My New Year's Resolutions (Ha!)

(1) I will stop removing empty toilet tissue rolls from the bathroom. It will be interesting too see the accumulation. After all, I am the only person who removes them from the bathroom. Stay tuned for blog posts filed under "Toilet Roll 2011."

(2) I will not join any crazy efforts like 52 knitting projects, mittens, or socks in 52 weeks or 11 shawls in 2011. (What are these shawl people going to do in 2076?)

(3) I don't want to loose weight. Well, I do, but I won't admit it. I can thus not fall short of my weight loss goal, because really it doesn't exist - although it does. (No, I haven't started drinking yet!)

Yes, 2011 has "slacker" written all over it already. Bring it on!

zZzZzzZz

A snooze is precious these days & a snooze in Mama's arms is the best... Nuriel has (very itchy) cradle cap & it's driving both of us bonkers in different ways... I wanted to write a post to "wrap up" the year, but maybe not. In any case... Happy New Year!

Cloth Diapering

I have been wanting to write this post for a while. Finally! Here it is. Yes, a blog post about cloth diapering - in hopes that maybe it will help someone somewhere at some point to see this simple, yet effective system of mine. Feel free to chime in in the comment section. I want this to be a helpful resource.

Organic Cotton Prefold Diapers

from Little Sprouts.

Cloth diapering certainly has evolved since I last cloth diapered a child a decade ago. I think that many people take advantage of the all-in-one diapers these days, which is a very convenient system. At $25 a diaper it wasn't an option for me, though.

Infant-sized prefolds & pins & cute baby.

I'm using old-fashioned prefolds with pins and the wool diaper covers I knit & lanolized. I started with one dozen newborn sized & two dozen toddler sized prefolds as well as 5 wool soakers. It sounds... not much, but honestly - it's plenty! I had the yarn in my stash, so I spent about $100 total to get started. - That's very little taking into account that a pack of 40-44 non-chlorine Seventh Generation diapers runs about $12 and lasts for about a week. I'm not even going to address the environmental implications. Anyhoo.

This is a Peace Fleece soaker. Yes, it's big.

I actually like it when the soakers cover at least the belly button.

More good warmth!

I ruined aka felted one of the covers when it accidentally landed in the wash. I find that Peace Fleece & Louet Riverstone are great soaker yarns! I'd never use Malabrigo Merino again! It's the prettiest yarn for all sorts of projects, but not functional for soakers. I rotate the 4 covers with each diaper change. I used the Vanilla pattern, which creates an awesome fitting soaker. My girl doesn't poop often (once a day or every other day), but when she does, she DOES! The soakers hardly ever get soiled. When they do, I (spot)wash them using Eucalan Woolwash. I lanolize them every other week or so using this product. I disolve the lanolin in a bit of lukewarm water, add some Eucalan, gently squeeze out the water, roll in a towel & lay flat to dry. I also splurged (Ha!) on this lanolin spray, which is a nice, quick soaker treatment when they can use a bit of lanolin. (It also is a wonderful way to give other woolens some tender, loving care.)

I wash stained prefolds on hot/cold & wet ones on warm/cold using a simple eco-friendly detergent and add 1/2 cup of vinegar to the rinse cycle. I actually launder wet diapers with regular laundry. I don't own a dryer, so I line-dry them. Sometimes people will say that they don't cloth diaper because cloth diapered babies smell like pee. I've found the vinegar rinse & drying them in the sunshine take care of that problem.

I *love* wool. The importance of keeping babies warm is unfortunately often overlooked today. Nunu pretty much wears woolen socks, a wool sweater & a woolen hat on a daily basis - yes, inside. We have our thermostat set on 58/60 F during the day, so extra layers are a must. It excites me that this cheap system leaves my girl wrapped in organic cotton and wool goodness.

Christmas Holiday Knittsie

Does this look familiar to you? Nuri received one in pink from Peskypixie a while back. I really love the look of it on Nunu, so I decided to make one. Madelinetosh DK in Creme de Menthe. I love this yarn. It was a gift on the occasion of Nuriel's birth. The pattern is Mini Chic by Katie White. I made the 6-12 months size. Great pattern. Two more Paua buttons. Only one left from the pack now... The stinking armpits were driving me nuts, though. Just not as perfect-looking as I would like. Still unblocked. Pretty cute, though.

Christmas Simplicity

Nunu dressed in her Christmas outfit all ready to visit friends on Christmas Eve. We had such a good time. Such a lovely smile she has.

And here she is with her first Christmas present ever. Yup. Kept it simple. A wonderfully crafted wooden teether from Finns & Flowers. I'm lovin' that shop! They got this to me super-speedy when I decided to do Christmas at the last minute.

Christmas dinner was unsophisticated, yet yummy, with wild caught salmon and roasted potatoes & sweet potatoes. For dessert a trifle. It was heaven. I gave myself some extra splashes of Sherry. My cheeks are still red. So, so good!

She's getting bigger by the day. - No, I'm not neglecting to share pictures of my boys. They just don't like being featured. She looks a bit like in jail... Co-sleeping it is, but she's quite content in the crib here & there during the day.

Merry Christmas...

... from our home to yours.

Favicon Thanks...

Do you see that lil' chocolate fishy up there? The wee lil' Favicon? Isn't he cute? I won the lil' fishy over at Striking Keys. And to win him I had to do *nothing.* I just liked Angela's blog a while back, but who wouldn't? She's hilarious & so organized. Thank you, Angela! I love my fishy & now that I'm Firefox-ified I can even see him!

Managing Tis Season

"Managing" seems to be the motto this season. Managing as in... achieve something with difficulty: to succeed in doing something, especially something that seems difficult or impossible OR cope in a difficult situation: to survive or continue despite difficulties.

I managed to put up a few Christmas decorations. Nathan made the stars on the left & right. I made the one in the middle (so did my 2nd grade students).

I managed to put up a tree on a snowday. I was hesitant about putting up a tree. I even managed to buy the tree where Brent & I had bought one last year.

I had a few good laughs. It seems it took 20 picture snaps to get a decent, well-mannered one. (No, this is NOT the one!)

I made a pair of Turkish Bedsocks (using Koigu) for a very special person. I managed to get all my swap envelopes & the package out... albeit a bit late - but still scheduled to arrive before Christmas Eve. I also managed to bake a batch of coconut thumbprint cookies & we managed to devour them in less than 24 hours. I hid them from the children, but there was no one to hide them from me. Maybe I will manage to make another batch.

And Nuriel aka Nunu aka Noodle and I did a wee bit of Christmas shopping today. Her sweet lil' gift arrived in the mail and I got two things each for the boys. - I spent less than $60, but I bought things I know they will love.

Almost Christmas

Nunu playing with her Christmas stocking.

I made it for Brent last year.

Feed Me!

Who needs breastmilk if your big brother is willing to feed you some sausage, pancakes & eggs?

The First Advent

It's the Sunday after Thanksgiving... Can't help but think back to this day last year. Sigh... Well, one picture says it all & it's not even staged! Nunu is snoozing while I'm crafting some wool roving angels right next to her with my feet under the warm blanket. It's c-c-cold. They are for two ornament swaps I signed up for as well as a Ravelry Secret Elf kinda thing. I have always loved making them. It's almost like each one has a unique personality of sorts. She's a pacifier & thumb-sucking kinda girl. I was reluctant about the pacifier, but given that she spends mornings away from me I thought she needs somethin'. She has also found her thumb, though. The bonnet was an experiment. I love the green Koigu, but a bonnet is probably best worked using a solid color. It looks a bit like one of those British lawyer wigs - in green. Working on one more thing, which will need to remain a surprise for now... Happy Sunday!

Turkey Day

All the beautiful children on Thanksgiving Day! We had a lovely, yummy day. Black Friday is not our sort of thing, so I'm giving some attention to crafting for the holidays & catching up in general. I'll have a post later this weekend to show you what I've been up to! We hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving Day!

So Far Behind...

How far behind?

I'm wondering if it would be socially acceptable to send baby thank you notes & a birth announcement for a girl born in September with Christmas cards...

That far behind!

Lantern Walk

Our school's lantern walk in celebration of Martinmas was yesterday. Nuri's first walk - attached to me in the Ergo carrier (which I *love*) & Noah's last walk as a grades student as he will be in high school next year. My students made simple lanterns using a sheet of watercolor paper. They drew on moons, stars, suns and shooting stars. I cut the shapes out with a paper knife and the students then glued colored wax paper over the cut-outs and finger-knit a handle for carrying.

Very simple lanterns, but they looked so pretty when lit! My students also insisted on making a mini version of this lantern for Nuri. Very sweet. I carried it for her, of course. I ended up not going with the idea my students had of attaching the lantern to a pacifier...

These are the lanterns Nathan's class created. Nifty construction, eh? I have no pictures of the walk as I tend to just want to enjoy the silent walking...

Origami Christmas Stars

Nathan is saving up for an i-pod. He's selling these stars he folded from Japanese Origami paper in my etsy shop. They are coated with a hint of frost. They'd make a lovely somethin' on the Christmas tree. He can also add a clip, so they can be used as a gift wrap addition. He's  taking custom orders. Go check it out!

Dear Mr. Who Had This Phone Number Before I Did...

Please pay your bills! Bill collectors are calling daily. It's annoying.

And... Please stop messin' around with married women. The husbands who are calling are not happy campers & I am tired of explaining that I'm not even related to you.

Ughhh. Why do they recycle phone numbers? Honestly, I'm receiving more phone calls on my landline for "Mr. Who Had This Phone Number Before I Did" than for myself. A major nuisance.

Enough is enough. I've canceled my phone service, which unfortunately means I am also without internet for a bit. I shall return to blogging soon... when I have found an "internet only" provider. You know I can't stay away for too long... ;-)

Until then... Au revoir!

Insomnic Wondering...

How do spammers know that a woman six weeks postpartum wants nothing more than some Viagra and a penis-implant?

I took a look into my spam folder. I should have taken a look much earlier. If only I had known years ago that a penis implant will help me have "cool sex." Cool sex? Don't we all want it to be hot sex? And I suppose I'd need the Viagra to make the penis-implant work?

Geez.

Do people really buy stuff by clicking on a spam link?

Hello. My name is Cadi. I bought my penis implant online...

Off to bed before I post more non-sense.

This Week

I enjoyed a trip to a local farm with my class. We harvested some Arugula, and their large-scale salad spinner was actually a washing-machine. Funny to 3rd graders - as you can imagine.

A friend took some awesome photos of my daughter. She loves to hang on my arm like that & look into the world around her.

I'm also enjoying the crane mobiles that are approaching the finishing stages in the woodworking room at school. Looking forward to Noah bringing his home!

Where Am I?

I'm somewhere...
Trying to find my blogging mojo.
Well, my overall mojo.
Running behind...
Tired. Exhausted. Overwhelmed.
Rough days leadin' up to his 50th.
We had plans for that, you know.
Awesome boys. Sweet lil' girl.
Needin' moe milk.
That would be...
... neither cat nor cow. ;-)
Hope to see you soon!

Health Insurance Nightmare

In August my health insurance company pre-authorized the homebirth. When billed in September, they refused to pay. In the letter they said that the services required pre-authorization. Geez! Thank goodness I had the written pre-authorization still in my desk. I filed an appeal via phone & reminded them of the pre-authorization they had given. They assured me that things would be taken care of; told me that the claim processor had probably just overlooked the pre-authorization; told me I'd hear from them within 30 days. I assumed that they had made payment by now. How naive of me to think so! When going through my mail-pile this evening, there was another letter from them. This time they simply say that they are not going to make a payment. No reason given. Really, huh? 

It makes me so mad that insurance companies can get away with behavior like that. When you've just given birth, or when you are sick, the last thing you wanna do is fight with an insurance company. And my excellent midwife is still waiting on getting paid six weeks after the birth?! This is just wrong on so many levels! I've written up another appeal. How can they refuse to pay if they have pre-authorized the services? Seems Kafkaesque. Some poor caseworker will be getting some steam from me in the morning. I want the insurance company to make a speedy payment to my midwife! Send me some good juju, please?! 

A Mellow Autumn Sunday

A lovely day of doing... not much of anything. Well, I did take a nap. That's doing something - right?!

Thanks to Pixie over at Peskypixies' Blog (Callin' her Pixie because I don't know if she's an out-of-the-closet blogger when it comes to her name...) for the sweet lil' pink cardigan. It's a perfect fit. Such a nice extra layer now that autumn weather brings some chilliness.

Hangin' with the brother.

These Days

I received this from Jennifer over at Little Kiwi Chick earlier this week. Isn't it just so cute? Well, it's lucky timing for you, because she is having a Giveaway for one of these treasures over at  her blog. To enter simply read this blog post. You can also buy one in her Felt shop. She actually did double-duty on this one. She started one  in blue & then made a pink one after Nuriel was surprisingly born as a girl. Thank you, Jennifer. It's already found a special place in our home. 

On another note... The back-to-work thing went surprisingly well. Nuri was happy & easy-going on both mornings. Her caregiver is such a blessing. She had a sweet Moses Basket with a lambskin prepared for Nuri & carries her around in a sling. I could not possibly have a better childcare situation! My students were excited to have their "strict" teacher back. We're in a "Money & Measurement" block. Upon learning about bartering/trading, some of my students came up with the idea of trading their siblings... Gotta love inventive 3rd graders!

Plan B

Today was the last day of my maternity leave. It's back to teaching my lovely 3rd graders tomorrow. And while I love my job & know that Nuriel will be in a home filled with warmth & cared for by a lovely person & that she will only be there for a few hours each day, I can't help but have a heavy heart & some tears this afternoon. I'll miss my spunky girl. This was not what we had planned together the night before he died. Nevertheless, it is what it is & has to be...

Three People - One Shirt

First.

Then.

Now.

Thank You!

I've been a bit at loss as how to thank everyone for all the loving, generous gifts & support we have received over these past few weeks. Some I have posted about; some are not tangible, but in spirit; others were eaten before a picture was ever taken; still others have been photographed. I could blog for a month about all the beautiful creations and thoughtful gifts and I would probably still leave some out... So, I want all of you to know that each & every gift has brightened our days & for that I thank you with all my heart. Maybe you'll see a picture of your gift here in the future, maybe not - either way please do know that we are so grateful for all we have received & we send love & blessings your way! ~ Namaste!

It gives me shivers to see my spunky girl without a hat. She wears one 99% of the time. I promise! You know, I'm a trained Waldorf Early Childhood Teacher. Warmth is my soap box. Such a cute picture, though.

Cat Milk Trifle

It's pretty simple. We've been milking our cats. By Christmas we hope to have enough milk to make the pudding for the Trifle using "cat milk." The end.

Just kidding.

Some of you will find this strange, but here in the U.S. all raw milk I have ever purchased has been labeled with "for cats & dogs only." When we lived in Germany, the kids would go to the farmer to get our milk in a lil' milk pail. Raw milk. Fresh from the cow. When we lived in Chicago-suburbia, we encountered the "for cats & dogs only" for the first time. I remember just putting the milk in the fridge. I knew why it was labeled as such. Noah didn't read the label until he went for the 2nd glass & exclaimed, "Oh my gosh! Mom!!! I just drank the wrong milk!" So funny! Even my kids thought it was weird that such labeling needs to take place. The government lets us smoke cigarettes, but we can't drink raw milk? Yeah. They are really concerned about our health, huh? Anyhoo.

Last autumn a family had gifted me with a CSA from Farm to Family - raw milk included. Brent thought it was the oddest thing that the milk had to be labeled in that way & we jokingly started calling it "cat milk." "A bit more 'cat milk' with my coffee, please?!" "Yummy. Cookies & 'cat milk.'" When Brent & I went to my Mom's house for Christmas, we took ingredients to make a Trifle - organic & from scratch. Of course we weren't going to let that "cat milk" go to waste. I remember Brent saying, "New Zealand Trifle must be made with 'cat milk'" when we prepared it in my Mom's kitchen. My family was bewildered, but they ate it. They probably thought the liberal use of Sherry outdid the potential traces of "cat milk" they might consume...

So, as I was just thinking about Christmas in one of my sentimental moments, I thought of "Cat Milk Trifle." We must have "Cat Milk Trifle" with Christmas dinner!

Signed,

A Naked, Depressed Fish Drinking "Cat Milk"

Pause & Breathe

Two reasons for not blogging much these days:

(1) There's no denying I'm going through a rough patch. It's best to not blog daily when this happens. I have no intention to rename this blog "A Drowning Fishy." Ha.

(2) I feel like a "naked blogger" with my camera not letting me upload pictures to the laptop.

I will thus spare you the adventures of a naked, drowning fishy - at least for today.

If I Could Turn Back Time...

It is still strange for me to be in places where he has been. Today Noah had a presentation at school & I needed to leave to nurse Nuriel. I sat down in the big hall where school functions take place. It was empty & quiet. And as I sat there nursing her, my eyes tried to find the spot where he sat at a festival last December. Back then the chairs in the room had been arranged in a circle. I remember sitting with my class on the opposite side & us making eye-contact a few times during some very beautiful moments. I did not know then that I was already pregnant with Nuriel. I could pin-point the spot where he sat almost exactly. I kept staring at it as if I expected a big cloud to show up out of nowhere, with him emerging from it... Needless to say that didn't happen.

Yes, grief has been hittin' me intensely these past few days. It's like a wave. Gotta ride it out. At least so far it hasn't had the intensity of one that sends you flying off the surfing board and makes you ache all over as your body hits the water... It's not one of the sobbing ones; it's more like numbness.

Edited to add: After hitting the publish button, I realized it's the 14th today. Nuri is a month old. Time flies!

Meet The Crazy Sane Family

Early evening.

Noah is complaining about the laundry service. He can't find a shirt. Similar to the other night when he couldn't find a pair of clean shorts & I found three in his closet... I tell him he's welcome to do his own laundry if he has a problem with the service I provide. Secretly I hope he will choose that option. It would make my job so much easier! Anyhow. He finds a shirt after all & tells me to feed my attitude to the alligators. (My attitude? Gasp. Yeap. He really said that! Gasp again.)

Nathan is sitting on the exercise ball in the birthing tub & shooting little pellets across the living-room, using a bra of mine as a sling-shot, while reciting a poem of a drunken cowboy who finds himself on a hellbound train. - No! He didn't learn that poem as part of the school curriculum!

Nuriel is screaming. Screaming as in screaming. Her head is fiery red. Her mouth is open so wide & she's so out of it, she doesn't realize that the object of her desire (aka nipple) is already in her mouth! --- I'm (of course, as you can imagine) the calm center of it all. (Yeah, right!)

Do you smell a disaster brewing? I sure did! Because just a few minutes later we were leaving to attend the high school information fair & I really needed Noah to leave a positive impression.

Gasp.

Guess what?

He presented himself as a competent student with social skills & a fine vocabulary. --- Nathan did an excellent job looking like the younger brother who is already interested in his own high school education. --- Nuriel was the sleeping epitome of sweetness.

We are the Sane Family after all. You already knew that, right?

A Handmade Holiday

I'm going to join Tonya over at Plain & Joyful Living in " A Handmade Holiday" - well, sort of. We're keeping things simple, yet not entirely handmade. Noah has been wishing for a wooden chess set. Ideally, I will find a used one "with good vibes" - super-ideally it'll be paid for with a barter situation of some sort. Nathan has been wishing for some art equipment & I will fulfill one of his wishes.

For the handmade portion I'm envisioning a handknit New York Giants hat for Noah & a Chicago Bears one for Nathan. Nuri will get a knitted sheep. Must get her collection going. A half-kiwi-girl needs some sheep! Yes, that's only three projects, but it's all I can handle for now. "A Simple Holiday" is probably more accurate than "A Handmade Holiday."

I'm not finding much time to blog, which is fine. Nuri doesn't nap much during the day, but sleeps *a lot* at night. Works for me. I love spending time with my girl while the boys are at school.

And my camera is PMS-ing again. No pictures 'til it's had some chocolate...

Simply Delicious

A simple somethin' yummy with an afternoon cuppa or as desert.

Cut apples or plums into wedges. Toss in a tablespoon of sugar & flour. For the apples we also add some spices like cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg & ginger. Top with crumbles made from 1/2 cup of butter, 1/2 cup of sugar & 1/2 cup flour. Bake til juicy & smellin' good. Serve with fresh whip cream.

So good!

Noah's Writing Blurb

I attended the "Friday Gathering" at school this morning with Nuriel. Noah's class presented snippets from the Creative Writing block. Here's what Noah shared:

Yesterday I was holding my baby sister. She got hungry, so she started pushing her face against my chest hopefully. When that did not work, she grabbed fistfuls of my shirt and tried to force them into her mouth. Earlier she had been face-planted in my brother's chest. When she couldn't get any shirt into her mouth, she started to fuss loudly so I gave her to my Mom and the problem was fixed.

Sweet, huh? Long weekend ahead! And it looks like sunshine!

Midwife Wednesday

Nuri today in the bed where I often heard her heartbeat during the pregnancy - in my midwife's office. Just such a sweet moment. Nuri needed some belly button love. :-)

Blogtoberfest?

Blogtoberfest. A blog post a day for a month, huh? Oh, all you beer-drinking, partying young whippersnappers who can commit to do such a thing! Have fun! This mid-30s blogging Mama won't be able to keep up with you, but I will sure try & the closer I can get to a daily, interesting, coherent post, the younger I will feel, I suppose. Ha! When not blogging, I will be washing cloth diapers and the oodles of laundry this "I like to spit up at the wrong moment" girl produces. Or I'll be keeping a family feud from turning bloody & deadly. - Thank goodness the Bears (Nathan's team) only play the Giants (Noah's team) twice a season. Oh, and in between I'll be working on three pilot hats... This lil' bonnet I stitched up over the weekend. It has some flaws & it's unblocked, but this girl looks cute in just about anything!

Malabrigo Sock. Size US 1 needles. This pattern.

I like to wear my hats sideways. Have you noticed?

Look What I Found!

I remember him e-mailing it to me. I thought I had deleted it for sure. Imagine my surprise when I found it yesterday while looking for a file in my "laptop labyrinth of files!" Brent as a baby - almost 50 years ago. It's a rainy, cloudy, melancholic Sunday here. Nuri and I are listening to music. Much love to all our blogland friends!

Virginia State Fair

We ended up going today with good weather in the forecast. It was way too crowded and not old-fashioned enough for my taste, but we had a good time!

 

 Sucking up some lemonade. $13 worth to be specific.

Chillin' with a full belly.

 Joyful, happy baby!

Some knitted creations on display - including my blue baby afghan with the blue ribbon.

Noah's lyre & Nathan's spoon on the top right.

Sweater with the red ribbon.

Virginia State Fair, Here We Come!

I've never been to a State Fair! Isn't that somethin'? Then this year we decided to submit some things to the Virginia State Fair Arts & Crafts Competition. It seemed like something fun to do. It was 20 cents per entry. That made it something cheap to do. Never in my wildest imagination did I think we would win one of those prestigious ribbons! But guess what? We did! Noah submitted his pentatonic cherry lyre, Nathan a carved wooden spoon & I submitted four knittsie creations. That's six entries & we won FOUR ribbons! Noah got a blue ribbon (1st place) for his lyre, Nathan a white ribbon (3rd place) for his wooden spoon & I got a blue ribbon for this and a red ribbon (2nd place) for this. The weather has been coldish-rainish. It's supposed to be a bit better on Friday. I've decided to pick the kids up from school early & we're goin' to the State Fair! I promise I'll snap lots of pictures! (Either this is something to really be excited about or just a sign of me getting old. I haven't figured that out yet!)

WIP Wednesday

A quick post while my daughter is taking a nap & I'm anxiously, with chattering teeth, awaiting the estimate of the car repair guy... It may not be Wednesday here, but it's Wednesday somewhere in the world. Good enough for me!

So many WIPs. In the left bottom corner three skeins of Malabrigo Silky Merino waiting to become pilot hats. The two green skeins on the top left are Madelinetosh skeins a friend gifted me with for Nuri's birth. I'm planning on making her one of these. The white lil' something on the top is the beginning of a lace bonnet. The big green thing is an almost completed Icarus shawl. And then some sheep waiting to be stitched up there on the right... Truth be told, I haven't had much time to knit. I've been busy counting my blessings and looking at this:

The blanket was a gift from Christine over at a simple quilter. I thought it was too cute when I noticed that finger poking out through one of the holes yesterday. Yes, she sleeps best all swaddled up like that.

And while I'm counting my blessings, I also miss him more than ever. Oh, all the smiles this child would have brought to his face. And I'm also a bit annoyed with the stigma attached to not having a father listed on the birth certificate; no way to dip into her Kiwi heritage with a passport one day. My child, the child of a New Zealander & a German is officially an American citizen. Just slightly strange...

Nuriel's Birth Story

Nuriel's birth story is available for reading here. There are also some pictures. Enjoy! Birth Stories is an awesome blog. You might want to start following it! I feel honored that Nuriel's story is posted there.

Sunday

I haven't been totally lazy, but I'm going to torture you with another post of "just" pictures of my precious children. I did manage to type up the birth story tonight & I will give you the direct link to where it can be found as soon as it's published at Birth Stories.

Here's Nathan trying to look strange in an effort to conceal how much he loves his lil' sister. Pssst. Don't tell him I said that! Caught a nice Nuri-smile there. She's a smiley girl!

Nuri loves this spot by the window, especially in the mornings with the sun shining in. In the background you can see a bit of the gorgeous quilt Viv over at Highway Cottage made for Nuriel. Thank you so, so much, Viv! It's such a Kiwi treasure! My daughter is a projectile pooper, though. - I'm gonna blame this on her Papa, because I can! - I promise a better picture of the quilt very soon. It had to be washed. Turns out my daughter prefers to projectile poop on clean linen and heirloom quilts... or my hand if neither of these are available!

Things should be back to normal soon - right?! Maybe not. Oh, but I'm really trying! Pinky promise.

Thursday Already, Huh?!

Well, how about some randomness? Time flies when your boobs are engorged (Why couldn't he live to see me with some real nice big boobs?!?!) & you have a baby to look at & people bring you food. I'm getting some knitting done, though. Seriously! I'll have a completed project one of these days... By the way... I'm not neglecting my boys by not posting pictures of them. They really don't like being featured on the blog much. Thank goodness for babies who don't protest! :-) In other good news... I received a letter from Brent's daughter in the mail today. Exciting! So glad to know she received the box...