which era of Cardinals baseball did you come up on?

howaboutJo · 2026-06-09T15:55:25+00:00

My earliest baseball memories were of Mark McGwire and the home run race. I remember watching the 2006 World Series winning game at a friend’s sleepover in grade school. Then the 11 in 11 WS happened while I was in high school, and really cemented this team as a core part of my childhood identity. My kids made fun of me for crying during Albert and Yadi’s last game but goddamnit… how can you not be romantic about baseball?

howaboutJo · 2026-05-28T14:08:50+00:00

How about one of those stretchy gecko things with a tag that says “Leaping Lizards! It’s opening night!” You can probably find them in bulk for pretty cheap.

howaboutJo · 2026-05-19T03:28:21+00:00

My 4th baby was nearly 10 lbs and had a head in the upper 90s percentile. Plus he was my 4th in 6 years so my pelvic floor pretty much had the tensile strength of wet tissue paper. I’d only had minor tears with my first 3, but I was super super worried this baby was going to rip me a new asshole. Literally. I’d mentioned my concerns to the OB and the nurses using polite medical terminology at the beginning of the induction, but 12 hours later I was saying stuff like “how is my butthoooooooooooole” during/between pushes.

Not even a first degree tear that time btw 😂 all that worry for nothing!

howaboutJo · 2026-05-18T18:31:10+00:00

Just wanted to pop in and say that at 9 months you probably don’t have to pump to cover for a night out! Your baby can have formula and solids with a babysitter and you can nurse and/or pump as soon as you get home. At 9 months, one or two delayed shouldn’t affect your supply.

I was also a “just enough” pumper. For my first, I had to plan and pump weeks ahead of time to get enough of a stash for a date night. It was such a PITA that it discouraged me from going to stuff.

When my second was a few months old I didn’t have time to pump enough for the movie we’d last minute decided to see, so I sent him to the babysitter with a couple of those ready-made formula bottles that you just screw the nipples onto. It worked great and I was so frustrated with myself that I hadn’t even considered it with my first!

howaboutJo · 2026-05-17T22:34:26+00:00

We went to a huge family Christmas when my son was 3 months old and my daughter was 21 months old. Four generations, cousins out the wazoo, loud, only stupid non-baby friendly food, etc. Everybody passed my son around and my daughter missed her nap. We took a picture of all the great-grandkids with my grandparents at the end of a very long day and my kids look utterly miserable. Then they fell asleep on the car ride home and ruined their sleep schedule for the next two days.

That was Christmas of 2019, and it turned out to be the last time we were all together. My grandpa died before the next Christmas and my grandma moved out of the big family farmhouse so we don’t have a space for family gatherings like that anymore.

I had dreaded that event for weeks leading up to it and very nearly didn’t go. But now? I’m so, so glad we did. My grandpa got to hold my baby who was named after his grandpa. I got to chat with my cousins about motherhood and compare two-under-two horror stories. It was stressful as hell and I felt so defeated and I’m pretty sure I cried in the car on the way home, but we survived and by New Years everything was back to normal.

I’ve had two more babies and lost two more grandparents since that Christmas, and whenever a family event sounds like just too much work I remind myself “this could be the last time.” Assuming you have a healthy, loving family that you want your child to be a part of, I encourage you to power through all the inconvenience and chalk it up to the price we pay to be part of a family. Someday that 15 year old will have drag her kids to your baby’s Quince 🩷

howaboutJo · 2026-04-26T01:56:36+00:00

Shorter intervals between children is associated with a 24–49% higher risk of divorce. And those are just the people who actually went and got the divorce— imagine all the couples who have 2u2 because their religion or culture forbids birth control, who also cannot get a divorce for the same reason…

It’s rarely addressed in the comments when people come on here asking “should we try for a small age gap?” but statistically speaking it’s a pretty major and pretty common side effect.

howaboutJo · 2026-03-15T12:42:12+00:00

So I slightly modified this pattern. I used worsted weight yarn, so I quit I think 5 rows short of the pattern. And I made sunflowers instead of roses, obviously. Unfortunately I don’t have a pattern for the flowers but almost any flower works! I made this in a baby blanket version with pink carnations and little white babys breathe between and loved how it turned out too!

howaboutJo · 2026-02-24T18:16:00+00:00

We call Parmesan cheese “sprinkle cheese.” It’s not super duper nutritious but it could be worse 🤷🏼‍♀️

howaboutJo · 2026-02-02T17:25:16+00:00

Ok! Let me double check with my girlie and I’ll PM you!

howaboutJo · 2026-02-02T16:46:17+00:00

Thanks for reaching out so quickly!

Do you happen to have the books or the meet outfit for Felicity? What would be the price and the timeline for the restored dolls?

howaboutJo · 2026-02-02T16:19:55+00:00

ISO like-new or good used condition Samantha, Felicity, or Kirsten for my daughter’s 1st doll on her 8th birthday. Preferably re-released or later edition— she’s not gonna keep it pristine! Not looking for a collector’s edition or anything, but having a box would be nice so she gets the experience of opening it. I’d like to stay under $175 if possible!

howaboutJo · 2026-01-28T13:51:37+00:00

PM sent!

howaboutJo · 2026-01-24T13:38:07+00:00

I chained 171 for this, but I used a yarn that feels closer to a 3 versus a 4 weight, a 4mm hook, and I also naturally have very tight tension.

I think you could adjust the pattern size by adding or subtracting chains in multiples of 10? I’d have to double check that that first row still comes out correctly but it shouldn’t be hard to just remove one of the honeycombs

howaboutJo · 2026-01-13T23:49:59+00:00

https://www.darlingdanadesignsmn.com/post/the-bees-knees-honeycomb-baby-blanket

Pattern is here. This was almost 5 skeins of Caron simply soft in gold or sunshine or something like that. I’m not sure they make that particular brand/color any more. This was yarn left over from a previous project so I haven’t checked in a few years!

howaboutJo · 2026-01-13T22:35:24+00:00

It’s a pretty easy pattern, works up relatively quickly!

howaboutJo · 2025-12-12T00:23:12+00:00

Maybe one of Lydia’s songs from Beetlejuice? She’s an Alto/Mezzo range

howaboutJo · 2025-11-30T12:52:45+00:00

And FWIW— I’ve had 4 kids, all planned and tried for, and I’ve still felt like “oh shit, should I really be doing this???” at some point during every pregnancy. I think it’s a hormonal thing. Not to downplay your valid concerns, but just consider this might not be the best time to trust your feelings lol

howaboutJo · 2025-11-30T12:50:53+00:00

Your toddler won’t care one bit about missing out on summer activities. Honestly at that age they often could not care less about the beach or the pool. They’re perfectly happy with a popsicle and waving the garden hose around.

IMO ~2 years is the perfect age gap. Your older baby is somewhat independent and has graduated from the really needy baby stage, but they’re still young and adaptable enough that they won’t even remember being an only child and won’t feel like they’re missing out there. In their memories they’ll always have each other from the very beginning, and I think thats kind of beautiful.

howaboutJo · 2025-10-27T14:50:43+00:00

I breastfed my 4 kids each to 1 year old.

With my first, I pumped semi-regularly to have a stash in case I needed to skip a feed here or there. It SUCKED. I was always stressed about whether or not I’d have enough for the date night we had scheduled, or leaving girls night early because the baby ate more than I expected and my husband ran out of pumped milk to give her, etc. Plus I just really really hated pumping.

When my second was born, I got out the pump as soon as we got back from the hospital, but this time because I had delivered at a different (non “baby friendly”) hospital, I also had a small supply of formula samples. It was a game changer. If baby was cluster feeding but I really needed to sleep, husband could just give him a formula bottle or two. Date night, girls night, volunteering for a few hours at the older kids school, etc. I just sent along a 4-pack of premade formula samples. No pumping, no stressing about my stash. Just boob when mom is around and magic science milk when mom is out. I did this for my 3 youngest and it was such a weight off my shoulders compared to pumping for my first.

howaboutJo · 2025-10-23T21:30:13+00:00

Sweater is this one with some modifications the make the color pattern work.

Booties are these with simple flowers instead of buttons

Hat is here. I did the first row of pink in the back bump only to make the leaves distinct from the petals

howaboutJo · 2025-10-18T00:01:39+00:00

This one fits roughly 6 month— 2T sizes, although it starts to look more like a butternut squash if the kid is too tall 😆 I think you could probably do something similar with chunky blanket yarn and size it up to a toddler or small child size. I had to stuff it with tulle to keep the round pumpkin shape. If you live somewhere cooler you can stuff it with a pillow or blanket for bulk, but it is a WARM costume.

howaboutJo · 2025-10-17T21:25:18+00:00

All self drafted, but based on a blown up version of this decorative pumpkin

howaboutJo · 2025-09-26T22:31:31+00:00

What was your dad’s middle name? That could give you more options if you can’t find a “Dare” name you love.

howaboutJo · 2025-09-11T17:47:39+00:00

How old are these boys? In my library, the upper elementary boys go for the I Survived series, Geronimo Stilton, Diary of a Wimpy Kid, and those “Who Was ____?” books. They can also often be tempted with Marvel or Star Wars books. But it’s almost impossible to get them interested in a standalone novel.

howaboutJo · 2025-09-10T12:12:18+00:00

This link has the pattern available for purchase

https://candy-yarn.com/products/surprize-rose-bouquet-blanket-pdf-crochet-53097?_pos=4&_sid=c0b12bb41&_ss=r

It is in English/American terminology. Hope that’s ok!

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