Toys from OOT.

Happy Holidays, everyone!  Here at our house, we feel like we don't need any presents for Christmas, because we already have the most beautiful gift ever----our little Henry.

My son, Henry Beale, was born October 30 at 12:56 pm.  It feels like he has always been with me, so having him here is the best kind of normal one can possibly imagine.  He is everything to me.  

I had an empowered birth experience.  I brought Henry into the world in a peaceful environment, surrounded by a supportive and loving team of people.  They cheered me on as I navigated my laboring hours, with my husband as a constant source of warmth and support.  Henry smiled moments after his birth as the nurse announced that he weighed 9 lbs. 0 oz!

I educated myself and relied on my instincts to do what was best for Henry and I throughout my pregnancy and labor.  It has been an incredible journey, and now a new one has just begun.

(I took the above picture right before we took Henry home from the hospital.)

Hi all....I haven't posted for a long time because of getting ready for the baby.  I'm nearing my due date and getting excited for his arrival.  And I've been busy making merchandise for the time I will be taking off after he's born.  You can find new merchandise at the beehive in Atlanta, GA.  My Etsy shop will closed for a short while, but you can always send me requests through Etsy and I will give you an estimated date by which you can expect the item.  Above are some new items available at the beehive, or by request through Etsy while I am on leave:  burp cloths, rattle blocks, and hand-dyed swaddle blankets.  Enjoy!  (I will be back!)

I can't believe that I'm writing two posts in two days. I haven't been keeping up with the blog this summer because I've been busy preparing for the baby, and for the time that I will take off from dyeing and sewing after he's born.

I joined Collective Co-op, a new boutique in Woodstock, GA at the end of May. Up to now, my efforts have gone towards summer fairs, stock for the new boutique, and stock for the beehive. This has all kept me occupied, and now I'm turning my mind towards Etsy and putting in new stock for the fall......as well as updating my current line for the fall at Collective Co-op and the beehive.

One more thing: If you live in Atlanta, have you heard about the Scoutmob events being offered at the beehive? I've taught a few of the classes so far. Next up, I will be teaching a couple of the "Sew Your Own Gadget Case" classes. Take a look!

Above are some clothes I recently acquired for my little one. Yep, I got them on sale, and at an additional 40% off. It's the time of year for sales. I saw the sweater on the Tea Collection website at least a year ago and I couldn't believe my luck that they still had it.

Speaking of sales, I currently have all reversible sun hats at the beehive marked down to $20, about 25% off!

I went to a maternity store yesterday to look for an outfit for my baby shower. I was sorely disappointed by how everything was fitting me! Everything that looked okay on the hanger looked really awkward on my growing belly and body.

I decided to stop by Madewell to see if they had anything that would work for maternity. The salespeople were so helpful and pointed me to some of the options above. I left with the two tanks shown above--the knitted one in cream, and the striped one in black and white. The striped one looks kind of short in the picture, but it's actually pretty long. The key to maternity wear is having not only enough room for your belly to grow outward, but also having enough length so that as it grows outward, a shirt/dress doesn't crawl up and is too short.

I didn't try on the indigo dotted dress shown above. I just saw that one on the website. It seems like it could work for maternity. I did try on the Cabana Dress, the last one shown. I actually think it looks better on a pregnant woman, if I do say so myself! I tied the ties up above my belly and it looked apropos. I just wished that they had it in another color on the bottom. And, alas, it was too expensive for me to justify right now. Having gotten the tops on their second mark-down plus 30% more off, I was feeling pretty good about my deals and left without the dress.

I am convinced that the key to looking good in clothes while pregnant is getting as much mileage as you can out of clothes not originally meant for maternity wear. I will say, however, that Gap Maternity doesn't do such a bad job on some things. And if a wardrobe full of Hatch pieces is within your reach, you're all set.

Getting and making clothes for the baby has been hugely more fun lately.....

It's been all about preparation for the baby around here lately. When I started to feel movement for sure.....and not just thinking it might be indigestion.....it made things all the more real. I kicked into high gear in my preparations for him.

Yep, I'm going to be Mama to a little boy!

We're trying to go as green and natural as possible for this little guy. In that realm, we've made three major decisions this past week. First, we picked out a crib and dresser/changer that are non-toxic. It's a challenge to buy green/organic/natural and not spend an outrageous amount, but we were able to find these pieces for well under their regular prices. (50% off the dresser's price!) The only question I have about the dresser is having to open the doors on it every time I need to get to the drawers. But considering that it was the only totally non-toxic dresser we could find under $600, I figured I could deal with it. The dresser is supposed to arrive today and I'm excited to finally put all of the baby's clothes into it. I've been buying baby clothes for awhile, so I have a little stockpile already. I don't feel comfortable with putting babies in clothes that have sayings on them or have overly-gendered prints.....or prints that look way to loud and overwhelming on precious tiny humans. When you're trying to be as fiscally responsible as possible, it becomes a challenge to find baby clothes that fit what I'm looking for. So over the past few years, when I've seen something totally precious and appropriate AND at a good price, I've purchased it. I know I took a risk in buying all of it ahead of time, but this has worked out very well in the end.

Speaking of being green/organic/natural and fiscally responsible, I have decided to dabble in cloth diapers. This is the other major decision I feel like I made this week. I say dabble because I'm not sure that I can see myself using them exclusively. But I think that it's worth the extra effort they involve to save money and not be constantly throwing diapers into the trash. After doing much research, I've settled on sewing my own fitted diapers from Green Mountain organic cotton pre-folds. I want to the sewing to be as simple and as fast as possible. I'll sort of be doing what is described here. Instead of putting snaps on the diapers, I'm using these. (Every time I consider using a diaper pin, I feel myself cringing. I want to use the old tried and true, but I keep thinking about accidentally pricking the baby.)

Other things in motion:

• Finishing current knitting projects (2 sweaters, 1 pair of booties, anything else I come up with)
• Sewing felted wool pants for cloth diapering
• Sewing a puddle pad for the Moses Basket, changing pad, and crib from organic wool melton (1/2 the cost of buying the aforementioned products pre-sewn)
• Moving around the bedroom to make room for the nursery furniture (he'll sleep in our room for awhile)
• Creating storage solutions for his toys and supplies (we have a one-bedroom condo)
• Keeping myself centered and limber at prenatal yoga (hopefully it's helping the baby too)