Weekend Projects and Challah Bread...

I had a couple of sewing projects I wanted to get done this weekend - the item for this month's giveaway and turning some onesies into regular under shirts.

First, these are the toddler pants I made for Mommy of M's little one M2 - she was the winner of March's giveaway. You should check out her blog - there is a posting from last week that made me just laugh and laugh. That particular posting was titled "Monkey Poop". Recently she's had a couple of monkey postings. These were the inspiration for the pants with Curious George on them.

Right - front / Left - back (you can tell because the back has the "dad friendly" pocket)

Next, I wanted to turn some of T Rex's onesie shirts into regular undershirts. Why? Well, he has lots of these bodysuits - all of which still fit perfectly. But, they are not really conductive to potty training. He is still only 16 months old. He may be precocious but he's not that dexterous to be able to unsnap a shirt that ties between his legs! So, I figured I could just cut the snaps off and stitch up the bottoms. Unfortunately, my machine does not finish this particular material all that nicely so rather than abandon the project completely I used bias tape with a zigzag stitch. Worked like a charm. I completed two and want to see how T Rex likes them (make sure the bias tape is not too itchy). If he does okay with them, then I'll be making more. I'm just trying to save a little money rather than going out and buying a bunch of new undershirts when he has a drawer full of potential ones!

Right: onesies turned T-shirts; Left: biase tape and stitching

While I was working on the pants, my friend Caitlin stopped by with my "treat of the month". For my birthday, she presented me with a certificate entitling me to a yummy treat delivered to my door every month. And let me emphasize - she makes YUMMY treats! You should check out her culinary adventures every Thursday.

This month she presented me with Challah (pronounced "halla") bread. You can click on the link to read more about this Jewish bread. I was so amazed just by looking at it. Can you see what I mean?

Not only does it look amazing - it tastes unbelievable!!!

However, I have to admit I did have a momentary "deer in the headlights" moment when she told me the name. All I heard was "Halla".

Here's the scoop. When T Rex was making his lengthy entrance into this world (56 hours from first contraction), there was a PA student working with my OB physician. The month leading up to the birth she was actually doing some of my weekly visits. I told her she was welcome to participate in the delivery. I was once a nursing student and I was always very appreciative when someone allowed me to experience hands on learning with them. I did this for several other women delivering babies and I felt I would be a good candidate to "learn on". I'm a pretty calm person. The PA student's name was "Halla". I think she is from some eastern European country because of her thick accent. She was a sweet lady trying really hard to learn in her own laid back way.

When it FINALLY came time to push my two weeks over due baby out I had a horrible headache. 50+ hours of labor will do that to you along with 2 bottles of epidural drugs helping - definitely not complaining about the drugs though! T Rex Dad and Halla each took a leg to hold so I could focus on the pushing - oh, I forgot to add, I never actually dilated to a full 10 cm - my delivery nurse (whom I STILL stay in touch with because she was so AWESOME) held the cervix open while I pushed. Yes, there was dozens of people in the room while I did this!

When each contraction started I would start pushing. The way we were taught in birthing class is to bare down and count, " 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10" and stop. T Rex Dad was totally in the groove and this is what he started to do. Then Halla said she wanted to count. Fine with me - how hard could that be? So next contraction starts and I start pushing but there no counting. After about 5 seconds (or what seemed like 5 hours to me) Halla starts counting, "1...2...3...4...5..." - you get the idea.

So this is where I have to mention one of my character flaws. I have a hard time telling people I don't like something. Generally I just nod or don't say anything and just let the moment pass and that is that. The delayed lengthy counting continued for another 45 minutes. Finally, I couldn't take it any more - literally. I was just too tired. The next time a contraction started and Halla started counting"...1...2", I jumped in saying, "6,7,8,9,10 - Halla would you please let my husband count from now on." Whew - that was so stressful for me - almost as stressful as getting that 8 lb 8 oz baby out of me. (I'm a pretty petit person so he seemed massively huge to me!)

So every time since then I hear the word "Halla" - I kind of cringe. However, I think that has changed because the Challah bread Caitlin brought over is pretty darn amazing. T Rex and I ate half the loaf while T Rex Dad napped Sunday afternoon and now's it's nearly all gone. Amazingly good. What a great birthday gift!

And what a great weekend!