Easter Tidings

Hello!  Well, we had a slight Spring upset with the onset of snow squalls on Easter, but we are back on track now, with today marking the first day I put laundry out on the line to dry.  Luckily none of that snow stuck, and the soon-to-be-flowers have all shaken it off like a bad dream.  

We all had a very nice Easter here, with good company and excellent food.  The Easter Bunny paid us a little visit, and left behind more chocolate that I could eat in one sitting, or ten!  

And we finally were able to get the Baby room all painted and set up.  

Here's a close-up view of the shelf:

And the closet:

Plus another beautiful mobile made by my friends, which will hang over the crib, when it arrives:

It's nice to finally start feeling like we are almost ready.  There's still lots of little things to do, and I'm sure there are things that I will forget, but we're definitely in the home stretch now.  My crafty projects for this week included making a prototype wet-bag, for face cloths, dirty diapers, etc.  I really love it, but the vinyl that I could buy here in town is a little too stiff, and doesn't slide out easily for clean-up.  I ended up ordering some special fabric on-line that is mostly used in cloth diapers as a moisture barrier.  When it gets here (hopefully soon!) I will make up a bunch of these wet-bags to have around.  I think they will be really handy, and they sew together fairly quickly.  I already have an order for another one, to be used as a lunch bag! See. . . handy!

Yesterday was my last shift with the post office for the next while, so I am ready to officially apply for maternity leave now.  It was nice to get a little burst of shifts in with those guys, and now I should be able to settle in a little and really get some stuff done.  There's so many little things, like paperwork and taxes and business odds and ends, and it will be really nice if I can get them all tidied up on time.  

Tomorrow is yet another visit to the Doctor (which means yet another visit to the fabric store - this is how I get myself motivated for the drive.)  I think I will also stop in to the nursery on the way home.  They probably won't have much available yet, but I would like to pick up some sweet pea seeds.  It's just about time to get those in the ground.  We are going to let a couple of beds be dormant this summer, but I thought instead of just covering them over and letting them sit, it might be nice (and good for the soil) to fill them with sweet peas.  (And I might tuck a few sunflowers in there as well, just for good measure.)

And finally, one more project to see you out.  I was over visiting my friend Sarah, who just had a baby boy seven weeks ago, and she was sitting with him sprawled across her lap, sound asleep.  She said, "You'll be doing a lot of this, so you better find something to do with your hands!" and I thought, "maybe it's time I take up embroidery again."  I did some as a kid, but it's been a while.  I ordered a copy of Doodle Stitching off Amazon, but decided I couldn't wait for it to arrive.   I had a photo of my Grandma and her twin sister when they were little girls that I thought would make a nice clear pattern, so I drew out my Grandma's face with disappearing marker, ran to the store to get a hoop and some thread, and Voila!  A fun little project that I am very happy with.  I was thinking of making a little pouch or something with it, but part-way through I thought 'this looks good enough to frame,' and so I did.  We will hang it in the baby's room as a wee handmade family portrait.  And now, of course, I am excited to do more.  (Sorry about the slightly blurry picture)

"Family life is full of major and minor crises -- the ups and downs of health, success and failure in career, marriage, and divorce -- and all kinds of characters. It is tied to places and events and histories. With all of these felt details, life etches itself into memory and personality. It's difficult to imagine anything more nourishing to the soul."

-- Thomas Moore