These summer days are flying by so quickly. They always do, but especially this year, with this wee baby girl to measure the time by and to keep me busy. She also helps me to slow down though, and to not try and cram so much into these lovely warm months, and I am enjoying it so much. The evening walks with her in my arms, looking up at the dappled sun in the branches and the breeze in the long grass  leaves us both feeling calm and happy. Such a beautiful time of year to have a baby, when I can walk outside with her at any time of day without bundling her up, and when the sound of the natural world can be her lullaby.

Perry and the boys have been busy with camps and festivals and visits with friends. Willa and I join in here and there, but are happy to be at home mostly. Dorian attended an art camp last week (a couple hours each morning,) and was so proud to pack his snack in his backpack and to head off on his own adventure (and he came home with some terrific creations to decorate our home!) Today Ari went to a sports day at our rec centre and was thrilled to spend the day climbing and swimming and running races. Willa and I joined them for a day at our local music festival and we had fun visiting friends and listening to music, but we opted out of the festival that involved a weekend of camping and a big drive. But oh, the boys did have fun! It was hard for me not to join in as it is one of my very favorite events of the year, but we did enjoy our quiet time home together. Next year Willa and I will be there and she will be toddling about quite likely!

We did join in on our annual strawberry pick at our friend's Upick- bringing home 55lb of berries for winter (and I learned that shucking and preserving berries is something that can be done well with a baby in the sling!) There are a few  more out in our garden, and our raspberries are just starting to ripen. We also put up 10 large salmon from a friend, and I got to learn how to clean and cut them, and to cure the row (these things were much too smelly and messy to do with a baby in a sling, so we traded off.) Even when we are not growing  much of a garden, this time of year is all about preserving local food for the winter!

I stole away a few bits of time when Willa was willing to be put down to sew a little. Having a baby girl after being a mom to boys for 7 years is like opening a floodgate for all the flowery pretty little things I wouldn't let myself look at all those years. And now there are all these fun things I get to learn how to make! I obsessively started looking up little girls dress patterns just days after she was born. So I tried my hand at a couple teeny little dresses, using bits and bobs from my stash and a vintage shirt from the thrift store. I used the Geranium dress pattern - the newborn size is free, but I love these little dresses and will make more of the bigger sizes too I'm sure. I still can't quite believe I have a little girl. A baby girl! A daughter! Oh, the sweetness of it.

And she is growing so quickly- getting bigger and chubbier and more awake to the world every day. I remember this feeling so well from my first two babies, they just become sweeter and more adorable and loveable by the minute. She is changing so fast, it seems that she wakes from her naps a little bit bigger, a little more aware, a little more able to make sense of the world. She is a delight to be with, and I feel so lucky that she has come to be part of our family. I am so blessed.

Around here:

 The wild roses are blooming. Bringing them inside for Willa Rose.

The great jungle of a garden is growing- the weeds are epic with all the rain we've been having. Some of the plants are growing too.

 

The strawberries are coming. The boys are proud of these ones they grew themselves.

Slinging the baby and taming the weeds. Sweetness.

Playing inside when the rains and storms descend. I'm loving this knight plane.

 Cards.

 Guess who made Papa choose the Old Maid?

 Board games,

and lots of baby snuggling.

 Who could resist?

 She is just so snugly and sweet.

And she is happiest in someones arms, mostly mine, so that is where she can usually be found. I did forget a little how all consuming having a newborn is- it is such an incredible time- watching this wee being emerge and wake up to world, marveling at her amazing tiny sweetness and falling more and more in love with her every day. And at the same time, I had forgotten how little else gets done in a day- that pile of books and knitting I had thought I might get to has been utterly neglected. And the laundry and dishes and garden and cooking and cleaning just seems so much more than we can get done. 

But oh, this time is so short, I know that so fully, as my sweet boys race around me- impossibly big and independent- and I know this darling baby girl of mine will be racing around after them in no time at all. So I soak it all in and try to be present for every moment of it- her bright little eyes that watch me closely in the early morning when she wakes, her little tongue she will stick out- after some thought- if I stick out mine, the sound of her breathing beside me in the bed at night when she has finally fallen asleep. The soft velvet of her hair, the long tiny fingers, every little smile I can coax out of her. I love it and treasure it and know how quickly it all will pass. And I forgive myself when I can't resist a longing glance at the knitting and the stack of books and the laundry and the dishes even.   There is plenty of time for all that. This baby is right here, growing before my very eyes, wanting to be in my arms right now. Nothing could be more important than that.

  

Well, just like that, the sun came out on solstice morning- the first sunny day in a long while, and we were out with it. I didn't know how much we would manage as far as our traditions for this day- Perry was at work, and Willa and I have been taking things pretty slow, but Ari and Dori knew what to do to make  things happen. They set to work, scissors in hand, gathering up flowers and grass, and with Willa in the sling, I joined them. Soon we were making our wreath, sipping raspberry lemonade and singing little summer songs to the baby.  

And while I was upstairs later in the morning, tending to the baby, the boys were busy downstairs with yellow paper and a whole lot of staples, making crowns for the family, including a tiny one for Willa Rose, which was Dori's idea- he came up and placed in on her little sleeping head so proudly.

 Now if that isn't the cutest thing...

He came back to decorate it, adding suns, and then back it went on her little baby head. I thought it would be too scratchy, but she was unfazed.

Unfazed and totally adorable. I took about a million pictures of her sweet sleeping self.
Crowns and a wreath are what we manged- that and a picnic of sandwiches and ice cream outside with Papa when he got home. A lovely simple solstice, the first one with our family of five.
Happy Summer everyone! 

Oh, these days. These rainy, sleepy, milky days, these days of falling asleep in the afternoon with my baby girl on my chest, the sound of her soft breathing, her little legs curled up under her, the rain on the roof, the smell of her sweet baby head.  Of singing her little made up songs about diaper changes and mama's milk, of watching her as she listens to the birdsong out the window, of that sweet little tiger growl she makes as she latches on and her little wandering hands that get in her way, of her tiny feet and her tiny pink socks and her too-big soft wool shirt I can't bring myself to take off her, of those precious awake moments when I can catch glimpses of who she might be. And if I am at risk of floating away on the dreamy cloud of new baby-ness, there is always a little boy or two here to ground me, to make me laugh, to help me remember how sweet it all is- circus tricks and silly costumes and whoopee cushions and all. 

Introducing:

 Willa Rose

Born at home in the water after a wild and wonderful three and a half hour labour. We are madly in love. We were so surprised to have a baby girl in our arms (though the boys were always certain they were having a baby sister!) and we are loving every minute of her sweet tiny goodness.

She is adored by her brothers and is getting kissed up and loved every minute. 

 We are so thrilled you are here sweet Willa. Welcome, baby girl.

The Summer edition Rhythm of the Home Magazine is out and it looks lovely!

I was lucky enough to take part in this beautiful publication with an article about how our family celebrates the Summer Solstice over here. Take a look at all the lovely articles, it is a good treat.

I thought I'd post a couple baby knits I've recently finished up for Ginny's yarn along. These little longies have been sitting in my knitting basket forever, with just cuffs to finish. I can't remember much about them now, what wool I used, or the pattern even, or why there are two matching pairs (I know I knit one as a gift and wasn't happy with it, but I can't remember why now,) but they will come in handy I'm sure. One looks newborn sized and the other is maybe 3-6 months? Luckily there was also a little ball of this super soft pretty brown yarn in the bottom of the basket too, so I could finish these off and put them in the finished basket (which is growing every day!)

There are two of these LTK pilot hats too, though the other tinier one is in the homebirth bin awaiting a tiny head to keep warm. I knit these by the pool in Mexico, so they are full of sunshine and love. I had lots of this lovely organic merino in my stash, which is a finer wool than the pattern calls for, so I knit this one a size up hoping for newborn size, but it was still a bit big.  I decided to knit the newborn size too, and it is perfectly teeny. I know these tiny knitted things wont fit for long, but I just can't resist their amazing smallness!

As far as reading goes I have been pulling easy reads off the shelf the last little while. I have been retiring early,  and reading a little before I fall asleep- up in the bedroom with the window flung open and the evening light streaming in. Such a lovely time of the day. I am reading Emily of New Moon, which I remember adoring when I was about 9 or so when I was making my way through every LM Montgomery book I could get my hands on, and it is still a sweet read. I need light and heartwarming books right now, so vintage young adult fiction it is!

I've also been sewing a bit- I made this new diaper bag from some pretty fabric my sister gave me some time ago. It is nice and deep and even has lined pockets! (I am proud of myself whenever I do things the "right" way when it comes to sewing, as I am more inclined to cut corners and throw things together quickly. Lined pockets is the kind of thing I usually would skip.) I also made a small zippered bag from the scraps to put things like baby toys etc that I don't want to get dirty in to bottom of the bag. I'm enjoying this nesting energy! I also worked on a couple gifts that I wont post about until they reach their recipients.

The boys have been busy too- this is their bread oven for play dough using wood off-cuts and the kitchen chairs,

and they spent most of a day pricing items in our house with very expensive price tags and demanding payment. They loved it when I would act outraged at having to pay, and gleefully continued this game for a very long time. It costs 125$ to use the stairs around here, and $2900 to look out the front window. It also costs to lay in our bed, open the fridge and use the toilet. Luckily they take (scrap-paper) cheques.

And today the sun peeked out a little in the afternoon and we were able to spend some time at the lake playing in the crazy cold water with friends. I am seeing my midwife weekly now, and everything is looking good- baby is growing and happy and all is well. Any day, or another month? We'll see!