The Rimes Times

While Piggy was in Geneva, his cousin Wapiggy came to visit us.  He’s not exactly the friendliest little pig, but he’s cute.  He went with Miss R and Donut to a birthday party this weekend.

It’s a little blurry, because little girls don’t hold still for long.  But you see that little girl who is not Miss R?  She asked to hold Wapiggy.  Little did she know what a scheming little pig he is.  After a few minutes, he convinced her to run away with him and take him far far away.

There they go!  And that was the last we saw of Wapiggy.  Sorry Piggy, but your cousin is on the run.  I don’t know when we will see him again.

However, our friend Ducky stepped up and promised to help us out.

He went to the library with us.

Ducky likes to read Elephant and Piggy books with Miss R.

He also likes to read Scooby Doo.

But unfortunately it was nap time.

Then, Ducky went with me to my clay class.

Ducky helped Nettie throw a bowl.  It was a very big bowl.

Here’s Ducky modeling some of my finished bowls and a pony.  The pony goes on the boat.

Here’s Ducky sailing the boat.  There is a series of three boats that go along with the idea of Lake Michigan’s Invasive Species.

Ducky is looking forward to more news from Switzerland soon!

I just wanted to share with you the cutest little outfit.  What I have come to realize is that little boys do not have cute little boy clothes.  There is the typical baby wear-ducks, elephants, and other baby animals, or there is the big guy clothes made teeny.  For girls, it’s all baby stuff, or frills and flowers.

Here is Donut’s big guy outfit:

Just look at the sweater! It’s so cute, I just want to eat him up.  He looks so Abercrombie. And those little pants have tiny little pockets!

He’s even got the big guy look.  “Hey Ma, quite takin’ my picture. I can look completely disinterested forever.”

What do you get when you mix a sleepy baby with a belly full of milk and a mommy with a tank top?

An ear on your chest!

Cutest baby slippers EVER!

They crinkle, and have little ribbons coming out the back and are just so silly!  Of course, Donut doesn’t like to wear shoes.  They cramp his style, man.  He likes to kick them off and go barefoot.  But in this house, it’s just too cold.

See? that’s how much he loves his rocket shoes!  Or maybe he just kicked them off and was thinking, “haha Mama, I got them off AGAIN!” Either way, that is one cute grin, dude.

Speaking of happy smiling babies, this little guy has just mastered the smile and giggles.  Of course, his favorite time to really get silly is at 4:30 am.  He was giggling and squealing and having a grand ol’ time this morning.  Mommy and Daddy were not impressed.  He couldnt figure out why we kept plugging him with a paci.  Even though it was so early, it’s still a hoot to hear him make those noises.  It’s much better than the, “I’m so tired and can’t sleep,” wail.  Although, even that’s not as bad as Miss R’s wailing when she was that size.

And, speaking of size…he’s 6 weeks old today.  He now comes in at a whopping 12+ pounds.  That is one big baby.  I think Miss R didn’t hit 12 pounds until she was 6 months.  I think we’ve got a big one here!

It’s been a long week.  And it’s only Wednesday.

This is what 4 am looked like last Thursday.  It was super cold and snowy and early.  But that is when Donut likes to be awake.  At 4 am.  Until 5:30 or so.  Then I get a brief nap before everyone has to go to school.

I have been napping, baking cookies, and knitting on Christmas gifts.  No pictures of these since they are SURPRISES!

This is Donut’s preferred sleeping method.  He likes to bury his nose into his blankets and sleep all curled up.  I don’t blame him.  It’s really cold. Today, the high is going to be 23, but currently is only 19.  Yikes.  I think it’s winter.

Miss R has been playing Peggle.  It’s a highly addictive Pinball-esque type game.  She’s getting rather good at it. It amazes me how skilled she is with the mouse and the computer.  By the time she’s in 1st grade, I’m sure Ben will have taught her home row and she’ll be twittering her day from her iphone.

Here’s Donut on a particularly coordinated day. He reminds me of Where’s Waldo? only in blue instead of red.

Back to napping, feeding, changing, and trying to stay warm!

Just in case you are not “in the loop” on the baby situation, here’s a quick update.  We are now past one week late, with nothing exceptional happening.  The midwife would like to induce next Monday if he doesn’t show up on his own before then.  After a thorough check-up, Donut is doing fine, there’s no stress or any other reason to hurry the process, so in he stays for a few more days. I’m not too stressed about it, although there are moments when I would really like to scoop him out RIGHT NOW, but those pass and I’m ok with the waiting.  Besides, I’ve gotten more crafting and cleaning done in the last 2 weeks than I would have if he was here with us now. (there’s always a sunny side, right?)

It looks like he’ll be a December baby now.  Which means, he’ll be one of the oldest when he starts school, it may snow on his birthday, it’s not too close to another holiday that he’ll have to share, and he’ll still get to wear all the super cute Christmas outfits that everyone got him!

Let me start by saying Happy Thanksgiving.  I sort of missed it this week because I was too busy enjoying the company of family and friends.  We had a beautiful turkey dinner complete with cranberry stuffing, green beans, and mashed potatoes.  Then there was dessert, let’s not even go there.  My tummy is still recovering.

We had a wonderful day, filled with catching up, discussing babies, and the biggest knitting needles I’ve ever seen (more to come on this one later).  I am so thankful for my family, my friends, my yarn stash, my creative impulses, my techie husband, my adorable pink twirly daughter, the gigantic lump in my abdomen that will eventually be my son, and the fact that I don’t want for anything.  We are in a house that keeps us warm and safe.  I have enough clothes to wear and movies to watch.  We live in a town that has a beach.  We have family that takes care of us, feeds us occasionally, tells us great stories, and loves us very much.  All in all, a very thankful day.

Friday however, was a very roller coaster day. One of those really big ones with loops and upside down bits. After almost a week of waiting (plus a few months too) Donut decided it’s time.  My water broke that morning and after a call to the midwife, she sent us to the hospital in the afternoon.

When Miss R was born, there wasn’t much time to really think about the whole labor process.  With this guy, I’m going to need some help, seeing as how I’m not having contractions yet.  I’m worried about how long and painful it’s going to be, plus I already know what’s going to happen to my body once he arrives.  ugh.

But then I think about how wonderful it’s going to be having another little baby in the house.  I think about how great it’s going to be having 2 children to love and cuddle and watch grow up.

Then, there’s the absolutely mixed blessing which arrived in my mailbox about a half hour after talking to the midwife.  I’ve been laid off from teaching.  It seems that when there’s a budget crunch, art isn’t on the top of the list of keepers.  So, I now have quite a bit of time to be a stay at home mom.

My first reaction was tears. Hey, I’d just gotten off the phone with the midwife telling us to head to the hospital, and then I get this letter.  Can we really survive with another person if I’m not working?

As it has really settled in, I’ve decided that I’m not really upset over losing my job.  I didn’t get fired because I’m a bad teacher.  Rather, I’m in a very specialized profession that is definitely on the border of what is deemed necessary by the state (Please don’t jump all over me, I know the arts are important in childrens lives, I do, but I also know that if they had to let go of a teacher, it wasn’t going to be the 2nd grade teacher with 26 students). What really got to me was that it wasn’t my choice.

I’ve been pondering being a stay at home mom for some time now.  It would be wonderful to watch my children and be here with them.  We can do so much.  All the fun activities that we have to smash in on weekends can now be done leisurely throughout the week.  Instead of coming home frazzled from nearly 100 students needing my attention, I can have just 2 children who need my attention.

With that kind of stress, there was no way Donut was coming on his own. After 4 hours at the hospital, they decided that my little leak wasn’t too bad, and the alternative was to induce me at 9 pm on a Friday. The midwife sent me home to wait for more contractions, or else Monday’s appointment, whichever came first. On Monday, we will decide whether we should induce this week in order to meet Donut, or if we let him (and me) wait it out. I’d like to say I’m going to let Mama Nature take this one over and just wait til he’s ready, but I think I’m ready to be done with the sore belly, and a week and a half of contractions.

Will keep everyone updated on the status of our little one and on the new adventure that awaits all of us as I learn a new profession.

*Go to Ivelise’s yearly Thanksgiving sale!

I definitely picked up some goodies today.  Along with some Happy Feet sock yarn and size 4 needles (I know, I can’t believe I didn’t have any either), I picked up a copy of Tops and Toes: my new favorite Christmas knitting book.

*Go eat some hot wings.

Yummy.  Some spicy, some not, but either way, a good start to heartburn this evening.

*Make a hat for a new little brother.

This is an umbilical cord hat from SnB: one of my other favorite knitting books ever written.

Mr. Mouse is here to help show it off. At least until Miss R came by and decided the Mr. Mouse didn’t want to wear a hat anymore.  Then, he was hatless.

Baby Watch 09: -1 days left.  I’m not stressing yet, but the contractions could stop anytime.  Or else get serious and accomplish something more than make my belly sore.

I spent a rather uneventful afternoon crafting again. Some mommies nest with cleaning, I am definitely a crafty nester.

I made some stitch markers. It was quick work, and I loved using up some of my stash of beads.  I’m not much into beading, but I do like having an assortment on hand for when I need to do something with some sparkle.

Some close-ups of the stitch markers.  Here’s a set made from beads that are magazine paper rolled unto a bead.  They were a gift from a friend.  They are a fair-trade item from Uganda.  That means that the women who made these beads were paid a fair wage for them (not like a Chinese factory worker) and the money they make goes to their families and villages.  I love them.  They are so colorful and beautiful.

Another set of mostly blue beads.

These lime green and turquoise blue glass beads remind me of a friend.  These are her two favorite colors.

And a set of purple people.  Miss R thinks they look like people.

Hooray for Christmas crafting.  These all have homes to go to when the snow starts flying.  How exciting!  Isn’t it great to get another Christmas gift knocked off the list.  I think my second most favorite part of Christmas crafting (besides making lots of fun stuff) is crossing it off the list.  There’s just something very satisfying about finishing a gift BEFORE Christmas Eve and having it in a nice little stash ready to go.

Besides Christmas crafting, Miss R and I made a potty chart today.  We decided to skip the traditional calendars and go for something much more fancy. This is a princess castle complete with carriage and horses.  Every time she goes potty, she gets a sticker.  We colored it in this afternoon, and she already has 3 stickers on it.

There’s Ariel peeking out of a window.

And that’s how we spent our Sunday afternoon waiting for something to happen to Mommy’s tummy.

As in Due Day.

There are still 9 hours left to get this party started.

Not a whole lot is happening so far.  I have been crafting. I have been “hanging” as my midwife has told me to do.  I’m planning an outing later this evening that may or may not involve bowling.

I’ve gotten a myriad of suggestions from friends, including (but not limited to): eating pineapple, raking leaves, playing on the teeter-totter, jumping up and down, smacking my belly like a ketchup bottle, pruning above my head, scrubbing the floors on my hands and knees, prayer, or eating hot wings.

I’m all for the hot wings suggestion.  But I’ll bet I can get some other family members to go outside for a walk with me too.

Will keep everyone posted on the upcoming arrival of Donut Rimes.