Not here so much.....

Just in case anyone still reads this blog occasionally, I just wanted to let you know that I won't be posting quite as often. We are turning off our internet and while I'll still have some access through my phone, I probably won't mess with my blog on there. In that regard go read this neat blog post about prioritizing time.

Capes for All!

My son recently asked me if I could make him a Batman suit. I told him I'd look for a tutorial online or a pattern. I ended up finding this wonderful tutorial from Puking Pastilles for a cape! I asked him if that would be acceptable and of course he agreed. So we made a little trip to Joann's to get a few things I didn't already have, and I set to work. I didn't finish them all in the one day like I had hoped, but I did finish my son's on Saturday and the other two for my daughters on Monday. Each cape is reversible with a different applique on each side.






(And of course I couldn't get a picture of the back of Doodle's cape with her looking at me as well. She doesn't quite get how to do that yet!)

Erector Set Fascination!

A rare picture of all four kiddos - all on the floor "helping" build a robot.

A Quilt for G'ma!

My sister was making a quilt for my grandma when she managed to sew the needle of her sewing machine into her finger. Obviously it hurt quite a bit and she wasn't as able to work on the quilt. Seeing as my G'ma was coming to town for two weeks, she wanted to be able to finish it and give it to her while she was here. So she asked me to help! So this is the first quilt I've actually seen to completion. I didn't do it all myself - just some help with the back, the actual quilting, and some of the binding. But still, it's a big accomplishment and I was quite thrilled with the process and being able to learn what to do.

My last bee blocks!

The last bee I'm in was over in March. Here are the final pictures of the blocks I made for that bee. They are Mod Mosaic blocks using the tutorial from Oh, Fransson!

Winner!

Hey guys! Guess what?!? I actually won something I signed up for! Homemade Ginger is a great blog! She's got all kinds of neat recipes and things for homemade natural cleaning products and loads more stuff! I really like it - so go check it out. Anyway though, she did a giveaway for a snack bag and I won!

Blog Post

I would have loved to just copy and paste this, but since that wouldn't be the best thing to do, I'm just going to post a link to a blog I really like. Go read what she said today - I completely agree (with all the "want to's" anyway).

http://amysfinerthings.com/i-want-to-want-to

More Wonky Stars!

I was able to work on some more wonky stars for my newest sewing project. There are five stars in this set and they are three different sizes.

The Girls' New Bed!

My husband and I went and got the girls a new bed for their room. We were looking for a three person bunk and had been considering purchasing one new from Georgia Baby and Kids (for a rather large price tag). After a few weeks not working quite so much, we decided not to spend so much money on the bed and I decided to search craigslist instead. I found a double loft bed right away and was beyond excited. Thankfully the man selling it still had it when I contacted him and we went down there to get it that day (which was thankfully a Saturday). It took us a while to get it put back together as the girls' room is a reasonably small room, but thankfully it JUST fit! They are both loving their new bed!!

View from the hallway.

My oldest daughter trying out her new bed!

View from in the room.

A new chair!

I got quite sick of my Doodle getting her high chair utterly filthy after every meal. I couldn't keep it clean enough and it needed a complete scrubbing down every couple days. I stumbled upon this chair in a magazine and thought it was the neatest one I'd seen. I've liked the cushy boosters, but didn't like that they didn't have a buckle to them. This chair buckles to our table chair as well as buckles Doodle in the seat. It's also a soft cushy material, so it's easy to clean. And she can now sit at the table with us - a big plus!!

Preparing for a Different Kind of Birth

I found out I was pregnant the end of May 2010. I knew exactly when I got pregnant, but since the plans had been to stop after number three, I didn't want to push my luck in thinking I was really pregnant if I wasn't. (Since I wasn't at all against having another baby, my husband just thought it good to stop at three.) Anyway, a pregnancy test confirmed the suspicion. My husband came home from work and I told him, only to get a "you've got to be kidding" response. Not exactly what a newly pregnant woman wants to hear. After a few minutes of it settling in, we were both excited about the prospect of a new little baby!

Things started out like they did with my other pregnancies. I immediately started feeling sick and tired. Nothing out of the ordinary, just nauseous and extra tired. Lots of naps were in the agenda. I made my appointment at the ob/gyn I had seen with my first two children. (I had to switch doctors with baby number three, but was able to switch back for number four.) I went to the first two appointments before I decided that this wasn't for me. I had been reading as much as I could about natural birth and how much better it is for both the mother and baby. After going to the ob/gyn, I just couldn't bring myself to continue seeing him and have yet another typical medicated delivery. I talked to several people including the doula I had met through some friends at church, and decided I wanted to switch to a midwife instead. Margaret Strickhouser is one of the best known in the Atlanta area, and since I could see her on my insurance, I went ahead and switched over to her practice. This changed everything about my upcoming delivery. I went from having prenatal visits close to my house to driving down to Atlanta for every appointment (a more than 60 mile round trip - after dropping my kids off at my mom's house). I would also be delivering at Atlanta Medical Center instead of the MUCH closer Gwinnett Medical Center. Atlanta Medical was the only choice if I wanted to see Margaret Strickhouser, but I chose that too with the thought I would be able to do a water birth. Everything I had read about natural delivery made me want to try for a water birth or at least some laboring in the water because of the soothing abilities of being in the water during contractions. I kept reading everything I could on natural birth including Ina May's Guide to Natural Childbirth and The Joy of Natural Childbirth, as well as any blogs and other posts I could find on the subject. I also decided that I wanted to hire a doula to help me during labor. I met a doula at a friend's baby shower and was impressed with her knowledge and understanding of laboring women. I met her once to see what we wanted to do and then again to actually sign a contract. I was quite excited by the prospect of doing things differently. I went to a meet and greet with the Georgia Birth Network and got some more information natural birth and how having a doula during labor could be such a great benefit. I definitely agreed and had my mind made up that I was going to deliver this baby without any medication. I kept this idea in my head the entire pregnancy and did what I could to prepare for it. The hospital required me to take a water birth class in order to be able to use the water pool at the hospital, so I did that as well. It was just a basics of what to expect or not expect in the water and what things might disqualify someone from getting in during labor (including having meconium in the water when your water breaks).

I was quite impressed with the difference of care between seeing an ob/gyn and seeing a midwife. The ob/gyn I saw with my first two pregnancies was very nice and I liked him well enough, but appointments were quick and really not informative at all. My first appointment with the midwife lasted well over an hour (that was in the actual room with the midwife in there as well). She talked and talked and talked to me about birth and what I wanted and what I could expect and what she would do to help, etc. There was no rushing or quickness about any of it, and I was definitely informed about everything that was going on. That's how the whole pregnancy went. All appointments were as long as I wanted them to be. Any questions were answered thoroughly and accurately. It was exciting, anticipating just how different this delivery would be compared to the others.

Fun outside!

The weather here has been absolutely beautiful! We took advantage of one gorgeous day to play outside for a while. Even the baby enjoyed the sunshine on her little head (while attached to mommy in her wrap)!

Bee Blocks!

Here are the blocks I made for the bees I'm in for February. The first one is the final block for the Vintage Sheet Bee. It's a super wonky log cabin. The other two are called waverunner blocks and are for the next to last month of Bee Improvisational. I have really enjoyed this bee and will miss being in it, but I'm also looking forward to working more on my own projects instead.

Some more stars.

Here are the two baby wonky stars I made so far and a picture of all of them together - for a size comparison!

New Project!

I started a new sewing project yesterday. I'm making a bunch of wonky stars (which is my favorite type of block)! Here are the first four I made.

Excuses......

It's been a month since I posted anything.....but I have a great excuse!

I've been cuddling and feeding my newest baby girl!

My little reindeer!

The kids all had fun coloring these little reindeer masks - even if they barely lasted one afternoon!

An Attempt at a Christmas Picture....

These were about the best we could get......

The best reason for slacking off.......

...at least when it comes to blogging and sewing!

November Bee Blocks

Obviously it's been a long while since I've posted anything! These are the blocks I made for two sewing bees I'm in (the third bee was over in September!). The first block is my own sample block for the Vintage Sheet Bee. I sent out the black fabric and the white strips for everyone to make this block for my month. I thought it worked well with the vintage sheets as the middle strips. The second and third blocks are houses for Bee Improv. I was sent some lovely batiks and had fun making them, although after the fact, I realized that she had wanted more wonky houses and mine are definitely more on the normal (and kinda plain) side of things.