A chef? Ha!

ONE of my New Year's "gee, that would be a really good thing to do" items is to cook more. Cook more, as in, get off the chili, tacos, pancakes for dinner, rotel dip kick.

To date (and this is only the 6th), the recipes I've taken from the Simple and Delicious publication have only been one thing:

Not simple.

Ok, a few other things, too:

Messy.

Prolonged.

Hot stuffy kitchen=dry eyeballs.

A burnt knuckle.

Noodles stuck to the pot (not the bathroom pot, a kitchen saucepot or saucepan..whatever.)

Bacon bits added when Shawn doesn't like bacon bits.

Juices flowing from the pan and into the bottom of the oven making the house smell and the windows fog with smoke. Lesson learned as a result: we should schedule the oven self-cleaning feature to kick on sometime when we're gone for a few hours. A walk around the block isn't enough time for the smell to dissipate.

Eggo waffles vying for space in my freezer (I overlooked the fact that I took recipes from the "Freezer Pleasers" collection & thus have two 9X13 pans up there)...

To those of you who deftly dice, whimsically whip, swiftly sift, and beautifully baste, kudos!

I will never be you.

The one and only Wilder

...is five months old!

and he's not the only thing that's grown:

 

I've lots of things to note:

~he loves kicking things

~he puts his hand on his forehead or in his hair while nursing

~he rolls to side and almost onto tummy

~he's getting better every day with tummy time (usually he screams when on his tummy but we're working on it!)

~he talks, cackles, giggles, blows strawberries, laughs (it is awesome!)

~pinches my nose. hard.

~chews on his fists

~smiles at faces in the mirror

~grabs feet

~weighs 14 lbs 6 oz! (was 7 lbs 7 oz at birth)

~have the teething thing coming on; have had a few "dramatic" days!

~once, when Daddy was holding him, he reached for me to hold him! My heart melted.

~is ticklish on his back and armpits

 

We'll get to start rice cereal soon. Good thing he received several bibs for Christmas, from Grandma Lila! (my favorites read, "born to be wild", and "my favorite website: www.grandma.com")

All in all, he's a blessing and a treasure. We're having a blast!

Christmas in Chanute

penguin PJs!

WE spent the remainder of the holiday with my family in Chanute. It had been too long since I'd seen my sisters. Always a blast to reconnect with them, in person. Emails, texts, and calls get us by, but I'd rather we see each other weekly! We usually spend hours in the bathroom trading beauty products and laughs while "getting ready"...although this year we spent alot of time in our PJs.

Mom and Dad had the house so cozy and created a variety of soul-warming foods, like chili or potato soup, ham/the works, and Daddy's beautiful from-scratch pancakes. I'll always treasure this first Christmas with a son to show off. Wilder and Max played well together; what fun they'll have when they're old enough to play with Legos and clamber up trees.

Daddy drew my name in the gift exchange. I got a Martha Stewart magazine subscription, Michael Buble CD, Old Navy gift card, and a fancy hot fudge pudding cake mix. He knows me well! I drew Megan's name and gave her an assortment of items on her list, as well as some soap I concocted in our kitchen (that may have to be a separate post)!

Wilder getting some help from Grampa Mustache

Martha Stewart! So many good ideas I don't know where to start!

The aunties loving on Wild

Momma & Daddy got a picture of Wilder, too!

Cousins! Good thing I caught this pic because in the other ones Max is moving his face in front of Wilder's. I think he wants to be the center of attention, all the time!

We went to the flea market/Sonic for our "Sister's Weekend" (we didn't get to do one in 2008 but thought a few hours out would suffice until our 2009 one)

Ash, Wild, and I!

Hellow, owlfriend!

THERE'S this awesome flea market in Chanute that sells stuff for super cheap. I found a cookie jar for $2. It doesn't make sense for a baker not to have a cookie jar, now does it? For those of you who are wondering what kind of use I'll have for a cookie jar given my recent list of "good things to do in 2009", I say, well, good observation but I don't know how to help you. I'm apt to have a hankering to bake from time to time. So there.

I want you to see how adorable my owl friend is. He will be the cherished vessel for all things delightfully sweet. And sweetly delightful.

His name is Harvey and he's nestled himself quite comfortably in our kitchen...I tested him out today by whipping up a batch of no-bakes. He did well--the cookies have never tasted more fresh (mind you, they were only in the jar for a couple of hours before I sampled some, but, oh well).

All in all, this is the beginning of a very beautiful relationship.

Editor's note: neither Harvey's services nor his contents are ready to be shared with friends at this time. You will be notified when this changes.

Happy New Year!

Wilder in hat. This is for all his grandparents.

Ah, New Year's! Not my favorite day on the ole calendar. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy the self-evaluative and celebratory feelings it evokes, but I dread the goals/resolutions part. I'm not one to set many goals for myself (if that's "bad", I don't care!). I've concluded that I don't set goals because I'll kick myself for not meeting them. Rather, I like to create a list of things "that would be really good to do", then, see if I'll do them. 

So, here is my list of ten things. While they may not be as lofty as 2009 deserves, I feel they are in my realm of "doability". I debated even sharing them because I'm afraid you'll ask me if I've done them by 2010. 2010! Now that's weird. 

Here goes, gulp: 

1) exercise 30 minutes 5-6 days per week (getting rid of my post-pregnancy jiggly bits is motivation enough!)

2) limit sweets (I have no additional comments at this time. I think I might die. I live on sugar.)

3) journal a few times a week 

4) adopt this mantra: "I am important. And that's not selfish." 

5) cook things other than spaghetti, chili, and taco salad (poor Shawn. poor cows.) 

6) go camping 

7) go on a vacation to somewhere new, with Shawn

8) go on a vacation with Shawn & Wilder 

9) clean out all the closets 

10) volunteer 

And here's a bonus thing, just because I'm feeling adventurous: 

11) write down, on stones, stuff I'm lettin' go of. Then, throw the stones into the ocean. Er, um, the lake. 

And now for some pictures:

New Year's Eve: a purdy night indeed

We dined at Carrabba's. Wilder rocked the place.

He was the cutest baby there. No joke!

Playing with Daddy in his Bjorn. Coolest invention ever.

Happy New Year! Here's to a rockin' 09!