A couple more pictures

I wanted to add these pictures of my kids to the last post and blogger wouldn't let me, so here they are.

A Few Stashbusting Projects

Well this is the second time that I am writing this post since my window crashed the first time. Hopefully I can remember everything.

I completed a stash busting and scrap busting quilt last week and gave it to my sister on Saturday for her baby shower. This is a string-x quilt a-la Bonnie. This is pretty much identical to one that I have made before. I have been making the string blocks as leader/ender pieces and before I know it I have enough to make a quilt. I intend this to be a quilt that gets used and abused. I used my favorite batting for kids quilts, dream angel batting. It is flame retardant and I just feel better that they are sleeping with something that could help them in the event of a fire.

The other two finishes are both bags, one for me and one for my son. The one for me is from a pattern in the Winter 2006 Quilts and More magazine. I used recycled corduroy for the outside and a reproduction 30's fabric that I just love for the inside. I am using this bag for my knitting. the other bag is for my Cars obsessed son so that he can carry his own toys, drink, snack etc. The bag is made out of some Cars fabric that I bought from Walmart to use for a tablecloth for his 2nd birthday. the inside and handles are made from a worn out pair of my husbands pants. I decided to use the heavier pants material so the bag would have some body without having to use interfacing.

My daughter had her 4 month check up today, she currently weighs 15# and is 26" long. That is 90th percentile for height and 75th percentile for weight. I apparently don't make small children, my son has always been big for his age too. My daughter remains an avid breastfeeder and has not been showing any interest in solids, which is just fine with me. My son didn't much want solids until he was over 7 months old also. Today she got 3 shots and an oral vaccine. I feel so bad for her, she has been fussy all evening, I am sure that she is not feeling so well. On top of that she is getting two teeth in the bottom front. The teeth have not broken through yet, but you can see that they are there. Developmentally she can roll from her back to her belly and my husband says that she can roll from her belly to her back but I haven't seen it yet. Also, when she gets on her belly she has been pulling her legs up like she is trying to crawl. I am so not ready to have two mobile kids.

My sons is doing well also. In the last month or so his vocabulary has just exploded. it is so amazing to watch him learn. For Christmas we got him a book about potty training and he has been showing a lot of interest in using the potty so we have been letting him use it when he asks. I figure as soon as it is warm enough here for him to wear training pants and a t-shirt I will make a more concerted effort to get him to potty train.

How lucky am I

I am not exactly a stay at home mom, but close to it. I work 2-3 12 hour shifts a month, the rest of the time I get to be a stay at home mom. I am very blessed that my husband makes enough money to allow for this lifestyle. I often think about how society feels that childrearing is an acceptable profession if you are getting paid for it (as is a daycare worker), but is not an acceptable thing if you are not bringing home a paycheck. This thought process also often makes me think about how much is enough. Since I have a very well paying job, my paycheck for my three shifts a month is often close to what a daycare worker working full time would make. Yet, I encounter people who feel that I am somehow a slacker or lazy because I don't put in 40 (or more hours) a week at a paying job. Trust me I put in at least 40 hours a week just trying to keep up with everything that goes on around here. It's sad how little value society puts on raising kids. I would be deeply dissatisfied if my kids spent the majority of their time with someone other than my husband or I.

Many people would probably classify me as a feminist, but I believe that the feminists have done women a disservice. The whole notion that women can bring home the bacon and then fry it up and put it on the table is totally flawed. In their haste to get women into the workplace there was no sharing of the workload. There was no societal shift of a shared burden. Women were expected to go to work and then come home and do the same amount of work that they were doing before they got jobs. This is bs! If women are to work outside of the home then men need to pick up the slack. Heck raising kids is exhausting enough that even if women don't have a paying job, men need to help out. This is my opinion, if you don't agree then you are entitled to your opinion, but this post has been in my head for a while and I finally decided to sit down and write it out.

Some new pictures

Here are some more pictures from our trip to Williams. This is little boy's first time playing in the snow. We are such warm weather people that I had to borrow the coat, hat and gloves from a friend. The hat that little girl is wearing was made by an Aunt of mine, she also has a blanket to match. I love this hat and keep it in the car so that I can put it on her when we go out.

A Busy Two weeks

I can't believe that it has been nearly two weeks since I last posted. Life has been busy. First both of the kids got sick with a stomach virus that lasted about a week. My son was throwing up (all over my husband and thankfully not me, I don't do puke) had diarrhea and a fever, my daughter had a much milder case (thank you breast milk) with just a fever and a desire to nurse or scream. My husband was a great help in that we were able to divide and conquer. He took our son and kept him entertained and I took our daughter and just let her nurse as much as she wanted. Consequently after a couple of days my milk supply was greatly increased. They are both doing much better now. I then worked a shift (7am-7:30pm) and came home just aching all over. I chalked it up to needing new shoes, but it became apparent by the next day that I had caught whatever my kids had. I was very careful to wash my hands and try not to get infected, but it's hard when you have a two year old that constantly wants to eat off your plate and drink whatever you have. I was lucky and only was sick for a couple of days.

My friends and I have decided to have a monthly work day to get our Christmas presents done early and avoid the stress of trying to complete projects at the last minute. We had our first get together on the 14th and I started work on about 7 wall hangings that I will give out next Christmas. I hope that we can keep up the progress on these it will be so nice to have a stress free holiday.

I have decided to learn how to knit. Since I use cloth diapers you can also use wool covers, either knitted or from wool fabric. Both are expensive to buy, but I have found that they work wonders for nighttime with my daughter who is a heavy wetter. The wool lets the moisture evaporate so that her clothes are slightly damp and not totally wet like they are with other covers that I try to use at night. So, I have decided to knit her a wool soaker. With the use of the great videos on a knitting site that I found and a pattern from fern and faerie I am doing pretty well. I am actually enjoying learning a new skill, plus I have found that knitting is not as difficult as I have always thought it to be (although so far all I have done is knit and purl).

A great fun weekend

We took the kids up to ride the Polar Express this weekend. It was a blast. We actually had to make the reservations for this in May. They are so popular that every Saturday in December for next year is already booked. I think that we are going to try to go in either January or November next year since my brother's wedding is in December and the date is not set in stone yet. This is a picture of my husband and son, my son had a blast he has really been into trains lately. It is amazing to me how much enjoyment there is in watching your kids have fun.

In quilting news I am working on making up another string quilt for my sister's baby that is due next month. The shower is at the end of this month and I should have this quilt done with time to spare. I am also working on a mystery quilt for my guild and have completed the first two clues. I have never done a mystery quilt before and I think that this should be fun. I am doing it scrappy and it looks cute. I have added a picture for you to see, this is clue one and two. I have decided that I am in a scrappy phase of my quilting since any new projects that I am starting are scrappy. The frugality of using up what I have appeals to me, as well as the fact that these projects seem to be so much quicker since the cutting is already done because I use Bonnie's scrap user's system.

I am reading On the Run by Iris Johansen. I have read several of her other books and they are all good action/suspense/romance books. This one is turning out to be enjoyable also.

I feel famous!

Judi has created a page on her website for my quilt. Check it out!