Knitted Things & The Wonderful World of Etsy

I’m currently sitting here, impressed with two very amazing things. One of those things is apple butter from Patterson Farms in Ohio (more on this later in the week), the other is an online store called Etsy. 

Is There Anything Cuter than This Hat?

If you’ve been living in a closet for the last 5 years like I have then you don’t know that Etsy is a website dedicated to re-inventing the way consumers interact with producers. Through this companies vision consumers are able to interact directly with the creator of hand-made products ranging from paintings and wooden bowls to knitted clothes, and Christmas decorations.  There are hundreds of thousands of people around the world who hand-make items and then sell them in their online Etsy store to people just like you and I (well, maybe like you, I’m just weird).

One of those hundreds of thousands of people is my friend Lindsey who knits children and toddlers headgear, along with handmade drawstring backpacks.  I’m very impressed with the quality of work my friend Lindsey does when it comes to knitting. There is no way on planet earth that I could ever create the adorable and professional quality stuff this woman is able to churn out ( I know I've tried). I love having her store available to me online, because she lives far away, and it makes it easy for me to see what she has going on and to pick items out. It’s also great because even if I didn’t know her personally I would still be able to contact her (the creator) directly and ask for something specific. Like for instance let’s say that I really like a hat she has but I also want matching gloves and a scarf, well now that’s possible.  It’s also exactly what I’ve decided to order if you were beginning to get curious. It was really hard for me to decide what I was going to order, but after realizing I don’t know the sex of the new baby, and my daughter requires winter gear I decided to go with the the beanie pictured at right, with matching gloves and scarf of course. After the baby is born I am certain to be back for more!

If you want to check out Lindsey's Boutique on Etsy just click the link below.

To Name Or Not To Name

There are so many things that you have to do when preparing for a a baby, and I’m not talking about picking out nursery sets. I’m talking the nitty gritty important stuff. These are the kind of things that moms and dads usually have figured out pretty early on in pregnancy. This list of very important things includes; deciding where you’ll have your baby, either at home or in a hospital, who will help you give birth your baby, having an actual home to have your baby in incase you did decide to have  a home-birth, and of course baby name(s). So let’s see how I stack up when it comes to that list of required items.

Photo Copyright BabyCenter.com

Where will you have your baby:  At home, got this one covered.

Do you have a home to have your baby in: Yes and no, we’re selling our house and moving to Ohio. We’ll be boarding with the in-laws until we’re able to get our own house.

Who will help you give birth to your baby: Now that is a very interesting question. I did meet a midwife in Ohio that is willing to take us on, so it’s possible that this question does have a concrete answer.

Baby Names: Ugh, nothing sounds right yet. I repeat,

N-O-T-H-I-N-G!

I know what your thinking, and honestly I am less worried about where, how, when and with whom I’ll be giving birth than I am with naming this baby.  The reason for this is that a name is everything to who a person is. Think about it, there are probably plenty of names out there you don’t like just because you don’t like a person you knew who had that name. It’s very important for me that we choose a name for our son or daughter that has a meaning behind it, because people usually become what you tell them they are. 

I am beginning to believe that I am going to end up one of those parents who takes  an entire week postpartum to name their kid after it’s been born.  I once knew a family that waited 2 weeks after their baby was born to have a naming party where they officially named and dedicated him. Part of me finds this odd probably because of my desperate need to have a name already picked out for the moment this little one is earth side, but another part of me understands the tradition of waiting to name your child.  It may not look like it, but I do have some American Indian blood running through my veins and I’ve always thought the Native American tradition for naming babies was pretty cool. My great grandmothers name was Leaning Bush, appealing, maybe not, but I’m sure it involved some significant event in her life.

So here I am, stuck at a crossroads, which one I don’t know,  because as you’ve by now discovered I’m not good at picking names. There is such a big part of me that wants to have a name for the first time I see this little ones face, and another part of me feels like maybe we should wait. Maybe waiting will allow this little one to show us a name of it’s own that we’d never expected.