Super Smoothies

A banana smoothie makes early mornings so much easier to handle.

It's almost as tasty as a milk shake, but much healthier.

Often it's just a cup of almond milk, one frozen banana, a bit of vanilla, a squeeze or two of the honey bear, and a large pinch of ground flax seed.

Sometimes there's a bit of ground oatmeal and a generous scoop of peanut butter thrown in (now that's indulgent).

Or perhaps there's a handful of frozen blueberries as a last-minute add-in to the mix.

Any way it's blended, it's a great start to the day.

(Even if Conservative Hubby hates the sound of the blender at 6:45 a.m. ... )

Recycling

The piles of recycling that normally take over our garage have become much more manageable lately, and for this I am grateful.

You see, the local recycling hauler who previously only accepted cans and paper now takes most types of plastic, too.

And the Green Business Network of Springfield (I'm a board member of the organization) recently helped launch a new business in the city that accepts, among many other things, glass and cardboard. This has dramatically cut down on the amount of recycling piled up in our garage, as long as I remember to drop things off in Springfield regularly.

There's someone in our house who's even more grateful than me.

No, it's not this character, though as you can see he gets rather excited about recycling, too.

It's Conservative Hubby, who threatened with regularity to either (a) put all my recycling out with the garbage or (b) see if there were any openings on the TV show "Hoarders" for me.

It really wasn't that bad, I promise.

Tulip Time

Little did I know that just days after I posted photos of the daffodils and hyacinths last week, the tulips would bloom in all their glory.

I thought they would wait longer, but apparently the warm weather and bit of rain was all it took for them to shout out, "Hello! We're here!"

I can't say I'm complaining. Gazing out the window is so much more enjoyable with splashes of color scattered throughout our yard.

And eating dinner is so much more pleasant with a vase of freshly cut blooms in the center of the table.

I just hope they stick around for a while.

Spring

Summer ... er, I mean spring ... has officially sprung in L-Town. And I'm not the only one who's incredibly happy it's here, even if these consistently sunny upper 70s and low 80s can't be here for good. There has to be some freak ice storm or late freeze waiting in the wings. But Butter prefers not to dwell on what-ifs. He's an of-the-moment kind of fellow. It's one of the things I admire about him.

The Requisite Spring Flower Post

Every year we've lived in L-Town, I've posted photos of the early spring perennials blooming in our front yard.

So I couldn't possibly skip this year, could I?

You may get sick of looking at the same flowers every year. But then again, how can you ever tire of looking at lovely yellow daffodils?

I looked back at the previous four (four!) years worth of spring flower photos. I'm pretty sure that this is the earliest our daffodils and hyacinths and other tender buds have been up since we've lived here. But then again, what do you expect when you have a week of 70s and 80s in early March?

In 2008, I waited until April 20 to post pictures, at which time the tulips were blooming. (At the rate we're going this year, that may be next week.) In 2009, the spring flowers made an appearance while there was still snow on the ground on March 31. Then in 2010, the daffodils were still going strong on April 18.  As for 2011? I got particularly gung-ho about the flowers, posting not one, not two, not three, but four different times about them in April.

(Oh, and in case you were wondering, yes, that's a Butter leg that keeps making an appearance in the photos above. He followed me around the yard sniffing and peeing on all the pretty flowers as I snapped photos of them. I went ahead and edited out the ones where you actually see him urinating. I hope you don't mind.)

4 Months

Today the little man is officially 4 months old. As we did on the 2-month anniversary of his birth, we celebrated with a trip to the doctor.

Collin was as chipper as he could be—smiling and "talking" and wiggling and laughing while he laid around in diaper and got poked and prodded and examined. He cried out when he got his shots, of course, but by the time the Sponge Bob band-aids were on he was smiling at the nurses again.

He's a healthy boy and, although he's a little guy (11 pounds, 13 ounces and 24 1/4 inches), his growth over the past two months has been good.

Last night before Conservative Family Dinner, we examined photos of Conservative Hubby when he was a baby. (While we looked at photos, Collin played in the swing he has at Grandmom and Granddad's house.)

You can definitely see the resemblance between Conservative Hubby and Collin—once you look past the fat rolls and three chins Conservative Hubby had at Collin's age. (In this photo, Collin did his best impression of his dad's chins.)

T-Bear (who was in town with Kid Sister for the weekend) decided we should start calling Conservative Hubby "Tank" after seeing the baby photos. I wish I would've brought one home to scan and post for you so you could see the little chunk!

I intended to take a photo of Collin in the chair he's sitting in above each month. But I failed miserably. The photo above was from this morning; this one is from Thanksgiving (so less than a week after Collin was born). In between, you'll just have to use your imagination.

 Or I guess you could look at all of my previous blog posts. There's an idea.

Catching Up

I know, I know. It's been way too long since I stopped by and said hello.

The little guy sat me down for a serious talk the other day and said, "Mom, you need to blog more. Even if you don't write any words, you at least need to post photos of me. I know that's why people come to your blog now anyway."

He's so like his father sometimes that it's scary.

I suppose it's fitting that I include some photos of him in this post anyway, since realistically a large part of what I've been "trying" for the past month or so involves him.

Here's a bit of a rundown on what we've been up to:

• Working part-time (for me) and going to the babysitter part-time (for Collin). Work has been incredibly crazy (I have a new office in the lovely new building above, and a whole lot of work came along with the big move). Collin seems to love going to the babysitter. He's happy when we drop him off and when we pick him up and in between times he gets lots of cuddle time and to play with some of his new pals. (He already loves other little kids.)
• Going to basketball games. Sadly, the high school season is over now. But while it was going on, we took the little guy to every basketball game we could attend. He loved every single one of them--the lights, the sounds, getting to spend the entire time sitting (or, often, standing) on Grandmom or Granddad's lap. It made for a late bedtime for the little man, but he didn't seem to mind.
• Going to visit Mimi and Papa in Georgia. Collin and I took another trip down south for a long weekend to visit My Parents. How could we resist more time by the lake before I started back to work full-time? Collin did well flying there and back yet again. In fact, on the way down he smiled at and charmed everyone we met--TSA, flight attendants, the ladies across the aisle on the plane, you name it.
• House to-dos. It's a lot harder to find the time to clean and do other daily household chores when you have a little one around. So it seems like a good portion of every evening and weekend involves trying to squeeze in vacuuming or wiping down counters or washing bottles or what-have-you. Plus this week we've had some bigger house to-dos--like getting our air ducts cleaned and replacing our gutters--to keep us busy. Oh the joys of owning a home!
• Playtime with Collin. He's getting so big! And expressive! He talks all the time now, discovering new sounds (and increasingly louder sounds) almost every day. He loves to hang out under his activity gym and wiggle, wiggle, wiggle. Tummy time doesn't make him quite as angry anymore, in part because he's learned how to roll over to get out of it. He loves grabbing toys and fingers and hair and anything he can find, holding onto these things as tightly as he can. He smiles and smiles and smiles and even laughs at all the things in this big, wonderful world he thinks are funny (there are many). And he finally--finally!--starting sleeping in his crib this week for naps and at bedtime, rather than sleeping sitting up in his bouncy chair. He'll sit quietly on my lap and read books with me, and he's still a serious cuddle-bug at times, but what he really wants to do all the time is wiggle, wiggle, wiggle and move, move, move.

In other words, things are busy (and about to get a whole lot busier because I start back to work full-time on Monday). But they're good--very good.

Chicken Piccata

When I lived in downtown Des Moines after college, I loved stopping in all the little shops near my apartment in the East Village. One of my favorites was Kitchen Collage, a little store chockfull of colorful kitchen gadgets, dinnerware, and all of those gleaming big-ticket cookware and kitchen electronics that someone with my budget can only dream about.

I still get the store's email newsletter, and it's one of the best food-related newsletters I get. I actually save all of the back issues in my Recipe folder in my email and browse through them when I'm looking for cooking inspiration. Each issue focuses on a theme and includes tons of really useful information, plus terrific recipes from some of the cookbooks they sell in the store.

The most recent newsletter, for instance, is all about lemons. It includes information on how to choose lemons, the parts of a lemon, different kinds of lemons, the pH of a lemon, the proper way to zest and juice a lemon, and more. Then it goes into the recipes ... a lemony chevre appetizer, preserved lemons and greens with lemon-honey vinaigrette, the perfect lemon tart, shortbread and lemon curd bars, and chicken piccata.

I made that last one for dinner the other night. And despite the fact I was out of white wine (the horror!) and forgot the capers (silly me), it was darn good. I'd make it again. Here's the recipe, in case you're in the mood for something lemony yourself.

Play Time

Now that I've started back to work (though not full-time ... yet), the weekend mornings have become incredibly important. They're the only time all week when our whole family is together and not incredibly worn out. (Let's just say that 6 p.m. most days is not always the happiest time around our house.)

Weekend mornings are the best time to play.

Last Sunday, all my boys sprawled out on the floor together. Butter has been a bit timid around our new little guy, but with Conservative Hubby next to him he was ready to join in on the fun.

I'm looking forward to more playtime like this tomorrow.

Sweet Apple Triangles

I made these sweet apple triangles one day last week while little man snoozed away in his swing.

As usual, this distracted momma didn't quite get things right. In this instance, I made three key mistakes:

1. I used unsweetened applesauce, so my apple triangles weren't all that sweet. They weren't bad with the unsweetened version, but they didn't have quite enough sugar.

2. I didn't keep the phyllo pastry damp enough, so it got a little difficult to work with at the end.

3. I didn't eat all of the sweet apple triangles the same day I made them.

That last one might seem like a typo. You're probably thinking, "Um, Julie? Isn't it a good thing that you didn't eat the entire batch in one day?"

I guess. If you're into healthy eating and moderation and all. But these little guys got awfully soggy by the next day, which is why I've come to the conclusion they're best eaten the day they're made. And so by not eating all of the sweet apple triangles the day I made them, I made mistake number three.

If you want a fun little sweet treat, though. I'd recommend making these babies. Just make sure you take note of my mistakes.

Interested in the recipe? You can find it over at Oh Joy! by clicking here.

Eggplant and Sausage Lasagna

Eating has become a bit of a challenge for me as of late. It appears that the little guy has a sensitivity to some of the foods I eat. Although I don't think he'll ultimately end up being sensitive to everything current on my no-eat list (odds are, dairy is the main culprit), right now I'm trying as hard as I can to avoid dairy (no cheese! no butter! noooooo!), spicy foods, beans, peanut butter, eggs, and chocolate. I'm sure I forgot something, but as you can see it's quite a list to keep track of. (Not to mention the fact it includes pretty much all my favorite foods ...)

Needless to say, eating is more of a challenge now. 

Since most Italian dishes, particularly lasagna, are loaded with dairy, I was excited when one of my dear friends scrounged up a recipe for Rustic Bread & Eggplant Lasagna, which is sans dairy. 

We made it when she came into town to meet Collin, and it turned out to be quite delicious. (We improvised and added sausage, too, so Conservative Hubby would be willing to eat the leftovers—it was a good choice, as it added some great flavor.)

In case you're interested, here's the recipe.

Baked Pumpkin Steel Cut Oatmeal

This was breakfast today. It will be breakfast tomorrow. And the day after, too.

Good thing it's delicious.

But really, what's not to like about steel cut oats, pumpkin, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, cloves, and vanilla? Oh, and I used almond milk instead of the standard stuff.

It's a recipe from The Kitchn. Try it yourself here: http://www.thekitchn.com/recipe-baked-pu-159872.

Ranger Cookies

In my world, any cookie is a breakfast cookie. If I had to pick only one time of day to eat cookies, it would be in the morning, with coffee. Yum.

For some reason, I feel less guilty when I eat ranger cookies in the morning. I suppose it's because they have oatmeal and whole-wheat cereal flakes in them. Very nutritious. Very breakfast-y. Or so I tell myself.

Sunday Breakfast

Steel cut oats with fresh strawberries, almonds, shaved coconut, and a touch of brown sugar? Yes, please.

Two Months

The little guy turned two months old yesterday. We celebrated by giving him a slew of shots.

No, silly, I'm not talking tequila and Jäger and such. I'm talking Polio and Diphtheria and the like. Whee!

He was a trooper though.

It's absolutely amazing to see how much Collin has grown and changed every day of the past two months.

He's bigger and stronger. He looks at the world with bright, inquisitive eyes. He smiles and coos and has ticklish little feet. He holds his head up and even tries to stand up. He is quiet as can be when we take him out to dinner and enjoys watching a good basketball game. He's finally starting to look with curiosity at his friend Butter.

And miracle of all miracles ... He's finally (finally!) starting to sleep.

I can't even imagine what amazing changes we'll see in him in the next two months ...