Birthday recap (and a public service announcement)

Welcome to my house. The party started at noon.




At every party I host, I always have a schedule. My niece (she's 16), who was here helping with the princess party, snickered at my schedule. But alas, people, schedules rock.

12-12:30PM When the princesses arrived, they could color, bead, or make flowers (or all three)




At 12:30, we ate pizza.

Then, we played games. (1:00PM)

We played pin the princess in the castle.
And then freeze dance.





At 1:30, we had cake!



I made the cake, can you tell?



I was going to buy a princess castle cake, but she insisted I make a "homemade" cake. And, really, can't get much more homemade than this:



I hope she made a good wish!



At 1:30PM, we opened presents.
I am not going to bore you with pictures of that. (although she did get some totally tripindicular gifts!)
BUT! If you'd like to see a few outfits a friend made for her American Doll, go here and here.
She also made shoes, which I told her I'd photograph and here they are:

Um, awesome, right?

And, last but not least, the party gifts!



I made everyone a tutu. 8 girls rsvp'd. I made 9 - one for everyone, including my daughter. Guess what!!!!! Someone showed up without rsvping. Yep. Biggest pet peeve, ever. THIS IS A PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT: RSVP = RESERVE YOUR SPOT, PLEASE!!!!! So, I had to give my daughter's tutu to the unannounced guest. Which also means I didn't get any awesome photos of the tutu in action.

2:00PM, guests leave.

Happy Birthday, my sweet, sweet girly girl.

The next day, Sunday, we went to the Lion King at the Orpheum. Woweyzowey!!! I had tears in my eyes, it was so good.



Here is Nala:



Okay, back to knitting. I have 3 things I am working on. :D

xxoo, Gilda

Birthday memories. (my birth story for my daughter who just turned 6)

Today, my little girl is 6. And yes, that is still just a little baby to the blind eye, but to me it's only closer to her leaving my wings and soaring on her own.



My son was born on the hottest day of the summer, my daughter was born on the coldest day of winter. Maybe that is why they are so polar opposite?



January 27, 2006. It was a Friday and my last day of work before going on Maternity leave. I had planned the following week to prepare for baby's arrival (cleaning, organizing, what not). (Come to think of it, was the bassinet even set up? I don't think so.) That next Friday was supposed to be my delivery date, as I had had a c-section scheduled. Long story short, I had had complications with my first birth, so a c-section was planned for my second as a precautionary. And I was fine with that. With my first birth, I would've killed anyone who mentioned c-section. I had had a detailed 4 page birth plan. That was back then, this was now. A c-section was perfectly fine with me. To be safe. (and sometimes I feel like I have to justify that I had a c-section, but listen, no matter which way you do it, it's still miraculous. And I stand by that.)



So, there I was at work, training in my substitute, finalizing things before I left for three months. There was so much to be done that I hardly noticed when I started having pings of pain every once in a while. After a few hours, my trainee, who was very observant (and a sweetie!), said, "you're in labor. Those pings of pain you're getting are about every 4 minutes now." "Ah, nonsense," I said. (or I might've said no way jose, or get outta town lady, or nahhhuuuhh.) "You should go home," she said. It was 2PM. I was scheduled until 4PM and I had too much to do.



At 4PM, I was still working and now those pings of pain started to get closer together. Like, every minute closer together. I finally left at 4:30PM. But I had to stop to get my son from daycare. His daycare was on the 2nd story. Walking up those stairs was a big feat, but I did it. And I kept a straight face through each contraction (at this point, I gave in and admitted I was indeed in labor).



I called my husband and mother and both met me at home. By 6PM, we had all driven to the hospital. Up to the 2nd floor, wait at the admitting station, fill out a form. I left to walk down the hall to go to the bathroom and I was crying all the way, I was in so much pain, when I ran into a co-worker. She grabbed my hand and rubbed my back. And I'll never forget that she did that. (The day I was leaving the hospital, I ran into her in the same hall.)



When we finally got a room, I was dilated to 4cm. Finally, everyone geared up for the operation. I cried. The doctor said, "why are you crying?"



The operating room was so cold. And I had on just a gown. Everything was kind of a blur. But everyone stood still through each of my contractions and one nurse let me grab her hand and squeeze. Her hand was purple when I let go. They let my body finish the contraction, held on tight to me to keep me still, and injected the epidural. I felt a shock and then went numb from my waist down. They laid me down, turned on the lights, put up a shield so I couldn't see them cutting into my womb and went about their way. When they cut me open, I felt a tingle along where they had cut open. I said, "I felt that." They looked fearful. Finally, one said, "what did it feel like?" I said, "just tingling." And then they went again working on getting that baby out.



At 9:20, my baby was pulled from my womb. And she was a beautiful. And I was lucky, because my husband had been at my side as they pulled her out. I think he got to cut the umbilical cord. After I said hello to her, they took her to be washed. I said, "go with them, to make sure she's safe." My heart rate started to go up. The nurse said, "don't worry, she will be fine." I fell asleep then. And awoke in a waiting room for people who have just been operated on. They had put leg gadgets on me, to keep my blood flowing. They would tighten my legs and then let go. After two hours of waiting, I could go see my baby.



And there she was. My baby girl. Born on the coldest day of the year. And such a little nugget, she was. At 6lbs, 11oz! (my son had been 8lbs 13oz)



And so each year on this same day, I think of that day.



***************Sad, but true, story: A few years ago, my computer crashed and I lost 20,000+, including all my baby photos. Except I have this one that was on my facebook:

sickies, reading, knitting, and doing lots o cleaning...

Oh my goodness.
What a weekend.

Now, what you must know about me is that I am a self diagnosed hypochondriac. When I was younger, I used to spend hours looking into my mother's Medical Book, which was about 500 years old and 2000 pages and falling apart. Every time I looked into that book, I could diagnose myself with whatever ailment I thought I matched the symptoms. A cramp in the leg? I needed an amputation! Thirst? I had diabetes. And on and on. Thankfully, I do not have that book to look upon when I feel the need. Unfortunately, I have the internet. Anyway...

On Friday, my husband drove to Canada. So, the two kids and I planned to make a weekend party of it. Friday night, we watched Kung Fu Panda 2 and ate pizza.
Friday night, my son got sick. All night.
Saturday, we all rested from the night before.
Saturday night, we had pizza again, but this time watched Judy Moody.
Saturday night, my daughter got sick.
Sunday, we all rested from the night before.
Sunday night, I got sick.
Thank goodness my husband finally came home from Canada so he could tend to the kids.
Monday, I rested.

So, you can see how I have spent the weekend considering all of the possibilities of how this had happened. We could have had food poisoning. Or the NoroVirus, which apparently is going around. We should have gone to the ER. I am surprised we did not go to the ER. We could have died.

Just when I had it pin pointed to the pizza as the culprit, who gets it? No one other than my dear husband.

Today, he is resting.

Time to break out the disinfectants. And do laundry up the wazoooo. Bleach, here we come....

So, needless to say, I have not done much knitting. Nor have I wanted to. But since I was feeling better yesterday, I did throw something on the needles:

Just some mossy stitch mitts.

I should have just cast on with with some chunky yarn. I need some quick gratification.

(Please email me if you have a source link for this img so I can give credit. thx.)

Oh and I finally bought Cutting for Stone for my Nook. (Thank you to all who recommended it) I have a feeling I am gonna be a cryin''


whew, now, on to preparing for my daughter's 6th birthday party this weekend.

*tulle - check
*mounting for tulle - check
*handmade bunting - check
*tissue paper for handmade flowers - check
*princess music - check

Linking up to one of my favorite bogs these days:

Monopoly and taco boats

I have been reading The Five Love languages of Children. Well, I've more or less been skimming it. But it's interesting to ponder; how does your child gauge how you love them? I have come to the conclusion that for both of my kids, it is quality time. Honestly, we spend a lot of time in the same house, but not 'together.' So, this weekend, we played Monopoly.



Let me interrupt my short and sweet family anecdotes by admitting that board games make me realize how competitive I am. I feel so go-with-the-flow. UNTIL I play board games. Oh, I am just horrible. I get so determined. I want to win, win, win! AND! When I win, I am a loud and obnoxious winner, flaunting it every which way I can. When I lose, I'm a sore loser. These are not things I want to teach my kids, I know, but I cannot help it. I just can't.

So, I did not win Monopoly, per say. We had to put it away, because we ran out of time. Luckily, my kids did not have to bear witness to my childishness - this time.

But, a-ha. Look who else is a silly willy:



Is that a cute headband on my cute husband? Why, yes, it is. (he is going to KILL me!! mwahahahahah (evil laugh))

Anyway, we've been spending more quality time together. AND I have taken over dinner duty (that cute man in the headband used to make dinner every night. yes. I know! He rocks. But I decided to take over...) So, I have been trying to introduce fun, yet super nutritious meals. Last night, we made our very own taco-less tacos (they thought this name was uber funny. They're really called taco boats). Instead of using tacos or tortillas, you use lettuce leaves as the holder of all of your taco fillings. We had avocado, onion, tomato, meat, black olives, and shredded cheese.



And I thought it would be funny to document just how much everyone loved their taco-less tacos:





:D

And knitting.....

Do you think it is funny that I alternate watching Downton Abbey and Breaking Bad while I knit? I should look to see if it affects my tension.

Anyway, presently, I am working on a special newborn valentine hat.





I think I like making special baby items best. I also just whipped up a pink pixie hat and a cotton heirloom dress, all soon to be put up in the shop.

Well, hi there Miss Skirt.

Tadahhh, I am all done knitting up the skirt for my daughter. It took about 5 or 6 hours total. But I am mighty proud of my perseverance. A few times, I started other projects, finished those and came back to this.
Here is the skirt in twirling/dancing action:

Up close:

Decrease details:

She strikes another pose:

Oh, God, I love her:

I learned a lot from this project. First of all, in the future, when I do decreases, I may just stick with them on the side. And!!! a k2tog leans right. So, I may use alternative decreases for different effects. Oh, and I used a rib, yf, k2tog for a drawstring, but maybe I'll use elastic next time? Hm, so many choices! I still have soooo much to learn! But! I lurve that lace on the bottom. THAT was a great decision!
xxoo,
G
(Gotta go catch up on the rest of my Downton Abbey episodes. I saw another blog mention this show (and if it was you - thank you!!!) and I decided to check it out. I LOVE it! And tonight is the 2nd episode of season 2. They have all of season 1 on pbs.org and netflix so you can catch up, if you wanna.

Photo shootin'

Slippers:



Princess Crown:



Art from the Walker Art center:











My own art:







Working on adding patterns to my pattern page (up there at the top you'll find a link).