Last weekend in an attempt to control some toy clutter in Miss C's room we decided to build some shelves.  We live in an old house so space is kind of at a premium.  We used this Ana White design as our template.  I totally thought I could make these by myself, but it took Bryan less than an afternoon to put them together in what would have taken me all weekend.  Miss C and I painted them the next day.  (We hadn't added the backboard yet and I should have painted it, but once the toys were in there you can't see it's not painted).  And when the paint was dry, Bryan carried it to C's room (it's heavy!) and she arranged her toys. Toy storage problem solved.  (For the time being!).

Miss C's eye surgery last Friday went really well.  She was the first one of the morning that her Dr. operated on.  She was in surgery for about an hour and then in the recovery room for 90 minutes.  She threw up a little bit in the recovery room but not enough to keep her from going home as soon as she was awake enough to leave.   She fell asleep on the way home and then stayed asleep after we got home.  All those drugs will do that... After lunch she complained she didn't feel so good, but just laid on the couch.  Her Oma and Papa came over and she threw up all over herself and Oma.  We got her cleaned up and she promptly fell asleep again!

Sleeping away the day was the perfect way to recover.  We didn't have to worry so much that she was going to rub her eyes, which we didn't want her to do.  The nurses said she would feel like she had grains of sand in her eyes.  We put antibiotic ointment in her eyes (with a small battle over doing it!).  Her eyes were super red and swollen that night and the next day.

Today was her post op follow up.  The Dr said her eyes are looking good.  While they are still a little bit red and swollen, the important thing is that her eyes are tracking together!  She can do her normal activities now except we have to wait for skiing for another week.

We will go back to the eye Dr in May for another follow up visit.  At that visit, he will check her eyes for the crossing and make the determination whether or not she will continue to need glasses.  I feel like the surgery is already a success, just by watching her eyes move together.  But I feel like she is also noticing things, maybe more clearly or maybe for the first time, I'm not sure.

So.  Thank you for your well wishes.  They were truly appreciated!

Early tomorrow morning we will check into the surgery center where Miss C will have eye surgery.  She has accommodative esotropia which we have tried to fix with her super cute pink glasses.  Alas when we were at her year follow up appointment, the doctor asked me how I thought she was doing with her glasses and I said I could see her eyes crossing with her glasses on, he replied that he didn't think the glasses were doing their job of correcting anymore.   He suggested surgery.  We did a little bit of research, but trusted his judgement, he is a children's eye doctor and does this surgery weekly.

Basically the surgeon will shorten and lengthen eye muscles to keep her eyes focusing together rather than one eye going in one direction while the other eye goes in another direction.  Her eyes will be red and swollen for a couple of days and she needs to be pretty chill so I checked out some movies from the library for us to watch.  It is the beginning of her spring break and she has two weeks off from school.  I didn't want her to play rough with the other kids or possibly have her eyes bumped or get playground debris in them.

When I took her in for her four year old checkup it was determined that she is behind in her fine motor skills.  Not quite behind enough to need therapy, but close.  We decided to wait until after surgery to see if it is just because she doesn't see well enough up close to do scissor work or writing and coloring.  We really don't know what she sees and doesn't see.  And if what she sees is normal or not.

We will go in for a follow up a week after her surgery to see how the surgery went and then we will have another follow up appointment in May to find out if she will continue to need glasses.  I'm torn.  I started wearing glasses when I was 7 and wore contacts fro 25 years before Lasik so I understand her frustration at wearing glasses.  However she is so stinking cute in her pink specs!  But I would love to see her baby blues clearly.

It is Wednesday again and that means it is time for the weekly yarn along.  I am joining with Ginny and everyone to share yarn and books!  I've work a little bit on every project again.  This is Sylvi.  Aren't those cables going to be pretty?  I color coded the chart so it is easier to see what I'm doing.  I don't think I needed to worry about working on the project in quiet.  Yesterday I took it to crafting and while I only got three rows done, I was able to prove to myself that I can knit and chit chat with the mamas.  I am hoping to get this sweater done for Rhinebeck!

I spent most of the weekend under the weather.  I flew on Thursday and thought my head was going to explode so laid low with my knitting, blanket, remote and kitties!  I rested on Friday and Sunday.  On Saturday we had a busy day and it wore me out!  First thing we cleaned Corrine's school- it is a cooperative school and all parents are required to be on a committee, we are on the cleaning committee.  Then we went to a St. Patricks Day festival for a couple of hours and then we drove the complete opposite side of Denver from where we live.  

It's Wednesday again and that means it is time for the weekly yarn along.  Only this week I'm not sharing books or yarn.  I have been working on the same projects a little bit at a time and really have nothing to show for my progress since last week.

However, the crafting group that I meet with on Tuesdays, has decided to do a KAL.  We are going to knit the Stitch Block Cowl.  One of the mamas already picked out her yarn from her stash of gorgeous yarns.  She's using some browns as the main color and then a green and a yellow.  It looks great together.  We've decided we aren't starting just yet as we want to finish some of our current projects first.

But in April we are going to The Interweave yarn gig in Loveland, CO.  It will be our practice run for Rhinebeck!  (more on that as we make our plans!).  I don't just buy yarn to have it.  I never know what to make with it or how much I will need so I only buy yarn when I have a project in mine.  I thought our trip to Interweave will be perfect to purchase yarn for the color block cowl.  I am at a loss for colors.  I like them all so much!  So I am open to suggestions.  That way I will have some ideas floating in my mind when I am petting all that gorgeous yarn in April.

I checked out a whole bunch of paleo cook books from the library.  I keep hearing good things about paleo so I wanted to look at recipes to see what we would like.  Quite frankly I think we eat pretty healthy especially in the summer.  I'm not sure about giving up grains, dairy and gluten, although there were some recipes in Make Ahead Paleo that I thought I would copy and give them a go.

Happy Yarn Along Wednesday.

*  We had a trip to the Emergency Department at Children's Hospital on Tuesday.  Corrine picked up the rotary fabric cutter (even though I told her it was not a toy and to put it down.)  She sliced her fingertip open.  I was ready to slap on some ointment and a princess bandage but I could not get it to stop bleeding.  I applied pressure and we sat and read a story.  After about 30 minutes and it was still bleeding I called her pediatrician's office who said to take her to the ED.  The local branch of Children's doesn't open their ED until 5PM so we had to drive across town.  Ultimately her finger bled for about 90 minutes but by the time we sat in the room waiting for the Doctor, it stopped bleeding.  So they cleaned it up, determined that it wasn't deep enough to stitch and that the cut wasn't going to re-open, they applied some glue and steri-strips and sent her home.   I am so proud of her.  The whole time the medical staff was cleaning her cut she just continued to chat with them!

*  It's been snowy and cold.  But not snowy like New England!  I had a 6 pack of club soda in bottles in the back seat of my car.  I forgot the bring them into the house.  That was not pretty!  Yep.  Those bottles froze and exploded all over the back seat.  The club soda on the seat is frozen making it impossible to clean up all the tiny pieces of glass.  I shop-vac'd most of the pieces, but will have to wait until it warms up enough to vacuum the rest of the shards so I can soak up the club soda.  I found pieces of glass and a bottle cap in the back part of the car (I drive a SUV) so that sucker flew.  I'm glad I wasn't in the car.  What a mess!

Happy Thursday my friends!

I just finished Tricksters Point by William Kent Krueger.  I will start the next one this week.  I am also still listening to Whiskey Beach by Nora Roberts.  I am enjoying the audio book, it is a good escape on my drive to the airport.

Happy Yarn Along Wednesday!

My husband loves me so very much.  He bought me my own travel size bottle of St. Brendan's Irish Cream.  We made hot cocoa in my little thermos and then added some Irish Cream after tubing.  Oh.  My.  Tubing.  We went to the Fraser Tubing Hill in Fraser (Winter Park) on Friday.  What fun that was.  I hadn't been tubing since I was in high school.  We had the most wonderful hill by our house growing up.  But the Fraser Tubing Hill had a little tow lift to pull us up the hill!  No hiking up the hill carrying our tubes!  We played for an hour and it was a blast!