Sophstar's Mama

homemade dry shampoo

2012-01-25T14:27:00.002-09:00

It's been over ten days since I went all hippy again, and apart from one or maybe two semi-bad-hair days, it's going well and I'm happy with it. Today though, I was driven to the kitchen to concoct another hair product by greasy hair at my roots. This is mainly a problem because of the length of my hair - I'm letting my bangs grow out, and they're too long to be bangs but not long enough to stay put with the rest of my hair. Therefore I push them to the side a million times a day, and this area ends up getting oily faster than the rest of my hair. I have a can of dry spray shampoo in the cupboard, but I've been steering clear of it for obvious reasons. Besides those, it stinks like fake fragrance. Solution: good old baking soda and some cornstarch.

Find a cute little jar and an old makeup brush, and you're set. Here's my "recipe":

1 tablespoon baking powder

1 tablespoon cornstarch

some powdered rosemary (not sure why I did this, but it seemed like a good idea; feel free to omit)

Shake it up. Wait a day till your roots are oily. Dip the makeup brush in the powder, apply it to your roots, massage it around a little and then let it sit for a few minutes. Then all you have to do is use a natural bristle hair brush (I use one with wooden bristles because I have enough hair for two people, but a boar bristle brush would work too) to brush it through. Even though my hair is medium to dark brown, it completely disappeared and I'm completely happy with the results! Hooray!

Let me know what you think if you try it!

unconventional use of garlic

2012-01-23T14:57:00.001-09:00

I'm immunosuppressed due to the medications that I take, and this means that I get frequent infections. I average a sinus infection and resulting Z-pack every other month or so, not to mention every cold that comes around (which with a preschool child is quite a lot). I also get yeast infections more often than I'd like due to the frequent use of antibiotics. Yeast infections, as most women know, cause maddening itching, pain, redness, and gross vaginal discharge. Yeast is among the "normal flora" of our bodies, but when it gets out of hand it's no fun at all.

A couple of years ago (coincidentally around the same time I started on immunosuppressants) I recognized the early symptoms of a yeast infection and since I knew I wouldn't be able to get to the store for a couple of days, I Googled "natural cures for yeast infection," or something along those lines and decided I didn't have anything to lose by giving one of the results a try. The one I chose to try was garlic. The next day I had no symptoms of the yeast infection, and they didn't return (that time around). It worked! And it always does, as I've seen no reason to use anything else ever since. All you have to do is: first, recognize the early symptoms, or "warning signs," of an impending yeast infection. Then, peel a clove of garlic, squish it a little, and then insert it into the vagina just like a tampon.

Now stay with me here. I know this is pretty hippy or whatever, but it really does work. According to an article by Midwifery Today addressing garlic for vaginal yeast infections, garlic kills not just yeast but also many harmful bacteria. Plus it doesn't have any side effects, as opposed to OTC yeast treatments (like Monistat or other brands) which can cause stomach pain and fevers as well as increasing the irritation in the vagina (PubMed Health). It's probably already in your pantry, so you don't have to go to the store (potentially delaying treatment) and buy a box of over-priced and over-packaged medication. Better for you, your wallet, and the environment!

So yes, it's pretty hippy or whatever. I'm ok with it.

making changes

2012-01-16T16:56:00.000-09:00

Last night I was cruising around Pinterest when I saw this picture:

It led me here, and from there I started clicking and reading and before I knew it, I was mixing oils in bottles and clearing the shampoo and conditioner out of my shower. I've been down this road before (some of it) and stuck with it for quite a while - about a year total, probably. But I always seem to get pulled back to the "dark side" of chemical products. Apparently advertising works on me, or something. I'll have to work on that.

The "oil cleansing method" on my face is new, though. And so far I really like it. It feels good (facial massage and steam, who could ask for more?), and even on my troubled skin it seems to be working. I've been taking oral steroids (prednisone) for longer than I can remember (on and off for 2+ years, and steady for over a year now), and along with every other lovely side effect from this evil drug (or miracle drug - it's a love/hate relationship), my skin has really taken a beating. It's thinned, fragile, and I've broken out in "steroid acne." I never really struggled that much with acne, even as a teenager, so this is new to me and I've tried just about everything in the book to combat it. "Natural" products, truly natural products from Etsy sellers (two of my favorites are Rainwater Botanicals and DressGreen), and most recently the Bare Minerals line of skin care. I also started using prescription clindamycin (an antibiotic) on my face. Nothing worked all that great. So now? I'm cleansing with a mixture of 1:1 sweet almond oil and jojoba oil with lavender essential oil added, and moisturizing (using only a few drops) with jojoba oil and essential oils with healing or antibacterial properties (right now I'm using lavender, clary sage, lemon, and tea tree). I'm still using the clindamycin as well - maybe if all goes well I'll consider eliminating it. I'm not expecting a miracle cure here or anything, but it's an enjoyable process so as long as it doesn't make my skin worse I'll probably stick with it.

I also washed my hair with baking soda and vinegar last night. I've done the 'no-poo' thing before and I know it pretty much works but I also like to use handmade soap shampoo bars, so I'm going with a combination of these for now. You'll find plenty of explanation as to why it's a good idea to stop using shampoo and conditioner (and body wash - that's where good old Dr. Bronner comes in) on Google, so I'm not going to reinvent the wheel. But I'll tell you what it's done for me. First off and most noticeable, I'm just as clean as ever. I'm all about being a hippy, but I don't want to stink. So that's taken care of. The next thing, and what occurred to me as I massaged my scalp with baking soda and water, is that using natural - truly natural - methods of cleaning and taking care of your body changes the focus of your attention during your daily routines. Instead of noticing the product (its smell, the foamy lather), you notice your skin and your hair, and in doing so makes you feel better about yourself and take better care of yourself.

scraps = stripes

2012-01-10T20:39:00.001-09:00

After I finished the last pair of mittens, I had a bit left over of two balls of the same kind of yarn (Baby Cashmerino) but in different colors. I had some more of the same yarn left over from the last two sweaters I made Sophie - it's the only yarn that doesn't itch her. Therefore I knit with it a lot - she's lucky I love her!

I'd also been thinking lately that Sophie needed a new hat.

Stripes!

So far Sophie is very impressed with it, and at bedtime tonight she requested that I finish it so that she can wear it to preschool tomorrow morning.

I better get knitting!

I've been on a mitten-knitting spree lately - today I'm finishing up the last pair (for now!). I call these playground mittens because they are the perfect weight and warmth for playing at the playground and holding onto cold swing chains - and they fit so good that kids can actually grab onto things without having to bunch up or tug on their mittens.

I have a couple more finished objects hanging around but I haven't managed to get good pictures of them yet! I better get on that. Maybe that should be my new year's resolution - take more pictures! I think I've made that resolution before.... hmmm.....

holiday inspiration

2011-12-26T16:44:00.004-09:00

I received this book for Christmas, and got to start reading it during our annual Christmas Day Nap. (Sophie even took part this year - I tricked her by saying she only needed to lay down and rest, and she ended up falling asleep!).

I haven't finished reading it yet, but I got through the first few sections and got inspired to start implementing some of her ideas for creating spaces and providing supplies that encourage kids to create. I made some blank books for Sophie to fill in, using plain white paper inside (I used 4 folded sheets per book), construction paper for the cover, and pink duct tape to cover the spine (hey, it's what I had!).

I showed them to Sophie when she woke up from her nap and she wasn't super impressed; she's always grumpy when she wakes up so it probably wasn't the best time to introduce them, but I was excited about my creations!

I cleaned out her big art drawer and re-stocked it with blank drawing paper, construction paper, origami paper, notebooks, the new books I made her, and cards and envelopes. So far she's only gotten into the blank drawing paper, but I'm sure she will "discover" it all on her own in good time. My stubborn girl only does things when she decides to do them!

Here's a picture (bad lighting, sorry!) of Sophie's newly-organized drawing tools... She got lots of new art supplies for Christmas - from Santa, me, grandparents, and friends! It's so neat to see her growing and expanding as an artist. I decided I need to find a way to keep and remember her artwork as she grows and goes through different stages with her art. For now I started keeping a file folder of her current artwork to save and go through later (once a year maybe?), and I want to get her a portfolio to keep her favorites/my favorites from each year. Also on my shopping list is cloth tape (to make nicer bindings for her books!), plastic envelopes and some more organizational-type supplies like small baskets to keep her supplies easily accesible and easy for her to put back when she's finished.

Now that I'm done with school (finally!!) I am excited to have more time to spend just being with Sophie and being more present with her all of the time since I no longer have a running list of deadlines and to-do lists weighing on me in the back of my mind. Of course I still have a to-do list - but I'm very thankful that for now at least it consists of things like "clean house" and "write thank-you notes." Hopefully you'll be seeing more of me here, as well - I've even been knitting! Finished object post coming up soon :)

emergency! winter has arrived

2011-11-18T11:45:00.001-09:00

That is the view from the 7th story of Alaska Regional Hospital, where I was doing my intensive clinicals for three weeks. Winter was ahead of the game in Anchorage - there was a snowstorm on Halloween night!

Anyway, winter has made its way down the coast to Juneau. Yesterday, Sophie and two of her friends were playing in the front yard while the mamas sat inside drinking coffee. All of a sudden we heard boots running on the porch, and muffled yelling. Sophie shoved the front door open, saying, "Emergency! Emergency!"

My friend and I both jumped up and ran towards the door to see what the "emergency" was - expecting a crying child at the very least. But no one was crying, and Sophie pointed up at the roof of the porch, where there were ice-sickles hanging from the eaves.
"We can't reach! We want to eat the ice!"

Emergency indeed.

on (and on, and on) about nursing school

2011-11-16T11:29:00.002-09:00

26 days until my last final exam of nursing school. It can't come soon enough! If only all I had to do was take the final, I'd be set. Unfortunately I have 3 more papers to turn in, one 9-hour clinical day, three 12-hour shifts with my preceptor (this part I'm looking forward to!), and a medication map, in addition to two final exams left to do.

I just sent in one paper - I love checking things off my list!

Unfortunately, I'm trying to stay focused on getting more things done while sitting on the couch with Sophie, watching Caillou. Thank goodness for the Roku and Netflix instant streaming for sick days. Sophie and I both have colds, plus she has a terrible rash all over her neck and back from (I think) shampoo I used on her a few nights ago. It's making her pretty miserable and it's taking a long time to go away :(.... Benadryl and hydrocortisone cream are only helping her a little bit.

It's good to be home after spending 3 weeks in Anchorage doing intensive clinicals. It sucks to be under the weather though. I feel like since I'm sick from my autoimmune issues nearly all of the time, I should somehow be exempt from colds.... too bad my immunosuppressive medications don't play nice with viruses :(. I am going to start on a new medication soon, though - I have high hopes for it working! It'll take probably six months to be able to tell if it is or not, though.

sneaky peanut butter cookies

2011-07-24T17:09:00.001-08:00

Sophie and I are gearing up to go to the Haines Fair - and camping for six nights in Haines!

Today I am busy baking snacks to take along with us. These peanut butter cookies are delicious and also sneakily (almost) healthy.

Sneaky Peanut Butter Cookies (adapted from The Fiddlehead Cookbook)

1 stick + 4 tablespoons butter

3/4 cup white sugar

3/4 cup packed brown sugar

1 egg

3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

3/4 cup peanut butter

1 1/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour

1/4 cup whole grain flour (I used Bob's Red Mill's gluten-free all purpose flour)

1/4 cup wheat germ

1/4 cup ground flax seed

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

Cream butter and sugars together. Add egg, vanilla, and peanut butter, beating after each addition. Mix together dry ingredients, then add to butter mixture and stir until completely combined. Spoon dough onto cookie sheet, then flatten with a fork dipped in sugar.

Bake at 350F for about 12 minutes.

finished object, a rainy day, and muffins

2011-06-28T15:10:00.005-08:00

First off, the finished object - Habitat by Jared Flood. I wore it today to the beach hoping that the rain would block it to my head all by itself. It may need some actual blocking some day, but for now it'll work!

It was a rainy summer day, warm and very wet, and we joined Outdoor Preschool at Outer Point for three hours of fun in the woods and on the beach. Here's Sophie with a limpet she found, right before she tried to stick it to her nose :)...

And then we came home and made muffins! My kind of rainy day. I used the recipe from the bag of Bob's Red Mill Oat Bran, and instead of whole wheat pastry flour I substituted 1/3 quinoa flour, 1/3 wheat germ, and 1/3 Bob's gluten free all-purpose flour, plus a handful of whole flax seeds. For the wet ingredients, I put a banana, three carrots, a handful of raisins, and a couple handfuls of walnuts together in the food processor and then mixed them in. I also halved the amount of sugar.

They turned out good, very tasty. The only thing is that every time I've tried to use the gluten free all-purpose flour, things turn out slightly burnt on the outside before they're done on the inside. Is there a trick to getting gluten-free things to turn out right? I'm not even doing all gluten-free, just trying to incorporate more alternative grains (other than wheat) into my baking.

tangled knitting

2011-06-03T19:07:00.002-08:00

Or rather, knitting tangled. Or, never mind. This:

... is what I'm working on. It's the first time I've picked up needles in far too long, and it did take me a couple tries to get it going well, but I've got the hang of it back now. It's to be a hat, for myself (what? crazy talk), and it's called Habitat (not 'tangled'.... why do I keep thinking that?) by Jared Flood.

The yarn I bought in Portland, at the one and only yarn shop I went into, and it is in fact the one and only skein of yarn I bought in said shop. I was quite proud of myself for only coming out with one skein, and a skein with a purpose at that. I've been wanting a new hat, and there was a sample knit up in the shop of a hat out of this yarn, so it seemed it was meant to be. It's Blue Sky Alpacas worsted, half merino and half alpaca, and it's so soft and wonderful to knit with! I can't wait till it's done and I can wear it :)

oatmeal raisin cookies plus protein

2011-04-25T12:11:00.009-08:00

I bought this stuff at the store the other day and have been wanting to experiment with adding it to baked goods. Being the lazy vegetarian I am and Sophie being the picky eater she is, neither of us tend to get enough protein on a regular basis. I know that Sophie's mood and self-regulation fares much better when she's eating enough protein (and I'm sure it's true for me as well) - so in the spirit of Deceptively Delicious I thought I would try some sneaky protein additions.

Today I went with cookies. I started with the Oatmeal Raisin Cookies recipe from Deceptively Delicious and went from there....

The original recipe calls for zucchini puree and banana puree. I didn't have either but I did have a zucchini in the fridge and an over-ripe banana on the counter! I put the zucchini in the food processor and called it good (I didn't cook it first, not even a little), then mashed the banana in with everything else.

I wanted to make the cookies vegan (just for fun really) so I substituted ground flax seed with water for the egg white called for. This is really easier than you think - just whisk the flax in with water, microwave, whisk, and microwave again until you get something that looks like this:

Ok, I know it's hard to see in that picture, but basically you want it to gel up enough that it hangs off the whisk for a second before dropping - kind of like an egg white - which is, after all, what we're going for here.

I added six tablespoons of the protein powder along with the dry ingredients, which according to my (very rough) calculations only added a measly 2g of protein to each finished cookie. Humph. At least the oat flour has a good bit of protein in it too. I think this addition made the cookies a little dry, so next time I'll probably add something else with the wet ingredients to balance it. Maybe applesauce. Or not, who knows.

The finished dough looked like this:

And the finished cookies, well, they look a little weird. They didn't flatten in the oven, so I squished them down with a spatula half way through. I think this is the too-dry issue caused by the added protein powder. But they taste good, and Sophie keeps asking for more - success!

Alright, here's what I did:

Oatmeal Raisin Cookies - adapted from Deceptively Delicious

6 tablespoons Earth Balance margarine

3/4 cup brown sugar

1 zucchini, ground in food processor

1 banana, mashed

1 tablespoon ground flax seed

1/4 cup water

1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour

1/2 cup whole oat flour

1 cup rolled oats

6 tablespoons soy protein powder (optional)

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 cup golden raisins

Preheat oven to 350F. Beat the margarine and sugar in a large bowl. Add zucchini and banana; mix (and mash at the same time if you're lazy like me). In a small bowl, whisk together the flax and water. Microwave for 30 seconds at a time, whisking in between, until the mixture gels. Add to ingredients in large bowl and mix well.

In another bowl, mix together flours, protein powder, oats, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. Add to wet ingredients and mix gently. Add raisins.

Drop by heaping spoonfuls onto a baking sheet and bake in preheated oven for 12-15 min.

Enjoy!

pumpkin muffins

2011-04-20T17:43:00.003-08:00

I messed with one of my favorite recipes and came up with these:

I think they're pretty good, they passed a double kid taste test, and they're super healthy. And I even remembered to write down what I did! Here it is:

Pumpkin Muffins

1/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup pure olive oil

1/2 cup applesauce

3/4 cup pumpkin puree

2T ground flaxseed

1/2 cup water

1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour

1/2 cup whole oat flour

1/4 cup quinoa flour

1/4 cup wheat germ

4 heaping tablespoons powdered soy milk

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground cloves

1 teaspoon ground allspice

1 teaspoon nutmeg

Vanilla soy milk (about 1/2 cup)

Preheat oven to 350F. In a big bowl mix the sugar, oil, applesauce, and pumpkin. In a small bowl, whisk the flaxseed with 1/2 cup water. Microwave for 30-second increments, whisking in between, until the mixture gels up. Add to the big bowl and mix. In a medium bowl mix the dry ingredients together, then add to the wet ingredients and mix gently. Add soy milk at this point until the matter reaches the right consistency for muffins. Bake in greased muffin tin for about 20 minutes, until the tops spring back when lightly pressed.

You could use different oil and experiment with different flours, and don't worry if you don't have powdered soy milk. (I finally found it hidden on a bottom shelf in our health food store). Also, I used a ton of spices - if you (or your kids) don't like super strong spice flavor, use less - a lot less - maybe half of what I put.

Enjoy!

new favorite: rainwater botanicals

2011-04-10T14:35:00.002-08:00

I love shopping on Etsy, and recently came across what just may be my new favorite shop: Rainwater Botanicals.

Check it out!!

version 2.0

2011-04-01T18:24:00.004-08:00

Of Pumpkin Pie Muffins - recipe adapted from 'Deceptively Delicious' -

1/4 cup packed brown sugar

1/4 cup molasses

1 cup canned pumpkin

1/2 cup almond milk (or soy milk) with a splash of apple cider vinegar

1 egg

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour

1/2 cup quinoa flour (or whole oat flour)

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon cinnamon

Sophie loves these! Next time I will add some oat bran and wheat germ as well. These are moist, light, and airy - kind of cupcake-like, actually. Bake at 350 for about 14 minutes.

And Tiger's Candy -

This time I rolled them in shredded coconut, and they are immensely better. Sophie is gobbling them up. Success!!

tiger's candy

2011-03-29T10:51:00.005-08:00

My mom used to make these things called Tiger's Candy when I was little. I remember them being amazingly delicious, and even better because I was allowed to have them almost anytime I wanted one.

I'm mentally getting ready for camping season (one more month maybe??), and I have begun experimenting with different ways to get more protein into Sophie without a fight. Protein = energy = kids who will hike without fussing (as much). This is my theory anyway. So I found the recipe for Tiger's Candy online and made a test batch while Sophie was at preschool today.

I rolled them in cocoa powder since Sophie loves chocolate, but next time I will try rolling them in shredded coconut.

In my opinion, these aren't as amazingly delicious as I remember, but then again everything's better as a child. I'll have to ask my mom what substitutions she used.

Here's the recipe - adapted from Diet for a Small Planet:

Tiger's Candy

1/4 cup peanut butter

2/3 cup ground sunflower seeds

1 tablespoon wheat germ

1 tablespoon ground flax seed

1 tablespoon honey

1/2 cup finely chopped raisins

cocoa powder

Blend peanut butter and ground sunflower seeds together, then add wheat germ, flax seed, honey, and raisins. Blend well. Form into balls and roll in cocoa powder.

The original recipe calls for powdered milk, but I looked all over the grocery store and couldn't find powdered soy milk to substitute, so I just threw in some wheat germ and flax for fun instead. I'll have to look at the health food store, because that seems like a good way to add protein to just about anything.

beetle

2011-03-27T11:13:00.003-08:00

A few weeks ago, Sophie found a beetle on the kitchen floor. At first she was a little scared of it, but once she realized it wasn't a spider she decided that it was her friend. She convinced Papa to put it in a jar for her so she could keep it as a pet, and she fed it lettuce and watched it for a couple days. Eventually she decided Beetle wanted to go back outside to play with its friends, so she let it go on the wood pile.

A couple days ago, Sophie was playing in the kitchen while I got ready to leave in the morning. All of a sudden she got super excited - "My beetle! My friend beetle come back!" - and ran to get a jar. She plopped the jar down on top of the beetle so it couldn't get away, and started singing a song to Beetle (she's constantly singing a narrative of her play). Part of it went like this, "My beetle, my beetle my friend beetle name is Beetle, he come back to play with me again, and I saw him on the floor and I almost step on him, but I didn't! And Beetle be my pet beetle, and I keep him in a jar..."

Unfortunately Beetle's jar got knocked over and Beetle got away, but she's still on the lookout in case he comes back to play again.

peanut butter banana oatmeal cookies

2011-03-22T14:48:00.006-08:00

Sophie and I are home together today. I have the day off of school, and she's on spring break from preschool.

She's a very good helper. I struggle with being patient and letting her actually help me - especially if the oven's already done preheating and we're not ready yet. I'm getting better at it, and she's getting better at helping, too. She cracked the egg today and didn't get any shell in with it!

My rule is that you can't eat any cookie dough until the first batch is in the oven - this is her "hurray I get to eat dough now!" face.

After the first batch came out, Sophie decided that the rest really needed to have chocolate chips in them.

Delicious! We used this recipe, and substituted half whole wheat pastry flour.

owls

2011-03-16T16:14:00.003-08:00

The owls have emerged on my o w l s sweater!

I'm almost done, just have the rest of the yoke and the neck to do now. I think these owls look pretty cool! I want to make a kids version for Sophie, but I think it will have to be in cotton because of her fussiness about itchy wool (she thinks everything is itchy). Even though cotton is death cloth in a wet climate, I do want her to wear the things I knit for her...

You are supposed to sew beads on for the eyes on all the owls, but I think I'm just going to do two pairs - one in front and one in back. What do you think?

off the needles/on the needles

2011-03-13T16:08:00.005-08:00

A pair of socks are off the needles and completely done! Another one in the Christmas pile.

I love knitting socks. I've only knitted plain ribbed socks, though. I want to try a pretty pattern like these or maybe these.... someday. I do appreciate a good solid plain sock though. Mostly I keep knitting the same socks over and over because I have the pattern memorized, so they make good tv-watching or Sophie-watching knitting. The endless stockinette is broken up enough by the heel and the toe to make them interesting, and they're pretty fast to knit as well. Always a plus. I always have a harder time with completing the second sock, but for this pair I split them up and knitted the cowl in between. I think the two socks fit better with having done something different in between - usually I knit the second sock just a little bit tighter than the first, and that didn't seem to happen this time.

Hand knit socks are so much more comfortable than regular socks! It feels like getting a massage every time you take a step. Try it, you'll love it! :)

On my needles now is the second sleeve to my o w l s sweater, which I can't believe I have never posted about before.

That's the body which I did last summer, and at some point I knitted one sleeve. Now I'm about half way up the second sleeve and then I have the yoke to do. This goes super quickly, with chunky yarn and size 10 needles! I'm excited to finish this and wear it. I think this will be my camping sweater - it's 100% wool, and it will be pretty warm. The yarn isn't the best quality though and I know it will pill pretty quickly. That's ok with me - I love camping clothes! I plan on wearing them a lot this spring, summer, and fall. Can't wait for the snow to melt!

second saturday at homesteader's cache

2011-03-11T15:07:00.002-09:00

Tomorrow there will be a soap making demo from 1-3pm at Homesteader's Cache - right around the corner from Mommy N Me. I love this soap! I'm hoping to make it there on Saturday with Sophie at least for a little while, it sounds neat. I've been using her soap and shampoo bars for over a year now and they are wonderful. The shampoo bars are my favorite - they last forever, smell good (I have the rosemary one) and my hair has way more body and wave than with regular shampoo. I went 'no poo' for a while (using baking soda to clean my hair), and while that worked well and I was pleased with the results, I went back to using the shampoo bar because I like how it smells and it's more fun than dumping lukewarm baking soda/water on your head in the morning. Yay for hippies and nice soap!

smoke ring

2011-03-10T15:04:00.004-09:00

I wanted to knit something that was fast, easy, and pretty.... and for some reason I was in an old lady-ish mood and wanted something a little bit fuzzy and plain. I have strange tastes sometimes! Anyways, I found the yarn I wanted to use and then looked it up on Ravelry. I love looking through other people's projects with a specific yarn, it always gives me inspiration. What I found this time was the Old Shale Smoke Ring - and here it is!

Sorry for the bad iPhone pictures, I was too lazy to get off the couch, get my camera, find good lighting... You know.

Little miss took a 3-hour nap yesterday so I already finished this! And washed it and uh, stretched it out on a towel. I wouldn't go so far as to call it blocking. Again, lazy. Just need to weave in the ends!

I don't even know who this is for, I just wanted to knit it. I think it will go in my gift stash, I'm already stockpiling for next Christmas! I figured it's really more realistic to start now if I expect to have anything finished in time.

I can't believe that by next Christmas I'll be done with nursing school! Hurray! I better get back to paper writing if I want to finish though... :)

homemade hippy stuff

2011-03-07T10:42:00.003-09:00

This is my laundry detergent:

I've been using it for..... well, over a month now and I love it! I'll definitely be making another batch when this one runs out.

I switched from the generic eco-friendly, unscented liquid detergent from Costco and I haven't noticed any difference at all - my clothes are just as clean as ever, and as a bonus they smell nice coming out of the washer because I used lavender soap in my concoction. The smell is gone once the clothes are dry, but if you like scents then I'm sure you could experiment with adding essential oils to the mix.

I found my recipe online somewhere, but I don't remember where. Sorry. But here's what I did:

2 cups washing soda
2 cups borax
1 bar of Dr. Bronner's pure castile soap, grated with a cheese grater

Combine all in a big bowl and mix with a fork, then transfer to a container for storage.

I'm using one heaping tablespoon per load of clothing, and two heaping tablespoons for rags and extra dirty stuff.

itchy

2010-12-13T19:52:00.005-09:00

Sophie thinks everything is itchy - everything I knit, that is. I knit her a pair of socks out of merino and silk blend yarn and she even says those are itchy!
She says she likes the things I knit her, but then she won't hardly wear them. The only things I can get her to wear (sometimes) are her blue glacier sweater, her mittens, and her "warm pants" but only if she's wearing a layer underneath. And she wants me to make her a new sweater! Hmm. We'll see about that. I try to be really careful to make her things with soft yarn, but her standards and mine of what is "soft" are obviously very different. What will I do with her?

spiral noro hat

2010-09-12T20:16:00.006-08:00

Sophie's turn this time:

This hat was such a fast knit and so cute - I might have to make another one in my size!

a hat

2010-08-21T14:57:00.004-08:00

I've been wanting to make hats lately- lots of hats. I'm not sure why, although with more complicated patterns there is satisfaction of finishing something that looks rather complicated rather quickly. Like this:

When a certain someone gets home, there will be a proper picture.

I'm knitting the final rounds on another hat right now, and am browsing hat patterns on Ravelry right now as well. There are so many beautiful hat patterns out there, I may have my theme for holiday knitting this year. Hats for everyone!

Sophie wants that green hat, above (it's Koolhaas, by the way). I may have to figure out a child-size version for my next one!

sunkissed

2010-07-09T19:18:00.002-08:00

I'm almost done with a shawl - my first project in laceweight for a long time. It's not actually a lace pattern, which is a little annoying, and it seems to go very slow (I've been working on the last ten rows for a week) but it is sure pretty!

The wait will be worth it, I'm sure. And finished soon - only four more rows to go!

2010-06-27T16:39:00.005-08:00

A good weekend - hiking, camping, and playing with chickens. What could be better?

stalled

2010-06-23T21:43:00.004-08:00

I'm making o w l s !

Only one small problem... I got to the sleeves and realized that I don't have size 10 double-pointeds. I'm on a stash-busting mission, so I resisted my first impulse to go buy said needles immediately. I really have a lot of yarn. Too much yarn to justify any knitting-related spending. Maybe someday I won't be a poor college student anymore.

Anyone want to teach me how to magic loop? I kind of know how to do it, but it is slow and awkward so far.

three

2010-06-22T19:52:00.000-08:00

Today Sophie is three years and one month old. How time flies! Just a little while ago, she was born.

And then she turned one:

And two:

And now my sweet child is three.

Three, complete with Jekyll and Hyde moments, intricate pretend play, and true conversation.

I think I'm going to like three after all.

still knitting

2010-06-20T18:46:00.003-08:00

Hey there! I seem to have gotten lost in the craziness of finishing up my first semester of nursing school and trying to figure out joint issues (including my hands... not so conducive to knitting), and haven't posted in a while. Ok, not in a really long time. But I'm back and I'll do my best not to get lost again!

Here's what I've knitted since I last posted:

French Press Slippers, a Christmas present for a dear friend:

These were my first felted project and they turned out a little wonky, but I still think they are pretty cute!

Some socks for me - I actually did finish these, and I wear them all the time, but I never got around to taking a picture of the finished product. Oh well. They look like socks.

Turn a Square with Spud & Chloe and Noro. I absolutely love this! Gotta have the Noro though. This is the best looking guy hat I've seen.

This is a cowl I made out of some yarn I got in my Christmas stocking, Ella Rae Lace Merino. Beautiful yarn and I'm rather fond of the finished product too. Maybe I'll write up the pattern?

Some socks for Sophie, too. The last socks I made her (out of $16 yarn-store yarn) she hated. These (out of $2 Fred Meyer yarn) she loves.

A family friend had a new baby, so of course I had to knit something. This is a super cute pattern for a baby boy! It's supposed to look like a collapsible hat or something. I don't know. I used some leftover yarn from my first sweater. Here is the pattern!

Also, I'm almost done with my Mystique. It's technically finished, but I can't decide whether or not to add some garter stitch to the bottom hem, so I still haven't woven in the ends or anything. Hmm.

And then there is this! This was supposed to be Sophie's birthday dress this summer (she's 3 now!!) but... hmm. Again with the finishing problems.

Isn't it adorable? It's the Flora Dress, and I highly recommend it.

Phew! That's enough catching up. I'm happy to say that I have recovered my knitting mojo and started a new project this weekend, something for me this time, and I'll take pictures this week and get it posted. This is something I've been wanting to knit for a really long time and I've finally decided to do it. I hope everyone had as great a weekend as I did, and happy father's day too!

the glacier sweater

2009-12-20T14:18:00.004-09:00

I bought this yarn with the intention of making something to sell on Etsy, but Sophie saw the yarn and asked me if it was for her. So of course it became hers, and she asked me to make her a "shirk" (that's a shirt).

It was slow going on fingering weight yarn (Debbie Bliss Rialto 4 ply) and size 3 needles, but there it is!

As of today it's finished, wrapped, and under the tree.

I hope she likes it!

almost a sweater

2009-11-22T17:45:00.002-09:00

Sorry for the crappy photos, I used my iPhone. But here it is!

Just needs sleeves and a collar! I had to redo the bind off on the bottom once (too tight) but now it's done - well, almost.

inspiration

2009-10-23T22:29:00.013-08:00

I love giving handmade gifts, and I love knitting, and I love giving people my knitting. But I hate being on a schedule! So once this Christmas knitting is finished, this is what I want to knit...

I want to finish this sweater.

Make myself one of these hats out of this yarn.

Make Sophie a bright blue cardigan. (I have this yarn in my stash already)

Make my o w l s...................................................... with this. (Yeah, it's been around a while)

A twinset perhaps? In this storm blue merino (already stashed):

And how could I forget about my Central Park Hoodie? It's been in my queue for over a year, and whaddaya know, I have the yarn in my stash!

Add in a few more (let's see... 3) sweaters-to-be already in the stash, plus a huge pile of lovely silky sock yarn just waiting to fit onto feet of all sizes... sigh.

Next year, Christmas presents are going to be small, people. Small.

a new model

2009-10-01T11:36:00.005-08:00

I'm going to put all my knits on Daisy for pictures from now on. Doesn't this color look fabulous on her?

This is the Upstairs Shawl - one Christmas present down! This is a very easy to follow and forgiving pattern, and I'm thinking of shortening the width to make scarves. I still have two more scarves to make before Christmas! Along with two hats, a pair of socks, a sweater (toddler-sized, at least), and who knows what else I'll think of along the way. Can I do it? Perhaps I was overly ambitious this year... I need a schedule like the Yarn Harlot.

Summer is over, and "cold and flu season" has begun. We've already been sick all summer! Swine flu - check. Croup - check. Ear infections, allergic reactions, more infections... maybe it'll slow down as everyone else starts to get sick. We had frost the other night and termination dust on the mountains :)

Sophie is starting to skip naps once in a while, will only eat peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for lunch (uh oh... we're out of bread today!), and had her first night away from Mama last month. I can't believe that her friends are starting to turn 3 already! I still haven't found out about my nursing program, it starts in January and they still haven't decided which 10 people will get in. I've heard from some people who went through the same program that they didn't find out that they got in until November. Oh well. I'll just knit more while I wait.

still knitting

2009-09-12T14:03:00.003-08:00

Oh, hey there, neglected blog. Sorry about that. I may have neglected my blog for a while, but I haven't neglected my knitting!

I finally finished my Hemlock Ring Blanket - blocked and everything. It turned out a little smaller than I'd like, partly due to me being scared of running out of yarn, and partly due to insufficient blocking time. Where do you block something this big? On my bed, of course. The only problem is that my bed is needed for nap-time.

So... it could be bigger. Oh well. It's sure cute, especially with a naked baby on it:

(almost) finished!

2009-08-18T19:31:00.002-08:00

The lace ribbon scarf for my mom!

I really love this pattern, and I did end up only using one skein of the Aracaunia. It's a little on the short side, but totally do-able. It looks soo beautiful now that it's all blocked out! Just need to weave in the ends now.

I have been knitting like crazy - the other night I started a little sweater for either Sophie or Sierra (her best friend, I'm making them matching sweaters for Christmas), I cast on at around 9:00 and by 2:00am I had finished the body. It didn't help that I started watching Lie to Me for the first time online (I heard a rumor that there would be a crossover with Bones next season - I am completely addicted to Bones. It's bad.). One of the sleeves is finished now, and I hope to finish the second one tonight. I feel like I should be knitting as much as humanly possible before I start school again and have "real" obligations!

what should i do with this?

2009-08-15T19:35:00.002-08:00

Sophie picked this out at a little yarn store in Haines - "Me! Me, Mama!" - so obviously I need to knit her something out of it. It's 50 merino/50 silk (she has good taste in yarn!)...

What should I make out of it?

let the christmas knitting begin

2009-08-11T21:15:00.004-08:00

I'm getting a late start! Haha. Non-knitters just don't understand, do they?

I have a bunch of lace yarn to be knit into scarves and shawls for Christmas gifts, and yesterday I cast on for the first one. It's the Upstairs Shawl (Ravelry link), and I'm hoping to put two whole skeins in it. We'll see how long it takes.

This yarn is amazing, though. It's KnitPicks Shimmer, it's 30% silk, and I love it!

the buy nothing challenge

2009-08-09T12:37:00.002-08:00

As Crunchy Chicken says... Forgive me, people, for I have spent. Sophie and I were in Haines for the first couple days of the month, so I really started once we got back last Sunday night. Since then I bought a spiced hot chocolate from Heritage (my knitting group wasn't able to meet in the yarn store as planned, so we went across the street to the cafe) and Pel Meni's for dinner last night. I will have to do better for the rest of the month, especially because I spent so much up in Haines that I need to make up for it!

my barefoot hippy child

2009-08-06T15:16:00.004-08:00

Sophie and I spent last weekend up in Haines for the Southeast Alaska State Fair. We had so much fun! There was awesome music (Albino, Spoonshine, Nicole Fournier) - Sophie slept through most of that, but I enjoyed it! We didn't get back to our tent until 11pm both nights.

Look at that dirty face!

Crashed out in the tent on the last day :)

even more lace

2009-07-26T20:56:00.003-08:00

I've been working on this Lace Ribbon Scarf for a while now, and just finally got around to taking pictures of it. It's going really slow... and I have 6 or 7 more of these in my queue for Christmas presents! I've been aiming for one full repeat a day of the lace pattern.

I really like the pattern, though. It's easy to memorize and to tell where you are just by looking at it.

And it's pretty, too!

half way

2009-07-23T20:48:00.002-08:00

Here is my Hemlock Ring Blanket with one skein + a few rounds of the second in it!

I love this blanket! This is a pattern that I will definitely make again someday. It's going to be big, too - I'm already just a few rounds away from the "normal sized throw" line, and I have a lot more yarn to knit into it. Good thing there is an extended version of the pattern!

The same designer - Jared Flood - just came out with a new pattern for a baby blanket. Somebody needs to get pregnant just so I can knit that blanket! Come on, people... :)

new friends

2009-07-21T15:37:00.003-08:00

Sophie hasn't been well lately, so to make her feel better we went to the fish store...

And came back with these. They don't have names yet, but I made the fish guy work really hard to get one of each color so that we'd be able to tell them apart when they have names :)

a diversion

2009-07-18T21:00:00.002-08:00

Last night I hemmed Sophie's long underwear onesie into a shirt (now that she has to go potty all the time those onesies don't work so well!) and I had the leftover fabric just sitting there, so...

Ta-da! A jellyfish shirt. Two "new" shirts in one night, not too bad, eh?

socks off, socks on

2009-07-17T13:45:00.002-08:00

Donna's socks are done! They are the "Mermaid Lagoon" color of Imagination sock yarn.

It's more purply than the pictures show, very pretty. And I think there might be just enough extra left over for a pair of toddler socks for Sophie.... :)

And there's new socks on the needles already. This one looks like it's nearly done, but it's actually for my dad and has a long way to go still. It's working up super fast in worsted weight Fisherman's Wool and size 6 needles. They will be warm - and soft and squishy too. I might need to make myself a pair of these this winter.

Here I am last night, enjoying summer still - what's better than knitting in front of the fire??

I was working on my Hemlock Ring Blanket. I'm almost done with the first ball of yarn - Eco Wool - and I think when it runs out I'll put it on scrap yarn and lay it out flat... I can't wait to see the lace stretched out!

knitting lace

2009-07-04T22:19:00.005-08:00

My first adventure into lace knitting has somehow turned into three adventures all at once:

The Mystique Sweater (Ravel it) I'm knitting for myself - I'm into the lace panels on the body now - I love this sweater so far, despite having had to cast on three (3) times to get it right. This pattern is a challenge, which is nice, assuming it all turns out right anyways. We'll see! I did the miniature cables in the raglan section, and I'm really glad I did even though it was kind of a pain. If I make this sweater again I'll have to experiment with cabling without a cable needle.

The Hemlock Ring Blanket by Brooklyn Tweed (love this blog!), which is growing so quickly that I had to order longer cables for my new Options needles already! (I love them, by the way.) I'm still on the first ball of yarn, so I think I'll be able to keep going to the very end of the chart rather than stop at the 'standard size' line.

I don't have pictures of the next one yet, but I'm so happy with it so far that I've already ordered yarn for about six more of these (or similar, depending on how bored I get with the same pattern :)... Christmas is coming, you know! It's the Lace Ribbon Scarf, and I'm beginning to wonder if the yarn I have will be enough. That may be a problem as it's in Araucania Ranco and is hand dyed - crossing my fingers that it will turn out to be an acceptable length. The yarn lady assured me that one skein would make a "very long scarf."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Happy 4th of July!

sleepy time - finished!

2009-06-21T20:58:00.003-08:00

It's done!

I love it! Now I just need to find the right baby to sleep in it...

P.S. I've been knitting - really I have! I promise to be better about posting from now on. Coming up: Picky Pants, Hemlock Ring Blanket, and more...

summer knitting... and then some

2009-06-08T22:05:00.006-08:00

I may be getting ahead of myself with project planning. Right now I have yarn in my stash to make three (3) sweaters for myself... (Ravelry links) Owls, Mystique, and Corona. Wool of the Andes for Owls, City Tweed DK for Mystique, and City Tweed HW for Corona - I love love love the new City Tweed from Knit Picks (It's where I get practically all of my yarn). Plus yarn in the stash for Sophie's next sweater (also out of City Tweed DK), and this beautiful yarn I picked up today at Skein's:

For the Lace Ribbon Scarf, for my mom.

I have one sock finished and need to start the next, and I'm almost halfway done with the Sleepy Time baby sleepsack - I'm knitting it out of Frog Tree alpaca (yarn candy), and I wish it were my size. So soft.

One finished project to show:

A simple raglan pullover, sized 9 months for a friend's baby-on-the-way. This one is out of Shine, which I absolutely love. It's made out of beech trees! I think another one of these (perhaps a striped one?) is on the way. It only took me about four days to knit, from beginning to end. Gotta love knitting for babies!

I also finished Sophie's pants - just need to sew down the elastic, and then take a picture! And then get her to wear them. She LOVES being naked, and the weather we've been having hasn't encouraged much clothes-wearing, either. It's looking to be an awesome summer!

a rainbow party

2009-05-29T07:44:00.006-08:00

Sophie's birthday party was a blast. The forecast said mostly cloudy with a chance of rain, which around here usually means it will be raining, but we got lucky - by the time her party rolled around, it was sunny and hot.

Nana made her birthday dress (with matching bloomers!) and since it buttoned down the back, she actually kept it on for most of the party.

There were rainbow sugar cookies, rainbow playdough party favors, and rainbow ric rac around the punch glasses (otherwise known as jelly jars). My mom made beautiful (and delicious) rhubarb-raspberry punch.

There was lots of running, jumping, screaming (in joy), playing...

Bubble blowing....

Nana and Papa made her a teepee out of bamboo poles and covered with all her new silkies.

And here is her fruit pizza!

Play Dough:

1 cup flour
1/2 cup salt
2 teaspoons cream of tartar
1 cup water
1 tablespoon vegetable oil

Combine ingredients in a saucepan and place over medium heat. Stir constantly until a ball forms; remove from heat and knead for a few minutes. Add food coloring and knead until the color is even.

Bubbles:

5 cups water
14 oz. Dawn dish soap (eco-friendly soap doesn't work)
1/2 cup corn syrup

Mix. Dip. Blow.
We used egg dippers (for dyeing Easter eggs) for wands - just use pliers to complete the circle.

at the playground

2009-05-27T20:53:00.002-08:00

For a toddler, this place is heaven.

And I admit it... I went down a few slides too!

baby longies

2009-05-25T13:26:00.004-08:00

I love how these little pants turned out! I'm making a pair of big-girl longies for Sophie now... with NO backside increases! She's completely out of diapers now (knock on wood), and I've even loaned my entire cloth diaper stash to her little cousin. It makes me a little bit sad to not be using those diapers anymore.

We've had a lucky string of hot (for Juneau), sunny days - Sophie's birthday party was a huge success, it was sunny and she and all her friends played outside in the yard for hours. She blew out the candle on her "cake" all by herself. Instead of a cake I made a fruit pizza with a sugar cookie crust, plain yogurt sauce, lots of cut up fruit, and honey drizzled over the top, and I forgot to take a picture of it! Can you believe it?

Pictures of the party coming soon...

birth story

2009-05-22T16:49:00.001-08:00

It’s May 22^nd, 2007, 3:00 in the morning when I wake up. I feel some mild cramps, like I’m about to get my period; only I’m pregnant, so that can’t be. I get up, go to the bathroom, and by the time I come back to bed I feel normal again. It takes me an hour to fall back asleep because I can’t stop thinking about those cramps. I’m not due for another two weeks – could something be wrong? I’m scheduled to have an ultrasound later this morning to confirm position of the baby, and number of babies – the day before, my midwife had been unsure when she felt feet on opposite sides of my belly, and heartbeats on both sides also. Maybe I’m just worried about that – it’s my first ultrasound, and even though I know it’s highly unlikely to discover twins at 38 weeks, it’s still a nerve-wracking thought.

I get the cramps again in half an hour, and half an hour after that, until it’s time to go to my ultrasound appointment. My mom is going with me. I sign in and wait for my name to be called. After what seems like forever I’m called into a room, weighed, and then asked to give a urine sample. I pee into the little cup like I have so many times since becoming pregnant, but this time there is something different – I’ve lost my mucus plug. A funny feeling creeps into my belly. I know that losing your mucus plug is a sign of impending early labor, and along with the cramps I’ve been having all morning it’s even more of a sign; but my due date is still two weeks away, and young first-time moms like me never go early. I shake it off and go back to the room where the ultrasound technician is waiting for me.

The ultrasound gel, which the tech assures me won’t be cold, is too hot and it burns the skin on my belly. My mom sees me flinch and she knows the gel is too hot, but I don’t say anything to the tech and so she doesn’t either. I haven’t seen a doctor my whole pregnancy and for some reason being here, in a medical clinic, makes me nervous. I feel like I need to stay on the doctor’s “good side” and not complain. Soon, though, I forget about the hot gel as I focus on the blurry black-and-white image moving across the screen. I can’t see a baby at all, but as the technician points out ribs, heart, and head I start to make sense of it. Sure enough, it’s only one baby, head down in perfect position – it must have been doing the splits the day before.

Happy to be out of there, and relieved that there is in fact only one baby about to enter the world from inside of me, my mom and I linger before returning to our respective obligations. The day is hot for May and the sun is shining, and I bask in the sunshine outside a café where we splurged on ice cream bars. Eventually, ice cream gone, my mom goes back to work and I go to class to take my last final exam of the year. It’s perfect timing, really.

In class as I finish up my final I feel the cramps again – stronger now, but I still ignore them. I head home and start filling out the birth plan worksheet my midwives gave me weeks earlier – I’m still not even half way done with it, but when a few friends call I tell them to come on over. They show up with henna dye and in my lazy state of mind I agree to a belly-painting session in the front yard. As soon as I lay down on my back my lazy state of mind goes out the window as I get another cramp, this time much stronger than the ones before. I talk it over with myself mentally and agree to call them contractions from now on, but still I don’t say anything. What if this isn’t the real thing? I’m not due for two weeks, after all.

Belly painting accomplished, I waddle up to the porch as my friend’s mom stops by to say hi. Getting out of the car, she takes one look at me and informs me that my baby is going to come soon – she can tell, she says, by the way I’m holding myself. The baby is very low and I can feel the head engaged in my pelvis. I start to take notice of when the contractions come, and it’s down to every ten minutes now. Tonight is the last in a series of classes on labor that my midwife is giving at the birth center, and my mom picks me up to go with me.

When we get there at 6:00, there is only one car parked in the parking lot – my midwife’s. It’s such a nice day that no one else has showed up for the class. I tell her about my mucus plug and the contractions I’ve been having all day, and we go into an exam room so she can check me, “just in case.” She tells me I’m 2cm dilated – when I look at her, she translates: “go home, pack your bag, and call me when you can’t talk through a contraction. You’re having a baby tonight!”

I’m still in such denial that it’s my mom that reminds me I have yet to pick up any supplies for after the baby is born, and so on the way home we stop at the store to buy pads, yogurt, cereal, and other easy foods. My mom starts to think about what was on her grocery list at home since she’s already here, but I (a little too forcefully) remind her that walking around a grocery store is not a fun place to have a contraction. At home I lay on the bed while my mom goes through my things, trying to pack a bag for me, all the while telling me how she told me weeks ago that I should pack my bag now rather than wait until it’s too late. Everything she’s saying goes right over my head as I try to be comfortable. Nothing is working: lying on the bed, sitting on the couch, walking, listening to my iPod. I’m curled up in the fetal position on my bed when all of a sudden I feel heat seep down my leg. I jump up and more fluid gushes. Running to the bathroom, I shout at my mom that my water just broke.

She wants to call my midwife now, but for some reason I’m still in denial that I’m really in labor. I tell her not yet, I can wait a little longer; but with the next contraction I start crying and she makes the call – I can’t talk to tell her not to. My midwife has to find child care and she’ll meet us at the birth center in half an hour. At 9:00 we pull into the birth center parking lot again, and I have to stop twice for contractions before I can make it into a birth room down the hall. My midwife checks me immediately after my next contraction, and is amazed when she finds me 8cm dilated and 70% effaced. She tells my mom, “I guess you guys really do have fast labors!”

I feel like I’m helpless, stuck inside of a contraction – I need to get on top of it somehow. My midwife fills the Jacuzzi tub and I crawl into it. The water feels amazing, and I imagine this must be how my baby feels inside the womb. With each contraction I press my body against the side of the tub. When the contractions are at their peak I lose grip mentally and start to pant; my midwife is kneeling next to me on the other side of the tub with her head pressed against mine, telling me to breathe deeply, breathe down to my baby. I pull myself back on top of the contraction and ride it out. It seems like the Doppler is making another contraction come, because as soon as one ends and my midwife listens to the baby, another one starts immediately – soon I realize that I am starting to fight against my body and I need to push.

Pushing, I think, is ridiculous. To push is excruciating, but not to push is impossible. There’s just no way around it. I struggle with myself to open up and push at the same time; it takes a couple of contractions, but now they are coming one after the other with only a second’s rest in between. I have read about how the baby crowning feels like a “ring of fire,” and as I stretch to what feels like the absolute limit I hear Johnny Cash, “Ring of Fire,” playing in my head. My midwife tells me to reach down and feel my baby’s head, and I touch thick, silky-soft hair. It is only now, when I feel the baby’s head, that it really sinks in to me – I’m actually having a baby. And I’m having the baby right now – another push and the head is out. I’m too tired to push the rest of the baby out right away, I have to wait for the next contraction. It comes and I feel myself tear, but I absolutely do not care as my midwife lifts my baby out of the water and onto my chest.

The baby splutters, coughs once and cries once, and then its eyes open and it lies on my chest just looking around. I have not found out the sex, and secretly I want a girl very badly, but everybody that I know have told me that they think it will be a boy. Now that the time has actually come, I’m almost afraid to find out. I quickly hold the baby out and look – it’s a girl! I’m so happy and relieved, but just to make sure, I have to look again.

Sure enough, my Sophie Carolyn was born at 11:04pm on May 22^nd, 2007 - 7lbs, 12oz, 20 in long.

Happy birthday Sophie!

research paper: vitamin d in pregnancy

2009-05-10T21:38:00.003-08:00

Vitamin D is a fat-soluble vitamin that has recently jumped into the forefront of health and nutrition. Previously thought of as a vitamin needed only in small amounts to prevent rickets in children, vitamin D deficiency is now recognized as important for much more than just bone health. Vitamin D status is important for everybody, but it is especially important during pregnancy, because low maternal vitamin D stores may contribute to problems such as low birthweight and small for gestational age babies (a serious problem in the United States) and an increased risk later on for many other diseases.

Vitamin D is not a simple vitamin but a prohormone, a complex molecule that plays many important roles in the body. These roles, in addition to the main function of regulating mineral salt deposition in bones, include regulation of body metabolism, mood, blood pressure, and immune function – maybe even protection against some forms of cancer (Wardlaw & Hampl, 2007). Vitamin D is synthesized in the skin when the right wavelength of sunlight is available, and it is found in a few foods such as cod liver oil and fortified milk. Unfortunately, these two routes of acquisition are seldom sufficient for vitamin D needs, especially for people living in northern climates (defined as above 42 degrees north latitude – a line between northern California and Boston, Massachusetts) and in climates with frequent cloud cover preventing the absorption of ultraviolet light from the sun (National Institutes of Health [NIH], 2008). Location and climate are not the only factors that can limit vitamin D synthesis from the sun; genetics and cultural practices can also play a role. Australian researchers Grover and Morley (2001) reported that among pregnant women who were either dark-skinned or regularly wore a veil, 80% were below reference values for vitamin D.

Insufficient amounts of vitamin D in the body can cause rickets (bone malformation) in children, osteomalacia (bone softening) in adults, and can contribute over a lifetime to the chance of developing osteoporosis in later life. Other health effects caused or influenced by inadequate vitamin D supply in the general population include muscle weakness and inflammation (NIH, 2008). In pregnancy, having an adequate supply of vitamin D is especially important because of the health impacts on the developing fetus. Mothers who do not have an adequate supply of vitamin D cannot provide their baby with an adequate supply of vitamin D. A study by Bodnar, Simhan, and Powers (2007) reports in the Journal of Nutrition that in pregnant women who were vitamin D deficient, newborns were either as deficient as their mother or more deficient (in some cases by as much as 16%) than their mother. This data was taken from women living in northern latitudes of the United States who used prenatal vitamins (which presumably provided vitamin D) as directed by their doctor.

Babies who are born deficient in vitamin D have lower birthweights and tend to remain smaller throughout life. Low birthweight is associated with a wide range of complications that can be lasting, including breathing difficulties, heart problems, and increased risk of infection (March of Dimes Foundation, 2009). A recent study showed that children whose mothers had insufficient levels of vitamin D during pregnancy had lower bone mass and mineralization both at birth and at a follow-up study nine years later (Gale et al., 2008), indicating that vitamin D deficiencies can prevent children from reaching their full potential. In a study completed in 1980 Brooke et al. showed that babies born to mothers in the control group (those not receiving vitamin D supplements) were twice as likely to be labeled “small for gestational age,” and they were more likely to have larger-than-normal fontanelles (or “soft spots”) which the authors thought was indicative of incomplete skull ossification during gestation. The authors recommended that all pregnant women be given supplements of at least 1,000 IU of vitamin D daily, but they received little attention at the time.

In addition to being smaller, vitamin D deficient babies also have an increased risk for a wide range of diseases later in life that may be linked to the innate immune system. These are mostly chronic, slowly developing diseases such as Type I and Type II diabetes, schizophrenia, autoimmune disorders such as multiple sclerosis and rheumatoid arthritis (Wagner, Taylor, & Hollis, 2008), and maybe even neural tube defects such as spina bifida (Hollis & Wagner, 2006).

The circulating form of vitamin D in the blood, called 25(OH)D, is utilized directly by many cells in the body, including monocytes and macrophages, important immune system components. Tissue cells such as prostate, breast, colon, lung, and keratinocytes (in the skin, hair, and nails) also have direct receptors for 25(OH)D, and there has been speculation about whether all body cells may contain receptors for vitamin D (Wagner, Taylor & Hollis, 2008). Vitamin D acts in the tissue cells to modulate cell proliferation (important in cancer), differentiation, and apoptosis (programmed cell death, also important in cancer) (NIH, 2008). Vitamin D is known to have a regulatory effect on the immune system, and high levels of vitamin D are associated with reduced risk of autoimmune diseases (Hyppönen, 2005).

Preeclampsia, a serious complication of pregnancy, may be related to autoimmune diseases and may be influenced by vitamin D status (Hyppönen, 2005). Preeclampsia causes the mother’s blood pressure to rise and may be fatal to the mother, the baby, or both. Preeclampsia is not uncommon, affecting about 10% of pregnancies in the United States and causing 18% of maternal deaths in the

United States

. Preeclampsia causes babies to be born prematurely because of the danger to both mother and baby if pregnancy is continued, thereby causing a wide range of lasting health problems (Preeclampsia Foundation, 2008). Preeclampsia is more common in women with a history of autoimmune disorders, and some research has already shown that women with adequate levels of vitamin D before and during pregnancy have lower incidences of preeclampsia (Hyppönen, 2005).

The current recommendations for vitamin D intake were made 40 years ago, and were based on the amount of vitamin D contained in a teaspoon of cod liver oil. This amount was thought to be sufficient based only on anecdotal evidence and before it was possible to measure blood levels of 25(OH)D, the usable form of vitamin D in the body (Hollis & Wagner, 2006). The recommendation for pregnancy of 400 IU per day has been shown in numerous studies to either have no effect on blood serum levels of 25(OH)D or to actually decrease circulating levels of 25(OH)D. This explains why women taking prenatal vitamins as directed are still deficient in vitamin D. The upper limits for vitamin D of 2,000 IU per day were also set somewhat arbitrarily based on reports of vitamin D toxicity from the 1920’s, when researchers gave children between 3,000,000 and 18,200,00 IU of vitamin D a day, extreme pharmacological doses (Wagner, Taylor & Hollis, 2008). One brief exposure of the entire body to sunlight can synthesize up to 25,000 IU of vitamin D, and several studies have given subjects up to 10,000 IU of vitamin D daily with no adverse effects (Hollis & Wagner, 2006). It has been found that in most people, between 1,000 and 5,000 IU of vitamin D daily will raise blood levels of 25(OH)D to normal, adequate levels (Wagner, Taylor & Hollis, 2008).

Vitamin D is no longer a simple vitamin to be easily overlooked. It is an important prohormone that regulates many body systems and can decrease the risk of some common diseases, many of which have no cure. Many people worldwide and most people residing in northern climates do not have sufficient levels of vitamin D, and cannot achieve sufficient levels through diet and sun exposure alone. Most people would benefit from taking a vitamin D supplement in order to maximize health. During pregnancy sufficient levels of vitamin D are especially important in order to provide the developing baby with the vitamin D it needs. Pregnant women should make sure to take a vitamin D supplement of at least 1,000 IU per day of vitamin D to reduce the risk of giving birth to a low birthweight or small for gestational age baby, to reduce the baby’s later risk for disease, and possibly to reduce the risk of developing preeclampsia during pregnancy.

SOURCES

Bodnar, L.M., Simhan, H.N., & Powers, R.W. (2007). High prevalence of vitamin D insufficiency in black and white pregnant women residing in the northern United States and their neonates. Journal of Nutrition, 137(2), 447-452.

Brooke, O.G., Brown, I.R., Bone, C.D., Carter, N.D., Cleeve, H.J., Maxwell, J.P., et al. (1980). Vitamin D supplements in pregnant Asian women: effects on calcium status and fetal growth. British Medical Journal, 280(6216), 751-754.

Gale, C. R., Robinson, S.M., Harvey, N.C., Javaid, M.K., Jiang, B., Martyn, C.N., et al. (2008). Maternal vitamin D status during pregnancy and child outcomes. European Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 62, 68-77.

Grover, S.R., and Morley, R. (2001). Vitamin D deficiency in veiled or dark-skinned pregnant women. Medical Journal of Australia, 175, 251-252.

Hollis, B. W., and Wagner, C. L. (2006, April 25). Nutritional vitamin D status during pregnancy: reasons for concern. Canadian Medical Association Journal, 174(9), 1287-1290.

Hyppönen, E. (2005, July). Vitamin D for the Prevention of Preeclamsia? A Hypothesis. International Life Sciences Institute, 63(7), 225-232.

March of Dimes Foundation (2009). Low Birthweight. Retrieved April 20, 2009 from http://www.marchofdimes.com/professionals/14332_1153.asp#head5.

National Institutes of Health: Office of Dietary Supplements (2008). Dietary Supplement Fact Sheet: Vitamin D. Retrieved April 18, 2009 from http://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/vitamind.asp.

Preeclampsia Foundation (2008). About Preeclampsia. Retrieved April 20, 2009 from http://www.preeclampsia.org/about.asp.

Wagner, C. L., Taylor, S. N., and Hollis, B. W. (2008). Does Vitamin D Make the World Go ‘Round’? Breastfeeding Medicine, 3(4), 239-250.

Wardlaw, G.M., and Hampl, J. S. (2007). Perspectives in Nutrition (7^th ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill.

ta-da! the diaper wrap

2009-05-04T18:40:00.003-08:00

Finally, a finished object. It's the WHW Plain Diaper Wrap (Ravelry link), and I love it. I will definitely make this pattern again. And next time I will definitely do buttons instead of velcro (you don't know how many times I stabbed myself trying to sew that velcro on...).

After I finished sewing on the main front piece of velcro, I pinned on the pieces for the sides and thought about a laundry tab, and realized something was not right. Checked the pattern and yep - I put the wrong side of velcro on the front.

The "soft" side (what are the different sides of velcro really called?) is supposed to be on the front so that when you put the laundry tab on it will be the soft side, since it will most likely be up against baby's skin.

So sorry Mikaela, but you're going to be hand-washing this one. There's no way I'm re-doing all that velcro.

Coming soon in the knitting lineup.... Picky Pants for the Birth Center' s fundraiser, another pair of Fetching for my mom, another pair of Picky Pants for Sophie (it's almost her birthday!), and a sweater for my dad.

a little decadence

2009-04-30T16:30:00.003-08:00

I wish I could say that I made these brownies to celebrate the end of the semester, but the truth is that I made them last weekend and haven't gotten around to posting about them yet. I do think they deserve a post, though.

Instead of baking I've been outside soaking up the sun, and knitting. Life is good.

But back to the brownies.

Sophie and I couldn't resist trying one before I remembered to take a picture. These may just be the best brownies I've ever made. I wanted something extra special, and chocolatey, and easy, and fast; here it is:

Fudge Brownies with Walnuts and Dried Cherries
from Hershey's Chocolate Treasury and How To Be A Domestic Goddess

1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup unsifted all-purpose flour
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1/4 cup chopped dried cherries

Blend oil, sugar, and vanilla in large mixing bowl. Add eggs; using a spoon, beat well. Combine flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt; gradually blend into egg mixture. Stir in nuts and cherries.

Spread in a greased 9-inch square pan. Bake at 350 degrees F for 20 to 25 minutes or until brownie begins to pull away from edges of pan. Cool; frost with Creamy Brownie Frosting. Cut into squares.

Creamy Brownie Frosting:

3 tablespoons butter or margarine, softened
3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa
1 tablespoon light corn syrup or honey
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup confectioner's sugar
1 to 2 tablespoons milk

Cream butter or margarine, cocoa, corn syrup or honey, and vanilla in small mixing bowl. Add confectioner's sugar and milk; beat to spreading consistency.

Enjoy!

outside

2009-04-26T19:00:00.004-08:00

It's finally Spring! I knew it would happen. We've had quite a few days of sunshine in the past week, and it's actually been warm out as well. Today we were all out puttering, I raked (some early preparation for Sophie's birthday party!) and Sophie took a nap in the yard (with a blanket,
of course. It's not that warm out!).

I took these pictures last Friday when Sophie's friend Bailey was here - most of that snow is melted now!

It's been awfully hard to get any studying done... thankfully I only have a few days left.

I got on Ravelry the other night and showed Sophie some pictures of finished pants from the pattern I want to make her for her birthday, and she was very excited about them. I ordered a bunch of yarn to make my dad a sweater for his birthday, in August - ambitious, I know. It's the new City Tweed from Knit Picks and I'm pretty excited about it. I love Knit Picks! I allowed myself to knit (just a little!) on the socks I'm making for Donna last night... it just made me want to knit more. Two more days!

Obsessed? Perhaps. At least it's productive.

some birthday sewing

2009-04-24T15:58:00.004-08:00

I can't remember the last time I went near a sewing machine... it was over a year ago, that's for sure. Probably longer. But last weekend Sophie's friend Dashel was turning 2 (2! Sophie and her friends are turning 2!) years old, so I managed to come up with this:

I only had to rip out one seam, which I think is pretty good given my sewing history.

There's been no knitting around here - term papers and studying for finals instead. I'm not going to make that mistake again! Come next Wednesday I'll be completely done with school until next January (hopefully). I have a big list of things to start (and finish) knitting.

And I have a birthday party to plan!

the end in sight

2009-04-13T23:37:00.002-08:00

The end of winter...
The end of diapers...
The end of classes...

All are beginning to come into sight.

Happy Spring!

pink pancakes

2009-04-10T22:39:00.002-08:00

Check out the color of this pancake batter:

What's the secret? Pureed beets. The recipe is from Deceptively Delicious, and I'm very happy to report that Sophie loved them (me? love the color, hate the taste). Maybe she won't be as picky as her Mama is if I get her started eating beets now.... :)

I love this cookbook (thanks Keegan!)... every recipe I've tried turns out well and is sufficiently stealthy. I added cauliflower puree to the tuna salad I made earlier this week, and even my dad who swears up and down that cauliflower tastes like old socks didn't notice a thing. I don't like cauliflower either, but if I can manage to get the nutrition without the taste I'm all for it!

the best thing since sliced bread

2009-04-08T22:15:00.007-08:00

I love baking bread. This recipe is from the Fiddlehead cookbook, the herb bread, which might be the only bread recipe in that cookbook I hadn't tried yet.

I've made lots of bread. Lots. But this bread...

This might be the best bread I've ever baked. It tastes good, but what's really, really different about this bread -

- is how it sliced.

I think I'm in love.

making progress

2009-03-30T15:48:00.000-08:00

The Fetching/sleeve dilemma has been solved and both are finished!

Now I just need to weave in all the ends and add the buttons...

works-in-progress

2009-03-25T12:59:00.000-08:00

I read a conversation thread in the Ravelry group "I should be studying" about knitting monogamy; the idea that you should start one project and take it all the way to completion before even thinking about starting another. This is so not me. Lately I've been really bad about taking pictures of my knits before I give them away, so all I have to show you for now are some works-in-progress. I think I may have gotten carried away with starting projects lately!

First up, my sweater - hmm, not much farther along than last time. For some reason I keep pushing it to the back of the pile in favor of starting new, fast projects.

I've decreased enough on that sleeve now to need to switch to double-pointeds, but of course I can't because I'm using the ones I need for this project:

It's the beginning of Fetching, for a friend who has a birthday coming up, and I'm now done with the main part of that mitt and need to do the thumb. So, should I finish the sleeve on my sweater, or finish the mitt? And if I go with the mitt, do I then do the next one (they come in pairs, you know) before finishing the sleeve, or after? Dilemma, dilemma.

So instead I decided to make this hat (it's this same pattern - the Robin's Egg Blue Hat), it's for a woman I used to work for. She's awesome. I just need to finish darning in ends and to sew on the button.

But of course I can't do those things (darning and sewing) while watching movies, so I took a ball of yarn and a circular needle with me to a birth-film-fest at the Birth Center the other night and came out with this:

The beginning of a 2x2 ribbed hat, which was supposed to be toddler-sized but since I was watching movies as I cast on, it's looking to be a bit bigger than toddler sized. I'm sure it will fit someone.

And then last night when I should have been studying for my Anatomy & Physiology midterm, I found The Perfect Pattern on Ravelry. And it's worked on straights, which is good because nearly all my double-pointeds are in use. So of course I couldn't resist, and started in on it right away. And kept going, and going, until I had stayed up too late and had finished the knitting and bound off. More on this one later, I'm way too excited about it.

I do have some finished objects around, but I can't post them yet, because a certain someone might snoop and see their birthday presents before it's their birthday. And we certainly can't have that, now can we?

my tiny little baby

2009-03-23T10:18:00.000-08:00

Nearly all this week Sophie has been running around naked or half-naked. It suits her character, and it facilitates potty-training nicely. She hardly ever gets cold because she's constantly moving, jumping, yelling, running as fast as she can (which is getting faster).

She wraps her baby up in her quilt, carefully lays her on the bed, and closes the door, whispering "shhhh" with her finger up to her lips. She hears the dogs barking on the carport roof (they can jump up there from the enormous pile of snow in the back yard) and says "Doggie! Foof! Hush!" What do doggies say? "Wuf!" (she growls as she says it). What do kitties say? "Wow-eee."

Before she goes to bed we read two books, How Many Kisses Goodnight and Goodnight Moon. She insists now that she reads the first one, How Many Kisses Goodnight, herself. She holds the book, I read the words, she tells her own story and points out things of interest in the pictures (doggies, babies, and fish, mostly), and she turns the pages in the order that she wants to. Then I'm allowed to read Goodnight Moon to her, although she has to stop and kiss each page before I turn it. She notices the blankie at the end of the bunny's bed, and she thinks the "little toy house" is a dog house. She points at the fireplace and says "Bapa!" (Grandpa). Yes, Grandpa does like fires, doesn't he.

She's too busy to stop and take a nap anymore, except on days like this - when I pick her up to dance to a song on the radio, and within seconds she is sleeping (and drooling on my arm).

I put a diaper on her, grabbed a quilt, and settled onto the couch to read...

And knit...

And kiss her head, which still has the same sleeping-smell it had when she was just a tiny little baby, when we would spend hours like this, her head tucked under my chin where I could smell her and kiss her as much as I wanted to.

She weighs more now on my shoulders, and these moments are shorter and come less often. She'll be two years old in two short months.

But she's still my baby.

happy spring

2009-03-20T09:02:00.000-08:00

Today's the Vernal Equinox, and it's snowing outside, so I thought I'd put up some more reasons why I really do love Alaska.... even if spring doesn't show up on time.

1: View from Crow Point

2: Auke Rec (this is Hillary doing a cartwheel....)

3: Sandy Beach

4: West Glacier Trail out to the ice caves (that's me and Sophie when she was 3 months old)

5: Bonfires on the beach.

Oh Spring, please come soon....

why i love alaska

2009-03-17T20:24:00.000-08:00

One of many reasons:

This is the view out the window of the classroom I have my microbiology lecture in. It can be distracting at times.

"Look, it's snowing again."
"Look, the boat that sunk is back up again."
"Look, that buoy's moving. Are those sea lions?"
"No, it's divers."
"Look at the sunset!"

Oh, microbiology, what?

when the simplest answer is the best answer

2009-03-14T20:06:00.002-08:00

Who knew things could be so simple? When Sophie had her Staph infection, I put her in disposables for a week and bleached all her diapers. The point was, obviously, to kill the Staph, but I was also pretty excited about the prospect of not having to deal with yeast infections for a while.

Yeah.

Two days later she had a yeast infection. I've been beginning to think I'm breeding a resistant Candida strain over here or something. I've tried everything... you name it, I've done it, at least twice (this has been going on for over a year now, sometimes worse than others). But I think I'm finally ahead of the game! She hasn't had any yeasties in over a week now. And what did it?

Boiling water.

I feel thoroughly put in my place. Bleach, psh. All it took was a couple big pots of boiling water dumped into the washer with a hot wash... and some lavender essential oil for good measure (I couldn't find my tea tree oil, but lavender is antiseptic to a degree also).

Yay for clean diapers!

a doula story

2009-03-04T09:12:00.004-09:00

I'm watching this movie right now, and my internet is slow so I have to keep pausing and waiting for it to load - so I'll take the time to pass it on here.

It's the story of a doula working with black teenage mothers in Chicago. While I wouldn't choose the birthing options that she does (hospital birth, medication), I can relate as a teenage mother myself. Unlike a lot of the young mothers in this film, I had great family support and my mom was with me through the whole experience. Rather than having a doula support me and go with me to the hospital when labor began, I had my wonderful midwives who met me at the birth center and took care of me throughout the entire process - acting as doula during labor, catching my baby as she was born, staying with me until I was ready to go home, and coming to my house every few days afterwards to check on us.

What runs through the film is that what young pregnant mothers need is love, trust, and most of all just being - being with them when they need it, not leaving when they're scared, listening when they need to talk, and talking when they need to listen. This is what teaches them how to be a mother. The word 'midwife' means 'with woman.' When you are with the woman, you are not only helping to bring a baby into the world, but bringing a mother into the world as well.

a very sad elephant

2009-03-02T13:44:00.005-09:00

Today I caught Sophie in the dog bed, pulling the stuffing out of this:

This sad little elephant was one of my first knitting projects ever.

I was 15, and I made it in preparation for the arrival of Elwood. It's entirely in garter stitch and has an amazing number of errors and is just generally really crappy, but I put so much love into it! I was sure he would love it as much as I did.

Here he is, around 7 weeks old: The Cutest Puppy Ever.

He never did show the smallest bit of interest in that elephant, and it quickly migrated to the very bottom of the toy basket. It's been there now for almost 5 years, until Sophie came along and started pulling all its stuffing out. I think it's finally time to let it go.

Goodbye, sad little elephant.

diapers from another point of view

2009-02-26T17:46:00.003-09:00

I think I've made myself pretty clear on how I feel about diapers. But I never really thought about how Sophie felt about them before... or maybe she never did before. She sure does now!

A couple weeks ago now Sophie had a diaper rash that got infected with Staph. Luckily I saw it coming (her friend also had a pretty bad infection a while earlier) and caught it before it could do too much damage, but as part of my damage-control efforts I switched her into disposable diapers for a week and bleached all of my cloth diapers.

Now she's rash free and back in her cloth diapers, but every single time I change her she asks for a disposable diaper. And throws an enormous fit when I insist on her wearing a cloth one. Sometimes she even pretends to need a diaper change just so she can beg for a disposable diaper. She hates diaper changes!

What is up with this? Is it just the novelty of having the new disposable diapers? I don't think she can remember having them before, the last time she was in disposables was almost a year ago. Maybe it's just her being contrary and wanting what I tell her she can't have? (She does do that a lot nowadays...). Maybe she likes the feeling of being dry all the time. Those disposables do a good job of keeping yeast away, that's for sure. There's no way I would ever switch to using disposable diapers, no matter what Sophie says, but this is giving me food for thought. Has anyone else had cloth-diapered toddlers who liked disposables better?

mama-sized

2009-02-15T13:51:00.006-09:00

After finishing Sophie's sweater, I decided that I was finally brave enough to start my own:

I'm almost ready to start the bottom ribbing now and so far it fits!

The color is bad in this picture (it's more accurate in the top photo) but it shows the cables going up each front. This is my first adventure with cabling and I think it looks harder than it is.

toddler slouchy hat

2009-02-10T22:06:00.004-09:00

Slouchy Hat for Little Ones

To fit about a two year old:

50g sportweight (dk) yarn (I used Frog Tree Sportweight Alpaca)
US size 4 needles (16" circular and dpn) or size needles to get gauge

Gauge: 6 sts to 1" over st st

CO 96 sts on the circular needles. Place st marker indicating beg of round. Join for working in the round.

First round: *K2, P2* around. Continue working even in K2,P2 rib for about 1"-1 1/2".
Next: *K12, M1* (I used Kf/b). You are increasing 8 sts evenly around. You could increase more if you want it to be slouchier.
Next round: K around.
Continue even in st st for 3"-5" (depending on how slouchy you want it to be).

Begin crown decreases (switch to dpn as needed):
Round 1: *K7, K2tog* around. Work one round even.
Round 2: *K6, K2tog* around. Work one round even.
Round 3: *K5, K2tog* around. Work one round even.
Round 4: *K4, K2tog* around. Work one round even.
Round 5: *K3, K2tog* around. Work one round even.
Round 6: *K2, K2tog* around. Work one round even.
Round 7: *K1, K2tog* around. Work one round even.
Round 8: K2tog around.

Finish: Cut yarn, leaving a tail for sewing. Thread yarn through remaining sts and pull tight. Weave in all ends.

Cute!

raised by wolves

2009-02-09T21:44:00.002-09:00

Sophie really likes spaghetti.

Since she won't really eat anything other than pasta, I've been trying to squeeze lots of veggies into the sauce. For this spaghetti sauce, I sauteed an onion and three cloves of garlic, added tomato sauce (canned, so not so great), some TVP, a shredded zucchini, a chopped tomato, 1/2 cup of carrot puree, and lots of basil and oregano.

And she liked it!

coffee mug wrap

2009-02-07T13:51:00.003-09:00

I made this little coffee mug wrap the other night for Sophie's grandma:

The pattern is this one from DaniDo Crafty, the squared check version.

The yarn is Frog Tree Sport Weight Alpaca.

I pretty much followed the pattern, except that I only put one button on instead of three (it's supposed to be adjustable, but it was so delicate and the buttonhole was so big that it would have been too much with three huge buttons).

If I make this again I will make the buttonhole smaller - the pattern says to cast off three for the buttonhole, but it's way too big. I would either just cast off two stitches, or do some other kind of buttonhole altogether.

All in all though, a good pattern. It only took me a couple hours to knit, blocked it overnight and sewed the button on in the morning.

breastfeeding kit

2009-02-05T10:45:00.001-09:00

That's how I felt when I got formula samples in the mail two weeks after Sophie was born!

she's the boss

2009-02-02T22:50:00.006-09:00

(Look! She's wearing her sweater!)

So the other night I was laying in bed with Sophie. Her teeth were brushed, pajamas on, all the night-time books were already read, and the light was off. But she didn't want to go to sleep. I didn't want to make her cry, so I decided to just lay down with her until she fell asleep - it can't take that long, right? After a while I started to sneak away, but she wasn't asleep. She grabbed me around the neck and hugged me as tight as she can, so I layed back down with her. This time she made sure she was facing me so that I couldn't sneak away again.

Me: "Can I have a kiss?"
Sophie: "No."
Me (whispering): "Please?"
Sophie (whispering also): "No."

I guess "no" really means "no," eh? The girl's learned something from me!

And I haven't had a single kiss in more than 24 hours.

the sweater!

2009-01-30T23:17:00.006-09:00

Here it is, my first (very small) sweater. It's amazing how just some yarn can turn in to not just fabric but a fitted garment without really very much effort.

Ta-da...

I ordered 10 balls of yarn (approximately what the pattern called for), without thinking that the pattern was probably written with adults in mind, not toddlers. It only took 4 balls. (I could make another whole sweater! In the next size up!)

All it needs are the buttons and blocking. Any suggestions for buttons? And how the heck do you put them on (seperate the yarn and use that, or use matching thread?)??

I'm thinking about making this pattern for myself, now that I have a "test run" under my belt. All that stockinette stitch did start to get a little bit boring, but I'm not sure if I'm brave enough to try adding my own stuff into the pattern.

I screwed up a few times along the way with this one, simple as it was; when I picked up one of the sleeves I knit the first row WAY too tightly (scared of loosing stitches off the double pointed needles) so there is a band there, and then there was this little thing...

Look closely at the collar:

For some reason when I picked up the collar stitches, I stopped about an inch short on one side. What was I thinking?? I have no idea. I had to go back and pick up the last inch and then seam it together.

Then there's the button holes - they are so wonky! For my next one I will have to actually keep track of how many stitches until the button hole and how many rows in between. Hmm, sometimes just winging it doesn't work out so well... duh! I should know that by now, don't you think? Lesson learned!

The pattern was the Sure-to-Fit Cardigan by SpinCraft Patterns (here's the Ravelry link), and the size was for a 9" neck. It only took me about a week to knit. Yarn is this stuff from KnitPicks, thanks to my cousin Jake (or really Aunt Gina probably)! And true to the reviews, it feels much nicer than it looks - not itchy at all. Most excellent for $1.99 a ball!

Now for the hard part of convincing Sophie to wear it - she gets freaked out when I try to put it on her! It's probably a product of being yelled at so often ("Don't touch my knitting!!"). Maybe I'll have to wrap it up and give it to her as a present!

my favorite place

2009-01-29T13:10:00.002-09:00

I guess it's fairly obvious from my lack of posting that school has started up again. This semester is a little crazy, I'm taking all of my classes on campus (up until now I've had some of them online) so Sophie and I are both gone a lot. She gets to go play with Grandma, Grandpa, her sister Analia, and her friend Bailey during the week though so I think she's getting the better deal!

One thing that I've started to really enjoy though is the time I have between classes two days a week. It's not long enough to go do anything really, but it is long enough to get settled in at the library with knitting and reading. I've been holing up at the Egan Library upstairs, and it's very nice to have some quiet downtime without feeling like I'm rushing to get somewhere or do something.

Where is your favorite place to be by yourself?

in miniature

2009-01-20T14:05:00.003-09:00

Baby socks!

They are just so darned cute, I can't wait to see them on a baby!

deceptively delicious: pancakes with sweet potato and diced apple

2009-01-17T13:00:00.004-09:00

Thank you Keegan for getting me this cookbook!

I had pureed a bunch of different veggies to have on hand in the freezer, but hadn't actually tried any of the recipes out until yesterday morning. Sophie's friend Bailey comes over on Fridays so I thought I would make them something "special" for breakfast...

Pancakes:

With 1/2 cup of my sweet potato puree (as called for in the recipe) plus a diced Granny Smith apple. The batter is pastel orange, but once they're cooked they look pretty much like regular pancakes:

With some of my mom's homemade "pancake stuff" on top (it's really just jam that didn't set up), they look AND taste delicious.

And they passed the double-toddler approval!

The pancake recipe in Deceptively Delicious just calls for 1 cup of pancake mix, which makes them super easy to prepare with store-bought mix, but with an extra 15 minutes you can put together your own, healthier, pancake mix.

Basic Multi-Grain Pancake Mix:

2/3 cup whole wheat flour
1/3 cup unbleached white flour
1/4 cup whole grain oat flour
2 tablespoons wheat germ
2 teaspoons sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda

Just dump all ingredients into a container, enough times to fill the container. Mix. Put in pantry.

Then just scoop it out by the cup to use in the sweet potato recipe (or any other recipe).

it's a beautiful thing

2009-01-12T13:39:00.005-09:00

10 balls of yarn destined (someday) to be a sweater for Sophie. And perhaps a pair of longies, too. Who knows.

It's Wool of the Andes by KnitPicks in color Hollyberry.

I've never made a sweater before, but I really want to make the Central Park Hoodie, so I need to get this one figured out and done first.

There's also this thing, which isn't quite so beautiful:

I walked (and ran, and chased toddlers) on it for a week before I finally figured out that I should probably go get it x-rayed. It's just one small fracture on top of my foot, so it should heal pretty fast (I only have to wear the boot for a month).

Be careful on icy stairs!

what a copy cat

2009-01-07T14:18:00.004-09:00

My mom's co-worker asked me to knit her 5-year-old son a new hat. She brought over his old, worn out one for me to replicate to the best of my ability...

Here they are (old on the left, new on the right):

He was adamant that the hat be black - not dark blue, not dark brown - black. Of course the one yarn that is not to be found is black cotton... luckily, the owner of Skeins Fine Yarns found me two little balls of black cotton hiding in a corner of her sale room.

Nancy, the woman who owns Skeins, has a dog named Sophie. As of course you already know, my daughter is also named Sophie. Turns out that this is a very confusing situation for a toddler! When Nancy's husband came to take Sophie (the dog) home, he called up to her from the first floor lobby. Sophie, come! Sophie! Come here, Sophie! Sophie! Come!
My Sophie girl ran to the rail and stood there completely perplexed, frowning at this man yelling at her from below. She was a little unsure of how to react, but she got over it quickly, grabbed Nancy's hand and started pulling her back and forth along the hallway. She is so NOT shy! I would never have done that when I was a baby.

I'm happy so say that my mom's co-worker's son loved the hat - in his words, "it looks just like me!" and that he wouldn't take it off, not even to eat dinner.

starting out the new year with happy feet

2009-01-01T16:02:00.005-09:00

Happy New Year!

I knitted the last bit of my second sock while I counted down till midnight last night. I finished with about 15 minutes to spare!

I've been wearing them all day today and my feet are very happy!

The pattern is Hellen's Favorite Socks from Fiber Trends, and the yarn is Austermann Step. I have quite a bit left over, I might have to make Sophie a pair!

the girl's got rhythm

2008-12-30T22:34:00.003-09:00

babies, and hats, and socks, oh my

2008-12-28T13:57:00.004-09:00

Here is little miss Sophie wearing her Neapolitan Ice Cream Hat:

It's just a tad too big. Better too big than too small, though (another hat I made her for christmas turned out too small :(... oh well, I know a little baby who would look good in it).

And here's where I was at on my first sock yesterday afternoon:

I finished it last night and cast on for the second one a few hours ago. These two HAVE to match up! My favorite part of knitting the first one was turning the heel, it was almost like magic... I just followed along the row-by-row instructions, and it just turned itself!

winter wonderland

2008-12-27T14:42:00.003-09:00

We had a very busy christmas around here... Santa brought Sophie a tunnel to crawl through, cardboard bricks, and wooden building blocks. She loves to stack things up and build things, as you can see here -

Instead of coloring with the crayons, she stacks them up.

She got lots of new clothes and some fun books, which she might enjoy someday... hopefully someday soon.

Mama got lots of neat things as well, including yarn and new needles (pictures to come soon!). I'm almost done with my first sock ever... I think I like knitting socks!

happy solstice!

2008-12-22T13:44:00.003-09:00

The days are getting longer now... thank goodness! It seems like it's already been winter for a very, very long time.

I've been knitting with my new double pointed needles, my first project was a doll hat -

See?

And then I had to make another one for Sophie's friend Sierra. Because I'm sure her baby doll needs a hat too.

This is my second Robin's Egg Blue Hat - I still haven't taken any pictures of the first one, but this one turned out better anyways. I just put the button on this morning:

Not the greatest picture of me, but you get the idea. The only thing I don't like is how pointy the top is... if I make another one, I'll buy the right size double pointeds first so that there isn't a seam right in the front of the hat also. Another christmas present wrapped and ready to go...

And Sophie turns 19 months old today.

(I think I have more fun with these blocks than she does)

all wrapped up

2008-12-16T22:16:00.002-09:00

Finally finished up a project that's been "done" for a while but needed the finishing touches... these mittens (same pattern as my last post but knitted up the same size, thank you very much!) needed to be lined with polar fleece for gifting.

Ta-da - lining 2-year-old size mittens is really much harder than it looks. I only stabbed myself with the sewing needle once (sewing needles are a lot sharper than darning needles!) on the way to getting it done...

...and now they're all wrapped up and ready to go.

It's supposed to be -20 degrees F tomorrow, and Sophie and I are planning a shopping expedition... we'll see how that goes!

why knitting during finals week isn't a good idea

2008-12-11T13:06:00.004-09:00

Aside from the common sense reason that knitting takes away valuable time that should be spent studying for said finals?

This happens.

Yeah. See those two mittens? They are supposed to be a pair. As in they are supposed to be the same size.

They were both knitted in the same amount of time, with the same yarn, same pattern, same needles, same exact number of rows and stitches.

What the heck happened?? Well, I knitted one on Monday (the day before my Anatomy & Physiology final) and I knitted the other one on Wednesday (the day after my A&P final). Check out my gauge:

.... Yeah. I think I was maybe a little stressed when I did the first one? And a little relieved when I did the second one?

Ha!

I think I may have learned my lesson now... just in time for finals to be over! I'm so happy I'm done!!

the perfect lunch

2008-12-09T13:41:00.002-09:00

There's just nothing better than homemade pel meni. Mine are potato, not meat, with some onion and garlic thrown in for good measure as well.

Eaten smothered in Sriracha hot sauce, rice vinegar, sprinkled with curry powder, fresh cilantro if you like, and sour cream on the side.

Food of the gods.

half sisters

2008-12-08T13:10:00.003-09:00

Here are Sophie and Analia (oh, and me, too) a few weeks ago, photo curtesy of Charlotte's Facebook page -

Now check out this baby picture of Sophie:

(please excuse my halibut-belly-white legs)

Don't they look similar? It'll be interesting to see them together as they grow up.

Sophie wasn't very interested in Analia until I held her, and then she was jealous and had to wiggle her way into my lap as well, haha.

a teeny tiny hat and some stash enhancement

2008-12-05T21:27:00.003-09:00

First the teeny tiny hat:

I had to include Sophie's favorite sippy cup in the picture so you could appreciate how small it really is :)
This is for a girl in my Human Physiology and Anatomy class who just had her baby. I saw her at the birth center yesterday with her new little one and couldn't resist knitting up a little baby hat for her. Her name is Ysabella and she is just sweet. Her mama is planning on bringing her to our final on Tuesday and wearing her in a moby wrap for the test - sometimes I wish Sophie were that small again! It would make my next semester easier (I need to find some child care!) I do love little babies though.

The hat is knitted out of Frog Tree alpaca, the same stuff I used here and here - the pattern I just winged, I hope it fits her! It looks awfully small, but then again so did little Ysabella.

Tonight was Gallery Walk, so Sophie, Grandma and I headed downtown to check it out. Sophie wasn't really in a shopping mood so we didn't stay very long, but we did manage to get to the yarn shop and the toy store! Sophie picked out this toy - she wanted to play with it right then and there, so of course Grandma obliged her and opened the box so she could play with it. And then she bought it for her, but by the time we got home she had forgotten about it and so now it will be a Christmas present... added to the mountain of Christmas presents in Grandma and Grandpa's closet, all for Sophie! Oh man.

More beautiful Frog Tree alpaca yarn. I just can't get enough of it! This yarn is destined to be a sweater for my own little one, who is not so little anymore. I still need to find a pattern to follow, I keep finding cute ones that only go to 12 months or 18 months. I'm going to make it in size 24 months or 2T because it just might take me that long to make it! (She's in 18 months right now).

This sweater for Sophie will be my first sweater, but I already picked out the pattern for my second - the Central Park Hoodie. I want to make it for myself, crazy right? But I like it sooo much :).

winter's here

2008-12-02T21:33:00.005-09:00

Yep. Solstice is still... 19 days away, but I guess mother nature doesn't really take that into account anyways. This morning it was 23 degrees out, and it didn't seem to get any warmer during the day either, Sophie and I had to run some errands and it took me about 5 minutes to pry my frozen car door open.

After we managed to get the windshield scraped and the doors open, we headed over to the library where we found this book -

<--- (that's it)

which I think is super cool and which Sophie shows minimal interest in. She did like the page with the fish (FISH! FISH!) though. All of the illustrations are made with food - very cool.

We spent almost a whole hour at the library - it's just about the perfect place to spend a winter day, I guess. Sophie took all the puzzles off the shelves and took all the pieces out of all the puzzles. She took all the stuffed animals off of their chairs and rearranged them. She unstacked all of the shopping baskets (why does the library have shopping baskets?). Then she started pulling all of the bookends off of the shelves and making the books all fall over, but that's where I draw the line. Then we had to start the whole process over; as soon as I had all the puzzles put back together and put away, and started on the stuffed animals, out came the puzzles again. Finally I distracted her with the HUGE stuffed dog in the corner, which she loved. She took off her coat and snuggled right up to it... I think she was happy that it didn't get up and walk away like Daisy always does.

In other news, everyone's been sick around here - it seems like a never-ending thing lately. I haven't taken either dog for a walk in weeks, poor babies. First, a few weeks ago now, I got the flu; and then I developed reactive arthritis in my hand; and then Sophie got hand foot and mouth disease; and then both my parents got this horrible chest cold; now I have it; and now Sophie's acting like she's getting it too! Ah, well. This too shall pass, right?

This semester is almost over and I'm so, so looking forward to having a break. I've already registered for next semester's classes and even though I'm taking less credits next semester than I did this semester, it seems like it'll be a heavier class load, especially since all three of my classes will be on campus. I'm definitely going to need to find some child care, but I'm excited because after this next semester is over, I'm all set to enter the nursing program in 2010 - that is, if I get in. They only accept the top ten students. Fingers crossed!

In spite of it being finals next week and having term papers to write and finals to study for... I've still been making time for knitting (staying up way too late, mostly). It just feels so good to curl up with a mug of hot chocolate, yarn, and needles. And a dog or two.

I just made Rachel Iufer's Robin's Egg Blue Hat today, it knit up super fast. I'll have to take a picture soon and put it up. I will definitely knit at least one more, but probably a lot more than that! It went by super fast, and it's really cute. For this first one I used cream-colored yarn of unknown origin and fiber, but I've got some of her recommended Paton's Shetland Chunky in the stash to knit it up for gifts.

Can you believe that it's almost Christmas already?!

sophie's neapolitan ice cream hat

2008-12-01T14:30:00.002-09:00

Sophie's Neapolitan Ice Cream Hat:

Ta-da! I just finished sewing it up. So much fun to make - I hope it fits her!

alpaca baby hats

2008-11-29T20:33:00.003-09:00

I love knitting baby hats!

These are all knitted out of Frog Tree 100% alpaca wool sport weight yarn. These are all gifts for friends of mine with new babies due soon... but they are just so fun to make I'm thinking about making more and selling them. What do you think?

And these colors - don't they look like neapolitan ice cream? Just wait... I have an idea for the leftovers :)

umbilical cord issues

2008-11-26T10:16:00.003-09:00

I just read this post from Pamela with a great run-down of umbilical cord issues and what's actually going on.

I've heard so many times things like, "I would've died if my mom hadn't had me at a hospital, because my umbilical cord was wrapped around my neck and I couldn't breathe."

Ok... then how do babies breathe while they're in the womb? This mechanism doesn't just quit as soon as the head is born. Being born with the cord wrapped around the neck isn't an emergency, nor does it really compromise the baby in any way. More damage is done by cutting it prematurely, before the baby's body is born and it has a chance to start breathing on its own. As Pamela points out, you're effectively suffocating the baby by cutting the cord too soon.

I encourage everyone to read her post, it's excellent.

a big girl now

2008-11-22T13:18:00.001-09:00

Sophie turns 18 months old today!

eat your vegetables

2008-11-20T12:40:00.002-09:00

Sophie doesn't listen to me when I tell her this, so I've been experimenting with different ways to cook and serve vegetables.

Like these:

Spinach Nuggets (from the wholesome toddler food website)

16 oz. frozen chopped spinach, cooked and drained
1 cup seasoned bread crumbs (or healthier alternatives)
1 1/2 cups shredded cheese
3 eggs

Combine all ingredients plus any seasonings you want to add, shape into nuggets and bake at 375 degrees for 15 minutes, turn, and bake another 5-10 minutes.

Honestly, I can't say these were a huge hit (yet!), but my dad ate some and said they were good. Sometimes it just takes a few tries, ya know?

little baby mittens, part two

2008-11-18T20:52:00.002-09:00

These are for Sophie's new baby half-sister... they turned out much smaller than the first ones I made. Instead of worsted-weight wool I used a little ball of leftover yarn from the hat I knitted for Sophie while I was pregnant with her, I forget exactly what it was, but it's very fine merino-blend. I didn't change the pattern at all (here is the one I used for both pairs) and so these ones, I think, will actually fit a tiny newborn.

Notice that one is smaller than the other, that's because I was worried about running out of yarn and must have knitted the second one much tighter! Oh well, I think they will both fit. Baby things are just too much fun to knit.

how to eliminate stinky cloth diapers

2008-11-12T20:25:00.006-09:00

Once in a while, I notice that my diapers don't smell as "fresh and clean" as I think they should when they come out of the dryer. A few other cloth-diapering mamas I know have mentioned this lately also, so here are the best tips I've picked up for dealing with this:

#1: In the summer and whenever else possible, line dry your diapers. Drying in the sun virtually eliminates odors and most stains without any extra effort on your part - plus you are saving that much valuable energy and water at the same time (what could be better than that?).

#2: The next thing is to use less detergent in your wash cycles. Are you using the amount recommended on the bottle? If so then you are using 2x to 4x the amount needed. Sounds counter-intuitive, right? But in this situation, less is better. Only use 1/2 or even 1/4 the recommended amount of detergent in your wash cycles (I usually do two, one on cold and one on hot). If you suspect this is what's causing your diaper odor problems, wash your diapers with less detergent and then do a few extra washes with no detergent until you don't see any more bubbles going on in there - this ensures that any built-up soap residue is gone.

#3: Make sure you set your washing machine to cold-water rinses because rinsing with hot water can "lock in" any stinky odors.

#4: Do you use white vinegar in your rinse cycles? If so, try stopping for a couple washes or else cutting back on the amount you add (1/4 - 1/2 cup should do the job). If not, try adding some to your first rinse cycle. Adding vinegar to a rinse cycle is especially helpful if you already add baking soda to a wash cycle.

#5: Baking soda. This can help you or hurt you in the stinky-ness department. It adds to the cleaning power of your detergent, but if you add too much it can build up and cause odor just like too much detergent can. 1/4 - 1/2 cup in one wash cycle is probably enough. Like I said above, if you use baking soda, using white vinegar in a rinse cycle can help get all of it out.

But on the other hand, if you have stubbornly stinky diapers, baking soda can be your best friend. Wash your diapers thoroughly, and then set your washer to a pre-wash/soak cycle (or else just let it fill up all the way and then stop it). Stop it while it's on the "soak" part of the cycle so that it stays that way and doesn't drain, then add a cup or so of baking soda. Let it sit overnight, and then in the morning re-start the cycle so that it drains, and then do several rinse cycles (make sure you get all the baking soda out, again vinegar can help you with this).

As a last resort, bleach can be effective in eliminating odors from diapers. Use sparingly (about a 1/4 cup) for three reasons that I can think of - your baby's bottom, the environment, and your diapers. Make sure you rinse very thoroughly so that your baby's bottom doesn't get rubbed raw by any residue. Bleach damages the fibers of diapers (don't use it on waterproof covers), and therefore shortens their life span, so really try to use it only as a last resort.

If you have chronically stinky diapers and none of the tricks above work long-term, you may want to start experimenting with your washing technique. Are you soaking in a wet pail? Try a dry pail. Are you putting poopy diapers straight into a dry pail? Try rinsing and storing them in a wet pail, and so on. Also keep in mind that your baby's urine and poo may change in response to teething, colds, and lots of other things, and that can cause temporary stinky diapers sometimes.

Stinky diapers can be very frustrating -- believe me, I know! It is still a problem I face from time to time, but thankfully most of the time it can be fixed. Ideas and questions are welcomed!

Sophstar's Mama

homemade dry shampoo

unconventional use of garlic

making changes

scraps = stripes

trending

holiday inspiration

emergency! winter has arrived

on (and on, and on) about nursing school

sneaky peanut butter cookies

finished object, a rainy day, and muffins

tangled knitting

oatmeal raisin cookies plus protein

pumpkin muffins

new favorite: rainwater botanicals

version 2.0

tiger's candy

beetle

peanut butter banana oatmeal cookies

owls

off the needles/on the needles

second saturday at homesteader's cache

smoke ring

homemade hippy stuff

itchy

spiral noro hat

a hat

sunkissed

stalled

three

still knitting

the glacier sweater

almost a sweater

inspiration

a new model

still knitting

(almost) finished!

what should i do with this?

let the christmas knitting begin

the buy nothing challenge

my barefoot hippy child

even more lace

half way

new friends

a diversion

socks off, socks on

knitting lace

sleepy time - finished!

summer knitting... and then some

a rainbow party

at the playground

baby longies

birth story

research paper: vitamin d in pregnancy

ta-da! the diaper wrap

a little decadence

outside

some birthday sewing

the end in sight

pink pancakes

the best thing since sliced bread

making progress

works-in-progress

my tiny little baby

happy spring

why i love alaska

when the simplest answer is the best answer

a doula story

a very sad elephant

diapers from another point of view

mama-sized

toddler slouchy hat

raised by wolves

coffee mug wrap

breastfeeding kit

she's the boss

the sweater!

my favorite place

in miniature

deceptively delicious: pancakes with sweet potato and diced apple