Monday....

"A good laugh and a long sleep are the best cures i the doctor's book."

~Irish Proverb

Another Week

*A rare quiet Wednesday morning moment. Does my side of the bed seem a little crowded to you?  No wonder I am out of bed slurping down coffee instead of snoozing away with them.

*I'm reading One More Thing: Stories and Other Stories by BJ Novak.  It's cracking me up! It's a collection of pretty much ridiculous stories that somehow you seem to relate to.  The short story format has been great too since I don't have too many extended periods of time to read these days.

*Wyndsor is growing like a little weed.  She is a sweet little baby that likes to cry every single freakin' night when Daddy and I are ready for bed.  Barely makes a peep all day (of course).  She is starting to "wake up" more and more; smiling and making adorable little faces. 

*I'm sure it is true of everyone's 2nd child but I have significantly less pictures of the poor kid already.  I tried this week to make an conscious effort to take more and ended up with about a dozen.  Riesling probably has about 100.  Let the younger sibling complex begin.

*It's Friday.  My goals for the weekend include: a trip to BJ's, making a final decision and purchasing a double stroller, and remembering to buy more dark chocolate.  If I'm really feeling ambitious I will vacuum out my car. 

*Someone has a bit of an attitude this morning....

Dinner is served

I realize now how much pregnancy had changed not only my taste buds but my complete desire to cook.  I actually really enjoy cooking and creating new healthy meals for my family.  It's oddly therapeutic (although I could do without the mounding pile of dishes I often create).  Now that I have been freed of the joys of pregnancy and getting back into the swing of things around the house, I find myself in the kitchen more often and adding new recipes to my weekly meal plan.

Sunday night we had lentil sweet potato burgers, gluten free pasta salad, and steamed asparagus.
 

The lentil burger is an adaptation of this recipe. I cut out the dried mango because I didn't have any, added half a cooked sweet potato that I had in the fridge, and modified the spices to our liking.  I cooked them in coconut oil for about 5 minutes per side, basically until they were hot on the inside and topped them with avocado and romaine. I go without a bun to steer clear of the gluten, but Jim had his on a kaiser roll.  YUM!  Riesling was a fan of it as well, particularly when dipped in ketchup.

PASTA SALAD
1 bag of spiral or penne pasta (I used Tinkyada gluten free)
Grape tomatoes
Pitted kalamata olives
orange or yellow pepper
red wine vinegar
olive oil
italian seasoning

Cook pasta according to package directions. 
Rinse in cold water and toss with oil (I used walnut). 
Set aside and let cool completely before adding veggies.
Slice tomatoes and olives in half lengthwise.
Chop pepper.
In a separate bowl toss veggies in red wine vinegar, olive oil, and italian seasoning blend.  I am the worst at measuring (sorry!) but you definitely add more oil than vinegar and just adjust it to your taste. 
Add veggie mix and dressing to cold pasta.
Refrigerate for at least 1 hour before serving.

Happy St. Patrick's Day

Well no green beer or crazy bar crawls for me this year (it's been quite a few years since either of those have happened). This year was just a tad bit more low key. I started the morning off bright and early finishing up some art projects with Riesling.  She has quite the talent for sticker placement.

This was followed by a much needed haircut for Mommy while the girls spent a little quality time with their "Gram."  She cut off almost 6 inches, although Jim said it's barely noticeable because I stopped styling my hair months ago and he had actually forgotten what it looked like down.  Long hair was just too much for this Mama to deal with.

After naps, I dug out some green for everyone to wear and managed to get the crew cleaned up and smiling for Daddy's arrival home.  I realize now that I own exactly 2 articles of green clothing, the shirt shown above and a cardigan.  Riesling had one t-shirt.  Apparently we don't wear a lot of green.  Except for Winnie, as a fashionable young baby, she had just the perfect thing for the occasion.

We ended the night with a festive dinner of green including edamame hummus served with blue chips, carrots, & cucumbers and gluten free pizzas topped with kale.

Riesling hogging the carrots.  

  

Overall a successful celebration of the patron saint of Ireland and another Monday survived.

Monday...

"Rejoice with your family in the beautiful land of life."

 ~Albert Einstein

Happy Birthday Riesling

Just two weeks after Winnie was born, with Jim and I still very much in a newborn sleep interrupted fog, Riesling had her 2nd birthday.  I still can't believe my sweet little baby is two!  I was quite sentimental and a little weeping about her birthday.  She will always be my first baby.  The precious little girl that made me a mother.  

I am amazed at the little person she is turning into.  Everyday is certainly an adventure and learning experience, but I suppose that is just parenting.  She is such a little lovebug, full of genuine sweetness and concern for others.  We have to watch her closely in playgroups because she is a bit overly aggressive with her hugs and affection for others.  

Although I really have no idea what the 'standards' are for her age, I proudly consider her to be quite the little smarty pants. She knows her alphabet song, can correctly identify all the 'mommy' letters (she does confuse G and H often though) and most of her 'baby' letters. She can count to 10 and identify the numbers, although we it comes to actually counting items she gets a little questionable after 3 or 4.  

She LOVES books, family reading time, coloring and our trips to the library.  In general she is very attentive and aware of what is going on around her. You really have to watch what you say because she seems to always be tuned in and it often sets her off on a hunt for game, toy, picture, or piece of artwork we may have casually referenced.  She also immensely enjoys playing outside, especially in the garden with daddy. I can't keep her clean for more than 30 seconds outdoors.  This she has picked up from her father as well. 

When her actual birthday approached we decided last minute to throw together something special for her with just Mommy, Daddy, and Baby Winnie.  Jim stopped on the way home from work and picked up balloons (purple and pink at her request), we let her open her gifts from us and a few she had received in the mail from out of town family, and took her to Panera Bread and let her eat the mac n cheese and pick out a cookie.  It was actually a nice day so it worked out perfect because we got her a scooter.  She strapped on the new helmet Papa got her and jumped right on.  She was beyond thrilled. 

The following weekend we had a small party with her close family that live in our area.  We informed her about the party at the very last minute.  She went immediately to her closet and said, "I need a dress."  Seriously how does a 2 year (especially MY 2 year old) know that she needs a special outfit for special occasions?  We decided on this adorable hand-me-down with tights, mostly because of the pockets.

We kept the affair simple with more balloons, a little banner I picked up at Target, and some cute napkins with cupcakes on them that Riesling picked out.  Normally I don't mind cooking but I decided on a hoagie tray from a local deli and just had a few salads and dips to go along with them.  Aunt Becka was nice enough to offer to make the cupcakes, knowing I was a little on the busy side handling a newborn and a toddler.  She made the cutest little puppies!  Cupcakes in general are a rarity at our house, and I am by no means a fancy baker so this was an extra special treat. 

Which she most certainly enjoyed. Down to the last chocolatey crumb.

Although she slept through the majority of the celebration, Winnie was not so sure about the whole thing.

I'm sure big sister Riesling will inform her of the many advantages.  Her current list includes: balloons, cupcakes, and presents.