Sunday, March 02, 2014

Two wrongs don't make a right, but three wrongs do?

Day 7 of the 7 day blogging challenge and this is probably the third time I've tried to start this dang post.  Gah!  Clothing management? No one wants to hear me whine.  What I wore?  No good photos.  The Dutch baby pancake(s?) we ate for dinner?  Blaaaaaaaaaaaaaah.

Wait, if three ideas are bad, writing about ALL three bad things at once is going to be great, right???  Oh my gosh, I'm a genius.

1) They is too many clothes up in hurr.  How long do you keep clothes between kids?  How do you sort and store for different seasons?  There are almost 8 years between Lizzy and Cecilia, guys.  Ain't nobody got space to store clothes for 8 years.

And let's talk about mama's clothes for a second: 6 entire wardrobes.  Hot weather maternity, cold weather maternity, hot weather postpartum, cold weather postpartum, hot weather regular, cold weather regular...

Gah!  Make it staaaaahp!

Tell me all your secrets.

2) Oh my gosh, how am I not having twins?  Look at that belleh!
non-maternity maxi dress in size super ginormous: ThredUp
wrappy blue cardi: gift from my mama
cheapo chandelier earrings: similars

3) I don't know what I'm supposed to call this food.  The title of the recipe is "Vanilla Dutch Baby (Puffed Pancake)" but surely I will have to slap myself if I start calling it that.  Tommy calls it "funny pancakes."  Sounds good to me.





It's the perfect breakfast-for-dinner dish because it's fast and easy and you can put any sweet deliciousness on top that you prefer, but it's made with milk and eggs (as opposed to, you know, Cinnamon and Toast and Crunch) so you get your protein fix.  The recipe I used is right here.  Putting this in my pocket for Fridays in Lent, yes I am. 

I did it!  Seven days in a row!  Commence one woman award ceremony....

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35 comments :

  1. You are gorgeous! Regarding clothes. We had a 7 year gap between Boy #1 and Boy #2 and all of the clothes that I saved and stored for Boy #2 were given away to charity because he was a completely different size and build. I figure, if you are charitable, people will be charitable with you. We gave away most of the clothes we had in storage because I thought, "Someone could be using these RIGHT NOW and I've got them shoved in boxes in the attic. But we have had to purchase very little clothing for Miss Cupcake because of all the lovely clothing that has been gifted to us. Oh, and we call those Puff Pancakes. I had never heard them called "Dutch Babies" until I got on the internet. (It still sounds really weird and kind of creepy to me.)

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  2. Let it go! 8 years between my boys. Only save the good stuff. Dressy dress shirts, ties, blazers, Irish sweaters, and classic dresses because everything else will be super dorky in the future. "Remember when everyone wore skinny jeans? Knee-slap, guffaw!"

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    1. Yes, this. I'm having boy #4 in June (no older girls) and mine will be 10, 8, and nearly 4 when this one comes. Only stuff without elastic was even sort of worth keeping for the 4 years between boys 2 and 3. The dressy stuff isn't as worn out, either. So yeah, keep the best dressy stuff and give away all the casual stuff.

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  3. I have no idea about the kids clothes, but as far as mine goes…most of my skirts have elastic waists so they are totally pregnancy and postpartum friendly. And many of my shirts are long so I can wear them for much of pregnancy (I'm short so maybe taller folks don't have as many long shirts?). Basically, most of my clothes can be worn whenever. I do have a box of just maternity clothes that I store elsewhere when I'm not pregnant, but a lot of times I'm lending some out to my extremely fertile friends ;)

    Oh, I guess I should mention that I live in Louisiana so we don't exactly have 4 seasons like you…which means my "winter" clothes are limited.

    And you are glowing! Love the belly!

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  4. We have the hand me down clothes issue. I hold on to just about all of my eldest daughter's clothes for my second daughter who is about four years younger. Years ago when we moved I gave away most of the clothes that she outgrew only to have another little girl come along six years after my second. People who I gave clothes to along with several other families have so generously overwhelmed us with hand me downs for our youngest daughter. So now I am trying to figure out the best way to keep a reasonable amount of clothes and pass the rest on to others. When my second daughter outgrows clothes I sort through and keep only a week or two worth of outfits for Fall/Winter and Spring/Summer and give the rest away to friends with girls who are a bit older than my youngest. I'm thinking I need to start doing the same with my oldest daughter's outgrown clothes. It's insane the amount of clothing that can accumulate over four years and even crazier when you step back and look at ten years worth of girl clothing. EEK! For our son on the way my goal is to only have enough clothes for each of the little baby sizes that I can fit 2-3 sizes in one 18 gallon tote. So far the strategy is working and I'm forcing myself to not buy more clothing that we can reasonably need.

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  5. We call those just German Pancakes :). Well, that's what my mom always called them!

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    1. I grew up with them as German Pancakes also. I love them with lots of fruit. :)

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  6. Yep, German Pancakes. http://www.creative-culinary.com/german-pancake-or-dutch-baby/

    The Dutch prefer our poffertjes. http://dutchfood.about.com/od/pancakes/r/ClassicPoffertjes.htm

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  7. I hear you about the clothes. I had 4 kids in 8 years and cleverly managed an 8-yr gap between my girls and a 4-yr gap between my boys. Some awesome planning there, because, like you, we have ended up with a ridiculous amount of clothes. We have big shelves in the garage with boxes and blanket bags labelled 'girl 5+' or whatever. I keep most of it because I get all sentimental but I don't recommend it, to be honest. Over 8 years the elastic often disintegrates and they can get discoloured. And Miss Three is very clear on what she will and won't wear so half of it probably won't get used again. And my BFF has twins a bit older who hand on more clothes than my youngest could wear in three lifetimes. So I say, try and be more ruthless than me and give it to someone who needs it now. Especially if you have friends who will hand stuff on to you when you need it.

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  8. You've insprired me to write a whole post on my clothes keeping strategies for kids. The short version is I give most of it away. I love that line of whoever said "if you are charitable people will be charitable back to you"

    -Amelia@OneCatholicMama

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  9. I've got 10 years between Lotus and Rocky. I toss everything. The boys have two giant bins- one for "bigget boys' clothes" and one for "smaller boys' clothes", and they root through them to find something to wear.

    Because we're classy like that.

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  10. Living in the Midwest does take more space, doesn't it? My husband is constantly asking why we have this coat and that coat,etc. well, that's a "fall" coat. That's a "spring" coat. Etc. Ugh.

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  11. First I decided to invent the one size fits all tube sock, because keeping track of multiple size and genders of foot coverings is beyond me. Now I'm considering the clothing version of that idea. Do they makes scrubs in children's sizes?

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  12. We have a consignment shop that buys used clothes, so if you had one of those around, you could sell some clothes and then use the profits to buy new used ones in a different size. I'm kind of a hypocrite because we have tons of crawl spaces and keep bins and bins of boy clothes. I need to do better at this! That Dutch pancake looks like the hootenanny we make here. Yum!

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  13. Ooooh! Dutch babies! We make them all the time, because, like you said, they are made out of milk and eggs, two things which we produce in abundance here on our little homestead. We top 'em with some kind of fruit sauce, usually blueberries saved from the summer or apples, and then a big mound of fresh whipped cream. It always seems so decadent. :-)

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  14. I keep nearly everything (with nine years between my boys). I even keep clothes from much older cousins. I'm the only one in the family still having babies and one of the only ones in my group of friends still having babies - so we get a lot of hand-me downs. But I would rather keep them and clear them out when I reach menopause, lol. However, I have a large basement, so the biggest issue is organization, not space.

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  15. Had to pin you to Awestruck today, D. So pg cute!

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  16. You look great!!

    I love Dutch babies! They are so delicious.

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  17. You are the MOST gorgeous pregnant lady!

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  18. Give away the clothes! All of them!

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  19. The "funny pancake" reminds me of a cheese souffle. It sounds fancy and frenchy, but it's super easy and delicious! It is perfect with broccoli on Fridays in Lent. I use the recipe out of the Betty Crocker cookbook (not that anyone asked!).

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  20. It was easy for me to keep clothes with my first 3 - three girls in 3 years. But after that, it's a logistical nightmare. Four years between boys, another girl a few years later - it's too much. And then even more of both genders! Too many storage tubs, too little time to organize and remember what's in them all. Also, when you have a large family, lots of people happily hand down clothes to you (at least in my experience). So get rid of everything that's too trendy, boring , or overwhelming ( someone gave me12 pairs of one size of boys jeans!). Save only a few timeless pieces (I have a Gap fall coat worn by my 10 kids and the two who handed it down to me) or something like winter coats and snow pants that won't be hard to forget about.
    You never know what the fashions will be in the future, what the kids will like to wear ( some of my girls were dresses only, others had to be bribed to put on a skirt), and some materials do degrade or show stains over time. Pass things on to others - I give away to Goodwill or similar charity - it's nice to be the one to hand down clothes that are still relatively fashionable and intact.

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  21. Honestly, I keep all but the junkiest because I love seeing my kids in photos wearing things that trigger memories of other kids. I'm crazy that way. I keep giant plastic totes in the basement stacked crazy high with masking tape labeling the age the child wore them, not the size of the item. Too many different fits, and since they shrink depending on the number of kids who wore, I find the age more useful. I don't sort by season. I lived in the Midwest and now in Denver, so shorts tomorrow and sweaters today are normal, might as well have all of it in the drawers.

    As hard as it is to keep and track, and I have to say I've kept psychotic amounts, I love it. I worry so much less about it when they ruin something or it rips. I know I'm saving money because sine my eldest was the first grandchild on both sides, she had enough clothes for the entire neighborhood.

    Just for understanding, here's our breakdown...#1 girl, slow grower, #2 boy average growth, #3 boy slow grower, #4 girl fast grower, #5 girl average to slow grower. This mix means that in spite of an almost 7 year gap between 1 and 4, last summer I took shirts out of #1 drawer and put them straight into #4. (Of course, I thought we were done after 3 and 4, so the really baby stuff had been sold or donated.) Also, #4 is so far behind #3 in size that I'm keeping more than I planned.

    Good luck! And you're ridiculously beautiful.

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  22. Haven't had Dutch Babies since my childhood. Making them for breakfast-for-dinner tonight! Thanks for the idea. Also, you inspired a crazy binge organizing of the two year old's clothes for new baby girl...so much work, but totally worth doing and doing right!

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  23. Yes, the clothing issue. I've lived in the Midwest my whole life, and like you I seem to have 6 wardrobes. Plus, each of my 5 kids has 2 wardrobes (summer and winter), then you have the winter coats and the fall jackets and the snowsuits. We have insane amounts of clothing (insane) and when the weather goes from hot to cold to hot you pretty much have to have both wardrobes out when the season is changing. On top of that, we buy ahead so we have clothes on hand for them to grow into. My suggestion is to donate and trust that you'll find someone to donate to you when you need it.

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  24. I never thought to look at regular clothes in bigger sizes...brilliant!

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  25. For the kids, I have storage bins labeled 0-3 months(plus burp clothes and receiving blankets) 3-12 month, 2 year, 3 year etc.... Separate bins for boys and girls though things like pants can be shared. Even some boy shirts can be girlied up with accessories. For me I have bins labeled small, medium, large, maternity, and post maternity (or extra large). I'm not done having kiddos so I plan on keeping things that don't get destroyed or stained. Storage bins are great if you have the space.

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  26. if you dont have space, have a look on this article: http://myemail.constantcontact.com/Reasons-Not-to-Save-Those-Baby-Clothes.html?soid=1112168023626&aid=1GkX6ApGfr0.

    It`s just a clutterless idea...

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  27. For my 10 kids I only save clothes that are in very good condition and I am sure will be worn in the next year or so. I love to buy clothes and if I saved too many, how would I shop? Also, I kind of get tired of looking at them by the time they are on the 3rd or 4th kid.
    I make those pancakes and we just call them puffy pancakes. I usually make two, one sweet with powdered sugar and fruit and one savory with diced ham and cheddar cheese, yum!

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  28. Elastic wears out over time, so don't bother keeping things with elastic for 8 years. Give it away now and I am sure in 8 years there will be someone with girls clothes they need to give away. This goes for cloth diapers with elastic too. If you keep them in storage for too long, the elastic will loose its elasticity and you DON'T want that with a diaper!

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  29. 1-You look fab.
    2-No idea on clothes storage. I have 5 kids here, and I still have clothes for a baby girl, saved from my 1st, just in case...um...she is almost 10.
    3-We LOVE Dutch Babies here! And yeah, the name is odd. Like we're cannibals. Ewww...but the food, so yum.

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  30. If I haven't worn it in a year, I give it or throw it away. After Christmas, we rented a storage unit. We breathe better now but are $35 poorer each month…I think it's a good deal given what we have stored in there but ask me in a year.

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  31. We call those popover pancakes.

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  32. Oh wow! Just made a vanilla dutch baby! So much deliciousness!

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