Apple Picking

Nothing better than a fresh picked apple

Lily loved them too!

Just one of the three huge bushels of apples we picked.

This post is a little late but a few weeks ago we went apple picking. Our original plan was to go out to a farm and pick apples and pay for whatever we picked, then I started noticing apples everywhere I looked. Every other neighbour had a tree full of apples! I put the word out that we were looking to come and pick apples and luckily our friends parents had a tree ripe for the picking. We packed up our baskets and a ladder and honestly within twenty minutes of picking apples we had three baskets overflowing with ripe organic apples, yet the tree looked like it hadn't even been touched. These were seriously the best apples I have ever tasted in my life. AH-mazing! We made applesauce, apple pie, apple muffins and cut and froze a ton of apples for the winter. I wish I knew how to can otherwise I would have canned a ton of readymade apple pie filling, maybe next year. A huge thank you to Elliot's parents for letting us pick their apples. How amazing that you can grow organic apples on a tree in your yard for many to enjoy for years. We will definitely be planting an apple tree if we ever when we buy a house of our own. When I think of fall I always think of apples, you?

Booties for Celia

I knit my first pair of baby booties. I knit these newborn sized booties for Celia Elizabeth aged 12 days. Even though I had my own newborn just 9 months ago, when I finished these I was shocked at how tiny they were. It is so amazing to me how fast these tiny beings grow. Hopefully these are the first of many adorable and warm booties that I knit for friends and family over the years. The pattern is from the book "Easy Baby Knits" by Claire Montgomerie.

9 months in, 9 months out.

This photo was taken at 39 weeks, a week before Lily was born.

Lily, one day old.

Lily, one month old.

Lily, Two months old.

Lily, three months old.

Lily, four months old.

Lily, five months old.

Lily, six months old.

Lily, seven months old.

Lily, eight months old.

Lily, nine months old.

As of today Lily has been outside in the world as long as she was growing in my tummy. My little girl is nine months old today. I cannot believe that nine months have gone by, I can't believe how fast she has grown and I can't believe that I can love her more each day. She is so loving and playful and smart and beautiful, I am just in awe of her all the time. She is now crawling, sometimes on her hands and knees, sometimes scooting on her bum, sometimes walking on her hands and feet. She is OBSESSED with standing on anything and everything, she can pull up on every piece of furniture we own, the walls the windows, anything! She can cruise around the furniture, stand with one hand, stand with no hands! (only for a few seconds). She babbles all of the time and she can say "mama", "dada", "nana" and "papa" along with some other sounds, blowing raspberries and clicking her tongue, laughing and singing little tunes. She is such a character and really fun to be around, she is generally super happy, curious and hilarious. I am so proud to be her mom.

Congratulations My Friends.

My dear friends Mollie and Logan just had a baby girl on October 11, 2011, she is called Celia Elizabeth. She is so teeny tiny and perfect. I am so excited and happy for their new little family.

***Bonus: Celia and Lily will be in the same class! They are going to be best friends I just know it.

Knitting Project: Family Hats

knit on two needles using short rows.

Lily's completed hat

My matching one, the size is the "4 year old" size on the pattern. hmmm.

Noro Kochoran wool, amazing!

The completed hat, so lovely and warm.

One of my fall intentions was to knit the family some hats for winter. So far I've completed two for Lily and one for myself. I am still hoping to get another one for myself done, one for Dan (hubs) done and maybe one more for Lily (I like to have options!). The first set of hats I did were the "Aviatrix" hats, pattern from Ravelry. I made these for under our helmets because my ears get really cold and sore in the wind and I am just assuming Lily's will too. They were a bit challenging at first because I had never done short rows before but I'm super glad I learned (now onto some socks!). The second hat I knit was from this blog, I saw it and could not resist, I went out that day and bought the yard it called for. I am so glad I splurged on this yard, it is incredibly gorgeous. I actually bought two big skeins so that I can knit one for myself and one for hubs. I am actually a pretty novice knitter so there was lots to learn with this pattern; knitting on double pointed needles, I-cords, picking up stitches (it came out a little short in front). I'm really happy with how it turned out, I think this will be our go to hat this winter.  I'll let you know what I come up with for the next set of family hats, any amazing hat patterns you know of?

Fall Intentions

A few of my favourite bloggers always make a list of goals or things they intend on doing for the fall. I think this is such a wonderful idea because it helps you stay accountable to yourself, helps to document what you accomplish throughout the season and may motivate someone else to do the same! Here's the list so far:

• Go to the pumpkin patch
• Make Lily's halloween costume
• Do a family photoshoot
• Use those photos to make a Christmas card
• Knit all of our family winter hats 
• Knit mittens for Lily and I 
• Read this book and this one 
• Look for a used copy of this book
• Set up a Montessori style play area for Lily
• Make a pumpkin pie from scratch
• Make bread weekly
• Make a weekly fall like soup
• De-clutter and simplify the house

Thats it for now, I think I can get it all done. I will keep you posted along the way. Fall is just the best.

Yogurt!

                 

Lily is eight months old now and starting to try new foods. We've just introduced her to dairy; yogurt and cottage cheese. It is so hilarious seeing this new being try foods for the first time and documenting her reaction to things. I got some local organic full fat yogurt (I highly recommend using organic and always use full fat for babies!). We bought a big tub because I was sure she was going to love it. Well... not so much. The first bite she put in her mouth she promptly spit out, the second bite she spit out and then shivered, the third bite, well there was no third bite, she held her mouth closed so tight there was no way another bite was getting in there. The funny thing about this is, I just thought "Okay, well I guess she doesn't like yogurt" but when I started reading about babies trying new foods I discovered that it sometimes takes ten times of trying something before they get used to the taste. The next morning I tried again and she went crazy for it, I couldn't spoon it in fast enough and in between bites she was saying "mmmmm". Ever since then we've added yogurt to our regular breakfast line-up, it is probably her new favorite food. No sweetener, no fruit added, nothing, just plain yogurt.

*how does this fit into baby led weaning? It doesn't really, though I sometimes let her use her own spoon which almost never ends up in her mouth. We were okay not sticking strictly with baby led weaning for a few things because she already has such a good "grasp" on picking up and eating her own food.