2nd to last day

I am sad to say that the weaning is ALMOST over. I have one more day of BFing the little guy and then we are off on our trip! I cannot even begin to calculate the hours that JM and I spent feeding these past almost 11 months and am saddened that it will end, but this gradual reliquishment of the ritual has made it much more bearable. This week I am vacillating between overt and udder joy picturing myself uninterruptedly tearing through the pages of the final Twilight book on the beach with cocktail in hand and terror thinking about all the things to tell Mimi and Grandpa about JM, wondering if he'll miss us and praying that he'll be easy for them. Things have slowly been crossed off the list, including big stuff like the dog, mail, wills and life insurance and today and tomorrow I get to focus on the little stuff, like bills, laundry and packing.

My goals for our trip include the following:
1. Do not get killed by Mexican drug lords.
2. Read 5 fluffy beach novels. Here are my picks:
Breaking Dawn- Stephanie Meyer
Cocktails for Three- Madeleine Wickham (Sophie Kinsella)
Something Borrowed- Emily Giffin
The Last Great Dance on Earth and Mistress of the Sun- Sandra Gulland (2nd and 3rd book in the awesome Josephine B. series- historical fiction)
3. Do not wear clothing with anything other than an elasticized waistband.
4. Do not call home more than once a day.
5. Responsible day drinking. Make it past 10pm each night and SLEEP IN!
6. Speak in Spanish.
7. Eat guacamole once a day.
8. Go dancing and teach Mike to salsa.
9. Wear copious amounts of sunscreen and possibly sun hat. Am no longer 24. Especially avoid burning already wrinkled chest area.
10. Sport bikini 60% of the trip. Yes, watch out Mexico, MBRox will be donning a two piece for the first time post partum. I have become quite self conscious about my arms and stomach post partum, but I figure that since we'll be in another country with total strangers, no better time to get more comfortable with my body image.
11. ENJOY! I hate it when you really look forward to something and when you get in the moment of it, you wind up wishing you were somewhere else. I will relax and savor every moment of this trip!

How can I leave this sweet face? Waaaaah! Yes, we had another bluebonnet photo shoot. This picture captures JM's new thing where he tries to 'feed' you. He thinks it's hilarious to offer you some of his food. He was trying to feed me a bluebonnet. I love that he's so generous. Melts my heart!

AC: honesty

Thanks, Easter Bunny! (bok bok)

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Originally uploaded by our "nut" house

Having pictures taken at Kiddie Kandids was not the most pleasant experience. First off, the people before us were super high maintenance with numerous outfit changes for their adorable 5 month old (he really was cute, but hurry up already!) and we wound up waiting 30 minutes past our reservation time (thank God JM is pretty patient- love the goldfish). Secondly, they had no "plain white" background at our location, so they used this white sheer instead (okay, but not what I had in mind). Third, the power went off during our photo shoot and they had to "call tech support" and JM was getting squirrelly so we had to scoot without picking our final shots. Fourth, when we came back another day to choose the final prints, they were busy and couldn't show us (come on, people, I have an impatient BABY!). Jeez, we want to spend money. Help us! From my glance at the shoot before the power downed the system, I was pretty unimpressed with the outcome, but upon another look on third trip to Kiddie Kandids, I wound up shelling out $50 for some 5x7s and wallets. Love our little Easter bunny! I may go back to KK, afterall. Next time, I am going at 9:30 on a Saturday. They were totally empty at that time!

My bluebonnet baby!

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Originally uploaded by our "nut" house

For years I have dreamed of having my own baby in a Texas bluebonnet picture. Everyone down here has pictures of their kids in the bluebonnets. The sun was shining and making an otherwise crisp morning warmer. JM would not smile for me, nor look at the camera. There was a soccer game going on at the bottom of this hill and he was really distracted by all the yelling and kids. Since we're so close by, we may try again another day, but I am happy with the result!

I finally have a bluebonnet baby!

Big boy!

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Originally uploaded by our "nut" house

Our boy is getting to be so big! The poor little bugger had an ear infection this week and at the doctor weighed in at almost 22 pounds! Bugger is getting chunky! The weight check was a big wake up call to me that we needed to bite the bullet and get the boy a convertible carseat, since he has seemed stuffed in his little infant seat for about a month now. After much research, we decided to use Babies R Us coupons and got him a Britax Marathon, which lasts until they are 65 pounds. It is HUGE, a beast in the backseat of my Volvo; height in particular, but I will say it was easy to install and JM seemed quite cozy in his maiden car voyage this morning. How did he go from this to this? :(

Man, the kid is just doing more and more every day. He is cruising all over the place and is on the move, as you can see in this video (dork mom comments included).

Lost in Austen

Oh my...have I found a new guilty pleasure, the Lost in Austen miniseries on Ovation.

This modern English girl gets "lost" through a passageway in her flat to her favorite novel "Pride and Prejudice" by Jane Austen. Her presence messes everything up; that is what is supposed to happen in the book does not. It is a delight!

There are four episodes total. If this sounds like it might be up your alley, that is if in any way you liked the movie version with Keira Knightley a few years ago, set your DVRs to record the marathon that will air this Sunday starting at 11am CST. The scenery and music are much similar to the movie. Mike says this show should be airing on Lifetime, but he is hard-hearted! :) I am not a Lifetime movie type person, but I am a historic romance person and I eat this up!

AC: flexibility

SXSW

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Originally uploaded by our "nut" house

It was the best festival, yet.
From Schubas at Yard Dog, to Bird's Barbershop to 3 chilango margaritas at El Chile to 2am unpleasantness, then rallying to the Four Seasons at 5 to Red Eyed Fly and the Mohawk and Red River fun to Gomez at La Zona Rosa to squeezing 8 adults into our car for Lisa and Jason's wedding reception. Saturday was South Congress day... with more Yard Dog, lemonade stands and fajitas, a delightful chair massage to the beat of a band at Gueros, Home Slice for hand clapping, Hotel San Jose for feet dipping and white sangria, the "cone" truck for shrimp cones, then onto micheladas, frito pie and Fastball at Jos.

My liver hurts. I am not eating any queso for a long time. And I am worried about our trip because I was only apart from my son for a day and a half and I missed him so much that my heart hurt. Did I mention that he hugs back now? It was awesome to see Elizabeth. She was the flask filler for the wedding, the beer "roadie" cooler packer and the late night queso chef. E. has officially been initiated into life in my family after shacking up with us this weekend!

10 months old!

our baby is 10 months old today. between our Bible study tonight and running around today trying to get ready for our SXSW visitors, I did not take a 'day of' picture, but will attempt to describe our son to the best of my ability at this age.

1. FUN

2. Drool- still drooling... 6 teeth so far. We seem to be taking a little break from the teething, but the drool is still flowing like a faucet.

3. Talking! This afternoon we were in Bed, Bath and Beyond and he was blabbering on and on. And, he has no volume control. This makes everyone want to stop us and comment. I find having him be the center of attention is a delight, whereas me being the center of attention is horrifying. He clearly says "da da" when Mike comes home. He said "bella" about 5 times tonight during dinner to our amazement. He knows "ma ma" but he never says it to identify me. I am trying not to let this hurt my feelings.

4. Naughty? He definitely knows when he is doing something he shouldn't and it's becoming increasingly difficult not to laugh when I am "disciplining" him, i.e. a firm "no no." For example, every day after I change a poopy diaper, I will put him on the floor and go to the bathroom to fling the poop into the toilet. Right when he hits the floor, he starts crawling toward the white noise machine in his room that he knows is a "no no" and will giggle as I come chase after him. He also likes to both throw and eat sand out of his sand table. He jumps in his crib with regularity.

5. Funny. The kid loves drinking from a cup. LOVES it! Not a sippy cup, but a regular cup. He would always watch me with fascination as I drank a glass of water, so I started letting him have a sip of my water or milk. He now goes NUTS whenever I am drinking something. It is hilarious. He will get the biggest smile on his face and literally starts panting when I get a cup out. I fear I have started something bad here. He also has "tricks" that he loves to do. He blows kisses and also claps. Today I looked in on him in his crib at naptime and he was clapping and blowing kisses, like practicing almost. It was like he was thinking "this is what they want to see! I will do it!" I laughed out loud.

6. Fatter. Someone today asked me if he was a year old. Seriously? The baby that I worried about for months is an eating machine. Two weeks ago (9.5 months) we had to the doctor and JM was 19.9 lbs (25th percentile!). 25th!!!

7. Moving. He can cruise standing from one peice of furniture to another. He is a speed crawler. He will "walk" if you hold onto his fingers, but can't yet stand on his own. One of these days, he is going to figure out how to do the walking thing and we're going to be in trouble!

Weaning update: We are now down to two feedings out of four per day. JM does not care! The only time he misses it is before his naps. I used to settle him down with a little snack before night night time.... To me this is the part I will miss most, too. His little body curled up into mine and he'd get all sleepy and then I'd put him in bed. Now, he is just squirmy, like "put me in bed, already, if you're not going to feed me!" Overall, I am sad about the end of this special relationship, but I am feeling more ready to let it go. I like that I'm ending it, slowly.

Tomorrow is the beginning of SXSW festivities for us. We will have a house full of friends and family. As of noon, I will be picking E up from the aiport and checking out from parenting (as much as one can) and from life's cares in search of free music and drinks. My mom is taking JM for a day and a half so we can be irresponsible. I am heartsick about it already. This will be the longest we've ever left him. Gulp!

photo retrospective: st. paddy's day

2004.... the night I went to Mother Egans with my friend Kerri and reconnected with Mike. This picture is funny for a lot of reasons. One is that I am wearing the infamous 'green shirt.' Two is that I have NEVER seen Mike smoke a cigarette ever other than in this picture. Someone was enjoying himself thoroughly this day. He called me green shirt for months after this because he couldn't remember my name. Nice! I was actually dating someone else the day this picture was taken, but flash forward 9 months and we were dating (he knew my name by then).




2008: In Dublin.... 30 weeks pregnant. Sober as heck, but having fun. We spent the day roaming around Dublin. First at the St. Patricks Day parade, then for many hours listening to music at the Guinness factory. We wandered into Gogartys in Temple Bar for a millisecond, but it was insane in there. This year, my cousin Jenna is over there. I wonder what she's doing today? :)






















2009: hanging out with almost 10 month old son, who just 30 minutes after this picture was taken had to have his shirt changed, as he soaked it through with drool. highlight of day, making guinness and beef stew and i wouldn't have it any other way!

Zilker

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Originally uploaded by our "nut" house

we took the boy down to Zilker today.
he is still a little little for the playscape.
but he LOVES the swings!
his new trick is that he can clap. it amazes me that i spent 5 minutes showing him how to do it last week and now he does it all.the.time. he was clapping, and blowing kisses and shrieking with glee on the swings and it made my heart swell. we stood in line for the Zephyr, but the last train of the day was sold out, so we enjoyed an ice cream cone instead.
it was SO nice to get out after rain and cold the last few days!

CrockPot Chicken with Stuffing

Oh my God, this was delicious! It is a moist chicken coated with a cheesy stuffing breading. It made our house smell like Thanksgiving! And, best of all, it was made in the slow cooker! Thank you, Crockpot Tuesdays!

Ingredients:
6 chicken breast halves
4 slices Swiss cheese
1 10¾-oz can cream of chicken soup
¼ c. milk
2 c. stuffing mix
½ c. butter, melted

Directions:
Lay chicken breasts in slow cooker. Top with cheese. Combine soup and milk and spoon over cheese. Sprinkle stuffing mix on top. Drizzle melted butter over stuffing mix.
Cook on low 8-10 hours or high 3-4 hours. I cooked it on high for 3 hours this morning and it was perfect.

Notes:

• I had some cornbread stuffing mix left over from Thanksgiving and I used it instead of StoveTop, which probably really changed the flavor, but I LOVED it! I'll try it someday with regular stuffing, but it was SO good with the cornbread mix.
• Original recipe called for Cream of Mushroom soup. I bought the wrong one and liked it with Cream of Chicken.

Paramount of fun

Last night, as part of our season tickets to the Paramount, we saw To Kill a Mockingbird.

I love this story. Scout, who wears her heart on her sleeve. Jem, protecting her and trying hard in his youthful state, to act like a "man" should act. Atticus, getting paid in turnips and going against the majority to stand up for what is right. Calpurnia, who is just cool, chiding the children for not telling her where they are going. For some odd reason, cuddling up in the cozy theatre on a chilly Austin spring night made me quite maudlin, thinking about how excited I am to be the one who gets to teach our son to be a good person, to appreciate the arts and to love reading. And, it really made me long for H. baby #2, who for some reason is created in my mind as another sweet boy, who looks and acts just like JM. These romantic notions were definitely enhanced by the warm cup of Bailey's and coffee that I sipped on during the show. I LOVE how you can drink cocktails in your seat at the Paramount! Or gorge yourself on Milk Duds, for that matter.

We returned home to the 5th night in a row of our son waking at the odd hour of 1am. What is going on with him? I go in and calm him down, without feeding him or picking him up, then he is quiet for 15 minutes and then it starts again, just when you are snug in your bed and back off to dreamland. Painful! These wakings do not burst my idealistic state, however. I have so much love for our son that it makes me want to share that love with another one. Truth is, I think I need to get way more realistic about how our lives would change with two under two! Could I still run out to the grocery store on a whim if I had to get babies dressed and into two carseats?.....

It's been raining here for the past three days. It is such a blessing to finally have rain to end the drought. I have loved being inside and catching up on the bills and a few household projects, but I am starting to get a little stir crazy!

AC: spontaneity

Baby's got a new pair of shoes

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Originally uploaded by our "nut" house

With the weather being so nice and with our son standing on all sorts of surfaces, I decided he needed a pair of summer sandals. I had heard about Sandy's Shoes on the Nest, and must say I quite delighted in this little family shoe store. They have an amazing selection of children's shoes. It was the perfect place to buy his first pair of shoes. They even measured his little feet with the old school measuring ruler.

It's probably not a good thing that this store isn't far from our home. Especially now that I have discovered See Kai Run shoes.

love this!

love this!
Originally uploaded by our "nut" house

and here's the top....

pancake man and recycled mama

pancake man
Originally uploaded by our "nut" house

i am not a fan of daylight savings time. yesterday, it didn't seem to affect john at all. he napped well. he was a delight in church at 5pm. he was still partying at 7pm, his normal bedtime, and allowed us to enjoy a nice german sunday dinner at the charismatic minimalists'. we put him to bed a little before 8 and he woke up this morning at ehem, 5am. very AWAKE at 5am. i let him cry until 6:30, until couldn't take it anymore. technically, 5 should have been his 4, so I guess he might be back to his 4am wakings, but I am blaming it on daylight savings time. boo! shouldn't he be sleeping LATER?!!! grrrr... anyway, we both got up at 6:30 and I put him down for his nap at 8:45 this morning. hopefully he will adjust and the rest of the day will be somewhat normal and non-cranky.

so far eliminating the afternoon breastfeeding is going really well. he doesn't seem to miss it! i, on the other hand, view the situation much in the same way as when they replace the mama pig with the big artificial stainless steel milk machine in the movie babe. so so sad am i, but i am following my little guy's lead. gulp! :(

friday night we went to see afro cuban all stars at the paramount for our season ticket series. the audience for all our shows is very eclectic and "austin-y." and, having season tickets makes me feel very grown up. it's fun and i'm looking forward to another show this week. AND, where is march going? I can't believe that e. is coming next week for SXSW! i spent much of my morning saturday going through my closet and doing some outfit planning for what i will wear. i have no idea what is in style anymore. when austin is indundated with cool music industry people and bands, i tend to feel quite frumpy and out of style. i think my approach for this year is to just wear what i like and already own with the ultimate goal of being comfortable in my own skin, which is always cool. no?

someone turned me on to the little eggo frozen pancakes for a finger food idea for the little guy. they are jm's new favorite breakfast. here is a pic of him nibbling on a pancake. i also gave him some cut up dried apricots because feeding a 9 month old pancakes instead of whole grain muesli or the like just seems wrong!

ac: love

A sad day

JM has seemed kind of disinterested in breastfeeding lately, so I've been considering weaning him before our big trip. I've really gone back and forth on this, and my heart literally breaks a little thinking about it, but he seems to be telling me that he might be ready. And, the last thing I want to do is worry while we are gone that he isn't eating formula for his grandparents.

I have been feeding him 4 times a day. Breakfast, lunch, afternoon snack and before bed. Today, as a start to potential weaning, I gave him a bottle instead our afternoon feeding to see how it would go. He could have cared less! He didn't try to eat my arm or anything. He didn't eat very much though; only 3.5 ounces and then he started playing with the nipple. And, then he started acting REALLY crazy and silly when I put him on the floor, like kept trying to play peek a boo with me over the laptop and squealing. I appreciated the comic relief, because I was sad. My plan is to remove one feeding a week til we're down to gulp, none. We'll see...

AC: purpose

lake weekend

it was a motley crew at the lake last weekend. mike and i were going to go, then mom asked if she and art and her friend kathy who was visiting from chicago could come out saturday night, then lauren wanted to come. we all went out to fall creek vineyard for their texas independence day celebration, which basically consisted of a tour, lunch on the patio and some ladies wearing really bad texas flag themed attire. we drank wine, while jm crawled around the patio flirting with our neighbors. he crawled over to a table of drunken strangers who tried to give him wine. (see pic of son with random blue sweatered man). we ate in excess, went out in search of "wild" horses (that were actually fenced in) and had a ball playing
the longest game of uno, ever.

Green chile chicken enchilada casserole

I made this for the gang at the lake this weekend. I got the recipe from Allrecipes and made modifications based on some of the user comments. Yum! This would be a good one to take to someone who has just had a baby.... Not too spicy, even with the diced jalapeno.

Green Chile Chicken Enchilada Casserole
Serves: 8
INGREDIENTS
4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
garlic salt to taste
½ packet taco seasoning
18 (6 inch) corn tortillas, torn in quarters
2 (28 ounce) cans green chile enchilada sauce
1 (16 ounce) package shredded Monterey Jack cheese
1 (8 ounce) container reduced fat sour cream
Optional: 1 diced fresh jalapeno
Optional: 1 T lemon juice
Optional: diced scallions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a medium baking dish.
-Season chicken with garlic salt and taco seasoning. Arrange in the prepared baking dish. Bake 45 minutes in the preheated oven, until no longer pink and juices run clear. Cool, shred, and set aside.
-Pour about 1/2 inch enchilada sauce in the bottom of a medium baking dish, and arrange 6 tortillas in a single layer.
-In a separate dish, mix the chicken with the sour cream to coat.
-Top tortillas with 1/2 the chicken, 1/3 cheese, and 1/3 of the remaining enchilada sauce. Repeat. Coat remaining tortillas thoroughly with remaining enchilada sauce, and arrange on top of the layers. Sprinkle with remaining cheese, and top with any remaining enchilada sauce
-Cover, and bake 45 minutes in the preheated oven. Cool slightly before serving.

Notes:
· I was in a bit of a rush, so I bought pre-cooked, pre-diced frozen Tyson’s chicken breasts and used those instead of the baking chicken step. I prepped ahead of time and froze, so just let it all defrost for a bit before baking.
· I added ½ of a diced fresh jalapeno and 1T lemon juice to the enchilada sauce to give it a little flavor. The original recipe called for only one can of enchilada sauce, but I thought it was a little dry, so I think a can and a half would be better.
· I added diced scallions to the top, also for a little bit of flavor.