if i had time i would make myself that skirt, the dress, and learn to die fabrics. really great clothes by shabd.

a few weeks ago we had nothing to do on a sunday and so david decided to bake a pizza and have florence help. it was a totally fun activity for a toddler. she got to kneed the dough, and put the toppings on. she devoured the pizza after it was done baking. everything tastes better to florence if you help make it.

it can sometimes be a real challenge feeding my toddler something healthy. if she had it her way she would only eat mac and cheese and hot dogs. it seems lately whenever i get together with other mom’s that have children the same age we tend to talk about how we get veggies into our kids. i read a great article on rookie mom about different ideas on how to feed your kid so that inspired me to share some of my tricks.

breakfast - this is the hardest meal of the day because florence seems to never want to eat.
- thawed frozen berries (i try to leave a container defrosting in the fridge, but if that one has been used up i just thaw some in the microwave for a few seconds)
- meatballs
- steamed broccoli with butter
- toast with organic peanut butter and smashed berries (she eats the good stuff on the top and never eats the bread, but at least she’s getting some protein.)

snacks
- freeze dried peas by Just Peas
- crackers
- fruit - she loves it when i let her walk around and eat a whole pear or whole tomatoe.
- larabar - this has chopped nuts and dried fruit with nothing else added. lots of protein and fat
- avocado - either in bit size chunks or mashed and put on crackers
- edamame
- plain firm tofu

lunch
- mama’s mac and cheese - kamut macaroni noodles with a butter and whipping cream sauce. i usually add finely chopped spinach, fresh if i have it frozen if i don’t and a little bit of cheese.
- leftover from previous meals

dinner - here are some of florence’s favorite dinners. if you can’t tell my child is fond of pasta.
- pasta with meat sauce
- chicken noodle soup with the chicken cut up finely
- noodles with white sauce and peas
- morrocan stew - a sweet potatoe stew with chick peas and tomatoes, but i always have to add some pasta to hers
- whatever we’re eating but with pasta added. my latest trick i learned from my grandmother is to - have a bag of cooked pasta in the freezer, because sometimes we can’t wait the 10 minutes it takes to boil.

right now i’m working on a summer clothing line and am pretty excited about how things are turning out. i hand printed the graphics on the bottom of the linen skirt, which was inspired by lena corwin’s book printing by hand. the cotton knit shirt is a smaller version of one i made for myself a few weeks ago.

i would love to make a few adult clothes as well, but don’t think i have the time to get that done too, so i guess i’ll just stick with the kids stuff and see how it goes. hmmmm

fingers crossed the etsy shop should open in about two weeks.

i love love love this photo by Rineke Dijkstra. so conflicting…composed yet traumatized, strong yet hazy, beautiful but also pretty creepy.

over the weekend i got to enjoy a wonderful trip to the fabric store without my 1.5 year old. since the ambiance is a bit lacking at fabric depot when they have their big sales. i knew to que up my iphone with some good music, but not something i would end up singing along with, so i choose one of my favorite bands, m83. i bought $85 worth of fabric that i hope to make some new spring clothes for myself and florence. i sometimes daydream about selling some of my pieces, but just haven’t been able to find the time to make more than one. hopefully, once flu season is over we will stop getting sick and i’ll be able to set up an etsy store.

the shirt is based on a dress pattern from this japanese sewing book. if i make another one i would make it about an inch or two longer. i have a longer torso than all the pretty little petite girls in the book.

since i don’t have much time for drawing anymore i’ve been doing some little pieces and really like how these two turned out. david calls them my strong women series…i’ve been into photos of domestic ladies multi-tasking with their babies. it gives me inspiration with florence. sometimes it’s really hard for me to get anything done and then i look at these women and think how easy i have it. i have a washing machine, running water, electricity and only one kid.

i love what flocks is doing with wool. holy shit look at those huge needles to make a rug…i wanna try! where do i find yarn that chunky?

free pattern - toddler hat

after making myself the urchin beret by twinkle i had all this beautiful thick yarn and had to do something with it so i made a little hat for florence. this is my first attempt at writing out a knitting pattern, so feedback would be great.

what beautiful mamas and babies! these photos came from the smithsonian’s collection website.