Homemade Snoogle

A friend and I were discussing pregnancy sleep and she insisted to me that a full body pillow is worth the money for the last few months of pregnancy.  The internet seems to agree.  All over I found glowing reviews for the Snoogle Total Body Pillow.  A strange looking thing you have to admit.

I am not to the point of needing an excessive number of pillows yet, but I remember needing 4 or 5 of them when I was pregnant with Natalie and looking ahead to the sleepless pre-baby nights, I started thinking I might need to look into this wonder-pillow.  The Snoogle is supposed to take the place of 5 regular pillows.  It costs about $60. That is a little too pricey for me to "just see" if it does the trick.  So I decided to try to make one myself.

I could not find a pattern online, so I printed off a picture and made some guesses for the curves (the dimensions online said it is 60 inches long) and this is what I created:

Like how I used the picture to patch up the pattern?

I cut the pieces out of an old bed sheet.  It's actually a sheet we received as a wedding gift, the flat sheet held up better than the fitted one.

Here is the sewn-up-turned-right-side-out-unstuffed-homemade Snoogle.

Here is the stuffed Snoogle. I bought 5 cheap pillows and cut them open and used their stuffing.

And here is Annalise showing one way to sleep in it.  Of course it doesn't curl all the way up on me, but this is the basic idea - the bottom piece goes between your knees - having my knees touch while I sleep usually doesn't bother me, but while I am pregnant, I prefer to have a cushion between them.  Being pregnant makes you pretty picky in some ways!

So far (23 weeks) I am sleeping ok with my regular 2 pillows.  The Snoogle takes up a lot of space in our queen sized bed, so I think it will come down to space vs. comfort.  From Rob's perspective, I think that if this thing keeps me from tossing so much, he will not mind the diminished space.

Since I used an old sheet and had thread, I only had to buy pillows, the cost was $12.50 plus tax.  I am planning to make a removable case with another sheet I have in my fabric stash.  I have not decided how to make the case.  The company sells 2 versions - one is a one piece case and the other is two pieces that overlap.  The reviews overwhelmingly give putting on the case as the biggest con this pillow has.  Evidently it's a character building experience.

So I guess time will tell if this is the amazing cure-all it claims to be, but making it myself is pretty gratifying all on its own :)  After making the case, I want to tackle making a new cover for the high chair.  Crafting/Nesting...call it what you will!

A Girl with a Headband

(The little scribbles on the top left side are her signature.)

Drawing the Koala

I found a little workbook at Goodwill about different countries.  It is a Kindergarten/First Grade level book and simple to the point of pointlessness on it's own, but as a springboard, it's a nice little book.  Annalise is going through it and we are looking at one country each week - this week was Australia, so after she did the Australia page, she watched a YouTube about Kangaroos, visited the Koala at the zoo, and figured out (roughly) what time it is in Australia compared to here.  Clearly, with a subject like Australia we could go on and on, but the point of the workbook is an overview of the world, plus she is eager to move on to Brazil next week.

Last week it was Argentina (they go in alphabetical order) so we had authentic Argentinean empanadas from a bakery in Kendall.  I'm not sure how much more Argentinean they were there than the ones at the Farm Store on Old Cutler Road.  She didn't care for them (ours were chicken), but I thought they were good.

 Annalise likes to make silly faces for the camera!

8 1/2

I have been warning the kids that we will be toning down our half birthday observances.  Natalie's half birthday is December 23 - a day we are usually on the road, so she is going to get left out every year and when there are 4 kid birthdays to celebrate, we won't need so much to jazz up the birthday-less part of the year.  There won't be much of the year where it won't be almost someone's birthday!  But we went ahead and made a cake to celebrate Caleb's turning 8 1/2.  I made a whole cake because...well, I wanted to :)

3 smiles - it can be done!

His half birthday was yesterday, but we ate the cake today.   Here are a couple of other pics from today.

Meredith Inspired - I suggested to Caleb he make a leprechaun trap and this is it.

Reading!

A Mess or Two

Today was one of those days that for no particular reason, I carried my camera in my pocket.  The result...documentation.  It was a messy day.

Painting a potato.

The great thing about today was that we got all of our school work done by 2:30 - in spite of not having adjusted to the time change and taking a long walk before breakfast (meaning we didn't get started until 10).  I added a couple of new items to our checklists this week and so far they are working out.  I'm so proud of my big kids who have been diligent to finish their independent work before lunch.  I'm also amazed at Caleb, who has suddenly progressed in reading far beyond what I expected.  Finishing early is actually why they had time to make all these messes!

The other side of 20 weeks

Caleb took this picture of me last night while we were walking.  I am posting it mostly because I like how my new glasses look in this picture and I don't like how they look in the other one!  To say nothing of my belly!  However, I think I prefer this picture with me turned the other way, so maybe I've been facing the wrong way all along!

Now that I'm at the halfway point, I'm starting to think about what we might need.  Actually I'm starting to think I need to start to think about it.  Most of the time, I don't want to think about all the "stuff" newborn babies need.  Really...I don't think they need that much.  They don't do that much - eat, sleep, pee, poop, so theoretically we just need to cover those bases.

Eat - I think we're covered.

Sleep - we'll have to acquire a bassinet or equivalent (we have never owned one, but never lacked one either, I am not too worried about this now as I do not want one to maneuver around until we need it).

The rest - we are partially ready.  We have cloth diapered since Annalise was about 8 months old.  And by we I mean I because Rob doesn't cloth diaper.  Cloth diapering is not so complicated as you might think.  My system is prefolds (available at Target - a little over a dollar apiece, but I already have plenty), a Snappi, and a cover - I made some fleece covers once upon a time and I liked them best, but never got around to making more.  I've also used the plastic covers.  What's new is I had Rob buy a small washboard at a feed store to scrub diapers that need scrubbing.  It is small enough to fit in the bathroom sink and works like a charm!  When we are out and about and at night, we use disposable diapers.  We are not militant cloth diaper-ers.

This will be our first baby since Caleb to not have a sibling in diapers at the same time.

We'll have to get a new infant carseat and possibly a stroller.  I have a jogging stroller that a friend handed down to me, but I don't jog and it is heavier than I like for general use.  In spite of having two older sisters, we'll need some clothes, but not much.  The littlest things I gave to a friend with a baby girl, reasoning that they weren't doing anyone any good mouldering in our garage - and reasoning that we are usually half buried in hand-me-downs anyway!  Toys...good grief!  We do not need more toys!  Natalie never played with baby toys, she went straight for the Barbie dolls.


For the other kids, I had a bouncy seat, but I'm not planning to have one this time.  Somehow baby low to the ground seemed good with fewer kids, but dangerous now.

I'm sure I'm forgetting something!   Oh yes, I am...she needs a name!

20 Weeks

It is hard to believe that I'm already at 20 weeks!  It has all gone so fast.  That is the halfway point of pregnancy usually, but since I know I will not go to 40 weeks, I am already at least a few days into the 2nd half.

• Baby is the size of a banana! 
• I trusted the genetic blood test, honestly, so I believed it was a girl, but the anatomy ultrasound reconfirmed that it is :)
• I've been much more tired this trimester than I expected to be.  Probably overdoing it.  I scaled back a lot the first trimester and as soon as that first wave of energy hit, I was eager to get back to business, but life with 3 kids who don't nap is pretty busy, so I start feeling worn out late afternoon.  Sleep has been decent. 
• July 16 is 129 days away.  That sounds longer than 18 1/2 weeks.
• 129 days ago was October 30.  We were in Arkansas and I was taking pictures of lichen and wheel bugs...and two sweet little girls in grass skirts!

•  As in my past pregnancies, I have been reading a lot - since Christmas, I've read 8 novels, a book of short stories (Sherlock Holmes), and a book about pregnancy statistics - not a lot for "normal" people, but a lot for me basically any time in the last 8 years!

The pregnancy book I read is called Expecting Better by Emily Oster.  It was really fascinating and her writing was actually funny.  Oster is an economics professor (and new mother.)  It truly is a book about statistics and how to use your knowledge of them to make basic decisions while pregnant.  For me the most eye opening part was that statistically, you are more likely to be exposed to toxoplasmosis from gardening than from changing cat litter.  The actual risk from getting from a cat is very low.   And we don't have a cat, but here I am teaching a course on botany!

Seriously, I had outdoor cats as a child and have worked in the dirt a lot, so it is likely that I have already been exposed to toxoplasmosis in the past and am immune.  It doesn't make you very sick (although it is dangerous for unborn babies), so you can have it and not even know.  Of course I don't know for sure.  But maybe I'll do a little less gardening in the next few months!

Scheduling

 I love how these pictures turned out!  We took a field trip to the Miami Science Museum in our last week of "summer" break.

Monday we are getting back to school.  Although we stopped our school checklists abruptly, our daily routines slowly became less and less defined.  I miss that, but I feel overwhelmed at trying to jump back into structure.  I have decided that we don't have to - or at least we won't.  We will just start with the basics and add on and modify things until it fits.  (If that ever happens!)

I was happy with our independent work checklists, break-time routine, weekly schedules, and work storage.  I don't plan to change any of that.  One element that I have never figured out to my satisfaction is physical education.  The problem, simply, is the weather.  Right now, the weather isn't a big problem, but it is showing hints of what it will be.  Do we get up super early and go outside right away?  Do we try to get some work done first?  At dawn and dusk - mosquitoes are bad, midday the sun is too much.  Although we have enjoyed our beautiful winter weather, our last cold front was...not that cold.  And the kids all have multiple mosquito bites - February mosquitoes!!!  This is going to take some thinking...

My class at PEP is nearing it's close.  We have 4 weeks left.  I am glad for it to end - because I'll be glad to have the prep time back, but I have enjoyed teaching the 3rd and 4th graders.  It is so much easier than the little kids.  We just did photosynthesis (something I thought I understood until I started planning for that lesson!) and have stems, roots and trees left to go.

Natalie at the Science Museum