weekend recap

Our weekend was surprisingly relaxing considering how much we did. (Of course, when you stop to consider that a lot of what we did was sleep in/be lazy on Saturday morning and nap on Sunday afternoon, it only makes sense that it was relaxing.)

• We spent a bit of tax return money: on a bed (which will be delivered on Thursday...yippee!) and a gloriously lightweight stroller (8 narrow, well-constructed pounds, people, which will make maneuvering this crowded, stair-filled city all the easier).
• We caught the latter half of the neighborhood St. Patrick's Day parade as we were walking home from the bus stop after church, and that was great fun. (If there's one thing New Yorkers do well, it's celebrate their Irish heritage, which turns March into a month-long St. Patrick's Day celebration.) I do love me a good pipe band and musical bits of an Irish accent wafting through a crowd.
  
• We learned in nursery how to be thankful for animals and I walked away from our lesson yesterday most impressed with both the elephant impersonations these kids are capable of and their participation during my re-telling of the Noah's Ark story (many thanks to Peter Spier and his fabulous book on the topic).
• We broke down and finally put away Garrett's swing. Our living room feels so empty now.
  
• We talked, via our webcam (which, seriously, is the greatest invention ever), to both Blake's family AND my brother, Riley, who happily informed me yesterday that his new computer came equipped with a camera.
• And finally, I used our friends, who spent yesterday evening kicking back at our apartment, as guinea pigs for a new cookie recipe I wanted to try. The cookies turned out deliciously superb (if I may say so), especially considering most cookies I make involving oatmeal turn out either doughy or burned. I thought that since this baking endeavor turned out to be so wildly successful, I'd share the recipe with you:

Mrs. Field's Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
Cream together:
1 cup brown sugar,
1 cup white sugar,
1 cup butter.
Add
2 eggs and beat well.
Add:
1/2 tsp salt,
1/2 tsp baking soda,
1 tsp baking powder,
1 tsp vanilla,
and mix well.
Stir in:
2 cups flour,
2 cups oats,
2 cups chocolate chips.

Bake at 400 for 6-8 minutes.

And since I'm feeling extra generous today, I'll also throw in a potato wedge recipe we made (and loved) the other night:

Baked Potato Wedges
6-8 medium potatoes, cut in wedges
about 1/3 cup vegetable oil
2 tbsp Parmesan cheese
1 tsp garlic salt
1/2 tsp paprika
salt and pepper

Arrange potato wedges on greased baking sheet and brush with oil. Mix together Parmesan, garlic salt, and paprika; sprinkle over wedges (both sides). Sprinkle with salt and pepper (both sides). Bake for 45 minutes at 375.

And now the weekend's over and it's back to weekday reality, which is so far looking to be weighted more in favor of busy than relaxing. Oh well, though: busy is good, too.

nine

Dear Garrett,

One year ago today, I sat in a darkened room in a perinatal center in Muncie and learned that I would be having a son. I was surprised by how excited I was to realize that a playful little boy would soon be entering my life; already I was eager for you to be a good big brother for all of your future siblings, already I was picturing the train sets and building blocks that would eventually litter the floor of our home. On that day I had the chance to see the most amazing images of the baby I was anxious to hold. You looked perfect! And even though you have now been outside my body for as long as you were in it, and in the last year have done a fair amount of growing, you still look like the same little boy I saw wiggling inside me.

In the last few weeks, your personality has blossomed and you have learned new ways of communicating with those around you. Even though a large part of me would love to hold you during every minute of my day, the fact of the matter is that you're growing too heavy. But that doesn't stop every ounce of me loving the way you reach your arms out to me as you sit on the floor, begging to be picked up. And I love the way your head bobbles as you shake it back and forth. This action doesn't mean no to you yet, and that probably does much to increase my opinion of how adorable it is.

You are also starting to express in understandable ways when you are hungry or full, loving your plums or disliking your peas. Pursed lips and hands which push away the spoon or bottle tell me I shouldn't press my luck, you won't be eating any more, thank you very much. And open-mouthed grins and fingers which grab eagerly for more tell me that I should keep it coming. Your favorite foods these days are chicken dinners served with rice and apples, strained plums, and softened cantelope, and, unless you're very hungry, you're starting to express a marked disinterest in most vegetables. We'll be working on that one. In the meantime, I'm happy to see you sitting in your high chair, exploring a handful of Cheerios and attempt to get them from your not-quite-yet nimble fingers into your ready, wide-open mouth.

You are still a toothless little boy, which, truthfully, doesn't bother me. I adore your gummy grin and will be sad to see it fade into the background of your pearly whites when they finally poke through. I think, though, that that time is getting close. The oddity that is your utterly strong urge to grab me by the cheeks or hair and pull my head close to yours so that you can gnaw on my chin with your hardening gums is certainly one indication, along with your own drool-soaked chin and shirt fronts, that teeth will soon be sprouting.

While on the one hand you are a remarkably content baby, in no apparent hurry to learn how to crawl, you are on the other incredibly busy. With your tongue dangling out, you play with your feet and suck on your toes, you scratch in fascination at the upholstery on the couch, and, with your pointer finger at the ready, you explore any zipper, button, or snap that comes into your view. You are easy to entertain and always fun to play with. You love to be read to, especially the bedtime stories Dad pulls out before tucking you in at night. And you are as amenable to laughing as ever!

You charmed me during the nine months I carried you inside me, and you've charmed me during the nine months since your birth. I cannot imagine my life without you in it, and am finding it harder and harder to remember the time when you weren't. I love you, Garrett, my sweet, precious, kissable little boy.

Love,
Mama

Garrett, March 2007


Garrett, March 2008

modern declaration

I, having survived snowstorms and sunshine;
having resided in the big city, the sprawling countryside, and the suburban in-between;
having learned from my choices and resulting experiences;

declare

that happiness is a matter of choice;
that circumstances should not get in the way of enjoying my situation in life;
that no matter what my current environment, laundry, grocery shopping, budgeting, and parenting will still have their challenges; and
that, just like I can find bad things anywhere, I can also find good things anywhere.

I believe that it is my choice to either wither in misery or to happily bloom where I am planted,
And I've decided to blossom.

mix tape

Saw this on a friend's blog and was so tickled by the idea, I had to make one myself. Because, really -- who doesn't enjoy a good mix tape?

What songs would be on YOUR mix tape?

Hooray! As of the afternoon of Friday, March 28th, new songs have been added! Do enjoy!

nine month check-up

Went in this morning for Garrett's 9 month appointment. The whole ordeal was - how do I put it? - a little strange. First it felt more rushed than usual, and it didn't help that some other lady in the office was threatening to head straight to the ER if the doctor (who was at that moment with Garrett and I) didn't come calm her down right that second. Also, I kept having to tell the doctor, "No" as in:

Is he crawling?
Um, no....but he inadvertently propels himself backwards.

Is he pulling himself up to a stand?
Um, sort of? When he sits on my lap and I offer him my hands, he'll grab them and pull himself up. But he doesn't pull himself up onto random pieces of furniture.

Does he wave to you?
Only if you count spastic arm flapping.

Does he say "mama" or "dada"?
No, but he says "blah blah blah."

Any teeth yet?
Negative.

I know it does nothing useful for anyone to compare my baby to other babies, but not being able to answer these basic milestone questions in the absolute affirmative kinda got me down. So did Garrett's screaming. I suppose that if the doctor had asked me if Garrett is starting to display a bit of stranger anxiety, I could have answered that affirmatively, if only based on how freaked out Garrett had suddenly become to the doctor's gentle poking and prodding.

And to top it off, he only gained one pound (exactly) and, according to their measurements, hasn't grown so much as a fraction of an inch in the last two months. I do feed my boy, I promise! Anyway, here's how he measured up this morning:

Weight: 20 lbs 1 oz (50th percentile, down from 70th)
Height: 28 1/2" (60th percentile, down from 90th)

I sort of wonder if either these current measurements, or those taken at the last appointment - specifically his height - were a little skewed. After all, in the last two months, he's grown too long for several pairs of pants.

So there you have a little taste of my tendency to get anxious and worried over nothing. I know he's fine; the doctor said he was as healthy as can be. He even went so far as to tell me that some babies skip the crawling milestone altogether (to which I replied that I'd rather he didn't skip that one...I'm still bothered by his skipping the rolling over milestone). I guess that the still-compares-even-though-she-knows-she-shouldn't mother in me just wants to make sure he keeps up developmentally not only with himself, but with other 9-month-old babies, too.

Update: Okay, so with your kind comments of reassurance, as well as the passing of time and the rational thinking I've done with that time, I've been able to snap out of the funk this doctor's visit put me in this morning. I know Garrett is fine and healthy and developing at a rate which is, for him, perfectly normal. And I know that, while I'm far from perfect, I certainly am at least a decent mother who knows her child better, perhaps, than he knows himself.

What a roller coaster learning how to be a mother is! Just when I think I've got a good handle on things, something (usually insignificant) happens to push my panic button. It's a good thing, then, that I've got such great friends (read: all of you!) who help me put my head squarely back on my shoulders. If it weren't for you, I just might needlessly worry myself into a tizzy. So, thank you.

tuesday is laundry day

charming

I have recently discovered that I'm a fan of Crocodile Creek. Garrett already has one of their bibs, and now he has one of their playground balls. And if I can ever swing it, I'd love to someday let him dine with these:

placemat:

plates:
bowls:
cups:

Who knew eating could be so charming?

the happiest place on earth

No, not Disneyland (though, don't get me wrong - that certainly vies for a very close second). I'm talking about F. A. O. Schwarz, 5th Avenue's glorious equivalent to the Magic Kingdom.

Because Blake is of the philosophy that every little boy needs a red ball to play with, and thus wanted to put one in Garrett's Easter basket, we decided that Saturday would be as good a day as any to go check out this toy store mecca. And let me tell you: we were not disappointed.

Not only did we find the perfect red rubber ball, which made Garrett burst into a grin every time we bounced it for him,


we found a treasure trove of classic children's toys. Train sets, building blocks, dolls galore - you name it, they probably have it - and all for surprisingly reasonable prices.

Of course, if you want to spend a small fortune, you can. Like these dinosaur-sized plush creatures sprinkling the entryway could be yours for a mere $15,000:


What particularly impressed me about the store was how incredibly friendly every single employee was. It was very apparent that management went out of their way to hire naturally happy individuals who love children and toys. (They probably also go the extra mile to keep their employees happy by giving them decent pay and benefits.) Stationed throughout the store were employees demonstrating toys by getting kids to play with them. Some were dressed in full costume to more authentically illustrate a particular item, such as the lady in the doll department wearing a vintage nurse's outfit to show a happy gaggle of little girls how they'd take care of a baby doll from the Newborn Nursery line.

The toy soldier stationed out front, who we visited on our way out, was my favorite:

Nicest guy you'll ever meet on the streets of New York City. Even though the picture above would make you think otherwise, Garrett was actually quite fond of the fellow...or at least of the neat toys he was holding. (After we took care of his hunger needs and let him scream and cry out his sleepiness during our walk down 5th Avenue, he turned back into the happy boy we know and love.)

So if you're ever in the mood to grow young and be a kid again, if only for a few hours, this is a fantastic place to do it.

hippity hop

Last night we were visited by three Easter Bunnies:

The Brooklyn Easter Bunny, who brought a summertime church outfit for Garrett, as well as a red rubber ball (which was found during an awesome Saturday excursion to F.A.O. Schwarz) , and some obligatory chocolate candy:



The San Antonio Easter Bunny, who brought us lots (and lots) of candy, a summertime outfit for Garrett, as well as a green plush bunny:


And the Provo Wiester Bunny, who brought Garrett a quacking duck, some fruit juice (which was a HUGE hit), and big boy finger foods. Oh, and the Wiester Bunny also brought Easter grass, which fascinated our little boy for a good amount of time:


We were hoping that the Tooth Fairy would also come, bearing with her the tooth Garrett's trying so hard to grow and putting all of us out of our drooling, cranky, sleepless misery. But I guess her visit will have to wait for another night.

Thank you, Easter/Wiester Bunnies, for a Happy Easter! We'll see you next year!

they say you can learn a lot about a girl by looking at the contents of her purse

Or in my case, diaper bag.

Jessica tagged me to share with you the contents of my purse. However, since both Garrett and Brooklyn entered my life, I've sort of stopped carrying one. My vitals (as in wallet, phone, and keys) get stowed away in the pocket of the baby carrier when I'm toting Garrett around in that, and when he's in the stroller, I stash them in the diaper bag. Really, the diaper bag has become my purse and so, in the spirit of New York governors, I will now divulge to you the contents of mine.

Here is my diaper bag:


And here is what's in it:

• a cloth diaper/burp cloth;
• a pair of knit gloves for me,
• and a pair of knit sock mittens for Garrett;
• an empty plastic grocery sack (in there for the discarding of stinky diapers but you never know when an empty bag will come in handy)
• two sanitary napkins;
• a board book copy of The Tale of Peter Rabbit, which, you'll remember, Garrett likes to eat...err, read;
• the dinosaur blanket;
• two extra binkies;
• a bottle filled with 6 ounces of water;
• a container with enough powdered formula to make two 6 oz bottles;
• baggies of rice cereal for thickening the bottles;
• toy keys;
• a rattle;
• a coupon for a free tube of A&D diaper rash ointment;
• four AA batteries (for when the camera dies);
• diaper rash ointment;
• a notebook and pen;
• a packet of tissues;
• a moist towelette;
• chapstick;
• trial size of Aveeno lotion;
• tropical passionfruit scented hand sanitizer;
• a dime;
• a Cold-eeze lozenge;
  
• two subway maps, a Manhattan bus map, and a Brooklyn bus map;
• baby wipes;
• three diapers;
• a bib;
• a spoon;
• some squash.

And now I'm pretty sure this was the most exciting thing you've read all day.

So what do the contents of my bag say about me? That I like to collect maps of New York City public transportation? That I don't like to be caught unprepared? Or just that I have a baby perhaps? You decide.

scandal scandal scandal

Of course, only a few hours after I posted about how impressed I was with the guy, New York's new governor, David Paterson, and his wife have to go and hold an incredibly candid press conference where they divulged the details of their own extra-marital affairs. Suddenly, on one level, he seems no better than the man he was just sworn in to replace. And it begs the question: just what is it about our government that tempts politicians toward infidelity?

I can see why Paterson went public with this very personal information: He wanted to get all the dirt out of the bag so he could begin his term as governor with a clean slate. He knew that a government position of such high ranking as governor (and of the state of New York, no less) leaves even the most personal aspects of your life wide open to the public, and he wanted to get that out of the way so he could move on to more important subjects -- like the passing of the new state budget, which was the topic of another press conference held later in the day. Still, though. Was it truly necessary?

Though I am in no way in support of the choice people make, no matter what their ranking in government or society, to turn to infidelity as an excuse for other problems in their lives, I suppose it should be commended that Paterson and his wife realized they both had a problem, sought counseling, and learned to work harder at giving 100% to each other and their marriage. And I do still think he'll be a good governor.

eat well, my friends, eat well

For the last few weeks, we've been trying out some delicious -- and incredibly easy -- new recipes. Most of these arrived in our kitchen by way of friends who posted them on their blogs or sent them to me over email. One I found when I was desperate for a way to cook the pork chops I found on sale, and another was posted in the comments section of this post. It's raining outside here today, and since rainy days always feel to me like good days to spend in the kitchen, I'm going to share these recipes that we enjoyed with you. So enjoy, and eat well, my friends, eat well.

Millionaire Chicken
from the kitchen of Silly Marie

This recipe is great because if you prepare the chicken ahead of time (and store it in your freezer or fridge), you can whip this meal together in about 15-20 minutes.

8 tbsp soy sauce
4 tbsp honey
2 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
6 tbsp oil
4 green onions, chopped
1 tsp grated ginger or 1/2 tsp ground ginger
ground pepper to taste
pinch of cayenne pepper
4-5 chicken breasts, shredded (this is a recipe where you can easily skip out on the expensive boneless, skinless chicken and instead opt for the bones and skin because, heck, it goes on sale for 79 cents a pound - how can you refuse that?)

Boil chicken in water until cooked through, then [if necessary, pull away from skin and bones and] shred. Combine other ingredients together in a saucepan and heat on stove until it is just about to boil. Add the chicken and toss to coat. Serve over rice.


Crock Pot Cream Cheese Chicken (or KaLee's Chicken, as I like to call it)
from the kitchen of KaLee

This recipe is to. Die. For. Seriously -- SO good. And what's easier than a crock pot meal?

1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 8oz pkg of cream cheese
1/2 cup milk

Combine above in a saucepan and heat until cream cheese is mixed in well.

2 tbsp butter, melted
1 pkg dry Italian dressing mix (I used 1/2 pkg and it worked great)

Combine and rub on top of chicken (about 2-4 chicken breasts). Grease crock pot and place chicken breasts (with rub) in crock pot and pour sauce over. Cook on high for 3-4 hours and serve over rice or pasta.


Easy Meatloaf
from the kitchen of Motherhood for Dummies

This was my first attempt at meatloaf. I know -- be shocked. While it was good and very easy to prepare, it didn't come out as moist as I'd hoped. So I need to experiment with this one a little more. If any of you meatloaf experts have suggestions for me, feel free to pass them along. Also, I prepared the loaf earlier in the day and stored it in the fridge. In the evening I threw it in the oven, along with a few potatoes, and one hour later I had a meal of meatloaf and baked potatoes.

1 - 1 1/2 lbs ground beef
1 1/4 tsp salt
1 egg
dash of pepper
1 cup bread crumbs
1/2 cup milk
1 small onion, chopped
1/2 cup green peppers, diced
1/3+ cup steak sauce

Mix all in a bowl using only 3-4 tbsp of the steak sauce. Then, after molding the meat into a bread pan, spread the remaining steak sauce (I used a little more than "the remaining") on top. Bake for 1 hour at 350.


Slow Cooker Pork Chops
from allrecipes.com

Listed below is my own altered version, which I created after reading the comments people made at allrecipes. The recipe calls for 6 chops, but I only cooked 2 and still used the same amount of everything else. I only had to alter the cooking time/temp. It worked great and had Blake drooling for days.

6 pork chops
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tsp ground ginger (optional)
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup ketchup
2 cloves garlic, crushed

Place pork chops in slow cooker. Combine remaining ingredients and pour over pork chops. Cook on low for 6 hours (or on high for 2 hours, then on low for 2-3 hours). For few pork chops (2-3), cook on low for 3-3 1/2 hours. Serve over rice


Easy Chicken Pot Pie
from the kitchen of Heather

Though you wouldn't be able to tell by how easy it is to make, this dish looks and tastes gourmet. It's another one that's easy to prepare early in the day, then store in the fridge until you're ready to put it in the oven.

1 cup frozen mixed veggies, thawed
2 medium potatoes, peeled and diced
1 cup chicken, cut up and cooked
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 cup Bisquick
1/2 cup milk
1 egg

Heat oven to 400. In an ungreased 9" pie plate, stir together vegetables, chicken, and soup. In a bowl, stir remaining ingredients until well blended. Pour into pie plate. Bake about 30 minutes, or until golden brown.


Thanks again, guys, for sharing these recipes with me! Our taste buds and stomachs will be forever grateful.

new york's newest public servant

I watched Governor David A. Paterson's swearing in and inauguration speech yesterday and must say that I was very impressed. Not only does he have a firm vision for the state of New York and a good work ethic, but he's got a great sense of humor and a personable character to help him along the way. Really, the guy seems to be as bipartisan as they come, which is something I think we need more of in this country.

Here's a snippet that I particularly enjoyed from his address (which, because he's legally blind and can't exactly use the teleprompter, I'm told was completely memorized):

They call what we do public service for a reason: because it’s not politics. It’s not parties. It’s not power that counts at the end of the day. Those interests can vanish in a moment. It is the service that endures. It is service that is important. It is the service that is our mark. It is our measure. It is our record of performance.

My colleagues, all of you in the Legislature, those who serve in the judiciary, State employees who work in our great agencies, isn’t that what called us to work in government in the first place?

Then let us seize that poignant moment. Let us right here and now, let us grab the unusual opportunities that circumstance has handed us today, and put personal politics, party advantage and power struggles aside in favor of service, in the interests of the people.

With the nation’s eyes upon him in 1964, Robert F. Kennedy once said, “No matter how talented an individual may be, no matter how much energy he might possess, regardless of how much integrity and honesty he or she may have, if that person is alone, they can accomplish very little.”

And so what we are going to do from now on is what we always should have done. We’re going to work together.

With conviction in our brains and compassion in our hearts and love for New York on our sleeves, we will dedicate ourselves to principle but always maintain the ability to listen.

And now, we look forward in this great State, we look forward with our eyes very much on the greatness of New York and we move forward, ever forward, together.

If you have the time, I think it's definitely worth reading the address in its entirety.

lucky

With the exception of one unfortunate haircut (which, for language barrier reasons only, does much to tempt me away from the Chinese-run hair salons), the last few days have been filled with good things and happy experiences. You might say a streak of Irish good luck has found its way to our house in time for St. Patrick's Day. So I really can't complain about the last few days:

* The weather was gorgeous on Saturday, so we used that as a great excuse to go walk around Manhattan's beautiful and historic Gramercy district.


* While in that neighborhood we walked around the perimeter of Gramercy Park, which is the only private park left in New York City.


* We also stopped at a Gramercy playground, where Garrett went for a ride on the swings. He also got his first delicious taste of cream cheese after a visit to a local bagel shop. Yum yum.



* We got our federal tax return, which only proved further that Garrett was indeed a very happy addition to our family last year.

* Two words: Vision Insurance. ...and the happy announcement that Blake's company is now offering it in their benefits package. New, much needed glasses...here we come!

* My nursery lesson on Sunday went, dare I say it...swimmingly. We learned that we should be thankful for fish by going "fishing" for pictures of different kinds of sea creatures, looking at some sea shells, eating goldfish crackers, doing a finger play about a little turtle who lived in a box, and reading Swimmy.

* On Sunday after church, we lowered Garrett's crib for the first time. Turns out he's pretty thrilled with the new arrangement:

* The laughing wore us all out, so we curled up on the bed and took a nap. I woke up first, and found my two boys looking pretty adorable snoozing together.



* Today New York's African-American, legally blind Lt. Governor, David Paterson, is going to be sworn in as the new governor, replacing an apparently immoral and humiliated Eliot Spitzer. I haven't lived here long enough to truly dive into New York State politics, but from the 24/7 news coverage of Spitzer's prostitution scandal, I've already come to like the even-tempered, calm-mannered, likable Paterson. I think he'll do great things for this state.

Happy St. Patrick's Day! Hope you're all wearing green and enjoying the 247th Annual St. Patrick's Day Parade which, even as I type this, is marching its way up New York City's 5th Avenue. I know we sure are!

no sick days for the stork

The other day I counted all the couples I knew who are currently pregnant and it totaled up to 16 people (including my brother, Tyler, and his wife, Amanda). If you count the people I know who have had babies in the last three weeks (including my cousin, Julie, with her sweet Baby Sofia), it brings the number up to 19.

Nineteen!! It may be true that me and a large portion of my circle of friends are of prime child-bearing age and circumstance, but numbers this high make me impractically and irrationally baby hungry.

The amount of friends and relatives making baby announcements appeared to be growing exponentially and since I didn't want to suddenly discover that I, too, was pregnant, I went yesterday for an appointment at my new ob/gyn.

I am not pregnant. (And that sound you just heard was my practical, rational side releasing a heavy sigh of relief.)

But I have now checked "get annual physical exam" off my to-do list and have simultaneously established a relationship with a good doctor (who came recommended to me by most of the women in my ward) so that when the time comes for us to join in with the baby-announcement-making crowd, I will already be armed with a physician.

Going to the doctor in Brooklyn is different than going to the doctor...oh...anywhere else I've ever been to the doctor. The office is not located in a fancy schmancy clinic connected to a state-of-the-art hospital, but rather on the bottom floor of a home. It is a private practice in every sense of the word. My visit also had a personal feel to it that I'd never before been privileged to experience. It was the doctor himself who called me back, and before we went to the exam room, we sat and chatted for a few minutes in his office beneath his certificate-encrusted walls. I hadn't ever been given the chance to engage in an interview of sorts with my doctor, and I think I could get used to this sort of thing. In its own way, this appointment felt eerily similar to a visit to Dr. Cliff Huxtable at his private OB practice located in the first level of his Brooklyn Heights home.

(And though it has nothing to do with the office atmosphere, I for some reason feel it worth mentioning that, once you've gone through nine months of regular check-ups and have delivered a baby, an annual physical exam is a cakewalk and absolutely nothing to get stressed over.)

Even though it will be some time before my practical, rational side and my impractical, irrational side find a compromising middle ground on the baby-hunger issue, I do have a happy announcement to make. Yesterday at work, Blake was awarded a promotion and with it an accompanying salary increase and bonus. In the months since he began this job, he has worked incredibly hard and deserves every ounce of this reward. Congratulations, Blake! I'm so proud of you!

baby food maker

I never thought I would become one of Those Moms. And yet here I am, pureeing fruits and vegetables in my blender and freezing them in baby-sized portions in ice cube trays.

Really, it was cost rather than a sense of organic goodness that motivated me to join the Homemade Baby Food Club. As Garrett's solid food tastes progressed from Stage 1 to Stage 2, I just couldn't bring myself to pay 65 cents for one serving of carrots when I could pay 65 cents and get 12+ servings of carrots. And as my confidence in my abilities to feed my baby were simultaneously progressing, I realized that it wouldn't kill me to make (or kill my baby to eat) fruits and vegetables prepared at home.

And so I went shopping. I bought plums, apples, pears, and bananas. I bought butternut squash, carrots, sweet potatoes, green beans, and peas. I found a website with good suggestions for age appropriate foods and methods for cooking and preparing them. And then I pulled out our blender and ice cube trays and went to work. I prepared one batch of food every day until I ran out of room to store them in my freezer.

I haven't abandoned store-bought baby foods altogether. Rice cereal is something I don't think I will ever attempt to make myself. And Garrett's dinners come from jars because I'm not about to prepare a turkey-and-vegetable dinner only to put it in the blender and freeze it in cubed portions. But pureed fruits and vegetables are inexpensive and simple to make, and so I make them.

Garrett, as oblivious as ever, hasn't noticed the switch, unless, perhaps, he's realized that now he gets to eat a wider variety of foods than those from the itty bitty selection I could find stocked at my grocery store. So I think we're going to continue with this until he's reached the point where I can just mash up the foods we're eating and give him servings of those. It doesn't take too much extra effort on my part to prepare the foods, it's a heck of a lot cheaper, and Garrett gets to eat things like cantelope, which, judging by the great lengths his tongue extends to in order to catch the spoonfuls that dribble down his chin, he finds to be incredibly tasty. It's a win-win situation.

the bells

There are few things I find as beautifully striking as hearing the melodies of familiar hymns waft in through my open living room window on a sunny afternoon breeze as they are chimed in the bell tower of the Catholic church down the block. Above the swishing sounds of the busy streets, they ring out the sweet strains of "Oh Savior, Thou Who Wearest a Crown" and "Beautiful Savior." It is so quietly breathtaking.

sweet raspberries

Garrett at his finest:

i (heart) nursery lessons

Today in nursery we learned to be thankful for trees, plants and flowers.

We sang Popcorn Popping:

I looked out the window and what did I see?
Popcorn popping on the apricot tree!
Spring has brought me such a nice surprise,
Blossoms popping right before my eyes.
I could take an armful and make a treat,
A popcorn ball that would smell so sweet.
It wasn't really so, but it seemed to be
Popcorn popping on the apricot tree.

We imagined that we were trees. First we curled up into tiny seeds. Then we felt the rain fall down on us. And when we started to grow, we reached up to the sky as high as we could. Soon apples bloomed on our branches and we picked them and took a big bite. They were delicious.

We read The Carrot Seed and learned that we can get food from small plants as well as tall trees. We also learned that we can grow plants to eat in gardens. Taking care of a garden is hard work. You have to do a lot of weeding, a lot of watering, and a lot of waiting before you see plants come up. But they do come up!


We learned that Heavenly Father and Jesus gave us beautiful flowers, shady trees, and edible plants because They love us. We learned that we should thank Them for their generosity. And so before snack time, we blessed our food and thanked Heavenly Father for the tangy apple slices, juicy oranges, and chewy raisins that we got to eat.

Afterward we made a glue-and-construction-paper tree:


I know I'm thankful for trees, plants and flowers. I know my nursery children are thankful for trees, plants and flowers. Are you thankful for trees, plants and flowers?

(And now if March would just stop teasing us with warm-one-day, bitter-the-next sorts of weather, I'll get to SEE the blossoming trees, plants and flowers I've been missing so this winter.)

tomato v. chicken noodle

In the Supreme Poll ruling of Tomato v. Chicken Noodle, it was democratically decided by my readers that Tomato soup trumped Chicken Noodle when paired with a tuna fish sandwich.

Of the 32 of you who voted, 19 unwittingly confirmed Blake's belief that tuna fish sandwiches and a warm bowl of tomato soup is better than the tuna fish sided with a hearty bowl of chicken noodle that I typically prefer. So the next time I pair tuna with chicken noodle, and Blake looks at me with pathetic puppy dog eyes and sighs, "Why not tomato? Sixty percent of your blog readers thinks that tomato and tuna tastes better than chicken noodle and tuna," I will have no one but you to blame. Which, don't get me wrong: a grilled tuna and cheese sandwich and a bowl of tomato soup isn't such a bad combination for a rainy day dinner. But honestly, chicken noodle and tuna sandwiches have always gone together in my mind.

So to the 13 of you who took my side: I'll call you the next time tuna fish sandwiches and chicken noodle soup come on the menu, and we'll do lunch.

this is where the books live

The other day a friend of mine posted pictures of five things in her home and wrote a little bit about each one. The idea to do this tickled me enough to come up with my own variation. And so today I will tell you about our five bookshelves.


This folding bookshelf is in my living room. It's home to some fabulous reads including the Nicholas series, Where the Wild Things Are, my collection of New York books, and my Robert Sabuda pop-up. The paper flowers on top of the Harry Potter books, along with the vase they're in, were a find in San Antonio's Mexican Market. The pretty blue and white vase with the totally fake daisies came from Portland, Oregon's Saturday Market.


This is our really, really, super tall IKEA bookshelf. After moving from our apartment in Indiana, which had some pretty marvelous built-in bookshelves, we needed something of our own to house all those books here in New York. Some of my favorites on this shelf include my collection of books by Indiana authors, books by and about the Bronte sisters, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, To Kill a Mockingbird, our poetry collection, works by J.D. Salinger, and a history of the 20th century told entirely in letters. Blake's philosophy books also live here. The bottom left corner is home to our eyesore of an enormous dictionary. It used to belong to BYU's philosophy department and was given to us as a wedding present by the philosophy professor Blake TA'd for. As for a few of the knick-knacks: the wooden car and the elephant came from Blake's mission in Uruguay, the nesting doll is from Russia (via my mother and her killer eBay skills), the Willow Tree statue came from my good friend, Nancy, in Muncie after Garrett was born, and the painting is one we got cheap on the sidewalk in front of the Met. It depicts the Flatiron Building, which Blake sees everyday when he gets off the subway in Manhattan.


If I had to pick a favorite bookshelf, this one would probably be it. It was handmade by some friends in our BYU singles ward and given to us as a wedding gift. It lives in our hallway and houses my collection of children's novels as well as the handmade books I crafted in the bookbinding class I took at BYU. The framed drawing on the top is a glass etching Blake did of an illustration from Betsy-Tacy (which are living on the bottom shelf). The cross-stitch piece was passed onto me by my mom. It was given to her at her bridal shower, which I was shocked to learn because the little family it depicts could very well have been the beginnings of our family: the oldest child is a blond-haired girl (me), and the next two are boys (my brothers, Tyler and Riley). The marbles and the jar they're living in came from Muncie's Jar Museum, and the metal register bank belonged to Blake's dad.


This shelf is in Garrett's room and it's home to the picture books, the board books (which are in the red bin), and Garrett's toys (which are in the other bins). The majority of the picture books were passed onto me when I got married and moved away. They were the stories I grew up loving as a child. I'm a huge fan of the Wallace and Gromit poster sitting on the top, as well as the Slinky Dog, which I received one Christmas shortly after Toy Story was released. Also, the adorable little school chair beside the shelf was sitting next to our apartment complex dumpster shortly after we moved to Indiana. There were no children in our family at the time we rescued it, but I sure can't wait 'til Garrett's old enough to sit in it.


This last bookshelf is also in Garrett's room. It houses the rest of our literary collection. Highlights include my cookbooks, my baby and pregnancy books, the Christmas books, as well as Blake's collection of psychology books that were deemed "not pretty enough" to live in the living room. You can't really see it, but my collection of Classic Winnie-the-Pooh figurines lives on the top, as well as the Winnie-the-Pooh books and Garrett's baby book.

I probably could have also taken a picture of Blake's nightstand, as quite a few of our books are temporarily living there. I think we're going to allocate some of our tax return money to get another bookshelf from IKEA. Our book habit appears to be serious, and pretty soon we'll need more shelf space.

eating our pennies

At the end of January, Blake and I challenged ourselves to a $150 food budget for the month of February. This allowance was, on average, about $100 less than what we had been spending. But we both realized that we were easily tempted to buy fluff, and thus decided to work a little harder to be a little more frugal. Which isn't to say that this task was going to be a piece of cake. In a city where a gallon of milk never goes cheaper than $3.99, a dozen eggs costs $2.50, and a loaf of bread costs $2 - $2.50 on sale, a food allowance of only $150 for the entire month was going to take some creativity. But I am here, sitting well-fed on the other side of February, and I only went six pennies over budget. Here is what we did.

The Ground Rules

• Baby food was, generally speaking, not included in the $150. If we'd have included formula and rice cereal in the food budget, Blake and I would have been living off dried beans and grains of rice. So baby food, with the exception of some fruits and vegetables which we shared (pureed for Garrett, whole for us), had its own budget.
• The vast majority of what I bought had to be on sale.
  
• I had to always look for the cheapest way to eat, keeping in mind that it also had to be healthy. (And in our family, frozen fish sticks with sides of mashed potatoes and green beans counts as healthy.)
  
• Shopping to replenish the pantry was just as important as shopping for meals.

How We Made It Happen

• I always shopped in our pantry/fridge/freezer first. (This is why replenishing the pantry and making sure that I kept regularly-used items stocked on the shelves was so important.)
• I tried to plan meals that required relatively few, relatively normal ingredients. Doing this really made me wish I knew of a family-friendly cookbook that met those two requirements. If any of you know of any, or have delicious dinner recipes that would belong in one, please feel free to share.
  
• Sometimes it was cheaper to make something from scratch. Sometimes it wasn't. And that was okay.
  
• I finally checked out Three Guys from Brooklyn, which is the most amazing produce market I've ever seen. Seriously, you can get good quality fruits and veggies for dirt cheap prices, which is a godsend in a city where most produce is sadly too expensive for its own, bruised good. It's a bit of a walk from where we live, but worth every step.
• I made a grocery list before every trip to the store and I stuck with it as closely as I possibly could. When I sat down to make the list, I kept my calculator handy. Beside each listed item, I wrote down the price I expected to pay, and I totaled everything up before I left the apartment. That way I knew how much I should be spending. If there was room in my budget for fluff, then a bit of fluff was included. If there wasn't, it was easier to take it off the list at home than at the checkout stand when I realized I actually couldn't afford it.

Things We Ate
I have to say: we ate well in February, which kind of surprised me at first. While some meals came to our table from the frozen food section, some meals were gourmet (or as close to gourmet as my skills could take me). And instead of being restricted by the budget, like I thought we'd be, my cooking repertoire actually expanded. Here is a sampling of things we ate:

• broccoli fettuccine alfredo with corn bread and salad
• fish sticks with cream cheese mashed potatoes and green beans
  
• spaghetti with meatballs, bread sticks, and salad
• BLT sandwiches with applesauce
• pigs in a blanket with macaroni and cheese and carrot sticks
• German pancakes with cantelope and orange juice
• beef stroganoff with green beans
• tuna fish sandwiches and chicken noodle soup
• homemade lasagna with salad
• quiche lorraine with bread sticks and salad
• baked chicken with mashed potatoes and carrots
• slow cooked pork chops served over rice with peaches

So yeah...not too shabby.

Since the $150 budget worked for February, we're going to try it again in March as well. So far, so good (though an impending tag-along trip to Costco might disrupt things just a bit...which I tell myself is okay because yes, it's bigger and so yes, it costs more, but yes, it's also cheaper, so long as I stick to my list and don't allow myself to get tempted by the massive quantities of fluff). And because I'm on this food-savings craze, I'm curious: what do YOU do to reduce your grocery bill?

the skinny on soft baby skin

It doesn't take a lot of scrutiny to see that Garrett looks an awful lot like his papa: the round face, the adorable cheeks, the cleft chin, pouty lower lip, and smiley mouth. It also doesn't take a genius to see that he inherited both his blond hair and fair skin from his mama. Not too long ago, I came to the realization that it wasn't just skin color that he inherited from me; Garrett has unfortunately also acquired my skin's temperament.

About a month ago, I started noticing a scaly, bumpy, but decidedly not red rash developing on his legs. Before too long it had spread to his arms. Thinking it was a heat rash caused by my tendency to overdo it with blankets at night, I not only lessened the amount of blankets I tucked him in with, but, in an effort to keep the sweat glands from getting clogged, I also stopped putting baby powder and lotion on his body after his nightly baths. This did not help. In fact, the bumps got worse and ultimately consumed the entirety of both arms and legs. At this point, Blake suggested that I take him to the doctor. While I seriously toyed with the idea, the rash, while concerning, just didn't have the look of something to get too worked up about. Falling back on my mother's instinct, I told Blake I wanted to wait a few more days before taking such drastic measures. "I don't want to spend $20 for a co-pay just to have the doctor tell me he's got dry skin or something," I said.

And then it hit me: dry skin. What if this rash wasn't a rash? What if it was just very thirsty skin? It is winter, after all, and I, his DNA-bequeathing mother, get horrible dry skin problems at this time of year. With a fresh point of view, I took up some new tactics to bring my baby's sweet, soft skin back.

Even though I've been told that too much contact with water can strip skin of hydrating membranes, I didn't want to deprive Garrett of his nightly baths. He loves the water too much and by 6:00 in the evening when we're all worn out from the day, the only place either of us want him to be is happily splashing in the tub. So the bath routine stayed. I did, though, start using my bar of Dove soap to wash him. My skin's become addicted to its gently moisturizing qualities, and I didn't think it would be such a bad idea to let Garrett's skin have a taste.

I also started searching the shelves of my local drugstores for some heavy duty baby lotion that I might use to lock in what moisture his skin did have. I initially didn't think there'd be much of a market for cure-alls for dry baby skin. After all, aren't all babies supposed to have soft, supple skin? But it turns out that there is. Because Aveeno, with their natural colloidal oatmeal-including formulas, has helped my skin in the past, I ultimately purchased some Aveeno Baby Soothing Relief Moisture Cream. And let me just tell you: this stuff is fabulous! I began by slathering it all over his arms and legs two or three times a day, then eventually to twice a day (morning and after-bath evening). Now I'm just using it once a day, after he's out of the tub. It's been only a week and Garrett's skin is sweet and soft again. Not a sign left to indicate that he ever had scaly, bumpy, dry, dry skin.

So Dove and Aveeno: you make great products. I'm a fan. You've fixed my baby's skin (and, let's be honest here, you've done much to fix mine, too). And if you ever need a new spokesperson, I'm your girl.

Anyway, I'm glad that I was able to fix this little problem. It was sure a lot cheaper and less embarrassing than a trip to the doctor. But I feel kinda bad that my innocent, unassuming little boy inherited such a nasty trait from me. It's sad, too, to realize that he'll probably sunburn (and by "sunburn" I mean "burn to a crisp") after only 10 minutes outside in the summer sun, with or without sunblock. I will, however, consider us all very lucky if the skin problems stop at that, rather than developing into embarrassing teenage acne and cancerous moles like they did for me. My fingers are eternally crossed for you, Garrett. And in case that doesn't work, just know I've become somewhat of a trailblazer when it comes to temperamental skin and, when it comes time, I'll be happy to find you a good dermatologist.

what are the odds?

This weekend Blake and I had a surprising amount of census fun browsing around this website. After a bit of digging, we came to some interesting conclusions. First, though, a few figures:

Approximate Populations of...

United States of America: 300 million

State of Utah: 2.5 million
City of Provo, Utah: 105,400

State of Indiana: 6.3 million
City of Muncie, Indiana: 66,500

State of New York: 19.3 million
New York City: 8 million
Borough of Brooklyn: 2.5 million

So a little mental computing will tell you that, according to these numbers, the odds were remarkably in our favor that we'd one day live in Brooklyn. I mean, look at this: one in every 120 people in the U.S. lives in Brooklyn (71 square miles); one in every 120 people in the U.S. lives in the entire state of Utah (81,100 square miles). There are 2,600 people per square mile in Provo; there are 34,900 people per square mile in Brooklyn. And in two square miles of Brooklyn, you could fit the entire population of Muncie.

Suddenly makes it seem not so unique that we happened to end up living in Brooklyn, doesn't it? In fact, you might say it's almost cooler to say we've lived in both Provo and Muncie. Almost.

And speaking of odds, what do you think the chances are of us getting hopelessly lost on a Saturday excursion in Manhattan (pop. 1.5 million)? Judging by the way our most recent Saturday went, I'd say those odds are pretty high.

I'd heard through the grapevine that the Little Red Lighthouse of The Little Red Lighthouse and the Great Gray Bridge fame was giving a rare free tour Saturday at 1:00. All we had to do was meet at the lighthouse and we'd be in on the fun. I've always enjoyed a good lighthouse tour, especially those with historical and/or literary significance, so we packed our bags, hopped on the train, and headed north to banks of the Hudson River and the base of the George Washington Bridge. Our excursion started out well enough. We got off the train at 181st Street and headed due west towards the bridge. But little did we realize that there would be a tangle of freeways separating us from the lighthouse. Supposedly there was a footpath that would take us either over or under that high-speed, jumbled mess, but for the life of us, we couldn't find it. After walking countless blocks against the strong winds whipping up off the water, we decided that it probably just wasn't meant to be. So we turned inland from our walk along Riverside Drive and opted for a Milky Way hot chocolate from Dunkin' Donuts instead. If any of you have ever been to the Little Red Lighthouse and can tell us how to get a view closer than the one we snapped a photograph of, we'd love to know because eventually we'd like to give this outing a second chance.

for your viewing pleasure, i now present...

Garrett in the Kitchen:

A Conversation with Garrett: