Superpower-ish

I swear- having company coming over is the key to unlocking Flash-like superpowers in the otherwise super-slothful and house-cleaning challenged. I've never been so productive in a span of an hour and a half as I was today. (Yes-he's back to eating every 2 hours again. Don't know what's going on with that boy, but he's growing like a weed.) As soon as Little Mister fell asleep after his feed, I popped him off, threw him in his car seat (where all the cool babies take a nap) and flew like the wind, throwing laundry in the dryer then, WHOOSH! I was off to unload and reload the dishwasher, then KAZAAM! I was vacuuming so fast, the cat thought her nemesis was self propelling and could suck her up at any moment. (Side note- it is really sad that my 12 year old cat is still afraid of the sound of the vacuum. Perhaps if I used it more frequently, she'd be used to it by now.)


At the next napping break, I was so drunk with my new found superpowers that I figured I'd use them on my crochet projects. I finally finished my alpaca Cow(L) yesterday and just need to block it. However, in my cleaning frenzy, I had thrown it in my "get-to-later" box, otherwise known as "people-are-coming-over-and-I-must-hide-the-clutter" box. Also, I've never blocked anything before, so I don't know how I'm going to block a mobius. However, I did have my bag of hexagons that I started working on for my Carnival-like shawl.and figured blocking individual motifs would be easier than blocking a large circular wrap. Ahhh...my naivety is so cute sometimes.

Crocheted by MyDailyFiber who has amazing stuff on her blog and on Ravelry

ACK! How pretty is that?  I love how the hexagons make swirls when sewn together. It's like they're hypnotizing me. While I was hypnotized into wasting time researching my yarns on Ravelry, I came across this beautiful knit version that utilized Jojoland Melody Superwash which I bought last year on one of my yarn binges.

From Jojoland yarns

ACKK!! Pretty colors makes it even better!  I love the colors of the knit version, but I like the way the hexagons make swirls in the crochet version. So I, being the genius that I am, am combining the better looking crochet version with the better colors of the knit version.

Here are some of my hexes that I have complete:

Swirlies even a nerd would like

As you can see, they aren't too pretty right now. However, through the magic of blocking (so I'm told) they'll blossom into the beautiful hexagon swirls seen above. So I, taking advantage of my hour and a half feeding reprieve, threw them in a bowl of lukewarm water and added some shampoo to gently wash them. I gently squeezed out the water, placed them on a towel, carefully rolled it up and hurriedly stomped all over it to get as much water out as possible. Then I started pinning them on my blocking board. And here's where my true genius shined through.

Hexagon-ish

It took half an hour to pin that sucker. It took longer to pin it than it did to crochet it. Stretching out each side and pinning, then removing the pins from the adjacent side to fix the wonkiness and repinning, and then repeating the process 500 times....G.A.H!! I found Flash's kryptonite. A dainty, lacy piece of crocheted wool can bring down the mightiest of superheroes. (Or so I tell myself so I don't feel so bad).

I, being the ever so stubborn persistent gal that I am thought that I'd risk the ever dwindling nap time and try a second hexagon.

Wha...wha.....huh??

Yikes.  I'm just hoping that crocheting them all together will fix those edges and make them kinda straight. I had to leave it looking so sad and deformed because Little Mister was waking up and if I don't feed him right when he starts giving his hunger cues in his sleep, he turns into Audrey 3 and starts clawing at me with his baby dragon claws. (Note to self, it's time to cut his nails.)

So, this is what I have to show for an hour and a half blocking attempt:

Blerg.

Two hexagon-ish swirls and a pile of sopping wet wool.

I am ashamed.

Next time, I'll only wet two spirals to begin with so that I'm not left with a wet pile of FAIL staring me in the face. Blocking. Argh.

The Gege Pie

The last few days have been great- I've been able to accomplish a few of the things that makes me, me.  Have you ever thought of all of the aspects of you that make you, you? When someone asks me, "What do you do?" I always find it difficult to define myself in any one way. Of course they mean, "What do you do as a profession- to make money and contribute to society?" Why is that always one of the first questions people ask? Am I defined by my job? Is my profession the end all and be all of who I am?

Well, for me, the answer to that is a resounding, "NO!" Sure, by education and (current) profession, I'm a Nutritionist. However, that is such a small part of who I am. As a matter of fact, it's probably one of the smallest pieces of the whole Gege Pie, if you will.  Especially in the last few weeks when I've been on maternity leave and have not been functioning as a nutritionist. Feels good, actually. (Don't tell my boss!)

However, one aspect that I miss about work is getting dressed up and doing my hair and makeup. I've been feeling really frumpy lately and I don't like it, which is really strange. Normally I have no problem being in shorts and a tank with my hair in a ponytail sans makeup. But now....I'm feeling really...blah. I thought I'd feel this way due to weight gain; however, my body truly has bounced back much better than I could ever have hoped and I'm even back in my regular clothes (though some are are a little more snug right now).  It could possibly just be a postpartum hormonal thing, but I bought hair dye yesterday, just in case. (Dude. My hair. It's insane! It's always been thick, but thanks to pregnancy hormones it's redunkulous! Since it's short, I end up having a huge poof around my head and my straight iron just gave up the ghost. Sad face. I had it for about 15 years, though, so it had a god run.)  

What are some things that help you feel more like "you" and help banish the blahs?

Anywho, since I'm being so introspective, here are a few of the things I was able to accomplish in the last few days that make me feel like me:



The newest piece of the Gege Pie: Motherhood
I've become adept at baby-watching. I never thought that would become a favorite past time, but it truly has. Seeing the changes that has happened to this tiny little person in the first few weeks of his life has been amazing. A little part of me is sad, though, since he's quickly outgrown his little newborn outfits. He's becoming quite the little chunk and I love it! Due to his breast milk only diet, my Mister started calling our son, "Mister Mustard" every time we have to change him. (If I wanted to end up on STFU Parents, I'd put a picture here to illustrate why. However, even I have limits to my crudeness.) (Shut up. I do.) 


The Professional piece of the Gege Pie: Nutrition
Even though it was tough this weekend, I did not succumb to the alluring calls of the Butter Pecan Ice Cream. However, to appease my recent sweet cravings, my Mister and I tried out some Jello sugar free puddings- the kind that are in the refrigerated section. They are only 60 calories per pudding cup and are SO GOOD. Even though I've not yet set up an actual eating plan, I have started reverting back to my pre-pregnancy eating habits....except for the occasional potato chip fix. My solution for that is to buy a small, one serving bag whenever I have a craving. That way I don't have a huge bag of chips begging to be snarfed down. If you're interested, I'll share my healthy eating plan with y'all once I write it up.

The On-The-Move piece of the the Gege Pie: Exercise
As I said last time, I've finally been able to get back to exercising, if only occasionally and very slowly. Exercise is one of the main ways that I feel like "me" again and I can't wait until I'm back to running. As I told Crochet Blogger in the comments, I don't normally feel like I've worked out unless I'm sweating like a hog and my heart is pounding. However, I must admit that I did feel the effects of my Pilates workout yesterday. (I have the Complete Yoga and Pilates series and I love it!) I'm hoping to be able to do a little something each day- whether a video or going on a walk- just to start getting back into some sort of exercise routine. Hopefully Little Mister will sleep after his next feeding so I can get in a little walk on the treadmill today.


The Creative piece of the Gege Pie: Crochet
I've been on a crocheting binge and it's been great! My sister spent a couple days with us, including this weekend, which meant an extra pair of hands to help free up my own. She and I continued my Psych marathon (streaming Netflix = best.invention.EVER.) and I was able to finally finish my Half Granny Scarf. I love it!! It looks great with a black tank top, which my sister just happened to be wearing when we went to the DMV, so she wore my scarf and thus loved it and, of course, asked for one for herself. Ah shucks. Twist my arm. She also requested another Cow(L) in a sparkly pink yarn she spotted in my stash. Once I finish my own Cow(L) in my grey alpaca (YAY! I finally get to use my new loverlies!), I'll start on that for her.

I loved the Granny Scarf so much, I made another one out of dark brown mercerized cotton and then added a beaded edging. Oh.My.Lanta. I love it even more! Hopefully, if there is no rain either today or tomorrow evening, I'll have my Mister take some pictures. Scarves I'll wear- especially these ones. I'm hoping that I'll work up to wearing my other wraps/shawls, as well.(Hey- I'm nothing if not optimistic.)


The Entertaining Piece of the Gege Pie: Acting
This one is a little bittersweet. Remember the World Independent Music and Film Festival from last year? You know, the one where I won a little award proclaiming to the entire world that I was the BEST ACTRESS EVER? Well, they asked me back this year to present this year's Best Actress Award. I was really excited about this- getting dressed up and going out this weekend sure sounds good right about now. However, I had to turn them down. For one, I'd have to leave Little Mister home with his daddy. We've never given Little Mister a bottle and I don't know if he'll take it (and I must admit I don't like the thought of him having a bottle- even though it's pumped milk. Very strange- never thought I'd feel that way. It actually gives me anxiety for some reason. Huh.) Secondly, my sister-in-law and her husband are going to be visiting us, so I'd rather spend time with them than be in DC, abandoning my baby and having separation anxiety.

I think a reason I've been feeling "blah" is because I have an innate need to have many balls up in the air. I am multifaceted and can't focus on just one aspect of myself and feel whole. I am the most miserable when I am working full-time and don't have any time for any of my other interests. (Which totally explains the last few months of my pregnancy.) I cannot sum up, "What do you do?" with one word and actually feel happy about it. Now that I have time to focus on other aspects of myself, I'm starting to feel whole again and it really feels good!

Ok- Little Mister is finally asleep, so off to the treadmill I go. And then I have a box of hair dye that is calling my name. Good-by blahs!

Unpredictable...That's What You Are....

Unpredictable...at home or in the car...


I've always thought that one of my strong points is my ability to be spontaneous and just go with the flow. However, now that all I can do is go with the flow, I find myself getting antsy thinking of all the things I should or could be doing.  Thankfully, Little Mister has finally been going longer in between feedings, giving me a little extra time to get things done- including getting back on my treadmill for the first time in....ummm....a really long time. (!!)

You have no idea how happy I am about this! No, I wasn't able to run quite yet, but doing more than just waddling along like a bloated duck sure felt good. I was extremely concerned about the gaining weight part of being pregnant- especially since I wasn't able to be as active as I had planned on being. For a normal weight woman, a healthy weight gain is 25-35 pounds. Of course I thought that, being a nutritionist who was going to exercise throughout her pregnancy, I would be able to get away with gaining no more than 15 pounds which would magically disappear as soon as I gave birth. HA!

I actually was gaining weight appropriately and was on target for gaining around 30 pounds, which even though wasn't my personal ideal, I know was a healthy weight gain.  Well, Little Mister ended up overcooking and I ended up retaining a butt load of water. Seriously- it was insane how bloated I was! I ended up gaining 40 pounds, but I knew that a good portion of it was water, so I wasn't too freaked about it.

However, the part of me that was still freaked out about it was futilely trying to be "healthy" and "professional" with my postpartum weight loss goals and told myself that it'd be ok if it took a few months to lose all the weight. However, with a combination of shedding a ton of retained water, birthing a fairly large baby, and breastfeeding around the clock, 30 pounds melted right off the first two weeks. BOOYAH! "Healthy" and "professional" took a backseat to "totally wickedly awesome" and "cover of People magazine" in a blink of an eye.

Even though I still have 10 pounds to go to reach my pre-pregnancy weight, I actually have almost 20 pounds to go to my regular weight.  Unfortunately, I had gained around 10 pounds in the last year due to my first pregnancy and subsequent loss. However, I figured that if I could lose 30 pounds in 2 weeks, then 20 pounds should take only a week and a half, tops, right?  ("Rational" left the building, as well.)

Well, since I got used to eating ice cream fairly regularly at the end of my pregnancy, and since I'm burning around 500 extra calories a day by breastfeeding (one huge selling point for me), I've been continuing my dessert eating ways and thus have only dropped 1 more pound. ARGH.

Now, I'm still trying to be as rational, healthy, and professional as I can be and not totally freak out. I know that once I'm able to exercise regularly again, that weight will eventually melt off, too. So, the fact that I was able to exercise twice this week really was a very good thing for me. It may have prevented "total freak out"...for reals.

So, even though I'm usually able to just go with the flow and not worry too much about planning things, I am working on a postpartum weight loss plan to help me not go insane. One thing that has to change is my new found sweet tooth. Sorry butter pecan ice cream- yes, our affair was quite amazing, but I'm afraid I need to break up with you. I'll miss you terribly, but distance does indeed make the heart grow fonder (and in this case, the thighs get smaller).

I'll also start slowly incorporating exercise back into my life. (I need to keep reminding myself to take it slow....take it slow, Gege!) I think that, since crunches are not the best exercise for postpartum women, I'll start trying pilates (on DVD) and see how that goes. 

Hopefully Little Mister will cooperate with me and become slightly more predictable. Right now? Not so much, but that's ok. I'll still keep him.

Night, y'all.

Lessons Learned

My Little Mister is starting to sleep a little bit longer in between feedings- at least during the afternoon and the first watch of the night (AKA from 8pm-12am). Gives me a little free time to get some things done....like take a mid-morning nap with him. Ahhh...feels so good to cross at least one thing off my to-do list. I've also been trying to reorganize things around the house- my craft zone for one. It's once again become overrun with yarny goodness as well as unfinished projects that seem to accumulate faster than poopy diapers after a feeding frenzy.

Now that I"m a m..m...m...mother, I feel like I've become oh-so-wise in my new life experience and must unburden my new-found wisdom to those of you out there who are not as wise as I am. (Apparently along with wisdom comes patronizing condescension. Huh. Who knew?) So, here are some random lessons learned in these last few weeks:

1) Babies somehow find ways to break the space-time continuum. I don't know how he does it, but dang- two hours (in between feedings) has never gone by so quickly, ever.

2) My crocheting speed is inversely proportional to the speed at which those 2 hours pass. Seriously- WTHeimlich? Getting one row done is quite an accomplishment. Granted, both projects I'm working on are of the shawl/wrap variety, so since I'll most likely never wear them, it makes sense that I'll most likely never finish them.

Half Granny Scarf...I'll be a Full Granny by the time I finish it.

3) Sleeping Baby Farts can bring laughs to even the most sleep deprived grump. 

4) You always hear that breastfed babies' poop doesn't stink.  Yes. Yes it does. What they mean is that it does not stink as bad as a formula fed baby's poop, which is very true. But it's still poopy smelling, none the less.

5) Do not be discouraged if in the first few weeks your baby is eating non-stop. It does not mean that you do not have enough milk for the little one. It just means they are growing...a lot. The goal for the 2 week checkup is to be back up to the birth weight.  We so totally blew by that milestone! He was 8lbs. 12oz at birth, and 9lbs 15oz at his 2 week checkup.  He gained almost 2 pounds (including the weight he lost in the hospital) in less than 2 weeks! And all because he was eating non-stop. I should have named him Huey.

6) Car seats are great for sleeping in. (I wonder if the baby would like to try it, too?) They are also great for maternal muscle development. I'm going to have some major guns toting that thing around!

7) Either the Force is strong with my Little Mister, or he is the new Lord of the Dance.

I feel the Force is strong with me.

Alpaca- My New Favorite

Thank you all for your words of encouragement! One more step in the adjustment process happened today when I bravely ventured out to the grocery store…alone…with Little Mister. I was extremely anxious since I’m pretty sure he’s been going through a growth spurt which is why he’s not been leaving me alone for the past few days. However, he slept pretty well last night (I got a full four hour stretch (!!)) and I thought I’d risk escaping my nursing stronghold for an hour. I’m pleased to report it went extremely well! I used a Moby wrap and, aside from being afraid of both of us overheating, I was able to run through the store and got everything off my list. (No seriously- I ran through there. I really didn’t want to risk him waking up and having to nurse somewhere in public. I’m not ready for that adjustment quite yet.) Successful baby-wearing grocery store visit? Check. Milk for My Mister's cereal so he won't be a grump in the morning? Check. (Totally see where Little Mister gets his grumpy I-need-milk-now! face.)

Something that I wasn’t able to blog about when it happened in May was my trip to the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival. My sister and Lyteyz joined me on Day One and we had an absolute blast! I went back by myself on Day Two, which just so happened to be Mother’s Day. Yep- I spent my first Mother’s-to-be-Day by getting a really bodacious high on all sorts of fiber.  Best.Day.Ever.

Oh yes- be jealous of my photography skills.

During Day One, my Sister, Lyteyz and I all found out the importance of an A and B conversation, as well as C-ing one's way out of it. We also learned the difference between a cow and an alpaca. (Right, Lyteyz?) The difference being that cows are udderly delicious while alpacas have incredible wool and are now officially my new favorite fiber in the whole world. 

I can't think of anything witty...I'm laughing too hard at the poor skinny little thing. And then snarfing his wool.

Since my Sister was the only non-fiber enthusiast, (I know!! I think she's adopted, too!) I told her that I'd make her something- anything- she wanted. She actually saw a (knitted) cowl she loved and asked if I could make her one. After once again explaining the difference between crochet and it's pointy-sticked, ugly step-sister, I told her that I could indeed make her a cowl. I then let her pick out the yarn with which she'd like me to make it. 

(Side note: I was able to be generous with this offer, and was able to splurge (relatively) guilt free, since I had just booked an acting gig that week and told My Mister that it was a sign from Heaven that I was supposed to buy all the yarn I could get my grubby little hands on. I was not only able to score on yarns that I would not normally have access to, but I also have an acting video of me while preggers. Teehee!  It was for the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, but I'm still waiting for the video to be posted on their website.) 

My Sister chose this absolutely gorgeous, buttery soft fiber that I just wanted to roll around naked in.  Say it with me, folks: AL-PAC-A. *Swoon* 

My Sister tried out a skein around her neck to see if the color would work on her. I thought it looked great. Lyteyz came on over and said, "That looks like a cow." We then went into the whole "A/B conversation" discussion and how the fiber was alpaca- not cow- derr Lyteyz. And then we realized she actually said COWL and subsequently realized my Sister and I can be a rude couple of turd buckets together. Even so, we all may have laughed hysterically over this conversation and may have laughed even harder when a girl passed by and we heard her say, "I want to give worsted weight to my aunt and I want to give fingering to my sister." (It didn't help that the yarn my Sister chose happened to be fingering weight. I now want to retract my desire to roll around naked in it.)


Among other fibers, I was able to get light cream, grey, and natural black skeins of alpaca. Such loverlies! After my two days at the Festival, this was my score:

Lots of sheepy and alpaca-y goodness!

The one thing that irked me about the black alpaca was that it was a bear to wind. It was full of knots and drove me crazy!

600 yards of a natural black alpaca HEADACHE

After untangling and winding my new stash additions, I was then able to plan out my Cow(L). 

It's a mobius, which, as I mentioned earlier, I've been wanting to do forever. Lyteyz loved it and volunteered to test out my pattern for me. (Crossing fingers it will be published this weekend)

The gorgeous purple one that Lyteyz made is made out of wonderful, beautiful alpaca, which she said was wonderful and beautiful to work with. You see, she had to let me know this since the one I made for my Sister was NOT made out of alpaca.  *HUGE SIGH*


Even though it is very wonderfully soft and gorgeous, my Sister happens to be allergic to it when around her neck for an extended period of time. Also, she has a pair of cats that would make mince meat out of it. Oh, and it needs to be hand washed and air dried- a deal breaker for my wash-n-wear sister.


So, the one I made is out of Patons Stretch Socks- a cotton/wool/nylon/elastic blend.  Wash-n-wear, baby. It's also fingering weight.*snortle*

Ok- the Little Mister is a-callin'.  Peace out, y'all.