Officially having a home birth

Yep that's right! I am dropping my insurance paid midwife... I use that term loosely because you know you pay for it on way or another! Yes even with insurance you will pay from around $4000-$8000 for a baby to be born in a hospital, Yikes right!? 

So back to the midwife... again I use that term loosely too as she DOES NOT want me to have the baby at home... one of the reasons is because... wait for it, wait for it... I'm too old!!!! (Insert raised eyebrows here and sad face) ha! too old indeed, what is she thinking I am just a little over 37 and wonderfully healthy and fit and I am very young!!! ok maybe in mind, but seriously! too old! lady your too old.

Don't worry I still have insurance just in case. 

So with my last post a friend recommended a friend, who had a baby at home, she in turn recommend these midwives here... (thank you so much for doing so!) who we are now going to use, and I am so happy about it and also so happy to find a reasonably priced ($3500) duo of ladies who know what they are doing and can't wait to help out... More to come about this I promise.

So right now I am about 18 weeks the size of a bell pepper HA! well at least the baby is supposed to be, I'm about the size of a small hippo, but hey at least they are cute right???

I am not going to do the veggie thing tonight because I don't really want to get of the sofa and take a picture, and because I don't have a bell pepper either, but here's a picture of one just in case you had forgotten what they looked liked?

Has it really been a MONTH!!!!!

There is a very good reason for that and those if you that follow me on twitter you will know why...

Yes ladies and gentlemen it's true... Now officially 4 months and counting, I can finally feel the bump move and of course not so great is NOT being able zip up my trousers...

I have seen this done before and thought I'd jump on the band wagon by also documenting my pregnancy with various fruits & veggies. So to mark the 4 month/16 week mile stone I am going to start with an avocado, apparently this is the size of the baby right now... I happen to think that it maybe closer to a honeydew melon or a small elephant with the rate that I am gaining weight!?!
I'm not that great at taking pictures, let alone pictures of me! So please be nice and bear with me.

 

So here it is... the "bump"

What many of you don't realize is at this moment (it may change) I am planning on having a home birth. 

Jude and Ella were both born with-in 4 hours so I am hoping this one will be quick like them? I did both without medication... yes it can be done ladies! It wasn't fun or easy, but I recovered VERY quickly and would recommend it to anyone thinking of it and of course to anyone without complications.

 I have searched and searched here in Sacramento, CA for tips, books and advice on how to exactly have a successful home birth but have come up very empty handed! Please feel free to email me if you have any (good/nice) advice or help!

I have a midwife through my insurance company who had her own birthing clinic for over 10 years, perfect I thought, she is open minded enough to agree with me and offer some good advice etc... NOPE! She was horrified when I told her of our plans to have the baby at home and offered me very little information, maybe because she is with a huge medical company that she can't?!  

Anyway it amazes me that here in one of the most "developed" countries people have a very closed mind when it comes to this, either because of the "mess" or a horror story they have heard of a midwife almost killing the mother, to the unsolicited advice from well meaning people who think that you are putting your baby at risk because you are not in the hospital hooked up to a machine that makes you want to rip it from the wall!!  Yes I have been there!

Like I said it's not set in stone yet, as we want to make sure everything is well with the baby... but until then this is our plan and I plan on writing about this too!

A great video to watch is "The Business of Being Born" Which is on Netflix right now it is a real eye opener, there is nudity and (major) grossness in it.. I know, I know gross, but pretend you are in Europe! I was happy to see the Midwife take a woman to the hospital too when things weren't going well... this is how it should be (IMO).

I'm not one of those people that thinks that childbirth is beautiful... sorry if you do, it kind of wigs me out and it's messy, not to mention I can feel the pain with every cry! Although watching a c-section is far worse for me, sorry if you have ever had to go through that too! 

Thankfully most people who I have told about the home have been supportive. And I have found some great websites (if you can get past the hippie-ness)

 which I'll post when I have more time and more info...

Just think how exciting it will be to have another Jude or Ella running around!!

MIA

Yes I have been MIA.. why? 

We spent a fabulous week in Utah!

I nearly killed myself several times on the trampoline but it was worth it. I haven't laughed like the in a LONG time! 

My kids and I got to milk a goat! I'm still not sure how I feel about that! Feel free to ask me how that was! I really can't say in public! 

       

People in Utah are ridiculously nice! Take for example the people who let us milk their goat, a freind of ours just knocked on their front door and said "hey can I milk your goat" "umm sure let me get a bucket!" Who does that?!

We were greeted everywhere we went, drivers gave way to us, people waved and said hello... it was so refreshing! 

We got to see some amazing caves that I am pretty sure we were not really supposed to climb into.. sorry for the blurry photo, have you ever tried to focus a camera in pitch darkness?

Thank you Utah for a fab trip, we'll be back someday.

Oh this was on the way home in ahem Nevada! yes this was the highlight... the salt plains, keep up the good work Nevada!!!

Thank you Nigella Lawson!

This past memorial day weekend my family and I got to stay at home, it was such a great weekend, well I should say Monday as my 5 year old spent the whole Sunday puking up and I spent the WHOLE day cleaning and doing washing (laundry) and folding it!! Which was nice for Monday because it was all done, the house nice and clean as well as washing folded and put away (it's like I'm a real housewife?) And we could spend the day hanging out. So we decided to have an impromptu BBQ and I decided to make a summertime English desert from the beautiful Nigella Lawson courtesy of the food network.

Below is the recipe, but first some step by step pictures!

Seperateing the egg yolks, measuring the balsamic vinegar using my Anthro measuring cups and chopping the chocolate, I opted for this because my grater is too fine.

Then you beat the egg whites until they form peaks and then slowly add the sugar untill it become stiff and shiny. Then fold in all the other ingredients.

Folding the coco, chocolate and balsamic vinegar

 

Then you mold the mixture, sort of, onto the backing sheet. It holds okay but you don't want to mess with it too much, I started from the middle and worked outwards, if that's any help?

Left is before bakeing and Right is after... it's okay for it to sink or crack, you can fill it all in with whipped cream! (YUM)

When everything has cooled you whip up the heavy whipping cream, some people like to add sugar, but I think it makes everything way to sweet in this recipe, but to each his own... you can do what ever you like?!

Next dollop on the cream and smooth around and  then add the pre-washed fruit, I used raspberries as the recipe called for, but I have had this often with other fruit and it is just as yummy

 My hubby thinks he can get away with stealing some of the fruit! Naughty Naughty.

So like I said add the raspberries, I kind of pushed mine right into the cream and then heavily piled them on  along with the chocolate

 Not only does it look impressive, but it taste really good, just the right mixture of sweet and tart all at the same time!

 

I think you guys should try it and email me a picture of the finished product :)

Recipe below...

Ingredients

For the Meringue Base:

• 6 large egg whites
• 2 cups superfine sugar
• 3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted
• 1 teaspoon balsamic or red wine vinegar
• 2 ounces dark chocolate, finely chopped

For the Toppings:

• 2 cups heavy cream
• 4 cups raspberries
• 1 to 2 ounces dark chocolate

Directions

Prepare the pan: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and line a baking sheet with parchment. Draw a 9-inch-diameter circle on the paper with a pencil, tracing a round cake tin that size.

Flip the paper over so your meringue doesn't touch the pencil marks - you'll still be able to see the circle.

Make the meringue: Beat the egg whites with a mixer until satiny peaks form, and then beat in the sugar a spoonful at a time until the meringue is stiff and shiny.

Add the chocolate: Sprinkle the cocoa, vinegar and then the chopped chocolate over the egg whites. Gently fold everything with a rubber spatula until the cocoa is thoroughly mixed in.

Shape the meringue: Secure the parchment to the baking sheet with a dab of meringue under each corner. Mound the meringue onto the parchment within the circle, smoothing the sides and the top with a spatula.

Bake the meringue: Place in the oven, then immediately turn the temperature down to 300 degrees F and cook for one to one and a quarter hours. When it's ready, it should look crisp and dry on top, but when you prod the center you should feel the promise of squidginess beneath your fingers.

Let it cool: Turn off the oven and open the door slightly; let the chocolate meringue disk cool completely in the oven. When you're ready to serve, invert onto a big flat bottomed plate and peel off the parchment.

Decorate the Pavlova: Whisk the cream till thick but still soft and pile it on top of the meringue, then scatter the raspberries on top. Coarsely grate the chocolate haphazardly over the top so that you get curls of chocolate rather than rubble, as you don't want the raspberries' luscious color and form to be obscured. You want the Pavlova to look like a frosted cake.

Why the name?

It occurred to me at about 2am one morning, often when I do most of my thinking actually, not by choice though I have to admit, I am an insomniac and when the house is quiet and all you hear are your thoughts and the squirrels in the attic, I often start to write a better blog, unfortunately that never seems to materialize. Well as I was laying next my sound asleep hubby and listening to the squirrels and my son snoring that it may seem strange to title a blog "Ella's Wardrobe" when it does nothing to feature clothes, shoes,  Alsan or anything you might find in a wardrobe! So I figured why not share with you ...why the name?!

Back in 2005 one of the hottest summers since I have been here (11 years) we were expecting this delightful bundle of joy, yes I looked crazy cutting the grass with a boob tube on and my pregnant belly poking out underneath, but I didn't care I was hot~literary, passer by's would slow down the car to get a good look at this insane English chick pushing a heavy lawnmower with a 1 1/2 year old (Jude) following me closely! Well later that year  along came our lovely little girl Ella, and like most parents we wanted to make sure she knew how much we loved her by naming everything after her, not that we don't love Jude but Ella is a girl so naturally things will always be more complicated, more effort and more emotional with her, I hate to say that but it's true. Even now at the age of 5 she has mood swings like she is totally PMT'ing! (PMS'ing) get a grip girly pop, you are going to have this for the rest of your life!!!

So anyway in an effort to try to and indulge my little diva I named a clothing line, a blog, an ebay account, twitter account and a facebook page oh and I also have a website address too! All this for a little girl that really rocked our world, we were even going to open up a brick and mortar store called, yep you've guessed it, Ella's Wardrobe. That would have made total sense, as it would have been like stepping into her wardrobe or closet! But thankfully that didn't happen and I can shop without the stress at my fav local boutique without having to pay rent for the space!

The clothing line was fun you can see a sample of what I used to do below, how little those little lovelies were! This obsession with Ella and clothes led to other bigger things, my hubby even built me a studio in our back garden so I wouldn't have to be sewing in the dining room until 3am, although that didn't really stop me, I just had the space to do it in!

5 years later and still blogging (if that's what you call it?) I was thinking of changing the name of this blog to reflect everything else I (we) do, I stopped making so many clothes for other people and now just do one-offs for the princess although I do take requests and oh you can also see some one-of-a-kind T-shirts that I make for the above store too. So go check those out as well when you are getting coffe or something? 
Well we moved the studio to a place that's bigger, still at home but it allows me to really concentrate on home furnishings, windows coverings and my window art. Hence An English View was born, my real business that I actually get paid to do.

So do I keep Ella's Wardrobe? Do I keep this name that started almost everything? I think I will! you never know one day my daughter may take it over from me???

Thanks Ella...Lovexxx

To my little man...Jude

 I found out that my lovely little boy Jude won Student of the trimester I was a very PROUD Mummy, yup people my little man has won this 2nd year in a row now and I have been shouting it from the rooftops and now I am blogging about it, he deserves it!

Back home in England we don't have student of the trimester or I should say we didn't, they may have changed it now but many years ago when I was still at school they didn't.  

So for Jude to win this was HUGE for me, huge in the fact that I can revel in my lovely little boys accomplishments!  

So let me tell you a little about this sweet little gentleman...

Jude will always open the door for me, or wait for me to pass before he opens his car door, he strokes my face when I am sleeping (so he thinks) and tells me how much he loves his mummy, he writes me little notes and will try to make me laugh when he is in trouble because he knows I cannot resist his little giggle. He asks me how my day has been and if he can do anything to help me. He tells mes how clever I am and how much like his dad he wants to be (he already is!) He reads to his sister and helps people he doesn't even know. Jude cleans his room, unloads the dishwasher and works very hard at school! People this boy is 7, yes 7!!!! 

Don't get me wrong he'll beat his sister up when hes done reading to her or he'll battle it out like any boy, but for the most part he is a sweetie!

All I know is we have one of the most affectionate studious little boys out there (I'm sure you do too, but this about my little man today) Who knows he is loved and who is not afraid to show how much he loves us too!

Jude I LOVE you and I am so very proud of you... Mummy xxx 

I Used to intelligent!

 
Really at one point in my life I did.And sorry for the typos I am a little fraught (unintelligent!)

My BF growing up~ Kathryn had a TERRIBLE memory... not me! I was always on her case about why she was as forgetful as she was? Now that's me! I birthed my brains and apperntly memory out with my kids!
So take for example today!I was supposed to to this bloggy linked in thing!




Probably a lot sooner then now? Huh yeah I got it down I know what I'm doing and I'm going to remember! NOPE I forgot, but I hurried back from INK and got typing, apparently I've also forgotten how to spell and use punctuation!

So here I am scrapping in by the skin of my teeth like I always do and post the link that is supposed to come here back to YeptheBlog!!! Hehe wow I am brilliant!  I know what your thinking! I can hear it, you are jealous, jeaous of my perfect life and my brilliant memory aren't you?
Sorry but this is my brain lady so back off I'm keeping it (trading is an option if you really want it?)

Well let me tell you why I had momentarily forgotten about this event?!
This week I am re-designing my sewing studio/office and it is taking MUCH longer than anticipated! I just couldnt look at these yellow walls any longer...

They HAD to go.

But I do have two amazing helpers (note the sarcasm)

 

We also had a little fire scare so I am going to totally blame it on that! (It's not really to blame) But (by chance I'd like to add) I came across this smoldering cord in my daughters room, melted to carpet and hooked up to her space heater which we use every night... Sorry USED to use! Can you see how crazy burnt this is? I think a couple more days and the whole room would have gone up in flames!Oh and that metal thing left in it is part of the plug I tried to pry of the heater!

Anyway the studio is... coming along SLOWLY....

But right now I am enjoying a nice glass of red!

Again sorry Kim for being late.

Hmmmmmmm

I really should write more, but I don't. Sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night, normally thanks to my darling little ones who somehow manage to find their way into our bed nearly every-night! despite having their own amazing beds and being WAY to old to be in bed with us!!!!

Anyway as I was saying I have these great postings in my head but by the time I have woken from my amazing slumber! haha not I can't even begin to remember let alone write down all the things running through my mind!

Sooooo with that in mind I am taking a pledge, a pledge to write more?! yes it's that frightening to me, I am not a writer, I am a... hmmmmm well I do a lot of things but generally writing is not one of them!

One of my daughters favorite things is for me to tell her stories about my childhood! I'm wondering if she is so amazed at what a looped out crazy childhood I had or if she's planning on copying me with some of it? 

Well the current story that she has an obsession with is when I dared my younger sister Sammy to jump out of our second story window, not once but twice! 

Yep she is the skinniest and one of the prettiest of my sister's (I do have two other pretty sisters!) she did however lack the ability to see why I told her to do it and not me!!! I knew it would end in disaster but she however saw the dare and thought yep, I'm going to fly with a bin liner strapped to my back (trash bag for you non brit speaking people) 

hmmmmm 

She didn't fly, BUT... she did get to ride in an ambulance, which was very cool and that did make me very jealous, so who really won? Anyway this is what my 5 year old daughter is obsessed with, OBSESSED.

Ella; "How long did it take her to feel better? How long was the ambulance ride? How big was the bin liner?!"

Am I in trouble??? Yes I am! Do I see future hospital visits? Yes I do! Am I going to stop telling her crazy stories? NOPE! 

I'm hoping she will learn from my many mistakes, which she probably won't but at least she will know a little of who I am and where I from, hopefully she will understand her crazy mother a little better! Who knows! 

Maybe she's just stalling at going to bed?!
 

It's a Cheat

I know, I know it's cheating but I was reading through the Gilmores In Wonderland blog and I think some of you my find it interesting. So if you want to see what we got up to last year when we took our kiddies back home to England then click here. We also took them to France. It was so an amazing trip... very very cold though!
Well I hope you enjoy :-)
Here are a few pictures to wet your appetite!

What a year! and THANK YOU

Wow it really is the beginning of another year? where did it go?

Here are some of things we accomplished last year :-)

We moved to an amazing house with the most amazing backyard! This summer we plan on throwing so great garden parties!

 One of my fav parts of the house!

 

 I made 5 new blinds with interliing for my daughters freezing bedroom and boy am I glad I did! this spurred the opening of An English View  Do you need custom drapes, blinds, pillows? give ma a call!

 My two lovelies went of to school (yay ;-) )

I started a new line of art work... watch this space for more! 

 I did keep on sewing for my little one after we close QC down :( a sad but needed goodbye to two fun years with one of my best friends Sheila, I sad sign of the times unfortunately!

 I got to wrok with another good friend Mila from LaRee Jewelry Design, her things are very cool... check out her custom scrabble tiles, some of the nicest I've seen!

This was our booth at a local craft fair this year... it was fun!

I got to decorate a wedding with a good friend Krissi, who made the amazing cake... she has a gift! 

We threw Ella a major princess party! I'm not sure who had more fun though, her or me???

 I joined a local etsy team :)

A 9yr old showed me how to make origami, which I turned into jewelry ( I know it's hard to stay grounded )

 I developed and obsession (one of many) with Alice in wonderland which sparked of my tea-cup pincushions...

 ... which in turn sparked of my felted ring pincushions...

... Which got me the amazing feature in MSL magazine that bought Ella's Wardobe so much business and along the way I got to meet some very kind amazing people. THANK YOU for all you kind emails.

 

SOOOOOOOOO as A HUGE thank you for your support I want to make a custom just for you, a custom felted ring. 

all you need to do is the usual... Comment, Tweet or Face Book a link to my store and January the 12th 5pm I will choose a winner

THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU