good-ness

a bit of random goodness for you.

1. i love listening to amy seeley. plus she has awesome hair. i need a hair cut. pronto.

2. i am trying to get more photos of anika and i. and anika and h-kun. and the three of us.i think we only have one photo of the three of us. from the hospital. embarassing.

3. we recently bought some used old school ikea furniture. i want to recover the cushions. patchwork style. leslie. not me. another leslie. she is the queen of refinishing furniture. she just finished her patchwork chair. and it's amazing. and gets me excited.

4. we are moving tomorrow. exciting and exhausting at the same time. luckily we have lots of great help.

5. i love chinooks. and living beside the rocky mountains.

6. i start back to work next week. luckily i work from home and have a flexible schedule. and love what i do. ali edwards is a wise lady. and recently shared this great quote: tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life? i need to remember this when making decisions. and finding the balance that will work for me. and my family. my gosh. we are a family now. the three of us. 

7. i hate it when i spill pumped breast milk (aka liquid gold) on the counter.

 

 

 

i love this blanket. i just finished it the other day. it was waiting to be top stitched since a few days before anika's birth. that was about 8 weeks ago. my gosh. i also love it when my little one can use things i made. and loves what i make her. yes, she loves it.

this is one of my very favorite japanese fabrics. it is a double gauze designed by junko onishi. i have been hoarding it. silly me. it was time to use it. i also made a blanket for my niece in a different colourway. now anika and evangeline can be bosom blanket buddies.

they are super simple to make. and are a great way to use large chunks of your favorite fabrics.i just cut a big square of the top fabric. and the lovely flannel for the back. i then used a small plate to make rounded corners. sewed the two fabrics together. flipped them right side out. and top stitched. easy peasy. i think this will be my new baby gift go to.

and anika is sleeping on my lap right now. swaddled in her blanket. and i am loving life.

i learned a new craft today. yep. i learned how to crochet. i gave up on the knitting and decided crocheting might be where it's at for now. i was initially inspired by my friend's awesome blankets. both anika and i have one. lucky us. then i picked up a book in japan last year with the cutest crocheted bowls. and balls. then i found this garland  and knew i needed to make some for anika's room.

i spent a couple of hours with my blanket crocheting friend. (hi cheryl!). just her and i. ani-chan stayed hope with her papa. (thanks, hisashi!) and my friend taught me her tricks. she is fast. she made three circles by the time i had about a quarter of one done. and that was after she started mine. they look awesome but i still have a bunch more to make. (cheryl, i think i will be back in a few weeks for another afternoon of crocheting and chatting.)  . 

 

i am trying to do a post about non-baby things. but that is hard to do right now. i had plans of sewing a bunch of stuff in the few weeks in december. after i stopped work at the end of november. and before our baby was born. well. she was born three weeks early. and my list got tossed out the window. well. not really. as i sit and feed her i look at the pile of fabric in the corner. washed and ready to be cut. to be sewn. to be crossed off the list.

i realized something. after looking at karyn's blog post about pinterest. and how she keeps a bunch of photos for colour ideas for future projects. brilliant, karyn. brilliant. so i joined and am now doing the same. my free time by myself is super limited these days. but i do spend quite a few hours on the couch. feeding anika. and flipping through magazines. and looking at blogs. (i haven't mastered the quick one hand typing yet though. so the email reply list is getting huge.) i thought i would start looking to magazines and photos online for colour combination inspiration. i usually just wing it. i look at my piles of fabric and choose ones i like. then start sewing.

one thing on the list of things to sew before the baby came was a new over-the-shoulder bag. the typical bag i sew. over and over again. but this time with pockets. for baby stuff. i never sew pockets in my bags. silly.

here is what i found. and was inspired by. and decided on. in the colour department.

bag number one:

fuschia and grey. i think that's fuschia. i am loving that colour recently. just got a pair of leather gloves in that colour. love the comination with the grey. the image is from a canadian magazine called chatelaine. which usually has a nifty diy project every month. and a couple of good recipes.

fuschia and grey. and navy. now i like this. it's hard to tell in this photo but the boots are navy, the tights are grey and there is fuschia in the skirt. the magazine is a home decorating magainze from my beautiful friend in denmark. (hi ruut!)

and this is what i ended up with. fabrics pulled from my stash. a grey corduroy with dots brought from japan. a heavy pink cotton from ikea. and an awesome linen/cotton blend from here. i'm excited to see how it turns out. hopefully i will have it finished by end of february. (we are moving at the end of this month so i am trying to be realistic. most of my snippets of free time off will be spent packing. and unpacking.)

bag number two:

blue and white. and green. i have also been in love with bright green lately. anika's car seat cover is this lovely bright lime green. pure goodness. the above image is from the january issue of martha stewart. which has an article on the log cabin quilt. all modernized. love it. (and there are some awesome hot cereal recipes too.)

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this is what i chose from my stash. the green circles are from here. along with the plain white cotton. the other fabric is a blend of some sort. from japan. it's a bit on the heavier side. i love it. i am thinking there might be some piping involved in this bag. this bag will be great for spring and summer. so luckily i won't have to start it until spring. (which is like june around here. that is what happens when you live in canada beside the mountains.)

this little inspirational experiment was fun. and i think i might just continue on down this path. we will see.

i really am enjoying this motherhood thing. more and more. she is sleeping right beside me. nuzzled up against me. i can't help but smile. life has changed. i am still leslie. and that won't change. but now i am leslie with a special little someone that is my own. that i am responsible for. and that enriches my life. and for that i am super thankful.

i was not prepared for what would happen after anika was born. after we came home. let me tell you. it's been a bit of a roller coaster. but overall we are on an upward trend. we are figuring each other out. slowly. learning new things everyday. trying to read lots. talking to friends who are moms. and my sister. and my mom. and there is a lot of knowledge out there. first hand experiences. it's just a matter of taking mental notes of the tidbits that you want to try. or that you think will work for you. and then trying them. keeping some. and throwing out the ones that don't work.

p.s. i baked a spiced apple sauce cake today. for our japanese homestay student's birthday. and my friend is teaching me to crochet tomorrow. i want to say "i feel like life is getting back to normal". but there is no getting back. instead i am creating a new normal. and i like it.

 

anika is doing well. gaining weight and feeding like a little trooper. we have been home for a week now and are settling into our simple routine. things are becoming normal. which i thought would take much longer to say. she is growing. and changing. and h-kun and i are completely in love with her. our little sunshine. 

i love fellow like minded bloggers. and other gals i met through my shop. who have been super encouraging along the way. i appreciate you more than you may know. thank you.

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i bought a chair. from ikea. to take her monthly photos on. which was inspired by this amazing series. anika turned one month old on january 1st and i attempted some photos that day. i quickly learned that she doesn't like the chair as much as i do. and all the photos were of her screaming. i have attempted on sunday and a few today. but i am just not loving it. i may have to get a new chair. or a new idea. or just have a chat with anika and persuade her to cooperate once a month.

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// one month //

your hair turned from black to brown // your eyes follow us // we call you pony-chan because of all your little noises // your eyes turned from a deep blue to a greyish brown // you love tummy time and look like you are crawling // you love having conversations with grandma good // when on your back on our lap your arms and legs keep moving // it looks like you are doing tai chi or trying to swim // you experienced your first christmas // you were asleep before midnight on your first new year's eve // you have skyped with your obachan and ojichan in japan many times // you are one of your cousin joelle's favorite people // we all lived with grandma good for two weeks // your dad and grandma helped to take good care of you // you have fluffy duck hair after your bath // you were friends with the lactation consultants // you feed much better // you love relaxing with your papa // you got your first cold // you cosleep with your mama // when swaddled you look like you are in a straight jacket // you got off formula supplementation // you are much calmer and more content // your bottom lip quivers when you are not happy // you sometimes give the peace sign while breast feeding // you get up on your little elbows while fall asleep on someone's shoulder // you don't like dairy, chocolate or brussel sprouts // you reach up and touch your papa's face // you sometimes smile when falling asleep //