Alone

For the first time since December 1st I was alone.



See, on Friday I pulled out my pump and K was able to give Eleni her first bottle. It was well received and she sucked the bottle dry in no time. This morning I pumped again, and took a trip to my favorite market- McGinnis Sisters- for the first time since Eleni was born. Their carts are quite small, and not easy to take along a baby in a car seat. So I went alone. Boy was it strange leaving the house solo! But I was able to enjoy my shopping knowing K had the tools to keep her happy until I returned. Turned out she slept through my entire trip and the milk wasn't necessary. However having it available made us all more relaxed.

In other news, I am knitting. Slowly. Very very slowly. But the point is it is getting done. I had considered stopping this section of the baby moderne at 36 ridges, but remembered how particular I am and how I would regret it if I made it smaller than the pattern suggested. So I am on ridge 44 of 54. One more block to go which is another 36 ridges and will go along the left side in the picture below and will be brown and blue. I am working on the pink and brown boxes at the top.


Happy New Year to you all!!

Photo update

Not much going on worth blogging about. Taking it one day at a time, and overall it is going quite well. I put the Saarje Booties onto Eleni and got some pictures. They where a little small for her monster feet, but that didn't hurt the cute factor one bit.



Our first children, the dogs, are adjusting rather well to our new family member as well. Bella is always checking on Eleni when she is in the pack'n play or when someone new holds her. Mo is less maternial and more jealous of Miss Eleni. He needs to make sure he isn't getting ignored. Just take a look for yourself...

Good think I have a big lap.

D-Day

December 1st 2007. A day that will forever be special to us, and to our families. This is the day that our little girl entered our lives.

It all started on Friday night. After deciding we had no food to eat, and a limited number of days remaining to eat out we headed out to one of our regular asian eateries and had some sushi for dinner. Dinner was lovely and tasty as always and we headed home for the night. I quickly got into my PJs and settled into my favorite corner of the sofa when I felt... well a little wet. Hmm. While it wasn't a lot, i was pretty sure it was my water breaking. So we called my doctor and she asked we head to the hospital to have the baby monitored and to verify my water did infact break. So after some rushing around to pack a bag and call our parents and put the Doula on alert we where off to the hospital. It was about 9:00pm when we where checked in.

The doctor confirmed my water had broke, and prefered we stayed at the hospital at that point. So we where admitted and left alone to labor naturally until the next morning when I would be given pitocin if we hadn't progressed enough. Once your water breaks it is generally thought that the baby needs to be delivered within 24 hours. The night was long and there was little sleep going on, however we didn't get enough accomplished to go without the pitocin. At 6am the pitocin drip started.

I was still trying to have this baby without any unnecessary drugs though, so we labored on all morning as planned. My contractions became stronger and longer as the time passed by but I wasn't progressing as much as I had hoped I was. At 1:00 I decided I needed a plan. If I was almost fully dilated in another hour I would press on drug free. But if by 2:00 we still anticipated a significant period of laboring before we could push I would have an epidural. This hour timeline I established for myself ended up being the hardest hour in my entire labor. We suspected she was not in the prefered anterior position. Meaning I was having "back labor". It was wicked. Had it not been for my fabulously wonderful husband and our super doula I would have packed my bags and given up. Just stop the labor now, I decided I am not having this baby. My hour was up. My doctor showed up and we where only 7cm, meaning there where another 3 to go and I was at my breaking point.
I asked for the epidural. The relief was nearly immediate. I was able to rest for the next 2 (or was it 3) hours. We even slept. I would have to conserve my energy for pushing. The next time I was checked the baby had decended to the +2 station and it was time to prepare for the pushing.
The pushing was intense. I think it lasted around 2 hours. I had my own personal cheering section and it was great help in keeping my focus and energy directed to delivery. It was a lot of work, and in the end the doctor needed to use suction to help the baby and her big noggin out of my body.
So much of the rest is a blur. Our little 8lb 4oz bundle of joy made her way into our world.

It wasn't long that she was put into her daddy's arms for the first time while we delivered the placenta and I was stitched up from my small tear.

We decided on the name Eleni Jean, and our hearts have forever been changed by this little wonder. Every day that passes the birth experience memory becomes less vivid. The memory of the pain fades as new memories of our daughter are created.

Overall we spent 24 hours in labor. Kevin and I went about 41 hours without sleep aside from a few cat naps. I had gone 27 hours without food. I threw up three times. Pushed for two hours. Had I heard these statistics before it all started I would have been scared. I would have wanted to avoid this entire situation. However, after having been through this past weekend I must say it was worth every discomfort.

Oh Christmas Tree!

While I continue to wait for this little girl to make her move and come into our world I am trying to keep busy. One of my to do list items was to turn the fabric I bought a few years ago to wrap around the Christmas tree base into a proper tree skirt. The fabric was found on clearence and was quickly bought the morning of our first Holiday party to hide the tree stand. It had done a good job, but I had always intended on doing something more with it. Well with Taylor's help and some more fabric I transformed the fabric into a skirt.

So first I had to make my square piece of fabric with a slit cut to the center into a circle. To do this I folded the square in half, and in half again and then diagonally. So that the center of the fabric remained as point. I measured from the point to 20 inches out into the fabric and placed a pin. I did this along an arch and then cut along the pin line leaving me with a shape like this.

Once opened this leaves me with a pretty darn nice circle

With both the top and bottom pieces of fabric now in the shape and size I wanted I decided to join the pieces with bias tape. So I purchased a 1 inch bias tape maker thing, and followed the directions and made enough with my leftover base fabric to edge the circle and go up both sides of the slit. Here it is sewn onto the top layer of fabric.


So the next step was that I cut out some cotton batting and basted it onto the base fabric. Just to hold the layers together.

Then I pinned the top and bottom together, right sides facing and sewed the back onto the other side of the bias tape. I left the center hole open so I could turn skirt right side out when I was finished.
Here is the nearly finished skirt posing with our tree...


What I learned
While I am quite happy with the end look of the skirt, there was things that could be done better. The top layer of fabric should have been cut about an inch smaller all the way around to compensate for the bias tape. Now the top fabric is larger than the bottom fabric. Not a big deal in my case because I liked the lumpy look of the top fabric, and it is light weight and drapes nicely. I could have found a better way to deal with the transition of the bias tape from the circle edge to the slit. I just kinda fudged it and made it bend. It is behind the tree though and I am going to live with it. I am thinking of top stitching along the bias tape edge to kind of hold it down or something. Still have to hand sew some of it together... but I think it is done for this Christmas. Afterall, the tree is wearing it and looking quite dashing. It can be finished another day.

So much, yet nothing at all

I feel like I have been so busy trying to get stuff done before this baby arrives. Racing against the clock to finish projects. However I don't know how much time is left on our clock. We where happy to make it through Thanksgiving and spent a very nice night visiting with my family. I was also greatful to have these past three days to ourselves as well. I only wish I could share what I have been up too. See, much of it is a surprise for a couple of blog readers. So the rest of you must suffer so that we can keep the surprises surprises. I guess it will give me something to post about another day. Until then, I leave you with some puppy zen.

Bend the Rules Valance

Last week I was a busy little sewer, and have not yet taken any time to share with you my project. Sadly I was too caught up in the activity to take any in progress photos. It was an experiment and I was just interested in getting to the end result to pause for picture taking.

After being inspired by the Scalloped Baby blanket that Cara made for sproggy I decided I would use the same pattern concept for the nursery window valance. The pattern can be found in Bend the Rules Sewing. I adjusted the size to fit across the window, and left the top straight. Also, I applied a simple pocket to the back for the curtain rod to slide through.



Close up


I added two stripes of the ribbon left over from the crib skirt to break up the pattern some. Never mind the short tab of ribbon hanging below the finished edge. There are plans for that.


So my question for you is..... Do I need long curtains under the valance? Like some pink shears? Just something to make it look more finished? Every time I walk in the room I feel like maybe it is missing something. Advice is greatly appreciated!


Here is the most recent belly picture I have right now... for one particular reader :o) My belly is the bottom of the two. The top belly belongs to a friend Lisa. She is due anytime now, if she hasn't already had her little man!


Have a happy weekend everyone!

Pie Season

Some of you who know me and my weird eating habits might find this post to be a little un-Amanda like. But in typical Amanda fashion, there is always more than meets the eye. See, I don't really like pie. Particuraly the crust. Now there are exceptions to the rule. I eat pumpkin pies, but I scoop the filling from the crust. And I eat pecan pie with the crust, as it isn't scrapable. Fruit pies are a total waste on me.
However I do love making pie. Go figure right?

It is the time of year that I consider Pie Season. Maybe it is easy to define a season for this dessert because I only seem to eat fall pies- pecan and pumpkin. Maybe it is because this was the time of year mom and I stayed up late cramming for Thanksgiving by baking pies until we couldn't stay awake any longer. In any case, this pie crust recipe is the best I have used. Passed to me from my mother, and she received it from her sister, my Aunt B. It comes together so easily, and is always a big hit with pie crust lovers... or so I am told.

Aunt B's Pie Crust
makes enough for two crusts, or one double crust.
3 cups all purpose flour
1 cup Crisco
1/2 tsp salt
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 TBSP white vinegar
7 TBSP cold water

So first step you combine the flour, Crisco, and salt with a pastry blender until crumbly.


Next, add the wet ingredients- lightly beaten egg, vinegar and cold water.


Mix to combine wet and dry ingredients until dough comes together


Split the dough into two even sections. At this point it can be rolled out for your pie, or refridgerated until you are ready to use it. When you roll out the dough lightly flour the surface to keep it from sticking to the rolling pin or the counter top.


Last step is to fill it with your pie filling and bake according to the pie recipe. I made the Oatmeal Pecan Pie recipe from Cooking Light's November 2006 issue.


Enjoy!!