Mending Matters

At the end of this summer I listened to an episode of my favorite podcast, The Slow Home, interviewing Katrina Rodabaugh of the book Mending Matters. I promptly put a hold on her book from our intra-state library loan system. When it arrived two weeks ago I found beautiful images to visualize what Brooke and Katrina had been talking about in mending clothing items to give them extended life. The podcast is a great listen you can find here: https://slowyourhome.com/katrinarodabaugh/

I would describe my sewing skills as limited to button repair and hand stitching ability that really only extends to said button repair, or crafting a kid's halloween costume (back when there was only 1 kid!). But the foundation of mending our clothes in order to not continue the consumer culture is one that really reverberates with me. In the minimalism/slow living culture there is talk about reducing the number of clothes owned, or investing in pieces that are ethically resourced. This conversation with Brooke and Katrina helped to challenge the ideas that fast fashion has permeated in a high consumption culture. It was enough to stretch my creativity and learn a new skill of mending!

Jonathan's dress shirt collar was significantly fraying, but the pocket was looking mighty fine to borrow for a patch!

This is one of my favorite boatneck cotton Tees that has now grown two holes in the fabric. I first stitched them both closed with needle and thread. The shirt is dark navy, but this is the underside and the camera also makes it look lighter. 

After using a seam ripper to carefully remove the pocket from J's shirt, I used straight pins to hold it in place over my two hole spots on the Tee.

I got nervous and doubted my skills to continue at this point. So I decided to practice the running stitch with the embroidery thread on the shirt that was already donating its pocket patch. And I committed to take photos and write a blog post about the process, because I knew if I had that goal I would finish the project instead of walk away. 

The underside of the patch job looks like this! Katrina offers great encouragement in her book that visible mending is unique and artistic and it is ok if your lines aren't straight or equal. This helped me to have a 'just do it' attitude because a mended shirt is one I will wear instead of a hole filled shirt I will have to toss. 

The finished project! This patch is on the back of an arm sleeve on the shirt. 

 The book introduces the Sashiko Method of mending, which uses Sashiko thread and needles, something I do not own. After googling some more, I decided to give it a try with the embroidery thread that I did already have in and a thicker needle. I think the same effect was achieved with the cost of only my time, no new supplies.
 Have you ever extended the life of something you wear through mending? Tell me about it!

Michigan FUN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

family

sunset

beach hole

light house

beach

 I went with my family to Michigan. One thing I liked about Michigan is the sunset. The sunset is like marmalade spread across the sky. 

 Another thing I loved was the delicious food. I especially loved the yummy burgers and sweet root beer.

 Finally, what I loved the most was seeing my family. I loved playing games and playing in the water with them. 

Garden Camp FUUUUUUUN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

     This week I've been going to garden camp. Garden camp's location is Lafayette, Indiana Brown street. We plant plants and have fun. Here are some stuff we did..

carrot

carrot 

me and friends 

me

seedbomb

worm farm

worm farm

    First, we eat dinner. Second, Ryan leads us to our groups. Third, we go in to the sanctuary and sing songs and dance along with the hand motions. Fourth, we go outside and we go to the fact station. Fifth, we go to the craft station. Finally, we go home.

Summer XP FUN !!

*This is the first post typed by Heath on our family blog! You will hear from him a few times this summer as he keeps up his writing and typing skills and journals about his summer fun! 

These are my summer XP bracelets. Summer XP is also known as vacation bible school or VBS. Each year there is a theme, this year the theme is old school video games. People going in to kindergarten, 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th. VBS is fun. Mister Louk squirts us with a cleaner thing but people call it the squirter. It's filled with cold water. He calls it a power up, because usually when you get squirt you move because of the cold water. That's why he calls it a power up. This is my VBS teacher. Each class has one. My teacher's name is miss Amy.

miss amy

mister louk

my sister me and friends

food

gym

cafeteria

        First, we eat dinner. Next, we go into the gym and we sing in God's name. Then, we either go to our class rooms and do an activity, stay in the gym and play, or play on the play ground. Last, but not least, it is time to go home. There is another one in 2020 so come to Lafayette,  Indiana Thomas Miller school to join the fun.

Happy Birth Day Ande Joy...and Reese!

Documenting this third labor and delivery experience has been challenging because I'm not quite sure how to give it usual markers of time compared to my first two. For nearly 3 weeks before Ande was born, I had been experiencing prodromal labor. This isn't braxton hicks where you have 'fake' contractions, these are real contractions that hurt and feel exactly like labor, but then they die off. There were 3 different evenings where I woke up in the middle of the night because of the strength of the contractions, looked at the clock and noticed the intervals of 5-10minutes apart, and then after a couple hours I would get up and they just stopped. The first time that happened it was pretty disappointing because you mentally prepare yourself for the whole labor and deliver experience to be coming that day, and then nothing happens.

I've learned that this is a fairly common experience with third babies. They don't have as clear of an onset of labor marker. So after the first go-round of thinking I was going to deliver a baby that day, I decided to reset my mind to 42 weeks of gestation and ignore any labor signs until I couldn't. So Ande's 40 week prenatal check up came and went and everything continued to report back healthy for her and me. My mom had flown into town that day- February 2nd, and 6 days later we were wondering if she would have to fly back to California before Ande was even born. Plenty of people around me felt restless about this idea of a 'past due' baby, but I remained steadfast in my belief that babies come when they are ready and the longest record of pregnancy is in fact, not forever!

So Reese's birthday, Thursday February 8th came and we were thankful to have Oma here to help celebrate! We opened some gifts that morning at breakfast. Jonathan, Oma and I were able to join her at preschool that morning to share a special birthday snack that she and Oma had made together that week, crafting the flower spoons and making the pudding and crushing cookies for dirt cake. Reese really enjoyed being the helper at snack time and getting to pass out her creations to her friends.

That afternoon I continued to have contractions, nothing new from the previous month, so I generally ignored them until 3pm. I called J and asked if he could work from home for the rest of the day so I didn't have to factor in when I needed to call him home IF this did turn into labor moving to delivery of baby. When he came home at 3:15p we went for a walk in the neighborhood and the contractions remained strong. Our plan was to take Reese out to a birthday dinner- her request was spaghetti and broccoli! By 5pm I thought sitting at a restaurant sounded like a terrible idea so we made a plan B for Oma to take the kids to a special dinner and we would do birthday cake together at home when they got back. I didn't get a slice of birthday cake until 2 days later.

J went and picked up some Thai takeout for us to eat at home. I went to the bathroom about 6pm and my water broke- a first experience for me to have that come 'early' (but not really, because, prodromal labor for a month). The contractions after that definitely stepped up in their intensity and by the time I finished my chicken pad Thai I knew we needed to head to the hospital. I had the midwife on call paged and Sharon called me back quickly. I was in between contractions and was able to talk to her cheerfully about my day and the progress. I was grateful that she said she would meet us at the hospital and believed me since I hung up after only talking for 3 minutes and probably didn't 'sound like I was in labor.'

We arrived to the hospital at 7pm and had to check in through the Emergency Room since it was after hours. They said we were the 3rd patient for labor and delivery in the past hour. I went from talking easily between contractions, to not communicating much at all. The check in process was relatively quick, but we had to wait for someone from LandD to come down and get us and that was another 20 minutes. I went from standing in front of the window rocking as I stood, to sitting down on a chair and crossing my legs wishing labor to slow down. By the time a nurse came down, it took another couple of contractions for us to walk a short distance then pause to eventually get through the elevator and up to a room.

~7:30pm
When we got to LandD my midwife Sharon was there and asked about my thoughts on the plan. I told her I really wanted to get into the tub, but wasn't sure that I would last long enough for it to be set up and filled with water. She said lets just start getting it ready and if we make it, we make it and if not, we will adjust. I asked for an exercise ball and stayed sitting on that until the tub was ready, about 8pm.

Getting into the warm water felt good. Ande's heart rate had been monitored on the ball and was handling contractions well. In the water they intermittently checked on her and it continued to hold strong. Pretty quickly after getting into the water I felt a shift in labor pains that I recognized as transition. I felt hot and overwhelmed and complained of not wanting to do this anymore. I knew this was a sign that she was coming soon. Sharon asked me if I felt like pushing and I said not yet. The on call nurse helped tie my hair up out of my face with a rubber glove. Sharon offered some hip squeezes as counter pressure, but after a couple it didn't feel good to me.

Then I knew it was time to push. I told Sharon 'little push, little push' and noted how I had so many thoughts in my mind but could barely get out that little phrase to tell anyone else what was going on. She nodded and said something encouraging like 'you've got this.' I pushed with the next two contractions and they monitored Ande's heart. After the second push, Sharon said we are going to push this baby out on the next contraction ok? I thought, that's quick- but great if I don't have to push for much longer. The third contraction felt like a dud, it wasn't as strong and did not help me bear down much to get a strong push. After it let up, Sharon said ok I need you to push again, we aren't waiting for another contraction. So I pushed and she told me to stand up, I did, and felt Ande come the rest of the way out, caught by Sharon and handed directly to my chest back in the water. 8:47pm Ande cried and cried. I cried. Jonathan held us from the outside of the tub. After soaking each other in for a bit, I birthed the placenta in the tub. After a little bit longer, Sharon asked if I felt comfortable to get out and onto the bed so they could check my bleeding, she was concerned about how much blood I was loosing but it was harder to tell in the water. So Jonathan had skin to skin time with Ande (he quickly obliged when I directed him to take his shirt off before I handed her over) and I was helped out and onto the bed.

I did have a lot of blood loss and was given some options of how to approach with a mouth dissolving dose of Cytotec, a shot of pitocin in my leg, or a manual sweep for blood clots. We started with the Cytotec and when  I continued to loose blood we did the sweep for clots. Painful. The nurse held my hand. It was the right decision as there were a lot of blood clots Sharon was able to get out and that ultimately slowed the bleeding down. She told me I had lost enough that she was categorizing it as a postpartum hemorrhage. She explained to me that her urgency for having me push Ande out quickly was because her heart rate dropped and was not rebounding. She was concerned that the cord was likely wrapped and if it was short, she wouldn't be able to untangle it in the water and still hand her to me, so that's why she asked me to stand up. What she discovered was that Ande had a double nuchal (the umbilical cord was wrapped twice around her neck), but that it was also very long and she had no trouble unwrapping her and then handing her to me. I told her I trusted what she was telling me in the moment because she got her 'midwife voice' on and I just followed. (Sidenote- Sharon is the senior member of the 4 CNM team and she founded the practice alongside the OBs two decades ago).

Our first picture 9:08pm

9:27pm

Ande came back to my chest and snuggled more, latched again and we all had some very sweet time together. Probably an hour had passed since she came out and the nursing staff was doing a great job of giving us space- something I had concerns about after the beauty of Reese's home birth experience. We asked if we could have her weighed now because we were kind of curious how big she was. I knew she was larger than Heath (8, 4o) and Reese (8, 14o). I guessed closer to 9 and a half, and she came in on the scale at 9lbs 10 ounces. She measured 21", same as her sister.

I am so grateful that we were with a competent provider who knew exactly how to respond to Ande's drop in heart rate as well as my postpartum hemorrhaging. There were some things to navigate with a hospital stay this time that were a little challenging, but overall we soaked in the pampering provisions of having extra help and our big kids safely cared for at home with Oma. They all came to visit us the next morning and meet Ande.

Merry Christmas Card 2017!

This is our 8th year of creating a musical family-caroling Christmas card as we look back on our year in photos! Every year we get to involve the kids more and Jonathan learns something new on Garage Band as do I on iMovie. We collectively choose the carol we all want to sing and play it around the house for awhile so the kids are familiar. Reese had been singing the chorus to The First Noel and was excited to record, but when we got to the basement's makeshift studio, all she wanted to do was shout "Noel!" into the mic. What we've learned in nearly 8 years of parenting now is that for everyone's sanity and maximum enjoyment, it is best to just go with it! So J weaved her Noel shouts nicely into the mix and Heath helped carry the chorus!

Wishing you all a Merry Christmas!

Simple Pursuit

Earlier this winter, I posted a question on social media asking my friends if they would be interested in learning more about minimalism if I organized some communications with resources and kicked it off in the new year. I wrote about it on the blog too here. I was thinking if there were at least a handful (6-8?) of my friends interested, it would be something that I could do and enjoy. Well 30+ friends commented about their enthusiastic interest and that was certainly enough to grow my excitement.

In January, 27 friends joined me for a 6 week conversation learning about minimalism and taking on challenges to declutter their homes and reflect on their values. I was so excited to see the breadth of friends and former colleagues and peers that participated from Oregon, Texas, Arkansas, Virginia and Indiana (time for my CA peeps to join next!). What began as an idea to share resources that have helped me to savor what I have in life, really shaped into a rhythm, similar to my writing curriculum. Based on feedback that participants were sharing with me about their learning and questions, I directed our emails into a 6 week course.

After the overwhelmingly positive feedback from my initial post, I thought I better get myself organized in case this grows quicker than I am envisioning. So I reflected on a name to label the emails with, and drafted a logo. I didn't think much of it, until a local friend participating talked to me in person and started referencing "the simple pursuit emails" and "the simple pursuit challenge last week." So then I created a gmail account.

For me, the pursuit of simple is to embrace that which is most important and basic. When we remove the busyness and life clutter, then we have room to savor those most important and basic values. Savor is a favorite word in our house!

My January cohort was made up of folks who had heard of minimalism but had not tried it, as well as those who were practicing minimalism habits already. I solicited their evaluation after our 6 weeks and was able to build on their insights for the direction of what future communications could look like, expanding beyond the twice weekly emails to also include webchat offerings. We had been using a secret Facebook group to post updates and dialogue through the 6 week process, and one adjustment I am making there is to let that serve as the graduation gift to those who learn the basics in Simple Pursuit, and want to keep trekking! So here is the rundown I have shared with those who are inquiring, feel free to pass along!

What is Simple Pursuit?
A 6 week online journey for those who are interested in the pursuit of simple. The principles of minimalism will be shared for you to reflect upon and determine what pieces you want to integrate. It is an investment in yourself to evaluate what you are prioritizing and how you can remove that which is not important from being a distraction.

In return for your investment you will receive:
6 weeks of resources to introduce or enhance your knowledge of minimalism
Twice-weekly emails with reflection homework and action items
A one hour group webchat half way through to ask questions and hear ideas from others
An optional 1:1 webchat time scheduled with me any time during the 6 weeks, up to 1 hour, to discuss and troubleshoot any decluttering barriers
After the 6 weeks, you will be invited into a secret Facebook group of class participants should you want to continue the conversation and resource sharing

Cost
$45
(Friends and Family take an additional 25% Discount at registration...that is $33.75)

How to register:
Email insimplepursuit@gmail.com with your preferred email address to receive weekly communications beginning the first week of April. Once your spot is confirmed, you will receive an email regarding payment steps.

In order to preserve the personal attention afforded, there will be a cap at 20 participants. (At this time of posting I have spots for 10 more)