Monthly Archives: January 2009

One month (or so) left

Our official due date is February 27th. Exactly one month from today! We’re all getting more and more excited to meet this little one as the days go on. My midwife appointments have been every two weeks for a short while now and I suspect we’ll go to weekly very soon. Everything is still looking good- the cyst has been monitored via ultrasound and has not caused any trouble since December. I’ve been feeling about as well as can be expected. I’m pretty tired and sore and it takes me forever to walk anywhere! Luckily, I look very pregnant so I think that saves me from looking totally strange as I waddle through the parking lot at the library.

We’ve been working on a bunch of things as we prepare to be a family of four. Some things are specifically baby related and some are only tangentially related. You can see my ongoing “before the baby” to-do list below. [Catherine has made her own additions]

list

Specifically baby related activities include (but are not limited to)-
*Childbirth preparation reading– So far I’ve re-read Husband Coached Childbirth and have read for the first time Ina May’s Guide to Childbirth and Birthing From Within. Peter and I were fairly pleased with the birthing experience that we had with Catherine and are hoping for a similar experience. The books are good as a refresher course and remind me that every birth is different and that it is important to keep an open mind to the possibilities.
*Baby Laundry– I have yet to get from the attic our gender neutral newborn clothes, but those and a ton of newborn cloth diapers will need a good wash before the babe arrives.

*Baby Set-up– Fortunately, babies don’t need a whole lot when they first arrive; milk, clothing, diapers and a cozy place to sleep will do for a while. But we’ve set up the rocker and footstool in our room, made a space for the bassinet next to my side of the bed and are trying to figure the best place to store diapers and clothes
*Crafts!– I’ve been doing a little creating for the little one. A little white, bunny hat is ready and waiting and will hopefully be joined by a little matching knit kimono. I’ve also made a baby wrap (just like a MobyWrap) for Peter and I to carry baby in. I’m so looking forward to a little snuggle!

Not so Baby Specific activities-
*General House Organization– We’ve been working room by room around the house cleaning up, paring down and organizing our possessions. It seems that every time we go through our things (clothes, toys, whatever) we are willing to part with more and more. It creates cleaner and clearer spaces in our home and allows us to free our minds to focus on other, more important things.
*Feeding the Freezer– I’m trying to double at least one recipe a week so that I can freeze the extra for use later. Soon I’ll be wishing we had a larger freezer, but I know the meals will come in handy when I’m really not feeling like cooking. It will help keep our budget in check as well since we won’t be as tempted to eat/order out.
*Resting– For a while Catherine had given up her one daily nap. I was okay with that because she would go to bed at night easier (and at a manageable hour). But I started noticing that she really did need a nap during the day- and so did I. So now we both try to take a short nap before lunch and we’re both feeling better in the afternoon.

Peter has been very busy at work, but is looking forward to a two week paternity leave in the near future. Catherine, baby and I are looking forward to having him home as well.

I’m sure there’s more to say. Feel free to send any questions my way or just leave a comment to say hi!

Christmas Crafting

I was determined to make many of our Christmas presents this year. Besides the tangible benefits- less cost, less waste, etc.- it was nice for me to have little projects to keep my fingers busy during the days. And most of them I could do right on the couch while Catherine played! It was much more relaxing that walking the mall!

Now that the surprises are no longer surprises I thought I’d share the things I made.

cards

I was inspired by a photo online to try these Christmas cards this year. They weren’t difficult to make, but very time consuming. I definitely had fun making them and loved the way that they came out.

dishcloths

Knit dishcloths for my Mom and Mother-in-Law. They look really fancy, but were pretty simple to knit. I was glad to have these finished by the end of October. They set the crafting ball in motion for the rest of the season.

pincushion

Not a great picture, but you can see the little pincushion that I whipped up for my Mom. All the fabrics were scraps from my fabric box!

legwarmers

A pair of cozy leg warmers for Catherine. These come in handy since she doesn’t always love wearing pants. Or any clothes. Sometimes she won’t keep these on either 🙂

quilt

A Pink, Orange, Purple and White quilt for Catherine. While I was making it she would come up and say, “What’cha makin, Mama? A quilt to me?” and I’d say, “yup. but, shhh, it’s a surprise”. She’d get all sneaky looking and say okay and tiptoe away. Too cute! The quilt is machine pieced and hand quilted (for those that are curious about that sort of thing) I decided on funny T shirts for men this year.

frog1
frog2

Froggy Bean Bag Game for Catherine. (#3 seems to be missing). Frog bean bags that you toss onto the lily pads. Lots of possibilities for games to be invented. All frogs are from stash fabrics- old skirts, sheets, pj pants, etc 🙂

apple



New Geeky Onesies ‘for’ Peter. He’s already mentioned them. Click here for their gallery and bigger pics. I had fun coming up with cute logos and such that reflect Peter’s personality and interests.

Our Weekend Getaway

On Saturday, we dropped Catherine off with her Nonni and Grandpa, and headed down to Boston for a weekend excursion! 🙂 We drove in and parked at the Boston Common parking garage ($22 for the weekend, not bad) and walked in the chilly weather down to our hotel.

Our hotel room
We stayed in the Marriott at Copley Place, thanks to a gift card we got from Ken and Dianne last Christmas.
Our hotel room
From our room on the 21st floor, we had a terrific view of the southwest part of the city, including the South End
Relaxing
A good portion of our time was spent lounging in the hotel room, vegging out, watching TV, and relaxing.
b. good
We had lunch at b. good, a favorite stop of ours.
Stephanie's
We had a *very* nice dinner at Stephanie’s, courtesy of a gift card I won at work last year. We brought our desserts back to the room and watched Wall-E on pay-per-view on the room’s huge TV.
Nighttime View
We also enjoyed the nighttime views from our hotel room.
More views
Did I mention the views from our hotel room?

Overall it was a very enjoyable weekend. Our main goal was just to veg out and enjoy good food, quiet rest, pleasant company, and comfortable accommodations. We were pretty pleased with the view from our hotel room, if you couldn’t tell. 🙂 If we stretched, we could see the Charles River on the far right of our window, and the Southeast Expressway on the far right. This will probably be the last chance we have to take a weekend away with just the two of us for quite some time, what with baby #2 due to arrive in eight weeks or so. It was definitely worth it.

You can see all of the photos from our Boston Weekend.

It sounds like Catherine had a good time while we were away, too, thanks to Nonni and Grandpa!