Almost weaned, almost sleep trained

A couple weeks ago, I had to travel for work. for the first time since Tucker entered our lives. I was nervous and anxious about it for a long time. I missed my boys terribly, but they all did great and I had nothing to worry about. Tucker pretty much learned how to sleep without me and through the night while I was away. Of course, it was short lived. He's now back to waking a couple of times during the night, but that's okay. We're surviving and getting enough sleep most nights. Owen was great for Kris and it was so fun to be able to talk to him on the phone, even if it was a very short conversation.

I thought the trip would be the way I weaned Tucker, but nope, as soon as I arrived home he made it clear that I was off base. For the most part, I'm just nursing him in the late evenings before bed and in the early morning.

Tucker is 14 months

Happy 14 month birthday Tucker!

Tucker is my
Totally sweet
Unique
Cute
Knowing
Energetic
Really really loveable
little baby boy.

He now has 3 1/2 teeth, long curly hair, little to no separation anxiety at day care, a major love for the outdoors, a clear ability to say Daddy which he seems to say for both mommy and daddy, a growing interest in books, a new bed in the room he now shares with his big brother, a new favorite game where he loves to stack blocks and books, a desire to climb on anything and everything, a serious love for going fast down big slides and jumping on trampolines and in bounce houses and going for rides on tricycles, an ability to understand his parents when they ask him to go get his shoes and his jacket or to run to his mommy or big brother for a big hug, an understanding that when the garage door opens after school he can run very fast to the door with his arms open and greet his Daddy, and luckily for his parents, a personality full of love and happiness and a fondness for cuddle time.

Tucker we love you so much.

First time on a snowboard

Back in January, we took Owen and Tucker up to the snow so that Owen could try snowboarding. We went to Soda Springs which really caters to kids and had a blast.

Once he had a few sled rides, a few tries down a little hill off to the side, and a few bites of snack, he really got into the fun of going up the moving carpets to the top of the hill. We took turns running down the hill with him, holding his hands as he got the feel for it. By the end of the morning, he would let go for a couple of feet towards the bottom and crash into the big soft foam squares scattered around the training hill.We made a game of it and Owen really enjoyed it.

Here is a short, albeit a little bit shaky, video of Kris running down the hill with Owen:

Mommy, "I am going to break"

Today my first born, my little cutie pie of a boy turns 3 ½ year. I have no idea how this is possible. I love him so much it hurts. I don't understand how I can love him more and more each day, but it really is true. I feel so grateful and so lucky to be his mommy.

In honor of his half year birthday milestone, here is a silly little story from last night.It was almost bed-time and I was helping Owen change into his pajamas. As I helped him take off his shirt, he told me he was cold and then started to say, in an agitated manner,

“I’m going to break. Mommy, I’m going to break. I need my PJs. I need socks.”

We went about the routine… brushing teeth, putting on a night time diaper, finding his PJs. With intense focus, he kept on, "Mommy, I’m going to break.” Finally, to his relief, we start to put on his PJs. Very happily and with a very big smile he says, “Mommy, I have my PJs on now. Now I won’t break. I’m warm.”

Finally, it clicked and I figured out his reference. Three nights ago, after a bath, Owen was running around in his birthday suit. He was playing and having a grand-old time, but at one point, he stopped and gave me a hug. I noticed his hands and feet were icy cold, so I jokingly said something like, “Owen, you are freezing. You are like an icicle. You are going to break if you don’t get dressed and get warm soon”. We raced to get him dressed and never said anything more about it. I never thought twice about it, but Owen did. He was very relieved to be warm enough not to break! Ahhh, I LOVE this kid.

Oh yeah, and on my way out the door today after he ran over to give me a third hug. He sat back down at the table and quietly told his Daddy, "I love Mommy".

Happy 1/2 year birthday Owen!

Cooking - 2011

I've decided to keep a running list of the new recipes I try out during 2011 to help keep me accountable for my NY resolution. I think it will be nice to have one spot to track my thoughts and notes.

My goals: 1) 2 new recipes a month - one that's a crock-pot dish and 2) minimize restaurant outings - stretch goal of 12X/year or less.

2011 Plans: Lettuce wraps - recipe involves peanuts - so even though I'm anxious to try it, I need to time it well for Tucker, since he's still on the no peanut regimen. Quiche. Homemade pizza. Chicken Cacciatore. Thai Pineapple Fried Rice and Yellow Curry.

February:

Tortilla Soup- 5 stars! Excellent! It was delicious! (PW recipe). I ended up using store bought tortilla chips instead of homemade, but am anxious to try the homemade tortilla strips soon! I may also add corn next time.

Chicken & Dumplings - 3 1/2 stars. I have never had chicken and dumplings but over the last month I have heard or read about the dish from a few different sources and I became quite curious. Until recently, I always thought this was an Asian dish- boy was I off-base. I think I followed the recipe very well and the meal was very tasty. This was a PW recipe and she uses cornmeal in the dumplings rather than buttermilk. Next time I try this, I want to try a more traditional take on the dumplings by using buttermilk.

BBQ Chicken in crock-pot. It is quite possible that this meal hit the top 10 favorites for Owen and Tucker and also one of the easiest meals I have ever made. I used apple cider instead of water or chicken broth in the crock-pot with frozen chicken breasts. Cooked on low while I was at work. Came home. Added bbq sauce and served with veggies, fruit, and bread. All 3 of the boys had seconds. I can only imagine how good this would be with homemade sauce.

Roast Chicken with veggies- 5 stars! My hair stylist and I usually spend the majority of the time it takes to cut my hair - talking about cooking. She inspired me to make the Barefoot Contessa's roast chicken. It was out of this world. I have always wanted to make a full-bird recipe and I'm so glad I finally did it. It is easy and will become a a regular for us.

Smashed potatoes (PW recipe) - very good. I cooked a giant bag of potatoes so the timing was off and the portions required for the recipe were a bit off, but they were still very good. Next time, I'll try to actually follow the recipe to see if I can make it great. Kris enjoyed them more than regular mashed potatoes which is no surprise since the recipe called for bacon.

Chicken Fried Steak- "F" (PW recipe) The "F" grade has nothing to do with the recipe. Nope, it was all me. It may have something to do with the fact that I have never had it before - but let's be honest, that's just a poor excuse. I did consult my local resident/good pal/great cook/local PW (Kristi) after the fact and she reassured me by telling me that perfecting this meal is much harder than it looks. I couldn't agree more. She asked me what went wrong, and I wasn't exaggerating when I wrote- everything. I think I messed up on every step: the meat was not tender enough, I didn't use enough flour or seasoning for the flour or meat, and I didn't use the right pan and was very short on the amount of oil used. I also burned the second batch before the meat cooked through and that made it impossible to make a good gravy. I tried to switch pans to finish cooking the meat in a non-scorched pan so I could attempt the gravy - bad idea. It was just terrible- actually it was beyond terrible. Somehow, we managed to eat a few bites, but most of the meal ended up in the trash. Good thing I had a side of instant stuffing and some rolls and veggies for us to eat. Thanks to Kristi's encouragement, I will try it again, but I don't think Kris is very excited about me taking this one on again any time soon.

Other - I made a few other really nice meals during the month - sausage/tortellini/veg soup- batch was super - but in the future I will make it with diced tomatoes instead of whole tomatoes. Neither of us want to eat giant chunks of tomato. RR Pesto Pasta - why has it been so long since we made this dish? It's been a favorite for a long time, but it's probably been more than 2 years since we last made it. It's on the "standard" list again.

We did eat out twice during our vacation. Once was when we were actually on vacation - we grabbed fish and chips when we met up with Brian & Andrea and the other was on our drive home after we exhausted all of our snacks. The restaurant was an old diner with out of date decor but incredible, all natural home-style food served up in gigantic portions. Definitely a good choice for one of our few restaurant experiences this year. Kris doesn't want to count either restaurant trip in our "12" because he says vacation restaurant trips are separate. I kind-of agree since I was loose on my goal definition on purpose, but we'll see how we're doing as the year progresses. Really, I'd love to hit less than 12 for the year all-together.

January:

Apple Granola cookies - fun to make with Owen. want to try to incorporate whole wheat flour sometime. Will make again.

Pork Carnitas - easy and very yummy - topped with enchilada sauce to make it extra good. will become new standard for our pork carnitas meals.

I HEART Santa Barbara

Last weekend, we hit the road and made our way to Santa Barbara. My mom, Grandpa Lou, and Rod were house sitting for a dear friend of theirs who happens to live ON the beach in Carpenteria, just south of Santa Barbara. It was a beautiful location and a great trip.

It was the first time I have spent any time in Santa Barbara since childhood and even though I grew up only a few hours away from this beautiful place, I only visited there a couple times as a youngster. I fell in love. I am sure as a kid I would have enjoyed it but I'm also pretty sure I saw the town differently this time around. Now, I appreciated it for more than the pretty beaches and coastline, although they still captured my heart. I was wowed by the view of the Channel Islands and the serene green hills layered with history, wild flowers, and stunning mansions. I was able to close my eyes and dream of long hikes to the mountain peaks, boat rides to watch whales and dolphins swimming and playing, trips to the tide pools, fishing, playing and hiking on the Channel Islands, trips to wine and ranch country, and I can't hide it- hopes that if I stayed long enough, we would run into the Psych crew during a stroll along the boardwalk. I could go on and on, but I think the title of this post says it all.

While we were there, we took a few long walks on the beach, watched the boys play with their cousin Charles as they built sand castles and frolicked in the water. We played at the aquarium and we were also fortunate to meet up with our friends, Brian and Andrea, for a stroll along the pier and a lovely lunch in down-town. We did get caught in the rain a bit, but still managed to take Owen and Charles for a covered carousel ride across the street from the beach and a drive to see the Mission. The rain didn't bother us though. Some how, I think the cozy beach house, heavy music of the rain and roar of the surf combined with good company, happy kids, yummy food, Scrabble, and a warm fire just put us all at peace.

My fingers are crossed that we get invited back some time!

Here are a few pictures from our weekend..

Kristin showing how close we were to the sand

i think his sweatshirt should read: I heart SB

fun in the sand

proud builders

Kris & me with Gramps @ the Sea Center

Swimming lessons

A few weeks ago we decided to try a swimming class at our local kids' gym, so we switched Owen out of his gymnastics class and into the swimming class on a different night. We wanted him to get some practice in over the winter so that he's ready for the upcoming summer swimming season. Even though he loves playing in the water and swimming with us, he's still very terrified of getting his head wet, so we thought some practice and water time would help him.

He's loved the class from the start, but last week was incredible! They had a zip line set up for the kids to try towards the end of the lesson. I didn't think Owen would go for it, but he never hesitated or even looked to me for encouragement. He just went for it! I was so happy to see him excitedly try it out and was thrilled when he landed in his teacher's arms. He smiled at me once he was back in line for his second turn.

The whole scenario just melted my heart.

floating practice

even though this picture is blurry, i love it because he was so happy riding this whale

p.s. yes, yes, i did want to jump for joy, but instead i just played it cool by busting out a double thumbs up and a goofy smile on my face.One day soon he's going to figure out that his mom is a total dork.