silver’s Neighborhood

 

Several captions for this photo came to mind. 

1.  Did you forget I can roll now?

2.  Neglected third child.   

3.  ER trip waiting to happen.

3.  Nana's and Mimi's heart attack.

4. Who needs a babysitter when you've got TV?

5. What happens to me when Mom's putting out the boys' fires.

6.  Honey?  You seen Matilda lately?  I swear I put her down...ah here.  Yup here she is.   

 

And the award for OUTSTANDING MOTHER OF THE YEAR goes to.......not me. 

Really, just foolin.  The camera was within reach.  Tills was never left unattended.  No need to go calling social services anyone.   

 

 

            

 

Back in my old life when I used to be a sixth grade teacher, one of the mini lessons in my repetoire for writing workshop was titled using show not tell details.  Come on, kid.  Don't tell me your dog was sad.  Say Buddy laid his head down atop his paws and whimpered.  Or something to that effect.

Thing is, with this here blog, most times it's equally good to literally show you readers what it is I'm talking about as I'm writing.  Show with pictures and show with words.  You lucky ducks you to get the best of both worlds.  I can't think of a better way to give you this post.  So lots of pictures it is.     

But first, a disclaimer.  For our anniversary Mitchell surprised me with bump bitta ba....a new camera lens!  I'm so used to using my external flash and zoom lens--that I haven't quite gotten the hang of my new present.  Apologies if some pics are a bit fuzzy, grainy, so on and so forth.  Now away we go...

The decorations!  I did my darndest to give Leo a full out dinosaur party.  We had a dinosaur tablecloth, dinosaur hats, dinosaur birthday letters, dinosaur balloons, dinosaur cake, dinosaur goody bags...and streamers!  You're probably as tired of reading the word dinosaur as I am from typing it.  Here's the dining room:

Next my brother Philip and Matilda.  Even though they're the ones in focus my favorite part of this one is the foreground.  It's pretty much Dewey and Ava's relationship in a nutshell.

Little Beans.  Pet lover extraordinaire.  She just wants to squeeze.  And hug.  And squeeze.  What's wrong with that Dewey?  You should be used to rough lovin'.

And here we have my dad who requested featured face time on little white whale.  I always come through for my dad.  One part lawyer.  One part former politician.  One part college prof.  One part comedian.  Shaken not stirred.  Careful, it burns a little going down.  Also, perhaps you can spot your Christmas card on our wall?

Some partygoers in hats:

 Our littlest guest, Ellen.  What a sweetie. 

 Some dancing and balloon popping.

The cake!  I had to stand back along with Leo to admire Plehn's finest work.

Lights out.  The happy birthday song made Leo pleased as punch.

Sounds corny but, hope all your wishes come true Leoman. 

I think your guests enjoyed themselves.  At least your girlfriend Caroline did.  It's very important to keep your woman happy, son.

 

I'll call this one Mike and the boys.  A rare moment of downtime in between bouts of running and chasing.  Excellent work Mike.

  And finally, nothing beats playing with all your new loot the morning after. 

Thanks to all our friends and family for making Leo's third birthday party so special for him!

 

 

In her debut performance as the infant Christ child, Matilda nailed it.  She grinned just enough.  Fussed just enough.  Cooed just enough.  And sucked her thumb just enough to win over the entire audience.  In the past few weeks she'd really been perfecting her character.  Every so often I would prompt her with Now Tills, what would Jesus do....?  Gus tried to give her a few pointers since he was cast as baby Jesus last year, but since Matilda doesn't like pacifiers--it was necessary to practice her techniques all the more.      

Turns out Matilda was so convincing as a little holy baby boy--many people came up to her afterwards and congratulated "him" on a job well done.  Luckily mom was around to set the record straight.  A woman in a man's role, huh?  Bravo daughter.  Bravo.  You handled yourself beautifully, ma dear.           

     

I am one of those who can make long To Do list and ponders the universe.  My head feels so full right now, I think that tends to happen with the holiday season in full swing.  So let me have a 'blurt it out' session so I can lighten my load some.  I know I am not the only processing these thoughts, so please chime in the comments section with a "Me too, I think about...."

1. Need to refer to my December To Do list and create a schedule for the remainder of the items which are all 'due' on 12/23.

2. Brainstorming pregnancy care and birth options for the next one (whenever that may be).  I know pre-natals make a significant impact, need to start again, just for prep.

3. I want to eat healthier, I am thinking of going veg (well, allowing for fish)  2 days/week and/or raw/whole eating 2-3 days/week.  It refers to eating nothing processed (basically if it comes in its own packaging, it's processed.  The exception will be Greek yogurt.)

4. I need to embarrass myself into fitness, create an exercise tally sheet to post on the wall to serve as motivation.

5. I want orderliness in my household as with my weekly grocery/menu plan, it's really a bi-weekly thing.  LOVE IT.  Now if I could get on that track with laundry.  Bummer that it has to occur AT LEAST once per week.

6. I want a place of our own in less than a year but having difficulty weighing that against pre-school options for Vida.  Hmmmmm....

Ahhhhh, that makes me feel much better.

Here's a quick update for friends who are asking and wondering.

Jillian is growing and developing. Last week she was given enthusiastic thumbs up by her cardiologists Dr Q and his ever-humble side kick, Dr M. The patch looks good on ECHO and her weight gain is great. She's occupying the proudly won 10-25th percentile spot on the growth curve - just a little behind her brother's curve. At her 4 month appointment she tipped the scale at 11lb, 9oz. Last week she rolled from back to front to the right. She did it a bunch of times on Thursday when I was at work. Then once on Friday. Now she's taking a break. I guess I forgot to remind her to wait for me to be there to see it, since we practice so much I dream of her rolling back and forth across the room. Nevermind. Daddy and Mimi Gregg got to cheer her on in her progress, and it was very special.

Jillian is still not progressing with her eating by mouth. At all. So we continue in our treks back and forth to CHOP to see the GI and Feeding teams. The plan today is to switch to a 3rd reflux medication and if she isn't doing better by Friday, I may give her Mylanta. She is tolerating a greater volume through the tube, so we are able to feed her over 6 hours overnight rather than 10 hours. That gives time for more attempts at feeding at the bottle or breast during the day. I hate that rotten yellow tube. But I love it, too. It's the star of the show when we talk about weight gain.

Will's personality is so dynamic- and he grows more so every day. His expressions and insight keep me company on the cold, discouraging days when Jilli won't eat. He's ever concerned about her and the location of her pacifier. He's a great big brother. And all he wants for Christmas is a new sippy cup. His favorite books right now are Rosemary Wells' "Max and Ruby" books. We've been having great fun talking about everything in Max's pockets.

I married an incredible man. Sean has daily been working past midnight on the house. Then he gets up in the wee hours of the morning to refresh Jillian's tube feed bag so I can pump and go back to bed. He's so patient with my mood swings and my excessive, maniacal obsessing about Jillian's (lack of) eating. He's a gift.

 

Would you look at them.  Just two crazy kids.  In shmoopy doopy love.  Days away from getting hitched.  Three months shy of seeing two lines instead of one.  They have NO IDEA WHAT THE HELL THEY'RE GETTING INTO!  You can pity them if you want.     

I hear they've been working on a basketball team, or an army, or WORLD DOMINATION....

Okay, I might have taken it too far. 

In all seriousness, December 17th!  Four year wedding anniversary! 

Say it with me everyone.  One, two, three....D A T E  N I G H T ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! 

 

p.s. I still haven't cleaned my house.  If you're coming to Leo's party, just don't look too closely at the windowsills and baseboards.  M'kay?  Thanks.

p.p.s  Again, if you're coming to Leo's party--bring your mexican appetite--we will be having SALSARITA'S!!!  And yeah, I got it discounted.  Cause they love me there.   

December 14th passed in a rather low key style for the Leoman.  We had a small celebration with pizza and cake just the five of us.  Hold on to your pants!  The BIG DINOSAUR party isn't until this Friday!  Friday is also the day Matilda plays baby Jesus at HT.  Tomorrow Leo goes to the doctor.  Thursday Matilda has another dress rehearsal and it's also our four year wedding anniversary.  Somewhere in that mix I have to clean my entire house.  And don't even ask why I haven't done it yet.  If I full out cleaned today--I'd be doing it again tomorrow--and the next day.  It's like I literally live with three little cyclones at my heels.  So, I don't intend on taking a really deep breath until Saturday. 

A few pics from Leo's actual b-day.  Nothing better than licking the spatula full of batter!  And salmonella!  Yum. 

Waiting for Daddy to come home and taking advantage of the unseasonably warm weather out on the front porch.  Daddy where are you?  Is that car Dad's?  No.  Is that car Dad's?  No.  Is that car Dad's?  No. Is that car Dad's?  No. Is that car Dad's?  No. Is that car Dad's?  No. Is that car Dad's?  No. Is that car Dad's?  No. Is that car Dad's?  No. Is that car Dad's?  No. Is that car Dad's?  No. Is that car Dad's?  No. Is that car Dad's?  No. Is that car Dad's?  YES! 

That game is always a fun one, let me tell you.  

 Devil's food cake with cream cheese icing by Leo and Mom.  Icing decorations by Dad. 

Mixing fire and food amuses young and old alike.  MAKE. A. WISH !!!   

 I'd like to sincerely thank the dollar aisle at Target for providing some stellar gifts:

1.  A Baby Wild Animals 2010 sixteen month calendar. 

2.  Two Animal Planet coloring and activity books. 

3.  An Animals of Africa book.

4.  An Animals of South America book. 

5 x 1.00 x 6% KY sales tax = STEAL.

That is all for now.  In the meantime please read this touching piece my sister wrote for Leo on his third birthday.  It made me CRY, Ann.  Leo is a lucky booger.  Love you.      

 

 

Happy blogiversary to me! It's been three years since I first looped yarn around a knitting loom peg and discovered I liked it and wanted to blog about it. There have been lulls in knitting, and I've ventured into other fiber arts, but I still like my little blog and will continue to write about my successes and failures.

Speaking of other fiber arts, I received part of my Christmas present yesterday, all items chosen for backstrap-looming fun and ordered from The Woolery just a few days ago:

~ 8 dent Beka 10" rigid heddle

~ 10 dent Beka 10" rigid heddle

~ Three shuttles: a Kromski (also acts as a beater with its sloped edges), a Beka, and a Beka belt shuttle (with a beater on one edge)

I did make my own rigid heddle out of popsicle sticks (the bottom photo), but after a bit of experimenting, I realize it's meant for weft-faced projects with strong warping thread, like jute. The rough edges will fray any other type of warp. I was using alpaca here and it didn't do very well. My finer Beka heddles can be used for balanced weaving--hopefully! I'm very excited about the shuttles, too, since I've been using a piece of cardboard with my projects so far.

Please note that in the post below, I added Laverne Waddington's new blog on backstrap weaving. Hooray!

 

Except for the bearded man shown above, this time three years ago--I did not know any of the other people in this photo.  They didn't exist!  But I was about to meet the one we call Leo. 

On December 14th, 2006 at 12:05 a.m., my water broke.  I was just drifting off to sleep when CRACK!  It sounded like my feminine region popped a knuckle.  If that seems strange, imagine how it felt.

The last three years have been terrific and terrifying, happy and hellacious, at times awesome and at others awful.  I'll take every down with my up, every twist and turn.  I'd repeat every moment again for these results.  I love the people in this picture.  I love them. 

And I wonder how many of Leo's birthdays it will take before I stop reliving my version of his birth every December 14th.  Does every mother feel this way on her child's birthday?  Is every mother catapulted back in time walking herself through the moments that lead up to seeing, holding, touching, kissing, smelling, whispering Welcome.  Happy birthday.  I love you to her baby for the first time like I am?  I'm going to guess YES. 

At 12:05 a.m. my water broke and roughly nine hours later we had our Leo.  A very special thank you to my best friend, my husband, and baby daddy Mitchell.  And a very happy birthday to my firstborn.