Baby Update and Anxiety

The good news...baby is doing just perfect.

The bad news...John knows the gender and I don't.

This sounded like a good idea before this morning. But once he was dancing around the lobby holding the news in his hand my resolved started to crumble. Then he threw our baby's picture in the trash because it was evidence. I made him retrieve it.

So...what am I going to do? I haven't really decided yet.

The thing is this...I really want a girl. Part of me is really worried if its a boy I'll be disappointed. So maybe I'll find out now so I get used to the sex of the baby before I'm all exhausted and laid up in a hospital recovering. And I could better focus my knitting efforts.

Plus, I haven't felt very connected to the baby. Now that the morning sickness has passed (Hallelujah!!!) I'm started to like this pregnancy thing a little better. But I can't feel the baby move yet, so its hard for this to feel real. Maybe knowing the little one's sex would help me along.

Do I sound like I'm trying to convince myself?

Anyways, here's updated pictures. Its a little freaky to think its head is already 4cm across.

Namaste

So around the 7 week mark I got morning sickness and was also hit with a complete lack of appetite. Before 7 weeks I'd been going to ballet class, but after the sickness hit I sort of gave up exercising. I know...that's not good. But I was only able to keep down about 600-800 calories a day and figured I didn't have much to burn off in a work out.

My Mom told me I should start to feel better by 16 weeks. At the time I couldn't believe her. I think I was 10 weeks at the time and another 6 weeks of sickness was unimaginable.

But here I am at around the 16 week mark and magically I can eat again.

So back to the question of fitness.

When I first met with my doctor I had asked him what type of exercise I could do. He replied 'Walking is really good.' But really? Nothing by walking for months. I just couldn't do it. I asked about my ballet classes and he said its fine. Just no jumping, no twists, and no raising my heart rate. Great! I'll just take half a class and stretch the rest of the time. He replies 'No stretching too much either.' Damn.

So I looked up all kinds of pre-natal exercise. First I found a water aerobics class. Sweet! Water fitness is something I've always wanted to try. Too bad the class only meeting during the work day. So, moving on.

Finally I settled on pre-natal yoga.

This is kind of what I pictured. A few gentle poses and getting in touch with the momma I'm about to become.

The reality was very different.

First off the teacher talked about some of that mumbo jumbo universe stuff. Sorry, but I hate this part of yoga. This probably means I'm not really a yoga sort of person, but oh well.

But what followed was well...hard. We did several series of poses that worked every one of my muscles except my abdomen. Even my hands were sore. Little did I know that I wasn't putting my weight on my hands correctly while doing downward facing dog. My triceps haven't hurt this much in like years. At some points I thought class would never end, but suddenly it was over and I was surprised it went so quickly.

As I hobbled out of the room I had a mental conversation with myself.

'How do you feel?'
'Tired and hungry.'
'Did you enjoy class?'
'Um...kind of.'
'Should you do this again?'
'Absolutely.'
'If you don't sign up for more classes right now, will you come back and sign up?'
'Nope.'
'Okay fool, then sign up now because you NEED this.'

Then I waddled my butt over to the counter and signed up for more classes. Because yoga was hard in the perfect way. And it will be good to challenge myself a little bit. My triceps will thank me in the long run.

I'm still going to do ballet once a week too and walking Dottie of course.

Childhood Memories: Little House on the Prairie

Last night I started reading The Wilder Life. Its a book about a life long fan of Laura Ingalls Wilder who decides to visit the places Laura lived and find out the true story. I'm only on the 2nd chapter, but felt I should pause for a moment and write this post while a memory is fresh in my mind.

As a child I think I was lonely. We moved a lot. When I was 2, 4, 8, 12, and 14. This is great for learning to be self-sufficient, but not terribly great for making friends on the playground. My sister and I were polar opposites. Kathryn was more wild. She liked to play outside. I preferred playing house and dressing up in historical costumes. At school we were both the new kid a lot, but Kathryn just seemed to meet people more easily while I was more reserved. I guess I would say that still rings true today.

So, when I'd enter another new school it seemed to take me a good while before I would make friends. But that doesn't mean I was alone in my game. I had imaginary friends, only my imaginary friends were literary characters.

God, that sounds depressing, but at the time I loved it.

So what does this have to do with Laura Ingalls Wilder? Was she my imaginary friend? Nope...her sister Mary was.

Laura was too crazy. She liked to do adventurous stuff. But Mary liked the same things as me. She preferred quiet amusements.

Why am I telling you this? Because last night I found out I'm not the only one who did this? Wendy McClure, the author of The Wilder Life admits in the first chapter that Laura was her imaginary friend. I am not alone.

Okay, so here's a story about me and Mary.

My family moved from Phoenix, AZ to LaGrange, KY in the summer of 1990. In the fall I entered 3rd grade taught by Ms. Smith. The kids thought I was totally bizarre and had a weird accent. I believed the same of them. Thankfully Ms. Smith was amazing and helped me get through the year with a minimum of embarrassment.

Every day we would have recess. This consisted of sending us out to a big open field with a swing set in one corner. Since I'm a loner, I would avoid the actual games going on and try to amuse myself. Instead I would play games with Mary. One day we went flower picking. There were bunches of yellow flowers along the edge on the field so Mary and I picked a bunch as a gift for Ms. Smith. I presented my prize upon returning to the classroom. Ms. Smith took one look and told me I'd just broken the law. What?!?! Me?!?! Turns out I picked a bunch of Goldenrod...the state flower which is illegal to remove. I was devastated, but she shrugged it off as a warning....thankfully.

Can you picture it? A little blond girl in a dress (always a dress) running around a grassy friend talking to an imaginary person. No wonder the other kids thought I was strange. But that's okay. What is more important is that I survived the 3rd grade thanks to Mary...and I made some real friends eventually.

A Summer of Changes

The last time I posted was just June 10th.

Since that time...

• John and I celebrated our first wedding anniversary
• Dottie celebrated first first year living with us
• I took on a client for sewing work
• I danced in the Ballet School's annual production
• Oh...and I got pregnant

So, nothing too crazy or anything. 

Our first anniversary was nice. My parents watched Dottie so John and I could go to Ojai for the evening. Ojai was boring, but we did attend a local wine fest. Being surrounded by a couple hundred drunk baby boomers was pretty awesome. It was Tommy Bahamas and Harley Davidson wear as far the your eyes could see. By 2pm they were all wasted and we were just starting. 

Dottie is doing great! She's 1.5 now and much more calm. To celebrate we bought her doggie cupcakes. She liked them very much. 

Yep, I took on a client for some wedding sewing. It turned out more involved than I planned (surprising right?), but in the end I was really proud of my work. I altered a wedding dress, embellished two bridesmaid dresses, added straps to the bridesmaid dresses, and constructed a lace edged shrug for the bride. Seriously, everything looked so wonderful and I cannot wait to see pictures from the wedding. 

As I mentioned above...I had my triumphant return to the stage. Well, maybe not triumphant since I was only a gypsy in one scene in a very long production. But really it was fun to get dolled up and dance in front of people. I only wish there were more opportunities for adults to perform more often. Plus rehearsing was really fun with the other gypsies. The hardest part of the performance was keeping my big secret that I'm pregnant. Found out two days before the show,but didn't dare tell anyone until after I got confirmation from the doctor. It was killing me to keep it from my Mom, but I did it and survived.

And so...now its baby time. 15 weeks 3 days today with a due date of February 26th. Will it be a leap year baby?

Being pregnant hasn't been easy so far. I've spent more time in a bathroom than I ever care to, I basically stopped eating for a few months, I'm tired all the time and get all kinds of strange aches. But at the same time I'm very excited about this baby.

At our appointment yesterday the baby was wiggling all over the place. So the only picture we got was this.

 That's a top view of the head. Not the most excited photo, but getting to see the spine and heart at work was pretty neat. No gender though. Little peanut wasn't interested in showing the goods. I don't want to know if its a girl or a boy, but John REALLY wants to know. So he can find out and torture me.

I'm also starting to show. Did I mentioned the upper arm spread? Sweet!

Next up...how to clothe my growing belly as I enter the busy season at the museum. I have both Halloween and Christmas events coming, plus regular tour guiding and I'm afraid my current outfit just isn't going to work.

Making our rental a home

So far we're managed a couch, curtains in the living room/kitchen, and new pots and pans. 

Now, we also have a table!!!

Isn't it pretty?

We picked it up at the Pasadena Flea Market last weekend. Its replacing the really wobbly table we got from my parents. 

Now what fabric should I use to replace this?

May Knitting Update

For the month of May I participated in a celebration of Madelintosh, one of my favorite yarn companies. 


Basically we all knit only with one brand of yarn for the month. Giving us a chance to use some of what we have stashed and have support from fellow knitters. 


It was a lot of fun and I managed to knit two sweaters, even with John travelling all month and house guests. Go me!

Project 1:


(Mad)rigal for Madelintosh aka Madrigal from the Twist Collective
Dates: May 6- May 30, 2011
Yarn Used: Madelinetosh Tosh Sport
Color: LaVie en Rose
Yardage: 1050 yards


Great sweater. So soft and comfy. I know I'll get a lot of use out of this with sundresses. I purposefully made it shorter so I could wear it with my full skirted sundresses and still look like I have a waist. The color is awesome! The perfect mix of pink and purple without making me look like I'm 5 years old. Someone even stopped me to ask where I bought it. Truly the best compliment. 


Project 2: 

Betty Draper's a Witch aka Elphaba Pullover
Dates: May 1-May 28, 2011
Yarn Used: Madelinetosh Sock
Color: Betty Draper's Blue
Yardage: 990 yards


Not my favorite picture ever, but oh well. This sweater also fits great, though I made it extra big in the hips and I really didn't need to. I learned a new skill with this sweater, something called horizontal dust darts. Basically the HBDs add a little extra room in the bust so your sweater doesn't pull upwards. Since I'm rocking size Ds, these little darts made a big difference. 


All in all it was a fun month and it was a lot of fun to knit along with other people using the same patterns and yarns. 


I also finished this sweater in May 

Akoya 
Dates: April 8-May 6, 2011
Yarn Used: Madelinetosh Tosh Sport
Color: Porcelain
Yardage: 1110 yards


Love this sweater too. Makes me happy that my skill has improved so much since last year. 


Wow! That's a lot of knitting. 


So far for 2011...9,263 yard in finished projects. That's 5.26 miles of yarn. And its only June 1st. 

Sewing...my first passion

Lately I've been making more of an effort to get back to my first passion, sewing.

I think if I could spend my days sewing sundresses and my evenings knitting, I'd be a pretty happy girl. So its been especially fun making a few things lately.

Sewing project 1 - Victorian blouse

What do you do when a major museum event is in 3 days and you don't have a top?

You dig through your fabric stash to find something suitable and then whip that sucker out.

Sorry for the poor quality photos, but I was on my own.

Here's the back.

I also recently made a new dress and finished a new sweater.

The dress is still a little plain. Could use some trim or a sash or something. The sweater...oh its awesome. Soft 100% wool. You would think that would be too warm for LA, but not really. Wool is pretty breathable in a hand knit, so this was just right for a day in the 70s.

There is also what I'm wearing today...

Not the most flattering photo...but I love this dress. Cute tie around the wait. And its a wrap dress. So it wraps around the back to create a V.

Can't wait to make a few more from my vintage patterns, and who knows, maybe this is my business plan. A little help from my husband for good photos and I could be on my way.

Oh, and here's Dottie's latest photo. She's sleeping with us now (not all night, but part of the night).

I think she's getting too comfortable.