A Little Of This, A Little Of That

Sorry for the lack of posting lately. Everything here has been going well, but my lack of sleep and being cooped up in the house has left me feeling a little dull in the head. Every day with Milla is a joy. She is settling down quite a bit into a sweet baby. I just can't seem to get enough of her! She is sleeping in her bed most of the time now. She wakes up once during the middle of the night. I just take her to the couch, nurse her, and sleep with her there until morning. She is sleeping for longer and longer chunks each night, so I'm confident that she will sleep all the way through the night soon. For now, though, I am just enjoying our special middle of the night snuggles. :) As long as we each start the night out in our own beds, I am okay with her waking up.

The kids and I have been working our way back into our old routine. Usually, after I have a baby, I usually go into hiding for about three months or so. We have been getting out and going places more often, especially now that the weather is so nice. I am so ready to get out and about and have had several sweet offers from friends at church who said that they were willing to watch our kids so that Josh and I could go out on a date. SO READY for that.

As usual, I have found something else to obsess about... Something fun... I am trying to reform our family's diet back to it's former status. For a while, after having Milla, I had to resort to cooking some easy and not-so-healthy type foods just to keep my head above water. I recently purchased these books to help give me some new ideas. A friend recommended them. I have tried several of the healthful recipes inside. They were not only very tasty, but good for us too! I really enjoy cooking colorful, healthful meals for my family. It just makes me happy.

Also...back in November, my mom bought me this awesome baby food maker. I was a little distracted at the time by my mom's hospital stay and put the box aside until a later date. Last weekend, my sister-in-law also received the same baby food maker. She actually opened hers and read through the manual, etc. Apparently, you just put the ingredients in (example:raw hamburger meat, spears of asparagus, and sweet potato?) and it whips up fresh gourmet baby food for your little one. I am SO excited about trying this thing out in a few months! I made most of Mary Alice's baby food and some of Major's using the ice cube tray method. I didn't get quite as creative as this gourmet baby food maker, though. It looks like our little chubbers will be feasting daily on delicious gourmet delecacies. She is so spoiled already! :) I researched the consumer reviews on different baby food books and purchased two used books on making baby food from amazon.com. I bought This Personalized Guide To Making Baby Food and Blender Baby Food. This sounds like SO much fun to me. I just love experimenting with food and trying out new ideas.

Speaking of... Next week I am going to be teaching someone who is not from our country how to cook a few Southern meals. I thought I'd start with a few basic meals. I'm not quite sure where to begin, though. From what I understand, she is generally accustomed to eating more healthy food than is served in mainstream America. She is from China. I am excited about this, but am trying to decide exactly where to start. Any ideas on where I should begin? If you were showing someone how to cook a few basic American meals, where would you start? Anyone???

This past week we went to Frisco to visit Josh's parents. Milla got to hang out with her cousin, Ranger. I think they are buddies already. :) Milla is WAY jealous of Ranger's cool mohawk.







Josh's parents (a.k.a. Grumpy and Nonnie) spoiled the kids rotten by playing games with them the few days that we were there and taking them biking around the block, to the playground, and golfing (for Major). The kids always have fun visiting Frisco. Here is a sweet pic that I got of Grumpy and Major before their golfing trip.



Here is a recent pic of Major and Milla. This was taken yesterday. It reminds me alot of a pic that I have of Mary Alice and Major that was taken about the same time.


Major and "Chubbers"- March 2009


Mary Alice and Major- June 2004

Can you BELIEVE Major's hair? OUT OF CONTROL!!!

Speaking of out of control, here is what Major came downstairs wearing yesterday. Here is "Cowboy Bob".



Last night, Mary Alice had her first sleepover. Since it was Spring Break, her friends Jillian and Janae came over to spend the night. The girls had so much fun. I went to bed around midnight and they were still up, giggling hysterically. Major was a little sad that his BFF Mary Alice wasn't around to play all of his usual games with him. Mary Alice was sad when the girls left this morning because she really liked having girls around here for a change. :)



Some more pictures of Chubbers...








I'll close with a picture of my sweet Mary Alice. :)



Only a few more weeks until summer break! We're lovin this beautiful spring-like weather!

I'm off to go on a walk with the kids!

Oh yes, please leave a comment if you have any ideas of a basic meal I could use for my little cooking lesson. Thanks!