Piles and piles

of clothes handed down from my friends. And this on top of a small pile of new sleepers, cloths, toys and other baby things that my friends have gifted me.

Yesterday was my baby shower. Since my family is so far away from us this is probably the only celebration type gathering the Bean will get and it was a lovely afternoon with my Mamma friends.

I should mention that I'm really not that comfortable with having a lot of attention on me so, opening gifts, while fun; is an act of self consciousness even when surrounded by the people that I love. So I opened my gifts as unobtrusively as possible and hope that I will be able to express my thanks properly with thank you cards. The big gift of the day was an Ergo Baby carrier. Since I plan on wearing the Bean as a fashion accessory/ body warming device over the next few months I couldn't have received a better gift. Topped off with the fact that the brand is one that some of my Momma friends have used and love I'm thrilled.

After the shower ended and the husband picked me up we went and picked up the Arms Reach Co-Sleeper that I've been eyeing up since the Peanut was sharing our bed instead of sleeping in her crib because that was the only way that I was getting enough sleep to function. This time around we're starting out by co-sleeping and I have high hopes that the co-sleeper will make that much easier. Now we have to do some bedroom rearranging so that we can all fit.

Now what was that I read somewhere about nesting?

5 Questions: LavenderAve; Thoughtfully Handmade

The first Baby Shower Gift that I received from the Etsy Baby Shower was from this fantastic shop. Jenn, the proprietor and creative mastermind behind LavenderAve has been on vacation, I wanted to make sure that you were able to view all the adorable and super comfy looking 'jamma's in her shop so I've waited until she returned before sharing her answers to my 5 questions.

Jenn was kind enough to send me and the Bean a set of adorable giraffe jammies that I think we'll be dressing her up in at the hospital. LavenderAve features both nightdresses (which I've found are so difficult to come by these days without being plastered with the likes of Hanna Montana or Dora the Explorer) and cozy looking pajammas as well as lounge pants and vintage look pantalettes for a little added sweetness underneath skirts and dresses. LavenderAve is a must visit if you've got kids to clothe for bedtime.

You can follow Jenn on her blog where she's recently been posting about getting organized as well as some of her projects. To keep updated on what's happening in her shop you can also find LavenderAve on Facebook.


Do you have any influences that guide your work?
My kids have been a huge influence on my work. I have made them PJ's for a long time, and it was natural to start selling them on Etsy. The nightgown that I currently sell was inspired by a friend who was looking for a simple white nightgown for her daughters and couldn't find one anywhere.


Do you listen to music when you create? If yes, what's on your play list right now and why?
I usually listen to audio books. I have recently listened to Becoming Naomi Leon by Pam Munoz Ryan and am listening to American on Purpose by Craig Ferguson right now.
Sometimes I listen to music, my playlist is determined by my mood. Hooray for the ipod. I could be listening to ColdPlay, The Cars, White Stripes, Louis Armstrong or AC/DC depending on my stress level :). I like something in nearly every genre.


You have won a lottery, the prize is 3 items to furnish your dream studio space, what do you choose and why?
A brand new Bernina sewing machine so my old steady baby can rest sometimes, a serger because I really need one and a murphy bed to get the darn guest bed out of my way.


What was the last shop/ item you hearted on Etsy?
Yours, actually and CountryChicCottage and whimsyandspice. All of you on the same day.


Rock, Paper or Scissors?
Usually rock, sometimes scissors.

Library, Laundry (like I'd not have any to do) and starting something new

As the title suggests I've got a library trip planned today, laundry and plans to start a new project.

What is this project you ask? Well it's one that I had on my list from last year and hopefully it's something that I can get done before the Bean makes her debut. Also it's going to allow me to brush up on my book binding since what I'm planning is to make a bedtime book for the Peanut of the Poem Wynken Blynken and Nod by Eugene Field.

It's a poem that my Dad used to recite to me when I was small and something that I want to pass on to the Peanut and the Bean. I've already done a painting for the Peanut's room but I wanted to also have a picture book that we could read and keep.

First on the list of things to get the book done is to decide the size of the book and decide how many pages so that I can cut the paper down to size. Not as simple as measuring and cutting since paper has a grain that makes folding along one side easier than the other, so I'll have to make sure that I keep that in mind when I pull out my paper. To decide on the number of pages for the book I'll be taking a copy of the poem and breaking it up into bite sized chunks, which will also break the poem up into illustrations for each page.

I'm excited about getting started on this in the new space and I'll be posting on my progress too.

What are you working on today?

5lbs

Yesterday I spent some creative time carving a few new stamps while sitting at my new worktable. Today we're headed out to the Nutritionist for what could be my last appointment with them and the countdown to D-day continues.

I'll also be working on Friday's post; another 5 question feature which I'm very excited about.

And the 5lbs mentioned in the title of this post? How much extra weight that the Dr said I'm carrying around in retained water.

and the hormones, they keep raging

Wow.

All the lovely comments on yesterday's post had my eyes welling up. Thank You.


Things are starting to come together in the workspace. The Husband spent a huge chunk of yesterday working on his stuff and I'm itching to get in and start doing some painting, even if the space isn't exactly how I want it to be it's set and ready for the creativity to flow.

That's one other side effect of being all with child, I'm feeling very creative and very much like I want to be exercising that creative muscle while I still have some wide awake brain cells. So today is all about getting my creativity on. Well that and having a nap...

OK, I'll be putting my feet up now

Over the last week my feet or rather my ankles have been taking on a rather bloated state of being.

I've taken off my wedding and engagement rings and put them away (with the husband making a comment about not liking my fingers being bare which brings on the danger of some other man coming along and stealing me away from him; he's sweet right? either that or he's patronizing the hell out of me) and I am most decidedly waddling around instead of gracefully walking to point b from point a thanks to my legs feeling like they are about to come tumbling out of their sockets.

The count down to New Bean Eve is on, we are 24 days away from her much anticipated arrival and I would love to say that I'm loving every minute of these last few weeks but honestly I'm just wishing it were all over so that the real sleep deprivation can begin.

As it is, I'm up every hour on the hour most nights with Braxton-Hicks Contractions and Bathroom trips. Rolling over in bed to get comfortable involves waking fully up so that I can sit up, or heave myself up in order to reposition myself. Have I mentioned that there is a knee or possibly even a foot almost permanently lodged between against my ribcage and I'm just looking forward to getting to now this little wiggle worm.

And of course now that I've just spewed a waterfall of pregnancy related whining I'm now thinking about how these last few weeks are the last time I'll feel the quickening, the last time I'll be closer to this Bean than anyone else in the whole wide world and the last time I'll feel the anticipation of becoming a Mommy all over again.

You'll excuse me now as I take a moment to indulge in some pregnancy hormone related melancholy...

Compare and Contrast

Just for fun I took a look at last year's New Years Post and surprisingly things aren't too different between how I'm feeling today and how I was feeling a year ago with the major difference being that my tiredness stems from the whole creating new life activity that I've been involved in since last Spring.

The Tree is down, all the lights are put away, the disco skelly is once more hanging in the kitchen/living room door and I'm feeling the need for a nap except I've got to test my blood sugars in about 30 minutes before I can comfortably rest my noggin.

I'm not much for new years resolutions, I try to steer clear of them since they tend to be a direct route to feeling bad about not following through. I like to spend some time during the solstice thinking about what changes I'd like to see in the coming year but pregnancy brain put a wrench in that practice so instead I've been taking the extra time to mull it all over.

Last year I wanted to start baking my own bread, to start a garden and make being creative a regular part of my routine. The garden was a success. Bread was as well until the first trimester of pregnancy made the process seem too overwhelming and I feel that I have definitely made creativity a regular part of my day to day.

In the coming year, with the Bean on the way in 25 days I want to ensure that I take time to take care of myself, take time to make the Peanut the center of my attention the rest, gardens, bread, art will all fall into place once the Bean is amongst us and we've all become acquainted with each other because this new phase in our family takes precedence and honestly all that other stuff will fall into place.

What changes would you like to bring into your life this year?