Letting Butter Talk

Hey blog readers. It's me, Butter. I know you haven't heard from me in so long you probably thought I disappeared. But nope, I'm still here. I've just been really busy lately. And a bit down in the dumps, too.

You're probably wondering why.

It's because in addition to guarding the house from mailmen and other potentially evil intruders, going to work with Conservative Boy every afternoon, and barking at squirrels in the backyard, I now spend hours upon hours each day running away from this little creature Julie and Conservative Boy brought home 10 months ago.

I don't know where he came from or why he's here, but he can leave at any time. Seriously, this kid drives me crazy.

It was bad enough when he was really little. He didn't move or  do anything interesting back then, except it seemed like he cried all the time. He'd cry when we were awake and he'd cry when we were asleep and I never thought I'd hear the end of it.

But then I realized maybe that wasn't so bad. Because now he doesn't cry so much, but he jabbers and yells nonstop. This kid never shuts up.

Plus he doesn't just lay around anymore. He chases me everywhere I go. I can't get a moment's peace when he's around, because he's always trying to steal my bone or grab my tail or pull on my ears. I get up and move and he just follows me.

 He's also always trying to get my water bowl in the bathroom and my food dish in the kitchen, so most of the time I can't even get at these things anymore because Julie puts them up on the counter so they're out of the little monster's way.

And don't get me started on the fact that now he's trying to share space in front of my window. My window, people. This is getting out of hand.

As if things couldn't get any worse, there's also the fact that all the people who used to come over and see me and shower me with attention hardly notice me because they're too busy holding the little monster and kissing him and saying how cute he is. And Julie probably spends one fourth of the time she used to petting me, because she's always making food or chasing the baby around or rocking him or doing a million other things that don't have to do with me.

On the bright side, we do all go for walks together most evenings, and when the little monster is in his stroller he's not so bad. And maybe someday if he learns to pet me rather than just grabbing my hair, I won't mind him quite so much.

Julie keeps telling me that someday soon we'll be lifelong friends. I just don't know if I can believe that. This kid has totally changed my world. That much change in less than a year just can't be good for a dog.

Morosely,
Butter

P.S. If this sad tale has anyone wanting to come over and make me feel better, please try to stop by on Monday, Wednesday, or Friday mornings. That's when I am home guarding the house and the little monster is at day care, so he won't get in the way.

Sharing Baby Musts

Sooo ... I've been meaning to do this for months. But then again I've been meaning to do a lot of things for months.

Like actually writing complete sentences in little man's baby book, rather than just making random notes here and there.

And refinishing the front windowsill now that both the baby and the dog like to sit there and survey their neighborhood (and drool). After four years of dog slobber and clawing when the mail man walks by, it's seriously disastrous. Don't worry, I'll show a photo of it soon enough. (Maybe. If I actually get this project done.)

And making homemade ice cream, which I failed to do even once this summer.

And showering.

Just kidding on that last one. Kind of.

Anyway. I didn't even get out of the gate on this post before I got sidetracked. Back to the task at hand.

I've been meaning to post a little list of our basic baby must-haves for months, because we have a lot of lovely friends who are having babies soon and have asked for recommendations. And I'm sure the rest of you have just been anxiously waiting to hear this list too, right?

There's so much to choose from out there in babyland, registering and shopping can be seriously overwhelming. I knew it was for me, and I found blog posts like this helpful.

That being said, I also discovered early on that something that works really well for one baby and family might not work at all for another, because every little one is so different. So just, you know, ignore me if you want.

First, the must-haves we would buy again in a second and can't (or couldn't) live without ...

Car Seat
Probably one of the most overwhelming things to figure out. We went with the Chicco KeyFit 30, which means we've still got about 10 pounds to go before we have to buy a new one. Lugging any car seat around is going to be a pain in the butt, but this one has held up well to lots of spit up and still looks good, is easy to get in and out of the car, etc. We bought an extra base for Conservative Mom's car, although we also discovered that you can hook in the car seat just using a seat belt, which is swell for when you're traveling or in someone else's vehicle with the baby.

Stroller(s)
Also super overwhelming. I decided pretty early on I didn't want to hassle with the whole "system" you can get to go with the car seat, because I didn't want a big, unwieldy stroller and didn't really think I needed all the bells and whistles. I wanted something lightweight, easy to fold up, yet durable. I ended up deciding on the Chicco Liteway stroller and am incredibly happy with it. It is all the things I mentioned two sentences ago, and has held up really well to almost daily walks on bumpy streets and uneven sidewalks in L-Town. I even did a bit of jogging with it on a smoother sidewalk and it was fine, though it's not really cut out for regular runs. It has the basics—a cupholder, storage underneath the seat (that actually becomes a little backpack if you need it, and is big enough to hold most things I buy at the farmer's market), a rain cover.

However, before our first flight to Georgia, My Mom convinced me that we needed the Chicco KeyFit Caddy Infant Car Seat Carrier. If you plan to do much traveling with your baby, this is worth its price. We've used it on five different flying trips now and it has been awesome for getting through the airport and on the plane and going for walks while at our destination. You can fold it up with one hand when you're going through security or leaving it plane-side, and there's room underneath to stash carry-on bags as you're making your way through the airport.

Bouncy Chair
This doesn't have to be a fancy or expensive one. The one we ended up using repeatedly was this very inexpensive, basic model. But it was a lifesaver, first as a place for our sweet little man to sit and relax so we weren't holding him nonstop. And then we discovered he actually slept better when sitting up, so for quite some time he slept swaddled in his bouncy chair. (No one tells you this is an option if your baby can't handle sleeping laying down, and I am still bitter that I did not know to do this for the first few months of little man's life. But that's another story ...)

 
Video Baby Monitor
I registered for one with audio but not video, but was very fortunate to get an upgraded one for a shower gift. Having video has been a lifesaver so we don't have to go in and check on the little one repeatedly. I can't actually find our model online, but it's a Summer Infant one with a handheld monitor. We even pack it when traveling now. Worth it.

High Chair
You won't need this right away, of course. But when you do start using it, it will be a big part of everyday life. This is actually one I got wrong. I picked out this super fabulous-looking high chair that I thought would look nice in our dining area. Only it was a pain to put together, wasn't really all that comfortable or functional for the little guy, and when Conservative Hubby tried to adjust the seat he ended up breaking it. Oops.

So now we have a very basic, inexpensive high chair that took about two minutes to put together and will fold up should we need to take it with us somewhere. It's sturdy, has an easy-to-remove plastic tray and a high back, and is very easy to clean. Live and learn. 

The Little Things
I love the aden+anais swaddle wraps. They're big and easy to wrap around a little wiggler. Plus they work well for a light blanket, a burp cloth, or whatever you need them for. Our little man figured out how to bust out of them pretty early on, though, so then we switch to Summer Infant SwaddleMe for a while, which worked well until he developed super human strength and not even the tight velcro wrap stopped him.

 Get bibs. Lots of soft ones; not the ones with plastic backs.

Little burp cloths are worthless if you have a Spit Up King (or Queen). We have two packs of Koala Baby cotton flannel blankets that are our burp rags. Invaluable.

Buy extra crib sheets. You'll need them.

For diapers, we used Pampers Swaddlers at first, as that's what we used in the hospital and they seemed to do the trick. However, since for a number of reasons I decided not to do reusable diapers (another story for another day), I have since switched to the Seventh Generation diapers because they are more environmentally friendly. I love the dipes and the wipes, and if you sign up for Amazon Mom (do it!), they're actually not that much more than other diaper options.

Lots of babies sleep better early on with white noise. But you don't have to buy a special white noise machine or anything. I just put my little Tivoli radio in the nursery and downloaded a few white noise tracks to play on repeat on the iPod each night.

Once I went back to work, the Medela Pump In Style double pump was invaluable. And the little man has done well with the Dr. Brown's bottles (I tried a variety of kinds first, but Dr. Brown's won out). Buy the 8.5-ounce ones if you only want to buy a few. I bought the 4-ouncers, which were great for a while, but then I had to go buy a whole new batch once the little man started eating more than that.

I like Burt's baby care stuff. 

Since winter is right around the corner, I recommend the BundleMe car seat cover. Things like snow suits and coats are cute but a pain in the butt. This cover stays on the car seat all winter and keeps baby protected and warm.

I went for a plain, black, practical diaper bag so Conservative Hubby would carry it too. This Skip Hop one has been great.

Little man will not let his lovie out of sight. I'm not quite sure how he ended up loving his little giraffe so much, but it was a terrific shower gift. We now own three and I'm contemplating buying another because he sucks on them nonstop when he's teething, wants to carry one around while crawling, and will not sleep without one.

There are some things that were super handy even though we didn't use them as long as I expected. Early on, our wonderful baby swing kept little man calm and even helped him take brief naps when he wasn't sleeping much at all.

The Baby Bjorn and a beautiful sling I have were also handy, but saw limited use because wiggle worm does not like being contained. I regret not getting the sling sooner and getting little man used to being carried around in it, as I think it would've made the first few months much easier for both of us. The Baby Bjorn has been great for walks but hasn't gotten much use the last few months because it has been too hot.

I used a Boppy pillow for nursing early on, and it was incredibly helpful.

Finally, little man has this jumperoo, but doesn't use it a ton. I know other babies that play in theirs for hours, but he gets impatient being contained and just wants to crawl around, so now it's mostly gathering dust.

I'm not even going into toys or clothes here because that's a whole other ballgame. Although I will say little man has gotten a lot of use out of his activity gym.

Oh, and it's almost out of season now, but I highly recommend this swim diaper rather than doing disposables. We had zero pool incidents this year.

OK. You're probably sick of reading at this point. And I'm totally exhausted from writing this post. I'm sure I forgot a million things, but there you have the basics (and then some) that have helped us survive the last nine (nine!) months.

New Adventures

Once upon a time I graduated from Drake University and began working for a wonderful little publishing company in Des Moines. I worked there for a number of years. I learned all sorts of terrific things about being an editor and had the opportunity to work on some really stellar projects. I also did some freelance writing and editing on the side, just because I like being busy.

Then a certain Conservative Boy graduated law school and we took off for the wild world of L-Town, so he could become a small-town lawyer.

For a while, I kept working for that wonderful (no longer quite so little) publishing company. At the same time, I had the opportunity to teach a few first-year writing classes down the road at a small, private 2-year college here in L-Town. So I juggled the teaching and the editing and the freelancing.

And then I decided to pursue my master's degree (in environmental studies and journalism), so I started taking classes down the road about 45 minutes away at the University of Illinois campus in Springfield.

And then I was really busy.

Then I realized that the publishing company in Des Moines needed a managing editor who was actually in the office, and I needed to set out down a new path and try things out. So I became self-employed and worked as a freelance writer and editor, took a graduate assistantship at UIS, and worked on finishing my master's degree.

Oh, and somewhere in the middle of all that Conservative Boy and I got hitched.

Then, when all I had left to do was my thesis, I started job hunting. I applied for a full-time teaching position at a fabulous private university down the road a different direction, in Decatur. I was one of two finalists for the position and, I thought, nailed my teaching and research demonstrations. However, I had a big strike against me: I didn't even officially have my master's degree yet. And the other candidate already had a PhD. Bet you'll never guess who got the job.

But that's OK, because shortly thereafter I landed a swell position, overseeing campus and community sustainability initiatives and education at a community college back down the road in Springfield.

It was a terrific position in which I got to do a crazy variety of sustainbility-related work: working to increase environmental awareness on campus and in the community through special events, workshops, speaking engagements, etc.; helping college operations become more sustainable; developing renewable energy and green construction certificate programs; running all sorts of grant-funded projects related to raising awareness of local food, training people to grow local food, starting school gardens at local elementary schools, and more; collaborating with other sustainability professionals across the state. I probably forgot at least 30 other things I had the pleasure of doing in that position but, alas, you get the idea.

And then I got pregnant.

And then a certain little fellow you may have heard of once or twice came along.

After my maternity leave, I went back to work full time. But after a few months, I realized things had changed. Not only were my job duties shifting as a result of changes in grant funding and priorities at the college, but I also was starting to wonder what it really was I wanted to do. I loved much of my work in sustainability, but I was also missing the freedom and creativity of the freelance life and the opportunity to teach and closely interact with students on a regular basis. (Surprisingly, considering I was working at a college, my interaction with students was incredibly limited.) Plus, my personal priorities were shifting.

I struggled with being gone for long hours all day, driving 40 to 45 minutes each way, and hardly seeing the little guy. (Look at this face. Can you blame me?)

After he'd go to bed at night, I'd be crazed trying to keep up with things around the house. There was absolutely no balance in my life, and it started to stress me out.

It was time, once again, for a change.

Fortuitously, this realization struck me right about the time a couple of local colleges and universities were looking for English instructors. So I applied for a few positions, just to see what would happen, and ended up getting asked to teach a few classes here and there. So after a lot of thinking and figuring, we decided I'd leave my sustainability position to jump back into freelancing and teaching as of Aug. 2.

It has been a whirlwind of a month planning for four different classes (writing fundamentals; critical writing, reading, and research; web publishing; and an environmental service-learning class) at three different campuses, ramping up freelance writing and editing again, and figuring out a new schedule.
 
But so far I am loving every minute of it. Three work days a week, I immerse myself in teaching and planning and freelancing. Two work days a week, I'm home full-time with the little man. We have lots of time to play and read books and explore and cuddle (not that he really sits still for cuddling, but I keep trying). And when he naps, I have time to get work done on those days, too.

(Oh, and lest you think I have abandoned my interests in sustainability, never fear. Obviously we focus on the environment in my service-learning class; but it's also the focus of my critical writing, reading, and research class. Fun.)

Sure, things will get incredibly hectic at some points, when freelance projects come in at the same time that I'm trying to grade multiple classes' worth of papers. But that's OK. I don't mind. It's a new adventure, one that's allowing me to get back to some of my passions and spend more time with my family.

Plus, you know I thrive on being busy anyway.

A Mexico Wedding

A couple of weekends ago, Conservative Hubby and I said sayonara to the ridiculously hot temperatures in Illinois for a little getaway in Mexico.

 No, really, August in Mexico was cooler than Illinois. I kid you not.

We spent a long weekend at a little boutique all-inclusive resort called The Beloved Hotel to celebrate a very special event: the marriage one of my best friends to her honey.

The customer service at the resort was terrible. They greeted us with champagne the moment we walked in the door. A cerveza materialized in Conservative Hubby's hands as if by magic whenever he needed one. Every employee greeted us with a smile and a hello.

The setting was questionable, to say the least. Views of the ocean, multiple pools, and palm trees galore? Ridiculous.

And our room was a real dump, as you can see from the photos. I mean, seriously. Who did they think they were fooling with the giant multi-head shower, the mini bar that wasn't so mini, and the jacuzzi tub overlooking the resort?

Oh yeah, that's right. Me. And Conservative Hubby. And probably every other guest staying there.

 

The location was fabulous. The time spent with friends by the pool and at the beach was fun. The food was delicious.

 And the wedding? Beautiful.

Hooray to the happy couple!

P.S. I survived the long weekend away from the little man. Can you believe it? It was hard, but I knew he was in good hands with all of his grandparents ... in fact, perhaps in too good of hands. We came home to discover he'd gained a whole pound and figured out how to sleep through the night ... finally!

88 Southern Illinois Peaches

If you give a family 88 Southern Illinois peaches, they are going to want to eat most of them fresh from the counter, sliced, for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks, too.

Some they will not even bother slicing; instead, they will eat them standing directly over the sink, letting the juice run down their hands.

They will cut up some of these peaches into small pieces, so the littlest member of the family can nibble on them, too.

If you give a family 88 Southern Illinois peaches, they are going to want to puree many of them, so the littlest member of the family can enjoy them for meal after meal, plain or mixed into oatmeal or paired with plums or other fruits that are almost (but not quite) as tasty as the fresh peaches.

They will blanch and slice these peaches, then toss them with lemon juice and a light sugar syrup so they can freeze bag after bag of them for use when peach season is but a hazy memory. Some of these bags of frozen peaches they will share with friends, because it's no fun keeping all the juiciness to yourself.

If you give a family 88 Southern Illinois peaches, they will have roasted pork chops and peaches as a main dish and a wonderful peach cobbler for dessert.

(Although technically the peach cobbler will not be made from the 88 peaches, as it will come from Not-So-Conservative Grandmom. So technically, the family will consume more than 88 Southern Illinois peaches before all is said and done.)

They will re-create the peach and prosciutto pizza from The Harvest Cafe in Delavan, and then wish they had time to re-create it again.

Then because they are going on vacation and there are still peaches on the counter, they will again blanch and slice the peaches, toss these with lemon juice and light sugar syrup, and begin counting down the days until they have an excuse to take a bag of frozen sweetness from the freezer to puree or baked into a pie or whatever else they might choose to do with what remains of those 88 Southern Illinois peaches.

Little Man's First Hair Cut

Last weekend, Little Man took a trip downtown with me for a big event: His first hair cut.

His locks weren't ridiculously unruly or overtaking his head, because he happens to be (cursed? blessed? I'm not sure) with very fine hair like mine. But his hair was getting long enough to hang over his ears and look a little ragged in the back, so we decided it was time for a bit of a trim.

Fortunately, Conservative Mom (who I almost called Conservative Grandmom just now because I've gotten so used to referring to her as Grandmom the last 8 months) was there to help keep little wiggle worm in place so I could snap some photos (that's her arm you keep seeing).

As you can see, Little Man thought the hair cut was a lot of fun, though he was a bit puzzled by what was going on behind his head and kept trying to look.

He handled getting shots and getting his hair cut so well, I can only hope he handles future procedures—like his first dentist appointment or whatever else may come up—as well.

Fennel

Fennel is something I've had before in meals but haven't ever really cooked with. So at first, when I brought home a couple of fennel bulbs from my weekly CSA pickup, I was a bit puzzled as to what to do.

Fortunately, our CSA cookbook included a super easy suggestion: Roast slices of the fennel with potatoes, olive oil, salt, and pepper.

Uh, OK. I can handle that.

The fennel added a nice touch of flavor—something a bit different from the usual roasted potatoes. I'd make it again.

(Because I so often say a recipe is worth having again or end my posts with some really eloquent comment like "yummy," you may be wondering if I ever don't like what I make, The answer is a resounding yes. I just don't post the failures too often. Maybe it's because I don't have time. Or maybe it's because I know they're failures before I even eat them, so I don't even bother snapping photos. Trust me, there are lots of duds or so-so recipes. Just ask Conservative Hubby.)

Amaranth

In today's edition of "What Did Julie Make?", our guest is amaranth.

I very likely have eaten amaranth before in salads or dishes I've had at restaurants, but I can't say I've ever purchased or made anything with it myself.

So at first, I simply tossed some of the leaves in our salad (which means, yes, Conservative Hubby, you too have now had amaranth).

The rest I sauteed with olive oil, garlic, and zucchini and had it for lunch when Conservative Hubby wasn't around.

It was nice and green and delicious. I actually regretted that I only made one serving's worth before I ran out of zucchini and amaranth.

CSA Fixings

I am woefully behind on posting about food, which I'm sure has you all in a lather.

Just calm down already.

Here is the first of a few snapshots of what I've made with some of my weekly CSA loot. This ought to satisfy you for a while, right?

This is beet barley salad with feta.

I've never known what to do with beets, except hand them off to a Lithuanian woman in our office who takes them home to make a creamy, cold beet soup.

I intended to use the beets this year to make baby food, but I have something I can't bear to keep to myself anymore. So I'll fess up: So far, beets are the one food I have skipped exposing the little man to.

For one very important reason.

I do not want to clean up beet stains from our carpet, our couch, our clothes. And if you feed The Spit-Up King beets, you will be cleaning up beet stains. Lots of them.

So instead I decided to try out the beet barley salad with feta. And it was a pretty darn tasty combination.


I would've made it again, except I ran out of time and ended up handing off the rest of my beets to my coworker again. Someone needs to enjoy them if I don't have time to use them!

Boating with Baby

The little man took his first boat ride while we were in Georgia for the 4th of July holiday. His Mimi and Papa hooked him up with a perfectly sized life jacket, so he was ready to set sail for a slow cruise on the pontoon boat.

He was teething at the time so hadn't been in the best humor most of the day, but boating was such a different experience he forgot to fuss and sat quietly, taking in the wind and the water and looking a bit confused about what the heck was going on.

We stopped at the Waterside Cafe at My Parent's golf club for shrimp and oysters on the patio, then headed home just before dark. And guess who fell asleep on the ride home?

A Low-Country Boil

We celebrated the 4th of July in Georgia in true southern style: with a low-country boil at P-Diddy and Lovely Miss L's house on the lake.

Lovely Miss L's niece and her husband and daughter were visiting from Savannah, and her niece's husband took the lead on cooking one fabulous shrimp boil.

It was hot, hot, hot when it came time to cook, but since the chef had just gotten out of the water, he managed to survive. (Note Conservative Hubby closely observing his technique, in case he has the opportunity to create a Northern version of the boil some day in the future.)

Once the ingredients were ready, they were served up outside in a big tub, along with plates, plenty of paper towels, and not much else. I guess this type of thing is often served by dumping all the ingredients out on the table, but this time we were nice and civilized and kept everything in the tub for easy serving.

Along with the shrimp, we had two kinds of sausage (one spicy and seriously delicious), potatoes, onions, and corn.

It was hot and flavorful and the perfect summer holiday meal. I may or may not have gone back for seconds. And thirds. And then a few extra pieces of shrimp and sausage. Shhh. Don't tell.

Lake Baby

Hey, guys. Collin here, checking in for my first official blog post.

I think you all need to come down and join me at the lake. It's fabulous down here. I've been spending lots of time in the swimming pool, pulling myself up to standing (in the bath tub!), mastering downward dog, and eating tons of fresh Georgia peaches.

So, you know, it's busy busy busy. But I've also made some time to relax in my lounge chair and entertain all of my grandparents with stories. They love my stories. If you come down and play with me, I'm sure you'll love my stories, too.

Paddle Boarding

Shortly after My Parents moved to Georgia, the girls in his life purchased My Dad an inflatable paddle board as a gift. It's a pretty darn cool contraption, because not only does it work as a paddle board, it also has seats that can be attached to it so it can be used as a kayak.

It gets plenty of use in both configurations on the lake. When I spent some time at the lake in January, I took the kayak out for a brief spin, but the weather wasn't really the best for spending much time out on the water.

So this trip, I'm excited to report that I finally paddle boarded for the first time.

It was only a quick spin to the end of the cove and back. But now that I have the feel of the board under me, I'm ready to go every day. I need to practice up so I can impress My Sister with my mad paddle boarding skills when she gets here in a few days.

I'm also looking forward to getting Conservative Hubby out on it, as I think he'll really enjoy it, too.

Kohlrabi

Last year was the first time I ever tried kohlrabi. I had no idea what to do with it, but was fortunate that the week it first appeared in my CSA delivery, My Sister was visiting. She, of course, was familiar with the curious cabbage cultivar.

So we sliced it up and ate it raw. It was a nice addition to salads, too.

This year, however, I decided to try something else with my weekly kohlrabi delivery. So I sliced it up, tossed it with a few cloves of freshly minced garlic, a nice drizzle of olive oil, and some salt and pepper. I roasted it until soft and served it sprinkled with grated Parmesan.

I intended to eat half of it and save the rest for a future meal. I ended up eating it all, standing over the pan, fork in hand.

And then I repeated the same scenario the next week.

Roasted kohlrabi is really, really good. With the garlic, it has a great flavor, but it's a very mild veggie. I think it's a great substitute for potatoes, actually, at any meal.

Please try it. I think you'll like it.

(This message was not paid for by the Friends of Kohlrabi Committee. I doubt such a committee exists, but just in case it does, please know they did not compensate me, in cash or cabbage cultivars.)

Strawberries

The patch of strawberries I planted a few years ago hasn't ever yielded much of a harvest for me. This year, early on, when others were talking about how many strawberries they had, my little patch was doing a whole lot of nothing aside from sending out new shoots and leaves.

But then in the last couple of weeks, the strawberries started to appear.

Almost every night, I'd pick a handful (albeit a small handful) of strawberries.

Many I enjoyed fresh, standing over the sink munching on them. Others made their way into my morning bowl of oatmeal.

Any produce fresh from the garden is hard to beat, but strawberries may be up there near the top of the list.

Though let's be honest. Nothing will ever beat the wonder that is a fresh-picked tomato.