Taking Care

How lucky I am, to have so many friends who want to take care of me, to make me comfortable and to spoil me and my children.  In today's post I want to say THANK YOU to all of them (you) for the kind words, emails, fb messages, cards, presents and visits that have filled my recent weeks.

Jack is 6 weeks old today, and I wanted to share a few of the thoughful gifts we have received:
In my last post, I mentioned a new quilt, all the way from Hokkaido, here it is:

 Hand appliqued, embroidered, and hand quilted by the lovely Mrs. Kubota.  xoxo!

We also received a super soft and cuddly crocheted afghan from Merrill:
(need to add the photo later, he's currently sleeping with it!)

(Totally jealous of her crochet skills, I've wanted to make a ripple blanket for years)

and some wonderful stew from Bernadette!

There were also many many cute sleepers, onsies, outfits, and a new stuffed doggy.  Many friends also brought big brother presents for George which were definitely appreciated.

My sister has been here for the past couple days, and her help (round the clock) is a present far more valuable than any gift.  Thanks Lor.  Don't know what we'll do without you.

In other news, I have been quilting as much as possible.  Some by hand, some by machine.  If I can get some photos today, I might have something to show soon..

One Month

Here he is, my Prince Charming, at one month old:

We have been having the best time, and though things haven't returned to the "new normal" yet (MIL is still here and helping out A LOT), I'm sure they will fall into place as the weeks move on.

I finished Jack's baby quilt a couple weeks ago:

(Excuse the crappy postpartum mom-hair)

A take on Denyse Schmidt's "Any Way You Slice It" pattern, which I have never seen, but followed instructions for here at Blue Elephant Stitches.  It was fun and easy, and I realized I love it so much because most of the fabrics are ones I bought myself (as opposed to scraps or unwanted fabric I received from friends).  The palette is "me" but masculine, and I love that he's already been using it..

(You may have seen a similar photo on Helen's blog, she's a better blogger than I am, hehe)

We also received a gift quilt in the mail last week, all the way from Hokkaido~
(will edit to add a photo soon!)
Thank you Mrs. K!!  I miss you~~~

1/21

Guess who showed up at my place last week?

Day 6

 This is Jack.  He finally came on January 21.  9lbs, 6 oz.  He's a great eater and a great sleeper-- and I thought George was easy...

Everything went well-- labor and delivery couldn't have been better.  The timing was good (he came on C's day off), the hospital was like a spa.  And since we've been home the family has taken such good care of us. I hardly have to lift a finger.  If heaven isn't like this, I don't think I want to go..

First bath

Thank you everyone who has sent love and wishes through facebook or the NYC Mod guild blog.  We totally appreciate the kind words and feel very lucky to have so many friends that care.  I'm finding it hard to want to spend time on the internet now though, when my hands could be full of this little bundle instead.  So in case you don't hear back from me right away, or my posts aren't so regular, know that  I am reading comments and emails, and I'm thinking about you too.
xo

Guessing time!!

Ok, it's getting close. Time to guess his birthdate, weight, length..
(hints: at the 30 wk sono they said he was measuring about 5.5 lbs, and my due date is January 20th..)

Caught between two seasons

Just a few weeks ago I was lamenting the never ending summer and was desperate to get back to the cool rhythms of fall.  Believe me, I'm glad fall is on its way, but every time I have to reach for a sweater or change out of shorts into long pants, I wonder if my longing isn't misplaced or naive.

Nevertheless, I baked pumpkin muffins this morning:

They were good, and I'll make them again. (Recipe here)
But I couldn't help feeling it was too early for them.  And as I cleaned the house and daydreamed about putting up halloween decorations, I also felt conflicted.  September is a great month, why am I wishing it away? 
In September so many good things get to happen, like your husband taking your kid to the park by bike and staying there for 3 hours.  And not yet needing to slather yourself in body lotion after a shower to combat dry skin.  I pulled my house slippers out of the closet, but really, it's still ok to walk on the tiles barefoot.  The weather is perfect, the tomatoes and basil are still abundant in the garden, and I don't have to wear nylons to work yet.  The more I think about it, September is pretty perfect.

Anyway, I would love to show you a picture of my completed Anyway You Slice it baby quilt top, but since I started using my smartphone as my primary camera, I don't have the regular point-n-shoot with the tripod within easy reach, and haven't found the right opportunity to ask C to hold the quilt so I can take a picture (last weekend I asked, but his hands were dirty from the garden.  um, not on my quilt).  Hopefully soon.  I went through several backing trials, and decided that it will look best if I throw an abandoned UFO on the back.  I may regret cutting the UFO up, but I have a feeling that it will work out.  Let's see.

I'm eating a second helping of dinner as I type this (gotta love a guilt-free pregnancy diet), and it's so good I have to share.. if you're looking for a not-too-heavy end of summer pasta, go ahead and try this one from Food & Wine: Meyers lemony broccoli and chickpea rigatoni
It's best hot off the stove top, and when you can sneak the chickpeas inside a piece of rigatoni.  Tart, a little spicy, and very satisfying.  Let me know if you like it.

Baby Quilt

Whew~
Once that "I'm having a baby" post was out of the way, I could start planning, testing, and asking for some feedback on baby quilts.

I have been pinning scrappy stash busters all year so naturally that's where I started to browse when I wanted to find a pattern for the baby quilt.

At first I liked this one, but I thought it might be time to finally do this pattern, and then I found this.

And that's where I stopped and decided to do a test block.

The fabric I initially pulled looked something like this:

And then I wanted George's input and he helped me decide on these:

I started cutting squares based on Blue Elephant Stitches' guidelines and my first test blocks were promising..

so I kept going and by this afternoon, I had this:

I like it.  It needs 9 more blocks to be the right size and I think I want to add in more dark brown and less dark orange.. maybe a few of the lighter blues?  And the tree fabric?
Please send input.. I have to prep classes all day tomorrow and it will be nice to at least have email interruptions of your comments and suggestions.  Thanks.

#2

This is not my first time.

But the internet has changed so much in 4 years that I really began to worry about how to share this information.  Facebook, the logical 2012 answer to "how to tell anyone anything" just didn't seem like the right venue for news so personal and monumental.  (but of course I have to link this post on FB for fear that my family will revolt otherwise..)
No, instead I wanted to share this my way, in the comfort of my own blog.

Here he is, baby #2. 

Due January 2013.  Insomnia explained.