I was inspired to start this quilt after seeing this one on Pinterest. It's just lovely and made by Erica over at Craftyblossom. I love the colors and the way the triangles play off of one another.
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
Orbs and Rays quilt
Friday, February 10, 2012
Sometimes he looks a lot like a mini-Silas
Mostly when he's being mischievous.
Just look at that smug little face!
He's going "Heeheehee, Mommy, I'm hilarious!"
And finally, the undeniable proof that he's a mini-Silas:
He understands electronics like you would not believe.
Sunday, February 5, 2012
Lazy Sunday
I'm writing from a place of culinary enlightenment and satisfaction this afternoon. Silas made me an amazing pan seered steak. Deliciously pink and juicy in the middle. Crisp and buttery on the outside.
For dessert I had left over Mississippi Mud Pie that I made for last night's board game night. It was even better after sitting in the fridge all night. I'll try to post the recipe soon.
But it's the steak flavor that is lingering in my mouth. Keeping me full and happy.
There's four quilts awaiting my attention over at my workstation. One in need of binding, two in need of quilting, and one in need of piecing. I shall post pictures soon. I've done a poor job of posting pictures lately.
Silas bought me an iPad and the result has been a complete lack of interest in my laptop which is, of course, necessary for pictures. Even this post was typed on my iPad. Which is why there are no pictures. What a lame blogger I am.
I'll be 19 weeks along on Tuesday and I'm happy to say that did half my grocery shopping on Friday with Gideon on my back via the Ergo. Poor Gideon. He doesn't like sitting on my lap anymore because there is no lap to sit upon. Last night he pointed to my expanding belly and I said "there's a baby in there". He shook his head to say that I was wrong, placed both of his hands on my belly, and tried to shove it off my lap. I had to laugh.
For dessert I had left over Mississippi Mud Pie that I made for last night's board game night. It was even better after sitting in the fridge all night. I'll try to post the recipe soon.
But it's the steak flavor that is lingering in my mouth. Keeping me full and happy.
There's four quilts awaiting my attention over at my workstation. One in need of binding, two in need of quilting, and one in need of piecing. I shall post pictures soon. I've done a poor job of posting pictures lately.
Silas bought me an iPad and the result has been a complete lack of interest in my laptop which is, of course, necessary for pictures. Even this post was typed on my iPad. Which is why there are no pictures. What a lame blogger I am.
I'll be 19 weeks along on Tuesday and I'm happy to say that did half my grocery shopping on Friday with Gideon on my back via the Ergo. Poor Gideon. He doesn't like sitting on my lap anymore because there is no lap to sit upon. Last night he pointed to my expanding belly and I said "there's a baby in there". He shook his head to say that I was wrong, placed both of his hands on my belly, and tried to shove it off my lap. I had to laugh.
Thursday, January 26, 2012
On Childbearing.
I write a lot about how much I like being pregnant. But I don't feel like that all the time. Pregnancy isn't easy for me. My hips don't work right when I'm not pregnant and when I am pregnant those hip issues cause me extreme pain and difficulty in moving while pregnant. My mood swings swerve in between being unable to feel happy to being numb, to being so happy I sob uncontrollable, and occasionally I have outbursts of rage that come from a really ugly place and then disappear almost immediately.
I write a lot about how empowering the birth experience was for me. The day of my son's birth was the best of my life. But I remember, in the back of my mind, how overwhelmed, exhausted, and defeated I felt during labor. I remember, every now and then, that labor was the worst I felt in my life.
I write a lot about the immense joy that motherhood brings me. But there's also times when Gideon frustrates me to the point where I just set him in the recliner, tuck a blanket around him, and give him a cinnamon roll. Mess be damned. And those poopy toddler diapers? I've cried from simply smelling it from across the room, cried from sheer laziness.
There's the article circling around the web called "To the Mother With Only One Child". As I told one of my friends, it might be the pregnancy hormones, but I was crying by the time I reached the end of it. (Have you noticed a crying trend recently? Motherhood did that to me.) This quote especially spoke to me: "Dear mother, don’t worry about enjoying your life. Your life is hard; your life will be hard. That doesn’t mean you’re doing something wrong—it means you’re doing it right."
It reminded me of all the reasons that the hard things about childbearing and child rearing are a blessing. I am becoming a better person. I am dying to myself everyday and it's not horrible, it's wonderful! Everyday I have the chance to say "I will take whatever I want to do, throw it out the window, and replace it with whatever is best for you." to my Gideon.
And what blows my mind still further is that I am shaping this person, this little soul. Another one of my favorite quotes on parenting is "You are not managing an inconvenience. You are raising a human being." I have the most amazing privilege, and one that I wouldn't trade for any other career. I am shaping people. People who will go out and do things and go places and love other people.
All that to say this. Mothering is hard for me. While I would love for you to be encouraged while reading my blog I don't want anyone to look at what I write and think that I lead a charmed life with no troubles or that I am some sort of super mom who deals with her troubles with exemplary grace and patience. But I do LOVE what I do and that's what I try to focus on when I blog. I believe with every fiber of my being that everything I am doing is important. More important than anything else I could be doing.
Life is hard. But it is rich. And it is full of joy and purpose.
I write a lot about how empowering the birth experience was for me. The day of my son's birth was the best of my life. But I remember, in the back of my mind, how overwhelmed, exhausted, and defeated I felt during labor. I remember, every now and then, that labor was the worst I felt in my life.
I write a lot about the immense joy that motherhood brings me. But there's also times when Gideon frustrates me to the point where I just set him in the recliner, tuck a blanket around him, and give him a cinnamon roll. Mess be damned. And those poopy toddler diapers? I've cried from simply smelling it from across the room, cried from sheer laziness.
There's the article circling around the web called "To the Mother With Only One Child". As I told one of my friends, it might be the pregnancy hormones, but I was crying by the time I reached the end of it. (Have you noticed a crying trend recently? Motherhood did that to me.) This quote especially spoke to me: "Dear mother, don’t worry about enjoying your life. Your life is hard; your life will be hard. That doesn’t mean you’re doing something wrong—it means you’re doing it right."
It reminded me of all the reasons that the hard things about childbearing and child rearing are a blessing. I am becoming a better person. I am dying to myself everyday and it's not horrible, it's wonderful! Everyday I have the chance to say "I will take whatever I want to do, throw it out the window, and replace it with whatever is best for you." to my Gideon.
And what blows my mind still further is that I am shaping this person, this little soul. Another one of my favorite quotes on parenting is "You are not managing an inconvenience. You are raising a human being." I have the most amazing privilege, and one that I wouldn't trade for any other career. I am shaping people. People who will go out and do things and go places and love other people.
All that to say this. Mothering is hard for me. While I would love for you to be encouraged while reading my blog I don't want anyone to look at what I write and think that I lead a charmed life with no troubles or that I am some sort of super mom who deals with her troubles with exemplary grace and patience. But I do LOVE what I do and that's what I try to focus on when I blog. I believe with every fiber of my being that everything I am doing is important. More important than anything else I could be doing.
Life is hard. But it is rich. And it is full of joy and purpose.
Saturday, January 21, 2012
Snider Snippets
I'm loving being pregnant. Baby Snider's sweet little baby kicks bring a smile to my face several times a day. Gideon has learned to say 'baby' and every time he sees one he goes "Baybeee! Aw!" and tries to give it a kiss. My heart melts.
Gideon is such a big boy. He's weaned. He hardly needs help at the table. When he picks his nose and gets a boogie on his finger he comes up to me, shoves his hand in my face and says "Ew!!!" He also gives raspberries every time he sees a piece of exposed skin.
I'm set up a tiny sewing corner in my living room. The attic I use as my studio isn't heated so it's a bit cold to work up there and I love getting to spend my sewing time with Silas and Gideon. I finished piecing my latest quilt top so I'll post a picture of that soon.
We went and got a Costco membership last week. Life. Changed. I just want to go there all the time now. It's a good thing it's across the city from me. Also, I will never ever be out of muffins again.
Silas and I have been renewing our love for board games recently. I bought him Shadows Over Camelot for Christmas which is a cooperative game. We've played with two different groups of people and lost both times. But I have high hopes for next time. It's super fun.
My best friend from high school got married today. I couldn't make it to the wedding, but I was reminded of being a teenager and wishing to be married. Of the five of us girls who were good friends in high school, four of us are now married and we're all aged 23 and under. And we were afraid of being old maids. Ha.
Gideon is such a big boy. He's weaned. He hardly needs help at the table. When he picks his nose and gets a boogie on his finger he comes up to me, shoves his hand in my face and says "Ew!!!" He also gives raspberries every time he sees a piece of exposed skin.
I'm set up a tiny sewing corner in my living room. The attic I use as my studio isn't heated so it's a bit cold to work up there and I love getting to spend my sewing time with Silas and Gideon. I finished piecing my latest quilt top so I'll post a picture of that soon.
We went and got a Costco membership last week. Life. Changed. I just want to go there all the time now. It's a good thing it's across the city from me. Also, I will never ever be out of muffins again.
Silas and I have been renewing our love for board games recently. I bought him Shadows Over Camelot for Christmas which is a cooperative game. We've played with two different groups of people and lost both times. But I have high hopes for next time. It's super fun.
My best friend from high school got married today. I couldn't make it to the wedding, but I was reminded of being a teenager and wishing to be married. Of the five of us girls who were good friends in high school, four of us are now married and we're all aged 23 and under. And we were afraid of being old maids. Ha.
Saturday, January 14, 2012
Return from the Epic Roadtrip
Oh! Hey guys! You're still here!
I haven't been blogging because for the past month we've been on an epic Christmas road trip that involved traveling through 16 states and logging over 100 hours of driving broken up over 12 or so days. Basically, we drove to Oregon for Christmas.
We had a wonderful time visiting with family and Silas and I took an overnight (Without Gideon!) trip to Seattle to scope out possible neighborhoods and search for a midwife. When we started home for Pittsburgh we took Ellie with us so she could come for a visit. We stopped in Arkansas to visit Silas's grandparents on the way home.
Through all of this Gideon has been growing up and becoming more and more of a little boy (complete with a variety of fart and burp sounds) and my belly has been getting bigger. I'll be 17 weeks on Monday. I feel little baby kicks every now and then. It's wonderful.
School has started and this quarter promises to be much less hectic. I'll be posting again with more updates and pictures from our trip soon, so see you again soon!
I haven't been blogging because for the past month we've been on an epic Christmas road trip that involved traveling through 16 states and logging over 100 hours of driving broken up over 12 or so days. Basically, we drove to Oregon for Christmas.
We had a wonderful time visiting with family and Silas and I took an overnight (Without Gideon!) trip to Seattle to scope out possible neighborhoods and search for a midwife. When we started home for Pittsburgh we took Ellie with us so she could come for a visit. We stopped in Arkansas to visit Silas's grandparents on the way home.
Through all of this Gideon has been growing up and becoming more and more of a little boy (complete with a variety of fart and burp sounds) and my belly has been getting bigger. I'll be 17 weeks on Monday. I feel little baby kicks every now and then. It's wonderful.
School has started and this quarter promises to be much less hectic. I'll be posting again with more updates and pictures from our trip soon, so see you again soon!
Tuesday, December 27, 2011
Baby doll Christmas quilt.
Wednesday, December 14, 2011
Things to do while the husband is gone.
My husband is coming home tonight after a 4 day business trip. I hate it when he's gone. He has to travel maybe 4 or 5 times a year for work. Did I mention I hate it when he's gone? This time around I tried to find a silver lining in his absence, though, and have made a list of things I get to do when Silas is gone that I wouldn't otherwise.
#1. Paint my nails. The fumes give Silas an instant head ache so I can never do it when he's home. I actually had no time for this due to being sick and finals. But this is my usual "entertain myself while Silas is gone" activity.
#2. Let the baby fall asleep in bed. We're usually pretty strict about Gideon going to bed on time and in his own bed so that we can have our grown up time in the evenings. With Silas gone I let Gideon sleep in my bed one night. How else would I discover that Gideon's preferred sleeping position is his face on my face?
#3. Eat hot ham and cheese sandwiches for dinner. Silas hates ham. I love ham. I love Swiss chese. Silas hates swiss chese. But I never buy either because, as previously stated, Silas hates them. But with Silas gone I went out and bought both and have been enjoying my little treat!
#4. Ignore the laundry. Silas owns exactly 5 sets of clothing. This means I have to do laundry every 4 days. And it annoys me. But with Silas gone I haven't had to do laundry at all! Whoohoo!
#5. Leave the butter out. Silas gets really annoyed when I leave the butter out on the counter. I like to leave it out so when I try to spread it on stuff it actually spreads. Silas claims it goes rancid. So when Silas is home I always put the butter away in the fridge. And this week? I left it out :)
So there's my list of consolation prizes for Silas being gone. But I'd trade them all for him being home! Only a couple more hours till he arrives!
#1. Paint my nails. The fumes give Silas an instant head ache so I can never do it when he's home. I actually had no time for this due to being sick and finals. But this is my usual "entertain myself while Silas is gone" activity.
#2. Let the baby fall asleep in bed. We're usually pretty strict about Gideon going to bed on time and in his own bed so that we can have our grown up time in the evenings. With Silas gone I let Gideon sleep in my bed one night. How else would I discover that Gideon's preferred sleeping position is his face on my face?
#3. Eat hot ham and cheese sandwiches for dinner. Silas hates ham. I love ham. I love Swiss chese. Silas hates swiss chese. But I never buy either because, as previously stated, Silas hates them. But with Silas gone I went out and bought both and have been enjoying my little treat!
#4. Ignore the laundry. Silas owns exactly 5 sets of clothing. This means I have to do laundry every 4 days. And it annoys me. But with Silas gone I haven't had to do laundry at all! Whoohoo!
#5. Leave the butter out. Silas gets really annoyed when I leave the butter out on the counter. I like to leave it out so when I try to spread it on stuff it actually spreads. Silas claims it goes rancid. So when Silas is home I always put the butter away in the fridge. And this week? I left it out :)
So there's my list of consolation prizes for Silas being gone. But I'd trade them all for him being home! Only a couple more hours till he arrives!
Tuesday, December 6, 2011
Quilts, Cardigans, and Soup. Also, when I'm old.
My sister just posted a recipe for Chicken Tortilla soup on her blog. And I just got to thinking about how much I would LOVE some chicken tortilla soup right now. But I don't have any chicken. Sadness. Maybe later in the week.
I had fittings for my models last night and I should be sewing alterations right now since the run-through is tomorrow night. But the only thing I'm motivated to do right now is make soup and make a Cathedral Window quilt. Oh, and sit here in bed in my yoga pants and cardigan.
I love cardigans. I love quilts too. Right now I have three and a half cut out and the fabric for three more set aside.
I'm going to be a crazy quilt lady who sits around sewing in cardigans when I'm old. My grandchildren will come visit me and I'll make soup and cookies and hot cocoa and let them sew together scraps on the sewing machine. And when we're done sewing we'll watch The Philadelphia Story and eat kettle corn and chocolate bars. I'm going to be an awesome grandma.
For now, though, I should probably, like, get dressed and make the most of Gideon's nap time.
But for the record I'D RATHER BE QUILTING!!!
I had fittings for my models last night and I should be sewing alterations right now since the run-through is tomorrow night. But the only thing I'm motivated to do right now is make soup and make a Cathedral Window quilt. Oh, and sit here in bed in my yoga pants and cardigan.
I love cardigans. I love quilts too. Right now I have three and a half cut out and the fabric for three more set aside.
I'm going to be a crazy quilt lady who sits around sewing in cardigans when I'm old. My grandchildren will come visit me and I'll make soup and cookies and hot cocoa and let them sew together scraps on the sewing machine. And when we're done sewing we'll watch The Philadelphia Story and eat kettle corn and chocolate bars. I'm going to be an awesome grandma.
For now, though, I should probably, like, get dressed and make the most of Gideon's nap time.
But for the record I'D RATHER BE QUILTING!!!
Sunday, December 4, 2011
Perfect Day
Today has been the most perfect Sunday ever.
It started, as most days do, with the morning. Gideon didn't wake me up till nine (!!!) and when I went to get him he then laid quietly in bed with us for another thirty minutes cuddling with his baby doll. Then, instead of sitting on my face (his favorite way of waking me up), Gideon decided to tickle Daddy. WIN FOR ME!
Silas made gourmet oatmeal for breakfast/lunch. Silas makes the best oatmeal. First he toasts the oats in a pan on the stove, then he cooks them in milk, then he sprinkles some magic in. Seriously, I don't know how he does it. But it takes forever and produces the best bowl of oatmeal imaginable. And I don't even like oatmeal. I made bread so we had fresh toast too.
I let Gideon feed himself so he had to have a bath before nap time. If our drain backs up any time soon it will be because of how much oatmeal went in that bathtub... Once he was all dressed I said "Bedtime, Gideon." and he ran to his crib. The kid LOVES bedtime. And I love that he loves bedtime.
Then I went downstairs to put on The Holiday and wrapped presents. The Holiday is one of my favorite Christmastime indulgences. Then I made a little doll quilt for Maggie to go with her Christmas present. It took me about two hours because it was the first time I tried free motion quilting and I made some mistakes that I then had to pull out... and without a seam ripper as mine broke last week.
When that was done I came down stairs and Silas and I decided to order pizza for dinner. Our favorite pizza place in Bloomfield, Adrian's, just started delivering to our neighborhood and we are just over the moon about it. Gideon woke up while we were waiting for pizza to arrive and when it finally got here the three of us just sat on the couch. Silas read a book, Gideon ate pizza, and I just took in the goodness of it all.
Afterwards we began to get ready for church and the rest of our evening consisted of worship and fellowship. Not once over the whole course of the day did Silas and I have an argument that was not good natured. Not once did I feel rushed or stressed. It was just a wonderful succession of joyful moments.
My life is far from perfect and I haven't been easy to live with lately. I've been pretty stressed out with the fashion show and finals coming up. Plus the preggo hormones have me pretty emotionally fragile at times. This week I actually started to write a blog post that began "I'm covered in poo and totally defeated as a mother." It's a long story, but the short version is that Gideon as a total butthead to me all morning and then smeared poop on me and then sat on my head when I was trying to do yoga.
But God gives me days like this to remind me that life is good and that He is good and that no matter how much poo Gideon smears on me I can put him down for a nap, do a load of laundry, and start another day.
It started, as most days do, with the morning. Gideon didn't wake me up till nine (!!!) and when I went to get him he then laid quietly in bed with us for another thirty minutes cuddling with his baby doll. Then, instead of sitting on my face (his favorite way of waking me up), Gideon decided to tickle Daddy. WIN FOR ME!
Silas made gourmet oatmeal for breakfast/lunch. Silas makes the best oatmeal. First he toasts the oats in a pan on the stove, then he cooks them in milk, then he sprinkles some magic in. Seriously, I don't know how he does it. But it takes forever and produces the best bowl of oatmeal imaginable. And I don't even like oatmeal. I made bread so we had fresh toast too.
I let Gideon feed himself so he had to have a bath before nap time. If our drain backs up any time soon it will be because of how much oatmeal went in that bathtub... Once he was all dressed I said "Bedtime, Gideon." and he ran to his crib. The kid LOVES bedtime. And I love that he loves bedtime.
Then I went downstairs to put on The Holiday and wrapped presents. The Holiday is one of my favorite Christmastime indulgences. Then I made a little doll quilt for Maggie to go with her Christmas present. It took me about two hours because it was the first time I tried free motion quilting and I made some mistakes that I then had to pull out... and without a seam ripper as mine broke last week.
When that was done I came down stairs and Silas and I decided to order pizza for dinner. Our favorite pizza place in Bloomfield, Adrian's, just started delivering to our neighborhood and we are just over the moon about it. Gideon woke up while we were waiting for pizza to arrive and when it finally got here the three of us just sat on the couch. Silas read a book, Gideon ate pizza, and I just took in the goodness of it all.
Afterwards we began to get ready for church and the rest of our evening consisted of worship and fellowship. Not once over the whole course of the day did Silas and I have an argument that was not good natured. Not once did I feel rushed or stressed. It was just a wonderful succession of joyful moments.
My life is far from perfect and I haven't been easy to live with lately. I've been pretty stressed out with the fashion show and finals coming up. Plus the preggo hormones have me pretty emotionally fragile at times. This week I actually started to write a blog post that began "I'm covered in poo and totally defeated as a mother." It's a long story, but the short version is that Gideon as a total butthead to me all morning and then smeared poop on me and then sat on my head when I was trying to do yoga.
But God gives me days like this to remind me that life is good and that He is good and that no matter how much poo Gideon smears on me I can put him down for a nap, do a load of laundry, and start another day.
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