Maternity Leave prompts online shopping addiction...

Time to myself is in short supply now that Eliza has arrived and I find the few things I actually have the energy to do are online. One thing I can successfully complete in between breast feeding, burping, rocking, swaying and diaper changing seems to be the online purchase. Usually I have much more self control than I have had this past month, but when it is the one thing I can feel successful at separate from newborn care, it really can't be helped, can it? A small luxury for the new mama...certainly there are much worse things...

So let me show you some of my new loot:

I purchased this lovely nursing cover from gingersnappz:

I didn't think I would need one of these, but I have already had a few moments where emergency nursing was called for and it was a pain in the butt to use a receiving blanket. This has been much easier and it is made from cute Amy Butler fabric, so when I am done having kiddos I still have a fun fabric to make something with ;) Plus, I love that one of the bottom corners has a bit of terry cloth stitched on the backside so you can wipe baby's mouth or whatever else.

I also bought one of these posters from By Order of the Crown. I've seen these on the internets for the last couple years:

I never saw the point of these posters really, until Eliza. I have felt very not-calm many times since her birth so I am temporarily hanging it in the nursery for David and I when we are at our whits end, unable to decipher or calm our daughter's cries. We need the reminder sometimes.

I've also purchased a bonnet pattern, as well as, fabric, an issue of Ottobre (a children's clothing pattern magazine), two patterns from Sew Liberated (there was a sale!!) and a Balboa baby sling. We already have a few baby carriers (a Mei Tai I made and a Baby Bjorn), but Eliza really likes being cradled so I thought she would like a sling and she does...it works almost like magic for me. I don't think you can have too many baby carriers...we use them all!

Now that I've typed out all my purchases, it really seems absurd that I have bought so much. Seriously, now is NOT the time to buy patterns! Oh well, what's done is done. I'll try and be better next time...

Snuggler/Swaddler

Eliza love love loves being swaddled. We swaddle her up like a burrito every night before bed and often for naps too. David and I however are HORRIBLE at swaddling with receiving blankets, we just do not do it tight enough. We resorted to buying several of these, to make things easier on us. So in my first few moments of craft time post-Eliza, I decided to make the Snuggler from Lotta Jansdotter's new book, Simple Sewing for Baby. Here it is so far. It just needs some velcro and it's done:

I thought I would try and test it out on Eliza, even without the velcro, so I could get a picture of her looking all cute in it for the blog, but it really needs the velcro in order to keep a squirmy little newborn inside...

The story behind her name...

Eliza was one month yesterday! In the hustle and bustle of becoming a new parent, I haven't yet told the story of how I came to pick out her name: Eliza Josephine. Might as well try and do that here and now, in the shadow of Father's Day, while she naps...even if she is stretching like she is going to wake up.

Eliza we picked simply because we liked it. It was pretty and simple...not much of a story there.

The middle name however, took a little more work. If we had been having a boy, we would've picked the middle name Carl, for my dad. Since we were having a girl however, I had to pick something different. My dad passed away when I was 8 weeks pregnant and so my pregnancy was very connected to his passing away. I thought often of the impact he had on my life. I wanted a middle name for our girl that was symbolic of my dad. Girl versions of Carl didn't work...so I started looking at the meanings of names and then turned to the Saints. My dad was a very inspirational Catholic for me, someone who walked the talk in his daily life and was quietly devout. One of my favorite stories about him is one his cousin told me about how he used to mow their lawn as a teenager and sing songs in Latin while he did. As I looked through the patron saints, I settled on two St Josephs, which Eliza's middle name, Josephine, is symbolic of. There is the Joseph, everyone knows, the Father of Jesus, and thus patron saint of Fathers. What I didn't know is that Joseph is also the patron saint of Social Justice. This is fitting as well since my dad worked for Catholic Social Services for more than 20 years. The work he did was very much in the name of social justice and it inspires me each day in my own work as a librarian. I also discovered a St Joseph of Cupertino who is the patron saint of pilots and air passengers. My dad was in the Air Force and loved planes from the time he was a boy. Throughout my childhood he took my brother and I to air museums and air shows and he could always identify the type of planes flying overhead. When he took me to the airport as I got older and started traveling places by myself he would often wait for my plane to take off before departing, pulling over to the McDonalds and waiting in the parking lot, drinking a cup of black coffee. Sometimes he would even call my cell phone to let me know he saw my plane take off. He is the reason I love airports and flying. I love that we live so close to the airport now and I think of him each time I see a plane overhead.

It is kind of a roundabout tribute to my dad, but fitting nonetheless and a story I cannot wait to tell Eliza someday

Bittersweet Father's Day

Today is my husband's first Father's Day. Already he is proving to be an amazing dad, as I knew he would be. We have always been a very 50/50 couple in terms of workload (somehow I lucked out and go a husband who does all the bills and laundry) and I think we are already this way as parents. He has saved me numerous times already with Eliza, jumping right in after a long day at work when I needed a break. It is weird though to celebrate Father's Day so soon after Eliza's arrival as we are such rookies. We are so clueless really and although we are getting more and more clued in as time goes by, I don't think either of us feels quite like a Father or Mother yet, but we are, and Eliza has a pretty awesome dad. I can't wait to watch their relationship unfold. The next few years are sure to be quite a fun adventure with David at our sides!

Today is also my first Father's Day without my dad and I cannot really celebrate Father's Day without mentioning him. It is a weird thing to not have a dad anymore. I feel entirely too young for that. I never got my dad gifts on Father's Day, but I always took a moment to write something in a card about what a great father he was or one of my favorite memories from childhood. If I were to write him something today, I would tell him I hope to be at least half the parent he was...that his example is guiding me as I fumble my way through this new adventure called parenthood and even though he isn't here to go with us, we plan on taking Eliza to air shows, and on train rides and if we ever get lost we will of course tell her we were just taking the scenic route. I miss you Dad...I know you are doing just fine up there...but I sure do wish you were still here and that you could meet Eliza.

My Sweet Little Sewing Machine

I'm really feeling lucky that I got to spend so much time sewing in the weeks before Eliza was born. I miss my sewing time already...and yet I also feel guilty for even wanting to sew right now. I actually have had a couple of times where I could steal a half hour in the craft room this past week (like right now), but I am not quite there yet...if that makes any sense at all. I know I'll be back at the machine here and there eventually, but not just yet.

The day before Eliza was born, I got my machine repaired and it was running so smooth that afternoon...smoother than I ever remember it running before. I really can't wait to sew on it again. My machine is a Bernina 1000 Special and was purchased by my mom, for 50 bucks at her next door neighbor's yard sale several years ago. I love this little machine...it doesn't do any fancy stuff, but it does just what I need. My mom gave it to me about three years ago when I really started sewing so I've pretty much learned to sew on it. I love this machine for what I have created with it and for how far I've come since I began using it. To see just how far, browse my blog archives. It was not too long ago when I could barely stitch a straight line!

When I got my machine fixed, I asked the ladies at the shop if they knew how old it was. They figured it was made in the late 1980s or early 1990s and the woman who repaired it told me it was worth between $400-500 dollars! I had an Antiques Roadshow, SHOCKED moment. I had always suspected it was worth more than my mom paid for it, but not by that much. I have no intentions of selling it on ebay, but it made me wanna hug my machine as I carried it out of Beth's Creative Stitchery. I felt thankful for my mom's good yard sale karma. I couldn't ask for a better machine and I hope to be sewing on it again soon, once I figure out how to work hobbies into my new life with Eliza.

3 is the magic number!

I meant to post this yesterday...whoops! We have a winner for my Zombie Lip Balm giveaway! I used random.org to draw the winner and it chose 3 which is Evan's comment! Congratulations! Send me an email me and I'll get these out to you ASAP!

And that is that for Zombie Lip Balm...Columbus folks however, do not despair! Wholly Craft is well stocked (I made it there just in time...the day before Eliza was born) and you can still purchase it there until they run out.

Parenthood: Week One

A more appropriate title for this post might be: "We Survived."

What a week this has been as we get to know our little Eliza....so full of amazement, joy and happiness, but also stress and total exhaustion...I swear I must have gone several nights in a row with only an hour or two of sleep. I knew I'd be getting less, but did not expect to have some nights with absolutely none...silly me! This has been without a doubt the best and most difficult week of my life.

A few things we have learned about Eliza:

:: She misses life in the womb...in other words, she is fussy. We are trying to make things easier for her with lots of swaddling and white noise and of course lots of snuggling. Our new favorite sound around the house is a recording of our hairdryer, played on repeat, again and again.

:: She likes to eat...a lot and frequently -sometimes every hour. My girl is wearing her mama out! I honestly did not realize breastfeeding could take so much out of me, but it does. I see now, how much it really takes to stick with it and I am hoping I have what it takes.

:: She's a charmer. No matter how late she keeps her dad and I up, how exhausted we become, the next morning she is instantly forgiven and we are marveling at funny facial expressions or her yawns or her cute little baby sneezes (I never knew how cute baby sneezes were before Eliza).

We have so much more to learn...but if there is one thing this week has taught me, it is that you can only prepare so much...some things can only be learned on the job, and that is definitely what we are doing these days.

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Don't forget, today is the last day to enter to win FREE zombie lip balm! Just post a comment here for your chance to win. I'll pick the winner tomorrow. Good luck!