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Bring on the dancing babies:
Aden's bringing "sexy back".
And Hunter is working on striking a pose.
At four months the babies sure do love to party!
The babies have been growing and finding their strengths...
Currently they think they're destined to become trapeze artists.
But their parents know that it's just a passing phase.
In other words, life is as it should be at Chez House Arrest...
I never understood why people stopped blogging when they had a baby.
Now I know. It's hard to find five minutes to yourself, let alone find enough time to write a post. And any free time that you might possibly have is put to better use by getting twenty winks in.
I've fallen behind in writing but the kids are not the only reason why. I feel like I've censored myself so much recently that my blog is again losing it's voice. I went to House Arrest v1.0 and saw all the blatantly open stuff I was writing back then. I miss that. I miss that honesty and the ability to vent and bitch and moan.
Now I have to watch every word I say because family drops by here, co-workers check in. I can't openly talk about the stresses of work because some of the parties involved might read about them here. Or, worse, I could get canned by my company for my ramblings. And then there's the fact that I used to share hugely personal things that I don't necessarily want some people I see in my day to day life to know about.
So I'm left with talking about knitting and sharing baby pictures. And I feel that's boring and stale. I mean, yeah, folks are kinda interested in how Hunter and Aden are doing but I never wanted this to become a baby blog.
One of these days I'll find my voice again, but until then things are gonna be a bit sporadic.
I keep getting requests for pictures of the twins together. Easier said than done. My photo sessions tend to go a little something like this:
Aden please look at the camera...
Pretty please?
Hunter that was NOT a cue for you to look away...
Okay guys, you can dance later...
Well I guess that's close enough...
P.S. The pictures for 365 :: Aden and 365 :: Hunter have been updated as well.
And another two down...
FO: Baby Surprise Jacket for Hunter
Pattern: by Elizabeth Zimmerman, available from several places
Yarn: Fearless Fibers Superwash Merino Wool, Infatuation
Needles: KnitPicks Options, size 5
Began: July 15, 2007
Knitting completed: August 22, 2007
Finished: September 2, 2007
Look at the awesome buttons I got:
I know, I know... what's so awesome about them? In context (seeing the full button pack and the coordinating colors) they are a PERFECT match for this yarn. Anyway... It took a little while for me to get this to the exact place I wanted it. I did use Yarn Harlot's crochet neck edging to get a more polished look, but it was the buttons that were stumping me. I ordered a ton of buttons from Joanns.com and found a group that got me over the hump.
Now, I REALLY like this little sweater and am working on a pair of matching booties. I originally planned to make Aden one as well but I'm gonna pass. I have too many knits on the needles right now and I'm loathing making everything twice. Instead, I think I will make the Three Piece Layette for him. That will even the babies out on the sweater count provided I finish Hunter's classic baby cardigan as well. Then each will have the same number as the other. I'm not forgetting that I have their one year outfits ready to be cast on along with their Milan jackets (also in the one year size).
I've decided that going forward I'll make completely different baby knits for the babies. That way I won't get "second sock sweater syndrome."
FO: Hooded Jacket #2 (Yes, I finished the second sweater before the first...)
Pattern: found in Simply Baby by Debbie Bliss
Yarn: KnitPicks Shine Worsted, Bachelor Button
Began: April 21, 2007
Knitting completed: April 29, 2007
Finished: September 2, 2007
How sad is it that I knit the sweater in eight days and then took about four months to get around piecing it together? Lame-OH!
Finishing (aka seaming and blocking) is definitely not my favorite thing in the world.
But the results... Well this is a beautiful sweater with a nice soft feel and decent stitch definition. However, I'm not sure the Shine Worsted would hold up to much wear and tear under normal circumstances. I am definitely worried about the yarn pilling, but then again, these are baby sweaters. The likelihood that they'll wear them more than three times is slim so I won't worry too much about it.
I'm currently finishing the first of the Oz Vests and am working on a slew of projects. (Have I mentioned that Ravelry is an evil good influence on me?)
Family-wise, both of the 365 photo albums are updated so make sure to click on the sidebar for new pics of the babies. We weighed the babies after their baths today and found that Aden is now 9 lbs 15 oz and Hunter is 11 lbs 2 oz. That makes me smile in ways you cannot imagine.
The only downer is that Aden will be going in for surgery on his inguinal hernia this week.
Hernia? Yes, I know I didn't mention it before — that kinda tells you how busy we are — but our little boy has one. Mark spotted it one morn while changing his diaper and googled what it might be. I had seen it earlier but dismissed it as normal swelling that little boys often get. D'OH!
We went to our pediatrician immediately and he referred us to visit a pediatric surgeon, giving suggestions and names of colleagues that he'd worked with. He said we had some time as Aden's condition was not critical. We opted to go back to the hospital where the babies were born as we were so touched and awed by our wonderful experiences there. After a two week wait for our appopintment, Mark took Aden for an appointment with Hunter in tow. It was his first doctor's visit without me and he was a rockstar at managing both twins. With him he took a picture of Aden's balls (the hernia comes and goes and I told Mark he should go with photographic proof of it) and chocolates and thank you cards for the NICU nurses — a gesture I'd been meaning to make for forever and a day.
The surgeon looked at Aden's hernia (rather the picture of it as it had "gone" again) and said that while it didn't require immediate surgery, it should be done soon. So now we're waiting for his office to call us back with the exact time of the surgery. We expect it to be Wednesday of this week but it might be later.
Currently, Aden's prospects are extremely good — this is fairly routine surgery for preemie boys we hear — but our main fear is for our baby's comfort while staying in the hospital. Mark and I are looking into whether or not we can stay with our little man overnight. Otherwise, we're feeling the normal stresses one might have under the same circumstances.
I have so much else to say and think and do but right now I need to get caught up on what is our most precious commodity — sleep.
