This is where I live!

Erik and I went on a "hike" yesterday. It was more of a walk with a hill in the middle. And delicious sandwiches. I took these pictures while we were out and while the pictures themselves are nothing fancy, this is where I live. I often forget that it is so beautiful, but it really is amazing. I am pretty lucky.

This is who I live with. Rockin the pony. Yes, I am lucky.

And that this girl is thrown in on occasion makes me even luckier.

I'd say it's pretty awesome.

For a Special Someone

**There's another new post below**

Remember when I told you that my sister-in-law was pregnant? Her little one is due in just under two weeks and I just started knitting this little dress for my most-likely niece. I say most-likely because baby seems to be a bit of a prude. Plenty of time to talk about baby later, for now I'll stick to the dress.

The only non-square things I've ever knit were those hats I made a couple weeks ago and they required no shaping at all. I just knit in a circle until the end and then decreased a little and pulled the string through to close the hole. This dress is much different. I have already been to the knitting store three times for assistance. I have learned three new stitches and I have had to pull out three entire rounds. I am hoping to have it done by the time the rug-rat arrives, but things aren't looking good. The dress is for a 3 month old anyway so there really is no rush, but my friend Milena's baby is due three weeks after Jenn's and I am making a blanket for him/her. Also, 35 degree weather is not conducive to holding yarn and squeezing your armpits shut.

Here is the progress I have made thus far.

This is the progress after knitting day 1... before I went to the yarn store and was told I had to pull it out because I did it wrong. Knitting with such fine yarn is a little more difficult than I expected. I have to watch what I am doing the whole time, which is a bit of a pain. The yarn feels wonderful though and thinking of my little niece dressed up in this dress makes it all worth it. 

This is after knitting day 3. Stitches corrected. Starting to look like what it's supposed to. Very exciting.

This is one of the mistakes I cannot get rid of. I missed one of the four little threads that make up the yarn. Woops. I don't know how to fix it... and it's on the outside.

I am excited to see how the dress turns out. I'm told this is an easy pattern. If it is easy than I may have to make a couple more. We'll see. 

Erik's Birthday Present

For Erik's birthday we (friends, family and myself) got him a tent! Well... I rounded up the money and took him out to pick out a tent. None of the stores had the one he wanted so we ordered it online and it finally came in! Erik was so very excited. We have no yard so he set it up in the living room.

 I don't know much about the tent he chose. He told me about it once or twice, but I was in school mode so I was only retaining information pertinent to papers or exams. It's a Marmot Limelight 2 and it's great (I'm hoping). Erik liked it because there are two roomy vestibules on either side.

It is a really easy set-up. Erik did it all by himself :). As you can see, the poles are all connected. They are light weight and... I don't remember what they're made out of.

I was actually surprised at how roomy it was inside the tent. You could definitely squeeze three of you into it. You know, in case of an emergency.

Thumbs up!

The only downside of the tent is that you have to reach way out of the tent to close the fly. But, as Erik says, you don't frequently go in and out of your tent. There were other things Erik liked about this particular tent. I'll have to ask him about that later. I'm just excited to go camping!!!

Night One in Respiratory

Awful.

The beginning of the night was good. I did all my assessments and was really enjoying the team I was on... and then the bells began.

We had one patient sleep. At all. And she thankfully slept undisturbed through the night.

The other ten patients were on their call bells like nobodies business. It was exhausting! All I did all night was run around answering bells. Requests were usually little things like refilling water, rubbing lotion on someone's legs, looking for something a patient misplaced, or redirecting a confused patient. Which are all fine... unless you have ten people asking you multiple times a night.

Then we also have people who need help to the commode, those who think they don't need help when they really do, and those who use their commode without any bucket to catch their excrement.

Not to mention those who need a Care Aide sitting with them 1:1, but don't so they climb out of bed, over their four side rails and pull out their IV in the process and then are found slumped in a chair.. or worse... on the floor. 

Two 45 minute breaks are not enough to get me through that night unscathed. I think I hardly sat down unless I was on break.

And that was only Team 3... my team. The other teams had wonderful patients who slept through the night. Bah!

Back at it tonight.. with the same patients. Let's hope they didn't sleep all day.

First Day

It's my first day. Again. I am starting on a medical floor tonight - respiratory. Man, am I nervous. The only lung sounds I have ever had to document are "decreased air entry to the bases" and "crackles throughout". This is going to be a whole new world. And a whole new language. Not to mention all new staff. I work with a different nurse every set or every two shifts or as schedules allow.

Wish me luck.

PS

One of my favorite things about babies is the Post-Swaddle-Stretch. So precious.

Sleepover at Auntie's House!

Little Bean slept over on Friday night so her parents could celebrate their 3rd anniversary baby-free. It was delightful! I loved every single moment I had with Sawyer.

I loved waking up for the late night feeds (it definitely helps when you know you are giving her back the next afternoon). I enjoyed them because everything was quiet. So quiet and so peaceful and so lovely. It was just me and my little buddy.

I loved snuggling at 3am on the couch and rocking her back to sleep. It is amazing how trusting little babies are. I love how they melt into you and can often be calmed just by being snuggled.

I gave Sawyer to Erik in the morning when I was getting her bottle ready. He's not very comfortable with little ones, but he did well. I came back into the room to this... Erik trying to sleep with his teddy bear over his face (yes we sleep with a teddy bear). 

 Sawyer and  I went to see her parents in the morning because we needed to pick up more milk (her mama hadn't pumped enough so they stayed in Kelowna so I could pick it up from them). I think Sawyer's parents were happy to see her; her mama had never been apart from her for more than a couple hours.

Look at her chubby cheeks!!! They are YUMMY! I munched on them constantly... They are wonderful!

We went to the Farmer's Market on Saturday morning. It was so refreshing outside! It was drizzling a bit and I had Sawyer in the sling as we walked around. I may be wrong, but I think she loves being outside. It seems to calm her almost instantly. It could be the whole combination of being swaddled, snuggled in a sling, and in the fresh (as fresh as a city can be) air.  I enjoyed it though.

When we came home from our errands, I gave Sawyer a bath. She wasn't a big fan, but she smelled delicious at the end of it all. Her little wrists now look like they have rubber bands around them. That is one of my favorite things about babies! Super cute. 

Erik even fed her in the afternoon before her parent's came to pick her up. He was so funny because she was falling asleep and he was afraid that she would choke. He kept on calling me over to wake Sawyer up because he couldn't do it because his hands were full. Then when he was burping her he was terrified that she was going to spit up on him. He made a full-out shield to protect himself. He eventually handed her off to me because it was too much for him to handle.

I was sad to see Sawyer go home. It was so much fun to play Auntie for the night. I cannot wait to do it again!

Lyrics

I never liked this song, but my girlfriend sang it on Mother's Day and I listened to the words for the first time. Maybe I was feeling slightly nostalgic and mopey, but I really enjoyed it. Erik was singing it this afternoon when I woke up and I liked it still.

I Hope You Dance - Lee Ann Womack

I hope you never lose your sense of wonder You get your fill to eat But always keep that hunger May you never take one single breath for granted God forbid love ever leave you empty handed I hope you still feel small When you stand by the ocean Whenever one door closes, I hope one more opens Promise me you'll give faith a fighting chance And when you get the choice to sit it out or dance I hope you dance I hope you dance I hope you never fear those mountains in the distance Never settle for the path of least resistance Living might mean taking chances But they're worth taking Lovin' might be a mistake But it's worth making Don't let some hell bent heart Leave you bitter When you come close to selling out Reconsider Give the heavens above More than just a passing glance And when you get the choice to sit it out or dance I hope you dance I hope you dance I hope you still feel small When you stand by the ocean Whenever one door closes, I hope one more opens Promise me you'll give faith a fighting chance And when you get the choice to sit it out or dance Dance I hope you dance I hope you dance

Busy

I went home Monday morning after working a night shift to attend my grandfather's funeral. It was so good to see my family! I saw cousins I haven't seen in a decade. A decade! That's ridiculous.

I now have eight night shifts to work in the next 12 days. I'm not looking forward to it. My last two night shifts (prior to going home) were in Labor and Delivery and we had ZERO women come in. ZERO! I was so disappointed. The nurses loved it as they had eight births a shift for the four days preceding my shifts. I didn't even bring a book or knitting because I was expecting the caseroom to be a hopping place. No such luck. I was supposed to work there again last night, but my preceptor was moved to post-partum so I missed out on another seven births. I think we are post-partum again tonight. Hopefully we will be back in the caseroom tomorrow night.

I got to visit with Sawyer on Friday. I hadn't seen her in over a week! She is now over 9 lbs and cute as a button.

Opa Siebring

My Opa passed away this morning. He died peacefully in his home with my Oma and aunt by his side. He was 90 years old and ready to go home.

I was blessed to have the opportunity to go home and see him a couple weeks ago when he was hospitalized. I got to tell him that I loved him and prayed with him. I am so thankful for that visit. He will be missed.

MMEG Pregnancy Photos

Here are some photos of Milena. We have been friends for about a year and a half, but she went to church with Erik back in Stanwood when they were younger... small world. I met her when we started going to our church, "The Well", here in Kelowna. It was so gorgeous out yesterday that we decided to take some pregnancy photos of her. I wish I had the means and knew how to edit them because some of them could use a little spunk, but alas, I do not.

Sneak Peak

Here's a sneak peak of the photos I took of my girlfriend Milena today at 31 weeks. 

Sawybean, Beanie Baby, Nutty Butt, Poopsie

I know I am a bit ridiculous when it comes to this little girl, but I cannot get enough of her! I am starting my practicums on Monday so I will be kept pretty busy for... well... forever. I have practicum until July and then I start work as an Employed Student Nurse. More on that later.

For now I want to to show you some more pictures of Sawyer. Mandi and I went to the lake today. This is where we were hoping to take maternity shots of her, but Sawyer came too soon so we didn't get the chance. We were hoping to get some nice pictures of Sawyer. We had the best of intentions, but realized we didn't really know what we were doing when we got there. We tried though and this is what came of it... we both think they are pretty cute.

It looks colder than it was. We thought we were going to be rained on, but then the sun came out and it was beautiful!!

We ended up staying at the lake for two hours because the weather was so nice! I cannot wait for summer!!

what is wrong with this picture?

Erik is missing his wedding band. It slipped off while he was working in the community garden on Sunday.

I am often overly sentimental, but this recent loss doesn't bother me. I should maybe clarify that it hasn't bothered me yet. Who knows how I will feel in the future. For now I will enjoy holding Erik's hand without him squishing my fingers into his ring.

Living Room Pre-make-over.

My SIL wanted to see what our living room looked like before it's so called "make-over". It didn't look pretty.

Slouchy Hat

Friends of ours were over for the weekend, visiting from Vancouver. It is SO nice to have our place to share with people. We spent the weekend talking, walking, eating, and playing games. It was great to catch up and relax together.

While she was here, Erin showed me this hat that she made. We went out to get yarn yesterday so I could start my own "slouchy hat". The beige one Erik is wearing was my first go at it. I thought I remembered the instructions Erin gave me, but I was wrong. It didn't turn out quite right... but Erik's head is bigger than mine so it looks fine on him. 

This is how Erik and I often spend our time - he plays Mario RPG?? and I knit or we both read. I went out again and got some more yarn late this morning and started another hat. I finished it less than three hours from the time I bought the yarn. 

Progress

And the final product. I'm pretty happy with it. I love that it takes about three hours. Short projects are always a good thing. It is a simple pattern too which means I don't have to focus too much. It is perfect for a stitch-n-bitch or for when friends are over and I feel like knitting. The other great thing is that the pattern only requires one skein! Fabulous!

KM

Yesterday when we were downtown we saw Kevin Martin, Olympic gold-medalist. Yup. We did. Erik didn't want to ask him for a picture so I just oogeled from across the street.