattern. I cut out three pattern pieces--foot, top, and back. Then I cut two of each piece out of my fabric. I used a sweater from the thrift store.

There's the bottom, back and top piece for one slipper. I have the heels of the bottom and back facing each other.

Lay the heels on top of each other and blanket stitch using yarn.

This is the bottom and back sewn together, only at the heel.

Then I laid the top piece on top of the open bottom and back, lining it up at the toe. I continued stitching from where I ended on the side of the heel. I stitched down the foot, around the toe, up the foot, up the leg, around the top, and down the other side of the leg, finishing at the heel.

I guess I forgot to take a picture of the final piece. Dang it.

While I was sewing, Tom kept me company and built me a castle house with wood pieces.

He's a sweet boy.

He's getting better with the camera.

Hmmm...Bed Rest

I really wanted to keep this one a secret. I really did. I had such happy dreams of not telling the world about this until the grand finale. But now there's been a PLOT TWIST and I feel like it's going to be such a big part of my life (or my whole life) for the foreseeable future that secrecy must be abandoned.

I'm pregnant! Due St. Patrick's Day 2016, and on bed rest (I have a marginal placenta, if that means anything to some people) since Wednesday. Until who knows when. August was such an excruciatingly long, miserable month, and I hope the rest won't be the same way.

And thus it is.