Blur

I can't believe it's almost December. This month has gone by in a total blur.

First, I have to apologize to my fab Secret Pal Rebecca, who sent me an awesome package for SP11. I received it before Thanksgiving, but have been so crazy that I haven't posted about it. Let me count the ways that it rocked:

1. An adorable outfit for Vivian. So cute!
2. Beautiful Tilli Thomas beaded yarn. I've wanted to try this yarn for a long time, and now I can.
3. Lush purple/white wool blend -- 3 skeins with a lot of yardage -- enough to make a sweater (at least a tank)
4. Gorgeous Artyarns sock kit -- it may be enough to actually entice me to finish a pair of socks
5. 2 skeins of fun & fluffy yarn that will make great edgings for baby outfits
6. A set of circular needles and point protectors
Thank you Rebecca for putting such a great package together!

I have been knitting Christmas gifts (which I can't show), but not frequently enough to get much progress done. Hopefully at SnB tonight I can knuckle down and get one project finished.

Last night, we took our first family portraits. John Dlugolecki, who has been the photographer for my work for more than 20 years (and who also photographed my wedding 5 years ago) took some wonderful photos. I don't want to show them all off yet, as many will end up as gifts and cards, but here are a few that I couldn't resist:
Life is crazy, and with Richard sick and Vivian's first tooth coming in, no one is sleeping very much (maybe that's why life is a blur), but when we have a baby this cute, how can we be anything but ecstatically happy?

On being thankful

Thank you to everyone for your suggestions and support for managing my crazy life. Yes, we have changed diaper brands, and we haven't had any blowouts since.

With Thanksgiving only a few days away, I decided to focus on the things for which I am faithful.
#1 Vivian: My daughter is happy & healthy, vibrant and joyous. On Saturday, I was bouncing her on my lap, and she was smiling and giggling so much that it made me cry. It reminded me of the dream I had before she was born, and it was so wonderful. It was an absolutely perfect moment that I will always treasure.

#2 Richard: My husband (of five years! as of Friday) is wonderful and amazing. I know the word "soulmate" is cheesy and trite, but we just fit. We can talk about anything, from next year's Halloween costumes (we're thinking food marketing characters: Chef Boyardi, the Sunmaid Raisin girl and a baby Swiss Miss), to where we were when Kurt Cobain died, to American history and today's politics. I am very lucky to be married to my best friend.

#3 My family: Vivian's birth has brought my family closer together. Seeing their love for her has been awesome (like a 100 million hot dogs).

If you are a diligent reader of this blog (and why wouldn't you be?), you may remember the quilt square I made in memory of Eliza for the Preeclampsia Foundation's memory quilt. I thought you might like to see it in its final form:

The quilt was auctioned off at this year's Saving Grace fundraiser gala. The winning bidder paid $4,500 for the quilt! The winner was the CEO of Beckman-Coulter, a biomedical testing company that is working to develop a diagnostic test for preeclampsia. Apparently, the CEO plans to have the quilt on a rotating display among all the company's labs/offices. I'm very proud to have participated in this project, and I'm thankful that Eliza is helping to raise awareness of this horrible disease.

I'd lose my head if it wasn't attached...

It would be a polite understatement to say that I've been scattered lately. I have a million things going through my head at any one time, and yet, when I try to think about exactly what I needed from the store... poof! It's gone.

Yesterday, Vivian had a "diaper explosion" on the way to daycare, so we had to change her clothes once we got there, using her "alternate" clothes in her cubby. Ok, so that means I'm supposed to bring new "alternate" clothes. Last night, I pulled out and set aside these alternates, right next to the cute outfit I had planned for today. So, this morning, another explosion in the car seat on the way to daycare. And... I'd forgotten the alternate clothes. Luckily, we had extra onesies in the cubby, but no pants. So Vivian is pantless today. Good parenting.

AND, I noticed this morning that I had forgotten to bring the breast pump up from the car into the office. I pump twice a day at the office, so that Vivian has food for the next day. I went down to my car a few minutes ago, and no pump. Did I leave it in the house? Is it sitting in my driveway? (if it was, it's probably gone by now, knowing my neighborhood) So now I have to drive home on my lunch break and pick it up (hopefully -- assuming it still exists).

The DMV "misplaced" the title transfer for my car, which means I need to request a new title and new paperwork from Ford, to prove the loan has been paid off. I've known about this since Halloween. I have until the end of this month. Have I done anything with the paperwork? No, it's still sitting on my desk.

We went to Mel & Grant's home last weekend for Friends Thanksgiving (which was lovely by the way -- I'll get around to posting about it someday), and I ended up leaving my book (which I had just had returned from accidentally leaving it behind in Tucson in September) and an outfit of Vivian's that was in the dryer (from another diaper explosion -- maybe those Target diapers aren't so good after all).

Oh, and there are only 40 crafting/shopping days left before Christmas. And yet again, I've overloaded myself with knitting for gifts. Why I do this to myself every year, I don't know. Five knitted gifts to be made (I've only started one, but at least it's half-done already), a knitted Santa hat for Christmas morning, and numerous sewing gifts (yes, much easier than knitting, but sewing needs to take place at the sewing machine, in the craft closet, away from Vivian -- as opposed to knitting, which I can do on the couch next to her).

And there's still work. I'll leave that one other than to say that everyone now realizes that I'm back, and my dance card is way, way full.

I need to stop the spinning in my head. I need to breathe. I need to do one thing at a time.

UPDATE: I found the pump. It wasn't in the driveway, it was next to the cat's water. Good place for it, don't you think? And yet another thing I've forgotten: when I went to feed Vivian at lunch, I noticed that there was a strange bottle in her food tray in the refrigerator. When I asked about it, I was told, "well, you didn't leave any nipples, just the milk bottles with caps, so we had to transfer your milk into another bottle." Great.

New look

Everyone needs a new look every once in a while. And now that I'm sporting my new hair, I felt like my blog needed a face lift. So now we have a Marimekko-inspired look. It's orange! It must be good!

Time for me

As a mom, I have discovered just how easy it is to constantly put yourself dead last. I spend so much of my time thinking/worrying about Vivian, that sometimes I just can't care about anyone, or anything, else, much less myself. Vivian is #1, Richard is #2, the cats are (a somewhat distant -- to their dismay) #3, and if I have the energy, I am #4.

But that needs to change (if not the order, then at least the number of times I actually get to #4). I need to take care of myself to take care of my family. What's that annoying t-shirt say? "When Momma ain't happy, ain't nobody happy." I won't take on the appalling grammar -- I don't have time. But I do think I need to pay attention to myself a bit, so I can be happy and healthy. Because when I'm not, everyone at home feels the pain.

So, I'm starting by making doctor's appointments. After seeing a doctor every 2 weeks while I was pregnant, it feels a bit weird to not have seen someone for months. So I made an appointment for a physical, a flu shot and an eye exam. I also need to get into a dentist, which I have been putting off for far too long.

The upside for me? Once I get my new eye prescriptions, I can get lenses for my new glasses that I picked up at this weekend's L.A. Eyeworks sale! Thank you Ellen, for reminding me about this yearly event. I scored 3 pairs for $85: a dark green rectangular set, a light peach rectangular set and a fab gold-brown cat's eye pair. Pictures to come.

I'm also getting some knitting done, although no finished objects yet. I am making good progress on my Juliet, although I'm starting to think that the Noro Blossom I'm using, and its color stripes, will take away from the lace pattern. Oh well, too late now. It still looks fabulous, and I know I'll get a lot of use for it this winter.

Christmas is coming up, and I've gotten a late start on crafting, as usual. I have 5 knitting projects on the list, which is probably too many to finish, but I'm going to try anyway. Luckily, I'm not fooling myself that anyone is getting sweaters, and once I'm finished with Juliet (probably my last "me" project until after the holiday), I can cast on for the first.

Even though this post is about me, I couldn't leave without some gratuitous baby photos.

Vivian in her Pumpkin costume for Halloween

Vivian & I in the craziness of Hollywood Blvd. on Halloween (on our way to see The Nightmare Before Christmas in 3-D!)