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I’m wracking up the holiday gift giveaways for you!! And this one, well it’s one of my favs. My girlfriend Laura is remarkable. We met through a girlfriend Lydia’s blog and realized we lived not an hour from each other. And that our children were similarly aged. This is before we each had our third, born one day apart! She sweetly came over to our house and as the kids played in the inflated–slightly deflating–pool in back we talked and talked and talked. And marveled on how we could have kept going but for the pottied-in swim diapers and gaspingly wet children. Beyond our similarities, I quickly came to admire a difference between us. Her writing abilities and style are well beyond the realm of this humble blogger. She is gifted. She is a real writer who has honed her craft beautifully. And this book//oh I needed to have these words in my life right now with three kids under five!!//it’s well written. Her writing reminds me of my creative writing undergrad companions. When the lens through which they viewed the world was truly and thoroughly as a seeker of ideas, a translator of visions, a go-between from our experiences to our conversation. Laura’s book, Everyday Sacrament, does this. She goes between parenting in all its unholy glory and pairs it with our religious experiences to put into words how they relate. She interlaces the spiritual and the poop. The layout of the chapters means I can float with her from…
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Hello lovelies. For your perusal: the first week when I had lots of pictures. The second week when you had lots of ideas. The third week when I was out of steam and you guys saved the bacon // dinner. The fourth week which doubled as THANKSGIVING PREP! And now: volume 6: How was your Thanksgiving? Did you eat to your heart’s contentment? For me that would have involved much more pie and as it was, I was definitely overeating the pies. Your recipe failures and successes? Do tell! And this week coming up, now that we’ve had a week to nurse our leftovers and wounds, if any were inflicted. My son has two razor teeth. I can assure you I’m nursing some wounded fingers and other body parts. Moving along to happier fields. Monday: MEAT How about an Alice Waters number because I love her so? She was my gateway to real food. Grilled Chicken with Garlic Puree and shaved zucchini salad. You’re thinking, Nell it’s not summer! But I’m thinking: we have an indoor grill on our amazing stove. And I have zucchini. And already made the bread that tastes so moist with it. Tuesday: SOUP Smitten Kitchen. Am I on repeat here? Let’s do her carrot soup. My friend made it for us the other week and it was Ah-Mazing. Plus I have chick peas I need to use up. Carrot Soup with tahini & crisped chickpeas. Wednesday: BREAKFAST My son was allergic to eggs for three years.…
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I love interviewing my friends. It is one of the many joys of having a blog. To blab about my gal pals! Anna and I met when she and Jacqui came to the parish mom group I started a few years back. They came in with their adorable baby boys and immediately I thought oh these ladies are cool. And it’s true. She is giving away an item from her recently launched knit goods shoppe on Etsy! And has a coupon for you holiday shoppers! {20DEC for 20% through end of Dec} But first, I give you, Anna {blog is called The Heart’s Overflow}: you’re a mama, wife, musician, blogger, and yarn artisan. Can you tell me a little about your new etsy shoppe, how you chose the name, what your offerings are, and what your inspiration is? I’ve been knitting and crocheting since I was in 8th grade. Over the years people have suggested to me that I should sell my wares, but I had no platform from which to do so and thought only really professional knitters could sell their stuff. So I just kept making things for myself and friends and family. I heard about Etsy a couple years ago and after meeting a couple people (Nell included) who run shops EVEN THOUGH they have babies to take care of I became inspired to start my own. After thinking about it and planning for almost a year I finally opened my shop this fall. Middle West Knitting…
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Step 1: do not go out of town for Thanksgiving. Lap up the days & days of your spouse being home, roasting fires, knitting in front of said fires, and making sure the crawling standing six month old doesn’t hurl himself into said fire. Step 2: decorate for Christmas (or whatever you’re celebrating) right after you’ve consumed more freshly whipped cream than your postpartum jeans thought were humanly possible. Step 3: bust out your Holy Heroes paraphernalia and go to town catechizing your kids via CD and coloring books. But seriously. Jenny from Holy Heroes is a superwoman I met at the Edel Gathering. I LOVED the Holy Heroes cd my friend Cynthia (check out her etsy skillz, for seriously) gave SuperBoy for his birthday but we needed something fresh. We were maxing out on Curious George books on tape (I mean CD, I mean digital file, I mean beam me to the next galaxy and back) and when I saw her booth I practically trotted up to her shouting My four year old wants to be an altar boy so badly and is obsessed with all things Catholic–I need loot. She obliged! She sent over the Joyful Rosary CD and accompanying coloring book AND the Best Loved Prayers of the Mass CD and coloring book. Stop. … Hang on. … Yup. He’s listening to it right now. He repeats the Mass prayers and not-so-gently instructs his sister and cousin on them. Complete with practicing the EF in Latin, he now can…
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A friend confided in me: I sleep in bed with the baby and my husband sleeps with our toddler. I know–I know–it’s so weird. He’s a bad sleeper. I responded: that sounds like so many parents I know. Not weird at all. Almost all of us are dealing with baby and children sleep. Meaning: crappy interrupted adult sleep. We’ve embraced “bad” sleeping. So now it just feels like “sleeping.” I wrote a lot about sleep with my first two kids. I read a lot about sleep. I think I thought I could out-think the sleeping problems of babies. I viewed them as problems. I viewed myself as a sleep deprived zombie. I was convinced there was a sleep answer. Toddler Sleep Issues: reasons why they might wake up. Sleep Sampler: 0-12 months: my overview from my kiddos Ousting a co-sleeper: we’re not here with BabyLoves, but why did I kick SweetPea out of bed at 6 months? IT DID NOT WORK. I kept getting up to nurse and soothe her for another 6 months til we night weaned. Nightweaning: when & how we did it with our second born. Now on baby number three, I’ve embraced that babies sleep differently than children and adults. Well, at least I’ve given up that I can teach my baby to sleep differently than he is inclined to. Babies do not go week after week with uninterrupted REM cycles. They just don’t. If your baby magically has never awakened between the hours of 7pm and 7am, ever,…
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Shannon of Organic Mama’s Shop is a lovely artisan and I so love her work I went back to her again for another gift for you all because now that I have a teether–oh, boy, I treasure and hoard her teething stone necklaces! Here’s the skinny: two winners: one for a $25 gift certificate toward her shoppe and one teething necklace that I got for you because I love you. I love her work. Her organic stone teething necklaces are saving my life right now. And clavicles because Mr. BabyLoves wants something to grab on to–while nursing, or while hopping around in the sling. Or while being worn & carried by my dad. Or AA. Or while laying around planning his next bold move of PULLING HIMSELF UP. You heard it here first. Just turned 6 months. Yikes. I LOVE her necklaces. I have this one and the one pictured. Go buy one or win the $25 toward her shoppe. You seriously need it. The cotton cording is organic (love that) and also easily adjusted for being longer ((playing on his own)) or shorter ((he’s captive in the sling)). The stone is cold and ready for gums // teeth // playing with while you’re feeding. I also purchased from her this one. I really like it for the additional wooden ring component. Kept BabyLoves happy for a two hour mass the other day. Because my church is awesome and sometimes the orchestra really goes on and on in a good way. And look…
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