Our Sicky the Biter.

Our little pobrecita just has a cold, but the doctor said it's good that we brought her in. Since Gabriela recently had an ear infection, the doctor wanted to be sure it hadn't made a repeat appearance. At least her ears are in good health. She napped tons today. I'm glad she was home to get extra rest.

In other news, Gabriela finds it necessary to test her new (very sharp teeth) out while I am nursing her. Why, Child, why?!?!?! Geez, does it hurt!! My mom said I always bit her when she nursed me. I guess I'm getting my payback. I don't want to stop nursing Gabriela. I've gone all this way and worked so hard to not give her formula. I plan on nursing her at least until she is one and she can have cow's milk. But, man oh man, I feel like I'm playing Russian Roulette every time I give her some milk. There's no telling when she'll chomp down. What do I do?!??

I've been taking the boob away and sternly telling her not to bite, that it hurts Mommy. But really, she's a little baby. Does she even understand? Any biting/nursing advice is welcome.

Angel Baby

How did we end up with the best baby ever? We are so lucky. Even when she's up with a fever like last night, Gabriela was still sweet and not fussy. I could tell she wasn't feeling better this morning when she cried when I put her down and her little voice was all hoarse and lower than usual. I stayed home with Gabriela today to give her extra cuddles, help her rest, and take her to the doctor, which is where we are headed right now. Our little sicky needs to get better soon.

Chicken Pot Pie

This is from my Martha Stewart Comfort Foods cookbook. The recipe calls for roasting a chicken and making chicken stock. I always buy rotisserrie chickens and then make stock from those. I just cut up a couple carrots, a few ribs of celery, take a whole head of garlic and cut it in half, a quartered onion, a Tbsp or so of whole pepper corns, and saute them all in some heated up olive oil. (sometimes I will add some fresh herbs like sage leaves or rosemary) then add the what's left of the chicken to the pan and put water in until the it's all covered and let it simmer for a a long time. Then strain it and make sure you separate all the chicken meat from the bones. (This is usually weekend cooking cos it takes so long, but I enjoy it and it makes for tasty soups or use in other recipes such as chicken pot pie).

So much of the time in this recipe involves making and chilling the crust. It is delicious. But, the last couple of times I've made this, I've just followed the instructions for boxed cornbread and dolloped some batter on top for my pot pie instead. It's much easier. If you choose to do this, make sure you don't use all the batter. Last time, I baked the left over batter with some extra mexican cheese and pickled jalapeños for a little snack.

So here's the whole recipe:

1 3-4 lb chicken
4 cups chicken stock
1 large yellow onion, split in half
2 dried bay leaves
1/2 tsp whole black peppercorns
1 small bunch of fresh thyme
1 cup plus 5 Tbsp all purpose flour
2 1/4 tsp salt
8 Tbsp (1 stick) plus 7 tbsp unsalted butter
2 large egg yolks
9 oz red potatoes scrubbed and cut into 1/2 inch pieces
12 pearl onions, peeled and cut lengthwise if large
1 medium leek, white and light green parts only, sliced into 1/4 inch thick rounds and washed
2 medium carrots, peeled and sliced
6 oz button mushrooms quartered if large
1 cup milk
2 tbsp chopped fresh flat leaf parsley
zest of 1 lemon
1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper
1 tbsp heavy cream

Enter commentary - use any potatoes you have, i never buy pearl onions, just chop up regular ones. And, i take the list of veggies for the filling as a guide. Last time we had fingerling potatoes, yellow onion, carrots, broccoli and peas in ours. Whatever feels right. I just used some dry parsley and squirted in some lemon juice because I didn't have fresh herbs or an actual lemon, but those ingredients work well if you have them on hand.

1. Combine the chicken, chicken stock, yellow onion, bay leaves, peppercorns, 3 thyme sprigs and celery in a stockpot and add enough water just to cover the chicken. Bring the stock to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer, uncovered, for 1 hour.

2. Pick enough thyme leaves to make 3 Tbsp. Combine 1 cup flour, 1/4 tsp salt and 1 Tbsp thyme leaves in the bowl of a food processor, and set remaining 2 Tbsp thyme aside. Add 10 Tbsp chilled butter cut into small pieces and pulse until mixture resembles coarse meal. While the food processor is running, add 3 Tbsp ice water and 1 egg yolk and process until the dough holds together. Turn dough onto plastic wrap, flatten into circle, and wrap well; refrigerate at least 1 hour.

3. Drain the chicken and reserve stock. Remove skin from chicken and remove all the chicken from the carcass. Shred the chicken into bite size strips and set aside. Strain the stock and set aside 2 cups. Reserve the remaining stock for another use.

4. Heat oven to 375. Melt remaining 5 Tbsp butter in large saute pan over med-hi heat. Add potatoes and onions and cook, stirring occasionally, 4 -5 minutes until the potatoes begin to turn golden. Add leeks, carrots and mushrooms and cook 4-5 minutes more. Add the remaining 5 Tbsp flour and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Stir in reserved chicken stock and milk and bring to a simmer. Cook until thick and bubbly, stirring constantly 2-3 minutes. Add reserved chicken pieces, parsley, thyme, lemon zest, remaining 2 tsp salt and ground pepper; transfer to a large casserole dish. set aside.

5. Roll the dough until it is 1/4 inch thick and transfer to a baking sheet. Allow to chill 15 minutes. Make an egg wash: in a small bowl, whisk together the remaining yolk and heavy cream. Working quickly, place the dough over the top of the chicken mixture and tuck extra dough around the edges. Cut slits on top to allow steam to escape. Brush with egg wash and place on baking sheet. bake 35 to 40 minutes, until crust is golden.

West Virginia Wilderness

"Um, I think there's a new tooth in here, Mom & Dad"

Just relaxing over the weekend

I am just barely getting to feel like my normal old self after nearly 4 days of sicky-sickness, and I’m still not quite there yet. I was seriously close to graciously bowing out of our friend’s 30th b-day celebration weekend up in West Virginia. I am so glad I didn’t. The weekend was a fabulous time in a beautiful space with friends and insane cooking. Just insane.

We are so grateful (especially our tummies) that John and Laura invited us up to the West Virginia wilderness. The cabin is a comfortable modern pre-fab cabin that was recently featured in Dwell magazine. You can see the article and pictures here: http://www.dwell.com/homes/prefab/36198299.html And, let me just say, you know it’s going to be a good trip when you are emailed the weekend Menu in advance and see such delightful things as Challah French Toast with Banana Walnut Compote for breakfast and Roasted Cuban Pork for dinner. Mmm.

On a little walk in the West Virginia Wilderness

We weren’t really sure how Gabriela would do on the two-plus hour drive, but she was an angel. She was asleep before we even left Crystal City and woke up once when we stopped for gas. I fed her a bottle as we continued on our way and she went right back to sleep. Of course, she woke up in time to smile and flirt with everyone when we arrived just after 10 pm. She truly is a social butterfly.

John, the birthday boy chef, took such good care of us. He made this mouthwatering Cuban roast, which is basically the same cut of meat you’d use for carnitas. Except he marinated it overnight, and then made this garlic paste with orange juice and other magical ingredients and slathered this all over the roast and slow cooked it on the BBQ for 5 hours! Then he made the mojo sauce, which was just over the top. This was the juiciest, most flavorful and flat out phenomenal roasted meat we ever tasted.

Lane made his kick-ass cookies, I made some bruscetta, some roasted potatoes to go with our chilaquiles for breakfast on Sunday, and we basically stuffed our faces all weekend. It was pure heaven. One of my favorite things was the salad Laura and I pulled together at the last second to use up some of the left overs. We made a salad with baby arugula, strawberries, apples, we candied some pecans, fresh mint, and she made an awesome vinaigrette. Totally on the fly.

Gabriela couldn’t have been more well-behaved. She kept herself entertained while we were cleaning up and the end of the weekend, hung out with us as we drove around exploring West Virginia, went on a little hike, and only once cried the whole weekend for about 2 minutes when she accidentally whacked herself with her rattle.

I think I needed a totally relaxing weekend. We got home at a very reasonable hour, still stuffed silly. And if I had been feeling better, I would have actually taken some pictures. I might be able to get my hands on some, soon. So don’t give up hope just yet.

Happy Birthday, John! Thanks for inviting us for a wonderful celebration.

Seven Months Old!

Time is going by so fast with this little munchkin! We couldn't have asked for a sweeter, happier baby.

Gabriela is doing much better with her solid foods. She even tried butternut squash again and loved it. This time, I put unsweetened applesauce in it. She actually reaches her head forward and opens her mouth for food, which is huge. Before I'd have to pry her thumb out of her mouth and quickly try to get some food in there before she stuck the other thumb in. Gabriela is eating peas, avocado (her favorite), apples, bananas, pears, butternut squash, rice cereal, and yogurt. We are working on expanding her foods, but have to go slowly, in case we find that she's allergic to something.

Gabriela is totally on the move. She is still rocking the Army Crawl, and not up on her hands and knees. But she gets around fast! Before she'd just crawl over to something she could see and knew she wanted. Now she is starting to explore. Just the other day she went from one end of the living room to the entry way, turned around and crawled all the way to the end of the hallway.

She is starting to inspect everything very closely, and while she doesn't point at things in the air, she sticks out her little pointer finger while she is conducting experiments. It's too cute.

Even though Gabriela has TONS of cool toys, some of her favorites appear to be an empty kleenex box, paper, paper bags, containers of lotion, and the office chair.

Gabriela loves bathtime and running her fingers through her hair when she is sleepy. She talks tons and loves it when her Daddy tickles her. There is no sound as delightful as a baby giggling.

We love our baby girl.

Off to West Virginia

Yep, West Virginia. Who would have thought one would go there by choice? Actually, some friends of ours are renting a super sweet cabin for the weekend and invited us along. We will be relaxing and eating tons of delicious food in good company all weekend.

Check out the place here Is that a nice kitchen or what?!?

And wish me luck because I was this close to backing out since I haven't been feeling well (at all)the past few days. I'm definitely starting to feel better though and am bringing a bunch of stuff to help me improve even more.

We are going all crazy and bringing our kitchenaid mixer with us so we can make Lane's kick yo ass cookies while we are there. By the way, I'm still trying to convince him to let me post the recipe on the blog.

Carnitas the Half-Mexican Way

I'm only half Mexican. I think this is the reason I find it perfectly normal and acceptable to cook carnitas in a CROCKPOT. I've never had good luck with crockpots in general. I just don't care for the texture or flavor of most crockpot dishes. In fact, the only two things I make in a crock pot didn't actually call for cooking in a crockpot. Go figure. But this is a total winner.
This recipe makes a lot of meat. You will have tons of delicious burritos if you make this.

Put the following ingredients in your crockpot

• 1 bone-in pork shoulder or butt roast
• 1 large onion, quartered
• 1 Tbsp each (I tend to put a little extra) cumin seed and coriander seed
• 2 jalapeño peppers, halved
• 2 bay leaves
• salt
• 1 Tbsp oregano
• Add chicken stock a little more than half way up the crockpot

Cook on low for about 8 hours. (if you don't have a crockpot, put everything in the pan, probably with a little more liquid, bring to a boil, then reduce heat, cover and simmer until meat is tender - about 5 to 6 hours)

Remove the oh-so-tender-falling-apart roast from the crockpot.

(Only do this step for the amount you will be eating right away) - shred some of the meat and place on a cookie sheet. Sprinkle with salt. Pop it in the oven at 450 for about 10 minutes or until it starts getting brown and a little crispy.

Now you can make some rice, pop open a can of black beans and maybe add a little cumin, get some salsa, guacamole, sour cream, and cheese, and some fresh cilantro, monster sized tortillas, and you will have all the fixings for some kick-ass burritos.

Spanish Rice

This is how I make Spanish rice. Use this with your carne con chile recipe. OR, when you make burritos and especially when you make carnitas. I usually cook 1.5 cups of rice at a time.

Put a little oil in the bottom of the pan and toast your 1.5 cups of (regular ol’ long grain) rice. It will start looking a little opaque and also get a little fragrant.

In a blender or mini-prep processor, puree up ¾ to 1 cup salsa. Use this as part of your 3 cups of liquid to add to the rice. The rest should be chicken stock. It’s easier if you prep the liquid before you start cooking the rice.

Be careful as you add the liquid because it will start sizzling in the extra hot pan. Stir it up, bring back to a boil. Reduce the heat, cover and let it cook for about 20 minutes or until the rice has absorbed all the liquid.

If you want to get really fancy, you could chop up some fresh cilantro and add it in with the salsa/chicken stock liquid mixture. Delish.

p.s. Did you know you can even freeze cooked rice?? I was skeptical at first, too. But my mom taught me this fabulous trick when she was here helping us after Gabriela was born and stocked our whole fridge and freezer with food. I became kind of obsessed with freezing stuff, especially since I wasn’t sure how good I would be at managing my time working, being a mama and managing to feed our family. So far, so good.

Carne Con Chile

This recipe is super easy and good Mexican food. You can make it with some rice (let me know if you need a spanish rice recipe), or you could get really mexican and serve it over some eggs and tortillas for breakfast.

This recipe also calls for Caldo de Pollo, which is basically a chicken bouillon powder. I almost always use organic chicken stock from costco in my other cooking, but for some recipes, you've gotta bring out the Caldo. This is one of them. Sorry, this is also one of those recipes without any real amounts, but it's totally tasty and definitely worth trying.

Cut and trim some pork (loin, steak, or butt) - I usually buy tenderloin from Costco; it's way cheaper there than at the grocery store

Brown in small amount of hot oil

Add Caldo de Pollo - probably a couple tablespoons and a couple tablespoons of minced garlic.

When meat is well browned add tomato chile mixture:

• Blend serrano or jalapeño pepper in small amount of water. Add one can of diced tomatoes and blend even more.

Add to browned pork.

Add one can of water.

Allow to simmer until meat is very tender.

You can also throw in some chopped zucchini in the sauce. We made this for my nieces once and weren't sure how they'd handle the spicy. So, we transferred some of the browned meat (and garlic and Caldo) into a separate container with just squash and tomato sauce, and then added the jalapeño for the adults. It was a hit.

I have also frozen this dish and it was just as good the second time around.

Black Bean Stoup - Courtesy of Rachael Ray

I admit it, Rachael Ray is kind of kooky. But she never fails me with the good recipes. She calls things "stoups" that are thicker than a soup but not as thick as a stew. This recipe is totally easy. It's hardly any effort to double the recipe and it freezes really well. I usually put a bunch of (cooled) left over soup in a freezer ziploc bag and let it freeze flat. I hope you like it as much as we do over here. And let me know if you try it. I always love to hear that people enjoy recipes I share!

Black Bean Stoup (single recipe)
2 Tbsp EVOO
1 large onion, chopped
3 ribs of celery
4 cloves of garlic
1 jalapeño (you could leave out the pepper if you like stuff less spicy)
1 bay leaf
1 red bell pepper (I like to buy bags of frozen chopped bell peppers from TraderJoes. They are red, yellow, and green bell peppers)
3 15 oz. cans black beans
2 Tbsp cumin
1.5 tsp coriander
salt & pepper
2-3 Tbsp hot sauce
1 quart veggie stock (I always use chicken stock)
1 can diced tomatoes

Heat oil. Add onion, celery, garlic, jalapeño and bay leaf. Cook 3 to 4 minutes. Add red bell peppers. Add 2 drained cans of beans and mash up the 3rd can before adding to the soup. Add cumin, coriander, salt and pepper, and hot sauce. Add stock and tomatoes. Reduce heat and simmer 15 minutes on low. For extra zest, add some lime juice at the very end.

We like to serve this soup with some cornbread (out of the box!) or quesadillas.

A Little Warning About My "Recipes"

When I first got married and started asking my mom how to make stuff I would get so frustrated that her recipes consisted of " a little this" or to add a certain ingredient until "it looks right". How was I supposed to know these details?!??

Well, it must have worked because (I'm not gonna lie) I like my cooking. The ironic part is that this is how I give most recipes now, myself. And, even when I have a straight forward recipe I always manage to do something different and can't stop myself from giving lots of commentary, so let this serve as a warning before I dish out my recipes to you.

It's busy these days with working and being a mama, not having a total disaster of an apartment and cooking dinner every night, so thanks for your patience :-)

Abs of Steel!

Gabriela does lots of crunches every day to keep up her fine figure. Actually, she's trying to sit up by herself, a skill she hasn't quite mastered yet. But, boy, is she trying hard!

More Pics

Like my new purse?

Here I am in the outfit Auntie Theresa gave me for Christmas! I'm also wearing my cool shoes from Grandma and Grandpa - they match perfectly! I wear these shoes every day!

Notice Anything Different???

How about now???

I wasn't even going to try to get a picture of Gabriela and her new tooth because I've seen how hard it is for other parents, but Gabriela just happened to be showing it off in this pic!

The necklace she is wearing was actually a present Christianne made me... when she was TWO years old. That's right, I've had this necklace almost 10 years! Auntie Theresa helped her tie the knot, but she did everything else!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Gabriela sends everyone big slobbery kisses and giant hugs because she loves you all so much!

Thanks for the pretty kisses shirt, Auntie Cati & Uncle Noal!


"Will you be my Valentine? Pretty please??"



Malia & Andrew, this shirt is perfect for Valentine's Day!!

I.O.U.s

Okay, I know I've promised recipes to some of you readers recently. I'm posting this so you know I haven't forgotten and also to give you a chance to harass me if you don't see them coming soon.

Be on the look out for a pot pie recipe (which freezes well)
twice baked potatoes
carnitas
and some mexican chile madness, which also freezes well ;)

Sorry I've been slacking on the recipe love lately.

25 Random Things About Me

I figured since I took the time to put these together for Facebook, I may as well post them on the blog. But, now that I think about it, many of you have probably seen this list already. Oh well, I'm posting it anyway!

1. I always get Christmas ornaments from places I visit.

2. I have 3 brothers and 2 sisters and I love them to pieces…not to mention my 4 Bros in Law and 6 Sisters in Law. . . or my 4 nephews and 4 nieces and 1 more on the way! Love the big family.

3. I had a crush on Lane in 7th AND 8th grade and on and off all through high school.

4. Entertaining and feeding people is so satisfying for me. I am the hostess with the mostest.

5. For my work, I have traveled to Liberia, Sierra Leone, Switzerland, and Panama.

6. I thought of Gabriela’s name before I even told Lane I thought we were preggo or took a pregnancy test or knew the gender of our baby.

7. I am a total hippie – I tried the whole natural childbirth thing (it didn’t work after 3 plus days), am making Gabriela’s baby food, wear my baby all the time, am a recycle freak, don’t drink coffee or soda or eat junk or processed or fast foods. I actually put ground flaxseed in my homemade pasta sauce last night!

8. I have been in 5 plays – all with Lane. In our last adventure, we had to use British accents, and in one scene, I had to go on stage in just my bra and a little slip. So scandalous, I know.

9. We moved to Washington DC from California without ever having stepped foot on the east coast before. That took a lot of guts.

10. I am a crossword puzzle junkie.

11. I admit it. I’m nosy. That’s why it’s good that my job is to find people.

12. Typographical errors pop out at me like flashing red lights. I notice them everywhere!

13. Religion is not for me.

14. I am a compulsive list maker. I even make little check boxes so I can cross things off as I go. I am known to write things on my lists that I’ve already completed and immediately check them off, just so I feel like I’ve been more productive.

15. So far, I haven’t broken any bones.

16. I can fall asleep pretty much the instant I lay my head on the pillow. Speaking of sleeping, I nearly always fall asleep during movies and, like clockwork, wake up the instant the credits start.

17. I call my mom almost every day.

18. I, Elena the Over Achiever, once got a big fat F in college. . . in CERAMICS! In my defense, it was a beginners class and the teacher didn’t even provide any instruction. Everyone just started creating their masterpieces. I stopped going and didn’t actually drop the course. Whoopsies.

19. I love getting fun mail, one of the reasons I'm such a fan of the thank you note.

20. I know how to make tamales! My mom insists they don’t turn out right unless you say this “prayer” in Spanish. I’m not gonna lie – I say it! You just can’t take chances on tamales!

21. I don’t yell at anyone. ever.

22. I always notice the shapes of people’s eyebrows.

23. I was born with a collapsed lung

24. My favorite game is Cranium Pop5!

25. I have absolutely ZERO sense of direction. I can get lost no matter what. It’s a skill, really ;)

A Beary Happy Valentine's Day!

A teddy bear!!
Thank you for my Valentine's Day present, Auntie Adie, Uncle Ian and Claire & Natalie!

This pink crinkly stuff is cool!

She's almost as big as I am!

I love the pretty pictures on my card, especially the happy hearts and heart butterflies!

I am going to take such good care of my beautiful teddy bear. . It looks like you worked so hard to make her, Auntie Adie!

I'm going to give you all big hugs and kisses when you come to visit me next month. I can't wait!

Sunny Weekend Activities

This is my new big girl stroller!



My mom was telling me how they were so cold in California this weekend – it was only in the 50s! It was in the 50’s for us too, except we were practically jumping for joy at the “warm” weather and spectacular sunshine. We decided it was a perfect opportunity for Gabriela to experience the swings at the park for her very first time. I thought she would giggle and be so excited. I wonder if she was really just bored to tears, compared to the jumping and tossing around her daddy does with her. Maybe she was thinking, “PUH-lease?!? Is this all you’ve got!??” Or maybe she was just taking it all in – the trees, the park, the sunshine, the outdoors, the birds, the squirrels, the swinging back and forth…

She was such a good girl and took a long nap right before we went to a party that night. Gabriela is quite the social butterfly. She visits with everyone at parties and is just as happy as pie. She is always on her best behavior when she’s out on the town with all our other non-parent friends, making them think it’s easy breezy to have a baby.

Monday night our friends John & Laura came over for carnitas dinner. We all just realized that Laura literally works across the street from our apartment building. Hopefully, we’ll get together more often, now that we know how close we are to each other.

Our Interesting Grocery Store Trip

Today I got all brave and decided to take Gabriela to the grocery store, just the two of us. As soon as I buckled her in her carseat she spit up all over the place. No prob, Bob. I cleaned it up, and off we went.

Then as I was trying to get her situated in the BabyBjorn, I noticed a little something stinky. Gabriela had pooped her pants on the way to the store. So, I get ready to change our first poopy diaper in the car and realize that it's a blow out. Both her shirt and her pants got a little poopy. And this was, of course, one of the very few times I didn't have a change of clothes for her in the diaper bag. I wiped her clothes as best as I could and proceeded to drop things all over the store and pick them up with a little baby strapped to my front.

And, just for kicks, as we got out of the car, Gabriela spit up all over again. I swear, there's never a dull moment!

Our Little Teether

We've been wondering about Gabriela's teeth for quite a while now. Today I felt one of her bottom front teeth! Later that night I could see this little white line on the top of her gums. Our little baby has cut her first tooth. I almost cried.

She's been in pretty good spirits and only fussed when I put my finger on her gums. But then other times, she'd grab my fingers and start chomping on them. Make up your mind, kiddo!

Adventures in Solid Foods

Since Gabriela turned 6 months, we have been trying to be more consistent about giving her two meals of “solid” foods a day in addition to her fabulous breastmilk diet.

We aren't sure what she thinks about it all. Gabriela definitely likes avocado. When we tried to feed her butternut squash, which I thought she would absolutely love, she made this terrible face like she was trying to vomit or gag. But then as a scientific controlled experiment, we fed her avocado and she made no such faces or attempts to get rid of her food. I guess she just doesn’t dig the squash.

Gabriela still hasn’t quite gotten the whole swallowing thing down either. She sucks her thumb lots (still), and insists on putting a thumb in her mouth following every bite of food. We have tried to explain that we are not giving her dipping sauce for her thumb sucking, but she doesn’t listen. This results in slimy, gooey hands, which she then runs through her glorious locks of hair, making for one entirely sticky baby that needs to go immediately from high chair to bath tub.

So far she has tried bananas, avocado, sweet potatoes, butternut squash, and pears. Gabriela didn’t seem to be a fan of sweet potatoes, squash or even the sugary sweet fresh pears. They say to keep offering foods even if the baby doesn’t take to them right away, so we will continue to try.

I plan on making all her baby food. We'll see how that goes. So far it's been really easy. I hope Gabriela takes a liking to her squash and sweet potatoes - I cut some up and froze them so I only have to take out a couple cubes at a time, cook 'em up, blend them with some breast milk and then have a couple feedings worth.

What's next on Gabriela's menu, you might ask? Mango and Peas but not together. We'll let you know the report we get from Gabriela and her ever expanding palate!

Warning, Readers! This Entry is All About POOP

What can I say?! Moms need to talk about poop once in a while. Gabriela is usually very thoughtful and saves most of her pooping for daycare, which – I’m not gonna lie – is especially appreciated now that she has started solid foods. But golly, she made up for all the non-poopy weekends this last one. That’s right, in a period of 24 hours our little angel graced us with not one or two, or even three or four, but FIVE poopy diapers. Come on, Gabriela we really didn’t miss them THAT much.

The best was this morning though. I had actually commented to Lane how proud I was of all of us for being ready as early as we were. We were actually AHEAD of schedule. I picked up Gabriela to give her to Lane so they could walk out the door when I smelled a little sumthin special. Not only had Gabriela managed to poop her pants first thing in the morning, it was a total diaper blow out – through two layers of clothing!! So we had to change her diaper, her whole outfit, and her changing pad cover, you know - the one I replaced yesterday. She then managed to kick the poopy diaper out of my hand which resulted in her getting it onto her little foot and leg… and me - I even had to change my shirt. Ewww. So much for being early, or even on time.

And this was how our Monday morning started!

Check out my hair-do!

Cookin' Like Crazy

I don't know what it was, but I cooked like nobody's business this weekend. After whipping together a delicious smoothie Saturday morning, I decided to make chicken stock. Then I got inspired by my super cool Martha Stewart Baking Handbook and decided to make a Carrot Ginger cake. Holy Moly, did I discover my newest greatest weakness. The frosting on this cake is divine! It's a cream cheese/butter/powdered sugar frosting, but the secret ingredients are orange zest and 4 tsps of grated fresh ginger. YUM! That night I cooked pork tenderloin in a little balsamic vinegar and a dijon mustard and rosemary sauce, mashed potatoes, sauteed apples and cranberries and some roasted asparagus. Sean & Jess came over for this feast and brought another totally delish dessert - rice krispie treats, but with butterscotch chips and a layer of chocolate in the middle!

Today I made a lentil soup out of the chicken stock and cooked a pot roast with veggies and potatoes and, still inspired by my Martha Stewart cookbook, I made some buttermilk biscuits.

I love cooking.