Superhero Party Part B

(Yes, I know the first part was 1, so this should be 2 and not B. Sadly the person I always make that joke for probably doesn't read this blog anymore!)

The Capes. Capes, capes, capes. Oy. First I let a salesman talk me into buying felt instead of the polyester knit fabric I wanted (because they didn't have enough of the red). So then I had to take it back to a different store and got red knit and blue knit and figured I'd do half and half. I got 7 yards of each.

I cut the fabric into manageable sizes, specifically 24"x 28", a task made immensely easier when I bought a new 24"x 36" mat for my rotary cutter.

This is the best purchase I've made recently, aside from my Ice Tea Maker. 

Then I worked on shaping the fabric into capes and not rectangles. Of course I checked the interwebs first and this website: http://shannonmakesstuff.blogspot.com/2011/07/super-hero-capes-and-eye-masks-for-your.html It was a tremendous help. I did the blue ones first--14 of them--and totally screwed them up. Well, not totally, but I made the neck "holes" way too big so it wound up being more like a shawl than a cape. Ugh. I made the red ones without messing up and attempted to fix the blue ones. I quickly realized that the only way to fix the blue ones was to cut off the necks and start all over--losing 5 inches of length. Eek. BUT I had leftover fabric since I bought 7 yards of it. So I cut up the rest of the red fabric. It wasn't enough for all the kids, but miraculously worked out to be the number of big kids I have (4 & up). I decided that instead of half and half I would have all the big kids in red and the younger, smaller siblings could have the blue capes. Losing 5 inches wouldn't be quite so noticeable on them and 2-3 year olds probably wouldn't care anyway...

The smaller cape

The bigger cape

After finally getting it right, I ironed on my Velcro (that's right, ironed, no sewing involved!). That wasn't difficult, just time consuming. And then, the highlight of the capes, I ironed on the t-shirt transfer images I printed up of names and the Justice League picture I used for the invitations (I did not ask for copyright permission, sorry). My part of the capes is FINALLY done. I will now watch 23 kids put stickers and write all over them and try not to cry inside since that was the point of this whole thing!

The next thing I have to do is prepare city buildings as part of our Superhero Training Ground Obstacle Course and then it's just setting up everything the day of the party (and praying for no rain!!)

A year

It's a year today since that horrible day when Isaac suddenly died.

I am glad that he did not suffer (any more than he already was with his allergies). I'm glad I didn't have to watch him deteriorate and not be able to go out on his own and pee. But I can't help but feel robbed. It's not like he died peacefully in his sleep. He had a heart attack (we assume, no autopsy), in the middle of playing, and we frantically and hopelessly tried to revive him. It sucked.

In many ways life is easier without him. But there is still a sadness. And now, the closer I get to completing our family, the knowledge that this is the first baby I will bring home to just one dog waiting at the door. The first baby who will not get Isaac's sniff of approval. The first baby who will only know of him through pictures and our memories. It is hard to explain to people who do not have pets, do not have dogs, do not understand how they become such a large part of your family, but this knowledge fills me with a deep sadness.

Isaac resting on my pregnant belly, 8 years ago.

Superhero Party Part 1

Although the Princess has always been a girly girl and is in a major Princess mode right now, she's also always been into Wonder Woman and superheroes and Chewie is following in her footsteps. Their birthdays are just two weeks apart and this is the first year Chewie would have a "friend" party, or really a party at all, and I was stressing a bit as to how I was going to pull off two birthday parties two weeks apart, especially when I am pregnant. I didn't say anything to the Princess but she randomly suggested that they have a JOINT birthday party. Which was AWESOME. I was not going to suggest that because I believe each child should be able to have the spotlight alone... but if she was offering I wasn't going to refuse. Particularly since the majority of Chewie's friends are younger siblings of The Princess's preschool friends. It just made sense. The Princess will be 5 and Chewie will be 3 and we typically do at home playdate parties. They usually work out pretty well, but for some reason (insanity) I've decided to step it up a notch this year.

They are having a Superhero party, complete with capes, masks, and a Superhero Training Grounds Obstacle Course in the backyard. I started working on Part 1 today: the masks. I was going to buy masks to give out, but that would've been a bit too expensive to do it right. I'm making the capes so I might as well make the masks too!

First I downloaded a template from Krafty Kid and increased the size because it printed up teeny tiny. Then I glued it to cardboard to make my own template. I used a razor blade-exacto knife thing to cut out the eyes.

Superhero Mask template.

From there I traced the outline onto some black felt with a white pencil I've had in my sewing box for a decade and probably only used once before:

I don't know why this is washed out, but you can see the outline really well.

I used fabric scissors to cut out the felt and a combination of the scissors and my um, rotary knife thingy (is that what it's called?) to cut out the eyes. It was much easier than I thought it would be. In a stroke of genius I used my ice picker I just found yesterday to poke the holes for the string. I already had both the felt and the stretchy string from previous crafts, but I'll need to get more black felt to finish the rest of the masks.

They're not "perfect" but I made 10 of them in a couple of hours so I'm okay with that. 

Secret identity is safe from internet perverts!

It looks so big on her little face... but um, it looks big on my little (pregnant fat) face too. I need to make 14 more and then it's on to the capes and the obstacle course. Did I mention the party is in 2-3 weeks? Yeah.

Stop the insanity!

Today I set up the pack n play, high chair & swing.

I am only 25 weeks. This beats my previous record of 28 weeks, but it's not as bad because I had everything done then & I am nowhere close to having everything done now.

We heard back from the architect and she has proposed a different plan... Which might work as long as Vader is happy with the windows and amount of natural light. We need to contact them now (they sent a written proposal).

I just want my friggin attic done. I want the carpets ripped up in the kids' rooms. I want to rearrange everything that needs rearranging & get everything set.

I suppose it's good that I have to wait or it would be done now. Which is insane. But, it's easier for me to move crap around now than when I am huge & it is summer. So there is a logical component to this.

I have birthday parties to think about and a garden to set up soon but this is what weighs on my mind. This and when I'll be able to run again.

I've pretty much decided I'm done running. I haven't run since April 3... I haven't run more than a mile or 2 in a long time. It's not just physically hard for me, it's mentally impossible. I can't stop being afraid of every twinge and ache. The fear and the stress of trying to run has sucked all the pleasure out of it. If there's one thing I've always tried to do, it's run my own race, and I've tried really hard this last year to keep it fun and run smiley. I don't want to ruin all of that now... So I am done. For now. I am very tempted to sign up for a race for post-baby now, but I need to wait. I do fantasize about going early again and being able to race in August--the last race that I really ran! That would be nice.

Counting down the weeks

In my head I run marathons and ultras. Perfect form. Midfoot landing. Knees high. Slight lean. Short strides. High cadence. Silent and quick, I run towards the sun, always towards the sun.

In reality I sit on the couch. Back hurts. Ankles hurt. Braxton Hicks. Pelvic pressure. Round ligament pain. Random pain just from walking from one room to another.

Counting down the weeks.

Crazy. Plans.

I've been going a little crazy.

I have reorganized kitchen cabinets and my fridge and counters and as many things as I can in the kitchen. I bought all new hand and dish towels so they would "match" the green of the wall. Got rid of the big dish drying rack and got one--or six--of those dry mat towel things. In green of course. Bought an iced tea maker and a new food processor (I do use that iced tea maker every couple of days though). I reorganized closets in the bathrooms and got rid of crap we've had for a decade and don't need.

I need to set up a crib and wash baby laundry and I can't yet.

I have all of these PLANS in my head. My soon to explode head. I have finally FINALLY convinced Vader to rip up the carpet in the kids' bedrooms and put down floors. FINALLY. This will most likely be the last step in our attic-renovation plan, a plan that has yet to get off the ground. We're converting our attic to a guest room (and making the currently unaccessible part of the attic into a storage attic). The attic comes off of the girls' room, which is directly across from the boys' room. So, we'll rip up the carpet (we, ha!) and then have the contractor do ALL of the floors, guest room, girls' room, boys' room. In order to do that though we'll need to get all of the furniture out of those rooms. There is no point in setting up a crib if we have to move it out. SkyWalker needs a new dresser before I can move his clothes out of the baby changing dresser he's still using and then put baby clothes in that. So I'm not washing baby clothes now. Although I will have to get all of the boxes out baby clothes out of the attic. Vader is not very concerned. He seems to just see it as guaranteed that things will not be done in time, and so he's not stressing. He also doesn't have a million hormones in his body screaming to get all of our ducks in a row. RIGHT NOW! Luckily we are one step closer. After months (weeks) of phone tag with the contractor we have finally met with him and an architect. We'll get architect plans next week, meet again, get a price, get a loan, get this ball rolling. My protruding belly was pretty clear and the contractor said to the architect that we want to do this ASAP so I think things will move quicker now. (In reality, Quattro is not going into this new room, so if his arrival comes first it will not be the end of the world. But I want things DONE.)

Plans. Plans. Plans.

I've also been going a little crazy trying to get us to eat healthier, which is quite honestly, exhausting. I wish I could go back in time to when SkyWalker was little and expose him to more then... but I *did* give him vegetables and he did eat them and then he went bad. But, I suppose I could have cut out HFCS and sugar  before he ever got a taste of them. Alas. I have managed to change the things we eat on a regular basis. Our jelly and syrup don't have HFCS anymore. I made my own blueberry syrup the other day. I can't cut ALL sugar out of our diets but I can try to cut it DOWN. I've also been getting some local farm fresh milk. It's not organic, but sometimes the organic at the grocery store is not any better than the non-organic. Short of milking my own damn cow, getting milk from a local farm is the next best thing. It's grass-fed, they don't automatically pump the cows with antibiotics, there's no hormones, etc. I get it from a local foods store, in a glass bottle no less so there's no BPA either. Of course it's more expensive. It's $3 a half-gallon for the 2% reduced fat option. I would have preferred the whole milk, but that only comes in a quart and I'm just not spending that much money. Yet. I've been trying to cut down how much milk we go through because I can't get 6 gallons of this stuff. This week I got 2 half-gallons of the farm fresh and 3 gallons of the regular grocery store milk. I'm definitely not drinking glass after glass of milk like I used to, which makes me sad, but I gotta do whatta I gotta do. Good thing I got that iced tea maker.

Waasup?

There was a time with each of my kids when I realized how utterly in love I was with them and that it was time to have the next one. With SkyWalker and the Princess it was around 18 months old. Not that I don't love them all the time, but there was something about that age with the both of them, that it's just *more*. It was a good signal to me that it was time to start trying for the next, particularly with SkyWalker, because I didn't want that love to start to be smothering. I had been waiting for it to happen with Chewie at the same time and waiting and waiting. And it really didn't. We started trying for the next anyway but I wondered if I had just been split in so many ways already if I wouldn't have that same all encompassing love for Chewie that I did with the other two (this sounds so wrong, like I don't love her or the others all the time. I do, obviously I do, but this is just on a different level.). But the last couple of months it's been there and I realized it had nothing to do with age at all, but with communication. The other two started talking a lot sooner (even SkyWalker) than Chewie. It's taken her a while but she's finally caught up. Sure, you won't understand her and she'll need speech class too, but I understand her and that's what counts. We talk to each other now, and more importantly, she's funny! She's intentionally funny and her personality is just shining now in ways that it couldn't before because she was too busy being angry and screaming. Every single thing she does cracks me up. Everything she says. The way she says "Good job Mommy!" when I flip on a light switch. I am completely and totally in love with her and spend a large part of my day just drinking in her essence. I am glad that it finally happened, and it's good timing since I'm halfway to Quattro's arrival.

The Princess gets older and older. Ready for kindergarten. I was ready for her to go months ago, but I can see it's going to be much harder on me than I thought. She's become so helpful. I could not have survived the early weeks of pregnancy without her. Honestly and truly. Not only did she help take care of Chewie--making her breakfast and lunch and wiping her butt on the potty and brushing her teeth and just caring for her--she helped ME. She cuddled with me and told me that I wouldn't be throwing up forever and that it would be better soon. She supported me, emotionally, in ways that 4 years old usually just don't. She was amazing. Now that I'm feeling better when she's mad at having to clean up or do something she's fond of saying "When this baby comes you're doing everything by yourself!" But, for the most part she's still pretty good. She has tantrums here and there, but nothing like before. She has embraced the big sister role and can't wait for this new baby. Chewie has totally latched on to her and I think it will be hard when she's in school all day. But Chewie will be in preschool twice a week and hopefully she will be distracted by being a big sister herself.

SkyWalker is getting old and moody. He waffles between yelling about having to do "everything" when I ask him to do his laundry and then volunteering to cut the broccoli for dinner (that he won't eat) because he's "ready to help you Mommy." He plays with his sisters but not as much as he used to... demanding his alone time and needing silence to do his homework. He's doing well in school but it's clear he'd rather be home. Can't say I blame him. I like being home too. He's so mature about some things and then still very obviously a little kid about others. When I was wondering out loud how we were going to do 4 showers at bedtime in a few years, I realized that he and the Princess probably wouldn't be going to bed at 8 anymore (sigh) so we'd have the younger two go first and get to bed and then the older two. He replied yeah, the Princess should be able to stay up a little later, like to 8:10. Which was so funny, particularly since I can hear him turning pages until well past 10 pm.

Poor little Haze is still limping and confined to the leash. We've had her crated a lot as well, but it doesn't look like her leg is healing on its own. I am torn. I don't want her to have surgery. I cannot deal with it if something goes wrong. I cannot lose her now. But I don't want her to be limping forever. BUT, she doesn't seem to be in any pain. A large part of me wants to just let her go and run and enjoy her life and if her torn ACL starts to cause her real pain then we can go ahead with the surgery. Isaac's death completely took us by surprise. I hate thinking that we're depriving Haze of a quality life because we're worried about her leg. What if we only have a couple of years left with her? This is the cloud in the sky now. The last time Vader and I discussed it he vehemently disagreed about just letting her run. Aren't there tons of dogs that get by with just 3 legs?

I've run a bit here and there, some good some bad. I wore a one-piece bathing suit under my running clothes when I went out on Sunday and it really helped support my growing belly, which helped the back pain. I plan on trying it on the treadmill today. I fantasize about running a half after this baby is born... but first I need to get back to being able to run a 5K. The entire world is training for either a half or a full marathon right now and I am slowly eeking my way through 2 miles. But in 5 1/2 years I will be able to run whenever I want to between the hours of 7 and 2:45 because all of my children will be in school. Maybe I'll even run a marathon.