The new and improved Walk of Shame

Grocery shopping with a two year old is hard. I have to pack copious snacks and distractions and yet we still end up opening something before it's purchased to avoid the screaming melt-down.

But today was even more awesome.

Today Oliver went into the store looking fairly cute with his motorcycle t-shirt, brown jeans, and brown sneaker. He might have had blue lips from the popsicle he had earlier but he's getting over a cold and I was ready to defend my blue lipped child from the judgmental parenting masses!

When we left, he was wearing a lot less.

Why? Poop. Lots of poop. All over his clothes.

I made the discovery in the produce section. At first I hoped the stain on his shirt was just left over from his diaper this morning and that I had somehow missed it before we left the house. Closer inspection showed me I was wrong. Really wrong.

After a hasty retreat to the women's restroom (really, I have to pay a quarter to get in!) I discover I have no wipes.

Awesome.

Thank heaven that this is one of the few bathrooms in Los Angeles that actually has paper towels. I cleaned up my kid and cleaned up the mess cleaning up my kid caused but I had no spare clothes for him.

So Oliver left the grocery store wearing only his adorable elephant cloth diaper and his shoes.

And I made the Walk of Shame. Because really, who in that store wasn't thinking something along the lines of "Why isn't that little boy wearing any clothes?" or "What kind of mother can't dress her child before taking him out of the house?" or even "Seriously? WTF is wrong with that woman?"

Oh did I mention Oliver has recently become fascinated with twiddling his nipples?

Awesome.

Wow, more like what we're doing maybe if I actually update

So my SIL is making me look bad by starting a blog Simply Minded Mama and actually posting to it daily. While here I am posting updates about what I eat and where I go on Facebook and not doing much else.

Well, today I entered a sewing stash game. I truly doubt I'll win anything but less fabric in my sewing room and hopefully some new clothes for Oliver, Small-Fry, and myself but I'm doing it.

I came to the realization last night that I have a problem- a fabric problem.

A really big, outta room, spent way too much, fabric problem. So now I need to do something about it.

I can say so far I have kept to my New Years Resolution of making some sort of garment every month. So far I've made:
A hoodie for Sitka
2 tank tops for myself
2 tanks for my mom
1 tank for Jen (I really like this pattern)
3 diaper covers
2 kids t-shirts for O
2 kids t-shirts for friends
1 woven tunic shirt for me
1 knit long tunic shirt for me
1 romper for Sebastian
1 green dress given to Jen
1 woven dress for me
3 woven spring tops
1 Schoolhouse Tunic top
1 sheer top with birds


And I'm sure I've forgotten some things. I should probably start tracking them better, maybe take pictures or something. (Seriously since I wrote that sentence I've gone and added the last 6 7 items!)

But not bad for the past nine months, especially considering June, July, and August saw very little sewing done due to my need to do nothing but lay down on the couch all the time.

So there is a small update on what's going on here.

Oh did I mention my handsome pants turned TWO last week. WOW where does the time go?

Oliver Lukas @ 20 months

Every day Oliver helps us walk the dog, Baxter. Baxter gets two walks a day one in the morning and one in the evening. This day Oliver decided he wanted to take pictures like Mama. So I gave him an old camera that was on display in my living room. Every time I held my camera up to my face he'd do the same. I had to trick him to get this shot without his camera up.



Oliver likes to help, whether it's doing laundry or helping us fix something he needs to be involved. It can be a bit of a pain in the back when it's time to cook dinner, he likes to be held while I stir anything on the stove.


He got his first haircut last month. He doesn't have a lot of hair but where it was accumulating it made him look a little mullet-y. Peter just got his hair cut so Oliver sat on his lap and got a little trim. He wasn't happy about it, but he wasn't screaming either.


Oliver now sleeps and naps in his own room in his own bed. He really was sleeping like that and I thought it was hysterical. Please ignore the remnants of lunch on his face.


We're still nursing and although at times it can be inconvenient (like today in yoga class), we both still really enjoy it. It's an instant soother and can help this busy toddler recenter. During Easter we went to Joshua Tree National Park, this is Oliver taking a milk break from exploring the rocks.

Some Stats
Weight 28 lbs 6 oz
Height 34"!
Shoe size - 6 1/2 W
Teeth- all but one canine and his 2 year molars
Words- Dis- with pointing, Mama- which means I want that, Dog-this is BRAND NEW and VERY EXCITING
Signs:
Milk
Mama
Daddy
Dog
Cat
Bird
Please
Diaper
Train
Car/Bus/Truck(he uses bus for all three)
More
Eat
Drink
Thank you
Potty
Water
Airplane
Baby
Signing


He doesn't talk really, but he recently started doing some animal sounds with prompting- Cow, Sheep, Cat, Dog (he pants).
There it is, a little update on my little man.

An Oasis in an Urban setting

At least that's my ultimate goal. We have this tiny side yard with a plot of dirt that has to legally be able to be used as a parking spot.

It's a bit beat up from the construction gang and general lack of care. I really want to get a vegetable garden planted this year, I have grand plans! But first I need to clean up my yard.



It's pretty bad.

But I got a ton done today! I filled up both my trash bin with left over construction detritus and my green bin with random, large, freaky weeds. Tomorrow is trash day so hopefully I can fill 'em up some more.



Some of the left over construction junk


The tiles are actually left over from our bathroom remodel years ago, but they were stored in the yard and the boxes they were in turned to mush around them


Now all I need to do is figure out a way to make brightly colored children's toys = oasis for me.

Just for good luck here's one of Oliver playing half in the yard.

Adventures in Cooking- CSA style

Last week I bought a box of CSA (communtiy supported agriculture) vegetables from the South Central Farmers.

Holy lotta greens Batman!

It was a bushel box, think large cooler, full of greens that I had never cooked before let alone seen.

Thank goodness there was identifying information on their website. They had a handy little "What's in the box this week" link with a list of the vegetables that might be in your box and links to pictures of almost all of them.

I gave away a fair amount, there's just no way two people can eat that much food before it goes bad, and today I had to throw away some Purple and Green Mustard Greens (or at least I think that's what they were) because they were just gone.

Cooking took a little imagination and got some tasty results!

Greens and Grains Quiche- mustard greens sautéed in olive oil and garlic,combined with pearled barley, and a ton of Parmesan in fantabulous quiche form.

Pureed white bean soup with Red Russian Kale (so far my favorite new green, really tasty and not at all bitter)

Stamppot Van Boerenkool- a tasty potato and kale dutch dish that is one of Peter's favorites. Traditionally served with sausage or bacon, but we had it with soy hot dogs. Although a Bratwurst or anything from Wurstkuche would be amazing. . .

I also made some Beet Crisps- tasty but too much work for too little output and Oliver wouldn't eat them even though he loves anything salty and chip like usually.

Coming up this week, I still have Swiss Chard, some sort of lettuce, beets, teeny tiny carrots and red onions, and radishes.

I have plans for all but the radishes. Maybe just serve them raw with a salad? Anybody else have any ideas?

Gotta go my toaster oven just dinged, my roasted garlic is done. Yum!

Pattern Challenge: McCall's M6016

So I did it. I created a piece of apparel in the month of February. Actually I completed three! But so far I only have pictures of one.

The pattern overall was pretty easy. I made view B with the fold down collar and no contrast cuffs.
I made the extra large which could be considered an 18-24 month or maybe a 2T.


My biggest issue with the entire pattern was the fact that the instructions had you baste every seam, sometimes twice? before sewing. I skipped the basting for the most part, or just used pins to hold it in place.

I thought the collar application was easy and that had me worried, and although it did turn out a little wonky due to seamstress error, I didn't sew it at the correct seam allowance and it ended up being slightly too big, I'm really proud of it.

And my little man looked super cute in his Valentine's Day Shirt.

Trying something new

By 4 o'clock, Oliver is usually done. He wants a lot of attention and playtime with Mama.

Problem is by 4 o'clock, Mama needs to start thinking about dinner.

The horrible solution- Sesame Street.

O is usually in  a great mood late morning. Today he's been running around with the cat, a lunch box, and a pull toy. So I'm trying something new. Prepping for dinner.

I like to try new flavors and recipes. I like to cook. But with a whiny toddler around and all sanity gone, we often end up with frozen pasta.

Tonight's dinner. . .Creamed Fennel with Quinoa and a side of Roasted Butternut Squash. The fennel and onion needed are already chopped and hiding in those plastic wrapped bowls, now in the fridge.

It might not be slow cooker easy, but I'm excited!