Updates....

It is clear I may be one of the worlds worst bloggers!  The funny thing is that I regularly think about blogging.  Anytime I take a picture, make a meal or watch Lucy do something oh-so-cute, I immediately start drafting my blog in my head.  And then, well, life just gets in the way....

At any rate, big news....we started Lucy on cereal!  This was a big decision for me to start her as she has a sensitive tummy and I don't want to agitate it again.  However...she has been showing so many signs that she is ready for food, so I thought it was time to give it a try.  Initially I was going to make her cereal as I plan on making the rest of her food so I could insure that it was made from quality organic ingredients.  But then I learned that when making baby cereal on your own, you have to cook it each time you feed your baby, unlike regular food (carrots, peas, etc.) where you can make a big batch and freeze it.  So I finally settled on Earth's Best Organic Cereal.  I have been really happy with it so far!  And the best part...Lucy LOVES it!

The first feeding I didn't really know what to expect, but she did great.  She opened her mouth wide and ate the whole (teeny, tiny) bowl!  Then she licked up the spoon!  It was hilarious!  Some nights when she is tired she doesn't do as well with her feedings...but so far, so good!

We also recently celebrated Easter too and had a great day with our family!  Here is a not so great picture of us on Easter morning.  I insisted we take pictures outside which was clearly a poor decision as we are all squinting and poor Lucy's headband had slid down and was right above her eyebrows...woops!

And, just cause I think my gal is so cute....a couple of extra pictures......

This was/is her favorite game to play.  She rolled over from belly to back about a month or so ago but has been working SO hard to get from back to belly.  So she will lay like this on the floor with almost her entire body rolled over except for her head!  She did FINALLY roll over back to belly 2 weeks ago and I even caught it on video!  I was so proud of her!

Can't believe she is 5 months old already!  She is growing and changing so much every single day!  What a blessing she is!

One year ago today.....

One year ago today it was Easter.  Pat and I had recently returned from my birthday trip down to Gatlinburg and had spent the weekend celebrating Easter with our families.  On Saturday we went to Michigan to celebrate with the Knox clan.  I was working on homework on the way there and suddenly got carsick which was pretty unusual for me.  Then on Sunday, we headed to church with my family in the morning.  I remember looking around at everyone in their nice Easter clothes.  I saw a couple towards the back with a baby and I knew that next year, I would be bringing my baby to the Easter Sunday service.  I remember sitting there in the pew next to my mom, almost giddy with excitement as I just knew I was pregnant.

So that afternoon, alone in the bathroom I took a tiny, little test.

And my world hasn't been the same since!

Lots of things happened right after that test.  It wasn't a very strong positive, but it was positive still the same.  It confirmed what I already knew in my heart to be true.  Deep down inside me was a tiny life forming.

The first 4 weeks after that positive pregnancy test were filled with fear.  I was spotting, I was cramping, I didn't ovulate according to any doctors "schedule".  Their fuzzy math had me further along than what I knew I was.  No one believed me and kept tossing out phrases like ectopic pregnancy and molar pregnancy.

I was scared for my life and for that of my baby.

But the little girl takes after my side and is as my mom likes to say "one tough cookie".  She hung on!  I had a fairly easy pregnancy, but my normal was not the standard normal.  Spotting for me was normal.  Braxton Hicks contractions ALL. THE. TIME was normal.

None of that mattered though as my sweet little girl kept growing and thriving.

And then, almost 4 months ago, I got to finally meet her.

She has been a blessing, a joy and the definition of true love.

Zac Brown Fans.....

This past summer Pat and I, along with some friends went to see Zac Brown in concert.  It was awesome!  While we were there they were selling baby onesies and I just HAD to have one!  I was so excited when last Friday Lucy was finally able to fit into the one I bought her.  It might just be our new Friday night outfit.



Cold milk on a Friday night...

This weekend we are doing a little early celebration for my birthday with my family which I am looking forward too!  And then we are going to visit Pat's parents on Sunday.  Should be a fun weekend!  Also, we just got her 3 month baby pictures back so I will get those posted in a few days....they turned out amazing.  As usual our photographer captured some excellent pictures!!!!

Have a great weekend!!

Watch me grow....

To my great disbelief...my little girl is 3 months old!! I have been taking a picture of her each month on a huge chair we have in our living room so we can check out how much she grows.

What a tiny little baby!

This is the month I screamed my belly button right out!  Hello umbilical hernia!

So big...and much happier...even if you can't tell from this picture!

Now, the big trick will be remembering to actually take this same picture for the next 9 months....here's hoping!

And just in case you were needing a dose of Lucy smile today....here it is! 

 

Sleeping....

Guess what cute little girl FINALLY slept through the night last night?!? Yes, my sweet, sweet Lucy finally did it!

This has been a rough week because it was my first week to return to work. It broke my heart to have to leave her each day but we are both making it through this first week just fine.

Our sitter has been wonderful to her and I think all the activity each day just wears my little girl out. There are so many kids to look at and things to see. And it must have all caught up with her last night. Lucy went down at 8pm and I did a "dream feed" for her at 10pm before I headed to bed and she didn't wake up until 5:30am! I actually think she would have slept even longer but when I went in to check on her the dog came in with me too and woke her up. But she was all smiles and one happy baby!

Here are some sweet pictures of her sleeping. She loves to stick her hand in her mouth while she sleeps...silly baby! And yes....she DOES sleep on her belly during naps. I know that is a total "no-no" but she loves it and sleeps so much better. I check on her very regularly....promise!

Happy baby!

Valentine's Day: Epic Fail

**Note** So sorry for the weird spacing....blogger is doing it's own thing apparently!

I consider myself to be a pretty decent cook. I have managed to put together some pretty complex meals in my day. Not often do I get scared of trying something new in the kitchen and often find comfort and joy when preparing a wonderful meal for my husband.


A bit of history for you: On the first Valentine's Day that Pat and I celebrated I decided to make Flounder Francaise. It's fish that is dredged in eggs and flour and then cooked in a skillet. What we ate for dinner instead of lovely flounder, was soggy fish in a scrambled egg mix. Yes, I totally messed that one up! Pat, being the great boyfriend at the time ate it right up. However, I have never made it again.


The past few Valentine's Days have been pretty successful. Two years ago we made King Crab Legs and got engaged! Last year I made pretty great dishes courtsey of The Pioneer Woman. This year, although we have a super cute baby to celebrate with, cooking our special meal...well, let's just say I'm glad I had wine on hand!


First things first. I decided to prep my goat cheese for my Baked Goat Cheese salad the night before. I chopped my chives, used dried thyme instead of fresh and got out my fresh goat cheese. I mixed them together in the processor and stuck it in the fridge. However, I was secretly worried as first of all, my cheese turn GREEN! And secondly, the cheese mix just seemed WAY too runny. But I just put it out of my mind.



On Valentine's morning, after the cheese had chilled for over 12 hours, I prepped everything to make the rounds. I beat my eggs in a dish. I put my chopped pecans in another dish and grabbed my cheese from the fridge. I used a spoon to scoop out the cheese and then started to roll it in my hands to form a ball. However, instead I bascially just ended up with a handfull of gooey cheese. For whatever reason the cheese never firmed up, and therefore could not be made into balls. So after some quick thinking I tosssed the cheese mixture into the freezer hoping to encourage the firming process. This seemed to help a bit, but ultimatly I only managed to get 5 disks dipped in egg and nuts before everything started melting apart. I will say, while not pretty (or correctly done I am prety sure) the 5 disks that I did end up baking were pretty good...green center and all!

On to the meringue.... After Lucy's morning feeding and my workout, I decided to get started on the merignue while she was down for her nap. Let me just say, I am pretty sure Ina Garten is a big, fat, liar. She claimed you only need to beat the egg whites and sugar for 3 minutes, max. I was standing there for a good ( and I mean GOOD ) 10 mintues. Ok, so I don't have an electric mixer, but I have a hand mixer with a whisk attachment so I'm not sure that should make a difference. Anyways, I finally got the stiff peaks I had been waiting for and into the oven it went.

And that is where it stayed the rest of the day. No, it was not done when Ina said it would be done. In fact, it pretty much wasn't ever done. I baked the crap out of it all day long and finally by evening I had achieved the crisp outer crust I had been promised. Out of the oven it came! It looked great and I was pretty proud of myself that I had managed to pull together my first ever meringue.

I look back on that moment of blissful ignorance and laugh to myself. Oh, don't worry, the inside was a total runny mess. Can you believe that?? After baking all freaking day, it STILL wasn't done. Oy! So I cut around the edges and saved that part and pitched the rest. I added some whipped cream and my berry mix to the parts and pieces pavlova. The best part of this is the fact that neither Pat or I even liked it. So we just ate the berries and called it a day.

Finally....the scallops. I have made Scallops Provencial multiple times before. It's a fancy dish with minimal effort. However, add a screaming baby to the mix and well...that's right folks, third fail! Ok, ok so it wasn't a total disaster, but my scallops certinaly weren't as good as I have made them before. And by the way, what the heck was I thinking making only beige-toned foods.

To top it all off, Lucy cried the entire evening. From the moment Pat walked in the door to the time we finally got her to go to sleep. Nothing like sharing a "romantic' mediocre meal with your husband, while taking turns trying to calm your cranky baby.

Next year it's gonna be a frozen pizza and a few beers. Good thing I had some wine and the picture Lucy and I made for Pat to look at.

The one upside is that while I have been so (and I mean more than words can describe) dreading going back to work...after a day like today, sitting at a nice, quite desk for 8 hours doesn't seem all that terrible.

But then I see this cute face...and I am sunk once all over again!

Scallops Provencal

Barefoot Contessa

Ingredients

1 pound of bay or sea scallops

Salt and Pepper

All purpose flour, for dredging

4 Tbs of unsalted butter, divided

1/2 cup chopped shallots

1 garlic clove, minced

1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves

1/3 cup dry white wine

1 lemon, cut in 1/2

Directions

1. Sprinkle the scallops with salt and pepper, toss with flour, and shake off the excess.

2. In a very large saue pan, heat 2 tbs of butter over high heat until sizzling and add the scallops in 1 layer. Lower the heat to medium and allow teh scallops to brown lightly on 1 side without moving them, then turn and brown lightly on the other side. This should take 3-4 minutes, total.

3. Melt the rest of the butter in the pan with the scallops, then add the shallots, garlic, and parsley and saute for 2 more minutes, tossing the seasonings with the scallops.

4. Add the wine, cook for 1 minute, and taste for seasoning. Serve hot with a squeeze of lemon juice.

Herbed Baked Goat Cheese Salad

America's Test Kitchen

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups pecans

12 ounces goat cheese, softened

2 Tbs chopped fresh chives

1 tsp minced fresh thyme

2 large eggs

Vegetable oil spray

12 cups hearty salad greens

Dried cranberries

Croutons

Carrots, chopped

Red onion, chopped

Directions

1. Pulse the pecans in a food processor until finely chopped, about 10 pulses; transfer to a medium bowl. Add teh cheese, chives and thyme o the food processor and process until smooth, about 30 seconds. Refrigerate the cheese mixture in a covered bowl until firm, at least 1 hour or up to 2 days.

2. Using your hands, take 2 Tbs of the chilled cheese mixture at a time and roll into twelve 1 1/2 inch balls. Beat the eggs in a meduim bowl. One at a time, dip the balls in the egg, allow the excess to run off, then roll them in the nuts, pressing gently to adhere. Place the balls 2 inches apart on a rimmed baking sheet. Press the balls into 2 inch disks with a greased measuring cup. Cover with plastic wrap and freeze until completely firm, at least 2 hours or up to 1 week.

3. Adjust the oven rack to the upper position and heat the oven to 475. Remove the plastic and spray the cheese lightly with vegetable oil spray. Bake until the nuts are golden brown and the cheese is warmed through, 7 to 10 mintues. Let cool for 3 minutes.

4. Toss with carrots, croutons, and greens. Add dressing of your preference.

Mixed Berry Pavlova

Adapted from Barefoot Contessa

Ingredients

4 extra large egg whites, at room temperature

Pinch of kosher salt

1 cup sugar

2 tsp cornstarch

1 tsp white wine vinegar

1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract

1/2 pint fresh strawberries, hulled and sliced

1/2 pint blackberries

1/2 pint rasberries

Whipped cream

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees. Place a sheet of parchment paper on a sheet pan. Draw a 9 inch circle on the paper, suing a 9 inch plate as a guide, then turn the paper over so the circle is on the reverse side. (You won't get pencil mark on the meringue).

2. Place the egg whites and salt in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a whisk attachment. Beat the egg whites on high spead until firm, about 1 minute. With the mixer still on high, slowly add the sugar and beat until it makes firm, shiny peakes, about 3 minutes.

3. Remove the bowl from the mixer, sift the cornstarch onto the beaten egg whites, add the venegar and vanilla, and fold in lightly with a rubber spatula. Pile the meringue into the middle of the circle on the parchment paper and smooth it within the circle, making a rough disk.

4. Bake for 1 1/2 hours. Turn off the oven, keep door closed, and allow the meringue to cool completely im the oven, about 1 hour. It will be crips on the outside and soft inside.

5. Invert the merintue disk onto a plate and spread the top completely with sweetened whipped cream. Combine the strawberries, blackberries and resberries in a bowl and toss with sugar. Spoon the berres carefully into the middle of the Pavlova, leaving a borner of cream and meringue. Serve immediately.

Last Bite: When celebrating Valentine's Day with a new baby at home, try something easy, like spaghetti!

Snow Day!

Yesterday at this time it was not snowing at all. People on Facebook were going crazy with doubtful comments about the impending "Snowmagadden 2011". And yet, at about 3:30 yesterday afternoon the first delightful snowflakes began to fall. And fall, and fall and fall. Currently our little town is buried beneath about 13 inches of light, fluffy snow.

Although I am home on maternity leave right now and every day is essentially a snow day for me, I had so much excitement built up in my about the blizzard. How funny! I was glued to the TV and was even thrilled when I noticed my work had cancelled operations for today! Like it really made a difference or something. Then when I got up for Lucy's first feeding I found myself turning the TV on in the middle of the night, searching for more reports on how bad this blizzard was going to get. I think mostly I was hoping that it would be bad enough that Pat wouldn't have to go into work today. And then, during the 5am feeding, finally a snow emergency had been declared. No one out on the streets, expect for emergency personnel. I put the baby to bed and crawled into my own bed bursting with excitement to tell my husband he would have to take a Snow Day!

However I forget how easily I tend to romanticise events like this. Turns out Pat still has to work from home today and while he isn't working, he is out trying to dig out our house. So, really, it's just about like any other day. But still fun!

Things with Lucy have started get a lot better. I think her little system is finally healing and she is a much happier baby now. And I think we are making improvements in the sleep department. Turns out my baby is a belly baby. She LOVES to sleep on her belly. I know, I know...before you freak out on me, Back is Best. But she LOVES her belly. So for naps during the day she sleeps on her belly since I am able to keep and eye on her. And at night sometimes I will start her out on her belly and then move her to her back once she is asleep. It may not be ideal...but sleep deprivation will make a person very creative!

Sleepin' on the tum-tum!


I am also getting some wonderful smiles from her. However she likes to make a liar out of me since no matter HOW hard I try...I still can't catch one with the camera yet. Oh well....they are adorable and I know there are plenty more to come.

All bundled up heading to Grammie's!

Trying out the new shades during a very "sunny" feeding!

Cute baby!

In other news...I cooked this week!!! Can you believe it?!? Like a real recipe! And it was delish! I am including it below in case you happen to already have everything on hand...and if not then do try it out once you have shoveled yourself out of your house!

Chicken Cutlets with Orange and Arugula
Rachel Ray "Look + Cook" Cookbook

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups bread crumbs
1/2 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
Freshly grated nutmeg
Handful fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped (I used dried)
Zest of 1 orange
1 cup all-purpose flour
3 eggs beaten
4 small thin cut boneless skinless chicken breasts
Salt and Pepper
Olive oil
2 seedless oranges
2 yellow or orange tomatoes, seeded and diced (I used good ole red ones)
1/2 small red onion, chopped
2 tablespoons EVOO
4 cups baby arugula leaves

Directions

1. Combine bread crumbs, cheese, nutmeg, parsley and orange zest in a shallow bowl. Place the flour in a second dish and the eggs in a third, positioned between the flour and bread crumbs.
2. Lightly pound the chicken between wax paper into large, thin cutlers. Season the cutlets with salt and pepper and coat them with the flour, eggs and bread-crumb mixture. Heat 1/2 inch of frying oil in a very large skillet over medium to medium-high heat. When the oil is hot, cook the cutlets 1 or 2 at a time, depending on the pan size for about 2 minutes per side. As the cutlets are done, place on a baking rack to drain. The cutlets may be served at room temperature, but you want them to remain crisp.
3. While the cutlets cook, peel and section the oranges and dice. Combine with the tomatoes, onion, EVOO and salt and pepper to taste. When ready to serve, gently mix in the arugula leaves.
4. Top the cutlets with mounds of orange and arugula salad and serve.

Yummy!

Have a great Snow Day everyone!!