love2knit Bilingual Knitting Blog (English/Spanish)

Finishing UFO'S

2010-12-22T21:21:00.000-08:00

Our knitting group has a new contest to finish our UFO's. So this is my snapshot of my current Unfinished Projects by antiquity:

#1 Fully Fashioned Ribbed Sweater by Classic Elite This sweater needs to be frogged and so I can reuse the yarn. The sweater looks and fits terrible. The pattern had tons of errors. I finished it in January 2006, and now I am finally ready to rip it off.

#2 4 Seasons Sweater I started this in August 2007. The only reason I know is because I was able to find the entry on my blog. Ravelry didn't exist back then, of if it did, I didn't know about it. Lol

#3 Knit Picks butterfly Socks. I finished this sock about a year ago but I messed up the lace pattern and the sock twists around and fits too tight. It also needs to be ripped.

#4 Newborn Cocoon. Original design that I started in August of this year.

#5 Tomtem Jacket for Ian. Started in October 2010.

#6 Ian's comfy socks. These are finished but I need to rip and re-knit the heel in one of the socks.

#7 Patons Cabled Hoodie. Started Nov 28, 2010

#8 Husband's stripped socks. Started Dec 5, 2010

Now I am debating which one to finish first. The thing that I need the most are Ian's items so I am going to try to finish the socks and the jacket first.

YARN FOR SALE

2010-11-28T22:05:00.000-08:00

I have the following yarn for sale:

Regal Tweed (Sport weight or DK)
$40 a bag of 10 (plus shipping)
Fiber content: 80% Merino Wool, 15% Cashmere, 5% Angora. (extremely light and soft).
Yardage: 164 yards (150 m) per skein for a grand total of 1640 yards (1500m) enough to make a woman's sweater size M. More single skeins available if needed. 2 Bags available.

NASHUA Wooly Stripes Color #05 Ocean (Aran weight)
$50 a bag of 10 plus shipping
Fiber content: 100% Italian Wool
Yardage: 88 yards per skein for a grand total of 880 yards.
2 bags available.

NASHUA Wooly Stripes Color #54 Purple Passion (Aran weight)
$50 a bag of 10 plus shipping
Fiber content: 100% Italian Wool
Yardage: 88 yards per skein for a grand total of 880 yards.
3 bags available.

York Tweed Pistachio (DK weight)
$45 a bag of 10 plus shipping
Fiber content: 60% Merino Wool, 30% Alpaca, 10% viscose.
Yardage: 191 yards per skein for a grand total of 1910 yards.
1 bag available.

York Tweed Biscotti (DK weight)
$45 a bag of 10 plus shipping.
Fiber content: 60% Merino Wool, 30% Alpaca, 10% viscose.
Yardage: 191 yards per skein for a grand total of 1910 yards.
1 bag available.

The bags weight approximately 1 pound and 3 ounces each and will be shipped from zip code 93312. So you can calculate your shipping cost by entering this information and yours at the United States Postal Service website. If interested in buying any of these yarns please email me to crpuravida2 at yahoo.com. Thanks!

Coming clean about my Stash

2010-11-09T11:09:00.000-08:00

OK. It is time to come clean and show my stash to the world... Here it is:

When our friend Suzanne invited us to "flash our Stash" on our Ravelry group I didn't imagine it was going to be such an inspiring experience. Actually, I was a little embarrassed to show people how much yarn I had... specially my husband, but he is a good guy and I am sure he will understand when he reads this post... right? Honey?...

I must admit that after taking the pictures I found some more wool in a drawer and there is a bag a Rowan Tweed wool missing in action but I am sure I will find it. Not only this is a great opportunity to reorganize and classify my yarn but it has giving me so much inspiration as to what to knit next. For instance, I was sure I didn't have any aran weight yarn and I discovered that the bags of Elsebeth Lavold Classic Al that I have, are all Aran weight. It is just so true that you put things away and then forget what you have, so in the same way that I try to do laundry and organize my closet before I go shopping for clothes, for now on I will go through my stash before shopping for yarn. :-)

The pictures of the bed show my good brand name yarns.

My acrylics live under the bed here:

And my sock yarn and lace weight live in the closet here:

And of course that is without counting the yarn that I have for sale on Ebay:

I thought about detashing a little but I don't think I could part with any of it...
I love my stash!!!

Rowan Magazine 46, Bust darts tutorial, Knitting for a child with a cast

2010-09-26T15:54:00.000-07:00

Last night my allergies were so bad that I couldn't sleep, even after an overdose with Claritin, I had a horrible night. I got up and started... what else? browsing the internet for knitting patterns.

I decided that I don't want to spend time on Facebook since there is got to be a thousand more productive things to do in life than listening to people's thoughts and complaints. As a result, my head had been spinning with ideas all night and all day today. It is as if I had unlocked a world of creativity and imagination in my head. I even thought of 2 projects to design.

Rowan Magazine
Among other things, I discover the new Rowan magazine# 46, and felt in love with yet, two more patterns for my to do list:

As I was browsing E -bay to see how much the Rowan yarns cost these days, I came across an ebay seller that literally cut off the best pattern of the magazine (the first picture) and was selling it for 1 pound (about a $1,70).

Original magazine pattern, carefully removed, in perfect condition - unused

Now, what would posses somebody to do something like this is beyond me... but one thing is certain, a beautiful $23,95 (plus shipping) Rowan Magazine is now ruined in the futile pursue of $1,78... (plus shipping). Go figure!

Bust Dart Tutorial
I also discovered, thanks to a fellow knitter on Ravelry, the most amazing tutorial on how to add bust darts. I always knew that bust darts were created with short rows, but didn't know exactly how to do it. Well here it is in perfect English! Now, I wasn't looking for this but this link will come in handy for sure!

Knitting for a boy with a cast
My 2 year old will be having hand surgery in January and I want to be prepared. Is is going to be cold and he will have to wear a cast for a few months. We already had the experience last year and I had to cut off one sleeve of all his shirts and I purchased a really cheap hoodie and cut one sleeve as well. This time I want to have a winter wardrobe that can accommodate his cast. I can't think of a better excuse to get to work and KNIT him some items, made to fit. After looking to all of my books and patterns and browsing Ravelry for quite a few hours... I decided on the following projects.

1- Totem Jacket by Elizabeth Zimmerman. This is the perfect Jacket because you knit the body in one piece up to where you want to harm holes and add the sleeves at the end. It is a very simple pattern that allows for plenty of customization. Just what I need to be able to make wider harm holes and sleeves to make space for the cast.

2- This poncho from Drops Designs also fits the bill and can provide the perfect outdoors layer leaving the harms free underneath.

3- A wonderful waistcoat by Debbie Bliss can keep him warm inside or outside the house. And I was thinking maybe I can knit detachable sleeves to it. The pattern is in Classic Knits for Kids; 30 Traditional Aran and Guernsey Designs for 0-6 year olds (1995). This is a really old book and it is out of print but I really want to make it. It still can be ordered from Amazon.com. My scanner broke so I can not provide a picture but is sooo cute!

4- And finally I still may make a lighter weight indoor sweater, which I am debating between EZ's Baby surprise Jacket which has very wide harm holes and this hooded jacket by Debbie Bliss. If I make the last one I will have to modify the harm holes and sleeves to be wider.

All of these patterns (except for the waistcoat), have three things in common; they are very simple, easy to modify and fast to knit. Well I better hurry! I found all the yarn I needed for these projects in my stash. Hurray!!

Is it possible to fix white spots on a bad dyeing job?

2010-09-16T18:41:00.000-07:00

After my yarn was dry there were some white spots in one of the colors, the lilac. I have no idea why this color didn't take, but it was bothering me so I decided to try yet another experiment; fixing one color.
Me di cuenta de que habian quedado unas partes blancas en el color lila.

So off it went the hank of yarn to the sink: Asi que lo heche denuevo en el lavatorio para darle un baño.

And to the counter for retouching with a brush. I had dye left so I used the same bottle of the dye that was already prepared. The color was not covering the white spots, so added some more vinegar, thinking maybe I had forgotten the vinegar... Nothing... So I looked at the solution and it seemed too watery to me so I added more of the dye powder to it... Voila! the dye took this time and covered all the white areas. El tinte no pegaba, me di cuenta de que no tenia suficiente polvo asi que le puse mas y ya funciono...

After that I wrapped the repainted area... Luego la envolvi en plastico.

And finally placed only the repainted part on the steaming pot, leaving the rest of the hank out of the pot. I am not sure this was wise because the dry part of the hank can catch fire on the gas stove if you are not careful. I think next time I will get the whole thing wet and re-steam the whole thing.

The results were perfect and the colors are now even for the most part. The green is not even but at least there are no white spots and I actually like the different shades of green and yellow on it.
Y finalmente puse la parte retocada denuevo en la olla de vapor dejando por fuera la parte seca. La proxima vez creo que la pongo toda dentro de la oya para evitar que prenda fuego con la llama de la estufa.

Before: (antes)

After: (despues)

Yarn dying experiment Day #4

2010-08-31T00:32:00.000-07:00

I found this great tutorial to dye yarn with food dye which of course is A LOT cheaper! and I love it. I think this will be my Yarn Dying Experiment #2.

http://kathrynivy.com/patterns/extras/dyeing-yarn/

Today I finally was able to put these two babies in a bath. Once is the long skein I rewind to make self striping yarn. The other one is the skein I was able to unfold correctly, just the way it comes from Knitpicks.
Skein #1 Long strand for Self Striping yarn
Squeeze bottles with dye

My helper and the final result.

Skein #2 Shorter strand as it comes from Knitpicks.

I put it in a foil baking dish and painted it there. I used different colors. This is probably going to come out varigated rather than stripy or with very thin stripes.
I used different colors for the second one. This one has saffyre blue, teal, fire red and tourquoise. I put it in a foil baking dish and painted it there. This is probably going to come out varigated rather than stripy or with very thin stripes because the length of each color is shorter.

The red and the green together created a back stripe but that is OK.

Here are both skeins in the sink cooling off:

Here it is the steaming pot I got from Good Will.I am not sure these were a set, but they fit together perfectly and I even found a lid for it. All for about $5.

I learned a lot from this experience. I learned I need bigger squeeze bottles. I got the kind you use to travel to put shampoo in it. You actually need the bigger kind they use to put Mustard in, otherwise you have to refill them and add vinegar each time. I also need a funnel ( I used paper ice cones) and better globes. The ones I had were so uncomfortable that I ended up not using them at all. I need latex gloves.

Also, it's better to do this without the kids. Rachel helped me at first but on my last skein, Ian distracted me and I forgot to add vinegar... I am not sure how is that going to affect the dying. (after the boiling, this skein bled like crazy and the colors ran into each other probably because of the lack of vinegar but also because of the excess dye because I did not use the squeeze bottles, I just pour the dye from the jar because I was tired... I did gave this a bath in luckewarm water with vinegar after the boiling... Not sure if that helped for the dye to stay, but after that I wash it until the water was clear and it looks OK.)

Another very important thing I learned is to lift the skein after you paint it to check for white spots underneath. I have a big white spot in the first skein :-( but I love the way it came out, I love the colors.

Drying outside:

Yarn Dying Experiment Day #3 (Monday)

2010-08-31T00:07:00.000-07:00

Finally finished wrapping the yarn around two chairs to get the length I wanted... Maybe tomorrow I can start having some fun...

And I looked very careful to another hank and this time I was able to figure out how to open it. The hank is folded in half, so you have to unfold it up and then sideways. Huff, finally! I knew I was doing something wrong... It seems so obvious now, I can't believe I went through so much trouble with the other two!!

Yarn Dying Experiment Day #2 (Sunday)

2010-08-31T00:06:00.001-07:00

I kept working on detangleling and winding the ball of yarn all day.... the dye is outside calling my name really load!!! I am so tired of doing this...

Time to get out of the house and take the kids to see the ducks at the park or I will kill myself!

Dye experiment -Day 1- (Saturday)

2010-08-30T23:18:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday my husband took the kids out and I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to dye some yarn for the first time. The materials have been in my closet for 3 years... waiting patiently for a day like this...

STEP #1 Gather the materials

- Plastic painting blanket to cover the table ($1 at the dollar Store)
- Dust mask ($1 for a dozen at the dollar store)
- Squeeze bottles ($5 at Ride Aid)
- Glass Jars (got at Albertson's so long ago I don't remember the price)
- Measuring teaspoon's ($1 at the dollar store)
- Blank Hank of wool sock yarn (Knitpicks 3 years ago...)
- Jaquard Dyes (Knitpicks 3 years ago)
- White Vinegar ($1 at Fresh and Easy)
- Plastic Wrap ($1 at the Dollar Store)
- Steaming Pot ($5 at Goodwill)
- Globes (that I had at home)

STEP #2

Watch the tutorial video for dying sock blanks again:
http://www.knitpicks.com/tutorials/Sock_Blank_Dyeing__D108.html

The problem is, I don't have a sock blank, I have blank "Bare" skein. But it should work the same, right? right??...

STEP #3

Give the skein an hour bath to absorb water

STEP # 4

The most scary step... mix the dye...

Mix 1/2 teaspoon of dye with one cup of water in each jar. I have hot pink, charchuse, Lilac and Teal.

Each time I switch color I wiped the measuring teaspoon with baby wipes. I discover something, the wippie will reveal to you the final color of the dye... Cool!

STEP #5

Get the yarn out of the water and pad it dry in a towel...

OK, this is where I found a major obstacle in what was supposed to be a fun afternoon dyeing yarn... The wet hank got tangled so bad, it was impossible to open it up or to figure out what was the beginning or the end. It was such a mess, and I got so frustrated that I pulled hard on the ends and made it even worse. Now, there is no use. I don't think I can salvage it. I went upstairs to my room and I grabbed another Knitpicks Bare Hank, this time I open it up BEFORE WASHING IT, very slowly and carefully. This is what I found: There are 2 ties in different sections. I could not figure out how to open those up in neat way for hand dying, but at least I could wind it in a ball. I think I could have just dye it like that if I wanted a varigated effect, but since I wanted stripes, I needed to open up the skein and make a ring with long strands of yarn. Besides after dying I would have to wind it anyways, so might as well do it now. So I began to wind my second skein of yarn:

3 Hours Later:

Time to take a brake... and go to bed very frustrated and tired!

Lacy Shrug and Hat

2010-07-10T21:19:00.001-07:00

This is a little shrug and Hat that I made for a friend's new baby girl. I love the way both things turned out. If you want details about the pattern and yarn used you can go to my Ravelry page.

Este es un suetercito corto y un gorrito que hice para una bebé recien nacida de un amigo de nosotros. Me encanta como me quedaron las dos cosas. Los detalles del patrón y la lana que use se encuentran en mi página de Ravelry.com.

WWKD and Left Hand knitting

2010-07-10T20:56:00.000-07:00

During the Word Wide Knit in Public Day I got among other things; a video explaining how to knit with both hands. I had always been curious about this, so I guess it is time, my destiny is to learn now. The video said to make something entirely with your left hand to get a good gauge knitting with it, then, start trying the both hand technique, holding one color in one hand and the other in the other hand. So, I am in my quest for an easy pattern, to train my left hand... This should be fun...

Pictures are from the WWKP Day and the prizes I got from the raffle that were pretty darn good!! Thank you guys!!

Fotos del Día Mundial de Tejer en Público y los premios que me gane en la rifa.

What is the best excuse to buy a bottle of wine???

2010-05-16T01:12:00.000-07:00

You have to make a wine cozy for a gift... then obviously you will need a bottle of wine to block the wine cozy right???

I will be making this as well for another present. I found the pattern in Ravelry.

Cual es la mejor excusa para comprar una botella de vino??? Se necesita una botella para poder medir un cobertor de vino que quiero hacer para otro regalito. Por supuesto! tuve que comprar una botella de vino! El patron lo encontre en Ravelry.

My current project

2010-05-16T01:04:00.000-07:00

This is my current project. I am making this sweater for my mom's 70th birthday. I have only a couple of weeks to finish it before my sister leaves to Costa Rica so she can take it with her.

I am almost done with the sweater's body... and tomorrow I will cast on the first sleeve. The pattern is from an old "Creative Knitting" Magazine from 2005. The yarn is already discontinued so I was able to get on Ebay for almost nothing... same color and everything... a lucky find.

Este es el proyecto en el que estoy trabajando ahorita. Es un sueter para mi mama, por su cumpleanos numero 70. Tengo que terminarlo en dos semanas para que mi hermana se lo lleve a Costa Rica y se lo entregue. Eso me deja solo un par de semanas para terminar las mangas y los acabados... Estoy apretada de tiempo, pero creo que si podre hacerlo. El hilo es exactamente el que se pide en el patron que como es de una revista vieja lo consegui en Ebay a un excelente precio.

Spiritual battles and difficult decisions.

2010-02-08T21:55:00.000-08:00

Ephesians 6:12 (King James Version)
12For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

I have been struggling for months about this question: How involved should a born again Christian be involved with an unbeliever or a Christian that is separated from God? How much sin around us can we and should we take? How much should we shelter ourselves and our children from all the evil influences of the world... including friends, culture, media, etc... Where do you draw the line???

I disagree with people that (in the name of Jesus) of course, get deeply involved with people who are living wicked lives. They say the want to win them for Jesus. I am sorry but that is hard to believe. Most of the time it works the other way around. When Christians get very "tolerant" and "accepting" of sin, they soon loose their biblical perspective of sin and start embracing the cultural mandate of political correctness.

I have gotten to the conclusion that there is no black and white answers, but each situation needs to be analyzed carefully and under the light of the word and through prayer. For example, if I find out that a very close friend is living in sin, I may try to talk to talk to her and encourage her to go back to the Bible principles, etc. But if the person chooses consistently to live separated from God, then I need to "draw the line", because I need to protect my own relationship with God and my own children from this person's influence.

Influence for us Christians is a lot more than what a person does and says. Spiritual influence which is the most critical, is worked in the spiritual realm. The part we don't see or hear. Ephesians 6:12

Lately I feel the Lord is calling me to build a wall to keep me and my family from the enemy. This wall is built with prayer, worship and spiritual warfare. But how often we make the mistake of not protecting ourselves from the wolves dressed as sheep. Lord, open my spiritual eyes and let me see! Let me identify those things around us, (and those people around us), that represent a negative influence to us. -The enemy in disguise.-

I want to be salt to this world, but I don't want the world to swallow me alive!

Every situation is different, and I am learning to pray over all of my relationships, and be careful and wise.

Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves. Mathew 10:16

Some very though decisions need to be made if we are to live the way God wants us to live and I never thought it would be this hard. To love and embrace the people that God wants me to bless and share with, is not the biggest challenge, but to separate myself from people that I like and even love when their beliefs and their life style jeopardizes my own relationship with God, is by far the hardest part. And what about my kids? God trusted them to me, to rise them in his ways. I am responsible to protect them from the world influences and to teach them a godly way of living. So, how serious would I be taking on this responsibility if I didn't shelter my children?

Today I am praying for wisdom, and I trust God will grant it to me as he promises in his word. Amen.

Sewing and Knitting...

2010-01-15T09:48:00.000-08:00

This is the result of my experimenting with wool sweaters... I decided to make longies with the sleeves and try to create a vest out of the neck-center of the sweater. These are two sets that I made from the Good will sweaters. They came out O.K. I am not happy with the finishing of the sleeve edge on the vests... They came out a little awkward and to be honest I have no idea how to fix them... but the sets are warm and they are accomplishing their mission of keeping baby warm this winter. I love them!

The Summer collection of Drops has been published! The patterns are all simply gorgeous!! I can't wait for the patterns to become available...

You can see them here.

I am still working on my leaf vest. This is an old SIRDAR pattern that I am modifying a little bit to make it look more modern. The gauge just didn't make sense to me so I am not so sure how will it come out but I am almost done with the experiment...

Arriba fotos de los dos juegos que le hice a bebe con los sweaters de lana que compre en Good Will. Con las mangas hice pantalones que tambien sirven de cubierta de panal y con el centro del sweater hice un chalequito para hacer el juego. No me gusto como me quedaron las orillas de las mangas de los chalecos, como que se paran muy raro, pero la verdad no supe como arreglarlo. Lo importante es que cumplen su cometido de mantener a bebe calientito y ademas me encantan!

La foto de abajo es de un chaleco que estoy tejiendo y ya casi lo termino.

Family Events

2009-11-26T23:00:00.000-08:00

Dedication of Baby at the Church

What a blessing it was to present baby in the Church. Pastor M presented the family to the Church and told our story. The whole congregation extended their arms to pray for baby and his upcoming surgery. It was very special.

La dedicación de bebé en la iglesia estuvo muy linda. El Pastor nos presentó a la congregación y todos oraron por nosotros y por la cirugía de bebé.

My Birthday

Mi cumpleaños

Thanksgiving relaxation...

2009-11-26T22:37:00.000-08:00

We decided not to do anything today. Baby was still sick and R too... Friends invited us over for dinner but we decided to just rest. It has been an incredibly relaxing day... Hubby took care of the baby most of the day. I slept like a bear and watched English movies and knit. Now this is what I call "vacation". I am so thankful that my husband does not make me cook like a slave in a day like this. He is so kicked back and we feel the same way about holidays like this in the sense that we don't feel we have to follow the crowd. We are both revels! We like to do things our way and just whatever we feel like despite the rest of the world. I love that!

Since my last post something amazing happened. New neighbors moved in the house next door... I was worried about homeschooling R because she didn't have any friends... and just like that, like an answer from God came little A. Our new friend and neighbor. I have never seen two kids that get along so well and have so much in common like R and A do. It amazes me!! Only God could have orchestrated this! Her parents are the nicest people and she is such a good girl. I am in awe!

Here they are in their sleep-over last Friday. They played hide and go seek in the dark, computer games, board games, you name it! They had a blast all day long and in the evening.

They even go together to Awanas on Sundays.

Isn't God amazing? Just in my last post I was expressing how concerned I was and that maybe I would have to stop homeschooling... and now, wow! What an answer! What an amazing way God has to show me that He knows my needs and that He has the power to fulfill them beyond all my expectations! We serve a powerful God!

Esta es A la nueva vecinita y amiguita de R. No puedo creer como Dios contestó a mis oraciones en una manera tan perfecta y eficaz. Nunca he visto dos chiquitas que se llevan tan pero tan bien. Qué grande que es el Dios que servimos, que conoce nuestras necesidades y las suple más allá de nuestras expectativas!!

Home Schooling Doubts

2009-10-19T00:41:00.000-07:00

I think that all of us who home school have doubts from time to time. I have been thinking a lot lately about the possibility of putting R back in school next year. My head feels like spinning just to try to sort out the pros and cons of such decision. The only real reason I have to consider it is social in nature.

It is very different for families with several children. Siblings are a great way to socialize... but with R she only has "baby" and there is long ways to go before he can meet her social needs.

I have tried social groups and also play dates but those also have their prons and cons. I find myself tired at times in trying so hard to find play dates with children of similar age and interests to her. I feel tired of always been the one inviting people over but never getting an invitation from anyone else. Each new week represents a challenge as to how and where are we going to find a social opportunity and it is starting to worn me out...

Every time I see my daughter playing by herself and wondering around the house saying something to her self, I can't help to wonder if I am doing the right thing. When she was in school, both public and private, she didn't have like a ton of friends, but God always provided at least one little girl that was happy to play and hangout with her. A best friend.

I don't think I would put her in public school. There are way too many issues to avoid doing that but there happens to be a good option for a private and very small Christian school. The cons would be the driving and extra expense, not only in tuition but also uniforms and gasoline. There is also the big question mark of wether or not I would be able to get used to that routine again. Getting up early, the horrible morning rush, the driving... oh and the oh so hated homework. Oh Lord how much do I despise homework! Whoever invented it should be booed forever...

These are all big questions buzzing inside my head but thankfully I have a long time to make a decision and really think about it, if this is the way the Lord is guiding us, we will need him to come up with the financial resources to do it by then. If this his will, He will open the doors the way He always does. If not, I pray that God helps me to be more creative in finding social opportunities for R and that He provides more good friends for her...

The good thing is that if the Private school doesn't work out, we can always go back to home school in a blink of an eye and this time we will know exactly what to do.

Lots of random stuff / VARIOS

2009-10-13T22:56:00.000-07:00

The other day I went to Ride Aid looking for a good liquid vitamin for R since her diet is so restricted, I really wanted to find something strong. I have tried some liquid vitamins but they don't pass the taste test and it is such a fight to get her to drink it. So I found this energy drink and decided to give it a try. Now, I didn't give it to R, I took it myself today. I have been feeling so, so tired lately, and I can't get anything done. Oh my goodness, it was amazing! It kept me going all day with no naps, I have been feeling fantastic and in a great mood, this is amazing specially since I am in those days of the month I am particularly grouchy. My husband says he is buying me a case and he will pay for it! :-)) This one is a keeper. Here is what is in it.
They also have the "Focus and Memory" version, so I will get that one for R.

Changing the subject, once in a while you find a little gadget that really makes a difference in your kitchen. Most of them are luxuri

es. But this little guy is awesome. It has made my life so much better. It is a pan scrubber, it has

a sharp edge that takes out all the stuff in the pan without scratching it and without scrubbing like a maniac. Where had you been all of my life??? I love this thing! It was only a couple of bucks in Bed, Bath and Beyond.

Here is another life saver... My new Mei Tai. This is an answer to my prayers and those of my husband... Lord, have this child play by himself so I can get something done! Lord, I need to do so much stuff and he does not let me do anything... Lord, help my wife have some pride in this house and clean it a little... Well, thanks to my friend Sonia, I found the solution, Mei Tais. This thing is amazing. Baby loves it. He has even fallen asleep on it. I got mine on Ebay for about $20 but they are super easy to make. It is the only way I can get ANYTHING done around here... So, thanks God for Mei Tais. No kidding!

These pictures are from a cute Gingerbread House R and I found at Albertson's. We just couldn't resist it. This is my first Gingerbread House ever! Yes ever! I am not from this country so this is not a tradition I grew up with. We had such a good time today putting it together. Note to self for the future: Do not decorate a Gingerbread House under a light bulb... (cough, cough) it melts... Fortunately, the melted look is perfect in this case because it is a Halloween Gingerbread House. So it makes it look spookier... LOL

The last picture is what I am doing with the left overs of that XL wheat color sweater. I decided I wanted to try a more fitted pattern for the longies. I am using the Katrina soaker pattern and I am going to saw legs to it. I got the idea from the longies I have seen in ETSY. I really liked the soakers I made with this pattern so I want to see what kind of fitting can I get using knitted fabric. I hope it works!

En Español:

FOTO #1: Esta es una bebida energética que prové hoy. Sí funciona, repito Sí funciona. He estado muy baja de energía y esta bebida me mantuvo trabajando sin parar, al punto que aquí estoy blogeando a la media noche y no me siento cansada, limpié la casa, hice comida, le hice el homeschooling a Rachel, fui de compras, hice la casita que se ve en las fotos, y todo con un excelente humor... Y eso que estaba en esos días del mes... Así que ya dijo J que me va a comprar unas cuantas docenas... JA JA JA

FOTO #2:

La segunda foto es de una uña plastica que me encontré para raspar los sartenes. La amo sobre todas las cosas! Se acabo el estar restregando, esto arranca todo, y solo me costo $2. Que fantástica invensión!

FOTO #3:

Es de un MEI TAI. Los Mei Tai fueron la respuesta a mis oraciones porque el bebé no me dejaba hacer absolutamente NADA! Así que lo pongo en el, y no siento ni el peso, ahí lo ando conmigo haciendo mis cosas y al él le encanta! Hasta se queda a veces dormido en el. Me costo $20 en Ebay pero es super fácil de hacer. Es un cuadrado con 4 tiras saliendo de las esquinas, eso es todo... El truco esta en saberlo amarrar correctamente...

FOTOS 4 Y 5:

Es una casita de Halloween de Galleta que hicimos R y yo. Ya venden las partes hechas y uno la arma y la decora. Me encantó hacerlo hoy con R.

FOTO # 6:

Es otro pantaloncito de lana que tengo cortado, pero de un patrón diferente a ver como me sale... Osea que de un solo sueter XL me salieron dos pantaloncitos largos! Yupi !

Modeled

2009-10-11T23:33:00.000-07:00

And what kind of a blogger would I be if I didn't show you the finish product being worn by the handsome model?

Estos son unos pantoncitos que estoy haciendo para Ian. Son hechos de sweaters de lana de oveja o the otros pantaloncitos tejidos. Son para el invierno. Sirven de doble propósito de pantalones y de covertores de pañales. Los cafés los hice de las mangas de un suéter de lana, de unos suéteres usados que compre en Good Will. Lucre, si me vieras... creo que estarías orgullosa de mí... No puedo creer que estoy cociendo... je je

And for your entertainment, this is "a first" caught on video.... Baby's first time eating a lemon popsicle...

Y para su entretenimiento, la primera vez comiendo helado de limón grabada en video...

Experimenting with wool interlock

2009-09-26T00:46:00.000-07:00

I got the fabric on the mail and threw it in the washer for felting. It did felt quite a bit. The description in the website said it wouldn't felt that much. Well I lost 3" from the wide, and 8" from the length! That is a lot! Especially if you are paying about 80 cents per inch! This was my second experiment. These shorties that I got from Ebay are good but the waist was very bulky and thick and the cord never seemed to be tight enough to hold the pants in place. So I stitched a line right below the ribbing and then... cut it! This was the first time that I cut knitted fabric. Unlike most people would think the knitted stitches do not get undone as long as you stitch them first. I then added the elastic interlock waist and voila! My new favorite shorties!!

The next two pictures (brownish color pants) are from my first attempt to make longies. The ones at the left came out too big. The directions didn't say to trim the edges so I used all the fabric on the arms and it ended up bunching up like this. The problem was that I was working with an XL size sweater, so the sleeves were too wide. So I went ahead and cut the little guy open again, trimmed the sides about 2 inches in each side trying to leave more space in the back for the buddy. The result was the picture on the right. Much better ha? However these are still a bit big on Baby, but that is OK. It was my intention to make the longies a size bigger because I do expect them to be wearable next winter.

Longies on the making

2009-09-19T21:53:00.000-07:00

I have so much to blog about I don't even know were to start. So I will start with the fun part. I was able to find several wonderful wool sweaters in a different Good Will store. I was so exited! One of them was even felted already! I think it is so funny that what is a ruined sweater for someone becomes a perfect finding for someone else. I spend only $24 on these sweaters, some of which are 100% cashmere, the others are 100% wool. I know it is so silly but the day I found them, I was so exited I almost had a car accident... LOL that would have made these longies a bit more expensive... I have ordered a yard of wool/lycra interlock for the waists. A while ago I purchased a pair of shorties from Woollybottoms. They came with a very stretchy waist. I love them! they are my favorites! Baby wears them all the time, so I started researching and researching what this stretchy fabric was, until I found out it was wool with lycra. I am just crossing my fingers I can do as good of a job as the Woolybottoms lady. She does an amazing job!! Here is a sample:

See the yummy stretchy waist?

I do warn you that the wool/lycra material is very expensive. I paid more than $30 for just one yard including shipping. I just hope I don't ruin it... I am still not so confident on my sewing skills. I bought it here.

I am also knitting a pair of longies using a pattern called Itchy Fingers Longies download available from ravelry. This pattern calculates everything based on your swatch. I got a gauge of 24 sts on my swatch so I calculated everything accordingly. The longies started to look huge to me... So I revised my gauge. Turns out apparently I started to loosen up my gauge as I kept going and I ended up with 20 sts per 4" which means now I am 4 sts off. That is why my longies look so big... I was just about to frog them when I decided to try them on Baby just in case. They actually don't look bad and I was thinking maybe I can felt them a little or save them for later when he gets bigger. I am going to continue and knit an extra 2 inches on all the vertical measurements to allow for felting. We will see what happens. I hope it works!

Wood workshop

2009-09-11T20:52:00.000-07:00

One of our home schooling friends put together a wood work shop. We have already made a jewelry box, a bird house and this time, we made a bird feeder. Although big sister has different plans for it, it came out so nice. I wish I had made my own so I can actually use it as a bird feeder.

As we get to meet more home schooling families, I realize that maybe I was not as weird as I thought, I just hadn't find "my kind". My husband used to tell me that I was the only woman who did this and that. Because I believe in breast-feeding on demand and as long as the child want to. Etc... But talking to other home school families, specially Christian families, I realize that there are many other moms like me who sleep with their babies and breast-feed for long periods of time. Many also avoid vaccination, etc. It is so nice to find other people with similar beliefs.

Baby

2009-09-11T19:29:00.000-07:00

Baby is getting so much fun! He is really starting to want to talk, he says things like "dog" "cat" "shoe" "teeth", etc... Funny because these are all words from his "Your baby can read" videos... Also I recently discovered that he can actually read some of those words. One day I had him on my lap and the word "wave" came up on the screen. Before they actually said the word he started to wave. I was very exited! but my husband didn't believe me so I questioned myself. Last week again I was watching the video with him in my lap, the word "dog" came up on the screen, before they said the word he said "gog". I couldn't believe it! The videos actually work!

Besides that he is doing so many other cute stuff. He loves cleaning, he loves wiping and sweeping the floor. I seriously need to get him his own toy broom so I can use mine... Today I was putting away my husband's clothes and he was very busy and quiet doing something. When I went to see he was grabbing his dad's socks from the drawer and one by one, he was putting them inside the toilet. The toilet was stuffed with folded socks! It was so funny I couldn't get mad.

But the best thing of all for me as a mom is, that he is finally eating food. At 15 months he finally shows interest for food and eats quite a bit, especially if I sit him on my lap. He loves cereal and chips, beans and meat, etc. This is very important because before now, he wanted to be nursing 24/7. Hanging from momma all the time...Of course! he was hungry all the time...

I feel can get more done now that he is eating as he can play on his own longer. I heard that many breast-fed babies are very slow to eat solids and even when they do, breast-milk remains their main food. This is the case with my baby.

The sleeping situation has gotten a lot better too. He only wakes up a couple of times now and he sleeps good 10 to 12 hours.

More fleece pants and safety

2009-09-06T23:08:00.000-07:00

I made another pair of fleece pants for Ian. This time I tried a wider waist strip. That worked out much better. Also added an "Elmo" applique on the back. Mainly because if I don't, daddy will keep putting the pants backwards... LOL! So now I can just say "remember Elmo goes on the back..." I used the option on the pattern to have a lower rise on the front. I don't expect daddy to notice the difference, so that will be Elmo's job. I am happy with the results and the fleece I got at Walmart for only $4 a yard is nice and thick. It didn't say it was "anti-pill" but I sure hope so.

On another topic, our friend Scott came to help us install the safety gate upstairs... I can not express how thankful I am, hubby and I were having a hard time trying to figure out all the pieces... Scott is so talented... he came, glanced at the instructions for a few seconds, and then installed the gate like it was nothing... Wow! Thank you so much Scott!! It is so nice to finally be able to let baby walk around upstairs without having a panic attack every time he is near the stairs... What a piece of mind...

Life philosophy

2009-09-05T20:05:00.000-07:00

Lately I had to make some though decisions regarding my life. Mainly I have been thinking a lot about the purpose of life, or more concretely the purpose of my life. I think that God is calling me to leave a more separate life. In a spiritual way that is. I have been reading a book called REVOLUTION in missions by KP. And at the same time I felt I needed to quit a long life friendship that was not positive for my spiritual life. It was a very hard decision, one that I had been considered for a few years, but did not have the courage to make until now. It is like God is talking to my life through these two events, making me think about my life and my purpose and the futile things we spend most of our time in.

I have gotten to a place where I am tired of pretending to be "normal". I don't think I am. I don't think any real Christian fits the worldly definition of normal. According to the world, I am weird. Because if I put God first and live my life as if only JESUS matters, that will definitely be weird. But I am convince that nothing matters, only Jesus, and falling in love with him all over again, going back to my first love, is all I want right now.

Longies

2009-08-28T22:29:00.000-07:00

I started looking around for wool sweaters I can use to make longies for the winter. Longies are long pants made out of wool that work both as pants and

diaper cover during the winter. I was unable to find any wool sweaters at our local Good Will so, I decided to try to make them out of fleece. Fleece works just as well but you have to wash them more often. Not only I want to learn how to make them to save money but also because DS's measurements are so wide, it is really hard to find anything already made that fits well. His hips are really wide and his tights are very chunky. I found directions on how to make your own pattern in this website.

Of course, like I expected, I messed up the first one on different ways... plus I will need to adjust the initial measurements, but it is wearable as it is... I am sure I will get better as I practice.

Of course my cute model helps my pants look better... I left the length longer so he can grow into them.

I also started a knitted pair from a pattern called Itchy fingers. I have the ribbing done and just started knitting the body of the pants. Pictures coming soon.

Oh yeah and I finished the Berroco CISCO Hat on August 6... Here are some pictures:

This was supposed to be a gift but I think we will keep it... he he. It was somewhat of a confusing pattern, it wasn't as fun as I thought it would be, if I do it again I will probably use a self striping yarn to avoid waiving in all the ends...

Diapering

2009-08-26T20:34:00.000-07:00

That's it! The stains win, I loose! I give up! It is going to get too cold during the winter to try to sun them out anyways...

Ravelry Forums

2009-08-26T14:22:00.000-07:00

I was bored one night and then... behold I discovered the forums on RAVELRY.COM and now I am hooked! I have been a ravelry member for a long time but never really care to look into the forums until just recently I decided to post two comments, one asking for help on yarn substitution for an Alice Starmore sweater I can't find the yarn for... and the other one related to my outrage that Patons decided to change the content of their Classic Wool, which used to be 100% soft merino, and now and without previous warning is 100% pure new wool, not guaranteed to be Merino... I mean the kind of stuff only nerdy knitters like myself would care about... Well it was so nice to read all the replies... I think I am having an "I found my people" moment... Love it! By the way my ravelry name is crpuravida if you care to find me there!

My holy time

2009-08-13T21:55:00.000-07:00

My friend crunchymom inspired me to continue writing my blog... even if it is once in a while.

No matter how tired I am, I just need to have some quiet time to myself. Most of the time, this can only be done at night when everybody is sleeping... Yes, this takes time away from my sleeping but I just have to have it or I start feeling I am going crazy. It is a sanity issue. I call it my "Holy time". Usually during this time I read, or knit or watch one of my favorite movies, other times I just surf the internet for knitting patterns or stuff I need to buy.

I know I am not the only one. My oldest sister used to do it. When I visited years ago I was amazed how late she would stay up even though she had to wake up really early. Donna Dewberry from one stroke painting started to paint at night when her five children were little and she needed to do something at night to mentally-relax.

The only problem is that sometimes I enjoy myself so much that I loose track of time and stay up until dawn... This is NOT good, because the next day I am exhausted...

Posting

2009-07-08T22:19:00.000-07:00

I feel bad I haven't been posting anything here in a long time... If you are wondering why? it's because I discovered FACEBOOK. Most of my posts here are small... more like thoughts, so Facebook works great for that and it goes directly to my family and friends, so it is more practical to do it there than here in my blog. I will continue posting here especially about my knitting stuff but not as often, as I am putting most of my family pictures and personal thoughts on my Facebook wall. I just wanted to let you all know... Have blessed day. :-)

I need serious help...

2009-06-28T20:22:00.000-07:00

I am a very challenged cook. I just hate cooking. Now, for many reasons this is a huge problem, but besides the obvious reasons... when you have a gluten free eater at home, that on the top of that could use to loose some weight... or at least stop gaining weight... the problem becomes even more difficult. Oh and did I mention this same member of the family is super picky! Yeah, to make things even harder.

I have gotten to the conclusion that I need to take on this issue as a job, since it is not about fun for me. I have to tackle the pickiness, the allergies and the weight management. It would take more than a good chef to tackle all of these issues, it would take serious organization, planning and lots of help.

After browsing through tons of cooking books, these two were my selection:

These two books are a perfect combination, the Stella book actually has tons of gluten free recipes because he avoids using wheat flour, and his cooking is low calorie and low fat, and the Sneaky Chef has several pre-made purees that you can freeze until needed which is another great idea for me since I am always in need for quick meals. I am still reading The Sneaky Chef. It is more than a cooking book. It has a few chapter on the philosophy of the book. It is actually very interesting. I am yet to order the Stella book. But I will next week. I am also using several good websites. Then I need to sit down, and start figuring out some menus and then the shopping list. Huff! I wish I liked cooking... at least a little bit.

Fleece soaker

2009-06-22T01:28:00.000-07:00

I got more fleece at Walmart. It was only $2.50 for half a yard. Here is the second soaker I made. I love it! I made an application of a whale on the back. I can't wait to make more... I think I am finally getting the hank of this sewing thing... LOL!

I used the same patern from Katrina's blog.

Wanting to knit a Baby Surprise Jacket

2009-06-10T22:50:00.000-07:00

I am really itching to make a Baby Surprise Jacket for my baby... I have always been curious about the popularity to this pattern. Now Schoolhouse Press offers it in all sizes and gauges which is very convenient plus directions to add a hood, pockets, etc.

The only Elizabeth Zimmerman book that I have is Knitting Around, and there is another cute baby jacket in it called the Bog Jacket. I think the finished product is cuter than the Surprise Jacket but for some reason people just love to make the BSJ. Maybe is because of the cool construction of it? I had been looking at both FOs from other knitter's at Ravelry but still can't make up my mind...

There are some good videos in Youtube on how to make the BSJ, even though it is probably not needed if I buy the new pattern with detailed row by row directions. The directions for the Bog jacket in Knitting Around are a bit general to me and it does not say what ages will the FO fit so I would have to do some calculation if I try that one...

Babies get it everyday...

2009-06-05T09:45:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I went to the grocery store with my husband and the baby. Normally I don't buy dairy products but we had a craving for ice cream and I had a craving for liquid yogurt. I opened the yogurt bottle on the parking lot and started to drink it, the baby started to whine asking for some, I let him have a tiny bit, barely a taste of it... To my surprised my husband seemed very upset with the idea of giving milk to our baby... He said: "Are you going to give him milk!????" At 13 months old this was the first time my baby tasted any milk products... I don't plan on feeding him dairy until he is much older but I just wanted him to have a taste of it. So I replied: "Babies get this stuff everyday..." My husband pause for a few seconds to think... and then said: "You are right... Wow! Our kids are so luck you breast feed them!

It was very interesting to me to see my husbands reaction, the way what's normal for our family is completely different from what is normal on other families, but specially it was interesting to me how he has completely learned from me the different ways to raise my children and why do I do it, from breast feeding to cloth diapering and homeschooling, a formerly normal mainstreamed guy has become a total believer of natural alternatives and homeschooling. And after many discussions to explain to him why I wanted to do things differently, it was so nice to get this kind of reaction from him because it tells me that he finally got it! And most of all, he appreciates it!!!!

It felt so good...

Knitting Stuff / Cosas de tejer y nuevas medias...

2009-05-31T23:13:00.000-07:00

Out of all places I found this magazine at Albertson's while shopping for groceries. I hate grocery shopping but the possibility of been able to check for new knitting magazines is "a little" motivating factor to go. This was actually the only one they had, I bought it because I love this orange top. I was unable to flip the picture right for some reason. This issue also has several cute... yeah... sock patterns...

And talking about socks... I casted on last Friday on these socks. It is the yarn I showed in my last post. The pattern is Double Eyelet Rib Socks from Wendy Johnson. It is very easy to memorize and I love, love the results... These socks have the potential of becoming my most favorite socks ever... Here modeled by my glasses case is what I have so far:

Aquí están unas medias nuevas que empecé, es con la lana que les enseñé anteriormente, me encanta como me están quedando, yo creo que estas tienen el potencial de convertirse en mis medias favoritas... Me encantan los colores de la lana y el diseño que estoy usando... Aquí pueden ver lo que llevo hecho modelado por mi estuche de anteojos:

What next?

2009-05-28T23:29:00.000-07:00

Of course I really want to make more shorties... but this bamboo blend sock yarn is calling my name... I love bamboo yarn, it is so soft !!! Perfect for a pair of summer socks. I found this one at our local Joann's. I love the colors! I had never heard of this brand before. It is called Premier Yarns in the Thyme color way. It was only $3,29. That is an awesome price for Merino Wool and Bamboo. I can't wait to see how it stripes. I am thinking waffle ribbing sock for this...

Soaker is done

2009-05-28T23:05:00.001-07:00

Blue Shortie

Pattern: Tiny Birds Longie

Yarn: Patons Classic Wool

Date started: May 7, 2009

Date Finished: May 25, 2009

This was such a quick knit. I was afraid that it would be too small but it fits perfectly! I am very happy with it. I used size 6 needles for the body and size 5 for the ribbing. I got a 22 sts gauge as oppose to 24 that the pattern calls for on a size Medium. I wanted it to be a lit bigger for a M/L size. It came out perfect!

One skein ankle socks

2009-05-28T22:49:00.000-07:00

One skein socks

Pattern: Generic

Yarn: Knit Picks

Started: February 28, 2009

Finished: May 6, 2009

I finished the one skein socks a while ago. I like them. This yarn knits very fast. I used a 56 sts generic pattern. I only increased a couple of stitches on the widest part of the foot. Like I said before, I don't see the need for multiple increases. The opening was a little bit lose, so I decided to add elastic tread to the cast off. It did the trick to make it a little firmer but still stretchy enough to open when I put them on.

Just Ducky Soaker

2009-05-17T15:20:00.000-07:00

We got another soaker on the mail! This one is from Just Ducky. It is a little bit "huge" but that is OK. It can be adjusted with the waist string. I just wanted to last for a long time. It is very sturdy and firm fabric. I think it probably was made with Cascade 220. I looks machine knitted to me. I used it for night sleeping last night and it was bullet proof.

Of course, Ian is loving the refrigerator and it just a matter of time before he starts getting everything out... Oh my... There is going to be trouble....

Soap Detergent

2009-05-11T20:56:00.001-07:00

Ian has developed a rash and I have been having trouble getting the diapers clean. Usually they sun out really easy and lately the stains won't go away... So I decided to research about the soap. I purchase TIDE this time which is not the usual one... Well I was right, Tide is one of the worst soaps for diapers... here is a link to the list of safe soaps:

http://www.pinstripesandpolkadots.com/detergentchoices.htm

First Fleece Soaker

2009-05-11T20:21:00.000-07:00

Actually, the first fleece soaker that I made didn't come out right. I didn't read the directions and I cut the fabric wrong. The fleece fabric only stretches one way and if you cut it wrong it won't stretch.

This is my second attempt, also made some mistakes but it is still wearable. At lest I got a lot of this fabric so I a going to try again. I am a little afraid because I am not very good at sewing so part of it is getting good at sewing first, or in the process. I love this fleece soaker and I can't wait to make more...

Este pantaloncito de flanela se lo hice a Ian como covertura del pañal, es el primero que hago con la máquina de coser. Apenas estoy aprendiendo entonces heché a perder 2. Por lo menos compré bastante tela... No son difíciles de hacer, lo que pasa es que soy muy chapa con la máquina de coser... Lucre !!!!!!!!! ayuda !!!!!!

Soaker fever...

2009-05-07T18:20:00.000-07:00

We got this new shorties on the mail yesterday. They are from Woolie Bottoms. Ther are made out of a recycled sweater. I love it! I got the soaker fever again...

So I immediately casted on for another pair of shorties this time made by me. I am using the Tiny Birds pattern.

But... I needed some instant gratification... so I bought some fleece and downloaded Katrina's pattern for a fleece soaker.

I can't wait to finish them! It is starting to get really hot here and I would rather use soakers than plastic covers.

Cloth diaper review by Marlene

2009-05-03T23:23:00.000-07:00

(left to right: Sugar Plum, Good Mama, ME Sandy, MEOS - Mother Easy One Size)

I have a small stash of diapers (only 16). I wash them every day. It doesn't bother me to do so, because I don't like to have too many dirty diapers accumulated anyways. I have tried several brands of diapers, not all of course because nowadays there are so many... but I wanted to review the ones I have tried.

KISSALUVS: This are the best fitted diapers for newborns in the size 0. However, I did not like the low rise fit when the baby gets bigger (size 1 and 2), also I the fabric gets soaked really fast. I had several of these in size 1 and got rid of them.

BUMGENIUS: I got the 2.0 version and did not like that they laundry directions were very different from my fitted diapers and I had to wash them separately. Plus they kept leaking on me, maybe in part because I do use diaper rash cream and they say you can't use diaper rash cream with these... I thought that was crazy, my baby's skin is more important to me than the diaper... so yeah, I am going to use diaper rash cream! Also I found it very annoying to have to velcro them in the back one by one when there were going be washed to avoid the velcro from sticking to the material. What a pain. I don't have time for that. However, a lot of people love these diapers in big part because they are cute looking and they don't need a cover, that is, they are all-in-one diapers. Also, did I mention these diapers leaked like crazy, oh yeah I did... and these were the bulkiest of all.

SUGAR PLUM: These are velour diapers, I got them because I felt in love with the Good Mamas but wanted to try a less expensive velour diaper. This ones are only $19 or so. The material is stiffer and thicker than the Good Mamas, but they absorb a lot! I love them. The only flaw is the elastic. I have two of these and the elastic gave up on both diapers after a few months of use, on the back and on the legs. However, they are still going strong. They are not one size, but mine are large and they have lasted for a long time.

ONE SIZE MOTHER EASY: I have 8 of these, they are good diapers, I like the fact that they don't stained as much if you get the ones with the liner. They were OK for a while but when my son got older he started to soak them too fast so I added an organic cotton insert. They work fine now and I like the fact that they are one size so my son can grow into them.

MOTHER EASY SANDYS: I like the material better than the OSME, these have more material, I use the insert from ME and they absorb more than the other ones. However, this are not one size. But is OK because it has two snaps placement and I like that I can adjust the leg as well.

GOOD MAMAs: This is one the most expensive diaper there is but they are worth it, specially if you plan to use the diaper with several children. They are one size so they go from birth to toddler. the material is very soft and absorbent. This is the only one that can manage to be called a night diaper. However, they are very bulky.

CHINESE PREFOLDS: I wish I had tried them at first. I got chinese prefolds after all of the other diapers. The only flaw is that you need to wash them like a hundred times for them to get nice and fluffy. Biggest advantage of these diapers is that THEY ARE NOT BULKY so you don't have to go a size bigger on the clothing to accommodate the diaper space. They are the most absorbent of all. In fact, these are the only ones I use at night, I put two together and they can go all night for up to 10 hours, of course the night set up is very bulky but I don't care. I do buy big PJ's. During the day I like to use them when I want the clothing to fit nice and slim.

IF I WERE TO BUY MY DIAPER STASH AGAIN, AFTER EVERYTHING I KNOW NOW, THAT I HAVE BEEN CLOTH DIAPERING FOR ONE YEAR I WOULD ONLY BUY....

TADA!

C H I N E S E P R E F O L D S (not in picture) + Snappi

They are super cheap, so you won't worry to get them stained, they do their job better than any other diaper and... they are slim! They are the winners!!!

My favorite cover is: MOTHER EASY Airflow, never got a leak with this, ever!!!! and of course wool covers.

How do I make my diaper lotion? I use burp clothes instead of disposable wipes. I make my diaper lotion to spray on them using water, a drizzle of Pure Castle Soap from Trader Joe's and a few drops of Pure Tea Tree Oil. Both are very antiseptic and the tea tree oil give is a great smell. I love this lotion and I even use it as a hand sanitizer instead of the alcohol gel.

Thinking about moving the baby to another room...

2009-05-01T00:32:00.001-07:00

I have been reading about night time parenting in Dr. Sears' website (the only one I trust), there is some great advice, I might still try to move the crib to another room, or just use the crib more because almost every time baby and I sleep together in my bed and I wake up all sore from sleeping in nursing positions. He sometimes wakes up every hour and it is exhausting, that only happens when I forget to give him his tylenol medicine for teething, before going to bed, so it I think that is why. With the medicine he sleeps up to 3 hours the longest stretch and then every 2 hours he feeds. It has been a year of this and I am getting tired of it... It does not seem to get better... So that is why I started researching about sleeping... After giving many suggestions that might help, he constantly reminds people of the fact that you are still to be a parent at night, that is just the way it is, and I love this quote:

"Babies will wean and someday they will sleep through the night. This high maintenance stage of nighttime parenting will pass. The time in your arms, at your breast, and in your bed is a relatively short while in the life of a baby, yet the memories of love and availability last forever."

We made more shirts!!! / Hicimos mas camisetas!

2009-04-27T19:23:00.000-07:00

We made more shirts. This time we made a Star Wars one, i-Carly, Lizzie McGuire and another Power Puff Girls shirt. I wish I had used a white shirt for the i-Carly one, it does not really look good over pink. Also, I didn't quite follow the directions for the back of the Star Wars shirt and I messed up the lettering. But overall I am very happy and so is R.

The shirts were only $3 and cents at Michael's and the quality is really good.

Hicimos más camisetas con transferencias y la plancha, hicimos una de Star Wars, una de Lizzie McGuire, i-Carly, y otra de las Power Puff Girls. Quedaron muy bien y a R le encantan. Las camisetas solo me costaron como $3 así que al final salió cada una como en $6. Super barato!

12 month check up / Cita del año

2009-04-23T13:18:00.000-07:00

Good news:

22 pounds and 30" long, for a steady 50% percentile.

Not so good news:

According to the doctor and my description of Ian's recent behaviors we are starting the "terrible two's" one year earlier :-(

Here is what he is doing:

He refuses to take naps and wants to be active all the time, exploring, etc.

He tantrums when we don't let him play with the computer or don't do what he wants.

He shakes his head "no".

Pulls EVERYTHING out of drawers and shelves.

She said it's going to hard, but I am just thanking God he is so smart and social little boy! Even though I feel exhausted most of the time... She thinks Ian is very smart judging by they way he interacts with his environment, but that he probably be a strong will type of personality. Great! just want I needed, another strong willed child!

She also gave me great advices, for the nap taking refusal to take him into a quiet room several times a day to lay down or rock him on a chair to try to get him to rest a little bit. And for night time to start giving him a "comfort item" like a blanket or a teddy for going to bed with the purpose of providing a transition item in the future. He rights now wakes up every two hours to nurse a little and goes back to sleep, this is not a hunger issue since he barely nurses it is just using the breast feeding as a way to go back to sleep when he wakes up. We all have deeper periods of sleep and lighter periods at night, so the idea is to provide an soothing item that can eventually replace the breast feeding. How come no one ever told me about this one before? I think it is a great idea!

Buenas noticias, Ian pesó 22 libras y midió 30 pulgadas. Todo consistente con el promedio de 50%. Le conté a la pediatra todo lo que está haciendo y basado en eso, me dijo que él está entrando prematuramente en la etapa de los dos años. Esto son los cambios en su comportamiento: Se está reusando a tomar siestas durante el día, quiere andar explorando constantemente, me saca TODO de las gavetas, se enoja si no lo dejo jugar con la computadora y me hace un berrinche, y dice "no" con la cabeza cuando no quiere algo. También me dijo que seguramente va a ser un niño muy inteligente pero de voluntad firme y que seguramente será una etapa un poco dura... Felicidades! Es muy bueno pero también... agotador... pero Gracias a Dios!

One year milestones

2009-04-22T22:30:00.000-07:00

Here with sister M, my baby turned one last weekend. He is wearing the shirt she gave him. (It's supposed to be a famous painting called "The caged bird") We had a great time eating cake just the family and grandma J.

These are some milestones we have achieved at 12 months:

* Says da-da and ma-ma

* Can walk holding furniture and walls

* Shake his head "no", specially when I offer him food :-(

* Recognizes and loves everyone in the family and absolutely adores sister R.

* Can turn the light on and off

Here are some very important milestones we still need to reach:

* Walking w/o holding anything

* Eating solids!!!! (yeah, this one is huge and so far he hates baby food)

* Sleeping through the night (please do it... sweetheart)

Tomorrow we will get a check up and I can't wait to know his weight and size, he seems huge to me... so at least the lack of solids is not really affecting him...

He did not have a clue what was going on on his birthday party. LOL So funny...

Este domingo pasado Ian cumplió un añito. Aquí está con su hermana M que le regalo la camiseta que lleva puesta, se supone que es una pintura famosa que se llama "el pájaro enjaulado". Ya se para agarrándose de los muebles, y dice da-da y ma-ma. Lo malo es que todavía no come comida, toda me la rechaza y dice que no con la cabeza, es gracioso pero a la vez me frustra un poco. También espero que duerma toda la noche pronto porque ya no aguanto las trasnochadas... Sin embargo le doy gracias a Dios de que está tan lindo, tan gordito y tan saludable, mañana lo llevo a pesar a ver cuánto pesa...

Pobrecito mi chiquito no tenía ni idea de qué era lo que estaba pasando, JA JA JA

Power Puff girls shirt

2009-04-22T22:21:00.000-07:00

R loves the Power Puff girls. I like getting her clothes with her favorite characters or shows... (I know... I spoil her...) but we could not find a PP girls shirt, so I found this iron ons at EBAy, she had a blast watching me make the shirt and she loved the fact that it was instant gratification... She said "I guess making shirts is way more easier than making dolls..." LOL

Las Vegas was fun

2009-04-21T16:08:00.000-07:00

We had so much in Las Vegas. We took lots of pictures. I post them in my Facebook page. Here are some of them.

Do you know this feeling?

2009-04-21T15:14:00.000-07:00

I haven't post for a while in part because we went on vacation but also because I messed up our router and I couldn't use the internet much. What happened is somehow my network became open and as I was trying to make it secure I created two networks which made the router really slow practically unusable. So, here I come very brave and self confident, with my all my computer sales person background behind, and try to fix the problem by reseting the router. Sounded easy right? Wrong! The router went dead and no one could even see the networks anymore, great! Ever since then (about 2 weeks) I haven been visiting every single forum there is looking for a fix, I tried what they said and follow different post; turn off, turn on, wait 30 sec, turn off again, wait again, now turn on... I was going crazy and today I was ready to purchase a new router. I said to myself, this time I would buy the best router I can get, a MAC router (I love MAC). As I was researching for routers, I realized I paid $140 for the one I have, only a few months ago... So I thought: "If I could only fix this piece of c... cucumber" I could use the money to buy me a new digital camera... mmmm tempting....

So, I went to the LYNKYS support page thinking I would even pay a couple of twenties to get phone support. I found a live chat and started to tell them my problem. They told me what to do. I was not very hopeful, it was a bunch of more turn-on and off and wait directions, a bit different than the ones I had already tried... But still did, voila, I FIXED THE ROUTER !!!! I am so exited I could kiss that lady that gave me the directions... LOL

I am so glad I didn't throw it away after all...

Now I can start looking at cameras... Woohoo! The camera thing is all Zack's fault (Zack is my daughter's boyfriend), he came the other day and took some amazing pictures of Ian with his super duper $1,000 digital camera, when I saw the pictures he took, I made a sad face, sight, look at my humble CANNON Powershot A590 ($130), and almost threw it away right there on the spot... LOL Not seriously, I want to be abel to take great pictures of the baby so I am looking at different options.

Of course, I can't afford a $1,000 camera, but there are some awesome one out there for $250 or $300. I leaning towards Panasonic Lumix, I have read great reviews and my best friend had one she came to visit and I completely salivated over all the features it has... the quality of the zoom also was amazing... She was able to take the most fantastic pictures from the plane.

We will see now that I fixed the router... I might just be able to sell mine on Ebay and get a new one... Wooo hooo!

Bad News...

2009-04-05T21:28:00.000-07:00

We have really bad news, we lost Lula on Friday at the Market Place... R cried the whole evening... She was really into a comic book that I got her to encourage her reading and she dropped the doll in the parking lot. I think I will make another one, this time we will probably just leave it at home. We are going on a family vacation the whole next week, so I will have plenty of car knitting time. I have many things I want to knit so I will probably bring a sock project too.

Remember the sock disaster? I frogged that sock and started all over again. I just turned the heel and will be done soon. I will post a picture of it when it is finished.

It will be so nice to get away for a while... I can't wait!

I told Martha I would take on her loosing weight challenge... but I decided I better not. It is very tempting but I just want to go on vacation and relax. I don't want to worry about my weight right now. I do love the idea of having "accountability friends" for loosing weight online, it is a great supporting/encouraging idea. So I am going to post my weight and photo, but I will do it on my own pace, no hurries... In the mean time I will be cheering everyone doing the challenge. Go ladies!!!

Malas noticias! perdimos a Lula en el parqueo del Market Place el viernes pasado. R estaba tan triste, no paraba de llorar... dice que la dejó caer por estar leyendo unas tiras cómicas que le compré. Creo que voy a tratar de hacerle otra especialmente porque nos vamos mañana de vacaciones a las Vegas y voy a tener mucho tiempo para tejer en el carro. También voy a terminar las medias que comencé, mejor dicho las que estoy arreglando del otro día que quedaron grandes, las deshice y ya casi termino la primera, en cuanto la termine pongo una foto.

Pensé en aceptar el reto de unas amigas por el internet de perder peso en dos meses, a ver quién pierde más, pero la verdad es que ahorita solo quiero relajarme, difrutar las vacaciones y no preocuparme por eso, voy a poner mi foto y el peso aquí en mi blog pero sin ponerme un plazo, simplemente voy a intentar hacerlo a mi propio ritmo... Me parece que es una fabulosa idea apoyarse por este medio para perder peso, la idea es que todos los miércoles pongas una foto de la váscula en tu blog para ver si has perdido peso... la que pierda más peso en dos meses se gana un premio... Qué lindo y qué motivante, poder inspirarse de esa manera para perder peso!

Lula and underwear ready! / La muñeca esta lista!

2009-03-29T19:51:00.000-07:00

LULA DOLL

from "And so to bed..." by Lucinda Guy

Made with: Rowan Cotton

Started on: February 26, 2009

Finished on: April 29, 2009

I loved this project! It makes me want to make more toys. I want to make the owl in this book as well. The directions were easy, and most of all R absolutely loves it! In fact she has been carrying it around even before the underwear was finished. Now, of course, I most start working on the dress and shoes...

Me encantó este proyecto, a R le encanta, de hecho desde hace días anda con la muñeca para arriba y para abajo aunque no la había terminado. Ahora tengo que empezar a trabajar en los zapatos y el vestido... ya que mi jefa es muy exigente...

Socks finished! / Terminé las medias de papi

2009-03-28T00:07:00.000-07:00

ROCKIN' STRAT MEN'S SOCKS

by Whimsical Kniting Designs

Yarn: Schachenmayer Cotton

Yarn source: Elann

Started: 9/16/2008

Finished: 3/28/2009

It only took 7 months... wow! I finally finished my dad's socks. I am a bit upset that I had so much yarn left over because I would have love to make the leg longer. In fact I am not even sure my dad would wear socks this short. He is kind of picky. But that is the problem when knit socks cuff-down, it is almost impossible to guess how long can you make the leg with exactly half the amount of yarn you have. I did calculate a big margin because I wanted to make sure I was able to finish the second sock and I did not wanted to risk it. I think I could have made the leg at least 1" or 2 " longer. Oh well, I just hope my dad likes them!

Solo me tomó 7 meses terminar estas medias... wow! Por fin las terminé. Estoy un poco molesta de que me sobró bastante lana. Hice las medias cortas de pierna por miedo a que no me alcanzara y al final mas bien me sobró... pero bueno, mejor que sobre y no que falte. Lo importante es que a papi le gusten y que las use. No se si le vayan a gustar tan cortas, ojalá que sí. Escogí esta lana porque es fresca (de algodón) y además los colores son perfectos para usar con jeans que es lo que a él mas le gusta usar.

Lula is almost ready... / Ya casi está lista Lula

2009-03-22T11:39:00.000-07:00

I am so socked that R is loving this doll so much. She helped me stuff it and now I am working on her underwear. As soon as I wake up, R comes and ask me to start working on the doll project. Wow! talking about pressure... Kids really know how to bug you when they want something... On the other hand I love the fact that she is so exited. It is so nice to work when you know you have such an enthusiastic recipient.

No puedo creer que R esté tan emocionada con esta muñeca. Ella me ayudó a rellenarla y no me deja en paz para que la termine. Que jefa mas exigente! Por otro lado me gusta que esté tan emocionada porque me motiva a terminarle su muñeca.

Why do I use Xylitol - Por qué uso Xylitol?

2009-03-21T19:26:00.000-07:00

Martha was asking me what is Xylitol? Xylitol is a natural occurring sugar substitute. It is not 100% sugar free, but almost. It has only 3 calories or so. So it is considered a safe alternative for diabetics. I like it because it looks like sugar and tastes like sugar WITHOUT any after taste or chemical toxic ingredients. There is also STEVIA, which comes from a plant in South America, also natural but it has a big bitter aftertaste is don't use the exact amount. It is really hard to calculate how much to use because it is SUPER concentrated. The good side of that is that it lasts a long time. I use Stevia only for my lemonade. It works great on sour drinks and it saves my Xylitol which is expensive. You just have to google "what is Xylitol" and there are tons of info on the net. Both Xylitol and Stevia can be purchased at any Health Foods Store.

Now, the reason you should not use SPLENDA is because it is a chemically modified sugar.

It contains CLORINE which is proven carcinogen. You can google "Why is Splenda bad" and you will get plenty of hits with information explaining how bad it is. In fact, it looks like it even causes to increase your appetite which is a real bad think if you are taking it to loose weight.

After many bad experiences in life, too sad and personal to share, I have learned that not everything that is FDA approve is safe and not everything doctors recommend is safe (doctors are trained to give you drugs, all drugs have dangerous side effects that hardly ever discussed with patients), that is why I don't follow the crowds anymore. Research, research and research, that is my mantra! When it comes to my body or my kids health I have the last word, and I have the POWER to make my own decisions.

That philosophy has turn me into sort of a social-rebel, questioning everything I am told to do. Always looking into all possible options rather than assuming that I have to do what everyone else does. That is why I:

Homeschool
Don't vaccinate my kids
Use cloth diapers
Breastfeed
Try not to use any drugs unless it is a last resource and there is no natural alternative.
Stay home to rise my kids instead of putting them in daycare which we achieve this by adjusting our lifestyle to meet our family's priorities rather than all the way around.
Believe in natural birth 100%
Etc, etc, etc

In summary all my lifestyle is based on the premise that I don't have to follow the crowd, that I have choices and the power to make those choices.

So Martha I just want to encourage you today to do the same. It is good to seek medical advice and advice from people but ultimately you are the only one that is going to have to live with your decisions, some of them with lifelong consequences, so be your own doctor, your own teacher, your own everything, learning from everything and praying about everything. Listen to your heart, sometimes a doctor will tell us to do something and our guts (God) is crying "No! Don't do it". Listen to the little voices inside of you, your maternal instinct knows best, the Holly Spirit inside of you will always guide you if you are willing to listen. The rest is just about educating yourself. Now with technology, anything you want to know is at the tip of a mouse click! and I think God will be proud of us for being wise while living in this very deceiving world.

I am not saying doctors are bad, I am just saying they are (or should be) your health partners, they work for you, not the other way around. Unfortunately they were trained to prescribe drugs not to heal you. That is why you have to be involved in the decision making process about your health. Also, I am not saying everybody should make the same choices I make, but everybody should make their own INFORMED choices.

Martha you can email me privately anytime you want at marlen_perez AT hotmail DOT com.

Take care!

No se si todos saben pero Splenda contiene ingredientes cancerígenos por eso uso un substituto natural del azucar llamado Xylitol. No se si en CR se consiga. Es una de esas cosas diferentes que hago luego de investigar en el internet. Creo que me he convertido en una revelde social, ya que todo lo cuestiono e investigo en el internet. Por eso les animo a todos a buscar alternativas y nunca seguir a las masas. Escuchar a tu instinto y sobre todo al Espíritu Sto dentro de tí ya que vivimos en un Mundo muy engañoso.

Baby is 11 months today! / Feliz cumple-mes bebé!

2009-03-19T19:24:00.000-07:00

Baby was very cranky today. He is celebrating his 11 month by teething like crazy. We went to the park and had good time but it was not one of his best days at all...

Hoy el bebé cumple 11 meses. No la ha pasado muy bien que digamos (como pueden ver en el video). Le están saliendo 4 dientes en la parte de arriba. Ya tiene 2 y le duelen cualquier cantidad. Pobrecito! No lo calienta ni el sol...

Ahora camina agarrado de la pared y los muebles y está muy activo y lindo! Feliz Cumple-mes bebé!

St Patrick's Day Pics / Fotos del Dia de San Patricio

2009-03-19T19:01:00.000-07:00

We love Saint Patrick's Day, my husband is Irish descendant and now it is even more special because both the baby and I have Patrick and Patricia for our middle name. My husband was still feeling sick so he stayed home and we went to eat out to celebrate.

Nos encanta celebrar el Dia de San Patricio. San Patricio es un Santo al que se le atribuye la conversión al cristianismo del país de Irlanda. Por eso se celebra llevando prendas de vestir verdes (como la bandera irlandesa), tréboles y nomos.

Ahora es aun más especial porque el segundo nombre del bebé y el mío es Patricio y Patricia respectivamente. La camiseta del bebé dice: "Bésame! Soy irlandés!"

Mi esposo no fue a trabajar porque todavía se sentía enfermo así que fuimos todos a comer afuera para celebrar.

Easy Soaker / Cubierta de lana facil de hacer

2009-03-18T21:46:00.000-07:00

I saw this soaker in an Etsy store. It looks so easy! I think it is just a rectangle knit in rib or mistake stitch. I am itching to make a soaker. I have different patterns but when I saw this one, I thought I must at least give it a try just because it looks so easy. I can totally make it even without pattern. But fist I have to finish R's doll and my dad's socks.

Vi esta cubierta de lana en una tienda del internet de cosas hechas a mano (Etsy), y pensé wow! esto es tan fácil de hacer, me muero por hacerle varias cubiertas de lana a bebé. La lana respira permitiendo el flujo de aire dentro del pañal y es fresca durante el verano y caliente en el invierno. Pero primero tengo que terminar la muñeca de R y las medias de papi.

What a week!

2009-03-09T22:07:00.000-07:00

We were all sick at home this past week, we are still getting over it. My husband stayed home several days. When you home school your kids are kind of protected from the "school plagues" as children recycle viruses over and over... Except that when daddy is a teacher that advantage kind of goes away... He becomes the virus spy infiltrating our holly home school environment... oh well, there is not much we can do about that so we try to handle it the best we can, usually we take turns getting sick so that helps. The bad thing is that last week we were all sick at the same time and it was hard to get a brake, we needed to take care of each other and the children. Oh my! there is only one thing worst that having a nursing baby unable to feed with a stuffy nose and that is, having to take care of a sick baby when you are really sick yourself! Not fun!

The top picture is a plate of chicken soup I made today. I love to put avocado in my soup. I just love avocados. I would eat them every day if they weren't so expensive... This is one of those flavors combinations I learned growing up and I crave it so much, my dad used to put avocado in his soup and that is how I started doing it. I love to put it in my hot soup right before starting to eat. The cold avocado and its texture creates a great contracts in your mouth with the hot soup. Another estrange flavor combination I love is to put black beans in my spaghetti. This is also a growing up thing as we eat rice, black beans and spaghetti together in my country.

Another weird combination that I love is to put fruit in my salad, I learned this here when I saw people putting cranberries and nuts in their salad. I however, took it a step further and tried oranges, peaches, strawberries and nectarines. I really love the sweet and sour result in my mouth. What do you eat that you think might be gross or estrange to others?

Me encanta ponerle aguacate a la sopa (eso lo aprendí de mi papá), también el sabor de los frijoles negros con spagetti, (herencia del casado tico), y aquí en los Estados Unidos aprendí a ponerle pasas a la ensalada, incluso he probado poner gajos de naranja, nectarinas y melocotones frescos en pedacitos, sabe riquísimo! Qué cosas te gusta comer que crees que le parescan raras o asquerosas a otros?

Here is my crawling handsome little guy exploring around the house.

Aquí está mi guapo bebé gateando y esplorando por toda la casa ya casi cumple 11 meses. No lo puedo creer!

Here is my sock progress, my dad's socks are coming along and it looks like I might be able to finish them soon. I am a little surprised of how much yarn I still have. I hope I don't have too much left over because I made the leg really short out of fear of running out.

Aquí están las medias de papi. Parece que al fin las voy a terminar...

2009-02-28T21:26:00.000-08:00

Come mom sit here next to me...

Ven mami sientate aqui conmigo...

Sock disaster...

2009-02-28T15:33:00.000-08:00

I knitted like crazy to finish the second part of the foot for my Cat Bordhi sock class on Sunday. I chose the lace increase or foot expansion like she called it. It was a total disaster, not only did I place my lace increases in the wrong place but the fabric bunches up as I increase. When trying on my sock I can see that I actually don't need any increases at all if I want the sock to fit snug. So I think I am going to rip it and continue the foot without any increases and turn the heel like I always do with a short row heel which is really easy. I just don't see the point on complicating myself when the short row heel worked so well for me in the past and it is so easy. I do want to try Cat's Spring Thaw Sock published in Knitter's in the Summer 2008 issue (white socks on the bottom left). I haven't completely given up on her techniques, quite the contrary, I have gotten more interested on them and I am very likely to buy her book and try more things from it. It just seems like these lace increases are too open for my foot and I don't need as many stitches in that area as other people might. I am not sure I will go to the class tomorrow as it makes no sense for me to continue knitting on this disaster sock, all I want to do is rip it and that will give me no time to get the foot ready for tomorrow. We will see.

Coraline...

2009-02-26T21:41:00.000-08:00

Last Saturday I went with R to the movies to watch Coraline. I was curious to watch it because of the "knitting" content of the movie. The sweaters Coraline wears in the movie are actual miniature sweaters created by a miniature sweater designer/artist . (open the upper drawer of the dresser to watch how she makes the tiny sweaters).

The movie is cute but it has some weird stuff in it and definitively some anti-christian concepts such as the "soul of children" been confined in a parallel world because the witch took the children's eyes? Weird... The witch looks to the outside world through the eyes of a doll that looks just like the girl she is planning to kidnap. Any girl would carry a doll of herself everywhere right? That is the trick. Through the doll the witch can sneak at the girl's life and if she seems unhappy she becomes the perfect prey. She would build a parallel world were everything is happy just the way the girl wants it. Then she asks the girl to voluntary sew buttons in place of her eyes so she can stay in the other world forever. I take it that this is how the kids that are trapped actually died... I don't know. I give the movie a C- maybe a C+. It could have been at least a B+ if the plot made more sense. There is also an scene were the two fat ladies perform an act practically naked, I thought this scene was not very tasteful considering the audience of the movie and also unnecessary.

Anyways, the pattern for the stars sweater is available in the Coraline website. I offered R to make one for her but she wanted me to make a doll of her instead. Which is also a little creepy to me specially in the context of the movie, but I said OK just because I can make a doll out of that context right? and R just wanted to have a doll like herself which is the concept of the American Girl doll, so why not? I had purchased the materials to make the Lula doll from the Lucinda Guy Book "And so to bed" which is one of my favorite knitting books. So I am using her pattern and using the materials I had, really I am just making the Lula doll with brown hair... LOL. It is an incredible fast and fun project and I can't wait to finish it. Except that I am supposed to finish a sock for my sock class on Sunday... So, I had to negotiate with R to let me knit on my sock as well. She is very exited about getting her doll done.

Here is a random picture of the handsomest boys in the neighborhood. Just because.

-Click on picture to enlarge-

Bread machine goodness

2009-02-23T21:50:00.000-08:00

I have been wanting to post about my Christmas present. It was this bread machine. It is a Kenmore unit. I absolutely love it! It has a setting for Gluten Free. For the first time we are able to make GF bread big enough for sandwiches. This one in the picture is actually a cinnamon bread mix. I use the mixes from Bob's Red Mill. I specially love their Homemade Wonderful Bread Mix. It is truly wonderful.

I am amazed on how easy it is to make bread with these machines. I just put the liquids first, then the mix and the yeast in the center, close it and press a button. About two and a half hours later; voila! wonderful smell of homemade bread all over the house! mmm....

Esto fue mi regalo de Navidad. Una máquina de hacer pan. Me encanta. Es super fácil de usar. Solamente se ponen los líquidos primero, luego los ingredientes secos y por último la levadura. Se tapa y se apreta un botón. A las dos horas el pan está listo y toda la casa se llena del delicioso olor... Mmmm Por primera vez tenemos un pan que es grande, para sandwich y que es rico y libre de Gluten. Utilizo un mix que viene listo de la marca "El Molino Rojo de Bob." La máquina combina los ingredientes, amasa la masa y hornea el pan. Muy feo?

Me? A recipe? / Yo con recetas? de cuando aca?

2009-02-22T20:50:00.000-08:00

Anyone that knows me well knows that I am not exactly known for my love of cooking, however, once in a very blue moon an invention works really well. That is what happened today! This is what I made:

First I made brown rice with Quinoa. I used TSURU MAI a brand of California Brown Rice. It is a bit pricey but it is worth it. I had a cup of Quinoa on the top of the rice and cook like you would normally cook your rice. I personally don't like my rice mushy so I only use enough water to cover the rice about 2 cm max. so the grains stay loose.

If you don't know what Quinoa is, it is a grain like little circles that is consider the MOST nutritious grain of all. It gives my rice a nutty flavor/texture that I love. I get mine at Trader Joe's.

After that I chopped one huge potato in 1 inch squares and fried it as if they were french fries. (picture not provided due to embarrassment of showing my ugly skillet.

Then, in another skillet I fried about a cup and half of bell peppers of different colors cut in strips let them cook a little and add 1 pound of hamburger meat and about 10 grape size tomatoes cut in half. I had salt and pepper and garlic powder. I continue until cooked. Finally I added a boxed of pre-washed chopped organic spinach, mixed, covered it and turned off the stove. (this will cook the spinach just enough).

I served the meat over rice and put the potatoes on the top. For the final touch added ketchup to taste. Oh my gosh it was soooo good!

Now if I could only get R to try it...

List of Ingredients:

1 big potato

3 cups of brown rice

1 cup of Quinoa

1 pound of hamburger meat

5 oz of organic spinach

10 grape size organic tomatoes

1- 1/2 cup of bell peppers

salt, pepper and garlic powder to taste

ketchup

R's birthday / El cumpleaños de R

2009-02-22T11:32:00.000-08:00

We got this scooter for R birthday. She loves it. I have driven the scooter too and I am amazed on how fast it can go!

Le regalamos esta moto a R para su compleaños. Cumplió 9 años el pasado 10 de Febrero. No sabía manejar, este video fue hace días, pero ya la bandida aprendió a tener equilibrio y pone los pies arriba. Yo he manejado la moto y es increible cuan rápido puede ir, se sopla!

Tambien le hicimos una fiestecita en la casa.

Baby update

2009-02-13T21:34:00.000-08:00

As you can see I found the camera cable so I am out of control posting, making up for lost time... LOL

Ian is almost 10 months. here are some pics. Time is flying so fast, he is getting handsomer and handsomer each day. He has really started to babble, his crawling is getting faster and better, he makes funny noises to "scare" us. He is getting really cute. Still no interest in solids (sad face), I really need him to start eating solids so he can have dinner and be fuller and night and hopefully let me sleep longer... The poor guy has about 6 teeth wanting to come out in the upper front, so he continues to be Mr. Drool.

Little things that make me happy...

2009-02-13T13:39:00.001-08:00

A pajama sale at the Children's Place. These were only $3,99 each!

A boric acid free contact lenses multipurpose formula. Which I had been looking for for months. Boric acid, aluminum and thimerosal (mercury) are things they put in stuff as preservative but are toxic for humans. I have started using my contacts more because Ian keeps taking off my glasses but I did not want to put boric acid preserved liquid in my eyes. When I went to see my eye doctor last month she gave a sample of this one. To my surprised it was boric acid free!

I have also tried different natural moisturizers. I constantly scratch my nose because of my allergies and that area is extremely dry. I have tried many natural moisturizers, some very expensive, but only this one penetrates and hydrates my skin even in my really dry nose. I use it all over my body. It is called Miracle II. Here in town I can only find it at the Apple Tree. They also have the Miracle water which is great to stabilize your body's PH. This bottle is only $12 or so. It lasts a long time if you save it only for your face.

Abused mothers?

2009-02-13T11:08:00.000-08:00

I have to admit that sometimes I feel abused. Not only it is exhausting to take good care of a baby but mine at least, tortures me at times. He slaps me on the face, yanks my glasses off my face, scratches me, twists a tender part of my breast without mercy, bites it too!, hits me with his head really hard, and the worst torture, keeps me from sleeping longer than 2 or 3 hours at a time. Yes, I do feel abused at times, and there are those moments in every mother's life when you just need to retreat, put the baby in the crib and let him cry so you can go and have a cup of tea, read a paragraph or two of a good book, or knit a few rows so you don't loose it. Lately I have been having one of those moments at least once a day.

I wonder if other moms feel the same way or I am just not keeping up because of my age...

I don't mean to complain but it sure is hard when you don't have any support system. Being from a Latino culture I sure miss having my family around these days, if nothing else just to have somebody to complain to... LOL

My husband's family is... how can I put it... in Spanish we have a saying that describes them very well: "Brillan por su ausencia" (They standout for their absence). We only see his mom frequently and only for the past couple of years.

My parents are divorced but they come and visit as often as they can. They fly all the way from Costa Rica at least once a year if they can afford it and call on the phone often. They both came to visit and help us when Ian was born. Actually my dad paid for mom to come and then he and his wife came shortly after. They provided tremendous emotional support during those days we weren't sure how bad Ian's birth defects were. I am so thankful for that!

When they call they want to know details about the children, how are they doing, what are they doing new... etc... They call asking for pictures and are involved in our lives even from the distance. I feel that I took my family for granted when I lived there. I miss them. I miss how knit together families are in my country, how much everyone care for each other... I miss my culture...

Well, I left the baby cry for a while now and I have vented, so back to work!

2009-02-06T21:52:00.000-08:00

I haven't post in a while, in part because I have been really tired... Ian has started waking up really early (5:00 a.m., sometimes even 3:00 a.m.) it really kills me! I am not a morning person, and early morning is my precious sleeping time... I try to nap during the day but I don't like to leave R alone, plus she also needs to spend time with mommy.

I also had some issues with our router. It was open, meaning without a password, and I tried to secure it again but ended up totally messing it up instead. Now my router works but my wireless network doesn't, so James and I fighting over the connection when he is home.

Hopefully this weekend I can fix it...

Obama depression...

2009-01-26T16:17:00.000-08:00

I am so depressed to see what Barack Obama is doing in just a few days in power... He is really power crazy, turning around all conservative regulations without hesitation and without seeking advice. With the stroke of a pen he legalized abortion by removing the baby's brain with scissors (with no anesthesia of course), closed GIMO without a having a plan of how to do it, limited the questioning of terrorists to name and serial number, signed a law that will force people to buy only hybrid cars, etc. The guy is truly out of control! He did not consult with major Economists on his so called "stimulus package" for the economy. He is just is just forcing into all of us his liberal agenda whether we like it or not. It would have been nice that he met with doctors to find out more about the procedure of abortion during the last trimester (which by the way is against the law even in most liberal European countries) before making a decision on that issue. I would have really appreciated if at least he had met with the auto makers and evaluated the consequences of placing more unnecessary requirements on the allready struggling auto industry. Ah! and wouldn't it have been wise to create a forum with the most brilliant minds in Economy from all universities in the country before pushing forward with a government spending plan created by politicians that don't know crap about Economy but that are ready pocket money from such plan?.

This guy is all about creating a perfect world, in his own view. He is governing for himself not for all Americans, he is governing driven by ideology not common sense, and the worst of all is that he is not taking advice from anyone... specially the experts in each matter. The fact that he is acting so hasty really scares me...

This is depressing me so much I have decided not to watch the news for at least a week. I feel sick of my stomach... What the heck is wrong with the people of this country?! that not only elected him but go along with anything he says even if it sounds crazy? and why? just because he is cool? just because he is Afro-american? Give me a brake! I just can't take it anymore, I can't believe there are still 4 more years of this to come...

We really have to pray for this country! May God help us all!

9 months

2009-01-24T23:33:00.000-08:00

I love naked baby pictures... makes me what to bite those chubby legs... I hope nobody is offended or consider it to be inappropriate. I just simply love them! Here are a couple.

Ian has been achieving all kinds of benchmarks:

- He learned to drink from a cup at 7 or 8 months

- He started crawling at 7 months

- Now he just learned to stand up by grabbing furniture (but does not know what to do next and eventually lets go causing him to fall back... ouch!)

- Just the other day he grabbed the spoon that I was using to feed him apple sauce and attempted to feed himself. (it was so cute!)

- Whenever we imitate his babbling he starts babbling really loud da-da-da-da-ma (it is so so cute!)

- Also this month he started to take my glasses and then tries to put them back on me...

- Kindly offers to share his pacifier with us... :-))

- He loves watching sister play.

- He loves to watch his "Your baby can read" videos.

- He loves taking baths.

- He has 2 lower teeth and the two upper front are about to come out!

- About a week ago he attempted to wave good-by back at daddy.

Wow! I should keep writing this daily so I don't forget. Things happen so quickly it is easy to loose track of time.

Me encantan las fotos de bebes desnudos, se ven tan lindos! Espero que nadie se ofenda por estas fotos pero a mi me encantan!

Ian ha estado aprendiendo muchas cosas en las ultimos 3 meses:

- A los 7 - 8 meses aprendio a gatear y a beber del vaso

- Acaba de aprender a pararse agarrandose de los muebles, lo malo es que despues no sabe que hacer y se suelta y se cae para atras... auch!

- El otro dia agarro la cuchara con la que estaba dando de comer Gerber y trato de comer el solito, se metio la cuchara en la boca una y otra vez, de lo mas lindo!

- Cuando lo imitamos el empieza a balbucear "da-da-da-da-ma..."

- Me quita los anteojos y luego me los trata de poner...

- Se quita la cupeta y nos la ofrece...

- Le encanta ver a la hermanita jugando

- Le encantan los videos de "tu bebe puede leer".

- Le encantan los banos de tina.

- Ya tiene dos dientes abajo y estan por salirle los dos de arriba.

- Hace como una semana trato de decirle adios al papa con la manita.

Wow! Que monton de cosas! Tengo que escribir todo esto dia a dia para que no se me olviden, el tiempo se pasa volando y crecen tan rapido!

New Years Resolutions

2009-01-16T00:55:00.000-08:00

I thought I would share my new years resolutions even though I am not a fan of such, just for fun.

1- Read the bible more

2- Lose 20 ponds

3- Knit more

4- Eat better

5- Cook more

We will see what happens...

Aunque no tomo muy enserio las resoluciones de Año Nuevo decidí compartir algunas de las mías:

1- Leer más la Biblia

2- Perder 20 libras

3- Tejer más

4- Comer mejor

5- Cocinar más

Veremos que pasa...

New knitting gadget... Un nuevo implemento para tejer

2009-01-14T20:42:00.000-08:00

Here is my new knitting gadget. It is a hands free light I plan to use in long trips in the car. It always bothers me when I am driving in the car and can't knit once the sunlight is gone. I can also use it when my family is watching a movie and don't want me to turn on the light or when the baby is sleeping and I don't want to disturb him by turning on the lamp. I will let you guys know how does it work when I use it.

I purchased it at target.com just type "hands free light" in the search box.

Este es mi nuevo implemento para tejer. Es una luz para la oreja para poder tejer en la oscuridad. Pienso usarlo en el carro y también en la casa para poder tejer cuando el bebé está dormido sin tener que encender la luz. Que fiebre la mía!

Best friends are one of the biggest blessings...

2009-01-13T21:58:00.000-08:00

My best friend came to visit. We went on vacation and had a marvelous time. We have been friends for about 15 years. Our lives had been bounded by God, I truly believe that. Here are some of the things we have in common:

- Met at a small church in Costa Rica 15 years ago.

- Both of us were single mothers when we met.

- Our children were about the same age.

- We ourselves are the same age.

- We got married years later and came to the US with our husband.

Coincidence? There is no such a thing when you believe in Jesus. When your life is in God's hands... I feel blessed to have such a close friend for such a long time. I hope we continue to be friends until we go to be with the Lord. Not a lot of people can experience a blessing like this.

Thank you Jesus!

Mi mejor amiga vino a visitarme. Nos conocimos en Costa Rica hace 15 anos. Tenemos mucho en comun: la misma edad, las dos eramos madres solteras cuando nos conocimos, las dos nos casamos anos despues y vinimos a los E.U. con nuestros maridos, nuestros hijos mayores son de la misma edad, etc... Coincidencia? No lo creo. Cuando tu vida esta en las manos de Dios no existen las coincidencias. Ella es realmente un regalo de Dios para mi vida. Gracias Senor!

One sock done!

2008-12-29T18:36:00.000-08:00

Finally, one sock is done! I already casted on for the second one. I am dyeing to make something else but I know that if I don't stick to one project I will never finish anything.

I love how the two circulars don't leave a gap in between like the double points do. Can you see the gap in the middle of the bottom of the sock? you can see were the circulars started because the gap disappears after the last black stripe.

I love how the sock turned out except that I wish I had had more yarn to make the leg higher but I went as far as I could calculating having enough yarn to finish the second sock.

Ya terminé una media y comencé la segunda. Me gusta mucho como quedó.

FELIZ NAVIDAD/ Merry Christmas

2008-12-24T17:37:00.003-08:00

Desde California les deseamos a todos una muy Feliz Navidad y que Dios nuestro Señor los llene de bendiciones hoy y siempre.

Merry Christmas and blessings to all of our friends and family. May God bless you all richly.

A treasure of knitting videos by Cat Bordhi in UTube

2008-12-22T22:12:00.000-08:00

I am still working in the sock. Yes, the same sock, not the second sock but the first and only sock I have been working on since July that my dad came to visit. Yes, part if the baby and part the tedious 5 needle knitting that makes it go so slow and part is the super fine gauge of 8.5 stitches bla bla bla.... more excuses... bla bla bla.

So, a couple of days ago I read an article from my email subscription to KNITTING DAILY about how this lady became a sockaholic when she found out how much easier it was to knit socks in two circulars instead of double points. I have tried to use two circulars before but I just couldn't figure it out. So I started to google about it and voila!

I found a video in UTube posted by Cat Bordhi herself:

Needless to say I started to knit with two circulars yesterday and I am loving it! the sock is going so much faster!

Check out Cat's wonderful videos for anything you want to learn, they are a true treasure and the best part is... they are free!!!

Thank you so much Cat, you rock!

Caylee Anthony didn't have to die...

2008-12-19T13:30:00.000-08:00

I just had to say something about this case because this little girl has been in my heart since day one. I wish someone will bring to people's attention what this case is really about. This case is about a young woman who is unfit to be mother and since pregnant was not up to be a parent or had any desire to rise a child. She was going to give this baby in adoption and her parents pretty much forced her to keep the baby. Big mistake! I think there is a huge need for easy anonymous routes to give children in adoption far pass the first days of birth. This will save children from all kinds of abuse. Also the adoption process needs to be completely redesigned as to make the process easier and inexpensive. With the average adoption process in the US been around $20,000 so many families who will be great adoption candidates are left out. I don't want to blame the grandmother of this child but I think that if she wanted to keep Caylee she should have adopted her granddaughter herself and ask full custody of her instead of forcing Casey to take responsibility of a child she never wanted in the first place. Not that this justifies in any way killing the child of course. It is just so sad, that such a beautiful child had to end up like that, in a plastic bag. It really brakes my heart.

They said in the news that Casey had told her friends that her mother told her she was an unfit mother several times... That means that the grandma new something was wrong. She should have acted to protect the child instead of trying to force Casey to be what she was not. Anyways poor lady I don't want to give her a hard time, I can only imagine her suffering, giving the fact that it was probably she the one that had rise that baby for the most part.

Most of us parents are in denial when our children don't turn out to be what we expected. And this family continues to be in denial to this day. I think it is that parental denial that frame Caylee's dead.

I just wish there was a system that would have allowed Casey to give this child up very easily to caring adopting parents. The problem right now is that if the mother does not give the newborn to the authorities right away or within a few days of the birth, giving up a baby or small child is nearly impossible. Wouldn't it be better to let parents give up their unwanted children at anytime? So many children would have a better life if they could be with people who can love them instead of been treated like a "holdback" or a "nuisance".

I could be wrong but I bet there are plenty of people wanting to adopt, enough to match the amount of unwanted children, if the system was easier and cheaper for both parts. And there were no limits on age to give up a baby.

Am I crazy for thinking this way?

Aunt Ann's visit

2008-12-12T23:12:00.000-08:00

J's aunt Ann came to visit! we hadn't seen in her in years! It was great to have her over. Ann is a knitter, so we were able to share a lot about our projects...

La tia de James vino a visitarnos, hace anos que no la veiamos. La pasamos super bien. La tia Ann tambien teje asi que pudimos compartir montones sobre nuestros tejidos...

She made this beautiful hat for Ian. I love it! I hadn't had a chance to make one for him and this one is so pretty and it fits perfectly! Thanks so much Ann!

Le hizo esta gorrita a Ian. Me encanta! Yo no habia tenido tiempo de tejerle una... Le quedo perfecta y los colores me encantan!

She also showed me how to spin yarn... it was fun to learn but I realized afterwards that spinning is not my thing! I think I am going to stick to knitting... lol

Tambien la tia me enseno a hilar lana... Fue interesante aprender pero me di cuenta que eso no es lo mio... Yo me quedo con la tejedera... JA JA

Fog Delay?

2008-12-12T23:06:00.000-08:00

Not for us... What can be better than stay in bed until 8:30 on a cold-foggy day? Get up and do your school in your p-j's while zipping on nice cup of hot cocoa ?

I truly feel sorry for the kids who have to go to school on a day like this...

Bench Project / la banca que pintamos

2008-12-02T21:14:00.000-08:00

This is a bench that I got at Woodland. It is really big and just what I was looking for to put Rachel's stuffed animals in. She has soooo many...

Esta es la banca que compre para poner los peluches de Rachel. Ella tiene un monton!

Here is the finished product. It took more work that I expected to be honest. First you sand it, then you primer it, then sand it again, then paint it pink two coats, sand some parts that were still rough, and finally apply transfers and stickers and a coat of poly to protect the paint. I love it! and so does Rachel.

Aqui esta la banca terminada. Primero se lija, se le pasa Primer blanco, luego dos capas de pintura rosada, luego lija, y por ultimo el Poli que es como una capa que sella y proteje la pintura. Ah y claro antes del poli se pegan las calcomanias y unas transferencias. A R y a mi nos encanta como nos quedo!

CDC SAYS MELAMINE IN BABY FORMULA OK?

2008-11-30T13:06:00.000-08:00

Just in case there was any doubt that the Food and Drug Adm. was on the industry and the Pharma's side, I am stunned that they had the nerve to say that trace amounts of Melamine in baby formula was OK! How much crap is a tiny baby supposed to overcome? How much toxic substances is an infant expected to asimilate? As if it wasn't bad enough to get Mercury and aluminum injected in your bloodstream on the vaccines, sleeping in matresses loaded with poisons like boric acid, wearing diapers with chemicals and drinking in bottles desthiling BPA plastics... Now the tiny babies are expected to also drink MELAMINE !?!?

Melamine was found in the 3 biggest brands sold in the US: ABBOT LABS maker of SIMILAC, MEAD JOHNSON maker of ENFAMIL, and NESTLE maker of GOOD START.

This is an outrage! when are we going to wake up and demand that someone puts and end on the special interest of the organizations who's job is supposed to protect our children from all this crap!!! I am so mad! Sorry I vented here... Thank God I exclusively breast feed my baby or else he would also be drinking all this garbage.

En caso de que no quedara claro de que la Administracion de Drugas y Alimentos estaba del lado de la industria y las companias farmaceuticas y no del lado del consumidor, como para que no quedara la menor duda, ahora tienen el descaro de decir que esta bien si la formula para bebes contiene MELAMINA un quimico cancerigeno y toxico que ha enfermado de gravedad a miles de bebes en China. Como si no fuera suficiente con que los bebes tengan que beber en chupones que destilan peligrosos quimicos como BPA, como si no fuera suficiente que se les inyectan cantidades peligrosas de metales pesados en las vacunas (como aluminio y mercurio), como si no fuera suficiente dormir en colchones rociados con sustancias venenosas como ACIDO BORICO, como retardante inflamable, ahora tambien para satisfacer los intereses creados, se espera que las pobre criaturas beban formula con MELAMINA !!! que espanto! cuando vamos a despertar y demandar que las organizaciones que se supone que nos defiendan de los niveles toxicos industriales y famaceuticos hagan su trabajo? Despues se asustan de que las tasas de mortalidad infantil aumenten, de que la diabetes infantil, el autismo, el alzaimer y el cancer vayan por los cielos... Que horror!

La melamina se encontro en los 3 principales fabricantes de formula de los EU: Laboratorios Abbot que hacen SIMILAC, Mead Johnson que hacen Enfamil, y Nestle los que hacen GOOD START.

Gracias a Dios que tengo suficiente leche para amamantar yo misma a mi bebe o sino el tambien se estaria tragando esta porqueria...

The awesome FISHER PRICE RAINFOREST JUMPEROO

2008-11-26T21:23:00.000-08:00

I love the Jumperoo. It is the best toy we could have gotten for Ian, he loves jumping as you can see. We had gotten a baby gym and he did not care for it. I took it back and got this instead and he loves it! Mommy loves it too because baby stays entreteined for a long time, giving mommy time to get lots of things done. :-))

Yo amo el Jumperoo, es el mejor juguete que pudimos haber comprado para Ian, a el le encanta y a mi mas porque se queda ahi brincando por un gran rato y se entretiene por un gran rato y me deja hacer cosas. :-)

If you are planning to buy a BUXTON bag... don't!

2008-11-24T16:41:00.000-08:00

If you are planning to buy a Buxton Bag... let me discourage you... when the bag is heavy it causes the stuff in the outer compartment to overflow and your things get out of the bag, the outer zipper in the back is upside down also causing your stuff to fall down if you forget to zip it. The only thing I really loved about this bag is the cell phone pouch

which is very useful but the other issues make it a bad purchase in my opinion. The material is thin, it does not feel like leather at all, more like a plastic, it is got to be an imitation of leather. Mine got stained with some yellow paint from the Winnie the Pooh window shadow during the summer and to be honest I don't even care because I am getting rid of it anyways. This bag is driving me crazy... I can't believe I paid $40 plus shipping for this!

Yesterday I got this one at Kolhs to replace it, I love it! and unlike the Buxton bag this is genuine leather and only cost $20 on sale!

Baby pictures 7 months

2008-11-24T16:30:00.000-08:00

For your delight here is Mr. Ian at 7 months!

Para el deleite de todos ustedes aqui esta Mr. Ian a los 7 meses!

Happy birthday to me!

2008-11-24T16:13:00.000-08:00

A couple weeks ago was my birthday. I turned 40. It was special just because a new decade kind of marks a new stage, doesn't it? We went out to eat to celebrate. As every Friday in "getting a little crowded here" city, all restaurants were packed. I wanted to eat at Olive Garden but the wait was about an hour... "no thanks!". We ended up eating at Mimi's Cafe and Ian cried the whole time we were there. No one was able to order what they wanted, except maybe Rachel. James ended up liking his clam showder and I took must of my pasta home for James to eat later, but the most important thing is that we were together and having my family was all the party I needed to have. James got me flowers and balloons and a special present that I have not received yet. He says it is in the mail... I wonder what it could be...

Hace un par de semanas fue mi cumpleanos. Fue especial porque cumpli 40. Cada vez que se cambia de decada representa como una nueva etapa, verdad? James me regalo este arreglo de flores y fuimos a comer afuera. Es dificil aqui donde vivo porque los fines de semana todos los restaurantes estan saturados, pero por fin encontramos un lugar y aunque no era lo que queriamos comer e Ian lloro todo el rato, la pasamos bien, estar con mi familia es el mejor regalo que podia tener.

Victorian Knitting bedroom

2008-11-05T21:45:00.000-08:00

I am planning on redecorating my bedroom in a victorian theme, so it occurred to me to collect some old prints and frame them to give the bedroom that old victorian feeling. I started searching online for prints related to ... "knitting" of course! I found some great paintings but the reproductions were very expensive. I ended up buying buying 3 from Ebay studios for a very reasonable price. This is the first one I got on the mail yesterday:

The picture is actually more beautiful in person, I will show it here once I frame it. I only paid about $11 plus shipping for this one. Isn't it gorgeous? you can order it in any size you want from this ebay seller: quaintcards

Homeschooling

2008-11-02T21:12:00.000-08:00

Wow! time flies by when you are exhausted ! LOL

I can't believe I haven't post in so long. These had been some really hard days, mainly because I have been putting all of my energy in redesigning Rachel's schedule to catch up with her curriculum, we are so behind... it makes my stomach hurt when I think about it. My whole goal right now is to bring her up to grade level, so we are homeschooling day and night to try to catch up. I love homeschooling but I don't want Rachel to get behind so if we can not bring her up to grade level I might seriously consider putting her in school next year.

Well I am glad Halloween is over, I am not a fan of Halloween, this year James took Rachel to church for the Harvest Festival and I stayed home and turned off all the lights in the house and went to bed with the baby at 7:00 p.m. It worked! no body came to my door... Call me a grouch, but I was exhausted and all I wanted was going to bed. I have rested quite a bit during this weekend and I feel much better now, ready to start the week.

We hired a awesome person to help tutoring Rachel and I am so thankful to have her, she will be helping me 3 mornings/week, I really need help so I have time to take care of the baby, cook, pick up messes, etc. Otherwise, the house falls apart. Besides, it is nice to be able to work with Rachel without interruptions, one of biggest problems is constantly having to stop the work to attend to the baby, this really disrupts Rachel's already difficult attention span, so been able to sit down and work without interruptions is important.

Here is a picture of Rachel, she was Hannah Montana for Halloween of

course. I had bought a skunk outfit for Ian but it was too warm to wear it and besides he ended up staying home with mommy having a great nap instead of going out in the rain. :-)

My 3 kids! / Mis 3 hijos

2008-10-05T18:28:00.000-07:00

Mi three beautiful kids, Luz 19 (just dyed her hair blond -the only color she hadn't tried before), Rachel 8, and Ian (5 1/2 months). This is the first picture of the 3 of them together since Ian was born.

Aquí están mis 3 lindos hijos, Luz Mariel que cumple 19 años la próxima semana y que se acaba de teñir el pelo rubio, el único color que no había probado antes; Rachel de 8 años e Ian de 5 y medio meses. Esta es la primera foto que les tomo a los 3 juntos desde que Ian nació.

Sock progress / Progreso de las medias

2008-10-05T18:19:00.000-07:00

Here you go, I just finished the heal flap. I can't believe it took me 2 weeks to get this much done! That means it is going to take me 1 month per each sock! Wow! that is horrible! I guess they will be ready for Christmas... I hope. I had a lot of doubts about this pattern since you leave a strand of yarn on the front of 3 stitches, I wasn't sure how that was going to turn out, but now I really love it. It looks great! I did not have the 150 grams of yarn that the pattern calls for, only 100 gr. So, I calculated I would probably use 5 grams for the ribbing, 10 for the leg, and the remining 35 gr for the actual foot. This should be enough to finish each sock and have some left over yarn. Of course my leg is shorter than the pattern, but it was the only way to make sure I will have enough yarn to finish the pair. We will see how this turns out.

Esto es lo que llevo de las medias. No puedo creer que me haya tomado 15 dias hacer esta parte, a penas es la mitad de una media! quiere decir que me va a tomar 2 meses terminar el par si sigo a este ritmo... por lo menos tal vez las termine a tiempo para Navidad... Qué frustrante es no tener tiempo para tejer! Tuve que hacer magia con la lana para que me alcance porque solo tenia 100 gramos en lugar de 150 gr que pedia el patrón, para esto hice la pierna mas corta, espero que resulte!

Ya tengo varios encargos de otras cosas que quiero tejer así que mejor me pongo las pilas!

I am an aunty !!! again!! / Otra vez soy tía!

2008-10-05T18:16:00.000-07:00

My brother R just had his baby boy. Isn't he gorgeous ? His name is Daniel. I am so exited! I can't wait to go see him...

Mi hermano R acaba de tener a su bebé. Verdad que es lindísimo? Se llama Danielito. Estoy tan feliz! Ojalá que lo pueda ir a conocer pronto...

Baby is 5 months!

2008-09-21T23:50:00.000-07:00

My gorgeous baby turned 5 months last Friday. He is wearing clothes size 9-12 months and PJ's size 18 months! I am guessing he is about 17 pounds by now. Isn't he adorable? I need to get a new camera soon or all of his baby pictures are going to be blurry. This is one of the goals for this week. So much to do and so little time...

Mi precioso bebé cumplió 5 meses el viernes pasado. Esta usando ropita talla 9-12 meses y pijamas para 18 meses! Yo calculo que está pesando unas 17 libras. Verdad que está divino? Tengo que comprar una nueva cámara pronto o de lo contrario todas sus fotos de bebé van a ser borrosas... Odio esta cámara vieja! Así que esta semana sin falta me compro una...

Dad's socks - Medias para Papi

2008-09-21T22:56:00.000-07:00

Started: 9/16/2008

Pattern: Rockin' Strat Men's Socks

Yarn: Schachenmayer Cotton

I started these socks when my dad was visiting. I measured his foot and started the toe kind of on my own pattern. However, as the toe grew it seemed soo huge, I started fearing I had miscalculated my gauge and my number of stitches, so I frogged it and started all over. This time I am following a top down pattern from Whimsical Knitting. The pattern calls for a size 0 cast on and ribbing. I know by experience that it does not matter how loose you cast on, it is always better to cast on a size bigger needle. At least that is the only way the cuff will be big enough for me, so I casted on a size 5 needle and continue the ribbing in a size 1. This cotton yarn is very fine so I am afraid if I use size 0 I would probably get a gauge of 10 instead of 8.5 which is what I am supposed to end up with. As always I am too lazy to make big swatches, I don't have time for that... so I am doing my best at calculating. If these socks end up too small, I can always keep them for me :-) or give them to a lucky female friend or family member. I love the colorway. Will be perfect to wear with jeans!

Estas medias las empecé cuando mi papá estaba aquí. Le medí el pie y las empecé a cálculo, pero luego me dio miedio por que las vi muy grandes, así que las deshice y empecé de nuevo con un patrón. Espero que queden bien, pero si acaso me salen muy pequeñas siempre se me las puedo dejar yo o dárselas a alguna dama en la familia... Me encantan los colores, son perfectos para usar con jeans!

Great men's sock patterns!

2008-09-06T14:41:00.000-07:00

I have been knitting a self designed sock for my dad. The yarn is beautiful but I am afraid my calculations were a bit off. I started researching for men sock patterns and I came across this wonderful website:

http://whimsicalknittingdesigns.blogspot.com/

It has many patterns. The owner offers them for FREE!!! They are all wonderful, I want to make a pair of each. There is also a great pair of fingerless gloves, I want to make those too!

She will be publishing a book on socks soon. I already went to my Amazon page to put it in my "whish list".

Out of respect for her I did not post any of her pictures here, but go to the website and see for yourself what a wonderful designer she is and the best of all is that she is giving all her designs for free!

Sarah Palin

2008-09-03T22:47:00.000-07:00

I usually don't like to post about politics but tonight it is an special occasion. The speech delivered by fellow mother of a special needs child/former beauty queen/basketball star; Sara Palin was outstanding. The ferocious attacks by the liberal media indicate to me their fear, in fact they are furious! And it is understandable why. They thought they had already won the election. That was until tonight. Hold on democrats... not so fast...

While many of us were voting for McCain as the "least of evils", we now feel exited and convicted to cast our vote. I am sure the polls will change drastically after today. Consider that in addition to the regular republican votes, McCain will pick up all the votes from families with special needs children, he already has the votes from the military families (I am sure), and a bunch of soccer/football/hockey moms. What a smart move for McCain!

For the first time in history a president or vice president nominee even mentions the special needs children and their families. I have to admit I cried during this part. Only those who have experienced been ignored and discriminated against by the "system" because of your child's condition, can understand the sense of victory and hope this represents for us.

For ones, a political speech that was heartfelt, for ones a chance to identify with a political leader. For ones, someone who cares about children with special needs and family values... What is not to love about Sarah Palin ???

I must admit also that I had little hope to win this election, but now I am starting to actually believe McCain has a real chance!

Go Palin !!!! I will be praying for her and her family !!!

Snappi prefold

2008-08-28T21:11:00.000-07:00

I got my prefolds today but I can not figure out how to put on the Snappi thing. So I went to YOUTUBE and found some videos. I can't believe how easy it is! This is the one that I liked best:

Prefolds are so cheap (only $1.50 to $2 each) that there is not excuse to not use cloth diapers...

Hoy recibí mis pañales predoblados chinos pero no sabía como poner el SNAPPI que es una liguita que se usa en lugar de gasillas. Así que encontré este video en YOUTUBE que muestra como hacerlo. Es super fácil! Las mantillas predobladas son tan baratas que no hay excusa para no usar mantillas de tela y con el SNAPPI es un dos por tres y muy seguro!

2008-08-28T21:07:00.001-07:00

2008-08-28T20:04:00.000-07:00

Hi, I haven't post a picture of the baby in a while, so here he is with his mommy. He is 4 1/2 months old now and growing like a weed, but still not letting mommy sleep at day or night. :-(
Hola, hace dias que no pongo fotos del bebé, así que aquí les va. Ya tiene 4 meses y medio y sigue creciendo "como la mala hierva". Todavía no deja dormir a la pobre mamá ni de noche, ni de día.

Look what I got in the mail today. :-))) Knitting relief in a DVD case... Since I can't knit, because of the baby, at least I can watch knitting videos while I rock him to sleep... So far, I have watch, two episodes and my favorite is the second one they made on sweaters. I love the show, is very dynamic and they show different projects in one episode. They also have different segments by the sponsors of the show on different subjects. Very nice, I give it a 4 star so far.

On the diaper update, I am loving all of them but specially the hemp fitted diapers that I got. The velour diapers all wash really well and they don't get stained. Plus I like the fact that the Good Mamas have double booters which is critical at night. Still Ian soaks through the whole thing so I am going to wash the prefolds and try that, in that way I can add as many prefolds as needed. I have the feeling that he is going to end up looking like a ballon by the time I layer enough prefolds to keep him somewhat dry at night. LOL

Este fue un video que me llegó hoy sobre tejer, como no tengo tiempo de tejer por lo menos puedo ver estos videos mientras duermo al bebé... para quitarme un poco las ganas... Chao

Why did I get rid of my BG 2.0

2008-08-26T22:16:00.000-07:00

I got rid of my BG's because:
1- The manufacture says in order to keep the diaper you most not use diaper rash cream. (So its the good of the diaper for the good of the baby's skin?)
2- The manufacture also says you should not wash these microfiber diapers at the same time than your cotton diapers, thus forcing me to wash my diapers separately (two loads instead of one -what a pain-).
3- No matter how snug I adjusted the elastics on the legs they kept leaking on me.
4- Since they are all in ones, they robe me from the joy of using my wool covers... and I found these diapers to be very hot for the summer plus I don't really think they breath at all. My baby's skin was very red and humid when he wore these, unlike fabric+cover systems.

So, good by BG's... I should have read all the comments in the cottonbabies website before buying you... Although people seem to love the 3.0 version, I just do not want to deal with AIO and I don't really like microfiber.

The BG's will be replaced with a variaty of regular fitteds that I will be testing out in the following weeks, some of which I already got on the mail:

1- Velour Organic Cotton GOODMAMAS
2- Velour Organic Cotton SUGAR PLUM.
3- Hemp and Organic Cotton SWEET PEAS
4- Mother Easy SANDY'S
5- Plain old chinese prefolds.

Stay tooned to hear which diaper is the winner...