Hibernation, Appliances, and of Course Food

I am happy to inform you that so far this flu season, none of us have been affected... yet.  Well, no flu anyway.  We have had our share of colds, but nothing too debilitating.  It seemed like one out of every few posts on Facebook this past week have been about someone in a family (or whole families!) being bedridden for a few days.  So, needless to say, at the beginning of the week, I kept CJ home from the library.  I have seen him put a bunch of those toys they play with after singing in his mouth so who knows what germs lurk in that bin!  We have had a few playdates, but for the most part we have been holed up in the house.  Lesson learned- must put newspapers or plastic on floor when playing with Play-Doh.  That stuff is MESSY.  Who knew? (Well, apparently me who spent a good half hour Monday night scraping dried up Play-Doh out of the basement carpet with a butter knife). 

Our huge project this winter is getting the whole kitchen redone.  We were very happy with our kitchen when we first bought the house, but now we realize it is time for an upgrade.  So, we are getting all new cabinets, granite countertops, a backsplash, and appliances.  We are also changing the layout slightly so we can have more storage.  I am very excited about the whole thing, but can't wait until it is done.  The latest step in the process has had me picking out new appliances which is quite the headache.  Apparently nowadays everything breaks.  Quickly.  So, no brand has stellar reviews across the board.  I don't care if we get different brands for different appliances (we are keeping our Bosch dishwasher per recommendation) except that we need our refrigerator and wall oven to match because they will be right next to each other.  To find a brand that does both well- well let's just say I've been quite frustrated.  But, I think FINALLY we may have some winners- let's just hope that the oven won't explode when using the self-cleaning function (HA!  Cleaning the oven.)  Today we pick granite.

This week's favorite meal was inspired by trying to use up ingredients in our refrigerator before the renovation starts.  I decided to make a pizza using some leftover sausage, veggies, and a jar of pizza sauce I had on hand.  I like to make my own crust, and over the past year I have used this recipe.
Even though it comes out really crispy when using a pizza stone, it is not foolproof and there have been times when I'm about to call it quits when trying to press it into a circle.    So, I decided to try something new from a cookbook I received for Christmas. 

Jim Lahey's Perfect Pizza Crust from "Dinner: A Love Story"
3 3/4 cups flour (I substituted 2 cups of whole wheat flour for 2 cups A.P. flour)
2 1/2 teaspoons instant or other active dry yeast
3/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon sugar
1 1/3 cup room-temperature water

In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, yeast, salt, and sugar. Add the water and, using a wooden spoon or your hand, mix until blended, at least 30 seconds. The dough will be stiff, not wet and sticky. Cover the bowl and let sit at room temperature until the dough has more than doubled in volume, about 2 hours. Divide the dough in two and shape each into flattened balls. (Dough can be frozen at this point.)
When you are ready to make a pizza, preheat oven to 500°F roll out one ball of dough in a rectangular shape and place on an oiled cookie sheet.

Yeah, forgot to take a picture while still on cookie sheet

I topped the pizza with fresh mozzarella, pizza sauce from a jar (gasp), cooked turkey sausage, broccoli florets, and mushrooms.  Yes, you do have to knead it a bit and wait to let the dough rise, but it was so much easier to press it out into a cookie sheet!  And, you get two balls of dough so now I have one in the freezer!  The middle of the pizza may not have been as crispy as I would have liked, but overall me, Kevin, and CJ gobbled it right up.  Win!  By the way, check out the blog Dinner: A Love Story.  I like it so much I had to get the book. 

We still try to go out to eat once a week (thank God CJ is typically good at restaurants) and we're always all about a new restaurant opening in our area, especially if it's non-chain.  Last night we tried The V Brew House in Ashburn.  It used to be the Shenandoah Restaurant (loved their Krispy Kreme Doughnut bread pudding!) which was short-lived unfortunately.  I had a grilled chicken sandwich with cheese, avocado, and bacon with waffle fries, Kevin had a New York strip steak with a loaded baked potato, and CJ had the kids' fish plate with mashed potatoes.  Me and Kevin's meals were okay, not bad, but nothing to get excited about.  The waffle fries were really good, and you didn't get too large of a helping.  CJ liked his meal, especially the free scoop of ice cream at the end!  The beer list is pretty good, I'm assuming at some point they will have their own beer.  The ambiance is nice, a little dark, but not too intimate that I felt bad bringing a child.  The bar area seemed hopping.  I would probably go back for drinks, but if I'm in Ashburn for dinner the much better choice is Ford's Fish Shack. 

We are off on this cold (but at least sunny) day to pick some granite!  Let's hope we find something we will be happy with! 

Happy New Year!

Well, hello friends.  Again it's long time, no see.  I am finding that more and more things that I have enjoyed doing in my "free" time are getting pushed down the priority list to make room for toddler activities- one of those being continuing with the blog.  But more on that later. 

Yes, October-December was super busy with the holidays and all of the preparations, as well as keeping up with our day-to-day activities.  We traveled to Syracuse for Thanksgiving, I ran a 10-miler in VA Beach with my friend Kat from college, we saw many college friends and old co-workers at holiday parties, my parents and sister came up for Christmas for a week, and then Kevin's parents, brother, and his girlfriend came down for several days.  Not to mention hosting some extended family.  And all of the preparations for guests, Christmas shopping, cookie baking, etc.  Phew!  All of this is why I love the Holiday Season though, and New Year's Day is always so anti-climatic when either people are leaving our house or we are coming home.

Unexpected White Christmas!

Everybody's leaving!

CJ's big present this year was a train table.  We were trying to save that for last when opening presents Christmas morning, but he escaped the living room and found it.  Well, needless to say, we opened the rest of his presents for him.  I actually think we all went a little overboard, and am going to try my best to not repeat next year (but the toys are so darn cute!)

CJ also liked the puzzles that he received

Since October, CJ has developed immensely.  He FINALLY started to walk (by himself) right before Thanksgiving.  One night he just let go of our hands and started walking around the house like he was a pro.  And that was it.   Now he rarely holds our hands when we actually want him too!  He also has had a language explosion.  I left CJ's 15 month appointment thinking we may need early intervention if he didn't have 10 words by 18 months- but now he has far surpassed that goal.  In addition to actually knowing many words (and mostly using them correctly) he is just very vocal in general.  You can barely understand a thing CJ says, but he'll just talk and talk and talk.  Sound familiar?  (He has a very talkative Daddy). 

Putting on his "shooos" while he is holding his "cack" that goes "eeoww"

I have not made many resolutions this New Year, but do have some goals in mind (difference?  goals seem more attainable than I WILL lose 20 lbs or whatever your resolution happens to be).  I only have a few.  As always, I am trying to keep up with working out and losing weight.  This year may be the year for pregnancy #2 so I have a few (well, maybe 10) more pounds to lose before I gain it back again.  HA!!  I have started Insanity again so if you hear some yelling coming from the basement of my house at 7AM that would be me.  It's probably the hardest and best workout you can do at home though, and it's what really helped me begin to take off some of that baby-weight last year. 

As I mentioned above, I have let some of my hobbies get pushed down on the priority list in these past months.  CJ and I keep quite busy during the week with two formal playgroups, library storytimes and playgroups, and seeing other friends.  Now we are taking Parent-Toddler swim classes as well once a week.  The only time I really have to myself is naptime in the afternoon (CJ needs to take naps until kindergarten!) and then some evenings.  Most of the naptimes were taken up by holiday stuff, so now I can hopefully devote more time to blogging, organizing pictures and scrapbooking, and of course cooking.  I ended up starting another 365 Project because I found that having one really keeps me motivated to take pictures and experiment.  This time I am uploading them to a website- if you want to follow along check out this link. 

At the library

Finally, each time I post to this blog I am going to post my favorite recipe of the week that I made.  (Yes, one of my goals is to blog at least once a week).  This week, I made recipe that I got out of "Eating Well" Magazine last June to use some of the abundance of cherries that we received from our CSA.  We ended up having to freeze many of those cherries and now I'm finally getting around to using them.  Although when thawed they aren't as pretty as fresh, they still taste fine.  The base is quinoa (lots of protein for a grain!), wild rice, cherries (I used sweet), cheese (I used smoked gouda), pecans, olive oil and vinegar (I used balsalmic).  It's a great light lunch dish! Here is the recipe.  The picture on the Eating Well site is so much better than mine, I really need to start using white plates when taking pictures of my food! 

Have a good week!

What To Do With a One-Year-Old On a Rainy Day

Last Tuesday I woke up hearing rain hitting the roof.  I just wanted to crawl back under the covers, but of course the Little Man does not understand that rainy days = lazy.  So, we had breakfast, I drank a cup of coffee while CJ played in the family room.  We try to get out of the house every morning now that he is only taking the afternoon nap- even if it is just to go to Target to spend the obligatory $100.  However, this morning there were no plans, and no motivation to go anywhere as just getting CJ out of the carseat would have make me soaked.  And it rained like this ALL MORNING.  Well, at around 11 I figured that CJ needed some structured play (and to get out of his PJ's).

I guess his pants are a little too big. 

What to do with a One-Year-Old?  Here's where I actually revisited a pin on Pinterest that had activities for 1-2 Year Olds.  I follow a lot of blogs, many of them parenting (with ideas for kids) but CJ is just too young for most of the activities.  So, Pinterest it is.  I also needed to find something that I had all of the materials for- so I decided on "Sensory Tub with Shredded Paper."  Basically, you fill a bin with paper from the paper shredder and then add a few "surprises" (I put in some cars) and let the kid go to town.   Just a week ago I witnessed CJ be able to entertain himself for at least an hour just playing in sand- same thing, right?

I set the tub in our living room, where there wouldn't be any distractions (he's not into ceramic bowls or expensive coffee table books quite yet) and thought he would dig right in.  Nope.  The stairs were just too close and he hardly ever gets the opportunity to climb them on his own accord!

Then the Little Man decided we were going to play a game where he walks (on his knees of course) around the house in circles while I chase him.

Finally, he thought maybe it would be fun to take out all of the paper and put it back in the bin again.  This occupied him for about 10-15 minutes until it was time to do another circle.  The circles and actual time at the bin took us up to lunch- so success if you ask me!  Here is the website that provided the activity- http://www.icanteachmychild.com/1-2-years/

Fall(?) Beach Vacation

My parents own a condo in Nags Head, NC, which is AWESOME- but with one downside.  We can't use it in the summer so they can rent it out to paying vacationers and not freeloaders like us. ;)  We've taken CJ down there three times now- last September when he was about 3 months old, in April when he was about 10 months, and last week (15 months).  Of course last year the Little Man could have cared less about the beach and I tried my best to make sure absolutely NO sand got on him.  (What can I say, I was a new mom.)   However, it rained the majority of the week we were there so only one or two beach visits.

The next visit, in April, CJ was crawling and at that point it really didn't matter to me how sandy he got.  I was more anxious to see his reaction to a huge sandbox.  Turns out, he thoroughly enjoyed it, and it was a little chilly so he still didn't get too sandy since he wore pants and a jacket.

I was CRAVING the beach this summer but we didn't get to go until this past week.  However, while I could have been sweating under an umbrella in July, I was basking in sunny, mid- 70's temps at the end of September.  It was gorgeous!  Again, CJ entertained himself in the sand, and did even get his feet wet in the ocean one day.  Although still not walking by himself, he got lots of practice holding our hands on the beach.  We made a point to come down almost everyday, usually after his nap so we wouldn't have to deal with getting sand in the pack n play. 

I was so thankful for the great weather.  Last year, the gloomy, rainy days weren't all that bad- CJ was still taking 3 naps so we had to be inside a lot anyway.  This year, we have a one-nap-taking busy toddler who is not appreciated by my parents' cat Phoebe.  In the mornings, we took excursions to Manteo, the aquarium, Duck, or on the semi-chilly days down to the beach so CJ could play (but with enough clothes on so he wouldn't get too much sand on him). 

I also was thankful for Kevin, who stayed back at the condo while CJ napped a few of the days so I could go be my lazy-self at the beach and read/nap.  My parents were awesome as well, keeping CJ entertained for a few minutes on the beach so I could grab a quick snooze.  Kevin and I even had a date night.  It truly was a snap back to reality on Monday as Kev started a new role at work and I went back to my giant To Do List (and 45 degree nights! Brr!).  And don't forget CJ, who again just has to be happy with me and walks down the street listening to birds and airplanes and no ocean.  :)

By the way, for those of you who do travel down to that area, there is a new frozen yogurt place called "Surfin' Spoon" on Beach Road- probably at about MP 10 that is really cute.  Check it out!  http://www.surfinspoon.com/

Hey! Wake up!

This week through our CSA we got TONS of apples.  Aren't they beautiful?  Even though it is still 85-feels like 100-degrees outside I am ready for fall baking and comfort food in general.

Problem is, I have a pair of jeans.  Lucky Brand Jeans.  Pre-pregnancy.  That actually fit me as good as American Eagle Jeans, but none of my students pointed to them saying that they were wearing the same pair.  After being so disciplined with working out and Weightwatchers during the winter and spring I got to the point where I could put these jeans on again and even button them, but they did not look good.  It was okay, though, I had all summer to lose some more weight and probably wouldn't really need pants until late September.  And then we went on vacation at the end of June.  After we returned, the excuses started. 

When I was working, I couldn't go to the gym until after work because the alarm clock already went off at 5 AM.  I used to say after having a hard day and just waving to the gym as I drove straight home that I would be so much more consistent if I could go before work.  Now, "work" does not technically start until 8 AM.  I have plenty of time to work out before the little man wakes up! 

Who wants to run outside when it is already 80 degrees with 100% humidity at 6:30 AM though?  I stayed up late the night before to catch up on Hell's Kitchen and Masterchef and you should really get at least 7 hours of sleep a night to stay healthy ... the excuses go on and on.  I tried a gym class later in the day once, but apparently CJ would rather not play with a bunch of new toys in a new place.  (Read- the warmup during cycling class wasn't even finished but "CJ's Mom" was already called to fetch her screaming baby).  Having fresh produce every week has helped us eat better, but I certainly have not been strict with WeightWatchers after gorging on treats in the Adirondacks. 

So, I have 2 weeks until I am going to the beach, and who knows when I will need jeans.  Time for the excuses to stop.  I WILL start getting up early, maybe even making that 5:30 AM strength training class.  Or at least getting out more consistently for a run or bike ride.  I can't say I won't cook or bake with apples and pumpkins, but I'm going to find healthy recipes and keep the treats at a minimum.  If I write it here, I have to live up to my word, right?

Anyone have some healthy fall recipes they would like to share? 

On a parenting note, does anyone have any suggestions to get past separation anxiety?   CJ would rather have a complete stranger come to our house and watch him than me drop him off at a friend's house.  Don't even think about a non-familiar place, such as a gym nursery that will come get you after 10 minutes of crying.  I think I know the answer- either drop him off somewhere and let some poor soul deal with him for several hours until he can handle the separation, or "this too shall pass."  I'm sure, as with many situations, I will be thinking the latter.  

I know, sometimes I just don't make sense

But since I'm so darn cute, who cares?

 

It's Been a Year!

Forgive me, first of all, for not having posted on this blog since May.  It's been a busy summer!

August 29, 2011

One year later

I can't believe that I started this blog a year ago.  I just went through all of the pictures taken for my 365 Day Project (sadly, there weren't 365 pictures though) and marvel at how much CJ has changed over the past year.  Crazy!  I have also learned so much about myself and being a mother in the past 365 days.  As CJ enters Toddlerhood I am learning more and more about parenting everyday- and I guess this will continue, well, forever.

So, general update since the last post:

I have been cooking A LOT this summer.  We decided to join Great Country Farms' CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) where every week CJ and I drive to Blumont and pick up a box of produce from the farm.  We also have a U-Pick bonus every week- a plus since we opted to pick the boxes up as opposed to having them a delivered.  We have not been inundated with produce as much as I thought we would, but we still have enough to keep me busy with planning and cooking different dishes to make sure we use up all of the fruits and veggies.

At the end of June, we traveled up to Old Forge, NY in the Adirondacks for our annual Swift-Sheldon vacation.  It was nice to enjoy the lake and mountains with family.  At the end of the week, we celebrated CJ's first birthday in Syracuse.  The Little Man is entering Toddlerhood.

Funny Family Picture with the stuffed wolf that was found in our lakehouse

He wanted more cake after his first piece

Speaking of which, I do have (almost) a Toddler on my hands.  The reason for the "almost" is because CJ is not quite walking yet.  Although he has been cruising since May, he is quite happy walking on his knees.  That's right.  His KNEES.  Although it's quite normal for babies to not start walking until well after their first birthday, many of my fellow mom friends have commented that they haven't seen too many kids walk on their knees as CJ does.  I guess he just wants to be unique.  :)  Last week, however, he did start walking with the help of a push-toy.  He actually can walk all the way down to the end of our street and almost all the way back!  I know once he gets that confidence to let go he will start running.

We have been filling up our days with playdates, walks, projects around the house, and other outings.  I truly am amazed that Labor Day weekend is approaching, school has started, and I am in my second year of being a Stay At Home Mom.  Even with the tough days where I feel like all I am doing is calming a screaming child (CJ does not just cry or whimper, he lets it ALL out) and cleaning up food, life is pretty darn good.

Ahh, toddlers. 

So, what I have I learned this year?

• 365 Day Projects are hard.  I didn't count, but I would say my project was probably a 330 Day Project.  I got lazy this summer (with taking pictures, that is).
• Babies are unpredictable.  Some days I can check off everything on a To-Do List, other days, nothing gets done for various reasons.  For example, I am not supposed to be sitting on my deck right now writing.  All plans for today were cancelled because CJ woke up with his first fever (I think due to teething, hopefully).  
• Patience is essential for being a parent.  I think dealing with teenagers has helped with this, but there are somedays that it gets the best of me.  I hope CJ forgives me for leaving the kitchen when he suddenly stopped letting us feed him one morning and I just dumped the cottage cheese on his tray, gave him a spoon, and went to another room and cried while he screamed.  
•  It is very important to get out of the house- and I mean this in several ways.  CJ and I.  Myself.  Myself and other moms.  Kevin and I.  Kevin.  I don't think I need to elaborate. 
• We are SOOOOO lucky to have a good sleeper.  I know we may not be so lucky with the next kid, but I am glad I have not spent my first year of being a parent feeling the need to nap everytime CJ naps (only sometimes :) ).  It has allowed me to be so much more productive.
• I know I have and some days still do struggle with my choice of being a Stay At Home Mom, but I am now proud of my choice and know I am doing what is right for our family.  Someday, I am sure I will venture back into that crazy world of teaching high school.  For now, though, I'll get my experience with the younger ones.

What should I do about this blog?  It was started to document my life as a new SAHM and to show some of my pictures taken for my 365 Day Project.  Well, the project is over and I am not a new SAHM anymore.  I don't think I should discontinue blogging though.  Over the past few weeks especially I have become quite obsessed with following several blogs catering to all my different interests- parenting, food, photography, travel, etc.  I think I am going to continue to blog, hopefully more frequently than the past few months, and just write whatever inspires me that day.  Maybe I took a really good picture that day.  Or cooked/baked something awesome that I want to share.  Maybe I have a question about how to handle a toddler.  Or just have a thought about anything.  We'll see how it goes.  Now, to think of a title since I don't have a "New Job" anymore... some of the blog names are so creative but the only title I came up with is "Type A Mama."  Ha.  Well, I am Type A.  My name starts with A.  That's the best I've got.  :)

Enjoy Labor Day Weekend!  When the inspiration hits me, I will post again, under the new title!