The Whimsy Patch

Growing Up So Fast!

While my husband readied the baby boy to go out for dinner on Saturday evening, I looked at him sitting in my husband's lap--all dressed up in his airplane overalls, hood up, shoes at the ready.  I was absolutely struck at how quickly children really do grow up.  I can remember being told a year ago that I would look back and wonder how the time escaped so quickly.  Now I know this to be true.  While I'm excited for the steps he's taking, for the words he's speaking, I'm shedding tears over all the snuggle time that I don't get anymore.  When he nurses, he's up and ready to play in minutes--no more of the long, lingering feedings--no more snuggle time with Mommy unless he's absolutely exhausted from playing.  It's good, though.  With the growing up comes new experiences to look forward to--hearing him ask me curiosities, using those cookie cutters that I've collected several years ago and never used, reading bedtimes stories that are not in board books.  So the changes are bittersweet, much more bittersweet than I ever imagined they would be before I became a mother or when I was in the midst of the days with 12 one hour long feedings when I longed to get up from the couch.  Nevertheless, the changes are what we really want.  As I watched my husband put on his shoes, I just smiled and reflected quietly upon my ever changing baby boy--who is not so much of a baby anymore but more of a boy--on the cusp of true toddlerhood. 

Dear Friends, the Bane of Changing Seasons and New Projects

With the changing of the seasons, I can always count on a nice visit from the Hay Fever Fairy.  On Tuesday morning, I woke up with the all too telling sinus headache that signals the coming of a bout of hay fever.  Within hours, the itchy sneezing, dizzy world, and scratchy throat had set in for a stay.  Nevertheless, I counted my blessings when the symptoms were not accompanied with fever or aches.  The sinus yuck has left me feeling just bad enough to slow me down and prevent me from spending too much time hand sewing.  The more I lean into my needle and thread, the more my head swims, so I'm limited to hour long stints at the sewing table.  This frustrates me especially much when I actually have more time to sew but just cannot make it for long.  This happened earlier when I sat down to work on my giraffe order and I could only complete half of the hand stitching work.  Still, she is at least coming along--

I have the four legs and foot pads left to hand stitch, then I will complete the embroidered elements.  I hope to complete this tomorrow.  With three local orders left to fill, I know I need to work hard so that I can complete a few more Whimsy Patch residents before my Etsy debut next Friday.  The day quickly approaches!

With that in mind, I have quite a few fabric pairings ready to be turned into creatures and dolls:

Ooh, la-la!

I'm just so eager to get to work on items to sell in my new store.  I must say it is nerve racking getting started within the online community.  So many people are creating wonderful things, and though I know I'm careful to create quality softies, it can be intimidating getting that initial break into the community.   I've gotten a couple compliments on Flickr thus far and I'm noticing traffic here that shows me people are interested.  I feel like it's my first day of class or something.  I'm all fidgety and have butterflies in my tummy so much of the time.  I feel quite silly.

On another note, I just received my latest shipment from Amazon.com:

Just like Christmas morning!

When I finally get a few extra moments to sew for the sake of sewing, I will get around to having fun with one of these patterns.  I joined the Flickr group for the Softies book so I hope to get to making something for that one of these days.  I am really look forward to the release of Plush You!  I'll add it to the library and dream of all the softies I will sew from it someday.

Amidst all of my attempts to get to more sewing and my dreams of more sewing, my husband and I did get to meet with a dear, dear friend.  Our wonderful friend Les and his wife live overseas doing humanitarian work and he was able to come in for a visit.  We were so excited to see him and we were able to introduce him to the baby boy.

It seemed as though Les had known our little guy from the start. They were immediate friends

There is something so special about introducing my child to old friends. My son seems to be able to sense the bond and warms up to these friends in ways that he does not always with others. We were blessed to spend time catching up with our old friend, however limited our time with him was. I know I really care for someone when I'm willing to wake up at 6 a.m. to meet with him. Les, you should definitely feel loved and appreciated!!!

Well, I'm realizing that my time on the computer must be limited as well.  The sinus headache returns with a roaring vengeance.  I will sign off for now and hope that this weekend will bring many happy moments of sewing.  Until then, have a lovely evening in Blogland.

Mundanities of a Not So Quiet Morning

With yesterday being the last morning with projected cool temperatures for the next week, I knew that I wanted to get in a morning walk.  I plan to make morning walks a part of our morning routine this fall, walking being a favorite activity until the mercury soars above 80--then I just stick indoors for the most part.  I also knew that I wanted to blog a bit.  I start my day with these things in mind.

In the process of moving toward the accomplishment of said tasks, I hit a couple of bumps.  I started by trying to get some candid shots of my toddler.  This is how that turned out:

Not so candid:)

This led to lots of giggling on both sides of the camera and a lot of reflection on how wonderful it is to be a mother even though things get a bit more complicated. I can remember how little time I used to think I had when I was just a working woman and not a stay at home mom. I think back on all the dates I canceled with friends because I was "too tired" or how little time I actually devoted to my crafting and blogging. In many ways, now that I have much less time, my time is more pointed. I try to follow through with plans, try to be a more consistent friend, attempt to set aside time to work on my craft and/or blog. Yet I have to be so careful that I don't neglect my home and family in the process of attending to my desire to create. This all led me to the breakfast table where I decided I must take pictures of our spread.

It's interesting to me that a plate of pear slices, toast, and scrambled eggs can become beautiful in a blog.

The flowers my hubby brought home on a whim welcome me to the breakfast nook each morning.

My toddler's sippy and oatmeal with apples beckoned for a spot in the blog.

As I chowed down on my eggs, toast and pear slices, I happened upon another moment I wanted to catch for my blog--my toddler's incessant, "more, more, more" as he saw me taking sips of coffee. This all started a couple weeks ago when I decided I would curb his coffee curiosity by allowing him to have a sip. I thought surely he would find it bitter and never ask again. Well, I was wrong...

As it turns out, he loves coffee and now pesters me even more for a drink. Now that he can drink through a straw, it gets really bad when we go out for coffee and I get the cold drinks. I do have to say I find it quite cute when he takes little sips of coffee. I just need to be careful I don't give him so much that it stunts his growth or gets in the way of nap time;)

After we finish breakfast, we started out for our morning walk.  Baby boy was so excited.  I could see his little feet kicking out of the front of the stroller as we walked. 

The morning fell beautifully upon my senses with it's crisp nearly-fall air, the quiet sounds of nature and the whir of the traffic passing by and people heading in and out of the neighborhood coffee shop. We continued on, enjoying the morning air for at least another mile before we hit the bump in the road. When pushing the stroller onto the next curb, I felt it jerk a bit and looked down to see that one of the wheels had fallen off. I could do nothing but laugh.  Losing a stroller wheel seemed like the appropriate denouement for my morning with all that I had been pondering about the complexities of doing a blog now that I am a mom.  Fortunately, I had brought my purse which had my sling inside.  I strapped the boy on and had much more of a workout than I had intended for the day! 

Once home, I tried to sit down for a few minutes to begin the blog, but as you might have noticed, all of this happened yesterday.  I never could find the time to blog.  Now I realize I must take it all in stride.  I will blog when I can find the moments.  Inspiration and time do not always coincide in the life of a mother.  But with that comes appreciation and I so appreciate the quiet (well, not necessairly quiet) moments that I can find to create.