More Wood Working from Shawn

Here's Shawn's latest wood working project, floating shelves for Jane's room:

 

Jane and Daddy admiring the new floating shelf (there's another on the other side of the room). Barbie doll dresses crocheted by Gran. Forward-facing bookshelf also by Shawn. So handy!

Common English Bible: Free Acts & Psalms

From my email:

Have you wanted to try the Common English Bible translation and haven't?

Do you love the CEB and would like to share it with a friend?

Now's your chance!

We're pleased to announce that the books of Acts and Psalms are now available as free downloads for your Kindle, Nook, and other e-readers. Visit your favorite online retailer today, and find out what makes the Common English Bible so special.

Common English Bible
Acts of the Apostles
ISBN 9781609261191
Kindle
Nook
Cokesbury.com

Common English Bible
Book of Psalms
ISBN 9781609261207
Kindle
Nook 

Cokesbury.com

----------

This was the translation I used when Jane and I read through the Gospels in 90. I got the New Testament translation free for filling out a survey before they had completed the translation. Will be handy to have Acts and Psalms on the Kindle. Hope this finds others who are interested in this new translation.

The Puzzle

This is the puzzle I was talking about making in Figuring Things Out.

Adventures in Strolling

Baby toes, ready for licking.

Jane and I have been doing our best to go for a stroll around the neighborhood most afternoons -- after work but before dinner. It's hot, but not as hot as it's going to get. I lather up baby toes with sunblock, snap a hat on her head and put her under the canopy of her stroller. Away we go.

Yesterday we met a lady walking her two dogs. One of the dogs loves babies and was at just the right height to lick some baby toes. Jane didn't mind at all! The only weird thing I guess was that the lady thought Jane was a boy. That rolled off our backs and we kept on moving, saying goodbye to our new puppy friends.

At the park, which I don't like walking to because there's no sidewalk for part of the way where three roads intersect, there was one other family there -- two little boys with their parents. The parents were under the pavilion on their iPhones while the boys, complete with un-ironic mohawks, ran around the play ground. We said hello as Jane and I entered the park, and we walked past their car -- a beat up hoopty with its windows down. It had an overpowering stench of dirt, cigarette smoke and other yuck.

I put Jane in a swing and she watched the boys going crazy. The woman ran to her car and grabbed a white towel, folded it up and put it in front of Jane in the swing seat to make her more comfortable. It's actually an ingenious idea, and I'll have to put a receiving blanket in the bottom of Jane's stroller to use the next time we hit the park.

I said thank you, but what I really wanted to say was "get that away from my daughter!" Since who knows where the towel had been and what it smelled like. NOT a very nice thought, and even in the moment I was ashamed of myself. I forced myself to at least act gracious, even though I didn't feel like being gracious at all.

We swang a while longer, Jane actually more comfortable with the towel but still not in love with swinging. Just as another family arrived -- a mom and two little kids -- the older boy already at the park whipped around a corner on a scooter and fell -- hitting his head. He burst into tears, but was OK. The little brother starts running toward him saying "Oh SHIT!" The parents make their way toward him too -- and it was awkward and funny because we were all already staring at the crying boy to make sure he was OK.

Just an example of little pitchers having big ears I guess.

Jane and I stayed a bit longer -- talking to the other mom whose 2 year old got on the swing next to Jane's and then headed back home, excited to tell Shawn about our adventures in strolling.

Address Label Overload

We've owned our house for less than a year, but in that time we've probably received a dozen mailings from various charities that include address labels. Most have been for Shawn, but I did get one that had my name on them. It just seems so weird. The first time Shawn got one he opted to provide a small donation. Could that be what has instigated the continued mailings of address labels? We've stopped even registering what charity they are from and laugh that there's yet another set of address labels.

Don't get me wrong, we're using them (which means I don't use my cute return address stamp). But it just doesn't seem like an effective way to get donations. And if it IS effective, why didn't we ever receive them before we owned a home? Do the address-label-senders create their mailing lists from homeowner records?

When googling for a picture (since I don't want our address visible, even if it is public record) I found this website: http://nolabels.dan.info/ ... I wouldn't go that far though.

How Do You Eat an Elephant?

One Bite at a Time!

(Same is true for giraffes)

*No toys were harmed in the making of this blog post.

Blue Eyes & Blue Skies

Hair Apparent

The poor dear...

FWD: Map Picture

Funny forward from my friend CG.

Figuring Things Out

I don't have a strong design "eye" or sense of how things should look. I'm more involved in the details -- do these lines have the same spacing and width, does the text wrap around the photo OK, etc. But I can replicate a design as a template and fill it with new content pretty easily. And if someone ELSE says "hey, what if we did this?" I can usually figure out a way to make it so.

Case in point: puzzle pieces.

What if we made the cover for this document a puzzle with different pictures in each piece?

Uh...

It took me a couple days (really just a few hours over a couple days), but I figured out how to do it. There's a puzzlify script for Illustrator. I did that for one picture, making it into 12 individual "pieces." Then I released the clipping paths and pulled the pieces over to InDesign, where they became image boxes. I then replaced each copy of the original image with 12 different images and resized as normal to fit each piece.

It was a lot of trial and error at first -- trying to use the pen tool over a drawing of a puzzle to make the image boxes in the puzzle piece shapes, etc. I'm such an amateur and the pen tool was really hard for me/I never got it to work quite right.

But I was really happy with the solution I found, and I gave two options: a solved puzzle and a puzzle with the pieces kind of "exploded" and spread out.

Of course the puzzle idea got killed immediately and it will never see the light of day. BUT I learned a new trick, and maybe I'll make a puzzle with Jane pictures just for fun.

Also today I figured out something to correct a screw up I made in terms of a URL and how it was created in WordPress. I was freaking out for about 45 minutes though until my Google searching got me what I needed -- a simple uncheck of a box in the settings and a reload of the PDF and I was back in business.

It's the little victories that keep me going... But who knows for how long.

Jane's First Ponytail

Jane's First Photo Booth Pictures

From Lisa & Doug's wedding -- what fun!

California March 2012

Jane on a Plane

Walker Feet on the Beach

Our future's so bright ... we gotta wear shades

Laughing on the beach

Graduation

Jane's First Graduation

Our library's lapsit story time had a graduation "ceremony" today. The babies got to wear little caps, listen to "Pomp & Circumstance" and get certificates saying they moved up to toddler time. (Jane will probably be ready for toddler time once it starts up again in the fall.)

We have one more lapsit story time next week and then we have to decide if we take a hiatus or if we go to the story time with the big kids (all ages are jumbled together in the summer).

Parenting Advice

Everyone knows when you're pregnant you can expect a lot of advice.

What I didn't know was that I could ignore about half of it. Just because someone had a baby (including me) doesn't mean they know everything about raising one!

Some things that stuck to me were so random. Like someone told me I shouldn't get or make the cute closet dividers to separate Jane's clothes (newborn, 3 months, 6 months, etc.) because HER daughter's clothes never made it out of the clean laundry basket. So why waste the money?

For some reason I listened, and Jane's closet is a bigger mess because of it.

I will admit that I don't hang up much of Jane's clothes (mostly because the closet is a jumble thanks to no organization system on my part!), but I do put them away in drawers consistently (i.e., the basket system for baby laundry doesn't work for me).

Also I read a lot of "you'll never pluck your eyebrows again" or "you'll look upon a hot shower as a rare treat," etc. Maybe those will be true when I have a toddler (and/or an out-of-town husband), but right now I still have time for showering and whatever grooming I might feel like doing (which isn't much, but that's not a reflection of parenting/motherhood ... it's a reflection of my sheer laziness).

Some people mean well. Some people just want to make themselves feel better about their parenting choices. Some people are just know-it-alls who always have the right answer. And it might be possible for someone to be all three.

But I am finding more and more to trust the well-worn advice: "Trust your instincts. You know more than you think you do."

(But I still need to get Jane on a better sleep schedule/routine during the day!)

Breastfeeding: Safety Pin Alternative

(Background: the baby nurses most vigorously on the side she starts on, so you want to alternate start side to help keep milk supply even.)

How am I supposed to remember which side I'm supposed to nurse on next?

One thing the breastfeeding books and classes all seem to say is to use a safety pin on your bra and move it back and forth to mark which breast to start nursing on next time.

I hated the idea of a safety pin, mostly because I might only have one hand to grapple with it, and in the middle of the night (or really any time) who wants a safety pin so close to a baby's precious head?! Also even with both hands I'm never really good at opening and closing them.

So I started keeping track by just writing it down. I kept a notebook (as I think most new moms do) and wrote down EVERY LITTLE THING. (I think I read someone call it the Pee, Poop, Milk diary recently.) And so I just added a notation for which side I started with for each nursing session.

Round about Christmas time we were staying at my mom's house and there was no nightlight. So I didn't want to turn on the light just to figure out which breast to use (whereby fully waking up myself, my baby and my husband). So I just guessed/tried to use my memory.

FAIL.

But I've come up with a better solution, and it's been working great for me.

I found a rubber bracelet -- the kind made famous by Lance Armstrong's Live Strong cancer organization -- in a drawer in my room at my mom's house. This one was for breast cancer awareness (which is a whole other post -- I am all for funding more research but have a tendency to think market saturation has been reached for pink 'awareness' products ... and don't get me started on Komen/Planned Parenthood).

Bracelet is on my left wrist
in this photo from Jane's baptism.

Anyway, I started using the bracelet as my marker of which side to start breastfeeding on. I never have to take it off -- it's not hurt when it gets wet. Really it's the only thing that's with me even more than Jane! And it's going to be visible in some of her photos from this year (many that I appear in I mean, including one of my favorites from Christmas). There's also no risk to me or the baby while I'm moving it/I can't accidentally injure her with it like I could with a safety pin.

I've only forgotten to switch the bracelet a couple times, and it's usually when I'm half asleep in the middle of the night or early morning hours. But it's a part of our nursing routine that I'll move the bracelet from one arm to the other.

I think there could be a market for such a bracelet (if someone isn't already selling them ... it looks like this is something similar). Instead of being cancer or awareness related they could be customized with the baby's name, a favorite color, a date, etc.

As for me, it's one less thing I have to remember, although as an avid note taker I was a little sad to stop writing down every little thing.

Fwd: Louisiana Ghost Story

My mom forwarded this. I doubt its authenticity, but it's funny-ish.

Louisiana Ghost Story (true story)
This happened about 6 months ago on Louisiana Hwy 57, just outside of Dulac, a little town in the bayou country of Louisiana , and while it sounds like an Alfred Hitchcock tale, it's real.

An Ohio business man, Saul Rubins, abandoned his disabled vehicle on the side of the road, and attempted to hitchhike. The night was pitch dark in the middle of a thunderstorm. Time passed slowly and no cars went by. It was raining so hard he could hardly see his hand in front of his face.

Suddenly, through the sheets of rain, he saw a car moving slowly, approaching and appearing ghostlike in the rain. It slowly and silently crept toward him and stopped. Desperately needing a ride, Saul jumped in the car and closed the door. Only then did he realize that there was no one behind the wheel and no sound of an engine to be heard over the rain.

Again the car crept silently forward and Saul was terrified, too scared to think of jumping out and running.. He saw that the car was approaching a sharp curve and, still too scared to jump out, he started to pray and beg for his life; he was sure the ghost car would go off the road and into the bayou and he would then drown!

But just before the curve, a shadowy hand appeared at the driver's window, reached in and turned the steering wheel, guiding the car safely around the bend. Then, just as silently, the hand disappeared through the window and Saul was alone again.

Paralyzed with fear, Saul watched the hand reappear every time they reached a curve. Finally, scared nearly to death, Saul had all he could take, jumped out of the car, and ran to town..

Wet and in shock, he went into Schmoopy's. Voice quavering, he ordered two cups of coffee, black, and then told everybody about his supernatural experience. The room became silent and everybody got goose bumps when they realized Saul was telling the truth and was not just some drunk. About 30 minutes later two Cajuns, dripping wet, walked into Schmoopy's and one says to the other,

"Look, Boudreaux, ders dat idiot what rode in our car when we wuz pushin' it in da rain!!!"

Read Across America

Happens to be Dr. Seuss' birthday, so Jane wore her Horton onesie for the occasion:

Hope you're reading a good book!

Rubber Band

Did you leap today?

I'm not sure I did, but I certainly am feeling overscheduled and overtired. And I know this is nothing compared to what my life may be like when Jane has her own activities.

It's hot and muggy and gross, which adds to the difficulties.

Shed Spreading

A hormonal shift apparently causes a new mom's hair to start falling out around the baby's third or fourth month. Jane is right there, and my hair has been shedding like crazy for the last couple weeks.

My normal hair loss is probably more than most. I have a lot of hair, and when it's not shaped, cut and thinned by an expert stylist there's more of it to fall out. But the pace at which I'm losing hair is greater than my norm. Although I didn't notice my hair getting thicker during pregnancy it must have.

I'm not scared or upset, probably because I can't really tell that my hair is thinner other than seeing the massive amounts of hair coming out when I comb it -- and falling all over the place. I'm mostly wearing ponytails or buns these days anyway -- that's my preferred hair style in general because it's easy (not necessarily flattering) and Jane's grip is such that when she grabs the hair she's yanking it out, causing strands to twirl around her fingers. Not so fun to un-twine.

Eventually things should stabilize hormonewise and my hair will be back to itself. If it's a little thinner for a while so much the better. I still need to find a good stylist here. Meh.

Something that is NOT postpartum related that is happening to me is some skin shedding. This happened when I was a kid too -- my hands would peel. It's really gross, and I seem to remember not holding hands with other kids because of it. I don't know if it was my choice from embarrassment or theirs because YUCK! I've been using thick hand creams and just did an exfoliating scrub in the hopes to even things out. It's probably a weather thing AND a hands-are-wet-more-often thing (baby baths, more handwashing after diaper changes, hand washing my breast pump almost every day, etc.). Yech, though. I guess I should be glad it's only my hands ... for now!

TIB TIL: Coffee

Mindy Kaling has a blog, Things I've Bought That I Love, which is funny and led me to at least one purchase. Most of her stuff is higher end than what I am in the market for, but it's still a fun read in my Google Reader.

I buy stuff too though. And I like some of it. With baby gear there's always something that I'm loving (Target diapers, Moby wrap, zip-up PJs, etc.). So I'll try to write about those more -- as a record for myself and to help anyone who might Google such a product.

I'm a big coffee drinker -- or I was until I got pregnant. Then the taste was revolting (but most things were). Now I'm nursing and I can't load up on caffeine like the days of old. Those days will return, this I know, but for now I'm satisfying myself with decaf. And I've found two that I like enough to write about.

I love-love-love Starbucks Via decaf Italian roast. Seriously just stir in some just boiled water (from my handy-dandy electric kettle) and it's a deceptively good cup. Unfortunately it's about a buck a cup -- maybe a little less if you can find it on sale. That's sorta steep for an at-home coffee, but still better than a real run to a coffee shop. (Aside: you can get VERY tasty coffee drinks with decaf espresso at almost any coffee shop. I'm partial to decaf lattes with skim milk.)

The regular drip coffee I've found that I love is Dunkin Decaf. It's available at my grocery store, and if I get the proportions of water and coffee right it's super flavorful. I probably drink too much, and I know it's priming me to go back to my life of excess caffeinated coffee. But I'll take it.

Amazon Affiliate links used.

Read: How My Breasts Saved the World

How My Breasts Saved the World: Misadventures of a Nursing Mother by Lisa Wood Shapiro
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Hilarious. I found it while perusing the parenting shelf at my local library. Really glad I picked it up, and I read it within a day. While I couldn't relate to everything, the memoir of nursing really struck a cord. And it's written in such a way that keeps you laughing. I should look and see if she has a blog ...

View all my reviews

One Year Ago

I found out I was pregnant a year ago today. It was President's Day, and I took the test first thing, expecting a negative and to be able to booze it up that evening (drink of choice: Malibu and cherry coke zero).

I spent the day filled with glee -- unsure that it could be really real, after trying for so many months. I cooked a lot that day -- had already planned to use my federal holiday to make dinners for the rest of the week and to watch reruns of House.

The morning sickness hadn't set in (that would start around Mardi Gras, which weirdly is today this year), so I was feeling fine.

But nothing, nothing, nothing compares to the way I feel when I get to hold my baby. Waking up with her, going to sleep with her in her crib next to our bed, feeding her, even changing her diapers. It's all the best to me -- even when it's not.

And I wish the other "stuff" -- my doubts and insecurities and second guesses about what I "should" do -- would just melt away.

Drip

Sitting in the sun room that's more of a rain room right now. Its roof needs to be replaced, and there's drip-drip-drip coming from the casing of one of the windows. It's filled two Joe's cups so far not to mention the wet towels surrounding. Soon it will all be fixed though, so no worries. I'll keep on enjoying the rain, even if it does interfere with local parades.

My baby and husband are asleep in the next room. I woke up and couldn't go back to sleep -- on a Saturday when I can actually snooze a bit longer of course -- so I got up and am drinking drip-drip-drip coffee. I'm finding decaf tastes as good to me as regular, although I'm sure after nursing I'll return to high octane stuff.

Baby is stirring, so time for a baby bath and more cuddles. She's becoming quite the little person, and I love her so much. Crazy hair, loud squeals and all!

Read: Next

Next by Michael Crichton
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Bought this book for 50 cents at a garage sale down the block. It was an easy read, and there were some typical Crichton plot devices (everything goes to hell all at once). But there were way too many characters to keep straight, and it wasn't evident how they tied together, other than some sort of genetic modification being part of their story. And in the end things didn't get totally wrapped up for all the characters. I still don't know why the genetically modified turtles were in the book.

This book came out in 2006, before the oil spill, so I thought it was funny that one of his genetically modified underwater organisms was a coral that would glow "BP Clean."

View all my reviews

Read: A Visit from the Goon Squad

A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I read this book because it was on the shelf at the library next to The Keep, and I recognized the title as having one the Pulitzer Prize for fiction last year (mainly because Jezebel had done a post about how the media covered her win -- including running a photo of the guy who didn't win with the story instead of a photo of her). Anyway.

The book is basically a collection of short stories that have overlapping characters. It also floats through time or is not linear. It's an interesting construct, although it was confusing at the beginning of some chapters to figure out who was who (especially the narrator) and how people fit in with the characters from other chapters.

I liked it a lot, and I think it would be fun to try to read all of the Pulitzer Prize winning books from the last ~30 years or more. Maybe something to do in my spare time.

View all my reviews

Recipe Reviews: Brown Sugar Chicken & Enchilada Casserole

Another day, another crock pot recipe. I had high hopes for this brown sugar chicken recipe. But it wasn't as great as I was hoping. I used chicken breast tenders, which fell apart. That was OK, since it just looked like shredded chicken. We ate it over rice and it had an OK flavor, but it needed some veggies -- or something.

Shawn made sandwiches with the leftovers for lunch, so I guess that's good to get double duty out of it. But in all likelihood I won't be making it again. It was fun to pour Sprite into the mix and see it bubble!

I made the chicken in one of the plastic slow cooker liners. I am starting to think that might not be wise. Who knows if the plastic is BPA free? If I won't microwave in plastic surely I shouldn't slow cook in it. So the next things I've made in my crock pot were straight in the pot.

The next was enchilada casserole, and it was pretty tasty. I forgot to put in the beans, but that was OK. And the tortillas in the middle kind of disintegrated so it was this tasty corn-mealy texture in that layer. We ate most of it and there was enough for lunch the next day. The beans would have stretched it further and probably added another layer of yumminess plus more fiber and nutrition. Next time.

White House Greetings

Jane got a special card yesterday -- from the White House. I know it's just a mass message that they send, and somewhere an intern's job is to hand address responses to these requests and slip in the printed cards. It's still cool, and I think I will frame the card. The envelope (which I almost posted a picture of until I realized that it includes her full name and address ... d'oh) is a little grungy. Thanks USPS. :)

Want to get your own card from the White House greetings office? These are the instructions I followed (I did the snail mail route):

Once your baby is born, mail your request to:

    White House Greetings Office

    Room 39

    Washington, DC 20500

Alternatively, you can fax your request to 202-456-2461.  Include the following information in your request:

    * Name and address of the baby
    * Exact date of birth
    * Your (requestor) name and daytime phone number
    * Both parents' names
    * Any additional mailing instructions (if other than baby’s residence)

They'll send greetings for other things too. And I think it's v. weird that there's no online form option. Because who uses a fax machine these days?

On the Record

Advocate Staff Photo

Last week Jane and I went to a Baby Sign language class at our local library. We learned the signs for four animals: cat, dog, rabbit, turtle.

A reporter and photographer from the Baton Rouge Advocate were there. Our picture was taken, and the reporter spoke to us after the program. The article ran today, and Jane's name was in the paper for the first time.

We're rounding up copies to put in her baby book and send to my Gran. I can't guarantee the link will always be up! I also screen captured the photo so I could keep it digitally.

Maybe in a few more months we'll try to catch one of the real classes that are offered. The words I really want her to know how to sign are "more," "all done," "hungry," "tired," etc.

Read: The Keep

The Keep by Jennifer Egan
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This book got a glowing review on a blog that I read. So when I saw it was on the shelf at my local library I picked it up when I was there for a baby sign language program last week.

I finished it w/in 24 hours of starting it, so it's a quick read, although I tried to slow myself down to try to pay more attention to the language. It's stories within a story and is more than a little bizarre. The hardest part to get used to was the lack of quotation marks in most of the dialogue.

Its cool cover was intriguing to Shawn, but I'm not sure that he'll read it.

View all my reviews

Recipe Review: No-Hurry Vegetable Curry

I made another Woman's Day recipe, this time a no-hurry vegetable curry. (Basically I'm making every single crock pot recipe I can find that sounds good. I'm in trouble because I just found A Year of Slow Cooking and have a window with about 15 tabs open with recipes to try.)

For the curry I couldn't find butternut squash (I looked at two stores so it must not be in season), but otherwise I pretty much followed the recipe. EXCEPT I think I let it cook longer than it needed. That made it a little thicker than I think curry is probably supposed to be, and I probably should have used more curry paste. It had a very mild flavor. It was pleasant, and we ate it happily, especially thinking it's pretty healthy for us -- lots of veggies and some light coconut milk and spice basically. We ate it with basmati rice.

I'm not sure that I'll make it again. It was OK and relatively easy, but it wasn't great. I think I need to start using my slow cooker liners though and see if that can make clean up a little easier. The sweet potato soup I made overflowed a bit into the base of the pot -- I was able to clean it up OK, but the liner would have prevented that/the overflow would have just gone on the counter, which is much easier to clean.

Not sure what I will make next, but maybe I'll start thinking about taking pictures. I just hate to use my big camera on anything other than Jane photos, and I still can't get my small one to connect to my computer.

Read: G Company's War

G Company's War: Two Personal Accounts of the Campaigns in Europe, 1944-1945 by Bruce E. Egger & Lee MacMillan Otts
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I read this book because my husband bought it for me for Christmas. It was on my Amazon wish list, and I put it there because my grandpa is mentioned in the book.

Gpa Ray was part of the G Company whose WWII work is described in this book. He was wounded in action and lost his right arm. When I was a kid I'd always thought that he'd lost his arm during battle and it was still there on the battlefield -- like if someone had just gone to get it he could have had it reattached. That was just a weird thing I made up in my head and definitely not anything anyone told me. The book explained that he was wounded by shrapnel and his arm was amputated at the hospital later.

So I'm glad to have learned more about my grandpa's experience, although he's really only mentioned briefly in the book everything is positive. I read the entire thing because it was interesting and I like first person, real life narrative. I wouldn't say it's a particularly well written book, but the subject matter is deeply engaging, even for someone who didn't understand half of the military terminology and abbreviations (which weren't always explained).

Also: reading this while taking care of a new baby put things in perspective. If I'm tired I can remind myself that I'm not sleeping on freezing ground and walking miles and miles -- or having to be sick while on the back of a truck that won't stop for bathroom breaks. And my dramatic-to-me decision about working is really nothing in comparison to what these infantrymen went through.

View all my reviews

White & Pink Granny Square for Baby G

This is a granny square baby blanket that I made for Baby G. I used the Christmas blanket granny square that my Gran made for me as a pattern, although I added a few additional rows because I used sport weight yarn and Gran's Christmas one seems to be worsted weight. I'm really happy with the way it turns out. Hope Baby G enjoys!

Jane sleeps in front of Baby G's blankie

Recipe Review: Slow Cooker Sweet Potato Soup

I've been getting into crock pot cooking. So far I've made a killer corn chowder and now this certainly healthier sweet potato soup that's a Woman's Day recipe.

I should have taken pictures, but I wasn't thinking about blogging about it at the time.

I did the recipe slightly differently in that I didn't spring for fresh ginger and I didn't buy the $7 cinnamon sticks and just used the powdered spices I had from the labor cookies (that didn't work).

I did have to buy the curry powder, so I'll be on the lookout for other recipes I can use it in.

Instead of big carrots I used baby carrots so I didn't have to peel them. I just guesstimated and ended up covering the bottom of my crock pot with cut-in-half carrots.

The recipe didn't say to peel the sweet potatoes so I didn't. The peel ended up pureeing into the soup fine, so I am guessing I did that step of the recipe correctly by leaving the peel (and its nutrition) in.

I didn't like the Greek yogurt as a topping, but the almonds are a must. Once the soup is pureed it seems a little baby food-like. The almonds add a great crunch and texture throughout the soup.

The soup's flavor is really great otherwise. And it smelled AWESOME while cooking. I wasn't sure how I was going to be able to puree it because it almost overflowed my crock pot. But my immersion blender worked beautifully and got everything smooth and creamy, even though there isn't any dairy in the recipe.

I don't know if Shawn liked it too much, and of course it made so much that I'll be eating on it for ages. So I decided to freeze about half the recipe to use later, and so I could get my crock pot washed for its next big adventure...

Webcamming Wednesdays

They have a whole new meaning. AMLBO!

Two-headed Owen Max

Funny headgear

Sunflower baby!

Weird Stuff: Trendy Top

I went to the gym today (I know, right?), and one of the TVs was on Mob Wives or some other such nonsense (I watch dumb TV but not THAT dumb).

ANYWAY, one of the commercials was for "Trendy Top," or the top that's not. It's basically a belly band being marketed to non-pregos to keep their butt cracks and bellies from showing when they wear clothes that are too small.

Here's an idea: WEAR CLOTHES THAT FIT.

Although I loved my belly band while pregnant for keeping up pants and covering up things when shirts got short I don't think it's the best concept for when you're not pregnant... but what do I know? I'm sure these are selling like hot cakes.

(Also I'm pretty sure you could just cut the top part off an old camisole or something to get the same effect?)

Friday Night

We had some friends over on Friday for tacos. It was mega fun, and their six year old daughter made use of the old digital camera I keep around for Owen to play with. He's taken pictures of things mostly in New York (my favorite being "say cheese, hand" and "say cheese, cup" when he was just a wee one of 4 or so). I'm pretty sure it was my main digital camera when Owen was born, so it's been around a while.

Anyway, she got some great shots -- she's got such a different angle than me, what with being somewhat shorter than me! Here are some of my favorites (although none of the photographer or her brother, since I can't exactly be splashing other people's kids on my blog, right?!):

Monkey PJ bottom

Elephant from Dear Zoo book

Jazz Hands?!

Cuddly Baby

Just kidding, I'm awake Baby

Smirky Baby

Let's take each other's picture!

Sweet Face

Rocker Chair

Quilt Squares

Close up of the squares from the quilt that Gma Jane made me ~31 years ago. There are 12 squares in total, each one appears twice. The border is this cool yellow flower fabric. Aunt Lee Ann repaired a few places where it was looking rough from years of use. I distinctly remember using it for my dolls growing up too.

Croquet playing squirrel

Painting Bunny

Prancing Lamb

Puppy Sawing Logs

Singing Kitty

Swimming Puppy

My Favorite Baby Products as of Two Months

Building on my initial baby gear thoughts post, I thought I'd add some more items to the list of baby products I've found helpful.

I'm not an expert on anything but my baby and what she likes at this time in her life, but hopefully these thoughts are useful, if for nothing else than for me to look back on when I want to reminisce about infancy.

I still love the Gerber prefold diapers for burp rags, and even better have got some pretty burpies as gifts. (If I had any sewing talent and scrap fabric I would turn my boring white ones into cute ones too!) The Boppy is still aces for nursing (although we can technically do it without the pillow it's still more comfy), and we still use the Aden and Anais swaddler blankets most every night. Although Jane does have a Halo sleep sack that's good too, since she doesn't really care about having her arms swaddled and actually prefers to sleep with them straight up as if she were in a hold up.

I didn't end up getting the fancy baby bath tub, although I'm sure it's great. I give Jane baths in the sink using this Infant to Toddler Tub with Sling. It fits just great in the double sink, and with my sink's spray nozzle I can get a good shampoo too (something some moms may not have to do if the baby doesn't have a full head of hair like Jane does).

I was tempted by this foldable Puj tub for travel, but when we went to Oklahoma we were able to take our tub with us in the van, and by the time we travel next Jane will likely be able to sit up unassisted, meaning a bath directly in the sink will be completely doable with a towel in the bottom for cushioning.

Some of my nursing favorites include "Mother's Love" nursing bras that I got for cheap on Zulily - with shipping worked out to be around $8 per bra. They're not cute but they work for me. I have a few other bras from Target or otherwise bought online, but I like the cotton Mother's Love ones the best. I use Johnson's breast pads, after reading a recommendation on a blog. I like them a lot, although I can usually find them cheaper at Target or Walmart than online.

I pump every day using an Ameda hand pump that I got at the hospital. If I had to do it more than once a day I'd want an electric model, and I'd probably rent it from the hospital, mostly so I wouldn't have a pump to throw away or store once Jane weans. I started pumping into the bottle that came with the pump and got some more like it for a total of 5. Now I pump into store and pour bags and am stocking the freezer -- they freeze flat and then I can stack them. We haven't actually used any of the milk yet -- but it's there when we'll need it, and I like to think it helps keep my milk supply up.

I haven't really found a bottle I like enough to recommend, mostly because Jane doesn't eat much from bottles, as I'm always around and it's just easier to feed her from the source. We've got a Dr. Brown's bottle that she did eat from when she stayed with Beth and Meme on Boxing Day, and another new mom recommended an Avent bottle that we have yet to try -- its nipple is supposed to be more like a breast.

Our cloth diapering adventure didn't go super smoothly. They definitely leak more than the disposables, and as much as I loved putting Jane in lots of different outfits in a day we kind of fell out of the cloth diapering routine when we traveled for Christmas. So we've been using Target up & up diapers mostly, although I'm sure the Amazon Mom Subscribe and Save would be cheaper in the long run. I'm not ready to totally give up on my idea of cloth diapering during the day. In any case we've found Seventh Generation wipes to be the best -- chlorine free and not so thick as to feel wasteful.

For getting around our best thing has been the Moby carrier. I use it every time we go to a store, mostly because she's too small to sit in the cart and her car seat is convertible, meaning it doesn't double as an infant carrier. (Safety note: those are NEVER supposed to ride in the front part of the cart -- always put the infant carrier/car seat into the big part of the shopping cart.)

Our favorite blankets are the hand made ones -- crocheted blankies and quilts. Jane is just starting to get into toys, so I'll probably do a separate post about those as she develops preferences. Most of her toys have been gifts. We'll also have to keep track of her favorite books -- so far she will listen to whatever I feel like reading. :)

I also am working on a post of the books I've read that I've found helpful (and those I haven't really thought much of). But we'll see when I can get myself together to write that up.

A baby picture for those of you who actually read this (or who just scrolled down)!

Chilling on a quilt made 31+ years ago for me by Grandma Jane

Disclosure: Amazon affiliate links used throughout.

Freezer Food Wrap Up

About a month before Jane was born I did a bunch of cooking and freezing dishes for eating when she arrived.

We ate our last one -- crock pot chicken taco chili -- last week. It made a lot (something like 10 servings), so I was eating on it for ages. Probably the smart thing to do would be make a full batch then freeze half of it. Also it was a little too spicy, since I was a little heavy handed with the chili powder. Otherwise I'll definitely be making it again -- it's super easy and tasty. I need to find some more crock pot recipes.

My favorite of the casseroles was surprising: chicken enchiladas verdes. I thought it wouldn't be so great once defrosted and heated. But it was quite yummy. It had a lot of steps though, so not sure that it's something I'll make on the regular. But probably some.

My least favorite was the king chicken casserole -- maybe it was just that it was frozen and that kind of weirded out the tortillas (although that didn't happen with the enchiladas). I might try it again, but you have to cook the chicken first, which means a lot of dirty dishes.

If you've got any good crock pot or casserole recipes let me know. 

One Word 2012: Baby

Clean, milk-fed baby: nothing better!

Reboot

The past couple weeks I've read the year-end wrap ups and forward looking posts on my favorite blogs.

I didn't write as much in 2011 as I did in previous years, mostly because the biggest thing to write about -- pregnancy -- was something I chose not to write about. So with less content my statistics went down and a year end wrap up about stats isn't very interesting anyway.

Other blogs did posts listing their favorite posts of the year or favorite photos. Again because the biggest part of my life in 2011 wasn't a topic on this blog it's not really worth it to me to wade through my year of posts to find anything I'd want to re-read or draw more attention to. (And all my Jane posts are recent, so to re-link to them would be slightly redundant?)

But one thing I do like is the "choose one word" meme for the year. It's like a theme word for 2012. And anti-resolution in a way. As I was driving today, and listening to Michael Buble while my daughter snoozed in the back seat, I thought about what my one word would be for 2012.

BABY.

I'm choosing her. I'm loving her. And by extension I'm loving my family and husband. And myself.

Because these last couple weeks since Christmas I've been obsessing over what to do -- job-wise, childcare-wise, etc. I was obsessed, and anxious worrying and thinking I didn't deserve what I wanted, and it was impossible for me to say for sure what it is that I want.

Nothing is finalized yet, but I feel like I have a direction.

I choose my baby.

My baby who I didn't think I'd ever meet. Who I didn't think I'd be able to carry. Who I love more than I ever thought possible.

I can't promise more posts in 2012 than 2011, no matter what happens with my work status. But I can say that when I write it will be rooted in love, because I am more rooted in love thanks to the family we have extended through the birth of Jane.

Epiphany 2012

The last day of Christmas -- Epiphany. Today we celebrate the Wise Men who traveled so far to worship Jesus.

Driving around town yesterday and today, Jane and I saw many trees lying on the side of the road waiting for compost pick up. It's sad somehow. Discarded.

On Boxing Day we bought a fake Christmas tree at Hobby Lobby for 66% off to use next year and beyond. But I'm not sure if that might be just as sad as killing a tree every year? It's a plastic tree. BUT that's my tradition and I actually love it. No mess, no allergens (I think that was a main reason we didn't have real trees). Now we have the space to store it, so why not?! And I don't have to live with the trauma of a dead tree carcass lying on my curb next January.

But I'm sure it's not the "green" thing to do. That would probably be getting a live tree including roots and then planting it in the back yard. I'm sure the process to make fake trees is full of chemicals and destructive things. But I'm looking forward to having a tree of our own.

One of my favorite pictures of Christmas 2011:

I wish I could have this sandwich hug every day! AMLBO, and Baby Jane Loves Cousin Owen!