Organizing-Life » children

what a week, please hold me strong

Monday Morning – Today -

5:54 AM – wake to “mama, where is my baby?” from the dark beyond. Say a quick prayer, prop up the eyelids and move out of bed.

6:35 AM – decline to give toddler chocolate bar for breakfast

6:45 AM – give bath to son with pee-pjs who is sitting on the carpet stairs, contemplate cleaning the stairs, but don’t know where the pee is

7:25 AM – clean up hardly-eaten breakfast

7:35 AM – took these really chalky, very messy photos you see here. Need to wash hands, arms, ears and noses, and change shirts before preschool the next extremely messy activity.

**Fast Forward**

Thursday Morning

6:50 AM – husband lands at Dulles Airport back from his business trip.

7:00 AM – I say another prayer and thank God for his safe return, and that my body and spirit survived the week (along with two little kids, and an infant yet-born.)

May this week be filled with love, joy, memories to be kept close, and lessons learned. May this week be filled with grace, courage, strength, patience, and respect. And may you God be in everything we do, beside us the entire journey, and present in every way. Amen.

lox and latkes

So last Thursday I mentioned that I’d let on to the reason why I’ve been a bit remiss about writing regularly in this space. Well, the reason is that we are happily pregnant with our third. Almost through our first trimester, the baby is officially due in late May of next year.

This pregnancy has been nothing like the other two. You always hear that each one is different right? I think being gluten-free has made this time much more manageable. I’m vastly less sick. Almost no nauseousness at all. I am thinking optimistically that my chest may end up a couple sizes smaller than the EE size we experienced previously. NOT fun. I feel more alert. I can do light exercise and carry on most daily activities. Lately I’ve been feeling more tired. I’m my usual up-and-at-’em in the morning, but by mid-day I need a nap.

And I swear I eat 8 times a day. My cravings? The Jewish foods of my childhood. Bagels (gluten-free) with cream cheese, capers, tomatoes and lox dominated last week. And freshly fried, homemade crispy latkes joined late in the game. Those latkes were perfect. I am positive my grandmother would have been proud. My tummy sure liked them.

I didn’t think that I’d ever become pregnant again after having our little premie baby. I feel a bit tentative about this pregnancy. Unsure of where it will go, and how everything will turn out. I half expect us to start life in the NICU. Or maybe I am just mentally preparing for that possibility. I made a prayer early on that whatever happens is up to God, and that I am just going to have to go along.

So I am scaling back my responsibilities, the tasks I planned to take on to prepare for the holidays, and all expectations about outward productivity. Outward productivity…geesh! We are making a baby in here!

P/S

Since my daughter decided to arrive early, exactly 4 days before my husband’s birthday–forever trumping his celebrations, I fully expect this one to arrive 4 days before mine (which is May 19th), so that mama may forever experience the same.

P/P/S

I make no promises about my regular presence here in this space, other than that I plan to still be here as often as this one allows. And, I fully intend to continue being crafty, inventive in the kitchen, and fill this space with what I’ve come to love sharing with all of you. Now, if you’ll excuse me, a couple of potato latkes are calling my name from the fridge.

{this moment} handwriting

{this moment} – A Friday ritual. A single photo – no words – capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you’re inspired to do the same, leave a link to your ‘moment’ in the comments at SouleMama for all to find and see.

:: :: ::

first name, first time…growing up

Have a wonderful weekend!

slipping into a cooler season

It is beginning to get chilly, (though, yes, I was wearing shorts outside this weekend) and I am into my knitting mode this fall. How lovely it is to feel that wonderful wool yarn pull through your fingers and see your creation come alive, stitch by stitch. The colors, the endless patterns and possibilities always makes me excited. I’ve got hats, mittens, (even a pair for me!) scarves, leg-warmers, and small sweaters on my list. And I always feel a bit decadent sitting on the sofa doing no housework, e-mail, or cooking, and just knitting with my feet up sipping a mug of tea.

This pattern is wurm by katushika found on Ravelry.com. My mods for a toddler’s head are on my page.

It was the end of along day and my model wasn’t cooperating. Running away, ripping off that hot hat and throwing it on the ground with all the conviction a little two-year-old can muster. Actually pretty cute.

Now on to Mini Mister’s winter ensemble….

what is wrong with this picture?

Humph. Only realized this AFTER I tucked in all the loose ends.

knitting for colder weather

The temperatures are staring to drop here in Northern Virginia. We are only down to the 40’s in the mornings before pre-school and I know lower temps are only to come.

So, I started freaking out. I need to change out our seasonal wear! Warm coats are too short! Long pants aren’t long. And where did the mittens that fit go? Changing the seasons means thrift shopping, swapping hand-me-downs, and creating some pieces that require quality like warm hats, durable mittens, and legwarmers.

Out come the knitting needles, the dreams of arm-fulls of wonderful wool yarns, and cascades of colors. And out comes the wonderful headache of sifting through hundreds of patterns to find “just the right one for this season.” This is my start. My knitting fingers are moving swiftly. More swiftly than the temperatures outdoors are dipping, I hope. Will up date with pictures when finished. Hope you are keeping toasty warm out there!

speedracer on track

Racing jacket, check. Helmet, check. Halloween, still coming.

Pattern: Simplicity 5384, modified to include contoured panels in white and blue denim.

Red edge stitching and red denim logo applique. And jean jacket buttons with silver stars.

Racers, gentlemen…start…your…engines!!

{this moment} hauling

Haulin’ brush just like I did when I was a kid. How he’d love to go cut fire-wood in the forest with Gramps.

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Speedy sewing

In the finishing stage of sewing up my second Halloween costume project.

My son loves all things racing-car related. Speed Racer is one of his favorite characters. So we decided to be re-do Halloween last year.

But Mama decided to take on a costume challenge and make a new Speed Racer Jacket. (Besides, the old one is a bit short.) The tricky part was drafting an original pattern. With a simple jacket pattern as a guide (Simplicity 5284) I guesstimated, and re-estimated each panel. All that seam ripping, re-tracing, and investing in extra fabric, really paid off. Think motorcycle-like contoured jacket. But out of white denim.

A tiny bit of red Mach 5 applique and a touch of red edge stitching finishes this baby. (We are only waiting on buttons now. But I think they are going to have to wait until after I pick out fabric for a few duvet projects! Or maybe that Beauty and the Beast Belle dress I want to make…slippery fabric again. Maybe not.)

a bit of halloween…early

I am not entirely sure that this outfit will last another 35 days until it makes a first runway trip up the steps of a ghoulish front porch.

But I think Prince Charming will not mind the early debut. And I don’t believe that I’ll be able to pry it offer her tiny body between now and then.

This year was a lot easier than last year’s outfit. Oh goodness, the slippery green, seven-skirt-extravaganza…And those wings with the invisible thread. Who sews with invisible thread? It should be called impossible-frustration-thread…in color: clear maddness.

This year, Cinderelli is ready to hit the trick-or-treat road. Or, just hang out with halmony and halaboji and pass out candy, and cavities, to other little neighborhood children. Now, off to work on that none-other-than-Speed-Racer costume. Denim. In white. With appliqué. I’ve never worked with denim before. This should be interesting.

Note: This is Simplicity pattern 2817; size HH in size 3. Little Miss is just that, little. I took off 3″ on either side of the rear zipper seam, evenly split between both sides. And we made a generous 4″ hem, clipping off 3″ additional inches because we are short. I added four tulle underskirts, basting them around all edges and attaching the bundle to the outer skirt before sewing the gathering stitches. And finally, I added a few pale blue plastic crystals (on ribbon tape) to the bodice above the crazy organza puffs.

P/S, Using sparkly fabric through-out delights those who are two years old and still want to wear light-catching gear.