Posted in happiness, holidays, milestones, pictures on April 29, 2009| 1 Comment »
Happy you have put up with me for three years now aren’t they going to declare you a saint soon or something Day.
Three years ago, after many years of dating, Ries and I tied the knot for better or for worse. God has blessed us exceedingly with a partner that matches our strengths and weaknesses. I am so lucky to have Ries.
I love you, Sweety.
You better, you better, you bet.
Posted in adventures, pictures, travel on April 28, 2009| Leave a Comment »
This past weekend we went camping with Gideon for the first time. We went to Camp Jellystone, a campground geared towards children. There were small children everywhere. I thought my head might explode. I like my kid and my friends children, but large numbers of small kids make me want to run screaming from the room. I prefer my ankle biters to be at least middle school age or older.
Small children in packs are like demons. Annoying, smelly demons.
But I digress.
Camping, or pseudo camping (not too many woods or wildlife, nice bathrooms, golf carts (seriously, golf carts, it was ridiculous) and way too close to your neighbor), was good. We had the company of some friends with a small child so we put the rugrats to bed and played dominoes.
Gideon enjoyed eating dirt and sticks all weekend. The second evening I put him in the tent with a book, hoping he would sleep. When I went to check on him, this picture is what I saw. He had figured out the zipper and was peeking out. It was hilarious and adorable.
Camping will be a frequent occurrence, so I am glad this first trip went well.
Posted in birth, family, life changes, pictures, updates on April 28, 2009| Leave a Comment »
Originally uploaded by Wandering Eyre
This post is a few days late, but life has been busy.
Gideon has a new cousin! Isaac Audie Murrell was born on April 23rd. He shares his birthday with Ries.
I am happy Isaac is here and that his parents are adjusting reasonably well. As well as two sleep deprived individuals can be doing.
Gideon will no longer be alone in the limelight, but I think his ego can handle it. He has already confided in me that he was getting tired of being smothered by all those grandmas and he is happy there are more cheeks to kiss.
Posted in boys, pictures on April 22, 2009| 3 Comments »
There is no way you can tell me that this is not my child. Compare for yourself.
Ries version 2.0
Ries version 1.0
Sorry they couldn’t be one of the more cuter pictures but I was going for similarities rather than knock down adorable. And whereas Gideon has a plethora of pictures to go through, the ones of me were limited.
Posted in pictures, travel on April 22, 2009| Leave a Comment »
Our last adventure in Boston was attending a Red Sox game. They were playing the Orioles which is Ries’ favorite team. He had high hopes of a win since the Orioles were on a winning streak, but they lost every game of the series with the Sox.
Gideon clapped for the Sox along with the crowd, which vexed his father and won him the admiration of the ladies behind us. They were all in love with our baby… and who wouldn’t be?
A game a Fenway park is a unique experience. It is a beautiful ballpark and the crowd is infectious.
The sardine-like experience of the subway after was less fun and Gideon was not a big fan, but once the train cleared out, he was happier.
Boston treated us well and it was nice to hang out with some family we do not see too often. Many thanks to Lance and Brittany who took the time to show us around their city.
Posted in pictures, travel on April 22, 2009| Leave a Comment »
Continuing the Boston series:
On Saturday, we took a tour of the local craft brewery, Harpoon Brewery. It was a great tour and the beer was fabulous. It is available sometimes in Texas, but I have mostly seen the IPA, which is not my favorite. I am not a huge fan of IPAs. Too hoppy.
Gideon loved the brewery dogs and he happily shared his crackers.
Posted in pictures, travel on April 20, 2009| 1 Comment »
We took a guided tour of the Freedom Trail. Gideon appears here with our guide. He was very good, even if he was an ex University of Texas Professor.
We learned many interesting things including that fact that Paul Revere got caught by the British the night of his famous ride because he was too drunk on Flip (a local drink) to stay atop his horse. We walked the entire trail, minus Bunker Hill. It was fun to see all the things I remember from history classes.
We also took a tour of the USS Constitution, the oldest floating commissioned warship. It was very cool.
Posted in pictures, travel on April 20, 2009| Leave a Comment »
One of our first stops was Boston Common, a lovely area with statues, lawns, a playground, and a sometimes skating rink/wading pool. Of course, we had to go and see the Make Way for Ducklings statue. They were decked out for Easter with hats.
Gideon liked the real ducks better.
Posted in pictures, travel on April 20, 2009| 1 Comment »
This will be the first in a series chronicling the Smith trip to Boston.
Gideon was an excellent flier. He made not a peep on any of our flights. I did not even have to bust out the plane toys I bought on the advice of many mothers I know.
The captain of the first plane let Gideon sit in his chair and wear his hat on the occasion of his first flight.
Our flight from Detroit, where we had a layover, we were delayed for two hours, but we eventually got to Boston in one piece.
Posted in recipes, tagged engineers on April 13, 2009| 1 Comment »
You may have noticed that I almost never post a recipe as is. I always modify it.
There are two kinds of cooks. There are cooks who measure everything and follow every recipe to the letter and then there are cooks like me.
Cooks who never measure salt, unless you count dumping it in my palm before throwing it in the pot. Cooks who decide that the recipe would be better with more garlic or onions. (I have never found this to be a wrong assumption. I always, always double or triple the garlic amounts.) Cooks who add an ingredient that does not even appear on the list because they think it would go nicely with the rest. Cooks who use the instructions as guidelines and not rules.
This style of cooking very rarely turns out badly for me. For Ries however, just reading this is making his eyes water and his head hurt. I think engineers are genetically incapable of deviating from a recipe. A recipe is, after all, a formula, to be followed mathematically. I think Ries willingly deviating from a recipe is one of the seals of the Apocalypse.
If you really want to give an engineer an aneurysm, try giving them a recipe verbally using words like dash, bit, shake, dollop, or “until it looks good.”
Posted in food, recipes on April 13, 2009| 3 Comments »
I have been looking for a way to make granola or granola bars that did not call for a million ingredients for awhile. I stumbled on this recipe in the baby food book I use entitled Super Baby Food. I highly recommend this book if you are thinking about making your own baby food (and you should it is crazy cheap and ridiculously easy).
I actually had everything the recipe required in my pantry. The perfect situation for any cook! The granola bars are chewy and not as sweet as the commercial kind, but the recipe seems like it would be pretty easy to adapt and alter. I may try adding peanut butter or flax to future batches. As always, this recipe is slightly modified.
Granola Bars
Mix all dry ingredients. Mix honey, oil, and vanilla into dry mixture. Add more honey to moisten or more oats to dry mixture as needed. (I did not add either. I think this depends largely on preference.) The mixture will be thicker than batter, more like you just got the dry ingredients wet enough to stick together and that is about it. Press mixture into an 8×8 greased pan and bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes. The closer to 20 you get the less chewy they will be. I cooked mine the full 20 and they are still chewy. Not crunchy at all.
Posted in pictures, updates on April 10, 2009| 3 Comments »
This is a week late, but life intervenes in daily schedules in funny ways when you have small children. Entire days pass and I wonder what we did that day other than roll around on the floor and eat at mealtimes. I feel so blessed to be able to be with this child, even when I am short on sleep
Food: He loves everything, still, but he is less excited by green beans. He would eat cheerios and peas all day, everyday, if I would let him. Last night, I gave him some vegetable lasagna straight from the pan and he hoovered it up like he had not eaten all day. To keep him from playing in the dog dishes, I give him a cracker while we are in the kitchen. It works sometimes. It is the only time I use food to distract him. He still gets Milkies, lucky thing.
We have tried most of the high allergen things now: peanut butter, eggs, strawberries, and wheat. No hives, swelling, or other anomalies, so that is a go.
New Trick: Standing up (see picture in this post). He stands on his own without holding on to anything to get up or down and is standing for longer periods. I think he likes the new perspective.
On and Off: He loves to turn the light switches on and off. His Gammy taught him that trick and he has perfected it. Every time we leave a room he wants to turn the lights on and off. We say, “Lights On!” and “Lights Off!” when he flips the switch. He looks at us and smiles in accomplishment. It is pretty fun, the first 5 times.
Likes: Books. He spends at least 30 minutes a day sitting by his book shelf “reading” to himself. It is so adorable. He will also sit longer for stories than he used to. He likes to turn the pages. We skip around that way, but it makes him happy. Current favorites include Hand Hand Fingers Thumb, Goodnight Gorilla, and Animals.
We went to the Zoo a week ago and he liked seeing the animals, the ones that moved anyway. He did not care for the sleeping ones. When we are reading his animal book and making animal noises, he always looks for his puppy when we get to the page with the dog. He laughs when we bark like Pullo or roar like a lion. When we get to the elephant, he points to the one on his wall. He is so smart, this kid.
Posted in everyday, mom, musings, naps, tagged Murphy's Law on April 8, 2009| Leave a Comment »
When your child finally, blissfully goes to sleep you rush around to complete that nap time’s designated chore. Amazingly, you complete the chore and the child is still sleeping. You do a happy jig and rush to turn on your computer. You will finally be able to check your email, read the news, or loaf online without sticky fingers trying to pry the laptop away from you.
The computer boots up. You turn the wireless on. You open Firefox. You can smell the gigabytes traveling through the tubes.
And then you hear your baby cry.
*sigh* It never fails. Murphy’s Law of Motherhood #371.
Posted in recipes on April 6, 2009| Leave a Comment »
I have decided to try to post a new recipe every Monday. I missed last week, but I am going to try to make this a regular thing. Why? Because food is delicious. That’s why.
This recipe is adapted from The Gourmet Cookbook which if I was stranded on a desert island with a fully equipped kitchen (Dharma Initiative anyone?) this is one of two cookbooks that I would bring with me. I would choose this book because it tells you how to make and prepare almost anything. However, for desert island purposes it does not include how to can and preserve. For that I would need Betty, though she is not my second choice. The Bread Baker’s Apprentice would be my second must have cookbook.
Enough gabbing. This recipe is sweet enough for a salad of greens with fruit, nuts, and avocado, but savory enough not to add too much sweet, and thus overpower, the natural sweetness of a fruit salad.
Poppy Seed Dressing
Combine all ingredients except olive oil and whisk until sugar is dissolved. Add oil slowly, while whisking, until well blended. Cover and refrigerate for three hours. Whisk well before using.
Posted in everyday, pictures, prayers on April 1, 2009| Leave a Comment »
Posted in happiness, pictures on April 1, 2009| Leave a Comment »
This is the face of a boy happy in his new red wagon. It was an early birthday present from Gammy and Grandpa.
Defying Genetics 