it's an advent calender!

I love the way this simple clothespins + scrap wood + washi tape project came out! I just had the idea to cut up an old atlas page today to make 24 numbers for our advent calender. The atlas is older than me, so it has some pages that are quite out of date, but it's in great condition and has beautiful colors. I plan on using it for future crafty projects too. This year I made, thrifted, and used a few ornaments we already had for this project. I'll show you each one day by day, enjoy!

thanksgiving looked like this...

nothing says thanksgiving like...eggplant parmesan?

 While it felt a bit like Thanksgiving prep (I was in the kitchen all through naptime that day), the only food that might appear on a traditional menu in the states was the pumpkin pie I made. And it was GOOD!

gone in less than 48 hours

One day at a time...

Today is one of those days where I need to remember to take things slow and relax. I cannot do everything at once, and I don't have to measure myself or my life at other people's standards. When I can focus on the things that are important in our family at this time, things go so much smoother. I like to feed my family (and myself) well, so cooking is something that always takes priority, while cleaning generally comes in last. I sometimes struggle to find balance in all the everyday tasks during the week. One day at a time... that is my mantra for now.

wood + washi tape

I made this today. it makes me happy to look at it, which is good, because it will soon be on display.  I'll show you how later. I took a scrap piece of wood and glued on some clothespins, and then used washi tape to add color. So easy.

The washi tape was a bit too thick for the clothespins, so I had to cut it up, but I put the remnants to use and made a little wall of fame above the craft table.

The black and white picture is Alex when he was a newborn. The world map shows the political territories and colonies back in 1914. The other map shows all the departments of France, which is a really helpful visual for me. The big painting in the middle was one of the first that Luc did. The picture of hot air balloons was sent to me by my aunt while I was serving in the Peace Corps. The landscape photo next to it is one that Alex took in Madagascar. There are 2 postcards, and the last item is a note Alex left me one morning that reads: "Taking gypsies to bank. You have 1 hour to steal stuff from their room." It still cracks me up.

some fears

These pregnancy updates wouldn't be complete unless I addressed some of the anxiety I've been feeling recently. At one point this week, it kept me up until 3am, but I couldn't get it written here.

that's Luc in there

I worry there will be an issue during labor that will force me to give up on the idea of having a drug-free birth.
I worry something will be unhealthy or abnormal for this boy.
I worry about the pain and healing process after the birth.
I worry about feeling overstressed. (getting stressed about having stress in the future, I know, it's crazy.)
I worry about not being able to breastfeed.
I worry about how my (and our) parenting will evolve once this new babe arrives.
I worry how Luc will react and then interact with his new brother.

the first day back home with Luc

Writting it all down helps me to make more sense of it and simply get it out of my system. Looking at the calender, I realised something else too. Perhaps the source of this anxiety came from fears connected to the miscarriage I had back in March. The baby would have been born mid-November. 

what's been going on....

...I am trying to persuade my husband into naming our second boy something that starts with a G.

...I am working up the courage to sew with knits, so I can make some of the cute baby projects in this book.

...I am enjoying not cooking dinner for the 3rd night in a row.

...I am dreaming of the pumpkin pie I will make next weekend for our late Thanksgiving celebration. (with the ONLY orange pumpkin I found at the local market!)

...I am saddened to be spending my 6th consecutive year out of the states for what is my favorite holiday.

...I am delighted to be painting alongside Luc.

...I am ignoring this mountain of laundry that has to be folded and put away.

...I am watching the mangoes get bigger and turn beautiful colors.

...I am still chuckling that this particular varitey are called "mangue american".

...I am eyeing those few precious litchis everyday.

...I am getting ready to decorate for Christmas and starting with easy crafts from the past.

...I am loving seeing my 2 boys work together on a project.

 

...I am sharing in the wonder of all the little things we tend to overlook. 

3 great things: baby stuff!

We don't NEED much for this second boy (other than diapers). But I've still found things that I think are cute, of course! This is NOT a plea for anyone to actually buy anything, I just wanted to share the cuteness. :)

This onesie and bib muscle car set

These hippie diapers (I don't think I would actually use these unless I knew the dyes were safe for a baby's bum, and even then, I'm not sure I like the idea of any dyes next to baby's most sensitive skin for a prolonged period.) But they are hella cool. 

 (This is more what we're probably going to order for diapers)

I love this red peace chicken onesie!

finally!

A package finally arrived that we've been waiting for since August! We are so happy, thank you sender!

only one tape missing. the box had been opened and resealed during it's journey here.

can someone tell me why blogger chooses to turn some pictures?

Luc loves the colored tapes too!

the story of the kitties

Almost 6 weeks ago, on a Friday morning, a pretty little white cat showed up in our kitchen, meowing, and very affectionate. She followed Luc and I around the house for a couple of hours, sniffing everything, and curiously climbing into snug places. (Like his stuffed animals basket pictured below) She even followed us down our driveway as we got in the car to go to the market. And then jumped into the car at least 20 times as if she couldn't stand to be alone. I finally was able to jump in the car faster than her when she desparately jumped back in through the window.

When we got back from the market, she was waiting for us in the shade nearby. She scampered into our house as I unlocked the door and made a beeline for a place she had investigated earlier. A grocery bag on the dusty bottom shelf of our TV unit. She stayed in there until Alex came home for lunch. "I guess we have a cat now."
Oh wait, what's that rustling she's doing in there?
Hey!
Kittens!

Two little baby cats were born in our living room that afternoon, the smallest things you've ever seen!

At first, we didn't know if we'd keep them, knowing there was a risk for me of getting toxoplasmosis. I'm a cat person. I love all animals really, but our family always had cats around as I grew up, and I had been wanting a cat for this home at some point too. Now we had one for each family member! We took her to the vet for a checkup and to see if she had someone looking for her, but we also asked our neighbors if she belonged to any of them. We learned more about toxo and decided to keep them all.

I made a "nest" for them in a cardboard box and they stayed in our closet off the kitchen area. Luc could check on the kittens with us, but we made sure he couldn't get to them when we weren't supervising.

Luc followed the mama cat's every more for the first few weeks. I can see he's an animal lover too.

Then, unexpectedly, the mama cat went out one night and didn't come back. We took the 2 week old kittens to the vet the following morning and got down to feeding them with a bottle. We had some trouble. Our neighbors in the house in front of ours happily helped us in the task, and we thought it would be better if they kept the kittens at their home for routine feedings. It seemed our cat family was gone as quickly as they had appeared.

Later that night, the mama cat returned! We got the kittens back from the neighbors, and everything seemed to be back in order. The babies had just opened their eyes and had been moving around a bit more. They seemed to be thriving.

About a week later, the mama cat moved her kittens during the night to a different box inside the closet. We're not sure why. Maybe she felt insecure in the nest? Maybe she wanted a clean, new place? When I looked in the box in the morning, the black kitten wasn't moving. I think it suffocated, getting stuck down in a corner. Alex buried the kitten in our yard.
Two nights later, the mama cat left again. I cuddled with the white kitten and put her back in the box in case the mama cat came back after we had gone to sleep. She was alone all night.
I tried giving her a bottle in the morning, thinking she might be hungry, but she seemed sleepy and cold (which is strange because we live in a tropical place) so I cuddled her for a while and tried to give her the bottle again an hour later. I didn't think anything was really wrong until she started making these awful crying sounds. It sounded just like a human baby's cry. I knew it was too late to do anything at that point. I ran to the neighbor's house with her in my hands, but she had already stopped moving. I felt so bad for this poor little kitten. I kept wondering if I inadvertantly caused it's death.

Unbelievably, the mama cat showed up 24 hours after the whiet kitten died. We had begun to thought maybe she had eaten some poison and it had passed to her kitten while she went off to be alone to die. (I've heard of animals doing that, but I'm not sure if it's true).
She meowed incessantly at the closet for a couple of days. She searched and searched around our house. The vet told us she was probably in heat and that's why she left.
We took her in to get spayed.
She hasn't left us since.
Her name is Kitty.
She is a sweet, mellow cat, who wakes us up at 7:30 every morning.
She has also been very tolerant of occasional kicks from a jealous monkey.
But mostly, they are buddies.