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Mama Mama Jones

Have you heard this before?

Cooking and cleaning can wait till tomorrow,
For babies grow up, we've learned to our sorrow.
So settle down cobwebs, dust go to sleep,
I'm nursing my baby and babies don't keep.

-Unknown

sigh

5/21/11

puffs

magnolia flower

From Papa.

crunchy?

is mercury in retrograde?

friends

She adores him. He loves her. They've got a special connection, these two.

magnolia and family with a fly rod

How cute is that?

My right arm is not that skinny, but really I could use a few extra lbs. The benefits of breastfeeding.

Strawberry time

May 14 2010






May 12 2011

sign language

"I want some milk"

Roseanne

Once upon a time there used to be a working-class, feminist sit-com on TV. No, really.

New York Magazine article

Via blue milk

hey look, a fish!

last weekend : smokey mountains

Sunday

hey look, a fish!

4/20/11

Bass

I'm a mother!

Happy Mother's Day!

7 Months Old

Our little girl is 7 months old! Last week her two bottom teeth began to peek out and she decided she was ready to sit for several minutes on her own. We also started offering her food, and she loves avocados. She feeds herself an entire one for dinner every night.

Regretsy where DIY meets WTF

All real items being sold on Etsy.

This stuff is pretty funny.

Peter's Choice

legwarmies

New leg warmers! A couple years ago I knitted a pair of legwarmies for a friend's little girl, and I was looking forward to making some for Magnolia. I thought they would be good to transition into spring, but they are too big and come off right away with all this squirming and moving she's been doing. 6 months old and such a fun age! Little girl is so so happy and so so friendly these days.

I really embraced the dpn's (which I'm usually not too fond of) this time and really liked making these!

we like gardens

We've been keeping care of our pals' garden while they are on the road listening to my girl's song live (!) and spotting Magnolia's name on stores and billboards along the way.




Also, we've been putting energy toward our own garden but making slow progress. I ordered some seeds yesterday- tomatoes, hot peppers, cucumbers, beans, watermelon, and some herbs for foods and medicines. We just need to get the garden plot dug, as of now we have an empty backyard with no trees and lots of grass. The exciting news is we are getting some chickens! Our new to us chicken coop is available for pick up next week. It seems we are weeks behind on our homesteading activities. Hopefully we will have some vegetables and eggs by the end of summer. Peter and I tend procrastinate a little sometimes.

{this moment} - A soulemama Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see here

dishtowels in maroon brown

Our (almost new) clean white kitchen towels had lost their lovely fresh look, and the stains were starting to multiply. Magnolia and I dyed these in the kitchen sink using a fiber reactive dye that I had on hand, later to remember reading about this book somewhere. I have pretty limited experience dying fabric. I use the "recipe" for dying as a general guideline and never measure ingredients exactly. It never turns out as I envisioned but is always very pretty. My colors never turn out uniform either, there are always subtle variations in shade which remind me of drip dye and tie dye at the same time. I actually like the look better, especially in these towels. Next dye job I'll try some plants. Purple cabbage maybe?

first camping trip

We've had some really nice weather around here, and we took Magnolia on her first camping trip. In our family that means we go somewhere with good trout fishing for Peter and a good camp for me to hang out with some knitting. Baby makes things much more interesting on my end. On the way home from our trip, Peter said that he had a thought while fishing of what I was doing at that same moment. He thought I was probably doing something simple that was taking me forever to get done.



The amount of knitting accomplished on this trip was less than on any other camping trip. I really wanted to bring the dogs, Peter not so much, so yes they came along too. That may be their last camping trip ever. Campgrounds are not very big dog friendly, not to mention our dogs can be a pain in the ass. We (I) forgot to bring enough blankets and seriously it was so cold. Magnolia was fine because thank goodness I overpacked for her. This nice older couple gave us one of their heaters as a gift for night 2 and camping trips to come. The next morning he shared some poetry with me that he had written about Magnolia.

The second day fishing Peter lost three big fish right in a row. He said the chances of that happening were like winning the lottery. I will take his word on that.




And guess who got her poopy bottom washed off in the Elk River?

first time in a swing

30

Earlier this month, Peter turned 30. We celebrated with oysters and beer and friends and cake. I celebrated my 30th birthday a week later with the flu.



It seems so unreal to me turning 30, I never imagined what it would be like to be here. It is pretty nice. The sick fever brought on some heavy thoughts and feelings about life and self and lots of good inspiration for personal growth after a couple of days of feeling pretty down and well, sick. Or maybe it's the baby and being a mama, because I think that just hit me for real. Someone said recently that your thirties bring more happiness, contentment, and self-confidence.

The Flu

The last couple of weeks or so has been pretty intense around here. We all got the flu. It started with Peter, and the baby and I followed. Complete with coughs and fevers. We have consumed mass amounts of tea and echinacea and have been free of the worst part for the last several days. We came out of the haze feeling stronger and excited about springtime and new beginnings. The weather has been beautiful- warm temperatures and sunshine- so we've been outside as much as possible and enjoying feeling better every minute. There is much to do around the house, I'll fill in all the details of our days after I regroup!

4 months old

Not long after Magnolia was born, my friend Lizzie and I were talking on the phone about being mamas and having babies. they are only babies for one year she said. I think of that's crazy. We are 4 months in, two thirds of the way left to go.



This past week our little baby started showing signs of turning into a bigger baby. She became more aware. She found her voice (its high and she squeals a lot!) She turned into a grabber. She loves that Mama and Daddy both have long hair. She seems to like some people more than others. I like how we she's becoming one of us, and I love how much we really like her!

Hello...

February already and Magnolia is turning 4 months old on Thursday! The plan was to start this blog months ago, but we've been a bit distracted. Stay tuned for more updates on what we've all been up to.