Hello from the other side! From Volume 2 of Life, where I’m celebrating the transformation from maiden to mother. An occasion for the marking, to be sure. It’s 1,000 adjectives but mostly indescribable, in the best possible way. And it looks like babies and quilts.
[Cue joyful mommy tears, a daily Volume-2-of-Life occurrence.]
We welcomed Halina (pronounced “hall-eena”) seven weeks ago, and my brain processes the seven weeks as follows: (1) “Has it already been seven weeks?!” and (2) “Has it only been seven weeks?!” A peanut—5 pounds and change—but no less capable of turning our world on its axis. Life is so, so good.
We’ve done a surprising amount since she’s been born, but Halina and I have yet to spend time in the sewing room together. Thanks to an adventurous ultrarunner daddy (did I tell you he finished the Bighorn Trail 100 Run this summer? Yes, that’s 100 miles), I’ve been challenged to be brave and get outside for hikes and walks and trips to the mountains with Halina even in her earliest days. Initially, like for our first walk together at Evergreen Lake the day after coming home from the hospital, this required COURAGE. Halina seemed simply too small for this world. Although I was happy to be home, our mountain surroundings felt too rugged for our tiny one (a little dramatic, I’ll admit, considering the paved walkway at both the lake and our local park). But each day I grew braver and soon became truly comfortable on these outings, despite the daily rain we were getting during our afternoon walks.
After her third week home, when daddy returned to work, Halina, Layla and I took our first easy hike on our own. It was beautiful. Last week we loaded up the whole motley crew and journeyed to Casper, Wyoming, to watch the eclipse in totality. Yes, the traffic coming home was crazy. Yes, it was also worth it. Last night we attended our first baseball game as a family of five, which was likewise an exhausting success. As summer recedes, we’ll continue soaking up the easy strolls with Halina in a onesie and socks before outside walks become a more bundled affair.
In seven weeks I’ve learned that so much life can be lived with a newborn in tow, outside of the precious snuggles at home. And with all things we’ve done both here and out in the world, we’ve simply basked in the present moment and prayed thanks, over and over.
Now for sewing. My goal, which I’m memorializing here for accountability, is to sew each of the boys their own quilts for Christmas. I’m thinking some more simple patchwork (my favorite!), with either squares or triangles, or maybe some log cabins (another fave). My M.O. since baby’s birth has been small, reachable goals. So my reachable goal for this week is to pull the fabrics for the boys’ quilts, and to use only what I have in my existing stash. Let’s see how this goes!
For those of you who visit this space solely for the sewing eye candy, here is baby girl’s finished quilt:
Happy Labor Day! (Har, har, har.)
4 Comments
Daffycat
Congratulations on a healthy and beautiful baby girl!
September 3, 2017 at 4:54 pmCatherine Chisholm
Oh congratulations and well done! 🙂 I hope you are both (all!) getting some sleep and wish you much happiness together.
September 4, 2017 at 8:47 amAnna Graham
She’s so precious! You guys are going to have so much fun. So cool that your husband does ultrarunning. I have an aunt that lives in Casper! So cool that you got to see the eclipse there!
September 11, 2017 at 6:03 pmlittle things - from Marta with Love
[…] a second quilt for my girl. I did already sew her a quilt before she was born, but that first one doesn’t have the mojo to be her most special treasure. It’s cute […]
June 10, 2018 at 12:29 pm