Monday, October 29, 2012

Ten Firsts With My First Born


1. The first time I saw those two pink lines, I was rendered speechless.

2. The first time I felt you kick, I was giddy.

3. The first time I saw you, I was amazed.

4. The first time someone recognized that I was pregnant, I was proud.


5. The first time I realized you were going to be born at 33 weeks and 4 days, I was completely at peace.

6. The first time I heard you were a girl, it felt exactly right.

7. The first time you were laid on my chest, you looked at daddy, blew a big bubble out of your mouth, and a miracle was witnessed.

8. The first time I saw you after you were wisked away, you had an IV and wore an oxygen mask, but you were quiet and peaceful, and I knew you were brave.

9. The first time I really, really, really got to hold you, you were 9 hours old, and you felt completely perfect in my arms.



10. The first time we brought you home, at 18 days old, we took a long, deep, much needed breath, and happiness filled our home.


From that day onward, you, my first born, my sweet sweet girl, have gifted me with so many firsts. I look forward to a lifetime more.

Hooking up with The Good Life for Monday Listicles.



Thursday, October 25, 2012

In Full Bloom

Outside, the air is chilling, the leaves are falling and the earth is preparing to take a long, deep breath.

But inside our little house, a friendship is in full bloom.
 
The seed was planted many months ago.


Big sister meets baby brother for the first time.

The roots took hold....


and the little seedling began to unfurl.


There was a draught.

Let me go!



But with time, the rain returned and the sun did shine.


And then, then that little green sprout grew big and strong.



The petals uncurled one by one....


until it was in full bloom.

"Oh, sweetiepea," she says as she brushes his teeth. He smiles.







Friday, October 19, 2012

This Is The Day....Our First Conversation

This is the day....

my daugther and I had our first conversation.

As we lay in bed, past bedtime, body to body, we talked big, we talked deep, we talked with energy, we talked with love. Old ideas were remembered and new ideas were had.

My girl said, "This is the first conversation we've had."
My heart fluttered.
"Oh," I said.
She continued,"Well, no, actually, we had our first conversation after lunch today."
"Oh," I said again. "We haven't had a conversation before?"
"No," she said. "You've had a conversation with dad, but not with me." 
"It is pretty cool that you are four now and you have so many ideas to share," I said. "I like having conversations with you."
She quickly replied, "I like having conversations with you too. Let's have another conversation tomorrrow."

Sounds perfect to me, sweet girl.

Hooking up with Soule Mama for This Moment.

Monday, October 15, 2012

Ten Ways I Am the Same or Different Than My Younger Self

I am linking up with some other bloggers for Monday Listicles, hosted by The Good Life, to answer the question, "How are you the same or different from your younger self?"

I am not exactly sure when my younger self became my older self, but if I had to guess, it was likely four years ago when I became somebody's mother. That makes you grow up real fast!


So, since becoming a mama, this is how I have changed or stayed the same.....


1. No more lazy, dazy days of sleeping in and lounging around the house. By 9am, I have been woken up by a human alarm clock, have snuggled two little bodies, checked the weather, read stories, made a school lunch, made breakfast, brushed two pairs of teeth, gotten three bodies dressed and
dropped one big part of myself off at school for the day.

2. I have come to realize that the small stuff really does matter.


3. I can still take a pretty good tantrum, but I *try* to do it in my own time and space.


4. I am more patient.


5. I am less patient.


6. I now understand that heartache is exactly that.


7. I no longer leave my house to work, but I still have a boss (actually, I have two!).


8.
I still love to sew, but like my life, my creative inspiration has changed.

9. I have been humbled (again and again). The moment I think I know what I am doing (better than someone else), the universe (or my kid) has a way of showing me I still have a lot to learn.


10. I now wear my heart on my sleeve because it has grown way too big for my body.










Wednesday, October 10, 2012

Inspiration

My grandma taught me how to sew in her cottage kitchen. I was probably ten years old. We made oven mitt covers. I remember the way I felt that day, the awesomeness of making something. I had fabric and a machine, and in the end, I had oven mitt covers. It was magical. From that moment forward, I was a sewer. I am a sewer. I have made many things in the last twenty plus years, and if you pulled them all out and lined them up, in many ways, they would tell the story of my life. The things that I have sewed along the way follow the pattern of my life because they are inspired by my life. Oven mitts, a blue velvet purse for a school dance (a little bit functional, a little bit rocker), a bedspread to cheer up my horrible university bedroom, a red blanket with a giant maple leaf for my then boyfriend/now husband because we just loved that we were/are Canadian....

Then four years ago, something CRAZY happened. My life split in two to make room for another. I became a mama. As my life opened wide and shifted so did the inspiration for my sewing. Inspiration was everywhere.

Adelaide loved to play with tags. She loved to suck on fabric. She was amazed by patterns. I put all these loves into one and made her a soft flannel, highly patterned taggie blanket.

Taggie blanket: so simple and so easy to love

A parenting book I was reading suggested giving your toddler her very own bag to spur on independence. I made Adelaide a toddler sized backpack that could be filled, dumped, filled, carried, dragged, washed and loved some more.

the backpack: a staple for any wardrobe, even pajamas!
When Adelaide turned one, I wanted to make her something really special, something that summarized our first year together so I made her a quilt with fabric from outfits she had worn in the NICU, her coming home outfit, her daddy's favourite t-shirt....


giving Adelaide her quilt on her first birthday

sharing her quilt with a friend



sharing her quilt with dad
Adelaide loved to cook and bake, and would spend hours in her kitchen making us tea. From this came the inspiration to make her an apron, chef's hat and oven mitts.

serious cuteness
My inspiration was overflowing and I was able to pour it into my sewing. As Adelaide started having long stretches of sleep in the afternoon, and my time became more free, my sewing machine got busier and busier. My sewing business, Sew Inspired, was born.

Adelaide is now four. She still inspires me. Her life inspires me. She will say something, play with something, do something, and I think I could make 'that'. I read something, see something, and I think I could make 'that'. In addtion to taggies, backpacks, aprons and dolly carriers, Adelaide has a mama made Christmas stocking, a mama made Easter basket, a mama made Halloween bag, costumes, dresses, skirts....

Now that school has started, our world is changing again. I am stretching in new directions. I am being inspired in new ways. At Adelaide's school, like many, Halloween is "Black and Orange Day". Instead of costumes, the kids are asked to wear orange and black to celebrated the day. There's inspiration in that! I want to make her something, something really cool, something one-of-a-kind, something that screams her. I could make her an orange t-shirt (one of her favourite colours) with appliqued stars (one of her favourite things). Oh, she will love it!

Inspiration strikes, t-shirts bought, fabric sourced, cutting, ironing, sewing, and taaaaadaaaaaaaaaaa! Halloween inspired t-shirts (that are so darn awesome they can be worn any day of the year!).

Really, really, really loving it!

Little cousin loving her's too!

Big cousin loves orange cats and loves her t-shirt!
Skulls and crossbones give this little brother some attitude!
I had so much fun dreaming these t-shirts up, sourcing the fabric (some new, some upcycled) and making them, that I want to make more. I would love to make them for your kids!

Pick one of these that you like, or customize it. T-shirt colours can be changed, appliques (ghost, pumpkin, raven, witch, spider.....) can be chosen so that they are really, really, really loved!

One-of-a-kind, appliqued Halloween t-shirts (that are so darn awesome they can be worn any day of the year!), $22.

Sizes available from 6 months up.
If interested, adult sized t-shirts could also be added to the line-up.

Place an order by leaving a comment here, or by visiting my facebook page and leaving me a message there.

Because I just love these t-shirts and it would be awesome to see one on your kid....the first person to place an order gets a $5 credit towards their purchase.

Friday, October 5, 2012

Good Morning


Our little house was filled to the brim with love this morning. It was good.

Wednesday, October 3, 2012

Stretching

There is a whole lot of stretching happening around here right now. And, it is not the physical kind of stretching that happens in the morning when you get out of bed, or the kind that you do before and after a good work out (no work out here!). No, it is the very hard kind of stretching, the mental and emotional kind that tears at your heart and leaves you feeling wounded. The kind that makes you grow.

growing

September has been a hard month. To be completely honest, August was a bit of a hard one too. We have been preparing for and living the beginning of school for our sweet girl. The heart strings between me and my girl have been tied pretty tight. She stretched and grew inside of me and made my heart grow one million billion trillion sizes with each day of her life. 

pregnant with my girl
We have had very little time apart. Sometimes this made for fantastic days of laughter and learning. Other days, it made for frustration and the need to find our own space. I knew that with the beginning of school, I would give my girl over to someone else, someone else who would spend more of the day with her than I would, have an influence on her, would make her stretch and grow without me. 

first day. here she goes!
Don't get me wrong, this is a wonderful thing, but as those heart strings stretch, it hurts. And, it doesn't only hurt me, it hurts my girl too. She has had the safety of her mama's arms, love, embrace, encouragement for four years, and it has been hard for her to step out our front door (quite literally) and enter into the world where she has to find her own safety, her own words, her own self. She has been so scared, so brave, so proud, so vulnerable, so consistent, so volatile. 

Pride of place on the fridge
 And, then there is our sweet boy who is stretching and growing in his own right. 

Wanting to be just like big sister!
He is seeing the world from a new height, proudly exploring the world by foot. He is amazed by everything. He points to the light, clock, phone, book, tree, asking for a name, an explanation. He is happy for us to explain and shakes his head with acceptance. The heart strings are still tied tight. We are still the world to him.

safe with dad
Add into the mix, a mama and daddy who are adapting to this new routine of getting up in the morning with the mission of making the first hour of the day happy and managable. To gear up for the day ahead, stay one step ahead of the little voice saying, "I don't want to go to school today," and an even bigger step ahead of the big, booming, screeching voice yelling, "I don't want to go to school today". We are doing all of this while also trying to make breakfast, a school lunch, shower, breathe, learn new things, try new things, breathe, love each other, argue, grow, stretch, breathe. 

Breakfast time!



It feels like it has been the biggest month for our family. The biggest stretch. The biggest growth. My husband is good to remind me of all the other times we felt this way in our lives as a family. We got through those times. Right now, we are in the thick of it. We are seeing little moments of beauty in all of it, and are waiting patiently for a little reprieve, for a little more of this....

Loving life at the fall fair 


taking flight at the park

Self protrait of our girl taken today. That smile tells me we are doing something right.