mommapalooza

Time on my hands ...

Sometimes I surprise myself and actually manage to cross something off of my lengthy to-do list! The weather was dreary enough last week that I sat down in front of my serger and put together a sleepsack like I threatened to last month.

One thing that I was a little disallusioned with at the time I decided to make one of these is that it would be cheaper to make one than buy one. I'm not sure how much sleepsacks retail for, but some fleece sells for $20/metre! But at least mine is an *original* done in lilac-coloured waffle fleece :) More about the sewing adventure will be posted at Going Domestic ...

I have talented friends, too :)

I'm a little tardy in showing off the blanket that my friend Ada crocheted for the little person, but at long last, here it is:

I had to wait for some good light to take the photo in :) The neatest thing about the blanket is that it has a little hood in one of the corners. I think that's so smart - extra head warmth for chillier days!

At the moment I have my first load of baby laundry in the washer - I got a little panicked yesterday about not having anything packed for the hospital. This gets me a little way there ... if I need to throw something together in a hurry, at least we'll have some clean clothes for the little person and myself!

Chris and I are off to our pre-natal class on babycare this evening. It conflicts with the second game of the Stanley Cup playoffs, and I've been trying to covince Chris that the baby will forgive him for missing the game :)

Snow in July isn't funny, but it's possible.

I had quite a few posts over at Going Domestic back in April when I first bought my serger about how I was mastering (hee hee!) the settings and learning to thread the needles and the loopers by hemming scads of flannel for receiving blankets. I think that once I'm done studying for the CFA exam, I'm going to embark on my first real project - a fleece sleep sack like these ones. While I'm not sure if our house will be cool enough at night to warrant a blanket for the little person, it won't cost me much in terms of materials, and the concept seems easy enough. The only thing that I am nervous about is the zipper because I've never sewn one of those in before!

Also, we did see Shrek 2 on Saturday night, and it was fun. I laughed and sipped on Dr. Pepper, which probably should have been contraband because of caffeine :)

Snap Happy!

I've been thinking that I'm going to try my own hand at taking some artsy photos of the baby when it's here, instead of going to a pro photographer. I say this because the photographer who shot my maternity photos got by just fine without a professional-level digital camera. In fact, her camera was just a 4.0 megapixel like mine (which I must admit surprised us!). Lately I've been lurking on the Photog Forum website, trying to pick up ideas on neat poses and such, and I stumbled on this very useful thread: Draping 101 for Newborn Photos. I'd love to do a little collage of assorted baby parts - little hands, little feet … Another shot that I've seen a lot of is of the newborn all curled up on a stack of fluffy white towels against a black background - it's really cute!

Showing me up!

I think that my sister has taken it to heart that every child has a "favourite aunt" who is supposed to be just more fun/talented/understanding than one's own parents because she's still showing me and everyone else up in the handicraft department! May I present Quilt #3?

This one is the most complex of the three - it's has embroidered leaves and pumpkins as well as geometic shapes and squigglies.

Little Things

Maybe it's just because the items are teeny tiny (and thus completed faster), but babies seem to inspire a lot of people to take up crafty pursuits! When the little sprog arrives, it's going to have a small collection of hand-sewn bedding items, at least two little sweaters, and a variety of other hand-sewn and needle-crafted pieces of apparel …

My sister has made two patchwork coverlets (is that the term for lightweight, baby-friendly non-puffy quilts?). I posted the first one at Going Domestic awhile ago, but I managed to snap a shot of the latest one the other day:

Mother of Invention

Much as I've admired the wares over at Posh Tots, I can't bring myself to spend more on baby furniture than I did on my car. The infamous e-Children store here in town has a circular crib on display; it's lovely with dragonflies carved into the sides, and it's $1200 without any bedding. Chris and I were going to buy a fairly ordinary crib for the little sprog, figuring that it's sensible not to spend a bundle on what is, afterall, temporary furniture.

But I am ever the fan of decorating on the cheap (as long as it doesn't look like it), and one of my co-workers gave me a fabulous nursery decorating tip today! One of her friends, instead of spending the moolah to buy a crib with a painted design or fancy carvings, bought a plain crib, and then went to M*chaels and bought a bunch of wooden cut-outs in the shapes of flowers and fairies. She put on a few coats of non-toxic paint, and then attached the cut-outs to the outside ends of the crib, which was transformed into something lovely and unique.