Knitting for Mom

My mom is my absolute best girlfriend. She tells it like it is, lets me cry on her shoulder and is always up for a midnight conversation. She is always game for a walk or a last minute shopping trip and comes through when I'm too tired to sew baby blankets but need them desprately. She She hates when I give her store bought gifts because she doesn't want us to spend money on her... she would be quite content to recieve the same coupon book from me year after year (I was big into the coupon books when I was a kid)... this year when I asked what she would like/like to do for Mother's Day she invited us over to her house for dinner (like every year) and suggested that if I needed to give her something I could knit her a dishcloth. 1 knit dishcloth. She makes me laugh. For my best girlfriend I think I could find the time to knit a dishcloth (now I just need to find the time).

52 Books :: Week 19 (Book 17)

I would not usually consider a children's book to be my reading, nor will I frequently include children's books in this count... however this book deserves for an exception to be made!

I recently bought A Ride on Mother's Back for Charlette. I thought it would be a nice way for her to understand and accept her little sister as she can identify with the story and the pictures in the book. Either her or Sadie are usually in a carrier at some point in the day and isn't it always a nice thing to have something so close to you reflected in a book?

My expectations were exceeded and I fell in love with this book. It shows mama's (and papa's) and their babies from around the world and explains how they are carried and how they are right in the middle of their parent's day to day tasks. If a papa can carry a baby while 'hunting' for honey surely we can make a trip to the grocery store work without needing a stroller and car seat and all the junk that goes alone with it! There is something to be said for simplicity and I love this book for reminding me of that.

A day in the life

Today was my first day alone with both girls. I won't lie I was terrified of this day and spent the last 3 weeks agonizing over how I would handle 3 week old and a 16 month old babies. Somehow we managed to survive... It took an hour long walk outside (bless the double stroller), a bit of slinging, a lot of food and only 1 near breakdown on my part... but we survived.

There were a ridiculous amount of diapers to be changed...

I longingly looked at a few knitting projects that have been put on the back burner...

And I soaked up the beauty of the love these sisters clearly have for each other already...

52 Books :: Week 19 (Book16)

I think I'm doing not so bad with keeping to the schedule here... a little home birth can't slow me down!

I had a very hard time deciding what to read this week. Do I start into a newly purchased (hopefully) treasure, or do I dive into my stash of 'yet to be read' books on the shelf? Do I go with a light, easy, and quick read or do I start on something a little heavier, more meaningful and thought provoking??? I have decided that I'm a little tired of reading for my course and don't really feel like reading anything about childbirth right about now (hmm... I wonder why?), and considering the sleep deprivation that I'm suffering from right about now I opted for a quick read.




So this week I'm going to read the next book in the Twilight series by Stephanie Meyer: New Moon. I hate to admit it but I actually kind of enjoyed Twilight for what it was - a silly teenage romance novel that allowed me to not think for just a few hours! I will be filing this away on my 'guilty pleasures' shelf and hope that no one reads this blog post!

Swingin and Slingin

I spent a beautiful day outside with my husband and two favourite girls. Spring is finally here! Baby C took her first swing ride at home (the swing is hanging from the bottom of the deck - and apparently we haven't organized our winter 'storage' from under there yet!) and Baby S took her first nap in the sling. Swingin and slingin in the sun... could we have had a more perfect day? I think not!

Pure Joy

My 52 books post from Monday was a scheduled post - instead of writing it at 9:30 am I was having a baby... well - had a baby. I woke up at 5am with Nick, annoyed by the Braxton Hicks contractions that I'd been having for a few weeks and decided to start reading Twilight. By about 6am I couldn't read through the contractions so I made a call to mom to come over for Baby C when she woke up and then called the midwives. They thought it sounded like pre-labour and we left it that if they got any stronger or closer together I would call back. By 7:15 my contractions were about 3-4 minutes apart and I figured that I should have Nick come home from work and the midwives come to the house. The only snag in the plans was that we were having a sudden freak blizzard (after weeks of sunshine and warm weather) and it took everyone a really long time to get here (thank goodness my mom was here with me).

Nick got in the door about 8:15 and at this point I was in transition but didn't know it yet. About 5 minutes later I looked at Nick and said "the baby is coming... NOW... mom better call the midwives cell." My poor midwife was driving like a maniac going through red lights, honking her horn at everyone on the road trying to get here in time for the delivery. Unfortunately - she didn't make it. Nick delivered the baby, unwrapped the cord from around her neck and passed her to me to get her breathing. A few minutes later our midwife arrived and it was only then that we thought to check to see if we had a boy or a girl. We were elated with the arrival of our little Ladybug, and still can't wipe the smiles off our faces that we did this together, in our home. What a perfect birth (well maybe it would have been a little more perfect if the midwives were here... less stressful for sure!).

52 Books :: Week 16 (Book 15)

I almost made a horrible pun about "sinking my teeth into my next book" - I chalk it up to being tired. Anyways this week (and probably next) I will be reading Twilight. I have heard such good things about it I just had to give it a try. I'm actually quite excited. Being as my due date in next Thursday I will have to see just how much reading I actually get done! This might end up turning into 52 books in 104, or 208 weeks!

Second Try

I added a crochet collar to the sleep sack and I am now satisfied that it will be a nice 6-12 month size. A friend who is an experienced knitter was kind enough to re-write the pattern, and make a test sack and this one is much more appropriate for the 0-6 month size. I will be casting on with 88 (not 128) stitches and increasing gradually after the waistband to about 130 stitches. I'm also going to taper the bottom a little for a more streamlined look. I'm excited to see how it will turn out!

Remembering

Yesterday I spent the afternoon at the funeral of a dear friend's father. He passed away as a result of an accident way before his time. His death is a tragedy for my friend, her family and our town. I realized as I sat squished into a tiny room off to the side of the chapel at the funeral home (because the turn out was greater than could be accommodated for) what a prominent figure he was and how much he was cared for. As I left the funeral home and returned to my own I had to ask myself if life as of late was really as bleak as it seemed. Sure Baby C has strep throat, an ear infection, a temperature of 103 and 2 molars coming in - but she is on the mend and her utter misery (and refusal to sleep at night) will not last. Sure I am 39 weeks pregnant and completely uncomfortable - its difficult to move around and I have contractions all the time - but soon we will have a beautiful new blessing in our home to make it all worth while. Yes we are tired, and stressed out and at times scared, but we have a beautiful life full of ordinary blessings. Above all, we are healthy and truly what else can one ask for?

I had to remind myself of this over and over again last night as Baby C screamed and screamed after waking up for the 10th time after we put her to bed. At 2am I rolled over to Nick and with a smile on my face said, "Can you even believe it? She went back to sleep - and we had a solid 2 hours! What a great night so far." A few days ago I wouldn't have had this reaction but I realized how lucky we are to be able to wake up in the night, and how special it is that when our beautiful baby girl is not feeling well she wants us near. These are the sorts of everyday blessings that I'm tightly holding onto today, these are the sorts of things that help me to get through horrible days like yesterday.