Saturday, January 30, 2010

Baby Food

Well, if I can't keep him small forever, then I'll take this next stage as my second favorite. I'm dusting off Annabel Karmel's First Meals, on long-term loan from our good friend Wendy, digging out the food mill and mezzaluna, and plugging in the food processor.
Call me crazy. Call me a hippie-mom. Call me old-fashioned. Call me whatever you like, but I absolutely loved making all of Kari's baby food. A friend asked me if I did it to save money, and if so, how much did I save? I don't know the exact answer, but I figure what I did save in money I surely lost in time. Making baby food is, in the truest sense, a labor of love. I have to believe that my passion for breastfeeding evolved into my passion for homemade baby food. Those who know me best would laugh otherwise because they know my passion for cooking does not extend a day past baby food. I made more baby food meals for Kari during this stage than the seven years Kevin and I were married at that point. And that's no joke.

Now, I'm not here to judge the majority out there who choose the the jarred baby food route. In fact, I'm quite confident I'd be purchasing those little jars by the cart full had Natalie not introduced me to the idea. For sure, store-bought food is terribly convenient and attractive- the plastic container variety come with lids to store leftovers, it's always shelf-stable, and the glass jar brands sport endless craft possibilities, but I figured I'd give the homemade route a trial run and see how it went.

My favorite baby food medium in the early stages was butternut squash. I have to admit, I didn't even know what butternut squash looked like prior to this, but it quickly became a base for many of Kari's meals with its mild sweet flavor and smooth texture. I'm so excited to purchase my first squash for Bryce very soon. I love the idea of purchasing produce in season, providing a variety of colors, smells and textures in those early stages of learning to eat solids. Kari was, and still can be, an adventurous eater, and I hope Bryce will be too.

I suppose my passion for baby food also concurrently grew as I developed an awareness for farmer's markets, organics and other natural products. Several years ago I read Barbara Kingsolver's book, The Poisonwood Bible. Excellent, excellent read. I liked the author so much I took a look at her other book, Animal, Vegetable, Miracle. A non-fiction family journal of sorts, I was skeptical as I read the first chapter but quickly became engrossed learning about the benefits and possibilities of consuming food products from local and sustainable sources.


Ultimately, my hope is that our perseverance in the early years of providing healthy food will serve as a lifelong gift- the ability to make wise food choices long after we are there to guide them, and to live long and healthy lives.

Thursday, January 28, 2010

Jammie Day

Try and convince me that there is someone out there more talented than Natalie to get six, yes six, babies all under the age of two to sit long enough for a picture. Actually, the talent lies in her ability to keep these precious little ones fed, dry, clean and entertained every single day. And not to mention, time to send all the parents a picture once in a while. Natalie, you're the best.

Happy birthday, Taylor!

Sunday, January 24, 2010

Another Birthday Goes Down In The Books


As Kari's birthday comes to a close, we are reflecting back and calling it a success. We couldn't have been more proud of Kari as she was able to keep her excitement in check, along with her manners. We feel so fortunate that all of the grandparents were able to celebrate the day together with us. We spent the afternoon sampling Kevin's jambalaya and chicken corn chowder soups, eating cake, watching the Colts advance to the Super Bowl XLIV and enjoying each others' company.


Mickey's looking a bit girly in pink. A little bit of red food coloring goes a long way.





Kari comparing her hand print to Daddy's, also at age 3

Let us also take a moment to celebrate the birthday of one of Kari's favorite past times:
Bubble Wrap
Happy 50th, you big roll. You've provided hours of entertainment for our little girl.

Saturday, January 23, 2010

Kari and Bryce

A few pictures over the last couple of days of Kari and Bryce.




A note about Kari's dress.  Back in October when Mom, Bryce and I went to Ouray, we saw a couple of little girls in the most darling traditional German Oktoberfest dresses.  Mom took mental note and made that her fall project while up at the cottage.  It turned out really well.  Kari's growing faster than anticipated, so this will definitely be her Easter dress, and less likely a costume for Halloween.


 
Kari also had her little birthday party at school yesterday.  Work schedules did not allow mom or dad to sneak away, but fortunately Grand-MO is here and happily served as substitute.  Kari brought in brownie bites and clementines.

Tomorrow all the grandparents will be here for cake and lunch.  Should be a big day for everyone.

Monday, January 18, 2010

Two Weekends Worth of Pictures

An absence from posts does not mean a lack of activities; in fact, it has been quite the contrary.  Last Saturday we spent the afternoon in Indy with Gran and Beep Beep.  Kari and Beep Beep enjoyed playing outside in the fresh snow, filling the bird feeders and having a rather one-sided snowball fight.






This morning we headed north to Fair Oaks Farms for a family outing on our day off.  Kari and I had been there with Amy and Nolan about two years ago and really enjoyed our visit.  It is absolutely amazing and, at times, hard to wrap your head around the numbers, gallons and statistics this mega dairy produces:
9 families, 10 farms, 24-hour milking operation, 3,000 cows, each cow will be milked three times a day on a 72-cow carousel in 8 minutes and producing an average of 5 gallons per milking.  They produce all of their own power by converting the manure to methane gas.  It truly is amazing.  We even braved the birthing barn just in time to see twins born.  This ended up being Kari's favorite part and was lucky enough to see a second set of twins born after we ate lunch before heading home.
 
                                                        Twins!                                                        The milking carousel

Bryce is also doing well.  Thursday afternoon he came down with a low-grade fever and recovered less than 24 hours later by sleeping most of it off.  Saturday evening and all day yesterday he was covered in rash- likely something I ate, but otherwise feeling well.  I'll refrain from holding The Union accountable for the foreign food that entered my body on Saturday.

Saturday, January 9, 2010

What 7 Hours of Sleep Looks Like


We fed him right before heading up to bed last night in an attempt to keep his little belly full for as long as possible.  As predicted, however, Bryce wasn't too sure at first, but he did really well.


Friday, January 8, 2010

An Elvis Sighting

At approximately 7:17 AM, Elvis was spotted lounging in a cozy West Lafayette home.



Coincidence that today is the King's 75th birthday?  Yes, 100% purely coincidence.  Long live the King.

Wednesday, January 6, 2010

Craft Project

Kari loves doing any sort of craft project.  So, in preparation for the winter storm heading our way tomorrow, we made a batch of homemade hot chocolate mix.  In addition to being responsible for manufacturing, packaging and labeling, we also felt obligated to fulfill the role of quality assurance.  Kari's first dig into hot chocolate was a hit; she was not too interested in sharing with me.  I'll support the recipe; it was quite delicious, although we made one small tweak and used powdered sugar instead of regular sugar.  She also took a first hand at stamping and really enjoyed that too.  The canisters will all be delivered tomorrow to Kari's teachers, administrators, custodian and cook.
  
In the meantime, can someone please tell me what the heck nonfat dried milk is?

Saturday, January 2, 2010

5 Months

Bryce turned five months old today.  Every day I secretly hope he stays this small forever.





Sweet Tooth

Evidently, making cookies yesterday was just not satisfying enough.