AnderBlog

Anderson had his first taste of Nonni's Tuna Fish Spaghetti.  And he loved it!!  Some pepole think it is weird to eat tuna spaghetti, but it is sooo good, and a nice alternative to beef.  Well Anderson will never think it is weird, because he's going to grow up on it, like I did.  That and Cottage Cheese and Macaroni (an easier, healthier, cheaper alternative to boxed Mac n Cheese), I think the cottage cheese and macaroni idea is from Baba.  Just cook macaroni (like baby shells) toss with some butter and mix in some cottage cheese.

Here's the Recipe for the Tuna Fish Spaghetti Sauce, it's pretty quick and easy to make:
 

Here is my one year portrait of the little guy.  I can't believe a whole year has gone by.  He is more fun every day as his little character is emerging.  He can say Marbles "mabas" and "dada" and I think "mama" (he usually saves it for when he's whining and lifting my shirt).  And he started walking!!! Just last night!  A week earlier he took a few steps, but now he's steady and can do a number of steps and travel a few metres.  It's pretty exciting.  He's so proud of himself and goes into a fit of giggles when he reaches his destination.

As a cloth diapering mom, I want to spread the word on how easy it is. Much easier than I thought!  Cloth diapering has come a long way since a big piece of folded cotton, pins, and plastic pants.  And it's not like you have to drag them dirty diapers down to the river and scrub them with a rock.  Washing them is as easy as dumping a pail into the machine and pressing a button.  No more having stinky diapers hanging around all week waiting for garbage day, and no more running out of diapers and having to go buy them in the middle of the night.

There are so many options, velcro snaps, cotton, hemp, microfibre, stay-dry liners, fleece covers, wool covers, a rainbow of colours and styles.  And with approximately 5000 diaper changes from birth to potty, you can save a whole lot of money and spare the landfills of the one ton of diapers that one child produces in his diapering years.  

I'm working on a cloth diapering info section to this site, it is still under-construction but it is coming together steadily.

 

It is usually around this time of year, that I need to put extra effort into trying to be creative.  I feel cooped up and that winter has been way too long.  I dream about lazy days outside in the sunshine, vintage quilts blowing in the breeze on the clothsline, a forest picnic, swimming in the moonlight, running barefoot in the sand (okay walking, I don't really like running).  But in reality, I don't need sunshine and warm weather to live creatively and passionately.  I just need a little inspiration to get back to "living juicy" (check out SARK, if you don't know about living juicy).

So, I'm drawing a mandala.  It is mostly, to keep my sanity in a house with three kids and three pets.  Ander has begun exploring what it means to scream and test out how loud his voice can go.  And most of the time all 8 living creatures in this household seem to all gravitate towards the living room.  Also, my mandala is a meditative way to get some art in my life.  I drew it, and now I'm drawing over it, I might just keep doing that, layering and layering.  It is a meditation on impermanence.  Right now, it is a tree of life, but it started out as a stained glass kind of thing.  I like how it looks right now, and don't want to let it go.  But to keep it like this would defeat the purpose of the impermanence thing.  I guess taking a photo and posting it online defeats the impermanence thing too.  Darn.  I won't photograph it anymore.  The red marks underneath are from Anderson helping me.

I spent the best $5 today.  On a digital subscription to Mothering Magazine.  Finally a magazine that isn't full of baby formula and disposable diaper ads.  And the articles are reflect topics I am actually interested in.  This article got more inspiration going in me.  I was able to read it and check out some of the links while Ander played happily at my feet.

Hopefully this link will work (I'm new to this blog thing):

Look Inside >>  March/April 2009

I've started working on my book.  It is a continuation of my thesis "The Women We Call Mothers", where I photographed and interviewed 12 women on the experience of being a mother.  I did this project out of my fascination with motherhood and my eagerness to one day become a mom myself.  This new project is about my personal journey into the first year of motherhood.  My expectations...and the raw reality of it all..and the eventual settling in to this new found role.

"I spent nine months preparing for that moment: the moment of becoming a mother. And, oh, what a moment it was.  It was nothing like I thought it would be. It was completely and totally different."