Birth Blessings

I beaded this birth blessing necklace tonight with beads gifted to me by my dear friends. I will wear it on Birth Day to remember all the well wishes and blessings surrounding us.

Here are a few messages that were included with my beads~

~Dear Mama, May these beads made of shell bring you calm and tranquilty... the way the ocean always makes me feel. I wish you a wonderful birth day. Whether you need pink or blue, know that you are being thought of and wished nothing but happiness.~

~May the light of your world embrace this new life with peace and truth.

May the tiny heart that beats within be ever open to receive your infinite goodness and wisdom.

May this precious soul grow to love all your children as you do.

Bless this child with the gifts of joy, laughter, health.

Grace this child with a sense of wonder and curiosity.

Grant this child abundant love and devotion, now and for eternity.~

~I chose this bead because the Venus of Willendorf represents a woman full of life, a woman full of child, a woman as she is meant to be.

My wish is for you to have a peaceful birth, an empowering birth, the birth of your dreams.

Love and light~

We love Olivia!

the Pig that is! Esme' and I are crazy about Olivia the Pig books, so when we saw Olivia fabric at the craft store we couldn't pass it up... even though I don't really sew! Luckily my friend Paula came to the rescue and, in exchange for some hand dyed yarn, she took our bag of fabric pieces and magically stitched them up into the most beautiful Baby quilt!

This will surely be treasured for years and years! Thank you Paula!

So BLESSED!!

My cloth diapering girlfriends had a Blessing Shower for me last weekend! We had a wonderful meal at a favorite restaurant of mine, then settled at Starbuck's for dessert, coffee, and... what else but... KNITTING! I received the most beautiful, thoughtful gifts! Just about everything this lucky Baby needs. Here is a picture although I must say, a picture is nothing compared to oogleing over all the precious little things in real life! There are hooded towels, washcloths, mama and baby soap, sitz bath, cloth wipes, little clothes and a little hat, knitted booties, burp cloths, blankets, wet and wipe bags, knitted soakers, teeny, tiny cloth diapers, hand spun yarn for a Baby hat,

and this little frame made by my friend Jamie~ it is currently home to a sonagram picture of Baby!
I AM CERTAINLY BLESSED INDEED!

What I have been up to...

...not blogging, thats for sure! Hmmm, does that say "the daily ramblings of a creative Mama" in my blogs description? Maybe it should say the occasional ramblings, or the far and few between ramblings~

I have been getting ready for Baby's arrival! Washing little clothes and diapers and neatly stacking them in the drawers, deep cleaning every room of the house, and getting rid of nearly everything in my path!! I have also particiapted in a couple swaps recently.

This was for an expecting mama/new baby swap. Below is the package I sent out: 3 back issues of Compleat Mother Magazine (my favorite!), yarn that I kettle dyed so she can knit for her Baby, a jar of lanolin, a box of Pregnancy Tea, and 3 CD's that I burned for her to listen to during her waterbirth at home.

Here is the package I received: 12 cloth baby wipes, a red wet bag for diapers, 2 sets of nursing pads, and 2 Mama made Baby outfits, one of which is sewn from bamboo velour and so soft!! I should have probably taken this picture agaist a dark background so everything would show up a little better. Everything is lovely, trust me!

I knitted and dyed this headband for my new beautifully dreadlocked friend in exchange for some sewing~

She made me these super cool nursing pads and a little Mei Tai for Esme'. I plan to give Esme' the Mei Tai when the Baby is born. I figure since I will be using mine all the time she might like one of her own! I will post pics of her wearing her babies very soon!

I also finished embelishing these foam clogs for Esme' and I (please ignore my swollen preggo ankles!!) I still need to get a pair done for Niko.

I have also cast on a couple last minute knitted items for Baby. I figure I will just keep knitting til this little one decides it is time to join us!

I love Spring!

Spring is so wonderful! We have flowers in full bloom! And, I am already planning my vegetable garden! I think I will keep it small and simple this year because I have a feeling with a brand new Baby the garden may not get as much attention as it should. I became pregnant at the end of the growing season last year and let's just say my poor plants became the most neglected garden in history.

These are the Primroses Tony brought home from the store the other day. I helped Esme' plant them this morning, to add to "her garden."

Here is Esme' digging for Roly Poly bugs in her little garden. Right now she has some Grape Hyacynths and a few Tulips that have yet to bloom in there.

Notice the Build-A-Bear shirt she has on over her own shirt! *sigh*

And, here is my little herb garden that is in serious need of a clean-up! That will be my next project for sure!

Oh, and I can't forget my profoundly pregnant shadow!!

Nesting?

I have been crazy busy around the house getting ready for Baby's arrival. I have my birth kit and have managed to collect the rest of the items needed for the birth. I still need to pull Esme's baby clothes out of the basement and wash them. Most of her newborn clothes are gender neutral because of course we didn't know if she would be a boy or girl either. I still need to wash blankets and burp cloths and diapers, but I think I will wait a couple weeks to do that.

Tony and I painted our bedroom last week. I had bought new bedding several months ago but didn't want to use it until we painted. It looks so much better! After 4 years in our home this was the one room that has never received any attention! It was awful! I wanted it to look nice because I plan to spend a full week in there with Baby while Babymooning! I should say with Baby and Esme' because I am sure she will be close in tow.

And speaking of Esme' I have been trying to spend as much time as possible with her these last few weeks. She has not wanted to let me out of her site. She has been so patient with this pregnancy, never asking why it is taking so long for this Baby to get here. As the time gets closer and closer she can hardly contain her excitment. She isn't even upset anymore when we tell her the Baby just might be a BOY!!

Another thing on my mind lately is planting our garden. Tony is going to get the beds cleaned out and ready on his next day off so we can get started. My first tulip bloomed yesterday, reminding me that Spring is indeed here!

Esme' has been spending alot of time digging up worms in the garden beds... with Mama Marley always close by!

Esme' and Niko spent the afternoon riding their bikes out front the other day, taking advantage of the gorgeous weather. Look at how dang long Niko's legs are!!! She definitley does not get that from me!

I dyed several skeins of yarn over the past week. I want to have plenty to knit after Baby is here. Some of the yarn is GN, some is girly and some more boyish. I am prepared for anything!

Ok, off to nest some more.... a Mama's work is never done!

Swap Knitting!

I knitted these items for a knitting swap I participated in. I was lucky enough to get my good friend Stacy as my swap Mama!

I made her this felted shoulder bag with Tattoo straps:

And this skull and crossbones coffee sleeve:

I will be sure to post pictures of my swap loot when it gets here... I can hardly wait!

ESME'

Esme' looking so cute! Notice our tulips poking out of the dirt behind her... Spring is right around the corner!!

30 week BELLY!

Baby is growing right along! All I have wanted to do lately is sit around and knit~ hopefully nesting will kick in soon and I can get the house ready for the birth. Until then I guess I will get some Baby knitting done! I will be 31 weeks pregnant on Tuesday... it's going so quick!! I feel like I am running out of time to get things done around here. Our family is getting very excited! Esme' still insists it is a girl, but I am just not so sure. I can't wait to find out who this little one is!

(tattoo~ still intact!)

Sunshine Daydream longies~

Tha magic of knitting~

From this...

to this!

I knitted these adorable little longies for Jessi from Bratsacksbaby in exchange for two cute little hand sewn backpacks~ one for Esme' and one for Esme's cousin Aislin, who is having a birthday in a couple weeks. We plan to fill Aislin's backpack with all kinds of fun goodies before we mail it to her in Montana. So far we have decided to make home made playdough, add some crayons and a color book, and maybe, if time permits, I will use some of my yarn scraps to knit a set of finger puppets. Look for photos of the finished project in the next week!

Lil' Socks!

Difficulty level:

Knitting the socks~ easy peasy

Photographing toddler wearing hand knit socks~ requires intermediate skills! (which I do not have, explaining the blurry pictures!)

Esme's new socks~ knit with Magic Stripes from Lion Brand Yarn. They turned out very cute and fit great no matter what the awful pictures say!

SUPER KNIT SUNDAY!

Yesterday was Super Bowl Sunday~ Tony went to the Johnny Carino's party and the kids and I stayed home to watch the game. I, however, did more knitting than football watching! I dyed this yarn to make another Sleepy Sack and a new pair of longies. It is Cascade Eco and so soft and thick! It will be great Baby yarn. I planned to knit this yarn next, but Esme' picked out yarn so I can knit her and the Baby matching socks. So, I think I will go ahead and knit the socks then come back to the Sleepy Sack and longie yarn.

I also finished this Sleepy Sack for the baby in Malabrigo wool~ so soft! It is a purplish- grey color. The picture does it no justice!

I am off to cast on teeny tiny socks... pictures to come!

Wooly Goodness!

Some more recent knitting! I have finally got ther Baby-knitting bug! The first are a pair of WoolyWonder Pants in kettle dyed Peace Fleece. This was my first time knitting with Peace Fleece and I have to say I liked it! It was a little rough and itchy but after two washings and some lanolin they are much softer. I think I will wash them a few more times before Baby wears them and they should be good to go! They are size Sm/Med so Baby won't fit into then until Autumn. I can't wait to post some modeling pictures!

This is a Sleepy Soaker Sack I knitted for my friend Jessica's Blessing shower. It is kettle dyed BFL in aran weight. Very soft and cute! (I have one of these on my needles now for my Baby!)

And a little tee, also for Jessica's Blessing Shower!

Welcoming to our family....

our new frog, Angelina Ballerina! We had a lizard (Frogabo) who suffered an untimely death late last year and Esme' has wanted to replace him for some time now. We visited the craft store yesterday and saw these little African Dwarf frogs and she fell in love. We already had a glass vase and a Peace Lilly at home so we got the vase and plant roots all cleaned up and drove to the store this morning to pick out a frog. She makes a nice addition to our family I think!

My Birthday = Chocolate Cake!!!

I celebrated my birthday on January 24th. Esme' and I had been really sick the days leading up to my day, so I wasn't in the mood to do anything much. But... I am always in the mood for CHOCOLATE CAKE!! Esme' carefully arranged the candles (4 candles for some reason! Oh well!)

And blew them out for me. Hmmm, I wonder if she made a wish!

Belly Upadate~

This is not my favorite photo, but it was the best of the bunch. It was definitely one of those "do I really look like that" moments! I am 26 weeks now. It is really going by fast (check back at week 37 or so and see how fast I think it is going then). This Baby is really active, except for when Daddy is trying to feel kicks, or our midwife is trying to listen to the little heart. The Baby kicks for Esme' all the time. They have quite the relationship already. She talks to and hugs the belly every morning when she wakes up and often throughout the day. I think this little one will have more than one "Mommy" in the house! She has been very patient with the endless weeks it takes for a Baby to be ready to come out. We have told her that the Baby will be here just in time for her birthday... that seems good enough for her!

The "Guarantee-I-have-a-boy" shorts!

I received this pretty yarn in a Knitting Supply Swap. I decided it would make adorable shorts, and, if I do have a boy, I can pass them along to another lucky Mama. I knitted them with just a tiny bit of the contrasting color at the top, got to the gusset and was running dangerously low on the main color. I was also unhappy with one of my short rows so after sitting unfinished in my knitting bag for a couple weeks I frogged them and started over, adding more pink at the top so I would have plenty of variegated yarn for the body and legs.

So... after all this I figure I am guaranteed to give birth to a boy baby, right?! Niko suggested that I knit a pair of boy shorts too, to even the odds! I think I will go ahead and knit a pair of boy shorts. That way no matter who this little one is we'll have a cute wardrobe waiting~

What kind of yarn are you? quiz~

You are Merino Wool.You are very easygoing and sweet. People like to keep you close because you are so softhearted. You love to be comfortable and warm from your head to your toes. Take this quiz!

Itty Bitty Soaker and Hat set!

I completed this set last night. It is so hard for me to believe that a Baby's head will fit into that tiny little hat! I dyed the yarn myself and it is so soft and pretty! It is exciting to see little Baby things start to pile up. I still have all of Esme's clothes, so as soon as we find out who this little one is I will know if I should get them out and wash them, or donate them and go shopping!
~Only 17 weeks left!!

Knitting in the New Year

Tony had to work until about 1:30 am, Esme' went to bed at 9 pm, and Riley and Niko went to bed about 2 seconds after midnight, so I had some time to... what else but... knit! So technically I knitted in the New Year! I am participating in the Stash Games at the Wooly Wonder forums so I am not buying yarn or knitting notions and trying to knit as many projects as possible from my stash yarn. Hmmm, maybe this will help me overcome my hoarding tendencies! The games started the day after Christmas and go until January 31st. I am hoping to knit through my endless skeins of Malabrigo that I have been "saving". Or at least make a pretty good dent in it! This will be a great time to do some Baby knitting too. In addition to knitting through my collected yarn I am also getting rid of yarn and notions I will likely never use. So far I have parted with 2 skeins of yarn, 2 pairs of needles, and some stitch markers. And I am not done yet. I still have some more yarn and a couple pattern books that will go too. Not too shabby for a hopeless fiber addict!

So, here is my first Knit n' Show of the new Year:

An Easy Peasy Cardigan for Esme' (thats 2 skeins of Malabrigo down~ several more to go!)

And a picture of Esme' in her cardigan and the Calorimetry Jr. headwarmer that I knitted for a friend's daughter (I get extra Stash Game points for knitting items to give away!!)