So.. this weekend I celebrated Julia Child’s 98th birthday with friends. I made Braise Aux Choux Rouges (pork braised with red cabbage) with Gratin Jurassien (scalloped potatoes with heavy cream and cheese), both of which turned out delicious! It takes about 6 hours to cook the cabbage and pork but it’s well worth it. I may try it in a slow cooker next time, because my kitchen was H-O-T HOT with the oven on all day.

My great friends brought other delicious French food for the dinner and we spent an enjoyable evening eating, drinking and laughing together. It’s always fun to have dinner with friends.

And now.. the rest of this week is dedicated to creating monograms to top the cupcakes for the wedding Friday!

So.. I know, this isn’t a baby blog. I’m sorry. But look at these adorable feet:

One of my favorite parts today was photographing big sister Esther holding sweet precious Naomi. I hope to get some shots with Jared being a big brother, too.

So.. everyone knows I love babies. I love to hold them, to smell their little heads and kiss their cheeks. I love fat babies. The ones with the roly legs and arms and fat cheeks. You just want to eat them up and squeeze them tight. And as of this morning, there is a new little baby for me to do just that. Little baby Naomi, my sister Ruth’s newest daughter, was born this morning at 12:15am. 7lb, 11oz. 20 inches long. And pudgy cheeks.

So.. this weekend I am making cupcakes for Miriam’s old roommate’s wedding. She requested two flavors, orange and boysenberry (also her colors) and is expecting about a hundred guests. This is my biggest baking project to date, and I’m excited to see how it all turns out.

A couple of weeks ago I saw boysenberries at the farmer’s market and planned to go back to get some this weekend to do a batch before the real deal. By the time we got to the market, they were out of boysenberries. And we couldn’t find any in the store, not even frozen. I guess they aren’t that popular – although, popular enough to sell out. So I had to revise my plan but all will work out fine, and photos will come shortly.

Looking for these berries reminded me of my grandparents. I never had the “typical” grandparent people think of; the one who teaches you how to fish or sew, the one who bakes cookies with you and lets you do things your parents won’t. I didn’t meet my mom’s mom until I was 9, and she lived up in Washington. She made us use a port-o-potty because we weren’t allowed in the house, except one afternoon when she wanted all the grandchildren to practice a song we were to sing at her church meeting that week. We had to wear little booties and were only allowed in one room.

My dad’s dad lived 3 blocks from us my entire life, and yet we only saw them a couple times a year. I think Mom would invite them to Mother’s Day and Father’s Day, and Grandparent’s Day of course. But the day I think of most when I think of them is Thanksgiving. Every year we would all go to their house and eat dinner and it was a race to see who would fall asleep first, my dad or grandpa.

My grandparents had a pretty large lot and on it they had a chicken coop. Sometimes we’d go out and look for eggs. Honestly it was digusting, but as a kid I don’t think I minded that much. We would play hide-and-seek or Apples, Peaches, Pumpkin Pie.

All along their back fence, they had blackberry bushes. We would go out and pick lots and lots of berries. And eat lots and lots of berries. I remember my fingers getting purple from the juice. I remember all the thorns and sore fingers and thumbs – but still picking because what’s better than a fresh berry? MORE fresh berries. I don’t remember what we ever did with the berries we picked. You’d think we would have lots of berry pie, or on ice cream or in a cobbler. We might have. But all I remember is the picking.

My grandparents are both dead now and I drove by their house recently. My grandma’s son owns it now, I think. I wonder if there are still berries.

So.. it’s weird. Cadi just turned 11. Eleven! Esther’s last day of 1st grade is today. Next fall Jared (and I believe Rori, too) starts Kindergarten. It seems like time has flown by. I can’t imagine how it would be if they were my own.

At least there is a new little one to start the cycle, due in just a month. A month! And knowing Ruth, little Naomi will make her appearance early so I give her 2 weeks, maybe 3. I can’t wait to meet her. To hold her and smell her and kiss her tiny little head and fingers. (Side note: I still have undeveloped photos from when I first met Esther, 7 years ago. Thank goodness for digital cameras. But, I really should develop those and see if anything has survived the last 7 years of being stored in a trunk!)

Can you tell I just love babies? Other people’s babies.

Not that I wouldn’t want my own. But one would be enough, and I hope it’s a boy. That’s in the “someday” file.

In the mean time, the past week I have been knitting like crazy (photos to come, don’t want to spoil it before I give them to Ruth) and I have completed my 3 little projects for Naomi. I have a few projects to work on over the next few months; I may have something to give her when she’s born, but if not, there’s Christmas. I’m working on one last thing for the gift, I have 3 days to work on it and I hope I can do it. If not, it’s ok. But it’d be nice. (And I haven’t forgotten Andrew’s Birthday Christmas scarf. Or my bag.)

Friday is going to be busy. I am throwing Ruth’s baby shower and have a menu planned that luckily most can be done ahead of time. I’m taking the day off work so I can cook and bake and prep. Saturday morning is the baby shower – strawberry themed. Did you know it’s hard to find strawberry decorations and things? I would have thought it’d be so easy, being summer. But, no. Apparently it’s butterflies that are in right now.

And people have forgotten their manners (re: RSVP). I have gotten two calls so far. My mom and sisters are coming, that’s a given. But everyone else..? I may end up with too much food. Although I’m sure any leftover cupcakes or pretzel salad will find somewhere to go!

So.. this is my last weekend living alone. I have lived by myself for a year and a half, so it will take some getting used to. Sleeping with the door closed, closing the door when I pee (sorry, it’s true), being aware of my noise levels when others are sleeping. But there will be some definite positives, including getting more time with my sister-in-law that until now I have only seen now and then. She is extremely creative and very sweet, and maybe some of that will rub off on me. I hope we have some evenings knitting together. My brother has already said he’ll help me in the yard with all the weeds (read: jungle) I have back there. And it will just be nice to have people around.

To spend my last weekend alone, I’ll probably spend a lot of time running around naked (not true), cleaning (true) and getting the fridge and pantry organized to make room for them (true). I will play loud music all night (not true) and sleep naked on the couch (not true). Ooh! Knitting naked! (NOT TRUE – naked with sharp needles???) Ok why do most of my imaginary items involve nudity???

Maybe we will have some funny mishaps I can use for blog material. Or maybe not. But either way, it’ll be nice to have them around for a while and actually use the room upstairs that has been empty for over a year!

So.. Andrew’s birthday is tomorrow and his scarf is 1-2 inches long. Christmas scarf it is!

So.. yesterday two of my coworkers brought in their babies. One, who has a 7-month-old boy has brought hers in a few times (he’s precious!) and the other has a 3-month-old girl and it was my first time seeing her. What a ton of hair she had! It’s always fun to see babies, I love them and their laughs and their clothes and their little bitty shoes. Another coworker looked at me and said, “Doesn’t this make you want one?”

“No.”

“What?!?!?!”

I told her I am getting a new neice this summer and that’s good enough for me.

But then I saw this post from Living on 4th Street and, well.. THIS makes me want one.

Living On 4th Street

I love their little stories they make up and how they are so sweet and loving.

And if that doesn’t just tear your heart strings (what are you, made of stone?!?!), THIS will:

Dooce