Birthdays and Baby Showers

Announcement!

James and I have chosen the baby's birthday. It will be October 3rd. How can we be so sure? Because we have put it in our birth plan of course.

Seriously people, that would be silly. We have scheduled a c-section for Tuesday morning. Originally the doctor said we could wait until I went into labor and see if she still had not turned. On Wednesday that offer was taken off the table. The new offer was the 28th or the 3rd. When I asked if we couldn't wait until the 5th (my parents are flying in on the 3rd) I was told "not really." I'm not entirely sure why. I was a little too overwhelmed to get out many questions.

The wonderful thing about the 3rd is that she will share her birthday with someone famous: our very own Drunken Monkey! I think that's a good omen.

To celebrate this momentous decision, Brooke threw me a baby shower last night. Well, a baby shower in a box. It came with games, prizes, gifts, and even guests! We had a great time.

There was some dispute over the baby name game. We had to come up with as many names as possible using on the letters in James and Brenda. Brooke said that "Name" didn't count as an actual name and while she let me have "Nareda" Joy said I was "pushing it." But it didn't really matter because Mom Higgins won anyway.

After the games I opened my gifts. I got lots of great stuff including a monkey soap dish and a monkey pez dispenser. I also got "Natural Knits for Babies and Moms." The author even signed it for me! You can also see that I got my very own orange and brown yarn to make a pumpkin hat! (I might have to start that tonight.) Brooke also knit me a beautiful little baby sweater. I seem to remember when she posted about this on her blog. I also seem to remember demanding that she give it to me. She's so obliging.

All in all it's been a good week here in Wyoming. I'll try to post one more time before the baby arrives. I still have to show you our new carpet (mostly) and make-shift baby room!

Yes! I did see the Yarn Harlot!

Hello my faithful readers! Sorry it has taken so long to post this. I had the post all written and my computer crashed, then the in-laws came to visit and I didn't have time to post, and then we (mostly) got new carpet and the entire house was packed up and put in the basement. But now we're finally back in operation!

I did indeed make it to Salt Lake City and I managed to see the Yarn Harlot. Of course there was so panic involved.

When I got to the yarn store (a scant 15 minutes before Stephanie was scheduled to speak) I found out that she wasn't speaking at the yarn store but at the arts center downtown and I needed a ticket. These two facts combined with a 2 1/5 hour drive may have led to some tears on my part. But no one was disgusted with me and no one told me to grow up. In fact there were a few extra tickets and another knitter gave me a ride to the arts center. You can see her sitting next to me in this picture. I believe her name is Robbie and she is wonderful. (She told me her name numerous times and of course I can't remember it.) If you are having trouble finding me, I'm the big red one, as my husband put it.

It was so nice to sit in a room and knit with other people. I worked on a baby sock. Yes! I have a matching pair now. Stephanie was very funny. She complained that it was hot (I had worn a sweater most of the day) and that we didn't have enough air (I had descended 3,000 feet and thought there was plenty of air). Best of all, she told willie warmer jokes.

After her talk we went back to the yarn shop, where she signed books. I was in line behind the Montana knitters. I thought that driving 2 1/5 hours was a show of dedication. They drove 12 hours. I don't think I would have driven 12 hours, even if I wasn't pregnant. As far as I could tell I was the only one who drove in from Wyoming.

Stephanie was very gracious. I can't imagine how long her day had been but she still laughed at my jokes and asked me to send her a picture of the baby. She said she likes babies because they are binary: wet or dry, hungry or full, asleep or awake.

I briefly considered hanging around the store to see if she might go out for a beer afterward but it was late and I had a two hour drive ahead of me. So I bought some yarn and headed home. All in all it was a very exciting day.

Back Home!

Hello my lovelies! I have returned from the great state of Michigan. I've actually been back for about a week but the trip took a lot out of me and it took a while to get back into the swing of things.

So, before we get to the knitting:

Baby Update
Only 5 weeks (or so) to go. It's a little mind boggling. At my last appointment a few days ago the doctor determined that the baby is still breech. He said it's nothing to worry about but he has scheduled a sonogram for three weeks from today. If we're lucky I'll have more indiciferable pictures to post!

Around the House
We have two plum trees in our back yard and while I was gone the plums ripened.

It seems a waste not to use them, so I now have 12-15 pounds of plums in the kitchen, waiting, watching me. Smelling oddly perfumey.

I've already made one batch of jelly. Once I get the proper tools I'll make another batch. I briefly considered canning the plums but the only canning directions I have call for 30 pounds of plums and I'm not sure I'm brave enough to try canning yet. Jelly is adventurous enough for me right now. I'll probably end up freezing most of them.

Yarn Harlot
The Yarn Harlot makes a stop in Salt Lake City next Friday! Right now I'm planning to attend. The only thing that will stop me is if my belly gets much bigger. If it does, I won't fit behind the steering wheel. Should that happen, I will cry and cry and try to convince myself that the Yarn Harlot will come back to SLC sometime.

Now . . . on to the Knitting!

I finished the baby blanket! I don't have a picture because I had to mail it back from Michigan. (I came back with a lot more than I took. Don't judge me. They have stores in Michigan that sell maternity clothes. I now have four pairs of pants instead of just one. It feels so extravagent!) Anyway, I matched up the two ends of the border pretty well and on the whole I am very pleased.

I found this little gem tucked away somewhere just waiting to have the sleeves sewn in. I started it for a friend but I made so many mistakes that I couldn't bring myself to gift it, let alone finish it. Now all I have to do it embroider rose buds on it.

While waiting for one of my flights I started the other front piece for the ribbon tie sweater. This is all that got done because pregnancy, air travel, and I do not make good company. I did do some serious thinking and calculating and came to the conclusion that I am one skein short. Not surprisingly, I did the math wrong when I first figured how much yarn I would need. But that doesn't matter because I have put this sweater aside in favor of . . .

Baby Socks! Yes, they have no mates. Don't judge me. My attention span is about as long as . . . a very small thing. (I'm not going to tell you how long it has taken me to write this post.)
Next time: Did I make more jelly or did the plums all rot? Perhaps I forgot I started the jelly in favor of taking a nap. Do any of the socks have mates? Was I able to finish anything I started?