Revisiting Cosleeping

So, as you probably know, we cosleep with M via a sidecarred crib. I promise I'll get around to posting photos of this eventually!

I recently made a discovery.. and this was shocking to me. I had questioned the safety of N's sleeping arrangement. She was sleeping in a 6'x6' room, no windows. There are two gas meters in the closet. This is obviously in-your-face unsafe!

So, after realizing this ridiculously horrible mistake, we moved N into our room. Her bed is now at the foot of our bed and we're happy with that. We moved daddy's computer stuff into her old bedroom, so it is now his office. I am more than content with that, because now all of the electronics are up and out of the main living space :)

Anyways.. how can I make her little area more... "her"? She didn't have much in her room, since it was only for sleeping. I need some ideas!!

Eaten Alive

:) Well, maybe that's a bit dramatic.

I cannot seem to get rid of laundry. I wash it all, it piles up on the bed, and by the end of the night I'm too tired to fold it and it gets plopped in baskets, wrinkling them and making them even more undesirable to fold.

I have bagged up tons and tons of clothing to go to donations- I'm currently eliminating polyester, since M is allergic to it. I already eliminated most clothes with big logos and sayings on them, because I don't like us looking like billboards. I even put tons of things in storage boxes BY SIZE to donate to needy people as I come by them. But no. The laundry is still chasing me.

Anyone have any tips?

It's a colorful life

Spring is here, but it is not without a chilly day. We still manage to get outside most days, though I am battling a pretty bad cold. The other day, while on the way to the grocery store, our wonderful neighbor had a surprise for our girls! N received some chalk, and M received an adorable outfit. They both also got pinwheels, a favorite of mine as a child. N enjoys watching the wind spin them round and round.

Since we were on our way out when we received these gifts, N didn't get to play with them right away. All she could talk about in the car was her chalk! When we got home, she carried the package around until I was able to go outside with her- and boy was it ever so chilly!



I currently have a few projects going. I'm knitting up M's sleep sack.. I'm more than halfway done. I changed the yarn color- it's completely different because I just couldn't stand looking at the old yarn anymore, and I finished the ball. I'm also knitting up a calorimetry for N. I'm getting tired of having to cut her bangs all the time, she's pretty squirmy and it takes forever. I'm hoping, instead, to grow them out. Right now I'm using medium weight yarn.. perhaps I'll adjust it in the future to use a lighter weight yarn for warmer months. Anyways, it's my first project following a pattern, using short rows, rib knitting.... the list goes on! Either way, it's alot of fun and I'm enjoying the task. I will hopefully be done today so I'll post pictures tomorrow :)

So heres to springtime- may it be colorful and fruitful for us all.

Bald

I just wanted to pop in a mention that I am going bald.

Yes, we have alas reached the 4 month fallout. My shower drain could probably give you a better discription of this, but it's pretty bad to say the least.

I'm hoping that the next couple of months pass quickly. I'm going to have to pick up some lightweight yarn (have not idea what that's called!) and knit up some headbands for my next project. Seriously, my poor hair. I have bald spots at my temples. It's just taking flight from my head.

Simple Things

“The farmer gave us golden grain
For us to grind and grind
Now it’s flour brown and white
Soft and very fine
Add the water, yeast and honey
Mix it with our hands
When it’s soft and not too runny
Let it stand and stand
Shape the dough into a loaf
Put it in to cook
When it’s crusty, crisp and brown
We’ll take it out and look"
M, enjoying her wool teether.

N and I baked our first loaf of bread yesterday, and it went smoothly :)

Busy Fingers in a Row...

Busy fingers in a row
Each one knows the way to go
How to work and how to play.
Yet together they work the best,
Each one helping all the rest.

I've been quite busy lately! In an effort to live a more simple lifestyle and provide my family with a wholesome environment, I've been making and creating. Easter was our first handmade holiday.

I needle felted a little spring gnome for N. Still needs to be felted a bit more, but I was pressed for time and it's pretty sturdy!


I know I posted this in the last post, but I didn't elaborate. I made N the wet felted eggs that I told you all about before, tutorial is here. I needle felted her a little ball, which she adores, as well as a pink and white toadstool (the wool one). Everything else, acorns, wooden toadstools, etc. were credit to Etsy sellers. The bear is a Holtziger figure, and I've already decided that we.need.more. :)

Something else we've been working on...


We built N a dollhouse, the roof isn't on yet but we think that playsilks make a great roof!

A Tisket, A Tasket...

... N filled up ber basket!

Easter (we celebrated it as the first day of spring, this year) was a bright and sunny occasion for us, and I was able to get some great photos of the family.



N's Spring Basket, I made the needle and wet felted items




N in the dress that grandma got her


There she goes!


M, in the dress that grandma got her (same as N's)


A beautiful egg hiding in a tree


Mother nature must have let the root children out just in time!

Easter was pretty fun. It hit around 80 that day, we had a barbeque with the family in the backyard. It did rain later on in the afternoon, but you know what they say- "April showers bring May flowers!".

It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood...

Indeed, it is. It was in the 80s today! I think that mother nature was playing a cruel April Fool's joke on us and it will surely be a blizzard tomorrow ;)

This week, N started her activities at the park district. She had playgroup on tuesday. She enjoyed the slide, but that was really it. Daddy pushed her around in a wagon for a bit. Today she had playgroup again and they did some watercolor painting which she loved, and they played in a playroom. N actually didn't play in the playroom, she was very into her painting. I'm not too keen on the plastic toy bounty at the park district but if she likes the slide, she likes the slide. Perhaps she'll make a friend.

She also began her gymnastics class this week. She really loved it. It's in an actual gymnastics gym (bars, beams, and the like) and she really enjoyed it! I was thrilled. She started gymnastics at another park last fall and did not enjoy herself.. we dropped the class after two classes. This park is totally different, and she really loves it.

Easter is on its way, and we have decided that we probably won't be celebrating it as Easter. I've been following the blog Frontier Dreams for quite some time. The author, Nicole, celebrates the first day of spring, instead of easter, with the appearnce of the Root Children.. which are characters in a book by Sybille Von Olfers. N adores this story, so I'm adopting Nicole's idea. I also saw her tutorial for wet felted wool spring eggs, so I made some. I'm hoping they're thick enough.. just waiting for them to dry.

N is going to have all sorts of goodies in her Spring eggs & basket (basket will be from us, not the root children), and I'll be sure to fill everyone in when she sees them.

I realize that the equinox has passed, but we're going to celebrate this Sunday anyhow. Next year we'll do it on the real first day of spring :)