Our week

Whoops, I didn't mean to go almost a week without posting anything. I guess time got away from me this week. Nothing out of the ordinary has been happening (unless you count 80 degrees and humid in the last week of September out of the ordinary!!)

The biggest project that I've been tackling (during nap time) is reviewing and organizing all of the video we've taken of Baby B since he was born. It's just been sitting on our video camera, so before 8 months of footage turns into 16 months of footage, I decided it was time to start cataloging. It's fun to watch and see how much he's grown so quickly. I'm also astonished at how recent his curls are, I didn't realize that they grew in over the summer. I guess you miss gradual changes like that when you see him everyday (lucky me!).

Speaking of curls -



Funny baby:)

In what little leisure time we have, I've also been busy trying to finish the book I'm reading. Not because I particularly enjoy it but because I'm excited to read the other books sitting on my nightstand. We're also enjoying new episodes of our favorite shows now that the fall season has started (ahh Modern Family, how I missed you).

Today and tomorrow should be pretty low key. I'll be taking care of runny noses and tickly throats (Baby D and me), doing laundry, going for a couple walks around the neighborhood, and cleaning house in anticipation of my grandparents visiting this weekend! And of course, there's always these two to make me smile -



Fighting over playing with a book - silly boys:)

For the love of squash

Today was rainy. Cloudy and rainy, all day. So in the midst of nap times, diaper changing times, lunch and bottle times, and keeping Baby B and Baby D from crawling all over each other times, we roasted a butternut squash!



I wasn't planning on cooking butternut squash this week, but when all squashes were on sale for 79 cents per pound last weekend, I couldn't resist picking up this baby sized squash. Squash is definitely one of the reasons that I love fall. We had our first butternut squash of the season two weeks ago when I made Roasted Butternut Squash and Black Bean Enchiladas (so yummy, highly recommend them!). So with no specific meals plans for the baby squash and all the rain outside and nothing else to cook inside, we had squash for lunch! And dinner! Baby B isn't loving it as much as I'd like, but I keep telling him that he'll grow to love it.

I'm also hoping that he'll grow to love his new sippy cup! We bought his first sippy cup at Target yesterday.



He's kind of figuring out how to hold the handles, although most of the time he picks it up by the spout. What he definitely hasn't figured out is that you have to tip the cup up to get any liquid out! He just sits there sucking up air, which fortunately hasn't led to too many burps or hiccups (yet). Like I said, we're hoping he learns to love it, almost as much as he loves this guy.



What a great way to start the weekend:)

First haircut

I love Baby B's hair. He was born with a full head of hair, just like his daddy, and the hair on top never really fell out, which means the beautiful curls on top of his head have been getting a bit unruly lately. It's to be expected (doesn't your hair get unruly after growing eight months straight?!) So today we took the plunge and got his hair cut. I was a bit apprehensive because I've heard stories of baby curls being cut off and not coming back. But something needed to be done (see Before picture below for evidence). So, being the take action mother that I am, we did something about it.

Before:



During:



After:



He has an army crew cut look in front, but the beautiful curls are still there and I think he looks as handsome as ever. One more "first" milestone down for Baby B - time to go document it in his baby book!!

Up close and personal

Baby B is fascinated with electronics. I suspect this is true of most babies, but Baby B's fascination seems to be even stronger now that he can move himself close to whatever electronic happens to catch his attention (cell phone, computer, video camera, tv, stereo, etc.). Today, for example, I moved our laptop onto the couch while the boys were playing on the floor. Before I could blink, Baby B had crawled halfway across the room and pulled himself up to standing against the couch with the biggest "ha ha, look at me mom!" glint in his beautiful eyes. His Mom-Mom brought him his own Fisher Price cell phone last weekend. Hubby T and I enthusiastically embraced it as an alternative to eating our cell phones, but to no avail. It hasn't supplanted his overwhelming desire to commandeer our phones, at least not yet. I am holding out hope, but suspect that battle won't be won until he's actually old enough that we give him his own cell phone. You're going to be waiting awhile kid...

Baby B also showed his fascination with our camera today, which I am pleased to share with you here so that you have some idea of what I'm talking about.

Ooh, I spy with my little eye Mom's camera!



Getting closer...just try and stop me!



Haha, now I'm close enough to eat the camera cord!



No way am I letting this go now that I have it with my kung-fu grip!



I tried to capture this funny moment of the two of us, but between my short arm and Baby B's surprisingly strong arm pulling the camera as close to his mouth as possible, this is all I got.



Pure joy:)

Weekend Delights

We had a lot of fun this weekend! It started off with Survivor: Small Group on Friday night where Hubby T and I ran around our church grounds with our small group competing in a scavenger hunt, a clothespin throwing contest, a bible trivia test, and s'mores around a fire, all on our first fall evening of the year. It was fantastic to be outside on such a beautiful night, relaxing and playing with wonderful friends.

On Saturday I got a much needed haircut and Hubby T's parents rolled into town to visit us for the weekend (and by us, I really mean Baby B, because they are totally and completely addicted to their first grandchild). As I've said before, I love spending time with our family. It's also fun to hear their observations of how Baby B has changed and grown, since they only see him once a month or so. Their conclusion is that he's still a fantastic and wonderful baby boy:) It's good to know I'm not the only one who thinks so!

Oh, and did I mention it was the first weekend of fall? Fall is my favorite season and I am sooo tired of summer by this point in the year. I love dressing Baby B in actual pajamas instead of the lightest, coolest onesie I can find. I love needing to pull the blanket up over the sheet when I wake up a little chilly in the middle of the night. I love needing to wear my slippers. I could go on and on but for now I will spare you. Needless to say, I am ready for summer to die - bring on the fall!!

And finally, I made absolutely delicious blueberry muffins. These have a couple more ingredients than your standard blueberry muffin recipe, but it's all worth it. Did I mention they are delicious? Don't just take my word for it - make them for your family! They will love them too.

Blueberry Streusel Muffins from the Barefoot Contessa's Back to Basics

3 1/2 c. all-purpose flour
1 1/2 c. granulated sugar
4 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. kosher salt
2 c. buttermilk, shaken
1/4 pound (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1 1/2 tsp. grated lemon zest
2 extra-large eggs
2 c. fresh blueberries (2 half-pints)

For the streusel topping
3/4 c. all-purpose flour
1/2 c. light brown sugar, lightly packed
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. kosher salt
4 Tbs. (1/2 stick) cold unsalted butter, diced

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Line muffin tins with paper liners.

Sift the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into a large bowl and blend with your hands. In a separate bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, butter, lemon zest, and eggs. Stir the buttermilk mixture into the flour mixture with a fork, mixing until just blended. Fold the blueberries into the batter. Don't overmix! With a standard ice-cream scoop or large spoon, scoop the batter into the prepared cups, filling them almost full.

For the topping, place all the ingredients in the bowl os a food processor fitting with the steel blade and pulse until the butter is in very small pieces. Pour into a bowl and rub with your fingers until crumbly. Spoon about 1 Tbs. of the streusel on top of each muffin. Bake the muffins for 20-25 minutes, until golden brown.

** My notes on this recipe: I used frozen blueberries; fresh would probably make these muffins even better but they still tasted pretty darn good with frozen. Also, according to the cookbook, it makes 20 muffins, but I got 30 muffins out of the batter.

Eight Months!

Today is Baby B's eight month birthday! Not really that big a deal, it doesn't even warrant a well-child check up at the doctor's office. But it still makes me and Hubby T happy. So in honor of our little peanut, I wanted to share eight things that have changed about him in the last eight months and eight things that are the same.

Things that have changed

He can feed himself

He can stand (with something to lean on)

He can shoot a basketball

He can say Ma-ma and Da-da

He can crawl, on his arms and legs when he wants to, but mostly on his tummy because this kid wants to move and on his tummy is the fastest way for him to get around (at least for now!)

He is strong enough to pull my hair out, which he does as frequently as possible

He has a tan. No kidding, this boy spent time in the sun this summer! And I did put sunscreen on him every time, I swear.

He stays awake when we take him out for walks and loves to look around. He studies and absorbs everything around him, which we love.

Things that have not changed

He sleeps when he wants to, not necessarily when Mommy wants him to

He cries when he is hungry

His blue eyes



He loves his bath

Still no teeth

He loves being close to Mommy and Daddy (especially if we are holding a camera!)

He falls asleep in the car if we drive around long enough

And finally, he is still the cutest baby ever!!



Happy eight months Baby B:)

Remembering

To state something I am sure you already know, today is the 10th anniversary of the attacks of September 11, 2001. It seems like every other post on Facebook today was people sharing where they were when they heard and what their thoughts are now. I was an extremely innocent high school senior sitting in Mr. Surace's 2nd block AP Calculus class. I didn't know what the significance of the Twin Towers was when I first heard the news, but I did get scared 5 minutes later when I heard the Pentagon was hit. I ended up sobbing on the pay phone in the cafeteria to my mom and went home from school early that day. In hindsight, I have no idea why I was so hysterically upset. I didn't know anyone who was affected. The only explanation I have is that some part deep inside of me was horrified by this devastating demonstration of the sinfulness of man and the brokenness of this world. As many have said, I knew our world would never be the same.

For me, ten years later, it's hard to look back and feel positive about where we have been since that terrible day. We are fighting two wars, the plagues of racism and prejudice were reignited in our country, and there's no end in sight. How is all of this going to play out in the next ten years and the ten years after that as my son grows? Sometimes I really wonder what kind of world I have brought him into.

Thankfully, though, I do have hope. Because I believe in a God who has promised to redeem the world, to pull us out of the sinfulness and brokenness we live in and make all things new. At the end of the day, I have this:

"I am still confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord."
- Psalm 27: 13-14

I don't do enough waiting for the Lord. Most of the time my life is pretty good and I'm okay here. But days like today make me so grateful that this world is my temporary home, make me so grateful that there is something greater out there, and make me so grateful that I am and always will be a part of the glorious kingdom of God.

First double-baby day out

Today was my first day out with both boys. The double stroller arrived over the weekend and I got into the playgroup I wanted to join last week, so the timing was right to get out of the house. I was a bit nervous, after all, I am outnumbered, but moms go out with more than one kid all the time, so if they can do it, I can do it. Right? Right!

For our first excursion, I took us to the library for story time. It's indoors, stationary, and educational for the boys, all of which seemed like positive factors in deciding what to do to make our first outing a success. I was surprised and delighted to discover that today's story time was actually music time! It was led by a teacher who works at a local music school and teaches early childhood music classes. There was a lot of bouncing and moving in rhythm with the music, which sounds unexciting but was actually really great. It was a fun, unexpected way to interact with the babies. The class was designed for a 1:1 parent to child ratio, so I did the best I could with two babies in my arms. They seemed to spend more energy studying what was going on around them rather than participating anyway. There were tons of kids there, but the parents kept the chaos factor under control. I thoroughly enjoyed doing something different with the boys and it has me motivated to do some research and figure out how I can design my own "music class" to do with the boys in the next couple months.

My other exciting news from this week so far is the amazing rye bread I made yesterday. My history of making things from yeast has been hit or miss the last couple years, but the yeast cooperated yesterday and the bread turned out delicious! I served it with a cauliflower and cheese soup for dinner, which wasn't amazing enough for me to share the recipe but it did pair well with the bread. It makes two loaves, which just makes the delicious awesomeness last longer:) Especially if you make grilled cheese with the bread for lunch, yummm!

Crystal River Rye Bread from Colorado Collage by Junior League of Denver

2 Tbs caraway seeds
1 c. hot water (120-130 degrees)
1 1/4 ounce package dry yeast
1 c. warm buttermilk (105-115 degrees)
1 Tbs. salt
2 Tbs. unsalted butter, softened
1/2 c. honey
3 c. rye flour
1 c. whole wheat flour
1 1/2 c. unbleached flour, divided
2 Tbs. cornmeal

In large bowl, combine caraway seeds and hot water. Let stand 10 minutes to soften seeds. When water has cooled slightly, sprinkle in yeast. Add buttermilk, salt, butter, honey, rye flour, whole wheat flour, and 1 cup of the unbleached flour. Stir until well blended. If dough is sticky, add additional flour, 1/4 cup at a time, until dough is no longer sticky. Turn dough out onto lightly floured surface and knead 8-10 minutes, or until dough is smooth and elastic.

Place dough in oiled bowl, turning to coat entire surface. Cover with plastic wrap and towel and let rise until doubled in bulk, 2-3 hours. Grease large baking sheet and sprinkle with cornmeal. Punch dough down and divide in half. Shape each piece into a loaf and place on prepared baking sheet. Cover with towel and let rise until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Bake 30-40 minutes or until loaves sound hollow when tapped on bottom. Remove from oven and let cool on baking sheet 10 minutes. Remove and cool on rack.

End of summer

Today is Labor Day, which marks the official end of summer (by whose standard I don't know, because I'm pretty sure my jeans will stay buried in my dresser for at least another month). Our family has had a pretty good weekend. The temperatures finally cooled off into the mid-80s, nice enough to spend some much needed work time outside. Hubby T and I (okay, mostly Hubby T) vacuumed and washed both cars, cleaned the gutters, and pressure washed the mold off the back of our house, all of which desperately needed to be done. Yay for getting caught up on long neglected projects!

Today is Hubby T's last week-day home until Election Day and I must confess, I'm very ready for him to go back to work. I love family time, but we've had a lot of it this summer and I'm ready to settle into my stay-at-home-mom routine with the babies. My double stroller came on Saturday and I was accepted into a playgroup last week, so I'm looking forward to some fun outings with Baby B and Baby D in the next couple weeks.

But to wrap up summer, I wanted to share a couple of my favorite new recipes I discovered this summer. Instead of posting the recipes on my blog, I'm going to share the link to the blogs I found them on, because I want to give credit where credit is truly due for these wonderful foods. Happy eating!!

White Cheddar Yogurt Cornbread - this cornbread is unlike any other cornbread you've ever had, it's super moist and delicious, and you'll never want boring dried out old cornbread again!

Summer Succotash Quesadillas with Nacho Mmmm Sauce - the name of this sauce is what helped inspire the name of this blog, and this recipe truly is super mmmm

Summer Corn and Avocado Salad - this recipe is super easy and super delicious and super wonderful to take to a party with friends (like I did yesterday!:)

A Day in the Life of Baby B

For all those family members who live far away and don't have the immense pleasure of hanging with Baby B all day, I wanted to share some images of a typical day. So here is what we did yesterday, in Baby B's own words...



Good morning! I am a silly boy.



I like playing with this drawer. I can open and close it and then play with all the socks inside! (But sometimes Mommy has to get my fingers unstuck, oops!)



I am such a cool baby:)



I love playing with place mats. Why should I sit contentedly in my high chair when I finish eating when there are such fun things to play with so close to me?!



What, you didn't know? I'm training to be an acrobat.



I like playing under the coffee table. Mommy calls it getting in trouble though, I wonder what that means?



Naptime!



Playtime with Daddy after dinner.

And the day finished with a wonderful bath, in which I held a bath toy in each hand and tried to shove a third toy into my mouth, all at the same time! But Mommy was too tired to go downstairs to get the camera. Oh well. Maybe tomorrow.