In which I become a Mom

So I was going to post about my new camera and how much I like it compared to other ones, and maybe talk about one of my quilts in progress. But I had a baby, so you can have a picture of her instead--taken with my new camera, of course. You don't mind, right?

Elena "Elly" Magdalene
11/21/11 2:12am

I'll probably post a bit of birth story once we are discharged from the birth center and go home. Is it any surprise that I'm anxious to see how Orange Kitty reacts to a baby?!

In which I talk about cameras, not quilts or sewing or kitties

I am sure some of you have noticed that the pictures on this blog are...well, subpar. While I certainly make no claims about my photography skills, I must put some of the blame on my camera. I've been using a 7 year old Kodak EasyShare that I cannot stand to take all my pictures. It's old enough to be a digital camera with an actual little viewfinder still on it, and the digital screen on it is TINY! It takes 5 seconds from turning it on for it to be ready to snap a picture, and it's fat and clunky and the flash isn't very strong anymore. The only good thing I can say about it is that, for being a 7 year old camera, it still works!

I had a more modern Samsung digital camera that I liked a lot, but it died back in, oh, January? And I just never got around to replacing it because the old Kodak one worked "well enough." However, this weekend it finally occurred to me that, "Hey, we have a baby due in less than two weeks. Maybe THIS is a good excuse to finally get a new camera?" After consulting my younger brother (who is a great photographer--you can check out some of his stuff at Classically Geeky), I ordered a Canon ELPH 300. As much as I'd love a $500 camera, I just can't afford it right now, but since the only things I ever take pictures of are cats and quilts (and soon to be baby), I don't need anything TOO fancy. Anyway, the whole point is that I'm getting a new camera and I'm excited because who doesn't like new stuff? Later this week I'll post some pictures and then we'll see if it WAS the 7 year old camera making my pics kind of subpar, or if I really am just a crap photographer!

In which I become a Stay-At-Home-Mom without actually being a mom yet

Shortly after my last post, I decided I was done, done, done with the working-for-pay world (at least, for the remainder of my pregnancy). So I told my boss I'd stop working the next Friday (coincidentally, pay day, so I got to pick up my paycheck...), told the preschoolers to ask someone else to tie their shoes, celebrated at the thought of not having to spend my mornings outside in 38 degree weather anymore, and was DONE.

After a weekend of visitors, I found myself with actual free time yesterday morning. It was bizarre, as even when I would normally take vacation time, I'd usually be busy travelling or at least preparing to travel or whatever. I was always doing SOMETHING. At the moment I am literally sitting at home waiting to go into labor, which may happen tonight, or three weeks from now. Other than "pack and repack hospital bag, wash dishes, pet kitty," what else is there to do?

SEW, of course. The sewing machine had sat silent and idle for at least two weeks, as I just haven't had the time or energy to work on any sort of sewing project. Yesterday I flipped it on, loaded up some thread, and mused over what I wanted to do. I didn't feel like working on a quilt since I wasn't fully back into "sewing mode" yet, so I pulled out a bunch of cheap, slightly used Gerber prefold diapers that we were planning to use as burp cloths, yanked out some scraps, and sewed away.

Yeah, the dinosaur love shows up even on a cloth meant to be puked on. 

There are a bunch of tutorials on how to embellish burp cloths out there, but I didn't follow any particular one. I just grabbed some scraps and ric-rac and sewed away. I even used the opportunity to practice my binding skills (which could always use some work) on one of the cloths. I like how they turned out and I'll probably spice up a couple more this week. Or, knowing me, go totally overboard and make like 50 burp cloths, which probably won't actually be a problem since I'm sure we'll have the spit-uppiest kid ever. Anyway, I'll probably be sewing a lot now that I have the time, so look forward to more updates, which will probably get more and more insane as my pregnancy progresses towards my due date with no sign of labor in sight. Can one induce labor by sewing too much?

At the upper left: a couple of store-bought baby legwarmers, and a bunch sewed by my mom! This baby is going to be spoiled by handmade things!