Bunny Tails - my first adventure into sewing

So I decided to try my hand at sewing stuffed animals, the only issue is my sewing skills are quite basic. I can do a straight line, so was confident in making cloth wipes but making stuffed animals is a lot more involved. That is when I came across Dolls And Daydreams, an online store that providers patterns. I decided to start with the bunny pattern (most fitting I thought seeing as my business is called Cottontail Kisses). So here is a few pictures from my first attempt.

And the final product!

The pattern was very easy to follow and the directions were amazing! Coming from a beginner I highly recommend using the Dolls and Daydreams patterns. The only issues I had was on my end, I used old flannel (it frayed) so with my final product I had to do some patching at the seams. Also after he was all sewn together I realized his feet would have looked better facing the other way, oh well a lesson learned for next time.

Lots of Bunny-Hugs!

Cecette

posted from Bloggeroid

(side note: I am in no way connected to dolls and daydreams, no compensation or correspondence took place before writing this post. Also please do not judge the pattern solely on my end product, remember I am a beginner and this was my first project.)

The Freezer Special - minced garlic

So I came into quite a bit of garlic a few weeks ago after I did a cooking special with a few of my friends (LOVE the book The Big Cook). My friend had a bucket (literally a bucket) of minced garlic that we used instead of mincing each clove. Which with the amount we needed (104 cloves) would have taken forever. 

My friend offered for me to take some, so here I am with a ziploc bag full of garlic. Now I love to use it in my cooking but there is no way I can use this garlic up in time, and I am sure my hubby would start to wonder why our fridge smells so "weird". Not to mention that it was starting to make my other foods smell and have the slight taste of garlic. I like garlic but would like that smell and taste limited to only certain foods.

So I decided to try to freeze the garlic, but the problem with freeze a liquid (or in my case minced garlic) once it is frozen in a large quantities it is hard to break/thaw just what you need.

So here is my trick...ice cup trays!

I learned online that about 1-2 tsp of minced garlic equals 1 clove so that is what I put into each cube. 

It took about 2hrs for the garlic to harden enough so that I could pop them out like an ice cube. I then placed them in a ziploc bag and back in the freezer. 

So there you have it, and easy way to store already minced garlic!


Lots of Bunny-Hugs
Cecette

Wordless Wednesday - Fluffy Bums and Then and Now (Easter Special)

Hannah - 2010 (4 months)

Maisey - 2012 (3 months)

Mail Call! - my first wipes soap bits

I love mail especially when there is a parcel for me. But it does seem old fashion (especially since email is so much quicker). But I haven't been able to get cloth diapers delivered to me through email, so mail it is.

During a walk today with my daughters we swung by the post office to see what mail we had. Turns out we did have mail!


It was my mini soap bit samplers from Wee Essentials! I bought it through one of my many facebook co-op I have joined this year. I have wipe solution from pumkin booty that is always in my diaper bag. But I wanted to try soap bits for my warmer. So when this co-op came open I had to try them out. What really got my attention was all the amazing scents they offer. Which you can order several in their soap samplers. I got the mini sampler, which came with a choice of 5 different scents in a very cute and functional case. For anyone wondering I picked monkey farts, vanilla bean, sun-ripened strawberry, honeyed almond, and eucalyptus & spearmint. My favorite is vanilla bean. I haven't been able to give these a good trial run (as just got them in the mail). But what I have seen so far I like. Does anyone else use Wee Essentials or any other soap bits?

Lots of Bunny Hugs!
Cecette

(disclaimer: I did this post on my own, no compensation or correspondence with Wee Essentials. Just wanted to share what my newest purchase was.)

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.8

Wordless Wednesday - sisters bonding before nap time

I'm back!

Well, here I lay (almost midnight) thinking for the umpteenth time I really need to get back to my blog. Then I received an email from a reader (wow are people even reading anymore since I have been so neglectful to them?)

Well last time I left you I was in the middle of a great book that was going to help me with the birth of my second child. Well I got through most of the book...but I really don't know if the techniques would have worked for me as it turned out my labour was very fast. But I guess I should start from the beginning...

My hubby and I decided to attend a grain grower conference right before my due date. I was excited at the chance to go into labour while up there. Mostly because it would make the drive one our verses two hours if I was at home.

Here is me 39 weeks + 4 days at the conference.

So on January 5th (3days before my due date) we went on a tunnel tours with the other conference attendees. For those who don't know about the tunnels of Moose Jaw I will set a link up when I get a chance at the computer.(here is the link to tunnels of Moose Jaw, we took the passage to fortune tour)

This was our sweet ride (on a very crisp night) to and from the tunnels.

The tour is A LOT of walking and I am now going to recommend it to all those who want to induce their pregnancy. Because at 2am on January 6th my contractions started!

So I started to pack up our stuff we had out around the room. Thinking that if this was false labour they would stop after moving around. Well around 3am I decided to wake hubby as the contractions were 5min apart lasting for 1min. We phoned our midwife and arranged to meet at my sister-in-law's like planned. We got to my sister-in-law's at around 5am and my midwife arrived some time before 530am. By this time my contractions were very painful and about 3-4 min apart. After being checked by the midwife wife (i was 5-6 cm dialted, 80% effaced) we decided to head to the hospital.

Now on the way the contractions got horrible! I had a hard time thinking, back pain was awful...but I LOVED the heated seats (wonderful for back labour).

My hubby helped me to the emerg door and then parked the car. The contractions were now really close together (for example i had one going through the emerg doors and then a few feet away had another at the emerg desk). I checked into emerg at 550am.

I arrived on the labour and deliver floor at 6am. After that everything is a blur, I was offered pain medications once (gas I think) but I remember being confused by the question (I assume this was when I was in transition). My hubby got to the room just in time to help me through some a few contraction and then I was ready to deliver my baby.

At 6:26am my daughter Maisey Linda arrived into this world. 

Maisey Linda - January 6th 2012, 8lbs 1 oz

So what have I been doing all this time?

Well I have been trying to adjust to being a mom of two...a lot harder then what was in my fantasy. I can't believe that SAHMs manage to get out of the house with more than one child. There are a lot more schedules to co-ordinate (timing naps, feedings, diaper changes, going to the potty etc). We are now getting more into the swing of things and I hope that I can get back to blogging and starting up my sewing business. But I plan on doing that all in baby steps. 

Thank you for staying with me through this unscheduled hiatus.

Lots of Bunny-Hugs!

Cecette

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.8

Natural Hospital Birth - Section One Part Two

I have been reading “Natural Hospital Birth – the best of both worlds” by Cynthia Gabriel. In my first post here I talked about the first two sections of part one “preparing for your baby’s birth”. I will now discuss my thoughts about the last three sections in part one “getting attached to your birth plan”, “creating a supportive team” and “extra support for special circumstances”.

 Cynthia Gabriel discusses why we should get attached to our birth plan. She tells the reader that in most cases when someone says they are flexible it translates to most providers as being vague. In addition when you write a birth plan you can be specific but accommodate the unexpected. Also even if you are not able to fulfill your entire birth plan it is okay to be disappointed, she states that “isn’t always better to strive and fall short then to never strive at all?” (pg 22) I believe that is a very important thing for anyone making a birth plan to remember. That you can try to reach for your most ideal birth but it might not happen and that is okay. Also when this happens it is okay to grieve in some form over the loss of this.

 Cynthia then walks the reader through how you can create your own birth plan through three steps. Dream it, plan the whole birth, then write a medical birth plan.

 I had a really hard time with step one (which is why my post is so late). I pride myself on being a “feelings” person and being able to visualize or dream (daydreaming is one of my favourite ways to relax). However, with dreaming up my ideal birth plan I felt like something was holding me back for envisioning my perfect birth. It could be the fact that I have already experienced a birth and know the realities. Or it is the fact that I have attended a few births as a health care provider and realize the limitations that are set on hospital births. Either way I struggled to let go and allow my imagination to run wild. No matter how hard I tried most of what I could “dream” of was not that vivid. Though her questions did help some, I just could not get as vivid picture as what her case studies did. I finally came to the conclusions that most of what I was experienced were feelings. I wanted to feel safe and relaxed; I just didn’t want to be rushed. This was the main reason I chose a midwife. Everything is slowed down and the idea of why rush when everything is going good. To me I didn’t care where I was. So after going through the questions I have completed my dream birth (which I will probably come back to the further along in my pregnancy I get), the next step is planning it and then turning the plan into a medical birth plan.

 So to plan your birth Cynthia gets the reader to reflect on the aspects of the dream birth plan that can be translated to the hospital setting. For me I know that I want to wait to go to the hospital so my plan is to labour as long as possible at home (well in my case my sister’s home, as we live 2 hours from the hospital). With a midwife this is possible because of the fact she would come to me and check on my progress. When I do get to the hospital I would like it to be just me, my husband, and my midwife there. This way I don’t feel like I am being watched. I also love technology so I more than likely will have my Zoom and phone handy just to take my mind of the contractions (or pressure waves for those hypnobabies :D). I would like to try to birth without any drugs. I plan on educating myself on ways to work through the waves (just started my hypnobabies course).

 So the last part of making my birth plan is writing it down for my medical team. Cynthia ones again has a series of questions to help the reader develop their own plan (and shares a few of her client’s birth plans as examples). She also reminds the reader that you can be direct in your birth plan but polite. You can achieve this by focusing on what you want rather then what you don’t want. For instance I do not want to have labour augmented unless absolutely necessary (I have experienced a Pitocin drip and hated every moment an IV was in my hand). So instead of saying I don’t want my labour augmented unless medically necessary, I would rephrase it to say I would prefer to go into labour naturally. I am still ironing out my final birth plan and I think I will continue to until I go into labour. But these are a few of the things that I would like to see happen.

 - Labour to start on its own
- Have my membranes rupture on their own
- Allow my husband to be my coach
- Allow my daughter to visit briefly
- Use a tub or shower as pain relief
- For staff to offer non medicated options first
- Use massage and warm compresses to lessen the risk of a   tear
- I would like to use my Hypnobabies cd’s and techniques as much as possible
- After birth I would like to hold my baby immediately
- Please wait to clamp the cord till after it stops pulsating
- If possible hold off on newborn checks until after I have held and breastfed for the first time
- I will be rooming in with my baby and husband
- I would like all procedures to be done in husband’s or my presence
- I hope to avoid a cesarean
- If I need a cesarean my husband is to be present at all times
- I would like to have contact with my baby as soon after as possible

 The book then goes on to discuss surrounding yourself with a health care team that provides you support in reaching these goals. I don’t think this will be much of an issue for me as I have a midwife that is aware of my desire to have a natural hospital birth. However, I will still be giving her a copy to have so she is aware of my wants in regards to pain control; in particular my wish to use the techniques that are in Hypnobabies. But I feel this is a very good section for those still searching for a care provider or wants to make a switch. She gives several good questions to ask a potential care provider and how to find the one that is right for you and your family.

 The final section of part one talks about special circumstances which for me I just skimmed over as I do not fall in this category. But for anyone who is having twins, VBAC, or is a survivor of a traumatic event this is a great section to read. I especially think her VBAC section is a great read.


That is the end of part one of the book “Natural Hospital Birth – the best of both worlds” by Cynthia Gabriel. My next post on this subject will be focusing on part two “giving birth”.

 TTYL!
-Cecette