Is that a pumpkin under there?

It's been four weeks since my last growth chart! Here are a few more photos of my middle since then:


Last Sunday we went to a pumpkin patch and I wondered if I would be accused of stealing a fat, round pumpkin under my shirt...There have been bibs galore over here. I pulled out the sewing machine and have been stitch stitch stitching away.

We will be giving out candy on Friday night (it's a Lehigh Valley thing, not scheduling trick-or-treating on the actual holiday - weird) and then Chris is visiting us this weekend! Yay!

Happy Halloween!

A Nice Apple Pie

Fall brings out a different kind of sweet tooth in me. Canadian thanksgiving was a couple weeks back and we didn't have the usual treats, so I made a pumpkin cranberry bread to satisfy that pumpkin craving. Um, it was all gone before the evidence could be photographed for blogging.

But I did save some pie for you. A double-crust traditional apple pie!

I'd been talking about making pie for ages, but every time I got too lazy and decided that making the crust was way too much work and opted for apple crumble or apple tarts on pre-made puff pastry. However, D just returned from a conference and I was in the right kind of mood, so I made this as a (large) treat for us.

The recipe is from Gourmet magazine, which sadly announced that is was shutting down this week. Boo! I was thinking of getting a subscription, too. So sad. Anyhow, here's the recipe for the pastry, and here's the recipe for the filling. I subbed a half cup of whole wheat flour in the crust, and used Macs and Galas for the filling. Since I didn't have any vegetable shortening on hand, I just put in all butter. My crust was flaky and tasty, but not super light, which is probably because of the WW flour and lack of shortening, although I kind of liked the texture. Macs release a lot of juice, so beware of hot sputtering apple goo if you cut into the pie before it's had a chance to cool!

After it came out of the oven, we each had a slice. I woke up at 4am needing another piece (the baby convinced me to have it). It is taking everything in me not to substitute the pie for regular meals, but as a result there is still some left. Oh, and this makes a very big pie - I used a 9.5 inch plate and we've had about 9 slices out of it so far, and there's still two left for a midnight snack.

Booties, Beanie, and Stuffed Buddies

Lots to show you today! I have one item on backlog, the blocked Amelia, but I'll get to that eventually (she turned out really well, and I have been wearing her quite a bit). First, some baby knitting. I was thinking that winter babies will need some warm things to wear, so I found this cute garter stitch booty pattern on Ravelry and made a few pairs... Aren't they super cute?!

The little hat is made from the Freshly Picked Baby Hat pattern also available on Ravelry...yes, I know it's not garter stitch to match, but whatever. What I didn't realize is that babies heads are shockingly large. Maybe that's why they're so cute. But man, their heads are BIG. I cast on 96 stitches for this on US4 dns, which is pretty huge! I just cast on 96 stitches on US6 for a hat for myself, as a comparison...


I also made a blue pair for baby Audrey (which I forgot to photo), and her mother says that they should stay on well (apparently socks can fall right off newborns, chilly feet being a bad thing). It takes about 4 hours to knit these up, which isn't too long, and I've got lots more DK superwash merino to make a couple more pairs.

Then we have: more animals! You might recognize these from a few (?) months ago, and sadly it has taken me this long to get around to putting faces on them now, and making a little bandana for bunny. I love, love, love this pattern (last minute knitted gifts)...I've probably made 6 or 7 of these toys by now!


That's about all for knitting. Now for some ultrasound pictures! Meet Jenny Junior, who is, in fact, 90% likely to be a girl:

Waving her fist at us...stop scanning me!

The anatomy scan was totally fascinating, and I pestered the technician endlessly about what we were seeing. Prior to this experience I had no idea you could see things like brain ventricles, heart chambers, kidneys, diaphragm and bones! From what we could tell, she wasn't missing any important bits and things looked just fine.

This one is my favourite b/c you can see the profile so clearly...along with the spine and heart too. Cool, eh?

Almost Amelia

Amelia is nearly done! I can't believe I actually weaved in ends and did all the finishing. Now I just need to block her and sew some buttons on.


First impressions: it's warm, but very lumpy. The sleeves also seem a bit loose around the underarms and the collar doesn't sit in a round shape right now...blocking should help all of these problems. I'm a little scared to submerse this in water because I'm sure the dye is just going to bleed everywhere - gotta find a sink or bucket it that won't stain. Will let you know how it turns out. I think I'll be able to wear it for a couple months undone at the bottom, although my belly is protruding even more at this point.

Here are some growth pictures to entertain you with:


I still occasionally forget that there's a little person in there, but I'm starting to feel wiggles and gurgles. The other day I even felt some crazy purring, as if Gatsby were trapped in my tummy. It just occurred to me that the baby is arriving in February, and will need some warm winter things, so I am planning on making a couple more little hats, booties, and sweaters....so much fun!

Last Saturday we went to the Celtic Festival (surprisingly huge!) here in Bethlehem and saw hundreds of bagpipers, a haggis toss, and ate some fish and chips. Yesterday, we wandered along Third street during Friday First night in South Bethlehem. Today we are going to Babies R Us to scope out some nursery furniture and learn a thing or two about cribs, strollers and the like. It's shocking how much baby gear exists. See you soon!