Friday, February 1, 2013

Catching up

I seems a little unfair that I am blogging everyday but not actually writing anything, so I thought I should touch base with some words ;) I am loving the automation of IFTTT which posts my daily photo here on my blog without me doing anything. In fact, lots of different things are actioned when I take the image of the day - beautifully it ends up in all the places online that I want it to. So much easier.

I am really focused on my crafting-self right now, despite the frustrations of my body not always being on track with my requirements. I have a heap of projects on the go and in the queue and sometimes I get quite depressed when pain and/or fatigue prevent me doing them.

I am currently sewing as much as I can be for the granddaughter2be, who is destined to join us in around 68 days, according to the app on my blog! I thought ten weeks sounded soon, but days - ! Kaitlyn is the picture of perfect pregnancy and if she continues this way, she will be in good form for the birth. The baby, nick-named Jelly Bean, is a bit of a gymnast and plays "guess where I am lying now!" all day. I hope when the roulette wheel stops she will find herself in a good position for birth.

Plans are underway for the baby shower in a few weeks and we got to designing the invitations and getting them printed last week. I decided Officeworks do such a good job at a comparable price, so why print them at home and enjoyed emailing the PDF and getting a text a couple of days later to pick them up! The shower has a Jelly Bean theme!

As well as sewing, sewing, sewing, I have focused my yarn time into just one project for now, getting the crochet baby blanket finished. Using three variations of granny squares in the colours of the nursery, I am over the hump and on the downhill run, but have to remember the joining and edging will take as long again! Like all my activities, it would be quicker without Frodo's assistance at every turn! Whatever I do - sew, scrap, knit or crochet, there he is, either trying to sit on my lap or project or walking about jeopardising everything from his tail to his life!

And scrapping I am! Well, Project Lifeing. I am completely up-to-date with 2013, my photos-a-day spurring me along and I am also gradually covering events from last year as well. I am loving online printables created by others as free downloads and by following other PLers on Pinterest, can download from my tablet (even lying in bed in the wee small hours!), move to my Google Drive and then print them from there. And with new new printer able to print remotely, I can even email things directly to it that I find while browsing online in my lunch break or in waiting rooms and have them waiting to cut out when I get home!!!!

Work is quite frantic as we have our branch conference next weekend, our health professionals seminar a few weeks after that and then the baby expo exactly ten weeks from now. Yes - ten weeks. Only my daughter would be due to have her baby in one of my busiest work weeks! But I shall be taking grand-maternity leave from the moment labour begins and hope to be able to be at her call for the first 40 days. So work means getting everything in place for the others to run smoothly without me, all at a time when we feel a bit swamped by the demands of the year's beginning. So a bit of stress, added to by stuff like internet and phone problems! Ten weeks ... until ... well, not a *holiday*, but a work-free period. Well, bus-mans holiday I guess, as I will be doing lots of breastfeeding support ;) I am even stepping aside from my volunteer roles for that time, so I can just focus on doula work.

doula (pronounced "doó la", also known as a labour coach and originating from the Ancient Greek word δούλη meaning female servant or slave) is a nonmedical person who assists a woman before, during, or after childbirth, as well as her partner and/or family by providing information, physical assistance, and emotional support.[1] The provision of continuous support during labour by doulas (as well as nurses, family, or friends) is associated with improved maternal and fetal health and a variety of other benefits.

I expect to be cleaning, cooking and washing to relieve the new parents and let them focus on the baby, as well as being there to support them through what I know to be the most challenging few weeks of a baby's life. I hope to get to do some cuddling and bonding with Jelly Bean as well, but given her mother's own enjoyment of cuddling babies, i might not get much opportunity ;)

So - that's me for now. Hope you are enjoying the daily photos.

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