My mother-in-law treated me to a makeover the other day. Now my hair looks hot! Check it out!
She also treated me to some new sock yarn, Prism Saki, purchased at The Knitting Tree in Madison. LOVELY shop! I love the colorway of this yarn so much I promptly started to knit it up. I think Jaywalker is the best pattern for this, don't you?
Happy New Year everyone!
Seriously. Check out these colorways! 
Mariposa (butterfly) and
Charrua (named after native indian tribe in South America, presumably).
How could I NOT buy these? I plan to make some pants for Eli. And a hat for Josh.
I used leftover cashmere. I had about 60 yds and still had about 5 yards left when the hat was done. Yay!
I made Eli a hat yesterday and today. The pattern is from the new one skein wonders book. Here he is in it. Pretty cute, if I do say so myself.
I started another one tonight since he looks so cute in it!
I have finally finished Isabella! She is currently being blocked and will be dropped off at the LYS this week. Which is good, because she is due this week. Man, do I have timing or what? Of course, she'd have been done earlier if I hadn't been pregnant and then given birth before finishing... In any event, here she is:
And for your viewing enjoyment, a cute baby and a pouty dog:
So I've found a few minutes here and there to work on Isabella. I'm nearing the finish line. I've got about 35 more rows on the neck and then I just have to pick up stitches around the armholes, knit the edge, finish and block! Yay! And we're driving to Madison tomorrow, so I should be able to finish a bunch this weekend since Eli loves sleeping in the car.
Not bad. It's amazing how fast that huge baby belly can disappear. Now if only I could get my "regular" belly to disappear that fast...
I've given him his own blog so he'll be easier to find for his grandparents and aunts & uncles.
Eli & his floor gym at 9 days:
Eli with the hiccups:
And some more photos. My little man is the cutest. I can't help but show him off.
Things are slowly settling down around here. Every day is a teeny bit easier. I'm getting a little more used to the crazy sleep schedule and am feeling less tired. I've also figured out how to use the sling and now have the use of my hands again. And today Eli laid in his crib for an hour just watching his mobile. And right now he's chilling in his swing, asleep. The first time we tried out the swing he did NOT like it, but apparently he's changed his mind in the last few days. That's fine by me. :)
I have not yet reached the point where I can knit. :(
I started early labor at 4 am on Tuesday morning, with contractions 8 minutes apart. By the end of the day they were about 30 minutes apart and I was getting very discouraged. I went to bed thinking I was going to wake up and not have any contractions. Instead, I woke up at 12:30 with strong contractions every 10 minutes apart, by 2:00 a.m. they were 8 minutes apart and I called the midwives. They told me to take a bath and see if the contractions lessened or went away. They didn't. By 5 a.m. they were 5 minute apart and much stronger. I called again and was told to come in. By the time I was in the triage room for the initial monitoring etc, I was having contractions every 3 minute and was getting sick from the pain. I had originally wanted a natural labor, but by the time I got to the hospital I knew I couldn't do it. Especially with the vomiting. The midwife unit was totally full and I was stuck in the triage area until about 1 pm. By the time I got to my room and was given some nubain I was 3 cm and could finally sleep. I got my epidural at around 5 pm and was 6 cm dialated . By 10:30 or 11, I was feeling okay, although my epidural was only really effective on the left side of my body, but I was 9 cm and was told it was time to start pushing.
I was pushing for about an hour or so when Eli's heartrate dropped in half. So in rushed the labor and delivery docs with the vacuum, and with one push Eli was out at 12:31 on October 4! He was stressed during the last part of the delivery and had passed some meconium and had inhaled a little, so they had to suck out his airway. I got to hold him shortly after he was born.
Eli was 6 lbs. 15 oz. and 21 inches long. We got out of the hospital today. I am super thankful to be home, but oh, so tired.
Eli & Daddy
Going home! In the outfit Mommy made...
So here it is. I made it to week 40 with Eli. I'll be pissed if I've got a 42 week photo to post. Today's his official due date and the midwives told me they wouldn't induce until 2 weeks from now. I hope I have him this week!!!
I've made some pretty good progress on Isabella. Here she is as of this morning. 
And of course, Marley.
Still no baby. Dammit.
We've finally finished the nursury. Here are the pics. They're kind of fuzzy because I was using my mom's camera, which doesn't have as good of resolution as our camera. I was testing it out so she can use it to take pictures of Eli when he gets here.
Also, this weekend I picked up my gift from the ladies at the Yarnery. Oh. My. God. Check it out:
Thank you so much everyone, I absolutely LOVE it!!!
Again, the photo is a bit fuzzy and doesn't really do it justice. I'll take more and better photos later but the camera is packed in the car for the hospital, so this will have to do for now...
I always love it when there's a brand new Knitty!
Some of my faves from this issue:
Muir--Hol[e]y beautifulness. Literally.
Neiman--Lovely. Plus the colors used are faves of mine.
Q--Okay, I'm totally never going to make this, but I LOVE Aija's obsession with Atari games.
Woodins--I'm not sure whether I'd make this for Eli or for Marley. They'd both really like it... Marley's already got something very similar...
In the "huh?" file:
Entwined. Meh.
So last weekend was very busy. Josh and I went to Madison for our baby showers. The first was at Josh's parents' house, and the second was at my dad and step-mom's house. I'm still waiting for pics from the shower at my dad's, but it's getting late, so I figured I'd better post about the other shower at least.
Here I am before the party:
Barefoot, pregnant, kitchen. Heh.
The theme of the party was sweet peas, since that's what my mom and Josh's mom call Eli.
And here's some random photos from the shower:
Josh also had his own shower. He went to a Brewers' game with his dad, my brothers, and my step-dad. My brothers showed up looking adorable.
And of course, the obligatory pics of Marley looking adorable:
Also looking adorable last weekend was my dad's dog, Lily. She's a funny dog.
Also, this last week was both my birthday week and my 36th week of pregnancy. I turned 30 on the 6th. Josh got me some beautiful diamond earrings. I'm spoiled.
Also, here's the 36 week belly shot. Not too many of these left!
