…and another thing

I know this is going to strike a nerve with some of you. But I would like to present one reason — just one — why we need serious health care reform in the US.

Remember this ridiculous doctor’s office visit? I took my baby in to get her weighed and her medication dosage adjusted. That’s it. A weighing and a prescription write-up. How much, in this country, does that cost?

Two hundred and fifty-two big ones, my friends. Two-five-two.

Thankfully, we have health insurance, so I’m only paying for a fraction of that bill. Even so. Please tell me I’m not the only one who thinks that this is wholly out of control.

loving this today

On homemaking — and the very real give-and-take that comes with squeezing in time to craft (and then take pictures about it) — this chick took the words right outta my mouth (except for the fact that I really dig Martha).

global babywearers

We found the most wonderful board book at the library today: Global Babies. It has gorgeous pictures of babies being worn close to their mommies (or daddies), so I wanted to share the love.

I’m curious about the tying-to-the-lower-back thing, a la Mali (I had to look that one up). How is it done? And is it comfortable?

thankful

Today I’m thankful for two beautiful little girls who napped for more than two hours — at the same time.

I argue with myself almost every day about whether to put Maren in the crib or in my bed. We co-slept with Lizzy until she was four months old and loved it, but we were all ready for it to be over when it was over. Now Maren is almost five months old, and I don’t think either one of us is ready for it to be over. So why not? (Don’t answer that question.)

Today I’m thankful that, despite the craziness of being a temporarily “single” mother, I’ve been able to carve out some crafty time. It keeps me bouncy. And beautifully designed fabrics. I’m thankful for those, too — and for that gorgeous buttery afternoon autumn light.

Today I’m thankful for the eleventh chapter of Third Nephi in the Book of Mormon, where the Savior shows himself to the people of the Americas. It is transcendent in its beauty and wonder. My heart fills with peace each time I read it.

Today I’m thankful for my amazing husband, who will be on my doorstep in approximately twenty-three days. Oooh, I’m so excited! (I love this picture of him. He recently asked me to mail that shirt to him; when it arrived and he put it on, it was met with exclamations from his buddies of, “[Our last name] is a hippy!! I KNEW IT!!!”

really?

In those sweet, quiet moments when I’m holding my babies and all is right with the world, I often think to myself, “I will never, ever forget the way they look right now.” But I do — and all too quickly. I was looking through some old photos tonight when — WHAM! — I got blindsided by this wonderful snapshot of three-day-old Maren.

This was only four and a half months ago, and already I’ve forgotten the way she looked then. I even blogged it! So, sorry for the repeat, but it’s just so precious that I’m forcing you to ooh and ahh over it again (or am I just another mom who croons endlessly over her weird-looking pruney little alien baby?).

fresh

Somewhere in my teenage years, my oldest brother wanted to give me flowers on my birthday (sweet, huh?) but didn’t know what kind to get. So he asked the florist for something “VW Buggish” — and they gave him gerbera daisies. I’ve loved them ever since.

The vintage sheet quilt is almost finished! I got stalled on the sandwiching and quilting for a while, but I finally made myself do it and it only took a couple of hours. Now I just need to spend a few evenings snuggled up with some good movies and stitch up that binding. Doesn’t it look awesome next to those flowers? My mom snagged them at the farmer’s market on Saturday for us. I have the nicest family.

Have you seen Anna Maria Horner’s new fabric line, Little Folks? It’s coming out next month and I’m kind of freaking out. I’ve been amassing prints from Good Folks to make a queen-sized quilt for our bed, and I can’t wait to throw some Little Folks in there, too!

I’ve got some ginger-coconut ice cream in the works today. It’s still hot enough that I’m running the AC in the evenings, believe it or not. I’m kind of freaking out about that, too (the ice cream and the weather). I’m such a geek.

incredibly, she wore the hat

My rock star friend Nicole gave us this slammin’ giraffe costume (from Pottery Barn Kids!) a few months ago. I loved it from the start, but I never expected that Lizzy would actually wear the hat. I’ve been slowly trying to get her acclimated to wearing it over the past few weeks, and apparently it paid off, because she wore it the whole time we were at our church Halloween party. The fact that Sister was also wearing a hat may have had something to do with it, too.

Lizzy loved the trunk-or-treat, but I’m pretty sure she has no idea that what she was getting was candy. (Here, sweetie. Mommy will hold that for you.)

We didn’t stick around for a terribly long time; the girls started getting slightly antsy at the 30-minute mark, so I decided to quit while we were ahead.

Besides, we had to get home to eat our cake walk winnings.

Happy Halloween (a week early, anyway) to all, and to all a good night!

crafty attack

I got down and dirty with my sewing machine last night, and let me tell you, it felt good.

I’ve been meaning to try out the (free!) Oliver + S Lazy Days skirt pattern for a long time, and Amanda’s post last week finally kicked me into high gear to get ‘er done. I even got up the gumption to use a little snippet of the flippin’ awesome fabric I won from The Small Object last spring (I’ve been hoarding it for fear that I’ll accidentally use it for something lame).

The pattern is really easy and really quick, so I made another one:

Then, even though it was getting late, I couldn’t keep my paws off of that Ugly Duckling fabric (which, amazingly, glows for the camera!)…

The ducky pouch (made using this great tutorial) is going to be a special gift for a special friend who is a “different duck” in the very best sense of the phrase, and the owl pouch is for our recently released Nursery leader — though really, she deserves to be sainted instead!

thick as thieves

You should be jealous: we got to to play with Brie and Claire today. Claire and Maren are birthday buddies; not only were they born on the same day, but with the same midwifery practice. And Claire is pretty much the most squooshable baby ever (except maybe for Maren — and yes, that’s a good thing). I think maybe I need to do something about Maren’s mohawk.

This one is blurry, but can you see it? — they’re holding hands!!

Besides knowing pretty much everything about cloth diapering, baby carriers, and other rad baby gear, Brie is a total snake charmer when it comes to little kids. It didn’t take long for Lizzy to climb right into her lap, totally unprompted.

Thanks for coming, guys — we had a great time getting better acquainted and talking fluff and stuff!

25 cents

Does 1980 count as vintage yet? If yes, I found this happy little vintage crib sheet at a yard sale this morning that I’m thinking will make the sweetest little charm squares you ever did see. I’ve been into charm squares lately. (Also if yes, that means that my husband is vintage and I am not. Ha, ha.)