The Big Lug

I started the super cool art of counted cross stitch WAY before I ever picked up knitting needles. I’ve probably done counted cross stitch since I was 10. Counted cross stitch does not benefit from what I would call the “hip” status that knitting has. I mean knitting is still mostly a granny activity but plenty of cool people knit. Famous people knit. You never see a picture of someone on a movie set in a magazine doing a counted cross stitch. (I just Googled it – no results!)

When I was pregnant with Wyatt I bought a counted cross stitch baby announcement that was really cute. The plan was to be done with it before he was born and then just stitch his name and vital information on the finished product. Well, yeah, that did not happen. My new goal is to finish this before he turns 1 at the end of June. And quite frankly that is ambitious.

I am also currently reading the Game of Thrones series.  I am watching the show on HBO and digging it the most. Every episode ends and I say “THAT IS MESSED UP!” Never trust a Lanister. I’m just sayin.

*Small Things does a Yarn Along post, I believe, every week.  I am not counting this one as part of her yarn along theme since it’s really thread. No yarn. But still – crafting and reading!

There are a few things I’m really into right now.

Blow out the candles.

Someone turning 4. 2 birthday parties, 3 birthday cakes (1 for each party and cupcakes for school), plus several birthday presents, all add up to one little boy turning 4. I really can’t believe how fast the past year has gone by. Adding another kid to the mix really put life on hyperspeed. I had to have 2 parties this year because our house just isn’t big enough to hold all our family and all his little friends and their parents. Having the kid party at a little gym was maybe the smartest thing I’ve done so far this year. It was so easy and I didn’t have to clean my house for it.

Fashion Blogs. I am no fashion expert by any means, but I’ve really been into reading these fashion blogs where people post a picture of their outfit every day. Since most of the time I feel like my daily outfit could be worn to clean the garage or some other equally glamorous task, I find these inspiring! I’ve been glimpsing What I Wore, The Clothes Horse, and Kendi Every Day. I also try to catch style pins on Pinterest. So far it’s mostly inspired me to clean out my closet and buy a few things on Modcloth.com.

Reading, kind of. I am two books into my 25 book goal. That is kind of pathetic considering it is March already. Can I read 23 more books by the end of the year? I really feel like I just need to plow through the books on my “nightstand” right now. I’m in the middle of the Martha Stewart biography “Martha, Inc.” which is like a really long issue of Star Magazine (not a bad thing). I’m also reading a book my former boss wrote called “We” and The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest”. I read the first two in the Millenium series and really devoured them, but this one is dragging for me, and I’m wondering if it is because I’m trying to read it on the Kindle. I think I may not like the e-reader format.

Spring has sprung and these are the things I’m spending my time on – soon to move onto kid’s soccer practice and the backyard garden!

2011.01.10

Originally uploaded by biglug

I’m trying for the millionth time to document a picture a day in a 365 project on Flickr. I’ve decided it’s ok if I miss a day or two as long as I keep going for the whole year. So far I definitely have some holes in the series, but it’s fun taking the photos. I’m really not a great photographer, so for me it’s not about the pictures being really pretty but just about documenting this year.

The photos are mostly taken with my iPhone, some with Instagram. I’m going to try to get better at acutally using my cool Lumix DMC-LX3 to take the pics. After all I should use the fancy camera once in a while.

I’m going to try a few different things to get my blog going again. This week I’m participating in Small Thing’s Yarn Along.

I am currently reading The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest, the third Millenium novel. I tore through the first two, but have been slower going reading this one. Is it because it’s on the Kindle? Maybe.

I have been torn about getting an e-reader since they came out. I make a conscious effort not to buy new books because I have access to the free library and also can borrow or trade books or buy them used. So, buying an e-reader seemed logical to me. I like the feel of a book in my hand – the ability to see where I am in comparison the rest of the book, so I wasn’t sure I’d like it, but we had some extra money and decided to buy one to share.

I’m also reading New England White. I have read several of Stephen Carter’s novels and enjoyed each of them. I’ve just started this one,  ”a literary thriller peppered with shrewd observations about wealth, power, race, culture, and politics.”

As for what I’m knitting, my friend had a baby back in November and I still haven’t knit him a hat! I started a hat for him 2 other times and they just weren’t turning out right. This time I think I have a winner, the Easy Peasy Newborn Sock Hat. I had bought this sock yarn years ago and it’s sat in my stash waiting for the perfect project.

If you want to Yarn Along – join the list on Small Thing’s blog!

• Start doing yoga again
• Take the kids to the train museum in Steamtown
• Do some volunteer work
• Read 25 books
• Knit 4 things
• Stop eating donuts – 2011 the year without a donut
• Make a good pie crust
• Try the 365 thing for real on Flckr
• Use my ice cream maker
• Plant vegetables
• Plant a garden out by the deck
• Go geocaching with the boys
• Explore the local parks and woods
• Go camping
• Learn to make a really good curry
• Find the end of the laundry
• Sleep late at least one day
• Go on more date nights/find a babysitter
• Get together with my best friend
• Find an art class for Simon

Peas and Prunes for the wee one

When I had Simon there was no way I had any kind of time to make baby food. I could barely find time to use the bathroom, let alone boil some vegetables and mash them up for him.  I’ve been working from home since I had Wyatt so I’ve had some more time to experiment with the baby food. I’ve really enjoyed making it and knowing exactly what goes in his food.

I bought two different baby food books while I was still pregnant:  Blender Baby Food by Nicole Young and SuperFoods by Annabel Carmel. The Blender Baby Food book, obviously focuses on baby purees for infants into their first year. This book has been really helpful, explaining the basics of taking a vegetable or fruit and turning it into a puree for your infant. The basic formula is fruit/vegetable + water; boil; puree. I’ve managed to make Wyatt quite a few tasty purees including apple, pear, prune, banana, carrot, zucchini, peas, sweet potato, and butternut squash. He eats everything and loves it.

SuperFoods also gives infant recipes and recipes for kids up to 3 years old. I haven’t really explored this one as much, but will look to it for some ideas for Simon. I’ve had problems with Simon being a picky eater and a lot of the kid-focused cook books I see have some ideas that make the food cuter or make kid friendly versions of adult food. But really if my kid doesn’t want anything that isn’t chicken on his chicken – even pepper or visible salt – I don’t think making it into the shape of a dinosaur or adding a dipping sauce is going to make a difference.

I’ve also found that using a stick blender instead of a blender or food processor has been easier and also makes for easier clean up.

Blended zucchini and yellow squash.

I started knitting this Radiating Star baby blanket back in April of this year, and I think it was finished shortly before or shortly after Wyatt was born. This was really an easy pattern to knit and it went by quickly. It’s a good sized baby blanket – not too big and not too small. The only problem was that the edges were curling.

I think that maybe I bound off too tightly, which is something I tend to do. So I ripped out the finished edge to reveal the hundreds of live stiches (ouch) and rebound off. I had to join more yarn, which told me that I did bind off more loosely, but when I was finished it STILL CURLED. Ugh. Maybe because it is really a stockinette pattern? I am not sure.

Anyway, I think I solved the problem by adding 3 rows of double half crochet edging to the blanket. It still curls slightly, but the length of the crochet edge holds it down somewhat. Plus I don’t think I care anymore that it curls.

I am not good at crocheting, but this was easy enough. It even makes me want to do a crochet project, because those rows went really really fast. Finally Wyatt will have his baby blanket!

Raveled here.

Since I’ve last posted I have returned to work. Well, actually I have a new job which allows me to work from home full time. I still have to work normal work hours (pesky clients!) so the boys are in daycare full time while I clickety clack away at my home “office.” And by office, I mean my desk in the kitchen.

I really need to decorate.

I cannot possibly name all of the advantages to working from home, but my top 10 (in no particular order) are:

• I can cook myself lunch every day
• A tank of gas lasts me a month
• I can throw in a load of laundry, run the dishwasher, get something in the crock pot, etc if I need to
• If I have to run to an appointment during the day I can finish my work at night
• I can pick my kids up on time from daycare every day
• I can blast Pandora’s Swinging Christmas station and no one cares
• I can go to the gym over my lunch hour
• It’s taught me to work paperless
• No one is looking over my shoulder
• Like an executive, I have my own bathroom (I cannot tell you how happy this makes me)

Though it may sound like a dream, it has taken a bit of getting used to. I have learned to set a very low expectation of getting anything but work done during the day. And, I do miss seeing other people during the day, but my coworkers and I use Skype . Really, I am so happy that I was able to find this opportunity.

I am lucky to work for, and with, people with small children. It really helps to work with people who are going through the same things you are and will understand when you need to sign off at 3:00 to go to your kid’s Halloween parade.  With so many double-income families out there, I’m hoping that working mothers get more and more flexibility to work from home.

Links:

Statistics on working from home.

A helpful PodCast with working from home tips.

Though I’m sure baby products are a million dollar industry, I’m always surprised at how a newborn really needs surprisingly few things to get by. Here are a few things that I’ve found essential this time around:

Big receiving blankets. Some receiving blankets are too small to effectively use for a tight swaddle. The ones put out by Carter’s are 30″x40″ which is plenty wide for a tight wrap. Of course there are a lot of specialty swaddling blankets out there but I haven’t tried any of them. Also for babies born in the summer I’ve started to see these great muslin baby blankets. I think they’d make a great gift for a summer baby. I also think they’d be an easy craft project to make for a baby – if I try it, I’ll post a tutorial.

Our Baby Papasan chair. This has served us well with both boys who spent time sleeping in it. The angle seemed to soothe both of our little guys (perhaps it helped minimize any reflux). Of course, since we bought this 4 years ago there are new variations on the theme of an angled bouncer. This rock and play sleeper looks awesome and if I was going to buy another baby item, this would be it!

Lanisoh. The first few weeks of breast feeding were rough.

This formula container. So simple. It eliminates the need to buy more expensive single use packets and is reusable, cutting down on waste.

What were your go-to baby items?

Wyatt's tiny toes

Well this is old news in some ways but I had another baby! Wyatt Christopher was born via c-section on June 30 at a whopping 9lbs!

Ah the human body is an amazing thing. It makes us forget so many facts about newborns so that we keep procreating and populating the planet with little versions of ourselves. Here are some things I had forgotten about having a newborn.

• Breastfeeding sucks. Seriously. I know some people are very Mother Earth about the whole thing and it’s as natural to them as any other bodily function. For me not so much. I think it’s the best for my baby to get my breastmilk for as long as possible but the first few weeks of breastfeeding are a real trial. It’s amazing to me that so many women stick with it. We’re 6 weeks in and still going strong. Of course this far along, things have gotten easier so hopefully we’ll make it a few more months.
• You never see your spouse. I forgot about how little interaction you get to have with your spouse when you’re apart all day and then going to bed at 9pm so that you can get up for a 2am feeding. We’ll just have to keep up with each other via Facebook.
• Having a c-section hurts. I was going around telling everyone how easy my recovery was from my first c-section. Well I think I just blocked out how uncomfortable it was for the first few weeks. Luckily all is healing well.

All in all we’ve been very lucky with Wyatt. He’s an easy baby that likes to (so far) sleep through the day. Now that we’re over the hump with breast feeding this newborn thing feels much easier this time around. I’m already starting to forget what the first few weeks were like!