2007-in-review-meme

Interesting.

Where did you begin 2007?

What was your status by Valentine's Day?
Married.

Were you in school (anytime this year)?
As a middle school science teacher, yes. I haven't been in a classroom since June.

Did you have to go to the hospital?
Yes - one time to visit my dad / wait with my mom while dad had a procedure done on his heart, and the other time as a patient - giving birth to Lorelai!

Did you have any encounters with the police?
Nope.

Where did you go on vacation?
Ireland, Hershey PA, & New York City

What did you purchase that was over $500?
The car. Plane tickets for Sean's wedding next April.

Did you know anybody who got married?
Dan's cousin got married right after Thanksgiving, but we didn't attend.

Did you know anybody who passed away?
Nana, and she is still missed just as much!

Did you move anywhere?
I moved stuff around in the house to create a baby's room and change the craft room into a guest room.

What sporting events did you attend?
Nothing professional. I watched Dan & friends play horseshoes in the yard several times.

Describe your birthday:
Relaxing.

What's the one thing you thought you would never do but did in 2007?
Stop working? Give birth without drugs?

What has been your favorite moment(s)?
Telling Nana I was pregnant. Meeting Lorelai. Introducing Lorelai to her family, seeing how happy she makes everyone. Seeing my dad and brothers get all goofy over her. Getting out to SnB each week (for a while - I really want to get back to it). Touring Ireland.

What's something you learned about yourself?
That I can hack it as a mom - I have had some fabulous role models and I have a fabulous support system.

Any new additions to your family?
Lorelai Hope!

What was your best month?
That's hard to say. January to mid-June were all rough because of work. The rest of the year was consumed by my pregnancy, and for the most part it was all good. November was just all about waiting. December has been hectic and a whirlwind, but fun.

What music will you remember from 2007?
Gwen Stefani, Plain White Ts, Rhianna

Made new friends?
Yes, through Ravelry (Hi Kelly!) and SnB (Hi Sonya! Hi Eden!)

New best friend?
Those who are maintained their status!

Favorite night out?
New York City for My Fair Lady at Lincoln Center, Seeing my brother do his stand-up routines

Any regrets?
"Forget regret or life is yours to miss." Do the best you can with what you have while you have it.

What do you want to change in 2008?
I've got several of the same old resolutions of what I want to change...

Overall, how would you rate this year?
It was a rollercoaster year - highs and lows, positives and negatives, but it ended on a good note.

What would you change about 2007?
That Nana could have met Lorelai and that my other grandparents were in better health.

Other than home, where did you spend most of your time?
Target. And the doctor's office.

Have any life changes in 2007?
Yes, becoming a mom.

Change your hairstyle?
Yep, it was chopped and can now be worn down without clips.

Have any car accidents?
No.

Buy a new car?
Yes - we opted for a safer car with the arrival of the baby.

New BF/GF?
No

Get a new job?
Being a parent is my new job.

Do you have a New Year's resolution?
Always and it's not just one.

Do anything embarrassing?
Only mildly so.

Buy anything new from eBay?
Not this year.

What was your favorite purchase of 2007?
It's a hard choice - yarns, my new computer, Jackson's astronaut costume (which sadly didn't fit)

Get married or divorced?
No

Get arrested?
No

Be honest - did you watch American Idol?
Honestly I;ll watch most any reality crap, but not that.

Did you get sick this year?
I took a day off from school back in February. Anything else was fairly mild.

Start a new hobby?
Does Ravelry count?

Been snowboarding?
Not this year. I haven't been out to a mountain for skiing / snowboarding in years - I miss it.

Drank Starbucks in 2007?
Yes, thanks to listening to Lime & Violet, then going to SnB at Starbucks. A new one just opened in town, so I'm sure I'll drink more in 2008 as well.

Are you happy to see 2007 go?
I'm always happy for the new year, it feels like a fresh start. I am hopeful that 2008 will have more positives than negatives, but on the whole 2007 was not a bad year.

One Month Old!

One Month Old!
Originally uploaded by nutmegknitter

How time flies! A month and a day ago, I was still pregnant, anxiously awaiting Lorelai's arrival! And now, here we are - we've just about got feeding down (I think) and we have a very loose routine. She's starting to smile, like she's up to something and the joke is on us. Live it, love it and can't wait to see what the next month brings!

A Merry Christmas after all

Thanks to everyone for the comments - your support and encouragement means a lot! I am trying to enjoy the baby time, even though I'm really looking forward to a schedule / routine and more interaction with the wee one. She's kinda giving us smiles and amazingly last night she slept from 10-ish until 6:30-ish!!! I was tossing and turning and nearly bolted out of bed when the alarm went off, thinking "She never got up during the night!"

While last friday was a wash, the rest of the weekend and days have been pretty good. On Saturday, Lorelai got to meet Aunt Betsy - they are off to a great start it seems.


Sunday we totally lost track of time somehow - Dan brought Jackson to the breeder, we went to his parents, wrapped gifts, cooked - the day just got away from us! I did finish the Police Tape scarf for my cousin Max:

It says "Do Not Cross Crime Scene Do Not Cross" Max seemed to like it a lot and it got many comments at Christmas Eve. I also finished (but forgot to photograph) the pair of pedicure socks I made for one of my aunts. I think I need to make myself a pair of those.

On Christmas Eve we travel into Rhode Island and on Christmas Day to Long Island, then back to visit my folks. Crazy fun. I was given two gift certificates to the yarn shop (YAY!) and the Veronik Avery pattern book - decision time, what to make?? Tomorrow Betsy, Lorelai and I are going on a yarn outing - gotta check out my ravelry queue to see what I must knit next :)

Bah Humbug

You got it girl! Today has been a near disaster. I think I've had the second worst night of sleep since we've been home with Lorelai - she was up so often! This morning then was a little rough, as I was overtired (poor Dan had to feel the brunt of my one word answers and grunts). When I finally got the little one back down, I started wrapping gifts and Jackson kept finding things to bark at / about. GRR.

I put him in his room, fed the baby, and then we went out shopping down at the town green. It's taking some getting used to balancing packages and a baby carrier and my car keys. Bleh. My hair is a disaster too. On the positive side, Lorelai got many compliments on her hat, and one lady told me I shouldn't have a 3 week old out and about. Sorry honey, I need fresh air, and the little one does too.

Got home, put the baby down. She sleeps (yay!) So I try to call Dell as my computer was not booting up and I got a funky error message. I try to knit while on the phone - gotta finish a pedicure sock! In the middle of my call to Dell (about 45 minutes in) Lori wakes up and I feed her while I'm on the phone (my neck and back hurt! I have lost any good posture I once had). Then the tech guy wants me to get the reinstallation cds, and did I have a lot of data on my hard drive? Um, I have a newborn to take care of so I don't have the cds on hand and yes I have files I want to keep. He says he'll call back in an hour. It's been 1.5 hours and no word from him. I think it'll just be easier to bring my computer in to a local shop and let them deal with it, save my files and get the computer working again. Or maybe I should just say screw it and consider investing in a new laptop? Sigh.

In the midst of that I'm wrapping presents, trying to get the house in order for my mom's birthday dinner tomorrow (we're having turkey and smashed potatoes. that's all I know. Food shopping will get done tomorrow I guess.) Crazy.

I love Christmas and can't wait to have this first holiday with our baby and all, but I'm looking forward to December 26... is that awful?

Dogs on Thursday - Pack Expansion

Since we brought Lorelai home, we've kept a close eye on Jackson. He's actually done much better than we thought he would with her - he keeps a close eye on her, constantly sniffs her and will lay down next to her rocker or on my lap when she's eating. Maybe it's a dog thing - when we went to RI this past weekend to celebrate Nana's birthday my uncle's mini schnauzers were the same way! Here's the photographic evidence.

Baby Photos

Knitting is kind of on hold - I've been able to get through a letter or two on the crime scene scarf. But that's about it. This is a needle-craft post though - the nurse director at the hospital my dad works at is a long time family friend - she sent along several of the hats that a church group made (I think they are crocheted) for little Lorelai. She wasn't too excited for the photo shoot of hats.


This last one is the only one in which she actually stopped crying, momentarily. Knitting gods help me, she likes fun fur.

I did snap a photo of her in the berry tart hat and the jive turkey hat but it's on a disposable camera, as my digital battery was charging. maybe tomorrow I can get photos of that and the christmas tree hat. Maybe.

In the meantime, she also has new shoes. Red gingham.

Girl can't even walk yet and her shoe collection is started. She has also been promised a pair of Docs when she does start walking (thank you to Aunt Jenny!)

Introducing...

Lorelai Hope!


She's finally here :) We've all got a lot of learning to do, but we're so so so happy with her.

Last week on Wednesday I went to have a biophysical profile / nonstress test done to check everything out because she wasn't here yet. They found that my amniotic fluid levels were low. So on Thursday I went to the doctor's office and after checking me out, told me that the best option was to go to the hospital. My mom was with me, and we made a quick stop at the house and then went to the hospital. Dan met up with us there. And then we waited. And waited. Around 7 or so I was given a gel to help things along, then more gel around midnight. I started feeling contractions more but they were still quite manageable. It was more uncomfortable to be hooked up to the fetal monitoring and in a hospital bed.

Friday morning, we were moved down to the labor and delivery floor around 7:15. Once down there, I was checked out (4 cm woo-hoo!). Pitocin was started, more for augmentation rather than straight induction. The doctor broke my water and told us she was thinking that the baby would be born in the afternoon. My contractions were getting more and more intense. I did ask for the epidural and they were ready and waiting to go on that. As they started the prep for that the contractions were so intense and I felt like pushing. I was checked out again and found at 10:00am I was 10centimeters so I could go ahead and push! No epidural! OMG. Luckily the nurse who came in was great and got right in my face telling me to breathe or relax or push. Also luckily, 19 minutes later, Lorelai was born! When she came out the nurse, doctor and Dan all gave a collective "Woah" - she was HUGE!!! And had a whole lot of hair!! She was 9pounds 2ounces, 21 inches long.

All the grandparents came to meet her on Friday, and one of her uncles as well. On Saturday grandparents returned, along with my brothers and girlfriend. There were tons of photos taken. On Sunday we came home and began to try and wrap our heads around this new life. Dan is the best, taking care of me while I take care of her. He's great with Lorelai too - he's changed diapers and is pretty good at swaddling her. She seems to know what she's doing with breast feeding too - we're working on our team work.

And that's where we're at - it's been a crazy couple of days. But in the best way possible :)