Corey + Danica

2012-01-10T23:40:00.000-08:00

Ok this will be a quick catchup blog, its probably more for myself and my own 'record-keeping-of-events' than entertainment value, but so be it. =) At least this disclaimer will explain the dry and less-detailed commentary. Also, I am eating ice cream, flavored 'peaches and sweet cream', so I am slightly distracted, I have to take another bite between every sentence and forget where I was. Yum.So back in the December, Kevin, Shauna and Emma stayed with us for the week after we all got back from Hawaii. It was cute to see the kids interact, Corey still tried to antagonize Kevin, but Kevin kept his cool and tried to ignore it for the most part. Oh and Tabor and Emma did fine as well. Tabor copied Emma, or tried to be close. So when Emma had a teething ring and was laying on the pillow, Tabor found a ring and layed next to her.

Gordon had to work over Christmas weekend, so Lisa came over to Portland for the weekend. We spent some time with good friends on Christmas Eve (Tabor got some noisemakers and an air horn in his stocking from Mark McD, thanks). Sunday was cooking experiment day - I pre-choose 5 or 6 recipes and got all the ingredients Saturday afternoon. Then Sunday after meeting Lisa and I cooked until 3 when everything was finally ready to eat. Nothing was mind-blowing spectacular, but it was fun to try a bunch of new recipes and have help in the kitchen. Craig and Laura joined us so we put them to work. Corey babysat. I should do proper recipe reviews but I don't feel like it, so I'll just tell you what I made and post the link to the recipe for each. Everything was from Smitten Kitchen.

Pumpkin and Marshmallow Biscuits were great, I'll definitely make them again, super easy. But I will use actual mini marshmallows next time, and more of them. I had to cut up large marshmallow, and I think they need the powder on the outside to not just dissolve into a layer of caramel (which was also good, don't get me wrong). We had these Xmas eve.

Woops this one is not from smittenkitchen, and the photo looks disgusting, but they were great! Brussels Sprouts Gratin was a lighter dish than I was looking for, but super easy to make and very tasty. Will definitely make these again, and probably even as a side dish for mid-week dinner. Not fancy, but totally delicious. Also Xmas eve. Everything else was on Xmas day.

Stuffed Mushrooms We omitted the sundried tomatoes, and added 6oz of cream cheese. Awesome, will make these again for sure. Also got to use the new chopping knife from Shauna (who is selling pampered chef), and so it was fun to get to chop chop chop everything for the mushroom caps. Possibly over-chopped, but they were fantastic.

Parsnip Latkes... could take em or leave em. Really too much work for just a boring old vegetable. HOWEVER, Tabor ate the leftovers, cold, for the next four days - weird kid - so for that reason alone I would consider making them again. But probably cutting a few corners.

Ceasar Salad Deviled Eggs were awesome, even if only for the flaky crouton-type yumminess that was sprinkled on top. Laura made the topping but I am assuming it was easy because it only took her like five minutes. We cut some corners on this recipe and didn't make the dressing/sauce either. So basically we made deviled eggs, put them on romaine lettuce, topped them with the awesome crumbly topping, and served it with bottled ceasar dressing. YUMYUMYUMYUM! I also had some tomato wedges to make it a proper salad, but forgot them. oh well. still good.

Meatball Sub with Carmelized Onions was okay, I liked the idea, but will just make without a recipe next time. The meatballs needed more flavor, and I skimped on the bread and got cheap hoagies. A good seedy baguette would definitely make them better. I will also probably use a better marinara sauce next time and less of it (probably home-made, Corey does a good job in this dept), and definitely more cheese. This was our main course and it was fine, just not amazing like I hoped.

Nutmeg Maple Butter Cookies sounded so boring and were anything but! Even as I was making the dough I thought they would just taste like a bland, slightly salty butter cookie, but they were so so so yummy. Lots of maple flavor, and really thin and crispy and actually surprisingly sweet. We ate these the rest of the week and never got sick of them. Hmm maybe I should make another batch tomorrow.... you should too. Also, I hear these freeze really well, and they kept great in tupperware.

We went to Bend for New Years. I had been frantically looking for snowboots all week and finally found a pair - we anticipated a whole bunch of snow and were excited for Tabor to experience it. Sadly this year is oddly dry - we dressed him up anyway and slid down the driveway on paper bags. =)

While in Bend, Tabor met another love of his life, Lily. He really wanted to sit on or next to her the entire evening, very cute! We did keep very busy in Bend, even double-booking New Years Eve with TWO social events. Only stayed up til 11pm though, it was Saturday after all...

Which brings us to last week, Tabor was sick with his first ear infections and horrible bronchial goobers, boogers etc. Not fun. He didn't eat for 5 days, but ultimately managed to fight it all off himself without too much misery. Yay! Go immune system!

Yesterday Corey and I took an Intro Glassblowing class that was lots of fun. See earlier blog post, but yeah it was always something I've wanted to do and Corey got me the lesson almost a year ago for last valentines day.... we didn't want anyone to have to babysit the Gerbil and kept putting it off - but now Brian and Mari are pro's with Tabor, in fact we think he might prefer them to his own parents - so it was time to get out and do something fun!

Which brings us to today. I (on a whim) bought seven little baby chicks. 3 Australorps, 2 Americanas and 2 Barred Rocks. Our adult birds are no-longer laying so it's time to move them out to a nice home in the country. We're hoping by getting these chicks early, that they will be outside by the time the new baby arrives, and laying by early summer! Tabor hasn't squished any yet - but keeps trying to feed them cheerios, cheese, croutons, or whatever he finds. Hopefully we can socialize the chicks and make them cuddly little pets for Tabor. I already have some little jackets I made for our first birds but they didn't like them - maybe these will be more agreeable... =) Perhaps they would even wear pants! I'm sure there will be many more bird posts to come.

Good Night!

oh, i guess i look pregnant

2012-01-10T16:07:00.001-08:00

oh, i guess i look pregnant, a photo by daynikuh on Flickr.

Corey and I took a glass-blowing class last night, from Portland Glassblowers. The owner, Corey Lawrence, was super laid back, and everything was done out of his garage. He got right in to, not a lot of jabbering and background, just got us spinning/blowing and firing in the first ten minutes. Super fun! Anyway, if you click the photo you can see the other photos of the fire and finished products.

26 weeks

2012-01-06T21:37:00.001-08:00

26 weeks, a photo by daynikuh on Flickr.

We were in Bend with Corey's family for the New Year - here is Tabor handily sitting on my 'shelf' at 26 weeks.

Early mornings.

2011-12-20T15:29:00.001-08:00

Early mornings., a photo by daynikuh on Flickr.

Every morning was an early morning for the tiny humans. Usually grammasan was up with Emma or Tabor by 5am or 6, so she probably needs a vacation now to recover.

Tabor the hula girl

2011-12-20T15:28:00.001-08:00

Tabor the hula girl, a photo by daynikuh on Flickr.

I finally posted 170+ photos from our Hawaii trip! Thanks for letting me borrow your sd card Kevin!

2011-12-19T22:22:00.000-08:00

Gerbil Face

Remember when I posted that Tabor ruined family photos in Hawaii by being 'gerbily' for the one hour he was supposed to be happy? Turns out that he wants to play in the water, not stand by it, and it is torture to smile for the camera with your happy family when you could be playing in the sand! Also in hindsight we realized he was really hot, dehydrated, hungry and over-tired. Woops. Here are some screen grabs I pulled of his best looks. Luckily he didn't ruin every photo and I think there are a few good ones of the group, and tons of great photos of the rest of the family too! Emma was a doll!

2011-12-15T11:58:00.000-08:00

18 Months

Well little tiny gerbil human is now 18 months old! We wish he was 18 months big, but alas he is about 12 months big - at 21.5 pounds. Eating is our biggest challenge, it goes in fits and spurts. He will refuse everything for a day or two, then eat a truckload of food on the third day. His favorite foods are eggs (breakfast and bedtime), avocado (lunch and dinner), cheese (snack) and hot dogs (organic all beef). Keeps us on our toes, but everything else is a breeze with this kid. He is down to one nap a day, and it is usually 3 hours or more every afternoon, which gives mommy time to clean up the house, cook dinner, bake something and maybe even take a nap myself!

Tabor has lots of words now, here is a partial list off the top of my head. More, bottle, mommy, daddy, numnum, outside, upstairs, downstairs, car, truck, tractor, chicken, kittykitty, up, down, juice, thank you, byebye, "i love you", owie, hawaii, pool, swim, emma, no, avocado, apple, that, and chocolate. He's also good with animal noises, which he uses to identify them instead of using their names.... dog, kitty, elephant, owl, monkey, cow, horse, goat, sheep, frog, bird, chicken, snake. And vehicles, identified also by their noises.... truck, firetruck, train, motorcycle, car. Last week he learned to actually point, so now when we read books instead of pointing and reading it while he stares - he either points and I name the objects, or I ask him where an object is and he points to it.

T also now has a molar (for a total of eight teeth). 4 center top teeth, and a top molar, and 3 bottom center teeth. He likes to run, march and dance. He also likes to go outside and try to free the chickens by opening the gate and throwing scratch to them. He is also more independent in play - he'll hang out downstairs in the family room for up to ten or fifteen minutes by himself with his toy bin. He loves matchbox cars and has been inheriting them from older boys in the area.

He is also still very 'kissy'. He doesn't kiss Corey and I as much, but kisses his stuffed animals all the time. If we give him a bite of food that is an animal product, (like a piece of ham), and tell him its a pig, he'll kiss it before eating it. He even made "buck buck buck" noises at his plate of bbq'd chicken before eating it last week. Hope we're not scarring his little brain.

Corey's brothers family has been with us this week and they have a six month old. Tabor has been very gentle with her, giving lots of hugs and kisses and bringing her his toys to share. He doesn't seem to mind her crying, other than sometimes looking worried for her, and hasn't shown much jealousy when we hold her - these are all good things as there will be one crying baby joining the family in March! Tabor seems to have inherited his dads 'empathy' genes - he shows concern for other peoples pain or owies, and gets visibly worried with we laugh too hard or are startled and yell. It's sweet, like he's being a protector. Awe.

Well I guess that's all I can think of for this update, the next one should be more photos from our vacation! good night!

2011-12-14T22:05:00.000-08:00

Hawaii Vacation

We had a wonderful vacation in Hawaii with Corey's family, and I am excited to upload photos, but want to get copies of everyone elses so I only have to organize them all once. Our trip most certainly revolved around these two munchkins and their eating/sleeping schedules, but couldn't have gone better. Thanks Grandpasan and Grammasan for the great family memories!

Tabor and Shiloh

2011-11-21T08:04:00.001-08:00

IMG_8380, a photo by daynikuh on Flickr.

Tabor likes babies and is quite gentle with them. He tries to bring blankets and little stuffed animals to Shiloh and gets confused when she won't hold them - but he was excited to get to sit next to her! He was going to hold her but balked as soon as he saw how big she was. So I guess he won't be holding his cousin Emma anytime soon (who is 6 months and the same weight.) =)

2011-11-14T14:27:00.000-08:00

Whole Roasted Chicken

Photo and Recipe both from The Pioneer Women

So I had an entire chicken in the fridge, intended for Coq au Vin, or some fancy-type recipe. I kept putting off making it because A. I don't like cutting up or looking at entire plucked raw chickens and B. It took 3-4 hours to prepare. So, instead of wasting the chicken, I found this simple recipe for roasting it whole. I do like buying the whole roasted chickens at New Seasons or Fred Meyer, but this was actually better, and bigger!

On another note, I left the oven rack too high in the oven, and by the time it was preheated to 450 I didn't want to move it down - so the bird was almost touching the broiler plate on the oven roof. When the oil really got cracklin' it splattered up, making smoke and setting off the smoke alarm. Tabor was sleeping, the alarm was right outside his door, and IT WENT OFF THREE DIFFERENT TIMES!!! I was sooooo irritated by the third time I just flung all the door open and let the house freeze down to 60 and rain in the doors. Anyway, Tabor never woke up, and the chicken was really good (for only 5 minutes of effort and minimal ingredient). It didn't taste 'chickeny' so I consider that a success.

On a third note, I took the chicken, and Tabor, to Mari's house - where she babysat both so I could go to prenatal swim class. I don't actually do the exercises too much, but for $3 I can bounce around in 88 degree water for an hour and talk to 30 other pregnant ladies about kegels - so well worth it. After the 'spa' I returned to Mari's where we dined on chicken, roasted sweet potatoes, mushrooms, and had a lovely evening out of the house. THANKS AUNTIE MARI!

Ingredients:
1 whole chicken
2 Tablespoon oil
1-2 Tablespoon herbs (I USED DRY ROSEMARY, THYME, BASIL + OREGONO, RECIPE ASKED FOR FRESH, BUT IT WAS JUST FINE WITH DRIED HERBS)
1 Tablespoot Sea or Kosher Salt
1 teaspoon pepper

Optional for Inside Bird:
1 old lemon
4 cloves garlic
1/2 leftover onion
* I JUST LOOSELY CHOPPED UP THE ABOVE AND SHOVED IT INSIDE THE DEAD BIRD. =) I think it was a nice 'touch'. =)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Move oven rack to lowest level.
1. Rinse the chicken and pat it dry (THIS IS IMPORTANT, THE BIRD HAS TO BE DRY SO THE OIL CAN ABSORB (like a poultry lotion), set on baking sheet.
2. Stuff the inside of the bird with lemon, garlic, onion
3. Mix herbs, salt and peppers and oil in a small bowl.
4. Rub the oil/herb mixture all over exterior of chicken
5. Roast chicken in oven for 60-70 minutes.
6. IMPORTANT: Let chicken 'sit' for 10-15 minutes after roasting to redistribute the juices. If you dig in right away, the juice runs out, making the meat dry.

NOTE: Use exhaust fan. Can roast 6 chickens at once (3 per sheet, two shelves).

2011-11-11T22:21:00.001-08:00

19, a photo by daynikuh on Flickr.

Note with amusement the bare feet, clothe on the floor, dirty kitchen, and corner of the vacuum. This is how it is for #2. =)

Hey, at least I'm not in pajama's.

2011-11-11T21:39:00.000-08:00

Starbucks Cranberry Bliss Bars

When I was in college and worked at starbucks, this was the one treat in the pastry case I never got sick of. I would 'break' them whenever possible, and bring home whole boxes of bliss bars that were expired if I 'lost' them in the walk-in fridge. Oops. Probably why I gained over 30 pounds the first year I worked there. Not kidding. Funny story, at the same time as Starbucks, I was also working at Gap, and had a 50% discount on 6 full price items per month, plus 30% off everything else. So in September I stocked up on expensive (expensive for a college student, and also for this stay-at-home-mom) jeans and dresses size 2. Also please note that I was not normally a size 2, but got really sick for 3 weeks at the start of the school year, hence of the extreme swings. Anyway, by October I'd grown out of all my new stuff from Sept, so I of course bought everything new again a size bigger, then in November size 4, etc, right on up to 10/12 or whatever it was by a year and a half later. So I would have to say, if you work at Starbucks (and don't have self control), do NOT concurrently work at a clothing store. OR, if you work at a clothing store, don't work at a coffee/pastry shop. The minimum wage from two conflicting jobs cancel each other out. Seems wise eh?

Anyway, I was craving one of these bars (and I do mean CRAVING), but they were $2.95 per slice back in 2001, so probably like $7 per slice now, so I was super excited to discover that it is actually possible to make an exact replica (usually these just-like-the-restaurant recipes don't work). I think what makes them special are the little tweaks like crystallized ginger, and lemon in the icing. Anyway, they are pretty rich and look festive, so make them for a potluck, or plan to freeze half for individual splurgy treats. Also, a quick disclaimer: I have pregnancy cravings, so sometimes I get overly excited about a recipe, just keep that in mind. But these are really really good!

Cranberry Bliss Bars
Adapted from Top Secret Recipes

INGREDIENTS
CAKE
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) butter, softened
1 1/4 cups packed light brown sugar
3 eggs
2 tablespoons minced crystallized ginger (BE SURE TO CHOP IT SUPER-FINE)
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 cup chopped sweetened dried cranberries (CRAISINS, OR TRADER JOES)
4 ounces white chocolate chips, (I USED TRADER JOES)

FROSTING
4-ounces cream cheese, softened
3 cups powdered sugar
3 teaspoons lemon juice (SOME SUGGEST USING ORANGE JUICE CONCENTRATE, BUT I THINK LEMON TASTED GREAT)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup chopped sweetened dried cranberries

FOR DRIZZLE
1/2 cup melted white chocolate chips
3 teaspoons milk

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

2. Make cake by beating the butter and brown sugar together with an electric mixer until smooth. Add the eggs, ginger, vanilla, and salt and beat well. Gradually mix in the flour and baking powder until smooth. Mix the chopped dried cranberries and white chocolate chunks into the batter by hand. Pour the batter into a buttered 9 x 13-inch baking pan. Use a spatula to spread the batter evenly across the pan. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until the cake is lightly browned on top. Allow the cake to cool.

3. Make the frosting by combining the softened cream cheese, powdered sugar, lemon juice, and vanilla in a medium bowl with an electric mixer until smooth. When the cake has cooled, use a spatula to spread the frosting over the top of the cake. (I DIDN"T USE ALL THE FROSTING, IT OVERPOWERS THE DELICIOUSNESS OF THE BASE CAKE, MAYBE USE 2/3's OF THE FROSTING?? UNLESS YOU REALLY LIKE IT SWEET. =) (mom)

4. Sprinkle 1/4 cup of chopped dried cranberries over the frosting on the cake.

5. Make the drizzle by combining white chips and milk in a bowl and microwaving for 30 seconds. Stir until runny, and drizzle with the spoon over the top of the icing.

6. Cover the cake and let it chill out in the fridge for a couple hours, then cut into 8 big pieces (2 across, 4 down), and slice each of those on the diagonal, for a total of 16 triangle bars (just like starbucks cuts them). =)

These also happen to freeze really well, and are still soft and edible straight out of the freezer. YUM! Just put a layer of wax or parchment between them if you stack.

2011-11-07T11:20:00.000-08:00

Hi Portlanders, I'm making this right now... Just saying... in case anyone wants to come over and hang out and help me eat it. From the Smitten Kitchen of course. Also, I just got back from my 19 week OB appt, and after steadily dropping weight for the first part of the pregnancy, I have gained a whopping 8 pounds since my last appt (4 weeks ago, which incidentally is also when I started trying to cook again). Watch out!

UPDATE: I AM EATING THE PEAR+CRANBERRY GINGERSNAP CRUMBLE WARM OUTTA DA OVEN RIGHT NOW, IT IS AWESOME! The lemon zest in the sweet pears (and I am not a fan of pears), combined with tart cranberries, combined with the gingersnap crumble is super unique in a sneaky-amazing way! It is unlike anything I've ever tasted before and I have tasted MANY a dessert. It's my new favorite. Make it right now. (I used Bosc Pears, the brown ones, as they don't have to be soft to be ripe - so you can usually use them the same day you buy them - for those of you that are impatient like me!) NOW, Go make it now!

Pear, Cranberry and Gingersnap Crumble
Adapted from Sweet Melissa Patisserie

Crumble
1 cup (125 grams) all-purpose flour
1/4 cup (50 grams) granulated sugar
3 tablespoons (37 grams) packed dark or light brown sugar
1 cup gingersnap crumbs (4 ounces or 113 grams or about 16 storebought cookies)
1/8 teaspoon ground ginger
1/8 teaspoon table salt
Pinch of white pepper, especially if your gingersnaps aren’t particularly snappish
1/2 cup (4 ounces or 113 grams or 1 stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled

Filling
2 pounds (about 4 to 5) large ripe pears (I used Anjou, suggested in the original recipe) peeled, halved, cored and sliced 1/4 inch thick
1 1/2 cups (6 ounces or 170 grams) fresh cranberries
1 tablespoon (15 ml) lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup (100 grams) granulated sugar
2 tablespoons (14 grams) cornstarch

Preheat the oven to 350°F.

Stir together the flour, granulated sugar, brown sugar, gingersnap crumbs, ginger and salt. Stir in the melted butter until large crumbs form.

In a 1 1/2 to 2 quart baking dish, mix the pears, cranberries, lemon juice, lemon zest and vanilla. In a small bowl, whisk the sugar and cornstarch together then toss it with the fruit mixture in the pan. Sure, you could do this in a bowl but then you’d also have to wash that bowl and hooray for fewer dishes.

Sprinkle the gingersnap crumble over the fruit. Set the crumble on a foil-lined baking sheet (in a 2 quart dish, mine didn’t come close to bubbling over but I see no reason to risk it) and bake it for about 45 minutes, until the crumble is a shade darker and you see juices bubbling through the crumbs. See how long you can wait before digging in.

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But first I made this, also from Smitten Kitchen. It was delicious, the tomatoes were sweet! I would recommend stirring the parmesan cheese in slightly, mine got pretty crusty on top. Another option would be to cover it with foil until the end of the baking. I halved the recipe (just to use up some cherry tomatoes that were going to spoil), and it was one of the easist things I have made lately. Served it on the remaining french bread turned garlic toast. Would also be good on noodles. Corey ate his serving(s) on leftover roasted squash and sweet potato. Yum, I will make this again.

Scalloped Tomatoes with Croutons
Adapted, only slightly, from Ina Garten

Although it will feel blasphemous to add heat to that which is perfect just as it arrived, summer tomatoes, this doesn’t cook them to death, more like wilts them slightly. They’re still juicy (juicier, actually because the heat released all of their awesomeness) and rather than losing that sweet puddle, the bread cubes sop it up and you don’t miss a thing. The sugar seems odd, I know, but I trust The Ina, I trusted that she’s never led me astray and sure enough, it works in here. It just rounds out the whole dish. It just… I’m sorry, I can’t talk. I have to go get thirds.

3 tablespoons olive oil (reduced from original)
2 cups bread from a French boule, in a 1/2-inch dice, crusts removed (I went closer to 3 cups, after buying a loaf of very puffy Italian bread by accident)
2 1/2 pounds plum whatever good tomatoes you’ve got, cut into 1/2-inch dice
3 cloves garlic, minced (about 1 tablespoon)
2 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons Kosher salt (read this)
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup thinly slivered basil leaves, lightly packed
1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Heat olive oil in a large sauté pan over medium-high. Add the bread cubes and stir so that they are evenly coated with oil. Cook cubes, tossing frequently, until toasty on all sides, about 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, combine tomatoes, garlic, sugar, salt and pepper in a large bowl. When the bread cubes are toasted, add the tomato mixture and cook them together, stirring frequently, for 5 minutes. Remove from heat, and stir in the basil. Pour into a shallow (6 to 8 cup) baking dish and top with Parmesan cheese. Bake 35 to 40 minutes until the top is browned and the tomatoes are bubbly. Serve hot or warm with a big green salad, a bean salad and/or a poached egg.

2011-11-06T22:43:00.000-08:00

I'm having a Cookie Swap and a Soup Swap, Saturday Nov 19th, 10am-noon. Let me know if you can come, I don't have everyone's email addresses!

2011-11-05T21:50:00.000-07:00

Yesterday didn't start out too well, at 3am I discovered that it is not cool to put rapid rise yeast in a bread machine on 'regular' settings... it basically rose out of the bread machine, was mashed up against the lid and couldn't really bake. It yielded a huge huge fluffy and sticky loaf of cinnamon raisin bead. Then, I was supposed to meet a friend and her sweet little girl for a coffee/play date at Cafe au Play, but my car battery was dead. Which was fine because by then I was really hungry AND having ridiculously bad session of pains. So I ran a hot bath for myself and set Tabor at his table in the living room with some chalk, and books, and his (Corey's) Glen Plake bobblehead doll. 3 minutes into my bath I smelled smoke, pretty bad smoke - and might not have been as worried, but Tabor was also yelling a bit (probably because I wasn't within view). I ran around nekkid for like ten seconds and couldn't find a fire, but there was haze in the living room so I threw on some clothes, grabbed our coats and phone, and ran outside to call 9-1-1. I told the operator I couldn't figure out where the smoke was coming from, and while it wasn't very bad, it was worrisome, etc etc.

So, they sent two fire trucks and 8 firepeople. By the way, Tabor is on a firetruck kick so he loved it, they blocked the street and used their sirens (this was a bright side to being so scared). I told them about the fireplace (not being used), and electrical outlet by Tabor's table (without protective covers), the heat vent (under Tabors table) etc and they ran in. So long story short, they were asking me about my 'very impressive loaf of bread' on the counter and also asking why it was so brown, and if I had burnt my bread. I said no, it had finished baking at 3am and I had unplugged the machine so that wasn't it. Then a nice fireman asked again about my burnt bread and held up a slice of super burnt toast that he had pulled out of the toaster still hot. SHOOT. I stared at it and really didn't even remember putting it in there but must have done it when I was hungry while running the hot bath. SO, they asked if I still wanted to eat it - laughed a bit, talked to Tabor, and went back to their station. I haven't felt that humiliated in a long time, but now it's quite funny. In fact Corey burnt a slice of that same bread today, and while we briefly discussed calling 9-1-1 again, we moved past that, unplugged the toaster and removed it ourselves. Whew, close call.

On another note, along with pregnancy forgetfulness, come delightful pregnancy cravings. My current must-have is a Reuben Sandwich. AAAAAAHHHHHHHHH

2011-11-05T21:40:00.000-07:00

Nola's Pizza Crust for the Grill

Yes, I am aware that grilling season is ended, but print this and save it for March, (or July if you are in the midwest). The crust is super thin and crispy like a flatbread, we make it frequently (very) in the summer, and even have a couple in the freezer in case we get a freak-warm day in November. Nola came to visit in July and got us hooked on these babies.

4 -10" Diameter Thin Crusts

8 Servings

3/4 C Warm Water
1 Pkg Yeast*
1/2 t Sugar
Let stand until foamy, about 10 minutes

Stir in
1 C Whole Wheat Flour
1 C All-Purpose Flour
1 1/2 t Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 t Kosher Salt

Knead dough on lightly floured surface until smooth, about 2 minutes.
Put in oiled bowl, cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rise until double (about 1 hour)
Form dough into 4 balls
Roll out dough on very lightly floured surface until 1/8" thick (10" diameter)
Transfer to baking sheet lined with plastic wrap and cover tightly with another sheet of plastic. Repeat with remaining dough.
Freeze dough until firm (about 10 minutes) or until ready to use

*use pizza crust yeast and you can roll out dough right after kneading, no need to wait for it to rise!

Preheat Grill to medium high heat. Brush one side of crust with oil. Put crust oil-side down on the grill and heat until golden (about 2 minutes)
Flip the crust and put your sauce and toppings on. Grill until bottoms are golden (about 2 minutes)

2011-11-05T21:36:00.000-07:00

Nola's Cauliflower Pizza Crust

When Nola first told me about this crust, I have to admit I was not super excited to try it because it sounds weird. (Sorry Nola, it does!). I probably wouldn't have made it on my own either, until I tried it when we were invited over to Giblers for a pizza dinner orchestrated for the 'non-believers' for this very purpose. It was delicious. Imagine the protein content!! And so easy!

This amount makes an average size cookie sheet.

3 cups lightly steamed grated cauliflower
3 eggs
3 cups mozzarella cheese
shake or two garlic powder
1 T Italian seasoning
**pizza or alfredo sauce
toppings (make sure meats are cooked)
mozzarella cheese

Line a cookie sheet with parchment . or use a silpat....
In a medium bowl, combine cauliflower, egg, mozzarella garlic powder and italian seasoning. Press evenly on the pan.
Bake at 450 degrees for about 15-20 minutes .
For a crispier crust, Flip and bake 5 minutes more... it will be
slightly browned.... ( flip it using an extra pan and another sheet of parchment)
Remove the pan from the oven. To the crust, add sauce, then toppings and cheese.
Bake pizza again to melt toppings and get it all toasty.

2011-11-05T21:15:00.000-07:00

Chocolate Chip Cookies that Taste Like The Dough!

Really, the title says it all... I have LITERALLY researched how to make chocolate chip cookies right down to the temperature butter changes form at, how eggs react with other ingredients, blah blah blah, and still my cookies are cakey, puffy and brown. I finally, FINALLY found this recipe on SmittenKitchen, and have mastered the chocolate chip cookie that tastes like the dough. YUM.

Crispy, Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies
FROM SMITTENKITCHEN.COM
Adapted from AllRecipes.com

These cookies have a lower chip-to-dough ratio than our earlier favorites and a thicker, softer thing going on than the consummate cookies, to help you differentiate them. But when I’m looking for a classic cookie, kind of like the old school Toll House recipe but better, even, this is what I go for.

As always with cookies, you can scoop, flash freeze and then freeze the cookies until you’re ready to bake them, or to bake a few off at a time. You can bake them straight from the freezer, adding a few minutes to your baking time, of course, or let them thaw out on a tray for a while.

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 egg
1 egg yolk
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

1. Preheat the oven to 325°F (165°C). Grease cookie sheets or line with parchment paper.

2. Sift together the flour, baking soda and salt; set aside. In a medium bowl, cream together the melted butter, brown sugar and white sugar until well blended.

3. Beat in the vanilla, egg, and egg yolk until light and creamy. Mix in the sifted ingredients until just blended.

4. Stir in the chocolate chips by hand using a wooden spoon. Drop cookie dough 1/4 cup at a time (for giant cookies) or a tablespoon at a time (for smaller cookies) onto the prepared cookie sheets. Cookies should be about 3 inches apart.

5. Bake larger cookies for 15 to 17 minutes, or 10 to 12 minutes for smaller ones (check your cookies before they’re done; depending on your scoop size, your baking time will vary) in the preheated oven, or until the edges are lightly toasted. Cool on baking sheets for a few minutes before transferring to wire racks to cool completely.

2011-11-05T20:52:00.000-07:00

Before being flipped out of the pan and dusted with powdered sugar....

Flourless Chocolate Cake (The New Brownie)

You know how when you eat a brownie, it's really great, but then you think
"Hmmm, what if this perfectly lovely brownie had a richer chocolate flavor, and was slightly less sweet, and not as cakey, and more melty..."?

Flourless Chocolate Cake is all this and more, and it is conveniently prepared in a 8" round pan, so you don't have to suffer through the second half of a 9x13 pan feeling disgusted with yourself. I make brownies MAYBE once a year and make this recipe instead, at least once a month. It is great on it's own, or with fresh raspberries, or grilled peaches, or vanilla ice cream, or whipped cream and fresh peaches.... the list goes on. Last night I had it with apple slices. =) Also I might add it is super fast to make, has never ever flopped, and always gets tons of compliments and recipe requests.

Serving ideas from google search images, YUM:

I found this recipe on Epicurious (who found it in Gourmet magazine), and have added my changes in CAPS. ENJOY!!

yield: Makes one 8-inch cake
Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

Ingredients:

* 4 ounces fine-quality bittersweet chocolate (not unsweetened) (I USE DARK CHOCOLATE INSTEAD, TRADER JOES POUND PLUS BAR. TJ's HAS DELICIOUS CHOCOLATE.)
* 1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter
* 3/4 cup sugar (WHEN USING DARK CHOCOLATE, I USE SLIGHTLY LESS SUGAR, SOMEWHERE BETWEEN 1/2 to 3/4 CUP).
* 3 large eggs
* 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder plus additional for sprinkling

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 375°F and butter an 8-inch round baking pan. Line bottom with a round of wax paper and butter paper. (I DON'T BUTTER THE WAX PAPER, AND IT IS FINE.

Chop chocolate into small pieces. In a double boiler or metal bowl set over a saucepan of barely simmering water melt chocolate with butter, stirring, until smooth (DON'T BE PUT OFF BY THE DOUBLE BOILER, JUST SET A BOWL ON TOP OF A POT WITH SOME WATER IN IT. ALSO THIS IS REALLY QUITE FAST AND EASY, YOU DO NOT HAVE TO STAND OVER THE STOVE STIRRING FOREVER, ONLY TAKES A FEW MINUTES AND A COUPLE STIRS). Remove top of double boiler or bowl from heat and whisk sugar into chocolate mixture. Add eggs and whisk well. Sift 1/2 cup cocoa powder over chocolate mixture and whisk until just combined. Pour batter into pan and bake in middle of oven 25 minutes, or until top has formed a thin crust. Cool cake in pan on a rack 5 minutes and invert onto a serving plate. (25 MINS IS THE MAX TIME, THIS CAKE IS GOOD SLIGHTLY UNDERCOOKED.)

Dust cake with additional cocoa powder and serve with fruits, sauces, whipped cream, ice cream or just eat it straight. (Cake keeps, after being cooled completely, in an airtight container, 1 week.)

2011-11-01T23:32:00.000-07:00

Update on my new(ish) job

But first while I have your attention, some photos of Tabor in the bath tonight. =)

Sometime his face looks so grown up... especially when he has a beard... yeah that must be it. Still super cute though!!

Back to my new job as stay-at-home-mom: Since I don't keep a baby book, journal, diary, or anything else useful for recording our life at this stage - I will just blow it all out here on the interwebs for everyone to read. But mostly it is for us.

We are getting adjusted to me being home full time (for now). Our routine is as follows:

8am - Tabor wakes up an I make breakfast and feed him for an hour. He always has an egg.
9am - Corey wakes up (he is working nights) and plays with Tabor or an hour or two, usually outside. I get to shower (every third day, sorry, but I'm being honest).
10am - I go get groceries or the meals planned for the day. I should grocery shop once or twice a day, but I don't have that figured out yet - so its still almost every morning. Good thing there are like 10 grocery stores within a mile or two.
11am - I play with Tabor again and Corey does homework
noon - Try to feed Tabor lunch - try to help Corey pack lunch(s) for work.
1pm - Still trying to get Tabor to eat, Corey leaves.
2pm-5pm T - Tabor naps and I make dinner, and bake something. But first I read the interwebs for an hour or two, usually smittenkitchen.com for recipes. =) I could read recipes all day! I also try to nap, but usually don't have time.
5pm-8pm - Play, eat, play, eat, play, Bath, Bed.
8pm-midnight - Clean up the house, do laundry, clean the kitchen, eat, read more recipes.

Well now I thought would look more interesting all typed out but I guess it looks pretty average. We do have a lot of fun, and somewhere in there are play dates, letting the chickens out and chasing them, walking up and down the sidewalk, etc. Hmmmm... lame post. Whatever, it is life. It's 11:53 now so I better prepare for bed! (cause my schedule says so, see?)

2011-11-01T23:21:00.000-07:00

Tabor likes socks.

2011-10-30T21:50:00.000-07:00

Chicken and Mushroom Marsala (Crock Pot)

Photo Credit to Smitten Kitchen

After buying a prepared version of chicken/mushroom marsala and trader joes, I was craving it again but with more mushrooms and organic chicken. Whenever I want to try something new, the first step is to look up no less than ten recipes for it on the interwebs, to determine the range of ingredients and complication it can involve. In the end I settled on Smitten Kitchen's version, mainly because every recipe I've ever tried from her has been AMAZING. So, here it is on the menu again for tomorrow, in fact maybe we will have it every Monday for the rest of our lives. Sure beats (most) tacos.

It was relatively easy to prepare, my only complaint was the chicken was tough. This was my fault for over-browning the meat, and also for using frozen breasts instead of fresh. Tomorrow when I make this recipe again, I will fix the above errors, and also throw it all in the crock pot, because crock pots are magic. YUM, I can't wait!!

Chicken and Mushroom Marsala
Adapted barely from Gourmet, June 1995

Serves 6

3 whole boneless chicken breasts with skin (about 2 1/2 pounds),
halved
1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
3 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 onion, sliced thin
3/4 pound mushrooms, sliced thin
1/2 cup Marsala
1 cup chicken broth
2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley leaves

Pat chicken dry and season with salt and pepper. In a large heavy skillet heat oil and 1 1/2 tablespoons butter over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking and brown chicken in 2 batches, transferring with tongs to a large plate as browned.

Discard all but 1 tablespoon fat from skillet and sauté onion and mushrooms, stirring occasionally, until liquid mushrooms give off is evaporated. Add Marsala and cook mixture, stirring, until Marsala is almost evaporated.

THIS IS WHERE I WILL DEVIATE TO THE CROCK POT.

Add broth and chicken with any juices that have accumulated on plate and simmer, turning chicken once, until cooked through, about 15 minutes. Transfer chicken with tongs to a platter.

Simmer mushroom sauce until liquid is reduced to about 1/2 cup. Remove skillet from heat and stir in remaining 2 tablespoons butter and salt and pepper to taste, stirring until butter is just incorporated. Spoon mushroom sauce around chicken and sprinkle with parsley.

2011-10-30T21:33:00.000-07:00

Braised Short Ribs (Crock Pot)

Last spring we were having company over for Sunday lunch and I wanted it to be just perfect, because both couples we invited were foodies. I researched all about Ribs, and in the end I posted a plea on facebook for a rib recipe. Jacinda sent this link* the pioneerwomen website and it seemed to be complicated enough but not too crazy, so I was sure it would be tasty.

*You really should check out this link, there are probably close to 50 photos of the preparation and final product, along with some great 'pioneery' commentary.
http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2009/11/braised-short-ribs-heaven-on-a-plate/

English Cut Short Ribs are quite fatty (see photo at bottom of post), and until recently were a fairly unpopular cut of meat. In my research I found it takes a certain amount of time for the fat to soften, then liquify, and also a certain amount of time combined with temperature for the muscle fibers blah blah to soften and melt - all of this contributes to melt-in-your-mouth ribs, (as does the wine). The only way to guarantee this super scientific event takes place, is to cook them forever in a slow cooker. If you check in the ribs at some point (like say six hours) and they are tough, do not fear, they just need to keep cooking, the fibers will melt soon. =) Enjoy!

Ingredients

* 8 whole Beef Short Ribs
* Kosher Salt and Pepper To Taste
* ¼ cups All-purpose Flour
* 6 pieces Pancetta, Diced
* 2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
* 1 whole Medium Onion, Diced
* 3 whole Carrots, Diced
* 2 whole Shallots, Peeled And Finely Minced
* 2 cups Red Or White Wine
* 2 cups Beef Or Chicken Broth (enough To Almost Cover Ribs)
* 2 sprigs Thyme
* 2 sprigs Rosemary

Preparation Instructions

Salt and pepper ribs, then dredge in flour. Set aside.

In a large dutch oven, cook pancetta over medium heat until complete crispy and all fat is rendered. Remove pancetta and set aside. Do not discard grease.

Add olive oil to pan with the pancetta grease, and raise heat to high. Brown ribs on all sides, about 45 seconds per side. Remove ribs and set aside. Turn heat to medium.

Add onions, carrots, and shallots to pan and cook for 2 minutes. Pour in wine and scrape bottom of pan to release all the flavorful bits of glory. Bring to a boil and cook 2 minutes.

Add broth, 1 teaspoon kosher salt, and plenty of freshly ground black pepper. Taste and add more salt if needed. Add ribs to the liquid; they should be almost completely submerged. Add thyme and rosemary sprigs (whole) to the liquid.

(THIS IS WHERE I DEVIATED AND THREW IT ALL IN THE CROCK POT FOR 8-10 HOURS ON LOW. ALSO I SERVED WITH MASHED POTATOES AND GRAVY INSTEAD OF POLENTA.)

Put on the lid and place into the oven. Cook at 350 for 2 hours, then reduce heat to 325 and cook for an additional 30 to 45 minutes. Ribs should be fork-tender and falling off the bone. Remove pan from oven and allow to sit for at least 20 minutes, lid on, before serving. At the last minute, skim fat off the top of the liquid. (Can also refrigerate mixture, then remove solid fat from the top.)

Serve 2 ribs on bed of creamy polenta, spooning a little juice over the top.

2011-10-29T22:47:00.000-07:00

Thank you Andrew and Rhonda for the breakfast dinner feast tonight! Here's a shot of the boys getting a story. Tabor felt pretty pleased with himself, probably thought he was sooo big, like Trek and Soren. =)

We had quite a feast, including spiced pancakes with about 8 different toppings, eggs (layed not more than 40 feet from the kitchen door), two types of sausages, blackberry juice and caramel apple slices. I finished it all up with a terrific episode of pain that involved Derra actually trying to pick me up to carry me to the car (heehee sorry for the dramatics). Anyway, it was all very yummy, and good to be out of the house. With Corey at work all the time, Tabor and I will (by default) end up sitting on the couch all nighta annoying each other, so we are making an effort to get out!

17

2011-10-27T23:19:00.001-07:00

17, a photo by daynikuh on Flickr.

Look at that mess will ya! And Bethany had it all so nicely cleaned up just an hour ago. The 'ladies' went to Papa Haydens tonight for Rhonda's birthday, and dear sweet Bethany babysat Tabor so I could really enjoy my dinner and desserts. How lucky am I! So after dinner I realized I had ate so much that I looked 17 weeks prego, here's a photo of proof! Happy Birthday Rhonda!

2011-10-24T21:07:00.000-07:00

Swedish Meatballs and Smashed Potatoes

Was craving Ikea meatballs today, but these were better, and pretty quick to make. I have a good recipe from my mom, but couldn't wrap my head around using canned soups (with lots of things I can't pronounce, not to mention possibly msg), so I scoured the internets looking for a different recipe. In the end I sort of made my own. It involved wasting a carton organic cream of mushroom soup along the way, but the soup ingredient just wasn't working. These measurements are approximate, so feel free to adjust

Meatballs
1 lb ground beef (i used 20% fat)
15 saltine crackers, crushed (yes i was lazy, and i like the salt)
1/3 C. milk
1 egg beaten
1 medium onion chopped fine
2 T. butter
1/2 t. Trader Joes everyday seasoning (or season salt)
1/4 t. nutmeg
salt/pepper to taste

Brown butter and onion together in pan for about ten minutes. In a separate bowl soak the crushed saltines in milk and egg. Add cooked onion to saltine mixture, add spices, add ground beef, and mix all together. Form beef in to little cookie-sized meatballs.

Brown meat balls over medium heat in the pan you sauteed the onions in. Be careful when turning the meatballs, if they get stuck to the pan, they will start to fall apart (lesson learned). The meatballs will not be fully cooked, just browned, for about five minutes. Place meatballs in baking dish and set aside.

Gravy
1 quart box Beef Broth
1/2 C. flour
2-3 T. worchestershire sauce
1 C. sour cream

Mix some broth with the flour and shake it up to get out the lumps. Cook broth and flour/broth and worchester sauce in the meatball drippings, stirring now and then. When sauce thickens, stir in sour cream, and pour over meatballs.

Cover meatball baking dish with foil and bake at 350 for 30-40 minutes. I uncovered it for the last ten minutes.

Serve over mashed potatoes. Yum. Easy. Just wing it, it will be fine.

2011-10-24T21:00:00.000-07:00

Hearty Chicken Corn Chowder

Ok this recipe is also not mine, it is from Jenny Waldo - Tabor and I were over at her house for a play date the other week and had this soup with grilled cheese sandwiches for lunch. I guess I raved about it because she sent me home with leftovers and the recipe. I made a double batch that weekend and froze it in 4 portions. Thawed some for wednesday night dinner with workers - perfect. You may want to add more broth or milk at the end to adjust the solid/liquid ratio. I liked mine very hearty, about 2:3, maybe 3:4.

1/2 box chicken broth
3 chicken legs (i used thighs)
3-5 slices cooked bacon (i used more)
2 1/2 carrots
2 celery stalks
1/2 onion
3 red medium red potatoes - small cubes (i skipped the potatoes)
2 cups corn (i use frozen, it was great)
1 Tbsp parsley flakes (i didn't have this)
1 Tbsp basil flakes
1 Tbsp rosemary - crushed (i didn't have this at first, then I found it and added it, made a huge difference, try not to skip the rosemary if possible)
2 bay leaves
Lots of pepper
Salt to taste
1 C. half and half

Fry your bacon. :)
Fill a pot halfway with water.
Boil chicken legs until cooked.
Remove legs from water and take the meat off the bones.
You may need to add water back in to the pot to get it about half full after boiling.
Add Chicken Broth.
Put the chicken back in the water.
Add carrots, celery, onion, potatoes, bacon, parsley, basil, rosemary, bay leaves, salt and pepper.
Simmer until the veggies are cooked.
Add half and half heat till it simmers
Add corn and heat again.
Make the roux.
Add the roux, stir in well and let it simmer for a bit.
Done.

Roux
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup flour
1 cup milk
salt and pepper

Melt butter over medium heat. Add flour and stir constantly. Let it bubble for a bit. Add milk, salt and pepper. Let it thicken but not too much because you want to be able to stir it into the soup.

2011-10-24T20:50:00.000-07:00

Sour Cream Lemon Pie

This is not my recipe, it was a 'gift' from Ms. Maloney, and boy-oh-boy, I think I need to raid her recipe files. Love lemon. Love creamy deliciousness. So much better than the old-lady lemon meringue I'm familiar with. Aside from about ten minutes of stirring, quick/easy to make, and YUMMY!

1 C. granulated sugar
1/2 C. cornstarch
3 egg yolks
1 C. milk (i used whole milk)
1/4 C. butter
1/4 C. lemon juice
1 T. grated lemon peel (i used more, all the peel I could peel)
1 C. sour cream (i used full fat)
1 9" baked pie shell (or graham cracker or cookie crust, see simple cookie crust recipe below)
1 C. whipped whipping cream for serving

Mix sugar and cornstarch in saucepan. Add egg yolks, milk, butter, lemon juice and peel. Cook over medium heat til thick, stirring constantly. Cool in fridge. Stir in sour cream. Pour into baked pie shell. Chill 2 hours. Serve with whipped cream.

Cookie Pie Crust:
1 C. white flour
6 T. melted butter
3 T. powder sugar

Mix all together and press into bottom and sides of 9" pie pan. Bake at 350 for ten minutes or until it starts to brown.

2011-10-24T20:33:00.001-07:00

Now that I am officially a stay at home mom (for now), I've had to learn to cook, every-day food, every day. Corey is working 10 hour days, six or seven days a week until Thanksgiving, and Tabor is out of jarred food and into hot dogs. The last 6, wait 13 years, I've found 2-3 meals a day at coffee shops, sandwich bars and the Whole Foods deli. While working full time, and considering how little I eat, it actually made sense financially, considering how little spare time I had. Corey, on the other hand, eats a LOT and is happy with the 3-4 basics (Tacos, Spaghetti, Grilled Chicken, and Alfredo/Stroganoff), and can cook dinner efficiently - so that was sort of his territory. Anyway, those days are gone, Corey is in school and working 60 hours a week, and so obviously it is my job to cook and clean. I also realized I have to eat this food myself 3x a day, and without an appetite, so it had to taste good.

Enter cookbooks. I have this whole shelf of them. Duh.
Enter internet. Epicurious, Taste of Home, All Recipes, Google Recipes. Duh.

Anyway, after a rough first couple months (sick, nauseous, tired), I'm finally starting to enjoy cooking and eating again - so will share recipes here (for mom), and for my own record. Yay!

2011-10-21T14:45:00.000-07:00

THANKS MOM! We received an awesome photo book in the mail yesterday from mom, it is a hardcover book from snapfish of Tabor's first year! I can't imagine how long it took to sort through thousands of photos and figure out what to include. I had a coupon for a free 24 page book once, and spent hours and hours trying to figure out what to include and what to write - in the end I only had 3 pages done by the time it expired. So yes, it takes a lot of time and the one we got in the mail yesterday is perfect! Tabor has already kissed all the photos of daddy, mommy, grandpa, grandma, grammasan, papasan and sammy. I made sure his mouth was clean, it was a LOT of kissing.

Getting good at feeding himself.

2011-10-21T14:43:00.001-07:00

Getting good at feeding himself., a photo by daynikuh on Flickr.

Well, I should retitle this, he isn't exactly 'good' at feeding himself, but he enjoys 'trying' to feed himself. Baths are more and more frequent.

Don't cows brush their teeth?

2011-10-21T14:40:00.001-07:00

Don't cows brush their teeth?, a photo by daynikuh on Flickr.

I've been looking for a stuffed animal (plush toy) of a cow. no luck. All dragons, monkeys and tigers. Anyway, going through a box of hand-me-downs I found this 2T halloween costume, and it does the trick. Tabor prefers to use it as a blanket, a rug, or carry it around like a toy - but I had to try it on him once. Pretty adorable with all the padding. I loved playing dressup as a kid - may have to take advantage of goodwill at halloween time and stock up on costumes!

Tricking him into eating...

2011-10-21T14:37:00.001-07:00

Tricking him into eating..., a photo by daynikuh on Flickr.

Had to document one particularly difficult morning of trying to get Tabor to eat. He has to be completely distracted, and usually this means I put him out in the backyard with the chickens - then chase him around sneaking food in his mouth. It is exhausting and takes forever. This morning however I just googled 'Tom and Jerry' cartoons. Managed to get an entire egg down his gullet in under 7 minutes.

Tabor the Zombie.

2011-10-21T14:35:00.001-07:00

Tabor's backpack a video by daynikuh on Flickr.

Mom got Tabor this little fuzzy backpack for meetings or travelling, and this was his first time wearing it. He quickly learned to walk like a zombie with his arms straight out to keep the straps on his shoulders. heehee.

Train ride with Gramasan and Papasan.

2011-10-21T14:32:00.003-07:00

Train ride with Gramasan and Papasan., a photo by daynikuh on Flickr.

Big Kids going for a train ride!

Papasan and Tabor watching tsoo tsoo's.

2011-10-21T14:32:00.001-07:00

Papasan and Tabor watching tsoo tsoo's., a photo by daynikuh on Flickr.

Corey had to work all weekend, a few weekends back, so Tabor and I went to Bend to see Grammasan and Papasan. It happened to coincide with the model train clubs annual show, so they got to introduce Tabor to 'tsoo-tsoo's'! He was pretty much mesmerized, and when the 1/8th scale trains went by outside, he said 'wowohwowow'. =) Cute!

Playing meeting.

2011-10-21T14:28:00.001-07:00

Playing meeting., a photo by daynikuh on Flickr.

Tabor is so much fun right now - he has recently started sitting on his own chair at gospel meeting, and has a little travel sized Gideon bible to hold when it's time to sing. It is now one of his favorite books, he likes to play meeting and hold it out it front of him with one hand. It's pretty cute if I might say so., Click the photo to go to flickr and see his other 'meeting' expressions, an even watch a video with me singing. lucky you!

2011-09-23T20:06:00.000-07:00

Yesterday my greatest success as a stay-at-home-mom was as follows (pay close attention, I was EXTREMELY proud of myself):

We were in a huge rush to get out the door to Tabors 15 month check-up. Had to eat breakfast, pack snacks, get dressed, change diapers, all in random order and often repeated once or twice. When it came time to grab a snack for myself, all I had to time to do was break an ounce off the pound plus chocolate bar ($4.99 Trader Joes, delicious). When we got to the car, arms loaded, I set my chocolate on the roof and loaded everything up, got the stroller in, gave T his sippy cup etc, and took off. Three miles down the road I started looking for my chocolate, usually it is in the cup holder, or on my glasses case on the seat next to me. I started to panic, the chocolate was really good and I needed it, and we were too far from home to go back and get more. Then it occurred to me it had been on the roof! Surely it was gone, and we were too late to exit the freeway just to look. UG.

Thinking thinking...... oh the sunroof! I opened the magic roof window, unhooked my seat belt and started feeling around - and FOUND MY CHOCOLATE. AND I ATE IT. AND WE HAD A GOOD DAY!

2011-09-16T09:36:00.000-07:00

Not sure where to really start - we've had a busy busy summer! It may have felt extra busy because I was working from home anywhere from 5-25 hours a week, and also being a full-time mommy. I had to scramble to find someone to watch Tabor when meeting would pop up with no notice, which was chaotic. Because of the nature of my work, it would be better to take a full time contract for 3 or 6 months, or not work at all - but that's not really an option at the moment.

**** I would like to interrupt this blog to inform you that Umpqua Ice Cream is only $2.50 per 1.75 quarts right now, at New Seasons. I have an entire carton of Espresso Madness open next to me with a spoon in it. A-MAZ-ING. *****

Yesterday morning, Tabor suddenly decided he will not be drinking from a bottle any longer. Problem is that he doesn't really drink well from anything else, so yesterday he was too thirsty to take his naps, and it looks like we are having a repeat again today. He can sort of drink from a straw but just thinks it's a game, so there is no substantial fluid intake. GRRRR.

On the more positive side, I think spending the summer home with me allowed him to learn more words and get goofier. He says more, bottle, ball, kitty, cheese, chicken, bird, numnum, mama, dada, outside, balloon, banana, up, all done, byebye, hi, no, bath, thank you, and probably a bunch of other words I just don't recognize yet. A lot of the words I just listed sounds very similar, like ball-bath-balloon-banana-bottle and bye, HOWEVER, he says them at the correct time and while pointing to the object, with just a slightly different tone, so I've decided that he is of course saying those words.

He also has become more cuddly and kissy, like to kiss us and his animals a lot. Today when we were skyping with my mom and her dog - Tabor was frantically trying to get his face on the screen to kiss the doggy. He'll even kiss a picture of a panda bear on his cracker box.

Tabor also likes to share his food - with his stuffed animals, pictures of animals, and with Corey and I. His favorite book right now is a tractor book from Uncle Kevin. Likes the balers, combines, skidblahblah things, trailersblahblah things and so on.

He also really likes trucks, every Monday morning we watch all the recycling and garbage trucks go up and down the street. The garbage truck guy waves to Tabor now, but last week told him to go to college when he grows up... Hmmmm... Maybe I should have him wave to dentists and doctors as they drive by in their beemers with the darkened windows up and A/c on, but it just isn't as fun and interactive.

Tabor also has learned how to chase mommy around the house (i jump up on furniture and squeal, I know, teaching him great things), we play ring around the rosy, and he also is a fan of wrestling (with mommy, not daddy, I'm more fun).

That's about it for Gerbil updates, we're heading to menomonie convention in wisconsin in a week and a half, so excited!!

Lovin tomatoes

2011-09-13T21:44:00.001-07:00

Lovin tomatoes, a photo by daynikuh on Flickr.

Could summer be any better? Sitting in a kiddie pool, chompin on tomatoes. Brief intermissions to chase a cat down the sidewalk.

Goofy

2011-09-13T21:34:00.001-07:00

Goofy, a photo by daynikuh on Flickr.

Well, he WAS happy but apparently got mad he couldn't go outside dressed like a sheik.

Tabor feeds himself.

2011-09-13T21:28:00.001-07:00

Tabor feeds himself. a video by daynikuh on Flickr.

Oh yeah, he can work a spoon!

Karisa's wedding

2011-09-02T15:45:00.001-07:00

IMG_7667, a photo by daynikuh on Flickr.

My sister and Tosh got married on a beautiful hill overlooking Mt Adams, here is the sweet couple!

Sick Tabor trying to play

2011-09-02T15:42:00.001-07:00

Sick Tabor trying to play a video by daynikuh on Flickr.

Tabor was sick for over a week with rotavirus (flu), but after 5 days he really wanted to play with his toys, but was too weak. It was sort of cute, sort of not.

2011-08-20T15:14:00.000-07:00

99% of the time I do not have an appetite, and that is really lame. I just forced myself to eat a southwestern chicken flatbread sandwich from Trader Joe's (I know, it sounds pretty good) but I had to pick out the chicken because it looked like a cold, wet, finger had been chopped up in to my sandwich, and I couldn't eat the bread because bread makes me sick... so I just ate like a quarter cup of chopped green peppers mixed with a teaspoon of shredded cheese and a couple pieces of tomato. and like five black beans. delightful. Hope that holds me all day.

I guess the purpose of this blog post is to whine and complain, and but also to think of things that I have enjoyed eating recently, so I can try to recreate those moments of caloric delight.

1. Thursday at Boring Preps - one delightful salad with greens, avocados, feta cheese, mandarin oranges, and some dressing that was lovely.
2. Friday at Mom's Group - the host made a couple different quiches, with potatoe and green pepper, and some sort of cheese on top. I ate 5 pieces.
3. Maloney's for Mindy's Bridal Shower - a crock pot of meat that was really good. Don't know what it was but it was good.
4. Brian and Mari's - it's always good. Can I come live with you?
5. Udings last year for Lunch - an artichoke chicken hot dish, I recreated it but it didn't work.
6. Andrew and Rhondas 4th of July - Johnsonville Brats, awesome. It was a potluck so everything was really good, I also like Cindy Stearns hot beans! Aren't potlucks just wonderful?
7. Moms Visit for Karisa's wedding- Pot Roast that was pretty good. Even though Tabor pooped all over my lap at the beginning of the meal.... it really says something about the food that I was able to return to it.
8. Lost Lake Camping with Wilson's - Lisa grilled hanger steak from Trader Joe's over the fire pit. It was delicious, but our TJ's doesn't carry it.
9. Nola's Visit Last Month - we made 'grill pizza' with a crispy flatbread type crust that you can grill on the bbq. Used a pesto base. That was pretty much awesome.

Well I guess that's it. I'm looking over the list and realizing that basically if someone else cooks, then I will like it. It's not that Corey isn't a good cook, he really is, I just don't like to eat our usuals I guess.

Hmmm.... so can I come over for dinner please?

Canon Beach

2011-07-25T08:48:00.001-07:00

Canon Beach, a photo by daynikuh on Flickr.

We went to the beach and wore big fancy floppy hats.

Peek-a-boo

2011-07-24T22:38:00.001-07:00

Peek-a-boo, a photo by daynikuh on Flickr.

Auntie Nola came for a quick visit an taught Gerbil how to play peekaboo. He usually just covers his ears but by some luck he did it correctly this time for the camera. =)

Lost Lake camping

2011-07-19T12:30:00.001-07:00

Lost Lake camping, a photo by daynikuh on Flickr.

Posted a gazillion photos of our camping trip up the mountain last weekend. It was rainy and cold, Gerbil did great! Luckily he started walking last week or it would have been insane. This way only his feet touched the wet ground!

Walking

2011-07-19T12:28:00.001-07:00

Walking a video by daynikuh on Flickr.

Chasing a chicken

2011-07-19T12:26:00.003-07:00

Chasing a chicken, a photo by daynikuh on Flickr.

Taking notes from kitty-kitty, trying to stalk his prey...

Helping daddy

2011-07-19T12:26:00.001-07:00

Helping daddy, a photo by daynikuh on Flickr.

Gotta figure out how to climb this thing.

Blueberry face

2011-07-19T12:25:00.001-07:00

Blueberry face, a photo by daynikuh on Flickr.

And then the bad mommy ran out of frozen blueberries. Incredible.

4th of July

2011-07-19T12:24:00.001-07:00

4th of July, a photo by daynikuh on Flickr.

We had a great day out at Andrew and Rhonda's place on the Boring grounds. We chased Tabor around trying to feed him, business as usual.

2011-07-06T23:07:00.000-07:00

Last Sunday before union meeting we had family photos taken by the super talented Miss Bethany! She posted this sneak peak to her blog and I am SO PLEASED!! We could probably save her a whole bunch of editing time, take these four images, and call it done. If you are ever in Portland or Seattle area, you MUST get in front of her camera. I have to say, we dreaded it, were un-prepared, and un-planned, but we had so much fun and it looks like she worked some magic. Thanks Bethany!!

Tabor at the beach

2011-07-05T22:46:00.001-07:00

@ the Beach, a photo by daynikuh on Flickr.

I came back from my little walk to find more chocolate and snacks in town, to this. Corey had found some swim trunks etc in the basket I packed, and was walking him in and out of the ocean. Tabor loved it and wouldn't leave the water. Maybe the most amusing part to me is that Tabor wasn't wearing a diaper under those shorts. I don't know why I think it's so funny, but Corey pointed out that it had the net lining for holding his bits in, so he obviously didn't need a diaper. Just seems so grown up... Teehee!

@ the Beach

2011-07-05T22:42:00.001-07:00

@ the Beach, a photo by daynikuh on Flickr.

Tabor enjoying the sun at Cannon Beach this past weekend.

2011-07-05T22:07:00.000-07:00

An update on the tiny gerbil human named Tabor:

Tabor is now 13 months old, and he is so much fun! Two weeks ago on June 19th, we were sitting in the living room before Sunday meeting, and Tabor let go of the recliner, walked around it and into the kitchen. He went about fifteen feet before realizing he wasn't holding on to anyone, and quickly sat down. He loves to crawl up stairs, and as of the past week, he enjoys walking up stairs, like an adult, left - right- left. He has to hold on to our hands, but strains, grunts and stretches to do it in big-boy steps with no extra shuffles on any stairs.

Tabor also loves to be outside. When he wakes up, first thing he does (after cuddles and milk), is reach for my hand, extract a finger, and start walking. He walks straight to the front door an reaches for the handles or trying to pry his fingers into the gap in the seal.

He also really likes to skip naps lately, which actually seems to work out fine, he doesn't really get crabby, but I can get ornery when I don't get my quiet reprieve, so am still trying to force those naps on him when possible. He just is having so much fun sitting in the gravel path and poking at the chickens to bother with something as boring as sleep.

Tabor still isn't a huge eater, but will almost always eat 1/2 an avocado, and will ALWAYS eat cheese. I have to spell C-H-E-E-S-E, as we recognizes the word. He also recognizes the big yellow cheddar block and "eh eh eh's" for it if he sees it at home or in the grocery store.

He's learned to love baths, and especially that time immediately before his bath where stands outside the tub and pees on my foot. That's happened a lot lately. Very lovely.

We went to the beach last weekend and he LOVED the sand, he threw it in his face and stuck it to his sunscreen for 8 hours. He also wore his sunglasses and hat, and had daddy walk with him in the water for a looong time. His feet must have been numb but he didn't seem to notice. Kept trying to sit down in it as well. Must have been a result of watching and copying his favorite friend Trek.

Tabor also still seems to like everyone, hasn't had too many cases of 'Stranger Danger' yet. Just today, Shirley watched him and he hasn't really spent much time with her, and certainly not in the past few months. Seemed to take it in a stride though, thanks Shirley!! (I'm not expecting this to last forever).

Tabor still loves cats and dogs, and other babies, and his friend Brian McDonald. =) After gospel meeting I deliver him to Brian and he helps put away the speakers and mics, and visits with the other dudes. Last month Tabor inserted his fingers in to Brians mouth and got bit, but didn't even hold a grudge, and honestly hasn't put his fingers in any mouths since then. =) So he learns quickly!

Tabor's vocabulary is still limited, though it seems he can understand a lot of what I say to him. His words are: mama, dada, buh (bottle or birdie), uh oh, kuhkuh (kittykitty), num and hi. He's also said shick (chicken) and shee (cheese), but I might be imagining those.

Well, I guess I am writing all this down for my own records more than for anyone else's reading pleasure, so thanks for bearing with me. Have a great evening!

A finished baby quilt

2011-06-26T22:19:00.001-07:00

A finished baby quilt, a photo by daynikuh on Flickr.

I finally got around to making this quilt for little Emma. Funny how quickly I am able to work when I have very limited time until Tabor wakes up. =)

At Mari's Masquerade birthday!

2011-06-26T22:17:00.001-07:00

At Mari's Masquerade birthday!, a photo by daynikuh on Flickr.

We made our own masks for Mari's birthday masquerade. It's difficult to see in this photo, but Corey's mask actually has snow capped peaks on top. It was a fun evening!!

Cuddling Dad

2011-06-26T22:16:00.001-07:00

Cuddling Dad, a photo by daynikuh on Flickr.

Another rough day of teething, it is so sweet when he cuddles on our shoulders. AAAAWWW.

Cuddling with Grammasan

2011-06-26T22:15:00.001-07:00

Cuddling with Grammasan, a photo by daynikuh on Flickr.

Tabor wasn't feeling too good when we were in Bend, I think it was teething, but not sure, because he threw up Saturday night. Anyway, it resulted in lots of willing cuddles, and I don't think Grammasan was complaining!

Grampasan and T

2011-06-26T22:13:00.001-07:00

Grandpasan and T, a photo by daynikuh on Flickr.

We went to Bend the other weekend to celebrate Tabor's birthday with the Wilson's! Their yard has never looked so gorgeous with blooms and leafy trees - usually herds of deer snack and sleep in the yard, but this year Grampasan defied the neighborhood association and ringed their yard with electric fence. =) Here he is showing Tabor the plants.

VIsiting Sauvie Island Farms

2011-06-26T22:10:00.001-07:00

VIsiting Sauvie Island Farms, a photo by daynikuh on Flickr.

We went out to a farm on a little island in the river, near Portland. We picked berries, and visited the animals in the barn. Tabor finally got to wear his carharts from Uncle Kevin, and he definitely put them to the test. I think he enjoyed being able to crawl in dirt without his legs getting scratched up. =)

Portland Birthday Party

2011-06-17T08:33:00.001-07:00

IMG_6622, a photo by daynikuh on Flickr.

Tabor turned one in wisconsin the other week, and now he is one in Portland also. This weekend he will be one in Bend! He is learning to love the happy birthday song and gets a nice big grin when he hears his name. =)

2011-06-16T12:15:00.000-07:00

Last January, my cousin from MN gave me an Enviro cloth and Polishing cloth for cleaning my stove and windows. Corey and I used it on the stovetop and microwave for the next few months, and yes it made them super shiny with minimal effort and no other cleaning products. Yay. She had said we could use it to clean any surface in the house, so after a few months we tried it on the windows, then on the granite countertops, then I used it to dust. Then we used it to wash the car, the bathroom, the bathtub (in between cleaning the stovetop yet), stains on the carpet (still just using water), the couch (the cat got attacked by racoons twice and oozed puss all over. Gross). Basically, it cleaned everything really easily and it just 'sucked' everything up. The other cool part is that it had silver woven in to the fibers so it self sanitized every 24 hours - so we only put it in the washing machine like twice in the last 5 months. And by the way, the cloths remove 99.99% of bacteria so it’s just as good as any chemical spray minus the chemicals.

Today I tried it on our white trim. The cats like to rub up against it, and there are numerous coffee splashes, fly poop spots, and squished spiders. Also I think I must have pretty dirty hands because there are a lot of oily fingerprints. Another Also, it looks like the house was dusty when 'they' painted the trim because if you look really close, the rougher surfaces of the trim are gray. Anyway, I used my cloth (still that same one, its very much over-used) on my trim and doors and YAY they are all white again. In fact, I had to wipe down the whole area of the door where I used the cloth, because if I spot cleaned, it made a noticeably whiter area, like I had touched up the paint. Nice.

Oh, and last week I used it on the cupboards that surround the stove area, you know how they get that sticky greasy residue that hold dust, coating the doors and trim in a grime that you usually either ignore or scrape off with your finger nails? Yeah, the Enviro Cloth wiped that off too.

I'm blogging about this cloth because I am a skeptic, actually more like a critic (which is worse than a skeptic), and I don't like gimicky things... But today I was so impressed by my little microfibers and figured they deserved some credit. Yay little microfibers! (1/100th of a human hair, not like the other microfibers that are 1/6th of a human hair, that is WAY MORE SUCKING POWER).

Unfortunately the Enviro Cloth is not sold in stores - but through Norwex home parties or direct sales.

I should mention... In July the part of the hostess reward for a Norwex Party is the Mop Package!! (Think Enviro Cloth on a stick, only waaay better.) The Dry mop pad picks up EVERYTHING instead of pushing it around. You follow up with the Wet mop pad if needed - Just wet it under the faucet, wring it out, velcro it to the base, and then it goes about picking up 99.9% of the bacteria, virus's, fungi, chicken poop germs, food prep germs, pee splashes (from the baby) and whatever else is on your floor. (Imagine where your shoes have been, I was in the Target restroom just yesterday.) When finished, rinse it in the sink and hang to dry. No buckets! No multiple rinses, no crawling around on hands and knees! No swiffer chemicals! Yay for a safer home. Now I can throw cheeses cubes on the floor for Tabor at snack time, and not even feel guilty.

Let me know if you too would like to be able to feed your family off your floors, and host a Norwex cleaning party. (by cleaning party I mean- I clean your house, and you eat cookies and watch) - danicawilson@gmail.com

Imagine the time you could save by no longer using dishes!
About Norwex

2011-06-03T23:07:00.000-07:00

Today was the big day, Tabor had excision and revision of his polydactly... yeah they cut off his extra fingers and toes. He also had another 'part' trimmed, so basically he was hurting everywhere!

First we took him back to pre-op and played around in his pink hospital gown. Then they gave him some versed which made him very groggy and also acts as a amnesia drug. The surgeries all went very well, the only hitch was in recovery when he got either sick or mad, or his pain meds wore off. Luckily he still had his IV in so after some fentanyl, tylenol and another rest, he was good to go home. He slept most of the afternoon, but wow when he was awake, you would never know he just had surgery. Was crawling around and pulling himself up like nothing was wrong!! Amazing! Then he would crash for another long nap and wake up ready to go again. Pretty cute!

Here is he playing around in his backless gown before the surgery or Versed. =)

Waiting.....

Feeling quite ill in recovery... aaaawwww.

But later that afternoon he was running around the yard getting dirt on his bandages. So he must have felt much better!

2011-06-03T23:02:00.000-07:00

Chelsea Smith knitted this adorable sweater for Tabor! We have been so lucky to be able to keep our Gerbil in handmade knits from his Grandmasan Wilson, and other special friends and workers. The hats, booties, sweaters, vests and everything will be kept forever, that's for sure. I tried to knit once or twice and have decided it must be 'magic'. Impossible. So I REALLY appreciate how much work goes into these things!! Thanks everyone!!!

2011-06-03T22:56:00.000-07:00

Tabor occupied himself on the flight home by opening and closing the window shade. Over and over again.

2011-06-03T22:14:00.000-07:00

Oh Goodness. I shalt post here for those that haveth not the book of the face.

So, as you may have noticed I went to the midwest for my sister Megan's wedding to her lovely Matt. I took Tabor, which made for a less than productive time - but still managed to pull of a bridal shower, and spend time with family, before Corey joined us for the wedding weekend.

I was too busy chasing the Gerbil to take any photos, so I must apologize but every photo below is stolen from Matt's parents or sister-in-law Kristina.

Meg at her shower.

Mom and Dad's house in WI, the rehearsal, the eve before the wedding.

Some of my Mom's side of the family, the Schwartz's.

Me at the head table with the littlemonkeygerbilhumanman. We were so very lucky as he slept over two hours, from a half hour before the ceremony, until most of the way through dinner. Awesome.

The Bridal Party, I was the 'matron' of honor. =) Matron because I'm elderly and married.

And then the couple of the moment themselves.

They are both quite musical, have like an entire orchestra between the two of them. Have a wonderful life you two! Welcome to the fam Matt.... HA!

2011-06-01T09:57:00.000-07:00

I finally have found my way back to Isles Bun & Coffee in Minneapolis, during opening hours....

where I promptly enjoyed my favorite cinnamon bun with extra frosting. YUM!!! Love this place!!

I also threw a bridal shower for my sister while in Minneapolis and did not take a single photo! Crazy! Hopefully her new mother-in-law will share, because her camera was huge so I'm sure she got some good pictures.

After the shower we drove to mom and dads house in Wisconsin for Weds - Monday. Tabor played catch most the time we were there. Great-gramma entertained him by running after the tennis ball and bouncing it back to him, over and over again. Then she'd go take a nap, come back and do it again. She is 86 years old, and I tired after five minutes of this running around. Not sure how she did it. Probably had to sleep for five days to recover.

FIrst real haircut!

2011-05-20T21:16:00.001-07:00

FIrst real haircut, a photo by daynikuh on Flickr.

Tabor got his first real haircut by Corey's hair lady. A good time was had by all, believe it or not! She said that after some first haircuts, all 3 people are sweating.

Show off!

2011-05-10T23:22:00.001-07:00

IMG_6088, a photo by daynikuh on Flickr.

And here is a great photo of the extra toe... which is going to go bye-bye on June 3rd, the day after his first birthday. Which is really putting a crimp in my birthday party plans!

Show off!

2011-05-10T23:20:00.001-07:00

IMG_6090, a photo by daynikuh on Flickr.

Here is the monkey displaying his extra finger. What a little show-off.

The LIVE mouse I caught with salad tongs

2011-05-10T23:18:00.001-07:00

The LIVE mouse I caught with salad tongs, a photo by daynikuh on Flickr.

Yes, remember when I caught the live mouse with salad tongs and a tupperware? Maybe I only mentioned it on facebook, but HERE IS THE PROOF! We let the scared little mousy go alive into the grass. HOW KIND, I KNOW.

(okay wait for it... how long til someone comments with a 'wanna know what we did to mice back on the farm?' sorta story).

2011-04-16T16:10:00.000-07:00

Sitting at Bi-partisan Cafe by my house, its old, worn, spacious (but always full) with really really old wood floors that are patched with copper and nails. The ceiling is the thing white boards, its cute.

I'm also listening to Prince, but now Alicia Keys. Since I can't hear what everyone is saying at the nieghbor tables, I get to read their lips and guess. A 60-ish women next to me has the body of a 17 year old. Jealous. I have to turn my screen so she doesn't see me type that.

But what I am ACTUALLY doing is finally mailing the invites to Megan's bridal shower. I have everyone she goes to meeting with, on the list. But if you want to come and hang out and eat cake, email me. You can come too. It's the Tuesday before Memorial Day.

Which brings me to the next exciting point - I get to go to the Midwest in May for 10 days or so. Arrive in Minneapolis Saturday (the 21st? of May) and then stay in the city until Wednesday the 25th. Then over to mom and dads for the wedding and on to Labor Day.

Which leads us to why I am daydreaming - beside the fact that MEGAN IS GETTING MARRIED (woot!), I get to spend a couple days in the city again, which I always love to do (and always feel like I wasted after I leave). I want to go to my co-op in the wedge, to Bryn Mar (or Mawr, can't remember). Want to see if Ampersand is still in St. Louis Park. HAVE TO GO TO LAKE OF THE ISLES BAKERY ON HENNEPIN FOR THE MOST AMAZING CINNAMON ROLLS EVER. and stuff like that. I also want to see everyone that I knew and loved back in 1999-2000, 20001-2003, and 2004-2005. Weird though how it is all different. Of course everyone has moved on, got jobs, families, kids, and moved out of the city. Oh well, that's how it goes. I'm sure we'll make new memories and add even more 'favorites' to the list for the next visit.

Wonder why I like Minneapolis so much.... maybe because it makes me feel twenty again. =)

Oh and can you recommend a cake place (also known as a bakery)?

2011-04-05T07:01:00.000-07:00

It's 7:01am, and my baby is still sleeping! Am I going to jinx it by typing this? I bet he's laying partially on his side, with his back arched, face turned up towards the window. I bet his little squishy mouth is open and he's breathing warm little puffs of breath. He probably has the pacifier nipple tightly clenched in one hand for comfort. The other hand will be holding his ear. His diaper will be warm and really really full. I'll try to change it there in the crib, before even picking him up. But that's hard to do because he wakes up so smiley and happy that you want to just pick him up immediately.

This week he learned to 'log roll' as a form of locomotion. He buries his face in the carpet, and pushes up up up with his toes until his butt is up in the air, (his arms ares still motionless at his sides) then tucks, and rolls. at a ninety degree angle. Sometimes he'll just skid along the carpet on his face, moving forward five inches or so, and come back down without tucking and rolling. He looks like an inchworm. It's cute.

He's been less obsessed with having to be standing up all the time, as this new inchworm thing is more fun for now. Yay!

2011-04-02T09:27:00.000-07:00

Pumping Post.

Tabor is really excited about books this week! He will pick one up, turn it around to find the 'pages' vs the 'binding'. Then he'll turn the pages, pet each picture, and have a little chat with himself about it.

Just last week he was still chewing on books and shaking them in the air. The most he did with 'pages' was try to slam the book shut everytime you turned one for him.

I have to give 80% of the credit to Corey, every night he sits in the baby room rocking chair and reads to him for 20-30 minutes. Tabor lays back on his chest, sucks on the pacifier and just listens as his dad reads book after book, in a high-pitched voice, with sound-effects. And no story will be the story twice. He makes a lot of stuff up 'to keep it interesting'. So, maybe Corey should write childrens books, if the current writers aren't doing it well enough....

Only once or twice has Corey turned on NPR talk radio and played/listened to that while flipping the pages of a book for Tabor... yeah, Linda Worthimer and Christian Foldingpencil read my kid bed-time stories.

Ok done pumping.

2011-03-31T20:23:00.000-07:00

I had great plans of going to bed prior to 8pm, but Tabor decided he was not tired. We have him a toddler sized toothbrush to play with and he chewed on it for at least an hour, half of that in the crib. Then he learned how to pull all the tissues out of a kleenex box and shred them into tiny pieces of snow. The he pulled the tubing off my pumping machine and played rodeo. Now he is laying in bed staring. I am going to go do the same.

2011-03-22T21:07:00.001-07:00

When we were in Bend the other weekend, we went to Batter and Bean, or is it Crepe and Coffee, or is it Dough and Drink... anyway, we went out for breakfast and it was delicious. The weekend was actually filled with awesome food! Homemade ravioli's (Corey's parents had a cooking class in Italy), Meatloafs, Cheezy garlic bread, Breastmilk (oh wait thats Tabor), and the list goes on. Yum!

Look-alikes...?

2011-03-22T21:04:00.003-07:00

IMG_5859 a photo by daynikuh on Flickr.

Look-alikes...?

2011-03-22T21:04:00.001-07:00

IMG_5860 a photo by daynikuh on Flickr.

IMG_5931

2011-03-22T21:01:00.001-07:00

IMG_5931 a photo by daynikuh on Flickr.

(daddy dressed him) Tabor has a book from Lonnie and Lois of colors and shapes, it's his favorite at the moment. When he is sitting on the couch and sees it on the bookshelf (even just the 1/2" binding) he squeels until we bring it over for him to 'read'. Maybe he'll be an intellectual fellow.

Angry Monkey

2011-03-22T20:58:00.001-07:00

Angry Monkey a photo by daynikuh on Flickr.

Sometimes it takes the little fellow a minute to realize he is in fact able to roll over and get off his belly when he's sick of tummy time.... this is one of those moments. It's pretty cute how his nose wrinkles up, though usually its because he's laughing. haha

2011-03-21T20:12:00.000-07:00

Another pumping post... we hopped on down to Bend for weekend the other weekend - good time was had by all! Uploading to flickr now, but here's a cute one of Gpa doot dooting Tabors face, which now happens to be his latest fun game.

2011-03-21T18:38:00.001-07:00

Out of order. The monkey was quite adorable this afternoon...

2011-03-14T20:58:00.000-07:00

Corey mowed the lawn for the first time since July, and with our new (used) electric mower!! Yay for coal powered electricity, helping us keep our own yard free of emissions! WOOOO!!

Also, we went to Bend this weekend with Mari and Brian, to visit Corey's parents. It was all around a great time - even on the way back when there was a huge storm that blew down trees and power lines. One tree fell as we were passing by, on Hwy 26 after Govt Camp, super scary to watch is start falling - and then it landed on the power line and just bounced there. So we were safe! Then our detour had downed lines and trees as well - so thanks to smart phones we finally found our way to gospel meeting. Right on time. Good thing too, as we had the meeting Hall key. =) This calls for another WOOOO!!!

More to come. I'm trying out my A.D.D. five minute posting system here.

UnfrHENdly Birds.

2011-03-14T20:54:00.001-07:00

UnfrHENdly Birds. a photo by daynikuh on Flickr.

The other day I put on my barniest clothes (pants:nordstrom rack, hoodie:UC Santa Cruz, fleece:REI, boots:secondhand store), and marched out to catch meself a chicken to play with. Unfortunately I haven't held a bird since getting prego a year and a half ago. (NOTE: Corey says I should elaborate here on how I got pregnant, but I'm choosing to ignore his suggestion. perhaps he should start his own blog.)... and anyway, now they are uncatchable. Much sad. But much entertainment for the boyfolk of the home.

2011-03-14T20:46:00.000-07:00

... and then he said
"What do you want me to do? Stand there nekkid, covered in mechanic grease, holding a tennis racket in one hand and a chicken in the other?!? Then would you think I'm sexy??"

.... um what? hahahahaha! where does he think of these things? and also, who decided tennis made a guy sexy? chickens, yes, that I can see. Mechanic grease, maybe. But tennis? teehee.

2011-03-10T20:27:00.001-08:00

It's really difficult to find time to post - so maybe a couple times a week I can write a 7-minute post while pumping before bed.

Like this one.

Why am I pumping before bed? The short answer is so I don't ruin the sheets.

The longer answer is that Tabor prefers a bottle. And Corey gets up to feed him at night so I can keep sleeping (he's down to once a night though, which is new this week!). And the nursing-so-we-can-bond isn't as necessary, as Tabor thinks his dad is his 'mom' and has an amazing bond with Corey. And it's fun to drain 10 oz at one pop. And it's faster than nursing. And the pump was a hand-me-down so it feels like I'm making money when I use it (thanks Trina). And my milk isn't very 'lush' so Tabor grows better and sleeps longer if we add a scoop of formula. It's hard to add formula to a boob.

So, although this is not the way I imagined motherhood would be, it works.

On a side note, the sneaky little fellow pretends he can't hold his own bottle yet, at 9.5 months... I think he just wants to be held, and we don't mind. But when mom was visiting the other week, he did just fine propping it up with his left hand. Sneaky.

8.5 Months old!

2011-02-14T14:08:00.001-08:00

8.5 Months old!
Originally uploaded by daynikuh

This little guy is just the sweetest, cutest thing I've ever seen. I could just play with him all day, he is learning new moves by the hour. This week he started saying 'dada' and letting out very definite shrieks of excitement. He loves kids, Trek can yell 'boo' at him over and over, and Tabor just keeps laughing and smiling. Other little kids can definitely get away with more too, like pulling his plug out and taunting him with it - that would not fly if I tried it. His latest 'move' is when he is done nursing, with no warning, he just pops off and sits up, in one move. No laying around talking to me and trying to arch upside down... it's just num-num-ok-I'm-done-here. I am thankful however that he is so decisive. Finally one of my traits is showing up in him.

He's also eating quite a bit, I'm going to list everything out - but trust me it's more for my own records....
Carrot,
Sweet Potatoe,
Squash,
Pumpkin,
Spinach
Green Beans
Peas,
Brown Rice
Applesauce
Pears
Mangos
Bananas
Avocado
Spinach/Kale Rice Puffs
Cooked Carrots
Freeze dried banana/strawberries
Cooked Green beans

The little guy apparently gets very frustrated at day care when they hand out food to the other children. It seems he needs some sort of finger food, hence the last 4 items. I'm the mean mom that won't let him have the puffs with wheat, or sugar, or wheat teething biscuits, or donuts.

Oh, I realized I forgot one thing he's tried - yesterday at Brian and Mari's (where the adorable photo was taken), Ben B. (soon to be a daddy himself) let Tabor try a lemon. We didn't quite get the reaction we'd hoped for, but it was still fun. No ice cream though.

Another note, this cute cute shirt and pants appeared while I was gone the other week, and I'm pretty certain a grammasan brought it with her, am I right? Now I have no excuse for bringing him to meeting in his PJ's. =)

Have a great week and happy valentines day!

2011-02-04T21:31:00.000-08:00

Its another very early morning at another airport, third time this week. I think next time I will book only afternon flights, but on the bright side I got to see corey and tabor on skype this morning! the whole week has been full of meetings during the day, and emails at night, but I can report that germany, at least where I am, looks just like wisconsin. There is a lot of meat eating... I don't think there are vegetarians here, they would have died by now. Last night I had a turkey steak, that said in the menu... "A fine choice for the lady."

One of my highlights though would be when the breast pump stopped working, and we were out at the castle in a rural area... Luckily last night there was a pharmacy near my hotel that happened to have a manual hand pump in the backstock. So overall its been fun, especially as I thrive on chaos and stress and worrying, so yeah, I'm having fun. For reals.

This morning im flying to london to see kate and al!! And piper! Hopefully will get the sunday morning mtg there in west london as well, then home at midnight sunday. Ill b missing the superbowl but have decided its a sacrifice im willing to make.=)

it sounds like corey and tabor ares doing well, lisa said tabor looked for a boob a couple times, but other than that he doesn't seem to miss me. Whew. Ok we are boarding now, bye mom!

The Grammasan Vest

2011-02-01T11:13:00.001-08:00

IMG_5497
Originally uploaded by daynikuh

This vest was home-made by Grammasan in like a weekend - I have been trying to get a good photo of it but one of the boys keep wrecking the shots. Arg. Will. Keep. Trying.

Peru Vest

2011-02-01T11:06:00.001-08:00

IMG_5485
Originally uploaded by daynikuh

Tabor is getting all dapper with his vest from Peru! Thanks Brian and Mari! He looks about fifty now.

Crazy Excited

2011-01-27T17:37:00.001-08:00

IMG_5365
Originally uploaded by daynikuh

Yes, Tabor, You can sit up. Very good. Now calm down.

Crew and Tabor

2011-01-27T17:36:00.001-08:00

IMG_5337
Originally uploaded by daynikuh

Katrina's youngest (Crew) helped Tabor by pulling his plug out and putting it back in. Tabor liked the attention.

2011-01-26T21:49:00.000-08:00

I can't keep up. At all. With anything.

ABOUT TABOR'S SIZE
So I'll pick up where we left off and see how far we can get. Last post was something about Tabor being at zero percentile (down from 53 to 24 to 0. I have been overly cautious when introducing solids to his diet, probably because I had this ideal that he didn't need anything at all other than milk until ten months. Also I have a lot of food sensitivities from the Crohns, so this made me paranoid on top of the overly cautious. Also I was very certain formula was way worse for his system than even rice or vegetables, so was definitely avoiding that. However, since starting back to work in September, I have really struggled to have enough milk for him. Shoot, I struggle to even find enough to eat for myself, so no wonder. The milk he was getting from me was sort like skim milk. It was occasionally supplemented by Kelly, Jen and Derra, all of which was more like half'n'half. Blah blah blah, he needed more calories. So since Jan 1, Tabor has been getting a scoop of Formula - Good Start Protect Plus in his breastmilk bottles. He also has 3 square meals a day of brown rice cereal, peas, sweet potato, carrots and/or green beans. I am proud to announce he has gain 13 ounces in the last three weeks! Woot!

ABOUT TABOR'S FINGER
It's still there, I like it, and I don't want to put him through fasting for 12 hours before surgery yet.

KATRINA + CREW
They came to visit the first weekend in January, our special meeting week. We had a great time running all over the place and doing all sorts of things while often Corey watched the boys. There are photos on flickr of this event, I am not sure I will ever get around to adding them to the blog. I can't even actually remember what we did now, but I do remember having a lot of fun and wishing they would stay longer! Oh, we did go to the Hot Salt Pool at Kennedy School, and also out to eat at the Thai place with the Rings from WA, WI, and now WA.

LINCOLN CITY
The second weekend in Jan. we went to the coast to a rented house. At this rented house was some family. Gordon, LIsa, Kevin, Shawna, Frida the Fetus, Dave and Sandra, and their little dog too. The house was gorgeous up on tuft of grass and rock, overlooking a very stormy ocean. It rained the whole time, very gorgeous. Tons of good food and fun cooking. Food everywhere. It was cool to see Shauna's expanding bump, and also good to see them seeming to like Tabor. I think they'll do ok.

LAST WEEKEND
We got together with people with babies! Photos to come, what a fun weekend!

THIS WEEKEND
Oh I hope nothing. Nothing, please nothing.

NEXT WEEKEND
After a long week of travel and work, I will be have catch-up time with some old NZ friends who are now in London. Unless she has her baby a week early, then I'll be bringing balloons to the hospital and spending my weekend shopping. I've heard that all of January is like the sales season over there. Yip yip! Either way, my hopes are high.

SUPER BOWL
Not gonna see it.

THE NEXT NEXT WEEKEND
We go to Bend. YAY!

Oh look everyone this blog just turned into my personal social calendar. Cool.
Maybe I'll transfer everything to iCal and let my blog go back to being a blog. Maybe not.
Have a good night!

Happy 7 months Birthday!

2011-01-03T03:29:00.001-08:00

Originally uploaded by daynikuh

I can't believe T is already seven months old! Up until this week it felt like he was perpetually 'behind', in comparison to friends babies from our birth class, who were all rolling over, crawling, saying da da and pulling themselves up on furniture. I think this isn't necessarily the case, it's just that with facebook and the internets you can see everyone else's achievements and forget that for everyone one quick developer, there are probably five other babies that are still laying there like fishes.

TO THAT POINT.... this week Tabor learned how to sit up on his own, and also started creeping last night!! He scoots along on the back of his head, arching his back and kicking off with his feet, with his arms straight out to the sides like wings. It's pretty cute, and soon as he realized he was locomoting away from me, he started squeeling and laughing (and going faster).

Also this week we went to our six (seven) month appointment with the pediatrician and were shown on the handy weight curve that T is in the zero percentile for weight, and that he is in need of more calories. I had been a little over-obsessive on what to feed him and how to feed him for when we started solids, and was basically holding off on giving him very much because I wanted to do it perfectly. Dr. D pointed out that there are hundreds of 'right' ways - so now we are feeding the monkey his organic brown rice cereal 3x a day, and vegetables 2x a day. We also are mixing in a quarter to a third part formula to his breastmilk bottles - more on this in another post to come.... but I can say with confidence that the little guy is happy (thrilled actually) with his existence and it has been a rewarding and hilarious seven months. Here's to many more!

2010-12-22T09:34:00.000-08:00

We woke up at 3am, airport at 4am, flew out of pdx at 6am, stopped in houston, and arrived in cancun at 3pm. After a whole lot of scrambling we found mom and dad, they had arrived at another terminal. It's slightly confusing in that you don't even know there are other terminals, or which one you are in. Also the chaos of mariachi bands and 200+ drivers trying to get you to their shuttle/taxi's didn't really help. Here we are waiting for the local bus to Playa.

We took the bus to Playa, then a ferry to Cozumel, then a taxi to our condo. It was 8pm by the time we go there, and dark. Couldn't find the correct unit or the lockbox, but after another 40 minutes or so of scrambling, we were in. Everything looked better the next morning in 80 degrees and sun (while reading about the metrodome collapse and 5 ft drifts in the midwest. Ha). Megan and Brook didn't make it out on Saturday as planned, the airport closed down by the time their flight was scheduled to leave (luckily mom and dad were on the flight 4hrs earlier).

Tabor and dad got lots of cuddle time - C's definitely the favorite parent (unless T's hungry).

On Sunday Mom and I went and got groceries, and Corey and Dad went snorkeling. Brook and Meg made it in late that night after hopping around on other airlines. I'm confused and don't know what we did Monday, or maybe that was the day brook and Megan came.

Tuesday it was still windy on our side so we drove around the island and found some awesome beaches on the east side without any wind. We found lots of gaucamole too. Basically we would drive, stop, eat, swim, drive, stop, eat, swim.

Wednesday we went diving (except mom, who stayed back with Tabor). We had a great divemaster, Raul, who was hilarious and very alert. A couple sort of scary times with the current (it was pushing us down over the edge of the 3,000 ft wall), but lots of great coral and fishies. I've decided that they are like underwater parrots, its the only way to explain how colorful and different all the little fishies are. Actually, they are better than parrots, more like little circus's. Maybe Dad will send me photos from his H2O camera and I'll add them in here someday. We were a little cold between submersions, hence the sweatshirt.

Wednesday night we had a study with Mike and Lois who were staying only a couple miles from us. We also went to a really really good restaurant and everyone got their fill of T (because he would not go to sleep).

Thursday they all went diving again and mom and I went into town to shop around. We also hung out at the Kramers as they had a nice heated jacuzzi that was the perfect temperature for Tabors first time swimming.

Friday they went diving again, this time minus Corey, and so we hung out and went snorkeling and swimming again with the Kramers.

Saturday we all took the ferry back to Playa. Brook, Corey, Tabor and I took a bus to Cancun, a taxi to our Westin (yay for starpoints from photoshoots), and everyone else went home.

Sunday we hung out by the pool and then flew home that night. We got back at 1am and Tabor woke up for the day at 4am (thanks to the time change). Now we're all back to work, slightly tan and slightly tired. It was great to have a break, sorry I am not writing a super clever rendition of our time there, but I guess I am mostly getting everything down journal-style for my own memory-keepin. =)

First Food!

2010-12-21T16:54:00.001-08:00

First Food!
Originally uploaded by daynikuh

At six months we gave the Tabor Tot his first taste of Sweet Potatoes. I think he's been studying us as we eat, because at the first sight of that spoon, he opened his mouth wide, leaned forward, expertly removed the puree from the spoon and swallowed. He now is like a little bird with his mouth open, chasing anything that looks like a spoon, trying to eat eat eat! Another reason why I know he belongs to Corey.

Happy Monkey

2010-12-21T16:51:00.001-08:00

IMG_5104
Originally uploaded by daynikuh

Ok this one is a favorite too.