I can sew!

Let me go back a bit... There's this blog that I read mostly because she's so good at updating and well, her daughter is adorable. Anyway, she made a really cute pillow and I asked if she'd teach me and she said yes! So, last Friday I went into GR to learn how to sew. (Yes, I have a hubby that knows how and yes he has attempted to teach me numerous times. But, why would I want him to know I can sew?? Then he might expect me to actually sew. =) And, if I went with him teaching me to sew, then I don't get out of the house and I don't get to hang with the girls.) Colby and I headed out and met Cara, her daughter and Laura and we had a little sewing party. I made a very adorable Scooby-Doo drawstring bag that Cara promised showed me all the basics for what I would need to know. Then she sent me home with most of the pattern for the gumdrop pillow. (Sorry no pic of the bag, I forgot to grab one. Kevin is on the new Mac and I don't want to interupt his "Dr. Horrible" episode again.)

Today I decided to get working on the pillow. While I cut out the side pieces, I had Kevin work on the top aplique piece that Cara was unable to locate. I had the measurements from her pillow to help guide the way. Here is Kevin working on making an octagon for me. (You know your hubby's a geek if....)

And here is the near perfect octagon (it's off by a tenth of a milimeter)

Keivn then pulled out his snazzy sewing machine for me and had to retell me how the thing worked. (His had more buttons than Cara's and wasn't numbered with where the thread goes.) I went to work! It took me all afternoon and part of the evening to finish it, but in the end, I'm REALLY impressed with my pillow. I used the wrong type of pen to mark the fabric so there are faint outlines still visible and Kevin helped to finish the slipstiching for me. (I did most of it! I just needed help learning.) Here's the final product!

And this is the bottom. Note how prettily the seams come together... ahh... the other side didn't look as pretty, but that gets covered, so no one can tell. Not bad for my second sewing product since home-ec!


When it comes down to it, this is what happens when I become a stay at home mom. =)

Finally! Pictures!

We'll start with one from Colby's birthday party. This is a picture of her fab cake that tastes SOOOO yummy! Please note the dog on the top....

This dog almost caused us to practice our pediatric choking skills as when asked if she wanted to eat it (it's pure sugar) she said yes and then proceeded to put the WHOLE thing in her mouth. Ah, kids. All in all though the party went very well and Colby had a good time, no wine though. =)
After going thru the really big lost and found bin at Mason's school, we located his hat in a bin in our garage. He's quite happy that we have found his hat. And now a picture from him: Mason's playdough creation.

Although I don't have a picture, my bike trainer is really cool. Mason and I have both been enjoying it, though less Mason recently. =) It is nice to finally be able to do something again. And, the bike shorts work very well.
In hopes of using the bike trainer as well, Colby received a new bike from us for her belated b-day gift. However, I forgot that one needs to know how to pedal in order to use the trainer... she did have fun getting pushed around and can push the pedal down, just doesn't understand how to get it around in full circles.

In other news, Kevin is mostly over the flu and we have attempted to decon the house as much as possible so that none of the rest of us get it. It has somewhat worked... Colby is the only one that doesn't seem to have any symptoms. Odd as she's around the house all the time with us and never received the flu vaccine. As for me, the physical therapist has requested that I continue with therapy thru the end of the March as my hamstring is severely lagging from where it should be this far post-op. To make up for the hamstring, my quads are way further along than they should be. It all evens out in the long run and the quads are what I'll need more to get back to work anyway. =)

Have I mentioned that the new Macbook has a "time machine" button???

Moving forward

Well life is moving along. We have a new Macbook, though I have not yet taken the time to learn the new iPhoto program. I assume that like most Mac products it is user friendly and it should be easy once I get going. That being said, no pictures yet.

On other fronts, my leg is doing much better. Apparently the MD was right when he said that all I needed was a little rest. My quads are almost normal, my range of motion is 10 degrees off from the other leg, my hamstring.... well, let's just say it's a touchy muscle that isn't pulling it's weight. I tried running after the kids around the driveway today and it just feels all weird. (I use the term "running" very lightly.) My bike trainer is fab and even Mason enjoys using it. I just can't wait until my bike shorts come in... =)

Kids are kids. Mason has misplaced his favorite hat. Colby is still a two year old. They just came back from a fun weekend with the grandparents and Mason is on winter break for a couple of days. Aside from a touch of flu, that about sums up life around here. And for those of you that are concerned, the tub is still holding water... for now.

Frustrations

So after spending a good chunk of change on a new TV, Kevin's Mac has died. Last week the screen just randomly went blue on me, then switched to a different hue of blue, then back again.... long story short, after looking into things further it appeared that we need a new computer. Granted Kevin's mac is on the older side and we've known that it was going to need some replacing. We were just hoping that it would last a bit longer and maybe not at such a similar time to the TV. This is also why I don't have any updated pics for people. And, while we're on the topic of things breaking that cost a chunk of change, our tub has a crack in it. Stupid builders.

Also on the frustration front, I've been having some pain in my knee with flexion, more specifically during my heel slide exercise (and also when I climb on the counter, but I didn't mention that part to the MD). Because it was a relatively new pain and the physical therapist wasn't able to give me a good answer and I wanted to be sure that I didn't mess up my graft at all, I went in to see the MD today. He told me that the graft feels good and that my knee hurts because I'm doing too much and need to cut back. I was starting to feel soo good! I even told the therapist that I wanted to do more and signed up for shifts in the ED! It's just frustrating. The MD told me that my knee is no where near normal and I shouldn't be acting like it is. He also recommended cutting back on stuff but to bike. I am happy to report that my bike trainer will be here on thursday.

And to top it all off, it's almost 2:30am and I've already cleaned up puke 4 times and am on my second load of laundry as Colby is out of clean sheets. What amazes me is that she wasn't acting sick at all before bed or at all today and she doesn't seem to be running a fever. And, aside from some tummy rumbles she's not acting all that sick tonight either. She's not clingy, whiney or fussy. We clean her up and she's back to sleep like nothing happened, until she pukes again that is. We all ate the same thing for dinner and no one else seems too bad.... yet.

In this corner...

Colby: 30# 4oz and 35.75 inches long, which puts her in the 90th percentile. The nurse practitioner was amazed by her fine motor skills as she drew pictures almost the whole time. I was amazed as well as she told me she was drawing mommy and the next one was Colby and she said that she was drawing hair... it was the most that I've seen her get into real pictures. Of course the nurse walked in shortly after that part. Kids never seem to perform when you want them to. =) Colby let her do all that she needed for her assessment and was rewarded with no shots! She was very happy.

As soon as I have the computer, camera and wire all together I will have pictures of the fab party for all to share. Let's just say the cake was pretty memorable. =)