Make it Monday - Baby Bunting

As I mentioned last week, I've been making a special gift for the new baby girl of one of my best friends.  I've made similar bunting for her first baby and my nieces.  

This time I was going for a pink theme and while it is a darker shade than I was planning on, I do like the finished product.  New this time, I added some buttons to the ribbon, I think it breaks up the ribbon nicely, while keeping the theme, and with the shortest name I've made bunting for, the little sweetheart deserved a little something extra.

I also added in some simple bunting.  I make the name section double sided, to give it a bit of extra strength.  The extra was single sided with a narrower ribbon, just to tie it in and brighten up her room a little.

Make it Monday - Birth Congratulations Card

A simple but effective one this week. I recently got an acrylic block to use with some stamps I've had for a while. My idea was to use it for Christmas cards but I had another opportunity this week to cobgratulate some friends on the birth of their second beautiful baby girl.

The stamps worked perfectly. I used pink ink of course and while it was simple, I think it looks really effective. I like to use images in threes and I think it uses the space well.

Next week, I'll be sharing the gift I sent with the card.

Make it Monday - Crochet Baby Blanket

This was my first big crochet project, the first that wasn't from my subscription course, and I loved it. It's from Mollie Makes and I made it for my friend's baby shower. She's expecting her second daughter next month and I couldn't be at her shower but I sent this gift.

The wool is beautiful, so soft and thick. I also made my first pompoms for the corners. I love the end product. It's going to be my go-to gift for future babies. I think blue would look just as cute and I'm considering making some to sell. Even the ladies in the post office loved it. Hopefully my friend will too!

Notes on baby #1 vs baby #2

Having a second baby has obviously changed our lives. Joshua completes our family and we are really blessed with both of our children but there are two things I still struggle with on a daily basis which I would tell anyone contemplating expanding their family:

1. You will love both children equally even though your heart feels full with your firstborn BUT you will never be able to give both children 100% of yourself.

This kind of hit me when I went into labour and Nico took Isabella to our friends' house. I cried when I realised Isabella didn't know what was about to happen and she'd always have to share us from now on.

I still find it hard on a day to day basis to be fair to both children, especially since Joshua is still so small and needy. While I'm sure it will get easier and the benefit of co-parenting is that we can 'divide and conquer', I think this is something I'll always struggle with.

2. Success with one baby does not ensure you the same experience with another, even when it shares the same genes, home and parenting as the first.

We were spoiled by Isabella. She was such an easy baby. I still can't believe we moved house,  and decorated the house and flat with Isabella at six months!

Joshua is not difficult but he is very different. He's clingy, he will only nap in my arms, he slept in our bed for almost three months, he won't take a dummy... The list goes on.

We're learning with him but it is very different than we expected.

Playgroup

Yesterday, Joshua and I started a new playgroup. When Isabella was a baby we took friends' advice and joined a group through Werder Bremen football club. I promised myself that I'd always treat both children the same. So now that we're too far from Bremen, I started looking for groups nearby.

I found nothing online so I asked my midwife and she put me in touch with a lady about half a mile away who runs a group out of her house.

Yesterday was our first visit. It wasn't exactly what I expected; there was no singing and the other children were a lot older, about eighteen months. There were six of us and the mums talked while the kids played. Joshua sat with me and watched the action.

We'll go again - there are a couple of older babies who just missed yesterday. I guess I'll just sing with Joshua at home for now.

Make it Monday - Nursing pads

I recently stumbled across this tutorial for nursing pads and thought 'what a great, eco-friendly alternative to the disposable ones that I use.

The project was quick and easy (as it needs to be with a nursing six-week old) and I'm looking forward to trying them out. They're not perfect or pretty but they are practical, which is what you want in a nursing pad.

As well as being washable I recycled some old material so they didn't cost anything either. I'd recommend them to all nursing mum sewers.

The Fourth Trimester Magazine

My first issue of this magazine arrived today. I came across it on social media because someone who I went to school with had written an article in this, the third issue of the magazine.

When Isabella was born, I started to follow more blogs and websites about motherhood. After Joshua's birth, I'm remembering how crucial such links, contact and support are for a mother's mental well-being.

I'm still at the beginning of this issue but I can already say I'll be ordering it again, along with the back issues. As with the Unmumsy Mum, it's so good to be reminded that I'm not the only mother who can struggle at times. At a time when the internet and society is often used to bring people down, it's good to know that there are niches like these, building people back up.

The articles are well-written and varied and the illustrations are beautiful.

If you're interested, look here.

It's a boy!

He's here! We welcomed our son Joshua to the family early this morning in what turned out to be a very quick labour after a week of waiting! I'll write more once we're home and settled. For now, we're settling into life as four.

November Goals

How are we here already?! This is going to be a big month for us but there's still lots to do:

• Isabella's photo wall
• Get out and wash baby clothes
• Sort out the office/guest room
• Pack hospital bag
• Start planning/buying/making for Christmas
• Date night

Make it Monday - Baby Trousers

Along with the baby bib pattern from Mollie Makes a few weeks ago, there was one for baby trousers. As a friend recently had a second beautiful baby girl, it seemed like a lovely newborn gift given that they are size 0-3 months.

It's been a while since I made baby clothes but it's something I want to do more of and these are a perfect start. I used the same material as for the bib and I like the colours.

The pattern was easy to follow and I found the jersey easy to work with. This is something I'll be doing for future gifts too.

Make it Monday: Baby bib

I've had this cute owl material on one side for a while waiting for a cute baby project to come along. In last month's Mollie Makes, there was a pattern for a bib and trousers.

It was a quick and easy project until it came to the popper. I'd never done one before and certainly needed to practice first. The popper is a bit big so I plan to get some more before repeating this project but I will be repeating it. They make the cutest little gifts.

Make it Monday - Birth Cards

Two friends of ours had babies last week so I used the opportunity to complete a new project from one of my books.

It's the first card project I've done from a book. It involved stenciling which I don't think looks as good as it could but I'm still pleased with the results.

I especially like the bright colours for the girl version.

Now for the March birthdays...

Make It Monday - Knitted Baby Bonnet

I've been working on this one since before Christmas. I wanted a nice present for my nieces and although it's going to be late, I think this is perfect.

It's actually much bigger than I thought so I may have to try a smaller size and try this one on Isabella.

On the knitting front, this was a nice change from the patches and I learned how to cast off on three needles.

Looking forward to the next challenge now.

Make It Monday - Baby Bunting

 This week I completed a special project that I've been building up to for a while. Some baby name bunting for my beautiful twin nieces. I hope they like it.

I enjoyed the process and have some more fun things lined up.

Twins!

Huge congratulations to my sister who brought beautiful twin baby girls to the world today.

Freya and Amelia are beautiful and their big brother Lucas is very proud too.

I can't wait to meet them this Christmas.

Make It Monday - Rosette T-Shirt

 This is a project from this book that I've been meaning to get round to for a while.

Today I dug out a plain T-Shirt of Isabella's, some fabric scraps and a button and got stitching.

It was quick and easy and we both love it.

I can think of some more babies to make some more of these for soon!

Isabella's First Day at Nursery

Just writing the title to this blog post made me shiver so I am sure you can imagine how I felt yesterday at work while our little baby had her first day at nursery.

Granddad is staying with us at the moment to accompany her to nursery until she gets settled in so she's not alone but after a year of one or the other of us being at home the whole time it was definitely a funny feeling.

She is so social that we weren't too worried about how she would mix.  She's had taster days and been around other children at playgroup and she loved both.

We rushed home from work for an update yesterday and of course, all had gone well.  For her first day, Isabella had breakfast with a classmate and then her main carer spent some one on one time playing with her while the other carers took the rest of the group to play.  Isabella really enjoyed it.  She was there for a little over an hour and then slept all the way home.

She'll go a little bit longer each day and mix more and more with the group.  Granddad will be here for a while and then he'll start to leave her more and more until she is completely settled.

Going back to work has been a huge change of pace for us and Isabella's integration is a key part of our new routine.  One thing I notice already is how much I miss her and how much I appreciate the evenings and weekends with her.

While I know she misses us, she is also settling quickly with other people which is an important part of her development so I am glad that it's going so well for her.  I'm so excited to watch her grow and learn new things in this new environment for the next two years.

Make It Monday - Mini Laundry Bag

 This week I knocked up this little laundry bag for Isabella's room. It was much needed. I adapted a pattern from this book which was the first thing I ever made on the machine. I also used material to tie in with Isabella's room and the bunting I made.

Her room is my favourite space right now.

Cycling

The first thing we did in the holidays was buy Isabella her first cycling helmet and fit her new seat to Nico's bike so we can get out and about.

Since I'm not the strongest cyclist, I wasn't really comfortable having Isabella's seat on my bike and the problem with men's bikes is that a seat on the back makes it very difficult to get on and off the bike. Nico did some research and bought a seat for the front of his bike. There's a lot of debate about this but we see no disadvantage to having her up front. In fact it's nicer to be able to talk to her and for her to be able to see.

She was a little unsure at first but she soon got into cycling. She loved watching animals out and about and only got grumpy when we stopped moving for too long.

We cycled to the Weser and back in a little circuit and stopped at a playground on the way. We took a picnic but ate it when we got back while Isabella splashed in the paddling pool.

It was great to be back on the bikes again and we even cycled to nursery last week too. I'm looking forward to lots more bike trips while the weather holds out.

Make it Monday - Abstract Painting

I've had paints laying around unused for ages and one thing I want to get around to is filling our walls. This was inspired by my usual creative guru Elise and I'm really pleased with it!

I started with the yellow and orange to tie it in to Isabella's room and the bunting I made her. Then I mixed in a salmon colour, and finally added the green as a contrast.

I tried to fill in the white but I wanted to leave a little bit to tie in with a white frame later.

Excited to try more painting now!