slide show sunday. take 10.

Hello friends!

Well this was the weekend for sunshine and downpours.

Splash pads and sand pals.

Yard sales and dinner parties.

Really, this slide show weekend is hosted by my daughter...

Azriel loves splashing.... and digging with friends in the dirt.

 

My favourite mug for tea time - when Ben gets home from work.

Azi wants to join in on tea time... so she gets her own version of 'milk-tea'... and loves it.

She's really into collecting nature's morsels lately.. today's choice: maple keys.

She stashed them all into her pocket... which I discovered the next day littered all over her crib!

Family dinner Saturdays.. another great meal with all the generations.  The best corn of the year was had too... mmmMMMmmmm.... I just want to eat corn all day, every day!

Hope your weekend was fanciful and fun!

Mel :o)

tote-ally delighted!

Don't you just love getting surprises in the mail?  I sure do... especially when it's this funky fantabulous tote that I won from the Saturated Canary's blog giveaway!   Here's my lil' happy dance to celebrate!

I absolutely love how the blogging world has introduced me to so many of you fantastic people out there.  Krista from the Saturated Canary is no exception... I was first hooked on her due to a picture of her funky huge dreads... and then her funky ginormous attitude that went with it... and her love of art, her family, her faith.. her fashion etc.  Look how sweet she is, she even made me a card with a bird on it... and an egg inside... it's the little things ya know.  The sweet sketch on her tote is of Amelia Earhart - pretty cute eh?

I bet that Amelia would fly back from the 'Bermuda Triangle' (where she's likely hanging out with Elvis and Bigfoot)... to see this beauty self-portrait!

Thanks again Krista, 

I haven't been a 'winner' since that Snow Leopard towel I won in Grade Two!

Happy weekend y'all!

Mel ;o)

Azriel's birth story.

So now that I am all 'preggers' again, it has me dreaming.dreading.thinking.twitching about going through a second labour.  In lieu of this mama's mindset, I thought I would share a brief synopsis of how my labour went with our first baby - Azriel.  [What's that you say?  The swooshing sound of any guy that still reads my blog running for the hills]...  I know, this isn't a post everyone would be stoked to read.  But considering I've never posted about it before.. I think I am due (no pun intended).

***

Azi was supposed to be coming at us live sometime around October 17th, 2009.  However, she - being like her mama - opted to stay lazily in her comfort zone until further notice.  Notice was served October 29th when I was big as a barn and ready to go in and drag her out myself!  Now we all have the dream of how we'll go through labour.... out in a sunny field of flowers... a sweet natural labour... with no icky medical intervention needed, right?  Well, from the get go this was a forced. intervention. kind of gauntlet.  In the morning they attempted to break my water... with no success.  They cranked me up on Oxytocin - the crack cocaine for contractions.  Then they waited, and watched.. whilst I breathed. focused. walked. bounced. moaned for a few hours.  Family would poke their heads in and chat (side note: don't ever ask questions of someone while they're contracting... rage can ensue).

My wonderful midwife Care and dear husband Ben stayed by my side through it all.  Supplying with me with all the lime popsicles I craved.. even after bringing them back up again!  By around 3:30 in the afternoon trouble hit.  With every contraction I couldn't help but impulsively start pushing.  I was only 5 cm, and this pushing was dropping the babe's heart rate.  Turns out Azriel was facing up - so we were spine on spine... and for whatever reason it was making my body want to crank her out too soon.

Enter Mr. No-Bedside Manner... who barked at me to stop moving... bend way over... and allow him to shove the epidural needle into the small of my back.  I managed to make myself numb to his lack of charm.... and he managed to make my lower half numb to the pain.. oh joy.

Now I got to rest from 7:30pm - 8:30 roughly... trying to encourage Azi to roll over and place nice.    By 9pm I was fully dilated and the craziness started afresh.  I was pushing 'blind' now that I couldn't feel anything... and my midwife was encouraging me that the baby was descending.  Then her heart rate started dropping.. the cord had coiled around her neck during descent.  The Dr. showed up and attempted a vacuum - but due to Azi's positioning - it popped right off.  He then warned that if the forceps didn't grab her.. we'd have to get a C-section!  Just grab the jaws of life already!  I looked at Ben and said "pray".  I gave the biggest.most desperate.don't want a c-section. push I could muster...  out came the head!!  I was so excited I kept pushing and would have shot her across the room if the Doc hadn't said 'stop pushing now'!  

The poor wee thing had mucus trapped in her lungs, so that made for some extra care and concern required.  And poor me... got all tore up thanks to the snip.rip.flip action of labour.  Tragic comedy moment: the Doc saying to my midwife "I don't usually make the stitches this small, but I'm running out of sutures" (I even offered him my shoe laces!).

But, praise God, we all made it through in the end!  Sure it felt like I sat on a weed-wacker for a few days (weeks), but the joy and love that keeps growing for this daughter far eclipses any pain.
.

I really hope that this next labour plays out a bit more nicely... (so does my husband who looked like a returned war veteran afterwards).  I'm still eager to do it again, and glad to have my midwife back too!

Thanks for hearing our story.

Mel :o)

colour my day.2.

 Colour me blessed with this sweet profile shot.  Azriel is holding her favourite feature of visiting Chapters Book Store.... little figurines of baby chicks.  Every time we go to play at the train set she runs to the animal shelf and squeals "chicken?"!  So cute.

Her thrown together 'style' today features the following:

shirt: Old Navy

pants: hand sewn by a sweet friend.

sandals: thrifted

scarf: Hurley (cut to size by mama).

handful of chickens: Chapters.

Ben makes for quite the handsome daddy reading partner too.

We're linking up with Mama Loves Papa again for this Small Style post!

Ciao for now,

Mel :o)

to hide or seek...

Warning: this post has a gratuitous amount of cuteness in it.. probably not even legal.  No, not me, thanks... but our gal Azriel seems to be getting sweeter each day.  Forgive me, but I just have to post all these fun pictures from our park.playground.picnic adventure yesterday!  As you can see, I'm still confused by playgrounds... and Azi still loves the dirt + shovel combo.

To hide.. or to seek... she gets giddy with either option.  But who doesn't love being found by their Father? :o)

Endless running, endless giggles, endless cuteness.

The reverse mullet I cut into her hair is growing out nicely now.. almost getting hair envy of my daughter now that I went and hacked a mullet into myself last night! sheesh. 

Last but not least.. the happy leaf dance:

There it is. 

Cuteness quota for the day = check.

Have yourself a great one,

Mel :o)

D.I.Y upcycle tablecloth into wrap skirt.

Yes it's that time of week again.. when we grab something in our home and frantically upcycle it while the lil' one sleeps!  If you know me by now - you know I like my sewing projects to be speedy.stupid easy.cheap - and I've got another one for you here.  Now last time I upcycled a lace tablecloth into a skirt by throwing an elastic waist into the centre of it right?  I realized that all the 'bunching' fabric added to my already 'muffin top' type waist... so this time I opted to make a wrap!  Check me this out:

Supplies needed:

one round tablecloth

4-6' of ribbon.cloth band.or rope to tie your wrap on with.

scissors

pins

sewing machine

(3' of lace if you want an extra trim element.) 

Lay that tablecloth out on your floor (chase the cats away in my case).

Fold it almost in half and cut along the edge.. you want about a third higher on one side to make a 'layered' look.

Run to your sewing machine with the two halves now.  Fold over and sew an inch wide seam along the waist of both.. to thread your ribbon through.  As you can see above, I didn't sew right to the end... but left a gap where the ribbon could pull out - this creates a neat overhang of fabric at the end (seen below).

As an extra garnish, I added the lace ribbon to the top half of the wrap.  It adds a frilly flair for some salsa dancing or having a picnic on the lawn.

There you have it!  Speedy.stupid easy.cheap.. you made your own wrap skirt.  Yes, it technically is two wraps that you layer around yourself... which creates the funky tiered/layered look.  Hope that inspires you to upcycle your tablecloths again!

I'd love to see pictures if you make one (or any of my d.i.y's for the matter).

Have a beauty day friends,

Mel :o)

confessions [of a mama]. part 5.

I think it's been a while since my last confession... and this one has been brewing in my mind for quite a while now.  My mama confessions is this: I am utterly baffled.confused.lost as to the playground 'etiquette' of parents.  Every so often, we take our daughter to different playgrounds around our town.  Call it the communal watering hole for meeting other toddlers and parents.  As much as I fear love the idea of meeting other families... I often get worried when we walk towards a playground sprawling with other kids. In my experience, you're bound to meet a few of these:

*the Passive Parent - sits back on the bench reading a paper.. oblivious to their kid dangling off the highest monkey bar.

*the Paranoid Parent - hovers over the child... constantly checking their every move with warnings like, "careful, slower, watch out!".. "don't go under there.. a cat probably pooped there!".

 *the Poop-head Parent (and that's the 'nice' term) - acts exasperated to even be dragged out to the playground... yells at their child with language not fitting even a sailor.

*the Pleasant Parent - encourages their child to explore.laugh.play... they show delight to engage with the kids around them... and are sociable with parents.

Now, that's just to name a few.  Depending on the parents we run into, my mood can be dramatically effected.  Before motherhood... most stuff hit me like water to a duck's back... my heart-rate stayed at a near flat line.  Now that I am a mom... I love.rage.cry.laugh like a nutcase in zero to sixty!  So yes, when we are at the playgrounds I get confused to say the least.  Should I interact with other kids - help them up the stairs if the parent isn't?  Am I the only mama that wants to lunge at the 'Poop-head' parent and wring their neck for saying such words to a child?!  Can I give a round of applause to the kindness shown of the 'Pleasant' parent... and join in on their dance parade around the slides?

I just don't get playgrounds.

Azriel doesn't get them either.  She sees playgrounds as a pile of clutter that gets in the way of her playing in the dirt I think.

What's your take on the playground ground rules?

Good luck out there!

Mel :o)