Dreams of Summer.....

 

 

Blueberry Peach Cobbler....

My First DIY Reuphostery Attempt

 I enjoy sewing and crafting even though I'm something of a learn-as-you-go hack. I'm so thankful to my Grandma Morgan who taught my mom to sew after she married my dad. What a great mother-in-law! And my mom taught me to sew (although I wish I would have had her teach me more!!) So I know some basics and have learned more through trial-and-error. If you know me, you know I'm pretty much a wing-it-and-see-how-it-goes sort of person, rather than a careful planner. That's why I'm a lot more successful at crafting than at sewing clothes that actually fit people!

Anyway, reupholstering has appealed to me more and more as we furnish our home and I read those DIY, before-and-after blogs of people who take nasty pieces of furniture off the curbs and turn them into things you'd see in a home decor magazine. My thought has been, "I could do that, I mean how hard could it be?"

So when Richard scored this antique rocking chair from a resident whose sewer he was fixing, I was pretty keen to give reupholstery a go. (Rocker was bought for $40 cash!!)

So I ripped off the seat fabric and committed myself to reupholstering it. I decided to leave the springs, even though the middle one was a bit gimpy, because redoing that seemed a bit ambitious, even for me. I figured I'd just get some foam to put over it then tack down some fabric and viola~! New chair. (Remember I said I'm not big into preplanning).

Well, I went to Joann's to get some foam and tacks, and thought I'd better just take a peak at an upholstery book for reference. Again, not big on getting my ducks in a row. After skimming 2 or 3 books I realized I needed more materials than I originally thought, in the form of burlap and batting. No biggie. I also stocked up on glue stick for the hot glue gun, figuring I'd probably end up using it.

***WARNING*** This is in no way a tutorial! Please do not follow any of these steps if you want to reupholster anything. I photo journaled this project for my own pleasure, but you should think of it more as a guide of what NOT to do. Thank you.

I forgot to take a picture before I ripped off the disgusting, ancient tapestry and stained, smelly stuffing of the seat. But you can see the fabric is not super awesome. And it smelled very strongly like old person.

My book skimming told me I should pull out all the old tacks and nails. Clementine was my helper through most of this project.

See? Look how good she helps! Also notice how [relatively] clean my workspace was at the beginning of this project. I'm also not big on "clean up as you go", plus I let the kids scatter toys everywhere so they'd stay out of my hair, so it's not pretty at the end!

After all the old nails are out and I sanded down the rough spots, I tacked burlap down over the springs. From my extensive research I learned that the foam will disintegrate if you don't do this. Oh, and I used Richard's handy dandy staple gun for this. Must Have!!

Then I stapled down 2" thick foam over the burlap. FYI, foam is expensive. Joann's had it 50% off and the two pieces still cost me just under $15. That seems like a lot.

Then finally the batting goes on top of the foam to sort of smooth it out. Again, the staple gun.

And here is the new fabric! I've had this for a long time...got in on clearance thinking it would be great for some project or other and it was a score for like $10. Absolutely perfect for this chair! Which just goes to show you the old adage is true that you should always buy beautiful fabric that's on sale even if you don't have a project in mind for it. That is an old adage, right?

I used little upholstery tack thingies to attach the fabric. The corners were a little tricky, as I couldn't remember exactly the technique the book showed...but I winged it and it turned out fine. And comfy!! Can't feel the gimpy spring at all.

So far so good. And the tornado has passed through the room once. See the dead dog?

Here's the nasty stuffing that was under the old tapestry. Ew.

I left this webbing because it was in pretty good shape and I hadn't bought any new webbing.

This was the only structural damage to the wood of the chair. There's that sad crack there, but my awesome hubby fixed it up good for me! Otherwise this is a super solid chair.

Burlap over the webbing.

First I tried just a couple layers of batting over the burlap because the foam seemed like it'd be too thick. But when you sat in the chair you could really feel the ridge of wood along the bottom of your back, so I tore that out and went with the foam.

I think the 2" foam really was too thick, and it was hard to staple down to this part of the frame. But I got 'er done along with the batting. Again, loving the staple gun!!

Oh, and I did the back of the chair before the front because it was easier. No batting or foam, it just laid across the webbing. The shape of the top was a little tricky, and you can see the slight wonkiness of it, but I figured it would be fine once I put the braid over it.

So here's the front after I got the fabric on. This is my least favorite part of the whole thing because you can see it's totally puckery. I just had trouble getting it over that thick foam and, well, I was winging it. But it's okay. As Richard always says, "Do we look like the kind of people who have to have everything perfect?"

I hot glued the trim on and I really like that part. I burned two of my fingers like crazy but it was so easy putting the braid on.

Close up. The braid really finishes it off nicely. That's my favorite part, I think.

The chair is MUCH more comfortable now, not all squishy and gross like before. The back is firm but doesn't stick out too much, which I was worried about. Maybe the puckers will smooth out a bit after it gets sat in for a while. All-in-all I'm happy with how it turned out!

So there it is, my first reupholstery job. Just like always, I learned a lot and I think I'll be able to do a slightly better job next time. Maybe after 4 or 5 funny looking pieces of furniture we'll have something that's a true gem! In the mean time, I am happy with this chair, pumped that it's really usable now and that the whole thing cost $90! The fabric is really gorgeous and Richard really loves it too. That makes me the happiest of all.

The Weather Outside is Frightful....

Ice dams on the roof. Twenty feet of snow everywhere. Plowing at 2am. Driving 4 kids across town every morning. Missing fun things because of bad weather. Days and days of below-zero weather. Fender-benders. This is our life in a Minnesota winter right now.... I'm sure most of you can commiserate!

Grace voluntarily went out and shoveled a path to the garage and the compost bin! What a girl.

Richard's job with the city means he has a plow route and so far this winter he has had days and days and days of plowing, many times starting between 2 and 4 am. Yuck. And when he's done working, he comes home and shovels or clears off the roof.

Richard's Plow

I told him I'd take care of the shoveling while he's out plowing.

I got half of the driveway shoveled and he went and bought a snow blower.

Smart man.

I miss grilling on the deck and sipping wine in the evenings watching the stars... 

I feel like complaining. A lot. So I'll just end it here.

Breastfeeding Beyond Infancy

Almost 12 years ago, I was a single 20-year-old mother living with family friends and figuring out how to take care of a little baby. I was working full time. I was not breastfeeding. There are a lot of other things I could say about that time, but that's a different post. What I want to bring up about that time is that the wonderful, generous, loving family who was letting me live in their basement with my 3-month old baby for free had some parenting practices that I thought a little weird.

They had a Family Bed. The mom nursed her children until they were 3 years old. The youngest of their three children was about 3 years old when I lived with them and she was the most articulate and loquacious toddler I had ever met. To me there was something very disconcerting about hearing her talk in complex and complete sentences, using words like "invalid", "governess", and "disagreeable" (true!!) one minute, and then having "Milk and Cuddles" the next. It just seemed "wrong" to me, though I couldn't make an argument as to WHY it was wrong (can anyone say cultural programming?) and I remember confidently (and arrogantly) pronouncing, "If they're old enough to ask for it they're too old to nurse!" To my mind, nothing could be worse than growing up and being able to remember nursing. Eeeew!

Fast forward 6 years. Moses is born, and I have something of a "natural parenting" mindset, but it has yet to flesh out. We're using cloth diapers, I carry him in a sling, he sleeps in bed with us and I know I'll nurse him for a year. Then he turns one. He's no where near being ready to wean. In fact, he still seems like - he still is -  a baby in most ways and I see no reason to put him through the misery that weaning would entail, any more than I would suddenly insist that he start using the toilet instead of going in his diapers. He's just not ready!

We decide to "play it by ear." At 20 months old his little brother is born. Instead of being pushed off Mama's lap, he gets to nurse with this new little sibling. They share Mama. Moses holds his brother's hand and rubs his head as they tandem nurse. The jealous older sibling rages I've been dreading never happen. They love each other! (Until Judah becomes a toddler, then we have a whole other ball of wax to deal with....)

Now Moses is two. He's still nursing for naps, bedtime, anytime he gets hurt, anytime he's scared, anytime he goes through something emotionally difficult, anytime he needs connection. He's not ready to wean and I see no reason to insist that he does, any more than I would insist that he put himself to bed at night.

Finally it's a couple months before Moses turns three. I've been tandem nursing for over a year. I'm pregnant again. I cannot handle the thought of tandem nursing through a whole pregnancy. Moses is still nursing at bedtime and naptime and various other times during the day, as is Judah. I decide IT'S TIME. HE'S READY! The kid is not going to wean himself, but he's emotionally ready to handle the change. He's ready to move on to forms of comfort and connection that do not involve nursing. 

I introduce the concept of "nums are for night-night." This means we only nurse at bedtime. With only a little fuss, he accepts that boundary. So far so good. Several weeks go by during which I'm preparing him for the change. "Soon you will be done with nums! You're a big boy and we're going to give the nums to Judah and the new baby. Mama will still cuddle you and read you stories." Does he understand what's coming? I'm not sure, but one night I tell him he's all done with nums. He's sad. He cries. I cuddle him and read him a story. It's not as good as nums, but he does go to sleep. For about a week he is sad when I tell him no nums. A few times he gets hurt and I let him have some nums, but mostly I spend a lot of time cuddling and connecting with him. Then it's over! He's weaned! He stops being sad at night and stops asking for nums. Once or twice he asks and I tell him sure and he says, "I guess no." There were no tantrums, no acting out, no sobbing hysterically. He cried a little here and there, but he pretty much accepted it and moved on with no hard feelings. 

All in all, Moses and I had a beautiful and satisfying nursing relationship. Besides giving him perfect nutrition and great immune defense (he's always been super healthy - much more so than Grace ever was!), nursing gave Moses a sense of comfort when life got scary, it calmed him down when his feelings got too intense, it lulled him to sleep, and it gave him the connection he always needed after he'd been out exploring the world. Nursing kept me physically available to Moses. I wonder how much less touch and physical connection we would have had in those 3 years if I hadn't nursed him. I see it now, how nursing Judah and Clementine forces me to touch and hold and connect with them - forces in a good way, in a I-can't-get-too-busy-and-just-forget-to-cuddle-my-kids way. And now that Moses isn't nursing, I do

So here I am, a mom who nurses her kids to 3 years old. Is it gross? No. Is it "wrong"? No. Was I uninformed and naive and arrogantly passing judgment on something based solely on unexamined cultural biases? Yep, pretty much. And although I'm not hugely outspoken about my extended breastfeeding, neither am I ashamed of it, at all. So just in case you think breastfeeding past a year is weird or gross, or maybe you don't want to wean your 1-year-old but don't know anyone who's nursed that long, I'm sharing my story and some really good resources. And you know what? I hope my kids do remember nursing, and how incredibly special it was. I'm proud to have given 3 of my children such a precious gift.

P.S. - Judah turns three in February and we're in the weaning process. He's handling it differently than Moses did (they are SUCH different kids...), but he also is accepting it without tantrums or despair or sobbing. He's ready too.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

A great place to start: Kellymom Breastfeeding Past Infancy Fact Sheet

If you think it's gross, read this: Not Just for Babies: 10 Good Reasons to Breastfeed Your Toddler

References, links, common concerns and tips on parenting a nursing toddler: Kellymom Nursing After the First Year

The best book under the sun for anyone who nurses past a year:

Mothering Your Nursing Toddler. This book has saved my sanity and changed how I view mothering. I would love to loan it out, but it's really, really worth owning.

"My first-born, Emma, was 14 months old. I had enrolled in a course, and, with the feeling of my life opening up again, had begun to wean. It was at that time that I read a book called Mothering Your Nursing Toddler. Starting with the assumption that extended breastfeeding is satisfying for both mother and child, the author, Norma Jane Bumgarner writes of the security, confidence and self-esteem that we give our children when we allow them to nurse, and wean, according to their own schedule. She certainly convinced me, and Emma and I went on to nurse happily for three more years.
Re-reading the book six years later, her message seems less radical. My three keen nurslings have, to me, well proven the benefits of an extended breastfeeding relationship, with a physical resilience and emotional independence that comes, I believe, from the access to loving arms and the secure base that breastfeeding provides. Over the years I have also learned about the more tangible advantages of extended nursing..."
The Pleasure of Extended Breastfeeding by Sarah J. Buckley

A super cool video on extended breastfeeding. I big puffy heart love this video:

This is a goldmine, a serious goldmine: LLLI Nursing Past One Year Articles

For those who might feel isolated, you're not alone: Breastfeeding Until Age 3, 4 or 5: More common than you think?

Oh the things I've heard about breastfeeding past a year. It helps to know: Dr. Sears - Handling the Criticism

Other moms talk about nursing past a year: Health Happy Roundup: Extended Breastfeeding

Every one of these is worth reading start to finish: Mothering.com Breastfeeding Past Infancy Articles

One of the first articles I read about extended breastfeeding: Breastfeed a Toddler? Why on Earth?

Think there's no point in nursing past a year? You couldn't be more wrong: Extended Breastfeeding's Benefits

This one speaks for itself:Breastfeeding Beyond a Year: Exploring benefits, cultural influences, and more

This article broke my heart and renewed my confidence all at the same time. It's not a list of the research and benefits, but to my mind it's even more convincing: A Nursing Triad

{this moment}

{this moment} - A Friday ritual.  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, visit Soulemama to leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see.

Seven Years of Pure, Unadulterated Bliss!!

 Our Wedding, 12.19.03

Seven years later....

I realized we have very few pictures of the two of us together...not sure why, probably because we're so busy taking pictures of this brood of children that has sprung up around us!

Also it's hard to take pictures of yourself. 

But now we have this awesome new iMac with PhotoBooth, so here's our 7 year anniversary pictures!

Finally some picture of just the two of us....mostly.....

 

So Happy 7th Anniversary to my Dear and Loving Husband.

I love you!!