2 Months Old!

 Big Smile!

I really can't believe how fast time is flying.  Luke is growing so quickly that I swear his face looks a little different each day.

There have been a lot of exciting new experiences in the past month.  First, he is smiling.  He loves to kick and smile and almost laugh when he is on his changing table.  (Yes, the changing table is now is favorite place--BIG difference from 6 weeks ago).  This is in part because he is completely obsessed with the sailboat mobile in his room.  Whenever I lay him on the changing table, he immediately looks at it and tries to grab at it until I turn it on for him.  Yeah, it's completely adorable.

His other favorite time of day is bath time.  Wow, after those first few bath times, I never imagined he would grow to love them so much.  He has a little blue hippo bath toy named Rumpus and we sing the Rumpus Song during the bath.  He loves it.  Yes I know it's a little dorky.  And yes I named the toy Rumpus.

Tummy time... not so much up there on his list of things he likes to do.  He hates it.  I don't mind so much, because he rolls over from his tummy (he has been doing that since two weeks though) so I figure he has pretty good muscles.  He is also holding his little head up now.  It gets a tad bobbly when he is tired, but when he is alert, look out!  He loves to look around the room all by himself or possibly head butt you when he is hungry.

We got him a Bumbo seat which he sits in just fine, but he doesn't seem to be a huge fan.  He kinds of stares at me like, What exactly am I supposed to be doing for you here? I do think that, just like diaper changes, bath time and play mat time, he will ultimately come to like being propped up like a little gentleman.  I just hope that day comes soon because oh my gosh does he look cute in it.

 

Did you want me to do a trick or something?

He is a GREAT sleeper.  He usually sleeps in chunks and we are getting 6 hours out of him at night.  I am very impressed--because he is so young, I really wasn't expecting much by way of sleep, but he has been doing very well.

Speaking of sleep... he is sleeping in the bed.  I KNOW, I said I would never co-sleep because Ohmigawd how will I ever get him back in the crib.  But things change.  We know this now.  Because his reflux is so bad, he has to sleep in the car seat (doctor's orders), which I have placed at the foot of the bed.  The doctor said we could move the car seat into the crib, but... I don't know.  I'm a little freaked out about it.  The Angelcare Monitor still registers his breathing even when he is in the car seat, so I am going to put him in there at some point.  Maybe this weekend.  We'll see.

Oh and if you are wondering why Luke is always smiling for or staring at the camera... it's because he thinks it is a hilarious game.  He was never interested in the P&S but once I broke out the Canon Rebel--OH MY GOSH what is that thing???--the captivation began.

Hi.

For no reason other than he is perfect perfect perfect...

A little something to brighten your day.  I know he brightens mine.

Day 4 of the Cooking Challenge: Baked Ziti Sans Parmesan Because I Didn't Realize I Didn't Have Any

The Baked Ziti Experience was wonderful for so many reasons.  First, I cooked it at 1:00 in the afternoon.  The kiddo was down for his afternoon nap and I thought, what the heck.  Let's do this.  Baked Ziti.

Turns out, it doubled as lunch.  And then dinner.  AND it will be dinner again tomorrow night.  Oh AND it was pretty much totally completely quick and easy to make.  Baked Ziti may as well have knocked on my front door and announced himself as the savior of Moms Who Want To Cook But Have Little Babies And Can't crowd.  And I would have let him in.  Oh, I would.

Not sure I would have changed anything with this one.  Well, on second thought, I could have used a little more sauce on the re-heat.  So maybe I would use more sauce.  I did cut the ricotta to about 20 ounces because OH MY GOSH that is a hell of a lot of ricotta.  I also threw some chopped fresh basil to the mix, along with Italian Seasoning and plenty of S&P.  Good call on the basil.  It added a whole new glorious taste dimension. My final change was to mix all of the sauce in to the main mixture and not put any separately on top.  I was a lil antsy.  I just wanted to get it all in there.

Oh and I'm sure by the title of this post you have figured out that I cut the parmesan.  Didn't seem to make a difference.  This one still gets a big thumbs up.

I would like to add that Luke was so quiet while I was cooking this that I went in to the living room to check on him.  He was sitting in his swing where I left him (of course) but he had woken up.  He was staring at me and smiling.  SMILING.  For no reason.  Right at me.  That is what he was doing when I walked in.  Are you getting the creepiness here.  Child of the corn!  The Omen!  Ahhhh!

Baked Ziti AKA Tons of Meals

Ingredients

1 (16 ounce) package ziti pasta
24 ounces ricotta cheese
1 pound shredded mozzarella cheese
1 egg, beaten
1 (32 ounce) jar spaghetti sauce
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Directions

Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add ziti and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until al dente; drain and rinse.

In a medium bowl, mix ziti, ricotta cheese, mozzarella cheese, egg and 1 1/2 cups spaghetti sauce.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).

Lightly grease a 9x13 inch baking dish and spoon in ziti mixture. Top with remaining spaghetti sauce, followed by Parmesan cheese.

Bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes; let stand for 15 minutes before serving.

Nom nom nom.  Eat it.

Next on the agenda:  Biscuits with Scrumptious Sausage Gravy

Day 3 of the Cooking Challenge: Taco Fiesta

Last night was Taco Night in our happy little house.  It's been FOREVER since I scarfed down a few tacos, largely due to the Pregnancy Induced Vegetarianism that occurred for the majority of 2009.  But, I am weak, and the barrage of Black Taco commercials did not go unnoticed. 

So, Taco Night it was.  I am not going to provide the recipe for the tacos, because THEY'RE TACOS.  It is a journey that you will have to embark on yourself, my friend.

(I will mention that over the years I have come to like the Old El Paso brand much better than the Taco Bell brand... something more zippy about the seasoning.)

(And yes I know zippy is sort of a cop-out of a word, but it's late and bebe is sleeping soundly and I fear that overuse of my brain may wake him).

Here you go.  See how I presented them so attractively. 

 Taco Night with all the fixins

Oh, and I think I get an A+ for cheapness and simplicity for this one.  K thanks.

Next stop on the challenge:  Baked Ziti

The (requires a full week of commitment) cooking challenge!

I have been meaning to write this post since the weekend, so you are catching me two days into my challenge (oops).  Whatev!  Here is the deal...

It's... um... easy to slack on the Wifely Dinner Making when you have a brand new Precious Bundle.  You pretty much always have an excuse to order out or eat a bowl of cereal.  Not that there isn't time to cook dinner--the kid does take naps.  It's just a matter of bucking up and getting it done.

So, I decided last week that I would make a valiant effort get off my rear and start cooking dinner more often.  Eeek!  A few of my meals are casseroles, so those will carry over for two other nights (I'm not looking to waste food here).  But yes, the general bright idea here is to have a home-cooked meal ready to enjoy each and every night for an entire week.  If I can do it for a week, I'm confident that I can keep doing it (baby steps).

And please keep in mind that I have a two-month old.  If I fail, I plan to blame it solely on him.

I will add that I love to cook.  The hard part?  Stay in budget and keep it simple and quick.  I am terrible at both of these things.  So, we'll see what happens.  Cross your fingers that the babe cooperates!

Here we go with my personal challenge to cook budget-friendly, simple dinners for ONE WEEK.

First and second meals:  Cheeseburger Pie on Sunday night, leftovers on Monday.  Complete!

Cheeseburger Pie

1 lb. ground beef
1 1/2 c. chopped onion
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
1 1/2 c. milk
3/4 c. Bisquick mix
3 eggs
1 c. shredded Cheddar cheese

Heat oven to 400. Grease pie plate 10 x 1 1/2 inch. Brown beef and onion and drain. Stir in salt and pepper. Spread in plate.

Beat milk, mix, and eggs. Pour in plate. Bake for 25 minutes. Remove and sprinkle with cheese. Bake until knife inserted in center comes out clean, approximately 5-10 minutes. Makes 6-8 servings.

What would I do differently next time:   More cheese.  Less mix.  Maybe cut the Bisquick mixture by 1/3.  I added garlic to the onion which I think was a good call.  LOTS more salt.  GOOD LORD was it bland without enough salt.  I served it with sour cream--that was delicious.  I wouldn't mind maybe slicing some tomatoes and letting them cook on top with the cheese.

Next up:  Taco Night!

A fine day for sprucing

I never thought a time would come when "Sunday Funday" would mean the opportunity to hand the bambino to Pete in order to tackle housework and projects.

But alas, here we are.  The men watched football while I went to town on the house.

Seriously?

Among the array of domestic activities in which I engaged yesterday, my most satisfying accomplishment was to FINALLY reupholster those hideous kitchen chairs.  I chose a green and teal paisley--the idea was to pull together the teal on my living room walls and the green that seems to keep mysteriously popping up in my house. 

Here is a Before and After.  On the left you will see the chair covered in what I can only imagine is some sort of burlap.  On the right, post-op paisley chair.  I did four of them for the kitchen table and I think they came out pretty decent.

Before & After

We also managed to watch the Ravens game, clean the house, do all of the laundry, paint the TV tray (black) so I can use it for my laptop, hang our new "Mail Station" on the wall, hang some long overdue pictures of le bebe and feed/snuggle/bathe said bebe.  This, all before my dad and Jane came for a visit.  (Who, by the way, had just come from seeing the Ravens mow down the undefeated Broncos.  Go Ravens!)

Granpapa & Cutie Pants

A successful day, if I do say so myself.

Halloween 2009... suburban style

The year is 2006.  The day?  Halloween.  I am a pirate.  My new boyfriend Pete is a pirate.  Even little Aspen is a pirate.  The happy pirates drank Miller Lites, went out to see live music, met up with tons of friends and had a grand time.

Fast forward one year later--Halloween 2007.  No costumes this time around.  Instead, Pete took me out to dinner at the Prime Rib... when we got home, he proposed to me.  It's true, we got engaged on Halloween.

2008. Married.  Tired from a long week of work.  We did nothing. 

Ahh, 2009.  So much has changed since that first Halloween together.  First, we moved out of the bar district, so Pirate Night is out.  Second, we have the Precious Bundle, so pretty much everything else is out too.

We started the festivities by taking Luke to the "pumpkin patch" aka pumpkins in bins where you get to pick one out.  And where I also learned that farm pumpkins are kind of... ugly.  We got some fresh baked donuts, some cider and we picked out our very own pumpkin to grace the front porch.  (By the way, this is our second pumpkin of the season, because the first was eaten by... something.  Something horrible.  I think slugs but I'm not sure and I really don't want to talk about it.)

Anyway, once we picked up the goodies, I decided it was time for a photo shoot.  I put Luke in his Pea Pod costume... he did not wake up.  I placed him in a bin of pumpkins... he still did not wake up.  I took a dozen pictures of him while--eek--EVERYONE at the pumpkin patch froze and stared and "awwww-ed" at us... he still did not wake up.

In the end, Luke has no idea we ever even left the house.

We got home and Pete and I fixed some hot cider mixed with Apple Jack and munched on the delicious home-made donuts from the farm.  Pete hung little ghost decorations in the front tree, I put down some spider webs and we put the "Scary Music" album on the iPod on the front porch.

After the little guy was fed and happy, we walked down the street to a neighbor's party, baby in tow.  Surprisingly, most people were able to tell that he was a Pea Pod (unlike my husband, ha).  It was fun to see the kids all decked out--I really can't wait until Luke is old enough to go trick-or-treating!

In the end it was a nice, suburban Halloween day.  Although... I couldn't help but notice just how perfect the weather was for a certain retired Pirate costume.

Getting to know the Canon Rebel...

 

 

Office overhaul COMPLETE!

It took about two full days, but for well under $200 we were able to completely overhaul the "office" and turn it into a totally functional Office/Studio space for Pete.  I am VERY excited about this because the former state of the room was giving me a weird itchy feeling every time I got near it.

Before...

(Please excuse Pete crouching behind the junk)

 

After...

Aspen is in heaven!

 

(Still need to hang the diplomas)

Here is the final tally:

Paint, Benjamine Moore Killala Green in Eggshell (Zero VOC due to le bebe)  $53
Desk, Ikea  $20
CD Shelves, Ikea  $36
Spray Paint in Black Gloss (for shelving unit)  $6
Trash Can  $7
Desk Organizer $10
Magnet Board with Magnets $15
Storage Boxes  $15
Chair  $10
Clock $10

Grand Total:  $182

Luke and The Spurt

Dad and Baby are both upstairs sleeping their little faces off.  I, of course, do not require sleep, so I am taking a few minutes to write.

(HA about the not requiring sleep part--big lie.  I am so tired).

Saturday was a little nuts.  My sister and I took Luke on a quick shopping trip and when we got back to the house, he began stirring and fussing and eventually unraveled into a total psychopath.

Me:  www.google.com  "BABY EATING NONSTOP AND CRYING A LOT"
Google:  Your kid is going through the 6 week growth spurt.  And stop yelling.
Me:  "DURATION OF BABY GROWTH SPURTS"
Google:  24 hours to one week.  Hehe.

Oy.

So, he asked for it, and we fed him. And fed him and fed him and fed him.  Luke usually eats about 28 ounces in a day.

On Saturday, he ate 42 ounces.

Forty two ounces.  Half of it was formula, because I AM NOT A DAMN COW.  I still am not entirely sure where he put it all, but I will tell you this:  he was literally fatter the very next day.  Which is unfortunate, because now he is officially OUT of his 3 month size clothes (I figured this out when I tried to stuff him in a onesie and he gave me the ever effective Wide-Eyed-Petrified Look).

So, 6 month size clothes it is. 

Anyway we lucked out and the frenzied portion of The Spurt only lasted one day.  He went to sleep on Saturday night, woke up once (ravenous, almost bit my hand off) and then... it was over as quickly as it began.

Now, two days later, he is fast asleep, which is pretty much what he has been doing since The Spurt began.  I imagine his little brain is probably busy hatching plots and storing memories and compartmentalizing knowledge, or whatever happens in baby heads when they sleep.  Yep, I am pretty sure he will emerge from the spurt as a whole new, even more fantastical baby.

With Luke sleeping so much, it's been quiet.  Yesterday, we took advantage and finished redecorating the office (YES, pictures are coming soon).  Today, I caught up on some reading, spent some time with the pups and generally enjoyed the peace and quiet.  Luke predictably woke himself up every 3 hours, spent an hour eating and snuggling, then went back to sleep until the next meal.  After his bath tonight, he was exceptionally smiley and lovey and sweet.  As if to say, Thanks Mom, I'm feeling a lot better now.

That's cool, kiddo.  So am I.