My Sewing Revelation

I have owned a simple sewing machine for 10 years that I got from Walmart for $99. For those 10 years I could never finish an edge to look like it was done with a serger:

All the projects I wanted to do that called for this serged edge required a more expensive sewing machine. But, now, NO MORE!

I cannot believe it took me 10 years to realize that I can create a serged-like look with my humble, little machine by simply using an "over edge stitch."

Also known as the "overlock stitch," it is used to prevent the edge of a fabric from fraying. All you have to do is switch your presser foot to zigzag and sew your edge with half of the zigzag on the fabric and half of the zigzag off.

Or as my instruction manual writes: "Place the edge of the fabric under the presser foot so the needle enters the fabric when the left side of the zigzag stitch is sewn and misses the edge of the fabric with the right side of the stitch. Sew with this needle position along the edge of the fabric."

This little piece of knowledge - just like when I discovered how easy "bias tape" was to use - changes my creative sewing endeavors forever!!!

Going from mere "vision" to "reality of making the vision happen" is so rewarding. There's so much more to discover, too. I think over the years I've realized that I'm not really a crochet, knit, scrapbook or knick knack craft kind of person. But sewing has always stuck, and along with ballet (being my chosen form of dance), it is now a recognized recreational pursuit worth investing in.

Waking up the mind

A curious thing has been happening here in the Lee household.

We are reading more.

During dinner Kevin reads The Screwtape Letters aloud to us. We also read Mrs. Piggle Wiggle for some fun. During dinner prep, I put on The Swiss Family Robinson audiobook for Noelle and me to listen to.

My mind is waking up!

The fire that once burned bright in my schooling days has been lit again, and the flame is burning stronger everyday.

I notice that Noelle can entertain herself for a longer time now. What a huge change from a few months ago! She used to get bored easily and want to watch Sesame Street. Now she's always busy doing something, reading a book, pretending to cook, pretending to dress up, feeding her doll, looking at bugs and dogs. Recently she's been fascinated with Chinese audiobooks and learning her Chinese alphabet. She's not running to the laptop screaming, "Elmo! Elmo! Elmo!" any longer. What a relief! The "no tv" experiment is working. One of the things I seek to give Noelle is the ability to be resourceful and creative and imaginative, and the ability to experience the joy of reading.

Our resolutions are working on me, too. I have a whole, new list of books I want to read and am reading. I'm journaling again. That part of my mind that has been underused is now getting exercised again. To my shame, all the time I've lost, all the moments I did not use my mind for God's glory, when I did not love Him with my fullest potential - may God restore the years that the locusts have eaten.

And Kevin's having a renaissance of his own as well. He's the one who wanted to watch a theatrical adaption of C. S. Lewis' Screwtape Letters, an interest which has plunged me delightfully back into the world of thinking and imagination again. Tonight we sat through a 1.5 hour theatrical adaptation of Screwtape Letters at the Alex Theater in Glendale. Can I just say that my mind felt very strained for the first 15 minutes of the show? My modern, image-dependent, sound-bite addicted, ADHD sensibilities simply could not adapt so quickly to a one-person monologue, much less a monologue written by one of the greatest thinkers of the 20th century. Ever sat through a Shakespeare play and just got really nervous because you couldn't follow anything they were saying? That was me tonight. But it got easier once my mind started waking up a little to do some work. Paying attention, I am realizing now more than ever before, is really a skill to be cultivated. Neglect it and your whole life suffers.

The End of One Year, the Start of Another

Happy New Year!

Over here we're just starting to scratch the surface on a lot of things. It's fitting that it's about to be a new year because there are some changes happening in the Lee family.

We are finally cloth diapering full-time! It's too bad that it took us one-and-a-half years to overcome our fear of touching, smelling and seeing poop. All we could manage when we first had a baby was: take off stinky diaper, roll it up as fast as humanly possible, and discard into the trash can where the poo is no longer anyone's problem (except the trashman's).

Fast forward to now. Here is the new routine: take off stinky diaper, clean tush, take diaper to toilet and flush poo, use hand-held toilet sprayer to clean off the diaper, throw diaper into pail to be washed soon.

I'll be honest. It was really hard when we first started. REALLY HARD. Like, hard for me not to want to vomit. And for these reasons alone, I don't advise anyone to do it unless they are really persuaded with their own reasons (whether financial or environmental). There was a learning curve for us, and an upfront cost. I found myself needing to buy 18 diapers, special detergent to wash them with, a diaper sprayer, flushable liners, and waterproof bags to hold soiled diapers in. On top of this, I wash diapers about everyday now.

However, on the plus side, I really like putting Noelle in cloth diapers! The feeling of going to Target, and being able to pass right on by the diaper aisle without having to load up the cart with yet another box of diapers feels really gratifying. It feels really good to use the same, cute, clean, organic cloth diapers on Noelle over and over again. It's nice not to have a plastic bag full of dirty, disposable diapers to add to the pile of trash I'm sending to the landfill. It's actually fun for me to wash them. And I'll tell you a secret, it's really really fun to have a clothesline out on our upper balcony (where nobody but us can see). Hanging diapers out there in the California sun to dry! There's really nothing quite like it.

Of course now that we've got the system up and running in the way of cloth diapers, it's ironic that we've started to potty train the little girl! The good thing is that the diapers we have (Bumgenius Elemental All-in-Ones and Grovia All-in-Ones) are size-adjustable. They fit newborns up to Toddlers. They can be used as training pants, and they can also be used for the next baby. And they are going to save us thousands of dollars in the long run.

On another note, I'm looking forward to next year. I just finished reading The Plug-in Drug, in which Marie Winn studies the effect that television has on child development and family life. Really, I was trying to make a decision for what to do with Noelle during the time that I needed her to stay out of trouble. Putting on something for her to watch (Sesame Street, PBS, etc.) really became easy and T.V. was acting like a babysitter for me. If she fussed while I was trying to get dinner ready, it was becoming the solution. I noticed that she started to ask for it more and more, whenever she was bored, whenever she saw anything that reminded her of her shows.

So for December we made a resolution to get rid of T.V. and see what would happen. I was pleasantly surprised. It is forcing me to be more proactive in finding something for her to do. It is also forcing her to be more imaginative in her play. Kevin and I now read a ton more books. We are also reading more books to Noelle and to each other. I'm really looking forward to the new year to see what other fun activities, outings, and learning opportunities are waiting for us.

Lastly, because this post is so long, I just wanted to mention briefly that home schooling has been on our brain. Kevin and I are listening to a series of seminars on the advantages of home schooling as well as the difficulties that people encounter. It feels like the beginning of a wild adventure...And something for which I will have to share more about later.

Happy New Year!

The Cloth Diapers are Here!!!!

On Black Friday I purchased some cloth diapers (Bumgenius Elemental Organic All-in-ones, to be specific). It took forever to decide which ones to purchase because apparently, cloth diapers are for mothers what electronics are for men. There are more brands, features and designs for cloth diapering crazy mothers than I can count or read about. It's a whole world with specific terminology and lingo, usage, maintenance, cleaning.

ANYWAY, I've gone and done it. The idea is that we will stop pouring money (in the form of used, disposable, non-biodegradable diapers) into the landfills and be able to reuse these lovely cloth diapers on our first child and beyond.

Will keep updated on how it goes :)

On Another Note: Home Birthing

You may or may not care, but I don't plan on having another baby in a hospital. Having another baby - YES, may God bless us (not that we are pregnant again). Birthing another baby inside the four walls of a hospital - NO, thank you.

When I talk about home birth, some people look at me like I have an elbow growing out of my forehead. Well, how do you think women have given birth for thousands of years before medical hospitals were invented. Midwives. All done at home.

And plus I live 4 minutes away from the hospital, so it's not like I couldn't get transferred in the event of an emergency.

But, WHY? is the question. Don't I want the comfort and safety of the hospital? Oh, the needles and tubes and wires and gadgets stuck to me, winding around my legs while I am trying to cope with labor pains; the nurse telling me I have to wait to push, even though the baby is already 2+ station coming out....just because they need the OB to catch the newborn...and the OB is not here yet?

Actually, the biggest reason I don't want to give birth in a hospital is for post-partum reasons. I literally did not sleep a wink at the hospital after giving birth to Noelle. We had her at 5am. I was not "discharged" until the following morning at 8am. Count the hours awake: somewhere around 49 to 50 hours, and the first quarter of those hours were spent in labor.

For a person like me, the hospital is not a place of safety, comfort and rest. Sorry! I just have trouble sleeping in an unfamiliar environment and those who have known me since I was young know that this is true. In fact, when Kevin and I first got married, it took me a full year to adjust and start sleeping well again! Normally, it's ok to to lose some sleep - but not when you've just gone through labor with no epidural, you haven't been sleeping well anyway because you were 38 weeks pregnant, and you won't be sleeping well for the next 3 months!!

When Kevin brought me and Noelle home from the hospital (this was after we begged them to release us so that I could go home and get some sleep), I remember collapsing in the comfort of our bed and thinking, "Never again."

Next time I am doing it at home. No more jackhammers (yes, they had jackhammers outside my hospital window), no more overhead calls from nurses broadcasting to other nurses in the ward (can you turn it off or at least turn it down? No, because the nurses need to be able to hear it), no more noise and hustle from interrupting nurses and pediatricians and doctors and photo-takers and religious clerics, no more being unable to sleep and nurse with the baby in bed, and no more separation from family (I didn't like being in the hospital alone with strangers who don't care about me).

Do I sound ungrateful? I'll try not to be and just say this: I am thankful that hospitals exist for the many times that births cannot happen naturally and need the help of pitocin, epidurals and c-sections. In the event that something goes wrong, I know I would be very thankful to be sent to the hospital to be cared for. And to give hospitals some more credit, some moms I know say that they had a good experience, that the nurses waited on them and it felt like a "hotel."

For me, however, if I am ever able to have another baby again, I know for sure that the hospital path is not one I will seek out. It might sound crazy, but to me, it sounds so normal to give birth at home.

Change

Pigtails, pink wings, and a rainbow tutu of sorts. Gotta love having a little girl to dress up for Halloween.

We went to a trick-or-treating thing in downtown Sierra Madre with some family. She had no idea that hundreds of kids were stuffing their faces with candy - my dad gave her some banana to eat. Gotta love that, too.

Our family dynamic is changing more and more everyday. We can't talk about Noelle as much anymore in front of her. She's beginning to understand that we are talking about her. So we say, "She's so C. U. T. E." instead because we don't want her to become conceited. Hehe. I imagine pig latin may come in handy soon, too. And then there's the reserve we must show when an issue comes up that requires a "united parenting front." All the issues have to wait until she goes to bed and we can discuss parenting approach in private.

Life is really flying before my eyes these days. Noelle grows out of her shoes and clothes faster than I ever imagined. Cute shoes and outfits don't have time to become "favorites" - they must be worn a little then shoved into a box for another baby.

New developments hardly have time to be cherished. She's saying new things everyday - every moment - ALL OF A SUDDEN. Now she's a parrot. Rejoice that she can say, "One - two - three!" And the next second she is saying a lot more. There just isn't enough time to take pride in each new thing.

It's like the wind decided to give a great big gust, shaking all the leaves loose off the tree, and here I am running around frantically trying to capture each one. Each leaf is amazing! But I can't hold them all and soon they'll be gone. She is changing so fast.

Suddenly a Toddler

I walk, I crawl, I wobble here and there! I can go so fast! I like to feel myself zipping down the hallway on two legs. The speed is addicting!

I pick at Grandma's mouth and eyes as she pretends to sleep. I go into crazy giggles when I find out she is only pretending.

I giggle A LOT when it gets late and it's past my bedtime.

Books are my favorite things to look at. That and other babies. I am very interested in little people. They are so small and they are my size.

I like to eat crackers. I just discovered them. I don't want to eat breakfast, lunch or dinner anymore. I just want crackers.

I can't help but smile when I am happy, and everyone thinks it's so funny, especially when my two teeth show through.