Happy Halloween

This year,



we decided to stay home, and




let Maddie dress up as a couch potato.

Henry update

I talked to the vet yesterday and Henry had some low calcium and potassium levels. They are going to check his thyroid next week, but have assured me that there is no evidence of diabetes or any kind of kidney disease. At most, they think he might have to be put on some supplements. Oh, yeah, and he has high cholesterol. Lay off those cookies, mister!

Sweet Little Henry

Our litte Henry head had a seizure yesterday. It absolutely scared me to death. The crazy thing is that if I hadn't seen it, I would have never known a difference in him. He got up from his bed and his backlegs weren't quite underneath him, and I wondered do dogs have their legs fall asleep like people do? Then his front legs went out and I opened the door to the garage and he began to roll around on the garage floor with a horrible glassy eyed look. The seizure lasted a few minutes and then he was completely himself again. I didn't know what to do, so I called Jeff. He came and took Henry to the vet, and UT's College of Vet Meds has his bloodwork. The vet said that lots of dogs probably have seizures, but no one is there to witness them. Basically, there isn't anything you can do, but just make it safe for them and not to panic. We hope to get his test results today and in the meantime he is getting a lot of extra attention from the girls in the house. (these pictures were taken before the seizure and don't worry, she is closely supervised)

All I know is one little bitty girl would be devastated if anything happened to her little Henry.

Etsygazing (an ongoing saga)

Here are some recent fun finds:


Lucy Handbag by JessicaLeman


Vinyl wall decal by singlestonestudios (any color in the rainbow!)



Three owls box tote by thecraftpantry

Happy gazing!

Type A Twist

So, here is a scarf for me, by me, after only 11 months. For most anyone it would only take a few evenings, but I picked it up and put it down. There were several babies born recently and I have spent a lot of time trying to play catch up with them. I also learned how to yank out stitches and start over without starting completely over, so I guess that's progress. Poor thing, it was time to see it to completion and not in it's little sad state in the corner.

For you knitters out there, here's the pattern, a Plymouth yarn company freebie:


Mock Rib Scarf (1 ball Encore Worsted, size 8 needles)
Cast on 24 stitches
Row 1: Knit
Row 2: K3, *(p2, k2); repeat from * to last 5 stitches, end p2, k3.
Repeat until almost out of yarn and bind off in pattern.

Tag you're it!

Tagged by Daisyeyes:

Here we go:

1. I make up silly songs to entertain anyone in the household. When Madeline was a few months old, I worked to get a reaction out of her. I made up a song called “Walking in my neighborhood” - Walking in my neighborhood, boy it never felt so good, hi to the neighbors, hello to the dogs, walking in my neighborhood. It had hand motions and extra verses, but you get the picture.

2. When I found out I was pregnant, I had an environmental heart attack, and demanded to have a clothes line put out in the backyard to save energy.

3. I organize everything and hate waste. Too much stuff gives me panic attacks and I literally feel claustrophobic. I hate even wasting a walk to another room, I am always looking to put something away.

4. I love fabric and hate to sew.

5. I have pens and pencils from elementary school. I can’t throw away anything that still has a practical use. Here is a slogan printed on a pencil for you children of the 80’s : "I’m special because I’m me". Yep, still using it.

6. The upholstery on the roof of most cars gives me chill bumps when I touch it.

7. ALERT: This is my husband's frustration that he had to get in: I only pour the amount of milk I need into my glass. Sounds innocent, but if there are literally three drops of milk left in the jug, I place it back in the frig.

Okay, since I'm still new to this blog thing- Deb, you're it.

Weird Science

No, it's not Madeline's first perm, but her first paid job! UT conducts cognitive research with infants and this was an opportunity to be our own Discovery Channel. For about 10 minutes, she looked at a screen and they measured her brain activity as images flashed by. They basically note what happens in a baby's brain when things are novel or repeated. Of course, she tested at the top of her class! Mostly because she was at the oldest side of the class...., but they did say she was awfully cute and super sweet. She plans on investing her $10 pay in the stock market; apparently you can buy 100 shares of Fannie Mae and have money left over.

A Bargain Weekend

We took off for one last weekend at the cabin before the cold sets in for good. Who's we? Well..... my mother, her dog Benji, me, Jeff, Madeline, and her dog Henry. In one sedan, but with free gas courtesy of my Mom's company. We kept hoping to find someone to sit in the rocking chair up top, but no takers. We managed to make the trip over by 1 pm with only a stop to feed Maddie. That night we went to the fish camp for dinner, Maddie's first time- how fun!, and tracked down the number of the tree farm that had an Okame Cherry I wanted to plant in honor of Maddie's birth.

The next morning we called the tree farm and found out the tree would cost about $80 and wouldn't fit in the sedan's trunk. Plan B. They gave us the number of another nursery and so off we trucked (or sedaned) to the place. The folks there were especially helpful and I don't know if I have ever seen a more beautiful place to buy plants. We have settled on either a Kwanzan or Yoshino cherry (think Washington DC), but the gentleman talked us out of buying one this weekend because of the constant care they require upon planting. So, Jeff and I head back over the mountain to visit Allyson in about a month and will make a small detour to plant a tree when more rain will be able to sustain it.

On the way back, Mom had to fill up and I ran into the Dollar General next door to scope out baby supplies. This store is only about 10 minutes away from our cabin, and much more appealing than a drive into Hickory for supplies. On my quick tour around, I found a Trivial Pursuit DVD SNL edition. "That would be a great Christmas gift for Jeff" I thought. So I head up to the counter to buy it. So the cashier scans it and it rings up .01- that's right, folks, 1 cent. We both look at each other, and I say you may want to check on that, and so off she runs to find the head duck. When the head duck comes up, she looks at the game and at the screen, and says "Well, I guess it is a penny". Can you believe it? I checked my wallet, and I could only find a nickel. I told her that I couldn't leave just paying a penny, so please keep the nickel. I laughed my head off the whole way out to the car.

We ate at the dive for lunch - and although I have never in my life ordered a bacon double cheeseburger, I did that day. I don't regret it. There is nothing like finding a little joint on the side of the road, who brings your order piping hot in wax paper, and only charges you $3.25. I will be taking a few dozen extra laps around the neighborhood to compensate though, so if you're in Knoxville give me a buzz.

I spent the rest of the afternoon on the edge of the water reading "Northanger Abbey" by Jane Austen and getting sun on one side of my face. Oops.

On our way back home today we did the mandatory stop at the Farmer's Market. I bought a peck of Golden Delicous and a 1/2 peck of Granny Smith to make apples for Madeline. The guy was also selling a variety called Johnny Gold, which I am sure is now my current favorite. If you are a fan of Honeycrisp- you would love these. I also tried a Sun Crisp, but the Johnny Gold was so sweet- I just had to have a 1/2 peck. Yea apple pies!

So, where are all the pictures?? I brought my camera with me, but the batteries which were charged before I left died, and my backups were dead. So the picture you see is an old one from early this summer. I hate leaving, but I'm excited about next year and how much more mobile Madeline will be.

Weary

Okay, Maddie is now over 7 months old. She still spits up... a lot. I'm really, really, really, tired of it. Yesterday I went through 4 burp cloths, 6 bibs, 3 shirts (mine), and 4 onesies. I can't imagine what I would do with the extra time should she not spit up so much. My floors wouldn't have to be cleaned daily. I would only do her laundry once a week, versus 3 times now. My laundry would decrease by half. I could remove the towels from my sofa. I know I'm getting close and in the scheme of things, it's not that big. But my world is much smaller now taking care of the little muppet. I just wished that I hadn't been told how much better it would be once she starting eating solids. Bananas stain, my friends.

Last night, I cut my finger while slicing tomatoes. And I mean, really cut it. So Jeff tended to Madeline's bath while I stain treated the aforementioned clothes (one-handed). She spit up before she got in the tub, while in the tub, and then on her towel after getting out of the tub. Jeff finally managed to get her dressed and brought her out to me so I could kiss her goodnight. She looked so sweet, smelled sweet, and was happy. All my frustration melted away. I leaned in to give her a kiss and just as I backed off, she spit up all over me. Peas, nonetheless. I still hate peas.

Making friends

We took advantage of the fabulous fall weather (the best season ever!!) and planted the divine Miss M in the exersaucer outside. Henry entertained, I plotted yet another task list, and we expanded our living space- hallelujah!

Madeline is slowly being allowed to approach Henry, and I am convinced that he is one of the reasons that she is crawling. Imagine, a furry something that moves! She also makes this H-squeak for his name and Henry will inevitably be her first word.

Extension # 1

After beginning to worry that our paperwork had been lost in a sea of immigration fingerprints, we received our letter that our petition to adopt has been extended. One of the pieces of paperwork for international adoption includes an I-600A which is simply an acknowledgement, a summary paper if you will, that we will be fit parents. Ours expired in July and we were scrambling to get it updated to qualify for what we thought would be a six month extension at no cost. Imagine my disbelief (and I use that word in all of it's meaning) to find we had been extended until March of 2010.

Okay, I'm sure you are reading this and wondering, what is she talking about? Who cares? When does the baby get here? The simple answer is we don't know and it's not soon. I had originally hoped that we would go to China in the Spring, but there is simply no chance of that. It is very likely that we will have to file for another extension past March 2010, and it will involve updating our home study, re-fingerprinting, and parental training. We really are okay with all of this and know that our family will be knitted together in just the right time and with just the perfect wee ones for us. But, in the meantime, does anyone know how to get red ink off of fingers??