Another Hat

One last baby photo post . . . maybe.

I bought this hat pattern a couple years ago for his big brother. I've made it a ton of times since then, but I always have a hard time getting the sizing right. I crochet too darn tight, I think, and it all depends on the yarn as well. It always wants to be too small. Or maybe my babies have big heads? I think his head size was 90th percentile at the last appointment, so perhaps that is part of the problem.

Anyway, this one I made before he was born and it fits just fine. I added a band and buttons this time and I really like how it turned out. So cute.

Now, I would really like to make something like this. So darn cute.

Zuppa Toscana

This is a copy of Olive Garden's soup. Yum!
(can't remember where I got it - sorry!)

Ingredients
1 lb Italian sausage
1 1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1 large diced white onion
4 Tbsp bacon pieces
2 tsp garlic puree
10 c water
5 cubes chicken bouillon
1 c heavy cream
1 lb sliced Russet potatoes
1/4 of a bunch of kale

Directions:

Saute sausage and red pepper and drain off excess fat.

In the same pan, saute bacon, onions and garlic over low to medium heat for approx 15 minutes or until the onions are soft.

Heat boullion and water until boiling.

Add sliced potatoes and cook until soft, about half an hour.

Pour in heavy cream and cook until thoroughly heated.

Stir in sausage and kale, heat thoroughly and serve.

The red pepper can make it a bit hot, so use less if you don't want a lot of heat. I usually add quite a bit of kale because I like it and its the good-for-you part!

Thimbleanna posted a similar recipe the other day that has kielbasa instead of sausage and doesn't have the cream added. Sounds good to me as well - its on my to-try list. I'm all about soups right now, and I probably shouldn't be eating cream anyway, since I still need to lose weight and the baby doesn't much like my eating dairy yet.

Sorry that there's no photo - the little one is teething and he was tired and fussing when we made this the other night. I was too lazy to get a photo of it. My table isn't clean anyway. Ha!

Striped Pixie Hat In Use

Hello again.

I still don't really have any time to get very much done outside the basics, but we're doing well. Little brother is sleeping wonderfully - love that kid! - and eating constantly. Big brother is a crazy little monkey and he makes lots of work for his Mama cleaning things up.

Work is a bugger from December through January, so I'm running behind on everything right now. Here's hoping that we'll sorta catch up soon.

The whole new year thing motivates me to get lots of things accomplished, and it's frustrating as all get out that I never seem to get any of them done. But I have big plans! I intend to clean/purge/organize this house from top to bottom. I doubt that will happen, but I guess we'll see how far I get. I also need to get reacquainted with my treadmill and finish getting rid of the baby weight.

But I thought I'd show you a few more pictures of my little monkey. Here's the little striped pixie hat that I showed you awhile back. I can't get big brother to cooperate for semi-posed photos for the life of me - he's two after all! - so here's little brother wearing his. These are from back when he was brand new, of course. He's grown a little bit since then!


I could eat him up! I'd forgotten just how much I love baby smells. The soft warm fuzzy head and yummy milk breath kill me.

New Arrival

Yes, he's here.

I know its been a little while. Two months, to be exact. Its a little baffling how much time a new baby takes up. Add it to a house with a busy two-year-old, a part time job for me and sometimes crazy hours for The Man and mix in two dogs, and time gets away from you.

Kent Daniel was born on September 19th, one day after his due date. Thankfully, there was no on-again, off-again labor this time, and he was born just 8 hours after labor started. We had an even quicker delivery this time - just an hour and a half after arriving at the hospital. Good thing we live pretty close. He was 8 lbs, 2 oz and 22" long and he's perfect. I'm in love.

These days, I waiver between ignoring everything else and enjoying the ridiculous amount of time spent nursing him, and stressing out about my work not getting done and the house being a giant mess.

Big brother has been alternately adorable and incredibly aggravating. He's getting his two year molars and starting to be interested in potty training. He has gotten up at all hours of the night and rarely stays in bed the first time he's put in there. This is new. He's always been the perfect sleeper. Now he sleeps with a baby gate on his door, both to keep him in at night and to give me a little extra sleep in the morning. This is all temporary, I hope.

The little guy is only waking once a night to feed, so I can't complain. I feel like we're already through the rough start and we can move on. I cope so much better with enough sleep.

I don't imagine I'll be ambitious enough to get any quilting done anytime soon. I've really had the urge lately to make a ripple afghan of some sort (here, and here) although, I don't know why, or when I might have time. I also have a quilt that I've been hand quilting for ages. Maybe over Thanksgiving I can get some work done on it.

My latest obsession is photography, which is natural, I suppose, since I am at home with two little munchkins who are getting bigger every day. The Man told me I can get a new camera for my birthday/Christmas and I'm excited about that. I am hoping to buy the Canon EOS 60D. My Rebel has done well, but it is 5 years old and I'm excited to upgrade. I took a class from nicole's classes last January, so hopefully I've made improvements over the last year and can continue to improve. I've been shooting in manual since the class and I feel like I've gotten the hang of it. I really just need to practice, since shooting a really fast moving target (aka toddler) isn't easy!

So anyway, that's what is going on in my life right now. Perhaps I'll be back every now and then. We'll see.

More Washcloths

Last night I finished up another stack of washcloths for this little one. He's still not made an appearance. I'm starting to feel like he never will, even though his due date isn't until tomorrow. In the meantime, I keep my hands busy making things.

Baby Wraps

Instead of starting my post with a photo of a newborn baby, I should point out that this is not my baby or photograph. Ha ha!

Source: etsy.com via Barefoot on Pinterest

Source: etsy.com via Barefoot on Pinterest

Found these wraps at the PropShop on Etsy recently and decided to try making them for this new little kiddo. It is super simple and I feel a little silly that I bought a pattern to make them, but whatever. It turned out just like the photo. They are so soft.

Since the stitch is so large, they don't really hold a shape, but as a wrap for a photo, that works just fine. You can tuck it in around them and it will stretch to fit as you need.

This first one is made from Moda Dea Dream yarn in Pecan. Its my favorite. Nice and neutral. It was done as crochet. Its really just that you need a very large hook. Nothing difficult. I found it hard to see my stitches though, since they were so large and the yarn is fuzzy.

The second one is Moda Dea dream in Leaf, I think. I did this one as knit. I had the super-large needles already, so I wanted to try it that way. It was easier to knit, since there's really no missing stitches when they're sitting on your needle.

I had to search around for the yarn a bit, because it seems to be discontinued. In fact, Moda Dea doesn't even exist anymore, does it? Its too bad, because its so lovely and soft.

Striped Pixie Hats

I made these awhile ago from a pattern I got from Etsy. I don't have any pictures of them on, cause the Little Man doesn't leave hats on very long and of course, the other little man isn't here yet. But the idea was that perhaps I could get a photo of the two together wearing them. Wishing thinking, I'm sure.


But it was interesting to learn how to knit them. These two were knit on regular needles and sewed together. I don't like sewing knitted stuff up - mostly because I don't know that I'm doing it right. But since these hats won't get a lot of use, it will be fine. I just procrastinated on finishing them for a long time because I was too lazy to sew them shut. Sad, I know.

Anyway, I'm stockpiling a few ideas and trying to think how I'd like to photograph the little guy when he makes his appearance. I'd love to hire a photographer, but I don't think I can justify it. So I will try my hand at it myself. I've got a few other things made up, like this, although I'm not sure if I'll be brave enough to try it. I guess it depends on how big this baby is when he gets here! Ha!