11.29.2010

Ha! I Sooo Knitted a Bumble Bee!

So, I have to make a few tweaks before I can start to sell them but he sure is cute!



Here is his little body, the yellow is really really bright. Can't you tell?

Here is his head, it is a little too small so the next time I make one his head will be a  bit bigger.



Wings! and an one antenna... I only did one but the finished product will have 2 on a bigger head.

11.27.2010

4 Binky Straps

They all have buttons and they're sewn up, the only thing missing is the damn clip that will attach them to the baby's clothes. And I've started on another flower. Prices will be posted soon.

11.22.2010

Oh, I love Talking to Bean!!!

So, here I am sitting at the kitchen table watching this great birth video. The woman is gently vocalizing as she has her contractions and begins to push (not at all like me, who yelled/screamed so hard my voice was horse the next day). K Bean was on the other side of the room and couldn't see what was on the screen.

"Mommy, she's having a baby!"
"Yeah, she is."
"Like me!" Here she lifts up her shirt and pats her belly.
"Oh are you having a baby?"
"Yeah, in the bath."
"Ok."
"In the big bath!"
She came over to sit with me and watch the video. We talked about having babies and how we had Man Child at home in the tub, just like the lady in the video. I love sharing birth with my daughter. She always gets sooo excited when the baby comes out.
"Mommy, is she so happy she's crying?"
"Yeah, that's what Mommies do when they are soooo happy to see their babes."
"You were laughing."
"Yes, yes I was. I very happy."
I cried when I saw you too, my little love.

11.18.2010

Why Are Christians So Sure They are Right?

One of my favorite Facebook pages posted a great article about a study showing that the families with lesbian parents have a 0% child abuse rate. Um first may I say Sweet! It is really good to know that there is a group of children out there who can now realistically have 0% chance of being beaten, molested or verbally asaulted. Then may I follow up by saying, of corse they couldn't possibly have looked at every lesbian couple with kids in the whole world but the ones they did talk to didn't abuse their kids. any of them.
Some people made the point that since lesbians can't get prego by accident they have to work really hard to get the kids they have so they are more likely to really appreciate them when they get them, however that may be. ok, well whatever. The point is, it seams to me that this would be a group with nothing but the love and safety of the next generation in mind. At some point in the thread some guy comes in spouting hellfire and damnation about how Jesus hates gays and living in sin and just being gay around kids is child abuse and all that. He started using the bible to show that god hates gays so I said, 'don't hate- appreciate! don't teach your kids anger and hate based on something intangible. It will divide us and destroy the fragile world we have left.' He shot back basically saying that the bible is the only true source of information ever and that if I even had a bible (which I don't) and would read (I have read the bible, several times. I believed every word of it until I began to read other books written during the same time and written about the men who wrote the bible, you know, that subject some christians seam to be so blind towards- History) it, I would see that God does indeed say that a man lying with a man is a sin... but so is eating shellfish and talking to woman on her period. sweet- proof that god is a woman, I always want to be left alone when I'm menstruating!
Any way, I digress. So I came back with what I felt was a relatively peaceful, tolerant rebuttal to his blind faith. I mentioned how the bible was not written by god, or even Jesus but by men at least one generation removed from Jesus and what had happened during his life. I also pointed out how Jesus wasn't considered to be divine to his followers until the council of Nicaea in 325 AD. Yes, he was already the son of god, but he wasn't God A to be prayed to and worshiped until that date. I wrote about the Messiah Myth that is way older than Jesus himself and mentioned how the same story can be traced to Osiris of the ancient Egyptians. All I wanted to point out was that if you chose to believe in that story, you must also look at the context in which it was written. Look at many Catholics I know who still believe in Jesus and God and All That but are very well versed in history and philosophy and other religion. They believe because they know enough about other factors to strengthen what they believe in. Following a flawed historical account blindly does not a good argument make.
 Ok so, needless to say he didn't like that. He came back saying that since I am not a christian I don't get to be in this conversation and discuss the "fact" is being gay is a sin. yay.
So my question is this. Why do people who put so much faith in what is clearly a flawed, over edited, out of context piece of writing hate others sooo much? Why do they really think they are right in every moral argument? "Oh the Bible said that what you are doing is wrong and the bible is the only book ever published that has any moral direction!"

11.17.2010

Nursing on Facebook is Hateful... Oh I'm Glad Someone Told Me!

There just doesn't seam to be enough outrage at the fact that Facebook removes the pics women post of themselves nursing their babies. I understand that some people might not like the practice. OK, I guess, that seams kinda ignorant and stupid. But they don't have to look at the pics, they can just keep going. The Facebook "Nurse-In" was supposed to show FB how many people on that social networking site think that nursing is NOT offensive. At last count I think there were about 6,000 people "attending". Enough people to make the FB bots flag the event as "hateful, threatening or offensive" but not enough to really get support for the movement.
There are sooo many worse pics on FB than a woman nursing her baby. In fact, someone who has photos on his page that I would NEVER want my kids looking at (it shows a very scantily clad woman crouched at crotch level to a man holding 2 guns, so not only does it objectify women but it also glorifies violence) is someone I feel very close to. Over my time living in the American South, he and his girl (who is currently expecting a boy) became very close to me and my man. And no matter how I feel about his pics, I would never EVER flag his pics because they are publicity for his movie and that (acting and rapping) is how he feeds his family. I know him to be one of the nicest guys I have ever met!
SOOOO, this is offensive, shows too much skin for you Facebook Bots?



But this is OK?

And this isn't even one of the bad. It doesn't really bother me, but I have a hard time believing people would flag the "Nurse-In" because of sexual, violent or offensive content but then leave stuff like this all over the damn place.
oh well
yay bobbies

11.15.2010

Annnd, Another Chat With K Bean (ok 2 chats, but they are sooo cute)

"punchy, punchy, punchy..."
"Hey Bean, please don't punch your brother in the head."
"I'm not, I'm just knocking him over."

Ok, so, it really was just a light closed fist tap on his head and he seamed to be having a good time but still.  And he was laying on his tummy soo...
OK, It's an old pic, but you get the idea. Just so you know, this was taken when we visited family in September,
that diaper he is wearing is now waayyy too small for him. And look how big it is in the picture!

While I was tucking KaBean (like kapow!) in just now she called me to lay down with her and then we had the following one-sided conversation-

"No Mommy, you're sitting on my couch-bed."
"oh ok but-"
"You have to get up an go away."
"but you-"
"Here, I made room for you. Quick lay down the monster is coming and I will protect you!"
At this point she wrapped her little arms around my head and started whispering "shhhh" at me. I didn't say a thing.
"Quiet Mommy, we don't want them to find us."
More silence from me.
"Here, you have to protect Charlie, I will protect you!"
Charlie is an old stuffed dog that my Grama gave me when I was maybe 8 or so and now he is Bean's dog.
"Ok Mommy, give me books to cover up, they are cold."
I gave her the books, they took my spot.
"Good night Mommy."
Good night Bean, I love you."
"I love you too. And I love Daddy and I love Man Chile and I love Isis and I love Charlie and I love Grandma..."
"Ok, give me a good night kiss."
"2 kisses!"

lol, then I left her in her couch bed and now I can hear her singing to herself. aaahhhhh I love good nights like this!






11.14.2010

Because Nothing is Sweeter.

Few things are as adorable as when new babies sleep like this.
Fists tight, arms perfectly flopped open, head in profile like an Egyptian portrait.
And HELLO, a 2 year old who willingly naps so Mommy can take a shower?
Priceless!

A Success Story and a Peaceful Bedtime.

I just got to put both babies to bed in my bed with me in the middle. Can I just say how amazing it feels to nurse one while the other has her arm around my neck whispering, "I love you Mommy. And I love the Man Child, and Daddy, and Isis..." this truly is my reason for living.


It had been hard for me to really mother these 2 little beings for a while. My co-parent, their father, my lover had been gone on business for waaay to long this time and the 3 of us were wearing thin. I was starting to get mad and easily frustrated with Bean having to leave the Man Child to cry while I sorted her out. But yesterday and now today have been true attachment parenting successes! Even with Bean having a bit of a stuffy nose and a low temperature, she has been fun and mostly agreeable. Not perfect... lol... she is 2 after all. Bed times like this reaffirm my belief that I can be a gentle peaceful mom and that my kids will not grow up to be spoiled rotten, they will be confident knowing they are loved and free to express themselves without fear of judgment or ridicule.

11.13.2010

A Good Day Despite....

Well, J Dub left today but despite all that KaBean and I had a great day. As he was getting into the car to drive away I took the offspring to the playground. She was sooooo good. There was no fighting, she even told ME it was time to go and have lunch. yay! So we came home, had lunch and she jumped into my bed talking about going to sleep. It's a game she likes to play where she naps and reads stories to Man Child. As nice as that may sound, it is surprisingly roudy. So I pointed out that if she wanted to nap instead of go to ballet class and see Miss Melinda then thats ok. welll.... She picked ballet. yay #2. I got to sit in Headlands and have a piece of cake and some coffee and Man Child NIP and no one said anything, haha. He was so goood, I even read some pages in my new book! holla!
Anyway- Harvest, dinner time, Man Child's bedtime, teeth brush, stories, and finally, the tuck in. She told me she missed her Daddy a few times but she wasn't totally unconsolable. They were both asleep by 8 and I got to work on more Frog Binky Straps for Origin.

Good Night, Blog.

11.07.2010

Spiritual Mantras for Cleaning House

Earth my body
Water my blood
Air my breath
fire my spirit.

I got clean sheets on my bed, laundry folded, dishes done and a baby washed! Sweet! Before I even discovered the mantra for house work, Melinda was helping me use it birthing babies. I thought, hey it worked then, maybe it'll work now. It did.

Tapatio is hotter when left on the counter... and consumed in large amounts at 10pm...

Earlier in the day, no chanting... but I still got some chunky stuff done- I showered Bean, with Soap this time instead of getting her wet and calling it good, AND I cut her hair. Yeah I did! She looks so cute and neat instead of some crazy scraggle kid I pulled off the street. She even ate 2 really good-ish meals today. I know most kids eat 3 or more but she fell asleep at 6:45! Crazy Kid. Maybe that helped get all that stuff done...? Naw it was the chanting.

Bean says Toy Story 3 is too scary for her so we watched Bugs Life instead. Also a great movie, but I sooo love TS3! I got most of the head of another frog done, but I was nursing, then holding a sleeping baby so it didn't go as fast as it could have. Now I will work on it for a little while while watching Hulu and then go back to bed with my spit-up free clean smelling little baby. yay.

The Man Child's new favorite night time song (another chant courtesy of Melinda) helped him doze off quite a bit faster tonight and kept him entertained as I washed dishes next to his bath tub. yeah, multi-tasking.

We all come from the Goddess
And to her we shall return.
Like a drop of water
Flowing to the Ocean...

The fact is, chanting these and putting love and truth into the words gives me the strength I need to finish my task. Just like when I birthed my Man Child, hearing these words... or maybe I thought them waaayyyy hard in my head, gives me strength to put one foot in front of the other. Women have been raising beautiful, honest children in worse situations than ours and we will be fine as long as I don't give up.

Thank you
Blessed be

11.05.2010

Knitting Project Run Down

YAY! So I finally finished Melody's Healing Hat! Woot! It was tricky going, I had to rip it out and start over a few times to get the band size right and then it was smooth working. I did a sweet little c4f all the way up till I decided it was tall enough and then some random decrease that I just pulled out of my ass er knitting book. "Yay," so thought I, "I'm done, I can't wait to give this sweet little hat to Melody. Here Man-Child, try this on to see how it fits." Oh snap! That hat is waaayyyy to small! It looks like one of those Jewish hats. Sweet, but wrong kind of hat. So I picked up the stitches on the cast on edge and knit downward. I didn't want it to be a plain band sooo I worked this cool diagonal ribbing into it. Yay. OMG it looked soooo cool! When it came time to bind off I thought no problem, I'll use the new bind off I just learned. Right? It was supposed to be more stretchy than the k2, slip rt st over lt st bind off that I usually use. Well, yes, it may be but it wasn't stretchy enough for the band of a hat for a little baby girl. I knit the end of this damn hat 3 times before I finally went on the intru-web (amazing thing, that) and found this Jenny's Surprisingly Stretchy Bind Off . Um, Yay it sooooo totally is like 300 x more stretchy than anything I've ever seen. So I got the hat done with this new bind off and finished this great hat. Here's a picture. I am also working on a Mohat for K Bean. It is gonna be a great skull hat with and awesome purple Hawk on top. I'm thinking of dying my hawk purple when I finish so I can match the Bean. YAY!
And--- last but not least, I'm doing a bunch of binky straps for my friends store. They will all be different but the first batch I am working on is to see how many I get out of a single ball of yarn. Wish me luck!