Big Girl.

I am a true believer that

every baby needs

a lambskin.

Love him.

Yaya and Frankie.

Thank you for the awesome shopping cart!

He immediately wanted to sit in

his proper seat.

When I told him he is 

too big

for the grocery cart 

he said,

"Lila?"

Sorry, Buddy.

Notice his passengers are all

his favorite stuffed animals:

Lamb

Nemo from the fair

Fire Dog

Cookie Monster

Elmo

And his cargo are

vehicles

and

one plastic cow.

Twinkies.

I bought these outfits 

when 

I was pregnant with Henry.

Before we knew he was a Henry 

and 

I was convinced he was a Polly....

I never ever thought

I would have two babies

wearing them at the same time.

He still loves those little baby feet.

Sweet.

Sweet.

Sweet.

The fair in pictures.

White Bean Alfredo.

White Bean Alfredo My Way

white beans, bean both reserved*
lots of garlic, chopped
olive oil
spinach
salt and pepper to taste

1.  Puree beans in food processor.  Add enough bean broth until the beans are a "sauce" consistency.
2.  Saute garlic with olive oil until golden.  Add bean sauce.
3.  Add plenty of salt and pepper.  Simmer until flavors marry.
4.  Serve over wholegrain pasta.

*I cook beans in the crock pot and freeze the bean broth in mason jars for future use.  

Masterpiece #2.

My view.

Normalize.

Henry and I love the park.

We love our friends that love the park.

I love that each of these friends has a toddler and a baby less than a year old.

I love that all of my friends breastfeed.

And, I really love when we all end up

 nursing our  babies at the park

all at the same time.

---------------------------------

Thursday morning was spent at the park with these friends.  As usual, the big kids were playing and the mamas with babies were sitting on the ground, chatting and monitoring the snacks.  A grandmother babysitting her granddaughter sat down on a bench near us.  We chatted a few minutes and she noticed we were all casually nursing our babies at the same time.  She began telling us how it was so nice to see women nursing their babies because you just don't see it like you used to.  We heard about how she nursed all 4 of her kids and they are all 'very smart' and successful in their lives.  She went on to say that in 'the old days' it was no big deal to see women breastfeeding in public and she was glad we were feeding our babies in the best way possible.

---------------------------------

This woman has been on my mind.

I can't get over the way she was surprised to see 4 women nursing their babies.

I also keep thinking about how each of us who choose to

 proudly breastfeed our babies in public

are taking part to normalize a very normal thing.

---------------------------------

If you see me nursing little Liza

 at the park, 

in the library,

or while eating breakfast at City Bagel,

you likely won't even notice.

I've perfected the art of discrete nursing in public.

Now if I can only find someone to knit Liza a hat like this.......

Eggy Bread.

Henry loves his baba.

Baba 

aka 

bread.

I might strive to be a 

vegetarian

but

Henry prefers life as a 

carbotarian.

First thing when he wakes up in the morning,

"baba".

He needs it.

Bad.

But, like I often tell little Henry,

'man can not live on bread alone'.

Especially when you are a 

skinny little runt of a two-year-old.

Eggy Bread My Way

Equal number of eggs and bread slices

Cinnamon

Almond milk

Local honey or jelly for topping

Olive oil

1. Heat olive oil on medium high heat.

2. Cut each slice of bread into 4 sticks.

3. Beat eggs, almond milk and cinnamon.

4. Drench bread in egg mixture.

5. Fry in olive oil until browned on both sides.

Next up?

Freedom Fries.

A boy and a girl.

Henry

was

full of

himself

today.

And, this girl?

Still our sweet little doll.

The masterpiece.

Last night, Liza and I drove to Columbus for Cooper's Closet, a consignment sale event.  I had high hopes for some great deals after hearing my sister talk about the great consignment sales in Tallahassee.  It wasn't as large as I anticipated but Liza wasn't super happy so I quickly made my rounds and finished my shopping in 30 minutes.  I bought 2 cute longalls and a pair of pajamas for Henry.  Liza got her smocked Christmas dress and a pair of shoes to wear in a few years.  All very cute and very reasonably priced.

After I quickly looked through the clothing racks, I made my way to the toy section.  Can we say it looked like Fisher-Price vomited all over that corner of the store?  I was scanning up and down the tables hoping I could find at least one wooden or non-noise making toy to take home with me.  I was just about to give up when I found the deal that made the whole trip of Liza crying non-stop in the car there and back all worthwhile.

 A big plastic tub of well-loved wooden blocks.  

Exactly what I intended on buying Henry for Christmas.

And, only $10!                              

                                                                                                                                                    

To say that Taylor was excited is an understatement.

He immediately began organizing the blocks to see what he had to work with.  

The masterpiece

using

every single block.

Henry was pretty proud to have his

trains incorporated into the design.

Another prize at 75 followers!

I think we are due for another prize at 75 followers.

Maybe Etsy.

Maybe something random from my house.

We have too much stuff.

I should share.

Maybe something amazingly awesome

I pick up at

Dirt Cheap.

Too bad I can't mail you this German man.
Although his shiny gold necklace might suffice.

Just call me Dr. Google.

Let's pretend you're pregnant.

I'm not.

You might be.

You start googling.

I know I"m not the only googler.

Googling begets googling.

Your quest to read about pregnancy

might lead you to topics such as:

the "cascade of interventions"

The Sphincter Law

delayed cord clamping

homebirth - is that even legal?

Interested?

I am.

And yeah,

you can call me

Dr. Google.

Cabbage Rolls My Way.

The goal?

Cabbage Rolls. 

The result?

Something much more akin to goulash

regardless of the fact

I have no idea what goulash actually is.

I used half a pound of turkey cooked with garlic and onion.

Next time I'll try it with less meat and a can of white beans.

But, I liked the addition of meat and

Taylor always appreciates it....

As I ate my Not Rolled Up Cabbage,

I thought about my grandmother.

Tomas, a student from Czech Republic, boarded at her house 

as he completed veterinarian school.

I remember Leslie telling me how his sister came for a visit 

and cooked meals in one big pot.

The meat, the veggies, everything in one pot.

But, it's not a casserole.

It's goulash.

Maybe?

Cabbage Rolls My Way.

Small head of cabbage

.5lb of turkey cooked with garlic and onion

leftover brown rice

Chopped bell pepper, cherry tomatoes, carrots, parsley

Can of tomato sauce

Salt and pepper

1. Heat oven to 350.

2. Mix turkey, rice, veggies and tomato sauce, salt and pepper to taste

3. Create layers of cabbage and meat mixture in a dutch oven.

4. Cover and cook until cabbage is fork tender.

Photo Shoot of Four!

My friend, Tricia, took beautiful pictures of my family this past Saturday. 

Check out her blog to see a sneak peek.

I'm pretty sure my children can't look better than this:

Love Tricia 

and 

love her pictures!

Frugillionaire.

My sweet father-in-law sent me a copy of 

Frugillionaire, 500 Fabulous Ways to Live Richly and Save a Fortune

I've been reading through the book and it turns out 

we are quite the frugillionaires.

#9 - Cut down on convenience foods.

Processed foods?

Ick.

We'll be even better when 

I conquer my fear of dough.

#24 - Shop by unit price.

The lack of unit prices is just one more thing I hate about Wal-Mart

and 

love about Kroger.

#140 - Grow your garden from seeds.

Yep.

Our little seedlings started to bloom yesterday.

#188 - Get shoes repaired.

I am obsessed with our favorite shoe repairman in town.

He keeps his keyboard and guitar in his shop

so he can jam during downtime.

Love him and his good work.

#446 - Raise savers.

My parents deserve a standing ovation for raising savers.

We were taught from an early age that

you only buy what you can afford.

Taylor and I hope our children learn this lesson well.

#447 - Limit advertising exposure.

"Children aren't born consumers."

Love that.

Yet another one of our many reasons

for not owning a television.

This is definitely a fantastic read if you are new to embracing a 

simpler lifestyle and a good reminder for areas of improvement 

for those who consistently strive to simplify.

Taylor and I live by the maxims of this book:

make do with you have

be, don't buy

and

focus on what you have, not what you want.

Ted, thank you for this book!

Favorites.

These pictures are still on my mind.

1. Liza was actively 'cooing' as I snapped this picture.

2. She is a serious little thing and doesn't grant smiles too often.

3. But, when she does smile, her entire face lights up and her eyes shine.

4. Can you tell her eyes are still gray?  A friend mentioned they looked darker and I forbade her from ever suggesting such a thing.  Her eyes will stay gray.

See Henry pointing to himself?

1. He desperately needed his picture taken too.
2. He was saying "HenHen" and vigorously pointing to himself to make sure I knew what he needed.

And this, my friends, is my new all time favorite picture of my boy.

1. Meemee bought him that cowboy hat at the rodeo last winter.  It finally fits like it is supposed to.

2. Love the barn in the background.  He's a cowboy, even though he's never ridden a horse.

3. He said 'cheese' at the appropriate time and the lighting was perfect.

Love these kids

and

I've really been loving my camera, too.....

My view.

This has been my morning:

I look at Liza.

Henry demands I look at him.

I take a picture of Liza.

Henry demands I take a picture of him.

I nurse Liza.

Henry demands ice in his water glass.

I sit down with Liza in my lap.

Henry demands to sit next to me with his hand on Liza's face.

It's been a long morning

and

I now realize I am utterly spoiled.

Most mornings, 

Taylor gets to work at 9

with a

 5 minute commute.

This morning, 

he left at 6:30.

It's been a long morning.

Both babies are napping.

Say a little prayer that HenHen is in a 

good mood

when he wakes up.

Quinoa Tabbouleh My Way

Henry should like tabbouleh.

He likes:

quinoa

cucumbers

carrots

bell pepper

feta

He refused to eat it mixed together

with olive oil and lemon juice.

His loss

and

more for me.

Quinoa Tabbouleh My Way
1 cup cooked quinoa
cherry tomatoes
cucumber
carrots
red bell pepper
parsley
feta
juice of 2 lemons
olive oil
sea salt


1. Chop fresh vegetables and parsley.
2. Mix quinoa, vegetables and parsley.
3. Stir in a healthy dash of olive oil and lemon juice.
4. Salt to taste.
5. Top with feta.