Interviewing: Shane

Shane is one of the last kids I babysat up until I had EJ.  He even agreed to be my mitten model, once I agreed to pay him with his own pair of mittens.  He is such a sweetheart.  It has been fun and heart-warming to read his comments, typed up for him by his wonderful mother.


How old are you & what grade are you in?
Shane is 5 years old and just started Kindergarten!  (You started watching him when he was 6 months old)

- What is your favorite memory or activity that we did together?
My favorite memory is when Annie would let me make sandwiches for lunch and put all sorts of cool stuff on it like pepperoni!  I also liked it when we would make ice cream and have picnics outside :)

- Did you think I was a nice or mean babysitter when I watched you?  Any particular reason?  Do you still think I'm nice/mean?
Annie was nice!!  She was nice because I really, really liked her (Shane's words exactly!)  Yes, I think you're nice, and I miss you!  (Shane says we need to visit you soon).

- Do you have any advice for me on being a parent?
Shane's advice for you as a parent... Always play!


Parents:
What were your first impressions of me?
My first impressions of you: You were very loving and invested in the kids you took care of.  I first met you when you were watching a girl in Conor's first grade class.  You would walk her into school, give her a hug and tell her you loved her.  She had a hard time separating from you, but you were always patient and calm.

What made you call me back?
I kept calling you back because you are awesome with kids!  You are patient and fun.  You were always trying to think of how I might want you to handle a situation.

Do you have any advice as I embark on my own journey into parenthood?
My advice to you as a parent... Trust your gut.  It may not be the way they say to do it in the parenting books, but it's probably right for you and your family.

You can check out more in this series here.

Discovering Cloth Diapers

This Saturday was a total blast!  I went up to Ann Arbor, Michigan with a new cloth diaper convert friend to visit my also-pregnant cousin (she is 15 weeks behind me, due at the end of July) and we shopped two rummage sales (aptly named Moms 2 Moms), a local natural baby store called The Little Seedling where we all received a wonderful education on cloth diapering & baby wearing; and stopped at both Cherry Republic & Trader Joe's before calling it a Very Productive day.  :]

Cloth diapering has been a long-time research "project" for me and after many years I feel like I can finally say with some confidence that "I think I get it!" after having visited and talked with the ladies at The Little Seedling.  For the longest time I couldn't tell the real difference between All-in-Ones and Hybrids and Pockets and Fitteds and then I recently discovered "Flats" which are considered another version(?) of Prefolds.  Too many different styles and terms, I'm sure you're thinking.  Anyway, the exciting part is now that I feel confident to cloth diaper my little babe when he or she finally arrives in the next 2 or 3 weeks, I'll be plenty confident to make and use my own longies on my little one come this Autumn which means more adorable baby models for the Etsy shop! :)  yay :)

And I can't wait to tell you my even MORE exciting news (that has to do with my Etsy shop and all things knitted baby) once I have confirmation that it is all a go.  Stay tuned! :)

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Newest Cowl

I'm so excited about this new cowl.  Not only is it my favorite style to wear, but I was also able to get my beautiful cousin to model it for me while we visited her family for Christmas!  :)


I have to admit I'm not normally much of a color-red fan, but this variegated skein was calling out to me in the store and I couldn't wait to get it on my needles.

Long enough to wrap around twice for extra neck coverage.

I was hoping to have enough to make two double-wrap cowls but I guess I didn't realize how much I truly needed.  So this time I have one long (above) and one shorter (below).


How do you think they turned out?