our little miss

Sweet little Aspen Eve was born on September 25, 2012 into her daddy's hands.

Life has been crazy busy since then. We have been adjusting to having a newborn again and we moved  last month. We love this little girl so much! Here is Aspen's first three months in pictures. 

Peace and love

Wishing you and yours a cozy and joyous holiday season...

The in-between time

I am in a period of waiting these days. Baby is due in a month, and I just spent a month on bed rest. Little one decided she was in a hurry to be earthside and I went into labor at 31 weeks. Strict bedrest has bought me and the pumpkin another 5 weeks. We are both doing well and I am officially off of bedrest now.

Now we wait. Every day I think this could be the day. Every night I go to bed wondering if our children will wake to find a new baby sister cuddled in bed with mama. I hope baby continues to stay put for a while longer. I am also anxious to meet her. I want to snuggle with her, kiss her downy head, and spend hours with her nursing and blissed out.

I am in this weird in-between state. Thoughts of baby and labor and baby stuff are always just simmering below the surface. The bubbles rise and pop and I am suddenly lost in baby land. Life seems a bit surreal at the moment. Life is going along as usual, and in the blink of an eye there will be a new member of our family. A new little one that will be tiny and adorable and monopolizing of my time. I always worry about finding a balance between meeting the needs of my husband and older children while meeting the needs of a nursing newborn. It will all work itself out, but in this time of in-between, the worry consumes me. I have been knitting and writing, all in an effort to remain present.

These are the warm woolens for baby I have knit in the last few weeks:

More is on the needles and I have yarn on the way for an adorable little cardigan for Hannah.

{this moment}

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. 
Inspired by Soule Mama

Herbal Roots Zine

We are gearing up for the new school year here, and I just bought the new issue of Herbal Roots Zine. It looks fabulous! Basil is the herb of choice this month, and the littles and I are excited to get started with it. 

There is a contest over there where you can win a sweet little wooden deer. It would find our home a delightful place to live...

{this moment}

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. 
Inspired by Soule Mama

Yarn Along

The knitting is a little sweater for our baby, and the book is Daybook by Anne Truitt. Lovely book!

Weekends are for knitting

This weekend was filled with knitting. Christy and I are knitting for the baby, and I will post pictures of those items as they are finished; cute little sweaters and hats and longies.

I took a bit of time to knit for me as well. Hand knit wool socks are the very best! I adore the colors of this yarn! It is Blue Moon Fiber Arts-Gertrude Skein color way. I always think of this yarn as Gertrude's Garden though; lime, mango, and plum, with almond and coconut. Maybe I should call it Gertrude's Kitchen! Yummy!

Listening to this and reveling in the day...

Ice water and purple sheets

Today I am extremely happy about:

sunshine and sprinklers,

chocolate chip cookies,

Bobby Darin,

ice water,

and purple sheets on my bed!

A long awaited summer vacation

(Photo by Jack)

This is the last week of school! We are all very excited and ready for a long break. Kindergarten got out a week early and graduation was last Thursday. Our little girl graduated and is so happy to be done. She is also sad that she will not see her friends for a while.

The rest of the kids have school this week. I am still working, just giving end of year assessments and packing up my classroom. We are expecting a sweet babe in the fall and I have decided to stay home for the next few years with the wee one. I am thrilled to be a stay at home mama again, but sad that I will be not be teaching next year. Jack, Christy, and Hannah are going to attend school next year and Toby is going to do a combination of home schooling and participating in a home school program at the school. I am excited for all of us! Lots of changes are on the horizon and I am looking forward to it.

The way things change, and balancing it all

(photo by Jack)

I have been away for awhile. Life has brought many changes to our household. Last spring, my older children decided they wanted to go to school. This was hard for me to hear, but I have worked so hard to raise children that were confident and strong and ready to make their own decisions. I started looking around at schools and found a fantastic charter school 35 minutes from our home. It is a K-12 school and small. I love the school, and when my littles decided they wanted to try it out too, I let them. I enrolled all four of my children in school and got a job interning in a kindergarten class at the same school. This stay at home mama now works full time and goes to school full time.

It has been a huge adjustment, with many tears all around, but things are going fairly well now. I miss my children horribly, and life seems so much busier now, but I have seen such growth in us all. The older children are adjusting better than the younger, and I expected that. We keep plugging along, and my littles are doing better every day.

There has been no baking, or knitting, or Making of any kind (except at Christmas, what a glorious break!) and we are all feeling the absence of it. Our lives are lacking simplicity, and my struggle now is to find ways to simplify, while living our current situation.

This lovely long weekend will be devoted to Making and reconnecting and getting back to our family roots.