Pencil case

Now I know I said no when Matt wanted to buy our little princess a dissect-able zombie doll but tell me the description of this book doesn´t sound like something you want to own.

10 little zombies - a love story.

- A charming, rhyme-filled romance. 
- Also includes many horrific zombie deaths. 
- Fun for the whole family.

Book available at thinkgeek.com 

Toy Box

Speaking about original Star Wars items, here´s one of Auroras roommates. Jabba the Hut doll - most obviously vintage, possibly valuable - so look but do not touch Aurora! Now he´s not exactly a nice guy but we´re teaching Aurora that it´s not always about being nice. Lots of times the villains are simply way cooler than the good guys. Yes yes so much wisdom in us that we need to pass on. I´m sure Aurora is not going to be an odd and disturbed child at all.

Closet

If you haven´t figured it out yet - Auroras father is a geek. And like all real Geeks he loves Star Wars more than anything. Obviously Aurora owns all sorts of Star Wars toys already but that´s another story. This T-shirt here I actually bought for her and other ones in different sizes so that she won´t find herself in a dry spell at some point. T-shirts are not the only item of clothing she owns in that department but you´ll see later... (and yes she is lying on a original vintage Star Wars duvet)

T-Shirt H&M

Closet

I already posted some pictures of lovely blankets that were made for Aurora but here is the icing on the cake. A winter sleeping bag made by Auroras Grandma. I have to admit at first I was shocked at all the colors because I am kind of shy when it comes to mixing colors. But every time I look at it now I have to think of Joseph and the multi-colored coat and that´s just cool. I think she took the whole pregnancy and a bit to finish it but it´s no wonder. It has a fancy knit pattern, a zipper and even a band to tighten the hood. You´re insane to have done all this work Marsha - thanks.

 

As a thank you here something I´m sure you´ve been waiting for: a picture of Aurora in the bag with her model face on. If it was for sale she´d make me want to buy it.

Utensils

When Matt stumbled across this tool on www.dotcomgiftshop.com we first just wondered how it works. But I´m thinking this could be really cute thingy to have for your kids. It could be a little family tradition (I love those!). So you bring a breakfast toast to your kids bed every year on his birthday. Next to it you have put a tiny glass bowl with a little bit of strawberry jam and on the side of the plate there are some apple slices for vitamins. And years later when he´s all grown up and lives on the other side of the country with his fiancée he gets all sad on his birthday because he misses his mum and then his fiancée spends a lot of time effort to find one of these stamps because her man really does miss his mommy very bad but she never does but one day she will walk by a shop and see it in the window and surprise him with a birthday toast in bed. And then they will have a kid and your son will bring him a birthday toast with strawberry jam and apple slices just like his grandma used to make them.

Toy box

It is not very surprising that Aurora has an owl as a stuffed animal since Matt always buys the strangest creatures for her to cuddle with. But what are the chances that my Grandma actually got Aurora a mouse!? Isn´t a mouse kind of a weird animal for a stuffed animal as well. I´m not talking about the Disneys Mickey-kind-of-mouse or Diddl or whatnot. Just a random, realistic looking little mouse. Anyway, I´m sure the owl doesn´t mind - an owl has got to eat right. And if Aurora should one day ask where the little mouse has gone I´ll tell her to give her great grandma a call, she can explain the whole food chain concept while she´s at it, thank you very much.

Closet

Auntie Sarah got Aurora this sailor dress, well, if you´ve been reading you know by now that she actually got it for me. Red and white stripes and a blue anchor - WHY NOT IN MY SIZE???

Anyway I just wanted to leave proof for Sarah that we use her presents and how good Aurora looks in them. Although I may have taken it a bit far with the striped stockings. Matt says he feels sick if there is too much stripes around. Ha ha, he chose the wrong wife then.

Fridge

Whether it´s sweet in north America in form of a pie or savory in Europe as a soup. I love pumpkins. So do babies. They have a slight sweet flavor which babies love and in whole you can store them up to four months. Children can start eating pumpkin as early as 6 months.

For a basic pumpkin puree:

1. Cut pumpkin or butternut squash in half, take out the seeds
2. Place halves face down in a oven proof pan or pot and cover with an inch of water
3. then bake in a 400 degree oven for 40 minutes to 1 hour - be sure the “shell/skin” puckers and halves feel soft then scoop squash “meat” out of the shell
4. Puree squash "meat" 
5. Add 3 drops of canola oil and water if necessary to achieve a smooth, thin consistency.

It´s so versatile as well. Together with rice and meat it makes a main dish or add apples and a tiny pinch of cinnamon for a dessert. And of course if you have an older child as well, I´m sure it´s fun for the older one as well as the she shell is up for grabs for carving fun.

Nutrition Facts (1 cup cooked-baked, cubes):

Calories - 79.95
Protein - 1.82 grams
Carbohydrate - 17.94 grams
Dietary Fiber - 5.74 grams
Calcium - 28.7 mg
Iron - 0.67 mg
Potassium - 895.85 mg
Folate - 57.40 mcg
Vitamin A - 7,291.85 mg



And since a baby doesn´t eat a whole pumpkin you can make a pumpkin spice cake for the adults from the left overs.

Click on the picture for the full recipe.

Pencil case

Here in my hometown we have a wonderful program for kids called "Buchkinder" (Book kids). It´s a place where kids can go and write their own stories and then bind them along with drawings. Kids come up with the craziest things. And more often than not there are truths in what they write that leave you in awe. The kids don´t just come up with the stories but they also write them so they are in a messy writing with spelling mistakes which makes the books super funny.

For example this card that says:

"As always the bunny is playing hide and seek with the fox. The fox must never find him." 

- How playfully put. How simple. How true.

They also print postcards, which we bought some of, framed them and hung them in Auroras room.

Riding in threes is way more fun.

The stallion Ronko is standing on the pasture again. It is boring, so boring. Every day the same thing standing around.

The pony likes almost everything.

Toy box

Here is one of Auroras best friend. His name is Hachie because hachi is the Japanese word for eight (as in eight tentacles). Matt has a radar for odd stuffed animals and this won´t be last you´ll see of them. Because of his tentacles he is easy to hold on to for a baby that doesn´t really have good coordination yet. Somehow they made the outside furry though, I don´t really get why an octopus has fur but it´s nice and cuddly for a child. Well, and by child I mean Matt because basically all the toys he buys for his daughter he is secretly buying for himself.

Hachi is from "Kuschelwuschel" available at Karstadt or Online. 

Oh yeah, and this is Hachies little friend because one octopus is obviously not enough.

Closet

Can you believe they make these for babies?! This jeans overall will probably fit her about a week but I couldn´t resist. Can you blame me?

Jeansoverall H&M

Red/White striped body DM 

The stockings were a second hand gift

Fridge

 

One of my favorite magazines is "Delicious" from the UK. Once in a while I get someone to bring me one over, still this magazines is almost a reason for me to want to move to England. Luckily they have a Website as well where they archive all their recipes. Not just recipes also deco tips, gift ideas and such. So check it out for ideas or just the general wish to wash your mouth out with your own slobber. 

How about these Christmas bonbons for example:

Click on the picture for the full recipe

Toy box

How come that when you buy kids (and cats as well) nice toys they end up in the corner but garbage they just love to play with. 

In this case it wasn´t really garbage but we got this little fox-like animal for 50 cents at Ikea, don´t even really remember why, but who would have thought that this love affair would develop.

Closet

We have such a wonderful family! All the women in my life are so handy to have around. I´m basically good for nothing. I do enjoy cooking but I don´t really know what I am doing, I am useless when it comes to handy work around the house and I cannot even master the basic grandma arts like knitting or crocheting. 

Luckily I´ve got these wonderful women around who made these adorable baby blankets for me. Here is my digital thank you note and some pictures for you to admire and be jealous about. 

Made by Great Grandma Bowles

Made by Aunt Sarah

Made by Kim

Pencil case

Last year Matt made these cards to do with the presents for his family. As far as I am concerned handmade cards are the best thing since the advent calendar was invented.

contact me if you want prints

Fridge

Auroras aunt is crazy about  

www.thepioneerwoman.com

Understandable since this web page is insane. Lots of recipes and pictures that make the pulse of kitchen loving women like her and me race.

Obviously the theme right now is cookies as Christmas is coming up so go there to get some ideas for your baking with the kids (if they´re old enough) or try some of the more grown up (less colorful) cookies as advent presents for your friends.

My point being though as this is about the newbies: they have so many marvelous recipes and some might be really fun for your kids.

For example these rainbow colored pancakes.

Imagine you make these for your kid for breakfast - like on their birthday - can´t you just imagine them getting the giggles at the sight of them? I can´t wait for Aurora to be old enough to bake with me, it´s one of the things I look forward to the most.

Also a good page is:

www.allrecipes.com 

there I found a cup to gram convertion-table which might be a helpful tool for these American recipes.  

Toy box

Another one of Auroras friends and yet another weird pick from Matt is her koi who is called "Koi", duh! We got him at our Zoo (which is awesome by the way but I´m sure I´ll find the time to write about it some other time).

By the time Aurora is 5 we´ll have a vast Japanese themed stuffed animal collection I´m sure. Maybe I´ll write Tokyo Zoo on the door to her room.

 

Koi is from our local zoo. 

Closet

As I said before I am stripe-maniac. Anything remotely nautical looking and I am on board - get it? "on board". Oh and did I mention anything French looking as well - meaning blue, white, red. Now I am actually talking about my own style but Aurora can´t speak yet so the unfortunate girl will have to wear whatever I buy her. So more often than not I buy clothes for her that I would actually like to wear myself. This jacket is one of the lucky finds from a local second hand store.

 

Rant

I´ve gotta rant about the snow. Yes you´ve heard right about the snow! And I´m not even talking about how it gets your shoes wet or how they then leave footprints whenever you´re indoors. Or about how it´s hard to push the pram or how it gets the street icy and then nice old ladies slip and fall. Now you´re thinking if it´s not that how could I be upset about the snow? Snow is cool, it´s the symbol of winter, it muffles the sounds of the city which underlines the Christmas atmosphere, it´s great for playing in with the kids and it makes for beautiful landscapes. Yes all true, that´s why I am ranting.

We have had the most gorgeous snow lately, everything is white and it just looks lovely. But I know exactly that by the time Christmas Eve comes around there will be none left. 

Whatever happened to red leaves on Thanksgiving, snow on Christmas Eve, birds twittering in march and going to the beach by June? It seems that every season has its symbols but they never actually apply to the time they should anymore. Global Warming says hello.

Fridge

Stevia rebaudiana

Not many people know about this plant and it´s benefits which is a shame and I want to do my part to help change that.

Stevia is a South American plant also called sugarleaf. It´s sweetness is up to 300 times stronger than sugar but unlike sugar it has several good effects on the body. Japan for example is one of the countries where Stevia has been used to sweeten food for centuries. Some studies show that Stevia might even be able to be used to treat Diabetes. In Germany it is not for sale as a food product because officially it hasn´t passed all the tests necessary, unofficially it it more likely that the sugar industry is trying everything they can to not be put out of business. 

You can still buy it online but it will always be labeled as cosmetic product, don´t let that shy you away from putting it in your tea though.

It has the same aftertaste as sweetener which might be off putting for some (like me) but I think you can train yourself to like it and I strongly belief that the health benefits are worth it in the end.

More than half the children in Germany have medical issue when they start school the bulk of them being overweight or bad teeth. (Source: Nido) When it comes to children we have to stop reading all these baby guide books or parenting magazines and start listening to our instincts again.

Which doesn´t mean that sugar has to be banned and that baking Christmas cookies has to be vegan and sugarless and - well no fun. I wouldn´t get far with my baking/cooking addiction if I wouldn´t use sugar.

But as far as I am concerned Japan is the expert on healthy living and I´m going to try to gradually follow in their footsteps on this one. 

 Buy Stevia online:

here

here

or

here 

Toy box

From Noemis diary: 

Now I am not sure that we got the point of what Fisher Price wanted us to do with this toy but it was fun anyway. These blocks come with a box that has holes in the lid, a square, a circle, a triangle and a star shaped one. Kids are supposed to get a feel for shapes and drop the right block in the appropriate hole. While we are making great progress on that front it turned out to be way more fun to be buried in blocks and then shake them all off afterwards. Plus they taste great.

Here the upgraded version on Amazon 

Pencil case

My friend Kyle is a photographer who takes mainly engagement-, and wedding pictures. Once in a while I stumble over his web page again and end up spending and hour or so looking at his stuff. Every time I am in awe and end up being annoyed that there is nothing that I am as good at as he is at taking pictures of the most emotional moments without making the people on it uncomfortable. It´s like he´s not even there and the pictures end up not just extremely intimate but also stunningly beautiful.
If I could go back in time I would want him to take my wedding pictures, I would have given up my dress and make up to pay for him to fly out. 

You are hereby warned! Don´t go on his page! You will spend your entire afternoon on it!

Player

When Aurora was about 1 1/2 months old we went to a concert of Kevin Devine. He is a singer song writer who Matt fell in love with about 7 years ago (goodness - we are too old). It was very intimate, just him and his guitar and the room was so small that sometimes he didn´t even use the microphone. Aurora slept through the whole thing which should be no hint at all as to how interesting the concert was. She must have enjoyed his songs if she went to sleep hearing them. We certainly love them. Check him out, his music has been accompanying us for the last couple of years.

Buy his album on Amazon 

Visit him on Myspace 

Watch him on Youtube 

Rant

Aurora has a day sister (Noemi) and when she arrived this morning her mum was quite upset (considering the day hadn´t been very long yet). 

An older lady at the tram stop had come up to her and complained about the way she had dressed Noemi. She kept rubbing Noemis´ feed and asking "aren´t you cold? aren´t you cold?". She also asked if she didn´t have anything else to wear and if she could walk already then - she suggested - she could at least walk a few steps to keep the circulation going.

I´m not going to deny that it was cold today but:

1. Noemi is 1 year old - no she is not going to answer you when you as her a question especially not since you are a complete stranger

2. don´t ever touch other peoples children

3. No she can´t walk yet and no it would not help her circulation if she took a few steps on a layer of snow so thick that it reaches her knees

4. They life right next to the tram stop and I live right next to the tram stop yet you make a scene as if she was wearing a T-Shirt and shorts and they had spend the day on a blanket in the park

5. (and this is the most important one!) mind your own business! It´s funny how women of your generation have an opinion about how to do things better for every young mother that passes you on the street (yes I´ve gotten a selection of comments from random ladies myself already) yet in your time it was in fashion to let a baby cry itself to sleep so that it wouldn´t get spoiled and you were considered a hippie if you didn´t hit your child once in a while to let them know who is boss.

Fridge

In a local parent magazine I stumbled over this blog by a young mum that gives instructions on how to make bento boxes.

Bento box is basically the Japanese lunch box but think less soggy cheese sandwich and more eatable art. 

Obviously I think it´s insane that anyone would find the time to make these but I am big fan of anyone who makes an effort to get kids interested in good food.  

With this blog as a guide I´m sure that eating these creations will be almost just as much fun as preparing them.

 I am definitely inspired. 

By Bentomania

Random Wisdom

From: imgspark

Closet

Today Aurora is wearing this pullover that my friend Thea got me and it´s just too cute to not post a picture. I love how it has sort of a French Harlequin attitude and of course striped stockings because I´m a sucker for stripes. Always.

I think she got the pullover second hand somewhere.
The stockings are organic cotton ones from DM (ca. 5,50€)

Toy box

So my mum has sort of a dark sense of humor, aside from her love for Hitchcock movies and cheap zombie splatters she brings me things like a Mike Myers Shirt for Aurora or this book:  

It suggests evil answers to popular kids questions. The cover art gives a 

hint to what they might say.

My Top 3:

3. “Why did the dinosaurs die out?”

Tell your child that the dinosaurs are only on vacation and are going to be back next week.

2. “Does the light turn of when the fridge is closed?”

In case of this question, practical experience will as it is often the case have the greatest success. When you let your child out after two hours ask him if he also wants to know about the light in the freezer.

1. ”Why doesn´t the earth leave it´s orbit?”

“That´s a good question my son. It is a very dangerous thing in fact. That´s why you shouldn´t jump around and be so wild with your friends otherwise the earth will be kicked off course and we´ll all die!”

By Onkel&Onkel (only available in German)

Pencil case

This is a congratulation card that Matt made when our friend Salomé had her baby boy Eli.

I think it´s super cute so I am sharing it with you.

Us before Aurora