Happy New Year / 2015 wrap up #1 / still here

Someone asked today yesterday if I'm still blogging.

I answered very truthfully that I have to have done something to blog about it.

And while I am technically doing something every day, I don't have the time or inclination to make this into a diary of daily baby care-taking survival.

Here's the truth: this baby is hard. Healthy, fit, determined to thrive, all those good things. But so very challenging for care takers. We've found that the best adult to baby ratio is approximately 6:1. Those kinds of days are wonderful but not as common as I'd like. Reality is a lot more 1:1 time, which leads to both parties being a little ragged.

Now that I'm getting a few more hours of sleep at night and no longer need to go to sleep at 6 with the baby, my husband and I are working hard to get life to a point where I am not going to bed with the baby every night. That would give me approximately 2 hours of 'just for me' time three nights a week. Written out like that, it seems like hardly any time, but it will be a dramatic change when we get there.

I haven't had a chance to finish my October 2014-2015 reading year write up. And my October 2015-2016 list is depressingly short so far: 2 books, neither of which has yet received my customary "book report." (Those average 1.5 hours per book.) I deeply miss taking the time to really think about what I've read. I'm already noticing a difference in how much I retain and how critically I think about the writing and story.

Every day is a step towards baby becoming a little more independent and me getting a little more free time (I've managed to brush my teeth every day this week, and I think I even washed my hair every day too), but I still feel miles away from getting time to do optional projects like quilting.

Here's what I did accomplished in 2015 calendar year:

Finished 4 quilts

Finished 1 mini quilt:

Finished up 1 quilt with/for the quilt group:

And helped make a second (though it was quilted and finished by someone else)

Read 45 books
Rearranged the house twice
Built my first Ikea pieces
Oversaw a secret santa exchange
Had a baby

Sewed, dyed, and crafted things for the baby

Assembled and gave 3 Welcome Baby packages

Got my scraps way more organized

(under 3" sorted by color, over 3" sorted by size, all locked up in bins. Binding remnants in a bin. Selvages in a basket. It's looking good, except I can't find my brown binding remnant -- which is needed for finishing up a quilt!)

Made progress but didn't finish:

(3 of these tops are finished but have no backs yet, 2 are quilted and just need bound, 1 is partly cut out -- more on that later)


Being unable to quilt much, I spent more time than ever on Pinterest thinking about projects. I've begun choosing patterns and possible fabrics for a couple upcoming Welcome Baby quilt/s I think I need to get made soon(ish) -- though I have stashed backups that will work for most of these projects if life doesn't allow that luxury. I'd really like to make one of them 'new' and intentional, but if I just can't make it happen, I'm not at a complete loss. And there are a few smaller (but possibly just as labor intensive) projects I'd like to start on as time allows -- those quiet/busy books all look amazing, but the time that goes into them!

I have high hopes for a slow progress in 2016. Obviously I've got some works in progress that I could start taking steps on (and some older works in progress that have sat neglected for far too long). I hope to take a bit bite out of some of my '2015 progress but unfinished' projects first -- starting with binding the panda quilt, then finishing the mini quilt.

Here's to 2016 -- and not just surviving, but thriving all around!