man things and some twitter

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Happy Father’s Day to all of the Dads and Dad-like people, but particularly to those in my family.

My father is the most selfless person I’ve ever met and I will be forever grateful for his guidance, both on the horse and off.

I am doubly blessed to get to celebrate another wonderful father for the first time this year! From the moment we met, I knew Husband would be a fantastic dad and he has surpassed all expectations.

I’m always at a loss for what to get Husband. He’s one of those typical men who likes everything and nothing all at the same time. So frustrating. The default is to usually just order him beer supplies, but then I feel like I’m cheating because it’s just too easy and that’s what he gets every time. I mean, shouldn’t gift-giving be difficult and stressful and take months to find just the perfect item for Husband to put on a shelf and never look at again?! Yes. And as soon as I find one acceptable option, it’s time to find another. The month of June contains our anniversary, Father’s Day, and Husband’s birthday. Oy. So mostly, he gets beer stuff and I get grey hair from fretting about it. Just in case you don’t want to go the stressful route, here are my recommendations for man-things. It’s not as creative or thorough as the one from Pregnant Chicken, but maybe it’ll get you started. I wanted to do this before Father’s Day so it would actually be helpful, but then it would give away what I got Husband so obviously that couldn’t happen

man things

1. Beer stuff. There’s a reason this is Husband’s go-to gift. It’s the number one thing on his list at all times.

2. Shaving kit. Husband swears by this company and says it makes his least favorite activity (shaving) not so miserable.

3. Leather grilling apron. Because nothing says “MAN” like cooking meat over a fire while wearing a dead cow.

4. Coupons. This was the anniversary option last year and it was a big hit.

5. Technology. I fail to understand why, but men love gadgets and toys. iPads and phones currently top the list for Husband.

6. Six-pack cooler. Because it’s better than a lunch box.

7. TV on DVD. Husband votes The League, I vote Duck Dynasty.

8. Humidor. Husband is getting into cigars lately and just got a starter kit as an early birthday present.

9. When all else fails, bake him a cake. Guys love cakes. Husband recommends Berry Cake, Carrot Cake, and Raspberry White Chocolate Cheesecake.

10. And I would be remiss if I failed to mention this awesome option which Husband received for Father’s Day this year:

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And in REALLY exciting news…(There needs to be some kind of sarcasm alert for the internet. Like if the words are purple and sparkly, you know it’s sarcasm. Someone should get on that.) Anyway, in REALLY exciting news, I joined Twitter. Mostly because I think the little bird is adorable. I’m not sure I’ve figured out how to use it, but the idea is to use it for “What’s in the Oven” at the Hunter House. (Hint – it’s not a baby. We just did that.) Mostly it will be Berry Cake and Twix Cookies all over again, but you can find me at @chuckandwelly

Happy twittering! Or whatever it is you do on that thing….

 

month three

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three months

I meant to get an adorable picture in the cutest outfit I had picked out for the occasion but in the end, cozy won and he has discovered hand-mouth coordination.  There’s no stopping it.  Gah.  As much as I love seeing him do new things everyday, I miss my snuggly newborn.

weight: a lot
length: large

highlights:

  • *Eating us out of house and home.  He was also hungrily eyeing my steak the other night.  I predict it’s not long before he loses interest in milk and goes straight for the beef.  Smart kid.
  • *Rolls over.  Well, mostly.  He can get the back half over but the top half gets stuck.  Or maybe he’s just practicing being a contortionist.  Who knows.
  • *Pretty sure he’s left-handed since he prefers to use it for everything: holding his bottle, grabbing toys, stuffing his fist in his mouth, pulling hair, etc.
  • *Talks a lot.  There is never a quiet moment around here, even while he sleeps.
  • *Loves to stand up and sit up.  He can hold his own weight, but lacks balance and motor skills, so we have to prop him up.
  • *Super-portable.  He’s the best traveler ever.  We have to make more stops for me to get Dr. Pepper than we do for him.

challenges:

  • *HATES tummy time.  So we quit.  I’m pretty sure he has enough muscles to do whatever babies are supposed to be doing but he refuses out of frustration.
  • *Wants to be grown-up already.  He gets upset when you don’t carry him facing out so he can look around.  Husband jokes that he’s a grown person trapped in a three-month-old body which I think is pretty accurate.  Babysaurus gets really frustrated when he’s not able to do the things he wants.  Like eat steak and walk around.
  • *Loves TV.  There went my plan of keeping the electronics to a minimum.  The little dude loves it.  Typical man: his favorite thing is to sit in his chair (no pants on) and drink milk while watching ESPN. He even fell asleep sitting up once.  Super healthy habits we’re encouraging around here.
  • *Teething.  Everything we have is covered in buckets of baby slobber.  Gross.
  • *Loudest sleeper, eater, player baby ever.  Doesn’t wake up and is perfectly content, but even his subconscious wants to make sure I get zero hours of sleep.  If he were a dwarf, his name would be “Grunty” or possibly “Squealy” or “Yelly”.

favorites: (as voted on by Mom)

  • *Bumbo Seat.  Makes him feel like a part of the family so he can sit by himself
  • *Bunny.  His favorite napping buddy
  • *Mortimer.  Babysaurus has a need to keep his hands busy and full at all times and Mortimer is the perfect tool.  He loves him.
  • *Gripe Water.  For those times when the little man just can’t settle his stomach (or I’ve forgotten and eaten broccoli or something).  Works wonders.
  • *Hippopposites.  The Tiny One is really into books now (let’s hope it keeps up!) and this is his favorite (Duck and Goose and Otis are my favorites) – the contrast/simplicity/bright colors are really interesting for him.  If they made organic chemistry textbooks like this, I’d probably have passed that class the first time around…
  • *And also, pretty much anything from this store.  I’m trying to figure out how to just move in there without anyone noticing…

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it makes the list

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titlebreadpudding

Once upon a time, I ate some bread pudding. 5 years later I learned how to make said bread pudding. Last year I gave you the recipe, this year I’m giving you the new and improved version. Okay, maybe not new or improved, but there are pictures now. This may or may not encourage you to try it. But it’s delicious. I promise. It’s the top of my list of “things involving gluten that are worth eating”. It even beats pizza and beer. It also makes Husband’s list of “things for which I will risk diabetes”. Yum.

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This is a once-a-year kind of special dessert around here (because if I made it more often, we would all die. Of happiness and obesity) so I needed just the right occasion. Last year we had a dinner party and this year my in-laws were in town. My mother-in-law (the one with all the good ideas) might have the biggest sweet tooth of anyone I’ve ever met.

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You can always tell when she’s been to our house because the freezer is full of ice cream and the pantry is full of chocolate and all kinds of other stuff we don’t keep in the house. It’s awesome and dangerous all at the same time. So I figured that if I was going to make the once-a-year dessert, it should be for her because she would probably appreciate it the most. And either she’s the nicest person ever (which is actually true) and was polite enough to eat it, or she really liked it. I was too busy inhaling my serving to notice or care.

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black and white bread pudding

baker’s note: makes six souffle cups of awesome. This is best served right out of the oven, but re-heated is still delicious.

1 large loaf sweet Hawaiian bread (or brioche if you can find it), torn into bite-sized pieces
3 egg yolks (you’ll need the whites, too)
1/3 C pure cane white sugar
1 C heavy cream
4 Tbsp butter
8 oz white chocolate, chopped (or 1 C white chocolate chips)

3 egg whites (see how handily that worked out?)
2 Tbsp pure cane white sugar

2/3 C dark chocolate chips
1 C heavy cream
1/2 tsp vanilla

2 egg yolks
2 Tbsp pure cane sugar
1 Tbsp corn starch
1 Tbsp vanilla extract
2/3 C whole milk
1/3 C white rum (vanilla flavored would be even better if you have that)

1. Roll up your sleeves and put on some music; also get out every dish you own. And get used to the phrase “set aside”
2. In large bowl, drizzle heavy cream over bread pieces. Set aside.
3. Cream egg yolks and sugar in small bowl. Set aside
4. In a double boiler, melt butter and white chocolate together, stirring until smooth. Add egg yolk mixture and stir until creamy.
5. Pour white chocolate mixture over the bread and toss until completely coated.

6. Cream egg whites and 2 Tbsp sugar together until combined then beat on high until stiff peaks form. Gently fold this mixture into the bread.

7. In a small sauce pan, boil 1 C heavy cream.
8. Reduce heat and add chocolate chips and vanilla. Stir until smooth.

9. Heat oven to 325
10. Pour chocolate sauce into bottom of souffle cups, dividing evenly.
12. Add bread mixture on top, dividing evenly or until cups are full, whichever comes first.
13. Place cups on cookie sheet and lay a sheet of foil on top, making sure the foil doesn’t touch the tops of the pudding.
14. Bake for 30 minutes at 325. Remove foil and bake for an additional 5 minutes. Turn off oven but do not remove puddings. While they are resting, make vanilla rum sauce.

15. In small saucepan over low heat, cream together egg yolk, cornstarch, and sugar.
16. Add milk and vanilla and bring to a boil, stirring continuously. When sauce begins to thicken, stir in rum.
17. When it reaches the desired consistency, remove from heat.

18. Remove puddings from oven and sprinkle with powdered sugar. Serve immediately with vanilla rum sauce. My mouth is watering just typing this. I think I might have to go make it again.

19. Take a nap while someone cleans up the war zone formerly known as your kitchen.

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ain’t nobody got time fo dat

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Between work, and work, and a baby, and a house, and work, a broken foot (because yes, I did need to add more chaos to my life) and an absurd amount of traveling and company (which is very wonderful, just exhausting), I haven’t had one spare minute to remember to wash my hair, much less bake something.  I’ve been staring longingly at my “list of things I want to bake” but then I usually make this face:

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Today, however, I dusted off the KitchenAid because there is always time for cheesecake. Particularly gluten-free cheesecake.  Involving chocolate. And macadamia nuts. And raspberries.

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Husband: This is really good. Probably my third favorite cheesecake of all time.
Me: What are the first two?
Husband: Cheesecake Factory.
Me: Like which ones from Cheesecake Factory? I can try to make those for you next.
Husband: I dunno.
Me: Wait, what?! So it’s just any of them? Ir doesn’t even matter what flavor – just the fact that they’re from the Cheesecake Factory makes them better than mine?
Husband: Oops. I mean, I love this cheesecake. It’s probably my second favorite. And your apple one is my third favorite. I can’t vote on my favorite until another one comes along.
Me: Harumph.
Husband: I think I’d better have another piece.

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raspberry white chocolate cheesecake

baker’s note: I made this in an 8-inch cheesecake pan and it fit perfectly. You might want to up the filling ingredients by half (i.e. 3 blocks of cream cheese, 3 eggs, etc) for a larger pan.
crust:
1/3 C almond flour
1/3 C gluten-free flour blend (I usually just use a hodge-podge of whatever’s in the pantry. Consisting mostly of oat and rice flours)
3 Tbsp butter, room temperature
1/3 C pure cane white sugar
pinch salt
1/3 C macadamia nuts, roughly chopped
1/4 C white chocolate, roughly chopped

1. Preheat oven to 350
2. In food processor (NINJA!), pulse together flours, butter, sugar, and salt until well combined and dough forms.
3. Stir in macadamia nuts and white chocolate.
4. Press into 8-inch springform pan and bake at 350 for 10 minutes or until golden. Set aside to cool, but maintain oven temperature

raspberry sauce:
1 C raspberries, rinsed and drained
1/2 C water
1 Tbsp corn starch
2 Tbsp pure cane white sugar

1. In small saucepan, combine ingredients and heat until a low boil.
2. Allow to boil, stirring frequently, until berries have broken down and sauce has completely thickened.
3. Strain to remove seeds and set sauce aside.

filling:
10-oz (about 1 1/2 C) white chocolate, chopped
1 1/2 Tbsp whole milk, room temperature
2 8-oz packages of cream cheese, room temperature
1/2 C pure cane white sugar
1 tsp lemon juice
2 tsp vanilla
2 eggs, room temperature

1. In double boiler, heat white chocolate and milk until melted and fully incorporated. Set aside.
2. Beat cream cheese, sugar, lemon juice, and vanilla until creamy.
3. Add eggs one at a time, beating just until incorporated.
4. Stir in chocolate mixture and beat just until combined.

assembly:
(oven should still be at 350)
1. Pour 1/2 of filling on top of prepared crust.
2. Add 1/3 of the raspberry sauce and a handful of fresh raspberries.
3. Top with remaining filling, and 1/3 of the raspberry sauce. (Set remaining 1/3 aside)
4. Zig-zag through cheesecake with knife to create swirls of sauce throughout the cheesecake.
5. Bake in a waterbath at 350 for 40-50 minutes or until top is starting to turn golden but the middle is still wiggly. Turn off oven but don’t remove cheesecake for 1 hour. Then move to countertop and top with the remaining raspberry sauce. Allow to cool for an additional 45-minutes to an hour. Then refrigerate for at least 2 hours. The secret to keeping cheesecake from cracking is to bake it in a water bath and then cool slowly. And when all else fails, just cover it up with pretty topping. (aka, the raspberry sauce you saved – see how that worked out?!)
6. Garnish with fresh raspberries, macadamia nuts, and white chocolate as desired.
7. Try to keep your husband from eating the whole thing. Even if it’s not as good as the Cheesecake Factory. (After the second piece, he recanted his statement.)

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babysaurus, world traveler

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Spoiler alert: there are cookies at the end of this post.

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we all looked like this, not just the baby

It’s vacation time at the Hunter House. Woohoo! We rented a house for the week which was fantastic and afforded me the luxury of a private pool therefore saving the public the horror of seeing me in a swimsuit. Yikes. The house also afforded me the luxury of a kitchen which was a perfect spot to try out the cookie recipe my dad found in a magazine. And sweet sundrops, were they amazing!

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Vacation gave Babysaurus another excuse to become a world traveler. Okay, so maybe not quite a world traveler, but at six weeks old the tiny one and I made his inaugural plane flight to Texas and that’s like a whole ‘nother country, so I think it counts. And at 8 weeks, the whole clan made a sojourn to Arizona. We’re pretty much traveling pros now that he’s made two cross-country trips at under 8 weeks. (And another road trip to Tennessee at 10 weeks) Here’s what we’ve learned about traveling with an infant:

1. Try not to do it alone. Bring a Husband. It doesn’t even have to be yours, any one will do. Number one reason for this? Bathroom breaks. As in, there are none unless you want to put your tiny human on the floor of an airport restroom. Gag. (Reason number two is to have someone to hold your coffee. Babies have horrible coffee-holding skills.) By hour 6, I was dying and wishing that I, too, had worn a diaper. I have yet to find a solution for this except maybe to drink less coffee. But that’s clearly not a viable option.

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2. Get a travel boppy pillow. I felt dumb buying the travel one when we have a perfectly good regular one. Such frivolity ranked right below wipe warmers in my book (to which I have also succumbed) but I would do it again in a heartbeat. Excellent for letting him hang out on the seat or floor without him actually touching the seat or floor. I am a far cry from a germophobe but something about airports makes my skin crawl. I would rather see him chew on my boots after I walked through the cow pasture than touch an airport floor.

3. Avoid tiny planes like the plague. Our first trip to Texas was on tiny, regional jets and my giant backpack (which was designed to hold 72 hours of survival supplies but only fit 72 minutes’ worth of baby gear) didn’t fit so I had to gate-check it. Meaning I had to scramble to figure out what supplies I was going to need and stuff diapers in my pocket. I got smarter by the second flight and packed a smaller bag (a medium wet bag was the perfect size) inside the bigger one that contained just the essentials which I could pull out and put under the seat while the big bag could be gate-checked. I restocked the small bag on layovers and repeated the process. On a larger plane, this wouldn’t be an issue but those regional jets are like flying in a sardine can. A tiny, smelly, miserable, bumpy sardine can.

4. Two changes of clothes are not enough. Every time, I was overly optimistic and thought I wouldn’t need his whole wardrobe on the plane. I thought wrong. Murphy’s Law ensued and every diaper was a blow-out and there was more spit-up than milk actually being consumed. Awesome.

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5. Invest in Pacifier clips. Babies should just come with those pre-installed. I don’t know what i was thinking when I didn’t buy 17 of them before the first trip. I was leaving trails of pacifiers through the airport and horrifying fellow mothers when they could see me debate between cleaning it and giving it back to him right away. So I ordered these. Because what newborn doesn’t need 80 yards of survival cord?!

6. Pre-made bottles. Have a bottle filled and ready to go before take-off so you don’t have to juggle a hungry baby, a bottle, and a bag of milk. And put that bottle in a ziploc bag because no matter how tight you screw on the cap, or how well you cover it, or how you swear it stayed upright the entire time, it WILL leak. Murphy’s Law applies to all things baby. Helpful hint: an airsick bag full of hot coffee warms a bottle in 4 minutes flat. Everyone told me to have him eat on take-off and landing to help his ears but the little man had zero problems and I just fed him on his regular schedule and let him sleep through take-off and landing instead.

7. White noise. By the second trip, I became smart enough to bring the little guy’s sleep sheep which helped tremendously on the actually sleeping-at-night front.

8. Travel bassinet. Great idea. Baby Hunter still prefers to sleep with me but I’m also a fan of sleeping (which rarely happens when he’s happily snoozing on my chest) so the travel bassinet is the way to go.

9. Get a Moby wrap or some sort of hands-free carrying device. There is seriously no way to do it without one. Seriously.

10. A giant bag of jolly ranchers. Because when all else fails, you can always just bribe your fellow passengers into not kicking you off the plane. Earplugs are also excellent. And when that plan fails, bring cookies. Specifically, these:

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cranberry pistachio shortbread cookies

adapted from some kind of magazine on a plane (sorry – that’s all the info I have)
baker’s note: I also tried various methods of incorporating chocolate into these. I learned that dark chocolate is a no-go, but white chocolate is pretty tasty if you drizzle it on the top. Just so you know…

1 C butter, room temperature
3/4 C pure cane white sugar
1 orange (zest + juice)
2 1/3 C flour, sifted
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 C pistachios, roughly chopped
1/2 C dried cranberries

1. Beat butter, sugar, and orange zest until fluffy. Stir in juice and mix until well-combined.
2. Stir in flour and salt and mix until dough forms.
3. Fold in cranberries and pistachios.
4. Roll dough into a log, wrap in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 30 minutes. Or…you can make a double batch and freeze a roll of dough and you’ll have ready-to-go cookies for when you have unexpected company. Win! Except that now I’ve given away my secret and no one will be fooled into thinking I bake cookies every day…
5. Slice dough into 1/2-inch slices, place on cookie sheet, and bake at 350 for approx 13 minutes. Don’t wait until they look done, just cook until no longer super squishy and edges are beginning to turn golden. They’ll harden into shortbread consistency while they cool.
6. Ta-da! Amazing cookies in 5 steps. Pat yourself on the back.

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month two

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two months

Too fast! Too fast! Make it stop!

weight: 14.5 pounds.  In related news, my biceps are getting a killer workout
length: 24 inches. Or thereabouts

highlights:

  • Still has a giant appetite and is best friends with the ceiling fan (the focus of his attention in the picture)
  • Has earned his wings on his first plane flight which resulted in his first visit to Texas!
  • Sleeping through the night!  Woohoo!
  • Rubbed all of his hair off so we now have a bald baby.  Excellent
  • Loves to use his hands for everything.  Especially covering his face.
  • Smiles a ton and is getting the hang of laughing.  Mostly he just squeaks and surprises himself.
  • Holds his head up and loves to stand up and bounce himself up and down.
  • Still living up to his nickname: Thunderbutt

challenges:

  • Still not a fan of the crib.
  • Zero patience.  Particularly when there is food involved.  The only time he gets angry is when you make him stop eating to burp. Yikes.
  • I started back to work this month and am not a fan of not snuggling all day.

favorites: (as voted on by Mom)

  • Boppy Pillow.  There is a giant tag that says, “no sleeping”.  Therefore making it his favorite sleeping place.  I have both the travel version and the regular one which seemed excessive until I traveled halfway across the country by myself with a 6-week old.  Total believer in the necessity of the travel one but I like the regular one better for when we’re just around the house.
  • Flannel Wipes.  Which Husband refers to by the classy name of “the poo rag”. I never thought I would be one of those “hippie mamas” who use cloth wipes, but I am.  The disposable ones (or at least the ones we can find around here) irritate the little guy’s skin to no end but some flannel squares in warm water do a remarkable job.  Unfortunately, this makes a wipe warmer a near-necessity (because who wants to wait for the sink water to warm up at every diaper change?!) and I now own a contraption I was firmly against owning.  Sigh.
  • Finn + Emma Play Gym.  The Tiny One LOVES it.  And I love it because it doesn’t make annoying noises, it isn’t the color of highlighters, the height is adjustable so it grows with him, and the little animals un-snap for hanging on other contraptions (like the car seat) or holding.
  • Washable Changing Pad Liners.  Husband and I began lining the changing pad with puppy pads (yes, the kind for dogs) so that we wouldn’t have to wash the changing pad in case of accidents.  That plan got expensive quickly considering the frequency of said accidents.  We then discovered the washable kind and they’re amazing.
  • A really good washing machine.  Enough said.  Oh, and Tide To-Go Pens.  Which fit perfectly in the most awesome diaper bag in the world.

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my mom bakes too

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I think the most surprising part of parenthood has been just how much time is devoted to caring for the littlest Hunter. I don’t think I fully grasped how something the size of a sack of potatoes could require 100% of the time of 2 adults.  Or how even squeezing in a shower would be a challenge.  Huh.  This realization has resulted in a lack of baking on my part, which is why I enlisted the help of my mother.

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Not only has she been a wonderful help with the tiny one, but she has also kept Husband well-stocked with treats.  The way to his heart is most definitely through his stomach and I think he might now be trying to figure out how to get my mom to move in so she can make him pie.  Which would be just fine with me.

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Speaking of pie, apparently this is an old family recipe (though not unique to my family – it’s all over the Googler) that my Noni used to make and Mom has been making for years.  Somehow, I missed it in my growing-up years and this is the first I’ve heard of it.  Weird.  But Husband loves it.  So much so, in fact, that he ate half the pie before I could take pictures.  So, just pretend that there isn’t half of the pie missing and that my pictures are actually something that would make you want to eat this.

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Sweet Charity Pie

baker’s note: Cool Whip can be substituted for the heavy cream and sugar

crust:
1 C flour (Almond flour works pretty well for you GF types)
1 C pecans, chopped
1/4 C pure cane brown sugar
1/2 C butter, softened

1. Preheat oven to 375.
2. Mix all ingredients well in 9×13 glass dish amd spread evenly. Mixture will be crumbly.
3. Bake at 375 for 15-20 min, stirring once, until just beginning to turn golden.
4. Remove from oven and spread in pie plate, reserving 1/4 C of the crumbs. Refrigerate.

filling number one:
8 oz cream cheese, softened
1/2 tsp almond extract
1 C powdered sugar, sifted

1. Beat all ingredients together until creamy.
2. Spread over bottom of cooled crumb crust. Be advised that some of the crust may pull up. Just do your best.
3. Refrigerate.

filling number two:
1 can cherry pie filling
1 C heavy cream
2 Tbsp pure cane white sugar

1. Beat cream and sugar until peaks form.
2. Fold cherry pie filling into whipped cream. Spread evenly over cream cheese layer.
3. Top pie with remaining ½ C crumbs.
4. Keep refrigerated until serving. Or until Husband has eaten it.

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In other news, thanks to Deidre Lewis at Pictures of Prose, our baby photos have been edited and I am so in love with them.  Every one is my new favorite.  She even managed to cover up that extra 60 lbs that I have yet to lose.  I blame the pie.

View More: http://picturesofprose.pass.us/hunternewbornphotos

View More: http://picturesofprose.pass.us/hunternewbornphotos

View More: http://picturesofprose.pass.us/hunternewbornphotos

month one

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I promise this blog will not become all about babies. I have several recipes on deck that I’m dying to make and share but the little one keeps needing to be fed and cleaned and time just gets away from me. Also, I’ve had such a positive response to the weekly Babysaurus updates that I figured I should appease the masses and keep the fun alive. And believe me, there is plenty of fun. Like the up-all-night and chubby cheeks kind of fun. I have zero previous experience with tiny humans so have no clue what the normal milestones should be, but I can tell you what the tiny Hunter is doing and you’ll either think he’s amazing or way behind the power curve. Whatever.

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one month

One month has definitely flown by and I would be perfectly happy if time stood still. Particularly if that happened during naptime. That would be fantastic.

weight: 12.5 pounds. Yes.
length: no clue. He’s too squiggly and I don’t own a tape measure.
highlights:

  • Little Dude is hungry! He eats 6-7 oz every 3-4 hours. One month old and already eating us out of house and home.
  • His favorite friend is the ceiling fan. He immediately looks for it in every room and will just talk and talk and talk to Friend Ceiling Fan, especially when he’s laying on his giraffe (the second favorite friend in the house).
  • LOVES walks and car rides
  • March Madness motivated him enough to start holding his head up. It’s kind of hard to watch the games if you can’t.
  • He loves holding things: pacifiers, blankets, my hair…
  • Gets compliments everywhere we go about his cuteness
  • Loves shopping with Mom in the Moby Wrap, but it gets a little hot for him in there
  • Likes life best when he doesn’t have to wear clothes.

 

 

challenges:

  • Sleeping in the crib. HATES it. I don’t blame him.
  • Baths given by Mom (me). He is the sweetest little angel when Husband bathes him but when it’s my turn, our house is reminiscent of the London Blitz. Catastrophic meltdown. So I always pray he turns his changing table into a swimming pool when Husband’s home to fix it. It has yet to happen.
  • Keeping cool.  It’s only April and the poor guy sweats through all of his clothes. With the air conditioning on.

 

favorites: (as voted on by Mom)

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love story, part four

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THE TINY ONE! HE’S HERE! AND HE’S NOT SO TINY!

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His Adventurous photoshoot matched his nursery….
Copyright Deirdre Lewis | Please do not copy, crop or edit in any way.

The newest chapter in the Hunter House has begun: parenthood. So far, it’s been a lot of sleeping, a lot of not-sleeping, a lot of poop, and an incredible amount of cuddling. We like it. Although, if someone offered me a million dollars or 8 hours of peaceful slumber, I’d take the sleep with no hesitation. Heck, if someone offered me that sleep on bed of legos, I’d probably still take it. And we have a baby who sleeps. A lot. I don’t know how those other people do it. They must have some kind of secret drug. All I have is espresso. Lots of espresso. MY BrAIn CuRRently FEelS LiKE THIS!!!!!! I digress.

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Copyright Deirdre Lewis | Please do not copy, crop or edit in any way.

We are now proud owners of a brand-new baby boy. And he’s very much perfect. We aren’t even biased. From what I can piece together about the day(s) of his arrival, it went something like this: (Sorry if this gets long. Feel free to just look at the pictures – that’s usually what I do when there are more than 5 words in a row.)

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Babysaurus was long passed his expected day of arrival. So much so that I had given up on him coming on his own and was all ready for the medical kick-start to the process of baby extraction. Husband works normal business hours most days and is flexible with his schedule except for one night that week. (This was Wednesday night, March 6th.) I confidently told Husband there would be no baby, so to go to work. Which he did. Wouldn’t you know it, I started feeling icky soon after. The following are my text messages to him:

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2:45pm Me: “Sooo…..there’s a 50/50 shot I might want you to come back home tonight. I don’t know if things are picking up or if I’m just being extra whiny because I’m uncomfortable. Stay at work but keep your phone close”

3:15pm Me: “These are definitely contractions and they’re very uncomfortable but still not consistent. What does this mean?! They didn’t cover this part in the baby books!!! They said they would be like 10 minutes apart with moderate intensity and then increase. That is not the case here.”

3:16pm Me: “Okay. 70% sure I want you to come home. I don’t want to give you a false alarm and make you come home from work for nothing but I’m 60% sure I’m in labor. Or something that’s very painful. I’m going to take a bath now. Stay at work.”

4:00pm Me: “Ouch”

4:01pm Me: “Stay at work”

4:06pm Husband: “I’m coming home. No worries!”
Me: “Oh no!!! What if it’s just a false alarm?! I’ll feel like an idiot.”
Husband: “I’m good. I’m confident I’m doing the right thing.”
Me: “Only if you’re sure. Maybe I feel better now? I just don’t know!”
Husband: “Doesn’t matter. I’m coming home.”
Me: “Okay. Sorry. Thanks.”

4:30pm Me: “Can you pick up a pizza? I already called it in.”

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Copyright Deirdre Lewis | Please do not copy, crop or edit in any way.

So Husband came home with the pizza. At this point, I was having intense contractions every 2-3 minutes (the kind where I’d just lay on the floor in the fetal position) and was trying every trick in the book to take my mind off of it. In between laying on the floor sessions, we went on a walk, I ate the pizza, I bounced on my giant exercise ball, etc. I took a shower, put on make-up, did my hair, re-packed our bags (which had been un-packed when I needed underoos the week before), and made Husband bake the nurse cookies.

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father and son for the first time

Side story about the nurse cookies: I wanted to take cookies to the hospital for the staff so had made up cookie dough around week 35 (when they told me I was having a baby “any minute”) and frozen it so all we had to do was pop it in the oven and viola! Fresh cookies! After a week of frozen cookie dough calling his name, Husband broke down and ate the nurse cookies. So I made more. He ate those too. “Stop eating the nurse cookies!” came out of my mouth fairly often. 6 batches of cookies and 6 weeks later, they were finally used for their intended purpose.

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I made Husband’s favorite berry cake in cupcake form for Babysaurus. He was more interested in napping.

Anyway, after the cookies were baked and I had put on my most comfy pair of sweatpants, we were ready to go. I texted our doula to say “It’s baby time!” and to meet us at the hospital at about 9pm. Then a lot of hospital stuff happened and I was pretty much miserable and out of it but apparently not as out of it as I thought because no one believed me that I was in labor. I think it was the cookies that threw them off. We finally convinced them that I was having a baby at around 11:30pm and we got admitted and hooked up to all of the contraptions and IVs and stuff. Thankfully, the doula took notes of the event because I was mostly just dying of back pain and have no idea what was going on except that it was no fun. The initial plan was do the baby thing med-free (I’m only slightly granola about baby stuff) but zero progress was being made on the baby-having-front and a lot of progress was being made on the I-think-my-back-is-breaking-front. After a little round-table discussion by Husband and the doula and a lot of head-nodding by me, we decided to go with an epidural. One problem: I’m allergic to the pain medication they usually put in the cocktail. It took another hour for the medical staff to figure out if I could have one, what I could have, and whether or not it would help my back. Finally, a man with a halo (everyone kept calling him the anesthesiologist) came in and said some stuff and made me sign a paper. All the while I’m thinking, “blah-blah-blah. Really don’t care. Back hurts. Make it stop.” And he did. Immediately. I have no clue what kind of concoction they gave me, but I felt like Wonder Woman. I could form sentences, and make jokes, and stand up, and tell everyone to eat cookies.

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Copyright Deirdre Lewis | Please do not copy, crop or edit in any way.

I was able to relax enough for Babysaurus to make lots of progress but me relaxing also meant baby relaxing and his heart rate started dropping. Husband and I were unconcerned, but apparently we should have been because all of the people in scrubs became very worried and made me start doing all kinds of acrobatics in order to get my blood pressure back up and him perky again. From there on out, it was kind of a circus to figure out which position Baby liked and I got all kinds of tangled up in all of the tubes and wires. I was still unconcerned and calm, which drew a lot of attention from the nurses because they said usually parents are the first ones to freak out. I figured that wouldn’t help anybody, so there wasn’t much point. I was also just thinking, “well duh, of course my blood pressure and both of our heart rates are low: I’m no longer climbing the walls. Little dude is probably just trying to take a nap.” I could also stand up, which is also apparently unusual for someone with an epidural. Pretty sure it was because I got the weird drug, not the normal cocktail, but I’m claiming Superman skills.

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Copyright Deirdre Lewis | Please do not copy, crop or edit in any way.

Anyway, then lots more medical stuff happened and I started pushing and the room started filling up with people. They turned off the drugs (not my idea!!) and three hours later (Hollywood totally led me astray on that part-it does not take three measly pushes to have a baby. It takes hours. Jerks.) there were about 20 people in scrubs and still no baby. The clock was ticking: the OB (who was amazing and hilarious) said that Baby Hunter needed to come before 7:30am because that’s when her shift was up. At 7:30 on the dot, I was about ready to give myself a c-section with a rusty knife but Baby Hunter finally decided it was time and rocketed across the room to be caught by a very surprised doctor. At some point during the process, Husband had put on my favorite Pandora station (Duffy + Adele + Maroon 5 + Imagine Dragons = awesome). I had forgotten all about it until I realized the baby was born to “Moves Like Jagger”….

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Copyright Deirdre Lewis | Please do not copy, crop or edit in any way.

He weighed in at a whopping 10lbs, 4.4 oz (it’s the last .4 oz that really kill you), and 21 inches long. Naturally, there was lots of joking about my having given birth to a toddler, which sounded about right to me. The original plan was to have that initial family-bonding moment as soon as he was born, but stuff happens. Whatever. After both of us getting all cleaned up and being given a clean bill of health we got to be together as a family for the first time, and that was pretty darn special. I cried.

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Now he’s three weeks old and almost 11 lbs and we’ve given away all of the newborn clothes and diapers and love the little man more than humanly possible. Everything he does is so precious to us and we can sit for hours staring at him. (But without being as creepy as it sounds.)

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Copyright Deirdre Lewis | Please do not copy, crop or edit in any way.

Welcome to the world, Babysaurus!

We cannot wait to see what kind of adventures you will have!

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Heading home from the hospital. The baby/carseat camouflage was unintentional.

All of the really lovely pictures were taken by Deidre Lewis at Pictures of Prose. (The ones that are not so lovely were taken with our iPhones) More can be seen on her website: picturesofprose.com She did hospital photos and came by the house for newborn photos, too. I can’t wait to see the rest of the pictures this week!

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happy not-belated easter

by

cadbury cookiesMild success! I have actually made a seasonal baked good and shared the recipe before the actual holiday! So, I might be cutting it a little close but that’s irrelevant. And I wore real pants yesterday and got 5 consecutive hours of sleep so I’m feeling pretty much on top of the world. Or was. Until I was changing the tiny one’s diaper and noticed poop. On the wall. And the lamp. And the dresser. No idea how or when the incident had occurred but, it definitely brought me down a few pegs from my euphoric “I almost feel like a real person” state.

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Talking about poop is probably not the best way to introduce cookies. I probably should have been giving cute anecdotes about bunnies and eggs while describing the way these melt in your mouth. But I have a three-week-old so instead I’m talking about poop. Aren’t you lucky? Don’t worry though, the poop and the tiny one came no where near these cookies – they didn’t even happen on the same day. The cookies happened in a clean kitchen with clean hands while he was napping and I should have been writing a paper. Please don’t call the health department.

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Anyway….COOKIES! Easter is a spectacular time of year for many reasons, one of them being Cadbury Mini Eggs. I love those. I’m always tempted to buy a case of them so I can enjoy the delectable-ness (yes, I know that’s not a word but the thesaurus didn’t have any better options for me) all year long. They’re that good. Especially the dark chocolate ones. I discovered those this year and have thoroughly converted to the dark side. With no remorse. So, of course I had to put them in some cookies because that’s what I do with all of my favorite things. And they turned out pretty tasty. Husband recommended.

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But if you’re in the mood for something a little different, Husband also recommends the bunny-butt carrot cupcakes from last year. I didn’t have enough time or energy for those this year due to the afore-mentioned three-week-old. (I did manage to make a batch of gluten-free tiramisu cupcakes for myself, though. Priorities!) But here’s a link in case you’re more ambitious:

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cadbury cookies

baker’s note: For the love of bunnies, refrigerate this dough before baking! Otherwise you’ll end up with sad, flat cookies like mine. I just didn’t have the time due to the afore-mentioned three-week-old (this is my new mantra. I’m getting tshirts made). Also, crunch up your Cadbury Eggs with a hammer or rolling pin. Not your food processor. You’ll only end up with mini egg powder, which is delicious, but not the goal. Also, it’s incredibly loud (like hearing-loss threshold) and you’ll wake up the neighbors. Your baby will sleep right through it, though. Learn from my mistakes.

1 C shortening + 3 tsp water
3 oz cream cheese, room temperature
1 C pure cane white sugar
1/2 C pure cane brown sugar
1 egg, room temperature
2 tsp vanilla
3 C flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 C Cadbury Mini Eggs, chopped
Cadbury Mini Eggs, whole, for topping

1. Cream together shortening, water, cream cheese, and sugars until fluffy. Add egg and vanilla.
2. Gradually stir in dry ingredients until well-combined.
3. Fold in chopped Cadbury Eggs.
4. Cover and chill dough for at least 30 minutes or until dough can be formed into balls.
5. Preheat oven to 350
6. Roll dough into ping-pong ball sized balls and place on cookie sheet
7. Bake at 350 for 10 minutes. Remove from oven and place whole Cadbury Eggs on top.
8. Bake for an additional 5 minutes. Allow to cool on pan for a couple of minutes and then move to wire rack to cool completely.
9. Happy Easter!

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