All baby related project will just have to wait until I get this resolved. *shrug*

This month has been nothing but activities.  First off Gray had 3 (yes 3!) performances to be in.  Granted she was in no way the main performer in any of these shows but she was pretty darn cute to watch on stage.  My little Gray (nicknamed Town Mayor because of her overly friendly personality) was not even a little shy.  She not only sang and danced like she was on stage alone but she also waved to the audience to make sure they knew she could see them.

Baby Chuck Norris is still in the baking process.  Technically he has 5 weeks to go but everyone keep predicting that he’ll be born as soon as next week when Gray goes in for eye surgery. (stress induced birth)  Hopefully everyone is wrong and I’ll go into labor the week after or later when it’s safe for him to breath on his own.  For now I’m grateful I finished all things Christmas the first week of December and can enjoy quiet time at home with Gray.

Gray was a little angle in the Nutcracker…she stole the lead dancers flower :\

Here she is singing and dancing at her school Christmas show. 

 MG & Gray getting ready for the Christmas play at church.

]]> http://bustedknits.wordpress.com/2011/12/21/monthly-post/feed/ 0 Busted Nutcracker Angle IMG_0480 P1140370 http://bustedknits.wordpress.com/2011/11/15/key-problems-and-new-projects/ http://bustedknits.wordpress.com/2011/11/15/key-problems-and-new-projects/#comments Tue, 15 Nov 2011 15:06:30 +0000 Busted http://bustedknits.wordpress.com/?p=255 Continue reading →]]> Apparently my lap is where laptops come to die.  I just noticed that some keys aren’t working which is weird because I rarely ever type more than a few words at a time like when I’m searching on Google or Amazon.  Weird…and annoying.  So if I’m missing an A or D you know why.

I need to work on a few projects like newborn stuff and a cross stitch birth announcement.  Luckily MG and I finished baby Chuck Norris’s room this weekend and I only need to wash all the clothes and linens prior to his arrival.  This give me plenty of time to knit and eat pizza…or ziti.

Oh the last year and a half has been pretty amazing.  6 months post surgery I decided to start boot camp classes at the gym.  It took about 3 months of butt kicking workouts, lots and lots of crying in pain, hot showers and Advil but I was running over 3 miles by Christmas 2010.  In April 2011 I ran the Cherry Blossom 10 miler as my sweet hubby, FIL and sweet baby girl Gray cheered me on.

I cried like a baby when I reached the finish line and saw my family cheering on the sidelines.  The crying made me run a little faster and stung the sh*t out of my eyes since I was sweating salt by the end but I couldn’t help it.  Happiness was all mine.

A month later (and a few fun runs) MG and I decided it was time to try to give Gray a little brother or sister so we got to work.  It didn’t take long but we’re expecting a little boy in January 2012   Gray is really happy she’s going to have a little brother but I know she’s hoping that the tech’s were wrong and we’re really having a girl. lol

In September Gray started Pre-k and has been loving every minute of it.  She has yet to cry about me leaving her there, in fact in her eyes I should drop her off faster so she and her friends can have fun without me. :\  We also moved out of our townhouse and decided to rent a larger single family home down the street.

Life has been busy post surgery but in a really great way.  The only thing that seems to have taken a backseat in my life these days is my knitting which kind of sucks but now that baby boy (who I lovingly nicknamed baby Chuck Norris) is almost here I’ve decided to make him a baby blanket and some little hats.  The only thing I’ve noticed is that I seem to have forgotten how to knit! Is that possible? Can my skills (they weren’t the best skills but still I knew how to make stuff) just vanish like that???  I may just need to play around a little with different patters, dunno.  But baby Chuck Norris will have a hat! (even if it is a little lop sided)

I’m one of those annoying naturally hyper people, yeah the real annoying naturally hyper people.  When MG and I first got married he was (kinda) ok with my hyper mode, it got the house clean and furniture moved.  As the years passed and my condition worsened I moved my hyper activity from moving my body to only using my arms…hence the knitting.  I still knit regularly, still working on that Every Way Wrap…damn thing is long!  However now I can do more stuff like clean, laundry, unclutter and PAINT!! 

When I lived alone I painted my apartment like 12 times.  I’d switch colors from room to room, play around with weird swatches and redecorate every area just for kicks.  I mainly painted in the winter when I would get snowed in and had nothing to do.  In the warmer weather I’d just jog or hit the gym to help relieve myself from all the extra energy.  Most of the time no one knew I even painted anything because if I thought something I did sucked I’d just take my plain white and cover up the ugly then start all over again. 

I have painting issues. I know.

So now that I feel better I’m back to where I was 2.5 years ago and that’s “This bedroom needs to be painted like yesterday”.  Before we got preggers with Gray I was in the middle of convincing MG that our room should be painted a nice chocolate brown.  At the time we didn’t own a ladder that would allow me to tackle this project but now? Oh yeah, now we have a ladder…a good one. >:)  MG is now ok with the brown walls (well we’ll see how ok he is when I start painting lines of different browns all over the place) but he’s not ok with me painting his old dressers white.  >:|   The furniture is old, like really really old.  It’s his grandparents old furniture that has served us all well but we (and I mean all of us) haven’t taken care of these pieces at all.  The wood is holding up well but it’s scratched and water marked like crazy, it’s sad and ugly from all the neglect.  MG and I have already said that once we can we will replace this furniture so my theory is, if I paint our existing furniture then it’ll last us a few more years.  (also, we just bought a new bed so I’m not into spending on new furniture unless it’s a couch.  An L couch to be exact)

I’m also thinking about painting Gray’s room Tiffany blue and her bathroom hot pink.  Both colors were vitoed by MG because he was painting the baby room.  (stoopid fumes) Otherwise I totally would have painted them myself.  What does a guy know about girly girl rooms anyway?   pfft

I HATE that these lizards think my front steps are a good place to live.  Last year we had a female who was (no lie) 12 inches long hanging out on my front steps.  I hated her.  She scared the life out of me so many times I stopped using my front door.  This year I’m letting Sonya snap at them in hopes that they’ll scurry away to another home.

Bastards.

The first few weeks took a toll on me quickly.  Even if I spent 10 min playing with her I needed 3 hours to recover.   By last week I was able to carry her around and walk with her in my arms.  Again, it hurts like all hell but I can do it and I don’t seem to be breaking anything.  woo!

unfortunately last Thursday my mom decided she needed to do an emergency trip to NJ to take care of some business.  Being that I still wasn’t up to taking care of Gray alone we all went with her.

Somehow between VA and NJ we all forgot that I’m not yet capable of caring for Gray alone and I found myself doing all the caregiving alone.  Gray and I are sharing a room at my parents house so I put her to bed and I pick her up in the morning. My mom has made it a point to not be around at all so I’ve also been watching Gray, making all the meals, cleaning up after her, playing with her, giving her baths, going out alone and carrying her up and down the stairs.  It’s been 6 days of this and I’m at the point that my whole body starts to shake and muscles from my neck, ankles, thighs, fingers, ears and chest are kicking in to help me have the strength to lift her into and out of her crib.  I’m pretty sure that’s not supposed to happen.

Thank GOD Vicodin is still my friend and I have an ass load of pills stockpiled in my nightstand.   

On the bright side Gray and I have had a really nice time here.  I had to improvise with watching her so I decided to have daily activities outside my parents house in order for me to not have a screaming kid in my care.  Friday when we arrived to NJ I took Gray to play at the sandy playground near my parents house then we stopped by my aunts house so she could visit with her cousin Bry.  Bry is a few years older but they love each other so much they are constantly asking for one another.  They played till they were so tired they couldn’t pick up their feet when they walked. LOL

Saturday I took Gray to another playground where she ran like a maniac for 2 hours.  Afterwards we stopped at the mall (cause it’s Jersey and going to the mall is required), after we stopped to visit my aunt until it was past Gray’s bedtime.  Oops.

Sunday we visited with a few family members and then I decided to take Gray to the zoo where we spent alot of money to get in and only spent an hour looking at a couple of animals.  We did get to see a bear though and that made Gray so excited that afterwards she got all sleepy on me so we had to leave for an early (but long…woo!) nap.  Later in the day we went to a BBQ at my aunts house.  All in all on Sunday we managed to visit 20 family members at 6 different houses all within a 2 mile radius.  That’s one of the few things that I miss about living in NJ, my family lived close by so I was never ever alone.

Monday I was tired as all heck and sick of the bickering that was going on at my house (‘rents are annoying) so I took Gray to Liberty Science Center.  She had a great time, I’m still trying to get over the cost for parking and entry.  DAMN that was expensive and I didn’t learn a damn thing!  Later in the day we went back to play with Bry (who btw Gray calls ‘da boyee’).  Missed her bedtime this time by 2 hours.  Double oops!

Tuesday I had no idea what to do so I decided I’d take her to an indoor play park that’s nearby.  I figured if I get there early there will only be little kids (under 5) there and I was right.  Gray ran like a maniac for 1.5 hours, then sat to have lunch with us, then ran like a maniac for another 45 minutes.  Finally when I realized the older kids were starting to show up I called it a day.  After another long 3 hour nap we went to visit her other cousin Nikki where they played for what seemed like a few minutes but was more like 3 hours.  We missed her bedtime once again this time I don’t even know by how long.

Today (Wed) we were supposed to go visit my sister for breakfast but Gray woke up with a fever.  All plans were cancelled including my plans to abandon everyone and go see my favorite author “Jen Lancaster” who is in NY for the release of her new book “My Fair Lazy“.  I was supposed to go see her last year but instead I accidentally slammed the trunk of my car onto my head.  We decided that driving 250 miles after a head injury that caused me to go to the ER and get a few staples was not a good idea.  This time I called off my night out for the sake of my sweet Gray…I love her but DANG I really wanted to go tonight!  grr…  

These books (including her new release My Fair Lazy that’s not in the picture, Pretty in Plaid isn’t pictured either but that’s cause it’s already signed…my BFF got a copy for me…this is too long of an insert for parenthesis right?) will have to wait until next year.  That is if she writes another book and has a book signing. 

If you haven’t read these yet I urge you to read Jen’s books starting with ‘Bitter is the New Black” all the way to “My Fair Lazy“.  She’s a funny author who isn’t afraid to write about her wrongs and is kind of a bitch but a loveable one that makes you laugh.

So I started wearing my semi-new running sneakers (that have been collecting dust for a year…so sad) and realized, DUH!  My footwear IS the problem.

Damn I’m stupid.

So I hunted down (via help from a Facebook status update that I needed cute but comfy shoes) the most comfortable shoes I could find on Zappos.com.  (BEST.SITE.EVER!) I ordered a couple of pairs of Naturalizers, Easy Spirits, a pair of Born, Teva and Dansko sandals.  Can I just say that ordering shoes from Zappos.com (free shipping and returns within a year of order) is flipping amazing?!  I was able to get a bunch of shoes to try on at home, with whatever outfits, without having to do any footwork (hehe) and I can easily return them FREE OF CHARGE.  Yeah, amazing.

When the boxes arrived today I was hoping that I would hate the Dansko’s since they are the most expensive pair in the bunch but of course they happened to be the most comfortable shoes in the world.  So I now am the proud owner of overly priced flipflops Dansko and Born sandals.  I guess my days of picking up 2 for $5 flips at Old Navy are long gone.  I can’t say I’m terribly sad about that.  >:)

Earlier today Gray and I were hanging out in her room reading books when she suddenly stood up, walked over to the corner and squatted.  (no worries she’s still in diapers)  I kept reading to her as she did her business and when she appeared to be done I asked “Gray, did you go poop?”.  To my surprise I got a “yes, mommy, I poop”.  I am totally unprepared for this so I congratulated her on her success. O_o  Then decided that I should assemble her potty chair so she can familiarize herself with it.

The chair is some sort of convertible seat, it goes from potty chair to a step stool to the toilet, so I had to screw in a few parts before it looked like a chair.  As I screwed on one side Gray decided to help and screw on the other side.  As she did this I though, “meh, I’ll fix whatever she’s doing in a second”. Imagine my surprise when I looked at what she did and realized that she had screwed in her side right!!  All I had to do was tighten her screws!  My kid is a genius!!!!!!!!!

Ok maybe not but still I’m proud of her and amazed that she’s able to mimic me so well.  Plus I won’t lie I can always use the extra help

Do you see the insanity of the chart on top??!!  That friggin chart almost made me mental.  This is my first chart project so just reading a chart was new to me let alone trying to organize the approach.  In the end it took 7 tries (read: 7 FLIPPING TRIES!!!)  before I realized that there was an issue with the chart and not with my knitting/chart reading skills.  After doing a really quick search I found that there was an errata printed and that the effer’s at Interweave are not tech savvy enough to send out correction emails to anyone who recently purchased their Fall 09 issue. 

Jerks.

Anyhow I’m totally excited about the Everyway Wrap. It’s really versatile and it’s been a project I’ve been wanting to knit for a few months.  This is what it’s supposed to look like when I’m done. (except in green)

In the midst of my 7 attempts to knitting this thing I decided that I too needed to have really pretty stitch markers.  I’ve seen so many people with these pretty beaded markers and here I was using these ugly plastic things.  I found this dude’s super clear and easy instructions and decided I would give it a shot.

Tada!

I had some trouble finding the toggle and clasps at the store so I ended up just buying a small bag of 6.  Since I only needed 3 for this project I’ve set the project of making more aside until I can find more.

It’s been a helluva couple of weeks around here.  I’ve been progressively healing and I’ve been doing my best to take as little pain meds as I can.  I was afraid that I would have an addiction to Vicodin by now but it seems like I have more of a fear of being in horrible pain than a need to take a pill, so I take as little as possible but I keep the pills close by like a safety net.

In the last week I’ve been pushing past the morning stiffness and I’ve even picked up Gray a few times from her crib.  It took a few days and tries before I could hold her but at this point I’m able to pick her up, walk with her and even walk down the stairs with her all med free   I’m so happy I can do more than just sit around it feels great to be somewhat functional. 

Today was a really big day for me as I ran errands alone for the first time since before the surgery AND even though I walked sloooow I didn’t need my cane!  Yay!  I managed to walk across Walmart to pick up a few things. (damn that store is huge!) then I did a few laps at the mall as I looked for comfortable (but cute) sandals. (didn’t find any)  I know it doesn’t seem like much but I haven’t been able to do something like that in a few years now so for me it’s a huge victory.

My shoe search at the mall was kind of sucky though.  I really REALLY wanted to like the comfy walking shoes that are available but I really REALLY didn’t.  They were just too clunky looking and totally not my style.  When I got home Gray was napping (as was my mom, lol) so I went online and ordered a few good sandals from Zappos.com. 

Did you know they have free shipping both ways?!?! AND you have a year to return unused shoes for a full refund?!?!  For someone like me that really can’t go to a gazillion stores to look for shoes, that’s frickin awesome!  I highly recommend anyone that doesn’t have time, energy or patience to use Zappos.com.  Holy time saver yo!

Anyhow, since I’ve been moving around more these last few weeks I haven’t had much time to spend on my Everyway Wrap.  The pattern requires 16 section repeats, I’m only on repeat #3 so I’ve got a way to go before I’m done with this project.  I’m going to try to force myself to work on it for the next few days so I can at least have half of it done by the end of the month.

For now I leave you with a pic of Gray enjoying a big chocolate covered strawberry (or as Gray says chocotat strawbebe)