Months have gone by, as you may have noticed, and while I almost gave this up for lack of time, I am going to try again!

The air is getting cooler these days here in the NorthEast. Much cooler. Night is coming earlier. Much earlier. There is often frost in the mornings, and at night you can smell woodsmoke rising from chimneys. All of these things combine to trigger a beautiful feeling for me - that of CHRISTMAS coming near.

Accordingly, I have begun to create some items for my shop, Yummilicious, specifically for this amazingly fun, and beautiful season of gift giving. So far I have two sweet little plushies, dressed in festive attire, and adorned with the delightfully seasonal names Holly and Merry.

As I began to think about Christmas, naturally I started thinking about gifts, and it seemed only natural that since I have a shop in a Homemade website, I ought to focus more on giving homemade gifts this year...then the next logical conclusion was since I MAKE things for my own shop, I ought to be making my family homemade gifts this year! So, I bought a pattern on Etsy from Bit of Whimsy Prims for a very sweet little dolly, and I am in the process of making one for Princess and one for Baby Sister for Christmas.

They are so cute that I made one for a friend's baby already, and am in the process of making a couple cuties to sell: cozy in their red fleece Christmas footie pjs! Check my site soon and often to see these sweet dolls who will make perfect Christmas gifts for some little girls.

Another reason for my early start: Baby Brother is due only a few weeks before Christmas, so I want to get the majority of my shopping (or creating!) out of the way before he arrives! I am also trying to make a little quilt for him from all used materials. I have never made a quilt before, and have no pattern, but I like that. I have recently discovered about myself that I hate patterns, directions, and recipes. I would rather just wing it.

What does this time of year make you want to do?

BirthDaze

Today is Baby Sister's First Birthday, and as she melts to sleep on my shoulder, her bare skin warm against my chin, I do what my own mom always, inexplicably, did on my birthdays - I remember. I travel back to the original birth day of this Birthday Child, I relive the experience. I grow misty-eyed at the part I was privileged to play in Creation.

One year ago today, at this time, I was deliriously happy, oh so sleepy, giddy with the adrenaline and joy of having once again successfully brought a brand new person into the world. She was screaming her lungs out, a mere 51 minutes old, so angry at those who had so rudely broken into her world of peace, and shadow, and quiet.

I laughed, tremulously, at her rage and bravado, my mother's heart wanting nothing more than to quiet and soothe her, to whisper "Welcome home. You are not alone. That, before, was nothing- THIS, her and now, this light, and sound, and feeling, this is Life, and I want you to love it, and revel in it. I made you. I brought here, for my own pleasure. "

It occurred to me, later, thinking back, wondering what being born feels like, and how disturbing and scary it nust be, that perhaps life, and death, and eternity are comparable. As Paul said, "We see through a glass darkly". Perhaps this life we love and cherish is like being in the womb. Death,like Birth, looms frighteningly, irrevokably, dragging us from comfort, security, warmth and safety, into...the brightness and crystal clarity of the Eternal. Now we see "face to face". Now we know our Maker by His face and His touch, and His voice, unmuffled by our sin, like Princess now knows me, ans sleeps securely against me.

She will never again long for the womb, which from her new point of view seems so dfark, muffling, confining. Perhaps, when we, too, have heard the loving "Welcome home.

You are not alone. I made you and I love you. Welcome to LIFE", we shall not look back, either.

Happy First Birthday of many, Baby Sister. I am looking forward to my own Birth Day in a whole new way, now.

Thankfuls

Tucking the kids in tonight, both in the bottom bunk together, I sat in the rocking chair with Baby Sister in my lap.

"OK, close your eyes and go to sleep."

"We have to do our Fankfuls", piped up Super Hero.

Yes, we should do our Thankfuls each night.

Thankful for a fun sleepover; for tractor rides; for uncles and homemade Slip 'N Slides.

And me? What are my thankfuls tonight?

Amazing grace; healthy children; a Hubby who works overtime, while I try to make a go of my shop; a new huge bed that I can't even reach across; time alone to make a Tooth Fairy pillow for Princess' first loose tooth; in-laws who watch the kids while I craft; some sun so I could take photos of new listings; a baby rag dragon to sell...

Yes, Thankfuls are a good reminder of the many and varied blessings of an average day.

Trading Spaces

Having received a "new" king size bed from Grampie, Hubby and I then had the challenge of finding the time to install it in our ver overcrowded and overused bedroom. It was the project of an entire day, once we took the very small standard bed apart, cleaned, weeded out old clothes from our dressers, and swapped their locations, vacuumed, set up the new bed, and reaaranged my work corner.

The kids were suprisingly helpful and patient with the whole endeavor which took alot longer than they had anticipated.

By moving my dresser to the window side of the bed, and then placing it parallel to the bed and perpendicular to the wall and my sewing desk on the other side, it created a tiny little niche for me to call my own creative space. Princess calls it Mommy's Workshop. That title seems a bit exaggerated for the space! Now if only I could get my ancient Singer up and running yet again...

In other good news, I finished sweet baby Hazelnut, a tiny brown mouse in a pink bath towel. She's adorable! I hope she sells quickly- I need a boost in confidence. She's baby safe- and so small, perfect for tiny hands. Baby Sister loves to hold her.

Cat and Mouse Game

Today a new BabyLicious Mousling is coming into being. She is called Hazel Nut and ironically she started out as a cat called Ginger. Before that she was a lovely brown sweater from Eddie Bauer belonging to my sister.
Luckily for Hazel Nut, my sister's sweater shrunk somewhere along the way.
As I see it right now, Hazel Nut will be baby safe, with stitched on arms and legs, as opposed to posable ones, and with no buttons. She will stay nakey, with only a baby hoodie towel - fresh from the bath.
I had hoped to finish her body at least this afternoon while all 3 children slept (simultaneously, a small miracle!), but Baby Sister woke up fussing, and before long Princess and Super Hero emerged from their room as well. Now I am holding them off with Play-Doh, although the reports I am receiving from the kitchen say Baby Sister is standing up in her chair.
Thus ends my creating for today.
My moment as creator and artisan is over. My role as Mommy is more important right now.

The Little Things

There are little things in every day that worry or annoy me, frazzle and vex me, and yet, life is made up of all the little things.

A little girl who cries whenever you put her down, making household chores and creating impossible, but who loves her mama so much, and gives the sweetest hugs and kisses.

An apartment that is getting too small, a family that needs its own yard, and rooms to shape and mold as they desire. A husband who longs for his own property, own space. And yet, we have made so many memories here: babies conceived and brought home new and wrinkly to this place. First Christmases and Birthdays.

A bedroom that is a far cry from a peaceful haven: a bedroom, an office, a workshop all rolled into one. But what a blessing that it is so large, and has windows looking into the most gorgeous maple. I am thankful, today, for the new, larger bed that we were given, a bed that will hold us and all our kids when they come screaming through the darkness with bad dreams and a need for closeness to mommy and daddy.

The lack of time to devote fully to my shop, my worries about how to get my name out, my desire to sell every thing I create, for others to love them as much as I do. Thankful for this opportunity, and for a sweet man who is willing to let me try.

So many little things to worry and fret over.

So many things to rejoice and be thankful over.

Embarking

I have dabbled at the edge of the sea for many years, playing mostly.

I have swung my arms from the edge of the raft, to enjoy the feel of the water flowing past, to move in lazy circles.

I have rowed slowly in and out of the bay, sometimes in service to my own whims, sometimes for hire.

But it is only now, as I embark on the journey of my own small business, that the waves seem suddenly larger than they did from shore, and my craft feels suddenly small and weak. It's not too late to turn back to shore, where the warm sand calls out even now.

But in spite of the very real and imminent dangers, the lure of the open sea is stronger.

I am embarking.