Finale

Hello dear readers - I'm signing off here at La Mere de Boheme. My posts have become infrequent and random and while I love having space to write it out and work it out online, I'm afraid I need to close up shop. I have another blog where I have daily posts and you'll still be able to find me there. Please stop by and say hello when you have a chance: La Maison Boheme. Thanks again for sticking with me through the last year and a half. I've enjoyed every minute of it!

Cheers and all the best,
Sarah

I'll see you over at La Maison Boheme!

Sewing for Baby

Oh, it sure feels good to start and finish a weekend project. Usually, I begin a project with gusto and get sidetracked by something. Then three months later I pick it up out of shame and do a half-assed job finishing it up. Not this time, my friends! Here is the diaper bag I stitched up for myself this weekend. I used the Amy Butler 'Birdie Sling' pattern. I particularly love the fabric I found for the handle. It's a dictionary print with words like "faith", "noble", "peace", "courage", "hope", followed by their actual definition. I thought this would be a good print for someone who is about to be lugging an infant around. You like?

Puddle Jumping

Walker and I are off to Scotland tomorrow. As you can imagine, I'm a little trepidatious about taking an international flight with a toddler... alone. Also being a little more than pregnant poses its own challenges. I'm confident, though, that Walker and I will both behave and make it through the 13 hour ordeal in tact. It seems that being born into this family means putting your rear end on a plane every four or five months. Walker has always handled flying with grace and only minimal tears. We'll spend two weeks with my Dad in the house above, overlooking the bay in Gardenstown, Scotland. I'm packing only one bag for the two of us and all the fixings for cake balls. Its time someone brought this famous Texas treat to the UK. I'm going to be the one to do it! Bon Voyage!

Typography

My Dad just sent this to me. We're both writers and word lovers, so this really tickles our fancy. Not only is this, like, a totally fabulous poem, it is also, like, awesomely made and laid out, ya know? Enjoy!

Typography from Ronnie Bruce on Vimeo.

Mother's Day Proclamation

"Fisherman's Wife" by Rie Munoz of Juneau, Alaska

Arise then...women of this day!
Arise, all women who have hearts!
Whether your baptism be of water or of tears!
Say firmly:
"We will not have questions answered by irrelevant agencies,
Our husbands will not come to us, reeking with carnage,
For caresses and applause.
Our sons shall not be taken from us to unlearn
All that we have been able to teach them of charity, mercy and patience.
We, the women of one country,
Will be too tender of those of another country
To allow our sons to be trained to injure theirs."

From the bosom of a devastated Earth a voice goes up with
Our own. It says: "Disarm! Disarm!
The sword of murder is not the balance of justice."
Blood does not wipe out dishonor,
Nor violence indicate possession.
As men have often forsaken the plough and the anvil
At the summons of war,
Let women now leave all that may be left of home
For a great and earnest day of counsel.
Let them meet first, as women, to bewail and commemorate the dead.
Let them solemnly take counsel with each other as to the means
Whereby the great human family can live in peace...
Each bearing after his own time the sacred impress, not of Caesar,
But of God -
In the name of womanhood and humanity, I earnestly ask
That a general congress of women without limit of nationality,
May be appointed and held at someplace deemed most convenient
And the earliest period consistent with its objects,
To promote the alliance of the different nationalities,
The amicable settlement of international questions,
The great and general interests of peace.

-Julia Ward Howe 1870

Tick Tock

I'm 28 weeks pregnant and in my final trimester. I'm just beginning to wrap my head around the fact that my time - at least time before baby number two arrives - is limited. I have had a great pregnancy until now and I don't expect that to change. Aside from the few normal aches and pains, I've been feeling really lovely! But I remember those last 6-8 weeks before Walker was born - the sleeping issues, the walking issues, the crankiness, the exhaustion, etc... and I'm just a little anxious about doing that again. This time I'll be doing it with a toddler and without the constant help of my husband who will be elsewhere for a theater job. Don't worry, he'll be back before I deliver, but things are going to get exponentially tougher in the weeks to come. Luckily, I have the help of friends and visiting family. I'm really curious to see how this all plays out. One day at a time, yeah?

Outside

Spring in Dallas is pretty awesome. I've been outside everyday enjoying the blooms and greenery and pollen. My kid and I have both been hoarse and snotty what with all the crazy seed stuff floating through the air, but its worth it. I've got sweet peas (my mother's favorite flower) popping up on my back patio and sweet broom exploding in the back yard. Birdies and creatures of all sorts visit us on the patio like we're Snow White lost in the woods. Its pretty dreamy. Happy spring everyone.

Fruitful Weekend

This weekend I...
took my family to the Dallas Arboretum,
cut my husband's hair,
painted my dining room midnight blue,
planted a bunch of springy flowers in my garden,
worked at the birth center doing postpartum for a Mama,
installed a lighting fixture over my dining table,
prepared my bulk trash pile for pick up,
visited a dear friend with a new baby,
continued to grow a baby of my own
and
completely destroyed my beloved camera.


(Yeah, I'm not so stoked about that last one.)

Oy.

I just came upon this old ad for Dr. Worden's Female Pills. The description says, "For weak women. Complexion, beauty, nerve and blood maker." Hmmm... makes me wonder what's in these magic pills. I'm feeling week today and certainly, my complexion could use a little boost. My nerves are fine and I don't need to make more blood, but I wouldn't be above trying out Dr. Worden's remedy. This pregnancy has been good to me for the most part, but every week or so I have a good old fashioned "weak woman" moment when I look around for a fainting couch and a glass of spirits. Today is one of those days. A little tired, a little disoriented and sorely lacking in grace. I know that admitting to having these kinds of days only adds to the Victorian feminine stereotype so many of my fore-mothers were trying to battle, but what the hell. How are you feeling today?

Not Impossible

Impossible as it may seem,
I still hold tight to my assertion that I can do it all.
All I have to do is keep it balanced.

Jardin de la mère

The sun is out and buds are showing up on every thawing branch. This will be our first spring in the new house and I'm thrilled to see what pops up and what needs tending. I LOVE gardening and have been without a green space to call my own for almost 6 years. One of my favorite Spring reads is We Made a Garden by Margery Fish. It is a first person story of a wife and her husband who reclaim a home in the English countryside and restore its historic garden. The narrative also covers the meaning of life and marriage. Its the most inspiring and beautiful book.

Snow!

Today is a wintry white snow day and I'm at home with beautiful people drinking tea with cream and preparing a spaghetti feed. It is really the perfect day. I hope you're having a perfect day too.

My sweet son and sweet mother-in-law decide to build a snow man!

Everybody, at some point in their life, will eat bad snow.
Today was his day to eat bad snow.

Family Meals

I've been hearing great things about the cook book above: Feeding the Whole Family. One of my favorite things about my new home is the kitchen. I love love love cooking in my kitchen. I first read about this book on Soule Mama, one of my favorite family art and lifestyle blogs. Get it here - either for yourself or for me.

Nesting Impulse already?

Now that I'm home from my travels, I can feel my inner metronome slow a bit. This is a welcome feeling. As I putter around the house, I'm noticing all sorts of fun and wonderful projects for my ever growing To Do list. However, I'm surprised that I'm already thinking about this new baby and the kind of room he or she might enjoy. Jack and I have agreed that there really isn't a need to create a nursery or re-do a room just yet. Our son slept with us for almost 9 months and only hung out in the bedroom to change poopy diapers. I've already got a crib set up for the babies that happen in and out of the house and I'm sure our little kiddo will be just fine with a co-sleeper or bassinet in our room. But still, as I dream forward to what this house might look like in a few years time, there is definitely a second child's room. What will it look like? Who will sleep in it? Who's this baby going to be?

Wasting time with fear.

I had a long night last night. I had a hard time falling asleep because the rain and hail and wild weather was making all sorts of weird noises in my house. Bumps and squeaks and creaky panels and a valiant roof fending off the deluge all made for an unsettling cacophony. Then, I began feeling like someone was in the house. There was no one, to be sure, but that sick gut feeling wouldn't go away and kept me wide awake. Then Walker awoke around 3am to thunder claps. And again at 4:30 to what I imagine was a bad dream. He was shaking and screaming and it was all I could do to peel him off of my body. He was filled with something - fear, panic, night terrors - I don't know really.

We made it through the night. When I awoke I read a few news stories, one which involved the suicide of a nine year old at a nearby school. The other story was of a woman, shopping at a Whole Foods - the closest one to my home - who was beaten and robbed in the parking around 7pm the other night. So much unsettling news and all of it right here in my back yard. My mind is reeling a bit lately, mostly because of the pregnancy hormones, but the past 24 hours have given me a bit of a scare. Nothing with any longevity, I'm sure. My irrational brain, the one prone to exaggerated night time frights and such, is usually easily crushed by my overriding optimistic nature. I'm just trying to find a way to be grateful for this day - this strange and scary day where babies hang themselves and men attack moms bringing groceries home to their families. Shake it off, Sarah. I am grateful. I have my boys, I have my home and I do not need to live in fear because above all I have love.