You’ve likely seen the maternity leave notice on my website. Well, some exciting news: the most precious gem I’ve ever made—our little girl Amalia—was born on September 24th! She was breech, so she was born by C-section. It’s been about a month and we’re figuring this whole thing out: the sleeping, breastfeeding, cloth diapering, endless laundry...we’ve kind of hit our stride with, of course, tons of variation, and days are a blur of feeding and napping and just trying to take a shower and eat a full meal. But Amalia is pretty cute, so it’s all worth it :)
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.Progress continues on the straw bale studio. Ben is doing so much to make this new, dedicated Lumenrose work space a reality. (I’m such a lucky lady he’s taking on so many projects for me!) And my dad built custom windows for the studio on a recent visit when he and my mom came to meet Amalia. Again, lucky lady right here to have these guys.
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Truth be told, the actual building and carpentry stuff aren’t exactly my things. I’m antsy to do more plastering. I love plastering. Here’s a look at the first round of plastering we did a few weeks before Amalia was born. There are a couple more layers to go.
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Here’s the front door, all framed by hand by Ben, and the custom windows above the door by my dad!
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I don’t know if I’ll be set up to start producing new jewelry in time for the holidays, but I’m optimistic. I’m trying to respect the recovery time from the C-section and not dive into physical work too soon, so I’m not much use on the studio build right now. Conveniently, making jewelry involves a lot of sitting, so that part isn’t a problem for my recovery, it’s just that all my tools are currently boxed up and under a tarp while we finish the studio. In a couple weeks I’ll reassess and see how Amalia’s nap schedule is shaping up :). Maybe I’ll be able to snatch some time to set up a modified work station.
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.xo,
Erika, Ben, Amalia
4 comments
Hi Erika, Ben and Amalia!
I just came across your site while researching SB and wanted to check in, my wife and are looking to build a SB in SE AZ this coming year. Congratulations on the successful build it looks fantastic and of course young Amalia, she’s precious!
Sincerely Brett and Shira Daniels
p.S. I’d love to speak with you about your permitting process!
Best,
Hi Erika, Ben, and Amalia,
John and I want to send something for Amalia! I don’t think we even sent you a shower gift – I’m sorry. Now that you’ve been parents for a couple of months – how can we help you? Would you like a gift certificate from a local market (groceries), a used book store, or the Little Bird Nesting Company? I know we ended up having TOO many items of clothing for these guys. I returned a bunch of outfits early on. We used large thin cloth diapers as bibs and the regular cloth diapers a liitle – but with triplets – I just couldn’t get it to work. We went through so many diapers that every day now I try to make conscientious choices regarding recycling and buying glass contained jams, cans of food, and avoiding plastic – it’s not always easy. Please, I know you’re a few months in, the routine is there, and you’ve gotten into a groove. Let us know in what way we can assist you and Ben on your parenting journey! Love, Laura
Oh! What wonderful news!!! Congratulations on the birth of your beautiful daughter!!! 💕💕💕
Welcome to the world, Amalia. We are so glad you e come! 👏🏼💕🙏🏼
Oh! What wonderful news!!! Congratulations on the birth of your beautiful daughter!!! 💕💕💕
Welcome to the world, Amalia. We are so glad you e come! 👏🏼💕🙏🏼