Warm and Happy

May I just say, I love antibiotics.  I especially love it when they give me my healthy children back.  I don't think they're a cure all for everything, but when you have a pesky infection, they're sheer brilliance.  And thanks to that magical pink goo, my Girl is back to playing and reading and wreaking havoc, so I've been able to catch up on some of the stuff that was neglected while my attention was turned where it was most needed.

Meanwhile, the weather has cooled off, necessitating the emergence of my Girl's sweater.  And since I didn't take pictures of it back in June when I finished it, I thought I would show you just how darling it is.

 Nice of Molly to photo-bomb my Girl, wasn't it.

It's really hard to get a decent picture of this girl.  

Even when she's sitting still, she's still moving, so everything is blurry!

It's simple and plain, which suits my Girl just perfectly.  Furthermore, it was easy and decidedly relaxing, which is how it came to be the sweater that launched the Red Sweater.  I can't tell you how satisfying it is to be able to pull out seasonal, hand made pieces of clothing for my kids.  

I watched this wonderful documentary on the golden age of British knitting, and one of the things they said was that you always know where you are with knitting.  They said it's safe, secure, protective, methodical, but at the same time creative.  I whole-heartedly agree.  

It also keeps everyone warm.  And that makes me happy.

Better and Better

You know what's even MORE awesome than 2 straight weeks of sick?


A Girl with double ear infections.


The really sad part?  I had no clue.  None.  She woke up Tuesday morning at 6am absolutely inconsolable.  I tried everything to calm her down, but to no avail.  I assumed she was just being a pill and went about my day.  She was feverish and listless all afternoon, so I was worried that she was getting sick again, but I didn't think she was sick STILL.

Tuesday afternoon was bad enough that I called and made a doctor's appointment for her.

Tuesday night was HORRIBLE.  She would sleep for a couple of hours, then wake up drenched in sweat and screaming hysterically.  I would dose her with Tylenol, then it was just lather rinse repeat.  All night long.

At 3am, I was at my wits end.  So she and I laid out on the couch for a couple of hours until I realized that neither of us were comfortable and moved us to Bed Sweet Bed.  By 7am, it became apparent that she had no intention of going back to sleep.  And by that point, I was just DONE.  

Done with being screamed at.
Done with not knowing what was wrong.
Done with not being able to fix the problem.
Done with having a hot brick of a child hanging around my neck.
Done with everyone in my house being sleep deprived and grouchy.  Done.  Done.  Done.

But short of running away from home, what can you do?  Nothing.  So I got up and made breakfast.  (Chris very wisely called out of work for the day, I think he sensed that my sanity was on the VERGE.)

Everyone got dressed and we watched some Mormon Messages on youtube because that was right about our energy level.  Then headed to the doctor's office.

Our pediatrician?  Yeah, he's so awesome he basically diagnosed her without touching her.  (Which is convenient since she hates him with the fire of a thousand suns.)  He eventually checked her lungs, nose, throat and ears (it took all three of us to hold her down so that he could take a peek--I'm not exaggerating about the intensity of her loathing of a very nice doctor), confirmed what he already knew and emailed the prescription in to the pharmacy.

We left and headed to the pharmacy and I was relieved but also feeling vaguely monstrous.

I just had no idea that she had an ear infection, much less TWO.  I just thought she was being a diva because she didn't sleep well for whatever reason.  I thought she just woke up grouchy (she's done that before).  She wasn't pulling at her ears or indicating that she was in pain in any way.  Granted she was crying, but she's a toddler, she cries over nothing with alarming regularity.  Consequently, I hadn't been anywhere near compassionate in my treatment of her.  I had not been sympathetic, I hadn't even been very patient.  But once I understood what was wrong, suddenly, I understood why she had been behaving the way she was behaving.

And then I started to just feel stupid.  STUPID.  What is wrong with me?  I am a rational adult.  Why didn't it even occur to me that she had an ear infection or that something was seriously wrong?   I told my sister later on, that I have never felt so woefully unqualified for my daily work on such a regular basis, as I do now that I mother.  I never know what the right thing to do is.  I don't instinctively know what's wrong with my kids.  I can't read minds or hearts.  I need WORDS.

And words with my Girl are thin on the ground.

And so we arrive at the middle of the week and I have not schooled with my Boy the way that I should have, or normally would.  I have not done my church work (that I still really need to do).  I have not been down to visit my Grandma. 

So if you'll all excuse me for the next few days, I have a sick girl who wants to wallow me.  

Catching up

I was sick all of last week.  Actually, the Boy, the Girl and I were all sick for the bulk of the week.  It was horrific...but add to that the injuries that accumulated and it was a banner week.  The Boy had woken up in the middle of the night one night asking to go to the bathroom and for water--why I am necessary for either of those events, I know not, but he comes in, wakes me up, asks to go to the bathroom and for water and then goes back to HIS bathroom to take care of business.  So there I was, awake, and now concerned that the Boy had woken me up because he himself was not quite awake.  So I went in to his bathroom to check on him.  He turned the light out before opening his bedroom door, and then said, "Mama.  I can't see."  I bit my tongue to keep from saying, "No kidding, dude, it's 4 in the morning!"  But I was good, I said, "I know, buddy, just open the door up."  And he opened the door and hopped back in to bed.  But since he closed the door behind him, I could no longer see, so I promptly walked right into the door jam and hit my head hard enough to see stars.  Man, it hurt. 

4 days later we were listening to our semi-annual conference and the Girl and Boy were playing with dinosaurs around their sick Mama, when the Girl and her T-rex got a little over-excited and clocked me in the mouth with a very large, very HARD dinosaur.  I just made it into the bathroom before I started to cry.  It really hurt.  I ended up with a bruise over my eye from the door jam and a fat lip.

Add to that the constant coughing that cost me my voice and it was an AWESOME week.

But conference was wonderful, and I got 12 pairs of pajama pants cut out for my Boy and a pair of socks finished for me.  And finally, I seem to be on the upswing from the Sick that wouldn't Quit, so Life is decidedly better.

The socks are my first pair that I've made for myself.  My sweet Sister out west sent me the yarn for my birthday and as soon as I saw it I said, "Oh my heck!  SOCKS!"

You all know of my love of a flamboyant sock, I just can't help myself.  I live in really sturdy, neutral clothes, but I have a sassy heart.  So to keep myself from feeling frumpy,  I wear really bright, fun socks.

Now, I generally buy socks in big batches every 4 or 5 years, consequently, they ALL wear out at the same time.  And whimsical, flamboyant socks for adults are rather expensive.  So last winter, when I noticed that all of my socks are starting to wear out again, I got the brilliant idea to just KNIT my own.

I bought up enough yarn to make 4 or 5 pairs of stockings (I prefer the traditional knee-high socks because I can wear them with my long skirts as well as my jeans), a book of patterns for knee-high socks, and then promptly put everything away while I worked on other stuff.

But this last July when I was in the planning stages of the Red Sweater, I needed something to work on while on a road trip to Savannah, so I got out this yarn and didn't do ANY planning, just cast on and worked away.  I made pencil notes to myself as I went along so that I could make a second sock to match the first and called it a pair!

You would think that a pair of stockings would be exhausting, but I must admit that they're more fun than plain socks.  Because just when you think you might die of boredom, the shaping changes and you get to do something fun!  So all told, they were really fun.  I'm trying to finish up several projects in the works (hence the socks), so I'm determined to resist the urge to immediately cast on my next pair.

Wish me luck...

What happens...

We spent 4 out of 5 Saturdays in September running around, down to see my parents and Grandmother, or running errands etc.  So when I told the kids last week that we were spending a Saturday at home, in our pajamas and just relaxing, this is what happened...

We love our family, and I think it's good for the kids to see that Love means Sacrifice.  But it was really fun to just have a day to be home.