Halloween

Happy Halloween everyone! Baby B had a festive first Halloween as a cowboy - yeehaw!!



Hubby T was a cowboy for his first Halloween too, so a huge thanks goes out to Mom-Mom for sending us the hat to be reused, I think it made the costume:) On Friday night we went to a Halloween party at church, Trunk or Treat. There were games for the kids to play, pizza for dinner, and then the kids marched around in a costume parade and went trick or treating around tables in the fellowship hall (normally they go around to car trunks in the parking lot, we were rained out this year). Baby B was too little to participate in anything, but it was fun to show him off. Auntie A was there too, which made it extra fun.



Check out those little boots - too cute!!



The hat was great until he remembered it was on his head...then it became a toy to throw on the ground over and over and over and over until Mommy and Daddy gave up. Fun game!

Baby B, Baby D, and I had a pretty quiet day and didn't do anything special to celebrate Halloween today...



Can you tell it was almost nap time?!

But then Hubby T came home and was pumped up to hand out candy with Baby B, so we spent some family time getting in the Halloween spirit after dinner.



These were supposed to be carved into a Daddy Pumpkin, Mommy Pumpkin, and Baby Pumpkin, but Mommy Pumpkin ran out of time and energy this weekend...



Baby B enjoyed chewing on some Whoppers while Daddy handed out candy...Grandpa would be so proud!

And in case there aren't enough pictures in this blog post already...



This was me and Baby B last Halloween...it feels much better to be normal sized this year! I can't wait to see what we'll look like next year:)

Something to think about

This morning I read a blog post written by a mom who was driving around with her preschooler yesterday and saw a person shivering on the street with no coat. This inspired her to go through her house and donate some of their coats to a local organization that could distribute them to those in need. My church is also holding a coat drive right now, so the blog post made me think twice about whether or not I have any coats to give away. Am I a terrible person to say that of the five heavy winter coats I own, I don't want to give away any of them? It's okay if you think I am, I'm feeling that way, and still trying to decide what to do about it.

Then this afternoon Baby B and I were at the doctor's office waiting to have some blood drawn (mine, not his). A man walked up to the window to check in and I couldn't help overhearing his comment that he didn't have health insurance. When told that he would need to pay today, he said, "I don't get paid till Friday..." He ended up walking out, indicating he might be back. After we finished our business in the office, we walked outside to the car and while buckling Baby B into his car seat, I realized that the man's car was parked right next to us. He had walked up to the other side of his car and I heard a loud thump, which I think was him hitting the side of his car. After I got into my car, he got into his and drove away, clearly frustrated.

For a couple seconds after I noticed him, I considered asking him if I could help. I had a good amount of cash in my wallet today, I could have given it to him and said, "I'd like to help you, please take this." After all, here I was, having spent the last two hours grumbling to myself about the two $35 co-pays I had to pay today, and here he was with, seemingly, nothing. Even if I can't really afford to pay his lab bill and mine, I can clearly afford it more than he can.

I didn't give him anything, I didn't even say anything to him, but this kind of situation breaks my heart. Because I want so badly to obey God's commandment to love your neighbor; he asked the apostles to give up everything, their whole lives, to follow Christ and they did it! But I also know that we have our own bills to pay and how much is enough to give and then keep the rest for yourself? One of the greatest struggles of my personal faith is the tension between being in this world but not of it...

Romans 12: 2 - Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

I have no answers. I know that I will buy Baby B toys that he doesn't really need for Christmas while other children shiver and go hungry in the coming months. It doesn't sound right, but that's what it is. Until I choose to act differently, which would be so radical. But then again, isn't that what God calls us to? Anyway, it's something to keep thinking about.

Homecoming

This weekend was homecoming at William & Mary. The little bit that we participated in the festivities left us pretty tired, but here are a couple highlights.



Aunt KP visited! A fellow W&M alum, she has more Tribe Pride than Hubby T and I combined and it was fun to see her. All three of us had fun showing Baby B off on campus. Baby B was decked out in W&M socks, a t-shirt, and ball cap (which had been thrown to the ground a gazillion times by the time this picture was taken). He was so cute that an official school photographer stopped us to take his picture! I hope it makes it in the alumni magazine, that would be an awesome clip for his baby book:)

Along with her super duper Tribe Pride and overflowing love for her nephew, Aunt KP brought...monster socks!!



In this picture, Baby B is demonstrating how he is currently a drooling monster (see the drool spot over his tummy? Yikes). People at the grocery store thought they made him a cuteness monster. Either way, awesome gift:)



And finally, because it's fall and because we had company this weekend, I had to make some sort of breakfast treat. I might need homecoming to come around more often so that we can see all our friends and family more frequently, and enjoy this delicious coffeecake...

Apple-Cranberry Coffee Cake from Eating Well in Season: The Farmers' Market Cookbook by Jessie Price and the Editors of Eating Well

Topping
1/2 c. packed light brown sugar
1 Tbs. cornstarch
1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 1/2 c. cranberries, fresh or frozen, thawed, chopped
1 1/2 c. finely chopped peeled tart apple (such as Granny Smith)
1/2 c. cranberry, orange, or apple juice

Cake
1 c. all-purpose flour
1/2 c. whole-wheat flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. baking soda
1/4 c. canola oil
3 Tbs. butter, slightly softened
3/4 tsp. freshly grated lemon zest
3/4 c. granulated sugar, plus 1 Tbs. for sprinkling
1 large egg
3/4 c. low-fat milk
2 tsp. vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Coat a 9" springform pan with cooking spray.

To prepare topping: Whisk brown sugar, cornstarch, and cinnamon in a medium nonreactive saucepan until combined. Stir in cranberries, apple and juice. Bring the mixture to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring. Continue to cook, stirring, until the mixture thickens and the berries soften, about 2 minutes. Remove from the heat and let cool.

To prepare cake: Whisk all-purpose flour, whole-wheat flour, baking powder, salt, and baking soda in a medium bowl. In a separate large mixing bowl, beat oil, butter, and lemon zest with an electric mixer, first on medium speed, then on medium-high, until well combined, about 1 1/2 minutes. Gradually, add 3/4 cup sugar, beating until the mixture is light in color and well blended. Add egg and beat until the batter is smooth, about 1 minute longer. With the mixer on low speed, beat in half the flour mixture until just incorporated. Gradually beat in milk and vanilla until just incorporated. Add the remaining flour mixture and beat until a smooth batter forms, about 1 minute, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan, spreading to the edges. Spread the topping in an even layer over the batter; do not stir.

Bake the cake on the middle rack until the top is puffed in places and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean (the fruit topping will still be moist), 40 to 50 minutes. Sprinkle the remaining 1 Tbs. sugar over the top. Transfer the pan to a wire rack; let stand until cooled to warm, about 20 minutes. Remove the pan sides and cut the cake into wedges.

Mama P's cooking notes: Use a food processor to chop the cranberries. I find the cranberry taste to be very strong, so I used apple juice and wouldn't recommend using cranberry juice unless you really, really like cranberries. I'm not sure why you have to beat the cake ingredients together after adding each ingredient one at a time, but I followed their directions and it worked so deviate at your own peril. Because the fruit topping remains moist, it's hard to tell if the toothpick you put in the center comes out clean, so use your best judgment. My cake cooked for 45 minutes.

Birthday fun!

Today is my birthday! It's a memorable birthday because it's the first one I get to celebrate with Baby B. Come to think of it, it will also probably be the only birthday for many years to come when he's not scrambling to eat my cake or blow out my candles. (I love looking forward to all the things he is going to do:). As all birthdays should be, mine was filled with fun things, like presents!



This is the new scrapbook, scrapbook paper and shelf that Hubby T and Baby B gave me. Now I have a new place to put wonderful pictures of them and to store Baby B's food! And my first birthday card addressed to "Mommy":)



Ooohhh yes, I am really excited about this gift. My sister is taking me to see the new Twilight movie when it comes out in a couple weeks, so she gave me cash to buy the ticket, candy to take to the movie, and a Twilight card. My sister is awesome:) (And in case you're wondering, yes, this card is sitting on our mantle with all the other birthday cards I received. Hubby T - deal with it.)



And my daddy sent me these. He always gives me flowers on my birthday. I'm a lucky girl:)

(Note: If I didn't mention your gift above, please don't think I'm not very grateful because I am! These are just some of the highlights.)

And of course, we can't forget the daily joy that I derive from Baby B and Baby D, which I got to share with my mom, who spent the day with us!



We played with blocks and puzzles at the library after storytime...



Then Baby B and Grandma had some fun tickling Baby D while I got lunch ready! Look at that precious smile:)

Then finally, what I was looking forward to allll day - birthday cake!!



I made myself a delicious grasshopper pie. I haven't had it for a few years and I was surprised at how strong the creme de menthe and creme de cocoa flavors were. Hubby T not so subtly implied that my parents liquored us up by giving this to us as kids. But whatever, there's an Oreo cookie crumb crust and it's delicious. And with only two of us eating, it's going to last awhile. Yum:)

Yay for birthdays and for family and friends who make me excited about the year to come. Thank you for those of you who are reading who make my life so rich. I am very, very blessed.

Pudding boy

Baby B woke up from his nap a little after four this afternoon, fussy. I don't know what he had to be fussy about, he'd just slept for 2 hours! Apparently Baby B wasn't aware that I needed to get started on dinner early and didn't want to handle cooking with a fussy baby at my feet. So I pulled out my secret weapon that I'd been saving for a rainy day - pudding.

Gerber's Vanilla Custard Pudding with Bananas to be specific. Sounds gross to me, especially because I don't like pudding. But I came home from a baby shower with it a couple weeks ago and didn't want to throw it away because that's wasteful. So I figured that some day I would strip Baby B down, pour the pudding on the high chair tray, and let him go to town. And go to town he did...



Looks disgusting, right? Food should never be that blobby. But it didn't seem to bother Baby B! He actually played/ate it rather calmly. He squished his fingers around, covered his hands in the pudding, and then stuffed as much of his fist in his mouth as he could. When the blob disappeared, he sat patiently until I gave him more (something else that doesn't happen very often!)



Life with pudding, apparently, is very pleasing to Baby B. Don't get used to it though kid, I'm not buying you any more. Nowhere on the nine month old nutritional chart does it list pudding as something you need to consume. I feel like I fed him dessert for dinner!

Unfortunately, I was still in the middle of making dinner when Hubby T got home, which meant he had to try and clean up this.



Notice the pudding running all down his chest, onto his diaper, and covering the high chair straps. Lovely. And then, almost to add insult to injury, while Hubby T tried to change him into a fresh diaper, Baby B peed all over my kitchen floor. When it rains it pours right?! Sorry again honey, I owe you one!! At least Baby B was happy again:)

Joys of the week

There have been lots of little mmmm joys to savor this week...

- Making Sweet Roasted Butternut Squash and Greens over Bow-tie Pasta and then enjoying the leftovers all week, delicious!!

- Going to school for a flu shot with the boys and then going to visit Baby D's mommy in her classroom. Who wouldn't love to see these handsome devils in the middle of the work day?



(These boys are so silly:)

- Seeing the first yellow leaves of the year fall to the ground in my backyard. And sleeping with my window open to wake up to crisp fall air.

- Enjoying a couple days with my aunt, who met Baby B for the first time. I love showing him off to family, and catching up with family we don't see often!

- Taking a two hour hike through the woods yesterday afternoon. Baby B sat contentedly in his stroller the whole time. What a trooper!

- My dad was in Hawaii for business this week and brought back two Hawaiian shirts for Baby B. I can't wait for him to wear them next summer:)

- Hubby T and I have been concerned about some changes going on in our church recently. We had a big discussion about it last night and then the sermon this morning indirectly addressed many of them. It was a cool, way-to-go God morning.

- Throwing a bag of cheese puffs in the shopping cart and proclaiming "birthday week!" to Hubby T. Yes, I may be turning a year closer to 30 this week, but I am not too old for cheese puffs:)

- The Eagles seem to be playing better today (I say seem to because the game isn't over yet.) But nothing beats having Baby B gives us high fives when they score. What a cutie!!



Here's to another joy-filled week!!

Forbidden fruit

All of us have times when we are attracted to things that are not good for us or that we shouldn't have...a third cookie after dinner, five (or ten or fifteen) more minutes of sleep after the alarm goes off, watching Keeping Up with the Kardashians during nap time (what?! I would never do that...) As a parent, it is my job to teach Baby B how to resist temptation. The difficult part is that he doesn't know what's not good for him yet. For example...



Look at how excited he is to find the bathroom door open! Now look at all the problematic things (from Mommy's point of view) that he finds in the bathroom...



Within arm's reach is the toilet (yuck), the toilet brush (double yuck), and the roll of toilet paper (disaster in the making once he figures out he could unroll the whole thing if I let him, which I don't!).

Or take the dishwasher. It doesn't matter where he is in the kitchen, when he hears the door open - Bam! He is over there faster than I can pull the bottom rack out to load dishes.



In case you were wondering, yes, he is in the process of climbing on top of the door here. Other times he has pulled knives out of the utensil rack, banged my plates together, and stood up holding onto the top rack. I think the problems with all these are obvious.

And then there is Mommy's closet...I turn my head from the bathroom on almost daily basis to see this -



And if I leave him in there unattended for more than, say, three seconds, I walk in to find this -



He may not know where the bottom of my shoes have been but I do and I do not want that nastiness in his mouth or on his hands. Sorry kid, you'll just have to trust me on that one. Believe me when I say that some temptations are worth resisting.

Toys

I have been thinking about toys a lot lately. Baby B reached a point late this summer where all the sudden he needed something more stimulating to play with than what we had, probably because all we had were things to go in his mouth. Let it be noted that he still loves putting things in his mouth; we haven't outgrown this stage, we're just expanding on it.

But what in the world should we get him next? This early childhood development thing kicked in quick and I was not (am not) prepared. I literally googled "toys that make babies smart" because I don't want to have just stuff lying around, I want it all to be beneficial to him. Armed with some gift money from the great-grandparents, Hubby T and I made a trip to Babies 'r Us a few weeks ago where we were somewhat dismayed to find that about 90% of the toys on the shelf required batteries. Really?! First of all, I don't want to have a house full of electronic-sounding toys going off all day, I think I'd go crazy. Second, Einstein grew up with toys without batteries and look how well he turned out. It just doesn't seem necessary. Needless to say we're still trying to figure out what toys we want to have in the house that will have the most brain-development benefit for Baby B. And now the "pressure" is increasing since I know our loving and generous family members will be asking for his Christmas list soon...if you have any ideas for us, please respond to this post and let me know what worked for your kids!

We are going slow but I think we've done okay so far. We bought a set of rounded cup-blocks that stack but also snap together to become balls. Knocking down this tower is one of Baby B and Baby D's favorite games.



I also invested in this try-angle from Discovery Toys. I like that each side has something different to do and that it can be folded into the triangle shape or unfolded to lay flat on the floor.



We also found this xylophone for $2.50 at Goodwill, what a deal! Baby B and Baby D love putting the mallet in their mouth but they're getting more skilled at banging to make "music" too.



And, of course, I can't discount all of the things we already had lying around the house that have become great points of interest for these boys, like a door stop...



Or a box of baby socks...



Or Mama P's cell phone...actually, make that any cell phone he sets eyes on...



At the end of the day though, after all this agonizing and researching, I'm pretty sure that the most important toy I can give Baby B is me, my love and attention and teaching and talking and reading...so I'm going to go work on that now:)

Phew

Today was a rough-ish day. It's never a good start when Baby B is so tired and fussy that he has to go down for his morning nap before Baby D even gets here. Since our normal nap times were messed up, that also meant I didn't get the normal hour that I normally get to myself during overlapping nap times, sad for Mama P. (I'm not seriously sad about this. It's my job to care for these boys, whenever they need it. Mornings when I get to drink my tea and read my blogs in peace are just a bonus:)

Once they were both awake we had a little while of fun playtime, but then things started getting worse and worse, resulting in a total meltdown from Baby B. He was screaming so loud and was completely inconsolable and I have no idea why. Gotta love those moments. Then Baby D decided to join the fun and started hollering at me too. (His mom told me this afternoon that they are at an age now where they can feel empathy, so maybe Baby D was just sad that his friend Baby B was sad. Aren't kids amazing?!) Fortunately I was able to stay pretty calm and we got through it. Lunch helped everybody. Once they both woke up from a second round of naps we were better, better enough that I got this wonderful picture.



Baby B and I finally got some joint nap time in at 4:30, which was really good because I really needed it. Fortunately we had leftovers for dinner and then went on an invigorating walk around the neighborhood with Hubby T to enjoy the fresh fall air, wahoo! Now it's almost bath time, aka Baby B's bedtime, and then I can sit down to enjoy what I have been looking forward to all day - homemade pumpkin praline ice cream. What a heavenly end to a not-so-heavenly day:)

Delicious dinner

Tonight we had a completely delicious dinner. The taste was elegant, good enough for company kind of elegant, but the recipe wasn't overly complicated to make or overly un-healthy. As far as anchovies go, they have a bad reputation, I know. But in my opinion, don't knock it until you try it. This is the second meal I have made in two weeks that had anchovies in it and Hubby T couldn't even tell. So, give it a try. You'll be super glad you did.

Red Snapper with Sweet Anchovy-Pine Nut Sauce and Caramelized Zucchini
from Rachael Ray's Express Lane Meals

6 Tbs Extra Virgin Olive Oil
4 8-ounce portions of red snapper
1/4 c. pine nuts
2 medium zucchini, sliced in thin half moons
1/2 c. fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped
2 large garlic cloves, chopped
1/2 tin flat anchovy fillets, drained
1 large pinch red pepper flakes
1/2 c. white wine
1 c. chicken stock
1/2 c. dried black currants
2 Tbs. heavy cream or half-and-half

Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat and coat with a tablespoon of olive oil.

With a sharp knife, score the skin side of the fish fillets in a 1-inch crosshatch. Season both sides of the snapper with salt and pepper. Cook the fillets skin side down for 4-5 minutes, until the skin is crisp. Turn the fillets and cook them on the reverse side for about 3 minutes, or until the fillets are firm and the flesh is opaque.

Preheat another skillet over medium-high heat (you will use this for both toasting the pine nuts and cooking the zucchini). Add the pine nuts and cook them until lightly toasted, about 2-3 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove the nuts from the skillet and reserve. Return the skillet to the stove over medium-high heat with 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Add the zucchini and season liberally with pepper and a little salt. Cook until the zucchini is lightly brown and tender, about 5 minutes. Once cooked, add half of the parsley and toss to distribute. Keep warm until ready to serve.

Once the fish is cooked, transfer the fish to a warm, shallow serving dish. Return the pan to the stove top and reduce the heat to medium. Add the remaining 3 tablespoons of olive oil, then add the garlic, anchovies, and red pepper flakes. Saute the mixture until the anchovies melt into the oil and dissolve completely and the garlic is tender, about 3 minutes. Add the wine and cook for 1 minute, then add the chicken stock, currants, and cream and continue to cook until the liquid is reduced by half, 2 minutes. Add the remaining parsley and the toasted pine nuts to the sauce. Arrange the zucchini on serving plates and top with the fish fillets. Pour the sauce over the fish and serve.

Mama P's cooking notes: I used salmon because that's the best option my grocery store had to substitute for red snapper. I didn't use any parsley and don't think the end result suffered due to its absence. I also did not score the fish. Also, in the last step when you are making the sauce, if there is any oil left over from cooking the fish, give it a couple minutes to cool down; otherwise the garlic you add might burn (like mine, oops!)

Ode to Gus

You will have to forgive me for this post, which I realize is pretty silly. But a major milestone has been reached and I feel it must be recognized.

Gus has reached 100,000 miles.

The best parking space I ever got in college

Gus is my car, my first car, my beautiful little green Civic. He's actually William & Mary colored, although that's not why I chose him. I bought him during winter break of my sophomore year of college. In addition to plain and simple wanting a car, I also wanted to be able to help drive for the various extracurricular activities I was involved with, but that was just the beginning. Gus drove us to Wilmington, DE during spring break junior year for a week of mission work. He drove us to Florida for spring break senior year. He drove me to my first job interview and my first apartment. He made countless drives between Falls Church and Williamsburg during the six months of engagement so that Hubby T and I could plan our wedding. Then he was my constant companion when we moved for Hubby T to go to grad school and I had to drive 30 miles each way to my job everyday. Gus' status as my fifth limb was secured the next year when we moved to be closer to Hubby T's job and I had to drive 60 miles each way to my job everyday. We logged a lot of miles together old friend.

Now Hubby T drives Gus everyday, because the CR-V we bought is safer for Baby B. Every time I get in Gus though, to go out for a girl's night or baby-free grocery shopping trip, I feel nostalgically at home. A piece of my heart will always belong to Gus and I can't wait to see what life will bring us in his next 100,000 miles:)