Marcie's Hooded Towels

Recently, Jill phoned while I happened to be sewing a hooded towel. She wanted to see some photos, so here they are.


 It all began with a duck towel I received as a gift when James was a baby. I took that basic design and made some modifications. For one thing, the original towel had button eyes. In all the years we've had that towel, our kids have never pulled the buttons off and choked on them. However, I think some of the mothers I've given these towels to would be nervous about button eyes. So, I make the eyes with appliquéd black circles.

When a family in our ward named their baby girl "Ruby," I knew this girl had to have something grapefruit-themed.

I gave a sister in our ward a duck towel when she was expecting her first. When she was expecting her second, I needed another idea. So, the frog was created. 

The cat and dog were creative experiments. Not bad, even if I say so myself.

I started keeping track of the number of hooded towels I've made and given away.  So far, I've counted 17.

Newest Francis Addition

Announcing Gwen Robyn Francis*, born the 10th of April at 11:22 pm. She weighed 7 lbs 11 oz, the smallest of all my babies, probably because she was born at 39 weeks instead of the usual 41+ weeks.

* Yes, we know "Gwen" is a name shared by Steph, Praise, and Phebe, and that Amanda and Ella have "Robyn" middle names (albeit with spelling variations), so neither name is unique to our extended family. But our Gwen is unique to us, and plus, she gets to join the "Gwen" and "Robyn" clubs. (Like our Ruth is in a club with Megan, right?)

The photos below don't adequately show how much long dark brown hair she has, but they do show the extra finger on her left hand, held on with a flap of skin. Our baby is a "postaxial  polydactyl"! (postaxial meaning that the finger is on the pinky side, and polydactyl meaning someone with more than the usual number of digits.) Jason was interested to learn that this is very rare among white females, occurring among 6 of 10,000. 



Notice the little fingernail in the photo below. Isn't that interesting!?

Our regular pediatrician wanted to refer us to a pediatric plastic surgeon. Mom was concerned that this would cost beaucoup bucks to even have a consultation. However, the other pediatrician in the practice, who saw Gwen for her 48 hour visit, was willing to tie it off with suture thread. It will turn black (don't worry; I won't post photos of that) and fall off in a week or so. 

Thanks for all your thoughts, prayers, and fasting during this pregnancy and birth.  

Love, Marcie

Award Winner Nose Flutist

All my life I've wanted to be good at something and finally...I am. 

Presenting Rachel Fillmore, nose flutist extraordinaire, at the ward talent show.

And the best news is that I won first place here and now I get to perform this amazing talent for the entire singles stake! What a pleasure. Every cute boy in St. George will see me sticking chapstick up my nose and fall madly in love, I'm sure. 

Spring Break in Chicago

The kids' spring break was the second full week of March. On Tues morning of that week we drove to Chicago (about 4 hours away). Once we arrived, we had some extra time before dinner, so we visited the temple grounds. I went back later that night to do temple work, and Jason went the next night. (Can you spot the "hidden" door in the photo?)

Jason had wanted to try some good Polish food, so on Tues night we ate at a restaurant recommended by my midwife. For accommodations we got a deal on a 2 bdrm suite in Schaumburg (where one of the IKEAs is. Sadly, we didn't have time to go!)

 

We bought a family pass to a smallish science center here in town and took advantage of its reciprocity arrangements to gain admission into three museums in Chicago. On Wednesday we visited the Museum of Science and Industry. In the photo above, James is by a vortex of air. (Dad would love this place!) Also that day, we saw (the exterior of) the Ferrara Pan factory where Lemonheads, Appleheads, etc, are made. Jason stopped in the outlet store to buy himself a birthday gift.

 

On Thurs we visited the Alder Planetarium and the Field Museum of Natural History. They are close to each other, and in between museums, we enjoyed a picnic overlooking Lake Michigan. The weather was perfect. We've been to Chicago in March before when it's been so cold and blustery. So this pleasant weather seemed so uncharacteristic of Chicago!

 

This is at the Field Museum. (I wonder if that T Rex skeleton comes to life at night.) Our energy was waning by this time, but we felt like we should see something to get our "money's worth." (Admission was free with the pass.) We arbitrarily wandered into an exhibit about Native American peoples. Jason was fascinated by how the aesthetic styles of handicrafts differed from one culture to the next. I was interested in moving from (and collapsing on) one horizontal seating surface to the next.

 

Through the whole trip, George wanted to ride the elevated train, but we couldn't figure out the logistics of when and where (and where to park cheaply). Even as we were heading out of town on Thurs afternoon, the kids were still insisting. So, we found a station southwest of town with a park & ride. It was in a neighborhood where we wouldn't want to be after dark. Ruth and I stayed with the van, and Jason took the three kids for their ride--two stops up and two stops back. It turned out to be the highlight of the trip for the kids.

Not so Good Friday

i spent the morning in the ER.  after breakfast i did a 10 min workout video with the kids.  in one of the moves i was bending over and then slowly rolling up.  but the next thing i knew i was waking up on the floor and my head hurt.

ella came over and asked if i was okay.  then ephraim came and asked what happened, but i couldn't remember what i had been doing.   apparently i had passed out, fallen, and hit my head on the tile floor.  i was getting a bump on the back of my head, and when i turned my head i felt dizzy and sick.  so i couldn't really go anywhere.

ephraim called our neighbor who is a doctor, and she came over to help.  she recommended going to the hospital to get scans.  i was very worried because head injuries can be very serious, and our hospital doesn't have a neurosurgeon to help if there were problems with the brain.  plus i was worried about swelling, infection, a fractured skull, draining fluid, etc.

i was pretty emotional, but our kids were just encouraging and helpful.  we called an ambulance which really made isaac's day.  later when i came home again the first thing he asked was if i enjoyed my ride in the ambulance.  i said no.  our roads are bumpy and swervy, so riding backwards in an ambulance with a head injury wasn't really fun.

at the hospital they did blood tests (i'm not anemic today), urine tests (not pregnant), an x-ray (no fractured skull), and an EKG (i don't know what they told us).  with ice and rest the bump has gone down some.  we stayed a few hours for observation and rest, and then they sent us home.  i came in on a stretcher and left walking, so that's good.

we looked so funny leaving the ER.  i was still in my exercise clothes,  with a blanket wrapped around me, wearing ephraim's big slippers.  he was barefoot.

now i know that yoga is too dangerous for me.  no more downward dogs!  i'll be doing only upright exercising.

the doctor recommended i see a cardiologist.  he says he suspects that my blood vessels don't contract the blood to my head efficiently.  i know this is a family problem.  we're like king lamoni's crew, just passing out right and left all the time.  have any of you seen a cardiologist?  do you have any insight to this low-blood pressure, low-iron problem of ours?

anyway, i hope you all are having a very Good Friday.

Pregnancy Update

We got quite the surprise when we went into our ultrasound appointment
this week--it was a routine ultrasound to confirm my due date. Turns
out there's a reason I've been feeling twice as sick, twice as tired,
and twice as hungry this pregnancy! Though I'm willing to find out
the genders this time, True doesn't want to. He says that is the
ultimate surprise! We'll see them in September, or earlier since
twins can arrive before full term. Keep us in your prayers!