Tonight I'm up with Stephen, while everyone else has gone to bed. We've had lots of illness running through our home the past week or so, and this weekend has been my turn. It's my annual Mountain Cedar fight, and I hope I'm winning. Mountain Cedar blooms here just after New Year's, and I never get sick until the pollen levels start dropping off. It's like my pollen filters reach maximum capacity at that point, and I start to get sick while everyone else is getting better.
Mountain Cedar is nasty stuff for me, and if I do get sick with it, I usually get bronchitis and sinus infections. This weekend I've kept myself drugged up with antihistamines, ibuprofen, and an albuterol inhaler. I'm fighting it off pretty well, but I'm also spending lots of time in bed.
Anyway, since I've had an abundance of rest today, I'm fairly awake right now, even though it's about 10:30pm. Stephen had a really late, looong nap, so he's wide awake too. He is getting more adorable every day. Today he and I came up with a new game. I scrunch up my face really tight and shut my eyes. Then I open my eyes really fast and stick out my tongue- Blah! He laughs and laughs. We had a blast playing it this afternoon until he fell over and bonked his head on the floor.
Stephen is babbling a whole lot more now, and yesterday I caught him up on his hands and knees, rocking. Yep, crawling is just around the corner. Stephen can scoot a teeny bit on his tummy (more like drag himself) if he is determined enough to get somewhere, or to something. He loves to chew, chew, chew! Neither of the girls liked to chew like he does. Yes, I'm sure he's teething, but I expect he will take after his sisters and be a late teether at around 9-10 months. He is 6 1/2 months old now, so he's in a big "blooming" stage right now.
I finally organized my part of the playroom, with my abundance of craft supplies and my new sewing machine (my birthday present!) I've got 4 shelves full of plastic and cardboard boxes, filled with all sorts of sewing and craft supplies, patterns, yarn and string galore, and a bunch of stuffing and batting for stuffed animals and quilts. I also have two large plastic bins full of fabric.
I have made a goal to make a quilt this year for my bed. I plan to make one large block every month, totaling 12 blocks, and then sew them all together. I already made my block for this month (finished right before I got sick, thank goodness.)I've been looking at my abundance of supplies, thinking "What in the world am I going to do with all this stuff?" I already threw out 3 boxes of stuff I didn't want, and I have another box overflowing of stuff I'm going to try and sell on eBay. I decided to start redoing my wardrobe and make myself some new clothes, and make a few things for the kids. But then what? I can only wear so many different outfits. Then I thought of my church's humanitarian aid center, and decided to start making items to donate. My plan is to crochet hats, sew some simple children's dresses and pants, and make some mittens with leftover fleece I have from making the girls coats. I figured I have SO MUCH stuff! Why not start using it for a good cause?
Oh yes, and I have to mention a funny story. I have never personally seen a grown man crochet, although I've heard of a few males who know how to. Yesterday Dan asked me for a crochet hook. He was going to tray and fix a few stray threads in his sweater. He got out the biggest hook in my collection, and was immediately frustrated because it didn't fit the stitches in the sweater, and he didn't know how to fix the snags anyway. I pulled out a smaller hook and showed him how to pull the stray threads into the weave, hiding them inside other stitches so they wouldn't keep fraying. He was completely amazed, and all I could think was "Thanks for that little tip, Mom!" Such simple wisdom, passed from one family and one generation to the next.
Well, now it's about 11pm. Stephen is in his walker, still going strong. I think I'll take another rest on the couch while I watch him drool everywhere.
If you're interested in learning more about the LDS church's Humanitarian Services, go to www.providentliving.org, click on the link Caring For Others. On the next screen, click on Humanitarian Services.
Goodnight all!