My best creation to date

The official b-day pic

Sunday was a big milestone in our house--Little Man turned two.  And since I've never actually recounted any of the story of his birth (not even in a baby book I'm a bit ashamed to admit), I figured I'd do it now.  He deserves it!

My due date was January 13th--a Friday, which really made your Grampa nervous.  I worked until you came, and was planning for the 13th to be my last day at work.  But you had other plans.

On January 11th, after a long day of some last-minute projects your father and I needed to get done (we were re-wiring the 3rd floor so Nana had a place to sleep when she came to visit), I finally made my way to bed around 1130pm while your father finally ate dinner and watched South Park downstairs before he came up.  I washed up, got changed, and I think I may have even laid out clothes for the next day at work (it's not hard when only about 3 things you own still fit).  I then went over to the bed, picked up my leg to get in, and...my water broke.

The three of us at our baby shower in Nov. 2011

At first I thought I peed myself, but I soon realized what was going on and called down to your father.  (p.s. thank Jeebus a co-worker had convinced me to sleep on a towel for the last week or I probably would have ruined our mattress). I asked him to meet me in the bathroom with my phone so I could call the doctor, and then sent him back downstairs to finish eating.  As suspected, the doctor on call told us to come in, but since I was pretty comfortable, I read the Farmer's Almanac until your father came back to check on me.

He may have fallen asleep on the couch (though he'll never admit to it) because I was in the bathroom for a WHILE, when I decided to call him to see what the deal was. Your father came upstairs, helped me get cleaned up, dressed, and packed (no I hadn't finished packing for myself though your bag was good to go), and off we went.  Since we wanted it to be only us at the hospital, we didn't call Nana or Gramma or Pap or Grampa--I sent a smiley text message to Aunt Manoshi and Auntie.

On the way to hospital, we stopped at Dunkin' Donuts--your father was in desperate need of caffeine and I knew they weren't going to let me eat once we checked in.  It was the most glorious egg and butter on an everything bagel sandwich I can remember, all washed down with a hot chocolate.  Oddly enough, once I started eating, I started feeling the contractions for the first time--nothing huge or painful yet but a bit uncomfortable.

When we finally got to the hospital around 2am, the duty nurse said she was just about to call me back--they thought something might have happened since we arrived more than two hours after my initial call...but we had to eat, right?

The labor nurse I started out with was not the most pleasant person in the world, and to be frank, I felt really pressured to start taking labor inducing and pain numbing medications--both of which I didn't want to start until I really had to.  The only response that seemed to quell the resident on duty was that I wanted to wait until my doctor came on to make any decisions.

Mommy was on vicodin

Daylight changes everything, including shifts at a hospital and the strength of contractions.  By the time my doctor got in, I was laboring moderately but apparently not making a lot of progress.  Since my water had been broken for about twelve hours, I decided to let them give me pitocin and demanded that they give me an epidural if they were going to give me pitocin.  It was pretty rough trying to manage staying still for the epidural during some strong contractions, but we did it. 

I 'm glad we did.  After the medicine kicked in, your father and I settled in, relaxed and watched Indiana Jones for a few hours.  The doctor even stopped by a few times to ask us where we were at in the movie--I guess he's a fan.

Just before two o'clock, the doctor and labor nurse, Ella (who happened to know a work friend of mine) told me it was time to start pushing, and push I did.  About twenty minutes later, you came into the world, all slimy and off-color, and fairly odd-looking.  But we were so relieved to finally meet you.

1 day old

We hadn't found out if you were a boy or girl before you were born, and frankly it didn't matter much once you were here.  It mattered so little in fact, that the doctor and nurses had to remind us to check!

You were born at 2:21 PM on Thursday Jan. 12, 2012 weighing in at 7 lbs. 2 oz. and 19 inches long.  We named you Michael for your grandfathers (Pap and Grampa are both named Michael) and Michael Jacob for your  Grampa, Great Grampa, and Great-Great Grampa who are/were all MJ
Hamm.

You went home in a Flyers onesie, and watched your first Flyers game about 2 minutes after you got home.  The dogs (Pearl & Bob) were instantly taken with you.  The cat took a while to warm up, but now he's probably your best friend.

laurelharrishphotography.com

Happy birthday, buddy.

Knitted Hat--Re-do!

If you remember, last December I made this hat and posted about it. I posted about the process of making it here as well.

There were a lot of things I didn't like about it--the pattern (being my first attempt at using a chart rather than written pattern) was difficult to follow, the headband was much too big for my head, and I ended up with a cone head at the top of the hat.  But the cabling pattern was so lovely that I needed to make it again and fix those problems.

A note about this post: I'm glad I printed the pattern out last year and kept it.  While looking for the pattern electronically for this update post, I realized the pattern link is actually dead.  It seems that Sarai, the owner of www.sweetsassafras.org (the site from which I found the orginal pattern), has rolled her old blog into the blog for Colette Patterns, a fairly amazing collection of sewing patterns that she owns.

I must say that the second time using a chart was MUCH easier than the first.  I know how to read a 

chart now, so the stress of not having to look up tutorials and you tube videos on the whole process made it go much more smoothly.

The original pattern called from size 5 needles for the headband, and 6 for the hat-at-large.  I went with size 3 for the headband, and continued using a 6 for the hat.  It is definitely a better fit, but I may go down to a size 2 for the head band if I do this hat again--it seems to migrate down my forehead more than I would like.  

I also used a very inexpensive yarn for this one--Red Heart (~$2 skein) as opposed to the 100% cotton, hand-dyed yarn I used last time (~$12 skein).  I found it blocked better, and I can wash it with the rest of my laundry if I need to.

The plan is to make at least one of these for a Christmas present.  My mother requested one over Thanksgiving weekend, so I best get knitting!

Pretzel Bread Bowls & Butternut Squash Soup

Fall means a few things to me, and two of them are baking and soup!  And (as long as you have strong arms or a stand mixer), these two easy recipes will keep you ready to fight the impending frost.

First, I made these pretzel bread bowls.  And luckily, my trusty helper Little Man was there to help dump in the flour and make a mess.  Though the entire process took some time (20 minutes of mixing and kneading, an hour of rising, 25 minutes to punch down/separate/rest, 10 minutes of baking soda bath, 20 minutes of baking), it really couldn't have been easier.  And we fought over the left-over bread bowls...because apparently having 6 left over wasn't enough to make us all happy.

While they cooled, I made the butternut squash soup.  Very easy to do from scratch and it takes maybe 30 minutes and will feed 4 people LARGE soup portions.  Can be made vegan or vegetarian by using oils and water or veggie stock.

Butternut Squash Soup
1 large Butternut Squash, peeled and cut into 1 inch cubes
1 small onion, diced
1 quart of chicken stock (box or home made)
1 tsp of sage
1 bay leaf
1/4 cup cream or half and half
salt and pepper to taste

Put a stock pot over high heat with a tablespoon of olive oil or butter.  Once it starts to glisten, add in the onions, sage and bay leaf and pinch of salt.  When the onion is slightly translucent add in the squash.  Saute about a minute until the squash starts to turn a bit darker.  Add in enough stock to just cover the squash and bring to a bowl.  Put the lid on, turn the heat to medium, and cook until the squash is soft.

Take off the heat, remove the bay leaf. Using a stick blender, blend away until all the soup is smooth (can be done in a traditional blender as well in stages).  Add the half and half, stir and return to the heat for a few minutes until it's nice and hot again. 

Serve with a sprinkling of sage or a dusting of nutmeg.

Can be made vegan or vegetarian by using oils and water or veggie stock.
Freezes REALLY well.

Our Kitchen Makeover--the before pics!

I can't call this a remodel.  We're literally just giving this old girl some lip stick and new clothes in order to be our regular budget-conscious selves.  Since we are on the verge of done (hopefully the final paint will go up in the next few weeks, I figured I'd get this series rolling!

Here's a picture of what our kitchen looked like when we moved in way back in 2006:

I seriously wanted to kill myself looking at all that harvest gold.

Oh, and here's a close-up of that super-sexy floor

I know you're jealous.

So what did we do? And how much did it cost?

We removed all the drop ceiling, fluorescent lighting, vinyl walls, and ugly switch plates
We replaced all the appliances:
 -Fridge (twice since the yellow monster above didn't really get cold)
 -Stove
 -Added a Microwave
 -Sink & Garbage disposal
 -Added a dishwasher
We rehabbed the cabinets, reorganized them, and added some new ones--including a center island with butcher block top.
Replaced the back-splash
Replaced the old and added a lot of new electrical (lights, plugs, general wiring, etc.)
Installed a new counter
Installed a new laminate "hard wood" floor (also installed a floating laminate to hide the scary orange for a while)

And it only cost $5K...and took almost 7 years to happen.

I'm going to try to post weekly on the process until it's all done.  I'm not sure how to organize it yet though, so if you have any thoughts please let me know!

Home made Pedialyte

I totally stole this exact recipe from 100 Days of Real Food, but it's surprising to me that a lot of people don't seem to realize that Pedialyte isn't the only thing you can give your child when he's sick.  Here is a much better alternative (spelled out for you) which will save you quite a bit of money.  Plus, I know you all have this stuff at your house already, so it saves you a trip to the store, too!

She recommends using OJ, but I think the acid might be too much for a sensitive stomach. I use watered-down
apple juice or cider with a pinch of salt in it for Little Man (worked twice now).

Enjoy!

Homemade Pedialyte Recipe

Mix together:

• 1 quart water
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Note: If you fear your child will think this drink is too plain consider adding in a couple splashes of orange Juice. Also, the sugar and salt may dissolve more easily if you warm up the water first.

Disclaimer: This recipe is recommended for children who are older than 1, generally healthy with properly functioning kidneys, and not experiencing severe dehydration or high fever (which would probably require direct medical attention anyhow). And, as always, follow your own doctor’s advice over anything you find on the internet!

Summer Re-cap

I hate bloggers who apologize for not keeping up with their blogs--because blog readers are just glued to their computers waiting for us all to share what we had for dinner, the cute outfit we spent hours laboring over for our kid who messed it up 2 minutes after the photos were taken, or finding out what fun picture frame we fashioned into a completely useless piece of wall "art".

So, I'm not apologizing for not posting anything for almost 6 months--I have a life.  But, I've missed cataloging what I've been up to, so I thought I would do a bit of a photo montage that explains what I've been up to over the last six months.  Enjoy!

Garden:

We finally had a strawberry this year!  It rained a lot, my tomatoes are coming in like crazy (still), I built a vertical planter for sweet potatoes (that died) that seems very well suited for cucumbers, pesto: the elixir of pasta, a squash plant I started from seed and hydrangea. 

Kiddo:

 

Helping me make cinnamon buns with his friend one morning.

 

And thankfully, we had a lot of beach & lake time this summer.

Cooking:

 

I discovered the olive bar at Wegmans's; Mac n Cheese, grilled lamb leg, avocado pasta, pierogies with chorizo(!), the book that started it all, cold-brewed coffee (a revelation), we made baked beans from scratch, this crazy watermelon rum drink with limes and cilantro, Heizenberg special rock candy (just a touch of chili p yo), and the most beautiful fritatta I've ever made.

Beer/Liquor Drinks:

A small sampling what I've been drinking this summer.  Lots of ales and saisons, now transitioning into festbiers and porters.  I haven't brewed since probably Februrary, but I'm enjoying what others are making immensely!

The chill of fall has also reignited the bourbon (me) vs. scotch (my husband) debate in our house.  Here's a fun maple mint julep I made--it's actually better without the ice cubes to take that chill off your bones.

If you have any questions about what I have up here, just ask!  It may make its way into a full blog post one day!

Me-Made-May

I have decided to join a blogging pledge this year--Me-Made-May--wherein I have pledged to wear two items that I have made each week and create one additional item by the end of the month.

For those of you close to me, you know I haven't sewn anything except my son's christening gown since his birth--it's not just a lack of posts about things!  I'm kind of excited to have a real reason to buckle down and get sewing especially since I've been lamenting my lack of handcrafting lately.

So here's my first entry--a dress I made at least two years ago.  Sorry for the less than stellar photos, but it's all I'm capable of while solo.

 

I LOVE this fabric, but am not too keen on the waist placket as it literally adds at least an inch to my waist (many layers of a heavy fabric=a bad BMI).  I'm pretty sure this was a McCall's pattern--any interested parties are welcome to inquire and I'll try to dig it out.  It's really nice despite my comments.  I just used the wrong weight fabric for this, though it was awesome whilst preggo and post for covering up/accomodating the belly.

Let me know if you're participating.  I'd love to have some MMM '13 love!