More Snow!

More Snow last night! And more on the way tonight.

If you requested that I add your blog or etsy as a link on this blog, and it hasn't happened yet, I apologize. I have been out sick with a miserable, no good, very bad head cold since Sunday. I will try and get all caught up this week.

Since I have been sick, and it has been snowing so much, Doug (my husband) has been walking the 2 miles to work and then another 2 miles home each day. Needless to say it is good exercise for him, but when I needed to use the car this morning- I was snowed in! I had to scrape a foot of snow off the windshield, the hood, the trunk and a sheet of ice off each window. Not only that, but we live on a hill and our car does not yet have it's snow tires on. So I could not get any traction going up the hill. So instead I reversed out of the parking spot and went the long way to work. I had to drive through town instead of skirting around it. Good thing I left an extra 15 minutes early. Nora wasn't too pleased with the extra long car ride, but overall it was a nice drive. Everyone was driving slow and careful which was nice to see.

I was watching the weather channel this morning since I become obsessed with weather during the winter months. I saw that the Southern States have tornado warnings! Yikes! I don't ever want to live ANYWHERE that has tornado threat. I have always been very lucky in that respect. I will take massive amounts of snow and rain anyday over tornado and hurricane concerns. Good thing I want to live in the Montana/Wyoming area then, eh?

Speaking of which, the move to Montana is becoming more and more certain everyday. I really am going to miss the Palouse. It took a few years for this area to grow on me, but now that I know more people, it will be so very hard to leave. But I feel a certain joy in my heart each time I think of being able to go see my family whenever I want to! Yay! I know the decision is a good one. Just please keep those good thoughts, prayers, whathaveyou's coming our family's way. We really are hoping that the universe has lined up good jobs so that we can be successful and get settled.

While I was sick and at home with Nora, I decided it was time to teach her a new skill. She now knows how to "High Five" though she isn't very consistent with it. She has to be in the right mood. However, teaching her how to high five has reminded her how to clap, so we are seeing a lot more of that now. So cute. I will try to get a video of it tomorrow. I just need to remember to bring the camera with me.

Not much else is going on. I am ALMOST finished with MaryJane's Christmas present. Yeah, I know- Almost a month late. I did have some people who only recently got me their patches though, and I know MJ will love it whenever I get it to her (SOON!). :D I will post a picture of it as soon as I have given it to her.

If any of you haven't ever visited MaryJanesFarm either in real life or virtually- you should! If you are reading this blog, I KNOW you will find something love over there. And MaryJane herself is as real and true to life as she seems in her magazines and books. She is petite and beautiful and completely true to herself. I was amazed when I first met her and realized she was short like me! I am 5 foot even and she is probably only an inch or two taller. For some reason, I had always thought she must be at least 5'6"! MaryJane and my mom could be sisters, they are both so kind, loving, and creative. And for those of you who know how much I love my mom- I hope that gives you an idea what MaryJane is like.

I just went and peeked in on Nora. She is sleeping in the other room. She is fast a sleep and lying about 3/4 of the way onto her side. When I laid her down, her arms sprawled out to either side and since then she has tried to roll over a little bit. One of her hands is not resting on her forehead- palm out Scarlett O'Hara fashion. I SO wish I had brought the camera out.

While I was sick I worked on making new diapers for Nora. Since she is crawling/cruising so much now, I decided to go ahead and make the next batch of diapers into contoured diapers. They are pretty easy once you have done it a time or two. I use the Mamabird diaper patter, and have been re-using the old flat fold diapers as soaker pad inserts. I am using 1/4 inch elastic and that seems to be just strong enough to hold in the solids but not so strong that it leaves marks in Nora's skin. One of these days I will take pictures as I make one in case the helps anyone else who wants to try.

Talk with you all again soon!

My Poor Baby Nora!

My poor baby Nora! She is having a wicked time with this most recent round of teething. She is not only getting her front two teeth in, but the ones next to them and possible the ones next to them! I can't quite tell because she hates it when I look into her mouth. I know for sure that she is getting four teeth in at once and possibly two more. One has cut through already and I am just waiting for the rest of them to hurry up and grow in.

It seems that once the teeth do cut through, they grow up pretty fast. Is that just me or is it like that for every kid? Or is it just that crawling/cruising babies who are into everything keep up so busy that time just flies by?

We returned the rental Jeep yesterday. I must say, it is weird to realize you prefer your 8 year old car to a brand new car. The Jeep Liberty is a nice enough car. I liked having power everything, the car key lock beeper thing, you could adjust the volume of the stereo from the steering wheel and so forth. I liked all those things. I especially liked the color and the fact that it was all nice and shiny. BUT... it has a weird center of gravity. I never felt like I could relax while I drove because it felt kind of "swishy" going around corners. It did not like ice. Maybe it was just too much power for me after my little Sunfire. Luckily, the Sunfire is getting it's new front end this morning and I should have it back by this afternoon.

Sure, the Sunfire might be old. The upolstery might be a little torn on the floor on the driver's side and it might have a few dents (okay a few big dents). But, it handles great in the snow and I have never gotten stuck while driving it. It has needed a few minor repairs, but over all it has taken one heck of a beating and kept on going! Here's to hoping it can make it for another few years.

I am definitely going to want a new car in the next couple of years, but I am going to be so picky. Driving the Jeep really has shown me a few things. For example- I will never buy a car in Spring, Summer, or Fall. I want a nice thick layer of snow, ice, slush and black ice on the roads when I am car shopping. That way I will know that the new car can handle it. Then as soon as I buy my car- the roads can clear up and the good weather can come back! :D

So back to Nora. We do cloth diapering as I think I already mentioned. When she was born she fit into the the "new born" diaper wraps for a long time and then we moved up to the next size. I'm not exactly sure how big they are supposed to fit, but I think we need to go buy the next size up. When I put her in the velcro ones and then sit her down, one side is popping open! So most of the time when she is just in her diaper- I will look down and realize she is only in her diaper and the diaper wrap is...somewhere...

Good thing we have a great Natural Living store here in town. It's called the "Natural Abode". I suppose if I didn't want to sew my own diapers I could buy theirs. They look nice, but there is something so nice about sewing your own diapers.

I think the thing I love the most about being a farmgirl is what I learn through my association with the ladies on the Farmgirl Forum. They inspire me to become a better me. And to learn more of the "lost" arts.

Before becoming a MJF (MaryJanesFarm) Farmgirl I hadn't ever really sewn before, I had never canned, and I honestly didn't think much about running up to Wal-Mart for every little thing. I must admit I was starting to get wrapped up in the "Keeping up with the Jone's" ratrace.

But I am now sewing my first quilt. I have been doing embroidery for several pillowcase swaps, I sew Nora's diapers, make my own soap, sell hand made items at the farmer's market, and I canned tomato sauce and homemade Spaghetti sauce this year. I also picked about 10 gallons of blackberries and made some wonderful blackberry pies.

I no longer run to big box stores for every little thing. I have found some great treasures at GoodWill. I feel so smart and happy when I find a perfectly good sweater or tea cup, and I know I am making those goods have a longer life instead of going to the land fill. And I save money. Also I have gotten some pretty nice designer clothes at goodwill for cheaper than I could buy a tee-shirt at Wal-Mart. Funny- Our GoodWill is right next to our Wal-Mart too!

Happy Christmas Eve!

There's my adorable Farmerette Nora sitting infront of a toasty warm fire a few days ago. She is getting be such a big girl! Can you believe she is officially nine months old now? I know I can't! When I pick her up, she is a heftly 20 pounds, a far cry from the miniscule 5.5 pound baby that she was when she was born.

Let's see... some of the changes she has gone through: She crawls, pulls herself up and cruises along furniture, she practices "talking", she has two bottom teeth and has two top teeth just coming in as I type. Sometimes I forget how little she was when she was born, and then I will come across one of her recieving blankets and I will remember how they were the perfect size (or even too big!) and now they are more snuggle blankets for her!

She still nurses, though she loves to each our food. One of her favorite foods is Grilled Cheese sandwiches. She also loves meat and fruits and veggies, though the fresher the veg, the better. I don't blame the least on that! She really doesn't like baby food.

You know what she really loves? MaryJane's Outrageous Outback Oatmeal. It has currants and SunFlower seeds in it. But babies don't digest currants and sunflower seeds all that well. Yeah....I didn't know that. Sometimes you can get a little too much information about your baby's digestive system when you change a diaper! LOL

Speaking of diapers, we still do cloth diapering. I was once the woman who proudly declared that she would always be the "Fun" Aunt and never wanted to have kids of her own. One of the main reasons? Diapers. Diapers are really not my favorite thing. That is until I started doing Cloth. I make my own which is it's own joy in of itself. I love going down to the fabric store and picking out the cutest flannels for her bum. Okay- so I know pure white would be best because it absorbs more- but who can resist flannel with sleepy elephants on it? Or teddy bears in pajammas that are sleeping on the moon? So cute!

We do flat fold diapers, though I did make some contoured ones. Making contoured diapers for a 5.5lb baby is just not worth it. Now that she is bigger though- I might try it again. The flat folds are really nice though, because I have only had to make two sizes- a 22 inch square that lasted until about 6-7 months old and now I am doing a 30 inch square. The best part of using cloth, though isn't just the monetary savings (which save us hundreds of dollars a month) or the evironment savings (disposable diapers are toxic to produce and take over 500 years to biodegrade) but the best part is that our house doesn't smell like stinky diapers. Since I wash diapers once a day, they never sit around long enough to get funky. We have never had to bother with a Diaper Genie or even special diaper pails. We even travel with them! We travel to Wyoming by car and plane a few times a year and even on the plane we used cloth diapers.

We went to Spokane yesterday to visit some Farmgirl friends. I got to meet Audrina (Farmgirlwannabe) and her lovely mother. I also got to spend time with Teresa (Lavenderfields Dreamer) and her mom Carol Sue (Carol Sue). Sky-dog came with and had fun exploring the house and cleaning up the crumbs that Nora dropped everywhere.

On the ride up, I knew Nora was going to get hungry so I thought up a (I think) rather clever rig. I had a container of milk for Nora to drink and a long skinny length of plastic tubing. So she in effect has a really long straw. So I set the container of milk in the cup holder by me and she got the end of the straw. It worked perfectly! Yay! Next time I am going to get a clothespin or some thing to clip the straw down though. She did pull it out and fling milk everywhere once or twice! LOL

We will probably head out to the horse ranch today (http://www.rockinheart.com/). You have got to see these horses! They are so beautiful! This is the one I want to someday own. Her name is Talla. In this picture is was about 3 months old and now is about 9 months. Nora and Talla were born just a couple weeks apart! She should stay this beautiful bay color and I love the white markings on her face. She has the sweetest temperment and literally floats when she moves. She is so graceful! I will have to see if I can get permission to upload a video of her for you!