Goals

It's good to have goals. I find sometimes though that putting out a list of things I need to do can do one of two things. Either motivate me, or overwhelm me. Here's today's list...let's see what happens with it.

1. FOM diaper for a diva
2. Apply eyelets to the costume
3. Hoodies for Emily and Tristan
4. flannel jammies for Tristan
5. Charlie Tee Hoodie (4T) for the neighbor

• need to trace out 4T pattern
• cut out fabric

Anything missing from the list? Oh yeah...packing. See...we're moving next week. A week from today in fact. And not a single thing has been packed away. Baby clothes need to be sorted. There's this mountain of laundry in the basement that has been there for almost a year waiting for someone to sort it into what fits and what doesn't. Why haven't I done it? Because it's a huge job. No one else around here seems to be interested in doing it, and on top of everything else I do around here, add that would just be too much.

This weekend I think, everyone is going to pitch in, roll up their sleeves and get to sorting and packing.

Before I go, here's a few pictures of the hoodie I made yesterday and the costume's progress up till now.

Cloth diapers

I love my cloth diapers. I really do. I love the fact that cloth diapers cost less than Pampers. I love that my babies rarely ever have a diaper rash. I love making my own diapers and placing something that I sewed myself on my baby's bottom. I don't mind washing the diapers, it's a part of life.

Let's stop for a moment. People have asked me about this part of the cloth diapering process. They say "but what about the poo, isn't it gross to wash it?" Um...well kind of, but I do it. I mean, when you're teaching a child how to use the big person toilet, and they have accidents in their clothing, do you throw out the clothes they were wearing that got poo on them? Do you throw out clothes that got messy when a disposable diaper leaked? I don't. I don't have enough money to be replacing clothes just because they got a little poo on them.

And don't tell me you've never been poo'd on by a baby that belongs to you. Like spit up...it happens.

Back to the cloth. I have this obsession. It's called Ooga. My Ooga obsession started innocently enough...I bought a yard of fabric with these cute little red and green monsters all over it (pictured all the way to the left). Over the next year, I got more as new colours were introduced. Last night, 2 more colours arrived in the mail and are in the wash as we speak...blue / brown, and a Halloween orange, black, and yellow.

Andrew gave me this "look" as I was lovingly petting calmly going through my packages. It was then that he told me I wasn't allowed to buy any more of this fabric until I sewed up what I already had. And that right there is my problem. I love this fabric too much to cut into it. But won't I love it just as much on my babies as I love it sitting neatly folded in my fabric stash? Because really...if I sew it, then I can see it every time one of my babies are wearing something I made them from it. But...then it'll be gone! I'll have used it up and I won't have anymore to lovingly pet have sitting in my fabric pile.

Oh but wait...if I sew with it, I can buy more colours! Oh yeah, and I still have one more colour coming (pink / brown) and some that have been laminated....for making diapers of course.

And I DID sew with it btw...

Two years

It's been two years since I've posted to this blog. I didn't even think it was still here.

So very much has happened in what seems to be such a short time. Lets see...2 years ago, I was stuck in Texas while my husband was stuck in Canada. The kids and I made it back up here in time to welcome someone new to the family. Oh wait, let's back track a bit.

February 2009 - Moved from south Texas to the middle of Oklahoma. Got a job, got settled in a house that should have been condemned, and got busy working towards getting back to Canada.
April 2009 - Took Emily up to Canada to celebrate her first birthday with her daddy and grandparents...came home with a surprise.
September 2009 - Found out on my wedding anniversary that our request for permanent residence into Canada had been completed, but no, they couldn't tell us what the answer was, only that there was an answer.
October 2009 - The application was approved and we could finalize our moving plans...the only hitch, I was 8 months pregnant. Time was an issue, money was an issue, everything seemed to be an issue.
November 2009 - We drove for 3 days and landed into Canada on Black Friday, we had much to be thankful for on that Thanksgiving.
December 16, 2009 - That little "surprise" I brought home from Canada back in April decided to make his appearance almost 3 weeks early at 11:47pm. Tristan Alexander arrived weighing in at 8 pounds 4.9 oz.

That was the peanut right after he was born. So small and pink and angry at the world. This is the peanut now...

Fast forward almost a full year. We're moving again, but this time not so far. We bought a house just down the street. We move in a week and a half. I'm in a flurry of sewing for Halloween, sewing for babies, deciding if I want to pack, knowing that if I pack something, I'm going to need it within the next 24 hours. And not just a "oh it can wait a few days need", I'll need it like NOW.

So, that's where we stand. I feel a little guilty going 2 years without  a blog entry, but I mean, it's not like anyone really reads these things...right?

Priceless..

Bouncy seat....$40
Talking plush Bee...$9
Empty McDonald's cup....absolutely free

Guess which one wins as the favourite toy?

Like I said...

I tend to ignore the fact that I have a blog. Life gets in the way sometimes, and other times, I just don't think what I have to say is interesting. But here it is.

It's now September, tomorrow will be October. Emily is 6 months old and I'm not in Canada anymore. The kids and I are in Texas, the husband is in Ontario. Oh it's such a long story that I don't even want to go into it. Let's just say immigration sucks and leave it at that.

I got a job today. It's not spectacular and it's not what I was looking for, but it is a job and a paycheck and that's the best I can hope for right now. I'll end with the monkey's latest picture.

So, I'm not good at this

In a post on a board I belong to, we got to talking about blogs. I realized, I'm not such a good blogger. I don't keep up with things. I don't update often. But meh, I should. It ranks right up there with housecleaning and going through old clothes. I know I should, but do I really really want to? Do I strive for perfection in it? Newp.

So, to sum up the past 4 months since I blooged. I had a baby.

That pretty much covers it. Emily Elizabeth was born via c-section on March 25, 2008. We opted for a section because I'd had a previous one. It seemed easier this way, add to that the fact that I was terrified to go into labour because of how traumatic Tamberly's birth was. So a section it was. The surgeon's assistant didn't even show up until they were almost done and sewing me back up...yet we still had to pay him. But back to the baby. . .she weighed in at 8 pounds 3.9 ounces and 19 1/2 inches long. 2 months later, she's 10 pounds 7 ounces and 22 inches long.

She's growing so big and is getting into her personality. Her eyes are still blue and her doctor said there's a 75% chance she'll keep them. She doesn't cry often, and when she does it's because you didn't get what she wanted fast enough. She gives you a good 5 minutes to figure out why she has her fussy face on first.

I could go on and on about my baby, but if I did, there would be nothing new to blog about the next time I decide to put something out there. I'll leave this one with a picture or two of Captain Cranky Pants.

It's snuffling

It's snuffling today. I woke up to the sound of scrapping, knowing it could only mean one thing. My anal retentive neighbor was shoveling his driveway. He does this at 2am....at 8am...and whenever more than .01cm of snow collects on his driveway. He also salted it, which is a good thing, because looking outside at the continued snowfall, his shoveling efforts are kind of wasted. Me....I'm not touching the driveway right now.

Why? Well a few reasons.

1. I'm pregnant....the last time I shoveled snow, I had contractions all day.
2. It's still freakin snowing! I think I'll wait until it's done, then make the kids do it.
3. The car is in the driveway. Yes yes, I know, I should have put it in the garage when I got back from the store last night, but I didn't expect to wake up to 4 inches of snow.
4. The plow. The man who drives the plow hates me. For some reason when they do my street, they only dump the snow on my side. It's like they go down one side of the street, leave a nice pile of snow in the middle, then circle around and go down my side of the street in the same direction that they went the first time, and all the snow from the middle as well as my side is now dumped at the base of my driveway. I learned my lesson in shoveling before the plow came once.....I won't make that mistake again.

In knitting news.....

I finished the Unoriginal Hat. However, in my mind, it should be called the Unfortunate Hat. The pattern is lovely and it was fast and easy to do. But.....it does not fit an adult human. It doesn't even fit a non-adult human. This hat will fit my unborn baby when it arrives. It honestly didn't look that small while I was knitting it. I cast on the right number of stitches, I used the appropriate yarn, I even went UP a needle size to ensure it would fit me. Blocking was no help at all.....I now have a nice hat for my baby....that doesn't look like a hat you would put on a baby (wrong color / type of yarn).

I'm debating trying again, but I'm so disappointed in it. I think I'll just set the hat aside and we will never speak of it. I do however need a winter hat. I've checked the hats at the stores and they're just not my type, all fuzzy brims and froo-froo ness. I think a simple beanie in a 1x2 or 1x1 rib will work out fine. I just have to resign myself to knowing that the knitting goddess has the same sentiment for me as I do for the plow man.