The Lady of the House

I'm so glad that someone is tending to the day to day things around here.

Things like washing,

and drying the dishes.

Making sure the baby is fed,

and very well loved.
Thomas More once said that "The ordinary acts we practice every day at home are of more importance to the soul than their simplicity might suggest." I think this lady of the house understands his sentiment. What would we do without her?

The Birth of a Father

Holding your first baby always comes as a bit of a shock. I mean, what do you do with this thing?

And then, somehow, with time, you start easing into the role of parent. You learn the simple lessons, like the value of going with the flow.

You learn to delight in new experiences,

and the fact that your two arms can actually hold two babies.

Or that your two arms can hold one toddler, while your back holds a baby.

You learn how to be an amazing play partner,

adventure partner,

and a very funny teller and listener of secrets.

And then one day someone like, say, your wife, will be looking at you and utter: "My, but isn't he the most natural father?"


And that you are, my dear.

These Past Few Days...

have been spent
::sleeping like a puppies all over the house (okay, this pertains mainly to me and Hugo)

::planning out exactly who gets to hold the baby at any given moment (and let me tell you, there is a lot of competition)

...as you can see...
...::making new friends

::receiving huge amounts of generosity, delicious meals, and love from friends and family. We truly are so lucky.

::handling a sweet sleepy baby, and waiting in earnest for those few moments that he is awake.

::falling in love with this amazing person and giving thanks for the gift that is new life!

Hugo Benjamin

Hugo Benjamin

8 lbs 9 oz

Born at 5:14 this morning

in our bedroom

and very quickly engulfed by a lot love.

Thumb Twiddling

(my terrarium: looking good, don't you think?)

We have perfected the art of waiting around here. There was a week of restlessness: of my body clearly warming up for this labor, but no baby, and a whole family that was tapping its fingers and wondering when the time would come. We got every. last. thing. ready.

There were a couple of nights that we went to bed thinking, "Surely, this baby will come tonight." But then the night came and went, no baby came, and we woke up still very much in the middle of the waiting game.

(our current baby)

And then, after many such nights and days, we came to the beautiful zen realization that this baby will come when he's ready, just like every other baby, and we have nothing but time to wait and enjoy the process. My body has been doing lots of getting ready, but in some ways the end game of this pregnancy has been so kind: no hip pain, good sleep, lots of support from loved ones.

(canisters on the windowsill, having been put to good use)

So somewhere in there we realized that we can just celebrate these last days of our family being a family of four: of Ben and I being parents of big-kid toddlers. Of course that makes us no less eager to hold this new little life in our hands, but it has made the intermittent days so much more fun. There has been baking, reading, many long walks, and Ben and I have rocked a couple of crossword puzzles. We have played outside, tackled a few little projects here and there, and, yes, I have collapsed and just rested, too (okay, this has happened a lot).

(Lily's quilt: still awaiting finishing, but wrinkled and put to good use)

One of these days we will find ourselves in a whole new stage of our family life: blissful evenings of holding a sleepy newborn baby, silliness brought on by lack of sleep, getting to know a new little being. Oh, I can't wait! But I guess I have to, and that's okay.

Thrifted Diversions

Over the past few weeks, whenever I go to the thrift store, I gather little things here and there to entertain the big girls when this little one arrives. Above: a wealth of children's books, several of which we have already gone through one (or many, many) times. I was so pleasantly surprised by how many beautiful classic books I was able to find.


A bag of clothespins, part wishful thinking about finally putting up a clothes line in the back yard, part un-toy, particularly for my little Lily.

There's something so wonderful about being able to get special little presents in such a thrifty fashion! What have your thrifting adventures brought you lately?

A Nursery

This past weekend, we embarked upon the project of getting every last thing ready for the baby. Carseat in the car (which now means we have three carseats across the back of our little sedan! Woo hoo!). Snacks ready for the labor and birth. And (this one is my favorite!) room ready for the baby. You know us: the thriftier, the better. So we pretty much used things that we already owned to decorate and prepare the room.
Here's the old garage sale rocking chair I used to nurse and rock both Zosia and Lily.

I hung a few handknit items on the walls as decoration because they're just so little and cute. And, of course, a little rocking chair (painted from the thrift store) next to a box of books for my two little mama's helpers-- now they have something to stay entertained while I'm nursing the little one.

The box is filled with favorite books, old and new... perhaps I'll inch it closer to my big rocking chair so I can take a look, too.

Our tried and true changing table, stocked with cloth diapering supplies as well as disposables (for nights, or when we go out of the house).

I made some little pendant flags-- the material, I admit, I purchased at the fabric store, and then I just sewed together little triangles and bound them together using some double fold bias tape.

And then here's the baby's little corner-- complete with nursing chair, a shelf (for me to keep some books, a burp cloth, or a water bottle on), and a lovely gifted painting from the talented Annie.

We have a cute vintage book of french children's songs, and we have it open to a favorite around here: Fais Dodo, Colas, a song about a big sister singing her brother to sleep. Just perfect, don't you think?

I will admit, I love sitting in this room-- the tiniest of the whole house-- just imagining our little one here with us!

The calendar is clear, the house is ready, and now all we have to do is joyfully wait. I think there are few spiritual practices more challenging and rewarding.

A Little Cap Sleeved Nightgown

I have been slowing down these past few days. I mean, slooooowing down. Which is just my body's way of getting plenty of rest before the birth, I know.

I have been making the most of my newfound snail's pace: getting those last few supplies ready for the birth (can I give a word of thanks to online shopping?), reading lots of books to the children, and sitting down by the sewing machine to get a couple little gifts done before the baby comes.

I am planning to spend many of the baby's first days in a nightgown: something comfortable and easy to nurse in that will serve as a reminder that I don't need to go anywhere. My job is to nestle in close to a new baby, rest, and bond. That's something it has taken me a few pregnancies and births to figure it out, but I get it now: those first few days and weeks are nature's way of ensuring both mama and baby's health (and joy).

Since I'm just about done with a present for Lily (a blanket I hope to share here one day soon!), I figured I would make something special but easy for my resident little mama of the house: that precious (almost) four year old who seems to be as integral to the household functioning as any grown up. And what can be better than something to match the real mama? I stumbled upon this tutorial and thought it was perfect: and of course I had a thrifted bed sheet on hand (have I ever had a sewing project that didn't use one of these?). Zosia loves it, although I will caution that the tutorial claims to be 4T, but really runs closer to a 3T. I just love those little cap sleeves! So cute!

Yarn Along: A Couple Wee Projects

I am happy to report that just as I was beginning to despair that there are no finished projects in our household in these final days leading up to the baby, a small miracle has been happening. Bit by bit, the projects have been nearing completion. There are still things that need to be taken care of, but it wouldn't be life if that weren't the case, right?
Of course all of that knitting and button sewing has meant that aside from finishing up last week's yarn, there are no new reading projects in the works.

The puerperium cardigan is cute as can be (albeit a size or two or three too big for a newborn. Has anyone had any luck slightly shrinking wool?), and the sizing issue isn't the end of the world, because it should be perfect come cooler weather.

And the Rhino Romper was a fun to knit up (seen here on top of a pile of fabric that hopefully, one of these days will be turned into a blanket and some decorations for the baby's room) and seems to be just the right size for a newborn.

Looking forward to seeing what cute little things people have been making this past week-- Ginny's cute little baby included.

The Family Worms

Our family has expanded, and it's not in the way you might think. We are now the proud owners of a tote full of worms-- compost worms, to be specific. Hidden away in a forsaken part of the yard (close to our raised bed) is this:

A bin full of little worker worms whose job it is to make beautiful compost.

Here's how it works: we give them our fruit and vegetable scraps, coffee grounds, egg shells (no meat or dairy!). We water them from time to time and give them a shady place to live. Then we cover them up with some newspaper, a plastic top, and let them do their work. Their home is just that plastic tote, which has little holes punched in the bottom.

(right now they're actually covered with an empty tote that has a top and some holes punched in the bottom... which apparently means that in the future we can lure them into the top bin with fresh food scraps in order to harvest the compost from the bottom bin).


In exchange for our kind services, these worms make beautiful compost (and when it rains or we over-water them, there is compost tea that collects in the bin top we keep underneath their home). As you can imagine, it's a huge hit with the little ones and their friends, who think it is *so* cool to have worms. So far, so good. We've composed before, but eventually gave up the habit after attracting our old city neighborhood rats. As of yet, we don't have a rodent problem, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

Any tips from others out there who compost with worms? How are we doing, Irene?