The baby who won the cute contest

Okay, so she didn't win the cute contest...but I think she could.  This little thing is all over the place now...practically running from one thing to the next.  No time for pictures...and the answer to everything is "No".

And the pigtails! Oh! They kill me...when I'm home, she's in pigtails.  I can't get over it.  Although, they usually come out later in the day when she realizes they are there.  She yells "BOH" (as in a bow in your hair) and pulls them out.  She thinks everything I put in her hair is a bow.

I got out the camera this week to practice my shooting abilities and here's what I got:

Golly gee, I love her.  Here's why.  Click on this picture and look at her face.

Look how excited she is to be walking with her golf club.  From now on, I'm going to try to be this excited about things that make me happy.  That kind of excitement and pure happiness is contagious!

A DIY Project (are you reading this HGTV?!?)

This past week was the week of projects.  Most of it done by my dad who helped us switch out a good part of the yucky, nasty, gross and disgusting gold light fixtures that plagued all homes built in 1997 (which ours was).  Gross.

For example...this atrocity...

Turned into this...

Oh, so much better.  But that's not really the big story of the day.  The big story is what my mom and I did with a piece of 3/4 inch plywood, some fabric, buttons and a staple gun.

A short DIY Story...

One day, a girl and her mom were tired of a creaky, metal headboard on a bed that should probably just be donated to Goodwill, but it's owners continue to use as a guest bed.  So they had an idea.  It's starts with a big piece of 3/4 inch plywood:

They decided that plywood wasn't particularly cozy and it was hard to match with other surfaces, so it had to be covered.  First...to work on the cozy part...they covered it with foam using a staple gun.

Next...they needed to cover the foam with something pretty.  They decided red was a good choice.

Once it was covered...a little girl wandered over and thought it was a new play toy for her.  So, work stopped and it was just that for a little while...

Next, the pretty red, soft board needed some "pizzazz"...something that made it special.  Buttons!

Here's how you make your own fabric covered buttons...told in pictures...

From here, the buttons were placed evenly on the fabric and foam covered board, stapled and then hot glued on. The project was completed and it was as fabulous as they thought.  Much better than a creaky old metal headboard. The two stepped back and admired their work...

Then stepped to the side and admired it some more...

A true happy ending.  It was decided that this was the best DIY project they'd ever completed.  A beautiful fabric headboard for about $50. 

This headboard took about 45 minutes to complete with 2 people working on it.  I think HGTV should hire me.  Seriously.  Let's go, people.

Corned Beef and Cabbage!

I'm not Irish. At least I don't think so.  Well, now that I say that...my mom said that in her dad's (my grandpa) heritage, there was one guy who came to the US from Ireland.  But that's not the point.  The point is that on St. Patrick's Day...everyone is Irish.  It's an excuse to drink beer and eat Irish food, all in the name of a holiday that we all claim as our own personal heritage day. 

I am no different, because I have done plenty of celebrating, none of it actually ON St. Patrick's Day.  Last weekend, JC and I went to the Dallas St. Patrick's Day parade in Lower Greenville.  We ended us missing the parade...but we got there for the fun part.  The after party...and oh dear lord...was it fun.  Definitely got a little "flavor" for Dallas.  It's something I've been missing since I moved here and so it made me feel a little more connected to this huge city I call home.

So, today is actually St. Patrick's Day and last night (in honor of my parent's last night visiting in TX), my mom made the annual Corned Beef and Cabbage dinner that my dad requests every St. Patrick's Day.  I can take no credit in this meal.  I worked at my office while my mom slaved in the kitchen.  Turns out...she actually didn't slave...because this little beauty...

Seemed to be really easy to make.  Recipe Time...

Ingredients:

2 Stalks of Celery
4 Carrots (or a bag of baby carrots)
1 Medium yellow onion
4-6 Red Potatoes (peeled)
1 head of cabbage (cut in large shreds)
1 12 ounce can of beer (we prefer Miller Light or Shiner Bock in our household)
1 big piece of Corned Beef with spice packet included (it contains coriander and other things)

Put celery, carrots, onions, cabbage and potatoes in the bottom of a crockpot.  Rinse the beef and sit on top of the veggies.  Add beer and spice packet and enough water to cover meat.  Cook on low for 8 to 10 hours.

Okay, want to hear how it really went?

So, my mom wasn't satisfied with how the crockpot was cooking the meat.  She didn't "trust" it, she said.  So, here is how the cooking steps were modified...

About halfway through crockpot cooking time, take it out and put it all in a roasting pan...cover with tin foil and put it into a 300 degree oven until you think it's done.  (Usually just test the meat and make sure it falls apart.)

It was SO good.  So, really, no method to the madness...whatever works, I guess.  To finish up our fine St. Patrick's Day meal, we had a true Iris traditional dessert.  Ready to see it?!? 

Chocolate Chip Cheesecake.  I hear it goes way back to Irish traditions in the 1600's.  Okay, just kidding.  But I'm all about making this MY holiday, so...why not? This cheesecake is homemade all the way by my mommy dearest.  Here it is in ALL it's glory:

Just beautiful.  Here's the recipe:  Chocolate Chip Cheesecake

In other news, I finally figured out how to get Mia to drink more water.  At the moment, she's all about apple juice...and that concerns me just a little.  So, the key to getting her to drink water...is to put ice cubes in it.  It's novel enough now to work.  And everybody knows...that novelty is what works in parenting...right?

A new babysitter and playfriend

One of the toughest things about having a child (I think)...is dealing with the daycare "thing" if both mom and dad go to work.  Before I had Mia, I thought I could EASILY do the 6-8 weeks with her and then find a loving and safe place for her to play during the day while I was off being a career woman.  Boy, was I wrong. So very, very wrong.  Stuff happens when you have a child, stuff you never ever thought would ever happen.  Things like...always being a "career" minded woman but then changing your mind and being A-OK with throwing that all away to stay home and take care of my child and family.  I'm a feminist...period. But that doesn't mean there is shame is staying home and taking care of your family.  To me (and this is purely my opinion), I think life is much, much easier when one grown-up in the family can make money (doesn't matter who) and the other grown-up stays home and takes care of everything there...cooking, cleaning, watching kid(s), paying bills, etc. But, life isn't always that easy...

About 8 weeks after Mia was born, I had made a decision...I couldn't go back to work full time and leave my baby to her own devices (or anyone else's devices for that matter), but I wasn't ready to give up a job that I liked and frankly, we needed the income too.  So, since then, I've been coming in to work three days a week (unless I've got something big going on) and work at home the rest of the time. I am so very fortunate and I know that.  Up until a few months ago, JC took care of Mia the three days while I was at work while he worked at home.  So, you can imagine what life has been like.  We both work AND take care of Mia without much help. It's like we couldn't decide which to do so we just said, "Heck! Let's do it all."

Yes, a nanny that could come into our home three days a week would be great, but that's not exactly in the budget either at this moment.  So, the days I work from home mostly mean I work at night after Mia has went to bed. We have very little room for anything else, but it works for us.  We feel very, very lucky to be able to spend all of this time with her.  It's worth it!

Well, babies do a funny thing.  They grow up and as they do that...they become more active and want to play more and want to crawl around much more.  So, we made a decision...we needed help.  Just a little.   So, in October 0f 2010, we found a "Mother's Day Out" Program at our church that could keep Mia 2 days a week from 9am-2pm and that fit our budget and situation perfectly.  She could play with other kids and get some interaction while JC had some time to work during his days with her.  It was great...until our previously "stay home baby" starting catching every little bug and virus around.  2 bouts of croup, 2 stomach viruses,1 bout of RSV, 2 ER visits, multiple chest colds and many sleepless nights over the next 4 months made us quit that business.  We were paying for a daycare service that she could never go to. And the HUGE doctor bills from all of this sickness just made it impossible to continue.  So we went back to our routine...work and watch the baby simultaneously.

Well, we knew we needed to find a different remedy.  Mia needed interaction with kids...at least a little bit. Now, we have a great situation, a wonderful family friend (who is a stay at home mom and has a little boy a few months older than Mia) has offered to watch her 2 days a week from 9am-2pm.  And it's working out fabulously!  She gets all of that playtime and none of the rabid sickness that abounds in daycares.  Yesterday...they went to story time at the local library.  She loved it! 

This is something all parents go through.  Do I keep working? Do I stay home and take care of my family? Can we afford to live on one income? And that's not even dealing with the physical emotions a mom goes through in handing her small child over to someone else's care.  There is guilt involved in that, and anger in "having" to give that time up for work and fear that something will happen and just all kinds of crazy hormone-induced emotions.

Like I said, we are very fortunate with our situation...and it works for us.  And now that she's 15 months old, I LOVE that I get to have the best of both worlds.  I get to wake up, get ready and go to my office three days a week.  And then the other 2, put on my yoga pants and hoodie and play at the park and then pull my laptop back out at night.  Yes we're tired all the time but that's parenthood. And having this little girl in our lives far more than makes up for losing a few hours of sleep.  

Her newest favorite word (other than "no") is shampoo.  Here is the face she makes when she says it:

I mean...how does it get any better than that?

Plain ol' Chocolate Chip Cookies

Have I mentioned that Mia loves Sesame Street?  It all started with a healthy obsession with Elmo (or La-La) as she calls him.  Then we moved on to Big Bird...now...it's Cookie Monster.  I bought her a cookie monster book and do the cookie monster voice when I read it to her.  She loves it!  She giggles and just wants me to read it over and over!

Well, all of that reading about cookies...made me want some.  So...

Tollhouse. Cookies.  Need I say more?  Except maybe that I didn't have enough tollhouse chocolate chips so I had to use 1/4 bag of Tollhouse chocolate chips, 1/4 bag of Ghiradelli chocolate chips and 1/4 of Whole Foods brand dark chocolate chunks.  I think it improved the classic recipe.

Like I've said before...I'm not a baker.  It's too much responsibility.  I like to change my mind sometimes when I cook and when you bake...that's not really an option.

Well, today...my mom would be proud.  I followed the recipe perfectly (except for adding a few of the different chocolate chips as mentioned above)...I made sure each cup of flour I added was leveled off, I made sure my butter was actually soft as the recipe calls for and I EVEN TOOK THE TIME TO ADD EACH OF THE EGGS SEPARATELY!!!  I feel very accomplished.

Let me tell you...I get why baking matters.  This is the first time I've ever made cookies and they actually came out perfect.  They didn't stick to the pan...they weren't too "greasy" or too "cakey", they weren't burnt...they were perfect!

First, I had to spend a little time with the dough. 

Even the dough tasted better with all of the correct measurements and all.  But the real proof...is here:

Perfect!  The bottoms aren't burnt either! Seriously, I may have to file this under the "Best Thing I Ever Made" category...and they're just boring old chocolate chip cookies!

So now, I have a pantry full of girl scout cookies AND homemade chocolate chip cookies.  Awesome. I mean, Awesome!!

And the little girl got a great surprise when she woke up from her nap!  Her afternoon snack was a cookie, milk and grapes instead of grapes and cheese or something boring and healthy like that.  She loved it.  Of course.

Also, I don't give enough attention to my cat.  He's repaying me by clawing at all of the furniture.  Today, he was sleeping in the chair like this.  I couldn't resist.

Barbeque Meatballs ala Mussack

Like I've said before...I'm a Midwesterner.  My roots are northern Midwestern...with my dad's family mostly coming from Northern Iowa and Southern Minnesota (I think).  Well, I have a cookbook that my grandma Mussack gave me a few years back. It's one of those compiled church cookbooks, where the entire ladies aid is in charge of submitting recipes. Most of the recipes are similar...none of them are particularly healthy.  It's the Sacred Heart Catholic Church of Adams, Minnesota cookbook. I love it for four reasons:

1.  There are at least 35 different "hot dish" recipes in it.  Classic northern food. 
2.  There is a recipe called "Bob's Slop."
3.  The measurements include things like "a touch of this", "pinch", etc.
4.  My grandma made notes in the margins next to the recipes she liked.

Tonight, I made a winner.  Barbeque Meatballs.  In the margin, my grandma wrote..."Good".  So, I trusted her judgment and gave it a whirl.

First step...make the BBQ sauce...

1 1/2 TBSP of sugar
2 TBSP Worchestershire sauce
1 CUP Ketchup
1/2 CUP Water
1/4 CUP Vinegar
1 small onion, minced

Mix it all together in a saucepan and put it on low to simmer for about 30 minutes.  Like this:

Next, mix together:

2 LBS of hamburger (the recipe said sausage, but I only had hamburger...so that's what I used)
3/4 CUP of oatmeal
1/2 CUP of milk
Salt and Pepper

Form into little balls and brown.  Like this:

Once the meatballs are browned most of the way through, put them in a 9x13 pan and pour the BBQ sauce over top.  Cover with tin foil and stick in a 350 degree oven for an hour.  When it's done...you'll get this:

 
Wait, here's a closer look:

They were so good that I'm serious, JC couldn't talk.  Not an exaggeration.  He loved them.  I loved them.  Mia shoved most of them into her high chair and pointed to the cookies on the counter.

Oh well...can't win them all.

15 months of baby...I mean big girl now.

She's 15 months today my friends!!!  Growing like a weed too.  We just got back from her 15 month check-up with her pediatrician and in his words..."I am impressed with this perfect child."  YES! Well, I'm not really surprised, because she is perfect, but to hear an actual medical professional say it...made my day!

Height is 32 1/2 inches (in the 95%)
Weight is 22.7 lbs (in the 55%)
Head size is 51.4...(still above 100%)

Head size is the only thing that's given us some trouble/concern in the past.  But, after an MRI, a visit to the pediatric neurologist and many doctor bills later...we all agreed that it's attributed to genetics. Great. Can we have our $2000 out of pocket expenses back now, please?  Oh well, good news is it's just money and Mia is healthy.

She got her little toe pricked to check iron count (it was perfect and she didn't even make a peep! Not one!)
We got 4 vaccinations, which resulted in about 20 seconds of crying and then we got excited about the picture of the Lion King movie hanging on the ped's office wall.

All in all, a great visit.  She also has NO "stranger danger" either!  She let the nurses and doctor just poke and prod her without so much as a peep.  Which is crazy because she really hasn't been in any kind of consistent daycare and around other people except her family.  Like I said...perfect. But wait, I think a "little" stranger danger is probably good. We'll work on that.

Here we are at 15 months this morning!  Wasn't in the mood for pictures, though. Nonetheless...

Mom's Banana Bread

So, I have a little girl that eats a banana every morning for breakfast.  She's not really a "breakfast" eater yet.  She is content with a cup of milk (warm of course), a banana and some cheerios. Oh...and can't forget Mickey Mouse Clubhouse too.  That's a must for breakfast time. 

Anyway, I ALWAYS have bananas in the house.  The last time we went to costco, we got a huge bunch of bananas that were already ripe and I just KNEW that we would eat them before they spoiled, no problem.  Well, I was wrong.  We ended up with 4 bananas that weren't going to get eaten before they spoiled, especially since Mia was going to stay at her GiGi's house this weekend (JC's mom). 

So, I decided that I needed to make banana bread.  We had the whole weekend to ourselves so I had lots of time to bake.  My mom has the best banana bread recipe.  It's simple and good.  Here it is...

In a bowl, mix:

1 stick of margarine
1 cup + 1 tbsp. of sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp of vanilla

Mix together with a mixer and add:

3-4 ripe bananas
1/2 cup of sour cream (or nonfat yogurt if you are dieting...but then, why would you eat banana bread?)

Mix together with a mixer, then add:

1 1/2 cups of flour
1 tsp baking soda
3/4 cup of walnuts (I had to omit this one...didn't want to risk the little girl choking on a nut)

You'll get something like this:

Pour in a well-greased and floured loaf pan. Like this.

Bake at 350 degrees for an hour or so.  After that, you get this.

It amazes me every time...that yucky, nasty almost rotten bananas make this.  Super good!

Uh-Oh

So, if my husband could do two things for the rest of his life it would be.  #1 - Watch college football and #2 - Play Golf.  I've golfed one time in my life and it ended with me collapsing in a fit on the 8th green because if I whiffed another ball, I was going to throw my clubs in the water hazard.  I love to drive the cart around and drink beer and watch.  That's fun.  The actual golfing part?  Not so much. 

Anyway, they've outnumbered me.  Look what daddy bought Mimi this week...

And She. Loves. Them.  She and JC hit little plastic balls in the backyard and while I may admit it's the cutest thing I've ever seen...I get flash forwards of spending every weekend of the rest of my life on a golf course.  Well, if that's the case, then I better buck up and learn the game too. 

I, on the other hand, bought Mia the cutest little white sun hat for days at the park.  She has fair skin like me so she needs sunblock and a hat.  Good thing I only buy her stylish accessories. You can kinda see it here.  Mostly though...the important part of this shot are the rocks.  That is one of our new favorite past times...picking up rocks and putting them on the slide at the park.  Have I mentioned my daughter is awesome?