I am super tired and was feeling like I hadn’t done anything today– like it was one of those wasted days– but now that I’m sitting down and thinking back over our day I realize it wasn’t half bad.  School didn’t go quite how I had hoped.  Laundry is clean, but not folded.  The kids were bored, so I let them all have extra computer time, but didn’t get around to helping anyone make their first blog entry.  There are dirty dishes in the sink because I couldn’t fit them all in the dishwasher…

But I came downstairs this morning to find this:

a table set with a table cloth and real dishes and spread with hot pancakes and scrambled eggs.  They made them ALL BY THEMSELVES.  There was cheese in the eggs.  The pancakes were made from scratch from a recipe in a cook book.  All the dishes they used were stacked neatly by the sink.  There wasn’t a trace of egg shells on the counters.  Amazing.  (That, and poor Brenna has broken out in an itchy rash from head to toe–a reaction the Amoxacillin she’s taking for strep throat. )

I think they were feeling bad for their poor, humongous mother who couldn’t even walk by the end of the day yesterday.  I ran errands all day and I guess all that being up on my feet helped the baby sink even deeper into my pelvis and pinch a nerve in my left hip.  Even this morning I wasn’t able to put much weight on my left leg without it hurting really bad or just giving out all together.  I need crutches or something.  It’s ridiculous!  There have been stretches of time when it was all just fine, but then I feel the baby move and I’m a cripple again.  Geesh.

So, there was a lot of sitting on the couch for me.  I knit and got a little further on my doll.

Now she’s a head with arms.

So what I hung out in my jammies all day and nearly everything on my list of things to get done went out the window?  I have an 8, 6, and 4 year old self sufficient enough to make a real breakfast.  I got to snuggle and enjoy my little baby, who won’t be a baby much longer, and watch him coo over and hug and kiss and feed his Boy and his Baby (an old doll he found over the weekend that Brenna never played with, but he has grown completely attached to).  I got to sit on the couch and watch my kids draw and play legos while I sewed and knit.

It’s all okay.  It wasn’t a wasted day after all.

Last week brought us lots of sun and near 70 degree weather, so on Saturday we took a trip to the park for lots of running (with your tongue hanging out if you happen to be Ellie), jumping, tree climbing, whacking things with sticks, and a fair amount of waddling by the mama.

Hope you had a good weekend too.

This week, keep an eye on the kids’ new blog.  They’re going to take turns telling you all about the books they’re reading, the things they’re making, and what they think about it.  It should be fun!

I’ve been knitting along with all the sewing I’ve been doing.  Knitting for a baby is so satisfying because it’s almost instant gratification– well, as far as knitting goes.

This little sweater was knit before Christmas, before the toy making flurry was in full force.  It’s from the Easy Peasy pattern from Little Turtle Knits, and it was definitely easy peasy.  It’s knit flat in garter stitch and all in one piece– a very satisfying instant gratification kind of project.

I also knit up these little bum sweaters (from the free Curly Purly pattern).  I’ve been cloth diapering my boys since Jonah was born and have often read about the benefits of using wool diaper covers.  Wool is breathable, natural, nearly waterproof, and can absorb a ton of water before feeling wet.  It’s naturally antimicrobial too.  So, since I was feeling the need to knit baby things, I bought some Cascade 220 Superwash wool to give wool diaper covers a try.  After I got one done and had only gone through about 1/3 of a ball of yarn I decided to do another, but wanted to spice it up a bit.  I took the rest of my yarn and Kool-Aid dyed it with lime and blue rapsberry lemonade (I think).  Kool-Aid dying is so easy and so fun!  My kids got in on the action too, but that will have to be another post.  What I really want are some little hand-knit wooly pants– and this picture of Jessica’s new little guy has got knitting some longies  on my must-get-done-before-the-baby-comes-list.  If anyone has suggestions for a good pattern (preferably free) and the perfect diaper cover knitting non-itchy wool yarn please let me know!

Yesterday I impulsively signed up for this handmade toy swap.  Like I need to add a time consuming toy to my list of getting-ready-for-baby crafting that I want to get done in the next few weeks.  I decided to get right on it because, really, I wanted an excuse to make another doll.  It is so fun to see them come to life. Here’s today’s play by play.

First, there’s the head form.  This isn’t a totally kosher Waldorf doll because the materials aren’t completely natural– I’m using panty hose instead of cotton tubular stockinette because that’s what I’ve got laying around here.  It’s stuffed with wool, though!

Gotta cover that crazy looking lump with skin.

and give it a face…

Ahh, there she is!

Also, February 10th the Consumer Products Safety Improvement Act goes into affect.  You can read all about it here, but in a nutshell congress passed a law to protect our kids from toxic chemicals in massed produced toys from China and didn’t think of all the ramifications of their new regulation.  Now ANY product marketed for use by children must undergo third party testing, which is fine for huge mega companies, but for moms sewing cloth diapers in their homes, or artists selling clothing or toys on etsy, this will essentially put them out of business.  Hopefully the powers that be will see the light and make some exemptions for small businesses.  It will be a sad day when the ONLY options we have for buying toys are those mass produced, lifeless plastic things…

Hi.  It’s me, the big huge pregnant lady.  The one you might have seen leaving her snowy driveway at 8:30 this morning so she could make it through the storm to her 9:30 birth center appointment.  The same one who called the birth center an hour later, just 3 or 4 miles from her house.  The one who left the GPS at home, but still thought she could bypass the standstill freeway and ended up completely lost.  Lost, going 5 miles per hour, frantically calling her husband at work hoping he could give her some directions, but no answer.   The one who called the birth center for directions and got the nurse who has only lived in Denver for 2 months and was as clueless as she was as to how to get headed in the right direction.  The one who finally got through to her husband’s voice mail and broke into tears, who fed her two little boys their lunch in the car  by 10 AM to keep them happy in the slow moving icy traffic, and then was miraculously called on the phone by her Visiting Teacher who gave her directions.  The big, crazy, frazzled pregnant lady who finally got to the birth center at 10:45.  After leaving home at 8:30.

Yep, that’s me.  I probably should have just turned around and gone back home when I saw how slow traffic was moving.

But, my visit with my midwives was good.  I have been Group B Strep positive with all four of my previous pregnancies– requiring that I have IV antibiotics during labor.  This time my test came back NEGATIVE!!!  I have been taking probiotics, eating lots of yogurt, and taking odor free garlic (when I think of it) and I got rid of those pesky bad bacteria in my guts!!  Is that cool or what?!

Also, I was wearing my green cordouroy shirt and the nurses and midwives were all perceptive enough to know that I needed compliments on it.  I made it after all.  Want to see?

It’s view J from Lovely Maternity Dresses.  I have made view E, but it ended up too big.  I was sure I’d need to make a pretty big size and after trying to study the Japanese size charts and deciphering what I thought were prepregnancy and pregnancy measurements and size charts I decided to opt for a size 11.  Turns out that the patterns take into account how actual people grow during pregancy, and so an 11 on my 5′ 2″ narrow shouldered, though swollen body was too big.  This one I made in a 9 and it is just right.  I’ll probably be wearing it almost everyday until this little guy pops out.

And here’s another Built By Wendy shirt.  Just with long sleeves.  Not quite as comfy as my green corouroy shirt, but will do when I have to take it off to do laundry.

And here’s my photography helper.

I’m always amazed that something this cute actually exists.  I think I can handle one more.

Did a week and a half really just go by since my last post?  How did that happen?  I better get on the ball and finish posting about our handmade Christmas gifts before it is way too far past Christmas.

For weeks and weeks before Christmas Logan would say, “When I get the teddy bear you make me for Christmas then… (fill in the blank with things like “I’ll always wrap him up in my mimi.” or “you can make him a little dresser and fill it up with jammies and a swimming suit.”)   So, I had to oblige.  Brenna has been totally attached to Buttercup for 2 years now, but the boys had no mama-made toys to snuggle.  I haven’t got that swimming suit made, or any clothes for that matter, let alone the dresser, but they are the perfect night time snuggle companions.  Here’s where I found them this morning:

Jonah’s Teddy

Logan’s Chubby Wubby