Amberism

Knitted Excess

There may have been some comments from a good friend that my daughter wears too many knitted items. So, to celebrate true friendship (Hi!Raj!) I present to you the Knitted Sweaters of Claire.

This collection features only the sweaters, actually not even ALL the sweaters, as some she has outgrown. In particular there was the gorgeous crochet sweater from Suzy that I so wish I had photographed (Suzy, she wore it often this summer with a cute little summer dress that matched it perfectly!) Her wardrobe also includes hats, booties, pull-overs and mitts. Of course. oh, and 4 baby blankets. I actually have 8 hand-knit baby blankets in my house. EIGHT. My family says "I love you" by knitting, clearly.

And in honour of the knitting, the observant of you may have noticed a new sweater in her wardrobe in the previous post. We couldn't go into the Fall without a true Fall Sweater now, could we? The fall just screams sweaters, and so a sweater was to be had.

This is Baby's First Coat from Debbie Bliss's Essential Baby knit with Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino that I found on sale several months ago. I started this sweater when Claire was first born and miraculously finished it in time for both the season and before she out-grew it. I really love the little maple leaf buttons!

I should also take a moment to note here that my little girl totally rocks. She smiled and giggled through the entire process of putting on the sweaters and being photographed. How's that for a little trooper?! She just cut her first tooth, too, so she had every right to be miserable if she wanted to be.

Pumpkin Pie

I love fall.

Peaceful

I would like to spend tomorrow afternoon here, with a book and a coffee. Or maybe my knitting.

Behind the lens is a field of corn, with a maze cut through it, and a pumpkin patch. The rottens could play while I knit. A coffee house is conveniently located just up the street, too.

ah, if only.

Instead I will be doing the parenting thing, the working thing, the voluteer thing, and if I'm lucky, the crafting thing all from the comfort of my living room. My plate is overflowing these days.

oh, and and 40.9% of Canadians SUCK (link found via Maria). Shame on you for not voting. How lovely for us to be so free that we have the luxury to be so apathetic about the leadership of our country. Shame, shame, shame, shame.

The post where I open a can of worms...

Anyone on the left end of the political spectrum, not in a strategic riding, willing to vote swap with me?

I'm voting NDP, strategically, in my riding (I think). The NDP here has a very good chance of winning, in fact, if we don't split the left they will win. I'd like to swap with a NDP voter, anywhere, who isn't in a close race. I'll cast your NDP vote if you'll cast my Green vote.

I'm not prepared to have a political discussion, nor do I care if you disagree with vote swapping. I was too late to sign up for the vote swap on facebook and am using my blog to see if I can track down someone who will cast my (true) vote.

I will be ignoring all political comments, I'm just looking for a vote swap. There are many other places you can have a political discussion and I'm basically not in the mood. In fact, I may even delete them because Amberism? Not a democracy :).

If I don't get a swap, I'm not entirely sure I WILL vote strategically... I haven't decided. I still have a night to think it over.

Birth Stories

Yesterday was Callum's 2nd Birthday. The little ham turned TWO! Can you believe it? I'm so old.

It's been two years, and I've never posted his birth story. Seems like a good a day as any. So here it is transcribed from Callum's journal, random exclamation marks and all. I haven't read this story in some time, and was amazed with what I felt was important to record on paper at the time, and what I left out. If you get through this (and I apologize, it is such a first-time Mommy recount, like the kid needs to know the details of my stitching), you can read Claire's at the end. It's short.

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Dear Callum,

Your due date came and went without any indication you were ready to meet us. Auntie Michelle flew in 4 days after the due date to be here for your birth and had to change her flight home 3 times before you finally showed up! We were trying all the old remedies to naturally induce labour, but what they say is true - a child will be born when he's ready for the world.

On October 1st, a Sunday, 9 days past the second due date, I went to the hospital with your Dad, Auntie Michelle and the mid-wife Zoe, for a non-stress test to make sure that you were still doing well. The test showed that you were still happy in the womb, but that I was finally having contractions! I just didn't know it! It was soon going to be the time we met you!

We spent the afternoon having lunch and watching movies awaiting your arrival. The contractions were still light and manageable even while evening approached. By bedtime things were picking up and by about 1 am we called Zoe and she came by and assessed the progress. I was about 2.5 cm dilated.

The entire night Michelle and your Dad took turns staying up with me while I worked through each contraction. By about 6 am we did another check and I was 5 cm dilated. Halfway there! At this point we headed to the Nanaimo General Hospital. I remember Auntie Michelle and Dad spending a lot of time trying to figure out the parking meter. We spent a few more hours in the birthing room working through the contractions, but you were in a funny position and I was having back labour so eventually I opted for some pain relief (phentanol). Several more hours past and the drug started to wear off and not work. We checked and I was only 5 cm dilated still! This was a bit disheartening since it was about 3 pm.

Then suddenly the contractions ramped up and in about 20 minutes I was 8 cm dilated. This was when the doctor and Zoe recommended an epidural. I really wanted a drug-free birth and I wanted it to be as easy as possible for you so I was really upset. But we both needed some rest so I agreed. The anatheaseologist was very opinionated and didn't understand why I waited so long! Auntie Michelle, however, thought he was a looker (edit: who the hell says "looker"?).

Totally drugged up, I slept on and off for several hours. I dilated to 10 cm, but it took a while and then took even longer to get to a point where I'd push you out. Finally the doctor gave me oxytocin to get my uterus working again - around 6 pm.

Then after more waiting we finally decided to just start pushing on the weak contractions. I pushed, in various positions, for 3 hours, although it didn't seem like it. By the end there was an entire audience in the room! About 10 or so folks waiting for you. When you were finally born you were immediately whisked into the pediatrician's arms for assessment. It was a long and stressful journey for you and we needed to make sure you were all right. Your Dad didn't get to cut the cord but he was always with you. It was 11:49pm! 10 mins to midnight.

I had swelled up so had a cathetor inserted and had some vessels to be stitched up. Once all that was taken care of by the doctor (to the midwife's relief, she had never seen ripped vessels and would have panicked!) I finally was able to hold you! You were beautiful!

By 2 am I was in a private room with Michelle and your Dad. We tried to nurse you - you had a strong suck! Then your Dad went home for a couple of hours of sleep and you and Micehlle bonded while I slept. At 7 am your Dad came back to take Auntie Michelle to the airport and you and I slept.

We were in the hospital until Thursday October 5th, and arrived home to a welcoming clan! Auntie Courtenay had flown in, Great-Grandma Brown was here, and Grandma S! So much love just for you! Mammai called about 100 times, too! She was here the next week.

The beginning was a little scary beacuse you were jaundiced and dehydrated but we got through it with practice and patience. You are a very easy-going and laid-backed little guy! You've taught us so much already.

Love Mom.
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Dear Claire,

Your father and I secretly planned a home water birth with our midwives Zoe and Christine. I am not comfortable around strangers and felt that I would labour and deliver happier at home. Your Dad was unsure of having the birth at home but he was a good sport and humoured me.

The morning of April 8th we went to the hospital for a non-stress test since you were overdue and Zoe rimmed my cervix in an effort to jump start labour. It worked! By dinner time my contractions were 10 mins apart. By 1 am they were consistently strong and 5 mins apart. We called Christine who came by, checked, and I was 3 cm dilated. For the next couple of hours we listened to the "Hypno-Birthing" cd and slept on the couch, me on one and your father on the other.

By 4:30 am the contractions were stronger but still only 5 mins apart. I couldn't sleep through them but could breath through them so I let your Dad sleep. At 5:30 am Zoe called and checked in, I hopped in the shower. Suddenly the contractions were back to back so we called Christine and got Mammai up to look after Callum. Christine arrived at 6:30 am, checked, and I was 9 cm dilated. Within minutes my water broke, Zoe arrived, and after 15-20 minutes of pushing you arrived! We couldn't have asked for a better birth. We never did get the water in the pool - Dad tried but we waited too long. He later told me the hose was frozen anyway!

Welcome to the world Claire-bear,
love Mama.

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I love how I talk about how disappointing it was that Steve didn't cut Callum's cord, yet I can't for the life of me remember if he cut Claire's, and there's no mention of it in her birth story. I also like how I mention Callum was jaundice and dehydrated, yet didn't with Claire (who was also jaundice and dehydrated). What was so overwhelming the first time was like "dude, I'm so over this" the second time. Except nursing. That was overwhelming both times.

Happy 2 years, Sir Callum. Happy 6 months Bear. My little Rottens.

This here be a cake.

I threw a little shower for a friend this past weekend and had mentioned to my Mom these super cute cupcakes shaped like blocks on Martha Stewart's webpage that I wanted to make for the shower. My Mom got excited and somehow, between the two of us, a few cupcakes turned into this.

In case you didn't figure it out, the baby's name is Ty (or rather, Tyler, but we call him Ty). My Mom did the majority of the work, but I definitely had my hand in there, too.

When we started the process to put the fondont on the cake we had no idea what we were getting in to. Six hours later we gave up and left it the way it was. It's still pretty cute, but we will most certainly do a better job next time.

The instructions for folding fondont around the corner of a square are not exactly useful, or maybe it just takes a special touch? We figured that next time we won't roll the fondont out so thin, and decided that you need to mix up a huge batch of color because you can't recreate a color twice. We made a few more mini-blocks, but the colors were horrific and they didn't make the cake plate.

The cake itself we made from scratch, too. We're either super home-makers, or stupid. Hard call. Although, to be honest, making a cake from scratch isn't exactly challenging.