mama made wool diaper covers...

i posted a quick picture the other day of the diaper covers i was working on but thought i'd share the finished products. hopefully you are aren't tired of baby posts yet!

i used this basic pattern for the covers, though i basically cut out the middle section by folding it down to make teeny newborn sizes. for the blue and grey ones i made them out of recycled cashmere sweaters, because who wouldn't want cashmere covering their rump? i felted the sweaters first by washing them on super hot in the washing machine and drying (you may need to do it several times). it causes the fibers to shrink up. i then layed out the sweater and pinned the pattern on and cut through both sides to get a double layer. you then simply put the sides you want out facing each other and sew around it, leaving an opening along the top and both sides. turn them right side out and add elastic to the openings and then stitch the open edges together and it makes a kind of ruffle. the first one felt very tricky but they got easier as i went on. fatter elastic helped too.

you then add velcro, making sure the scratchy parts won't come in contact with the baby. i made mine so the side tabs can also cross over each other to make them more fitted, or they both attach to the front piece to allow room for growing.

you can also add cute little details like a heart on the tushie! i want to make some with my little animal shapes also. an elephant or giraffe?!

i bought this white wool fabric years ago with the intention of making wool covers for my daughter but didn't have the confidence. i ended up making countless animals out of instead. i'm sure you may recognize it:) it's very cute as a sheep or a diaper cover i think, and i had just enough to make one cover from it.

you can also improvise a little bit if your sweater isn't quite big enough. you can use two different colors, or add in a little extra fabric if it happens to be a v-neck, like i did.

i'm really hoping they work well, and i can make more. wool diaper covers can be quite expensive and making your own cuts down on the costs dramatically. sweaters are only a few dollars a piece and then you just need velcro, elastic and maybe some patience.

after they are sewn up i washed them again with a wool wash that contained lanolin. to make sure they are extra good i also lanolized them in the sink. you add hot water and lanolin and let them soak. then role them in a towel to squeeze out extra water and lay them flat to dry (which took no time outside in the sunshine). the lanolin will make sure they absorb a lot of water but keep them from leaking onto other surfaces or babies skin. if the get wet with urine, they only need to be hung to dry. wash them every few weeks unless they get pooped on and then just re-wash with wool detergent and air dry. re-lanolize them when they aren't working as well. i use pre-fold inserts like these inside, along with a snappi which makes them more form fitting.

in other news, i officially put the shop on vacation mode today. it will be closed for the next month. i sold my last order yesterday... one of these babies! i'm excited for them to participate in some ones special day.

nesting...

besides cleaning and making things for the baby, i've also been trying to check off some of the projects i've been putting off around the house. i've been busy sewing curtains the last week. i don't know why, afraid i will never get to sew again once baby comes i guess!

i made curtains for the front windows. i hate covering them up at all or blocking any light in this old, tends to be dark, house but it was necessary. we live on a fairly busy street and privacy was a real issue.  it does feel cozier though...

i took off the cabinet doors under the kitchen sink, which are hard to keep clean and added a sink skirt instead. i want to paint all the lower cabinets grey, but they will have to wait awhile...

i made matching cafe curtains for the kitchen window (all the windows will be replaced eventually). you can also see the chalkboard i painted here last month...

i have a pile of curtain rods that still need to be hung, but need my husbands help with that. i did purchase some new chairs for the living room this week. i need to add seat cushions to both. i found a great rug at homegoods (how addicted am i to that store?) but it sold before i could go back and get it:( so, i will have to be on the lookout for another for the living room...

the living room needs a lot of work. i have a lovely grey paint picked out and need to hang curtains and art work, plus find the rug. we also decided on impulse the other day to start dismantling the fireplace surround. why? we wanted to see what was under the ugly fake marble someone put in. of course this proved more difficult then we thought and now it is just in pieces waiting to be finished...

other than that, i have been rearranging furniture some, and baby items are starting to pop up all over the house...

sometimes i wish i could just do all the work i'm dreaming of in my head at once, but unfortunately do not have the money or time for that. baby steps!

sundays...

some images captured by my husband at the grant park farmer's market this weekend. we are having so much fun selling at the market! we rarely miss a weekend shopping there. it's such a great community event and we get the best produce. afterwards we alwasy hang out in the grass and often have lunch from one of the sellers (this week a delicious crepe sandwhich that was so yummy). our next market day to sell is in three weeks... think i will make it? i'm looking forward to making some items for back to school time in the next month... if i can find the time.

my daughter has made friends with all the vendors and loves to score free stuff rom them... she is very good at it. do you have a community farmer's market you like to visit?

bringing in...

my house is starting to look a lot different. suddenly there are baby things everywhere. which is sort of strange without the baby! part of me feels like i am going backwards... it has been so long since i have had to think of all the things a baby might need. i'm used to children... who mostly can tell you what they need and can get much of it for themselves. part of me also feels like this is all brand new, a new beginning, a new life, a new little person i am becoming so curious to meet. i will be sad to let go of the pregnancy part of things. a little one who is truly part of me in a way no one else can experience. i'm so looking forward to meeting this little person though, and also i've sort of forgotten what it is like to have a waistline?!

above is a corner of my room. we don't do a nursery, the baby will stay with us for the first year or so. i cleared out our built in book shelf and have been slowly filling it with baby things (and yes, my hospital bag is starting to be filled too)... clothes, baby carriers, bathing items, and cloth diaper supplies. we will be using prefolds (which can be seen down in the corner there) along with wool covers. of course i can't resist wool! even before i started sewing with wool, i found the beauty of wool diaper covers while cloth diapering my son. we then used only wool with my daughter. unfortunately, i did not keep all of my covers (or any other baby supplies at all!). i have a few left, i have bought a few newborn covers, and i'm currently experimenting with making some of my own. i thought it would be easy, but they have been a bit challenging! i used some felted wool sweaters i already had on hand from my pile of thrifted wool so i knew it wouldn't be  great loss if they didn't turn out right. after two tries i'm starting to get the hang of it better, though it is hard to really tell how well they work until the baby is actually here and wearing them! i'm planning on making another with some nice wool i have and see how they turn out, and then maybe wait to try them before making any more.

everything is getting so close, and i'm excited to say i made it to 35 weeks! my last baby was born at 33 weeks due to severe pre-eclampsia, as many of you may know. when i first found out i was pregnant 35 weeks seemed so far away, and now here it is and we are doing better than i could have hoped. no signs of pre-e so far and the baby is looking really healthy. the two times a week i go to the dr. (for about 6 weeks or so now) isn't always fun or easy but every good check up is worth it and so reassuring. i'm hoping things keep going well and i can have the experience of bringing home a healthy full term infant again.

my belly is getting so low and pointy! she is definitely getting ready. hopefully i will be ready too.

ordinary miracle...

Source: rhubarbinthegarden.tumblr.com via Cary on Pinterest

Ordinary Miracle

by Barbara Kingsolver

I have mourned lost days
When I accomplished nothing of importance.
But not lately.
Lately under the lunar tide
Of a woman’s ocean, I work
My own sea-change:
Turning grains of sand to human eyes.
I daydream after breakfast
While the spirit of egg and toast
Knits together a length of bone
As fine as a wheatstalk.
Later, as I postpone weeding the garden
I will make two hands
That may tend a hundred gardens.

I need ten full moons exactly
For keeping the animal promise.
I offer myself up: unsaintly, but
Transmuted anyway
By the most ordinary miracle.
I am nothing in this world beyond the things one woman does.
But here are eyes that once were pearls.
And here is a second chance where there was none.

slowing down...

sleepy sid

this was taken on the last day of school... after school was let out. my daughter called me upstairs and asked me to take this picture of her. do you think she is trying to tell me something? this is how she wants her summer to look perhaps? let me just say... that is ok by me. i am so ready for the lazy days of summer. even though it means having my children full time and perhaps not as much time to rest for mama, i am ready. oh how i have missed my kids this year. i know the transition back to this home centered world will be a little rocky at first... the adjustment to a new kind of routine, and then a very large adjustment to a new person in the family! before that happens i will try to hold onto and treasure these last fews weeks with my two children before they become three. i will watch them sleep, and play. i will see what they are eating and doing and thinking. i will read to them for long stretches on the couch under the fan. we will eat outside and swim at the pool. we will take trips to the ice cream store and eat popcicles we make ourselves. we will watch movies and go to the drive-in. we will just enjoy the time to be together and know how lucky we are to have this.. when most children are in camp or daycare all summer. i feel blessed to have this time with my little ones while i can still call them little.

dancing in the rain with a friend

a growing reminder of the need to slow down

mothering...

this week i have spent several days visiting my children's school for portfolio share. it has been an interesting and emotional week. i feel there are many changes in the air... school ending and a new baby coming soon being a huge part of it of course. it is also a time of decision making. what direction do we want our family to head in? we have had a lovely experience at school this year, but also many challenges. we have met so many wonderful people in the community, which i'm so grateful for. now comes the time to decide of it is right for us though. we haven't made any final decisions but i can say i have come to realize how much i have missed my children this year. i feel like my time with them is so limited and hurried, and i've never had to experience that before. i never thought i would consider homeschooling as a long term commitment but as i weight the positives and negatives it is starting to look more appealing. there are never any easy answers, and sometimes it is amazing how the answers to the same questions change over time and how the questions themselves begin to change too.

after my daughter's portfolio share on wednesday i had some time to kill before pick up. i didn't feel like making the walk home and then back again so i decided to stop at the zoo. i have never been there by myself! it was nice. i mostly sat and watched the gorillas being fed. they have had quite a few babies born here. the mama i am most familiar with has cared for twins and has another baby who is two. she is very protective, never letting the baby out of her sight or even her grasp. she will calmly eat an orange while holding onto him with the other hand. he spends most of his time on her back. the zoo keeper told us she was the same with the twins, which was more difficult to do. she often held one by each hand until they were around three years old when they the first finally broke free of her grip and went off to explore. at this point she knew they were ready.

the newest mama is the one pictured above. she has a one year old daughter who is the tiniest little thing. watching her, i was surprised how much freedom her mother gives her. she runs around on her own to explore already... climbing into a hammock, sitting next to the silver back as if it was no big deal, riding on the backs of other gorillas and climbing a high rope without assistance or fear. her mother was often close by but seemed unfazed by these explorations, only gathering her up when she was ready to move on. the contrast between the two mothers surprised me. being familiar with the first mother, i guess i had assumed that is how all gorillas must mother. i was wrong. they each have their own personality and technique, often influenced by the way they were mothered. each mother seemed calm and comfortable and both babies seemed the same as well. neither way seemed better... just different. i am realizing how many ways there are to mother your children... even each individual child can have different needs. i have always known this of course but i guess i have also over-thought the importance of these choices. they can seem hugely influential and overwhelming. i am beginning to see that it is perhaps better to approach it on a more intuitive level though... to let go of over-thinking everything. there can be no perfect right way of mothering. maybe there is only doing what feels right in the moment and hoping that your children and you are getting what you need. i certainly haven't figured it out but it always feels good when you find yourself in these moments of changing your perceptions. i'll let you know how things go.

from the market...

truthfully, it was very hard to get myself out of bed on sunday, mother's day. it was pouring rain and chilly outside. i was thinking our first market experience would be a bust. luckily i did get up and despite a very wet day and not the usual crowd, we ended up having a great time! i love my neighborhood. everyone is so friendly and supportive. we had so many great compliments and actually sold quite a lot! it was funny how many dad's came rushing in with little ones in raincoats to pick up a last minute gift for mom:) our set up up had to be modified because of the rain (hello, ugly but necessary rain flaps) but it was a good test run and we figured out what we would like to do in the future. i'm definitely looking forward to more!

aprons on the line

subliminal messaging courtesy of my nine year old son!

this was a cool project i did... chalk board paint banner!

the whole gang, including the big belly (my son will be taller than me any minute now)

katy and i... we managed to not spend all of our profits in delicious pastries though we were set up right next to the little tart bakeshop!

potholders, aprons, and lavender sachets were the most popular mother's day gifts... hope they are enjoyed!

prairie seed at the farmer's market...

part of the reason i have been so absent lately is i have been hard at work in my other shop... prairie seed. my sister, katy, and i have been making lot's of aprons, napkins, dish towels, market bags and more to sell at our local farmer's market. i love our farmer's market. we go every week as a family and spend the whole morning. we always see so many people we know, and the kids love to play in  the grass with friends while we shop for the best local produce. i was excited when we got the okay to sell there a few times a month as well. our first time will be this sunday, mother's day! it should be a lot of fun and hopefully we will sell a few things too... and i won't be tempted to spend it all on the yummy baked goods they have there! i'll let you know how it goes.

anniversary in savannah...

today is my tenth wedding anniversary... which also marks 16 years together. i can't believe it has been so long. i was 19 years old when i first met my husband and became friends. a little while later we started dating and fell in love. at that age i could have never imagined i was meeting the man i would spend my life with. i look back on all the things we have done together over that time, and in many ways we grew up together... in many ways we still are. we are also now watching our children grow up which is such a  magical thing. marriage is hard work. something i didn't really know about at 19 or maybe even 10 years ago. when you are with the right person it is worth it though... every day and every year. i can't imagine doing anything else.

we celebrated our anniversary a little early this year because of the new baby on the way. we took a  weekend trip to savannaha where i have never been but always wanted to go. it was so lovely. the weather was hot! but it we stayed in a beautiful old inn right in the heart of everything. it was nice to just park the car and be able to walk everywhere. it was nice to be able to do what we wanted without thinking about whether it would be interesting to kids. we walked all over, went into any shops we wanted to, ate where we wanted, when we wanted, sat on park benches and in coffee shops just talking about nothing... and we ate sweets the entire time! did i say lovely? it was paradise! it is so important to do these things as a couple because sometimes you can forget that you still are a couple and not just mama and papa. i know it will be a while before we get a chance to do something like that again and i'm glad we made the effort to make it all happen.

i'm really looking forward to the suprises the next ten (or sixteen years) will bring!