Socks x 2

Ok... a few quickies before Jaden wakes up...

Tada! The spring socks (a la Grumperina) are done. Hannah loves them. Nearly destroyed them the first day she wore them... climbing the side of the crib to play with Jaden... The yarn got caught on the bottom latch and pulled about 4 inches out, but it didn't break... so I pulled it back in, bit by bit, evening out the stitches again. Phew!!! She felt so bad.





Little socks for Jaden... twisted cable pattern. Love it. here's a wee photo of one of the tidiest heels I've ever done. Woohoo! (don't know why I don't have a pic of the whole sock... hmm... Note to self: take pic when they come out of the laundry.) Funny thing about the close-up... I see my grandmother's hands. Weird.








Mr. Funny Face and I are having a blast hanging out this week. I think he should be in a Calvin & Hobbes cartoon... you know, it's time for his Dad to take a picture, and every time, Calvin makes a goofy face...















Gotta run! Someone is waking up!!

It finally happened!!

Hello dear little blog,

What joy this morning... I awoke to the sounds of the birdies outside my window, twittering away... the sun barely peaking through the curtains... I felt rested. Sigh.

AHHHHHHHHH!!! It happened! It finally happened!!! Jaden slept through the night! Woohoo!

Is he not the cutest thing in the world??!!
















It's been a whirlwind lately, but here's the breakdown of all the fun:

1/ Went to make myself a cup of tea a few days ago. Jaden was playing happily, and when I looked in on him, here he was.... He had rolled over and was displaying mixed emotions. Part "Wow, look what I just did!" and part: "Oh crap, what did I just do??" Very cute.

2/ Spent a great weekend at the CafazZoo... it was awesome. We celebrated Easter together. We also had a Passover meal... I know, I know... Passover was Tuesday... we're not Jewish... but we were celebrating the fulfillment of Passover - Jesus, the Lamb of God, our Y'shua. It was deep and incredibly meaningful. How amazing that God gave His people a revelation of their Messiah and true Deliverer - a hint of what was to come... not just deliverance from Egypt, from deliverance from the bondage of sin and death. Every minute detail of the Passover has significance and is a foreshadowing of Christ's sacrifice on the cross. How amazing. Baruch ata Adonai!

3/ Annie loves the Boy. We do too. He's probably still recovering from the kids tackling him and using him as their personal jungle gym. He tolerated it well. So we decided: Yup. He'll do.

4/ We celebrated 3 birthdays… Hannah who was proud to turn 5 – which she announced very loudly from the back of the church Sunday morning when the Rev. asked if there were any birthdays… Annie nears her ¼ of a century mark, continuing in maturity as a woman and in the Lord… and then there was Boozer Babes... although she is hardly a babe any longer, crossing the threshold of her Sweet 16.


Boozer Babes gets her first car... Hot Wheels...













Musical-obsessed Boozer Babes flippin out over her Wicked b-day card from N8.















As a family, we gathered around her to pray and bless her. Was there a dry eye in the house? Don’t think so. (Thank you Jesus for waterproof mascara!) (sorry the photo's a bit dark... forgive me, N8)

5/ Hannah asked if she could play with Jaden, and I smiled to myself, thinking how beautiful to see the bond between sister and brother developing. However, when I peaked around the corner, I realized that she wanted to play with him… as if he were her little play thing. Even Bosco got in on the action.
























6/ Knitting news: started a wee raglan sweater in 2-toned blue cotton for Jaden. I have some appointments/events coming up that require me to sit and wait, so I thought I’d set my hands to a project that was fairly straightforward and I could just knit mindlessly. I love it! It’s so fulfilling to be growing as a knitter, to see my skills grow so that I can picture something and then knit it. I’m taking notes, and I’ll post the pattern if it works out! (I should probably stop tooting my own horn just in case this flops!!)


















Note: This post was supposed to go up last night but just as I went to upload it, the server crashed. I could hear the voice from the Starship Enterprise speaking – “Unable to comply…” I lost everything, and I was very very very PO’d. I don’t get to post often enough as it is, and then when I do get to it, it crashes. AWK! So I sat down, ate some chocolate and I felt better. Even today, there are still some issues because my images won't upload. I'll try again later, but here's the post for now. BTW… it seems like the sleeping thru the night (STTN) was a one-time deal… sigh…

Joy of Sour Milk

Last night after posting, I went to get ready for bed... and all I could smell was sour milk... "oh joy..." I said outloud, though I was alone. The joy of nursing a (not-so)newborn...

and then it hit me...

the joy of sour milk.

Dear friends of ours lost their tiny baby girl just a few months ago. She fell asleep with her tummy full of her mummy's milk, but she never woke up. I cannot imagine such agony...

and so I will celebrate the perfume of my motherhood: eau de lait aigre. Sour milk.

More than just me

My last few days have been... well... emotional. I love my life... I love my babies... but sometimes it just, well, it's just hard. Sleep deprivation will do that to ya.

In the midst of it all, there are moments of absolute beauty that overwhelm me. This morning as I was nursing Jaden, I was looking down at him and he was gazing at me too... and then the corner of his mouth turned up in a beautiful smile and he let out a giggle. It was one of those moments that you want to remember forever. I wanted to take in everything - his tiny hand wrapped around my thumb, the warmth of him cuddled close, the sweet smell of the top of his head... and as I looked into his eyes, I saw my own reflection. I stopped. It was a God-moment. I was only reflected in his eyes because I was so close to him... and that's what God desires in me... to be so close to him, that He is reflected in my eyes... when others look at me, they see more that just me... but my Father reflected.

As I climbed into bed last night, I had tears in my eyes. I was so tired from nursing thru the night, the ever-growing mountain of dishes and laundry (I've come to hate that one in particular), the constant smell of sour milk, the tangled mass of my long hair, the bed still being unmade... it felt like too much. In moments like that, I have learned one thing... to drive the sword of God's word deep into my sorrow. The truth of Hebrews 4:12 has been made clear to me in so many circumstances: "For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart." If my heart is troubled, I turn to God's word that I might hear His voice of comfort. If my mind is troubled, I seek His word as a seive to sort thru the thoughts that circle 'round my mind. If I feel as if I have swallowed a stone that sits in the pit of my belly, I know my attitude needs to brought into line with God's gracious word. And so last night, I reached for Mark's copy of The Message, sitting on the night stand...

Psalm 34
2 I live and breathe God;
if things aren't going well, hear this and be happy:

4 God met me more than halfway,
he freed me from my anxious fears.

5 Look at him; give him your warmest smile.
Never hide your feelings from him.

6 When I was desperate, I called out,
and God got me out of a tight spot.

7 God's angel sets up a circle
of protection around us while we pray.

8 Open your mouth and taste, open your eyes and see—
how good God is.
Blessed are you who run to him.

18 If your heart is broken, you'll find God right there...

What amazing words of comfort. At the end of the day, when I feel as if all I could do was just muscle my way thru to the end before collapsing in bed, I fell asleep knowing that I am not hidden from Him. I am not invisible to Him... No one else may know that I've had a lousy day, but He does, and He cares about what I'm going thru. He sees me, knows me, loves me. I wish He could do my laundry for me... but I don't think it's on His agenda.

Phew!

What a week! Tons of stuff on the go... wips coming off the needles... wow!

Coolest Thing #1: ANNIE'S HOME!!!! Back from Mozambique, completely ruined for her Jesus, I think is how she put it. She'll be here on Saturday to meet Jaden for the first time. Can't wait.

Coolest Thing #2: Shared at the Hamilton Midwives about home birth this week. They had an info night for couples considering it. It was absolutely amazing fun to share about our experiences, answer question and just chat... I love our midwives... I love all midwives... in fact, I don't think I've ever met a midwife I didn't like... and any opportunity that rises its lovely head, I will surely take it in order that I might extol the profound greatest of midwives!!! I spoke with Jessica (the hosting MW) afterwards, about how MW are "a unique breed of folk." She laughed, because that could be taken in two ways, one wonderfully, and one in a quirky sense. Both are true she said. :) BTW, Jessica is also a knitter... apparently a lot of midwives are... Anyways, it was a fabulous night. Totally connected and exchanged emails & numbers with a few people. Very cool. I left feeling completely jazzed, knowing that I had left a fingerprint in the life experience of another. What can top that?

Coolest Thing #3: Finished WIPs!
Baby socks galore for a friend who just had a little girl... and with a MW! Talk about a week with great mojo! The picture is a little dark and yellowish... a photographer I am not... one is just a simple stripe pattern and the other is based on the twisted cable sock from here: http://www.helloyarn.com/cabletwistsocks.htm

I apologize for not yet knowing how to turn text into a link... I'll get my hubby on that! .... actually... I think I did it... wow! I did! I rock! I so completely rock!!! (ok, I have a low standard for rock-worthiness...)


A close-up of the baby twisted cable...


Anyways, I'll post how I changed the pattern later today. It was so much fun and I can hardly wait to make some adult versions of these... I'm tempted to frog the Welcome with Love socks, because I think they would look wicked with the variegated yarn... but I had better not... it's taken me waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyy too long to get as far as I have, and I'm anxious to pass them to the lovely, awaiting Genevieve... MW extraordinaire!! :) XO

More than a Midwife

I'm a little late posting this blog but I've had the words and thoughts swirling around in my mind for a while...

(Look at that gorgeous baby with our midwives, Daina and Genevieve. He's just a couple days old.)

I love my life. I love the place that I'm in right now. When everything around me is fading into winter, I feel as if my life is vibrant and blooming. My new son is a pure delight and I've been blessed to have some wonderful companions on the journey to welcoming him into the world. Midwives are more than just health care providers. They are companions, nurturers, encouragers. Words do not suffice in exemplifying them or thanking them.

For Mark & me, it truly was a journey... with a few ups and downs along the way. Jaden was a complete surprise to us, and it took me a while to adjust to the detour in the road... a most beautiful detour. Morning sickness was horrid, lasting into my 5th month, making it tough to be totally excited. We experienced loss along the way as well - Mark & I both lost one of our grandparents, and a wonderful friend finally succumed to cancer after battling it for 8 years. In the wake of all that, an ultrasound showed two cysts on our baby's brain... and although we were told that it's probably nothing, the possibility existed that it could indicate an issue that was "incompatible with life." Ahhh... but God is so good. Immediately, He spoke to me profoundly... it was as if the world slowed down and became distant... I was "in" but not "of"... and He said "This is not for you." And I knew that everything was going to be ok. And well, the proof is in the puddin! Just look at this wonderful baby!

Anyway...

The journey would not have been the same without Genevieve. She is one of the most beautiful people I have ever met. Her quiet confidence is remarkable and her smile and sense of humour are absolutely contagious. She nurtured our family. With each visit, she spoke gently and kindly to my children, helping them feel more prepared the transition of welcoming a new baby, and during the birth, she was a calming influence. (Jordan said that she is more than our midwife... she is our friend. I agree.)

I once heard someone compare beautiful people to fruitful trees... how wonderful it is to be with them, as if sitting in the shade of a fragrant apple tree... how fulfilling to share in life with them, to share the fruit of their lives. This illustration came to mind as Genevieve told funny stories about her family's orchard not far from here... Kind of ironic.

I remember sitting on my bed during my first week, postpartum. I journaled while regaining my strength. I wanted to write down every detail of Jaden's birth before they started to slip away. In the course of a week, I saw the leaves turning colour and falling off the trees outside, beautiful and vibrant. My life was changing too, and full of beautiful, vibrant colours. Genevieve was one of them.

She shared with us the wonderful book, Welcome With Love... a homebirth story, parallel to ours. For us, Genevieve will always be an important part of our story... and we are so thankful, that even though the book has closed, its final words were not "The End." A new chapter awaits to be written...

Daina's Scarf

One WIP I can cross of my list... a delightful project for a delightful gal.

Daina was our student midwife attending Jaden's birth. Like a rose coming into full bloom, it was wonderful to watch her blossom in confidence and skills on our journey to welcoming Jaden. She was always wide-eyed and ready to soak in everything around her. Encouraging, inquisitive, joyful. She's a truly lovely person. Often during our appointments she would be wearing a beautiful scarf, so as a thank-you, I knew that a scarf would be a fitting gift.



The yarn is a blend of alpaca and... and... oh geez... I forget. Anyways... it was gorgeous yarn to work with, incredibly soft and smooth. It's not a complicated pattern, but other fancier stitches didn't show off the yarn as beautifully. Sometimes less is more, as they say.

Pattern: Cast on a bunch of stitches. Knit 4 rows.
Row 1: Knit
Row 2: Knit 3, purl until last 3 stictches, knit 3.

Pretty simple. It's tough to block it enough to not get it to curl under though... but sometimes that's a nice feature too.

May God bless you, Daina, as you continue on your own journey.