On The Balance

Summer Recipe Roundup

2011-08-04T16:43:00.000-04:00

We've been enjoying the bounties of summer gardens lately. As much as I hate the heat, there's nothing finer than a perfectly ripe heirloom tomato in this Southern girl's estimation.

Here are some things I've whipped up of late:

I riffed on this Grilled Shrimp Panzanella with Basil from the August 2011 Real Simple and becuase I rarely leave well enough alone, I also added chunks of cucumbers, avocado, fresh oregano, and olives. I used a green zebra tomato and some other variety that was small and red. It was amazing.

The components to be grilled

Doesn't look that pretty (certainly not as pretty as the magazine) but it sure was tasty!

101 Cookbook's Summer Corn Salad

I neglected to take a photo of this, but it was so delicious. It made a wonderful, easy, no-cook supper one night when John was working (which is convenient since he doesn't like corn). The lemonade vinaigrette is intriguing, but I like a tangy vinaigrette so I'd probably cut back on the sugar a bit next time. Loved the crunch of the seeds. I put a big scoop of mine over a healthy serving of these greens, which are a new favorite. I get mine at Whole

Foods.

Flatbreads with Honey, Thyme & Sea Salt

My herbs have been really exploding so I used my thyme and some local honey to whip up these beauties from my kitchen crush, Deb. John & I tend to eat late, after we get MKM to bed (which lately has been nearing 9 p.m.; oh how I miss the days of the strict 7 p.m. bedtime) so sometimes I like a little bite of something to bridge the gap when we get home from work. This was perfect, and they were easy enough to whip up if you find out you have some last minute company dropping by.

I have also already made a huge batch of pesto for the freezer, just the way I like it. I keep mine really thick, pretty much a paste (less oil than many recipes call for): a couple of healthy squeezes of lemon juice, fresh grated parm, toasted pine nuts and 1-2 large cloves of garlic. Just enough oil through the top of the food processor to bring it all together but when I'm done with mine I usually have to end up scraping it out of the processor bowl. I like to keep mine thick because that way it works great as a sandwich spread and if you need to thin it out to toss with pasta, some of the pasta water does that naturally and you don't end up with an overly loose sauce. Also, when you store your pesto, either in the fridge or the freezer, if you leave enough room to put a thin layer of olive oil across the top before you seal it, this will help keep the pesto from turning brown. I so love that bright green color, so I always do this!

In addition to the standard genovese basil, this year I also planted this spicy globe basil which has tiny leaves that are more delicate in texture, and I just use the stems whole (they are much more tender and not woody at all) and throw them in the food processor. Obviously I like to have more standard variety on hand for chiffonades and other purposes, but I find myself using the spicy globe a lot lately. You can just pinch the leaves off and use as it with no knife necessary!

For the kiddies, I recently made these PB&J cookies. They actually have another name and are from my local Junior League cookbook, Seasoned to Taste. In the book they are the Kids in the Kitchen cookies, but PB&J is what they are. I sent them to school with MKM on Monday and by all accounts they were a hit. I made mine totally organic (and luckily, no one has a nut allergy in his room right now) but I'm sure they'd be as delicious with store brand jelly and Jif. :) If you want the recipe, email me {bkmaedelATgmailDOTcom}, but they are a pretty standard PB cookie recipe, make a small well in the middle and put a little dollop of your favorite jelly or jam in the middle & bake.

Next up, I want to try this Eggplant with Tahini & Honey, these grits with corn, goat cheese & roasted tomatoes, and sample this roasted peach lemonade while the crops are still plentiful and juicy!

Bon Appetit!

Fourth of July School Parade

2011-07-01T13:37:00.000-04:00

{Otherwise known as Mitchell just wanted to be held}

His school had a little parade today and I debated about whether to go or not. I decided to attend, but probably shouldn't have, becuase he cried for me to hold him as soon as he spotted me, and then cried really hard when I handed him back over to his teacher so I could return to the office. Oh, working motherhood, I do despise you sometimes.

But I did get a few cute shots of either him or his classmates. And isn't that the whole reason I subjected him (and myself) to that in the first place?

I think this is the only one of him that is remotely close to a smile. Don't you just love Maddie's little ringlets?

The whole group of Bumblebees (I think that is their class name, not sure, as I just refer to it as the Toddler room or the young 2's)

Also, please note that Mitchell has on one red sock and one white. The red one is part of a pair of Elmo socks that he got in his Easter basket from John's parents. He hasn't cared to wear them once, ever, but this a.m. he wanted them on and I could only find one of them so hence the mis-matched sock. Just not a battle worth fighting!

This one totally cracked me up. Don't they just look thrilled to be there?

He held Maddie's hand for approximately 20 seconds and then immediately wanted to be held the rest of the time. So much for marching!

With some of the teachers. The sweet blonde one behind M is his most favorite person ever, Miss Kristen. She was his teacher in the Wobblers room and we hated to leave her when he moved up. Not to worry though, she is a very reliable and frequent babysitter at our house!

We were treated to lots of songs and marching by the older classes. They really got into it!

Happy 4th all. Be safe & have fun!

Thanks to all who serve our country and keep us safe & free.

{pretty, happy, funny, real} Nightingale Thursday edition

2011-06-30T12:03:00.001-04:00

~ Capturing the context of contentment in everyday life ~

{pretty}

I had this arrangement at a recent fundraiser I hosted at home. It was too gorgeous, but those lovely peonies just don't last long in our hot weather. I have been pulling out the tired blooms and subbing in hydrangeas from the yard to make it last a bit longer! White peonies, white hydrangea, coral roses, thistle, blooming curly willow, and eucalyptus. And that urn is from Hobby Lobby, years ago.

{happy}

I attempted to recreate a gorgeous photo I saw in Bon Appetit's Summer Cooking Manifesto last month. Mine is much messier and less composed, but it was so delicious. What made me happy about this dish is what would probably drive some so crazy: I loved trying to cut everything into psued-uniform sizes, and laying it out in the dish. I miss having the time that I used to have to really devote to something in the kitchen; with a little one underfoot my goal is usually speed over execution/presentation. I used watermelon, yellow & red tomatoes, cucumbers, avocado, mozzarella cheese, toasted bread cubes, and made a dressing from lime juice, jalepeno, basil, mint and olive oil. This would be equally tasted just tossed in a bowl and dressed.

{funny}

This is my child with his clothing hamper on his head. Plus some yellow sunglasses his grandmother brought him. I love the mind of a child!

{real}

I am part of a new group in town called the Nightingale Network. We've been raising funds in the month of June to make the very first grant our local Women's Fund has ever made in our city, and tonight is the celebration event where the winner will be announced! Three agencies are vying for the grant: a new community garden/farmers' market in a "food dessert" area of town; a life planning course for women who are single-wage earners in their household; and a Mom's Club program for uneducated expectant mothers. All three are amazing choices and I'm so proud to be a part of this movement.

Park Playdate

2011-06-27T10:49:00.000-04:00

We met up with up some friends on Saturday while M & I were in the 'ham for a wedding. The kiddos ate their weight in fruit (peaches, watermelon & blueberries) and had fun playing together; the adults just tried to stay in the shade. It was HOT!

The roster (in addition to us, of course): Erin, ML & CQ, Momo, Chris & Sinclair, and Rainer & Bitty

Mitchell dug right in to the watermelon

Initially CQ looks a litte wary of Mitchell; she warmed up and played, and ML reported that C told her Bitty & Mitchell were fun!

Doesn't she look like she is on a mission?

They all seemed to enjoy hanging out in this tunnel, eating their fruit. I absolutely adore this image - it really captures their playful little relationship!

Watching those crazy Kendrick cousins

Mitchell was trying to get her to say 'cheese'

I love the blueberry muffin death grip.

I know you cannot see M's mouth, but I promise he's smiling. His eyes squint up just like his mama's when he grins.

Momo & Sinclair were just chillin

And CQ was looking for "bugs" (they filled AE's bug house with sweet gumballs) and holding on to her blueberry cup very tight!

Fun times were had by all! Thanks to all who came, despite almost all kids having slept poorly the night before. I miss my friends & family so I treasure that time we do get to spend together!

Mitchell Catch Up at 22 Months

2011-06-24T16:00:00.001-04:00

So yeah, the star of our show hasn't had much press on here lately, huh? I know that's why most of you read, if anyone is actually still reading this thing. I post so infrequently these days, and for that I apologize, but the balance in life just really hasn't been there. As I say all the time, we all do what we can. I hope we can still be friends. Marc posted recently about how much time it takes to prepare a post...I concur, and honestly that's one of the reasons I usually just don't post anything. At any rate.

Finally got around to planting my kitchen herbs

(they seem to be doing well, despite our Hades-like temps recently)

Here's what MKM has been up to of late:

Verbal Skills: the vocabulary continues to mushroom. At last count, in March, he was well over 100 words and now he is able to speak in sentences. The funniest thing about him though is his recall. He will remember something that was said or explained to him long after the memory of the instance has left my addled brain. Sometimes I have to have him repeat himself a few times before I can even figure out what he is talking about. He also mimics frighteningly well. We have to really watch ourselves now. He can sing the full ABC song as well as Twinkle Twinkle (convenient that they are the same tune). He also loves to be sung "Little Bunny Foo Foo (which he adds several extra 'foo' sounds onto) and the Shoo Fly song. Still very into who people are, saying names of all his/our friends and we talk about Daddy being at the 'tadium a lot.

"Mewon" is one of his favorite snacks

Some of his favorite phrases

"I hold you" - obviously, when he wants one of us to hold him
"I ____ (verb)" - he is big into the statement of the obvious, saying things to me like "I waffing (laughing), I color, I walking, etc.
"Mitchell do it" - anyone who has ever met a 2 year old will identify with this
"Wook, mama, big truck" - he likes to point out every.single.truck we pass, which can get a bit exhausting when we are in the car for a long time. There are only so many times to sound excited about an 18-wheeler.
"That right there" - this one gets used constantly while playing & eating; big fan of arranging and re-arranging things.
Dump It - without fail, if I give him something liquid, he will look at me with a hopeful look and ask if he can dump it out. I guess he expects that one day I will respond in the affirmative. Other than the random bucket of water I put out on the deck for him to play in, he's going to have to keep waiting on that one!
"Wike dat" - for the longest time, he would say "like that" if he liked it, or if he didn't. He has started learning to put a no in front of things he doesn't like but it's still sporadically applied.
" 'sat?" - as in who or what is that - he asks this 80 jillion times a day
And everyone's perennial favorite, "why" has crept into our vocab. Cue the tearing of my hair.

Whyyyyyy, won't my pictures display correctly? I tried rotating this one 3 times.

He hates hates hates getting his nails cut. It's like way past fussing and onto tortured sobs. My mom kept him for me last month while I had to be out of town for work and the Lookouts were in town, meaning John was chained to the stadium. Unless our magical nail cutter is around and then he's semi-OK with it. Who might that be, you ask? Erin. If she is involved, he seems to be fine with it, so we have to schedule our mani/pedi sessions each time we are Birmingham. Please do not ask my why this is. He has just latched on to her as being the one who cuts his nails. Last time we were headed down there, I was talking to him about it beforehand and I asked him who all we were going to see, and we were saying everyone's name. All of a sudden he blurts out "Erin - nails." I asked him if he wanted Erin to cut his nails and he said yes. When I then asked if she could cut his toenails (which he truly hates having done) he exclaimed with a very enthusiastic "yeah!". When I told Erin this story she said she loved the way his mind works. So true, sister, so true. From the looks of this photo it's a good thing we're coming for a visit...

Playing with a pull & peel Twizzler (didn't care a thing about eating them, but enjoyed pulling them apart); contents under nails at present include playground dirt and blue icing from a classmate's bday party. He's a real catch.

We've been experiencing some novel behavioral issues in our household. Mitchell continue to remind us that he's nearing the age of 2. Some days even getting shoes on is a battle, becuase of the "I do it" factor. We try to find ways for him to participate in the process, but sometimes you just cannot predict what is going to set them off. So I've caved into letting him watch a few minutes of one of his little shows in the a.m. becuase I can dress him in 2 minutes flat that was, as opposed to chasing him around the room when he's not otherwise engaged. It's not probably my finest parenting choice to date, but when you're getting yourself, a toddler and sometimes a husband out the door (and taking the dog out somewhere in there too), you do what you gotta do.

Strawberry Summer Cake from Smitten Kitchen. You should make this. Soon. So easy.

Mitchell has had some less than glowing reports from school of late, but we're hoping part of that is growing pains from moving up to a new classroom right after Memorial Day. He had grown very tired of his old classroom (although we LOVE LOVE LOVE his teacher from that room, she is our most favorite babysitter) becuase he was well past the age where he should have moved up and was just stuck where he was due to space issues at daycare. They had a bit of a logjam in one of the older classrooms, which meant quite a few children had to stay where they were for longer than usual. M's old room was 12-18 months (approximately) and he moved just before his 22nd month. When you are talking about the developmental span between a 12 month old and a 22 month old (who is pretty advanced, at least when it comes to language) that is a huge difference and we were able to tell that he was feeling a bit stunted. Plus, I think he was just getting tired of some of the kiddos in his class. He's very happy to be back with his 2 buddies that have been there since he started at 3 months old.

Here they are (upside down) playing at a birthday party. What is the deal, Blogger?

Those others will be in his new room soon enough, but it was clear M needed a change of scenery. Still, he's been a bit mischevious since he's moved up, but I'm praying that is just a factor of excitement and getting used to new routines (they walk up stairs to eat, sit at a little table where as before they had been in chairs with trays to limit movement). They enforce the "walking feet" rule indoors, and Mitchell is the walking feet police. He likes to remind me to use walking feet all the time (not that I run around a lot, but he tells me just the same) and points them out anytime we see anyone walking or gasp, running (as in for excersize).

And yet, here he is running with popsicle in hand. At least he doesn't have it in his mouth, right?

I really do count my lucky stars all the time at how inquisitive and intelligent he is. He has always just seemed to be in a hurry - he was huge when he was born, sat up at 4.5 months, crawled at 6 months and was walking by 10 months. He's still that way...he just whizzes through life. Please understand that I say none of this in a boastful way...it's our reality and that's where I'm coming from. I say this becuase for me, it's hard many days to sit down and appreciate the little moments, but I do try. He's still so sweet and loves to hug and kiss (and invents lots of boo-boos that he commands me to kiss) but those baby traits are just melting away and he's becoming a big boy before our eyes. It's fun, but I see why people talk about how much they miss thier children being babies. I couldn't have appreciated it even this time last year because we were still in the throes of it, but even this short time later I really can identify.

Focusing really hard on some eye-cweam

He's 100% boy and we still call him Pig Pen with good reason. He is very into climbing, being chased and general rough-housing. Every time we are outside with Dixie he'll look at me with a gleam in his eye and ask if he can go running. He loves to "dig-dig" in the dirt and is getting more into sports. His daddy has been very deliberate about teaching him to go "boom" and swing his arm like he would a baseball bat, but by the looks of this it continues to be more likely to me, that he will be a catcher. He's always been a squatter.

Again with the orientation - sorry.

In closing, this boy makes life so interesting and often, challenging. But we usually have fun too. My house is not very clean, my yard has been sorely neglected, and the dog has been walked far too seldom these days, but that is the life of 2 working parents I suppose. I struggle every day with juggling it all, and I'll be honest that of late I've not done a great job, but I'll end with this little gem I plan to order for self-affirmational purposes very soon. It's so true, at least in my world, which is what matters. You know, to me. Happy Friday, ya'll!

{pretty, happy, funny, real} all cell phone pics edition

2011-05-19T14:40:00.002-04:00

{pretty, happy, funny, real}

~ Capturing the context of contentment in everyday life ~

pretty

I got to celebrate my two pretty sisters (one of them is an -in-law) last weekend as they both prepare to welcome new babes into the world. Thanks Lolly for the pic!

happy

M with his leading lady from next door. They literally dumped cups of water on themselves, fully clothed for nearly 30 minutes (only stopping while I had to fill up their bucket again). The sounds coming out of them is what sheer bliss sounds like!

funny

Mitchell received this little walker wagon for a 1st birthday gift and he has enjoyed the heck out of it, although he is usually being pushed in it. Not too long ago I saw him wrestling his way into it and I realized how much he's grown lately. Hilarious!

real

Mitchell loves "drifing" and sometimes Mama will let him while she is trying to unload groceries/unlock the door/turn off the alarm/take the dog out/etc (obviously the car is turned off and the keys are on my person). He loves it and I can only imagine that one day, 15 years from now, I'll be thinking to myself "It was only yesterday when...."

{Mostly} Fun Friday Links

2011-05-06T11:50:00.000-04:00

Here are a few little web gems I've found recently, mostly on my Google Reader feed. Don't miss the last one, please.

From Whisker Graphics, a couple of sweet {free} downloads in case you are really behind on getting a card. You can print on any paper or cardstock to fit your needs. Links to the download can be found by clicking above. I can see this as a lovely placard or a name card on a brunch table. I love the pink stripes! This company is the maker of the awesome Divine Twine. It really does make the cutest wrapping for small gifts and especially baked goods.

Pink Stripe

Apostrophe Heart

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A sweet friend in town, who stitches the most amazing felted confections through her business Ivey Handcrafted, is doing a sweet little raindrop for tornado relief in the TN Valley. She can make it into a brooch or a barette (alligator clip or bobby pin, you pick) for you. She is making these for $10 and all proceeds are going to the Chattanooga Area Red Cross. See more on these on her post. I've already bought two (one of each) to have on hand in my gift chest.

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This one isn't so fun but I implore you to watch it. It had me in tears. All the footage and interviews are from the Tuscaloosa area.

SoLost: Chainsaw Samaritans from Oxford American

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{pretty, happy, funny, real} I've Been Gone A Long Time

2011-05-05T10:23:00.000-04:00

You don't even have to say it. I know. It's been 4+ months since I last blogged. I have just had to accept that there are things I might have to step away from at times because I just cannot fit another activity into my day. And sadly, blogging has been one of them of late, as I've been completely drained of creativity. But I'm going to try to commit to this because I think it's a great thing to do on a weekly basis. If you don't already read the blog that started this, I highly recommend it. If you click on the link below you will be taken to LM,LD.

{pretty}

My spring flowers bring me great joy. With all the rain we've had lately (that's an understatement), everything has just been blooming beautifully.

Peonies just beginning to pop (took this last week, since then I've had to cut 6 huge blooms off before they fall over completely)

Yellow iris - by some accident of planting, all of the ones I have on the left side of the house are yellow, while those on the right are all purple

First blooms of hydrangea - despite putting aluminum sulfate on this bed year after year, they always end up turning pink, so I'm just going to go with it this year. I guess the phosphorous level in that soil is through the roof!

{happy}

We are so fortunate to have a dear friend with a child Mitchell's age right behind us. The kids go to school together and now that the weather is nice we play together outside quite literally everyday. As a mother, it has been invaluable to me to have another momma to bounce ideas off of, commiserate with, and always feel comfortable saying "can you watch him for a second while I (insert a whole host of things it is easier to accomplish while a toddler is not underfoot)?" And I do the same for her. The biggest blessing though, is that our children play so well together and already have a best friend!

Here they are having an impromptu al fresco picnic dinner one day last week

(Excuse M's face, he's always dirty but allergy season has been rough on his little system which always means a bad gunky nose)

{funny}

Have ya'll read Tina Fey's book yet? It is funny and smart, sweet and dirty, all at once. I loved the balance of humorous stories (which are numerous, girl is not afraid to poke fun at herself) and her look at the struggles of succeeding in a male-dominated business. She managed to write a book that celebrates female empowerment without ever sounding preachy or holier-than-thou. I love Liz Lemon more than ever after reading it.

That's probably not the funny you were hoping for though.

Here's a funny I saw the other day on a blog. Perhaps the best "Keep Calm" I've ever seen.

Who watched the Royal Wedding? I'm not going to lie, I got up at 5:30 and turned on the TV.

{real}

There isn't much more real around here than the horrible devastation from last week's storms. In the TN Valley, thousands are homeless and hurting from what (or who) they lost. Thanks to Facebook and Twitter I'm also hearing all the horrible reports from my sweet home Alabama.

It's devastating, y'all. Find whatever way you can give and do it. I'm not going to make any recommendations other than to say please do your research and if you're going to donate $$, give to a well-established organization that will be good stewards of your charity.

No picture here, we've all been inundated with horrifying images and heartbreaking stories. I'm encouraged by the way things like this can pull a community together; I just wish that the spirit would continue long after houses are rebuilt and closets are replenished. Here's to hoping (and praying) that we can all be catalysts that to happen. God bless you all.

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More soon on what the Maedels have been up to, lo these many months.

Cozy Up

2010-12-15T15:29:00.001-05:00

Ya'll I made the most delicious green chile mac & cheese the other night. It came from the December edition of Bon Appetit, in the RSVP section, where you can write in and say "I had the most awesome ________ from _________ in _____, ___" and they will contact the restaurant and ask them for the recipe.

I guess there are probably some parameters, like maybe they change up a few ingredients or leave out some secret step, but whatever. If there is some recipe that you love from somehwere you've been, it's worth a shot!

This comes from the Roaring Fork in Scottsdale, AZ and the notes say it would be a great side dish for steak. I agree with that pairing but I made it with thin cut chicken breasts that I marinated in vegetable oil, hot chile powder (if you don't have that use mild and add a dash of cayenne), cumin, garlic pepper, salt and lime juice. I served the chicken over the mac & cheese with a lime slice on top for some extra fresh zing. This was so yummy and comforting, without being too rich.

I looked to see if there was a link for this on the BA website, but I don't know if they publish their RSVP recipes online or not. I didn't find a link to this particular recipe.

Green Chile Mac & Cheese
Courtesy of Bon Appetit, via Roaring Fork Restaurant in Scottsdale, AZ

1 whole fresh poblano chile plus 1/4 c chopped fresh poblano chile
1 T corn oil
1/4 c chopped red bell pepper
1/4 c chopped red onion
1 garlic clove, minced
1/2 c fresh corn kernels or frozen, thawed
3/4 c whipping cream
2 c freshly cooked macaroni (about 2/3 c dried)
1/2 c grated pepper jack cheese
1 pint grape tomatoes, roasted* (optional, see notes below)

Char whole chile directly over gas flame or in broiler until blackened on all sides. Transfer to paper bag; seal. Let stand 15 minutes. Peel, seed & coarsely chop chile. Transfer to food processor; puree until smooth.

Heat oil in have large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add 1/4 c chopped chile, bell pepper, onion, and garlic. Saute until soft, about 4 minutes. Add corn, stir 1 minute. Add cream and chile puree, bring to boil. Add macaroni and cheese; stir until cheese melts and mixture is heated through. Season with salt and pepper.

* - I made a couple of modifications. This was all I was serving (chicken and mac/cheese) to our neighborhood dinner swap** so I wanted it to have a bit more vegetable punch. First off I double all the pepper amounts and then I had about a pint & a half of grape tomatoes at home, so I threw those in the oven and roasted them with olive oil, salt & pepper until they had burst open (10-15 minutes on 400). I thought they went very nicely with the rest of the ingredients. Stir them in at the end. They will kind of break up and be all throughout the pasta.

** - Have I told y'all about our dinner swap? Here's the deal: three households who are all within steps of one another do this every week. Three nights of the week, one house is responsible for dinners for their own house as well as the other two houses, so you are essentially cooking for 6 adults one night a week, and then two other nights dinner is taken care of for you. It is awesome. We just all laid some parameters of things to stay away from (one person doesn't like raw bell peppers but will eat them cooked, our house has a pretty strict no-mayo policy, and one person doesn't eat shrimp). We all have very young kids who typically eat before we do, and we are all OK with eating later (as in, after our kids have gone to bed). I do think you have to be pretty close in proximity to one another to do this, successfully, on a regular basis, but it's been such a blessing to not have to worry about it. We started it this summer and all agreed that we wanted to keep it up for a while. If all the variables work out for, I encourage you to talk to some friends and try it out!

Bon Appetit!

Translation, Please

2010-12-10T13:46:00.000-05:00

I have been meaning to get this down somewhere so I can remember. At 16 months, Mitchell has 30-35 words in his vobabulary. His first real word was uh-oh, followed by Daddy and dog. He says Mama a lot more now, which is often mixed with 'mo' (and the accompanying sign for more), I guess because he knows Mama will always feed him!

Here's a rundown of some of what he's saying/doing (since some of it is closer to signing than speaking) these days:

wa-wa is the universal word for anything to drink; he drinks his wa-wa in a 'pup'
ow-da (outside); he will go and stand at the back door when I ask Dixie if she needs to go outside, and sometimes he'll just go stand there without me even asking and start saying it over and over. The first syllable is emphasized with a very exaggerated open mouth, where his chin almost touches his chest.
poo (for both spoon and fork)
peas (please, along with a vigorous rubbing of his chest, to approximate the sign for it)
pass (pacifier)
bush (brush)
bath, which I sometimes get it confused with his pronunciation of either pass or brush, as they all sound similar but he definitely uses them distinctly
likes to say nose and then points out the nose, eyes, ears, head/hair and mouth of anyone around; be careful if he goes for your nose or your eyes, as his finger ususally goes IN both; also likes to point out belly buttons if you ask him where people's are but he doesn't really say anything for that yet
up and open (both sound similar but I can usually tell which it is he's trying to say)
socks/shoes (and his favorite, boots, with emphasis on a long 'ssss' sound at the end)
hat
ba-bwee (baby)
hot ('ot, and then he usually does a little 'ssss' noise because that's how we taught him not to touch the fireplace and the oven and he seems to think it is funny
tair for chair
light
book
bubbas (bubbles)
Mitchell's name for Santa is Ho. I'm not sure Santa will apprecite that one.
Foods he likes to say are apoo (apple), eths (eggs), ice, cacker, rais (raisins), gape (grape), cheese and he has a word for blueberries but I cannot reproduce it, much less spell it.
Animals: dog (also says woo-woo; this continues to be his favorite word, we are all dogs all the time around our house), cow (only says cow sporadically but if he sees a picture of a cow or you ask him what a cow says he will respond with moo), horse (same as with cow, rarely says the word but knows neigh very well), duck (says the word and also knows that a duck says 'dack dack'), cat (prounounces the cat sound like mow instead of meow), 'daff' (giraffe), 'ga ga' (for the gobble gobble of a turkey, although he cannot say that word)
He has an animal book that he can identify a lot of the animals in, either by the name of the animal or by the sound they make, but as we all know some animals don't make a noise that is identifiably thiers, or easy to mimic, so I try to tell him something about those animals, like "the zebra has stripes" or "the elephant has a long nose". One of them I've always done is say "waddle waddle" when we see a penguin, so now he says something like that and sways from side-to-side when he sees one.
Names he can say pretty well: Mama, Dada, Dixie, Maddie (next door neighbot/classmate and her name is running a close 2nd to dog these days as his favorite one to say), Mike, Spot (dot), Grampa (pa-pa). We work on his other classmates' names regularly and he does a pretty good job with all of them but one, which is kind of tough (Dakota; if anything he will say something like 'co' when I say his name). The others I can make out that's what he's saying are "ez" (Ezra), "dack" (Jack), "day" (Grey), and ess-da (Jessica, a teacher).
He loves to say hi and bye. His new thing is to go tell someone bye when he's ready to go or wants me to be done talking. He does the bye thing a lot lately if I'm talking on the phone and he's at home with me. He'll just walk up to me and say 'bye' to me and start grabbing on my legs. He makes sure I get the message!

I am sure there are plenty of other cuties I'm leaving out. It is really fun to watch him processing so much. I know what he comprehends is way more than what he can say, that's for sure!

Big Fat (Random) Holiday Shopping Guide

2010-12-08T12:13:00.000-05:00

Hello, fair readers. Do y'all even remember who I am? I am so sorry for my blog break of late. I just cannot seem to get it together enough to write anything, but I learned recently that I have more readers than I knew about, so I guess there is some added external pressure to update this baby so you don't have to look at my Amazon.com wishlist of cookbooks any longer....

Without further ado, here is my big, fat, holiday shopping guide. There is no rhyme or reason to this list...it is simply a list of interesting gift ideas I've seen lately. I was going to do separate posts for a bunch of different categories, but clearly I've not shown I'm capable of that much follow through so I'm just going to try to do a mammoth single post. I hope you find a few things that someone on your shopping list might like too!

For the hostesses on your list

Seeded Glass Pitcher - This beauty would also double as a unique vase, and it's on sale right now!

These soapstone whiskey stones will keep a drink cool without watering it down (you can buy with or without the pictured glasses). Pair with a nice bottle of his (or her) favorite brown liquor for a complete gift!

This bay leaf peace wreath is a fun twist on an old standby gift idea for me. I love giving wreaths, especially to those who I don't see very often. A beautiful greenery wreath goes with most any decor and I think it's definitely one of those gifts that keeps on giving (plus it is stunning as is, so you don't have to worry about it not being wrapped, since most of them cannot be gift-wrapped).

My favorite place to send wreaths from is Williams-Sonoma. I have been ordering them for about the last 5 years and they have always been high-quality, long lasting and beautiful!

I have this Magnolia & Pomegranate Wreath from last Christmas and it is still beautiful.

I think this cook's herb wreath is a wonderful option for the chef in your life!

For the person who has everything

Sorry for the blatant giveaway of where I stole this photo from (here is the link to it on amazon.com). I think this would be great for a friend who has everything and might appreciate some new material on her coffee table (especially one that might have a hidden stash of Us Weekly magazines hidden in a cabinet somewhere). It's a little bit cheekier than just pictures of landscapes, or houses, etc but still has gorgeous photos.

There are endless possibilities out there for a photography lover - gorgeous options exist for almost any interest or hobby. Here are two that I'd love to feature in my home.

Click on the photo for a link to the item.

Another great idea is a personalized puzzle. I got these puzzles made from a satellite image of an address for several family members on our list (the hometown puzzle is more of a general area). John's extended family is very hard to buy for, so I just got everyone a puzzle of thier address. If nothing else it will keep them occupied for a while! I got mine from LL Bean since they have free shipping on everything right now, and I can just ship them directly to the recipeints, who live in FL and CO so we're not going to see them anyway. However, they are available from a bunch of different retailers, so if you have a coupon or promo code, you may want to do a quick Google search to see if you can use it to buy one from some other retailer.

For the charitably minded

First, let me say that I totally support charitable giving at the holidays in lieu of gifts. There is no one on my gift list who truly needs a single thing; nor do I. Of course getting gifts is fun and that's what most of this list is about, but I fully support this method if this is the way you admirably choose to go. I hope to push my "gift giving" more in this route in years to come. A nice note explaining why you have chosen to give to a specific organization in honor of someone is certainly sufficient. However, if you would rather give a more tangible gift here are some good options. All of these ideas donate to worthy causes in some way.

Juliska Cornerstones Charity Piggy Bank - available in pewter and signature Juliska whitewash

$8 for every bank sold, with minimum of $50,000 goes to Save the Children; I would write a nice note and encourage the recipient(s) to choose a charity to support with the funds they place in the bank.

(sorry the picture is so tiny, it got very blurry as I tried to make it larger)

Donors Choose

This was recently featured on Oprah's Ultimate Favorite Things (Did y'all see that one by the way? Completely over the top.). We all know teachers who have to pay out of their own pockets for necessary supplies. This site helps you match up your donation with a classroom. You can choose what project you want to donate towards.

Kellie is the daughter of Hank Greenwald, who was a baseball broadcaster for the Giants and Yankees during his career. He published his autobiography in 1999, after which Kellie expressed her desire to put out her own story. Kellie was born with Down's Syndrome and wanted her book to portray memorable events and emotions in her life. From Amazon: Kellie's Book expresses her celebration of life & promises to be a source of hope for people with developmental challenges, their families, extended families, providers, & educators. It is a testament to the fact that when children know they are utterly loved & supported, there is no end to what they can achieve & no end to what they can give back by uplifting the lives of those around them.

Part of sales proceeds are being donated to The Cedars of Marin, a facility for adults with developmental disablilties. Y'all know this book hits a soft spot with me.

***There are millions of ways to do this same thing. If you are passionate about local food, then buy a membership to a local CSA/food box/co-op program. If you love the Humane Society, sponser a few animals to be spayed/neutered in someone's honor. If a local charity produces an item that gives the proceeds back to it's causes, buy a few of those for gifts. The sky is the limit. I think any thoughtful gesture that supports a cause someone is passionate about is the ultimate gift.***

For the gourmand

There is a heck of a lot of fancy food out there. I prefer to find something sort of cheeky and fun to give; if you see some crazy unique food item and think, "I'd love to try that, but I'd never buy it for myself", then it's a great gift idea. I like the idea of picking one thing and buying a case, or in whatever bulk quantity for that to just be your signature gift for the year. Here are a couple of things I've seen that I'd love to try (but probably won't buy for myself, wink wink).

Mo's Bacon Chocolate Chip Pancake Mix

This stuff is made by Vosges, a "haute" chocolate company. The Mo's Bacon Bar has bits of bacon in a chocolate bar. This mix has bits of the bar in it. Need I say more?

Blackberry Farm Spicy Pear Chutney I think by now y'all know I'm obsessed with this place. Many of its popular products are available for purchase online, and this is one of just several that I want to try. They even sell a handsome looking birch box that will hold 2 12-ounce jars so you can give someone a sampler if you wanted. Some other products I have my eye on are the green tomato chutney, the winter jam and the spring thyme marmalade.

As for other food gifts, think regional. If you love a particular item from your hometown, consider packaging up nuts, cheese straws, honey, jam or any other special item that has some significance to you or the gift giver. As always, a nice note explaining why the gift is special helps give it that personal touch. Consider making your own gifts. I get my ideas most regularly are the kitchn blog, Smitten Kitchen, My Recipes and Real Simple.

For the young (or young at heart)
*My apologies this part of the list is sparse. As I write this on December 8, I don't even know what I plan to get my own child for Christmas, so I'm hardly able to give you much guidance on what to give yours.*

I am in love with Elizabeth Mitchell's music. We have You Are My Little Bird, You Are My Flower, You Are My Sunshine and I just ordered her newest release, Sunny Day. Her songs are sweet, fun and creative, and I find myself listening to them for my own pleasure, which is something I cannot say for all children's music! Consider tucking one of these into a child's stocking.

Mary Englebreit's 'Twas the Night Before Christmas
This book is absolutely beautiful. Even if you already have a copy of TtNBC, I think this is a gorgeous addition to a child's library. Her sweet Nursery Tales book is also a great gift.

My favorite children's gifts come from The Land of Nod (free shipping on lots of great gifts right now), Learning Express, or Uncommon Goods. I know lots of people find lots of wonderful things on Etsy, but I always feel like I need anti-anxiety medicine and a personal shopper before I go looking for anything on there. There's almost too much available. If you don't know what you are looking for, do not go there.

I hope this gives you some great ideas. If I come up with any other gems this week I will do a follow up. I am also trying to squeeze in a quick Mitchell update. Stay tuned!

Wishlist: Cookbook Edition

2010-10-01T14:58:00.002-04:00

First off, full disclosure: I am in a cookbook state of mind...I have been working on the fabulous new Junior League of Chattanooga cookbook (out in April 2011), and our committee got to sneak a peek at the cover art last week (gorgeous) so I've got cookbooks on the brain. Sorry to bore those of you who don't share this obsession with me!

It's not really Christmas shopping season yet (I guess maybe it is for some of you overachiever types), but I've got a wishlist a mile long on Amazon, and just thought I'd share what foodie books I'm pining for lately...maybe you have someone in your life who's like me and would appreciate one of these beauties under her tree?

New Ina, out later this month...I want Ina's life (or at least her house), but since I don't see us moving to the Hamptons any time soon, I will just have to be satisfied with her newest tome. I have Family Style (this is the cookbook that has my fave lasagna recipe) and Parties and have used them both extensively. This is what Amazon says about her:

"Ina Garten is known for her uncomplicated but elegant recipes designed for the home cook whose priority is spending time with friends and family--not in the kitchen." And I ask you, who doesn't want to live like that?

Medium Raw: A Bloody Valentine to the World of Food and the People Who Cook - Anthony Bourdain

This isn't a cookbook, but it's a book about food, which I think counts. Doesn't that title make you want to read it? If you know who Anthony Bourdain is, and what he's like, it does! I am a huge fan of his TV show, No Reservations, and his persona as a judge on Top Chef, and I love how adventurous he is with food, so clearly reading his "valentine" is a must for folks like me!

I need this one in my collection of famous Birmingham chefs' cookbooks. Also, I'd like to go eat there very soon. Who's with me?

New one from The Lee Brothers, the native Southern, NY transplants. It's OK, I don't hold it against them, because their food is so good!

And last, but certainly not least, this gem:

The Blackberry Farm Cookbook: Four Seasons of Great Food and The Good Life

Y'all, if I ever get to actually go to Blackberry Farm and stay, I will just die and go directly to heaven. It is located here in East Tennessee, not far from where we live (less than 2 hours), but based on the price of the rooms (cheapest starts at right under $800/night), well, this gorgeous beauty is probably going to have to do me for many years. I actually recently purchased this one for myself, from a Random House sale on One King's Lane (if you aren't a member and want to join, let me know and I'll send you an invitation) and it is supposed to arrive in a week or so, and I cannot wait. The pictures are just gorgeous, the recipes are so inviting and well, I think this would just be an awesome gift for your momma, or your sister, or just a very special person in your life.

In the immortal words of Mrs. Julia....Bon Appetit!

Fall Feast

2010-10-01T08:34:00.001-04:00

Oh Fall, how I love thee!

I celebrate thee! I...you get the picture.

After a brutally hot summer, I am especially grateful for Fall this year...our schedule is a bit slower, we're spending breezy afternoons on a blanket in the yard, and just enjoying being a trio after some long months of missing John during baseball season. This weather always makes me itch to entertain - gather some friends together to watch football, or play in the leaves, or take a ride to the pumpkin patch. There's just something about fall that to me, says family, hospitality and warmth.

So I've got a whole slew of recipes I've been collecting, just waiting for the right occasion, and I thought I'd share. Maybe you can whip up a few for your next gathering. Yes, some of these are heavy....it's almost hibernatin' time...what can I say? I've tried to throw a few salads and lighter ideas in too, in the interest of balance. Go take a walk outside to work it off, OK?

Appetizers/Dips/Spreads

A perennial favorite in my family & circle of friends is sausage dip. Mix 2 blocks of softened cream cheese (reduced fat works great, fat free, not so much), a can of rotel (pick your preferred spiciness level), and a package of browned, crumbled and drained bulk sausage (Jimmy Dean Sage is my pick for this) in a baking dish. I bake mine at 350 until it is bubbly, about 1 hour, depending on the shallowness of your baking dish. This also works great in a crockpot on low for 4 hours or so. {Variations: once I accidentally bought a can of Rotel for Chili and it was great as well.} Serve with tortilla chips. **I kid you not, we have some friends who are expecting a baby in a few weeks and the husband has already put in his request that I make them a big batch of this when they come home from the hospital. So easy and so good!**
Buffalo Wing Dip: this recipe was borrowed from some college friends of John's. He has asked me to type it up and submit it to a local bar he frequents to see if they will put it on the menu as an appetizer. This would work great for a football party. Shred 1 rotisserie chicken (or a few cooked chicken breasts), combine with 2 blocks softened cream cheese, 1 cup blue cheese or ranch dressing (whichever you like better with your wangs), 3/4 cup finely chopped celery (optional), and 1 bottle of Texas Pete Wing Sauce (or your favorite variety, and I recommend starting with half a bottle and adding more in to taste, I usually end up with about 2/3 of the bottle for a spicy but not scorching taste). Pour in a big casserole dish (you could also do this in the crock pot) and top with plenty of shredded cheddar cheese. Bake covered for about 20 minutes at 375, then uncovered for another 10 or long enough to melt the cheese. Serve with tortilla chips and celery sticks. If you do this in the crock pot, I'd probably recommend just mixing the cheese in with everything else and cooking on low for 4-6 hours or until bubbly and dippable.
Butternut, Goat Cheese and Walnut Spread: just seems a bit more refined and intriguing, don't you think? I think this would be a gorgeous color from the squash, and perfect garnished with some snipped chives or a sprinkling of fresh thyme. I would like some of these with a glass of sparkling rose, please!
Pumpkin Hummus: as a lover of all things hummus, I think I owe it to myself to try this one, soon! Heck, you could even use your leftover seeds from pumpkin carving to make this dish.
Spiced Walnuts (makes 1 cup): combine 1/4 t each of ground cumin, ground cinnamon & ground nutmeg in a bowl, add 1 T honey. Toss in 1 cup walnut halves and stir to coat it in the spice mixture. Sprinkle 1/2 t kosher salt {not sure why you couldn't just put this in with the spices, that's what I would do} over the nuts and pour onto a sheet pan coated with wax paper. Put in a 300-degree oven and toast for approximately 10 minutes, stirring frequently, until they are golden brown in color. Cool, and devour. Store up to 2 weeks in an airtight container.
Olive Biscuit Cookies: I must admit, these sound fascinating and maybe a little scary, but you'd better bet I'm trying them very soon! {based on her comments I'm not sure if they should be here or in desserts, but I just flipped the coin and put them here!}

Entrees/Salads/Sides - I restrained myself from posting about 90 soups I have bookmarked to try. The one I did include comes with a ringing endorsement from my kitchen, to yours (sorry, Paula Deen, I sort of stole your line).

44-Clove Garlic Soup: please, please, please, even if you aren't a huge garlic person, try this soup. You roast a bunch of it, which takes away the bite that some peole don't usually like about garlic, and the end result is something so wonderful that I think you'll be a convert. This soup is one of those recipes that seems very impressive, and if you serve it to guests, they'll be pretty blown away, but it's really not that much work, so it is pretty manageable to do even on a weeknight {provided you get started on roasting the cloves as soon as you get home, or don't mind a really late dinner time}
Spinach Salad with Pepper Jelly Vinaigrette: this dressing is fantastic, such a great twist, and it perfectly compliments the rich, creamy gorgonzola cheese. We like to add dried cherries to this salad; sweetened dried cranberries or thinly sliced tart apples would work too. Perfect anytime, but it just seems to fit especially for fall (I think it was originally featured in a Cooking Light Thanksgiving issue).
I subscribe the Weeknight Kitchen e-mail newsletter of Lynn Rosetta Kasper's American Public Media radio show, The Splendid Table {since our station doesn't air that fabulous show, and I don't usually get around to listening to it online}. I saved the newsletter from earlier in the month that featured a smoked ham, cheddar and pear sandwich that sounds like a great step up from tailgating or picnic food. I cannot link to it, as it is originally published in a cookbook and reprinted with permission (and the newsletters are only available for a week online), and I don't really want to type the entire thing out in this bullet-pointed post, so if that sounds like your sort of thing, e-mail me and I'll forward you the recipe.
I was given a handwritten recipe for a Spinach Ricotta Pie, along with a pie plate, by a dear friend at a wedding shower. It is delicious and comforting, goes great with a simply dressed green salad, and freezes beautifully. Along with deep dish quiche, I make this one all the time and I think it is an easy weeknight meal, even for someone who's not particularly adept in the kitchen (plus it is kid-friendly which I am always on the lookout for). Again, I don't really know how to share it here, but please e-mail me if you are interested in having the recipe!
Ina's Turkey Lasagna: this uses turkey Italian sausage and while not cheap (lots of cheeses, including goat, to buy), it is so yummy and it is my go-to recipe. Ina will never steer you wrong, folks!
I have been working to perfect a sweet potato and bacon hash that was born out of a dish I took to Thanksgiving dinner last year with John's family. There is no real recipe {I was asked to bring a side dish, and John asked me to try to go for a hashbrown type dish using sweet potatoes and I tried a few different ideas out before settling on what I actually served to his family, but since then I've made it a few times and tried out some different tweaks}, but if you are interested, let me know and again, I'll try to write something down for you. This would be good with pork or turkey, although last week I served it under pecan crusted fish. I'm thinking this is going to become a staple in our house, so it's probably good if I "write" a recipe anyway.

Desserts

Um, Homemade Nutella. Need I say more? She even gives you an idea for how to put it into a tart!
Butterscotch Pudding: if and when I make this, John will give me a big, fat kiss. He loves butterscotch anything (which I only recently discovered, I guess the subject just never came up???), so I've got this one in my queue!
Pumpkin Bread Pudding: all evidence to the contrary, based on the text immediately above, but John's really not a big dessert person. About once a month he'll ask me if we have something sweet in the house (answer is usually no, or the sugar free popsicles I do have to offer get turned down with a huff) but other than that it usually goes to waste (or to my waist) if I make anything. But last year for his birthday his parents were coming down and I knew they'd be upset if there wasn't something to sing Happy Birthday over; of all the desserts, cake is both of our least favorite, and growing up, John's mom would make him a pumpkin pie for his birthday (close proximity to Thanksgiving). At any rate, I found this, it looked pretty easy, so that's what I served for his birthday. Hey, it had bourbon in it, which is really more his kind of dessert anyway! And it was yummy. It is very low maintenance and would be easy to whip up on short notice. And I hear the canned pumpkin shortage is officially over, so you shouldn't have a problem finding it this year.
I recently made these gingersnaps and they were good, although I increased all the spices from the amounts as it is written, as I like my g'snaps with a lot of bite. I am going to keep playing with it and try less sugar in the cookie itself next time - they still didn't have quite the spice factor I wanted, but the teachers at Mitchell's school loved 'em! I made mine more of a regular cookie size; this recipe as written says it will yield 250-300 cookies, but apparently gingersnaps were originally a tiny, bite size cookie, about the size of a quarter or half-dollar. Based on the size that I made mine, I think I got close to 3 dozen out of them.

Happy pumpkin patching, tailgating, leaf-jumping and all your other favorite Fall activities! Go work up an appetite!

Piglet

2010-09-27T11:17:00.000-04:00

Mitchell's latest nickname is Piglet. It's just so descriptive. He always wants "mo" (usually accompanied with the hand gesture) and he just gobbles up whatever you give him. John called him the trash compactor the other night. We went to the doctor today (he's been pitiful all weekend but the doctor says it is probably just a secondary infection from him being stopped up/congested from allergies, so we have antibiotics) and he weighed 25 lbs, 8 oz this morning.

Here's little piglet at a birthday party this weekend, with a tight grip on a cupcake:

(Sorry, this is in the right orientation on my file but it keeps turning when I upload it, any advice from my fellow bloggers?)

And here's a recent video of him sucking down an entire sippy of milk in about 30 seconds:

Nanas and Other News - 13 Month Update

2010-09-22T15:54:00.000-04:00

I have been a blog slacker of late. My apologies. Life has been busy, my camera is being cantankerous and I guess I've been suffering from a bit of writer's block too.

Mitchell is now 13 months old and continues to amaze us with a new "tricks" daily. I have been working on the sign for "more" with him for months, but they also use a lot more signs in his new class at school and all of a sudden he busted out the more sign this weekend and I got so excited. It sure beats the urgent grunts and pointing at things he wanted before!

His vocabulary continues to expand but really more than anything it's his comprehension of what we're saying to him that amazes me. He can say Dixie, Daddy (very rarely does he say Momma), hi/hey, hello (usually with hand up to his neck like he is talking on the phone), 'nana (more on that in a sec), a sound that approximates out (as in outside, when we take Dixie to the bathroom), and a very Southern pronunciation of "ice", which basically sounds like EYE-th (emphasis on the loooong "i" sound). However, if I say "bring me your shoes" he will go over, get them, and bring them back and sit down so I can put them on him (generally, I don't want anyone to think this happens every time, by any means), or if I ask "where" something is he will put his arm up in the air, with his palm turned up, and then will walk around that way until he finds the object. He is doing a lot of things like that now, so I won't bore anyone with going into more detail, but we are constantly amazed at how fast he is learning and doing new things!

The boy loves his 'nanas. He has several books that have pictures of bananas in them and I quite nearly have to avoid those pages because he almost always wants a banana as soon as he sees one or hears the word. It is hilarious. If one of us point to it and say 'nana, about as fast as he can repeat the word he is up and moving off toward the kitchen and will stand and point up to spot on the counter where he knows I usually keep them. Luckily we haven't had the problems that bananas can sometimes pose on the intestinal system, but I do try to limit his banana consumption to one per day.

John recently had Mitchell solo for 3 days (Sunday - Tuesday) when I had to go out of town for work. The boys did great together and they seemed to both have a ball. John told me tha the was really glad he had that time alone with him (as much as they both missed me, of course), because of his schedule this summer and the fact that Mitchell wasn't all that familiar with him anymore. Even I could tell a huge difference when I got back, at how much Mitchell would go do him and want John to do things for him that he'd normally have have wanted me for previously. It's also nice to see now that Mitchell will just as readily reach out for John when he's tired or upset, when before it alwasy HAD to be me. Not that I ever minded, but I think any of my readers can understand how nice it is to be able to share that burden with a partner from time to time. John was also great to send me lots of pictures, texts and videos of my boy while I was gone. I'll post two of my fave pics; I wish I could post the videos but I cannot figure out how to transfer them off my phone. They don't e-mail like a picture does.

Eating breakfast

Fish face

One thing I do have on video is M's newest trick. He now climbs up our stairs, and every night he waits for us to move the baby gate out of the way so he can lead the charge up for bath/bedtime. It is so funny and he seriously loves it. I think we have done well with teaching him about safety though. If he's ready to go down stairs he will just go and stand by the gate and wait for one of us. I'm really trying to reward that behavior through lots of praise, so that he keeps that up!

Anywho, we're loving life with our boy and I'm sure I've left out all sorts of fun tidbits, but at least that's a little glimpse into our days of late!

Harbinger of Football Season

2010-08-26T10:35:00.000-04:00

To shake things up a bit, I just wanted to give a big hallelujah that's nearly football season. The weather is cooling off (marginally) and I cannot believe Labor Day weekend is nearly upon us! Clearly the spotlight is on my team, the Crimson Tide, thanks to our national championship season last year, and it's been fun seeing all the stuff that has been in the media lately. I don't even live in the state, and being up here in Big Orange Country (yuck) limits the access we get to fun little snippets of Bama news.

I was so thrilled to get to watch the ESPN special that was done on the team. It got me really in the mood for college football. I DVR'd it and enjoyed watching last weekend. The two things that were the funniest to me was the kid who did the awesome impression of Nick Saban (this kid seems like he might have a future on-camera) and the focus they gave to the very colorful Bama strength coach. If you are so inclined, here are snippets from them both! Roll Tide!

Robert Ezell Imitates Coach Saban

Coach Cochran Motivational Playlist - this guy is hilarious
http://www.mixpod.com/playlist/64992893

Ch-ch-ch-changes

2010-08-26T10:23:00.000-04:00

So this is mostly more for me, probably stuff that should have gone on his 12 month status update post, but also a few things I wanted to get down somewhere so I can remember them later. I feel like sometime that this blog is my psuedo-baby book (which is handy, since I don't have one {don't be horrified I just have this big stack of stuff I'm keeping to put in one eventually, but I haven't found one I like yet, so if y'all know of any that are cute, let me know}).

His 12 month pediatrician visit went pretty smoothly. Since we hadn't been for a check up since 9 months (although she has seen him once in between there, for something, cannot remember what), she asked me if he was pulling up on things yet and I laughed out loud before I told her that he was walking by 10 months. He showed off for her a bit and she was impressed. He weighed 24 lbs, 4 oz (75th) and was 31 1/4 inches long (90th). His head was also in the 90th percentile. She said we could turn him around and while I know it is recommended to leave them rear-facing as long as possible, we did go ahead and turn him last weekend so that he would have more leg room. His poor legs were jammed up against the back of the seat in his old seat, and I just know he wasn't very comfortable anymore. He seems to love the new-found independence of being forward-facing. I keep meaning to take the flip video with me some morning so I can get some footage of him (at a red light, of course). He likes to point, gesture and vocalize about whatever it is he has spotted on our way to and from school.

As my mom said to me this weekend, as soon as he figures out the sounds that he needs to put together, this boy is going to be talking. He babbles all day long and is trying out all sorts of new sounds. He can say what I know means "outside", since I always talk to him about Dixie having to go outside to go to the bathroom, and if I ask him if he wants to go take Dixie outside he will walk over to the back door and hold his arms up for me to pick him up. He also knows what "upstairs" means and will try to say it, but it comes out like "uh-says". He will point upstairs or lift his head up like he's trying to see who is up there. Hilarious. He stayed with my parents last week for a couple of nights and came back saying all kinds of new sounds. Nothing that resembles any new words, just new sound combinations that I haven't heard him say.

He is also doing the open mouth kiss these days, which about makes me swoon every time he does it. He and Dixie seem to be reaching an equilibrium which is also nice to see, although lately we've had to deal with multiple screaming fits because Mitchell will offer Dixie whatever it is he is eating, and she, not being a very well-trained dog (our fault), will take it. That used to amuse him but now it makes him mad. This kid is serious about his eating, y'all! We're working on that. I have explained to Mitchell that if he offers something to the dog, she is going to eat it, but clearly that concept hasn't really translated yet!

Sorry, no pics on this post. Just boring, minute details (to all of you). :)

Pigpen, 3.0

2010-08-26T09:48:00.000-04:00

I just couldn't resist sharing these pictures from yesterday afternoon. Mitchell seems to have a special knack for getting particularly filthy no matter where he is. He is one of the only ones at school that seems to get food all over him, no matter what (this is based on my very unscientific visual survey of other children when I pick him up in the afternoons, and I recognize that all children are somewhat messy eaters at this age). But more than that, it's just that he seems to go at life with gusto, which I totally love about him. I do think sometimes it would be nice to have a child that's a bit more docile and might, from time to time, sit still and just chill out, but I wouldn't trade his adventurous little personality for all the tea in China.

This full contact attitude does mean lots of mess, though. Yesterday I had to go to M's school for a meeting of the Parents' Council (we were discussing a new pergola that is going to be built on the playground, yay) and they were out on the playground when I arrived. Luckily I was able to observe M for a few minutes from afar and I just got so tickled. All of the kiddies in his room were just sort of toddering around in their area, but no one was really getting into it like my boy. He was in constant motion: moving pea gravel around with the shovel, tumbling in and out of the toy car multiple times, manhandling his way into the toy house through the window. (No wonder I'm worn out on those weekends where it's just me and him!) But I didn't really get a good look at him, and then John picked him up so I didn't see him up close until I got home.

I mean, just look at this child. He was playing back behind a chair when I came in the back door, and as soon as he rounded the corner I just burst out laughing. He was simply filthy, and he had the biggest grin on his face to go with it. The pictures really do not do the filth justice. I love my little pig pen!

My Baby is One!

2010-08-13T16:21:00.000-04:00

Ok, so this post is overdue. Mitchell's birthday was Wednesday, and his party was last weekend. Life has just been so crazy lately and I really haven't had the time to sit down and devote the time to this I want. The past week has been such a whirlwind, and I have been somewhat emotional thinking about how our lives have changed in the course of 365 days (give or take a few).

(2 Days Old)

This time last year we were coming home from the hospital with a new baby, both scared and apprehensive, but excited about getting to know our little man. We had no idea about the hard nights we would endure, buckets of tears we would shed (by both me and Mitchell) and yes, the arguments we would have when we were frustrated, confused or just plain tired. I still haven't lost all my baby weight, and there are some days I swear that my house will never be clean again, that I'll never have time to sit down and just read a book, and that I wish I could just run out and accomplish a quick errand that had just occured to me needing doing.

(1 Year Old)

However, we also had no idea how deeply we would fall in love. Not just with our son, but with each other in a way that was different than the way we'd loved before, tested and forged by confronting and overcoming the difficult moments that parenting holds while sharing in the immesurable joy that it also brings! I cannot imagine what my life would be like without him in it. I live for the first grin he gives me in the morning, for his giggles, his babbles, watching his chunky legs churn as he motors around the house, his inquisitiveness, and his little mischevious streak. I cherish every snuggle he gives me, steal every kiss I can from him, and never miss telling him how much his Daddy and I love him. My priorities certainly have changed, but I can honestly say that I really don't mind that a bit.

(Goofin' with Daddy)

We are so amazed that we've been given this wonderful gift of Mitchell. He has such a sweet, happy spirit, and I pray that he continues to be so good-natured for all of his days. He rarely meets a stranger and seems to be a natural flirt (when he gets to high school I am probably going to be a mess over these same qualities, right?). This boy has me firmly wrapped around his tiny little fat fingers.

(Birthday morning with Mommy)

He's always been in a hurry in life (except for while I was pregnant with him, they had to induce me and then still it was about 17 hours before he finally arrived), bearing weight on his legs at a couple of months, rolling over at 3 months, first tooth at just over 4 months, sitting up and crawling during his 5th & 6th months and finally, taking a step just shy of 9 months and fully walking by 10 months. In such a developmental whirlwind, it can be hard to stop and smell the roses, so to speak.

(Mitchell wants to know what the fun is in sittng still, anyway?)

But it has been so fun to see him grow over this past year. There's not much he's doing new from his 11 month update: babbling a bit more, pointing to indicate he wants something, shaking his head no intentionally now (so cute, but I know soon I will probably be wanting to eat those words), and starting to try to say a few words that we can just barely make out. He will say something that sounds like Dixie, shoe, and my favorite, which is sit down. Obviously only we can make these out.

(I hope you can see the blurred hand here, he was wailing and flapping and I'm sure our neighbors appreciated the wake-up call, this being about 7 a.m. on Sunday morning)

And grow he has! At his 12 month check-up, he weight 24 lbs, 4 oz (75th percentile) and was 31 1/4 inches long (90th percentile). His legs have started to get longer and his pants now look more like he is going wading (time to hit my mom up for some new ones).

(Barely filling up the carseat, on the way to our first doctor's appt four days after he was born)

(Using the carseat as a jungle gym)

I have been a bit apprehensive about how he'd take to phasing out the bottle at school, but all of a sudden in the last week or two he has gotten great about drinking from a cup and is almost entirely on cow's milk now during the day. He just nurses once before bed, and I will continue that until baseball season is over so John will be around to help put him to bed consistently during that process. He has just taken so naturally to the changes that come with growing up.

(Big Boy...Big Belly)

He starts in his new classroom on Monday (delayed slightly by them wanting another child who will probably have a harder time to be able to move up with him, so that they both have a buddy while they are adjusting), and while we will miss his teachers in the infant room, he hasn't really been an "infant" in so long that it is clearly time!

We're ready to charge head-first into year two of life with Mitchell! Thanks for the encouragement you've given through gifts, notes, e-mails, phone calls and yes, reading this blog. It is so nice to have a place to express myself AND show off my sweet thang!

Heeeey!

2010-07-30T10:47:00.000-04:00

M's new favorite word is 'hey'. I guess I say it way too much if he's already picking up on it!

He especially loves "talking" to the baby on the side of the Target diaper box.

(My apologies for the jerky parts in the middle)

The Blue Chair

2010-07-13T16:03:00.001-04:00

I bought this little blue chair when I was pregnant with MKM. My hope was to use it in the nursery to hold books or stuff animals, but with that full-sized bed in there the sapce is at a premium, so it has just been hanging out in random spots around the house ever since. I figured we could use it as Mitchell's deck chair once he got a little bit bigger. It's been in a corner near the front door lately, and he's gotten very curious about it. Not long ago I pulled it out and sat him up in it; his little eyes just lit up and you could almost see his chest puff up with pride. So cute. Now he motions to me to get it out every so often and likes to play on and around it. Here's the full set of shots I captured the other day:

And then he hopped off, grabbed my keys, told me he was going to the movies, and said not to wait up.

But seriously, he looks so old. Sob! My little one is growing up so fast!

11 Months Old - July 2010

2010-07-13T15:56:00.000-04:00

I am so swamped but I want to do an update on what Mitchell's into these days. In one word: everything. But I'll elaborate. He had his tubes in about a month ago and so far, no more ear infections (yay) and he seems to be feeling better. Of course, about 10 days after he'd gotten his tubes we got the dreaded call from daycare that he had a fever and we had to come and get him, but that turned out to just be a virus. He's also on Singulair daily now, since he's still pretty congested and the pediatrician finally conceded that maybe he does have allergies (we've been pushing that possibility on her since about 6 months). But anyway, ENT front, we seem to have made some progress. Hooray for that!

He's been walking for about 6-8 weeks now but I can hardly remember what it was like before! Sadly, a friend was visitng recently whose child is about 5 months and therefore not even sitting up by herself yet, but in my absent-minded mommy mode I nearly plopped her down on the floor like I do Mitchell when I was holding her. Sheesh! Mitchell is just really inquisitive and so loves exploring. I think he has a real future in the service sector:

Maybe cleaning?

Or construction?

Or traffic control? Who knows...

He still eats great. He loves fruit (blueberries, blackberries, watermelon, grapes, canteloupe, nectarines, & apples are faves) and most vegetables. Corn on the cob has been popular lately due to its equally effective use as a teether. I cannot complain in this department, as he eats most anything, so I won't bore you with going on. If you are a regular reader you know how much he loves to eat by how many pictures I have posted of him covered in food. Enough already, right? (Ok, here are a couple more!)

Outdoor post-pool picnic

Contemplating the harvest: we went to Crabtree and picked blackberries last weekend. Mitchell did lots of quality control for me and I was kicking myself that I didn't have my camera. He was covered in them and looked like the Joker with all the juice he had smeared on his face. He loves 'em!

He's really starting to look and act so much more like a toddler, and more importantly, a BOY. It's been a bit hard for Momma to acknowledge that, but there's really no denying it. He is very curious about things and is constantly pointing to things and making a "hm?" or "eh?" noise that indicates he wants to know what it is. He's not saying that many more words, but he babbles constantly and it's very apparent that he's just connecting a lot of dots these days. He occasionally shakes his head no when he knows he is not supposed to do something (but sometimes does it anyway); he's not really doing it to say no yet, but I know that is coming very soon! He is pretty content to play by himself but he does love other children and it is obvious that he's going to be a social butterfly. He is also relatively fearless. Case in point, daycare called today and he apparently "collided" with another child and busted open his lip. By the time they called the bleeding had stopped and the teacher assured me he was OK. I called back a couple of hours later to check on him and she laughed before telling me he hadn't missed a beat. I think he's definitely going to be a bruiser, but really, he just doesn't let ANYTHING slow him down!

We just love our precious boy and cannot believe he's almost a year old. We are so thankful for...

for his laughs...

and his cries;

his giggles,

his snuggles,

his wiggles,

his smiles,

and last but not least,

HIS THIGHS! :)

Just kidding, but they are still huge and I still love 'em. I hope he doesn't walk off too much of that baby fat right away!

One more for the road...

Cousin Fun

2010-07-02T15:04:00.002-04:00

Mitchell hadn't gotten to see much of his cousins lately, so I took him down for a quick visit last weekend. I also wanted to visit my grandfather, who was in the hospital. The kids had lots of fun playing together. We kicked off the day with a hectic visit to the Homewood Farmer's Market to buy some produce for our dinner that evening and we all indulged in the yummy lemonade being peddled by Urban Cookhouse. And I do mean all of us. Mitchell attacked mine, and by the time we left he had it all down the front of his onesie.

The boys played together a little bit before lunch/naptime:

Reid kept asking to see the ones I was taking. After I showed him this one he asked me "Who's that?" Stinker!

I know I have already posted another angle of this one, but it just cracks me up. They played with these plastic guards and beat them on the window for a good 10 minutes.

Then Reid decided to use one of them to play a little guitar. I love this picture for the on-the-go feel it has. I also love how it illustrates kids' creativity. The budding musician in our family, I think!

That evening, we gathered at the Kendrick's new house, which was lovely. Thanks for hosting, guys!

Big kids do a lap in the wagon.

Wearing another precious hand-me-down of Reid's. Here is a picture of him wearing it almost exactly 2 years ago:

Now, y'all please just act like I am not in these next pictures. I had not done a thing to myself all day long, except shower. You just don't get the same effect when you don't see his arm propped up on my chest, so I didn't totally crop myself out of the pictures. This was AFTER I'd taken Mitchell out of his high chair. He'd already eaten half a hamburger patty, blueberries, grilled zuchini and creamed corn. However, I guess he was just really hungry, because I had him on my lap and he absolutely reached over and grabbed the other half of the patty and just went to town on it. It was hilarious.

I gave him a taste of Cool Whip from the top of the 'nana pudding, but he didn't seem to keen on it. Maybe he'll take after his Uncle Scooter, who doesn't eat the stuff.

Post dinner, we tried for a photo shoot of the kiddies. There were lots of attempts.

Some of the outtakes:

In the end, I think this one may be the winner. Everyone is looking at the camera, and the two that you can reasonably expect to be smiling are (despite WRS's mouth being covered up by his high kick). Clearly getting a good pitcure of all three of these monkeys continues to be a work in progress!

Hurricane Mitchell

2010-07-01T09:01:00.001-04:00

Lately, we have been sick (again), out of town and just plain busy. My child is so active, and my house is usually so messy as a result of all his detrius strewn about, that it's hard not to get discouraged about all that I don't have time to accomplish. We are working on balance in the midst of all this craziness, but we're also trying to just enjoy life and not let the little things distract us from what's really important. In the spirit of that attitude, here's a few pics of our life lately. I promise another post or two is in the works, including an edition of the long lost My Favorite Things.

Kitchen utensils are the current favorite toy.

Tormenting the dogs, as per usual

See also: the things the boys have in their hands are the plastic guards to some of Spot's knives. Again with the kitchen utensils.

Playing with the dog's ball chukker. Of course, the dogs think this means he might be about to play with them. They would be wrong. Just more torment for them.

Don't you love the big orange earplugs? BTW, since I never posted, aside from an unrelated viral infection recently, the boy seems to be doing well post tubes/adenoid surgery.

And of course, no post about Mitchell would be complete without the requisite food shot. He thoroughly enjoyed his meal at AE's house recently. Ginger, the trusty clean up dog, was ever present, as you can see, and he "left" her lots of treats to dispose of. We now know meal time is officially over for him when he pivots to the right or left and throws that foot up on the chair our counter, depending on where he is eating. Nothing like contorting your body at an odd angle and hunching over at the waist when you have a full belly, right?

Videos - Tug

2010-06-15T10:44:00.003-04:00

Dixie loves to play tug. Mitchell has caught onto that now and wants to play with her. She usually just ends up dragging him around, but he loves it, as you can see here!

10 Months and Massive Catch Up

2010-06-15T09:59:00.000-04:00

Ouch. I am so far behind. I'll do my best to do one big, fat (like Mitchell's belly) catch up post here.

MKM was 10 months old last Friday. Daddy had to piggy back a trip to LA on the end of a long stretch of home games, so he wasn't with us, but we celebrated with an apple juice popsicle on the deck.

For the nutrition police, it was about 1/3 apple juice and the rest water, so very little sugar for the boy. We try not to let him have too much of the sweet stuff just yet. Needless to say, he loved it, and finally got the hang of holding onto the bottom, rather than the icy part.

He loves the water, and we have been using the baby pool a lot lately to combat the heat.

It is convenient for those messy nights when I can just open the back door and plop him in after dinner, rather than trek upstairs to the tub.

(I can barely stand the serious look on his face here. Adorable)

As you can see in these pics, we are sorely in need of a haircut, but lately he hasn't been in one place long enough to do that. It's on my agenda for the week.

At 10 months, Mitchell is walking everywhere very proficiently. I had read in several books about how quickly they progress from a few steps to fully walking, but I have to admit I was shocked to actually see that in action. Mitchell has always had wonderful balance, and we've been pretty blessed to not have had any major falls and the tears that are associated with that. We have been trying not to make a big deal about it when he does fall, and 90% of the time his falls don't even phase him; he just gets right back and up and keeps trucking along!

Our downstairs is pretty open, so he can roam around without many obstacles in his way. We have an island in the kitchen and he likes to just do laps around it while I'm working at the stove or sink. In some ways it's almost easier now that it was about a month ago, because he doesn't need my help to move, and is pretty content to just do his own thing, but of course he's also much more able to get into things I don't want him in! For the most part, though, I'll just throw a few kitchen utensils on the floor and he'll play happily by himself for 10-15 minutes while I get his dinner ready, or put away dishes, or whatever.

He loves to drag anything with a rope, cord or string around. We have lots of belts, drawstring bags and even a length of rubber tubing laying around. The dog leash is also a popular item but that's sort of torture for the dog to see her leash flailing around with no actual walk to come of it, so I try to limit that one.

Here's an action shot:

He babbles to himself constantly. I wish I knew what he was talking about! He does a lot of talking to these letters on the side of the tub. The majority of bath time is spent putting them up there and then taking them back down, all the while talking and squealing to them. At least he's showing an interest in them, right? We'll work on putting them together intelligibly soon enough....

His words are still pretty limited, but he's showing us signs of how much he comprehends now. He still says Uh Oh a lot, or just an abbreviated "Uh" with this face that he makes when he says it. He can say dog but doesn't say it consistently. He will say Mama a lot, but it usually means he's hungry more than he wants me. I guess he knows Mama will feed him, one way or another, which is why he uses that. His newest thing is to say "heeeey" which is so cute. He has also started holding his hand up to his neck like he's holding a phone and babbling, so I guess he understands talking on the phone now. I'm sure he'll be texting his pals before I know it! (not)

Here he is with my old Blackberry, which has for all intents and purposes, stopped working. This is all due to him flinging it down from his high chair, and drooling on it extensively. But look how happy it makes him. How could Mama say no?

(Also, forgive the lack of clothing in most of these pictures. I usually strip him down when he gets home.)

He and Dixie have come to an uneasy truce (on her part). We are really working on trying to teach him to be gentle with her, but to limited effectiveness at this point. He would still prefer to bash her like he bangs on everything else. She is better about letting him get near her and will even play "tug" with him sometimes. I have some video of it but my blogger editing never has the video icon so I'm probably going to have to switch to the old format and just post it by itself.

Clearly he's still a good eater. He rarely turns anything down. His newest accomplishment in this arena is that he has figured out how to suck and drink from a straw. It doesn't always work for him, which I can tell still puzzles him, but for the most part if you put a straw in his mouth he will suck and it and grin when he gets some water out. We're trying new things all the time and for him, the messier the better. My mom brought some spaghetti she made, and he had a ball with that. Dixie's back was covered in noodles and Mitchell was covered in sauce. Fun times for all involved.

Really, he is just a happy kid. Other than his ears and the assocaited sickness, he's been wonderful lately and we're just really enjoying this age (as exhausting as it is). He is getting tubes on Thursday, so we're really excited for that procedure and have been encouraged by how many people have told us that it changed their kids' lives. I just want him to feel better and stop having to pump him full of antibiotics endlessly. I'll give an update on that after we're through it. The tubes part is no sweat, but they may also remove his adenoids, which we've been told can be rough on the kiddies, pain-wise, so we'll see what happens!

Here he is, finally with some clothes on, in an outfit that came from the "sweatshop". My mother (Spot) and her friend Sallie (or Nonna, her grandmother name) have been sewing up a storm for their grandbabies and Nonna just got a new embroidery machine. She used this outfit to test out her skills - I think she did a great job. Mitchell looks so sweet in anyting that brings out those big baby blues!

We'll call this "Mr. August". Hugs and slobbery kisses from Mitchell to all of his adoring fans!

Videos - Uh Oh and Walking

2010-05-26T14:26:00.002-04:00

Couple of videos for your vieiwng pleasure. First one is Uh Oh and second is a little bit of walking. As usual, please excuse my annoying mommy voice.

Everything That's Old Is New Again

2010-05-25T11:19:00.000-04:00

When M was a little tiny baby I bought him a great floor gym at IKEA.

Here he is playing with it.

(You can thank me for the gratuitous chunky thigh shot later.)

When he started sitting up and really didn't play with it anymore, I let a friend borrow it for her son who is a couple of months younger than M.

She recently returned it and M has really been loving playing with it. One reason I bought it is that I thought that it would be a good transitional toy, since there are things on top and on the sides that could be played with once babe started standing up. He's done all of those things, but has also used it as a push toy, and likes to fling it over to hear the big crash it makes. That is usually when I take it away from him. Hopefully we can keep it in one piece for the next Maedel baby to play with, but if Mitchell has his way it may not make it that long!

The open mouth "I'm Excited" face

I stared this post a few weeks ago and then forgot about it. I finally bought the bullet and went out and got him a walking toy this past weekend. I put it together Saturday and while he enjoys it, he still seems to prefer this one!

Pig Pen

2010-05-25T10:55:00.000-04:00

Have you met our son, Pig Pen?

Last Thursday when I picked M up from school, I sent John the following text:

"M is quite possibly the filthiest he's ever been this afternoon" and John of course, responded with a request for me to take some pictures (he had a ball game so M was going to be long clean and asleep by the time he got home).

So here are some of those pictures:

He's so dirty, he looks like he has a 5 o'clock shadow!

Not pictured here: filthy hands, arms, legs and dirt from playing outside in his neck!

For good measure, he also smeared hummus in his hair at dinner time.

Needless to say, the bath water that evening left a ring around the tub!

Uh-Oh

2010-05-25T09:28:00.002-04:00

Uh-Oh is Mitchell's new favorite "word". He just jabbers it over and over and over. He says it when he is going to do something he knows he's not supposed to, but also just in general, so I don't know that he's quite figured out the context yet. Sometimes he gets out of order and says "Oh Uh", which is also pretty cute.

Dixie is the other thing he can say pretty well. It's not that distinct, but you can definitely make it out that it's what he's saying. A friend was over at the house Sunday and Mitchell clearly said it and even she was able to know that's what he was trying to say. It's probably becuase I yell/say her name at least 100 times a day. It's no wonder that the dog's name would be one of his first words. It's also very cute - if you ask him "Where's Dixie?", he'll start looking around until he finds her. Adorable.

I need to try to get video of both of these things...but that's not really what this post is about. Could have fooled, ya, huh?

**********************

My "Uh Oh" moment came yesterday when I had a call from daycare "suggesting" that I come pick Mitchell up and take him to the doctor. They told me he woke up from his nap with his eyes all crusted over and very puffy. I was honestly really put out because I'm so slammed at work right now and I asked them if I needed to come get him or they just wanted me to be aware of the situation. They quickly clarified that I needed to come get him.

When I got there, I saw why they wanted me to get him out of there:

And they told me that this was way better than it was when he first woke up. They were clearly afraid it was pinkeye, and I cannot say I blame them. The photo doesn't really do it justice, and this was after we'd left the doctor's office and were back at my office. I had tried to wipe him up a little bit, but wasn't going to be able to get him really clean without a good wet washcloth.

Anyway, according to the doctor, his ear that was infected last week is still very angry looking, so she's already had the referral nurse call to schedule us an appointment with an ENT. Looks like we may be getting tubes here pretty soon. If it gets him some relief, I am all for it. As I was pouring out what was left of the previous antibiotic and readying his dose of the new one we're supposed to start (hoping the 3rd time is a charm), I gave thanks for generics. We have poured out a lot of medicine lately. :(

Mama On The Go - Not a Happy Ending

2010-05-24T12:42:00.000-04:00

I had to go out of town for work earlier in the week. It was much harder on me to be away from the boy this time around than the last one, but that's probably got mostly to do with the business vs. pleasure factor!

John expressed the desire to keep Mitchell by himself while I was gone to my conference, and after much preparation on my part, I flew off to Chicago for a few days of adult interaction, cocktail parties, sleep, and no laundry/washing/cooking/cleaning. It was sort of heavenly, except for the work part. The one glitch while I was there came when I couldn't check into my room until about 5:00 p.m. (no clean rooms until then) and had to lock myself in a public bathroom to pump. Standing up. Oy.

John had a much rougher time - Mitchell ended up running a fever at school on Monday, which meant he had to be picked up and held out of school for at least Tuesday, or until his fever broke. The pediatrician diagnosed another ear infection and prescribed another round of antibiotics (we weren't even done with the previous round and I think that puts the count up to 5 now, so clearly we've got an ENT visit in our future, but I'll leave that for another post). John handled it all like a champ and his mom was so sweet to come down and watch Mitchell on Tuesday so that John could get some work done. He did a fabulous job and while he has always appreciated what I do as a mother, I think this time alone with the babe has given him a newfound respect for all the days and nights I fly solo when he's working. I was really proud of him, and I think he and Mitchell had some great bonding time too.

*****************************
Fast forward to when it was time for us to board our flight to return, and to make a long story short, we missed our flight due to gate change issues and by the time we found out about it, our seats had been given away. Let me just insert here that we'd been checked in for over 2 hours and at the gate that was printed on our boarding passes for over an hour. However, sometime during that period the gate changed, and the ONLY annoucement that was made at our "original" gate was to annouce that it was final boarding call at the other gate, and by the time we got there we were not allowed on the flight. My boss and I both had words with the gate agent, but after much wrangling it was apparent to us that we weren't getting to Chattanoga by plane that evening.

We flew into an airport about 2 hours away and rented a car to come home. Once we got to the airport, I went in to return the rental car and collect my bags, only to find the airline counter all locked up for the night (the perils of living in a city with only a teeny tiny airport).

**Warning: This section of the post may not be for everyone's taste.**
It would have been no big deal, except for the roughly 60 ounces of breastmilk that I had stored safely in my bag. I had done extensive research on whether to check or to carry on, and after much deliberation on my part, I decided to check. I had a fridge in my hotel room, so I kept all my milk in the fridge until the very last minute, and then wrapped it very well and then packed a cooler with gel packs and put it in my suitcase, along with my pump. All told, had everything gone as planned, the milk would have been out of the fridge for no longer than 6 hours and it was going to be chilled that entire time.

I should have known not to expect for everything to go smoothly. As it was, I had to retrive my bag the next day and throw all of that milk that I'd worked so hard to keep away. But not before taking a picture. I know, I know...stupid to torture myself in that way, but I just couldn't help myself:

And to add insult to injury, my boy was already alseep when I got home. Needless to say, I was really eager for him to wake up the next morning. Someone remind me not to go anywhere again for a while!

Flex Your Mussels

2010-05-21T16:37:00.000-04:00

No, no, you read that right. This is one of those all-too-rare food-related posts that I acted like I was going to have on the blog all the time, but in actuality ~~never~~ rarely do!

John and I love mussels. We ate them a ton while we were on our honeymoon in Spain - we were on the northeastern coast so all the seafood was spectacular, but we gravitated toward the mussels on numerous occasions. They were plentiful, cheap and delicious! When we got back, I resolved to start cooking them, and guess what, I discovered that they are very low maintenance and usually quite afforable.

Seriously, ya'll, if you like shellfish you need to put them in your rotation (especially since who knows what our Gulf seafood outlook is). They are just fancy enough to seem special, but they are hardly any work other than chopping up some garlic, onions and/or herbs.

I always buy mussels from Prince Edward Island, but really that's because that's what Greenlife always stocks! I think the bags they sell are 2 pounds, which is just enough for 2 people (see serving suggestions below).

There are a few things to consider. Mussels are meant to be left live until you cook them, so please don't let anyone wrap your mussels up in some non-breathable (plastic) bag; otherwise they'll die and then you just have to throw them away. They usually come in a mesh bag and you should keep them chilled until you are ready to work with them. Then, rinse them under cool water to wash away any grit that is on the shells and also trim any fiberous strands (that link up there to P.E.I. explains all of this way better than me, so go check it out if you are interested).

At this point, you should discard any mussels that are open, as these are no good.

Remember this later:
pre-cooking, open = bad;
afterwards, closed = bad

Don't get it mixed up, or you'll be discarding most, if not all your mussels!

One thing I love about them is how they infuse whatever liquid you cooke them in with their briny flavor. They work well with most any liquid - I have used champagne, white wine, vegetable stock, a tomato-based sauce...really anything goes! I rarely use a recipe, although Deb has a good strategy (and please, go full bore on this and make the baked pomme frites too).

My method is usually saute garlic and/or shallots in some olive oil until soft in a large heavy pot with a lid. Add clean, rinsed mussels and a cup or two of your preferred liquid. Cover the pot with the lid and let the mussels steam for about 6-8 minutes, depending on the quantity. Lest you think I'm too fancy, the last time I made them I also added some finely diced Conecuh sausage during the aromatic saute for an additionally smoky flavor. I must say, they were divine.

Your mussels are done when their shells have opened (remember, at this point, you need to discard any that did not open) and the meat pulls away from shell easily. Ladle out your mussels into a shallow dish and make sure to get some of the good cooking liquid too. Sprinkle liberally with freshly chopped parsley or basil and serve! Dip your pomme frites or any crusty bread into this broth. Served alone or with a simply dressed green salad, this makes a quick, elegant supper.

So go flex your mussels, folks!

9 Month Update

2010-05-14T09:36:00.000-04:00

I am going to try to get this posted before I forget to do it. Mitchell turned 9 months on the 11th. We had our 9 month check up a little early but everything looked great. He weighed exactly 20 pounds (45th percentile) and was 29.5 inches long (85th percentile). He still strikes me as such a big kid, but I guess there are plenty of 'em out there bigger since he's only in the 45th for weight. Considering that we started out somewhere in the 90's, he definitely seems to have fallen more in line with the average! I think it must be his chunky little thighs that throw me off, haha! ---->

He did absolutely fine when they pricked his finger and the hemocrit level came back just fine. The pediatrician said that she saw a tiny bit of stuff collecting in his ears so he's on antibiotics AGAIN, trying to stave off ear infection #3, as well as address a lingering cough and runny nose. We're all tired of the antibiotics, but John and I have gotten pretty good at sliding in the dose in between bites of food at meal time.

Speaking of food, he still eats up a storm - the doctor told me it was time to start him on meats, specifically red meat for the iron. I hadn't started him on it yet, but she said it was time now because his iron needs will start to outstrip what is in breastmilk or formula. So far he's tried beef and chicken and has eaten them pretty easily since the first time he tried them. I was a little bit worried about it but he hasn't flinched. This child does not turn down many things. They tell me at school that some days he cannot pack it in fast enough, and he's even been known to willingly accept the leftover fruit from other children's lunches that they don't eat. They feed them such small portions that I don't worry about it.

He primarily eats table food now (not pureed baby food), although sometimes when he is tired he still likes to be fed. Most of the time, though, I just spread a bunch of stuff out on his placemat and let him go to town. He is pretty good about eating most vegetables that I've given him (can't think of any he's flat out refused) and he LOVES fruit, especially melon. I have done some small cuts of pasta, cooked really well, black beans, and he loves pieces of muffin or pancakes for breakfast. I just mix a lot of fruit puree into the batter so he's getting some extra nutrients in there. Things I haven't tried yet but plan on soon - steamed edamame, corn, fresh bell peppers, and I may do an egg yolk tomorrow for breakfast to see how that goes.

Here he is gnawing on a wagon wheel early one morning before school - giving him something like this makes it easier for me to get his medicine in him, while he's on it, and also allows me to get all my last minute things ready without him wanting me to hold him.

He hasn't really showed a lot of separation anxiety, but there are some times that no one other than Momma will do (which secretly thrills me). He is still saying a lot of 'd' sounds but is starting to make lots of other noises. He has all sorts of shrieks and squeals, which are cute, most of the time, but his newest noise is very much a whine and both John and I agree that we're not that fond of that one. :) I have some good videos of him but cannot figure out how to upload them (I had the new Blogger format and that had a video upload icon, but I switched back to the older format because picture uploads are easier).

He's just on the cusp of walking...he will take a few tentative steps to you independently (not holding onto anything) but will then just plop back down on his bottom and crawl to where he wants to go. I think at this point it is just more of a speed/convenience factor - he'd rather get there quickly and crawling is the fastest way. We're really trying to encourage him to take steps, and he's getting more and more sure of himself. I'd say within a couple more weeks he'll really be bi-pedal! I need to investigate a good walking toy for him this weekend so he can really practice.

Let's see, what else - he's got about 9 teeth now and is drooling again so maybe some of the ones towards the back are starting to come in? He doens't really like for me to be feeling aroudn in his mouth, but when I'm bathing him I always get in there with a thin washcloth and try to feel around while cleaning his gums. He still uses a paci to go to sleep, but I'm trying to keep him from having it during the day. I want to encourage more talking anyway, plus I just think it's going to be easier to wean him off it if we get him used to not having it 'on demand'. I will probably let him keep it at nap and bedtime for a while longer.

This picture of him is a signature pose, which I like to refer to as Godzilla. He will zero into something he wants, rise up on this one knee crouch, raise his arms, and then will sort of throw himself forward onto all fours and crawl over to get whatever it is. It is probably funnier to me than it sounds to you...there is usually a loud exhaling noise associated with it too. I will give the child credit for this - he goes after whatever he wants with gusto! It continues to be a pleasure to watch him learn and explore!

My First Mother's Day

2010-05-11T15:52:00.001-04:00

I am sad to say that this is the only picture I have of Mitchell on my first Mother's Day.

No cute picture of him dressed up (which he was at several points), much less one with me holding or loving on him in any way. Just a messy spaghetti face (although, notice the cute little blob in his eyelashes).

This kind of sums up the weekend - John was out of town from Thursday - Sunday night, and I wasn't feeling well for most of the time, so it wasn't always pretty, but we muddled through somehow!

I had a tiny pity party over the fact that I'd be spending the whole weekend working so hard, solo (Mitchell really does require a good bit of mothering most of the time), but I really did enjoy my Mother's Day weekend with my babe*. Here are some of the highlights:

Friday night after I got him down to bed, some of my girlfriends came over and we had lots of fun drinking fermented grapes and catching up. It was nice to have some girl time, even though I stayed up too late and had to clean up from the "party" the next morning.

On Saturday morning, after I prepared Mitchell a delicious breakfast of banana - blueberry pancakes, we loaded up and went to Crabtree Farms to pick strawberries. I'd gotten an e-mail that they were ripe, so I thought that would be a fun activity. Mitchell watched while I picked, natch. That lasted for all of 15 minutes, but I managed to pick 2 quarts of yummy berries for us to enjoy over the weekend.

"Hey Momma, that row looks good"

Quality control

This was his first reaction - he'd never had a strawberry before and he always does this half-gag face when he tries something new. After that he gobbled them up.

Wanting more.

Playing on the deck on Saturday afternoon with a neighbor (and school) friend.

Please note that the person that Mitchell is so lovingly nuzzled up against is not me. Said friend's momma was feeding them treats, so he was clearly loving on her. He's a simple child. If you feed him, he will love you.

On Sunday, we went grocery shopping, went to the Chattanooga Market, and Mitchell ate spaghetti with gusto. The end.

******************************

Just kidding, not quite the end. *In fairness, I wanted to say that for Mother's Day John let me go and have some professional portraits done with MKM, so I really do have some cute pictures of us together from this time in his life. And I fully intend to restage a Mother's Day photo shoot this coming weekend when John is home and can take some pics of me and the boy. Gotta have something to put in his baby book (that I've not even purchased yet)!

Deserves Its Own Post

2010-05-11T15:22:00.000-04:00

My sweet niece and sister-in-law came over for a quick visit last time I was in Birmingham. We weren't there long, and they were busy, but we had fun playing for a short while.

See evidence below. Notice anything amiss?

Ann Edwards (almost 2) decided to take a trip down memory lane and revisit the times that she spent in her exersaucer....

...while Mitchell looked on from outside. They actually both played great and seemed to be having a ball!

I didn't get any shots of this part, but Mitchell then dropped down and proceeded to try to crawl underneath, only to be blocked by AE's legs. It was only then that he kind of looked at us like, uh, what's going on,

guys? Needless to say all the adults in the room were laughing hysterically during this whole thing.

Catching Up - Mostly Pictures

2010-05-11T15:15:00.000-04:00

I just came across a few images I never downloaded from my camera. None of these are especially exciting, just some cuties of my #1 cutie!

From last trip to Bham

Daddy brought this outfit home for Mitchell last September. I put it on him last weekend before we went to our first Lookouts game. He didn't even make it to the game in this outfit though, of course. I did this for John; y'all know I wouldn't dress him like this on my own!

Such a big boy!

Mum Mum standoff - more often than not Dixie ends up with it, but looks like Mitchell won this round!

My Favorite Things: Homemaker Edition

2010-05-07T14:07:00.001-04:00

Here's the first edition of My Favorite Things! My rule for these lists is that the items are tested and approved (by me) to be included. These are all tested, used and adored in my household.

1. Double Oven Mitt

I received my double oven mitt as a gift from a dear friend who spent some time after college in England. She brought me one of these fabulous contraptions from the famed Cath Kidston and I have used the heck out of it. In fact, it is basically worn out but I just keep using it becuase I love it so. It has pockets for each hand it is perfect when you are pulling a heavy or large item from the oven.

I think one of the things I love the most about this is the print. Mine is a cheery modern floral print (not the one shown), but all of Cath's prints are awesome. Check out her site!

http://www.cathkidston.co.uk/

Here are some cute ones from Etsy if you want to order from the U S of A. I think I am going to go this route on my next one to avoid the trans-Atlantic shipping costs!

2. French Press

There is nothing like a steaming cup of coffee made from a french press; maybe you're skeptical but I firmly believe it's true. Mine is just a regular old stainless baby that my father-in-law got me for Christmas a couple of years ago (from Starbucks, I think) but I really love the stylishness of the models that Bodum makes (especially thier cute little travel press/mug combo models). There is something so fun about putting in the grounds, pouring in your water and then waiting while it all steeps together to form a glorious caffienated masterpiece. If you haven't had coffee this way, I highly recommend that you try it!

3. Ceramic "Take Out" Coffee Cup

How cute is this coffee cup? It looks like a takeout cup, complete with heat-proof sleeve, but the cup is ceramic and the lid and holder are silicone. What an easy way to be green, stylish, and to enjoy your french-pressed coffee! :) The most well known brand is called "I Am Not a Paper Cup", but I've seen a lot of them around lately.

The one I have is super cute with multi-colored stripes and a bright orange lid and sleeve. The website on the bottom of the cup goes to Decor Craft, Inc. but they look like they are only wholesalers. There are a lot of options out there. Take a look around for one that you like!

4. Canister Vacuum
This isn't a glamorous item on the list, but it sure is useful. I have an old Sharp canister vac that was gifted to me by my mother (I tried to find a link and was informed that Sharp stopped manufacturing vacuums in 2004). I think she originally got it from one of her friends as a Christmas gift (this friend has lots of disposable income and has always given my mother interesting and useful gifts) but when I moved to Chattanooga in 2001 she gave it to me. And we've been trucking along ever since. I do have an upright as well (mine is a Bissel, but I agonized over whether to spend the money on a Dyson instead*) which is fine, but I confess that I end up using my canister more than my upright for everything but full room carpet jobs. I think when the Bissell wears out I will get a new canister that has the big attachment that I could do everything with the one machine. I have to order the bags for the Sharp online but I just do it in bulk so I'm never out when I need one. The canister is just so easy to cart around (especially nice when you are in a house with more than one level) and I love how long the hose is on it.
*-probably should have just gone ahead, but after having the Bissel one I don't think I'll ever go bagless again - yuck

5. Shopping Basket & Tote

(I had a hard time deciding where to put this item, but ultimately I settled on this list. I would argue that part of the "homemaker" role is to do the shopping.)

I cannot say enough about this awesome Reisenthel Bottleshopper (I have also seen it called a Modern Grocery Tote) bag. I was first given a couple of the lightweight reusable Reisenthel bags by John's aunt, who lives in Spain for part of the year and reusable bags have been en vogue in Europe for far longer than they have here. When one of the ones she'd given me was wearing out, I went online to try and find some others (these are a very lightweight fabric and will stuff down into a tiny carrying pouch, similar to this style. I succeeded in finding what I was looking for, but ended up buying one of the Bottlebags too, and I just love it. I have used it for a beach bag, to carry stuff to a cookout, and of course, as a grocery shopping bag. It holds a ton, has nice long comfy straps, a zip-top, and is very sturdy. I later ended up buying one for a friend and both my sister and sister-in-law as gifts.

The color that I have is this floral shown on the market tote (confession: I have one of these too, but mine is a cheap Marshall's knockoff). The market tote is also a fabulous find. I think both of these are great hostess, birthday or even baby gifts. Especially if you monogram it!

I got mine from Reusable Bags, but if you live in Birmingham I'm told that Top Stitchin' in Homewood has them (and can monogram it for you too)! A lot of people carry Reisenthel stuff though, so be on the lookout. I will venture to say that you won't be disappointed.

Thanks for checking out my first edition of My Favorite Things! I am working on some other lists that I think are super fun. I'm going to aim for one a week until I get them all published, but we shall see. I've proved before that setting a self-imposed deadline is just asking to not meet it, so I won't do that again!

Trying Something New

2010-05-07T08:51:00.000-04:00

Ok, so I haven't exactly been living up to this blog's name. Lately the only posts I've been doing (and they haven't exactly been numerous) have been about the babe, and that's not exactly balanced, is it?

So I had an idea a while back and started jotting down things as they came to me. I am going to start a new series of posts called "My Favorite Things" and each post will be centered around a main theme. I've got lists started for a foodie, gadgets, homemaker and of course, baby care editions in the works now. Hopefully I'll get one of them finished up really soon (like, today).

Stay tuned!

Last Friday - Mostly In Pictures

2010-04-28T09:16:00.000-04:00

Having such a busy boy makes me laugh out loud sometimes. Last Friday when I picked M up from school, he was the only child from his classroom not in the big baby mover stroller thing that holds like 6 kids. They'd taken the children outside to enjoy the nice weather, but apparently M just wasn't having all that SITTING AROUND. They told me that he protested wildly until they got them outside and let him get down on the ground to play. Somewhere along the way he'd lost his pants that he'd worn to school, so by the time I got there he was just in a onesie, a bib and his Robeez (because Lord knows this child won't keep a pair of socks on). He was simply filthy, but clearly having the best time. Here are some pictures I took of him that afternoon after we got home.

Dirty onesie & bib: check

Toys for each hand: check

Correction - Dirty, unsnapped onesie: check

Because he also will hardly ever let them get him dressed again after they change him for the last time each day. I'm sure they wish I'd send him in a t-shirt, and I do somtimes, but, I just love the look of a kiddo in a onesie. I digress.

Playing in the fridge, while mom gets ~~dinner ready~~ takes my picture

Playing on the deck - this rubber mat at the back door always gives him black feet, completing the transformation from Mitchell to Pig Pen.

Ready for a bath, becuase he clearly needs it!

Let's take a look at the toy selection - multiple shampoo bottles, lone Croc, rattle that he takes everywhere and therefore must also come into the bathtub with us too (notice it is in every picture on this entry, I checked), among normal bath toys.

I just love this busy boy!

Beach Weekend

2010-04-27T11:53:00.000-04:00

Recently I went to the beach with a group of girls to celebrate our friend Prim before her upcoming wedding. We stayed in a fabulous house on the beach in Seagrove and though I had a lot of angst, worry and stress attached to leaving my baby for the first time, it turned out fine. It was a wonderful weekend filled with lots of food and drink, relaxation and reminiscing about some of our adventures with the guest of honor over the years. I was so glad to have a friend there who was also away from her babe for the first time so we could commisserate (although I'm sure we wore everyone else out with our constant talk of breastfeeding, schedules, naps, daycare, birthday party ideas, etc).

It involved a lot of planning and coordinating, but I'm so glad I went. We really did have a fantastic time. The weather could not have been more perfect and I think that the bride-to-be really enjoyed herself. The maid of honor did a great job planning a fun weekend!

Here are some pics:

Mo giving Prim her goody bag for the weekend

Everyone got one of these cute bags as a favor!

Love you, sweet P!

***********************************

Mitchell stayed with my parents so John could have the weekend "off" too. By all accounts M did great and my parents have already asked when he can come stay with them again. He took great naps and just played his little heart out. He even went to T-town for A Day and though he didn't want to sit in the stroller, they said he really enjoyed the people watching!

8 Month Update

2010-04-23T11:15:00.001-04:00

Mitchell turned 8 months old on the 11th (note: I started this entry a few days after that but it has taken me two weeks to finish). He actually had a great weekend where he got to see both his Gramma (John's mom) and my parents in one weekend. His Grampa has been feeling under the weather so he didn't come, but John's aunt Sue was visiting so she got to spend the afternoon with him on that Saturday which was nice. The last time she saw him was Thanksgiving, so he's clearly changed a lot since then! I don't have any pictures of their visit, as I had to leave for most of the afternoon to work at a Junior League function, but they had a great time with him and he even took a 2 hour nap for them. I'm trying not to be jealous of that, because he has only done that for me once or twice in his short little life! Since he napped, we even got to go grab an early dinner before Kris and Sue left to go back to Knoxville. Mitchell ate in a high chair and flirted a lot with an older couple who was sitting behind us.

Sunday my parents ended up wanting to come visit too, even though they are keeping (note: kept) him all weekend this coming weekend while I go to the beach (that is for a whole 'nother post to come) I guess they coudn't wait to see him any longer. Not that I blame them!

He's so very busy these days - there is really no one word that is better to describe him at this stage. I'll try to keep this post from getting too long by hitting his high points lately, development-wise.

He loves to stand up now - he is upright most of the time. He's even balanced on his own for a few seconds at a time for about 3 weeks now, but those are few and far between. That is mostly because he never stands (or sits) still long enough to balance. He is in almost constant motion. This means we have all but abandoned the exersaucer and bouncing toys - he will stand up on the outside of them and play with the toys, but putting him in them is almost offensive to him, and he will let you know it!
Whe he is sitting, he loves bouncing on his knees. He kills me with his little gumby legs - he is always bent in some bizarre pose that I would never be able to manage!
Boxes are a favorite toy these days - loves opening and closing the flaps.
The 'd' sound is all we hear these days! I'm trying to reinforce m's so he will get around to saying mama, but his dada is very solid! He's not yet said it in the intentional fashion towards John that I'd say it was his first word (still holding out hope for mama), but he's contsantly jabbering the d's. He also says something that sounds approximately like "dit-dee" for Dixie.
All of a sudden the car seat is the enemy. For a child who literally slept nights in his for months, and has always been a good napper in his car seat, this is a very sad development for us. No longer does putting him in the car ensure him falling asleep. Some days I feel like I have exhausted all forms of creativity in trying to keep him entertained on the short ride to or from day care. Don't even get me started on road trips...I don't know how many solo trips I'll be taking this summer if this keeps up.
Also, changing a diaper is now viewed by him as a torture session. Literally he'll be smiling, talking and laughing and as soon as I tip him back to lay him down it's screaming. Not sure what that's all about.
Bath time is perhaps his favorite time of day. He went through a brief spell (about 3 weeks) where he hated it recently, but we made it through and now it's a surefire mood lifter. I wish I had a picture of the image of it from last night (but John has games this week, so I was solo and therefore had to focus on the child and not taking pictures, darn it!). I usually just put him down on the floor in our room and let him crawl around while I'm getting the water going, and last night he crawled in to the bathroom, pulled up on the edge of the tub, stood up on his tip toes and started making noises and leaning forward that clearly indicated "I wanna get in!" He will play hard in the tub for as long as I let him, and is even happy when I've let all the water run out.
Still a great eater; glad nothing has changed on that front!

Here are some pics...sorry they are mostly all of him eating. I need to take some new pics!

Close up of newest haircut - clearly not professionally done!

Working on learning how to feed ourself...sometimes he misses his mouth!

He is really chubbing up again...

He likes to run his fingers through his hair when he gets tired. All the better if his hands are covered in food!

This diaper box brought many hours of enjoyment. He has stood up and "talked" to it while opening and closing the flaps for days before we finally put it away.

He is kind of late to the game on this, but loves his feet. He is constantly doing this and pulls them waaaay up by his shoulders. Sometimes he tips over backwards, which is both pitiful and funny to watch. He likes to sit indian-style now and is just constantly pulling his feet around. It's really hilarious.

There is always so much to share, but I think that's a pretty good wrap up for now! Almost time for the 9 month update...maybe I should start working on it now so it will be published on time!

Baptism - About a Month Late

2010-04-09T15:45:00.000-04:00

Soooo, life has been really crazy lately, due in about equal parts to healthcare reform (work); a crawling, semi-standing, jabbering wild man that lives with us (Mitchell); and the onset of ~~everyone's~~ John's favorite time of year (baseball season is upon us). Really there's just been so much to fill up our days and all of a sudden it is mid-April! How did that happen?

Mitchell was baptized at Trinity United Methodist Church in Birmingham on March 14. Of course when I picked the date I went ahead and chose the one where the time would change, and then chose to have him baptized at the early service, just so everyone would be on their toes! Just kidding, I clearly did not consult my calendar to see when Daylight Savings Time started; I would have obviously chosen a different date if I had! But it all worked out.

Bright eyed and bushy tailed, about to get dressed!

Mitchell did quite well - he had cut another tooth the day before (at the time it was his first top tooth, and his third total, but as of today, roughly 5 weeks later, we have 7 teeth, as an aside) and he'd been super cranky so I was a tiny bit worried, but he came through for Mom and Dad when it counted. John took him outside to the narthex about halfway through the service due to some wiggles, but cousin Reid had the same wiggles so Erin was there to keep him company!

(Thanks to Aunt Lolly for taking pictures for us)

He tolerated the process of getting his head wet pretty well and cooperated with the "baby parade" as the minister put it, with the help of a paci, of course!

Afterward we celebrated with our family and dear friends, the Liphams, over brunch. We were so honored to have the support of everyone on such a special day for Mitchell. We are reminded every day how blessed we are to have this dear, sweet, spirited child and we were glad that those who we love could be there to stand with us at his baptism.

The sweet "baby cakes" that my mom got for our dessert. Reid helped her pass them out, careful to reserve most of the "brown" (caramel, not shown here) ones for himself. Such a giver!

Giving (and getting) lots of love to his grandparents...

Maedel Family

(The Kendrick Family did not get it together enough for a similar portrait. Go figure.)

Playing with his new engraved rattle from Gramma & Grampa

Goofing with Mike & Spot (sorry for the nearly constant paci...he was on the verge of melting down from the teething and was also getting sick, we later found out)

And we did manage a photo of the three of us, which almost never happens!

Easter Weekend - 2010

2010-04-05T16:43:00.001-04:00

Mitchell's daycare was closed on Good Friday, but luckily so was my office so we got to spend an extra day together without me having to burn up a vacation day. And what fun we had! We rarely get to see Mitchell when he's in a good mood, since he resists taking a nap something fierce* (seriously, he wailed for almost an hour on Sunday afternoon, only to sleep for a mere 40 minutes after that) and by the time he gets home from daycare he's just plum tired and not very playful. We see this a lot:

* I wish we could make more progress on the nap situation, but hardly expect the daycare to be able to make him "cry it out" during nap time. Making him endure CIO on the weekends is fine, but I feel like he just falls back in his "I'm not tired" routine come Monday. But I digress. *

Anyway, we've also been through multiple rounds of colds/infections and he's been on antibiotics off and on since mid-February. Not to mention that he now has 7 teeth, most of which have been very recent additions, so he's clearly been uncomfortable! I wasn't aware of how bad he must have been feeling until I got to spend so much time around him this weekend and I was treated to the sweet, funny, playful child that I remembered but hadn't gotten to experience much of in the last 6 weeks or so! He was seriously so much fun. He is babbling up a storm and he just played so hard. Here's a glimpse:

Playing on the deck on Friday afternoon

Favorite new toy - canister vacuum!

We took several walks, enjoyed the sunshine, opened up some "new" toys that we've had for a while but that I was saving up for some variety, all the while, babbling and cooing. Truly music to our ears!

On Sunday John's mom came down for brunch (his dad wasn't feeling well so stayed home). Mitchell enjoyed opening up his Easter baskets and then we took him to the park to swing. John's mom has the pictures of all 3 of us on her camera, but here are some that we took on ours.

What a glorious weekend!

Mum Mum Mum

2010-04-05T16:21:00.000-04:00

So I'm blessed with an incredibly independent nearly 8-month old tot. He wants so badly to be doing everything for himself, which includes eating. Problem is, he's not exactly in possesion of the motor skills (or full comprehension that things must be chewed/swallowed) to do this very well.

Luckily we were with some friends who have 2 children older than ours this past weekend, and they shared some of their 12 month old's snacks with us. And Mitchell fell in love.

What, you ask, was this glorious snack? The Mum Mum...

Let me state first that I know that these provide hardly any nutrition. They are basically air. However, he will attack one with gusto mainly, I think, because he can feed himself. I hardly even have to worry about him choking becuase they mush up almost immediately. I do watch him, don't get me wrong; it's just that with some of the other puffs and things that we've tried he can still get them in his mouth and swallow them before they start to dissolve, so we've had a few minor incidents that have resulted in back blows (or fishing them out of his throat, fun).

Luckily I'm trained in infant CPR and it's clear that we aren't quite ready for those yet! If we do use those I smear them with something wet (baby food of some sort) so to start the softening process before he gets his little paws on them. These Mum Mum things come in original flavor (which basically means none) and vegetable. They are apparently available in an organic version too, but my Wal-Mart doesn't carry those. These snacks are made in China, but I did some research and the milk powder that they use is imported from New Zealand and there is no danger that they are affected by the tainted milk recalls that Chinese food products have been subject to lately.

The other thing we are LOVING right now is this contraption:

This one is made by Munchkin but other brands carry them too. You can put fresh food in them and babies can mush their food up. Mitchell didn't cotton to his right away, so I started using it as a teether so he'd get used to it, putting ice in it and he'd go to town on it to soothe those poor swollen gums! Now, though, it is a fixture at mealtime. We've had banana, watermelon, canteloupe, avocados, and peas in ours. They are very messy but lots of fun for the kids!

Z-ed Up

2010-03-30T11:10:00.000-04:00

So, Mitchell had some sort of virus or who knows what last week. We had a day at home due to a 103.3 temperature on Monday, and due to a lingering cough the pediatrician put him on the liquid equivalent of a z-pack. He was supposed to take 1 tsp on Monday and then a 1/2 tsp for 4 days after that. Well...those steroids had the same effect on him that they have on me when I've taken them - he was all keyed (or z'ed, haha, pardon the bad pun) up!

He was not having bedtime at all when 7:00 rolled around, so I brought him back downstairs and just decided that we could watch him and let him wind down a little bit before trying again. He was actually precious and lots of fun to play with that night, even though we knew he wasn't feeling great. Long story short, he stayed up past 10:00 and I was having horrible flashbacks to the days when he was just weeks old. He finally went to bed and slept for about 6 hours, so it wasn't horrible.

But while we were waiting for him to get tired enough to fall asleep we thought we'd listen to some tunes - the boy loves him some music! John has an iPhone for work and the face on his had cracked, which necessitated a new one. He brought the old one home for M to play with, since he loves my Blackberry and I'm starting to worry about how much drool it has soaked up. It's bound to give out one of these days.

Here's a couple of videos of M playing with his fancy new toy!

Thank Goodness...

2010-03-29T11:19:00.000-04:00

...for the car seat. Far and away the best naps M ever gets.

TV Worth Watching

2010-03-29T11:16:00.000-04:00

Have ya'll seen the new ABC show Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution? It is all about trying to education Amricans about the food they eat and how it is impacting our health. This message is on his website:

I believe that every child in America has the right to fresh, nutritious school meals, and that every family deserves real, honest, wholesome food. Too many people are being affected by what they eat. It's time for a national revolution. America needs to stand up for better food!

You live in an amazing country full of inspirational people and you have the power to change things. With your help, we can get better food into homes, schools and communities all over America and give your kids a better future.

He visits the American city that the CDC has deemed the unhealthiest in America (Huntington, WV) and I am sure that there is some creative editing involved, but I was blown away by how ignorant and resistant to his efforts some of the people featured on the first couple of shows have been. Perhaps I'm biased; I love Jamie Oliver anyway, but it's made me sad to watch some of the attitudes he's been up against. It's also sad that someone from another country has been the one to take up this cause...but I'm sure glad someone is doing it! Check out this show...it airs on Friday nights at 9/8c on ABC.

Here's a couple of links: http://abc.go.com/shows/jamie-olivers-food-revolution/index

http://www.jamieoliver.com/campaigns/jamies-food-revolution

And click on the picture below to go right to the petition:

7 Months Old!

2010-03-11T11:25:00.000-05:00

Mitchell's 7 months old today and I just want to give a quick summary of what he's up to lately.

UP being the operative word. He loves to pull/push up on anything (even if it's not really an appropriate resource). The other day he tried to use another child at his daycare to push up on, which clearly didn't go well when the other child started to crawl away! Luckily he's also a good faller, so when he takes a tumble he takes it in stride and keeps right on going.

Actually he doesn't fall that often. My mom and I were marveling this past weekend about what good balance he has. He is able to raise and lower himself really well. This helps because, like in the picture above, he usually has a toy in one hand that he is usually also trying to hang onto!

Here he is standing up in his crib (I mentioned this last month but never posted):

He loves to greet us in the mornings standing up. If we happen to go in and he's sitting down (or heaven forbid, actually laying down IN BED), he scrambles to get himself over to the rails so he can get up and then reaches up for us to get him out. It's about the cutest thing you've ever seen. I hope to get it on video one of these days, but things never seem to go quite the same way when a camera is involved.

He is really loving being able to crawl around and explore more of the house. This box provided endless amusement recently, especially since the flaps could be opened and closed repeatedly. :)

He has lots of nicknames: Turkey Legs, Moose, Mitsul, etc, but my new one for him is Bam Bam. He takes great delight in making as much noise as possible, whenever possible. We have concrete floors on the main floor of our house, and he loves to crawl to the edge of our rugs and bang whatever he's got in his hands on the bare floors. It truly fills him with glee. I've said it before, but he's all boy. He'll occasionally bang himself in the face during this activity, but it rarely phases him.

He's just so busy in general, and a very happy child 95% of the time. Even when he's not feeling well, or he's tired from not taking a nap, he still has an adorable grin on his face. He's not yet exhibited any signs of separation anxiety, which I'm still very thankful for. He's all grins when I leave him at daycare in the morning and many days I'll stay a few minutes after I've left the room and just watch him playing through the window. He's always moving and he just has the best time. We're so lucky have such a sweet, good-natured child and we love watching him explore the big world out there!

Here's a few pictures from playtime last weekend:

Look closely, you may see the long drool drip I managed to capture!

He crawled over this bar multiple times - it was like a never-ending obstacle course for him!

My little ray of sunshine....

Falling Down On The Job

2010-03-11T11:01:00.000-05:00

So I haven't been cooking much lately that I can share on this blog. The Junior League of Chattanooga is working on a new cookbook and I'm on the committee, so I've been testing lots of recipes of late, but I'm not really supposed to share them until we make some decisions on what will be in and what won't. I've made some really good stuff, but have also have some dishes that I'd put squarely in the reject pile as well. It's a daunting process (I'm actually on the committee that is responsible for all the text/non-recipe content of the book) but it's been fun so far and I can't wait until the finished product comes out about a year from now!

So, other than cooking lots of baby food, I've not got a lot of things to share. BUT I do have a resource that I want to share. Our local health food/grocery store has started a new menu planning series called Shopping with Charlotte. They have an actual cooking session each week that goes through the recipes but it's during my work day so I don't go. Luckily they have copies of the recipes and shopping list at the store and online, and all throughout the store they have labels with the items that are on the shopping list for the week.

I've picked up the recipes for the last couple of weeks and there have been some really good ones. I found the lists posted online so I thought I'd share them for those of you who aren't in my town but might be interested in another resource for easy, quick, nutritious meals. Based on the source, I thought they might be a little too out there, but so far there hasn't been any tempeh, tofu, wheatgrass, etc! I like that there are 6 dishes, so about enough for a week given some leftovers, eating out, etc., and nothing is extraordinarily expensive or exotic.

So go check it out if you're interested!
Greenlife Grocery - Shopping With Charlotte

Easter Bunnies for a Bargain!

2010-03-11T09:24:00.000-05:00

Got this cutie pie at a consignment sale recently: $18 with tags still on, Be Mine brand, bubble. I cannot resist my child in a bubble outfit. He has such wonderfully chunky legs that they really need to be displayed as often as the temperature allows.

Of course I don't have any pictures of them here. How about a close up of his sweet baby blues instead?

Cute T-shirt Vendor

2010-03-11T09:09:00.002-05:00

This post was edited a bit from its original state after I re-read it and realized how many times I'd used the word "cute". Clearly I need to take a page from sorority rush and refer to a list of adjectives before I hit the Publish Post button!

Hey friends,

Do you need to buy clothes for any kiddos? They don't even have to be yours....

Check out this Etsy vendor that I found through one of my favorite blogs to ~~stalk~~ read, Fly Through Our Window. This person advertises on Darby's site and she has posted pictures of the kids in the shirts on various occasions on the blog. I always liked them, so I ordered one out of curiosity with regards to quality, appearance, etc.

We got our t-shirt about a month ago but as I'd ordered an 18 month size, I didn't really do anything with it at first since the weather has been frigid and I didn't think it would fit yet anyway. Her website recommends ordering up a size, and since I wanted to get ours for the summertime anway, I thought it would be fine.

Well, the t-shirt itself really must run small, because I washed it recently with some other new things we had (did not dry it, thank goodness) and when I was folding it I compared it to some other shirts we have and realized that it was not that much bigger. So I tried it on him and lo and behold, it fits him quite well right now. The sleeves are a little baggy and it's a tiny bit long, but he's always had a little bit of a milk gut (makes me chuckle when it hangs over his diaper), so that extra room helps. He looked precious in it the other day. Now I just hope it will hold out to be worn for at least part of baseball season!

Sorry, no cute posed pictures where you can actually see him AND the shirt...if you know Mitchell you know thats's a virtual impossibility to get him to sit still if he's not feelin' it!

I rest my case.

But otherwise, I am, as the name suggests, smitten with this shirt.

She has some precious easter/spring ones, as well as great birthday ideas (cupcakes, numbers), monograms, lots of holiday options come Halloween/Thanksgiving/Christmas, and plenty of fun little icons that would be perfect throughout the year. She has ruffled little girl dresses that would be so fun with leggings or tights. Go check her out!

Even though the shirt ran a little small for us, I do like the final results and I'll defintely order from her again!

Hallelujah!

2010-02-22T16:50:00.000-05:00

It was sunny! It was warm! It was sunny and warm!

We strolled both Saturday and Sunday, but I only have pics of Saturday.

On Saturday Dixie was playing at her local pet day spa (please, don't judge, she has lots of pent up energy and it is hard for me to keep up with her exercise needs), so M and I went around the neighborhood. Lots of our curbs are not stroller friendly, but we managed, and he loved it. Every time I peeked at him he was grinning and he babbled a lot, especially when cars would drive by. We have only used the upright configuration of the stroller a couple of times so far, but I know he likes it better than the semi-reclined position of the carseat.

Sunday afternoon, the whole fam went for a walk and the weather was glorious. We strolled for over an hour and the breeze and vibration must have been working in harmony, becuase our little passenger fell right alseep on us. It was awesome - we haven't walked much lately because the weather has been so gloomy, and we all enjoyed it.

I really hope that the groundhog was wrong this year - I have a serious case of spring fever!

Growing Pains

2010-02-22T16:23:00.000-05:00

When did we go from this:

To this?:

Incidentally, this is M's very favorite new thing to do. Seriously, some days it seems like he cannot bear to go more than 60 seconds between efforts. He'll be playing with one of the jillion toys you see strewn on the floor behind him in the picture above, when he will look up, see one of us sitting on the floor nearby, and remember that he hasn't stood up in ages and immediately drop what he's doing to crawl over and pull or push up on us. It's adorable.

I've been hesitant to encourage this too much (see also: standing up in crib), but he is so proud when he does it that I've caved. I'm probably going to be cursing myself any day now, since yes, I did find him standing up in his crib this morning when I went in to get him (his crib mattress has been on the lowest setting from the beginning, because I had a crib skirt made and didn't really want to have to deal with the length issues, plus we are both tall so it's never been difficult for us to get him in and out comfortably). Photographic evidence will be provided when I remember to leave the camera upstairs so I can grab it easily in the morning.

We've had a considerable amount of difficulty with M's sleep habits, which I haven't really gotten into much here on the blog because I don't want to bore anyone with the details, but he's made some good progress in the last couple of weeks and we've all been better rested. It's been a hard road for all of us, and a test of the wills, but we finally feel like we've got a plan that's working for everyone. I had lots of recommendations for a certain sleep method and we tried all of them, but we've had the best luck following some advice that we got from our pediatrician at Mitchell's 6 month check up. If you want details, e-mail me.

I'm afraid all of our hard work may take a few steps back now that he's pulling up. He was very restless when he first started sitting up by himself as well (which was only a month or so ago). Every time he woke up he'd practice for a while, and I figure he'll follow a similar pattern now. But it was going to happen eventually so I guess we're just going to have to be thankful for the little stretch of rest we got and take a deep breath for round 2!

Life is so fun with him that it helps ease the pain of sleep deprivation. Plus, his smile melts my heart. When he gives me the grin, I'm like putty!

Who Needs Toys?

2010-02-22T16:00:00.000-05:00

As all parents learn, sometimes the most amusing activity for a child is the cheapest thing you could imagine. Take Mitchell's favorite new activity...

"Reading" magazines! Mitchell is learning to love Us Weekly just like his momma.

What's so fun about this is that you can tear it, crinkle it, flap it around, chew it, and even use it for a surface to slide!

It brought even more enjoyment when we transferred him and all of it to the pack and play:

I told John that it was sort of like the ball pit at Chuck E Cheese, he was slithering all over the place and just generally having the time of his life. You know, for about 5 minutes. And then he was done. But that's normal, right?

He has shredded about 3 magazines in the last 2 days. It makes a mess. But when you get this reaction, that mess is all worth it!

The Big 6-Mo

2010-02-11T15:24:00.000-05:00

Haha, get it, 6-mo? Crickets, I'm sure.

Mitchell is 6 months old today, that's what I'm getting at. We actually had his 6 month appointment today, and he weighed 18 lbs, 4 oz and was 27 1/4 inches. He's tapering way off, considering those stats put him in the 60th and 75th percentile, respectively. We started out above 90 for both, so I guess it's true what they say about those breastfed babies - they get big quickly and then slow way down! I need to take a picture of his little belly hanging over his diaper though - you wouldn't know it from looking at him that he seems to be evening out in that department!

The only thing that has slowed down is his growth...he's a little speedster in every other way. He's sitting totally up by himself, has finally mastered the art of the actual crawl (but has been maneuvering around for quite a while), as well as the army crawl and he loves to pull up on us now as well. It's the cutest thing in the world - if you sit down on the floor and hold out your index fingers, he will light up, then crawl over, grab on and pull up with the absolute proudest look on his face. Of course I have no picture evidence of this yet, but we'll get there.

He's also making so many new noises that its hard to even catalog them. He has sweet little morning noises that he makes when he first wakes up, his loud play noises, his happy noises, his mad noises, it's so fun seeing his personality emerge.

He loves drinking from a cup, so we've broken out the sippies lately to give him some independence. John usually brings me a big mug or cup of water upstairs to Mitchell's room when I'm feeding him so I can get something to drink if I need it, but we're about to have to cut that out becuase M zeros in on the cup and he literally cannot focus on anything else (like eating). I always let him have a few "sips" out of my cup but then I end up pouring the rest out becuase he gets so much drool in it. I'm sure one of these days I won't care, but he's been sick a good bit lately and I am trying not to pass things around any more than we already do!

I know everyone just wants to see pictures, so here are some recents:

I posted this one on FB, but I couldn't resist. The more I look at it the more I think it's maybe my favorite one I've ever taken of him...

Sippy, and another haircut (bang trim is all we could manage)

If you peek closely you can see his two teeth. He's currently being tortured by at least two more working their way out!

He's started discovering how fun throwing things on the floor can be. I can assure you that all of the items seen here were just picked up and were all about to be flung down again. But when he looks so cute doing it, how can you get mad?

And I took this one this morning, for his birthday. Sorry, can you tell I'm obsessed with this onesie? I just think he looks so cute in red. He wears it every time it is clean. Happy Valentines, everyone!

First Snow!

2010-02-09T13:09:00.000-05:00

So we got some actual snow a couple of weeks ago (yes, I am behind). It was so fun to have Mitchell's first snow, but he didn't really care about it one way or another. We were just excited about getting him out in it! Thanks to our neighbor with two kids, we had a big fleece suit that I put him in for our quick trip outdoors. He certainly didn't seem to see what all the fuss was about, but he sure did look cute!

Around the neighborhood:

The Best Brisket and Other Culinary Creations

2010-02-02T15:32:00.001-05:00

Hey y'all, it's the weekly post on my latest and greatest in the kitchen!

Recently, we had some friends over for dinner, and knowing I wouldn't have time to cook after work AND get Mitchell fed/bathed/down for bed before they came over, I turned to my crock pot. I got one for a wedding gift but hardly ever use it. Like, once a year, maybe? But I'm definitely going to depend on it more in the future. Because, this? Was glorious. And easy.

Southwestern Pulled Brisket
I prepped everything the night before, including browning the meat and combining everything in the insert. I then refrigerated it overnight, took it out the next morning to warm up a bit, and then popped it in the cooker and turned it on before I left for work. When I got home it was done, and the house smelled amazing (poor Dixie probably drooled all day long), and I had to do virtually no work before dinner was served!

Deb's arguably got better pics on her site, but here are mine:

See the meat poking out there on the left? I have a small, circular shaped crock pot (don't know the capacity). If you had a larger oval one this probably wouldn't happen. I used an even smaller piece of brisket than her recipe calls for, because my choices at the store were either slightly less than 2.5 pounds or 4+ pounds. Clearly I opted for smaller and there was more than enough for 4 hungry adults to make several soft tacos each. If I had used a bigger cut I probably would have cut the beef in half so it would all be submerged.

Post shred - just pull it out (mine was literally falling apart after close to 10 hours) and shred with 2 forks. I shredded mine in a stoneware dish because I was going to keep it warm in a very low oven (200) until our friends arrived.

I strongly recommend her suggestion of straining and reducing the cooking liquid. You get a wonderful, rich, flavorful sauce if you do this. I cooked mine on medium heat for about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. When it was reduced by about 1/2 (or more, if you have time and want it to be really thick, almost like barbecue sauce), I poured about half of the sauce over the meat and covered it with foil while it stayed warm in the oven, and put the rest in a bowl for topping our tacos. It was so worth that little bit of extra work!

The only thing I'd say about the recipe is that ours was barely even mildly spicy and I used 1 chipotle pepper. I would probably use 2 next time, but that's totally a matter of personal taste. I don't like things super duper spicy, but I think the additional heat would be a nice balance to the sweetness that you get from the molasses in this sauce.

We made soft tacos, but it would be great as the filling for enchiladas or even used on nachos. Yum!

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Ok, so I'm not a total food snob but John made a request for a recipe recently that kind of made me cringe. He found it online and e-mailed it to me and it was not in any way appealing to me, but I made it for him one night last week when I had a meeting and he loved it. So I'm sharing it, despite my initial reaction. I'm sure he'd be happy I cooked like this more often.

Here are the ingredients: chili, shredded hashbrowns, cilantro and cheddar cheese

Basically you pour some chili in a shallow baking dish, chop up some cilantro and mix the potatoes & cheese together, top and bake (425 for 20-25 minutes).

John likes things almost burnt on top, so he reports that he turned on the broiler at the end so his cheese and hashbrowns would get nice and crunchy. Admittedly, the ingredients for this dish cost me less than $10, and only because I was out of shredded cheese. And I have most of the bag of hashbrowns left. If you have some leftover chili on hand (we usually have some in the freezer), it would be even cheaper, so from a budget meals standpoint this one would definitely qualify. You could easily make 4 portions of this if you had another can or container of chili, so $2.50/serving (or less, depending on what you already have in your fridge) isn't bad.

It just smacks of Semi-Homemade to me, which is I guess is my hang-up. But I need to get over myself. It was an easy, fast and satisfying meal for my husband and I'll probably make it for him again sometime. So, there's your ringing endorsement.

For some reason I cannot link to the recipe. It came from http://www.delish.com/ and was called Cheesy Hash Brown Bake if you want to search it.

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Last but not least, no pictures, but I made The Pioneer Woman's Beef Stew with Mushrooms last week as well, and it will definitely be added to my rotation. We both loved it. I served it over whole wheat egg noodles, but I'd say something a bit more substantial is better for it. She suggests mashed potatoes; I'd probably just use a thicker cut of pasta. I'd add some other vegetables if I was making it for other people, but since John doesn't like most cooked vegetables I stuck with the straight beef/mushroom combo that the recipe calls for. Next time I make it I might try to be sneaky and mix in some homemade vegetable puree (AKA Mitchell's baby food) ala Deceptively Delicious.

This recipe was warm, hearty, easy and very tasty. The only thing I'd add is to season the meat before you toss it in flour, but I admittedly am an aggressive "salter" when it comes to seasoning, so you might not feel the same way as me. The dish was plenty flavorful; I just found the meat a bit lacking in taste without some salt & pepper. Because I had them, I used two portabellas that I chunked up instead of the whole smaller creminis; otherwise I followed the recipe as it was written.

Make this very soon - it's impressive enough for company but is also perfect for a quick weeknight dinner (especially since we reportedly have 6 more weeks of winter to go). Most of the cooking time is passive, so you can put it on and do whatever it is you need to do for 30-45 minutes. And while you're at it, go visit The Pioneer Woman if you haven't already. She's hilarious!

That's all for now. Bon Appetit!