Hope

I received some bad news this morning.  My friend's son has been in the ICU since saturday with a traumatic brain injury.  He was stable up until last night.  There was more swelling, bleeding etc so they had to take him to the OR.  He is in critical condition now and worsening.  My heart goes out to her and her family right now.  I can't even fathom what she is going through.  He is only 24.  All that is left is hope, prayers, and positive thoughts.  If you do pray or can spare a positive thought for her son and family they would really appreciate it.  Hug your family today, tell them you love them or let them know how you feel.  Life is short and we should be grateful for each moment with each person.

"Are you ok mama?"

"Yes E, I'm ok.  Are you ok?"  "Yeah I ok."  She is so cute it kills me sometimes.  She napped in her bed today!  This is progress.  She hasn't napped in a couple days so that was awesome.  Potty training is still happening.  We had on and off moments today but for the most part she has done pretty well.  I think it helped we were outside playing in the pool and I didn't have to be on top of her all the time.  She was probably peeing in the pool or in the yard as she ran laps around the garage.

She wanted her dolls to swim too. 

They aren't great swimmers so they sank to the bottom...

I made some progress on the hoodie.  I am on the arm hole decreases!  Yay!  Its a small victory but I take what I can get.  Overall today has been a nice relaxing day.  I finished half of my homework during naptime.  I am hoping to get through the rest tonight.  For now I am off to spend sometime with the hubs.  :)

On and on it goes

The Apres Surf Hoodie has seen a little progress today.  I managed to add a couple of inches to it.  Not quite to the arm hole decreases yet be we are getting there.  This is a picture from this afternoon before I went to the regular knitting group.  I am hoping to start going more often because its nice to sit and talk to new people and hang out.  On the down side I tend to teach on Sunday's so its hard to put aside time before class to do a little knitting.  It was fun though and I made the bulk of my progress there.  I will say its hard to follow the pattern when you are talking.  Not as hard as when you knit like 5 stitches and then have to drop it to chase your toddler but I digress.  

Speaking of the little monster darling.  Potty training has been on and off all day.  I wasn't home or she was playing outside so I wasn't the main potty trainer today.  She managed to earn M&M's once today which was good but other than that we shall see how it continues on.  Obviously I have no intention of giving up, we are seeing this through to the end even if  it kills me I don't want to.  Last night was her first night in her big girl bed.  She was really excited and so was I.  I wanted to sleep on the floor in her room just to be there for it but that might be a little crazy...I'm not sure, lol.  I checked in on her twice and its a good thing too because she was tangled up in the cord for the blinds (not dangerously but I wasn't taking chances) so J cut them off so she can't sleep with them accidentally.  She slept well last night but this not this afternoon.  She has been really bad about napping lately and I think its going to be hard to make it work when she is no longer in a crib.  I will keep trying or at least have a quiet time in her room for an hour in place of naptime.  Just so I have an opportunity to decompress.  

   

She was playing in bed before her bath last night. She loves her new bed. 

Now I am off to either do a little more knitting or watch some of my class online so I can finish the homework.  I am doing an Anatomy class for yoga.  Its a lot of fun.  I am definitely learning a lot which is always good.  :)  

Taking Care of Business

Yesterday was a long and apparently stressful day for me.  I had a mini meltdown on the way to dinner last night, which was special.  Afterward I felt much better and had a fabulous dinner with our friends.  E didn't nap yesterday and we weren't home most of the day so potty training definitely fell by the wayside.  Its all good.  Things happen.  Last night she did use the potty twice earning her the prized M&M reward.  She looks at the bag everytime we go in the bathroom now.  She was not impressed with the thanks for trying good luck next time sticker she has been getting all day today because she can't seem to get to the potty before she wets herself. Oh well I was expecting the process to have a lot of setbacks.  I'm just really happy we are taking the steps now as opposed to later.

Today has been a good day.  I taught my yoga class and E did really well in child watch.  She has been pissed off at odds with being left there while I go to class during the week but I think we have gotten most of it out of her system.  *fingers crossed*  We played outside a bit and J bought her big girl bed.  She is sooo excited.  Another napless day here but I am hopeful it will be ok.  Its already 5:30 so just 2 1/2 more hours and she is going on the next adventure...bedtime not in a crib.  Lord help us.  Our friends are coming over for a cookout so they will have to entertainment of watching us struggle (they have a newborn so their struggle has just begun)  They can laugh and then learn from us (not sure if thats the best idea, lol).

As far as knitting goes.  I worked, briefly, on the Apres Surf Hoodie.  Its a fun knit I just haven't had time to invest in it this weekend/week.  Hopefully I will get something done on it or have it completed (HA) by Ravelllenics (sp?).  Its the knitters version of the Olympics.  Its a lot of fun.  I have a WIP I'd like to finish and then two options either the Owl Sweater or #23 Lace Top (I would turn off the volume it sounds so dumb when they talk about it) from VogueKnitting.  Not sure which will probably be cast on first.  Possibly both, I have never been one for knitting monogamy.  This unfortunately also means that I don't always finish projects either....Oh well.

Hope everyone has a great weekend!  I'm off to prep some stuff for grilling.  :)

Ugh

We were doing really well yesterday until J came home and then it all went down hill.  Not that I am blaming him but I am, lol.  Today we are taking a break from potty training apparently.  She is straight up refusing to go and I am too tired today to keep pushing.  We haven't been home most of the day so that does not help things.  She has been wearing diapers all day which definitely affects the whole potty training process.  Oh well we will be back at it tomorrow.  Until then we are just hanging out waiting to leave for dinner.  I am knitting on the Apres Surf Hoodie again because I don't have the needles to do the finishing on the vest.  No pictures today I am too tired.  I hope to make it through dinner and then curl up into a ball and possibly pass out.  Tomorrow looks bright and shiny here's hoping it is.  :)  

These Moments

It is moments like these that make me love my life.  Today my daughter has taken to potty training.  I sit here stunned because as of yesterday I had started to despair that she would even accidentally pee in the potty let alone do it intentionally.  So at the grocery store I bought some M&M's as a reward system.  I have a feeling its going to be pretty effective.  If my daughter is anything like me chocolate is a pretty strong motivator.  We are only on day three and I know its a roller coaster getting through the potty training phase but considering where we have come from I am very optimistic that we will have more forward progress.  :)  


I am currently enjoying nap time, or as I consider it the time I set my daughter in the crib for at least and hour to see if she'll pass out or not.  So far its a no go but I haven't given up yet.  Until then I am enjoying my coffee and reveling in this moment.  


In other news my grocery store has set up a locally grown stand where I can buy all the locally grown produce I want.  Which I am over the moon about.  I would rather buy local if I can.  I am trying to be a more conscientious shopper and buy more produce and meats than boxed foods etc.  I may as well enjoy cooking while I can before number 2 arrives throwing our lives back into fabulous chaos.  :) 


Now what to do with my wonderful naptime hour...knit, work on my class, play a game, clean (bwahahaha yeah right).  

It's time

Yesterday I decided it was time to get serious about this potty training.  My daughter is 2 now and with another little one on the way this year I figured one less diapered person in the house might be nice...  So we bought some training underwear at Target.  She wore it a little yesterday which was interesting.  She peed on my living room floor twice...which is awesome because we have carpet...  I keep trying to get her to go to the bathroom but she keeps turning me down.  The only thing enticing her into the bathroom is the opportunity to wash her hands.  Thats her favorite part of the whole process.  At least she has good hygiene habits...  Our next major step will be buying her bed.  I think I am going to buy it this week while the husband is at work.  Last weekend we decided to check out bunkbeds.  It ended in cranky parents dying in the heat doing something they both hate, shopping.  We decided a twin bed on a metal frame might be the best way to start out and then move onto bunkbeds from there when the baby is old enough.  


On the knitting end of things...  My friend Steph had her baby boy so I made him the Master Charles sweater or as I call it the Master Kellen Sweater:  

I have knit one for little Bailey who is due this month as well but I won't post that until later...
I knit a hat and baby booties for Alivia, my cousins little girl.  She was born at least a month ago and I have yet to send it out...but that will be remedied this week...I hope.  I need to take a picture still but its blessedly raining outside so that will probably have to wait.  I am appreciating the rain and the break in the heat.  Its been ungodly hot outside and when you are 5 months pregnant this means you have stepped into some 7th  dimension of hell.  Needless to say 80 something degrees is a god send especially with the humidity taking a break.  On the needles I am working on my Estes Vest which might become one of my sisters Estes Vest.  

The back of Estes Vest preblocking.  Since this picture I have knit and attached the fronts.

I like it but I don't think its going to fit me very well which sucks...  I should have gone up a size but I am hoping that my post preggo body will be able to fit it better since I'm pretty sure my pre-preggo body would have rocked it...  Oh well.  Off to try and get the kiddo to go potty in the potty today.  Wish me luck or at least lots of wonderful coffee to make up for all the time I will be spending scrubbing my carpet.