nutella stuffed banana

At the farmer's market in Bend we came across a sign that said "Stuff Banana". 

Yes, please.

How do you stuff a banana? With a banana stuffer, of course.

Stuffed with Nutella!

Y U M !!

make a photo sachet for mother's day

I think hand-made Mother's Day gifts are the best.

It will be so much fun when Miss Clementine and I can get crafty together making gifts for all of the grandmas. I envision glitter and paint everywhere!

This year she was more of an inspiration and a cheerleader.

What should "we" make?

Clementine's new 'trick' is to smell. She crinkles up her nose and breathes in. It's cracks us up every time.  I decided to make something that smells lovely, is relatively simple, and easy to mail.

Lavender sachets made a little more personal (and a little less boring) by adding a cute photo.

I had one of my favorite pics of the little miss printed in wallet size. Off to the magic closet for some scraps of fabric, tulle and lace. No measuring here. I wanted these to scream hand made with love!

I cut two squares of lightweight floral fabric. On one I placed four pieces of tulle with the picture on top and sewed around the edges of the photo with a zigzag stitch.

With the same zigzag stitch I added lace around the photo.

Next, I attached the bottom square by topstitching with a straight stitch around three sides leaving one open to fill with the lavender.  I used pinking shears to trim the tulle and the three sides.

Dried lavender from the farmer's market to fill each sachet.

Stitched up the fourth side and trimmed with the pinking shears.

Simple. And I feel so relaxed from smelling all of that lavender.

hydrangea blossoms

Hydrangea ages so gracefully.

Purple and blue blossoms turn shades of

mossy green and pinks

reminding me of a summer sunset,

making me want to grab a box of pastels and start sketching,

and for some reason I imagine

if you were to put a petal in your mouth

it would melt on your tongue,

leaving behind a taste

both sweet and tart.

beware of the belly button

Will this be rookie mom mistake number 7?

I was faced with a dirty belly button. Bath time. Perfect.

Stripped down to the buff and held snugly in her father's arms I went in for the attack armed with two dampened cotton swabs.

That guck was stuck in there.

Dare to challenge me!

I went in closer, used both hands gently squeezing. Yes, I got it!

And then it happened.

A warm golden stream hit against my cheeks just missing my open mouth,

reaching my shirt and eventually my lap!

I laughed until I cried.

I learned two things from this incident:

One. Even girls can projectile pee.

Two. Make sure your baby is wearing a diaper when you try to clean their belly button.

still life

A gray morning here in Portland.

I find comfort in little arrangements of objects around our house.

Something pleasing to look at as the rain makes music on our window panes.

I love this spiky vase made by local artist Leah Nobilette.

rookie

I've made my share of new mom mistakes. I forgot to pack a change of clothes in my carry-on bag on our first flight together at three months which resulted in a blow out of the smelly kind, a onesie that had to be peeled off and thrown in the trash and a baby wearing only bloomers and a zip up hoody.  I've gone off to meet a friend for lunch and forgotten to pack a bottle resulting in me scarfing down half of a sandwich and racing home. I learn from my mistakes; there is an extra onesie in my bag at all times and I never leave home without my little cooler packed with a bottle and a teething treat.

Yesterday, after music class which ends at noon, we decided to go out for lunch. We being my husband, who was the only dad at class, and my friend and her daughter who is ten days younger than Clementine. The adults sat in the booth and two high chairs were placed at the end of the table. This sounds risky but it actually was fine. Both girls sat like little eight-month-old-ladies throwing one toy on the ground after another (why don't those high chairs have a built in net under them to catch everything?) and watched us eat.

Clementine is at a stage where she stares at us and our food and gives us looks like "Hey, I love steak. What's up with all of these pureed fruits and vegetables? Have you tasted this rice cereal?" There happened to be two thick round carrot slices on my plate next to my panini. Oh, a little color on the plate, I thought to myself, how healthy.

Why not? She can gum the carrot and feel like she's eating with us. It will be fine.

Happily, she took the carrot and started sucking. I was listening to my friend's story intently when my husband interrupted to ask what was wrong with Clementine. I looked over at her and her face was bright red and her eyes were all watery as she kept right on licking that carrot. What's going on?! Is she allergic to carrots? No, she eats them all of the time! What is it?! My husband picked up the other carrot on my plate and took a bite.

It just so happened that it was a pickled spicy carrot.

Oops.

She had a little water and forgot all about it. That's the best part about babies. They still love their parents even after they do something stupid.

As for me, add it to my list of rookie mom mistakes. Taste food before giving it to your baby. Noted.

easter table

I decided that I would have a more 'grown up' easter table this year considering I will most likely have very whimsical themes in the coming years for the little miss to enjoy. All week I had envisioned purples in all different shades from flower to garden vegetable, and of course including my lovely quail eggs; a spring sampling of sorts. I tend to go a little crazy when making a centerpiece most likely because it is one way for me to pretend I am a florist again and also because a big, over the top centerpiece makes our dinner table for two and half actually feel like a holiday and not just another day.

I took a trip to the farmer's market in the rain on Saturday where I was able to find purplely-pink radishes, a lovely head of red cabbage, ruffly kale, vibernum 'snowballs', fragrant lilacs, hyacinths in three shades and a little inspiration. Later I found the purple hydrangea, bright green yoko ono mums, freesia, and ranunculus.

The arrangement took on a life of its own, as flower arrangements often do, once I started putting it together.  Although I originally imagined all purples with bright greens against the starkness of white linens, I ended up using a pale, cool blue burlap which had more of a rustic gardeny feel. The radishes and ranunculus were a nice pop of color. I am still amazed at those quail eggs. It's like a little robin found my nest.