What to do when they won't let you do anything . . .

So I started contracting with this baby at around 16 weeks. This, I knew from previous experience, was not a good sign. This was particularly heartbreaking for me since I had been totally under the weather with crazy morning sickness since 5 weeks, and the drugs I had been taking just started helping when the contractions started. In any case, I have been extremely blessed with a lot of help--from my husband, mother-in-law and wonderful Mom who have helped lift a nineteen-month old that I am not supposed to be lifting, and allow me to stay off my feet as much as possible.

Which brought me to a new dilemma . . . how to spend my time. Joe lent me a Nintendo DS game which has helped ease the boredom. Wesley is of course an endless source of joy and entertainment. But still, when you sit on the same couch for weeks at a time, I have needed a variety of projects to keep my hands occupied and my mind from going completely berserk. So I've been playing catch-up from the time I was doing nothing more productive than throw up.

First priority (after a couple of baby presents I had to get done for sisters-in-law with new babies/babies on the way) was an afghan I had promised Randy for his birthday last year. No, not this past January, a year ago January. Ooops, sorry honey. Here is an up-close shot of the cable pattern:


With that done, I realized that Fathers' Day was two weeks away, and that I had promised my dad a pair of slippers *cough* last year. So I whipped them up, dubious as to how they would turn out. It was a pattern that required felting--which basically means you knit a huge version in 100% wool and then wash it in warm water until it shrinks to the appropriate size. Then the finished product is thick and stiff. Kind of a cool concept, but I had no idea if this would turn out to be a hit or a disaster. Randy, upon seeing the slippers pre-shrunk was betting on disaster. Here is a before photo, with one of my dad's regular slippers beside:


My wonderful, kind father was very generous in his praise of the finished product (sorry no picture. I assure you they did shrink to the appropriate size) so Randy had to eat his Andre-the-Giant comments he was making earlier in regards to my project.

Then I had a long weekend where I hadn't made it to the yarn shop (did make it to the hospital for some fun labor check-ups) and I had no projects. So my mom found some extra yarn from her stash and I whipped up some cute soap-sacks (kind of like a loofah that holds a bar of soap).

Next project: a monkey that I'm setting aside for either Wesley's birthday of Christmas. That's right--I'm thinking ahead to those post-baby months when I won't be doing anything but feed and change a little one! Here's the wee primate:




So now I'm on to projects for Baby Brother: an afghan, an elephant, and a blessing outfit.

And for Aunt Mandi who complains if she doesn't see one of these often enough, here is my Wesley . . .

(side note: the blanket he is holding is the product of bed-rest 1.0)