Baby Cookies

One of the things I remember about what it's like to get a new baby brother are the baby cookies.

I have a foggy memory of visiting a hospital room at the age of four when my first little brother came on the scene. Then there were the daily hospital visits, the NICU, the heart monitors and oxygen tanks when the twins came. But there was another brother between those two events and what I remember about him as a new born is baby cookies.

Baby cookies are the way we kids announced to our friends that we had a baby at our house.

I thought about the baby cookies after I'd had a baby myself and wondered how they came to be? That is to say, how did my mother go about baking hundreds of tiny cut-out cookies with a brand new infant? Further thought gave me the answer. She did it during those last days of waiting. Probably starting the batch with the hope of being soundly interrupted and winding up with one big warm and cuddly baby rather than hundreds of the tiny warm and crispy type.

I didn't make baby cookies when my first three came along. I thought about it, but I don't happen to have a 2 inch baby-shaped cookie cutter so what was I to do? This time though, my mama was coming before the baby.

Seeing as how Ziz and Enz both came like clockwork one day after their respective due dates, we decided it was worth the risk and scheduled her visit to commence the day before Duke was due. Ten days later when he was (finally) born his grandma had reluctantly returned home. While she was here though, she and her two inch baby shaped cookie cutter did some good work.

The cookies were made with this recipe via Brown Eyed Baker. The diapers were piped on with white chocolate candy coating.

The resulting babies were delicious.

Even after spending a few days waiting in the freezer for the event they were intended to announce.

Popsicle day week 7

This might be our last popsicle day what with school having started and all. I still have one more idea up my sleeve though, so we'll see.

I happened to have about four lemons languishing on the counter since last time I made lemonade. Fresh squeezed lemonade is one of life's great pleasures. I sometimes wonder at the fact that I'd never made any until last summer. What a pity...

Well, four lemons don't amount to much juice wise, and in re-figuring the recipe to suit that bitsy bit of juice I wound up over sugaring it. It was a disappointment for me when I drank the glassful that didn't make the freezer, but I think the popsicles were better for it. That is to say, the kids liked them better than they would otherwise have done. Ziz said enthusiastically "Hey, these aren't as spicy as I thought!"

There's a discussion in it's self. What counts as "spicy"? The young ones on the premises hereabouts tend to use it to describe any punchy flavor that crosses their tongues. Sour, tangy, vibrant, strong. These words are all lost under the umbrella of "spicy."

First

First day, first grade. The day was fat with firsts.

Also it was the first time I toted children along with me to the nearest grocery store. The five of us have been to Target a time or two but plain old grocery shopping is, for some reason, harder than Target so that task has been relegated to weekends when the Mr is handy since the Duke made his entrance.

Anyway, back to the matter at hand. Ziz didn't stand still for the traditional in front of the house first day of school photo. As soon as she stepped outside she was off like a shot running to meet her carpool.

Want to know the best thing about carpool this year? I don't have to drive! I'm just giving gas money! Squeee! Yes, that is how glad I am not to be driving to school every day. Glad enough to yell "Squeee!" in the middle of a blog post. Not to mention the three separate instances of exclamation point usage. (excluding the quote) That's a big deal.

Zizza was not nearly as pooped when she got home from this first day as she was after her previous first day. I attribute this to the combination of previous experience and the fact that we're in the morning program this year so she gets home at about 1:00 as compared to last years 4:00

Once again, we at home endeavored to fix up something yummy for her to return to. Mini Bagel pizzas and chocolate Rolo cookies. She appreciated the cookies (and why wouldn't she?) but she told me she thought the pizzas had "not enough sauce and too much cheese," I am now living in fear of the day when she"ll catch sight of the computer screen as I'm ordering pizza and learn of the option to request either light or heavy sauce and that I always select light. If that happens I'll never be able to order a pizza without an argument.

Make that two.

Another month has come and gone leaving my Duke that much older and wiser, and plumper and stronger.

This is the month that brought smiles and laughter, both of which were first bestowed upon the poppa who was more than glad to receive them. He wasn't lucky enough witness those firsts with any of the other 3 babes and he worked hard to get them this time.(Ziz laughed her first laugh on January 21, 2005 for the grandfather of my good friend whose wedding we were attending)

Another thing he's gained in the past month? Enough girth to cause some spillage from the truck bed.

"Leg over board!"

Popsicle day week 6

Today's popsicles brought to you by the Bluth family. (Also my memory of loving these the one time my mama made them when I was little)

Chocolate covered frozen bananas. Seriously, so delicious. These are my favorite popsicle without question.

Another great thing? Bananas don't melt.

Did you know that?

It's true.

Without dribbly melting messes to consider, we were all able to eat our frozen deliciousness in the comfort of the house.

That meant no repetitive opening and closing (read not closing) of the back door.

Awesome.

Our day in court

We made it to the courthouse just ahead of an ugly looking dust storm. Milled about in the hallway for quite a while talking with our attorney and CPS worker. The kids all played various games on any phone or other device they could lay hands on. Well, three of them did. Duke, after observing what there was to be observed in the hallway fussed a bit and then went to sleep.

At length, we filled into the courtroom and took our seats. I was put under oath while holding a sleeping infant and probably swaying a little bit.

Soon enough all was said and done and we were the legal parents and guardians of all four of our children.

I guess it was kind of a big deal.

For me though, it didn't feel all that momentous. (The evidence of the non-momentusness I was feeling can be observed in the everyday hairdos the girls were sporting) There have been a lot of other days, hours and even minutes during this nearly three year process that have held more poignance as far as I'm concerned. Likely most of those moments will never be noted by many outside of myself.

This was a big day, a noteworthy day, but also it wasn't. She's been mine for a long time already.

We didn't make popsicles today...

Before I knew it the day was closing and I'd hardly set foot in the kitchen. The dishwasher was still full of yesterday's dishes (they were clean) there was not a speck of dinner to be seen and the freezer was void of all things popsicle.

I suppose this week popsicle Friday will mean making the popsicles rather than eating them.

Here are a few things I've been meaning to post but haven't yet because I am a bad blogger.

The other day Duke was lifting his little head with such strength and control, he even managed to pull his wee body away from mine, supporting his baby torso like a champ. After that I had to sit him in the little chair and see how he fared. Look how big...

I haven't put him back in for fear he'll stop being tiny all together.


A few days after The Mr went grocery shopping look what I found in the pantry...

He's such a nice man.

For the first time ever we have a tomato crop...

yum nothing compares to a home grown tomato.

The other night I let the dog out to potty and this was right outside the back door...

The dog was very brave and bounded right over the big ugly thing. He did however hang back and wait for me to open the door rather than share space with the monster at the threshold until the door opened. I don't really blame him. that thing was nearly half his size.

I also have 2-3 tabs open in my browser waiting to be shared here. In the past all of these things would have come to fruition in posts of their own. Right now I think I'll be lucky if I get those links posted in a hodge-podge such as this.

A history

Today I plan to show you how my perm turned out. But first, I will take you on a walking tour of every perm my hair has seen.

That makes it sound like a lot huh? Really the current perm is only the third in my life which is a respectably low number when you consider the time period in which I grew up. Anyway, such things aside onward and upward we go- To the Perms!

I wished and wished and waited and waited to get my first perm. My sister, went to cosmetology school during my latter elementary school years and she laid down the law that perms were not to be administered until 12 years of age lest the chemicals inflict permanent damage on the young follicles of the head in question.

Finally I reached the appointed age and a few weeks before starting my junior high school career my hair met it's first chemical treatment. Here is photographic evidence of it all in the form of my seventh grade student ID card.

This was a "railroad wrap" on purple and blue perm rods. Oh, oops I lied a little bit. I guess I've technically had four perms. Eventually after five or so inches of re-growth my sister straightened the remaining curls applying solution to my free flowing locks and combing it all straight as the perm processed.

Good times.

Perm number two!

I was a junior in high school and my hair had been colored exhaustively when once more I heard the siren song of wash and wear curls. Thanks to the color gamut my hair and I had run that perm was a flop. I didn't even attempt to wear it in it's pure form until months later when I discovered, partly on accident, that the weak perm in the ends of my hair+the natural curl in the regrowth+ strategically placed curling iron curls would equal the following.

That photo was taken on my seventeenth birthday.

This brings us round to the present day. Perm number three (or four depending on how you look at it) Here is a phone photo of the very same featuring my sweet lump of a baby.

There you have it, a start to finish full disclosure account of every perm I've ever worn.

Riveting, no?

Popsicle day week 4

This week we made green apple pops with this recipe. My opinion? They taste more like lime than apple but I'm a big fan of lime so that works for me.

 

Want to hear something amazing? Not only did I use a recipe, I followed the whole thing. Well, almost. After you blend it all up the recipe directs to strain out the apple pulp and freeze only the juice. I was going to skip that step because I tent to like pulpy popsicles but instead I decided to do a comparison. I made one pop without straining and then strained the rest and served the resulting pulp to the kids as applesauce. Really smooth sugary applesauce. They liked it. I ate the pulpy-pop but I haven't tried a strained one to compare.

Style

One of the things that was hard about the pregnancy I've just completed (And it was hands down the hardest of the three) was that it seemed to rob me of my sartorial identity.

If you recall, I had trouble finding maternity clothes to suit me. I never did end up buying any more than the two tops I mentioned in that other post. I did however receive a big bag of pass around clothes and I patched together something of a wardrobe with the few things from the bag that fit me. Then eventually I outgrew all of that, found a tent of a dress at Old Navy and wore it every time I left the house for the last four weeks. (oh right nine extra days made it more like five and a half weeks) When I was at home I wore the Mr's old T-shirts and gym shorts. It was a very glamorous time for me.

In addition to the awesome wardrobe, my hair has been in that frustrating stage of growing out from over the ears short to jaw-length short. Also, my makeup supply got dangerously low and instead of getting more, I rationed it to the point where I only wore any at all on Sundays and even then it was sparse.

I didn't recognize myself when it happened that I accidentally looked in the mirror. Who was that drab girl in the grossly over-sized t-shirt with the bare face and bed head? (Because taming the bed head was (is) practically impossible)

So for the past weeks I've been taking steps to reassert my personal style.

I replenished my make-up supply on Saturday. I've still got to get into the habit of wearing it though.

I sort of thought all I'd need to do would be to go out and buy clothes that fit. I did a little of that and it sort of helped but finding clothes that answer to all I require of them still proves difficult. I'll probably start fitting into my existing wardrobe (currently packed up in a giant suitcase) before I manage to suitably outfit myself with what I can find in stores, or take the time to sew for myself.

This brings me to hair. For the past 3-4 hair cuts I've thought "This is it. This is the hair cut that will end the growing out phase and establish me firmly in the realm of the 'bob." And then after a week it's grown enough to prove that the oddity at the nape of my neck, (the result of an over grown short cut) has returned and I'm counting the days until I can get back into that chair and have things re-trimmed to await more growth, and hopefully, liberation from this awkward stage.

Well, today's the day. I'm sure this time. This is the haircut that will end the cycle! And as if that weren't enough I'm also doing something drastic.

Drastic things tend to happen with hair after Babies. After Ziz it was bangs (Ok, bangs are not all that drastic) After Enzo I chopped it from to the waist- length to spiky girl. Apparently the need for hair change is hormonal because it didn't happen with Moo. This time, today, I'm getting a perm.

You heard me.

For the past few years I've been reading about the re-birth of the perm. How current chemical technology has enabled perms to produce softer, prettier curls. Curls that need not vacillate between tight and crisp with product and sister to the crisp look: huge with frizz. So I decided to give it a go and I made the appointment.

I'll let you know how it goes.

Happy fourth

We had a festive breakfast. The Mr made it. He's always counted Independence Day as his favorite holiday. That might be why he chose it for the date on which to solicit my hand in marriage. Yes, today is the tenth anniversary of our engagement to be wed.

Today was also the date of The Duke's first full fledged responsive smile. I didn't happen to have the camera out at the time but you can look at this photo and then imagine a smile on that bitty-boy face to get an idea of what it was like.

Earlier in the day, he showed his patriotism through diaper choice. I guess it was actually me who chose the diaper (with much encouragement from Zizza) but he's the one who wore it so I think that means he gets the points. Not that you can really see the diap in this photo, but it's the cutest from the batch so it's the one I'm going with.

Today was our third day in cloth, so far so good. More on that later.
Over and out

Popsicle day week 3

Today was both a triumph and a disappointment. A triumph because look how cool:

Ring Popsicles! (Thanks Grandma!)

Also triumphant because this weeks flavor is raspberry cheesecake and I've got to tell you. It is delicious.

The disappointment came in because I couldn't get anyone to pose for a picture, and also because those kids of mine weren't nearly as impressed with the raspberry cheesecake flavor as I was. In fact, 2 of them almost didn't finish theirs and I'l tell ya, those ring pops are not large.

I stumbled across this recipe a few weeks ago on pinterest and converted it to meet my needs. Here's what I did

4oz cream cheese
1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup sugar
1 cup raspberries

Blend that all up, pour it into molds and freeze.
It made 6 ity bity pops and 2 average size.

The original recipe had pig pieces of berry floating in the creamy goodness. That was lovely and all, but I thought blending it would make things easier on the eating side. Also, I find that even textures tend to be more palatable to the 6 and under set.

Now seriously, go make some of these. They are all kinds of good. If you're not into popsicles, double the recipe and pour it into a graham cracker crust. That would be seriously yummy. Actually, A good idea might be to make the pie, slice it, and then skewer each slice on a stick and serve it popsicle style. That way you get the best of both worlds. Yes, do that.