Trick-or-Treat

Happy Halloween from Gemma-lion!!

Nuffins

Wow, two posts in one afternoon (see below for sewing post). I'm either really hard-up, or really productive today. You don't need to answer that one. :-D

Anyways, I just mixed up a batch of "nuffins" (what Gemma calls muffins) for our snack, and thought I'd share the recipe. I got it from my Betty Crocker cookbook a couple weeks ago. I had dinner going, and we had our meat and our veggie, but I was looking for a healthy starch, so I took this incredibly fast and easy recipe, modified it a bit, and it really is pretty healthy. And tasty too.

CHOCOLATE CHIP NUFFINS
3/4 cup milk (we use whole)
1/4 cup butter, melted (it says you can use margarine, but seriously, yuck)
1 large egg
1 3/4 cups flour (I use 1 1/4 cup whole-wheat and 1/2 cup white)
1/2 cup miniature choco chips (I chop up our Ghirardelli dark choco ones in the processor or with a knife), typically use a little less than 1/2 cup
1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans (optional)
1/3 cup packed brown sugar (I don't pack)
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon of salt (it called 1 tsp. but that seemed like a ton)

Beat milk, melted butter and egg in large bowl with fork. Add remaining dry ingredients and stir with fork just until flour is moistened and ingredients are mixed.

Divide batter evenly amongst 12 muffins. Use papers, or I just spray cooking spray directly in the muffin tin and they dump out quite easily.

Bake 15-20 minutes at 400.

Remove from pan soon after removing from oven.

ENJOY!

Even more dipes

I think I am nearing the end of my "necessity" sewing. This latest batch makes a dozen small size dipes, and I have eight newborn ones. Between these, the prefolds I intend to order, the handful of small contours I already have, and all of Gemma's diapers (which are gender neutral), I think we will be good to go. I think I have decided to use all wool when it comes to covers this time. I have a friend knitting me two newborn size ones and two smalls in this style, and I am in the process of learning to knit myself, so that is the plan for now. It will save some money over the other covers, and I really think I will be happier with how they work. Plus they're sooo cute. I'll probably order a few other covers to have on hand at first, but am hoping to do exclusively wool this go around. I'll keep you posted.

Anyways, back to the matter at hand. Here are the latest dipes.
I used the jungle print leftover from the bassinet/travel sets I made, and I think they turned out just positively precious. Tossed some yellow polka-dots in too for good measure ;-D I have two close friends who have had little boys in the past month, so we'll see if I keep up the trend. I honestly have no intuition whatsoever when it comes to that, so we'll just have to wait and see...

More autumn loveliness

We've pretty much hit and passed "peak leaf change" here in our neck of the woods. Here are some pics I have taken over the past week or so. We have all really enjoyed the Autumn this year. Gemma has really gotten into finding and collecting pretty "leafs". She especially likes the red ones it seems. And she has certainly enjoyed the pretty weather and opportunity to spend ample time outdoors. We are excited for winter in that it means getting closer and closer to the arrival of baby...not so much looking forward to the long stretches without the opportunity to go outdoors.

Happy Fall to one and all!
Be sure to check back soon for Halloween costume pics...

Cutest jammies ever

You may have noticed one of the tags (or labels) on my posts is "jammies". I have always thought Gemma looks particularly sweet in just about any jammies she wears. But these jammies, by far, are the cutest I believe that she has ever owned. I don't know what it is about them, but I just think they are totally and completely precious. See for yourself. You might want to click on the picture so you can get the full zoomed-in effect.
And while we're on the subject of bedtime, I must just make a record of something very, well, strange that Gemma does. "Goodnight Moon" is a book we read on an almost nightly (and sometimes during the day, too) basis. For months now, I mean like, well over half a year, when we read the first page ("In the great green room there was a telephone, and a red balloon, and a picture of...") she tries to grab the words on the page and then feeds them to me (or Aaron if he is reading to her). Every time. It is so odd. I have no idea why she started doing this. And she doesn't do it with any other book. Just this one. On the first page. Every. Time. We read it.

And now you know.

"Fingers pockets"

Gemma has discovered her pockets. She is very proud of them... ...as you can see.

Baby-bump, 6 months

Six months along...hard to believe this wee-one will be here on "the outside" with us likely in three months time!!
And below is a pic when I was 6 months along with Gemma. Wearing the same shirt even. Thought it was a fun comparison!

I'm ready, mom!

Sweet Gemma-goo, ready to head out to the park on a "choolly" fall day.
And she is very proud, she's learned to hang her coat on the doorknob all by her self, just like mama taught her!

Changing/bassinet pad and receiving-blanket sets

I recently made both of these sets for baby. The one on the bassinet is for at home, and the other is for the diaper bag. I absolutely LOVE both jungle prints and am very excited about them. I made the blankets a size that should be good for swaddling.
Can't believe I'm quickly approaching the third trimester. Time is just flying by this go around. I am trying to get together my big cloth diaper order, and also trying to decide on which sling I want for baby, the Hotslings, or a Slingling. We already have a Baby Bjorn which has gotten tons of use with Miss Gemma, but I'm wanting something that can carry baby in more of a cradled position. Any suggestions?

What's Gemma up to?

I thought I would dedicate this post to my sweet Gemma-girl, and the "top ten" things she's been up to lately, so here goes!!
1. THE OUTDOORS. We crave these gorgeous Fall days we've been having, and try to make the most of outdoor activities including going to walky-Max (with daddy), play at the park (just about everyday), playing in the empty kiddie-pool in the driveway (yup, we did that, and she was entertained for well over 30 minutes), and even a trip to the zoo the other day that ended in an all-out meltdown when we had to leave the petting farm. I think I need to ask the zoo if we can have some sort of "fast-pass" that is cheaper and only gets us into the petting-farm part since that's the part she loves and prefers to ANYTHING else.
2. READING. As always. She loves her books, whether she's reading herself or being read to. Her lastest favorite is picking books out of her basket (either the one in her room or the one in the living room), and toting a handful back to her big-girl room where she lounges on the bed and reads them. It's pretty sweet, and this momma will never complain about too much reading going on :-)
3. FRIDGE FARM. We've had this for about a year, but the first several months her favorite thing to do was slide the animal pieces under the fridge. All kinds of fun. Now she really gets into putting the animals in and making matches (and non-matches) with them. It really is a cute toy, as toys that make noise go (not a huge fan of those in general, I usually take the batteries out before the make it into her hands). I'm thinking about getting her the fridge-phonics for Christmas.
4. HELPER. This girl loves to help. With anything and everything going on. Her lastest favorite is unloading the dishwasher. And she really is quite particular about it and does a great job! Here she is putting the silverware away. Yeah, I probably should have used the "sport" feature on my camera to better picture the action shot. She's pretty, uh, enthusiastic about putting it away. I usually have to "reorganize" a bit once she's finished.
5. BABY. Still loves her baby, babies actually. We now have Baby and Copple Baby (purple baby). Her latest fave is feeding her babies. I am soooooo excited to get her a kitchen set and all the accoutrements for Christmas!
6. BATHROOM. And all activities there-in. The girl loves having her teeth brushed, and would do it ten times a day if we let her. We use our electric spin-brush on her, and she seems to think that's pretty cool business. Still loves her baths, and has been doing a great job telling me when she has to "poopy-potty" (poop). She has been doing this for over a month now, and I even bought some training-pants. Just not sure she's ready. She gets the "poopy" part so well, but I'm just not sure she understands the whole potty thing yet. But I hate to miss out on the opportuinity if she is ready. Contemplating...

7. EATING. She really does well with this, which I never would have dreamed of saying six months ago. She's come such a long way. I think teething really made eating un-fun for her, and that was most of our issues. Anyways, several of her recent favorites are tias (tortillas prepared in any variety of ways, especially quesadillas), beans (pinto, black, kidney, refried, you name it, she LOVES them), green beans, bananas, chicken, oh heck, I could go on and on. She really does well with just about anything. We are definitely sad fresh fruit season is coming to an end. Here is a pic of her eating her bunny-roni today at lunch. I'm still not sure why she asked for the fork...
8. DADDY. Anything and everything to do with daddy. The two of them have a special bond and I love it!! We treasure the time he spends at home and miss him when he's at work.
9. BASEMENT. We've been playing in the basement more lately. It's our intended playroom, long term, just hasn't been terribly practical when I'm needing to do things upstairs. It's easier having the toys where I can watch her and cook, clean, whatever, at the same time. We've brought some of her toys downstairs though, and she does great playing while I'm sewing.

10. GEMMA'S MUSIC. She has really gotten into listening to her CD's in the car and at home. She gets stuck on "favorite" songs though, and it's all she wants to listen to. In the car it is "Happy Jesus, Happy Day" (Walk with Jesus Every Day), and at home it is "Mingo" (BINGO). She's also a huge fan of the ABC's, and can recite most all of the alphabet herself.

Well, that's all folks... If you made it this far, thanks for bearing with me. And I apologize, I think a few of the pics may have been repeats, but they fit. I could ramble further, but I'll refrain. Have a happy week!!

Sewing for baby and other news

I am noticing many of my posts recently have focused around sewing. Guess that's what I've been doing a lot of. I finished this set of six small-size dipes just yesterday and also embellished these prefolds, probably for the use of burp-cloths.
In other news, we are THRILLED to finally see the sun today. At least it wasn't drizzling yesterday, so we were able to get outside some...but today it is SUNNY!!!!! I really enjoyed the rainy dreary weather, but not being able to get outside with missy-moo for over a week was taking its toll. I mean, seriously, we had three rainy days straight, and at the end there was about 1/10th of an inch of rain in the rain-gage. GAH!!!

Gemma has a new baby, Copple Baby (purple baby). She is from a good friend of my mom's, and she fits in quite nicely with baby. Gemma is so sweet with her babies. Here she is feeding them some dinner the other night. She is very particular..lays them out just so, bowls, spoons, etc. She even proclaimed excitedly, "YUMMY CARROTS!" as she fed baby a bite. So sweet!
And lastly, back to the sewing theme, here is the yarn I have picked out. My friend is going to knit me up some wool-soakers for baby. I am sooooo excited to try wool as a diaper cover...I've heard marvelous things. Also hoping to learn to knit myself. You know I'll keep you posted...

Twenty-one months

Such a big girl!! She really likes this shirt, and will proudly point out the "boodies" (birdies) and "fowders" (flowers) when asked.
When I finished taking her pic, she hopped down and said, "brown-bear and bunny, peeture," and then crawled up with them and started laughing hysterically. Such personality!

Bassinet

When we had Gemma, we used this sweet little bassinet that my dad made when my sister was born.
This go around, since I have a sister due 6-8 weeks before me, and a sister due 6-8 weeks AFTER I'm due (lots of babies), we decided to buy our own bassinet. I am really excited about the one we found. It is sweet, gender-neutral, and could even last us up to about 6 months if needed, since it's a little deeper than most bassinets. It fits great right beside our bed. I like how it is suspended, too, as it gives the bed a little natural motion when the baby moves. I think it should work really well, and give Gemma plenty of time to transition to her big-girl bed before baby needs the crib.
Anyways, I found this precious jungle print flannel at Joann's yesterday, and thought it would make a great little bassinet pad to match the jungle-theme bassinet. I am soooo excited about how this turned out!! It is two layers of flannel (outside layers) and a layer of fleece on the inside. My machine has a bunch of fancy stitches, and I used the one called "ric-rac" to go around the outside. Pretty sweet I think!

It's rainy-pourin'

My Gemma-girl LOVES the rain!! And we had plenty of it yesterday...grateful we didn't get anymore. At our house, there are two types of weather according to her..."rainy-pourin' " and "rainy all-gone". She must have heard the rain on the roof yesterday morning, because as soon as I went in her room to get her up she sat up excitedly, looked at me, and said, "is it...rainy-pourin'?!!" Much to her delight it was...so here's my sweetie in her sweet winter jammies looking out at her beloved "rainy".

The park

Gemma and I (and sometimes Daddy too!) have been enjoying ample time playing at the park in this gorgeous Autumn weather. Did I mention we love Fall?

Gemma's latest accomplishment is learning to go down the "big slide". Daddy taught her to do this. And several gray hairs later mommy is OK with the idea, too, ;-D
Here are some pics from a recent trip to the park.

A girl and her daddy Beginning the big climb Crawling thru the tube At the top, ready to go
Wheeeeeeeee!
Riding the duckie...a favorite now that she can climb up all by herself!
Pushing the swing...she'll be such a great big sis!
Riding the swings...she likes both kinds now that she knows how to "hold tight!" as she says!!
Wow!! That was a lot of pics. Thanks for checking in. We are doing really well. I am getting a lot of sewing done, Gemma's just as sweet as ever, we are definitely enjoying the cooler weather and the fact that it gets dark earlier. (It's the little things!) What a great time of year. Just working on some chores around the house today...enjoying a rainy, chilly day in! More to come, soon. Later-gators.