7.30.2008

Our actual dog acts more like a cat anyway

Reason #2 why my daughter resembles a puppy:

She chases the vacuum cleaner. Some babies are lulled to sleep by the noise, some are terrified by the machine, mine? She scoots around behind it, laughing as I zoom past her.

who's hungry?

November 1998 I stopped eating meat after being totally grossed out by deer carcases proudly displayed on every car hood in town.

October 2001 I have been in college for a month and the cafeteria has few vegetarian options. I'm hungry and too poor to get my own groceries so I start eating the tuna. I continue to eat seafood but still avoid all other meats for the next several years.

April 2007 I take a pregnancy test, it's positive, I resolved to give in to any food cravings for the next 9 months. 1st up: fried chicken. I've been eating all foods ever since (except celery and mushrooms, yuck).

I've been considering going back to vegetarian side for a while now, I even planned on going vegan for a few weeks just as a sort of cleansing diet. My dad keeps making good food though, like ribs in our new smoker grill, and most nights it's just him and I that sit down to eat dinner.

My solution is that when I cook dinner I will try to make a (mostly) vegetarian meal and see if I can make meat a 'once-in-a-while' food.

Last night I made some pizzas. I made one that didn't turn out too well and so we won't talk about that one, but I made another one that was DELICIOUS.

Separate the sides of pita bread so that you have two thin round pieces. Pile on goat cheese, roasted red peppers, and sun dried tomatoes. Bake at 400 for 15ish min and finally toss on some diced up basil. Mmmmmmmmmm. Drizzle some balsamic vinegar over it just before you eat.

I had leftover ingredients and stuffed them all in the pita pockets and put it under the broiler for a few min for lunch today.

The night before I made this:



These zucchini "crab" cakes that were yummy. (There isn't really any crab in them)

Chiles Rellenos (stuffed poblano peppers):

Scorch the outside of the peppers with an open flame from your gas stove or put them under the broiler until they are black and blistered all over then stick them in a plastic bag to let them "sweat" for a while.

Cook up what you plan on stuffing them with. I cooked together onion, cactus, eggplant, tomatoes, and corn until the onion was soft.

Now you can take off the skin of the peppers...but be careful! Wear gloves if you have any cuts and make sure all the babies are being cared for by someone else far away from the kitchen sink. Run the peppers under cold water as you slide the skin off and wash your hands often so you don't accidentally rub your eyes or pick up your baby with fire fingers. (This dish isn't really spicy at all after you finish, I promise)

Cut a slit in the peppers and cut out the guts (that's the spicy part, watch it go down the disposal)

Stuff the peppers with your filling, add cheese too if you want, and "sew" them back together with toothpicks.

Whip three egg whites together (for four-five peppers) until fluffy and then mix in the yolks. Dust the peppers with flour and cover them with the egg mixture and then set them in some hot oil and fry those suckers till they are golden.

Put any left over stuffing on your plate as a bed for your chiles rellenos and top with any remaining cheese.

These are fricken awesome.

Finally the pretty little things inthe middle of the picture:

Blackberry Cornbread Tartlets with Ricotta Cream via Vegetarian Times:

1/2 cup yellow cornmeal + 1/2 cup unbleached (white) flour* (I used whole wheat) + 3Tbs sugar +1 tsp baking powder + 1/2 tsp salt in a bowl.

1/2 cup milk whisked with 1 large egg, fold into dry mixture.

Add 2 Tbs melted unsalted butter and 1/2 cup fresh or frozen corn kernels.

Bake the corn muffins at 375 for 14ish minutes.

Whisk 1 cup ricotta cheese + 1/4 cup sugar + 1.5 tsp vanilla extract + 1/2 tsp orange zest.

After the cornbread has sufficiently cooled, cut off the tops to make a flat surface and plop some cream on each and top with blackberries. I used frozen berries, but if you use fresh ones you should toss them with a little sugar and a pinch of salt ahead of time and let them rest so they'll be juicier.
Now if you made it to the end of this post you get a little treat...


7.26.2008

Month 7

Everywhere I take you, Josephine, people stop me to tell me how beautiful my baby is. They comment on how much hair you have, pull on your tiny toes and then ask me how old you are. Do you know what I have to say now? I have to say 7 MONTHS. BAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

I would have written this earlier but I've been having too much fun playing with you lately, and I hesitate to write this but, Finally. Not that you aren't always a totally fun baby, but this past month has been a little rough for your mother's nerves. The separation anxiety paired with increased mobility left me with about 15 sec to myself everyday. 15 seconds is not enough time to go to the bathroom by myself, FYI.
This month you and I went on an airplane, four airplanes actually, and we survived. My best friend Kelly, her fiance, and their daughter Paris finally got to meet you. I haven't seen them since you were in my belly and Paris was soooo confused about why I ate a baby. How else could there be a baby in my belly?
You and Paris were BFFs almost immediately. There were so many moments that the two of you were quieltly playing and unaware that I was watching from the kitchen and I just died from the picture-perfectness of it all. The sappy fantasy that two young girlfriends have that one day they will have babies that will be best friends...for a week that fantasy came true. Those moments made all the crying on the plane and pooping in the airport totally worth it.
When we got home you waited a few days before you had your first real fever. I'm pretty proud of myself with how I reacted to you being a sicky baby. I wasn't the nerotic first time parent, I was the cool and composed rational parent that shushed the crazy family that asked if I was taking you in to the doctor's. You were fine, you are fine, but that's it honey, you aren't allowed to get sick again this decade.
You know what? I don't know if I have much else to say about this month. The more I gush about how cute and smart and fun you are, the more I sound like every mom with every baby. And I'm not every mom, and you aren't every baby, and I don't want to sound like we are. At least not in these letters to you. So this is all I can put out there this month, Josephine. I love you so much.

7.22.2008

oh yeah

I'll probably be giving little updates about my MN trip from time to time because I'll suddenly remember something funny or interesting (to me) and I'll just have to share!

SO, remember the $7 shoes I got to go with my brown dress? Well, I wore them around my house before I left so that I could get a feel for any trouble spots and apply padding to appropriate areas. So far they were feeling pretty good. I'm not much of a high heel girl but these felt like I could keep them on for most of the night.
When I put them on the day of the wedding I suddenly needed bandaids on all my toes just to walk down the stairs to the car. But I didn't put any bandaids on because I thought I'd just re-adjust them in the car and baby=suck brains out. (Josephine is my excuse for most things, she owes me, my section scar still hurts) Anyway my feet hurt so bad that I carried my shoes around for most of the night, keeping them on only for the ceremony and for a brief walk outside between dinner and dance. I left them there. I had to. Walking to the bathroom for one last diaper change before we left my feet cramped up. Like when you are swimming and your toes suddenly point in unnatural directions...yeah, so I'm wiping baby but on a bench in a bathroom and my toes are pointing every way possible and OUCH! See ya later cheapo shoes.

7.20.2008

sidetrack/trip


Josephine is sicky

she had a slight fever last night and it's a little higher this morning...so I'll see what i can do while she's napping but I'm not promising anything too entertaining.


The first flight out to Denver was a little of what I was dreading, Josephine started off happy and got fussy when I couldn't walk around with her to help her fall asleep. She did finally fall asleep and no one seemed too pissed that they were sitting by a baby. On the second flight she fell asleep almost immediately and since I was able to bring her car seat on the plane, I stuck her in there and was able to take a short nap myself.

*If you show your cute baby to the guy behind the counter, throw in a look of slight desperation, the ticket guy will make sure you are sitting next to an empty seat, even if it's the only one on the plane.

Josephine was great for most of the time in MN. She really only fussed when I put her in the car. Also, her hair was super curly in the MN humidity, very cute.
It didn't take very long for her to warm up to my friend Kelly, maybe because she and I don't look entirely dissimilar, and Josephine just LOVED Kelly's 4 year old daughter. For a 4 y/o only child, she did spectacular with Josephine around. She played peek-a-boo for as long as Jose would pay attention, she layed out a blanket with baby safe toys on it and was super excited to show us the display, she was quiet when Josephine napped and only casually suggested that maybe we can walk someplace instead of drive, because the baby always cries in the car.

We went swimming almost everyday and Josephine loved it. One afternoon we spent some time in a bridal shop that had gone out of business. The bank was selling everything 1/2 off and so the four of us, along with another girlfriend that was visiting that day, tore around the shop looking at some potential bridesmaids dresses for Kelly's upcoming wedding, as well as the gawdy and silly dresses that we would've bought just for dress up purposes if they were a little cheaper.

The reason I picked this particular week to visit MN was because a very dear friend of mine was getting married. I could go on and on about how great she is but I won't, you'll just have to trust me that she's pretty awesome. Josephine conveniently took a break from being an anxious clingy little monkey and wanted to say hi to everyone there. It was so great to see her make googly eyes back at all the people I haven't seen since I was in my first trimester. It was a good night.

I guess I was a little cocky about how easy it was to travel out with Josephine and I didn't prepare as well for the trip home. First I forgot to pack our swim suits and a few little things that Kelly had given us because I just set them down instead of putting them in my suitcase immediately. Because I'm a mom and babies suck your brains out.

Anyway, my return flight was super early and while getting us dressed and ready I didn't get a blanket back into the diaper bag. The blanket I use to cover up while nursing. I didn't notice until I was in my seat and she was grabbing at my shirt. Luckily I had a bandanna that I hadn't removed from the diaper bag that I could use.

Let me back up, on the ride to the airport Josephine pooped. Not a big deal except that I couldn't change her right away because we were tight for time and there was a serious line ahead of me to check in. She was sitting in the Bjorn and seemed happy so I didn't worry about the diaper situation. We got through security and I booked it to a bathroom, took her out of the Bjorn and saw that poop had seeped out of the diaper and was all up her back...so much for the cute outfit...The lady sharing the changing station with me was all Oh my, mah baby peeeeeeeeed through all her clothes! Now I have to change her whole outfit! Do you have any spare wipes? Hey look, it's just pee, look at my baby, half her body is smeared in mustard yellow poop, and no I think I'm going to need all of these wipes just to clean up her back before I even attempt to clean her butt, and look at her poopy feet! it's everywhere!

*she ignored me and my poopy situation, and I did give her a butt wipe.

Then Josephine slept through both flights even though I couldn't bring the car seat on board.
The end.
(I'll put pictures up on Flickr soon.)

7.19.2008

give me a minute

ok
I have uploaded all my pictures from my camera but I have yet to edit them.
I will work on writing about my trip tonight (it was super!) but right now I'm going to try to get some laundry put away and then go outside and enjoy this beautiful summer day.
I'll be back

7.08.2008

it builds character

I was starting a post with whatever, y'all can suck it, thanks for nothing, then a friend posted some shoe ideas after all...but I already found shoes. $7 from payless, and they look like they cost $7 but I'm ok with that.


so, Operation Lose My Shit is officially underway. I have half my suitcase packed, disposable diapers purchased for the trip, and nightmares about being seated next to some cranky drama queen that thinks breastfeeding is gross and wants to educate me on the benefits of Benadryl or other sedation techniques.

I mentioned the Wonder Weeks book before and you know what it says? It says that the most common week for a baby's separation anxiety to peek is week 29. Guess what week she started yesterday? If she would've been born on her due date then week 29 would start this coming Friday. Either way, it's just in time for the wedding I'm attending on Saturday. Here's hoping she doesn't fit the mold this time.

I am really excited though. I leave tomorrow morning and I'm not going to be doing any computer stuff while I'm there so I look forward to sharing how everything went when I get home again the following Wednesday.

Give me a few days, if you don't hear from me assume I got in a fight on the plane and TSA has me locked up in a back closet.