Bayside pullover

Yeah ! I'm done with this long term UFO!!! I first began and almost finish this pullover back in October 2011...yes almost 4 years ago.

Then I got pregnant and lost interest in it because I was too big to wear it. Since I gave birth to my son almost 5 months ago I dig it out and I'm done now!! 

Ok I need to lose a bit of weight to fit perfectly, but I'm super happy with it :-)

Times flies

We are already in August...time flies so fast that I almost kept my breath for the last five months to enjoy every little bit of joy. Our son is almost 5 months old, on the 13. He is loved and the star that I made for him worked!! I went in labor about 24h after I completed the whole thing! Call that magic or something...

Now that it's freezing cold outside I just pull an old unfinished knitting of mine. I will try to finish it by tomorrow :-)

Still pregnant...

Since I tried about everything so far to self induce myself, I just stopped it.

Now I make tiny little paper stars and I relax...

Naturals ways to #induce labour : the master list !!!

Being over 38 weeks pregnant and really hoping for a successful vbac made me very curious about natural induction that may (or not) help start labour, soften the cervix and strengthen the uterus. Here is the informations I collected about these 3  factors in the past few weeks.

Muscle your uterus!!

1- It seems that the best way to invigorate it is by using red raspberry leaf tea or as I prefers to use liquid extract because you don't have to take as much. Most web site and midwife recommend to start around 34 weeks until the end of the pregnancy to help having better contraction when it will be time for labour.

Soften the cervix

2 - Evening primorose oil is one of the most popular thing I saw. You can take it orally and vaginally to soften your cervix. 

3 - Sperm!!! Say to your husband that he need to help you to get this baby out, after all he help you to put him in!!

Make those contractions start or go stronger

4 - Walk, walk and walk some more.

5 - Bounce on a yoga bag / birthing ball.

6 - Go up and down the stairs many times.

7 - Squats

8 - Dance

9 - Mimic galloping moves !? (Maybe on Gangham style song?)

10 - Do pelvis tilts. It can be when standing, sitting on your ball or even on all 4s and pretend that you still can twerk like your tiny non pregnant self... Yoga style is cat/cow poses.

11 - Take a bumpy car ride.

12 - Nipple stimulation, why not ?

13 - Orgasm with a big "O".

Ok now some more relax ways...

14- Swimming.

15- Swinging on a swing (not really doable in plain winter unfortunately...).

16- Relaxation exercises.

17- Take a hot bath or hot shower.

18- Visualisation of the whole process, the progress of the baby down into the birth canal, the dilatation, etc.

19- Massage.

20- Acupressure points.

21- Get a pedicure. (There's pressure points on the ankles and feet as well).

22- Move your hips in circles and in figure "8".

Then the next category is the food and drinks...

23- Balsamic vinegar.

24- Lemon cakes (really sour).

25- Bananas.

26- Basil.

27- Chinese food.

28- Dates (yum!).

29- Eggplant, I heard about eggplant parmigiana but I can't stand eggplant :(.

30- Glass of wine, this is very disputable since it's not good to drink while pregnant but I think the point is more about relaxing and forget for a moment that we are super pregnant!

31- Origano.

32- Pineapple, sure you have to burn your whole body and mouth to get some effect 😝.

33- Spicy food like a good spicy curry.

34- Thyme tea.

Next are all the old wife story...

35- Clean the floors on all 4s.

36- Wash your windows.

37- My grand-mother swear by shoveling snow in the winter!! Ok it may be a good idea to try it and remove the snow from back balcony as well...

38- Castor oil, average success is 57% after 39 weeks, do your own research about it.

The final point is the more important...

39- don't forget to enjoy the last days with your belly even if you're tired, feeling bad and everything, it will never be the same after birth and you don't want to keep bad memories of your last few days being pregnant!!!

Disclaimer : I'm a mom of soon 3, a simple woman who score the internet looking for way to induce naturally. Do your own research and talk with your doctor/midwife before doing anything stupid!!!

When my husband play in the kitchen...

Baby quilt is done!!!

I just finish the last part (that I hate) : binding the whole thing!!

And I'm super to say that it was a no cost project since I already had everything at home to do it. 

So ready for my son to be there now...

Watercolor today!!

I needed a calm activity today since I'm so tired...so Yay for watercolor !!! Girls are happy and I can enjoy a cup of tea 😊

Quilting day!

Today I want to quilt the whole chevron quilt for my baby to come. I'm having so much contractions, I just hope to make straight lines...

Signs that you are nesting...

Nesting is a very interesting moment in the end of the pregnancy in my opinion, I get so much done and it's perfect before giving birth to keep you busy !

1. Cleaning is really important, you have to clean the closets at 6 am and organize your pantry at 10 pm.
2. You do like 5 loads of laundry a day.
3. While cleaning the closet, you found a shirt that sleep there for month and you decide to iron the whole wardrobe of your husband and organize it by style and color.
4. After folding the laundry and putting it in everyone dresser, you notice that some t-shirt are not folded properly in your 4 years old daughter drawer. Then you remove everything out of her dresser, clean the drawers, fold everything again. You found some clothes that are too small so you find yourself to do the whole thing again in your 2 years old daughter dresser and put all the things that don't fit her anymore on kijiji.
5. Feeling hungry after a whole morning cleaning you suddenly remind yourself to eat. Then half an hour later you only get the fridge super clean and forgot about the lunch...

I hope to see my son soon, I need to eat now...

Sophie

How to make a chevron baby quilt in 9 easy steps!!

To continue the preparation before baby boy birth, he need to have a personalize quilt. My girls have theirs and he really need one too! 

I thought that I could share with you how to make a killer chevron baby quilt in 9 easy steps !

Preparation : obviously if you want to make any quilt or sewing project you need to make a few preparation step. Choose your fabrics, wash them, I also put them in the dryer, then I iron everything and I consider that I am ready to begin.

Step 1: cut your squares ! I decide to cut 6" squares with 3 colors. The pattern will be 7 squares by 9 in length. So I need 21 squares of each color, for a total of 63 squares.

Step 2: cut again! We now need to make triangles out of our squares. Since I have a pattern with dinosaurs (Rrrrrrroar!) I suggest you to pay attention that you will need to cut about the half of the squares in one diagonal side and the other half the other side. I also strongly suggest to do the step 3 at the same time to avoid errors. So keep the count, we now have 126 triangles!

Step 3: assemble your layout! I suggest to do this step at the same time that you do step 2 to avoids errors. Place your triangles to make a chevron pattern. We are back to squares shapes!!

Step 4: easy one, pile your "squares" before sewing.

I pile each row then, row on top of each other and I am ready to begin sewing.

Step 5: sew your new squares ! I do a long chain and sew them all in one sitting. So we now have one long chain of squares!!

Step 6: my favorite (no just kidding) iron everything and make the square tower again ! Don't forget to open the seams for a better look. We are now back to 63 squares.

Step 7: sew your rows. Pay attention and check back your layout in step 3 (hope you took a picture). Take your time to place the triangles seams together for a crisp look. You now have 9 rows of 7 squares.

Step 8: press all the seams open.

Step 9: assemble row by row to complete the top of the quilt. Then press the last seams open.

Enjoy you have complete the top of a fantastic chevron baby quilt in 9 easy steps !!! 

Stay tuned for the finishing part very soon.

How you like it? Let me know if you make one !!

The fox

I'm currently  36 weeks pregnant with our third child. Our first boy after two little girls. Each of pregnancy had a totem animal. Don't ask why, maybe just my crazy hormones !

My first daughter pregnancy was all about sheep. She got a bank, stuffed animals, the whole kit! My second daughter, I was head over heel about owls. Once again, I put a lot of it in her decor.

This boy inspired me foxes. I got a new diaper bag from Ketto. Got him a new pyjama from Costco and last week I almost scream at Omer Desserre when I found this :

A tiny cross stitch completed with a tiny weeny frame to expose it! I took me only a few hours to complete and I am super excited that it will be part of the gallery wall in his bedroom.

Nursery soon to be revealed...

Sophie

Welcome aboard !!!

Hi! Here is the very first post of my brand new blog. It's been maybe 3 years since I last had blog and I'm happy to start fresh here.

My name is Sophie, I'm a mom of very soon three beautiful kids, the wife of my fabulous husband, the owner of a little shop on Etsy, a crafter, a project maker and so much more !! I will try to be here as much as possible, talking about my crafting project, motherhood, my shop, paying debt, food and recipe...the list can go way longer but I'll stop and let you read by yourself in the next few weeks or months!

The name of my blog is inspired by my family, I am Canadian, living in Quebec for my whole life. But I married a French and it's all because of my in-laws that bought a wood house near of Quebec City. I also have family in Germany, USA, Russia... One of my sister in law is actually from Russia! Talk about international variety in the same family !! Every time my in-laws call us on FaceTime they always ask the same question : what's new in Canada ? They also refer about our house  by saying the house in Canada.

So that's it for today, hope you'll enjoy reading me and don't be shy, I love to get comments !!

Sophie