Random Giggles | Page 22

Knitting

18 November 2015, 11:22 pm by Giggles

Categories: Quilting/Sewing/Knitting/Crafting

Last year I finished my first knit sweater. I’m very proud of it as my first attempt and this year determined to do better. Shimri is wearing the sweater my dad knit for Iddo two years ago right now but Iddo said Shimei needed new sweaters.

First, yes, it’s my dad that knit the sweaters. It keeps catching me off guard when people are so surprised by that. Why is a man who knits such a shock to so many people?

Anyway. This year I wanted to make sure the sweaters weren’t too small by the time I finished them. It was a close fit last year with Iddo. So instead I made them too big. Shimei’s isn’t that big and will definitely fit him till it gets warm again. It’s possible that Iddo will be wearing hers again next fall/winter. Since Iddo’s doesn’t have a hood on it I need to knit her a hat now too. But she loves her “fuzzy and blue” sweater. I used extra thick yarn and big needles and they both went very quickly. Shimei’s sleeves were knit using the magic loop and I’ve decided I’m not a huge fan but it is handy when I need to knit in the round using a size I don’t have in double pointed. I was rather surprised at how different the gauge is when I’m knitting in the round compared to straight knitting.

Perhaps next year I’ll get a bit fancier with my sweaters. My seams and cast-ons and bind-offs are better this year than last so I’m very proud of what I did this year.

4 Shared thoughts

Random news that caught my eye

17 November 2015, 10:43 pm by Giggles

Categories: News

I had a roommate ask me once what was wrong with me that I didn’t date. Pretty sure there’s nothing wrong with me as I clearly figured out the dating thing and married Brett. I knew the stereotype of women “needing” to be a helpless damsel who didn’t stand out from the crowd, but that’s never been me (unless there’s a moth involved, then I’m a helpless damsel). It’s nice to see the science actually supports being a strong independent woman and that that’s what men really want.

Our kids are unbearably cute (I’m totally biased). I’m going to start carrying around bubble wrap to hand to people who want to squeeze my kids.

I did not know there was a record for how long bells have been rung. I love the last line of the article. And considering that people do like to sleep I hope this record stands for a very long time because breaking it would start to get in the way of the neighbors going to bed.

I also did not know there is a world record for fastest marathon while pushing a stroller/pram/buggy. I absolutely loved running with Iddo last year and would love to get out running with at least one of our kids in the stroller again. Scheduling it is the problem right now.

Thomas Jefferson is probably one of my favorite founding fathers. Finding a chemistry lab he instructed to be built – that’s cool.

Shimri can scream to wake the dead. Twice within her first three days of life, while we were still in the hospital, she screamed so loudly while we were changing her diaper that nurses came in from the hallway to make sure we weren’t killing her. I wonder if we can’t get a hold of these researchers and offer to let them record her screaming for their studies. I’d like to see the roughness level on her screams.

2 Shared thoughts

You define me

16 November 2015, 11:12 pm by Giggles

Categories: Family, Relationships

I read an interview with Shonda Rhimes (the creator) and Ellen Pompeo (the lead actress) about the show “Grey’s Anatomy” and the answer to one question in particular stood out to me. You don’t need to know anything about the show other than Meredith is the main character and her husband Derek died at the end of the last season.

5:37 PM: How will Meredith change now that she’s not partially defined by her relationship with Derek? “Meredith Grey has never been defined by her relationship with a man,” Rhimes says. Pompeo agrees, saying she doesn’t think any Shondaland woman has been defined by a man.

I think they were trying to be feminist there, but instead they come off sounding very isolationist and lonely.

I am a feminist and I am very much defined not just by my relationships with men, but by my relationships with women too. And that’s because I’m human.

It is my relationship with my dad that defines me as a daughter, with my brother that defines me as a sister, with Brett that defines me as a wife, and with Shimei that defines me as a mom. My relationships with women define me as a daughter to my mom, a sister to my sister, a mom to Iddo and Shimri, and a friend to more than I can count. My relationships define me as a teacher, student, leader, and follower. And I imagine there are some relationships that define me as an enemy and nemesis too.

To say that we are not defined by our relationships is to say that those relationships have no meaning in our lives. But they are one of the few things that truly matter in this life. We are all defined by our relationships, and particularly those of our family. I wouldn’t want it any other way.

3 Shared thoughts

Faith to Overcome

15 November 2015, 11:06 pm by Giggles

Categories: Gospel, Infertility

During His mortal life Christ chose to experience pains and afflictions in order to understand us. Perhaps we also need to experience the depths of mortality in order to understand Him and our eternal purposes.
– Elder Kent F. Richards, “The Atonement Covers All Pain,” General Conference, April 2011

When we were in the midst of our infertility journey I was on a trying-to-conceive forum and specifically in an infertility section. Someone asked the question “How did you overcome infertility?” I knew what she was asking. She was asking for procedures and medications. She wanted to know what other people had done that got them their kids. At that point all we had to show were 3 failed IUIs, an endometriosis surgery, an IVF miscarriage and a few failed IVFs. But every time I saw that thread come to the top my answer to myself was always, “Faith.”

It will comfort us when we must wait in distress for the Savior’s promised relief that He knows, from experience, how to heal and help us. The Book of Mormon gives us the certain assurance of His power to comfort. And faith in that power will give us patience as we pray and work and wait for help. He could have known how to succor us simply by revelation, but He chose to learn by His own personal experience.
– President Henry B. Eyring, “Adversity,” General Conference, April 2009

Medicine did not help us overcome infertility. Children did not help us beat infertility. Infertility will always be with us, always be part of who we are. Faith helped me overcome infertility. Prayer helped us get through our struggles. At different points we each can say we have never prayed harder than we did then, and we were praying for the other person, not for ourselves.

Healing blessings come in many ways, each suited to our individual needs, as known to Him who loves us best. Sometimes a “healing” cures our illness or lifts our burden. But sometimes we are “healed” by being given strength or understanding or patience to bear the burdens placed upon us.
– Elder Dallin H. Oaks, “He Heals the Heavy Laden,” General Conference, October 2006

It required a lot of medical help and faith in that medicine to get us children. But it was with faith that we overcame infertility, before we even had children.

4 Shared thoughts

Our family meme

14 November 2015, 10:58 pm by Giggles

Categories: Family

A lot of families have a family motto. And we have one of those – Be good and learn something.

But not every family has a family meme. We do – That’s why I married you.

I can’t recall how it started, but it probably started pretty close to the time when our family started. In response to one of us doing something, often humorous, always random, we say “That’s why I married you.” One of the first might have been about how I make good water. I had a large water filter pitcher in my fridge when we were dating and always had cold water in the fridge, so Brett says he married me for my water making abilities.

Taken out of context, all of our reasons why we got married are very shallow, and definitely not good enough reasons to get married. But that’s why it’s funny. Who marries someone because they have cold water in their fridge?

“You smell good.” “That’s why you married me.”
“I got the laundry done.” “That’s why I married you.”
“You’re warm.” “That’s why you married me.”

I imagine if we were to add them all up we’d have well over a thousand reasons why we got married. With thousands more reasons yet to be discovered.

So we’re really not as shallow as our family meme would suggest. We’re just that much in love.

3 Shared thoughts

The only true adventure

13 November 2015, 1:11 pm by Giggles

Categories: Family, Happy Things

Tomorrow is our six-year anniversary. Six years really doesn’t seem that long and yet at the same time it seems like we’ve been married forever, in a good way of course. When we were designing our wedding invitations we wanted to use a quote and after a fun afternoon of finding a lot that would be inappropriate, we finally settled on, “We love because it is the only true adventure,” by Nikki Giovanni. And it has been an incredible adventure so far.

We’ve had to pack our bags for a few of our adventures. But most of them have occurred right around our house or even in our own home. Life and love truly are the only true adventures.

The collage below is one photo for every month we’ve been married. We take a photo of just the two of us on the 14th of every month. But our family is more than just the two of us now and so at some point every month we sit all of us down in front of the camera to record how our family adventure is going. We have these photos hanging in a back hallway of our house and even Iddo loves to look at them and see all the different things we’ve done and how she and our family has grown.

3 Shared thoughts

Shimri

12 November 2015, 2:09 pm by Giggles

Categories: Family, Happy Things

Shimri is our little lady. The way she holds her body and her hands, the way she babbles and laughs, everything about her is dainty, delicate, and proper. Except that she grunts like some primal animal when she’s eating before bed, which we find hilarious. It took her a while to become accustom to this mortal life but she seems to have accepted it now. She has the most serious face when she’s faced with a new situation or person and really studies it out before passing judgement on it. Strangers think I’m joking when they comment on how serious she looks and I tell them she’s judging them. Because she is. She’s definitely judging them. And she deems most new people unworthy for quite a while. Which makes the smile she gives me every time I get her out of the crib that much more meaningful. She thinks I’m worthy.

I am so grateful for this little girl in my life. It is going to be so much fun to watch the world from her perspective.