On impending Mamahood

i have been LOVING the maple nut butter granola from Feeding the Whole Family by Cynthia Lair, which I finally got for Christmas so I wouldn't have to keep hoarding the library copy.

we had a lot of children at our doorstep on Halloween!

our fur baby, cuddly as ever.

part of a shawl I knit my grandma for Christmas. If you are a knitter it's called Scalloped Shawl by Breeann Miller and can be found on Ravelry.

homemade cinnamon buns ... heavenly heavenly!

My oh my --

I never intended to go so many months without blogging! Life just has been completely full -- with work stuff, pregnancy stuff, etc. And here I am ... right on the first day of my third trimester. Just around 12 more weeks to go until we meet our son! He has been wriggling around in there for three weeks already (that I can feel).

We were very blessed to receive money for baby items at Christmastime. So, I've spent the last two days spending it which is scary but of course what it's for. We have found some incredible used items and hope to find more before our trip to Ikea at month's end for a few "big" items. One of my best friends has also decided to host a baby shower for me so I got to fill up a registry to Target with a lot of nice smaller items. We will soon be "sampling" a variety of cloth diapers I ordered.

I have been thinking nonstop about the kind of mama I want to be. It will not be easy being a working mama (after several months off) and it's not my ideal. But it's a necessity at this point and I'm fine with it, especially because I love the work I do with children. I am feeling this sense of urgency and already just two days into the new year I am getting. it. done. the end. I want to have as much prepped as possible during January and February. There are some house projects (mainly cleaning/organizing/setting up) and some kitchen projects (umm freezer meals) and a financial getting-in-order so we are set for when I'm out of work. Holy um ... wow. But still, somehow ... it all feels doable. I'm just getting so excited to meet this little one inside me who makes my belly hard and itchy and tough to sleep around at night! :-) :-) :-)

I have also been thinking about intentions for this brand new year. I'd like to learn how to knit socks and/or cables. I would also like to get myself into a sewing studio for some lessons on the basics. I am planning to launch a little Etsy shop and so I need to prep some products for that. I am also wanting to reach out to some indie yarn dyers about their process as I'm mulling a side business in that line of work. There is very little literature on the subject at this point. I think I would really enjoy that work and if it ever became more successful ... well, I'm always thinking of ways to work more self-sufficiently and less outside the home.

There has been a lot of stress in our house due to some unexpected work-related crises, since the summer really. With those issues soon coming to a close, however, I am determined to make family the number one focus. Despite all the busy this winter entails, I want to make sure that I build in some true relaxing time into each day. I am taking Heather's Hibernate retreat which begins in 10 days and will take me gently into February. My husband got me a prenatal massage for Christmas. And, of course, I have at least four baby knitting projecs planned, with yarn to prove it :-) I plan on drinking lots of tea and sleeping as much as possible. Being good to myself and "checking out" as much, much, much as I can from "outside" stuff. There are very good things on our family's horizon but we are still exploring at this point so nothing concrete to share. I am looking forward to this mix of busy/relaxed. It's a funny feeling to be both but it's what I must do for the last three months until our son arrives.

I am hoping 2015 brings with it the opportunity to take at least two trips. One to Maine over the summer just to relax and sightsee, the other to Orlando by train to see close friends.

It was wonderful to check in at last. Hopefully I won't be gone so long this time!

Love and light,

Karen