In the wee hours

Dawn. Something I rarely saw before I had children, in fact I think up until age 29, I had seen dawn only a handful of times. A few times I saw it to get to the airport to catch an early flight. Occasionally, in my late teens/early 20s I saw it after staying out all night. Once, on the 1st of January 2000, we got up to watch the sunrise, after all, New Zealand was the first place in the world to welcome in the new millennium. But, I must confess, I am not a morning person. Even when I was nursing, I managed to wrangle a position that allowed me to work the much more lady like hours of 8am-4.30pm. 

Recently, I was talking to a good friend who has recently become a mother. She was bemoaning the lack of sleep and she was adamant she would never adjust to getting so little of it. The funny thing is, you do. You really, really do. These days, if I get to sleep in until after 7am, I consider myself lucky. I can honestly say that in the last two and a bit years, I have seen more dawns than I have had hot breakfasts. 

When Holly was a baby, I hated the night waking and early morning starts. I longed for her to sleep through the night. Since Isla has been born however, I have grown to like the night wakes.... just a little bit. Being a second child, you just don't get that same one on one time that you do with your first. So, there is something lovely and special about those times in the middle of the night when I take the little one into bed with me. When she snuggles up close and I can hear the rhythmical sounds of her feeding and feel her little hand stroking my side. It is our time, lovely, quiet, peaceful.

One day, I look forward to sleeping all night and not starting my days before the sun but for now, I try to appreciate these times because I know they will be over before I know it. 

The little one

I never get tired of looking at that little face. She is growing and changing so quickly at the moment. Sometimes it takes my breath away and I want to press the pause button for a while so I can take in her happy baby gurgles, her warm milky breath, her little hand gently stroking my chest while she feeds. With your first born, you are so eager to see them reaching milestones but when you have your second baby, you understand with crystal clarity how fleeting babyhood really is. 

Baby bunting tutorial

Thought I would post this for anyone wondering how to make baby bunting. It is really easy, looks lovely and makes a great gift for a new baby.

What you will need-

cotton fabric (non stretch) in a colour/pattern you like

a small amount of complementary coloured felt

2 meters of 25mm bias binding

embroidery cotton in same colour as felt

sewing thread

fabric marker/tailors chalk

embroidery ring

pins

scissors

sewing machine

Instructions-

1- Iron fabric, mark out and cut 14 squares from your cotton fabric measuring 15cm x 12cm.

2- Mark out your 5 letters and 2 hearts on your felt. Each letter should measure 6cm tall x 5cm wide. Cut out.

3- Find the centre of your fabric squares and pin letters onto centre of right side. Use your embroidery loop to hold fabric tight, attach the letters using blanket stitch. Gently press using Iron.

4- Taking 1 lettered square and 1 plain square, pin with right sides together. 

5- Using an overlocker, serge .5cm seams. If you don't have an overlocker, sew .5cm straight seams then use a zig-zag stitch to overlock edges. Leave a small gap of about 2 cm at the top of each square. Turn and press.

6- Fold bias binding in half and press. 

7- Find the centre of the binding and pin middle square into the binding. Leaving 3cm between each square, pin remaining squares into binding. 

8- Starting at one end of binding, sew along binding using a straight stitch. 

9- Knot off each end of binding.

Now it is ready to hang! I enjoyed making this as a gift for my Little one to hang above her cot.

Hope you enjoy making this as much as I did. Feel free to ask me of anything you are unsure about.

A baby shower

Yesterday was a good friends baby shower. It was a lovely afternoon with silly games and afternoon tea of club sandwiches and cupcakes- very ladylike. I have been making a conscious effort for the last year to *try* to make my gifts rather than buy, so in accordance with this, I made the above baby shower gift. The knitted top is a Milo vest by my favorite designer Tikki. The bunny was inspired by this bunny on Kelly's blog Reclaiming me and the pattern was from here. I even made the gift bag by downloading the paper pattern from the net!

Love letter to my Baby Isla

My sweet girl, you are growing so fast, nearly 3 months old already, how time flies! It seems so recently I was eagerly watching the calendar awaiting your due date, that day came and went and I could not believe it! I had thought for sure you were going to come early but you, my sweet, had other plans. Luckily for me, you were born the following day. Now, 3 months on, it is hard to imagine what life was like without you in our family. You are such an amazing little girl. You have started to smile and laugh. You love to watch your sister, everything she does is so interesting to you. You love it when I tickle you under your chin. You love it when I kiss your tummy. You think it is fun when I hold you up high over my head then lower you down for a kiss. Playing under your black and white mobile is your favorite pass time. Your daddy is so proud of you and thinks you look alot like him. He is probably right, your features are fine like his. At the moment your eyes are still blue, we are waiting with anticipation to see what colour they will end up. You hate sitting in the car, making car trips not very fun at the moment. Some days you like to nap and some days you don't but that is ok because you are a great little sleeper most nights, even sleeping through to morning occasionally. You enjoy watching the world from the front pack more than from the push chair.  You are such a snugly girl, who likes nothing better than being held, cuddled and kissed, which is lucky because I love giving you these things. You make me smile, you make me laugh, you make my heart fill with love, my sweet, sweet girl. x

Walking the floor boards

The littlest one is suffering from colic. Every night she cries. It is so hard to watch her little face twist in pain. The only thing that seems to ease the tears is walking. The other night as I walked a path around our living room for the umpteenth time, I looked at the floorboards and started to wonder how many other mothers had walked these same floor boards over the hundred years or so that this house has stood here? I decided there must have been at least a couple. In thinking about these babies that have long ago grown up and left this house, I was struck with how fleeting babyhood really is. One day all too soon Isla will be grown up. So for now, I wont will the evenings away but rather hold my little one close and remind myself that one day, I will look back on these nights I walked the floor boards with fondness.

Demistifying modern cloth nappies

As many of you may of you may know, I have a bit of a 'thing' for modern cloth nappies (MCN). Initially, I chose to use MCN for economic reasons but quickly fell in love with how cute they looked and I have also become increasingly aware of their positive environmental attributes. I thought I might provide you with a bit of a run down on the advantages of MCN as well as an outline of the different types of MCN available today.

Benefits of MCN

• MCN do not contain the chemicals that disposables do, making them ideal for sensitive skin. 
• The incidence of nappy rash is reduced as you are able to tell when a nappy is wet and change it more frequently.
• They are made from soft breathable fabrics making them comfortable for baby to wear.
• Their shaped to fit well with adjustable closures to allow the fit to be customised to fit your baby.
• Pocket nappies allow you to adjust absorption to suit your babies needs.
• You can save thousands of dollars compared to using disposable nappies.
• MCN are easy to use.

Types of MCN

All In Ones (AIO)

AIO's consist of a lining layer, absorbent inner and a waterproof cover all sewn together. They are trim fitting and very easy to use. The only negative is that drying time is longer due to the fact that the internal layers cannot be separated out.

Pocket Nappies

The most popular choice in MCN. They consist of 2 parts, an outer made from waterproof material and a stay dry  liner. In between these two layers is a pocket opening which allows you to place your absorbent padding. 

Fitted Nappies

Made from absorbent fabrics with sewn in absorbency. They are shaped to create a snug fit around babies legs. This type of nappy requires a waterproof cover.

Nappy cover/wrap

Is a waterproof cover, generally used over a fitted or a prefold nappy. You will need to only change a cover every 3rd or 4th nappy change unless it becomes soiled. Covers come in a variety of fabrics including PUL, fleece or wool.

Prefolds

Is the modern version of a flat nappy. Made from 3 panels, it can be folded different ways to suit your babies needs. Most commonly, they are folded into 3 to form a pad that is then laid inside a cover. This is the most economical nappy system.

Most people that use MCN, quickly become addicted to them. In my opinion, they is nothing cuter than the sight of a little cloth bottom!

 

Sweet dreams

A little girl is sugar and spice and everything nice - especially when she's taking a nap. 

 ~Author Unknown