Snakes in the house...Eeek!

Have I been crafty lately or what!?! (That is, with the help of my kind husband watching baby, of course!)

I tried to finish MANY projects before Munchkin was born, (nursery bedding, his quilt, some toys, burp cloths, etc) but now, as he grows he's becoming more interested in bright toys and needs to teethe, he's developing so quickly that I can't seem to keep up! I prefer that he not play with many plastics (at least until the new CPSIA laws are put into effect in Feb 2010 requiring phthalate testing). So I've planned to make MANY different types of toys for him to play with.

Above you can see the snakes I made for him from a thrifted men's polo shirt (no joke!). And I've also made some more realistic snakes from a wool sweater that had a diamond pattern -- Hubby says they are TOO realistic for his comfort, LOL! And I will hopefully make Munchkin some 8-10 inch "chime" balls in time for him to want to play with them! But he is growing SO fast that I don't know if I can get to make all the things I want to and still have them be age appropriate!

Which leads me to this: I've been asked many times "How do I do it all: housework, laundry, errands, cook, blog, cloth diapers, sew, crochet, etc?" To be honest, I don't really know that I do manage it all WELL. It's been a struggle for me since he was born. I've had to change the way I do everything: clean, cook, vacuum, shower, garden (which has unfortunately been on the back burner since he can't be outside with me in the sun). I'm not used to doing things in short bursts of time. Normally, I clean the house top to bottom in one day, and don't think about it much the rest of the week. Now I have to find 15 minutes here and 15 minutes there -- I feel like a total scatterbrain! What's srange is that as I'm performing each individual task, I don't actually FEEL like I'm getting ANYTHING done! But then when I finish something concrete, like mopping, or sewing a toy, or cooking a meal, I know I'm on track...hahaha!!  Pregnancy was naturally a great teacher of how to get things done little by little, what with being exhausted continuously and needing to take breaks often. But I do see a new routine SLOWLY emerging for us, and I love being a mother, whatever challenges it brings :) The latest challenge being: wishing I could be doing even MORE!! Like what, you ask!?! Namely meeting up with new moms/babies, posting more often to the blog, taking more pics/videos of him as he grows, exercising more, baking more, and finishing the other 40+ craft project ideas rolling around in my brain -- to name just a few off the top of my head!!

I feel I'm able to do the sewing tasks soley because he's not mobile yet ;) He cooperates for about 10-15 minutes in his Bumbo seat, playing with his toys/feet; but, then he gets bored and needs to change positions, which means either "tummy time" or "floor time." But again, in 10-15 minutes he's had enough of that as well, and is ready for some one-on-one interaction like reading books or singing songs. So I usually can do smaller tasks, like the planning/cutting of fabric in those spurts of time that he's occupying himself, and then actually sit and do the sewing when hubby's watching him for me. TV time after Munchkin goes to bed is the ideal time to do the crochet work, and/or finishing touches like hand-stitching, so I'm still able to be in the same room as hubby!  

The constant shuffle of priorities is all worth it though! There's nothing quite like seeing him enjoy playing with toys that were made by ME, specifically for HIM!

Can you tell? -- I LOVE being a mom :-)