Balancing Act

My baby bonding time has ended and I'm back to work now.  The first day leaving baby S was horrible.  I didn't get much sleep the night before because I was crying and I cried almost all the way to work.  It was the ugly cry.  When I finally got home I practically smothered him with kisses .  Now I have another dilemma.  How to spend every second I can with him and not let my husband, housework and personal life go by the wayside?  I've already seen the dust bunnies uniting and forming a union  It's going to be tough.  

One thing that will help is that I have already set aside vacation days for "dates" with my baby.  Whole days of snuggling and playing and napping.  This will help give me something to look forward to.  It is so weird how much I intensely look forward to time off now that I'm at work again.  Each day free is like a light at the end of a tunnel.  A way to hold on to my sanity and hold on to my sweet baby.

Getting my Granny On

One of the things I wanted to make for baby S was a granny square crochet blanket. The small problem with this plan is I had no idea how to make a granny square. Despite many attempts and a patient teacher I was no closer to making a granny square.  I then went to plan B and made a simple knitted baby blanket instead.

Now that the delivery date time crunch is over I decided to try to learn the granny square again.  Many hours, YouTube clips and wonky squares later I found this website and FINALLY got it.

I'm slowly making a bunch of squares using leftover yarn and will eventually make a blanket.  I am trying not to rush and to enjoy the process.

I may be a granny myself by the time I'm done.

Remember to be a better Meal Planner

Alternative title: Never go to the grocery store hungry.

I'm trying to meal plan more.  If I don't plan ahead we have too many mac n cheese nights which is unacceptable now that I'm a parent.  Who am I kidding, mac n cheese rocks.

Anyways I found this cute meal planning template which I laminated and it's cuteness inspires me to fill in the pots and pans with yummy dinner ideas.

Now all I need is the inspiration to actually cook the planned meals.

Ode to Elastic

I put away my maternity jeans today.  I'm excited to fit back into the pre-baby pants but man I will miss those elastic panels.  The perfect potluck pants.

Elastic is a girls best friend. Sorry A, but you've been replaced.

Remember to be creative

One thing that I hope I won't lose when I go back to work is the free time to create and especially sew.  I've been enjoying sewing projects for baby S and am trying to get back into sewing for myself.

Unlike quilts and toys, sewing clothes requires fitting to your body.  Cue sighing.  I've been putting off sewing clothes until I was the size I want to be but that hasn't happened for a while. 

Now post-baby I'm just happy to have a waist so to celebrate I'm putting off "until I lose X number of pounds" and saying "I'll work with what I've got now."  I've got some ideas saved from old Anthropologie catalogs.

                                    
Here's to Happy Sewing!

(Farm animal quilt pattern from Embroidery Companion: Classic Designs for Modern Living by Alicia Paulson, Patchwork Ball pattern from Seams to Me: 24 New Reasons to Love Sewing by Anna Maria Horner and Bunny pattern from by Martha Stewart's Envyclopedia of Sewing and Fabric Crafts: Basic Tips for Sewign, Applique,Embroidery, Quilting, Dyeing and Printing, plus 150 Inspired Projects from A to Z by Martha Steward Living Magazine)

I'm in a Love/Hate Relationship

So I'm in a love/hate relationship with my son's baby swing.

On one hand it's the best thing ever because S loves to sit in it and watch his "fish friends" go round and round.  It is sometimes the only way I can get him to go to sleep.  On the other hand the swing makes me feel like a bad parent.  The guilty voice inside my head says I should be able to get him to sleep without the aid of a mechanical swing.  The guilty voice says I use the swing too much and that I'm a bad mom.

Oh swing, what a precarious relationship we have....

Recipe Failure

I have been collecting recipes from magazines and cookbooks since I was thirteen. Unfortunately the word collecting is way too accurate.  I have maybe a thousand recipes (no joke) and haven't tried but a few handfuls.  To remedy this, my new goal is to try a new recipe at least once a week.

So far, not so good.

Out of the three recipes I tried for a BBQ and for Easter two were duds.  One was downright weird.  I should have known that Kentucky Beer Cheese Spread was an iffy bet.

Even though I haven't had much success yet I am excited to be cooking new things again.  I think I just need to make better choices :)