Thursday, December 16, 2010

Santa's Little Helper


Lot's of projects going on in the workshop right now. That's Santa's Little Helper nestled there among the piles of piles. That is not Santa's glass of milk on the table though - that is a glass of glue water. Mmmm, glue water.
As you can see, the happiness did not last long. I got part way through the making of one mask when Jonathan decided to break down. The funny thing is that it actually took me a really long time to get a picture of him where he looks upset. Why? Well, because every time I pull out my camera he starts smiling. He is mesmerized by the camera. . . I can't take video's of him laughing because he just starts staring at the camera.

Monday, December 6, 2010

If today was your last day. . .

A lot of people make fun of NickelBack. They think that every song sounds the same. . . and maybe they do, but I like them anyway.

Last night I was driving to church and the song, "if today were your last day" came on the radio. I started to imagine what I would do if today were my last day on earth. In the car I decided that I'd get on a plane, fly to Japan, and die with the wind in my hair and the spray of the sea on my face.

Later that night as I was trying to fall asleep, Kyle was on one side of me and Jonathan on the other, both asleep. I realized that if this were my last day, that I would want them to know that I love them. I want my family to know that I love them. I realized that if today were my last day, that I would want to spend it holding Jonathan, feeding him, playing with him, kissing him and feeling bad about leaving him alone for an hour while he sleeps.

I guess this means that I live everyday like it is my last - since that is all that I ever do. It is so easy to look at the mountain of things that you would like to accomplish in a day and lose sight of what is really important.

Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Day is done

Do you ask why I'm sighing, my son?
You shall inherit what mankind has done.
In a world filled with sorrow and woe
If you ask me why this is so . . .
I really don't know.

Saturday, November 27, 2010

Friday, November 26, 2010

A table for ten, food for more, dinner for 2 (and 1/2).

I cooked my first turkey this year. It did not turn out the way that I had planned. The only upside to making this huge meal, is that I did figure out how to cut exactly 1/2 cup of onion.
This table can fit 10 people. . . but, we only have 4 chairs. Someday I will get around to making the benches that go with it. If you are wondering where I got the awesome table runner from, it's actually vintage obi fabric that I got from the fabulous Lisa.

Food we had:
∞ Roasted turkey with onion & apple stuffing (way overcooked, and didn't enjoy the flavor that putting the turkey in the oven at 425 to "seal in the flavor" yielded)
∞ Homemade rolls (that I accidentally cooked while keeping "warm" on the stove top. . . first place the meal started going downhill)
∞ Mash potatoes (these were good)
∞ Deviled eggs (best part of dinner)
∞ Green bean casserole (Usually so against this sort of thing, but sampled it at Trader Joes and it was delish. . . so I went with it.)
*Pumpkin pie
*Pecan pie (toss up as to which pie was better. I ate both)
Jonathan ate his right up. (This is how the turkey leg came off. . . the bird cooked a bit too long . . . But, was still taken out of the oven an hour before it was "suppose" to.) The meal was much better today. I think because there wasn't as much hype.

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Fall Craft Night

A week ago, two weeks ago. . . I honestly don't remember when it was. But, sometime in the past I had some girlfriends from church over and taught a little sewing class on apron making. We had cheese, wine and other scrumptious snacks. Below are the finished products!
Everyone did so well!

Sunday, November 21, 2010

By the looks of my blog, November has been the most dull month seen in a while.

It hasn't seemed dull, it's just that most of the things that have happened have to do with Jonathan. . . and despite the fact that he has a facebook account . . . I'm trying not to have his entire life on display on the internet.

Here are some things that he has done:
∞ gone on his first hike
∞ started being interested in toys
∞ gone shopping for his first Christmas ornament
∞ helped mom paint

This week he will also enjoy the first Turkey ever cooked at the Williams house. . . 16 lbs from Trader Joes. We are literally going to have turkey coming out of our ears. (and no, I am not going to give him Turkey)

I have 5 million projects going . . . they just aren't going anywhere fast. Well, at least being a mom has not diminished my ability to start projects. . .

Here are some things that I am currently in the middle of:
∞ Wool handbag
∞ Farmhouse table (finished) and bench (not finished)
∞ Painting for kitchen
∞ Dress for Sarah (Finished pending buttons and some bias trim)
∞ Christmas presents . . . which are another entirely.

Wednesday, November 10, 2010

When Women Went Downtown

The city was brick and stone in the time
before glass and steel. In those days
the city was streets of women.
They climbed down from buses
in seal skin, navy straw hats stuck with pearl drop pins,
their double-knotted Red Cross shoes,
clutching black cowhide purses, leading the children.

They lunched in tea rooms
on chicken-a-la-king and quartered sandwiches
but never wine--and never with men.
Rising in the smoky air,
their voices blended--silver striking off silver.
They haunted book rental booths,
combed aisles of threads and zippers,

climbed to the theater balconies, the palaces
where Astaire dipped and turned them
into more than they were.
In the late afternoons they crowded the winter dusk
waiting at the Isle-of-Safety, for the bus
with the right name to carry them home
to the simmer of soup on the stove,
the fire’s sweet red milk.

Evenings, far over the tiny houses
the wind swept the black pines like a broom,
stars swirled in their boiling cauldron of indigo
and the children floated to sleep to the women’s song
zipping the night together, to the story
of the snow goose who went farther and farther
and never returned.

------- Patricia Fargnoli

Sunday, October 31, 2010

As many of you know, Jonathan had Jaundice for about 6 - 7 weeks. Halfway through that we decided on the perfect Halloween costume for him. A yellow crayon. A few days ago we decided on the perfect costumes for us. . . white paper with scribbles. Jonathan's art work so to speak. We each made our own shirts. . . let me tell you, it was tough. Kyle got really creative and covered Jonathan's feet in paint and put those on his shirt. By the time these pictures were taken Jonathan was a bit overtired . . .
. . . I still managed to get a couple of smiles out of him. They looked more like smiles from front on, but I couldn't get him to look at the camera.

Got the yellow onesie on Etsy and made the hat and footies. . .

Friday, October 29, 2010

Poor Jonathan, his life is very hard. Jonathan: "You sound like my mom, feel like my mom, and smell like my mom, but you look funny."

We had a costume ball at work tonight. I think I went as my alter ego.

"They're terribly comfortable. I think everyone will be wearing them in the future." - Westly

Monday, October 18, 2010

Bath Cocktails


Now you can have your baby, and a cocktail too! Check out my friend, Ashley's first giveaway for her emerging company, Bath Cocktails! Super cute soaps in an array of tasty flavors! Visit her site!

Friday, October 15, 2010

Project 23 of many. . .



I call it "Keisarin uudet vaatteet." Which is Finnish in case you were wondering. . .

Tuesday, October 5, 2010

Laundry. . .

. . .not sure if it's clean or not, but it sure is cute. Hands down (or up) best place to take a nap.

Monday, September 27, 2010

1 Month Old

It is hard to believe that our little guy is already 1 month old!
Here he is at about 15 minutes old.

. . . and here at a month and a few hours old.

Project 22 of many. . .

I was contacted mid-August by a girl in Texas who wanted me to recreate a certain bag she had seen. Said bag was by an Italian designer who somewhat recently had a documentary made about his final couture collection. Said bag was $2700. Here is my interpretation of the inspiration she presented me with. There are several changes. The bag is made of %100 silk satin, tulle and dupioni and has pearlized leather trim, it is then "crystallized" with over 600 hand-sewn swarovski crystals.

I was very excited about this project. I thought it would be a great little thing to throw together before the baby got here. Unfortunately all the suppliers that I sourced decided to either not have the products I ordered in stock, or change the price of their products after I ordered them, or not send my order out. Long story short, my supplies all showed up after Jonathan's due date. Which was fine because I was convinced he was going to be late. And he was late, but not as late as I would have liked. Before he was born I was able to get most of my fabric dyed and some of the flowers cut out.

So, in the three weeks following the birth of Jonathan I worked on this bag. Luckily Jonathan is a very good baby and cooperated with me very well on the project.






Tuesday, September 21, 2010

Colic Calm

Jonathan has always been a gassy baby. In my tummy he got the hiccups 3x a day, he still gets the hiccups and now his little tummy turns as hard as a rock with gas and he cries. . . well, like a baby. I've found two things that help with this problem. The first is breast feeding. However, 5 straight hours of breastfeeding, followed by a 1 hour nap and then more breastfeeding really makes it hard to get things done. I also think the only reason breastfeeding works is because it makes Jonathan feel comforted. The other thing that works is Colic Calm.

When I first started reading about Colic Calm I wondered if it would really work. I went to the store today and got some because my house is starting to smell and I can't figure out cleaning and feeding at the same time. Jonathan fell asleep in the car and I thought that maybe I wouldn't have to use it and that he would finally go down for a nap. 2 Minutes later he woke up and started crying so I gave him some of the Colic Calm. His reaction was instant. His forehead relaxed and he looked like he was at peace, 45 seconds later he was asleep and (as I would not be able to write this if he were awake) is still asleep. As one woman wrote, “Colic Calm gets my vote for the Nobel Peace Prize.”

Saturday, September 18, 2010

A bit overdue

At 3:00 pm on Thursday the 26th of August I experienced the most frightful moment of my entire life. I went to the bathroom and it was nothing but blood. The baby was not moving, and there was almost always movement. Being 40 weeks pregnant and having had two miscarriages I completely lost my cool. I called my doctors office and got the answering system - they close early on Thursdays. I left a message. Without a thought I jumped in the car and started driving to the hospital. I got a hold of Kyle and told him what was going on, we decided to meet at the hospital. My doctor called me back and told me he was at the hospital, he didn't seem that concerned.

The drive to the hospital was strange. I was very emotional, but was trying to stay calm so that I could safely drive myself. I knew that God knew what He was doing and prayed that it was what I wanted as well. I eventually felt the baby move, which brought me peace. The drive to the hospital took 40 minutes - surprisingly quick for that time of day.

I got to the hospital and saw Kyle waiting out front. I parked the car and we walked in together in silence. We told the nurse in the ER about what was going on and she got us checked in. I then had to wait for half an hour for a wheelchair. I was not allowed to walk to labor and delivery because I was bleeding - this seemed so stupid to me considering that I'd just walked into the hospital and had driven myself there. I did freak out a little in the ER and I did make Kyle go talk to the nurse several time.

Eventually I was wheeled up to triage. I was put on the monitor and could hear the heart beat. The most beautiful irregular sound ever. The doctor then came in and told me that I was 5 cm and having contractions. Then he said he was going to keep me at the hospital until I had the baby. I was not prepared to hear that. I thought that either everything would be fine and I'd get to go home or that there would be total disaster. I did not think I was in labor. I did not have a single thing with me that I had wanted to bring to the hospital. All I had was an uninflated pool in my car and nothing to blow it up with or fill it up with.

The reason I was so unprepared to have a baby on Thursday afternoon requires that I tell another story.

When I was 8 weeks pregnant Kyle and I went to our MC (missional community - like a Bible study). I was not telling people that we were pregnant yet because I was fearful of another miscarriage and wanted to wait until the first trimester was over. Kyle, as I found out that night, had already been telling people that we were pregnant. He told me that if we wanted to tell everyone the news that the time right after prayer requests were taken would be good. All the prayer requests were given and Jeff (host) kept asking if anyone else had anything they wanted to share, Kyle kept elbowing me in the side. So I looked at Kyle and said "Kyle has something that he wants to share." After we had shared the news with everyone someone told us that our baby would be born on the 30th of August and that he had been right in predicting the date that several babies were born - even going so far as to make some very late momma's very upset. We were pretty skeptical at first, then I shared with Kyle about the peace that I felt now that the birth of our child had been prophesied. That date gave me the strength that I needed to make it through many of the weeks of my pregnancy. All of that is to say that I was not prepared for a birth on any day other than August the 30th.

So now I was laying in triage thinking, "I am going to be in this hospital until Monday." I wanted to do everything natural, so the nurses told me to start walking around the hospital to get the baby down. While I did this, I sent Kyle out to fill the tub up with air (I was planning on laboring in the tub) and to buy a hose. It seemed to take him hours.

Around 7 the nurse checked on me and said that I was at 6. This was kind of disheartening to me because I had started to feel my contractions and wanted to progress more quickly! We got the tub filled up - though in the end the maitenance guy from the hospital brought a generator up to fill it with air and we were able to use the shower head to fill it up.

We kept walking, then I'd get in the tub, then we'd walk some more, then I'd rest and so on and so forth. I believe the nurse checked me again around 12. My contractions had gotten much worse by then and again I was discouraged by how little I had progressed. I was starting to want to push and I was getting tired.

My water broke while I was in the tub. In birthing class we were told to remember TACO. TACO stands for Time, Amount, Color and Odor. All I know is that it was bright red and I freaked out again. The nurse knew better than me though and reassured me that it was just my water and then checked and confirmed. Having my water break made me feel like things were progressing and also helped to relieve some of the pressure that I was feeling.

I do not remember when the pain became unbearable. I do remember that in birthing class that Sherry told us that labor did not have to be torture and that we should decide beforehand when we would opt for some sort of intervention. We were encouraged to come up with a word that was the signal that something had to change. I, of course, being me, did not come up with a word because I believed the I could survive anything. Instead I said that I would rather have my toe cut off than have an epidural or any help.

Around 2:30 AM my nurse checked on me again, again I had not progressed much further and my water had resealed itself. I had been against an artificial rupture of my bag of waters at first because if popped and the baby is in the wrong position the baby can get stuck - which can lead to a C-section. I figured that my water had already broken once, so I might as well have the doctor come and break it again. Again there was some relief when the water was broken, but I still had the strong desire to push and then I head my doctor say that I was only at 6 cm. I think that is when I hit my wall. I was in so much pain, I was shaking all over, the tub no longer felt good, I was speaking in a language that I do not know and I saw myself being there until Monday - and that I could not handle. I tried for half and hour longer to hold out.

Someone I met told me that something she found very helpful during labor was to have memorized a Bible verse and to say that verse over and over again. I chose 2 Samuel 22:29 - 36

29 You are my lamp, O LORD;
the LORD turns my darkness into light.

30 With your help I can advance against a troop [g] ;
with my God I can scale a wall.

31 "As for God, his way is perfect;
the word of the LORD is flawless.
He is a shield
for all who take refuge in him.

32 For who is God besides the LORD ?
And who is the Rock except our God?

33 It is God who arms me with strength [h]
and makes my way perfect.

34 He makes my feet like the feet of a deer;
he enables me to stand on the heights.

35 He trains my hands for battle;
my arms can bend a bow of bronze.

36 You give me your shield of victory;
you stoop down to make me great.

I especially loved the part about "leaping over a wall." (which is how the version I learned read) At 3 am I realized that I could not leap over the wall by myself and I heard the words of a friend of mine telling me that God had created medicine as well. Kyle and I prayed about it, and decided that it would be best for me to get an epidural. By the time the IV had been put in me and the bag of fluids had emptied into my body I was at 9 cm. I was still completely confident about my decision.

Once I had the epidural everything was so nice. I could still feel my contractions ever so slightly and I still had the desire to push - but I could breath and I could think. I was in the mindset that I had imagined I would be in when I would meet my baby.

At 5 am I reached 10 cm. I tried to push but was not very successful at first. So the nurse went away and we waited a bit longer. Eventually we tried again, this time I laid on my side. We made progress this way. The doctor was called in and after an hour or so of pushing Jonathan Daniel Williams was born. He was perfect!

For the first hour of hid life Jonathan was very alert. He spent the time nursing, looking around the room and pooping - which he did 3 times. After that first hour Jonathan showed us that he was going to be a very good sleeper. It was almost impossible to wake him up and get him to eat. We would lay him on cold hard surfaces, which would wake him up for about 30 seconds and then he would fall asleep again.

Three weeks later Jonathan still loves to sleep. I am pretty sure that he would sleep though the night if I did not wake him up to feed him. I would not wake him up to feed him, but, he has Jaundice and frequent feedings are suppose to help combat the issue. Jonathan has been wearing a bilie blanket for about three weeks now. I am so tired of that thing, but am so thankful that it's only jaundice that we are dealing with and not something more serious.

I cannot believe that three weeks has already passed. Time seems to have gone out of existance since he has been born - it doesn't feel longer or shorter than 3 weeks - it just is.

Here are some of Jonathan's accomplishments thus far. . .

During his first diaper change Jonathan showed us that we can never leave him alone even for a second on his changing pad. He rolled from his side to his back and almost off the pad.

His umbilical cord fell off in exactly a week and a day.

Loves to smile in his sleep.

Loves to stretch.

Has a very strong neck and can hold his head up.

Refuses to sleep on his back and is always on his side by morning.

Rolled from his back all the way over to his stomach.

Pooped on mom.





Sunday, September 5, 2010

Child 1 of many. . .

∞ Jonathan Daniel Williams ∞



Running a little short on time now a day. The title of this post should sum up how we feel about Jonathan. He is perfect and a blessing from the Lord.

Wednesday, August 25, 2010

Alexis

Alexis is leaving our home today and going to a new family. She was a wonderful dog and it's very sad to see her go. I think she will be happy with her new family though and I know she'll make them happy. Unless she digs up one of their trees 5 times, then they might get a little erked.

Monday, August 23, 2010

Project 21 of many. . .

Something so simple should not have taken this long. I guess that the new duration of my projects is a good indicator that I am indeed 39 and 3/4 weeks pregnant. Something tells me that projects are only going to take longer from here on out.


Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Waiting on baby

Our little one is due to enter the world in exactly one week. Despite gaining about 35 lbs and feeling something move around inside of me, I really do not feel pregnant. I cannot grasp the idea that in no more than 3 weeks I will be holding a precious little baby in my arms. It's fantastic. It's amazing. It's mostly unreal.

I know that genetically this baby belongs to Kyle and I. That we made it. I do not feel like that. I feel like I've just been blessed to bring someone into the world that was thought up in eternity. Someone created for eternity, for Someone who has loved and will continue to love for eternity. And though my body has essentially built this child, I feel like I've had less to do with it than I do when I tailor something. I know how to tailor a coat. In fact, given the right resources I could make you a coat all the way from the primary source. And when I was done with it, it would be void and without life (but not without form ;) ). I cannot tell you how I made this baby. Even if I were an expert on the matter of baby formation, there would still be things that I could not explain. Like amniotic fluid - nobody even knows where that stuff comes from.

I feel blessed. So many people have helped to make this baby possible, from words of encouragement to such generosity that I cannot even understand it. These things may not have directly "made" the baby possible, but have been a tremendous blessing and have really driven home the idea that God is always going to take care of us. All of this creates inexpressible joy, and I pray that I will remember this even in the worst of times.

. . . like, when I'm trying to push a baby out. :/ Until then, everything is ready waiting. The nursery is completed. The car seat is installed. The birthing pool is in the car. I even tried to set up my first appointment at the pediatricians today - they said I had to have a baby first. Go figure.


The closet. Complete with dresser/changing table, the pony that hung in Kyle's room when he was a baby, and a nice supply of diaper bags. . .


. . . and a cork wall with notes from friends and family.

Rocking chair and toy chest that Grandma Jackie refinished for us.

Crib with stuffed animals from friends and a cross-stitched blanket from Great Grandma LaVon.

Lots of great books that I cannot wait to read through over and over again.

Book that we wrote for the baby. I'm really excited about this one. Hopefully it will be a favorite.




Kyle thinks that this page is going to embarrass the baby. I say "bring it on!"


If you want to read the rest of the book, you'll just have to come visit us.