The last few days Max has largely managed to get by with only an hour or so of nap in his whole day (compared to the 3-4 hours he normally takes across two day time naps). Although it has caused him to be a little temperamental it was really me, and therefore Jeff, that suffered. I guess I need my quiet time and having that denied me too many days in a row made me quite ... not nice. Actually this post pretty much sums up what I'm like without at least one hour a day of quiet. My most common outburst is that I'm going to put the cats outside (sometimes on the roof outside our bedroom windows) or that they will have to go live in the garage.
Today Max decided to get up at 6:30 for a bottle of milk, and considered getting up to play until Jeff gently informed him that it was actually still sleep time, and that he should just get some more sleep. Surprisingly he actually did go back to sleep and stayed that way until just after 9am. Since I knew that there was no way he was going to take a morning nap after sleeping in so late I decided to drag him out to the store. I think I succeeded in finding some shorts to wear to the fountain on Sunday, so I don't have to wear maternity shorts or bluejeans.
There is no way that I could have predicted that he would fall asleep in the car on the way home and still want more nap once I got him inside. Normally once we hit the front door and he sees his stuff and his cats the nap is forgotten. He's all sunshine and giggles and want to crawl around. Today all he wanted was to lean on my shoulder until I could get him snuggled down into his crib. I did not look a gift-nap in the mouth, I just laid that baby down in his probably dirty diaper. He hasn't had lunch yet, so he won't sleep too long and it will get changed then.
Is there ever a time that kids get more predictable in their schedules? So far the longest that I've had Max stick remotely close to a schedule is about a month. Even then it's not always the same wake and sleep times, but more then same length of time that he wants to be awake before taking a nap, and nap lengths that are somewhat consistent in length. It makes it really hard to plan day time events when I don't know when the heck he's going to be awake!
Speaking of which, he's probably going to wake up soon. Time to curl up on the couch with my knitting for a few minutes and enjoy the peace, that way I can be smiling happy mommy fun when he wakes up and is ready to play.
Friday, May 21, 2010
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
A Pile of Socks
I've been knitting away on Sock Madness again this year. Don't know if I've mentioned it or not, and if I spend time looking at the very few blog posts I've done this year to find out if I'm restating myself then I'll probably run out of time to post at all.
I've managed to make it through 4 rounds so far, which is further than I've made it any other year that I participated. I owe my success to Jeff for helping to watch Max, and my competitors that kept cheering me on when I almost got knocked out during round 2.
Round 1 was a sock knit sideways, flat instead of in the round, and then seamed together to make a tube. After that the toe, heel, and cuff are knitted on and wah-lah you have a sock!
This resulted in vertical stripes on the sock that contrasted with the rings on the bits knitted in the round. It was a new technique for me, and even though it was kind of fun, I'm not really keen to try it again right away.
Round 2 was colorwork. I don't think I've ever had more fun knitting a two color sock. Something about the pattern just felt good in my mind and hands as I worked. In case you can't tell from the picture they are covered in coffee beans, and you KNOW how I love my coffee. The funny thing was that I think it took me a week to knit the first one and only two days for the second.
Round 3 was just fast. The bright sunny colors just sang to me after all the blues I'd been using. The pattern stitch was super easy to memorize, and it didn't seem like I had to work very hard at all to finish this pair in 5 days. The heel construction was a new one for me, and I really like how they look.
Round 4 was nuts. I've never knit knee high socks before, and I don't know if I could have every finished them if I weren't racing against 14 other people to finish the round in time to continue in the competition. For the most part they are just a plain ribbed sock, but there's one large cable motif on the outside of each sock, and swooping decrease of the ribbed portion on top of the foot. It's going to be a lot of months before I can wear these, unless it's freezing when we visit Iowa this summer, but you have to admit they are impressive.
That's it for now. We're going to start round 5 sometime next week, so I might have something else to show you soon. I hope this post makes sense, but it was written while Jeff was watching robot chicken, so if anything is complete nonsense blame him.
I've managed to make it through 4 rounds so far, which is further than I've made it any other year that I participated. I owe my success to Jeff for helping to watch Max, and my competitors that kept cheering me on when I almost got knocked out during round 2.
Round 1 was a sock knit sideways, flat instead of in the round, and then seamed together to make a tube. After that the toe, heel, and cuff are knitted on and wah-lah you have a sock!
This resulted in vertical stripes on the sock that contrasted with the rings on the bits knitted in the round. It was a new technique for me, and even though it was kind of fun, I'm not really keen to try it again right away.
Friday, April 23, 2010
Portrait of a Potato
I gave Max some sweet potato "fries" yesterday. They didn't really crisp up in the oven, but that's okay because he still likes food he can squish.
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Anniversaries
Thanks to a good friend being available to babysit and to family for providing a gift card to ease the financial sting, Jeff and I were able to go to a swanky restaurant downtown last night for our wedding anniversary. Since we spent our honeymoon in Hawaii it may become a habit to try and get Hawaiian food for our anniversary. We've done it the past two years, and this year was much better than the last.
We went to Roy's and being a Monday night there was no shortage of tables. There were a few other people there though, so it didn't feel desolate. The little steamed edamame dish they serve as you are seated was kind of odd, but not bad. The wait staff was pleasant. Considering the menu prices, the wine prices weren't terrible. And either they serve really cheap sake, or they have awesome sake prices. But it's not a cheap place to eat and we'll definitely not be going there multiple times a month like one of the reviewers I saw online.
I ordered from the Prix Fixe menu and I was not disappointed. The beef potstickers were actually fried dumplings not potstickers, but I suppose most people don't know the difference anyway. Despite the somewhat flawed labeling of the dish the taste was excellent, just keep that kim chee cucumber away from me. Next up was the lamb chops. The menu lists them as "Herb Grilled Lamb Chops - Port Wine Bordelaise Sauce" and that does not do them justice at all. What I got were huge delicious grilled lamb chops with tasty sauce, on top of fabulous green beans, with a side of awesome cheesy scallop potatoes. I suppose it's either not fashionable to list what the sides will be or they want to leave wiggle room to use different ingredients, but I was quite happily surprised to find all that extra yum on my plate. I ended up bringing about half my meat home because I also had a dessert coming. The molten chocolate souffle was SO GOOD. My only complaint was the ice cream that was served with it. The boring vanilla bean ice cream would have seemed fine if we hadn't also ordered the raspberry pineapple upside down cake. The cake came with mascarpone ice cream that was out of this world. I think they should serve it with the chocolate souffle instead of the vanilla bean. Mmmm, I bet it would make a killer shake.
I tried the yellowtail sushi that Jeff ordered, and I thought it was okay, but the texture still kind of creeps me out. I have decided to continue trying it when he orders some. Who knows, maybe someday I'll like it, and then I will no longer be the world's cheapest sushi date. For dinner Jeff got Roy's trio, which is salmon, ahi, and butterfish. I tried the salmon and thought it was okay, and so I also tried the butterfish but did not like that even one little bit. As I mentioned we got the raspberry pineapple upside down cake for the second dessert, and it was not very good. Jeff felt that there was too much pineapple, and didn't even notice the raspberry because you couldn't taste it. My complaint was the dryness, it was so dry stuck in my throat in an unpleasant way. If you go I'd steer clear.
After our lovely dinner we came home and helped get Max back to sleep, because he had been a little difficult, and then bid our lovely babysitter good night. We curled up on the couch, had a beer and watched House before shuffling upstairs to sleep. It was a really great night, and I'm so glad that Jeff arranged to make it happen.
Happy Anniversary to us, and here's hoping for many more!
We went to Roy's and being a Monday night there was no shortage of tables. There were a few other people there though, so it didn't feel desolate. The little steamed edamame dish they serve as you are seated was kind of odd, but not bad. The wait staff was pleasant. Considering the menu prices, the wine prices weren't terrible. And either they serve really cheap sake, or they have awesome sake prices. But it's not a cheap place to eat and we'll definitely not be going there multiple times a month like one of the reviewers I saw online.
I ordered from the Prix Fixe menu and I was not disappointed. The beef potstickers were actually fried dumplings not potstickers, but I suppose most people don't know the difference anyway. Despite the somewhat flawed labeling of the dish the taste was excellent, just keep that kim chee cucumber away from me. Next up was the lamb chops. The menu lists them as "Herb Grilled Lamb Chops - Port Wine Bordelaise Sauce" and that does not do them justice at all. What I got were huge delicious grilled lamb chops with tasty sauce, on top of fabulous green beans, with a side of awesome cheesy scallop potatoes. I suppose it's either not fashionable to list what the sides will be or they want to leave wiggle room to use different ingredients, but I was quite happily surprised to find all that extra yum on my plate. I ended up bringing about half my meat home because I also had a dessert coming. The molten chocolate souffle was SO GOOD. My only complaint was the ice cream that was served with it. The boring vanilla bean ice cream would have seemed fine if we hadn't also ordered the raspberry pineapple upside down cake. The cake came with mascarpone ice cream that was out of this world. I think they should serve it with the chocolate souffle instead of the vanilla bean. Mmmm, I bet it would make a killer shake.
I tried the yellowtail sushi that Jeff ordered, and I thought it was okay, but the texture still kind of creeps me out. I have decided to continue trying it when he orders some. Who knows, maybe someday I'll like it, and then I will no longer be the world's cheapest sushi date. For dinner Jeff got Roy's trio, which is salmon, ahi, and butterfish. I tried the salmon and thought it was okay, and so I also tried the butterfish but did not like that even one little bit. As I mentioned we got the raspberry pineapple upside down cake for the second dessert, and it was not very good. Jeff felt that there was too much pineapple, and didn't even notice the raspberry because you couldn't taste it. My complaint was the dryness, it was so dry stuck in my throat in an unpleasant way. If you go I'd steer clear.
After our lovely dinner we came home and helped get Max back to sleep, because he had been a little difficult, and then bid our lovely babysitter good night. We curled up on the couch, had a beer and watched House before shuffling upstairs to sleep. It was a really great night, and I'm so glad that Jeff arranged to make it happen.
Happy Anniversary to us, and here's hoping for many more!
Monday, April 12, 2010
Optical Illusion
Jeff took a sequence of pictures this morning that happened to line up beautifully... or maybe I mean scarily. With proper Photoshopping an outsider might think that we had twins, instead of just the one baby. I rather like leaving the photo boarders around it though, so I just collaged them in Picasa.
Thank goodness there's only one of him, or I might never make it off the floor. I have no idea how people with twins manage.
Saturday, April 10, 2010
Fun New App
I finally downloaded the Hipstamatic app for my iPhone yesterday. I'd been admiring it from afar, but never made time to go and purchase it. I only have the basic version right now, and haven't purchased any of the other lenses, flashes, or film options that are available, but I'm having a lot of fun so far. I've only taken a few pictures, but I'm going to share them here with you. There will be more of these. I find them charming. It cracks me up that we (I know I'm not the only one) seem to have a nostalgia for the badly developed photos of our youth and are using advanced technology to recreate them. I wonder what my dad will think when I show him these pictures? Will he love them the way I do, or will it irritate him that they aren't as "good" as they could be, or will he think I'm a dork for asking?
Monday, March 22, 2010
Like Forever
This last week has been a long one. The whirlwind of activity started on Thursday when we traveled to Houston for a single day, to see Daniel open the envelope that contained the hospital that he will serve his residency at for the next 4 years. Well, we actually didn't think that we'd make it there in time, since we were leaving Austin at 7:30 am with a baby in tow, and we needed to be parked and in "the plaza" by 10:30. Then we were only minutes away and it seemed like we really were going to make it, but we had trouble deciphering where to go, and ended up passing our destination. Then the real fun began. We sat in the worst traffic I've ever been in as we crawled past a really cool looking park. We were going slow enough for Jeff to get out of the car, walk to a bathroom in the park, use the bathroom, then walk back as traffic inched forward.
We missed the envelope opening, but managed to eventually disengage from traffic and head toward the Mexican restaurant where the family was meeting for lunch. We stopped at a book store on the way, because I had to pee and Max needed to drink some milk before there was so much excitement that he wouldn't eat. It was a good plan, except for the part where Max wouldn't eat at the book store and the part where Jeff thought someone would call us when they were on their way to the restaurant. We did have a good time playing in the kids section where there were benches and a train set to play with. And once we hopped back in the car Max drank his milk with no fuss. We were a little late to lunch, but it was still fun to see everyone. We went back to Daniel and Tricia's to hang out for a bit and then went to my dad's for a rest before heading back to Austin. I'm still surprised by how good a time a had that day considering the amount of driving involved, and the fact that we were hauling around a little baby that does not enjoy spending his entire day strapped into a car seat.
Friday morning Jeff headed out with his mom to Iowa along with 500 lbs of baby stuff for Laura. They had a great time driving into a blizzard and making an unexpected stop at a Prius dealer Saturday morning before leaving Kansas and barely making it to the baby shower. While I'm sure it was no picnic I'd like to point out that I was the one with Max since Friday morning.
Honestly Max has been mostly pretty good. Each night bedtime seems to be getting harder. Jeff is normally the toothbrusher and every time he isn't there to do it I think Max gets a little more upset. The first night wasn't too bad, but Saturday night he didn't want to let me brush his teeth at all, and last night was worse he kept trying to squirm out of my arms and was looking all over the place. The days haven't been too bad though, we've kept busy. We went to Ikea and met up with Beth and her 4 kids on Friday. Then Saturday we went to a birthday party, and yesterday Grandpa (Jeff's dad) came to visit and we went out to lunch at Red Robin. (I recommend the Southwest Chicken Salad, just make sure to ask for dressing on the side otherwise it will come already in it.)
Today we're going to head out to a couple stores and see if we can't get Max a pair of shoes that fit and some saline drops in case his nose gets more stuffed up. Hopefully Jeff will get home tonight before it's time for Max to eat dinner. We're all missing each other and this is the longest that we've been apart as a family. I can't wait for Jeff to get home.
We missed the envelope opening, but managed to eventually disengage from traffic and head toward the Mexican restaurant where the family was meeting for lunch. We stopped at a book store on the way, because I had to pee and Max needed to drink some milk before there was so much excitement that he wouldn't eat. It was a good plan, except for the part where Max wouldn't eat at the book store and the part where Jeff thought someone would call us when they were on their way to the restaurant. We did have a good time playing in the kids section where there were benches and a train set to play with. And once we hopped back in the car Max drank his milk with no fuss. We were a little late to lunch, but it was still fun to see everyone. We went back to Daniel and Tricia's to hang out for a bit and then went to my dad's for a rest before heading back to Austin. I'm still surprised by how good a time a had that day considering the amount of driving involved, and the fact that we were hauling around a little baby that does not enjoy spending his entire day strapped into a car seat.
Friday morning Jeff headed out with his mom to Iowa along with 500 lbs of baby stuff for Laura. They had a great time driving into a blizzard and making an unexpected stop at a Prius dealer Saturday morning before leaving Kansas and barely making it to the baby shower. While I'm sure it was no picnic I'd like to point out that I was the one with Max since Friday morning.
Honestly Max has been mostly pretty good. Each night bedtime seems to be getting harder. Jeff is normally the toothbrusher and every time he isn't there to do it I think Max gets a little more upset. The first night wasn't too bad, but Saturday night he didn't want to let me brush his teeth at all, and last night was worse he kept trying to squirm out of my arms and was looking all over the place. The days haven't been too bad though, we've kept busy. We went to Ikea and met up with Beth and her 4 kids on Friday. Then Saturday we went to a birthday party, and yesterday Grandpa (Jeff's dad) came to visit and we went out to lunch at Red Robin. (I recommend the Southwest Chicken Salad, just make sure to ask for dressing on the side otherwise it will come already in it.)
Today we're going to head out to a couple stores and see if we can't get Max a pair of shoes that fit and some saline drops in case his nose gets more stuffed up. Hopefully Jeff will get home tonight before it's time for Max to eat dinner. We're all missing each other and this is the longest that we've been apart as a family. I can't wait for Jeff to get home.
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