Lazy days of summer

Well, the wee one has calmed down a bit, no more crazy tricks. Just a few loud protestations here and there. I switched the carseat back to the old "baby" one and she seems to be more content in there. I know the tantrums can come and go in the different times in a child's life, so I am going to try to go with the flow. Her 19 months old cousin is here visiting and wee one seems a bit scare of her. She is louder and more physically advanced (can jump into a swimming pool and bob around in her floatie unassisted). She is the 3rd child with 2 older brothers (7&9) so she has to grow up fast to keep up, unlike my one and only. It is nice to have extended family contact and kids around as I never saw my cousins/ aunts very regularly, only in pictures as we lived in a different country from most everyone.

Harriet Houdini

The story I have today is about how my 2 year old live birth climbed out of her carseat and got into the drivers seat with me a la Britney Spears while I was driving. Oh, and of course she was screaming her head off the whole time (I was picking her up from the baby sitter's house and she had skipped her nap) and didn't stop screaming until she was in my lap. At least by the time she made it there I was 1 block from our driveway. Oh my wild wee one...

Mary Lou Retton

Well, I watch in horror and amazement tonight as Wee One used the mattress to vault her leg up on the crib bars to climb out. She was throwing a tantrum in protest of going to bed. My dh was there and grabbed her thankfully before she could hurt herself. Yes, I have a spirited child. Anyway, she has calmed down and is lying in her crib. So, is it time to take the side down to make the toddler bed? What is going to happen then?!

Food "O" face

I have been enjoying food again as I recover. I mean, really enjoying food!!! To the point of "O" face. Last night I had dh bring home some shrimp scampi and pasta from Johnny Carinos our local chain Italian restaurant. The scampi, which I had never tried was SO GOOD. I told him, as I was sopping up the butter, wine, garlic, tomatoes, basil, and shrimp with a big hunk of bread, that he should go get this for me whenever I am hormonal/ PMS. Tonight, I was getting dinner ready and saw a cook on tv preparing mushrooms. I modified it a bit to my taste but the recipe, I had to share with you all. Scrumptious!!!

Sherry Mushroom Tapas

6-8 White mushrooms
2T Olive oil
1 pat Butter
1 clove Garlic crushed
Salt and pepper
1 T Sherry wine
Parsley
Lemon juice
Bread

Heat sautee pan on medium
Add olive oil, butter and garlic
Place mushrooms in pan, top down
When bottoms are brown, flip mushrooms over
Season with salt and pepper
Add sherry and parsley
When cooked, spritz with lemon juice
Serve with bread

Food book - Animal, Vegetable, Miracle

I recently read the book, "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle" by Barbara Kingsolver. It got me thinking even more about the food I eat and what I feed my family. Since Wee One started eating solid food, (even before, as I was paying attention to what I was eating while breastfeeding), I have been more conscious of what I buy and feed her. It has been a good influence on my diet as I eat her leftovers and she gets a lot of whole grains and fruits because that is what she likes (so that's why I have lost some weight...duh!). She, of course, like any other kid, will eat candy until we run out, but she really prefers fruits, juices, pasta, rice, tortillas, yogurt, peas, corn, cheese, eggs, and milk. Occasionally she'll eat some meat. Not a bad diet for me to follow either.

I have been even more attentive to high fructose corn syrup because I think after a capri sun one day she really crashed into a bad tamtrum (may have just been the 2 year old blues, but this one was really, really bad). Growing up we had liberal access to sodas, chips, etc., but my mom often let them go stale/ flat so that I really didn't care for them any more than any other food. She prepared most of our meals from scratch, chinese home cooking so we ate a lot of veggies, seafood, chicken, and rice. My cooking is an amalgam of chinese/ tex mex/ southern/ quick fix/ italian/ american convenience. I have chips and soda in my house, the soda more for my dh who stopped drinking 3 years ago. We do eat out, sometimes out of boredom/ fatigue at figuring out what to make that will please everyone. It is terrible sometimes what we will put into our bodies to quell the hunger/ keep the routine of a meal.

I do find a lot of pleasure in cooking, preparing meals for my dh and wee one. I have more interest in that than in home decor per se. One of the points of the book that has been sticking with me is the concept of locavore. Now, I live in the desert, not exactly a fertile place, but I do think about and try to buy things that don't have to be shipped from >1000 miles away. So locally, I have noticed tomatoes, melons, and dairy. I live in a big state, but my goal is to try to buy things from in state...like the blueberries I got the other day. It helps that the market I shop at is hq in my own state.

Happy 4th of July!

Right now I am watching a fireworks show from the window in my study. As there are no houses built in front of us nor many buildings (except for a church near us) for a few miles, I can see quite a ways. Pretty nifty to see a show from my house huh! My dh is watching the hot dog eating contest on ESPN2...just your usual July 4th activities for us average Americans with sleep children under 3. Hope everyone has a happy and safe 4th!