Life at Sams is evolving. I’m now working full time in the wireless kiosk. I basically keep the hatches battened down and the ship oiled. And I sell cell phones. If you need one, stop by. I also had to endure a 50 + hour monster four day training course with a lot of time on the road before we started this whole shebang. It’s been worth it.

The 50 + hour craziness was preceded by a rigorous move. We were told just about 2 weeks prior to the end of our one year lease in Picture Rocks that our rent was going up by about $250 and they were going to take away our washer and dryer hookups to install coin operated monstrosities that were $2.00 per wash and dry each. I wasn’t about to pay nearly $120.00 a month to have clean underpants. No fucking way. So, the hunt ensued and we landed ourselves in White Deer, PA. It’s a very quiet little village and we like it here. We should. Geebus knows it only took a month of serious elbow grease and the grace of my cousin, Trev to get the place livable. The previous tenants were obviously practicing poor hygiene and the inability to keep animals properly. There was much cursing and holding of the breath involved but ultimately, it worked out in our favor and things here are settled and quaint now. Eliah even has some “guralls” a few houses down. I could do without the neighbor keeping turkeys in his shed and/or his obnoxious half pound purebred but you win some, you lose some.

Life has since then taken me by storm, knocked the breath right out of my chest, and swiftly delivered me onto my own ass. My mother was diagnosed with Stage IV Breast Cancer last month. It’s incurable. It is treatable but even that is no guarantee of the duration or quality of her life. She’s in good spirits. She’s currently in wait to meet with an orthopedic surgeon about whether or not they will replace her hip and that will determine when they do her radiation therapy. She still is in good spirits about it. She keeps telling me how stubborn she is and how good her prognosis can be. I think I need that. It helps me absorb and slowly process the reality of this. There isn’t anything I can do that will change that this, in fact, very real but I can change my outlook of it. I can use it as a catalyst to speak out to others and remind them how important their own health is and remind them how quickly life can take you by surprise. Having the carpet swept out from beneath me emotionally has had its ups and downs but for the moment, I’m holding on.

This is the tattoo I got on my left forearm the week Mom was diagnosed. It’s an owl with glasses because Mom taught me to read very young and encouraged me to use it to my advantage. Pink for Breast Cancer awareness. The compass is for Mom’s heritage, she is partially Cherokee Indian. There is a tale in Cherokee folklore that tells of how the shamans of the tribes would call on the Redman who lives in the East to keep their people in a time of struggle. The compass is for that, pointing east with a red fleur de lys. I got this tattoo to show Mom my commitment to supporting her no matter what. It is forever. So is my love for Mom.

In the melee of moving from York back to the Williamsport area and then from the Williamsport area to Picture Rocks, my internets usage has been pretty minimal. Minus what I can do on my iphone. Aside from that, I haven’t been in front of my computer much in the past year. So, I haven’t been updating very often, if at all. Now that we are back online at home and my computer isn’t being completely unusable…. here I am.

There is a lot to update about but it would be the biggest blog post in the world if I were to tell you everything. So, in the essence of not giving you a short novel to read, I’ll give you some basics and then we’ll just keep a more regular updating schedule from here on out. I hope.

In the past year, there have been a lot, A LOT, of changes… some good, some bad. Mostly good. We did relocate from York back to our hometown area. That has been very nice. It’s great to be around our family and friends again. It’s really good for Eliah to be able to spend a lot of time with his grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, etc. And it’s been nice for me to be around my friends and other favorite people. We’re currently living in Picture Rocks, PA. It’s beautiful here and pretty quiet. A nice neighborhood with a very rural setting and great neighbors. We even have a really stellar guy named Matt for a landlord. He’s more of friend than a landlord, really. So, we can’t really complain about our living situation. It still would be nice to have a house of our own but all things come in time, I suppose. Sooner or later, we’ll get our own home.

Eliah has also become a little walking, talking, crazy toddler. He’ll be two in January and he’s already in that infamous “Terrible Twos” stage. He’s been a handful but it’s worth all the aggravation when it comes down to it. He’s really been growing and developing at an almost alarming rate. He talks pretty clearly now. Walks and runs and jumps and dances. He sings. He laughs at all sorts of things. He’s a little comedian. He’s potty training. He drinks out of regular cups and eats with utensils. He can put his own shoes on and sometimes manages to dress himself, already. Though he doesn’t have much fashion sense. Ha ha. I adore him still as much, if not more, than the day he was born. He’s the light of my life.

I’ve gone back to work after over a year of being a stay at home mother. That has been difficult. I’m so used to the daily routine of being with my child all day. Spending time teaching him and playing with him. Daily naps and cuddle time. Going for walks and to the park and the library. Things like that. I don’t do that much anymore. I still get time to play and dance and cuddle. We rarely get to take a nap together anymore. And I really miss teaching him things as much as I used to. I almost feel guilty in a sense. He still catches on really quick but I feel like I should be spending more time with him. I know that must be how all mothers feel going from the stay at home to the work outside of the home routine. It’s probably not easy on any of us who do it. My initial hope was to stay at home with him until he was old enough to start school and then to get back to school myself. Then eventually back out into the work force but there isn’t much I can do about it at this point. Such is life, right?

I’ve also delved much deeper into the crochet thing than I had initially thought I would. I’ve learned to tapestry crochet, done a little tatting, and gotten into “expert” and “master” level crochet patterns. I usually write my own patterns for just about everything I do, or I just freehand crochet whatever it is. But I’ve been looking at some of these “expert” and “master” patterns and it surprises me to see that I understand them easily and when I attempt to actually complete them, I have no issues. I used to knit before I taught myself to crochet and I could basically just make scarves. I didn’t expect to really get so into crochet that I now feel like there isn’t really anything about it that I don’t know or can’t figure out without issue. So, I guess when I say that I can crochet anything or that I will at least try, I really meant that.

There isn’t anything really exciting happening besides that. Sorry to disappoint anyone who was looking for some really amazing stuff. But that’s what I’ve got.

A few quick and interesting notes before I go:

In the past week, all of the following things have occured:
1. I met a large wild cat, I believe a bobcat, up close and personal when it came up on my deck while I was outside. I startled it and scared it off with the loud noise I made out of shock.

2. I had, from start to finish, the worst possible day ever. I actually don’t even want to talk about it because it was so bad. All I will say is that I’m glad it’s now history.

3. My niece drew the most impossibly cute rendering ever of my family. I am framing it. I’ll post a pic here so you can see just how awesome it is. Please keep in mind that she is a six year old.

I’ll be back soon. Promise.

I thought I told you, extra sugar in my coffee!

The farm itself was pretty neat. All these alpacas just wandering about nibbling on grass. I found out that they apparently come in “26 different and distinct colors.” Which I was not aware that they did. They are actually pretty funny looking animals. They’re cute, regardless but they are kind of strange looking. They have these super fuzzy fleece-like fur coated bodies, really large nostrils, two toes on each foot, etc… It’s just not your average four-legged farm animal.

In all honesty, anyone who’s seen The Neverending Story will know what I am talking about when I say they remind me of Falcor.

Falcor.

Alpaca.

Anyway, besides the alpacas, there was a woman knitting socks on an 1829 sock loom. Another woman was selling these crazy gourds with traditional Amish Hex Signs carved into them. There were some really cute little 4H Club girls doing some neat craft stuff, like felted soap bars and what not. I got asked if I wanted a hotdog, twice. We’re vegetarians (and I wouldn’t even eat hotdogs when I wasn’t!). I don’t expect it to be like blatantly obvious to people that I don’t eat meat but if I want a hotdog, I will ask for one.

We took Eliah to see the alpacas. I think because it was later in the day and they had probably grown tired of all the attention and being petted consistently, they were sort of more shy than they normally would be. They were pretty friendly regardless. Eliah really seemed to like them. But he slept in the car on the way there and was woken up when we got there, so he was half out of it. Plus it was super windy and he’s not that fond of wind. Overall, he seemed like he enjoyed it.

When we left, we stopped in at the little shop they have on the farm. All sorts of yummy (and super expensive) pure alpaca yarns. Lots of neat little sweaters, socks, scarves, hats, etc. Tons of felted bags. And lots and lots of dyed roving. I actually wish I would have picked up some roving. I really wanted to get some yarn but I just got some the day before, so in the essence of being thrifty…

It was a pretty good day. =)

This is a burger and fries set that I made entirely from crochet. I used Sugar n’ Cream cotton and an H hook. It includes the following:

Bun, Burger, Cheese Slice, Lettuce, Onion Rings (2), Tomato Slice, Pickles, Oreo Cookies (2), French Fries (7), and a Basket for the fries.

This is a set of fruits and veggies. I also used a Sugar n’ Cream cotton and an H hook for these. The set includes: Carrots (4 in the finished set. This is a “work-in-progress” picture.), Strawberries (4), and an Apple. The apple is made so that it’s 4 quarters of a whole apple, when you place them together it forms a complete apple with a stem and leaf.

This is a fun antennae hat for an infant. I used Lion Brand’s Thick n’ Quick Wool and an N hook. It’d done in a tweed stitch to create the multicolored checkered effect. The photo was taken by my brother-in-law and his wife’s photography company. The adorable model is Miss Emilia Minotti.

These are slippers I made for myself. The soles are made with 2 layers, the bottom layer is hemp (2 3mm strands held together) and the upper layer (inner sole) is Lion Brand Cotton Ease (2 strands together, as well). The top is the same as the inner sole but just a different color. I used a K hook. Because the outer soles are hemp and that will sort of “felt” together over time, it makes the slippers indoor or outdoor. (Minus anytime that it’s wet.) And sorry these pics aren’t that fabulous but I took them with my iPhone in  my living room where the lighting isn’t the best.

This is our diaper bag, believe it or not. It was made with fabric yarn that I made from a few yards of various muslin fabrics I found at the local fabric store. I used a basic increase in oval shape sort of pattern from a Q&A crochet book I have (The Crochet Answer Book – BEST BOOK EVER.) and then once it was as big around as I wanted it to be, I just kept the same number of stitches and went up as far as I wanted. The handles were just skipped chains (+2 ch) and that’s really it. It’s not a hard one to make. I used an N hook.

Currently, I’m working on two projects. I always seem to have a few going on at one time. I am working on a pilot style cap for my son for this winter. It’ll be striped dusty blue, olive green and lime green in a griddle stitch. It’s going to be a horse, with a mane on the back of the hat and a brim with little nostrils, ears on top and some cute eyes. Plus, ear flaps and a fuzzy chenille inner layer. The other project is a scarf. I loved Caitlin’s baktus idea but found that I am not the knitter I once was, so I adapted the triangle shape to another pattern for crochet that I’d found and so far it’s turning out pretty well.

Here’s a “work-in-progress” picture of it:

I’m really loving working with this super fine weight sock yarn and a tiny C hook. It’s very delicate and almost feels like a “gentle” project. I’m not sure how to explain it really but it’s very interesting how your hands interpret crocheting. I think that’s probably why I love crocheting so much. I love to work with my hands.

I’ll have to take some pictures later and show you when they are done.

But basically speaking, crochet is probably one of my absolute favorite things in the world. Something about the freedom of creativity it gives me spurs me to try and challenge myself over and over again.

If anyone wants a pattern for any of these things, just leave me a comment. I’ll be happy to write you one and share it.

I’d like to introduce you to the Oogalites from the Planet Xeon. I believe it’s somewhere in the Crab Nebula. :)

I have so much to post about that it’s going to take several posts to get it all out there. So, for tonight, I’m just going to post about Eliah. My last post prior to this one is about how I am still miserably pregnant and soon approaching my due date. Since that has come and gone by quite some time, I’m going to tell you about the day my son arrived and share some pictures of the light of my life.

Eliah’s Birth Story

That (not so flattering) photo of me was taken just a few minutes before we walked out the door to head to the hospital the night our son was born. It was January 28th, 2009 when we left and roughly 9:00pm. We arrived at the hospital’s labor and delivery department, got checked in and stuck in the little triage waiting room to be seen. The nurse came in and checked me out, said I was dilated to 2cm and that I was having contractions. Ok. We figured it was going to be a long night. Little did we know just how long of a night it would turn out to be.

They put me in the ICU unit because the early labor rooms were full and they didn’t have anywhere else to place me. They strapped a few monitors to my belly and left us to sit there. I was on the monitors for maybe 10 minutes when it all started. Eliah’s heart rate went from the 120′s to the 50′s. Very very scary. They came flying in the room, shoved an IV in my arm and started talking about a C-section. We were planning on an all-natural, non-medicated, unassisted Bradley method birth. So, we were really not happy about the IV, etc. but we did what we thought was best. The doctor-on-call for our practice was Dr. Wendy Davis. I had her for a prenatal appointment about a month or so before and frankly, I really did not care for her at all. However, this night would turn out to make me reevaluate that opinion. She gave us all the ins and outs of a c-section in the brief format and then let us discuss things. We decided we’d like to wait it out a bit and see what happened. So, she had me admitted to a regular labor and delivery room and told me that I was definitely not getting sent home.

We got all settled in the room and things were fine for the next hour and a half. Normal labor contractions, normal heart rate, etc. and then it happened all over again. The monitors went crazy and Eliah’s heart rate went from the 120′s to the 50′s again. Dr. Davis came rushing in and they got me up on all-fours and were poking and prodding at me and the baby trying to get it him out of the birth canal. When his heart rate stabilized, Dr. Davis was standing by the sink in the room, literally trying to sit on her hands and almost pleading with us to have the c-section. We knew at that point that whatever was going on with Eliah, it had a lot to do with him being in the birth canal. Dr. Davis said she was pretty sure it was an issue with his cord and that he was not coming out the way that nature had intended. Then she left us alone to discuss things again. I called my mother and spoke to her briefly. She cried like she normally does whenever she’s upset about something big and she told me that if we felt it was the best thing, then it probably was. Bo and I discussed it and we decided that while we were really hoping for our Bradley birth, we could deal with a c-section if it meant that our son came into the world healthy and alive. So, when Dr. Davis came back to see how things were and talk to us more about what we’d decided, we told her we were going through with it. This was about 12:30 am.

Around 1:00 am, the nurse came in to get me and take me to the operating room. Believe it or not, I walked right to and into the operating room in my hospital gown. Once we got in the room, they made me strip down to my birthday suit and the anesthesiologist came in to do my spinal anesthesia. It wasn’t as bad as it sounds. He gave me a few small shots of a numbing agent around the site he was going to do the spinal. It felt sort of like a bee sting for the first shot and really nothing much after that but pressure when he would insert a needle. The spinal needle was HUGE. It (by best guess) was around 7 to 8 inches long and at least 12 gauge in diameter. It was a little unsettling to see that thing in the reflection of the overhead lights. But it didn’t feel all that bad when he actually inserted it. It was a little pressure and a popping sound and then it was over. No sooner did he get the medications into my back and I could feel my toes start tingling. That was right around 1:15 am. They do spinal anesthesia from about an inch or so below your rib cage. When the anesthesia takes effect, it numbs you to pain from that point to your toes. At least, in theory, that is how it’s supposed to work.

Dr. Davis and the rest of the medical staff came in around 1:25 am after they had done all the prepping for the surgery. They shave your belly, clean you with this awful smelling yellow solution to ensure a sterile surgical site and put a catheter in your bladder. The catheter is not so much fun. Ugh. But it is a necessity. Dr. Davis got gowned up and gloved and they put the drapes on me and let my husband come into the room. They do this thing with spinal anesthesia where they poke you with sharp objects to see if you feel pain or pressure. They were poking at me pretty good about 3-4 inches above my navel and I felt nothing. Just pressure. So, the anesthesiologist gave Dr. Davis the go-ahead and she started my incision. I FELT EVERYTHING. It was the single most excruciatingly painful sensation I have ever felt. I think I was in shock or something because I didn’t scream, I just said, “Oh my god. I can feel that.” They asked if it was pain and I said, “Yes.” Dr. Davis had her hands pressed into my incision to control the loss of blood and the anesthesiologist had a nurse run for something. She hands it to him and the next thing I know he’s screwing a syringe into my IV and telling me I’m going to take a nice long nap. I asked him, “What is that you’re putting in my IV?” He said, “It’s ketamine.” I responded, “Isn’t that a horse tranquilizzzz……..” and everything went black.

Eliah Cole Bower was born at 1:48 am on January 29th, 2009. He weighed 6 lbs. 4.4 oz and was 18.5 inches long. I didn’t get to see a single second of it. I do not regret having a c-section because it was the best choice for the healthy and safety of my son. I do regret missing his birth. I do regret not holding him right after he was born. But I cannot change the past and what’s done is done. I have to contend with that now. I’ve been working on it for 8 months. I’d like to tell you that it gets easier but I can’t.

I woke up around 3:00 am from my ketamine and I honestly do not remember much of that. I do have some brief blips on my memory of snapping my fingers and asking my nurse, “Hey, girlfriend, come here.” I remember speaking to Dr. Davis but I don’t remember what I said. I was told later the next day that I owed her an apology because I apparently told her that I didn’t like her among other not so nice things. (Even though I was trying to explain that while I initially didn’t care for her, I thought she was awesome now for how she handled our birthing experience.) I also remember Bo calling my mom and his parents and then nothing else until we were in the room in the maternity ward.

Then I very briefly remember meeting my son. I remember how small and perfect he was in that moment. It is probably the most vivid and poignant memory I have of the entire time we stayed in the hospital. It was an amazing experience to meet this little person that I had carried inside of my body for nine months. To see him and to hear him cry. To hold him and smell him and know that he was mine. I cannot express in words what the feeling of a mother holding her child for the first time actually feels like. It was incredible. I wish I had been more aware of the situation and what was going on. I was very heavily medicated for pain and pretty out of it. I do remember that moment so clearly though. It’s amazing how your body can make something happen when it truly needs to do so.

After that, they helped me get him to breastfeed and that went surprisingly well. A lot of newborns have issues with latching onto the breast at first. Eliah was a pro from the first time. If nothing else went well in regards to his birth process, then at least I can rest assured that the breastfeeding went very well. As a matter of fact, he is currently 8 months old and still very avidly breastfeeding. I am so glad that I am able to do something so wonderful and healthy for my baby.

Overall, it was no where near the ideal experience. Regardless of the bad parts, my son is here. He is healthy. He is happy. He is actually probably the sweetest happiest little boy I’ve ever met. He is the light of my entire world. Every second of every day is completely illuminated for me now. He is the reason I exist. And I could not be more grateful to the wonderful people who helped to bring him into this world…

So, this is where I post probably one of the very few pictures you’ll ever see specifically of any of my tattoos. This is my homage to my son’s crazy birth:

Here are some more pictures of my little guy over the last 8 months: (I totally owe you these.)

]]> http://treyci.wordpress.com/2009/10/09/im-finally-back/feed/ 0 treyci giant pregnantness mommy meets eliah. Photo(4) eliah newbie supyo zerp mini bono getout eliah 6 kanye mesh feeder eliah and daddy photo(12) photo(16) photo(3) eliah on porch helping play guitar EEG eliah http://treyci.wordpress.com/2009/01/20/its-been-forever/ http://treyci.wordpress.com/2009/01/20/its-been-forever/#comments Wed, 21 Jan 2009 01:57:50 +0000 treyci http://treyci.com/?p=114 ]]> i’m terrible at keeping up with stuff sometimes. but here lately, it’s because i’m super pregnant. i’m due to have this little boy on saturday (this saturday, january 24th). i can’t believe that it’s here already. the BIG day… and it’s crazy to think that there is this little person inside of my body who is going to come out very soon. a whole human being. wow… that is some pretty amazing ability that i have. i feel like a superhero or something.

“what did you do today?”…… “oh, not much. just created another human life… you?”

i promise to write more soon… all about the trials and tribulations of motherhood. but just not yet. i’m too tired and pregnant to do much of anything these days. time to rest.