Good Morning, Little Hedgehog!

We have a dozen recipes, several house projects and all sorts of sewing projects to share. This one happens to be one of my favorites this morning 'cause it was met with coos and oohs (no real smiles yet) instead of the usual diaper-change little lamb cries that have me singing baa baa black sheep loud enough to wake the dead.


It's mad Maddox's appliqué hedgehog onesie that I made by ironing heat & bond to some scrap fabric, tracing and cutting out a hedgehog shape, and then ironing it on to one of his plain white onesies. I sewed around the edges with a zigzag stitch just to make sure it's nice and secure. Baby M has a whole slew of embellished onesies; no plain white for this crafty momma!

The Un-Paper Towel

If you've been with us for a while, you know our dog, Feeney, loves to snack on paper towels. When he came to live with us a year and a half ago we quickly learned not to leave paper towels on the coffee table and we invested in covered trash cans; a small price to pay for a less disgusting morning walk....

With all this focus on paper products we became more aware of just how many paper towels we were burning through each week. And when our basement renovation left us with just enough storage space to keep only the stuff we absolutely needed and loved, it was time to evaluate the entire linen closet shelf full of rolls of paper towels, bought in giant 12-pack bulk.

At first we tried reusing sheets of paper towels, but in reality, that's just weird. I mean I have nothing against drying off the side of a mug and then setting the towel aside to use again, but we're talking dial-a-size sheets of paper here, there's not much life in those things to begin with.

We use cloth diapers and cloth wipes for baby M, so naturally I had the brilliant idea to make cloth paper towels. Lots and lots of cloth paper towels. But when I priced out Birdseye fabric and factored in my time, it didn't seem like a fun project anymore. Especially when I was spending all my free time sewing for baby M's nursery. So naturally I went to etsy and searched for cloth paper towels. And wouldn't you know, there are all kinds of unpaper towel makers out there! I searched by price and bulk quantity and then I read descriptions. I finally settled on one seller, Love for Earth, who preshrinks her fabric first. This, I decided, was an essential feature; if left to shrink after sewing I could end up with 50 unpaper towels of all different, wonky sizes after their first wash. Wonky doesn't stack well.

I bought my unpaper towels and they arrived tied neatly with a bow. I stuck them on top of the toaster and waited for S to notice. "What's this?" he asked that night. "Unpaper towels," I replied. "You mean napkins?" So yeah, they're like napkins except I don't wipe the counter and rinse down the sink with our napkins, do you? They're unpaper towels and we love them.

They have since taken up residence in our kitchen compost container for the winter. The used unpaper towels go in a vase on the counter and we wash them with our light laundry. Every few weeks we soak them in oxyclean for a few hours to get the stains out. In the five months we've had our unpaper towels we've only used two rolls of paper towels. And Feeney has eaten none. Success.

One Month Down

Baby M is already one month old this weekend and he's kind of perfect; I love one month! We'd like to freeze time now, please.

I can't say that it feels like he's always been a part of the hive, especially since I have a closet chock full of size 2 clothes and absolutely nothing to wear. But thankfully he fits into our lives far better than I fit into any of those designer jeans mocking me each morning.

It's been quite the month for all of us. We started it out with 34 hours of labor. And believe me, that was rough on all of us: me, S, our doula Juli and the hot water heater here and at the hospital. Baby M seemed to be the only one who didn't much care, he was snuggled in and perfectly content the whole time, if those monitors they stuck on me every few hours were any indication. Life has pretty much been the same ever since for baby M; snug and happy 95% of the time.

At one month baby M has pretty much mastered head control, rolled from his stomach to his back several times as he demonstrated just how much he hated tummy time, gone out to dinner once, brunch twice, been to the pediatrician three times, lost weight and then gained almost two pounds, went to the grocery store several times, shopped with mom, slept in his ergo, slept in his Bob, slept in his bumbleride, nursed at Starbucks, celebrated Christmas, watched the ball drop on tv with dad, bonded with Mamie, slept at Nola's house, spent a night without mom, taken a bottle from dad nightly, moved to his nursery, slept a nine hour stretch (twice thrice!), played on his activity mat, taken several baths in his blue bucket tub, switched to cloth diapers, gone through 50 cloth wipes every three days, sat in his bumbo, sat on his dog, flown around the room with dad, screamed in his bouncer, snoozed in his bouncer, screamed in his swing, fallen in love with his swing, filled numerous diapers, screamed through countless diaper changes, smiled through a handful of diaper changes, had a three hour long photo shoot, starred in four videos, skyped, made friends with a few of S's friends, survived one full day alone with mom, survived one night without dad and smiled once.

It's been a great month.

Zero Dollar Guest Room

In November we put some finishing touches on our new basement guest suite using stuff we had around the house to cozy-up the space in anticipation of my mom's extended visit. Of course then her visit started before I had the chance to share. The good news is that she loves the guest suite and the even better news is that the insulation we put in the ceiling of the bedroom blocks out the sound of crying baby at 3am. Whew, she may have left already if that detail was overlooked.

First, I relocated all my yarn from the little red cedar chest and gave it a facelift. We had hoped to locate the replacement pulls I'd bought years ago, but we searched high and low and could not find them. Because the chest was my grandpa's I decided not to spray the original pulls and just put them back on in their original brass state.

We decided when we first created the room that it would be our airplane room, a place to display all of S's flying paraphernalia. So we started by hanging his diploma and photos and lithographs of the planes he's flown in the corner with the chest.

Then, for my favorite addition, we hung a vintage airplane mobile above the bed. You can't tell me it wouldn't be fun to stay in a guest room with a mobile above the bed!

Finally we put down one of S's carpets to cozy things up, which required moving the dozen or so boxes of extra flooring (a project for another day) stored under the bed first.

Mmmm, so cozy says Feeney.

At 9 mos pregnant I nixed the idea to paint a compass or chart on the wall or ceiling. And as new parents we've pretty much accepted that will never happen. I would still like to create a headboard area slash huge fabric panel curtain thing to cover the electric service box, but the details of that project are up for debate.

And by debate, I mean Maddox and I are discussing whether I should spend one of his nap times sewing, or tidying the house, doing laundry, eating breakfast, napping, showering or doing any of those other things that used to take mere minutes to do just four weeks ago!

Tuesday Treats: Super Protein Cookies aka Milk Making Cookies

Ok, ok, we haven't had a Tuesday treats in for.ev.er 'cause I didn't feel much like cooking or baking for about ten months. But after my little stay in the hospital last week let's just say I'm looking for any homeopathic way to, ahem, make more food for my baby bee.

In my search I stumbled on a recipe for milk making cookies. Wait, wait, don't stop reading! Apparently lots of protein and whole grains and basically good nutrition does a new mom's body good, but those things do anyone's body good, right? And when a cookie this tasty is also a bit more on the healthy side of desserts then isn't that a win-win? Well, I think they're delicious and I'm not really a fan of baked cookies. Give me cookie dough any day, but cooked? I rarely go back after the first batch has cooled.

These cookies just might become our regulars, 'cause when S eats a half dozen cookies when he's ravenous on the drive home from work it's probably a good idea to have a little nutritional value in there. Who knows, maybe they'll give him the energy to stay up extra late during the baby's fussy hours, so I can get some sleep.

Protein Cookies aka Milk Making Cookies
created by Kathleen Major, PNP, RN, barely adapted from peaceful parenting


1/2 c. softened butter
1/2 c. sugar
1/2 c. brown sugar
2 t. vanilla
2 large eggs
3/4 c. almond butter (or peanut butter)
1/3 c. water
1 t. cinnamon, optional
1 c. ground flax (sometimes called flax flour)
3 T. brewer's yeast
1 1/2 c. whole wheat flour
1 3/4 c. old fashioned oatmeal (not quick oats)
1 t. baking soda
1 t. salt
2 c. chocolate chips - I used 1c. mini chips and 1c. of chocolate chunks
1 c. chopped nuts of your choice

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

1. Combine butter and sugars, beating until pale and fluffy

2. Add eggs and vanilla and beat well

3. Add almond butter and mix until combined

4. Add water, mix well

5. Add cinnamon (optional), flax, brewers yeast, flour, oats, soda and salt, mix until well incorporated

6. Stir in chocolate chips and nuts

7. Drop by tablespoonfuls onto an ungreased cookie sheet or a cookie sheet lined with a silpat. Bake at 350 degrees for ~10 minutes until set in the center.

The cookies freeze very well!

Thank You :o)

Today baby bee's nursery was named Project Nursery's nursery of the month for December. How exciting!

Thank you to all of you who voted for our nursery. We look forward to sharing tutorials on many of the DIY projects we tackled for the room :o)

Coming up from Behind - only a Few Votes Away!

Well color us shocked. Baby bee's nursery is now in second place over at Project Nursery's December nursery of the month contest. If you're the voting kind, please consider casting a vote for baby bee's elephant nursery before 11:55 PST on 12/31.

The other nurseries are so beautiful, they're all worthy of a first place win. We're so honored that all our hard work in our DIY nursery is featured among these beauties!

Si-i-lent {fan}, ho-o-ly {fan}, all is calm...

This year's Christmas was one for the record books, and not for obvious reasons. I ended up in the hospital on Xmas eve and didn't come home until Christmas afternoon. While I didn't have a silent night with the nurses coming and going and the janitors outside my room waxing the floors all night, S and baby bee slept like absolute champs. S got this for Christmas eve:

And I got this for Christmas:

Clearly my boy can't read.

Despite minor set-backs with that hospital stay and all, with my dad's help we forged ahead with our holiday weekend plans to install a bathroom fan in our upstairs bath, identical to the silent fan in our new garden level bathroom. The house went 80 years with no fan, but suddenly we need one now. (All joking aside, we're hoping it cuts down on mildew and maybe now we'll shower with the door closed.) Because we lost a day, S decided to set our goal to get the fan in place and the electrical done before he returned to work Tuesday.

I was off feeding a baby all.day.long. and generally recovering from my traumatic weekend, but I did manage to take a few photos of the project, at least of the big stuff. Like this disaster:

In order to get the fan in the bathroom, S drilled a hole through the ceiling and into the attic centered in the shower/bathtub area. He then went up into the attic where we have a gazillion inches of blown insulation and tried to find the hole...then my dad tapped on the ceiling 'til the hole was located. They moved away some insulation upstairs and cut a hole for the fan using the template that came on the box. It made a mess. I took a picture and ran.

Unfortunately we couldn't center the fan hole exactly where we wanted because of the floor joists, but we did manage to get it completely concealed behind the shower curtain.

Here it is in relation to the shower curtain rod, pretty good location, no?

As you can see above, S used spray foam insulation around the fan to give it a draft-free fit and to keep the blown insulation from falling through the ceiling from above.

With the messy part done, the guys moved on to what they thought would be relatively straight forward electrical. We have one light in the bathroom that had a single outlet and switch just next to the door. We intended to tie into the existing electrical, add a box and end up with a double outlet and a double switch stacked on top of each other. Adding the second box wasn't too rough, but discovering the electric came from below (the kitchen) and not through the attic was a wee bit of a setback.

In order to get the wires for the fan down to the new box and the existing power, S had to drill through the header of the wall and into the cavity next to the door. As with everything in our 1940's house we discovered that the old adage "they don't build 'em like they used to" rang true; S had to drill through an 8" header. That's huge. And required a trip to the hardware store for a longer drill bit.

Thankfully once he broke through into the cavity, he was indeed in the wall cavity and not in the hallway, closet or bathroom. Whew. From there, the second box went in and my dad worked his magic with the wiring.

And by magic I mean I stayed the heck away from him while he attacked the frustratingly short and old existing wires with pliers, electrical nuts and strippers. I know not to ask how it's going and only to wait for a report.

Status report from my dad: electrical done, fan installed.
Remaining: patch and repair small areas of ceiling around fan, drill through exterior brick wall, install vent and vent hose, flip switch and listen to silent fan.

We hope to ring in the new year to the sound of masonry bits on brick and a silent baby. At least we can control one. Update to come - hopefully sooner than later since it took me a record four days to write this post!

Cast a Vote for Baby Bee's Nursery!

Apparently baby bee's nursery is a finalist for nursery of the month at Project Nursery. I was notified last week, maybe the week before, but I've been a little, well, busy, so I'm just now getting around to telling friends and family, which means we're seriously lagging behind in the vote department. I hope M doesn't hold it against me some day!

If you're so inclined, head on over to Project Nursery and vote for baby bee's elephant nursery :)

2 Weeks

Maddox is exactly two weeks and a few minutes old.

Oh My!

And lest you think it's all baby all the time around here, we took on quite the house project yesterday. Post to come very soon!

Where'd You Get That? Nursery Edition

Our nursery post was way too long to list all the sources for the great stuff we have ready for baby bee. So we present you with "where'd you get that?" nursery edition.

Furniture
Cradle: F's childhood cradle - (make sure to check the safety of an older crib or cradle)
Glider: A hand-me-down that was originally from Pottery Barn
Dresser: Ikea Hemnes
Hutch: Bought in 2008 from the Christmas Tree Shops
Rug: "Droplets" from Capel Rugs in Matthews, NC (ordered via phone and using a 20% off coupon I found online)
Fan: Target
Lamp: HomeGoods
Ceiling Light: Ikea, adapted for hard-wiring

Bedding & Fabric Goods
Cradle Mattress: Naturepedic from Buy Buy Baby
Elephant Sheet: Made by F, elephant fabric from fabric worm
Breathable Cradle-Sized Bumper: Buy Buy Baby, custom edged by F
Glider & Ottoman Cushions: Custom made with 9oz cotton canvas from fabric.com by CJ's Cozy Cushions (HIGHLY recommended)
Elephant Pillow Cover: Souvenir from the Suk in Bahrain
Boppy Cover:  Made by F, elephant fabric from fabric worm
Bumbo Cover: Made by F, elephant fabric from fabric worm
Changing Pad: Naturepedic from Buy Buy Baby
Changing Pad Cover: Made by F, elephant fabric from fabric worm
Curtains: Made by F, navy & white circle fabric from fabric.com
Basket Liners: Made by F, navy & white circle fabric from fabric.com

Decorations & Accessories
Wall of frames, white frames: Ikea
Maine print: Crafts fair in Portland, Maine - I'll try to find the seller
Cards: Target, Papyrus
Paper Lanterns: Asian Imports 
Navy & Pink Elephants in Cradle: from a boutique in Portland, Maine
Gray Elephant in Bumbo: West Elm
Gray Mom & Baby Elephants on Hutch: Ikea
Elephant on Changing Pad: Gap
Elephant Rocker: Zulily, but also available at Buy Buy Baby
Elephant Toy Bin: by Green Sprouts from Diapers.com
Large Stuffed Elephant: Ikea
Elephant Mobile: Sugar & Spice Studios on Etsy
Baskets: Target
Elephant Basket Tags: Luggage tags by Dwell Studios
Blue Elephant Bank: Pottery Barn Kids
Silver Elephant Bank: Reed & Barton from Babies R Us
Elephants on Parade Artwork: Made by F
Mom & Baby Ceramic Elephants: Souvenir from Italy
Knit Elephant with Scarf: Knit by F using pattern from Last-Minute Knitted Gifts
Knit Elephant with Long Arms & Legs: Knit by F using "Safari Friends" pattern from Knitting at Knoon
Elephant Sweater: Designed and knit by F
Elephant Hook on Door: Anthropologie
Alphabet Tapestry: From the Suk in Bahrain

Paint
Walls: Glidden Shaded Ice, color matched to a Behr paint
Trim: Benjamin Moore Advanced  

Please feel free to email us if you have any questions about anything in our nursery!

Well, Here We Are

One week ago today I was technically into day two of labor and thinking we'd be meeting a December 13th baby shortly. Little did we know how long of a day we had ahead of us . . . but Maddox is our lucky baby and a lucky baby just can't arrive on an unlucky day.

Our baby is six days old today and is already a total heartthrob. Maddox came home to our little beehive on Friday, wearing his personalized baby hat, the blue one, and wrapped in his special blanket.

Feeney and Maddox had their incredibly uneventful introductions, which included one lick and one "shake" as Feens put his paw on the car seat.

The only change Feeney cares about is that my mom is here and there's one more person to love on him. He's totally loving this new baby thing.

As you can see we're using the blankets I made, especially the hand-cut chenille blanket, which is super warm. It turns out I didn't go overboard on the blanket making; we're using them all a lot! S, our swaddling master is also loving A+A swaddling blankets since baby bee finds it slightly more difficult to punch his way out of a tight swaddle with them.

Maddox is still pretty snoozy, so he spends a lot of his time asleep in the bassinet that came with our Bumbleride Flite stroller. It's his bed for now and fits perfectly on the coffee table we had in our old den tucked into a corner in our tiny bedroom.

Things around the house are slowing getting back to normal. On day one it was hard to find the baby among the clutter on the dining room table, but now we just have one baby nestled among the holiday trees.

And on day two at home life got back to normal in the project department, albeit a bit slower than normal. S managed to winterize our mower, weed whacker and to drain the garden hoses, all while throwing the ball for Feeney.

And while I'm not doing any cooking right now, we're eating like royalty with my mom preparing hot meals like nobody's business. Let me tell you, it's heavenly to finally eat something other than a bowl of cereal and I think S may be able to put back on a few of those 10 pounds he lost during my pregnancy. You know it's bad when while wearing a shapeless flight suit your Skipper, another dude, remarks that you look like you've lost weight. Trust me, you're not the only ones missing Tuesday Treats and Saturday Suppers. 

We're also devouring treats dropped off by our neighbors; six-year-old Annabelle made these cookies herself so she could drop them off and meet the baby. She says she can't wait to be 12 so she can babysit Maddox. Neither can we.

that's a red heart with "new baby" in yellow writing

Overall, we're doing really well and are eating up every second with this little dreamboat!

We're off to sew a few last minute custom etsy shop Christmas orders . . . baby in ergo and momma at sewing machine.

xoxo