One year old!

On Monday, we celebrated a first birthday at our house!

Minutes old

Everything is "peekaboo" to this little one

More peekaboo!

Well, he likes cupcakes!

Birthday crown

(Excuse the many photos, but one of my big regrets about Fiona's first birthday is that I didn't put many up online and then we lost all of them to a computer crash.)

I can hardly believe it's been a whole year with this sweet, sweet boy. Oh, he is just the sweetest, most darling baby. He charms everyone he meets. He has brought so much joy to us even during what has been a really hard year. 

I've been reflecting some on his birth the last few days. I was planning my third homebirth after what had been a healthy and uneventful pregnancy, and just days before my due date, we discovered he was breech. We did everything we could to encourage him to turn, but there just wasn't much time left, and when I went into labor, my midwife hurried over to our house to check his position. She realized that he was coming feet first which meant that even a vaginal breech delivery in the hospital was out of the question, and so it was a c-section. 

Having a c-section was my worst fear. I had done everything in my power to avoid having one with each of my children. And I loved my quiet, cozy homebirths. But I had an immense amount of peace about this decision, and I still do a year later. Although after he was born, John ended up experiencing a cascade of interventions that left us in a horrible situation of a 10-day NICU stay (interventions that our own pediatrician was appalled by later), and even though knowing the time in the NICU was not only the worst time in my own life but could probably have been avoided, I am still very much at peace with his birth. More than that, I am glad that I had to face my worst fear and overcome it. 

Although I wouldn't wish a traumatic birth experience on anyone, I do think that facing a fear is actually a powerful thing and I do wish that everyone would have the opportunity to face a fear the way that I did. There is incredible strength in knowing that you got through the thing that you most feared. I actually view it as a gift. 

And here we are a year later, with a beautiful, healthy boy to celebrate, and all that is in the past. 

Happy birthday, dear John Peter. Thank you for making your mama strong.

In this post: birthday crown and "1" romper by me. Cupcake recipe from this book, with my usual seven-minute icing. Sheep pull toy by Friendly Toys. Birthday ring by Kathe Kruse.

can't stop them growing up (not that you'd want to)

Yesterday we dropped Elisabeth off for her first sleep-away camp experience. Last night I dreamt again and again that we went and picked her up. I miss her! Fortunately she'll only be gone a week. 

They grow up too fast. Everyone always says that, but it's true! It really does not feel very long ago at all that she was just a tiny newborn in my arms. 

I was planning to make her a new toiletry bag and various other things before she left for camp, but alas, did not get around to the projects I had in mind. But oh well, she is off and I know she's having a marvelous time, even without some mama-made gear. 

But I can't wait to see her.

grannies

Lately I've been bitten by the crochet bug. Although I've been struggling to learn crochet for about seven years, it only finally clicked for me this year, with all these granny squares I've been crocheting. (I'm using this pattern.) My goal has been to have a completed blanket by this fall, and I don't know if I'll quite make that goal, but I might be close. 

Even though I'd still describe knitting as my first love in the world of yarn crafts, I haven't been spending any time knitting at all. Crochet has just captured my fancy, I guess! I was going to say that it's because it's so easy to pick up and set down, but knitting is just as easy in that regard. So it's probably just that I'm really excited about my grannies. 

In fact, I've been so excited about them, that I also made some coasters out of granny squares! I recently realized that they were just the right size and are also a solution to the condensation issue that most coasters don't handle very well. 

I made these using a 4" granny square attached to two layers of fabric—one layer of Flea Market Fancy, which I've been holding onto for a long time, and one layer of Kona Cotton. I decided not to add any type of batting between the fabrics because the granny square itself is pretty fluffy and absorbent. The yarn I used on these is Knit Picks Swish Worsted, because it's a nice soft superwash and I'll probably machine wash these. 

I've decided that I don't think there can be too many granny squares in life. Some may disagree on this point, but I'm sticking to it. Plus, my coffee table thanks me.