Fun With Fabric

In March Gabe's class at school studied fabric. How exciting - for me! tee hee We got to talk with Gabe about fabric all month (when I remembered), what materials fabric can be made from and what fabric can be made into. At some point Gabe told me that his teacher said he could bring the scarf I made him to school. While I pondered what else I could send as I have so very many examples of knitted fabrics in the house and made from many different fibers I remembered a tidbit of information I'd read somewhere on Ravelry. You can felt in your Kitchen Aid mixer. Seriously. Is your heart beating a little faster like mine did when I first read that? I'm sure it is!

So I thought of a little project for us to do at home. I had some yards of 100% wool left from a project I'd just finished so I knitted up two quick swatches:



On a "quiet" afternoon Gabe and I got our materials together: the swatches, my mixer, a teapot of hot water, a bowl of ice water, a washcloth, a towel, and tongs. Oh, and don't forget a very goofy Gabe.

Start by adding one swatch, the washcloth (for added friction) and some hot water to the mixer and, well, mix. Let it run for a few minutes then give the swatch a dunk in the ice water.

Back and forth from hot and cold water every few minutes until the swatch has felted about how much you like. Then roll in a dry towel and lay flat to dry.


In the end you can see how much the felted piece has changed (and I could have felted it more had I been more comfortable being on my feet). The felted piece is smaller, thinner, and the fibers are tight together instead of loose - no holes! I sent it to school with Gabe with a paper on how we made the felt complete with pictures and a note that his teacher could keep them for later years if she wanted. They haven't returned yet but I did receive a note back saying that Gabe did a great job of telling his classmates how we made the felt. Pretty cool I think. :)

I've Been Sick

... again. Ugh. But, again, it was short lived thanks to a lot of Emergen-C and extra vitamin D but just when I thought I was doing so good blogging more. Anyway, we did get to get outside a bit last weekend (wait, I guess now it was the weekend before that).


First, Gabe, Zion and I pulled the dead flowers out of our little planter and put in some new pansies and white allisium (my favorite because it smells SO wonderful). I wanted to put in petunias like last year but I couldn't find them, they must not be available yet. Then again, the kids are really excited to be planting pumpkins and sunflowers and this is the only place we have for planting. So, I guess this will be a flower and vegetable patch this year. :)

Newly "plowed" ground. My grandma's stepping stone is there for her and the pansies are there for my mom.

Then the kids moved on to "helping" Rob change the sand in the sand box. When you have a sand box and the lid is occasionally left off, or blown off by a strong wind, and you have cats, well... you change the sand often.


Gideon's job is hazard detector. He goes out in to the yard and finds the water hazards, if there is a teaspoon of water to be found he'll find it. My own personal dowser if you will. While he can't drown in most of the quantities that he finds but he can successfully make more laundry at lightning speed and wet down shoes that need to dry for days before they can be worn again (and he just doesn't have that many shoes) and fill the dog's water bucket with dirt and weeds forcing us to refill it pretty much any time he plays outside.

And then we all go in and eat like horses because there's something about being outside that builds a huge appetite and nothing ever tastes so good as food then.

Yep, Another Pregnancy Update

Just wanted to give the latest. I had an appointment with my midwife yesterday and we talked about the ultrasound results. She had spoken with the doctor about the report that morning and confirmed everything. Not only did the placenta move but the doctor no longer considers the cord a velamentous insertion but a marginal insertion which is less risky. That combined with the placenta moving and taking the cord with it we are a GO for a vaginal delivery! Yay!

I hope that no other problems will pop up and that the baby will turn but for now at least it seems as if the worries regarding placenta and cord are a non-issue.

Pregnancy Update

I had my follow up ultrasound this morning. We were all pleasantly surprised, I think the doctor especially. I kept telling God He could move the placenta out of the way and I wouldn't act surprised if it happened. Alas, I couldn't help myself. I WAS surprised. I think I still may be stuck in a state of disbelief. It was not expected that my placenta previa would change because I had such a severe case. It did. It moved. It is no longer in the way - AT ALL. AND!!! It moved in such a way that the cord, while still an issue in itself, is not in between the baby and my cervix which would have been very bad. There was always the possibility that any movement by the placenta would put the cord at risk either by rupturing the cord or moving it in between the baby and cervix but, again, I'm all clear there.

Now that the placenta previa has been taken out of the picture that only leaves the cord issue. #1 problem is that a VCI is fragile. That concern used to be huge because of where the placenta was now that is a minor concern (though still a concern). #2 problem is that VCI cause growth restriction and asymmetrical growth, so really small babies and babies who might have big heads and tiny bodies. My little one is measuring two weeks ahead. Ha! Take that VCI! I am 24 weeks and 6 days today and the baby is measuring 26 weeks and 6 days and they guess weighs about 2lb 2oz. The doctor just smiled and shook his head in disbelief. And smiled some more and said "I don't think we have to worry about your baby." More smiling. :D

Still, he wants to do another ultrasound at 30 weeks to check for growth. No reason to get too cocky, I still have a long way to go and baby has a lot of growing left. We still don't know the gender. Had to avert my eyes a little to avoid accidentally seeing. I also have to talk with my midwife about the ultrasound report. I have no idea if she is comfortable attempting a natural delivery considering the cord problem or if I'll still have to have a c-section. Oh yeah, and the baby is breech now. Stinker. S/he was extremely active during the ultrasound, the tech had a dickens of a time getting all the pictures we needed. Tee hee.

For now my many restrictions have been lifted as well. Now if only that meant I actually had the energy to do anything. But it sure did feel good to help Gideon up the stairs and lift him in his crib without any guilt!

I think that's it. Thank you all so much for your prayers and for sharing in our own little miracle! We would still love to have your prayers that the baby will still grow well, that the cord will pose no issues and the baby will flip to head down (and not flip back). Thank you, thank you, thank you, and thank God!

SUH-NY Days...

You know how the song goes. :) We have been having such nice weather here. I think I may have mentioned it at least once already. Yesterday was gorgeous. So much so that we couldn't bear to stay indoors once Rob got home from work. We piled in the van and hit a park in an adjacent town. One that just happens to be next door to an old-fashioned drive-in. Play first...

I wonder if Gabe will ever grow out of the phase where he feels he must play to the camera. I'll never get a shot of his normal smile at this rate. :)

Too bad he doesn't smile so much when he's concentrating on climbing.

Zion cannot be pushed high enough. She always asks for faster and higher.

But she doesn't mind smiling for the camera.

Hey, I actually got one! The elusive normal smile. As normal as one can be with four missing teeth (two on the top, two on the bottom with one top tooth starting to grow in).

And she's ready for take off!

Gideon loves to throw. Really, really loves to throw. I let him as long as he's not throwing AT someone. A little girl tried to tattle on him and I told her he was simply experiencing texture and velocity. Her nanny/babysitter didn't seem to appreciate my answer.

Gideon loves to swing even if at a slower rate than Zion. His smile says it all. We had a great time!

Then we piled in the van again just to drive to the other side of the park fence where the drive-in is located. Corn dogs and fries for Gabe and Zion, chicken nuggets and fries for Gideon, a chicken sandwich and, you guessed it, fries for Rob, and I got a charbroiled burger with the works, onion rings and a chocolate Coke (which, sadly, I had to explain how to make to the teen taking our order). Have I made you hungry? I don't feel bad. It was wonderful. While we sat in the van and ate we saw two antique autos visit the drive-in as well. *sigh* Yep, awesome.

Mommy Brag Moment

I can't help myself. I don't think you could either if you were in my shoes. So this is how it went down. Tonight I took Gabe to Family Reading Night at his school (Rob took Gideon and Zion to swim class as we started a new session tonight). The kids were invited to wear their PJs and bring a pillow and blanket. Gabe was thrilled - he LOVES to wear pajamas. First the Kindergarten through first or second graders met in the "pod" between their classrooms and they each got a bag with a book, egg-timer (the hourglass type, is this the right name for them when they're only a minute?) and a book mark. We got a chance to read together and then be read to, One Fish Two Fish. After that we went to the gym to have a piece of cake, it is after all Dr. Seuss' birthday. (Later, when we got home he told Rob that "even though it wasn't his favorite cherry [cake] it was still very good"). Then we went back to the "pod" and The Cat In The Hat (who looked suspiciously like a teacher in a costume) read us Green Eggs and Ham. Lastly we were told we could linger and read more or go to the library for a timed reading "game".

We lingered and read The Cat In The Hat together. I wanted to go but Gabe wanted to stay so we headed to the library. There they had some teen-aged girls at tables who had the kids read from sheets and counted the words they could read in one minute.

I told the first girl he was at a second grade level but she knew he was in Kindergarten so she had him read 1.4 (first grade, fourth month) instead. He read 84 words in one minute with one mistake. She was impressed. I thought we'd go but Gabe, being who he is, wanted to visit each table. I told the next gal to give him the fifth grade paper just to see how he would do but she asked Gabe what grade he was in and he laughed and said "I'm not in a grade! I'm in Kindergarten!" so she wouldn't do fifth grade. She did do fourth grade though and Gabe read 55 words in a minute about some type of fish that eats coral. That's right - FOURTH grade level!

Lastly, he visited the final table. I told him to just pick a paper that looked like it had an interesting story so he picked the panda story, which was 1.5 reading level. He read 96 words in a minute.

He really had no idea that what he did was unusual or special but I thought it was pretty cool.

Gideon Update

Gideon saw his allergist for his first check up today since his initial visit a month ago. The doctor was pleased with his progress. Nearly NO sign of eczema and he went from 3-6 poopies a day to 1-2 except 3 on the day after I flubbed and gave him a buttermilk biscuit. He says to keep doing what we're doing as far as food goes and we can lighten up on some of the hidden dairy ingredients. We think Gideon's eczema wasn't completely gone because of his swim classes. I loved the docs response to my telling him that the eczema came back when his swim classes started *shrug* "what're ya gonna do, the kid's gotta learn how to swim." I LOVE reasonable doctors. So he gave us a bunch of information on doing hydrating skin treatments at home, what lotions to use, what hydrocortizone cream to use, what antibiotic cream to use if/when it gets angry...

He also cautioned us that he really thinks Gideon will develop more allergies, that the eczema gives a pathway to the immune system and all that. Not to say he's going to end up allergic to everything but the doc REALLY stresses the use of a multi-vitamin + zinc and daily probiotics to help fight allergies and help him from developing more allergies.

Also, he says Gideon has every symptom of a dust mite allergy he just isn't testing positive for it. The doc thinks he will someday. So we're going to get an extra air filter for the house. The doc was also great here saying that the Honeywell brand is the only brand tested and proven to be useful in this area and not to bother spending more than $150. Anything over that is overkill and a waste of money. Good to know.

ALSO - I mentioned at one point that I couldn't lift anymore and after he was done with Gideon he turned and asked "So, how are YOU doing?" and I told him about my placenta previa and velamentous cord insertion. Know what he said? Didn't think so. Anyway, he said his daughter had the SAME conditions. BOTH! I was amazed since I've met many that have had one or the other but never both. But she did have both and had to be extra, extra cautious and he said they celebrated every week that passed and in the end she ended up having TWO ultrasounds each WEEK to check on everything but carried to term. The baby was small (well, 6 lb which isn't entirely small) but is growing like a weed now and is a month old.

He told me we do NOT have to do a no-wheat trial and we don't have to see a GI specialist and to bring Gideon back in 6 months for his next check-up and that if I need anything to just call. He was so nice to say that he understands that getting around is going to be nuts for a while and that he's perfectly willing to do whatever we need to over the phone.

Lastly, when we first got to the appointment Gideon got all excited about getting out of the van and when I opened the door he threw his sippy cup out. Wouldn'tcha know it bounced and then rolled half way under the mini-van parked next to us. Arg! There was no way I was going to be able to fetch it. But then a car pulled in a couple spaces down and a scruffy man with a cigarette in his mouth hopped out. He was my angel for the day and was more than happy to get down on his belly on a dirty parking garage floor to get Gideon's sippy cup for this ol' pregnant lady. God bless him!

Praising God today for small and big steps with Gideon's health and wonderful doctors and strangers who are angels.

Happy Birthday, Gabe!

We have been having unseasonably warm weather here lately. I'm not complaining mind you (though it does make me wonder what is in store in the next couple of months). It meant that we got to move part of Gabe's birthday party, which we had today, out of doors. What a pleasant surprise. :)

Officially, Gabe turned 6 years old at 11:55PM last night. Six years ago after a three-day induction process and two hours of pushing I finally held my first born. I was so tired I didn't care. OK, I cared. I was smitten but I also couldn't hold my own head up I was so exhausted. Not an exaggeration. I did very much enjoy that first night as I think he was super exhausted too and we slept for hours and hours nestled together. So after that little walk down memory lane, we continue with today's tale.

Gabe requested a Zelda themed birthday party. They don't really make much premade for Zelda parties (where as last year I got lucky with the Mario theme). Still, I think it went all right. We started with a "find the Tri-force Gem" game. I made and hid yellow triangular Tri-force gems around the back yard. The children's task was to find three gems and return them to me to earn a shield.


It really was a pretty day for a hunt type game in the backyard.


Zion picked the purple shield and then ran circles around the yard with it.


Gabe insisted on the red shield and then attempted to color the whole thing brown.


Isaac decorated his with fish.

The line up. Gabe, Isaac, Zion, Jordan (a friend of Gabe's from school) and Jonathan. After decorating their shields Gabe got to choose which was his favorite and award that person with a sword. Gabe chose Jonathan's shield as his favorite.


After the games we moved on to gifts. Gabe had a penguin Pillow Pet on his wish list and was excited to get it.


He got a 100 Bible songs and story book from Isaac and family.


We got him Mario Party 8 which later the boys had lots of fun playing.



The Zelda cake. This year hoping to keep it on the cheap and easy I did the cake myself. Nothing fancy or inspiring but a pixelated version of Link, the hero from the Zelda games. Gabe chose cherry chip cake (my favorite so how could I argue), I slather it with vanilla icing and used M&Ms to create Link.


Gabe took his time blowing out the candles. Wasted no great effort in attempting to blow them out all at once. Or after two. Or three...


Zion loved the cake. Ate hers and asked if she could have Gabe's leftover piece as well.

I allowed Gideon a bit of cake and some of his rice milk ice cream. The cake likely had a bit of dairy in it but he's been doing so much better I felt a little cheating for a birthday was OK. His next allergy appointment is Friday, by the way.



Jonathan and Gabe have a sword duel. The birthday boy v. the shield decorating winner. I don't know that anyone won but they looked like they were having fun.



The after party. I know. A bunch of raucous partiers are we. My dad and Rob observing the kids trying out the new toys, and some "old". That's about as wild as it gets around here. :) I am really enjoying the leftover birthday cake though.

Pregnancy Update and A Smile

Just a few thoughts of note. On Monday I had my first appointment with my midwife since the ultrasound. She confirmed that I do have complete placenta previa and said it won't move. Not, it's "unlikely" to move but that it "won't". I kind of feel OK about this because that means the cord won't be compromised by the placenta moving. Of course, I'm also majorly bummed because I have no chance of a natural delivery. I will for sure (barring a miracle which God could supply) be having a c-section. My midwife, Nancy, said that she would set up an appointment for me to meet the doctor who will be doing my c-section when I am about 30 weeks along. If there are no other complications with the pregnancy (like bleeding) the c-section will be when I'm about 38 weeks along.

Let's do a little math here. You know, just for fun (cause everyone who knows me knows that I would do math just for fun - HA!).

The baby is due June 29. 38 weeks is 2 weeks early that = 14 days. June 29 minus 14 days is June 15 (right?). That means that my c-section could be the day before my 8th wedding anniversary. Not how I would ever plan on celebrating. I only mention this because I just realized it today.

Apparently Zion only just realized my belly is getting bigger. Odd since it practically smacks her in the face anytime I turn around. But yesterday she put her hands on either side and said "Wow." I said, "Yeah, it gets bigger as the baby grows." I expected some comment that could be construed as an insult to an adult but would be an innocent observation to a child. No. Instead I got "That. Is SO. Cool." Yeah. Yeah, it is cool.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Was it a good one? Do you shudder in disdain over the commercialism or embrace the day with all things pink and red and heart-shaped? I admit that I don't so much enjoy holidays that are based on spending money on sweets and useless trinkets. I want the kids to receive something more than sugar and plastic. Thursday night I was headed out to knit (Rob took the kids to swim class, what a guy!) and received a sudden inspiration of giving the kids Valentine's Day cards but signing them from God. So Saturday night Rob and I sat down and considered what He might have to say to our children. We told them how lovely they are, creative, loving... and then signed each card "Love, God". We left each card at their spot at the kitchen table so this morning when we sat down to breakfast they found them. They loved them, it was awesome and felt so much better than leaving them a card from us or little candy hearts or whatnot. I'm not against treats and such but this just felt so good. I hope to make it a tradition from now on.

After breakfast we went to church and it was a lovely service. Zion was super thrilled to go to Sunday School again and Gideon seems to be doing just fine as the only one of our kids in nursery at the moment. The message was especially appropriate considering that our pastor was simply maintaining a schedule of teaching about the book of John and didn't alter the dates. Today we were in chapter 13 which, among other things, has Jesus telling his disciples (us included) that others will know we are Christians by our love. Love, love, love. The theme we tried to talk to our children about all day. What can we do to show love? To show others we care for them.

After church we went out for a special lunch at Applebees. Gabe blessed the meal and asked God that we would be able to show people love today. What a sweetie. We got to show our waitress love today by repeatedly forgiving her continuous errors regarding our order. ;0)

Later in the day we celebrated with another special meal, a tradition started by my mother. Pink food for Valentine's Day. Last night Rob made such a great dinner (chicken, roast vegetables, asparagus and crusty rolls) that I suggested we keep it simple and have pancakes. It's one of the kids' favorites anyway so why not have a meal everyone will love on a special day? Add a few chocolate chips and a few drops of food coloring to tint them pink and voila - the perfect pink dinner.

We had a lovely day and I hope you did too. Remember on this day most of all, Who loves you the most.

Overheard

From the bathroom when Gabe and Zion were supposed to be washing for dinner. Apparently Zion who is potty training decided to do her business before washing. All I heard was Gabe say "You can't do it like I do because you don't have a p*nis" (and I asterisk that because I don't want anybody randomly Googling that word to find my blog that way).

As I'm chuckling to myself I hear Rob, who is also in the kitchen with me, say "I fixed a p*nis today." More laughter on my part as he explains that at his job they have a machine (apparently girl ones and boy ones) that tests diapers. Said unit had a leaky ...uh ... unit. *smirk*

Pictures

For no reason at all. My only regret is that I didn't get a picture of Gabe with his newly absent teeth. He has lost two recently and has two more that are loose. I don't do well with loose teeth. It's just the wiggliness of them, I keep telling him that he's not allowed to wiggle them in front of me - to no avail. But here's Gideon and Zion.

You can always tell when Zion has had a good nap by the state of her hair when she gets up. This one was probably a 6-7 out of 10. And her poor face was still red from her cold and her constantly rubbing her face. All better now though.

Gideon is learning all about computers. Gotta start 'em young. That way they can become programmers and start supporting you at a much younger age. Moments earlier he had his hand on the mouse and was clicking the button but when I picked up the camera he stopped. I think he thought he was in trouble. Ridiculous.

Today we did "watch" (and knit and eat and...during) the Super Bowl. Rob put an Elmo video on his laptop so Gideon would stop begging for Elmo. "Elmo?" "Elmo?" "Elmo?" "Eh eh eh eh eh elmo?" All the while looking at you with this face, this face that that you can't resist. At all. Not even a little. While we ate dinner the video was paused. After dinner Gideon found the laptop with the frozen in time Elmo and promptly clicked a button and unpaused it. Ummmm. Yeah. Maybe he's learning a little too fast (especially since he'd never seen it done the way he did it and he just walked right up and did it, no playing around first).

The Cutest Thing Ever.

Rob does bath times with the kids. I love that. It gives me a few minutes of peace downstairs but I can still hear the fun and giggles coming from upstairs. Always, Gideon is out of the tub and jammied first then "released" from the bathroom. He immediately goes to the baby gate at the top of the stairs and starts calling "Mommy!" pause "Mommy!" pause ... until I come up the stairs to participate in the rest of our bedtime routine.

Tonight after a few "Mommy calls" I heard a sad wail. As I approached the top of the stairs I could see his sad face, bottom lip pushed out, a single tear starting to drop from one eye. I asked him "What's the matter?" to which he replied "Daddy no-no me." It was a good few minutes before I could stop laughing - while I kissed him and dried his tear of course. Even now it puts the biggest smile on my face. I still don't know what Rob told him no-no to.

He also has the very cute though somewhat unsanitary habit of using the rabbit's water bottle as a cleaning station. He reaches through the bars of her cage, taps the ball of the spout a few times and then walks away rubbing his hands together as if he's just gotten a squeeze of anti-bacterial goo.

Pregnancy Update

Today I am exactly 19 weeks along. Nearly to the halfway point. Yesterday I got to go to that half-way ultrasound where they check the measurements and organs, chambers of the heart, peek at the brain and all that. The kids got to see their new baby sister/brother. They were more interested in the variety of equipment in the room than the blob on the screen though. That's OK, I didn't expect them to be as fascinated as Rob and I were.

The baby looks great. S/he is right up in the 95% for this age. Rob and I both turned out heads when the u/s (ultrasound) tech checked out his/her nether regions. We still want to be surprised.

We did come away with some news that has us lifting up some extra prayers. The doctor who evaluated the u/s has named two conditions that he discovered.

1) placenta previa - this is where the placenta is so low in the uterus that it covers the cervix. As I said during the visit "the Fire Department would not approve, the exit's blocked". Yeah. Hard to deliver a baby when there's no way out.

2) velamentous cord - Someone should just disable Google for pregnant women. Follow my advice, don't research this. There is nothing comforting to be discovered online. I believe reality is less scary. I also believe that God is still in control and knows all about this and how it's going to pan out. So basically, what this means is that the cord, instead of being attached in the center of the placenta (which is kind of shaped like a pizza) it's attached precariously at one edge.

Typically this means that the baby only gets to take advantage of 1/2 to 2/3 of the placenta which results in low birth weights and premature delivery. Well, as I mentioned above my babe is in the 95%. Go baby! The baby is so big that the doctor suggested bumping my due date up by a week. I mentioned that an u/s done at about 8-9 weeks had the baby spot on for size at that date so he left my due date alone.

In regards to problem #1, this is something that often rights itself by delivery. When the uterus grows and stretches the placenta gets shunted to one side and the exit has been cleared. One possible problem with the placenta moving is that this could cause the cord to be compromised. As much as I'd love to have a natural delivery at my local birth center I'd prefer to give birth to a live baby in a non-emergency situation. So BIG prayer there. If that placenta decides to move, it REALLY needs to take that cord with it.

For the time being, the next 6 weeks to be precise, I'm on "pelvic rest" (nookie is a no-no) and forbidden to lift. Anything. Yeah. I laughed too. I am eliminating what lifting I can but it would be impossible, without having a personal lifting assistant with me all day, to eliminate it entirely. Shhh, don't tell my doctor. I really am being careful and also reminding myself that God can guard my little one as He has so far.

If nothing changes than most likely I will be delivering by c-section, possibly as early as 35 weeks to prevent spontaneous labor which could be extremely detrimental to me and my baby. In 6 weeks we'll have another u/s, that's lots of time to pray. :)

Little Grandpa Man

Little boys in two-piece button up jammies are so cute I almost can't stand it. Gideon could get away with just about anything in these and I would be helpless to stop him.
He also makes me think of a little old man. Just a little bit.

He's Good Medicine

So today I woke up so super tired. Maybe from the marathon doctor's meeting yesterday or maybe I'm picking up the kids' cold. Who knows. So later in the day I laid down and closed my eyes for a short while. I could hear Gabe and Zion playing Legos at the kitchen table when I felt a little bump at my knee. I looked up expecting my third Little to need me for something. No. He was sweetly covering me with his blanky. His own blanky. Not one of the hundreds, at least dozens, we have laying around the house but his very own special blanky. Then he padded away and showed back up a few seconds later presenting me with his precious dog. Aw. But the sweetness didn't end there. Off he goes, I lay my head back down and suddenly he returns with his Elmo. Now I have all his favorite lovies. But a few seconds later he returns again and gives me his milk cup. I must be all taken care of by now. Nope. One more thing. He appears one last time and hands me a Baby Einstein board book he must have personally picked off the bookshelf just for me. My heart is practically bursting by now. What thoughtful gestures from a little guy who isn't even two yet.

Gideon Update

It's been a while since I've written about Gideon's allergies. I finally gave the doctor a push at his 18-month check to give us a referral to a pediatric allergist. And we finally had that appointment this morning. A marathon three-hour event not including travel time since the office is a few cities away. I really liked the doctor though and he really seems to be committed to bringing Gideon's symptoms to a halt no matter what. Right now Gideon's main symptoms are eczema, mostly up his back, which comes but doesn't really go and is sometimes worse but I can't remember the last time his back was eczema free, and diarrhea. It's not total liquid but it's way soft, smells horrible and requires a diaper change anywhere from 3-6 times a day. I know, more than you wanted to know but it was that symptom in particular that made me push for a specialist to see him. Gideon's original diagnosis of a "whey protein" allergy came at 11-months, 9 months ago and though the vomiting has stopped the eczema and GI problems are still here. I learned a lot about allergies today. About how they start, how they work, how they progress depending on the age of the patient (different symptoms at different ages even though the allergen may be the same)... So much that I couldn't have retained it all. The doctor gave me some websites and I already had some of my own so I've spent most of today reading and relearning. As the doctor has laid it out, here's our plan:

Step 1) Cut out ALL dairy, including hidden dairy which means reading labels and looking for "code words" for dairy (casein, whey, malt, some lactose stuff but not all...) It's in nearly everything, even lunch meat and hot dogs (unless you buy Kosher which I've been trying to do anyway). Previously his doctors insisted that we only need to cut out dairy like milk, cheese and yogurt and that processed dairy was fine.

Step 2) Give a multi-vitamin and probiotic daily. Even these items are difficult to find in a non-dairy form. Flintstone vitamins are OK but probiotics without dairy are few and far between (and expensive) so I'm still researching those.

Step 3) Keep the pets out of Gideon's room. Gideon also tested mildly allergic to dog and cat. :( Big bummer. So far the doc is only instructing us to keep the pets out of Gideon's room which won't be too difficult. I'll be praying that nothing more drastic will be required.

Step 4) A no-wheat trial if the GI issue doesn't clear up after eliminating dairy. Ugh. We tried this once before. It's a pain and expensive. Really, really expensive.

Step 5) Recheck in one month regardless of how the trial does (or trials do). At that point he may have blood work done (in the hospital some of his results were off, the assumption was that it was because he was sick at the time but maybe it was something else) and maybe another referral to a GI specialist.

So here we go and as much as this process can be frustrating and time consuming and energy consuming I'm relieved to have a plan and a direction. The last thing I wanted to do was ignore his remaining symptoms (as his regular pediatrician would have me do insisting that he'd grow out of them) and have them continue to develop into worse allergies or allergies to more things.

Tap The Obsession

Zion lately has become obsessed with washing the downstairs bathroom sink. I would often find the hand towel left in the sink, sometimes soaking wet and rendered completely worthless for any sort of drying. Once I even found her elephant, yes The Elephant, in the sink. She told me she was washing the sink with it. Nice.

Also lately I've been wondering what will make a good chore for Zion's first. Gabe started when he was 4 and has been feeding the dog twice a day since. I bought a flip top plastic bin and a measuring cup, yep, measuring was the task for him. Zion only just turned 3 but it felt like the timing was good to introduce a chore for her. Then it hit me. The sink! Why not just have her do what she's been doing all along only make it official?

So I knit Zion her very own Tribble which now resides on the back of the sink in that worthless perfect little shallow they make for soap. She "washes" the sink at least three times a day and proudly announces when she's doing so. So she has a new sense of purpose, my towels get stay high and dry and I get a somewhat cleaner sink (and a reason to knit). Win/win.

Woo Woo, All Aboard!

For the last few months I have been absolutely looking forward to one special event and it has nothing to do with the baby (OK, I'm looking forward to that too but still have about 5 months left). Quite a few months ago I learned that a local knitter's guild puts on an annual event called "Yarn Train". Do you see where I'm going here? Good.

So the organizers get a group ticket on Amtrak and then plan a walking tour of yarn stores in Portland including arranging for discounts with the store owners (sweet!). So my friend Jennifer and I stayed Friday night in Seattle so we didn't have the long drive to the city in the morning. We took the city bus to the train station, what an adventure for us "country bumpkins", arriving at 6:30 in the morning. The train ride to Portland took about 3 hours which of course we spent chatting and knitting. Once in Portland we found a place to have lunch and OH MY, it was good! Based on a recommendation of a fellow Yarn Trainer (the organizer no less) we hit The Tea Zone. I got the falafel and a Hot Cinnamon Latte, I could seriously be happy with a cup of THAT in my hand 24/7.

Our first stop was Knit Knot Studio where I found the absolute softest yarn for a blanket for this new little one I'm growing. I'm so bummed that I've got some projects I have to finish first, I canNOT wait to cast this blanky on and get it finished. The picture does not do the colors, or softness, justice. It's so beautiful!

Next we wander off to Knit Purl where I end up getting the majority of my new stash. Oh. My. Word. That place was so awesome. Wall to wall colors and textures. I don't understand why everyone doesn't knit (or crochet) just to have a reason to go into a place like this. Who could be depressed swimming in color like that. I picked up 4 skeins of Noro Silk Garden to knit a striped scarf (it's about 25% done right now), another skein of Noro for a Clapotis (a type of scarf), a skein of black lace yarn for Jamae's Christmas present - a jewelry frame, and another skein that was just so beautiful (and on clearance) but I haven't figured out what to make with yet - it will come. It's been a couple of months since I have really been actively knitting. I had developed pregnancy induced carpal tunnel that I thought would plague me the whole pregnancy but God blessed me with pain free hands for the last week or so. I'm hoping that for whatever reason I had it for a while it is gone for good as it was interfering with so much.

After leaving Knit Purl we decided to hit up Powell's Books. Big book stores aren't that unusual anymore thanks to the ginormous chains but Powell's is special. It's, oh, about a city block long, and multiple stories and just CRAMMED from top to bottom with new and used books of every sort. It's really awesome. I got a shawls, ponchos, and scarves book that is used and I can't wait to make something from. Oo, that gives me an idea for that multi-colored yarn. *smile*

By this point my stamina was rock bottom so we decided that we would pass on the last yarn store we could have visited but luckily it was also time for dinner. I suggested that The Tea Zone was so good we should go back for dinner so we did. hee hee. I got another Hot Cinnamon Latte - again (I wonder if they'd ship me a gallon or two). After that back to the train for another 3-hour knit session, another bus ride and another night in Seattle. *sigh* Pure bliss.

Were we done? Not quite. In no rush to get back home we decided to extend our little trip a bit and stopped at Seattle Yarn on the way back. Had I known how amazingly awesome their store was I might have held back a little of my trip budget. Wow. Wow. Wow! If I thought Knit Purl was color heaven, this place really knocked my socks off! Skeins and skeins just stacked and shoved in every nook and cranny and every one of them just gorgeous (should have taken pictures). I somehow managed to walk away with only one skein of Malabrigo sock yarn in Aquos. I don't knit socks (yet) but found a pattern for a spiral scarf that it will work for, it's going to be smashing!

After a quick bite for lunch at a yummy pub down the block (they always have the best fish and chips) we head for home. Two tired mommies excited to wrap their arms around their babies again - and cast on their next project! I'm already dreaming about doing the trip again next year.

Spa Day

Has anyone ever had their child's hair develop a slime coat? Well, a coating that is slimy when wet but then dries all crusty and chunky and weird. This happened to Zion's hair recently. The bottom four inches anyway. I wondered if it was from swimming all the time but I still couldn't figure out why. I mean, dry hair due to the pool chemicals yes, but weird slime? Weird. Well, one step short of cutting off her pretty hair I went out and found some special swim shampoo that is formulate to remove chlorine. On the day I resolved to scrub her hair clean I didn't really feel like giving her a full bath. I'm lazy like that. So with the prospect of laying her out on the kitchen counter to wash just her hair in the sink ahead of me I told her she was going to get a spa day.

I laid the fluffiest towel I could find out on the counter and had another hand towel to make a neck roll. Zion cooperated quite well. It may have been because I told her I would paint her fingernails afterward. And her toenails.

Which is exactly what we did. With her hair up in a towel and her hands on a pillow I painted all her nails a soft pink that my mother would have loved (and would have made me gag when I was younger). She loved her spa day.

Her hair is a lot better but I'm not entirely convinced it doesn't still feel a little slimy when it's wet but at least it's not drying crunchy. We have been on break from swim class over the holidays so we'll see after the next session is in full swing. What's the worst that will happen, Princess Zion will get another spa day. :)