Look What I Can Do!

For the uninitiated, these are generally called longies, made from wool yarn. They are used as an all-in-one diaper cover and pant for those who cloth diaper. Since we only sporadically use cloth for the Bear, I made his out of a wool/cotton blend, and they are offically named his Easter Egg Longies. I am particularly partial to the navy and red fire truck top with the pastel colors. Heh. I knew that if I tried to change his top to get a picture of the pants with a matching shirt, there would be no pictures at all.

They are entirely too huge, so he will be wearing them into next winter, which is great, there's plenty of room to grow. I still need to add a waist tie, to be able to cinch it around the waist. It's necessary because as he was walking around in them last night, I walked into the kitchen to see his bare bottom with the pants around his ankles. Cute bootie, but not so much for public consumption. In fact, this is how much too big they are:

So, now Sir H wants a pair. He wants this pair, but the crotch hits at mid-thigh, so I'm knitting him some jammie pants from some delicious Loft yarn that is so soft and stretchy that I'm going to be jealous of his pants. I'm so proud of myself. Tell you what - it's a great anxiety reliever for me. I also don't snack at night much anymore, because my hands are busy, and my brain is engaged just enough to not think about anything else, but not so much that I can't veg to an old episode of King of Queens. Go knitting!

These Three Words

So, I have this friend who has a blog inspired by a segment she saw on a talk show, about photographing yourself with three words that resonate with you. Fun, huh? Here's her blog:

http://those3words.wordpress.com/

These are my contributions so far:

Check it out, and send her your own masterpieces! Let your voice be read!

Thankful

I was sitting here, knitting and watching a DVRed show when it hit me how incredibly happy I am at this moment. What a blessed life I lead, how many things I have for which to be grateful.

I have a great friend with whom I have a standing lunch date after we pick our big boys up from preschool 2x per week, after which I live in an area that has gorgeous, amazing weather, and I have the ability and health to walk with my boys while Sir H. rides his big boy bike (no training wheels since he was 3!), and my precious boys love to play together, and play outside and exercise and walk. The mountain laurels are blooming, so I was taking giant breaths of sweet grape scent with every step. We stopped and played in my parents' backyard, because I have parents who love my children only second to how much we love them.

Then, I was able to make a healthy, homecooked meal because we are able to not just buy, but also have easy access to organic and whole foods, and have children who are easy to please when it comes to food. I have friends who trust me to sit with their kiddos as they slept while my friends went to the primary caucus tonight, and when I returned home, I have one sick baby that is finally sleeping, which is a huge blessing, and a husband who had picked up the house, wanted to talk for a few minutes to connect with me, and a big boy who asked me to come snuggle with him and read a book and tell a story. Then, all three of my men go to sleep, and I'm sitting here, having found a medication that gets rid of my nerve pain, feeling physically good for the first time in a long time, knitting, and torn between deciding if I want to sit on our comfortable couch, in our comfortable and lovely and peaceful home, and continue to knit to my heart's content while I watch something fluffy on TV, or if I want to get in the bath and read my new books from the library that I'm completely pumped about, and go to bed early and snuggle up with my pillows and my big boy who is in our bed tonight.

Does life get any better? Wow, I'm literally tearing up. God, thank you for my precious family.

One Pot, One Pan, 10 Minutes = Healthful Dinner

Okay, so I'm fudging a little bit, but let me break it down for you: I just spent about 7 minutes from start to finish making some fantastic healthy (yes, healthy) macaroni and cheese. Appeals to the shorties and the grown-ups alike!

Make ahead:

• 2 boxes elbow macaroni (I used one box of 100% whole wheat and one box of Barilla Plus)

When you have a few extra minutes on a Sunday, throw a big pot filled with water on the stove and boil these pastas, then drain them and rinse them in cold water. Toss them in a Ziploc and forget about them.

• 1 whole butternut squash

Some afternoon when you're taking the kids out to play in the backyard, halve the butternut squash length-wise. This can be a difficult task, as the skin is very tough, and that's why I say a silent thank you to hilarious Uncle Reggie for his surprise gift of a RonCo 52-billion-piece knife set! Shipped directly to our door! With a free flavor injector! and pull out the big cleaver. Drizzle some olive oil on the bottom of a pan and place squash open-face down, cover with foil and bake for about an hour. Or so. Because if you're outside playing with the kids and you come in 2 hours later and the house smells warm and yummy, the squash will be okay. I'm just sayin'. Scoop out the meat and put it in a tupperware container. Forget about it.

A few weeks later, do this:

Get out your big pot. Saute 1/2 a sweet onion in about 1/4 of olive oil. Sprinkle in about 1/8 c of flour and stir every few minutes until the flour is just beginning to brown and the onions are wilting. Add a dash of nutmeg or, if one is surprisingly out of nutmeg, you can pretend that the "allspice" bottle is actually labeled "nutmeg" and no one will be able to tell. Just a hypothetical. Pour in 4 1/2 cups of skim milk. I actually used 5 oz of evaporated milk to just get the damn thing out of my pantry. Bring to a slow simmer, stirring frequently. Scoop out ~2 cups of the butternut squash (oh yeah, that stuff I forgot about!) and mash it with a fork in a measuring cup. Should be nice and soft, so you're really just mushing it around. Add 4 cups of sharp cheddar cheese, shredded, and 1/2 - 1 cup of parmesan. Stir until cheese is melted in a stringy fashion, then dump in the squash. Stir for a few minutes, until everything looks evenly distributed.

Spray a casserole pan with cooking spray and pour the elbow macaroni (you know, the other stuff you forgot about) into it. Pour cheese mixture on top of macaroni, bake for 30 minutes at 350* and et, voila, cheesy, squashy, pasta-y goodness.

Srsly.

So, I was driving home tonight, listening to The River radio station, and I'm singing along to "Your Love is Amazing" sung by Phillips, Craig & Dean, and we're on the words, "Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, Your love makes me sing," when all of a sudden, as radio stations are wont to do at night, it fritzed out with a small burst of static and another station came through, so what I heard was...

"Your love makes me sing,"
"Aww! Me so horny!"
"Hallelujah!"

Wouldn't have believed it had it not happened to me.

But I don't waaaaaaaaaanna blog

It's been too long, though, so here ya go.

We had the MRI last week, and it was hell on wheels for me, The Bear did just fine. No anomolies, so we're clear on any organic issues. The EEG is set for tomorrow, and he has to only sleep from midnight to 4 am, so the Huz and I are pulling shifts.

Apart from that, Sir H is four and I love it. I love four, I LOVE FOUR! I want to shout it from the rooftops that I LOVE FOUR! He is so helpful, and sweet, and fun, and conversational, and opinionated (in a good way) and so...personable. He's amazing. My love bug. I've also started knitting. It's wonderful for anxiety. I really struggle with bouts of depression and anxiety, and sometimes, when the anxiety gets too big, I feel like I want to crawl out of my skin. In comes knitting...my hands are moving, my mind is working just hard enough to not dwell on stuff, but not so much that I can't do other things. It's a wonderfully soothing hobby for the evening while I watch a fluff television show, or lie in bed with Sir H. I make killer scarves. They're the easiest thing to make, in case you don't know. I'm currently trying my hand at a hat. I'll share pics when I get somewhere.

EEG and MRI scheduled!

It's a case of hurry up, see the doctor! Now wait! MRI is on 2/12 and EEG on 2/20. I feel confident in the testing, they will be sedating him for the MRI, which means we have to withhold food from him, the biggest eater and hungriest person in the entire world, seriously. I mean, the kid can polish off an entire enchilada kids' plate at El Ranchito and still want more from my plate. Then, the EEG requires him to be both awake and asleep in order to monitor both brain wave patterns, so he gets to sleep from midnight to 4 am the night before. Eek! Hopefully, The Huz will take the day off so we can take turns napping. After the EEG, we wait for three weeks and then go back to see the neurologist. I'm very confident in him, we had a quick but very informative visit, and The Bear is just growing by amazing leaps and bounds.

He follows Sir H everywhere and thinks he's just big. He loves to play, especially loves to throw balls and has terrific aim. He's picked up a bunch of new words and communication skills in the last few weeks, and it's amazing to watch him explode like this.

I'm also so excited that the neurologist may be able to help me with my migraines. He has some options for me when The Bear weans, so I feel better knowing there may be something we can do, even if it's in the future. Thank you all so much for your prayers, your thoughts, emails and phone calls. We truly wouldn't be able to make it through this without y'all.