Dear Tide:

Dear Tide Laundry Detergent.

As my son's first birthday rapidly approaches, I am still angry with you.

Every few nights or so I pull out my favourite nighttime t-shirt. It's a plain gray men's shirt that I bought in the final weeks of pregnancy. I needed something comfy that covered my whole belly. The front reads (faded now), "A little bit of exercise never killed anyone, but why risk it?". This shirt is well worn... and stain free. Here in lies my annoyance.

For birth I decided this shirt made the cut. I wore it the night I went into labour and it stayed on for the duration. My son was born onto this shirt, in all of his newborn gooey-ness. It was a moment I will cherish until my last breath.

It might be gross, but this shirt marinated in a plastic bag for over a week following his birth. I was going to throw it out until I decided it was impossible to part with. It would be the battle-scared trophy from my natural vbac. I would be able to pull it out, look at the stains and remember my son, newly born, taking his first breath.

And so I washed it. I took it from the dryer, and much to my disappointment, all of the stains were gone. I even hollered out my frustration to hubby, and I mention it almost every time I wear that shirt. I guess next time I'll let it stew in a plastic bag for 2 weeks? Maybe I'll just vacuum seal it as is? Anyone have suggestions on laundry detergents that suck?

Darn Tide.

A dissatisfied satisfied customer,

Rebecca

3 Weeks!

3 weeks until my first 5K run! I'll admit that I've been slacking a little lately. I've only ran 3 times in the past 3 weeks, but a great jog/hike with a friend yesterday has re-energized me.

I assumed I haven't lost anymore weight, but I just hopped on the scale and I'm actually 158 pounds! I started this journey a few months ago at 174 so I've lost 16 pounds total! Woot! I went clothes shopping over the weekend and the sizes are showing the difference. Medium shirts have replaced the larges and I fit easily into a size 11/12 pant. Only 3 more pounds until I'm the same size I was when I got married, and that was my first goal.

I'm actually quite happy with the size I am right now, so I'm not focused as much on weight loss as I am on being fit and able to run longer distances. But I know if I keep up the running, my weight will likely keep going down (and I'll have to keep my second job just to pay for new clothing sizes... haha)

So I'm back to running at least 3 times a week in preparation for the 5k... wish me luck!

The Garden

Our neighbour and I put in two small gardens this spring and things are starting to look lush and bountiful! I grew up around plenty of gardens as a child, but I've never had much patience for growing things myself... I have, however, had that inner desire to grow my own veggies and I'm shocked that it's actually working!

Some tomatoes:
Lettuce in the middle, zucchini lower right:

The peas are looking terribly spindly but I'm still hopefully they'll produce some goodies for us:
Carrots along the right edge, a tall dill plant (only one grew in the entire row, haha), basil in the centre:
Cucumber lower left, chives upper left (these just grew on their own, someone must have planted it here during a previous year), and some more lettuce lower right:
Beans are the bright green plants, they're just starting to flower:
Peppers. I can't believe how these small, seemingly weak plants hold up these large peppers:
It's so much fun to watch things grow. And it's very nice to share the garden tending with another person, she has done more than her fair share of weeding, I need to kick it up a notch in that department.

Take down those shower curtains!

In my weekly (ahem cough sputter) cleaning of the bathroom, I took down the shower curtain in an attempt to clean off the mineral buildup from the clear liner. I threw it in the washing machine, and as per usual, many hours later it was still in there when I wanted to take a shower.

Drat. I settled for a bath. I shooed the children away to their father, and turned on the tap. I added some bubble bath, grabbed the Twilight book I've been meaning to read all summer long and settled into our neglected soaker style tub. It was a lovely, relaxing moment to myself. So my advice is: take down the shower curtain, "forget" it in the washer, pawn your children off on someone and have a bubble bath. You might even get to shave your legs or read a chapter in a book.

Oh, and lock the door. After 12.6 minutes of bubble bath bliss, a two year old had barged through the door, demanded that I strip off her clothing so she could bath too, and in she hopped. So my alone time quickly became hide and seek underwater with Dora the Explorer, but it was nice while it lasted.

And some recent pictures of the kidlets:

G got himself a new "manly" car seat. (have you ever noticed how much money is spent on places for your child to sit?)
And the car seat box is the most fun of course:

Baby/Toddler Newfie Mittens

I love these mittens. They will keep hands warm, even in Canadian winters, and they are a childhood memory for sure. Less than a year ago my Nanny passed away, and she used to make these mittens like crazy for us grandchildren. I still have some kicking around that she knitted up. There are lots of patterns around for these mittens I've come to discover, but I had trouble finding a toddler sized one, so through trial and error I put this together:

Needed:
3.25mm double pointed needles (or 3, or 4... it will just make the mitten a little smaller or larger)
tapestry needle
worsted weight yarn, 2 contrasting colours (in the picture I used Patons Classic Merino Wool)

MC: Main Colour
CC: Contrasting Colour

K: knit
P: purl
K2tog: knit 2 together

Size: When using 3.25mm needles and a worsted weight yarn, this pattern creates a mitten that has a 1.75" cuff and the body of the mitten is 3.5". I would guess it's about a 12 month size, but it's easily adjustable by adding more repeats to the pattern, or by using a slightly larger needle.

Using MC, cast on 30 stitches, divide stitches evenly onto 3 double pointed needles and join to knit in the round.

K1P1 ribbing for 15 rounds (or longer if you wish)

Next row: purl
Next row: purl, increasing by 2 stitches on each needle (36 stitches total). It doesn't really matter where you put these increases, just separate them a bit. I use a make-one-back increase and purl it... it's pretty invisible this way.

Now for the patterned section:
Join your CC so that you have both colours still connected to the mitten. You will now use the CC for the next 5 rows, but make sure your MC hangs on the inside of the mitten.

(A): *K4 with CC, slip 2 MC stitches purlwise*, repeat ** to end of row.

Complete (A) 4 more times, for a total of 5 rows.

Pick up MC and using it, purl 2 rows.

(B): K1 with CC, *slip 2 MC stitches purlwise, K4 with CC*, repeat ** to end of row. (you'll actually end the row with 3 knit stitches instead of 4, this is ok)

Complete (B) 4 more times, for a total of 5 rows.

You may now put stitches on a holder for the thumb, or if you're making the mitten larger, you might want to add another (A) section or an (A) and (B), just make sure you alternate sections and separate them by 2 purl rows.

Next Row: Immediately following your last section (A or B, depending on size), where you would normally purl 2 rows: P2, place 5 stitches on a holder, cast on 5 stitches using the backward loop method, purl to end. Purl one row.

(hint: Backward loop method (single cast on): http://www.knittinghelp.com/videos/cast-on )

Continue alternating sections A and B, separating each by two purl rows. For the 12 month size mitten, I did 4 more sections before starting the decreases.

Decreases:
(you can now break your CC, leaving a end long enough to weave in later)
Using MC:
Row 1: Knit
Row 2: *K4, K2tog*, repeat ** to end of row
Row 3 & 4: Knit
Row 5: *K3, K2tog*, repeat ** to end of row
Row 6: Knit
Row 7: *K2, K2tog*, repeat ** to end of row
Row 8: Knit
Row 9: *K2tog*, repeat ** to end of row.

Break yarn and using a tapestry needle, thread yarn through remaining stitches, pull tight and weave in end on the inside of the mitten.

Thumb:
Using your double pointed needles, pick up the 5 stitches from your holder.
From the body of the mitten, pick up an additional 5-7 stitches. Divide all of these stitches as evenly as possible onto your double points, join your MC and knit in the round for 14 rows (more for a larger size). To end, K2tog for 1 row, break yarn, thread it through remaining stitches with tapestry needle, pull tight and weave in end on the inside of the mitten.

Weave in all remaining ends and repeat pattern for a second mitten (or a third if you lose them a lot).

I like to connect our mittens with a single crochet string and then they live in a jacket until washing is needed... :)

Again, I obviously have not created this concept. I have no idea who is the original "newfie mitt" designer. I'm just sharing my adventure in making a mini-size. :) Enjoy.

Where I shop...

One of my favourite cloth diaper shops here in Canada, she has awesome customer service, a wide selection of products and almost always has some great deals.

I love shopping within Canada. :)

http://peekaboobottoms.com/index.php

Easy Peasy Cheesy Broccoflower

The farmer's market is now filled with beautiful organically grown veggies. There are huge tables of green and orange and red and purple, so fresh you can still smell the earth they were growing from just hours before. Perfect for baby food. ;)

G's supper last night:
1/2 cup of steamed broccoli
1/2 cup of steamed cauliflower
Thumb size chunk of pasteurized cheese. (I used marble)
You can add a tiny bit of water, but the steamed veggies are likely moist enough.
It went for a whirl in my bullet and turned out like this:
G is about 8 months from picky eating due to colour, so he gobbled it right up.