Denial

My little peanut turned one today.  Exactly one year ago today, he surprised us all by arriving 3 weeks early.  He picked a pretty terrible birthday.  He didn't have any Christmas presents because none of us expected him until after the new year.  He also had a pretty rough entrance into this world.

He's come a long way.

I absolutely refuse to accept the fact that he is technically no longer a baby.  Sure, all the proof is there.  He's trying to walk, trying to talk, learning to say no and eating real food now, but I just can't accept it!  I will have no part in helping him to grow up any faster.  I want to cuddle him and coddle him.  I want to keep him a baby.  I have to remind myself that every day brings new and exciting things.  Sure, it's fun to have a sweet smelling newborn to nurse, but it's also awesome to see that newborn learn and grow in so many ways.  Being a mom sure is bittersweet sometimes.

I'm very worried about making his birthday special.  It's hard to plan a big party because everyone is caught up in preparing for Christmas and traveling.  Not only is the poor little guy stuck with tons of hand-me-down toys and clothes, but his birthday is right before the biggest holiday of the year.  

I'm determined to make his birthdays special.  We had a small family party tonight.  I made his large cake and smash cake just like I made Jackson's.  I also made him his own birthday banner and a cute shirt for the occasion.  He racked up pretty well with the presents, too.

Happy birthday sweet boy!  You'll always be my baby. 

Jackson's Christmas Concert

Jackson had a Christmas Concert at his "school."  He goes to Mother's Day Out 2 days a week for 4 hours.  

He got a mild case of stage fright.

Mid-life Crisis

58 years would be the full-life.

Evidence A:  We got a car to replace the truck this past week.  It has 4 seats for hauling kids, and also has 290HP and a 6 speed transmissions for hauling me.

Evidence B: I haven't shaved since Thanksgiving.  Most of the reason is because Lettie doesn't have a beard of her own and she wants to experiment with mine.  I don't miss shaving each morning before work and that's a 2 minute time saver.  I might never shave again...unless I develop some creepy looking mustache region.

Evidence C:  I've started working on my pilot license.  I have 7 hours of flight time in a Cessna 152.  I haven't flown anywhere except to the North East Practice Area and back to the airfield, but I'm getting better.  One day the rudder will do what it's supposed to do and I'll be able to talk on the radio without repeating myself 3 times until I get it right.

Cowboy Santa

I finally finished PJ's stocking.  Just in the St. Nick of time (sorry, I couldn't resist).  It's a cowboy santa and the stocking is shaped like a cowboy boot.  Cute!

I delivered a few goody bags today to some special people.  I brought some to Jackson's teacher and to the other people who help out at his school.  I also brought some to my ob and to the doctor I used to work for.  Thought I'd share a couple of the recipes I used this year because all the goodies turned out great.  I made a few different things and wrapped them in christmas bags with little tags that described what was included.  This chick makes awesome tags and cards and lets you download them for free!

Almond-Poppyseed Bread

I came across this recipe while blog-hopping.  The bread is very moist and flavorful.  They have some awesome recipes on here.  I'm dying to try the sugar cookies and peppermint brownies.

Chocolate-ginger donuts

I got this recipe from a great cooking blog called my first kitchen.  I love a lot of her recipes. Check out her creamy vegetable soup.  It has become a go-to recipe for me when I can't decide what to cook.

White chocolate pretzels

These are the easiest treat ever and I love the combo. of salty and sweet.  Just melt some white chocolate, give the pretzels a little dip and sprinkle them with red and green sugar.  Let them set on wax paper before you put them in bags.

Sad Day

I'm afraid it might be time to say goodbye to one of our oldest, and most dependable friends.  On Wednesday morning I had a 1979 Impala prevent me from getting to work on time.  We were driving beside each other and the Impala had a hard time stopping in time to not rear-end the car in front of them.  They swerved into me, and used their bumper to hook the backside of the truck.  And of course, I had just filled up the tank with gas.

The 1992 S-10 was the car that I learned to drive on, and Dad and I traded it back and forth so that we both owned it twice.  It was a good truck.  The engine and transmission are in good shape.  Despite being built in Detroit, this truck can still go a lot longer.

Due to 243,180 miles, the body shop and police man and tow truck driver all say it is totaled.  The damage isn't terrible though.  It needs a new bed.  I hate to see that vintage UA sticker get smashed.  Insurance still hasn't examined it, so it's possible that it isn't totaled.  I'm not holding my breath and I've started to look for a new vehicle.

I wasn't prepared to buy a car so I have no idea what I want.  At first I was thinking that I would get the truck fixed no matter what.  Then I was thinking about getting another truck, but with 4 seats to haul babies if necessary.  I don't like huge trucks, or uselessly small truck beds.  Now I'm thinking about getting a car and a trailer for Lettie's car when we need to haul something.  I'm trying to decide if I want a nice car, or a regular car while I'm waiting on insurance to work through their paperwork.

Blog Readers Question:  Would you still talk to me if I drove a car that was a lot nicer than yours?  Not to brag, but I really would be a whole lot better than you.  This truck might have been the only thing keeping me grounded.

St. Nicholas Day and a tree

Christmas is in full swing around here.  We've gotten most of our decorations up and most of our presents wrapped.  Yay!

Jackson and Patrick left their shoes out on December 6th for St. Nicholas.  St. Nicholas was a wealthy man who spent his life using his inheritance to help the sick and needy and December 6th is his feast day.  You can read all about that here.

This is the first year that Jackson could understand the concept.  For some reason, he freaked out about leaving his shoes outside, but he was definitely happy the next morning when he saw his loot.  He and Patrick both got books about Christmas, toys, hats and the favorite was Molly the train's car.

We got our tree last week.  It's awesome!  We have had lots of trouble finding a good spot for our tree in this house.  One year we had it upstairs and we debated on putting it in the study or even outside on the deck.  We decided to rearrange our living room furniture and put it in the corner near our mantle.  The tree we found is nice and skinny and it works perfectly in this spot.  I love having it in our living space where we spend most of our time.  I was a little worried that Patrick would be all over it, especially since he considers it his job to cause mischief around the house lately, but he doesn't bother it.  He's more interested in the soft tree skirt than the lights and ornaments.

None of my other Christmas decoration pictures turned out very well, but we do have lots of festive stuff around.  I put a big garland on the fireplace and going up the stairs.  I also like to "wrap" our pantry doors with plaid ribbon.  I'm still working on Patrick's stocking.  I'll post a pic when it's finally complete.  It's taking forever!

Excitement

I'm super pumped.  The source of my excitement?  2 strangers in a stanley steemer truck that arrived on Tuesday.  Those blessed men cleaned my carpet, tile and grout and I think I love them.  I've tried every known method of grout cleaning out there.  I've bought industrial strength chemicals and scrubbed on my hands and knees with a toothbrush, but the grout still didn't look great.  Honestly, it still doesn't look very different, but I feel like it's more clean because someone else cleaned it.  I know, I'm crazy.

Hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving.  We forgot our camera, so here's a family picture that Janie took.

Thanks Jane!

I'm very excited about Christmas this year.  We didn't do much decorating last year since I was about 40 weeks pregnant.  Jackson is really understanding the holiday and is excited about it, so I'm really into decorating.  I just wish he would ask Santa for something other than trains.

We're going to get our tree tonight.  I'll try to post some pictures of all the festivity soon.

I'm it

Susan tagged me, so I guess I'll play along.  (She's one of those people with a private blog, so you might not be able to use that link)

I'm supposed to find my 4th picture in my 4th file and post it.

This was taken when we were in Australia visiting my parents.  They lived in Toowoomba for about 2 years.  We were able to go visit for 2 weeks.  We had been married for a year and saved up our entire first year of marriage to be able to go.  It was unforgettable and a great trip.

The koalas were very cute, but a little stinky.  They didn't feel the way I thought they would.  Their fur is very coarse and kind of rough.  Every time we were in the car on the trip I would search in all the tall eucalyptus trees on the side of the road to try to see a wild one.  They hang out in the tops of the trees and sleep all day.

Now I'm supposed to tag 4 more people, but I'm a loser in the blogging world (let's face it, the real world too) so I can only think of 3 people to tag:

1.  Ellie

2.  Holly

3.  Lisa

  

Really?

Ok, I am still sick...hence the reason I am awake at 3 am, so I decided to do a little blogging to pass the time.  My hearing has greatly improved over the past week.  I can hear, things just sound distorted.  I know Alex is so glad to not hear "Huh?" and "What?" nearly as often.  I went to the ENT last week and he could see the ruptured spots on both of my eardrums, but that they are healing.  I'm pretty sure my right ear is still infected, though.  I'm waiting it out because I'm tired of taking antibiotics.

We took a short trip to Memphis during the week.  Alex had to go for work, so the boys and I tagged along.  It was freezing and fun!  The boys and I just walked around all day while Alex worked.  I'm sure I was an interesting sight since we alternated with Jackson in the stroller and Patrick tied on my front in a Mei Tai carrier or Patrick in the stroller and me tightly gripping Jack's hand to keep him from running off somewhere.  Patrick took a nap in the carrier during our morning walk and he instead of cuddling into my chest, he prefers to lean back so his back is arched and I'm scared he's going to break his little neck.  I got a lot of strange looks and comments like "Boy, you've got your hands full."  Really?

We stayed in a hotel that had "suites", so I expected to have 2 rooms-one with a bed and another with a couch of some sort.  I thought this would work well for sleeping arrangements.  We arrived to find that we were booked in a handicapped room so it was just one large room with no couch.  All four of us sleeping in the same room was a little difficult, but the boys did really well.  Naptime was entertaining.  After an hour of Jackson talking and getting out of bed, I eventually turned off every light and closed the blinds and pretended to go to sleep.  After he fell asleep I was able to read my book with the flashlight we brought (one of Jackson's favorite toys of the moment.)

Jackson's favorite part of the trip was the Peabody ducks.  For anyone unfamiliar here's the story.  We stayed in the lobby of that hotel for over an hour in the morning and also went back in the evening.  Jackson also enjoyed the crazy guy on Beale street who insisted on drawing a "caricature" of him and trying to rob us blind.  

Good times!

Since I don't have a great picture of Patrick from the trip I'll throw in this one of his newest way to give mommy a heart attack.  He really really likes to climb the stairs.

Poor Alex

I appreciate the support Lettie has shown to me during this difficult time of her reduced hearing.  I don't think that everyone has shown the same amount of support during such a difficult time for me.  I thought I would give a few examples to show how hard my life has been.

The night before last, I had to get up with the kids at 3 different times.  Jackson had one crying fit where he needed to be looked at in order to get in under control, and Patrick had a few instances of loud, yet unknown symptoms.

The next night, I setup the baby monitor right next to Lettie's pillow.  I turned it up as loud as it would go.  The monitor doesn't have a squelch control, so the static from the amplified signal made me antsy all night as I waited for a potential baby cry.

I've had to answer the phone in the evenings.  I barely answer the phone at work, and now I have to do it at home too.

I have had to listen to Lettie's sob stories about going grocery shopping and finding out that her wallet was missing while she was in the checkout line.  The ear infections have waged a double front war on her brain.

And lastly, Lettie hasn't been cooking as often because she "can't taste" and also because she "doesn't feel good."  It never ends.

Weekend Getaway

We took a short vacation to Gatlinburg last weekend.  Alex did a great job picking out an awesome chalet that had a gorgeous view and the timing could not have been more perfect.  The leaves were in peak color transition and everything was breathtaking.The boys had lots of fun playing with leaves and going on a couple of short hikes and I think they had the most fun just hanging out with their family.  The got to play with their cousin, Samantha, and hang out with MamaLinda and Pop and Aunt Janie and Uncle Brian.

I was kind of a buzzkill the whole weekend because I've been really sick.  I did manage to make it on 2 short hikes, but I mostly just sat on the deck or in the hot tub looking at the trees.

 Here's a little tip: don't go to the mountains with a sinus infection.  I ended up with 2 ruptured eardrums.  My left eardrum ruptured the first night we were there and the right one followed the next day.  I'm on my second antibiotic now and will have to see an ENT if my hearing doesn't return to normal in the next few days.

I feel pretty crappy still, but the muffled, distorted hearing is the worst of any of my symptoms.  It's really hard to mother when you can't hear.  I can't hear the boys if they wake up at night (and let's face it, Alex isn't very easy to wake up) and I can't hear them getting into mischief if I leave the room.  I know Alex is tired of repeating himself and definitely doesn't want to watch TV with me because I either constantly ask him to recap things or just kind of sit there and don't get any of the jokes.

I also have lots of trouble cooking.  I can't hear, smell or taste, so I can't hear things sizzling or getting to hot if I walk away from the stove and I can't tell if anything is seasoned correctly.  

Poor Alex.

Patrick's election day message

Boys, boys, boys

Sorry I haven't been around much lately, my boys are keeping me busy.

I am still up to my elbows in potty training.  Jackson has been doing really well and only has to wear a diaper at night now.  Lately he's been fascinated with "splashing the water" (peeing standing up), so I spend a lot of my time mopping and cleaning the toilet.  Thankfully, his aim is quickly improving.

Patrick has really started to move and explore this past week.  He's pulling up on everything and trying to climb the stairs.  He has started to talk a lot more and loves to make lots of noise and different sounds.  He also discovered his tongue so he sticks it out all the time and tries to blow raspberries.  

Our new tradition is to have a dance party every afternoon.  4:00 p.m. is definitely a low point of the day for me.  I'm usually exhausted and anxious for the calvary (Alex) to arrive, so I've started to play dance music very loudly and all 3 of us dance to help distract us from our whiny, annoying feelings until Daddy arrives.  Dancing for Jackson involves lots of spinning and jumping and Patrick contributes with a lot of arm flailing.  

I heart them.

Camping

We went camping this weekend.  

A number of people told us we were crazy for doing it, but the weather is nice and we both wanted to go.  We gave it a good shot.

We searched for the right place to camp all week.  DeSoto was our first choice, but it is closed for renovations.  The Bankhead was a 2nd choice since it wasn't so far away.  I couldn't decide where in the Bankhead, then we finally decided to go to Monte Santo for our first try.

Friday was busy since Jackson got his haircut and had a late nap.  That meant we had to wake him up to drive to the campgrounds.  When we finally packed up and drove to Monte Santo, we found that they had no sites available.  We thought about camping on a trail or on the parking lot to protest and ruin everyone else's camping time, but instead we camped in our backyard.

We had fire, hot dogs and lots of drinks for dinner.  Inside the tent we had Jackson's sleeping bag, Patrick's Pack-n-Play, and our air mattress.  We had our lawn chairs, a kiddy potty, and lanterns around the fire for a good time.  My parents, and the neighbors showed up to get some of the camping experience.  Later during the night, Patrick settled down and went to sleep ok but Jackson was not as cooperative.  It was cold but he refused to wear anything more than a diaper.  He also never stopped moving for an hour, and eventually broke our camping spirit.  The lights in the living room looked too tempting.

We went inside at 9:30.  It was a good first try and the backyard was a perfect place to camp.

At midnight, Jackson went to the ER with his typical cold problems.  He's on full medicine again, and hopefully gets better soon.  We were all tired after Friday night (especially Lettie since she went to the hospital without me).

Today I brought water to our future raised garden.  I thought about an aqueduct but settled for a trench with PVC pipe.  It was 88 feet of trench and I swear it was mostly rock.  I had to blast some of it.  Here's a picture of the trench with our campsite in the background.  I used a string to make sure the trench was straight, but it appears that my string had a few crooks in it.

Hi Neighbor

This is the letter that we put in our neighbor's mailbox yesterday:

September 30, 2008

Dear Neighbor,

You may not realize that your dog has been barking most all of the night for the last few weeks. Our bedroom window faces the dog, and most nights the barking keeps us both awake. I’m not sure of the reason for the barking or the solution, but we would appreciate anything you can do to limit the volume of the barking so close to our bedroom.

Thanks

Alex & Lettie

Awesome...

We left out the suggestions that we have been coming up with at 3 a.m. like: cut his chain and let him free, stick a shock collar on his ass or put some peanut butter on the end of a shotgun barrel. (I'm just kidding! Y'all know we love animals!)

poor thing

Nothing Going On Here

Today we built a raised bed for a garden.  We started to get the itch when we were thinking about which Fall plants to pick.  I don't think we've decided on any plants, but we have built an 8' x 16' raised bed out of landscape timbers.  It doesn't have any dirt yet, but that's a minor detail for a garden.  Here's a picture:

We haven't had a chicken update lately.  They must be full grown now, since they are surprisingly large.  Dorothy and Rose are biguns.  All the chickens cluck and Jackson loves it.  I can't hold them anymore since the coop has to many escape routes, but they are friendly on the other side of the hardware cloth.  Here are some chicken pictures:

We had to call off a trip to Birmingham when we were about halfway there this weekend.  We missed Meredith's birthday party, and Jackson was devastated.  We will have to make the trip sometime soon.  Sorry Jerrod & Susan, you didn't get out of talking about how good Alabama is at football.

Jackson had 0 accidents today in his Thomas underwear.

Vacation

We went to the beach this week. It was nice. The house's deck ended just a few feet from the ocean, and all the bedroom windows faced the water. Even little Jackson had a personal room, which didn't quite count as a bedroom since it only had 20 square feet of floor space. It was perfect for a little bed, and his little potty.

Jackson is nearly potty trained. He doesn't like to make his Thomas underwear sad by having any accidents while wearing it. The trip didn't hurt the potty training too much. We still have a few hurdles to cross, but I think this kid has a chance of using the potty. Crowded public restrooms are a major obstacle and simply might be too much to overcome. I understand that.

Lettie and Patrick did fine at the beach as well. They both just sat around.

Jackson Reads to Us

Bedtime has changed lately.  Now, Jackson reads to us, says "Good Night," then quietly closes the door while we lay on his bed.  He lays on our bed for a few minutes, then comes back and says "Hey, Good Morning."

Here's a movie of Jackson reading his favorite book to Lettie:

Homemade Sandwich Wrap

I know Brian is going to appreciate this post because he is one of those people who washes and reuses every ziplock and plastic container he comes across.  Alex and I were recently talking about how many ziplocks we go through since he takes them for lunch a lot and Jackson uses them for his "school" lunch and for snacks.

I saw a small story on reusable cloth sandwich and snack bags in one of my mommy magazines recently and I loved the idea.  They are very cute and of course eco-friendly, so I decided to use my mediocre sewing skills and try to make a few of my own.

I experimented with a few different materials and a couple of different designs.  The first one I made is more of a ziplock bag style with cloth on the outside and an actual cut up ziplock lining the inside.  I don't think it will be very durable in the long run, but it's been working fine for now.  We usually use it for snacks like grapes or pretzels.

The second design is my favorite-it is more practical for sandwiches, and was very simple to make.  The first one I tried to make was cloth on the outside lined with a heavy duty clear vinyl on the inside.  This was pretty much impossible to sew on my machine because the foot and needle stuck to the thick vinyl.  

After that disaster, I decided to use vinyl tablecloth material to line the wrap.  It worked well in the sewing machine and will be easy to keep clean and durable.

So...this is the finished product.

Don't you think chickens and gingham just go together?  It's like a little personal picnic.  All I did was sew the fabric right sides together and then turn it inside out.   Then I sewed small pieces of velcro to hold it all together around the sandwich.  It won't keep anything fresh for a long time, but it works well for a lunch.

Sidetrack...

I promise, I really was planning on talking about sewing today, I even have a draft written and pictures lined up.  As frequently happens in my daily life, I have become sidetracked.  I often spend my days in endless frustrating loops: I can't mop until I vacuum, I can't vacuum until I pick up the toys, but I really need to do the dishes first, I think Patrick needs a diaper change...you get the point.

Today, after a few of these loops and a rushed through nap routine because I really wanted to have a diet coke in peace, I came across this quote by author and columnist Anna Quindlen:

“The biggest mistake I made [as a parent] is the one that most of us make. . . . I did not live in the moment enough. This is particularly clear now that the moment is gone, captured only in photographs. There is one picture of [my three children] sitting in the grass on a quilt in the shadow of the swing set on a summer day, ages six, four, and one. And I wish I could remember what we ate, and what we talked about, and how they sounded, and how they looked when they slept that night. I wish I had not been in such a hurry to get on to the next thing: dinner, bath, book, bed. I wish I had treasured the doing a little more and the getting it done a little less”(Loud and Clear [2004], 10–11).

This quote literally brought tears to my eyes.  I thought back on our struggles with fertility problems and all the things we went through to become pregnant.  I recalled all of my deals (with God) and promises (to myself) that if I could just be granted this one wish I would always live in the moment and appreciate what a true gift children are.  But...I am human.  Of course I don't cherish all of the moments.  Sometimes we all need a reminder that life is good and time passes quickly.  I WILL make good on my deals and keep my promises and not be in such a hurry to get on to the next thing. I WILL savor the moments and the frustrations and the insanity and remember how truly lucky I am.

"Stop Saying No!!"

That's what I just heard Lettie yell to Jackson while he was taking a bath.  Ohh, that's funny.  He has gotten out of control with his "nos" and "yeps".

Saving the Planet and the Cuteness

Whew!  That previous post was a tough one.  Don't worry...we hugged it out and Alex is feeling better now.  I'll try not to rant or lecture you in this post.

The Burns household has had some changes lately and we're becoming a lot more "green."  I've always tried to do my part in the green movement and as you can see from the previous post, Alex has definitely started to feel more strongly about eating more healthfully and living a more organic and planet-friendly lifestyle.

One of the big steps I have taken is to use cloth diapers on Patrick.  I had a brief hiatus with the "butt-fluff" when Jackson was almost 2, but it didn't last long.  I think I mainly wimped out with using cloth on him because I happened to be 8 months pregnant at the time and his above-average pooping schedule was a little tough on my squeamish tummy.  

Anyway...cloth diapering is going really well with Patrick.  It's really not bad at all-I'm not scared of a little poop and pee!  I only have a small supply of diapers right now, so I have to wash them every day, but I'm working on building up my supply so I can wash less often.  It's not at all complicated.  I just give them a pre-rinse in our laundry room sink and then wash them like normal clothes in warm water with Tide and dry them in the dryer.  The only difference is I cannot use fabric softener because that lessens the effectiveness of the high-tech waterproof, "wicking" fabrics.

There are a myriad of different cloth diaper choices out there.  Things have definitely changed since the cloth diapers that our parents used.  I have found that I prefer an "all-in-one" or "pocket" diaper.  These are put on just like a disposable diaper with velcro or snaps (no pins!) and they have a waterproof outer layer while the inside is soft fleece with an absorbent insert that can be removed for washing.

I have bought most of my diapers gently used from other moms on an online community and I also got a few from our friend Ellie (thanks, ellie!)  The initial expense is much more than disposable, but in the long run I will be saving a lot of money and it's definitely cheaper to buy used or trade what doesn't work with other moms.  

Above all of that, cloth diapers are just way cuter!

I can't wait to finally tell y'all about all of my latest sewing projects in my next post.  See you there!

High Fructose Corn Syrup Quick Facts

Lizzie got me going this evening by sending this:

SweetSurprise - Facts about Sugar, Honey and High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS)

Lettie also showed me the complimentary TV commercial that goes with these quick facts.

I have another Quick Fact for you.  High Fructose Corn Syrup will rot your teeth out, make you obese, give you diabetes, and make your family dislike you.

Why does every item in the middle of the grocery store contain a sweetener?  Sugar Sells.  75 years ago, we didn't sweeten EVERY item.  You can't even buy a loaf of bread that doesn't contain a sweetener.  People love sugar, and High Fructose Corn Syrup is a rampant sweetener that is easy to produce.  It's not bad for you, unless you eat it in every single bite of food that you eat at every single meal, all day long, for as long as your teeth stay attached to their gums.  After that you can easily blend it up and inject it.  Why does anyone have to spend so much money to champion their cause with a national TV ad?  Perhaps it's because they make enormous amounts of money, and don't care about the effects of their actions.

2nd rant for this post...Why do we preserve items so much that even bugs won't eat it anymore. If the bugs are smart enough to stay away from our overprocessed foods, maybe we shouldn't put it in our bodies.

3rd rant... Who would preach about processed foods and sweeteners right after they posted a topic about feeding their kids fruit snacks.  ME.  That's right.  It doesn't make any sense, but that's how this blog rolls.

Lastly, everyone should run out and purchase a few chickens to reduce their dependence on the capitalistic food economy.  There is nothing more gratifying than returning from the backyard with a handful of homegrown eggs.  I wish my chickens would start laying some.

SHARKS

Jackson gets to eat one dosage of pure high fructose corn syrup a day.  He eats fruit snacks in the shape of sharks.  They taste good.

He chooses when he eats them.  Sometimes it's for breakfast, but most of the time it's after his afternoon nap.

Jackson has amazing self-control.  He eats all the sharks except one.  He ALWAYS saves the last shark to eat it later.  They get stored in pants pockets, shirt pockets, and in his hand until the time is right for eating.

After he waits for about 1/2 hour, he'll finally relish every taste of goodness the last shark has to offer.  It takes a super long time to eat.

Homemade Baby Food

I like making homemade baby food because it is very simple, quick and rewarding.  I still buy jarred foods because they are convenient for travel and there are some varieties that I would rather not make myself like meat and prunes.

The two simplest foods I have made are avocado and banana.  All you have to do is mash them up and add a little liquid, you could use breastmilk or fruit juice.  That's it!  It's that simple.

The other varieties I make are a little more complicated, but not much.  I just made a couple of batches on Friday and of course I took pictures to share with you!

I made pears and butternut squash.  Start by cutting the fruit into large chunks and steaming it with the skin on.  Leaving the skin on retains more nutrients.

After steaming, peel the skin and cut into smaller pieces and puree them in a food processor.  This is the point where you add liquid to get it to the desired consistency.  I use breast milk (this is an added bonus to homemade baby food), or you can just add some of the liquid that is leftover from steaming.

Then, you just spoon the baby food into ice cube trays and freeze it. 

 After it's frozen, just pop the cubes into freezer bags and label them.  Each cube is about an ounce.  

This whole process takes less than an hour and it's very satisfying and cheaper than jars.   I usually do 2-3 different foods at a time and it gives me an excuse to make a trip to the farmer's market.

This Blog Brought to You By: Lysol and Purell

I hate to inform our many devoted readers (all 3 of you) that my blogging has been interrupted by a baby with a cold.  I know you were all waiting with bated breath for my latest breathtaking peek into the world of a housewife and sadly my next post will be delayed until I can get little PJ well.

Here's a hint of what you're waiting for:  my next two posts involve 3 of the things in this picture:

Adventures In Canning

Since we have a small garden this year, we have been overrun with cucumbers, tomatoes, dill, oregano and basil.  I've done some canning in the past and have all the gear so I've had a few canning parties this summer (We party like rockstars around here!)

I was able to use everything we grew because I made pickles with the cucumbers and dill and I made stewed tomatoes with the tomatoes, basil 

and oregano.  Yum!

Our friends Andy and Felicia have a huge garden and they let me come over and pick fresh green beans in July.  I canned half of those and froze half.

This year I got to make something new, though, and it was a pretty interesting process.  My awesome in-laws grow grapes over their arbor and Linda gave me a huge ziplock bag full of grapes.  They have been overwhelmed with grapes this year, but we don't really eat them because they have seeds (Hello...Jackson only has 9 teeth, we don't want to break any of them!).  So since we eat a lot of pb&j sandwiches around here and the grocery store jelly is full of high fructose corn syrup (GASP!), I decided to try making grape jelly.

You have to start out roughly chopping the grapes in a food processor to get the juices flowing.  Then you move them to a pot on the stove and simmer them to break them down a a little.  After this, you have to strain them A LOT through a fine mesh strainer or cheesecloth to seperate all the gunk from the juice.  I was surprised at how much was left behind after this process.

Next, you have to put the juice back on the stove and boil it with some pectin and SEVEN, yes SEVEN, cups of sugar!!!  Check it out:

After all of this, it's time to can the jelly.  You just ladle it into hot, sterilized jars and process it in a boiling water canner for about 10 minutes.  I ended up with about 5 cups of juice-that's the perfect amount for one box of pectin and I ended up with 2 pints and 5 half-pints of jelly with a little left over for tasting.  

Jackson definitely approves and I'm happy because now I can feed him jelly that is free of preservatives, additives and corn syrup.  Yay!

Little Miss Suzy Homemaker...

That's what I've been lately, in a weird way.  I've felt the urge for lots of new project, unfortunately my day-to-day housework has kind of taken a hit.  

In case any of you are interested or can find some inspiration or maybe just get some new material to tease me about (...Jerrod...), I thought I could have a few blog posts about my adventures in canning, sewing and saving the planet.

Stay Tuned!

Here's a picture of Jackson's crazy morning hair to satiate some of the suspense.

Watch Your Mouth...

The boys are busy being cuties lately, so I thought it would be a good time to update.

Patrick is crawling now.  Not only is he crawling, but he is obsessed with crawling.  He is loving being able to get around and reach toys and even loves crawling around his crib.

He learned his first sign last month.  Of course, it's the "milk" sign, and he uses it a LOT.  He's gotten a lot taller and is eating us out of house and home.  All his footie jammies are too short for him now.

Jackson has really gotten into this talking thing and is constantly practicing and copying everything we say.  We really have to be careful lately...apparently I say the word "crap" a lot...

Last week while sitting on the potty (and doing nothing for the billionth time) he told Alex that he was going to "pee-pee in his brown eyes".  Wow...I don't know where he got that from, but Alex probably deserved it.

He started back to Mother's Day Out this week (Hallelujah!) and he is doing really well.  He's happy to go and doesn't seem anxious or upset at all.  It's awesome!

Be back soon to talk about our new 'puter (Alex's new love) and maybe a little about our new diet.

7 years ago...

This is a picture of Alex and me at the butterfly release on our wedding day.  Seven years ago today...

A lot has changed since that day.  We have a lot more stuff, a lot more responsibility and even more love.  When I look back at the pictures (terrible...our photographer sucked) I realize how fast the years have gone by.  Here's a picture with even worse quality.

This is from our first prom.  I guess it would have been in 1997.  Look how cute we were!

We have grown so much since then.  Fortunately, we grew and changed together and we have never been stronger.  We make each other better people.  We have beautiful children.  We make each other laugh.  My husband is patient, witty, brilliant, handy and hilarious.  He is a wonderful father, provider and friend.

Happy Anniversary!

Sorry for the gooey post...I'll be back with embarrassing toddler stories soon.

Delayed Update

It's been a while since we wrote to the blog.  Our computer took a permanent trip to the farm last week.  It slowly started resetting more and more often until it was too much of a pain to use.

So, we got a new family member.  Here's the pic:

She's pretty.

I also got a new lawnmower.  It's a 2003 Troybuilt, to replace my 1997 Scotts with a bad transmission.  The Troybuilt has a seized engine, so I swapped the engines.  This was a little bit of a mess since the engines weren't the same.  It's running again, but I don't have a muffler.

I also swapped television cable, telephone, and internet providers.  I had the same companies for 6 years, and they were really taking it to me.  We now have better everything for less money.  I like DirecTV, and all their HD channels.

Another new thing is that we started a budget.  I'm not the best at having a budget, but the little lady likes to have one.  I don't need a budget to help me spend money, but presumably, Lettie does.  As long as this doesn't hinder my lifestyle, I'll give it a try.

And lastly, we've changed our eating habits.  This originated from the chickens, but what we eat has been a focus lately.  One example of our change is, no more high fructose corn syrup.  Almost everything on the shelves has corn syrup for no reason other than to rot our teeth and make us obese.  I don't think the switch has been a big deal, but Lettie should tell us more details sometime later.

I think you are mostly caught up, except for the hypermiling challenge results.  I would talk about that, but the dog is in here with me and she has gas.  I need to go.  Spoiler alert, I didn't win.