In Case You Didn't Know

You learn so much when you have a baby.  For example, you learn about true love, breastpumps, children's TV, and the real meaning of tired.  You also learn just how much crap comes with a kid.  And I'm not referring to the swings, baskets, tubs, soaps, carriers, diapers, and assorted paraphernalia.  No, I am referring to the blankets, stuffed animals, photo albums, and infinite teeny tiny shoes that people buy you.  Essentially, all the cute but useless stuff.

I've had no less than three friends or family members have their first babies in the last few months.  Every single one of them has phoned me and said the same thing: "I never realized how crappy the presents I gave to new parents were until now."  They fell victim to the pastel coloured treats in the department stores and gift shops.  Now, as parents, they were suffocating under the gifts people brought over. And now, as new parents, they were realizing that the best presents were the edible kind. Screw the teddy bears, give me muffins!

We too went through this realization.  After The Monster was born I started to get especially bitter at people who would come to meet the baby and maybe drop off "a little something" when that little something didn't come as food.  New parents are exhausted and overwhelmed by their new state and that little creature who has joined the family.  The last thing they need is a visitor who only wants to hold the baby while you get them tea.  

I'm not telling you to not buy the cute little somethings, but don't you dare show up to visit without a frozen meal, some fresh muffins, or even some crackers and cheese from the grocery store.  Don't you dare do it.  If you want to be truly appreciated by your friends/family then make a few meals to freeze, cut up a fruit salad, and bake some muffins.  If you can't cook, then hit a make and take meal place or somewhere with a nice ready-made meal counter.

Here are some more ideas to take to new parents:

- Fruit and Veggies  - don't give them a whole pineapple, cut it up.

- Muffins, cookies, scones, quick breads - homemade or bakery purchased these are always appreciated by the constantly hungry new mom 

- Trail mix or nuts

- Fresh bread or cinnamon buns

- Cheese

- Ready-made meals - fresh or frozen - purchased from a place like Fresh Kitchen or Mise En Place

- Dips like hummus or a white bean with pita

- Frozen meals that you make - try mac & cheese, chili, meatballs, lasagne, enchiladas, meat pies

New parents have no time to cook, a breastfeeding mom is always hungry, and quite often no one has ten minutes or two hands to eat, let alone prepare food.  Keep all this in mind when choosing your gifts.  All this applies in the first three months.  Yes, I said three months, not three weeks.

The Monster has some lucky aunties.  They've been the thankful recipients of her constant baking in the past few months.  With two new nephews we've been baking a lot in order to keep my sister and sister-in-law in muffins and cookies.  So now, when we go over to cuddle those babies and drink tea I can at least feed the mom. Oh, and pass on the drawing The Monster made, the photo album I found, and maybe the onesie I couldn't resist getting for that cute little guy.

How Can You Tell I'm a Quilter?

With my return to work imminent I've been quilting up a storm and I've been trying to get the house in order. We still have no nanny, but the house is almost ready for a new person to be trying to get around. Seriously, why is it so hard to hire a nanny? We aren't crazy people. Maybe a little odd or uncoventional, but not crazy.

I digress.

One morning last week Smilosaurus and I were playing in her room while Hubby worked in the living room. While she was happily crawling around and exploring I started taking a few photos for my colour study (see the right sidebar there). I was struck by a grouping of books on her shelf. As I took a photo I also noticed the pile of books sitting on the floor, pulled off by the little one. It is my anal nature to want to organize things alphabetically. Alas, the girls aren't quite old enough to shelve things this way. Sing the Alphabet Song, but not put things in alphabetical order. What's an anal quilting mom to do? Organize by colour, obviously!

I tried this once with all of my own books and hated it. I was used to the conventional way and suddenly couldn't find anything. In the girl's room, however, I thought it would be perfect. And now I walk in and honestly I feel calmer. Order is nice, colour is even better. I did show my stash, right?

As you can see, we have a lot of books! There are some hand-me-downs and some books from Hubby and his sister's childhood. There are a lot of new books because I always ask for books as gifts when questioned. Plus I'm a sucker for sales on books and will buy more for us when I go in to buy for gifts. I should point out that there is also a pile on the nightstand and a basket in the living room where we rotate seasonally appropriate titles.

Could I pick a favourite? Aside from Curious George and The Three Little Pigs, The Monster is in love with this book.

I must admit, I am too. Rhythmic, urban, and unique it is fun to read. The book is Jazz Baby by Lisa Wheeler and R. Gregory Christie.

Share your favourite book with the Children's Book Parade over at 6 O'Clock Stitch.

Thirty and Three

Those new babies sure mess with your schedule.  I had every intention of posting this quilt in time for Amy's Quilt Festival, but I missed the deadline while busy cuddling my new nephew. So I'm out of the prize running, but still happy to share this quilt.

I actually finished this quilt a few months ago.  And I started it almost 4 years ago.  The second I finished the binding it was cuddled under.  In fact, I think Hubby is under it nearly every night after I head to bed.  And my mother-in-law spent a rough couple of nights on the couch and snuggled under over Easter weekend, but she would kill me if I shared that photo.

The design for this quilt came to me like many of my designs - when I'm bored at work.  My notebook for work is filled with doodles and sketches of quilt ideas.  I sat on this design, however, until I had a machine that could do the circles with machine applique.  Hubby bought that machine for me for my 30th birthday.  This was the first quilt I started with that machine (but not the first one finished)!  The colours were chosen to match our living room, which is orange and cerulean blue.

The quilt was professional quilted because a) it is king-sized and b) I really wanted circles and my skills are not good enough for that.  She did an amazing job on it with circles and concentric circles sprinkled across the quilt. 

On the back I added a few more circles, including the label.  The square in square fabric is Robert Kauffman.  I pieced the back because, well, I like a pieced back.  Rather than mimic the front I did some large square in square blocks.

Oh, and I should explain the name, Thirty and Three.  Thirty because that's what birthday it was when Hubby gave me the machine that allowed the quilt.  Three because it took a little more than three years to finish it.

In The Zone

This past week was the second one in the Kitchn's Kitchen Cure.  Our task this week was to organize kitchen equipment.  A rather large task in most cooks' kitchens.  For me that meant two drawers of utensils, a drawer with pots and lids, a plastic storage container drawer, my baking supplies spread round the kitchen, and one random corner cupboard filled with extra spices, a colander, our turkey frier pieces, and a bunch of other crap.

The first step was to pitch any and all duplicates.  After that I got rid of supplies I never use, like the old cookie sheets and pots that were broken or had no matching lid.  These went into the pile for Goodwill.

My second step was to take anything out of the kitchen that isn't used on a regular basis - springform pans, lobster eating utensils, and the aforementioned turkey frier accoutrements.  These all went to the cold storage section of the basement.  That has to be another organizational task before we frame the basement, but not for now.

After the purge and the subsequent clean it came time to reorganize things.  With PBS Kids on for The Monster and The Smilosaurus napping I took a step back to evaluate how I really use the kitchen.  Truly, I have zones that I work in: baking/prep, clean-up, stove, and serving.  Sure, the kitchen isn't designed this way and it takes some creative thinking, but my brain thinks it works.

The stove section includes the pots, cooking utensils, all our oils and spices on open shelves.   Clean-up includes the sink and recently installed dishwasher, with dish storage right above. The serving section is the countertop below the dish and pantry storage.  And by serving section I mean a space of uncluttered countertop closest to the table.

Finally, I created a baking station.  We bought some freestanding cabinetry a few months back. Smilosaurus started crawling and was getting into everything on our open storage units.  When the dishwasher went in we also lost some existing cabinetry.  These new units were great - large, sturdy, and full of storage potential.  But I just dumped stuff in them without really thinking about it.  This exercise forced me to take a step back and think about how to use them most effectively.  

It's no secret that I love to bake, as does The Monster.  So I took one unit, filled it with all the baking utensils and pantry ingredients, and parked the little chair she stands on next to it.  Now everything is in one spot.  We have a large countertop space, only interrupted with the knife block, cutting board, and the Kitchen Aid.  It is still my prep station, after all.  But we can mix, roll, cut, and generally making a mess and it all stays confined.  Hubby can be at the sink, Smilosaurus can crawl around, and none of us are falling on top of each other.

One of the changes I made was taking my baking pans from the tall cabinet by the sink.  It always made sense to have them there, standing up.  There was, however, this stupid hook thing hanging from under the counter.  Pans were constantly getting caught on it.  Yes, I could have taken it out, but that wasn't the only problem with the cupboard.  There was just too much stuff it and it wasn't easy for The Monster to get things from there.  Considering that our baking generally revolves around cookies and muffins, I needed a better option.

With the focused baking center I got that.  I took one drawer and put in all the well-used baking supplies.  And yes, the largest item - the cookie sheets are on top.  Who wants to pull out all the pie plates, measuring cups, loaf pans, and spoons to get to the cookies sheets?  So much easier now.  Of course, after all this I need to giving Hubby an orientation.

Well, PBS Kids is nearly over and its time to bake.  I think we are going to try oatmeal cookies with cranberries and the white chocolate chips I found while cleaning.