This week I'm grateful for... small things

1. Hot drinks (I'm so enjoying hot drinks again, now they don't make me overheat!)

2. Having a lap (I've so missed reading to The Boy on my lap, it's a lovely feeling to have him snuggle in for a story! It's also nice to be able to use my lap for my laptop)

3. Snuffles (I'd forgotten how adorable newborn snuffles are, when they are resting up on your chest looking for something to eat - precious)

4. Prickly kisses from my bearded Husbeast.

Behind every clever girl is a guy with a beard and glasses

(card from Eggagogo via Oh hello Friend)

This is the first time I've played along with 'I'm grateful for..', it's technically meant to be a Saturday thing, but I'm also grateful for the chance to do things as I get to them :) EDIT :: Hurray! So I was wrong and it's not just for Saturdays! Even more chance to be grateful, head along and join in :)

More gratefulness over at Maxabella loves

Swiss Miss

My little Swiss Miss, Geneva. We are so very blessed with a beautiful, healthy baby girl!

Great expectations

Expectations are funny things. We can tell ourselves not to have them, but they can creep up on us without us even realising.

Before I had The Boy I told myself not to have expectations about labour (whatever happened - just to roll with it and trust that it would all work out ok) and then the thing I ended up struggling with the most were my expectations I had about breastfeeding, something I wrongly assumed would be straight forward.

With this baby, without even realising it, I assumed I would go into labour early and spontaneously (with no Braxton hicks at all), like I did last time - wrong again - so far I've had 3 false starts and counting!

I've found things a lot easier to deal with now that I've realised that my expectations were unrealistic. All in all I am happy and healthy and so is baby - and that is all that matters. I will be back sooner (or later) with news, and that is a grand thing to look forward too :)

Bec xx

Valentine Schmalentine

Unsurprisingly I'm feeling in a somewhat less then romantic mood right now (if you are new to my blog it's because I'm super gigantic with child) but there is certainly a lotta love out there in blogland at the moment. Like here, here and here for example.

I'm still hopeful my little girl will arrive soon, maybe even for valentines day. After all, what is more romantic then labor? (sorry, I think my uncomfortableness is manifesting in sarcasm) The husbeast thinks valentine's day would be a good day to have a birthday because you would always be assured of getting flowers or chocolate, to which I responded even better to have the 13th or 15th because then you should get two days worth of flowers AND chocolate (I also commented that those two things are always nice presents regardless if there is a special occasion or not - I'm very subtle aren't I!).

For a bit of valentine's day fun I typed 'love' and hit shuffle into my itunes. Here are the random top 5 it came up with::

1. Fell in love with a girl - White Stripes

2. Like I love you - Justin Timberlake (slightly embarrassed about this one, but what can I say, I dig a bit of JT)

3. I will never love you more - Soko

4. Love will tear us apart - Joy Division

5. Lovefool - The Cardigans

Fun fun, actually a little depressing on the love side of things, but anyhoo - I hope you are having a happy day xx

Opening the 'x-files'

I'm sure I'm not alone (please, please tell me I'm not alone). I started this red cardigan for my niece while my sister in-law was pregnant, I gave myself plenty of time by making the 6month old size and quickly completed the two front panels, back and one and a half sleeves, and then I got stuck and... well, she's 6 years old now! Every new baby in the family I thought I'd pick it back up and finish it off, but something about those 'x-files', the 'I just can't face it' projects, become too big a mind barrier.

So after boasting to my Mum that I only like to have a few projects 'on the go' at a time, she discovered my secret stash of shame. Lucky for me there was no judgement and only loving assistance and with her help on the parts I had got stuck with (decreasing in the wrong place, whoops!), I now have a little red strawberry hoodie for the little miss perfectly ready for winter. There was also a pair of booties (pattern here) that were finished except for needing buttons, I can't believe I just left them sitting there for 6 years! How embarrassing! They only took 5 mins to finish!

So, I want to encourage you to dig out those projects and give them a little love and attention. You will feel fabulous when they are done!

Vest

My Mum is fabulous.

I'd spied this lovely pattern via the inspiring Kate at foxs lane and within 24hours of my Mum stepping off the plane and arriving at my doorstep, she had whipped one up for the little miss! The bright orange buttons are from my collection, bought here 7 years ago, I'm super excited she found the perfect use for them.

Thanks Mum, I adore it!

Lady-in-waiting

I thought I'd become better at this whole 'patience' caper since The Boy was born but waiting for my little girl to arrive is certainly testing me. I think part of the problem is that I've been told I'll go early (also I was a week early with The Boy and he was nearly 10 pounds, which as you might imagine is playing on my mind a bit!). So I am doing my best to take it easy and enjoy these last few hours/days/weeks (eeek, I hope it's not weeks!) until the birth. It's still a bit over a week until my 'due date' anyway, I'm just feeling very impatient.

So - I'm making some Bolognese, stitching up some hexies for a quilt, having lovely long chats with my Mum, playing trains/planes/cars with The Boy, resting in front of the fan, eating copious amounts of ice and giving my increasingly enlarging belly a rub and feeling super excited about what the future holds.

Finishing things off

Isn't it a fabulous feeling to finish things off?!

This is the second of two baby cardigans for the little lady on the way. I'm so happy to have it completed and ready for her (hopefully imminent) arrival. They were originally meant for other people's babies, but took me a little longer then expected!

How do you organise your projects? Do you try and only have one or two on the go at a time, or do you have lots of unfinished business, or things started but waiting for the right inspiration to finish?