PB = Post Baby. and Pure Barre.

As I type this, I am sitting in my cluttered living room with a baby sleeping on my lap, articles about dissociation following childhood trauma for my next class lecture strewn around me, a pile of unread Real Simple, Elle, and People Stylewatch magazines in the corner, and a not-quite-finished knitted baby sweater on my table, among many other things.

Life after Henry has been hectic. Being a mom is hard. Being a grad student is hard. Being both is...?? I'd say impossible, but I'm still here, right?

Just keep swimming.

One thing that has totally helped me survive is Pure Barre. I miiiiight be addicted. While I'm not entirely positive I'll ever be able to banish the flab away that settled nicely in the place that Henry called home for nine months, pb has helped me keep my energy and self-esteem up. I'm within 10 lbs of my pre-pregnancy weight. Granted that's a function of weight naturally coming off post-baby and maybe also to breastfeeding (although most moms tell me they were never able to shed the last of their weight until they stopped breastfeeding), it feels good to almost be back to my normal self. Pb is great - workouts involve working your muscles to fatigue using small isolated movements and then stretching them out. You do exercises on the floor as well as using a ballet barre. When I did my first workout I felt like such a slob because I couldn't even make it through the warm-up. I still struggle through the workouts now, but it's a good struggle. I love the burning feeling in my arms, thighs, and "seat," as they say in pb. And I can even almost do a full split now! Pb is uber pricey, but I invested in the Baby Bounce back and New Client specials. Been going 3-4 times a week. Totally worth it. And it helps that the Magazine St. location is about 4 blocks from my house. If you're local and wanna join me one of these days, please do. The first class is free!

The First of Many

I'm working on a little sweater for Henry. I followed the 3 month variation in hopes of getting myself to finish it in time for my little baby to wear it. Look how big he's getting!

I wouldn't exactly call him a chunker but he is putting on weight. The sweater pattern kinda looks like a letterman's jacket, which is why I picked it. And I even checked my gauge which I'm usually too lazy to do. I'm finished with the back and the right side panel. I've got the left side to finish, then both sleeves, and a button placket. I'm trying to get through both sleeves this weekend. Sounds ambitious, but bear in mind this thing is pretty little. This is the year I become a better knitter. And I will do it by making lots of stuff for my little babe.

Booties (Not for Babies)

I've always wanted to get a good pair of booties and have been on the lookout for a pair with the perfect silhouette for months. I finally settled on these from Matt Bernson, on sale at Piperlime. And they are perfect - sexy shape, heel at just the right height, and they somehow slim my ankles. I urge you to go to the Matt Bernson site and read the description. Reminds me why I like his brand so much.

12 in '12

I attempted 11 goals in 2011. I succeeded in four. Granted that I succeeded in a few (and really big ones at that), my progress towards the ones that didn't pan out is downright laughable. Check it--

1.Buy a house
Yeah buddy.
2. Eat more vegetables
Yup - pregnancy and the well-being of your child is good motivation.
3. Weigh one hundred and twenty-something pounds
NO. Oh my lord, no. I went in the opposite direction of one hundred and twenty-something pounds.
4. Floss more
Suprisingly, nope.
5. Sew something significant
Not even close.
6. Propose and defend my thesis
Yes, yes, yes!! Proposed in the second trimester and defended at 39 weeks pregnant.
7. Read more.
Ugh, no.
8. Go to more shows
Nope.
9. Pay off credit card debt Not even close.
10. Wear more makeup I guess. 11. Scuba dive somewhere. Preferably in the Philippines.
Definitely not.

I like this multiple resolution thing, despite my 37% success rate. Shoot for the moon, right? So 12 in '12 it is. And here they are:

1. Floss more.
This remains important.
2. Exercise more.
I at least want to put to use the investments I made while pregnant: 4 months of Pure Barre membership, 4 home DVDs, and 5 yoga classes. None of those things were cheap.
3. Come up with an awesome dissertation idea.
If this can get done in the first half of the year I'll be very, very proud.
4. Go on dates with my husband.
This is muy importante, especially now that we have a little babe.
5. Take more family walks.
These must include Henry AND Gus. The handful we've taken have been so much fun. And they usually involve bubble tea, gelato, and other treats.
6. Make my house beautiful on a budget.
Pinterest will be integral for this one.
7. Spend more on clothes but buy less of them.
This is a tricky one and warrants explanation. I really only love the clothes and shoes and accessories for which I've shelled out a pretty penny. Nicer stuff lasts longer and I'm more proud and excited to wear it. So I'm gonna cut down on the mall shopping, not that I do much in the first place. Don't get me wrong -- I'll still look for deals, but I only want to get higher end stuff from clutch places online, boutiques, and vintage places. There's a great vintage shop around the corner from me (will blog later) that will be my new go-to. I'd just rather have one beautiful dress with a label I love than 4 from Banana Republic and the Gap that I'll wear once each.
8. Take sewing lessons.
Oh, what a sewing failure I am. Luckily, I live across the street from 504stitches. Check her out. Lessons are very reasonably priced and literally steps away.
9. Take a vacation that is not related to a wedding.
We had so many weddings to attend last summer! This left little in the travel budget for a vacation. So we're due.
10. Consign
I have way too many clothes. And I think my feet may have permanently grown. Time for an overhaul.
11. Take more pictures of Henry
We are so bad! We could be worse, but I want to be better. Henry is too cute to be under-documented.
12. Be crafty as hell.
Baby, new house, and having very little money should make this happen.

I Hate Birds

But I'm really feelin' feathers lately. And yes I hate birds - I find them dangerous, creepy, and weird. Anyway, feathers, or rather, interpretations of feathers, have been catching my eye. Take this necklace from Jewelmint, for example:I also like this little headband. Felt feathers - maybe a little too adorable, but still...something to consider.
And finally, this iphone case. Hot.

Nostalgia

My bestie and I were flipping through some old yearbooks today and it only seemed fitting to post about these fun bracelets. Braced-lets, that is. She and I were definitely guilty of getting overly excited about our chosen braces colors. So silly.

Baby Santa Hat

I knitted Henry a Santa hat for our holiday card. I wanted to make one that looked kinda like a sleeping cap. Henry had a super cute one until Gus got a hold of it. This hat was a quick knit and I was able to use scrap yarn from the blanket I knitted him while pregnant. I used the cream for the CC and cranberry for the MC (obviously). Pattern is as follows:

The hat is worked in stockinette and decreased using k2tog.

Rows 1-10 in cc: work in 2x2 rib
Rows 11-25 in mc: work in stockinette
Row 26: work in stockinette, k2tog every 5 stitches, k3
Rows 27-31: work in stockinette
Row 32: work in stockinette, k2tog every 4, k3
Row 33-36: work in stockinette
Row 37: work in stockinette, k2tog every 3, k3
Rows 38-40: work in stockinette
Row 41: k2tog every 2, k1
Rows 42-43: work in stockinette
Row 44: k2tog every other stitch
Row 45: work in stockinette
Row 46: k2tog all around
Row 47: k2tog all around

Make a pom pom and you're done!

Henry by Numbers

I'm taking weekly pictures of Henry with the embroidered table numbers from my wedding. My little baby is growing up so fast. Check him out.I love him so much it hurts.

Holidaze

Been a little busy these days. Just a little. B's family was over for Thanksgiving and we had a ball with them. Christmas is on the horizon and here's a bit of a shocker - I'm totally NOT decorating for Christmas. How sad is that?? The thing is, our renovation still isn't done, so even if I could dig up our decorations, the rest of our side of the house doesn't look homey to begin with. Plus we'll be out of town anyway. Okay, okay...so I may just be looking for an excuse to be lazy. But to be honest, no decorations for Christmas makes me feel slightly less stressed. And I will do some decorating, just as I did for Halloween:

Poor Henry. Oh, the things I'll make you wear...

Just Like Daddy

If you know B, you know why we joked that Henry was going to come out with a full beard. He didn't, but B can keep the dream alive with Burlybeard. How ridiculous is this?

And by ridiculous, I mean awesome. This may make the perfect Christmas gift for Henry, as we plan on spending some of the holidays in wintry Michigan. Henry's whole little self will surely be nice and toasty.

That's a Wrap

Except for a watch my wrists are typically bare. But I couldn't resist a La Mer Collection wrap watch, on sale at Ideeli a little while ago. I snagged this for about half off.

I really love the wrapped look. Wish I could afford a Chan Luu wrap bracelet, but I don't have $200 lying around...

So pretty. The good news is, there are tons of look alikes out there. Like this one from Blu Bijou-

And this one from Ettika. Both available at Max & Chloe.

Top Ten Things About Not Being Pregnant

This won't turn into an exclusively mommy blog, swear. But there are a few things I am so happy about now that I've had Henry. He is obviously the best perk as a result of the end of the pregnancy, but even only two weeks later, my life has changed in little non baby-related ways that amount to me being very, very happy. They are, in no particular order:

• Being able to bend over. It is so annoying having something two feet away from you while sitting on your bed and not being able to reach it. Or dropping something on the ground and saying to yourself, "Eh...oh well".
• No more itchy hands and feet. Seriously...what is that. Why does it happen. It's the worst. It's like getting a mosquito bite on your ankle, only it's all over. Ugh.
• Not constantly hearing, "You don't look pregnant" in the first trimester and "You're glowing" in the third. Do you not believe that I'm pregnant? And by glowing, do you mean abnormally sweaty?
  
• Walking at a normal pace. I'm typically a fast walker, a la New York girl. But when I was pregnant I walked. so. slowly. Not so much walked, but plodded. And I couldn't help it. It was frustrating having everyone around me - old people, toddlers, cats - outpace me. But not anymore!
• Not weighing three hundred pounds. Okay, that's an exaggeration. But I gained so much weight on account of eating whatever I wanted (which you're not supposed to do, by the way). I have magically lost 20 pounds in the last 15 days. I don't know how. But I'm grateful.
• Having every dress I own not be obscenely short. It sure takes a lot of material to cover that bump. And since I more often opted to buy normal sized dresses instead of maternity wear (yay summer pregnancy), this was a problem. Often.
• Not getting weird looks from parents of prospective students on campus tours of Tulane. Mind your own business, jerks. I'm 28. Not an unwed co-ed.
• Not having an outie. Self-explanatory.
• Being able to take care of myself again. You have to lay off so much while pregnant. And not just alcohol, but really weird random stuff. No beauty products with salicylic acid. No cold medicine. Yeesh.
• No more random bodily functions. This is a fun one. And to save you from TMI, I'll just give you one anecdote. Once on my bike ride home I randomly vomited. Didn't have time to stop, barely had enough time to turn my head to the side. But I'm glad everyone in attendance of the Tulane baseball game that day got to see. And since I wasn't showing, they undoubtedly judged me as an undergrad doing the walk (ride?) of shame.

Like I said...love my Henry. And now that he's here and I'm getting my swagger back, life just keeps getting better and better.

Hey Henry, Can You Hear Me?

Over the summer, I heard this story on NPR: Songs For The Delivery Room: One Woman's Playlist . Though my one show a week days are long gone (I lived in Philadelphia, Manhattan, and Brooklyn...I've pretty much seen every act I ever wanted - twice), music is still a big part of my life and I took great care in crafting my playlist for Henry's birth. The woman on NPR offers the following wise words:

Giving birth is athletic. It's intense. For some people, it's terrifying. For some, it's exhilarating. We don't often get the chance to compose a soundtrack for life's most profound moments. But given the opportunity, I did not see the point in calm, supposedly soothing music. I wanted a beat.

I wanted some songs with a beat, but I was more interested sentimental music that reminded me of fun, important times in my life. I wanted a nostalgic playlist, because I knew that for me, the best distraction from pain would be thinking of times when I was truly happy. The songs below remind me of the high school, old mix tapes (actual tapes, not playlists!), my first summer in New York when I met B, drives to the beach in NC, and college. I also threw in a few that are just plain good, like "Rise to Me," which you must listen to. After this played in the delivery room, how could we not name him Henry? I can't say my playlist was completely successful in blunting the pain, but it sure helped. Here's a smattering of the list (the full one was a bit longer).



"I Feel it All," Feist
"Falling for You," Weezer
"15 Step," Radiohead
"Rise," Eddie Vedder
"I Believe That the End of the Reign of Terror is Near," The Anniversary
"Nimrod's Son,"and "Something Against You," the Pixies
"The Weather," Built to Spill
"Rhineland (Heartland)," "Nantes," Beirut
"Sea of Love," "Metal Heart," Cat Power
"Family Tree," Ben Kweller
"The Funeral," Band of Horses
"1992," "Coffee and TV" Blur
"Fire," Augustana
"The Henney Buggy Band," Sufjan Stevens
"The Only Living Boy in New York," Simon and Garfunkel
"Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots," The Flaming Lips
"Woe," Say Anything
"Wolf Like Me," TV on the Radio
"Don't Leave the Light on Baby," Belle and Sebastian
"Strange and Beautiful," Aqualung
"Go Places," The New Pornographers
"Turning Round" The Fiery Furnaces
"All These Things That I've Done," The Killers
"Want," originally by Jawbreaker, covered by Lagwagon
"Brand New Love," Sebadoh
"I and Love and You," the Avett Brothers
"My Body is a Cage," Arcade Fire

Henry Michael Sims

B and I are proud to announce that our son was born last Thursday at 2:26 am in the morning, weighing just under 7 lbs and measuring 19.5 inches long. We settled on the name Henry, after characters from two of our favorite books (The Time Traveler's Wife and Papillon), Henry Street in Brooklyn, and, well, it's just the most awesome name ever. His middle name was passed from B's father, to B, and now to baby Henry. He is perfect. See?

Henry's birth alone has given me a few ideas for blog posts, one of which is decidedly NOT his birth story. Ya'll don't even wanna know. But here's a taste - I was in labor for about 48 hours. It's okay though. He is worth it. We're laying in at our home for the moment, though I have ventured out a bit here and there. For now, we're mostly just enjoying each other's company. Thank you to all our friends and family who have helped out by checking in, visiting us, and sending us all the love. We love you all.

Baby Tag Collage

I am still hard at work on my baby book. Two of the pages will feature a tag college, which was meant to be a separate project as per Suzanne Stirling, but like I said, I'm running out of wall/display space. I like a lot of ideas featured in B is for Baby (see picture to the right), but need more. I have some old appointment slips but am trying to think of more ideas. Suggestions welcome! I made the tags below by taking leftover business cards from my wedding guestbook and experimenting with tag shapes until I made one I was happy with. I used the template on the cardstock I've been using throughout the baby book. I then punched a hole in the top of each and placed a hole reinforcer around the holes. I looped a piece of red thread through the holes and made a few extras in case I mess up (which I will). I really mean it about the suggestions...I have 24 tags to fill.

Decal Dilemma

Months ago, Groupon featured $20 for $50 worth of Dali Decals . I figured it was such a good deal, I had to pounce. I made these stencil panels (top left corner) for my room in New York when I lived there, and am always searching for a way to do something similar, but neater. I love what Little Miss Momma did with her decals. Mounting the decals on canvas is great because you can move them around the room with ease and don't have to be as crazy about their initial placement. I covered two 18x24 canvases and one 22x28 one in White Linen acrylic paint by Martha Stewart and applied the decals according to the directions from Dali. Here's an (obvious) tip - don't affix the decals outside, even if it is a beautiful day. Any wind will make you crazy.

We aren't positive what we're painting the nursery yet, so I stuck with a white background. I did a custom order from Dali, which was super easy and relatively quick to arrive. All three of the athletes below are part of a series. And obviously, I used colors that will coordinate with all my nursery stuff. What's the dilemma? I've made and purchased so many things for the walls in my tiny nursery, I'm not going to have room for it all!

The Best Baby Mobile Ever

I am obsessed with the baby mobile I made. It may not be built to last, made of paper and all, but it sure is pretty. I was inspired by this hot air balloon mobile. Arriving at the final product took a lot of trial and error, as I'll discuss below, but it was all worth it. Instructions below:

You'll need:

Circle cutter - I used this one from Martha Stewart
Spray adhesive
Regular glue stick
Self-healing cutting mat
Silver, red, and white paint pens or markers
Black pen
Xacto knife
bone folder
3.5 inch circle punch
White tape or mailing labels
2 sheets of 12x12 orange bumpy paper - you can find all the paper below at Michael's
6 sheets of 12x12 plain white paper
2 sheets of 12x12 lime green bumpy paper
1 sheet of 12x12 plain black paper
1 sheet of 12x12 vinyl black paper
Red spool of thread
Tape runner and a few refills
Huge quilting loop. Embroidery loop will do if you like
Red velcro ties from any hardware store
Three 2' long white chain - you can get this cut from Home Depot
One 6' long white chain (or whatever, depending on how tall your ceiling is)
One chain link
One hanging mounting kit, like for a plant

Sports balls
Make four 2-D versions of each ball. To make the mobile more sturdy, double the paper up.

Basketball

• Use spray adhesive to glue the backs of the orange bumpy paper.
• Use circle cutter to create four 5.5'' circles.
• Use the background of the circles to create the lines on the basketballs using a black paint pen, as shown here, and set aside to dry. Vary the pattern on all four balls.

Baseball

• Use spray adhesive to glue the backs of 2 sheets of the smooth white paper.
• Use circle cutter to create 4.5'' circles.
• Use the background of the circles to create the lines on the baseballs in red. Make little v's along the lines to look like stitches. Vary the pattern on all four balls.

Tennis ball

• Use spray adhesive to glue the backs of the bumpy lime green paper.
• Use circle cutter to create 4'' circles.
• Use the background of the circles to create the lines. on the tennis balls in silver. Vary the pattern on all four balls.

Golf ball

• Use spray adhesive to glue the backs of two sheets of the smooth white paper.
• Use the 3.5'' punch to create circles.
• Use the silver paint pen to make little dots on all four balls. Start with a line of dots in a smooth curve and fill in the lines above and below in between dots. Set aside to dry.

Hockey puck

• This one is a little complicated and will take trial and error on your part. Because you're using vinyl, you don't have to double up.
• Make one four inch circle out of scrap paper.
• Then, using the 7'' setting on your circle cutter, swoop over the bottom of the circle to create a puck shape.
• Use the background of the large circle to create the 3D effect using the silver marker. You may need to make more than one "trial run" puck. Note all your measurements.
• Once you're done, make four pucks total.

Football

• Use spray adhesive to glue the backs of the bumpy brown paper.
• Make a template of a football, freehand, on cardboard. I made my husband do this.
• Cut the template out using the xacto knife.
• Use the xacto to make four footballs out of the brown bumpy paper.
• Use the tape or labels to make a pattern of the grips on the football. Vary the pattern on the four balls.

Soccer ball

• Use spray adhesive to glue two remaining white sheets of paper together.
• Using the 5.5'' setting on your paper cutter, cut four circles out.
• Also cut four 5.5'' circle out of plain black paper.
• Cut a total of five isosceles triangles out of the edge of each of the black circles. Cut a pentagon out of the middle of the circle. Feel free to mess up here - you should have plenty of black paper. You'll end up with twenty little black triangles and four pentagons.
• Using a glue stick, glue a pentagon to the middle of each circle. Glue a triangle to adjacent to each pentagon point at the edge of the circle.
• Use a black pen and a ruler to connect the point to the top of each triangle.

Hanging and Spinning
The main trial and error occurred here. At first, I tried hanging the balls from dowels, but the balancing thing got to be too difficult. For each ball:

• Use a bone folder to fold every ball in half, evenly.
• Measure 8 pieces of thread the same length. I did an arms length every time - you don't have to be exact. You are going to trim, anyway.
• Along the side of every fold, tape a piece of thread to the top of the ball. So, each ball will have two pieces of thread coming off it.
• Use the tape runner to affix one half of one ball to another half of the ball, creating a 3-D effect.
• Paint the embroidery loop whatever colors you want. Let it dry overnight.
• Neatly wrap the 8 threads from each ball around the inner loop. You can hang all the balls at the same height or vary, like I did.
  
• Place the outer loop around and tighten. Using so many threads will allow the balls to spin!

Mounting

• In a triangle formation, wrap the velcro ties around the embroidery hoop and through a length on each of the three 2' chains. Adjust each arm around the loop for balance.
  
• Use the chain length to attach the other side of the chains to the long chain
• Mount the plant hook from the ceiling
• Voila - done!

Excuse the crazy mounting job shown - I am just really anxious to get pics up, and you know I'm not moved into my new house yet. Also excuse the mess on our guest bed...but at least you know I'm packed for the hospital!