Panties

E's still itty bitty, hovering around the 10th percentile for weight and the 5th for height (I'm 5' tall, and Chou is Asian, so this really isn't anything shocking.) At 19 months of age, she fits perfectly in her 6-12 month dresses, and has plenty of room to grow in 12-18 month clothes. I love that she's getting plenty of wear out of her cute outfits rather than growing out of them immediately. About once a week I still have a stranger come up and ask how old she is, amazed that she's walking "already."  

While being a peanut has plenty of advantages, I know from personal experience that it also can pose some challenges. I always hated how amusement park rides went by height and not age. I have to climb to reach to tops of my cabinets, and I will always have to hem pants. 

The AAP currently recommends that children ride in booster seats in vehicles until they are 57" tall. For me, that would have meant using a booster seat until high school.

We've already had some challenges with E being so petite. She was born in December and had some adorable dresses, but all the tights came in size 0-9 months. They were longer than she was tall. Most standard walking shoes didn't come small enough to fit her feet when she started walking at 15 months. 

Now that she's potty trained, I've searched high and low, by store and internet, and haven't been able to find any underwear smaller than a 2T, which probably won't fit her for at least a year. She generally just goes commando at home because she prefers it and it just makes things easier. When we're out and about, we've stuck with bloomers from all of her dresses, but it's about time she actually has some panties that fit. Left with the options of buying them too big and needing to alter or making my own, I went with the cheaper route. 

I have a pile of old clothes, sweaters, and blankets just waiting to be put to good use. The softest, thinnest article in the pile was an old vintage fit American Eagle t-shirt of Chou's that had a few small holes. Using E's bloomers as a rough pattern, I was able to get four pairs of underwear for her, for free. I love that kind of project! I didn't have a lot of time, light, or patience, so they're significantly less than perfect, but I actually love how they turned out. Chou's only complaint is that they're lacking a tag to differentiate the front from the back, so I need to add a tag or marker of some sort to make them daddy friendly.

T-Shirt turned toddler underwear

So now we can add to the list of phrases I never thought would come out of my mouth, "E, come here. I need you to model some underwear for me."

Favorite Things Friday - gDiapers

Honestly my favorite thing today is that it is indeed Friday. I woke up Tuesday morning thinking it was Friday. It made for an incredibly long week and I'm so thankful we finally made it to the end!

Yesterday I met my mom at my grandparents' house for a quick visit and to drop E off for her weekly day with Grandma. When we were ready to head home, I buckled E into her infant car seat, threw my purse and diaper bag over my shoulder, and carried her to Grandma's van. I adjusted the van seats and plopped E's seat in the base, waved bye, and drove home for a productive afternoon. When I parked my car and reached for my purse, I saw the diaper bag that I forgot to drop off with Grandma. Utter fail!

That moment was one of the many, many times I've been so thankful we cloth diaper. Although it would have been as good a time as any for Grandma to start the potty learning process with E, she didn't have to. Here's why:

Right now we're using mostly gDiapers. They're a 3 part system with a cover, a liner, and an insert. I can reuse the cover and usually the liner each time, swapping out only the insert. They come with inserts that are fleece on top to keep the baby dry and hemp on the bottom to be incredibly trim and absorbent. 

gDiapering system

An added advantage for us with this system is that our infant prefolds fit perfectly into the liners when folded in thirds. The prefolds are too small to still fit fastened around E's waist, but they're the perfect size for this diaper. Yay for a $1.50 prefold that fits birth to potty!

gDiaper with a tri-folded prefold

E was wearing a gDiaper when I dropped her off with Grandma yesterday. Grandma cut an old receiving blanket in half, pad folded it, and immediately had two diaper inserts. Super cheap, easy, and I didn't have to drive a forty minute round trip for a diaper. And we can always start on the potty next week/month/year.  Using just a receiving blanket, E stayed dry with no leaks for five hours. You can't do that with a disposable! 

Half of a receiving blanket, pad folded

gDiaper with pad folded receiving blanket insert

Good as new!

And yes, when I picked E up I left four extra prefolds at Grandma's house for next time I forget the diaper bag.

Organic Lavender Baby Oil Recipe

Almost all of the baby oils found at the grocery store (even the all natural ones) are made out of mineral oil, so the molecules are too large to be absorbed into the skin.  It creates a nice greased baby but it's not capable of actually moisturizing the skin. Not to mention that mineral oil is a byproduct of distilling petroleum into gasoline. Not something I really want on my baby's skin.

I decided to recreate one of my favorite baby oils using organic ingredients. It turns out, I love it more than the original. The shea butter makes it thicker than most baby oils yet thinner than a lotion. It rubs in really well  and I haven't had any issues with it staining clothes. The shea butter has a pretty strong smell, but once it's cooled the lavender scent prevails. It's heavenly. I use this on E after every bath, and occasionally in between. I like to use it on myself on occasion as well. The only disadvantage of this oil is that one of my dogs loves shea butter and will eat an entire batch of this if given the opportunity.

Organic Lavender Baby Oil Recipe
4 oz organic sunflower oil, expeller or cold pressed
4 oz organic safflower oil, expeller or cold pressed
1 oz organic jojoba oil, cold pressed
1 1/2 oz organic shea butter
3-4 drops lavender essential oil (optional)

Combine sunflower oil, safflower oil, jojoba oil, and shea butter in a small saucepan. Heat very gently just to melt the shea butter. Once liquified, stir in lavender essential oil (or any other skin safe essential oil) and carefully transfer to lidded container.

To use, shake well and then rub small amount into skin after baths or when extra moisturizing is needed.

Salted Bittersweet Chocolates

I love chocolate, but hate paying a small fortune for good dark bars which, more often than not, contain refined white sugar. These salted chocolates are the perfect bite sized candies to satisfy my sugar cravings without any nasty chemicals or refined sweeteners. The coarse salt creates one of my favorite pairings of salty-sweet. E and I love these! (Chou thinks they're too bitter.)

Salted Bittersweet Chocolates
adapted from chocolatecoveredkatie.com
1 cup cocoa powder
1/2 cup coconut oil, melted
1/4 cup local raw honey
1/4 teaspoon (or more) coarsely ground real salt (this one works well)
dash vanilla extract

Whisk together the cocoa powder and melted coconut oil until smooth. Stir in the remaining ingredients until well combined. In the winter when my kitchen is freezing, I do this in a double broiler. I put a small saucepan on the stove on my lowest heat setting until it starts to simmer. Turn it off, and put a larger glass bowl containing the cocoa powder and coconut oil over the steaming water before stirring in the remaining ingredients. This keeps the coconut oil from hardening when the cold honey is added to the mixture.

Line a cookie sheet with wax or parchment paper. Spoon or pipe the chocolate mixture onto the sheet, in bite-sized morsels.

Allow to harden (fridge or freezer will speed up the process) before placing in an airtight container and enjoying. I keep these in the fridge, although I'm sure they'd be just fine on my counter in the winter.


this post is linked up with Real Food Wednesdays 

Christmas Stockings

I spent all Christmas season last year on the prowl for adorable and affordable Christmas stockings. We didn't do stockings growing up, but I love the idea of filling them with practical items or a few special treats. I want to start the tradition for E, so after a season of coming up empty handed I decided to sew my own this year.

I found adorable fabric at a local store and decided to go with this pattern. I made two red and two green stockings. I added a lining of an inexpensive off-white muslin.

To cut the solid colored main fabric for the boot of the stocking, I folded it in half, front sides facing, pinned the pattern on top and cut (pattern A/B). I did the same for the white lining (pattern A/B), the front and back cuffs in the ivy print (pattern C), and the solid colored loop (pattern D).

I sewed the main fabric for the boot, right sides together, leaving the top entirely open and unstitched. I then turned it right side out, using a chopstick to open up the toe.

I sewed the white lining fabric, right sides together, leaving an opening in the heel that was about 3 inches and left the top entirely open and unstitched. I left it inside out.

I sewed the cuffs, right sides together, and top opened. I then turned them right side out, using a chopstick to poke all the points out.

I made the loops lined as well just to add strength. I sewed two pieces the same color as the boot wrong sides together, then folded it in half lengthwise and sewed the edge down, and then turned it right side out and ironed it open and in half to create the loop.

To assemble, I pinned the front and back cuffs to the boot.

Then I put the pinned boot, cuffs and all, into the inside out lining like this, creating a stocking with the right sides facing each other:

I pinned all the edges together, added the folded loop, folded side down toward the heel, just under the lining layer, and sewed the whole way around the top.

It looked like this:

Then I pulled the green fabric out through the 3" hole in the heel like this:

I worked all the green fabric out and then worked on getting the lining right side out. And I ended up with this:

I hand sewed the hole closed.

And then tucked the lining into the boot and had an adorable lined stocking!

Then I made three more :)

E and I bought some real garland from a local store.

 Later, we checked all the lights. We have a grand total of one working strand. I guess we're buying new Christmas lights this year.

Since we lack a mantle, we hung the stockings by the railing. Not quite as poetic, but it works :)

Basket Weave Baby Afghan

Chou and I really like to keep gifts simple. We would both rather get no gift at all or one or two gifts that are truly needed and/or wanted than a pile of gifts that will end up in storage or the back of a closet somewhere. Our century-old home has a grand total of three small closets, which is added incentive to make every item worth its storage space. Over the years, some of my favorite gifts from Chou have been tickets to go see the Yankees play in New York (at the old stadium where we could actually afford tickets that were close enough to recognize players from their faces and not just the backs of their jerseys) and the framed wedding photos that are hanging in my dining room and living room.

Thinking about E's first birthday, I really wanted to get her something meaningful that would last more than a few months and then inevitably be set aside for the next baby or sold at a yard sale. I saw this blanket on pinterest last spring and decided to make it over the course of the summer.

The blanket is made up almost exclusively of this basket weave stitch, which I absolutely love! It is the same on both the front and the back, which is really nice for a blanket, and it creates a nice thick afghan that is incredibly warm. Additionally, it's super fast and easy and really different from most crocheted patterns. The only downside is that it uses a lot of yarn.

I used the Charisma yarn from Michaels and a size N hook as the pattern recommends and I love the sheen on the yarn. So pretty!

I thought the original was too small and made mine to be 20 squares (80 stitches) x 22 squares (88 stitches). The initial chain was 84 stitches, not 68.  With the border, it measures 34" x 36", perfect baby blanket size, yet it's big enough to use as a lap blanket when she gets a little older.

Most importantly, E loves it! She crawls back and forth on it and likes to play with the basket weave.

Cabin Fever

This week started off with a hurricane that pretty much dwindled down to a few gusts of wind by the time it hit Lancaster. Chou took off work on Monday so as to not get stuck at work when the wind started to whirl. That never really happened, but we enjoyed an extra day to our weekend. Chou stayed up all night on Friday with his middle schoolers from church, and the rest of our weekend was packed, so he took advantage of the extra day off to try and catch up on some much needed sleep.

Chou and Cali sneaking a nap. Perhaps I should have been paying more attention to what E was doing. #fail

By Monday afternoon I was about to lose my mind, sitting and waiting. I ended up baking this, which was delicious and used up some of our seemingly infinite supply of frozen pumpkin puree. I subbed sucanat for the brown sugar, whole wheat flour for the all-purpose, and our homemade creme fraiche for the sour cream. I skipped the glaze altogether. I'd show you pictures, but the streusel melted into the cake and wasn't all that pretty (I think the combination of homemade pumpkin puree and creme fraiche made my batter a lot looser than it was supposed to be).

The storm brought cold air and rain throughout the area, so we've pretty much been stuck inside. I'm going to need to start coming up with indoor activities outside of my home or I may not make it a month, let alone all winter. Normally I'd grab E and a dog and walk to the park or market, but this frigid air is making that impossible. So instead of walking today, I actually cooked dinner (usually Chou's job) while E assisted from her high chair, and then up-cycled an old sweater of mine into a dress for E. There are a few things I'd change for next time, but overall I'm pretty happy with how it came out.

I traced one of her dresses onto newspaper, added about 3/4" for seam allowance, made a quick scrap dress out of an old t-shirt just to make sure my pattern was the correct size/shape, and then cut and sewed the dress. It only took a few hours, even with the assistance of an 11-month-old.

My original sweater

Final product