Thursday, December 20, 2012

Every little girl deserves a doll

Logan has a little friend who he loves very much. She is the daughter of our very close friends Aaron and Waikura. Little Ava is 5 months younger than Logan and he adores her. Its quite clear whenever the two play together that she loves him too.

When our daughter was born early on 31 August this year Ava's parents were absolutely wonderful. They lookd after Logan for us for three days and even brought us dinner on those days when we got home from the hospital. I've been wanting to do something for them as a little thankyou so I decided to make their girls a little gift for christmas.

I've made Ava a little rag doll. I didn't play with dolls much when I was a little girl but i do remember having a couple of very special ones that i loved alot.

Shayne-Lee is older and clearly a very loving big sister to Ava. At Shayne-Lee's age i loved hair clips. mainly for their usefullness at keeping my fringe out of my eyes. So i figured i would make her a few different ones. She has stunning long dark hair so i chose colours that a - she'll like and b - will compliment her hair.

big bow
picot butterfly

sweet flower

All together now.



 For the doll i came up with this:

Rag doll sitting on the couch

Face close up


 I used some saftey toy eyes and red thread for her face. Ive deliberatly put a half smile there so as she grows and plays she can use her imagination for the emotions. For the hair i spent a few day hand stitching it strand by strand.

I may just do a post later on about exactly how i made the doll. I plan to make my son and daughter their own dolls soon so will take some progress shots of those as i make them.


Family of Washcloths

So this year i decided to make presents for my family rather than buying. This was A- to save money and B- beacause its nice to receive handmade gifts over anything bought, it just means more.

So i worked out a budget of what we would ordinarily spend at christmas time on our parents. It worked out at around $30 each and that gave me a total of $120! Thats just crazy! We definately couldn't afford that. I decided that i wanted to make some washcloths for them all. You can never have to many washcloths. Lets face it, you buy those soft, fluffy flannels in the shop and then after a few washes and a little use they just dont feel as soft anymore. So you either throw them out, or they still in the back of the airing cupboard gathering dust. If you're anything like me they windup being used as dishcloths in the kitchen.

Next i had to decide on the type of yarn to use. A friend offered me a good deal on some merino bamboo 50/50, but with Mum being allergic to wool that just wouldnt work. I wanted my washcloths to feel like a little bit of luxury for everyone. After hunting the internet for cotton yarns and finding none in the right colours or in my price range i was starting to despair for my oh so lovely idea. Then someone in my craft group suggested i use pure bamboo. So i looked again for yarn and found a place on trademe selling 50g skeins of 100% bamboo in some amazing colours and most definately in my price range! YAY! So $50 later and a few hours of crocheting and voila. All out parents had lovely luxurious washcloths.




Mums

Dads
Mother in laws

Father in laws





I'm really pleased with how they all turned out, the colours are just stunning. The best bit is that there's plenty of each colour left over so I can make a few for me! I had a small mishap with mums mostly red one as somehow it went wonky! I think i must have calculated my stitches wrong, but i didnt notice till after i'd finished it. Luckily for me my mum loves things that are unique!

So all we spent on others this year was the $50 it cost to get the yarn and have it posted out to us. I've made a few things for friends daughters too and those just used up fabrics and yarns already in my stash. oh and a little of my time too.

Coming up...the gifts for the girls.

Christmas is just around the corner

With Christmas on the horizon and very little money in our bank account, being that we only have my partners retail income, i decided that this year i would try to make as many of our presents as possible. And so I've spent the last two weeks crafting up a storm. I even took advantage of the kids napping at the same time to whip out my sewing machine and whip up a couple of sewn presents. Having an extremely curious toddler i really don't get the chance to use my sewing machine much, but i really do enjoy it when i do sew. And this particular project was quite lovely

So this is how my list started,

Mum - red or purple
Dad - green maybe two shades?
Robyn - purple or blue
Ian - blue..again maybe two shades.

Then once I'd started making the parents gifts i suddenly thought..oh gosh Logan needs to have something to give to little Ava...oh I'll need to make something for Shayne-Lee too, can't forget Ava's big sister.. and then a friend said she was making something for Logan so i thought oh crap i haven't got her girl anything so suddenly i had three extra gifts on my list to make. A week and a bit out from Christmas and I'm making more things?!

I must be crazy..oh wait, yes, we knew that already.

Luckily yesterday all gifts were completed and my in laws have even received theirs already. We had an early Xmas lunch at their house this week as they'll be heading up the country to visit other family on Christmas. We had a BBQ and Logan had a great time running around the garden and following the cats as they wandered past. He even had his very first pavlova, a very kiwi tradition..he loved it and it looked so yummy..shame I'm allergic to eggs!

So as the in laws have received their gifts I'll tell you what i made them.... Facecloths! Yummy, scrummy 100% bamboo facecloths. Oh the yarn is just so soft and divine to use and the colours were really rather stunning too. These facecloths feel like pure luxury too.
                                           Poppa Ian's cloths stacked.
                                         Poppa Ian's cloths spread out.

 So for Poppa Ian's cloths i did a pretty simple granny square in one colour then edged it with three rounds of single crochet stitches in the contrasting colour. So simple and yet looks fantastic!


                                            Nanna Robyn's cloths stacked
                                          Nanna Robyn's spread out

So again i used the granny stitch only this time i went from the corner rather than centre and again the contrasting border. Don't they look lovely?!

I've made several washcloths now i lots of colours so I'm sure I'll do another post show casing them all together. but that will have to wait till after Christmas when everyone has received their gifts! Can't have them reading my blog and spoiling their surprises now can we. :)

All my lovely handmade gifts will get their own posts too but again, not till after Christmas!

Happy Holidays everyone!

Thursday, December 13, 2012

Time to stop crafting for everyone else! :)

I realised this week that i've spent the last few months mostly crafting for others. The kids and other family members. So half way through my final washcloth for my Dad i popped down my crochet hook and whipped out the sewing machine. Project custom dress began. I started off with a gorgeous wee dress i got from the local opshop for just $5! Only problem was its length and lack of straps. I'll be honest here I hate my knees. Thanks to my excema theyre dry and covered in scars so i hide them. This summer though it's clearly going to be too hot for trousers and i only have one pair of shorts. I dont do strapless tops or dresses, cause quite frankly my boobs are too big in my opinion. you'd think big boobs would hold dresses up...not in my case!
In the beginning there was a dress... When it came to the fabric to add to the length i wanted something bright and summery. I had two perfect fabrics. A gorgeous red with flowers and a lovely green with little we flowers and cherries. I honestly have spent three days staring at the fabric asking myself which one i like best...there is no answer. i love them both soo much.
I cut six two inch wide strips of the fabric each 29inches long, four red and two green and sewed them together. Red, green, red. The dress has a seam on each side, so to make the custom a little more natural looking I sewed each 29inch strip of the three end on end. With the seams lined up with the dress seams i pinned a bucket load of pinns to them and sewed around them bottome of the dress. Lots of ironing happend during this procces to keep all the seams nice a crisp. Things just look so much tidier that way!
once fabric was sewn on i then went around the bottom with and iron and pressed the raw edge inwards to tidy up the base of the dress. I went over the hem with a zig zag stich, from a distance it cant be seen but if you look closely its visable. I think the zig zag hemm just gives it that little extra something special. Break the mold, use some different stiches on your hems. if your really brave (or crazy) use a contrasting thread for that extra bold look. The straps were destined to be a bit fiddely. I'm currently breastfeeding my second child and will be for the forseeable future. I'm aiming for at least till shes one, but will see what she wants. if she wants longer he can have longer. Breast feeding is that little bit of calm in the maddness that is life. :) So i needed straps that would undo, allowing easy access. What better that recycling that old nursing bra i can't wear cause the fabric sets of my excema...seriously excema on the boob is NOT pleasant!!
The little nursing access clips i lined up just at the edge of the wee ruffle, so unless you're really looking for them you dont really notice them. Alot of expletives were uttered as i attached the straps...i stabbed my finger several times. Thankfully the kids were asleep so no chance of Mr 20 months reapeating mummies naughty words! phew. So with the straps attached i tried it on and its perfect!
Voila! I absolutely love my dress now!! Its perfect! Straps to avoid embarassing mishaps and allow easy acess for breastfeeding my girl, and pretty fabric for that splash of colour and extra length! It wonderful as a long skirt too, cause the straps tuck away, so i can dress it up with a smart collared shirt aswell. I'm off out to do the kids christmas shopping tomorrow with my mum. I'm hoping the weather will stay lovely so i can show off my new dress!!

Friday, November 30, 2012

Decembers Challenge

Well here I am. 24 and at pretty much the heaviest i've ever been, ecluding how heavy i got when i was pregnant with my son. Honestly my weight is depressing me. Since having my daughter i've gained weight, ok so its only two kilos but its enough for me to notice. After having my son i was 89kgs, i developed gallstones so went on a fat free diet whilst still exclusivly breastfeeding him, so naturally i lost alot of weight. i had surgery the day he turned 6months and honestly didnt really pay much attention to my weight untill i got pregnant with my daughter. i weighed myself at two months along and was only 77kgs. I felt amazing. I want to get back to that feeling again. I know exactly why i've gained the weight this time...stress. Aurora was born 5 weeks early via emergancy c section. I had developed pre-eclampsic toxemia and the medical team decided on the day of diagnosis that she would be safer being born early. She spent 4 1/2 weeks in the hospital in NICU and then SCBU care. So we were on the road alot, driving to and from the hospital everyday and leaving our son with the grandparents. We ate far too much junk food and other comfort foods such as cookies and chocolate. As I'd had a c-section i couldn't really do much, somedays just walking from the car to my daughters cot in SCBU was too much. She's 13weeks old now and home. We've been home two months, and everyone is happy. Except me. I feel like a failure because of the pregnancy being cut short, the c section took away the control of giving birth. I wasn't even allowed to hold her straight away. I still find myself comfrt eating, so heres my promise to myself. I will get better, I will get through this depressionesque state and I will loose weight. I'm going to record my journey through this, so maybe as I help myself i can help someone else out there too. So heres what decembers challenge is... * At least one workout per day (Golds Gym Cardio Workout on wii) *Eat healthy (No more fatty, hig sugar foods. Nore fruit and vegies) *Drink plenty of water *Loose 4 kilos I'm currently weighing in at 86 kilos acording to my BMI my ideal weight is 61kilos. Overall i need to loose 25kilos in total. Here what I currently look like...
So here goes my weight loss journey. I don't quite know whats wrong with me emotionally. I'm finding that even when I'm doing things i enjoy, like reading, crocheting or even playing with my toddler(20month old Logan) or just relaxing with my fiance, i'm forcing a smile on my face. I know i should probably tell someone about how I'm feeling, but i dont know what to say. I can't say why I'm down, i just am and i dont know why. I've been feelinglike this for a couple of days, so I'll see how i go.

Sunday, October 28, 2012

Preemies and crochet.

OK, so i haven't posted in ages. i know I'm shocking. here's an overview of the year I've had. I've been crafting like crazy crocheting things from little hats right up to big warm snugly winter cardies for me. Family dramas, surprise pregnancy, stress induced pre-eclampsia resulting in an emergency c-section at 35weeks 5days.

 When Logan was 10months i fell pregnant with our second baby. He was still breastfeeding at the time but began to bite when my milk changed. Nothing stopped him,nothing at all. It was excruciating. after about a month of this constant biting at every frigging feed I'd had enough, i was considering giving up breastfeeding but i felt so guilty that i kept trying even with the pain.

it was at this point that i started getting what i thought was a tummy bug, we went to the doctor after a few days of illness. Nope not food poisoning or a tummy bug...more like morning sickness! Doc was surprised, we were shocked. "I'm still breastfeeding, on the pill and my cycles haven't started again! I can't be pregnant" I said. The doctor responded by saying "well you must be a very fertile couple then!" So off we went for blood tests and an ultrasound. Sure enough i was 7weeks along. The next few months passed smoothly, baby grew well. Nothing amis. Well maybe a little hip pain here and there but nothing my midwife was concerned about. She knew me well as she was there for me with my first.

 Then at 35weeks pregnant i had an argument with my neighbour over his music. It was so loud in my house that little Logan was holding his hands to his ears and crying. I couldn't hear the radio let alone myself speak. After asking the neighbour to turn it down, he did..for two minns. So after another 10minns of this loud music i had a full blown migraine. Put my boy down for a nap and went outside to ask the neighbour again to turn it down. Ok so i yelled at him to, and swore a little. I was fed up, i was tired myself and in pain. His response was to jump up on the fence and scream at me..alot. Alot of nasty things, i back up and he kept yelling. the words I'll never forget... "I'll F***ing jump over there and beat you up, I'll f***ing kill you" I went inside and rang the police. They came he was arrested and going to be charged. End of story i thought.

 Three days later i had my 35week ultrasound, just a routine check up. Seemed to go fine, sonographer commented that baby was small but when told our son was only 6lb5oz at full term when he was born she said nothing more. That afternoon i get a call from my midwife. You have to go into hospital for accute assessment she tells me. Blood flow from placenta to baby isn't as good as it should be, baby is ok but we need to get you checked out just in case.

"Worst case scenario you'll be having the baby early, this weekend. Best case will be in two weeks. You wont be going to term with this baby."

 That was the one thing i didn't want to hear. Turns out I had pre-eclampsia, we caught it in time. It could have been sooo much worse. That Friday morning my beautiful Aurora was born, all 1740grams of her. I gave her a kiss from where i lay being stitched up, and she was whisked off to NICU . I didn't even get to hold her first. I felt like all control of having a baby had been taken away from me, all thanks to the stress because of my damned neighbour. I got to see her later that day, hooked up to monitors in an incubator, iv line and nasal gastric tube all there. It was terrifying.
  
10 days later she was starting to gain weight and attempting breastfeeds twice a day, we were traveling an hour each way to the hospital. I had to commute to see either of my children. Honestly i was a mess, crying over silly things. like when i let my coffee go cold. That day she was transfered from Wellington NICU to Hutt SCBU, she no longer needed intensive care. just monitoring and learning to feed.

 We spent three weeks at Hutt Hospital, her neighbours Mum and I talked alot. He was early too, a week earlier than she was. Finally she came off the monitors and i sent the night in the hospital with her in my room, wireless. It was funny, I was texting my family saying "She's Wi-Fi, shes finally Wi-Fi" The next day she came home.

That was nearly four weeks ago. Now we're all home, and things are getting back to normal. She's still tiny, not even 3kgs yet and she's 8weeks old. Her brother adores her, he likes to give her a kiss and tries to share his toys. My fiance and my crochet have been my life line during the time in hospital. Without them I'd have been even more of a mess.

He kept my smiling and made me focus on the positives. We set little goals for Aurora to reach, like wearing clothes for the first time, weighing 2kgs, having a normal cot rather than a heated one. Coming home. We reached those goals and it got easier. the day we drove home i could stop smiling, my cheeks were hurting. over the last couple of months I've crocheted little blankets for her and her little neighbour. This morning i finished a shrug for me. I call it "spring splash" I love my little family. My amazing Fiance Daniel and our beautiful children Logan and Aurora. We are happy, peaceful but best of all...each and every one of us is healthy.

Our preemie baby experience has been emotional. In comparison to other preemie stories, its been a doddle. To all those families out there dealing with having a preemie, good luck to you. I hope you get to take your wee one home happy and healthy soon. To all the mums, this doesn't mean you've failed as a mum, its just a little hurdle. You'll jump over it, you are an amazing Mum. You ARE!

To all the Dads, you are amazing too, you're holding her hand and your childs. To all the parents of preemies..you are amazing.

To all the staff at Wellington NICU and Hutt SCBU, thank you. Especially Nurse Gemma at Hutt SCBU, you are one awesome nurse.

To my midwife Grada, you're a wonderful woman, thank you for helping me bring two gorgeous babies into the world.

 To every single person who has been there for us the last few months. Thank you for everything. from the little things like being the first person to see me after the birth ( Catherine was there at about 10 past 10 Saturday morning :D ) and just texting normal conversations to big things like giving us petrol money and looking after Logan. I want to give a special shout out to Logan's Nanna Robyn for looking after Logan for the majority of our time in hospital. Thanks to all of you, you know who you are. With out you we would have been alot more stressed than we were.

Tuesday, January 10, 2012

Happy New Year!

Yes i know new years was two weeks ago, but hey better late than never right? After having a wonderful first Xmas with Logan we had a lovely new years playing board games and having a generally fun filled night with friends.

Unfortunately for Logan when we got home the next day the poor little man had a tummy/fever bug thing.He spent the next three days refusing to let us dress him as he was too hot and not wanting to be anywhere but my arms. Poor thing, and to top it off once he was over the bug we realised he had FOUR teeth cutting. So not a fun start to the year in this house.

Now I'm not one for making new years resolutions, because i feel they're usually things that are trivial like "i wont eat as much chocolate" or "go to the gym more" You know, things that we say we'll do and just pt it off till next week, and suddenly its new years all over again and those resolutions we made never happened. Theres more chocolate than ever in the cupboards, and as for that gym membership well you cancelled that didn't you?

No this year I didn't make a resolution like that, nope not me, no sir. This year I'm going to learn to drive! Now don't look at me like that. I know what your thinking... "23 and can't drive? what are you.." I know I know, i should have learnt years ago! Well i left England just a month after i was 17 and didn't really have time to learn then. Once here in NZ i realised people start to learn at 15! So yes I could have started to learn then, and I'm not even really sure why i didn't learn... other than my usual excuse of "Well I did have Bumblebee for two years, so at least I know the road rules." Bumblebee is the name i gave my awesome little yellow 50cc scooter that i drove around for 2007 and half of 2008. I sold it last year as i just haven't been able to ride it since July 2008. There's just something about loosing your father to a motorbike accident that just makes it too painful.

He and I used to go out on his Harley when i was a kid and I loved it, it really was the only time that Dad was ever really a Daddy to me. Otherwise i used to think of him as "the dick i happen to be related too" Now don't get me wrong I love my Dad very much, he just wasn't very good at being a Dad.

So the time has come to learn to drive a car. One day I'll go back to motorbike i know (don't think I'll ever lose the passion for my Harley's!) So my lovely fiance has started to teach me. I reckon I'm doing pretty well so far. I'm not stalling...too much :P

So happy new year everybody and here's to resolutions that we actually keep!!