Maternity Leave

I'm done with the rag quilt for baby #2. I'm gonna show you tomorrow, I'm really happy about how it turned out and my mom didn't beleive I made it!
I took step photos so I'll be able to build a little tutorial... you won't beleive how easy and quick it is to make! This will probably be my last "project post" before I give birth... and probably before a little while!

So I got an idea this morning that might interest some of you. I'm proposing everyone who'd want it to share a birth story or a baby project as a guest post during the month of August.
Depending of how many respond I get, I'd (hopefully) post 2 guest posts a week, hopefully more!

By birth stories I mean any experiences you had; from natural home birth to emergency c-section, to one you only assisted.
By baby project I mean tutorials for onesie appliqué to your newly decored nurserie to shower gifts :)
And of course my pagan friends can share protection and cleansing rituals, lullabies and blessings !

So don't be shy and propose me some post to post while I'll be too drained to write something myself!

p.s: this is Mariann, not the new baby!

Just leave a comment here or hit the "Contact" button at the top of the page :)
I really hope to get some responds and see you tomorrow!

Pagan Lullaby

image from here

Sung to the tune of "Brahm's Lullaby"

Mother moon, in the sky

Watching over me tonight

Rock me gently in you arms
Till the dark becomes the dawn
Mother of the starry night
Keep me safe and hold me tight
Swaddled in your bright moonbeams
Bless me with the sweetest dreams

found here

What is your favorite lullaby??

Sharing my research on birth and newborn blessings

Since the baby was almost there yesterday, today was all about getting the house clean and ready for the little human being. Later tonight I plan on having a cleansing ritual for every rooms of the apartment. I'm also gonna craft some pentagram to put under the crib mattress when it'll be up.

so, going with my research, I found this really interesting article. I haven't done a naming ceremony for Mariann... And I thinking of doing one this time. And yes, we are still totally out of names!

Apparently there are several general "rules" about having a naming ceremony:

1-Choose an "everyday" name c.i. the one on papers and a magical name that is whispered to the baby's ears for only the close circle to know.

2-Present the baby to the 4 guardians to ask for protection.

3-Wait for the umbilical cord to drop before having the ceremony; Else the baby is still symbolically attached to the mother.

4-Should there be non-pagan, tell them what is going to happen some time ahead.

5-Hold the ceremony outside if weather permits it, or in a big enough place (that should be consecrated).

6-Have the godparent/guardians/mentors to assist the ceremony.

7-Parents prepare and say words about commitments to the child and its future. Parent can tell why they choose the mentors, and themselves can read something about commitment at their turn.

8-Parents say a word about why they choose that/those name(s).

9-Have the other guest making a circle around the parents, baby and mentors. When the ceremony is over, "pass" the baby around for each guest to kiss him/her.

Well... that is too complicated for me! And even more for my atheist BF. I'll be most likely to do the presentation to the guardians on my own, and only keep the text reading part as for why we choose the name and the godparents. I also somehow better like the term "Naming day". Feels less formal :)

False alarm...

Yesterday I went into labor for 6h... Only to be told I got stuck at 5cm.
The same thing happened with Mariann, but the midwife didn't broke my water this time.... I'm still 2 weeks from my due date after all.

Being told this, my contractions automaticly stopped.

So after a bath and a good night of sleep I'm back home with house cleaning to do and some little things to buy before the little human being arrives.

We are also considering really hard to buy a new mattress. I slept so well in the bed at the birth house... Very little back pain!

oh, I was really minded to hold my little boy/girl today! I was so sad....

But I'm technically halfway there! Oh, now I can't wait!

Expecting a leo...

So now I'm assured, we're gonna have a little leo in the family.

And I'm irrationally stressed about that.

While my BF couldn't care less about zodiac sign, I grew up being the by-the-book cancer (as constantly repeated by my mom and aunt, who themselves are/was perfect aquarius and libra). I feel I really belong to my sun sign and its caracteristic; and so was happy to get a little cancer at first.

..But now it's a leo that's coming...

Why such a big deal? The 2 persons that hurt me the most were leos. And they were really important part of my life. I've banished them. They were the most selfish and manipulative person I ever knew. Bossy and intolerant. Know-it-all, jealous and liar... Seems like none of the positive traits were given to them.

Those 2 persons are my first BF (which I was with for 4 years) and my Dad (which I can count on my hands the times I saw him in my life). I remember everyday how much they hurt me.

Of course, they have qualities, and strong values. Unfortunately, it is very hard for me to remember them. And sincerely, I don't want to, as I'm trying to forget (this is a work in progress...)

So now, I can only hope I get the generous, loving, creative, born-leader leo.

Please tell me you know one of those!!

As the belly grew, my daughter felt in love with the lion king. I've seen it more times I could ever think I would in my life... And she started collecting anything with lions on them. She really does love lions. She sleeps with her lion plushes and play with plastic lion figures.

As I was thinking about my irrational fear to have a leo, I thought about my daughter loving lions so much. Is that a sign? I think it can be. Life's (or my daughter) is telling me to let go and see ... Either way, I know I'm gonna love my little leo unconditionally... I'm just scared to get hurt a third time.

My new Diaper bag!

Hi everyone! Hope you're having a great summer... The weather cooled down here so my night are a little less painful, but I can't wait for that back pain to go!

My diaper bag is finally done! At the slow rate of about 4-5 stitches a night, since we're spending our days elsewhere c.i. where someone can help me take care of my lady. My iron is still incredibly low, and the midwife are very puzzled that it didn't went up after 2 months of taking supplement. Now I'm on those nasty ones that taste really really bad and makes my acid reflux worse, but there's no other side effect which I'm grateful not to have!

I did the diaper bag from scratch, no pattern, only a little sketch to know where I was going...

I ended up making 6 pockets plus 2 for my camera and lentil (those are full of codel to protect my camera :) )

I did the same flowers than Mariann's play diaper bag, only I've made a plushie center instead of buttons.

I love it. I even put codel in the straps for extra comfort :)

.... I'm counting the days now! Shouldn't be long.....

Belly Painting

Earlier this summer I met some wonderful neighborswhich happen to have a lot of common liking. They have a pretty 17 month old who loves to share toys and sippy cup with Mariann, they're using cloth diapers and have no TV in their living room...



And the mommy, which is about the same age than me, is an artist.









Their house is full of her paintings, the living room full with on going projects.
She also tattoos and body paint for a living.



Yesterday, on one of our frequent visit (the babies get along so well and are way easier to entertain that way!) we talked about her body painting and something lighted in her head: She suddenly remembered she wanted a belly for her porte-folio!

She pretty much had it right in her face for some month....

So we "set an appointment" for this morning.



This is what came out after about one hour of work.

It is SO pretty!!

We were going for a Gaïa/Earth belly, but we found this one (in google pic) when browsing for inspiration. We automatically concluded that a moon would fit me the best! The Fairy is throwing glitter though you can't see it much...



I love the twist she put to it, and it looked so easy to do! Each time I go there I feel like painting... then I remember all my sewing projects the mess painting makes...



It was a great experience and we're meant to do another one if I'm still pregnant when she arrives from a trip for a body painting contract.
I'm 37 weeks today, which is considered at term. Those makes such wonderful pictures! She took some with her own camera and they came out really great, can't wait to show you those :)

CSN stores got me too!

I've been approach by a lovely lady from the csn stores to either hold a giveaway for a gift certificate from their stores, or to have a little something for myself and post a review of it. I'm not found on giveaways so I opted for option 2, and went browsing their online stores. You might have seen some reviews on other blogs... They really do have everything! I didn't know what to look at first. Stores such as le creuset caught my attention since they hold alluminium free cookware and I want to get rid of my very tired pans... But the section that got my liking was the toy section.

You can check the price range, brand, and categories you want, it's really easy to browse! I found what I was looking for in no time, too... Teapot set for my lady!

Really, I'm having a hard time finding a great, quality wooden teapot set for her to play with localy, now that we found a good size table for her, and CSN gave me the instant solution! No need to wander my 37 weeks belly around too! Now the only thing I got left is to pick one!

I like this one because the accent is red. But I like this design better:

This one's porcelain. It's really cute too, but I better like the wooden ones

Those Coffee maker and Blender are lovely as well! I know Mariann would be thrilled to make daddy some coffee!

Which one would you choose??

Stay tune for a review :) You're invited for a tea party sometime soon!

The 2-3 weeks crafting blitz

Now that I'm getting nearer to my due date (25 days to go, according to the ticker), I listed the project I'd really like to have done by that time...

1) Diaper bag with a safe place for my canon rebel.

2)Bunting doll like those:

(click on the pictures for their etsy shops)

For the little one coming!

3)Re-do the cushion for the wooden rocking chair that has been given to us.

4)Clean the bedroom wall that is currently FULL of fabric boxes. The BF can't wait for this one!!

5)Pick and assemble the crib we've been given.

6)That one is a maybe- Make a quilt for the coming one :)

7) Enjoy the summer with my girl !

Mariann is now switched to a grown-up bed! I had to stay with her a little at first, but she did the whole night without getting up! I was so glad to see the worn out crib go. She still waited for her dady to come pick her up on the morning... Even if her safety rail only does half of the bed and she can easily get off, it seems like she think she can't... But she was smilling and the only thing that got her up is to tell her that we'd go at my mom's after breakfast.
She loved to read stories in her bed instead of ours!

Oh, and that ugly futon you may have seen in some pictures is gone too! Whoohoo! Instead there's a 2 place Elran. Wonders for my really swollen legs!

Speaking of those, and the pregnancy. I trully can't wait now! Everything hurts at that point, and I'm considered "at term" in 5 days, which date they consider safe to give birth in a birth house (before I'd have to go to the hospital, yuk!) so we'll see.... can't do much more than wait at this point... But I'm to the point where I'm dreading to go to sleep. The baby is now fully engaged which makes my back problem worse. Else everything is nice, my iron level should have gotten up, too.

So now that we're back home I'm getting the place ready for its newcomer. I won't post much in the upcoming weeks but I'll show you the diaper bag and doll and rocker when they are done. Maybe one last belly picture. Oh, and the baby of course!

Any bet on the sex?

Still in vacation

Chloé and Mariann

I think I forgot to tell we went for a little trip to my uncle who lives around 3h of car away. We're about to get on the road again for some more 2 and a half hour to see my nephew which I haven't seen yet, and he's now 5 month old!

Falling asleep on my uncle (in the morning!)

Thanks for all the birthday wishes!! I even received e-cards! ahah thanks Nydia and Lucas ;) I haven't got those in ages!

Saturday was great! I've got to shop to a fabricville, where I found all I needed to make my new diaper bag! And I got some sewing scissor! Those are going to be great, compared to the dollar store ones I'm currently using! Of course I also got some coupons to make little dresses.... I couldn't help!

With my grand-father

Yesterday we spent the afternoon at my grand-father (father's father) that I had not seen for 4 years. He was very glad to see us and Mariann is his 4th grand-child.

So now, you can expect some few project in the next week... but nothing too hard!

At the beach with a cousin's daugther

oh and on the belly side, I'm having some nice 2h of practice contractions each night, but I actually slept very well last night. I really think our mattress is done! We'll need to get a new one of my back won't ever pardon it to me..... And with the really really hot and humid weather, everypart of my body is swollen. Ah, 3 weeks!

Have a nice week everyone!!

{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.



Wishing everyone an awesome weekend. I'm turning 21 tomorrow!

Birthday Cake!

As promised, birthday party pictures!

Oh my... She turned 2 today! 2 years back, at 3:31 am, I gave birth to this wonderful little human being. She was all pink and strong :)



Now she's all grown up, having her own personality and adding lots of joy to our life.

She acted shy when we sang her Happy Birthday!


..She was really exited about the lion and antelope on her cake!
Daddy was more exited about the turtles chocolate making the "rocks" and a friend of mine ate all the green licorice...

The cake itself was 2 ready made preparation (butter and pecan) easy enough! And for the third layer (rocks) what was supposed to be the cake... a rainbow angel cake that went flat ahah! But it served well anyway. The icing was those canned ones they sell next to the preparations, and I've added food coloring to it.


We were supposed to eat outdoor but it rained really bad!


Mariann enjoyed it anyway...


Now, I have a little logistic problem with my pictures.... my computer is full and won't take any more pictures so... the post ends there. Hope you enjoyed the cake!

Mariann's companion doll

I gave Mariann her new doll this weekend... She didn't care much about her at first (I think I could have cried), better liking to play with wooden blocks and, oh my, the red tricycle my mom gave her!

Blond with Green eye


Matching bag & dress



even matching flops!


But the next morning (when the tricycle was out of sight) She started playing with her new dollie! :D She even gave her a name! "Ermine". In French it sounds like "hRmeenn" which is close enough to Hermione which is now the new name of the doll. It's great to have a doll not called "Bébé"... makes it easier to know which one she wants! (She still call her zebra plush "dog" though!)


changing diapers


wiping


Why not a feeding after that?

It was great seeing her finally enjoy her gift. She loved looking into the bag for what she needed and placed back everything afterward!

She takes Hermione with her everywhere now, with the bottle of Juice. (yeah.... it was meant to be milk.... but Mariann decided it was juice) How great it was to see her litteraly dump the plastic bottle she had in her hand when she saw the one I made out of felt!
I've posted how to make one here.

I'll post the cake and birthday party pics tonight :) It's great what we can achieve with food coloring, plastic figurines, waffle sticks, turtles chocolate and green licorice!