The Craziest Year of All

Happy 2012! With all of the unbelievable things going on in the world, I actually feel weird pairing those two words together. This year is an ominous one to put it mildly, and I have such strong emotions, hopes, and fears when I think of everything that's happening. We have the beginning of a world war developing overseas, and more political outrage and poverty than ever. As I watch the United States gearing up for another election and continue to learn how much the media manipulates and twists information, I see the world is faced with two options: to remain enslaved by rich, powerful people who use very nasty ways to achieve very selfish goals, or break free from participation in these awful lies and wars that serve not the people but the power-hungry corporations and governments whose “care” we are in. Yes, I live in Canada, but things are not much better as our country likewise creeps more toward being a police state. While I am pretty much in the dark on most things political, I have learned to recognize some common tactics used in the media to warp information and attract followers to a certain side. For instance: there is only one man in Congress who insists on telling the truth about what’s happening in the world and exposing the dark agendas of the US political system, truly showing he cares about the people who live in the country and demonstrating respect for the original constitution. He is a sort of hero for thousands, but in every news video I’ve seen (except alternative “truth” news sources, fancy that we need that these days!) he is either called dangerous or crazy, or simply IGNORED, and it is held that he simply can’t win the election “so don’t vote for him”. Except that he actually has many thousands of dedicated supporters who fund his campaign, with no need for corporate sponsorship whatsoever.  I am nervous of what will happen to him even though I desperately want this beautiful man to win the election.  Check out this eerie video of the predictions he made in 2002.

But 2012 also represents the most exciting and transformative year yet in mine and Patrick’s lives. It seems a crazy time to bring life into the world. But in another way, maybe it is necessary. Having a new baby will perhaps remind us to return our energy to our most important goals. For us that is getting rid of any debt, being able to take care of ourselves by growing our own food, and further simplifying our lifestyle, especially now in a way that lets us focus on our baby as he enters the world. There is no time like the present to pursue this goal as rapidly as possible. It is crucial to me that our son sees us being true to ourselves from the beginning, and not sitting back, involuntarily participating in a consumerism and debt based culture. He will someday develop his own world view, but I can’t think of a more important sense of awareness to start him off with than that.

Sore hips and the best Christmas.

24 weeks today.

I am starting to need more sleep again. While my energy returned a bit after I began the second trimester, I now once again require a minimum of 9 hours sleep at night, sometimes more.  I’m not really able to take naps during the day; they don’t seem to fit in anywhere.  Perhaps the need for more sleep also comes from the fitfulness of the sleep I do get. My hips are extremely sore after a few hours of laying down, and I continually catch myself flipped onto my back. The placenta is at the back of my uterus, so it’s not the best thing for the baby’s weight (not that it’s much right now; just over a pound!) to be on top of it; that can slow the baby’s heartbeat.  Plus I feel the weight, and it makes me uncomfortable too! The body pillow that Patrick’s parents gave me helps a lot and makes sleep way more comfortable. Once my belly gets bigger, too, it will be much harder to accidentally roll onto my back. One other thing about bed: it’s gotten way harder to sit up and get out of the bed! I currently sleep on the inside (next to the wall…our room is pretty small) but we will soon have to reverse this so I can get out of bed to go to the bathroom more easily.

The holidays are coming up, and while I don’t really have much time off work, I am for once looking forward with much ease to simply spending time with Patrick and my/ his family. Besides all the generous help with maternity clothes, my family is giving me the most wonderful gift this year, and that is no Christmas gifts between Patrick and I with anyone else. We have wanted to try this for a long time, and this seems to be the ideal year to start. Patrick and I currently have very little time apart from work to do anything but either cook dinner, do laundry, or watch the occasional movie. Patrick more so than me, as my energy level makes me call it quits on cleaning up more quickly. He works more hours than me in the first place, and has been incredible about doing dishes every single day, as my back gets sore so quickly and I simply can’t seem to muster the energy to do more than a few sink-fulls a week.  So for the holidays, we are doing away with the stress of being out and about among the masses of consumers, and settling in, perhaps, to an actually clean and orderly home for some happy and quiet cooking, game playing, movie watching, reading and knitting time among our favourite people.  My cousin will be visiting after a year away in Alberta, which makes things even more exciting. A wonderful holiday indeed!

I am about 115 pounds. I admit that sometimes, especially at work, I don’t take the time to snack quite as often as I should. Though I am within the perimeters of a healthy weight gain, I am still near the bottom end, so have been trying to up my calorie intake. So far today I’ve had oatmeal with dried fruit, hot chocolate made with organic soymilk, and two pieces of toast with peanut butter on one and nutritional yeast on the other. For lunch I plan to have leftover parsnip and celeriac soup, crackers and hummus, and for snacks a Larabar and a smoothie with blueberries, banana, fruit/veg juice and flax oil. I’m not sure how easy it will be to gain weight in the third trimester, as I’ve heard accounts of women both being more hungry and less hungry. Guess I’ll eat up while I can! Geez, I sound weird listing everything I’m eating! Pregnancy makes you do strange things.

I arranged for us to begin taking prenatal classes in January with Public Health. We start either on the 12^th or the 31^st. I really can’t believe how fast everything is moving. Have I really been pregnant for almost 6 months? This little one just doesn’t stop growing, and before I know it he’s going to be here and continuing his next stage of growth.

Goodnight moon!

The Joys of Knitting

Oh, Ravelry, what would I do without you?
As the wind gets colder and the mornings frostier, it is in my nature to want to make things to stay warm. This winter will be more fun than maybe any other I've had, with the opportunity to knit little garments for my babelet.

An opinionated co-worker not-so-politely informed me that baby clothes are pretty cheap to buy these days. While not true in the case of mainstream babywear, it is true that there are many second hand options for much less money. I will indeed be hitting up the local thrift and second-hand clothing stores, keeping my out for original and cute things. But why in the world would I want to deny myself the chance to fashion my own uniquely stylish get-up when it gives me such a huge thrill? There is something incredibly soothing about the repetitive work of knitting that satisfies me on many levels: a level of self sufficiency, being part of the creation process of the "things" I am introducing into my child's life that will formulate his/her sense of familiarity and home, and of course the pure, creative satisfaction that can only come from putting in the work to make something yourself. It's the same feeling that comes from building something that you need in your home to make it more functional, or growing your own vegetables and cooking with them. I feel like this is a growing movement among my generation; a movement stemming from a feeling of being overwhelmed by the blatent consumer culture that has been forced upon us, making us think we can have anything any time we want it. It is a throw back to the days when the hard work and elbow grease we had to engage in was for something directly related to our needs, instead of the once-removed trend of working for money, which has become the main answer to having the things one needs and wants. Meanwhile, our skills at helping ourselves to survive independently have all but dissappeared, as there are now trained professionals who have paid to go through the schooling to provide these services to everyone. What would we do if money dissappeared suddenly? I think it's no exaggeration to say that we would be in a bad way.

So while knitting is a hobby that I do purely for the love of it, it means more than that to me. It is, in fact, one of the ways in which I am a non-participant in societal practices I believe are hurting us and causing us dissatisfaction, and a way in which I am a particpant in something I believe is a positive change for the world I live in, and establishing habits in my life that make me feel whole and alive.

Here is my first baby project, one I found on Ravelry. Here is the pattern.

This one I haven't embarked on yet, but am in LOVE with it! It's perfect! Here's the link.
Note: You must be a member of Ravelry to view the pattern.