January 27, 2008
B is for...
the Big Apple!
New York City!
Last weekend, Dan and I took a little trip up to the Big Apple! It was the holiday weekend, so we had 3 days to enjoy it... and Dan's brother, Sam, was visiting the US on a business trip and let us stay in his hotel room, making the trip very appealing!
We managed to pack a lot into 2 days (on Monday we just drove home)... and most of it starts with a B! The photo above is from the Staten Island ferry, which we took solely to get a good look at the Statue of Liberty (which you can just barely make out behind us). About 90% of the boat were tourists like us, and we all got off on Staten Island and turned around and got right back on for the return to Manhattan!
We also saw...
Broadway!
Bones!
and a Blue whale! (Plus this photo has Baby on Board!)
We got half-price same-day Broadway tickets (from TKTS) and went to see Rent. I've owned the soundtrack for many years (I think my sister got into it first, when I was in high school), and loved the movie, but this was my first time to see it live. It was awesome! The baby loved it, too, and kicked around to several of the songs :) After we bought our tickets, we went on the website and found out that they are going to be ending their Broadway run in June 2008 (after 12 years!), so I was really greatful that we got to see it before it ends.
We also went to the American Museum of Natural History (which is the museum from Night at the Museum), where we saw some dinosaur bones, and some other exhibits including the Oceans Hall. It's an interesting museum, with some older exhibits (taxidermy in particular) surrounded now by "renovated" surroundings.
And of course, what's a visit to New York City without a little bit of shopping? I visited Seaport Yarn (which will be moving to a new location in a couple of weeks), which is just as bizarre of an experience as all of the reviews I've read about it online. It's in a building with absolutely no signs or other obvious clues on the ground floor - you walk past a doorman to an elevator. The weekend I was there, the regular elevators weren't working so I rode up in the freight elevator with 4 bags of trash! Then you get up to the 5th floor, and the store consists of many small rooms (crammed to the ceiling with yarns) connected by hallways lined with shelves with more yarns and books. It's a packrat's dream (I loved it!). And I was happy with what I bought:
Baby Bamboo!
Brilliant stripes!
That's a machine washable (!!) bamboo/wool blend (Sirdar Snuggly Bamboo Baby) and 100% wool in a self-striping rainbow colorway (Diakeito Rococo). Both bought in appropriate amounts for baby garments...
And I stopped at Kinokinuya (which has moved, but the website still had the old address! Which ordinarily wouldn't have bothered me so much, but walking was quite a challenge, and I was a little peeved when I found out their new location was just a few blocks away from one of the subway stops we'd used earlier that day), where I bought:
Books!
Three new additions to my library of Japanese knitting books. From left: From left: Baby Knits (0-24 months) ISBN 4-277-14158-7; Women's Knits/Stylish Knit Autumn & winter ISBN 978-4-408-62830-1; Men's Knits (M, L, LL) ISBN 978-4-277-13332-6
I'm pleased to say that I've already knit one thing from the baby book! I'll have to share photos with you next post.
Baby-wise, we're doing good. She's quite active during the mornings, which can make it hard for me to concentrate at work! You can easily see the movements by watching my belly, though, which entertains me and my co-workers. She makes big movements at night (changing positions), which means that I can never plan on how I'll feel in the mornings. I've come to realize that my comfort level (doing things like walking or sitting) depends a lot on how she's positioned. The weekend in New York was fairly painful - I think she was crushing a nerve in my pelvis - and every step hurt. By the time I woke up on Tuesday morning, though, she was off of it, and I was feeling good. This morning she was sticking out the front, and walking again became painful, although in a completely different place. I wonder where she'll be tomorrow morning!
I'm still having a touch of morning sickness (a day or two a week with puking, some nausea the rest of the time), but it's so much less than it used to be that I feel like it's nothing. The heartburn is constant and completely obnoxious, plus the medicine I'm currently taking is becoming less effective the more I take it.
I'm doing pregnancy yoga in a class once a week, and then a bit at home. It's definitely helping - I can't believe how flexible I am, or how much I can still move!
I haven't really been having a lot of strange dreams - none (so far) where I've been pregnant. The worst one was an anxiety dream where Dan came home and said he was leaving me, but he wouldn't tell me why. I had a son and a small dog. It was one of those dreams where you wake up and aren't sure what the reality is - know what I mean? I have never been so relieved as when I looked across the bed and he was there. I think I asked him about 4 times the next day if he was going to leave me (and he is quick to reassure me that he's not going anywhere!).
I've only been having a few cravings lately (mandarin oranges being one!) but I've been making a lot of smoothies - pretty much one per day. I usually make enough for two glasses, so Dan is also on board with this plan.
My next doctor's appointment is on Friday, and I think after this I start going every week! Only 7.5 weeks 'til my due date! Yikes!
January 06, 2008
A is for...
Adorable!*
Baby Pants!
I have made baby pants! And I think they're adorable!
Details:
Pattern: Baby Bell Bottoms, by Alison
Yarn: Malabrigo Merino Worsted, 100% single-ply merino wool, colorway "loro barranquero"
Needles: 16" circular size 8(?)
Started: December 7, 2007 (traveling to Colorado and Albuquerque)
Finished: December 21, 2007 (traveling to Indiana)
These were actually started once and then ripped, when a short reality check assured that they were super-sized...
oops
That's one of the legs around my wrist. Yes, I wanted bell bottoms, but not quite that much of a bell. Of course, I could have just made them in a bigger size, but then I would have had to change the lengths, too - size large width with size small length would have resulted in very strange pants!
Or, A could be for Ample!
That belly is ample!
That's me at 29.5 weeks. Everything baby-wise is going well - she's kicking right now in fact! I did fail my 1-hour glucose test (like some other people), so I have to do the 3-hour test. (Hopefully, like Cara, I'll pass it!) My first test was in mid-December, but they couldn't work me in for the 3-hour until now... the nurse told me that between the tests I should "Try and avoid eating sweets like candy and cookies." Over the holidays. Rii-iiight.
After all, I definitely had to eat at least one cake - the one for my baby shower!
Yummy!
That's the cake and the guest of honor - the bump! We both really enjoyed (a small piece of) the chocolate cake and ice cream! It was... Ambrosial!
Let's see, other things... I'm still throwing up a few mornings a week (1-3 times), but several days I feel fine. Except for the heartburn/acid reflux, which is Awful... Taking a Pepcid usually settles things down, but eating is still an adventure! It's getting increasingly uncomfortable to walk - my pelvis is not terribly happy about this baby's head being wedged into it. I can't wait to see what 10 more weeks will bring!
Otherwise, everything is going well! We had a quiet evening at home for New Years, just us and the cats, and some sparkling Apple cider:
Happy New Year!
We've now suceeded in clearing out the craft room entirely, to make way for the nursery! Of course, Dan brought all of the craft stuff into the dining room so that I could sort through it... well, many bags to Value Village later, the dining room is almost back to normal. Maybe tomorrow night! I have found some fabulous things that I'd forgotten about! And I've finally said a final goodbye to several crafts that I had briefly dabbled in, but which didn't quite "catch."
And I've started one more project for the baby... I've been feeling a tremendous amount of startitis, with a particular urge to start a sweater (but I don't really want to make a maternity sweater at this point, so it wouldn't fit me for a while), but I've managed to hold it off for the most part! But I'm trying to get more prepared for the baby, and making soakers for cloth diapers is smart! Here's the latest:
That's a waistband
It's the Curly Purly Soaker (pdf), in Lorna's Laces Shepherd Worsted, colorway Sherbert. Size small, and I'm using needle sizes 4, 6, and 9 (I think). We'll see how much progress I make tomorrow when I'm sitting and knitting for 3 hours!
Well, one of my resolutions this year was to blog more (especially once Baby Girl joins us!), so hopefully you'll be hearing from me again before too long :)
* Yes, I did sign up for the ABC-Along. Maybe now I'll be encouraged to post at least twice a month!