Much better now

I'm feeling so much more positive than I was the last time I posted. We're still stuck in the house with the latest round of sick, and everyone is getting a bit stir-crazy. But the kids seem to be on the mend and I'm starting to see the light. Or at least the tunnel. I'm making so many plans for next week that we'll probably only be home for dinner and bedtime. We'll be going to the park (and maybe trying a new one), the zoo, and a huge multi-family yard sale. Then there is a cloth-diaper sidewalk sale that I'd love to check out. Grandma is also coming for a visit on Sunday. I love having a full calender, it keeps the kids happy and I get some adult conversation.

A hard week, but fun to come

Again with the sickies. This winter has been harsh and the kids are getting over sniffles again. It seems like a lot of the families we know are getting over another round of yuck. Not sure what that's about. They are also still teething and wanting to nurse a lot. Made it really hard to work on customs. I finished 3 of them today though. I'll start the last one tomorrow, and then I'll start working on stuff for the Open Market. The Open Market is a WAHM business event that a friend of mine put together last year. It was so successful that it's going to be an annual thing. I wasn't able to participate last time, but I'm really excited to be a part of it this year. There are so many talented people who will be selling their wares there. There are a few others who are fiber-related, but there will also be handmade bodycare items, jewelry, paintings, wooden toys, baby carriers, and others that I'm not remembering. It was fun to see what my community had to offer last year, but I know that it will be even more fun to be on the other side of the table this year.
The countdown begins; 3 weeks until the twins are a year old!!

Valentine's Day treat

I'm so in love (hee hee) with the Valentine Underwool that I just finished. I had a lot of fun making a themed Underwool and I think I'll try to keep it up for the other holidays. I'm usually not a fan of holiday themed clothing, but that will just be a personal challenge. I'm happy with the way this turned out. Cute, but not cutesy of cheesy. We'll see what the Hyenas think tonight at 8pm, when Pirate Bootie Baby restocks customs and adds a few new instock items.
This week has been really busy, but I'm finished the pile of customs that I've been working on. I'm going to be doing a childcare swap/ playgroup with a couple of local moms that I'm friends with. We'll pack up our kids and go to one of the houses and let the mom who's house it is get some work done while the rest of us watch the kids. I'll use the time to work on Pirate Bootie stuff, or catch up on some cleaning. It will be a great way for the kids to get out and play and for the moms to get some much-needed time.

Pirate Bootie Baby is stocking!

Tomorrow at noon, Pirate Bootie Baby will be stocking Underwool and a super-sweet skull-n-bones t-shirt. I also have re-listed the grand opening Lottery. I had to void the first lottery because someone entered it using multiple email addresses, 5 of them!! Seems that she had been winning lots of lottos that way. I wanted my lotto to have a winner who played fair, so I re-listed it.
I also finished a new weighted Waldorf doll for a friend of mine. She sells baby carriers and uses the dolls to to show customers how the carrier will feel with a baby in it. Check out her store, Sprout Soup. Here's the doll...
I'm really happy with the way it came out. It weighs 11 pounds, but it feels heavier. It looks so cute when it's diapered and dressed.

A visit

My mom will be here tomorrrow!! She's coming to see the babies and help do the things that I can't do because of my ankle. I do normally have tons of help, friends come every day to baby wrangle and make sure that I'm eating, and do dishes and stuff. There's just some stuff that only a mom can do. Like hunt down and destroy every dust bunny in the house or fill the fridge with food for a week. I'm always so sad to see her go.
This evening the babies ate pears! They loved them and were grabbing the spoon to shove it in their mouth. We had four spoons, we'd fill one and give it to a baby while simultaneously taking the empty one away. It worked pretty well until the boy discovered what happens when you bang a spoon full of pear mush on the highchair tray. Hilarity and baths! It was a fun night. Their first food was sweet potatoes last week, and while the girl liked them, the boy made lemon face and quickly stopped opening his mouth for the spoon. They did enjoy smushing them around on the tray though. We'll stick with pears for a bit and then try something new next week.

fabric, nursing, teeth, and crawling

My hemp fleece came yesterday. It's so soft, I'm excited to get it washed and start using it. I'd love to have a hoodie made from from it, it would be like a big warm hug on a chilly day. I bet it would look great dyed, too. Hmmm, I'll have to look into that.
We all went to the park today. We were trying to go to the Breastfeeding Challenge, but were late and missed the latch on time. Why were we late? Because I had to nurse a baby before we left so that he wouldn't scream in the car. Ironic, no? But, we had fun at the park seeing our friends and meeting some new ones.
Exciting news. We now are a 5 baby-tooth family. There are 2 in one mouth, and 3 in the other. The extra one popped out yesterday after a very cranky week. The scary part is that there are what looks like two more on the way! We also have a real, hands-and-knees crawl!! The boy has been working on it for a couple of days now, and he's starting to get good at it. He'll still collapse into the sea-turtle shuffle, but he's spending more and more time off of his belly.

a big load

I spent a chunk of time today uploading photos of fabric to my website. It's a great use of time while my ankle is healing. If someone wants to order a custom outfit, they will be able to choose the fabrics for their order from the gallery. I'll upload any new fabrics that come in, and update them as they sell out. I really like how simple the interface is to use, it will make it very easy to keep the fabric selection up to date.
I'm expecting some fabric to be delivered in the next day or so, some hemp fleece and terry from a coop order. I'm planning to make some mama pads for an arts fair that's coming up in November. Hopefully I'll be selling some clothing and accessories at a friend's booth. That is, if sewing left-footed isn't too difficult to get comfortable with. I've been able to spend more and more time with my ankle not being elevated, so I'm crossing fingers that sewing will be happening soon.

A new day

No sewing yet, but I did get this photo in my email today. It's an outfit that I made about two months ago for a friend of mine to give as a gift. The model is the recipient. There was also a hat, a huge and floppy sun hat that I call The Cupcake Hat. The photo with the hat being worn is pretty dark and didn't take kindly to Photoshop lightening.
In ankle news, I'm still crutching, and am beginning to feel like I'm going to be like this forever. In reality, it will be another month and a half to two months, which will be difficult but I'll get through it.
The babies and I spent the day at a friend's house today. It was nice and broke the monotony a bit. I think the babies liked the change in scenery, although towards the end they got cranky. Me not walking is hard on them and I think they're ready to have their mobile mama back.

Still broken

I was supposed to go to the orthopedic surgeon today to find out what the next step should be with my ankle. I'm guessing surgery, but I'll wait for the expert opinion. Anyway, the doc wasn't in the office today, so my appointment will be tomorrow. All this waiting is so difficult. Plus, the kids are having a hard time with the change of routine.
I have such a great group of friends who are helping me more than I could ever imagine. They are coming over to help with the babies, bringing food, and keeping the house in a state of sanity. Of course you never really plan for these types of things to happen, but it's so comforting to know that if they do, you've got someone watching your back. It really does take a village.
I never thought about it before, but there isn't really a safe way to carry a baby while using crutches. There aren't even unsafe ways to carry twins while using crutches.