MommyCoddle

seat (sofa) work

Well, here we go again. The girls have caught the stomach bug again. I've always thought that once you got it, you were pretty much immune for awhile. But I've heard of so many people around here catching it, there must be a few different "strains" floating around. The throw-up part wasn't as bad this time, but they are just completely knocked out and weak.
Today, Emma has finally mustered up the energy to actually sit upright on the sofa and do a little drawing. This picture above isn't from today, but it's one of my current faves and is on my bulletin board above my desk.
But, this wonderful gift from Melissa has been a spring favorite today and the perfect thing for a little sofa time.

Melissa uses it with her children and she let me know about it after this post I wrote back in January. Melissa is lucky enough that her library carries the series, but I wasn't able to find it anywhere,' so she surprised me with a copy of a book and workbook of our very own. For now, the handwriting and reading parts are a little hard for Emma, but she loves the step-by-step drawing instructions. And as a pathetic draw-er myself, I love them, too. And I also love the emphasis on nature and the connections Emma makes with this book and the things we see around the farm.
For now, I haven't been giving Emma too much direction, just letting her flip through the book and enjoy whichever parts she picks. Like Amanda mentioned in this post, too much direction from me can oftentimes turn Emma off from a project. But today it is making the best sofa project for a tired little girl.

The nice part (if I had to find one) about the girls being sick is that it has given me a lot of quiet time to get some stuff done. I've finally gotten this site ready for the opening of the market in little over a week.  There's a lot of information to squeeze into that little blog, so visually it's a bit busy for my taste, but I still am deeply enjoying this project. I'm keeping my legs crossed that I won't be mid-delivery for the opening day of the market.
And the bumper is coming along well. I just need to add the ties. I'm really glad you all gave me the encouragement I needed to do it this way. I love having exactly the fabric I want and I'm saving a ton of money in the long run! So thank you again!!

still here...no pictures

I'm still here plugging away at my little list of things I'd like to get accomplished before the baby arrives. Between the nice weather outside and the doctor giving me the two-week notice before they induce (but still not a specific date yet), my blog has gotten shoved into last place on the list. Well, actually showering is in last place...no. kidding.
I'm feeling pretty good. Although, I'm a bit sore (and huge) and not sleeping all that well because of the amount of effort it takes to swing this belly from one side to the other. Dan said to me the other night when I was moaning and groaning about having to get up for the bathroom again, that I'll probably feel like I'm getting more sleep once the baby is born! I figure this is all preparation for the sleep deprivation that lies ahead.
I've been at my sewing machine a lot in my absence from here. The curtains are finished thanks to some tag-team sewing with my mom on Monday. And I've begun the bumper project that I've been putting off. Things are really beginning to take shape in the baby room.

I'll be back in a day or two--hopefully with pictures of a nicely finished bumper. In the meantime, congratulations to my blogging pregnancy partner....welcome Lucie, you cutie!

Talk to you soon, friends. xo.

two signs of a pretty good morning

back to life

It's always amusing to me how my children hit the ground running in the morning. I'm still groggy over my cup of tea and Mary is already in a pair of pink roller skates that are about five sizes too big, "skating" around the carpet, pausing only to give the cat, asleep on the sofa, lessons on how to skate.

Emma is dressed in her helmet and riding shoes, straddling her horse, and on her way out the door for a "big show". Yesterday she had me fill her horse with stuffing and stitch it closed. She told me she didn't like puppets and how floppy his head was. I almost called my sister--a vet technician-- for proper stitching technique as I sat in my chair and closed up the open "wound" on the horse's underbelly.

But...hallelujah, we are all pretty much healthy.  We have come back from the land of ginger ale and saltine crackers. Everyone got the bug, except for me. Emma had it the worst of all, as it hung on for more than 48 hours. I set up a station on my kitchen counter full of "easy on the tummy" foods--flat coke, ginger ale, saltines, pretzel sticks, soft-boiled eggs and jello.  It was a long week, but we're through it.

Today I'm headed back to the fabric store to pick up some yardage of the brown flowered fabric. I've decided to go ahead and give the bumper cover a shot. As much as I'd like everything to be fresh and new and perfect for this baby, our budget is requiring me to mostly pull together the things we already have, adding a few small, new touches here and there--painted walls, new curtains (the red fabric from IKEA), etc.
Dan finished painting the room this weekend in the grey-blue (on the right in the color card above), and painting the crib in the creamy white peeking through behind it. This week he's going to make me a set of the pegs like the ones in the picture below. I've always wanted a set of these in a baby room. (any and all rooms actually...) It is nice having a handy husband.

(martha stewart baby, fall 2002)

So, I'm obviously nesting...exactly four weeks away from my due date, which according to my doctor will be the latest I'll deliver. Because of the meds I'm taking, an inducement is in my future. I'll keep you posted on the bumper project. But first I need to go back and read all your comments to give myself a little bumper pep-talk....

they're dropping all around me

Emma's down for the count. Dan barely made the drive home from work.
The house is quiet. Everyone is asleep in their separate corners. But I'm standing strong--must be that pregnant immune system or something. Or all the praying I'm doing....

Mary is slowly bouncing back--never too sick to work on bird calls with her identiflyer.I think I'm going to have to get rechargeable batteries for this thing.

Yesterday I was sitting in the living room with the front door open and I kept hearing a house finch singing over and over outside. I couldn't believe how it kept calling and calling. Then I realized I was sitting on the "Identiflyer". duh.

Emma has the bug worst of everyone so far. She slept on the bathroom floor from 4am until at least 10am--afraid she was going to be sick again. Poor thing. There was nothing I could do to persuade her to come out of there. At one particularly high point (or delusional) I heard her sing through ALL the verses of "She'll Be Coming 'Round The Mountain". I never knew she knew all the verses.

Alright back to nursing and praying...just wanted to check in with the healthy outside world....

dry toast, ginger ale and a good bar of soap

JUST last week I was remarking to Dan that our children have never had the stomach bug. I spoke a bit too soon. Mary started to have some "issues" last night and despite having an uneventful night, woke up again with a fever and unable to keep her bowl of cheerios down.
But despite this, she's been begging for something to eat and she's managed to keep down two slices of toast. In the meantime, I've been doing quite a bit of handwashing trying my best to stave off the spreading of germs around here.

So I'm spending my day at home trying to catch up on some library reading, laundry and finally taking the time to get my magazine subscriptions in order. I'm making some changes this spring: dumping Domino, Country Living, and Country Home and adding Real Simple, Wondertime and possibly Cookie, to my never-changing Martha Stewart subscription. I do have to say, I'm pleased that the lady over the phone with Domino mag didn't give me twenty-questions when I told her I wanted to cancel my subscription (although I did have my answer prepared before I called in). That always drives me crazy. Have you ever tried cancelling a credit card? They are relentless!

Thanks again for ALL your responses to my carseat questions. It looks like Graco is a pretty popular choice. You gave lots of good advice. And thanks to the couple of you who answered my laptop cleaning question. I'll let you all know on here what I try because it seems like many of us have the same problem.

Oh, so here's today's question of the day:
I have a crib bumber that I used for Mary which has since lost several of its ties that attach it to the sides of the crib. It doesn't really "go" with my new plan for the baby's room. What do you think of the idea of sewing a new cover for this baby bumper? Would it work? In my mind I think I want a bumper in navy swiss dots...if I could find it somewhere....And if I could find the time to actually do it. What do you think??!!

Alright back to nurse my babe back to health and make some noodle soup and toast (again) for lunch. Poor Emma is bored out of her mind because we're having such a non-eventful day....
 

Hello, old friend...(and two Q's)

trying out a new clay: riverstone. I love the bit of gritty texture I feel when I work with it.

new shapes: I'm all about square and skinny rectangle pendants this time around. (oh, and a few teeny-tiny circles for a new idea)

chunky circles: trying out another new idea.

numbered test tiles: for testing out glazes on the new clay

::::now for the questions:::::
1. How do I clean my mac laptop screen safely? it's nasty.

2. I'm in the market for an infant carseat. What do you use? Which do you like/dislike? I "handled" a few at Target this afternoon. Whoa, are they heavy--and that's without a baby in them! My arms are definitely out of carseat slinging shape.  I'd rather hear what you all use than spend time browsing through page after page of carseats on the internet....thank you. thank you!

slimming down

Obviously, I'm not talking about my waistline, but about my overflowing stash of fabric.  I've been trying to get serious about simplifying and slimming down around here--which meant me taking a very close look at what fabric is staying in the house. This tiny little shelf holds some favorites and some of the most versatile fabrics that I have. The rest has been relegated to storage. I try to tell myself that it will be like Christmas on that day when I have the space to have it all out and at my fingertips again. But for now, priorities. Simplify. Simplify. Simplify.

I had every intention of posting this morning, as I realized the week had slipped by with only one other post. But I was in such an overwhelmed, end-of-my-rope state of mind, that I knew the post would be just a big blubbering mess. I'm trying to remind myself that I'm nearing the end of the long road of pregnancy, but when you're in the midst of the exhaustion and emotion, it's hard to remember how you were when you were "normal". You start to believe that THIS is your normal.
But case and point to the emotional basket case that I am, I'm feeling much better now, thank you. It took a mad clean-fest of our apartment and then just getting out with the girls for awhile. This post of Blair's inspired me to give Emma another go at sewing lessons--which she has been begging for. Awhile ago, we tried jumping right in with stitching up a pouch, and embroidering a sketch of hers, but it all ended in frustration(and usually sewing being tossed across the room.)
So, I took a step back by getting out some lacing cards, which she breezed through. And I'm thinking Vicki's suggestion to Blair of marking where stitches should go, will really help when we make the transition to fabric.
Right now, she's working on the good old potholder loom. I love that thing and used to make them a lot when I was little, although I never knew how to finish them. And selfishly, I'm hoping this one of the rack right now will be for me. You just can't beat the loom potholder. I figured she'd only be good for the first row of looping, but now I hear her over there: "oooover....unnnnder....ovverrrrrr....unnderrrr." I haven't looked at her work recently, but she's sticking to it and that's important.

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend. I've got a stack of vegetable gardening books on my bedside that I'm anxious to get into. We're supposed to have a weekend warm-up although I'm not feeling it yet. I'm starting to get excited for Spring, which means that my deadline for this  is approaching. There is still much to do, but I enjoy it, and I'm getting there.

happy weekend....
until monday.....

The best part about leaving...

is coming home.

Dan gave me a huge gift this weekend. He sent me away for a weekend. Alone. Sort of a final fling before the baby is born. I headed out to my mom's house on Saturday morning, after serving up donuts to the girls to soften the blow of my walking out the door, suitcases in hand.
Usually, I feel like a zombie when I go somewhere without the girls. Like some part of me is missing, or I've forgotten something. It's even to the point where I have to think through where my children are: "okay, Molly, your children are playing at their Pa's house. You didn't forget them, tear-stained cheeks, standing in the driveway."
My mom and I shopped til we dropped. I spent all last week getting every lick of laundry in the house done and put away. (probably the third time in my career as a mother.) And I went through all the girls clothes, putting away the too smalls, so that I had a good list in hand of the things they needed.
My other goal was to get a lot of baby shopping done. But I became paralyzed once I got out there-- by the amount of what I needed, the not knowing girl/boy, and the amount of choices once I got there--so baby shopping is on the back burner again. (Probably until I'm having contractions and running around trying to buy a three-pack of onesies and a carseat.)
But the time away was wonderful. Watching too much TV, not having to squeeze my errands in between naps, eating dinner and only being faced with the decision of what time I'm going to bed, instead of the task of putting two girls to bed.
However, with all its relaxing and reading and recovering, I was ready to come home. I can only stay away so long before I really start to miss my little family. I was greeted with lots of hugs--the staggered kind--like hug mom, talk to her, hug her again, tell her how much you miss her, need to just hold her hand and know she's home...
I was also greeted by lots of gifts-a clean house and a fully-prepped baby room from Dan, ready to be painted. And lots of decorated hearts and painted popsicle sticks from the girls. And they're still being churned out this morning. I have a tumbled-over pile on my desk.
It feels good to go away for just a bit. But it feels even better to want to come home. 

new growth

I've been learning two little parenting lessons these last few weeks.

The first one is this: no matter how I discipline my children, the most important thing is how that discipline ends.
I haven't been finishing well, lately. Oftentimes, my frustration or anger has gotten the best of me, and I was simply satisfied with the consequences for the bad behavior--a lost privilege, being sent to a bedroom. I wasn't finishing the job. I'm learning that the most effective part of the discipline is how I end it--a calm talk, a restatement of why everything happened in the first place and most importantly an embrace. I've noticed how often that last embrace involves a release for my children, a letting go, a starting over. And it usually involves tears--tears asking for forgiveness. And sometimes, I need a little of that forgiveness too when I've handled the situation with a little too much anger or impatience or close-mindedness.  So I'm doing my best lately to finish discipline and finish well.

The second thing I'm learning is the power of encouragement.
I'm learning this from my grandmother. I've never met another person with such an ability to make you feel good about yourself. The simplest act gets overflowing, but sincere praise and appreciation. It makes you want to do special things for her or give your best effort for her because of her heartfelt, grateful reactions. My kids pick up on it, too. They rarely walk through her door with out some piece of artwork to give, or a found feather to share, or an update about kittens and mud puddles.  And they get all of her attention, excitement and lots of encouragement.
I'm trying to put more encouragement into my parenting as well. I know my children love to hear kind words and appreciation out of my mouth. And the more I give it, the more opportunities arise to give it. They surprise me with goodness--setting the dinner table without my asking, picking up a few books that are spread across the floor and returning them to the basket, getting undressed and taking dirty clothes to the hamper instead of dropping them where they were removed.

I'm writing this post today because I needed the reminder. These truths have been in the back of my head for the last few weeks, but today I just haven't dredged up the energy to follow through. I sent Emma to a nap with some unfinished business between us and the encouragement really hasn't been flowing past these lips today.
That's why I love naps. It's the chance to regroup and start fresh. We'll finish our business, me and Emma and find a little time for good things in there, too. And I think we'll both feel better in the end.