Yellow Orange Red Brown

Summer. Where did it go?



Our morning walks have turned into afternoon walks to seek out the warmest part of the day. The grey sidewalk has turned maple-in-October gold.



There's a little (purchased) bear suit with homemade paws awaiting a (gulp) ten-month-old's first Halloween.



And there's a Halloween-appropriate stack of fabric ready to be cut into for a quilt.

Crib Tour

The house and the kid- incredible time sucks they are. They're really cutting in to my leisure time. Knitting: rarely. Sewing: does hemming jeans and mending pillows count? Other craftiness: ha! Good thing I'm awful fond of them both.

In lieu of anything new and crafty, I'll show off the nicest space in the joint: where kid and house collide. Bear's room started off like this (mmm, cream of pea soup). And progressed to this last fall.

Nowadays it's fully occupied and looks like so:



The furniture is heavy on the Ikea. Okay, it's all from Ikea. I would have loved a modern nursery set, but holy $$$. And by the time I bought furniture, I was way too pregnant and busy to diy it. So, Ikea it was.

The room has pristine oak floors (like most of the house) which I covered with Flor tiles. I think they really make the room. As much as I love the wall color (and I really love it- I'd like to paint my bedroom this color), I think the room would have ended up a little too precious without the rug.

I don't want to talk about the ceiling fan.



Extravagant crib set, eh? SIDS prevention guidelines say no loose clothy bits in the crib, which appeals to my cheap minimalist tendencies (besides, it's not like my infant is going to use a quilt). By the way, it's not easy to find red crib sheets.

Yes, the artwork is off center and kind of awkwardly hung, but fixed very firmly to the wall. Like, won't come down until Bear leaves for college fixed. Thanks to my husband for that (both the awkward placement and sturdy mounting). All three prints are of polars bears, which pop up all over the room.

The thing about the bears-
1. We enjoy going to the zoo and are particularly fond of the polar bears.
2. My husband has a much loved pair of polar bear print pajama pants that we like to joke about.
3. I decided on the paint color, Arctic Blue, and polar bear theme before I even knew the sex of the baby.
4. The choice of the baby's name was strongly influenced by the fact that "Bear" is the obvious nickname. (But I am not trying to theme my child. I fell for the name before "Bear" was distilled from it.)



The number print is from Binth and, though awesome in its own right, coordinates ridiculously well with the rug. The futon got shoved in the room for Christmas houseguests and never left (the futon, not the guests). My little lap quilt from way back when found a home on it. Eventually the futon will be removed in favor of more play space, but for now, it's nice to have a place to read and to set the car seat for loading and unloading.



My husband tricked out the closet with a custom-built organizer (there's shelves down the center and a full-length hanging area on the other side). It's obviously set up for baby clothes, but can be adjusted as Bear grows.

Now, if only the rest of the house was finished...

Domesticity

Cooking, cleaning, shopping, knitting, laundering, mothering. I'm so domestic lately that sometimes I kinda want to gag. But... shhh... I kind of like it sometimes. Except when the UPS guy comes. Always when I'm cooking dinner. So I answer the door wearing an apron*. Sometimes with a baby on my hip. Embarrassing.

All this being at home has me thinking a lot about the house. I have a million projects that I'd like to do, but for now, I'm settling for trying to do some (late) spring cleaning and organizing, and the picture thing. See, I can no longer stand having frames photos sitting on surfaces (collecting dust!), and even the thought of laying out groupings of artwork for the walls exhausts me (not to mention that I'm squeamish about putting a bunch of holes in the wall). Add to the fact that I'm going to have baby and family pictures to display and I'm really liking the idea of putting up picture ledges. That way I can change out photos and frames easily. To help me visualize what I want to do, I made the cheesiest mock up ever:



In Paint, since I'm too po' for Photoshop. My depiction of this in the center really makes the mock up, doesn't it? All in all, I like it, though. I think it will work. Next step: a trip to Ikea for the ledges and some frames.

*I have to wear an apron because I always manage to get grease spattered on me. Which I don't notice until I'm hanging clean laundry. So I have to treat and wash my clothes again. And if there is anything I don't need right now, it's more laundry... which reminds me that I have to go put a load in the dryer. Ugh.

Ups and Downs

I'm learning that having a baby can be wonderful. Like when they're sleeping. And not so fun. Like when they're awake. Kidding. Mostly.

Babies get so many sweet, adorable, thoughtful gifts (because, face it, buying gifts for babies is just plain fun). Awesome. Babies cannot write out their own thank-you notes. Not awesome.

Best of all, handmade gifts.

From my sister-in-law, customized onesies:


A bib from an old friend's wife:


Bootays from my aunt:


Blankets, from left to right, fleece and crocheted from my mother-in-law, knit from my mom and a simple double layer flannel blanket, sewn by me:


And a yummy brown and aqua quilt from my mom:


Now, on to those thank-you notes.

Craving...

Sleep

At eight weeks, my baby does not sleep through the night. In fact, my baby would prefer not to sleep at night at all it seems. I totally understand now how sleep deprivation can be used as a torture device. (And as for that "sleep when your baby sleeps" nonsense, it's great as long as you are able to get all your sleep in 45-minute intervals and don't have any need to eat, shower, do laundry, leave the house, or get any kind of non-baby human contact.)

Root Beer

Before late in my pregnancy, I could take it or leave it. I always preferred ginger ale. Now, however, I'd be happy to drink nothing but.

Spring

While I loved, loved, loved the weather in California, I've never hated Wisconsin winters. I still don't hate winter, but I'm so ready for spring this year. It all probably has to do with being extra-cooped up inside with the baby. I can't wait for the first day it's warm enough to take the baby out for a walk (note to self: buy stroller sometime before warm day arrives).

Knitting

The last time I knit? A couple of hours before my water broke and we left for the hospital. Last thing I knit?



The most frustrating thing is that I considered taking the sock along to the hospital, but discarded the idea thinking that I'd be in too much pain to knit. I didn't know that I'd spend the first sixteen or so hours of my hospital stay in relatively mild labor watching repeats of college football games.

At least I finished the knitting on this stripey (and highly modified) version of Knitty's Daisy:



Now, if only I could get it washed and the zipper on it. And find the time to knit something else.

My Biggest Project Yet

In fact, he's three weeks old today. (He was a New Year's Eve baby.) I now totally understand how this mom gig can be a full time job. I've been spending almost eight hours a day just feeding him. Plus there's all the time that gets eaten up by cuddling and staring at him... not that I do that. Heh. He's turning me into a big softy.

Having him (his nickname from the get-go had been Bear) around has been a lot like I expected and at the same time, totally different. Breastfeeding has been, um, challenging. Much harder than I was led to expect. And by hard, I mean painful. I have come to the conclusion that if someone doesn't go through a period of initial breastfeeding pain, that they are very, very lucky. Even with classes, a super-supportive husband, and a slew of nurses and lactation consultants- the pain. Sleep is the other big challenge. It didn't seem like it would be such a big deal at first, but that was before the newborn drowsiness began to wear off.

On the other hand, labor and his delivery was no worse than I expected. We had a few small complications, but Bear and I came both came away from it healthy. I've unexpectedly lost almost all of my pregnancy weight, which I attribute to the breastfeeding and a curious absence of appetite (despite being ravenous during early labor and my sisters-in-law's tales of increased stomach capacity after giving birth). It's actually kinda tough to pack in all the calories I need per day. Also, cloth diapering has been much easier than I expected. It helped that we bought a no-brainer package from a local baby store (which I highly recommend if you, like me, are totally overwhelmed by the diaper options out there). We're washing our own, and it's much, much easier than I anticipated.

All in all, I'm pretty tired, a little sore and blissfully happy. Time to go stare at the baby.

The Third Day of the Rest of My Life

I feel like the reset button has been pushed on my life. Last Friday was my last day of work. Not my last day of work until maternity leave was through, but my last day of work. As in, I no longer have a job outside the home (by choice). My new job is of the frighteningly traditional domestic sort. Needless to say, there are some mixed feelings, including a healthy dose of anxiety, that go with this choice*, but I'm pretty sure this is the right decision for our family for the moment.

This week I'm embracing the domestic. Albeit slowly, since being 37(!) weeks pregnant does not allow for sudden movements. Yesterday I spent a bit of the afternoon making the suddenly ubiquitous peppermint bark. I remember my mom making it with confectioner's coating and smashed starlight mints when I was a kid. I, however, now have a taste for the layered dark and white chocolate version so popular now. I thought that making it would be a cinch: layer some melted chocolate, incorporate some peppermint extract and pile on some crushed mints. Easy right? Um, not quite.

All of the recipes I saw called for the bark to be stored in the refrigerator. Why? Tempering. Or, rather, a lack thereof. If you just melt chocolate and allow it to cool, you lose the temper- the snap, the shininess, and the solidity at room temperature. So, in order to make something simple more difficult, I followed the "seed method" directions at Cooking For Engineers, and somehow managed to temper my chocolate. And my white chocolate. And produced three pounds of non-refrigerated peppermint bark.

Hmm, this domestic stuff is not so bad so far...

*I also feel very fortunate to even have this choice both financially and career-wise.