Friday, February 29, 2008

leap year


is it 4pm yet? i am tired and ready for the weekend.

it is a leap year so today is the extra day of the year. bryan and i have decided to start a new leap year tradition - breakfast for dinner! i love breakfast for dinner. we'll have eggs, bacon, and pancakes (yum). i'm going to try soy milk in the pancakes since i can't have dairy. should be interesting.

tomorrow morning i have my 60 minute relaxing massage scheduled. i can't WAIT. it's going to be pretty awesome and may have to become a monthly staple for me.

mom and dad are coming over for dinner this weekend. i'm planning on making beef and guinness stew, because it's delicious and the weather is disgusting. i may even try dumplings (again with soy milk).

not doing anything else. except napping. hallelujah.

Thursday, February 28, 2008

peapod part 2: pre-made dinner

last night for dinner we heated up the pre-made salmon dinner from peapod. it did appear to be pre-cooked, but that wasn't a deal breaker. the "rice pilaf" was really fake yellow rice. the salmon was advertised as "teriyaki salmon" but i tasted no teriyaki. it had diced green onions and red peppers on top. it wasn't bad, but it wasn't exactly what i was expecting.

bryan took moose to the vet while i sat home and entertained ollie. turns out the lump in his neck is a benign liquid filled cyst. while we'll get the full lab results tomorrow, they are confident it's fine. they drained it and moose is just fine. :)

WFD: cornish hens, buttered peas, roast potatoes. peapod had a great deal on cornish hens, so we snatched some of those up. haven't decided exactly what to do with them to make them interesting. maybe i can talk bryan into smoking them. if that doesn't work out for me, we'll probably just glaze them. or maybe i'll get wild and open a bottle of red wine to have a glass with dinner. look at me go now.

Wednesday, February 27, 2008

notes on dinner, etc.

saturday, oliver and i spent the morning playing around the house, passing the time until we had to get our little butts to the airport to pick daddy up. i had wanted to make a big hunk of meat to welcome bryan home after his business trip. i had an oven roast; a beef round sirloin tip. i wanted to do something different, so i made bavarian beef. i browned the meat in the dutch oven, and added sliced onions. i deglazed with beer, then added beef stock, tomato paste, white vinegar, ginger, cinnamon, sugar, a bay leaf, and garlic. i let this simmer for about 2 hours; it came out pretty darn tender. i whisked in margarine at the end to give the sauce that lovely sheen and buerre texture (yes, i miss butter). i served this sliced thinly over egg noodles with buttered peas. it was quite yummy! next time, i think i would use a different beer (it was too light), less tomato sauce, and more ginger, and perhaps garnish with parsley.

sunday, we took it easy and hung out around the house (see ollie chillin' on the left there). i had bryan make me chicken with tomatillo sauce. he pan fried the chicken in the cast iron, and simmered with the tomatillo sauce. he served it over fried potatoes. simple and delish. he had made this before; in the oven with beer and stock. the flavor between the 2 preparations was different; the oven baked was more carmelized, while sunday's was more fresh. both were good. i just can't get enough of that tomatillo sauce!


monday, we had our first peapod dinner - hot dogs and green bean fries. we had planned on making the pasta dish we ended up making tuesday, but the sausage was frozen when it arrived and we were hungry. the hot dogs were all beef, all natural, uncured, nitrate free ones, and they were pretty good. a fun and easy dinner.

tuesday, we made the pasta i had been planning, with broccoli rabe, and chicken sausage with sun dried tomatoes. we simply sauteed the rabe in olive oil and garlic, and served with penne and the sausages. the rabe was a large and beautiful bunch, and was quite tasty with lots of garlic. the sausages were very good as well; the sun dried tomatoes made them very robust, which helped them to stand up to the rabe.

pictures from atlanta have been posted. bryan is still working on repairing the gallery, but some new february 2008 photos are available.

WFD: i am taking moose to the vet tonight (i found a lump in his neck) so bryan will be handling the baby by his lonesome for a bit, so we'll probably go for something easy. quite possibly teriyaki salmon with rice pilaf and boston lettuce salad with asian dressing. the teriyaki salmon is a pre-made (but not pre-cooked) meal we ordered from peapod, so we'll see how that turns out.

3 experiments

Peapod
bryan and i ordered groceries from peapod on sunday. we had a coupon in the mail for $20 off, and we had been pleased with the now defunct webvan service years back in atlanta, so we though we'd give it a whirl. our ordering experience went rather well; the site is easy to use and has some nice "list" type features. they also accept manufacturer's coupons, which is pretty rockin' since i'm a coupon queen. :) while bryan and i enjoy shopping outside the home, as it's winter (and thus cold), we have a baby (who we prefer to keep on his schedule rather than dragging him all over town), plus we haven't had a chance to hunt down specialty markets to shop at, peapod seemed like a good option. in the past, we had been very pleased with the quality of the food we received from webvan. the meat was always very nice, and the produce outstanding. some of it may cost more than what is at the grocery store, but it's definitely a trade off for quality.

our order was scheduled to arrive anywhere between 3:30pm and 9pm monday. i can see how this wide time frame might be a turn off to some customers, but as bryan works from home, this was no problem for us. you may choose a narrower (2 hour) delivery window, but choosing this gave us a $2 coupon off the order (hey, a buck's a buck). the delivery man arrived around 5:30pm, and unloaded all the shopping bags directly into our kitchen. we were pleased with the service and the quality of the food we received. we're looking forward to eating it (see next post for some details on that)!

The Great Rice Krispie Treat Project
i love to bake. i love making sweets which can entice even the strictest gastronomic masochist to derail their diet plans. i am the cupcake queen. i am a cookie goddess. i can, apparently, make cake so good you eat half of it in one sitting (i'm not naming any names). unfortunately, my current co-workers have not been exposed to such delicious treats, and thus do not understand my baking. they do, however, LOVE rice krispie treats. so i am breaking them in slowly. i started a few weeks ago with cocoa rice krispie treats, and monday i brought in treats made with fruity pebbles (teeth jarringly sweet and technicolor bright). big hits, both of them. i am thinking of using chocolate marshmallows with cocoa rice krispies; strawberry marshmallow fluff with those new rice krispies with strawberrites; toasted coconut marshmallows; eventually using homemade marshmallows (an experiment i've been wanting to try anyways). so i'll continue to proceed, making them slightly more exciting each time, until they are ready for the glory that are my cupcakes. until then, i'm not going to waste 2 hours (which i don't have anyways) baking them. :)

Corned Beef
it's that time again folks! this one isn't so much an experiment (as we've done it before) as an exciting and delicious project - homemade corned beef! we picked up a big fat brisket at sam's club and cut it into 2. both are submerged in brine and will be until st. patrick's day, when we will boil and roast one for dinner, and smoke the other for pastrami sandwiches. oh the excitement.

Sunday, February 24, 2008

an ode to my angel














you know
that the soft spot in my heart
exists on my shoulder
and it's there that you rest your head
and curl your arm around my neck
and slowly grab at me
your little fist
opening and closing
in time with the beat of my heart
at 2 in the morning
when you smile sleepily up at me
and blink slowly
your wide blue eyes
shining in the dark
are the reason behind everything
and it is them
that gives me my energy
you are more loved than you could ever know
more precious than anything
an angel, a gift
my son

Wednesday, February 20, 2008

oliver's first journey

oliver and i made it back to milwaukee last night, safe and sound, if not a little worse for the wear. while i will never travel alone with a 3 month old baby again (or, at least not on the return trip through a large airport when he has had it with the travel), overall he was such a little angel. the trip itself was fun.

we made it to the airport super early saturday morning. getting through security wasn't too bad (the airport is so small), though it was pretty funny how much stuff we had to shuttle through. oliver did fantastic on the plane ride, which was a major concern for me - he ate on the take off, smiled and giggled and took in the new sights through the flight (and flirted not a bit with our surrounding passengers - what a charmer!), and fell asleep as we were landing. as we had flown in on a little carrier jet, we de-planed on the tarmac in the sunny 70 degree weather. it was a little disconcerting getting off the plane into warmth - i had forgotten that weather could be so beautiful! oliver had never truly been exposed to actual weather, so was kind of taken aback by the sun and warm breeze. we managed to locate all of our luggage, bryan got our rental car (a prius), and we were off.

we picked up hannah, who was so excited to see her baby brother, and headed to ru-san's for a late sushi lunch. we've found sushi in milwaukee though nothing quite like ru-san's (and we haven't had the chance to explore much either), plus hannah loves going, so we knew we had to hit it up. we all chowed down while ollie looked on in wonder, made a brief stop at target for diapers and baby gifts (i wanted to buy ALL the little girl outfits for brent & jess's baby emma, due to arrive monday, but bryan made me pick just one) then drove out to stone mountain to settle into the house. we were fortunate enough to have use of the in law's house, which made baby wrangling away from home a little easier. hannah was craving steak for dinner, so that night we went to longhorn's, which was pretty much as bad as i thought it would be. hannah scarfed down her whole kid's size sirloin, though, and bryan didn't mind his giant porterhouse. that place just leaves a bad taste in my mouth, though. something about it just rubs me the wrong way. we stopped at bruster's on the way home so hannah and bryan could enjoy some dessert. bryan had some caramel apple thing, which was an actual baked apple wrapped in puff pastry with ice cream and caramel - sounded sooooooo good!

sunday, we were up bright and early, so headed to the farmer's market for some coffee/tea and light shopping. we had a short list of things we haven't been able to find in milwaukee (and to be fair, we have not had a chance to explore and find all the good shopping spots), and while we weren't able to get everything, it was good to be back. i miss that place! we moseyed on over to thomas and michelle's house for brunch with them and daniel and ronnie. it was great to see them all again! we hung out and caught up for a bit, and of course showed off the baby, and then were off again. we ended up heading back to the house to let oliver take a nice, long nap (and i got one in myself). we ventured out in the rain (it wasn't cold and it wasn't snow!) to meet pavan at caribou coffee. it was really nice to see him again.

that evening, we met up with adam and sara for dinner. our initial plans were to try depeaux, a newish cajun restaurant built in the old historic train depot in decatur (get it? depeaux?). ugh ugh ugh what a horrible experience. we arrived between 6:30 and 7pm, and were seated immediately, next to the hostess podium. there were 4 other occupied tables in the place, and 2 or 3 waiters on staff. we were there for about 20 minutes, and never even got water, much less our order taken. our waiter NEVER came by the table, and successfully never even made eye contact... even though he was not actually doing anything other than walking around. the hostess, while she did hassle the waiter to come to our table, never came by and offered to bring us drink or to apologize. truly the worst service i have ever received anywhere. our only guess was that they were hoping we'd walk out so they could close early. which was a shame, since the menu looked good (and based on reviews i've read today, is totally hit or miss). we ended up walking out. unfortunately for them, it was such an incredibly bad experience, none of us will ever be back, and we'll be sure to tell all our friends how horrid it was. i emailed their management, who has offered us a free meal, which is a nice show of faith (or a desperate attempt to get customers).

instead, we walked down the block to carpe diem and enjoyed a lovely dinner. hannah, who was in a french fry mood all weekend, ordered the Pommes Allumettes (french fries with garlic-parsley sour cream) and Calamari (Lightly breaded tender calamari with jalapeno tarter sauce, crushed red chili ponzu and asiago cheese). she managed to scarf down her entire plate of fries. bryan ordered the Bison Strip Steak (Wood grilled with balsamic glaze and blue cheese crust), which he said was outstanding. i had the moroccan spiced salmon, which was served on a bed of israeli couscous. the salmon was a little overdone, but it was still a tasty dish. sara very much enjoyed her croque monsieur, which is one of my favorites as well (a grilled cheese sandwich with mayo and cream sauce? no contest!). then it was home to bed.

monday, bryan was off to work, so hannah, oliver, and i were left to amuse ourselves. after a very lovely morning, wherein oliver complied with our desired schedule and hannah was a gigantic help in getting ollie ready, we jumped in the caddy to meet up with people from earthlink. driving my father in law's old cadillac is kind of like driving a boat. as hannah said, it really grows on ya (she became very fond of the car by the end of the day :), so we had fun rolling in that. cat brought her kids along, so hannah and madison got to catch up a bit. we walked around the building for awhile with chris to visit and show off the baby, then met up with bobby and headed to papi's for lunch. unfortunately, they were doing some painting, and were thusly closed. we crossed the street for a lovely southern lunch at mary mac's tea room instead. this is not high class dining, but it is fill your belly good. i surprised myself by ordering the collard greens with my meatloaf - apparently bryan has converted me with his new year's day greens. they weren't as good as bry's, but i didn't hate them. he is slowly ruining me. ;) we all went back to earthlink, and let the kids annoy everyone in the game room while cat and i chatted and cooed at the baby.

while we were at earthlink, we received the word that brent and jessica had had their baby girl, emma! so hannah and i zipped back to the house to pick up her things quick, then went to pick up bryan so we could all head to the hospital together. oh my, what a beautiful girl. and so tiny - barely 7 pounds! ollie was ~7 1/2 but i can barely remember him being so small. she weighed practically nothing! she looks so much like her mom AND dad; i could see both their facial expressions while watching her sleep. mom and dad were happy but tired, so after a quick visit we left them to rest.

we walked around the mall for a little bit to kill some time before dinner, then went in search of somewhere good sounding to eat. we chose one of the places at the mall, but it turned out to be on the other side of the mall, outside, so in lieu of walking all the way over there or paying $30 a piece for steaks at the one that was close by, we opted to jump in the car and head down the block to fuddrucker's instead, for an easy meal. oliver had a quick snack as well, and passed out pretty good. the constant travel and attention was beginning to wear on him, though he was a trooper and rarely showed any ill humour (except when alone in the car with us). we dropped hannah off, then headed right home, where we all promptly passed out.

tuesday morning started off splendidly, as we got everything together and got out the door without any hassles. oliver and i were taking bryan into work that morning so that we would end up with only one car at the end of the day. on our way, bryan realized he had forgotten his cell phone, so i gave him mine to use for the day. as we were getting caught in traffic, oliver decided he was going to die from starvation, and began to scream as such (that is the only explanation for such screaming). he could not be consoled by a nuk, finger, or anything. he worked himself into such a frenzy that he spit up ALL over himself. all this, and he had eaten a 5 oz bottle before we left the house (i am starting to wonder if it isn't ready to move on to rice cereal - there have been a few times now when he seems to eat enough to fill his belly but as soon as there is a little room he is starving again)!! as soon as we reached bryan's office, bryan ran inside to his meeting and i parked in the parking deck to feed the baby. he ate for a good 20 minutes and was in much better spirits. i went to start the car (which, on the prius is a push button - there is no ignition) and nothing happened. except a new blinking light to indicate that the key was not in the car. AWESOME. so i unloaded the boy and we went inside to locate bryan and the car key. i asked the security officer at the front desk to call his cell phone, as he doesn't have a desk AND they were all in a meeting somewhere. well, they can't dial non-local numbers so could not call my cell (if it had been HIS cell, we could have reached him - his desk number was forwarding there). eventually, we were able to find the room he was in and got the key. :)

ollie was once again the perfect baby, and slept all the way home and continued to sleep once we arrived, which allowed me to pack up the suitcases and load up the car. i got smiley happy baby fed, changed, and ready (i love smiley happy baby), then it was back in the car to find some lunch. in the car, he decided once again he was hungry or perhaps just not happy (i'm pretty sure he was TOTALLY over being strapped into his car seat every other hour), but eventually fell asleep. so i drove around a bit and let him enjoy that before stopping at alon's (they opened one across from perimeter mall) to grab a sandwich. oliver was awake but quiet, so rather than test my luck and eat there in the loud dining area, we just headed to the hospital to visit jessica and the new family and to catch up a bit. though, there wasn't much to catch up on with me: i'm pretty boring now and my entire life revolves around being a mom. :)

oliver was fussy, though quiet; he was over tired but fighting it; i'm pretty sure he was at the end of his rope with all the disquiet and disruption; too many unfamiliar surroundings and people. i gave up trying to get him to not be distracted and decided to drive him around for a bit instead. he fell asleep almost immediately, so when we arrived at bryan's office earlier than expected, i texted him to let him know i would NOT be disrupting the baby, and that we would wait in the car instead. we had a good half an hour, which gave me some time to eat my lunch (smoked peppered turkey sandwich, and salt and vinegar potato chips). then it was off to the airport, which i was nervous about.

bryan got us checked in, and we meandered over to the security checkpoint. jessica's dad had flown out that morning, and the wait time in the first class security line was an hour. i was NOT looking forward to waiting in the coach line with the baby. he was sleeping, but i knew that if we were in line for any length of time he would wake up and be HUNGRY. luckily, as i was standing there contemplating my impending doom, one of the security authorities whisked me off into a "special needs" line. what a lifesaver - i was in line less than 5 minutes total. i even managed to get myself, oliver, the car seat, stroller, diaper bag, and accoutrements (such as ollie's *3* blankets) through security without a hitch. the very nice woman behind me took the stroller off the x-ray conveyor for me so that i could get the baby settled. being pulled out of his quiet, dark stroller cave and into the very loud, bright security station woke him up without much finesse, so we immediately went to a bench to sit quietly and eat a bit before getting on the train.

he still wasn't all that thrilled with life, and i knew i had to get him out of his seat soon. luckily, we were the second stop on the train so we didn't have far to go. unfortunately, everyone at the train station were jerks, and although i was first in line to get on the train, about 10 people shoved their way in front of me to get on first, and when we got to terminal B, the ONLY other person getting off JUMPED in front of me (i hit his ankles with the stroller) to get off before us. i had a few choice words for him. we made it to B, though, and i found a quiet gate to sit and feed oliver at. unfortunately, as we were sitting there, a plane landed and the gate filled up with loud people from new jersey. we walked up and down the concourse a bit before commandeering a family restroom for a moment of quiet, then headed to our gate, which luckily was at the very end. we were there a good hour early, so were able to enjoy some quiet before having to board the plane.

a very nice passenger with 3 young boys of his own at home helped me onto the plane, pushing the stroller and breaking it down for me (i'm pretty sure i couldn't have managed it otherwise). one of the flight attendants immediately made herself ollie's helper, and was there with pillows and tucking his blanket around his feet and such. he was so over tired and cranky, i feared the worst. but he had a small snack, we found our cuddle spot, and once they turned out the lights and began taxiing down the runway, he was a goner. he slept the entire flight, and woke up as we were getting ready to land. i fed him as we landed and he was in a better mood. crisis adverted. :) the other young children on the plane were crying but not my ollie. everyone commented on what a beautiful boy he was, and what an angel he was during the flight. duh! :)

the same nice gentleman helped me off the plane. i could tell oliver's fuse was completely burnt out and that at any moment we would have a big meltdown. as soon as we got past security and he saw nana, though, he was all smiles. we managed to get ourselves and my luggage out to the car, where oliver started his meltdown for real. i pulled over just before the exit to the parking to feed him; he ate for about 2 minutes but was more interested in screaming. mom sat with him on the car ride and that comforted him. we managed to make it home without either of us crying so much we puked, and as soon as we were inside and he saw his familiar surroundings, he was all better. i got him all changed and ready for bed while he smiled and giggled at me, he ate a big bottle, burped, and was out like a light. that boy crashed HARD. he was down before 10 and i didn't hear a peep until he got up at nearly 3.

i unloaded the car and got myself ready for today as quickly as a could, took a shower to wash the travel off, and crashed pretty hard myself. the night wasn't too bad; ollie was up around 3, ate well and went back down, then was up at 5; he ate a bottle around 5:30 and was back down until 7, which allowed me to get ready for the day. tonight i plan on keeping with our normal routine as best i can, and probably joining him for his evening nap. i'm pretty exhausted from the whole trip, especially the return leg (i even had caffeinated tea this morning!).

we definitely learned a lot about traveling with a baby (such as, don't do it alone when he's cranky!!!). i am going to look very seriously into buying a travel bottle warmer, which will even be helpful with errands and such. i think that 3 days of total unfamiliarity is definitely oliver's limit at this point. he did SO well, though; i really couldn't have asked for better behavior. having hannah around helped as usual as well; she is such an amazing big sister. it was great getting to hang out with her, and to see everyone again as well. hopefully it won't be so long between visits next time.

pictures to be posted later in the week.

on that note, i think it is time for some more caffeine and some serious work.

Friday, February 15, 2008

watch out dixieland

we leave for atlanta tomorrow morning - wish me luck with traveling with a baby! can't WAIT for some warmer weather and to see everyone!!!!

Thursday, February 14, 2008

valentine's day


last night, bryan took me to dinner at mitchell's fish market for our valentine's day dinner. i was pleasantly surprised - it was much better than i had anticipated. the atmosphere and decor were great - definitely my kind of place. they have their fish flown in whole every morning, and they have a guy who does all the butchering on site.

we started with the new orleans voodoo bbq shrimp, which were wrapped in bacon, drenched in a sweet and spicy bbq sauce, and served with sticky rice. the shrimp were pretty fat, and very sweet. it was a relatively simple preparation, and totally delicious (totally stealing this idea). bryan had some raw oysters, which i was not brave enough to try. bryan moved on to the new orleans seafood gumbo, which, while he wasn't sure if there was okra in it, had more than it's fair share of fish, which he was happy about. i had the spinach salad with green apples, red onion, spiced pecans, and maple-bacon vinaigrette. the salad was very good; i have a hard time resisting spinach salads with bacon dressing. bryan chose the day's catch of yellowfin tuna, simply grilled. while the presentation left something to be desired (it was a rather uncolored and uninspiring block of fish), it was a good size and bryan enjoyed it. i had the cedar plank salmon, which is served on the plank with roasted vegetables, portabella relish, and a balsamic glaze. it was really very good. i was impressed that they seemed to do the planking correctly, and the fish had a good smokey, woody flavor. we skipped dessert, as it was all dairy (and delicious sounding). very, very enjoyable. it's sort of the oceanaire for the every day. nothing wrong with that though - it was great!

we noticed on the way out that the bar has a separate menu (fish tacos, veggie fries, etc), so i look forward to going back to have a drink (they fresh squeeze all their juices, so that's exciting) and a snack sometime.

mom and dad watched ollie while we were out, and he was the perfect little angel, of course. dad took some pictures - what a cutie!

valentine's day continues tomorrow, as all the candy will be 50% off. ;)

Tuesday, February 12, 2008

houston, we have a problem

you may notice that the pictures suddenly won't load. we're experiencing some problems with the gallery; bryan is working to restore it. in the meantime, no pictures.

Monday, February 11, 2008

juicy baby


our weekend was fairly splendid. oliver did *much* better with his schedule, due in no small part, i think, to our ability to schedule him better. :) generally on the weekends, his schedule is not as consistent as it is at day care. this is more than likely because we let him run his own schedule. which, to a degree is fine... he should eat when he's hungry and sleep when he's tired... but always seemed to just want to snack and cat nap all weekend for us. we've been getting better about putting him down for naps when he should go down and is tired, and letting him cry for a few minutes to put himself to sleep. this helps him eat meals better as well, since he's generally a hungry monster when he wakes up from a good long nap. friday evening, he cried for exactly 1 minute before giving up. :) so all in all, our weekend went very well as far as that was concerned - he ate well and took real morning, afternoon, and evening naps. bryan and i even got to take naps both days! and as of last night, his nighttime sleeping schedule is MUCH improved as well - he only got up once! this all makes for a much happier, well rested, smiley family.

saturday, we actually took it easy. ran to target to get some things we were in need of, but other than that, hung around the house. i had the pleasure of taking a leisurely 2 hour nap, which i needed. it was delicious. bryan made me some scrumptious chicken and chips for dinner, with homemade honey mustard for the chicken and mayo for the seasoned fries.

sunday, we braved the sub-zero temperatures, and mom and dad treated us to a lovely afternoon downtown. we went to the milwaukee public market for lunch. dad had never been, so it was fun showing him around. we picked up some tasty bits at the middle eastern counter (i had hummus with warmed pita, dolmades, and a veggie samosa; bryan and mom had falafel; dad had a spicy chicken and rice dish), which was a nice change of pace. dad also picked up some smoked salmon from the fish vendor, which was very tasty. i managed to not feel to bad passing up all the cheese at the deli counter of the west allis cheese and sausage shop, but it was much tougher passing by the incredible desserts next door. we then headed over the to milwaukee art museum. oliver had fun being carried around in his carrier for awhile and checking out all the neat art. we checked out the new photo exhibit, some of which was very interesting (and some of which was not that creative). they had some new exhibits in the modern art section which were kind of neat, including a huge wall of antique tvs playing a random mash up of images (which of course bryan loved though i was afraid it would give ollie a seizure), and a blackened room filled with a floor to ceiling grid of blue led lights on strings (which made me kind of dizzy). oliver was being a very well behaved baby, and as we were approaching nap time, we decided to head home and not press our luck. he passed out on the way home, and we all had a lovely nap before dinner.

we watched charlie wilson's war last night. it was a good movie (aaron sorkin did the writing, so there was very good dialogue - we love his back and forth quick wit style), and very interesting to see how all that was orchestrated. not to mention the heavy foreshadowing of future events. the acting was impressive as well (can phillip seymour hoffman do no wrong?) - it was nice to see tom hanks in a role such as this.

a few new pictures along with a super cute video have been uploaded to the february 2008 gallery.

no updates beyond that. we were relatively boring this weekend, which was very nice. :) planning to keep this week much of the same before flying out to atlanta this coming weekend. we're very excited to go and see everyone, though it will be a very, very busy 4 days. we're trying to cram in a lot of visits so hopefully we're able to make it (and hopefully brent and jess will have their baby girl)! not sure what our plans are for valentine's day as of yet. mom has agreed to watch the baby wednesday night so we can go to dinner or a movie or something. since 9pm is my bedtime, it probably won't be anything too crazy. it will be nice to go on a real date though!

WFD: not sure yet. something with ground beef. i have yet to be inspired. cheesy sloppy joes sound good but alas, i'm still off dairy. so far Keema (Indian Spiced Ground Veal and Beef with Peas) is the front running recipe.

our weekend was fairly splendid. oliver did *much* better with his schedule, due in no small part, i think, to our ability to schedule him better. :) generally on the weekends, his schedule is not as consistent as it is at day care. this is more than likely because we let him run his own schedule. which, to a degree is fine... he should eat when he's hungry and sleep when he's tired... but always seemed to just want to snack and cat nap all weekend for us. we've been getting better about putting him down for naps when he should go down and is tired, and letting him cry for a few minutes to put himself to sleep. this helps him eat meals better as well, since he's generally a hungry monster when he wakes up from a good long nap. friday evening, he cried for exactly 1 minute before giving up. :) so all in all, our weekend went very well as far as that was concerned - he ate well and took real morning, afternoon, and evening naps. bryan and i even got to take naps both days! and as of last night, his nighttime sleeping schedule is MUCH improved as well - he only got up once! this all makes for a much happier, well rested, smiley family.

saturday, we actually took it easy. ran to target to get some things we were in need of, but other than that, hung around the house. i had the pleasure of taking a leisurely 2 hour nap, which i needed. it was delicious. bryan made me some scrumptious chicken and chips for dinner, with homemade honey mustard for the chicken and mayo for the seasoned fries.

sunday, we braved the sub-zero temperatures, and mom and dad treated us to a lovely afternoon downtown. we went to the milwaukee public market for lunch. dad had never been, so it was fun showing him around. we picked up some tasty bits at the middle eastern counter (i had hummus with warmed pita, dolmades, and a veggie samosa; bryan and mom had falafel; dad had a spicy chicken and rice dish), which was a nice change of pace. dad also picked up some smoked salmon from the fish vendor, which was very tasty. we then headed over the to milwaukee art museum. oliver had fun being carried around in his carrier for awhile. we checked out the new photo exhibit, some of which was very interesting (and some of which was not that creative). they had some new exhibits in the modern art section which were kind of neat, including a huge wall of antique tvs (which of course bryan loved), and a blackened room filled with a floor to ceiling grid of blue led lights on strings (which made me kind of dizzy). oliver was being a very well behaved baby, and as we were approaching nap time, we decided to head home and not press our luck. he passed out on the way home, and we all had a lovely nap before dinner.

we watched charlie wilson's war last night. it was a good movie (aaron sorkin did the writing, so there was very good dialogue - we love his back and forth quick wit style), and very interesting to see how all that was orchestrated. not to mention the heavy foreshadowing of future events. the acting was impressive as well (can phillip seymour hoffman do no wrong?) - it was nice to see tom hanks in a role such as this.

a few new pictures along with a super cute video have been uploaded to the february 2008 gallery.

no updates beyond that. we were relatively boring this weekend, which was very nice. :) planning to keep this week much of the same before flying out to atlanta this coming weekend. we're very excited to go and see everyone, though it will be a very, very busy 4 days. we're trying to cram in a lot of visits so hopefully we're able to make it (and hopefully brent and jess will have their baby girl)! not sure what our plans are for valentine's day as of yet. mom has agreed to watch the baby wednesday night so we can go to dinner or a movie or something. since 9pm is my bedtime, it probably won't be anything too crazy. it will be nice to go on a real date though!

WFD: not sure yet. something with ground beef. i have yet to be inspired. cheesy sloppy joes sound good but alas, i'm still off dairy. so far Keema (Indian Spiced Ground Veal and Beef with Peas) is the front running recipe.

Thursday, February 7, 2008

like a snow cone, only less tasty


we ended up getting over 14" of snow yesterday. moose was thrilled; ally was not. bryan has cleared the driveway twice. as of this morning, the roads were still pretty crappy. thank goodness i have 4 wheel drive. hopefully the lingering ice has melted from the highways so that the drive home won't be too treacherous. i think we've reached our quota of snow for the year. i know i have. OVER IT. luckily, the storm has passed so we're not due for snow anytime soon. at least, not a lot of snow. we'll get some flurries this weekend it seems. but we won't get dumped on. everyone was saying it had been awhile since we had gotten so much snow. i seem to remember getting snow like this all the time when i was a kid; perhaps that is just because the large ones were the type to leave an impression.

our salsa burgers last night turned out pretty good. i made mini ones, since the buns we had were relatively small. i seasoned the meat with salt, pepper, garlic, and a touch of chili powder. i squoze some lime over the lettuce, and smushed the tops of the buns in to make a little bowl for the salsa (so as not to cause the burgers to be so tall as to fall apart). i served these with mexican style corn - mixed with mayo, lime, salt, and cracked black pepper. it was a nice little something different. my sense of smell and thus taste is still on the wobbly side, but bryan was a happy camper.

WFD: not sure. something with pork chops. we have some leftover cherry wine that we aren't going to drink, so that may make its way into a sauce. maybe with some mustard. the wheels are turning.

Wednesday, February 6, 2008

15 feet of pure white snow

oliver is slowly getting closer to being back on track sleep-wise. last night he had near a 5 hour stretch. almost there! we're all starting to feel much better, so that will help everyone get some much needed sleep, i think.

he got himself into a serious fit of the giggles last night, which was pretty darn cute. we were playing Flying Baby and he thought it was the most hilarious thing. i'd fly him around a bit then plop him in my lap and he would laugh and laugh and laugh. that kept me amused for a bit, since i think that oliver laughing is the most precious, amazing, cute, entertaining thing pretty much ever. :)

i'm starting to get my sense of smell and thus taste back, and i've been daydreaming about breakfast foods. i never was a huge fan of breakfast foods, but with bryan's training in liking eggs and tomatoes, that has changed. some highlights:
- stuffed french toast. i take challah bread and slice it thick as ya like. i cut a little pocket in it and shove a bunch of chocolate chips in there, and make it into french toast. serve that with a fruit sauce and some mascarpone whipped with castor sugar and vanilla and viola! - delicioso. it's the equivalent of foie gras for breakfast. you'd be hard pressed to find something richer and more decadent. i dare you to eat more than 1 piece.
- pancakes with vanilla butter. it's hard to beat homemade pancakes for breakfast, and my accidental discovery of vanilla butter helped make them even better. i was whipping cream with sugar and vanilla, and walked away a few minutes too long... ta-da! butter! works splendidly with both maple syrup or powdered sugar (a favorite childhood treat).
- waffle sandwiches with ham, apricot jam, and cream cheese. this one i got out of a magazine and i must say, it has just about everything you can love about breakfast in it.
- biscuits with sausage gravy. need i say more?

part of the longing for a big plate of breakfast stems from the longing to have a relaxing weekend morning. someday, when we don't have babies and the kids are grown enough... someday... :)

it's been snowing non stop here since last night. it really picked up this morning. seriously. it's megatron. i am working from home so as not to risk the 26 mile round trip to and from work, and bryan is currently snow blowing the 10" inches we've gotten so far (and it's falling fast and hard still). i am yet again very glad we have 4 wheel drive on the suv. i'm hoping it abates before tomorrow morning so i can get into work. i'm totally sick of snow!

i've decided to start 2 new features on the blog!

WFD: What's For Dinner. i'll post my evening's menu plans, provided they are more exciting than fish sticks (although i was pretty chuffed to get the time to eat those last week).

My New Favorite: i'll detail out my new favorite thing. expect lots of things related to and in the general realm of eating.

WFD: salsa burgers. we have some leftover pico bryan made for last night's chorizo tacos, so we've decided to take our burgers south of the border tonight.

My New Favorite: archer farms natural italian sodas. archer farms is the target brand food stuffs, and most of it is pretty good and relatively natural. the soda is not as sweet as your normal soda, and they have more fun flavors, like strawberry pomegranate, and blood orange. le yum.

Tuesday, February 5, 2008

no rest for the weary

our weekend wasn't as restful as i had planned. you're amazed, i am sure. i don't know why i even bother to plan resting anymore!

oliver is still sick, so his eating/sleeping was off all weekend. we did the best we could to keep him hydrated, rested, and not feeling too miserable (a plan which involved lots of hugs, liberal smears of baby vicks, and a few doses of tylenol). he is doing better, but still isn't well yet.

friday, i did make the chicken soup i had been dreaming about. i finely diced some onions and garlic, and sauteed those; deglazed with white wine; added homemade chicken stock, marjarom, thyme, and carrots, and simmered. added egg noodles and celery; seasoned with peruvian salt and cracked black pepper; garnished with parsley and served. unfortunately, my extreme congestion meant i couldn't taste any of it. at all. which is crazy. i have never been so congested that i can't taste ANYTHING. it's weird and unhappy. bryan tells me the soup was good, though.

saturday, we headed out to the mall to make an exchange and pick up a new chain for my Oliver necklace. we had lunch at p.f. chang's (which i was interested in trying since i had never been but, again, i couldn't taste even in the slighest; bryan assures me it was mostly ok) and i picked up a few new books with my gift certificate from jess (gabriel garcia marquez and isabel allende... shocking, i know i am so unpredictable). we wandered around a bit to check out all the cute clothes we'll be able to dress oliver in when he gets a bit bigger and i longed after some new shoes, while he napped in the stroller, then headed home.

sunday, i had a hankering for a b.l.t (after recommending one to chris, i had bacon on the brain) so we went to johnny v's for lunch. unfortunately, again, i couldn't taste it, so it wasn't as satisfying as a b.l.t ought to be. bryan enjoyed his lunch, however, and the place in general. we then ran to target for some random household goods (including Puffs with Vicks, my new favorite find, even if i can't smell it), which was fun as usual. bryan also started to feel sick sunday. i managed to avoid the depression of watching the giants win the super bowl by going to bed very early. i was pretty exhausted.

i am starting to feel better, although still pretty tired and congested... and still can't taste a single thing, which is starting to stress me. bryan has hit the middle of the sickness and is feeling downright crappy. oliver has his moments... overall i think he is dealing with it rather well, considering he is a baby and if he is feeling as bad as i have been, he should be MUCH fussier (i know i would be). yesterday, he didn't nap much at day care so was pretty overtired in the evening... which meant he was too cranky to go to bed and just wanted to fight it. i did eventually get him down but it was another rough night. i just can't wait for us all to be well again.

no big plans for the week. we're supposed to get anywhere from 4 - 15 inches of snow tonight, depending on who you believe, which sucks majorly and means i may be working from home tomorrow. aunt mo is having a jewelery party on friday, so ollie and i will head over there for some free food and baby handling. other than that, i think we're going to try to lay low all week and weekend and not do much in hopes we'll get over this cold before we have to travel weekend after next! and i seriously mean rest this time. other than finishing the laundry. seriously.

and here is your obligatory cute baby picture:

that is him doing his best (and succeeding) in NOT smiling when i take a picture (and having serious giggle fits in between me snapping pictures, of course).

ok, just one more for good measure:

yep, he is really good at looking like he doesn't ever smile for me! :)

have a chat with ollie.

Friday, February 1, 2008

mama bear

the weather here has warmed some, though we're still getting pretty steady snow. i am so sick of snow and we have so many more months of it to go. and i don't even shovel (my hero of a husband takes care of all that for me).

oliver has been soldiering through his cold. i've managed to get sick myself; working from home today so i could go to the doctor to ensure it's not strep (it's not). all i'd need is a 3 month old infant with strep to complete my weekend, so i wanted to be sure. since i hadn't yet had a need to go to a general practitioner since the move up here, i had to pick a new doctor. i found one at a family practice, thinking if i liked what i saw and heard, we could switch oliver over. the doctor was very nice and attentive, and agreed that you can never be too safe with the baby. the facilities were very nice as well, with lots of things on site. it sort of pains me to switch; ollie's current doc is nice, knowledgeable, and so good with the baby... but i don't like feeling like i can't come to him with any concerns. call me over protective, i don't care: i'm still new at this and will play Big Bad Mama Bear until ollie (and whomever comes next) wears me down. ;)

no plans for the weekend, other than resting as much as possible. i'm feeling pretty brain dead from this virus, and am counting the minutes until nap time. i've got part of a roasted chicken left over in the fridge, so i plan on making a restorative chicken soup for dinner with some fresh carrots, celery, parsley, egg noodles, and bryan's famous chicken jello. that will leave us with another carcass for more chicken stock. i've been daydreaming about bryan's chicken stock. all i really need is that with some fresh cracked black pepper to help me feel better; the chicken and noodles are really just for show. ;)