I’m not superstitious.  Or I didn’t think I was.  But last night I realized that I am superstitious about one thing.

I have a bin that has jewelry etc all packed  since we moved here.  I have a drawer on my dresser that contains many little half-unpacked boxes with my earrings, etc.  I have lived this way for nearly 9 years.

In 2003 we bought and restored a 1920’s bungalow in Oakland, Fl.  We had an old dresser and I didn’t get around to unpacking my jewelry box etc until we have lived in the house several months.  I unpacked everything and… we bought a new bedroom set so I had to pack everything back up.  And I did.

So I lived out of the little boxes for another year or so until one day I had had enough.   And I unpacked everything and organized the dresser drawer.  One week later Dana got a job in Washington state and the end result was that the boxes had to be re-packed and we moved across the country.

We get to Washington and get our house all in order.  Except for that dresser drawer.  One day I get frustrated over not being able to find a necklace and I unpack all the little boxes and organize the dresser drawer.  And 2 months later we moved and everything had to be packed up again.  Off we went to Florida.

In Florida I determined that I was not living out of those little boxes and such so I unpacked everything in just a month or two.  We were living in a little apartment while waiting for our house in Enumclaw to sell and organization was a priority.  I organized the dresser drawer, three days later our house sold and we were able to move to an actual house.  And all the little boxes were packed up.

I knew the house we moved to was not permanent so I refused to unpack some things.  Including all the little boxes.  But when Dana lost his job, I figured we were actually going to be in the house for quite some time because we couldn’t afford to move.  And so, after nearly 18 months, I unpacked the dresser drawer…and all the little boxes.  And two weeks later I found this house and we moved.

So my dilemma is this: we’ve lived here 18 months.  I really want to organize the dresser drawer and unpack all those little boxes.  Those little boxes are making me nuts.  But I can’t unpack them.  I have to live with it like this.  Because if I unpack those little boxes…. I’m gonna have to move.  :(

We went to see Mr. Specialist yesterday.  Mr. Specialist specializes in…..neurosurgery.  Georgia Kate’s head circumference increased rapidly over a short period of time plus she has a very odd fontanel and that earned us a referral to a neurosurgeon.  Baby girl had already had an ultrasound on her head while she was in the hospital that was essentially normal.  Mr. Neurosurgeon spent some time with GK, checked her out head to toe and declared the neurologically/developmentally she was in great shape, she just needs to grow in to her head.  He said he needed to double check that nothing bad is going on inside there so he’ll do a flash MRI in 6 weeks.  If all is well, he’ll release us and she’ll grow in to her head in the next months as she approaches a year of age.

So… scary visit and a week of scary thoughts and we end up with a great outcome.

And that was Dana’s 50th birthday present.  Yep… poor guy had to go to the neurosurgeon’s office to have his daughter evaluated on his birthday. But he said, when it was all over with, that hearing that Georgia Kate was just fine was the best birthday present he could’ve hoped for.

One drama down…..

Our Christmas was low key.  For me, that was a gift in and of itself.  We saw a little family here and a little family there.  On Christmas Day we went to church and then spent the afternoon hanging out at Hammy and Hampy’s.  It was just a nice and relaxing day.  And low stress.  Thankful for that.

I’m still knitting on my Christmas knitting project.  That will be completed probably by MLK day.  Or later.  The way my life has been going lately… anything is possible.  :-)

Finally… it is almost New Year’s Day and I stopped doing resolutions years ago.  Or, I stopped doing the usual “I will eat better”, “I will climb Mount Everest”,  ”I will be a nicer person” version of resolutions years ago.  Instead, I make lists of things I want to do.  Things related to…knitting and fiber and spinning.  YAY!!!  So here’s my list for 2012:

1.  I want to get back in to the habit of going to my knitting group.  I will go to knitting group at least once a month.

2.  I want to finish Jack Henry’s Wonderful Wallaby sweater.

3.  I want to do some project that involves color work.  Maybe just a small project but something.

4.  I want to finish the spinning project that I have on the wheel right now.  (Merino wool by Urban Gypz in the color Tiger Lily.)

5.  I want to do a spinning project (just 4 ounces or so) with my drop spindle.

That’s it.  Those are my fiber related resolutions for 2012.

Hope y’all have a great new year.  I feel like we certainly will now that we have the weight of the world off of our shoulders.  :)

It’s no secret that I’m not a big fan of Christmas.  Too much to do, too many places to be, etc.  But this year, I thought things were so well under control and minimized that we might have a great, low stress, year.  By the first week of December, I was 95% done.

And then Georgia Kate was hospitalized for 5 days.

RSV bites.  It is mean, and ugly and wicked.  Most kids are in for 48 hours, GK got to hang out in our luxury accommodations  (hmmmm…thanks to spell check I just learned that I’ve been spelling that wrong my entire life!) for five days.  Lucky us.  And then, as an added Christmas bonus, our insurance company has now decided to deny payment for the hospitalization stating it wasn’t medically necessary.  She couldn’t breathe without oxygen, chest flailing with every breath but ya know… not medically necessary.  We’re holding steady until we figure out what the hospital is going to do.  At that point we’ll fight.  Until then… we wait.

During all of this, I was working on a little knitting project.  Christmas knitting to be exact.  But progress has slowed greatly due to circumstances and the teensy tiny problem of me falling asleep every time I pick up the knitting needles.

In other drama, because what would December be without drama, during Georgia Kate’s hospital follow up appointment, another “issue” was discovered and now we’re going to meet a specialist.  I’m sure Mr. Specialist is a very nice person but I would prefer to spend the rest of my living days without ever meeting Mr. Specialist.    But that is not a choice I was given in this life and so…. we’ll be meeting Mr. Specialist on Thursday.

Maybe I can knit in his waiting room.  Or maybe not since I don’t want to fall asleep.

There was a Christmas pageant earlier this month and that did go well.  I got to sit in the audience and not work and not worry and just be a mom.  And watch Anna Grace have a blast playing one of the Herald Angels.  That was a great moment.

 Anna Grace in Angel Attire

And so here I am, on December 22nd, blogging.  Not finished with Christmas shopping (but that little hospitalization gained me a grace period) and not finished with Christmas shipping (but I have another grace period because the things to be shipped haven’t arrived in the mail yet).  See… life’s all about grace periods right now.

January will be better.  After all, January has one of my favorite days of the year: January 2nd.  The first day of the non-Christmas season.  May it come quickly!

I had no idea how hard, great but hard, having a third child would be.  Add in the closeness in age between Jack Henry and Georgia Kate, season that with some major colic issues and my life has become buck wild crazy.  And with that, things have been neglected.  Thankfully things are getting easier, colic is gone and I’m starting to get the hang of all of this.

Sorta.

So since I last visited this blog there was….Halloween.  Which was fun.

Anna Grace was a cat (or a leopard…depends on who you ask).

Jack Henry was a garden gnome who refused to wear his hat and beard.

Georgia Kate was a flower and wore her costume for about 27 seconds… and then that was the end of that.

Since the last time I blogged we… had Thanksgiving

We spent the day with Hammy and Hampy.  All the kids played, life was good and all went well.  The night before turkey day we got together with Dana’s parents and had a really great time celebrating with them.

Since the last time I was here in blogtown we…. saw Santa Claus.

The Whole Gang

Georgia Kate and Santa taking a nap

Jack Henry and Santa

Anna Grace and Santa.

Since I was last visiting this blog I…. started a new knitting project.  But it’s a Christmas gift.  So I am photo-less.

Since I last visited this blog… we had family pictures taken.

 November 25, 2011

Since I last visited this blog… Dana and I celebrated our 14th anniversary if by “celebrated” you mean “cheered on the Seminoles as they beat the trash out of the Gators.”  Good times, good times.

Since I last visited this blog…I have been on Facebook…a lot.  I guess it is easier for my brain to process a quick note over there than writing a whole post.  Actually… I think I get too hung up on the idea that I need to catch everything up which is overwhelming.  I should just come over here and write and not worry about “catch up”.

Since I last visited this blog, I found a wonderful piece of trivia that would be so perfect if we still owned the yarn shop.  Remember the Sonny & Cher themed trivia questions?  Well… here’s one for ya that I just learned about today.

Long ago we had a senator named Connie Mack.  Connie Mack retired and now, all these years later his son is running for office.   His son’s name is… Connie Mack.  Connie Mack is married…. but what is his wife’s name???

Mary Bono Mack.  The widow of Sonny Bono.

Since I last visited this blog, many other things have happened:

• Our church moved to a new building, a great building.
• Anna Grace is in two Christmas pageants, both this weekend.  One was at school last night, the next is at church tonight.
• Colic went away.  Reflux took her place.
• Jack Henry learned the art of the temper tantrum.
• Jack Henry also learned to climb and how to escape…as in how to find a way to get out of the house.
• The doors now have alarms on them.

And that about sums it up.

I’ll try to be a bit better about keeping things up to date.  Really… I will.  :)

I still hate colic but after 2 doses I can say that I love gripe water.  It isn’t a miracle cure and there are still issues but Georgia Kate has been quieter and more relaxed than she has been at any other time in her short 7.5 weeks of life.  Our house is quiet (or as quiet as it can be with Jack Henry around) and Georgia Kate is content.  For now.

My life is about colic right now.  Colic and other stressors.

I managed to knit one row on the sleeve for Jack Henry’s Wonderful Wallaby.  That was about 4 weeks ago.

Besides that there is colic, much colic.

Started working again.  ”The Littles” go to a sitter in the morning while I work.  So afraid that The Colic Fairy will make our wonderful sitter quit.  Think about that a lot.

See… even my every thought is about colic.

I hate colic.

As a kid, I had a grandmother who loved me beyond measure.  Yes, she was a worrier and a fretter and drove many batty with her list of concerns.  But she loved me.  Loved me to a point that, quite frankly, really irritated my mother.  I always knew she loved me but until recently, I had no idea of the great lengths she went to in order to protect me.

My grandparents, Anna Grace and me.  March 2004.

She took me to church, she bought me my first bible, she encouraged me to sing.  She taught me all about southern culture and she had a great delusion that I (yes… ME) would be a debutante.  And those that know me well can assure you…. that was never in the cards.

As I grew up she loved me more and more.  We’d shop together, do crafts together and gossip about anyone and everyone.   That continued until one day in May of 2008 when I sat by her bed and spent a few last moments with her.  Just the two of us.  I assured her that although her two knuckle headed children were not exactly making her proud, that she had a legacy with me.  A spiritual legacy and a legacy in her great grandchild.  Anna Grace would always know who she was and how she loved me.

I sat back in my chair, began to knit and just talk to her about all the goings on in the family.  And in a few short minutes, she quietly passed away.

My grandparents celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary.

As the years pass, I think of her almost every day.  I wonder if she’s proud of me, my daughter and how I am choosing to raise my family.  I try to think of little ways to honor her, remember her, without mourning but just remembering.  Remembering with joy.  I was greatly blessed.  I miss her but I was greatly blessed.

With each pregnancy I think of names and such that might be a permanent reminder of her and her love for me.  But, in truth, I didn’t have a lot to work with.  My grandmother’s name was Trudie Bell  (say that real fast with a southern accent and you’ll get the full impact) and her mother (my great grandmother) was Willie Ethel.  So naming a child after either of these was not an option.  Last names didn’t work either.

Grandma and Me, age 2 or 3

But one day I was thinking of all the trips I took with my grandparents and how they took me to see the mountains and waterfalls and little strange bavarian villages.  I remembered all the stories she told me about where she grew up, her birthplace.  I knew it was the place she loved.  And with that, I knew the name for this baby.  This little girl that she will never meet but who will know all there is to know about her great grandmother.

 Georgia Kate Haukoos

Born August 13, 2007

7 lbs 4 ounces

It has been way too long and life has been way too hot and way too crazy.  As I write this I realize I don’t even have a preggo shot and that’s kinda silly since that is the major work in progress that has been going on around here.  As far as the pregnancy goes, I’m 38/39 weeks (depending on who you ask), I’ve never carried any of my pregnancies this long, it is a bazillion degrees outside, the baby is healthy and I am full of complaints.  Essentially I have come the conclusion that pregnancy is for teenagers, not forty-somethings.  :-O

Cloud Chaser:

I finished all the knitting on Cloud Chaser, put it on and realized that even if I lost 30 pounds off of my pre-pregnancy weight, this thing still wouldn’t fit.  And even if my gauge or whatever wasn’t off and my brain was working and this thing was the correct size, it still wouldn’t fit.  I have to accept the reality that things with unique construction or that must hang a certain way in the front DO NOT FIT ME!!!  I’m too tall, too long waisted, too this, too that and then there’s the problem with the double D’s…. they mess up everything.

So allow me to show you pictures of Cloud Chaser….being modeled on a 7 year old (yes… let that sink in for a moment).  If the 7 year old had some more meat on her bones, she might actually be able to wear this in real life.

I loved knitting it, the pattern was really interesting and fun.  I knit the size I usually knit for myself based on the measurements I use for my pre-pregnancy self.  I love how the entire thing is finished and there’s no need to seam.  I just loved knitting it.  But it ends there because I will never be able to wear it.   And so it goes.

Burp Clothes:

Nothing too original here.  I made 2 burp clothes for baby girl.

Knit with basic kitchen cotton.  One is a garter stitch, one is waffle rib.  Both are about 12″ x 20″.

Pinwheel:

I had gotten to the point that I had stopped buying knitting books but I recently purchased Knitalongs: Celebrating the Tradition of Knitting Together by Larissa Brown and Martin John Brown and I totally love this book.  I just finished knitting the Pinwheel Blanket and am planning on making more of the projects from this book.

Pinwheel Blanket

KnitPicks Shine Worsted

Color: Crocus

Gnome Hat:

I had a good amount of the yarn left over after finishing the pinwheel blanket so I decided to make a matching hat.  I didn’t use a pattern, just winged it.  Thought with the flower petal look of the blanket that a gnomish hat would be perfect.

Gnome Hat

KnitPicks Shine Worsted

Color: Crocus

No pattern, just winged it

Newborn Flower Hat:

I, who never makes hats and has now made two for the same small child, decided that I must knit the Newborn Flower Hat.  It only took a day.  I love how it turned out but I can say that the increase rows on the flower portion of the hat are not fun, relaxing or enjoyable.  They will make you cuss like a sailor.  Not that I’m admitting anything.

Newborn Flower Hat

Dream in Color Classy: Cool Fire

A peachy little hat for my little peach.  :-)

And then there was that teensy tiny hospitalization:

In among all of this knitting, there was the night that my behind got tossed in the hospital.  I was having contractions, I was just a day shy (okay, a smidge more than a day) of being 36 weeks. We got the kids all set up and headed to the hospital in full anticipation that I would be holding baby girl in my arms in just a matter of hours.

But upon my arrival everything changed.

My OB wasn’t on call, her partner was.  My OB and I agree that by dates I was 35 weeks but by early sonograms etc, I was actually 36 weeks.  On call OB was going to go by dates and only by dates.  With that plan, I was 32 hours shy of being 36 weeks and therefore in “premature labor”.  I was hospitalized, pumped full of terbutaline (a torture tactic our CIA should consider for interrogation techniques!) and my labor was stopped.  I had to sleep on a labor bed throughout the night thus resulting in me not sleeping at all.  Dana slept in the recliner.  And snored.  And late the following day I was sent home with a prescription for procardia which is a blood pressure medicine that has the side effect of delaying labor.  Yeah…only one problem.  When you put a pregnant lady with a history of low blood pressure on a blood pressure reducing medication… bad things happen. When my blood pressure bottomed out and I was too dizzy to drive, etc., Dana and I decided to cut bait on the procardia.

Since that time little has happened in baby land.  I have been on my feet, running around like crazy and trying to convince her to come out.  She refuses.  It is the only pregnancy I have carried this long.   Last night I dealt with contractions until 3:30 am and then…nothing.  They stopped, I went to sleep and that was the end of that.

I truly believe at this point that I will carry this baby past term.  And then I will end up with a very long prison sentence.  Because if I manage to get my hands on the OB that was on call that night, the one who stopped my labor and forced me to still be pregnant when our temperatures reached 97 degrees (with a 106 heat index), there will be bloodshed.  I already have a voodoo doll in his image.  Every time I got a procardia induced headache,  I made sure he had one too.  My momma always taught me the importance of sharing!

I actually formulated a post in my head.

I took actual photos of actual knitting content.

Sat down to download photos, etc.  Cord is missing.

My entire plan is foiled.

(Insert hormonally induced hissy fit here!)

Finished knitting Cloud Chaser while on vacation.  Just blocked it.  It doesn’t even come close to fitting.

Yes… I know I’m pregnant but I did not get five feet taller.

Yes… I know it hangs in a unique way and maybe I’m not used to it.  Trust me….that’s totally not the problem.

I knit a large.  This thing won’t even fit after I have the baby.

Think I’m going to need to find a friend that is about 4′ 2″ tall and weighs about 8.6 lbs.

Wonder if Anna Grace could wear this thing??????