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Declan getting ready to take pictures. Check out the Megan Noel print here.

Declan loves to help these days. Just this morning he picked up a paper towel that the dog had shredded (obviously 4 pounds of raw meat a day is not enough) and all I had to do is ask if he would help pick it up. Sometimes his help is more of a hindrance, like doing the dishes. He loves doing the dishes because he gets to play with all the scoops, utensils and whatnot, including the nifty little faucet adapter that turns it into a sprayer. This usually culminates in a sopping wet boy.

So I made him an apron. I once got the harebrained idea to make my own cloth diapers at one point, so I have yards and yards of PUL lying around. Perfect! Once again I used only what I had already in the house, so it’s not the prettiest but it works.

It didn’t seem to bother him too much while doing the dishes and it’s fully washable - obviously. He wont be able to get it on and off by himself, as I made it to tie at the neck and waist but it’ll fit as he gets bigger. Maybe I should try some snaps?

(I figure if it’s going to be blurry anyway I may as well play around with some blur filters)

I think I’m in love with aprons currently. If I’m going to spend the rest of my days around kids, cooking and cleaning, I might as well do it in style right?

I cannot wait until this pattern is available: Emmeline Apron

And I’d love to make a whole passel of these and these to have on hand for the kids

I really wanted to join in The Sassy Apron Swap, but I don’t know if I could pull off anything worthy of sending to someone else with as short on cash as we are. Hopefully I can get in on the next round.

And this is just plain cute: Apron Evangelism

I’ll have to admit that I saw this recipe on TV one night during a midnight nursing spree. Unfortunately for me I had forgotten my robe and it wasn’t my belly that was being filled with warm goodness. So as I sat there shivering (seriously! It had to be 60° in the house at the time) I watched Sam the Cooking Guy make this super easy soup and decided I must have it.

Of course I didn’t have all of the ingredients, except for potatoes. When I told Matt what I was planning on making I could see his eyes kinda fall. He’s gotten smart enough to not let his face fall anymore. But he trudged on, like a trooper, to the store and back and ate my soup like it was directly feeding his starving soul. Lo and Behold, it was amazing! It was like eating thin mashed potatoes with all the goodies, but BETTER! The cream just gives it an extra oomph, I think.

Potato Soup (adapted from Sam the Cooking Guy)

Ingredients

• 5 pounds baking potatoes, peeled and diced
• 2 big red onions, diced
• 4-5 cups chicken broth, diced - just kidding I normally use just enough to cover the potatoes when boiling, so this may vary)
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 3 cups whipping cream
• 1/2 - 1 teaspoon cayenne
• 3 tablespoons fresh chopped parsley
• Diced Ham or Sausage (because it’s not considered a meal in my house without meat in it {insert eyeroll}) (optional)

This recipe makes alot, 10-12 servings, so feel free to cut down the amount of ingredients if you’re not feeding the entire Horde.

Here’s the PhotoShop goodie I was talking about. It wasn’t made in Photoshop though. For most of the image editing and aligning I used Krita, which has a more PhotoShop-style GUI. But I used GIMP for the text and layer shadows. I guess they both have their specialties. The pictures aren’t perfect but I did the best I could with a camera I’m not used to. The subject is cute enough to make up for all of that though.

Click for a larger version.

I must admit that the idea was not mine. I “borrowed” it from another mama on one of my forums.

When I was pregnant with Declan, I briefly heard about teaching babies sign language. I looked into it some and found the Signing Time DVD’s and ordered one when Declan was still very young. The research I had done said that children who learn a second language (American Sign Language, or ASL, is considered a language) not only have higher IQ’s, but that signing helps eliminate the terrible twos and teaches acceptance of people who do things “differently”.

The little boy that I provide daycare for has Down Syndrome, just like my older sister Bonnie. I remember my mom mentioning that they thought Bonnie may never be able to truly talk so they started teaching her ASL. These days we can’t get her to be quiet! Part of this little boy’s therapy is also sign language, because whether they talk or not, it usually happens a little later than normal. Imagine understanding so much, but not being able to communicate or respond.

So we’ve pulled all out Signing Time DVD’s out, we have the first 6, and we’re trying to use as many signs as possible. Not just when he is here, but through the whole day. Declan is really doing so well. It seems like overnight he knew 15 new signs, and it makes me wonder if there was just a certain stage that he reached where it all kind of clicked in his head.

He knows:

• Mama
• Papa
• Orange
• Baby
• Shoes
• Sock
• Moon
• Play
• Apple
• Milk
• Cheese
• Cracker
• Help
• No
• Stop
• Potty
• Water
• Hungry
• Full
• Warm
• Hot
• Cold
• Grandma (kinda)
• Blue
• Share
• Play
• Sit
• Dance
• Eat/Food
• Wet
• Cereal
• More
• Want
• Please
• Sorry
• Horse
• Bird
• Dog
• Cat
• Car
• Plane
• Baby
• Cry
• Diaper
• Cheese
• Ball
• And more I’m sure.

We’ve found this is be very helpful: ASLPro.com - It has videos of just about every sign!

Speaking of how grown-up Declan is getting, he always wants to help wash dishes, but ends up soaked every time. I’ve got my next craft project all planned out. Stay tuned!