Blue-Eyed Outdoors Boy

Isaac simply loves being outside. He loves all that he can see. He loves the wind blowing in his face. He loves the sunshine. He loves the leaves and birds. In fact, after I take him outside, he smiles and stares at me like the most amazing thing just happened to him.  Oh to have that childlike wonder again! Here are a few moments of his delight.

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Monopoly Master

When the husband first mentioned that he really, really enjoyed Monopoly, I didn't realize that he meant that he had read books on Monopoly strategy, had participated in Monopoly tournaments, and had memorized the board (such that he was able to play with two other men while driving across the country so long as someone else rolled the dice for him).

So when we noticed a "Monopoly Tournament" advertised last weekend, we knew he had to try his hand at it again. The idea going in was that it was "just for fun," but he ended up winning two games and playing in the championship game, even though he hadn't played in earnest for a while. He won this fancy trophy (right) and this new, personal token (above).

Apparently, an "obnoxious 10-year-old" won first place, but all of the finalists walked away with trophies. Now can you guess which board game we will be playing for the foreseeable future?

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Ladies' Night

Sauteed Scallops.

I never knew just how much one could enjoy eating out -- fine dining in particular -- until making three meals a day became part of my job description. Now I have a much greater appreciation for a well-made meal. These sauteed scallops, for example, require the right temperature and time for both the seafood itself and the crusted-almond top. I've tried to make smaller scallops before and they became overdone and rubbery -- kind of like overdone calamari. Not nice. And given the price of seafood, one wants to get it right the first time!



Crème Brûlée - yum!

 Sometimes, though, it just helps to dine at a restaurant. My sister and I took our friend, Holly, out for her birthday on Saturday night. We enjoyed tapas-style American dishes at a new place in McLean called Evo Bistro. They offered lots of salads, wines, cheeses, and many gluten-free dishes. We really had a great time and shared discoveries about health, kids, work, life, and travel. It's just so refreshing to do this from time to time. Thanks to the husbands for babysitting!

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Meet Grunty.

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"My Son Allows Himself to Be Moved"

    "During the apparitions of Our Lady of Pontmain the children spelled out, letter by letter, the words they saw being written in the sky under the feet of the Blessed Virgin. At the word allows (se laisse) , the adults who saw nothing said to them, 'You must be wrong; it must be, "My son is weary" (se lasse) and not "My son allows..."' But instead of 'My son has had enough' it was -- oh divine tenderness -- 'My son allows himself to be moved.'
    Why do we have this basic tendency, this first impulse to think that Jesus is dissatisfied?"

    -Fr. Jean C. J. d'Elbee, I Believe in Love

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Highlights in Pictures

For Lent I am attempting to limit my Internet time to when Isaac is down for the evening. Hence the gaps and lack of text. But, this is allowing us to do all kinds of fun things together! Isaac is growing so much!

He's eating ALL of his wheat cereal -- 37 spoonfuls!

He's also grabbing his feet and pulling off his socks a lot.

We are still trying to eat healthfully.

Roast beef, boursin cheese, and arugula on whole wheat toast.

We've also been seeing a bit more of the cousins.



John and Isaac



We've been running and walking for miles at a time. (Mommy lost ten pounds and is really excited about this!) We've been on trails and treadmills and sidewalks and our own living room when it is insanely cold.

Isaac loves sticks from the sides of the trail.

And gets into EVERYTHING he can rock, roll, or scoot to.

I knew it was too quiet!

Most of all, he's becoming a real Daddy's boy. They have so much fun together. They go walking in the ergo, play airplane, and make fun sounds. I believe Dad has found someone who can match his activity level! Sweet karma. :)

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President's Day Weekend

We had a very nice time with Rich's parents this weekend. Isaac was anxious to show off his new tricks.

 

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First 5K Postpartum!



Photo Credit: CoolRunning.com



Thanks to Rich's help (taking the jogging stroller and keeping time today), I finished this nine week program by running 3.21 miles this morning! While I was pregnant I really wondered if I would ever be able to run again. Now I'm feeling so much better and am so grateful that my husband is a good long distance runner.

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"No One Takes You Seriously Until You're Thirty"

A former boss had this to say about getting older once. I thought she had a great attitude about aging, which was confirmed by this article and my own experiential bias. It seems that a woman can really come into her own and be much more confident as she ages (men too for that matter) most likely due to the confidence that comes with gained experience, setting boundaries, knowing oneself better, and surrounding oneself with people who care about one. The improvement of life has taken me by surprise and so I wish more people had ensured me that it gets better when I was in my early twenties. I think I would have worried less.



Don't look at my neck tendons!!



But this post is about my first college roommate, Heidi, a Texas-native with whom I lived for my freshman and sophomore years of college. She had to find a new roommate when I took off a year from school during her junior year. But after a study abroad program that followed, we were both again on campus, having matured a bit, and have stayed in contact ever since. Luckily, we live in the same area now, so we see a lot of each other. Heidi even babysits Isaac from time to time!  

The Wintry Warmer -- great February drink!

This week Heidi celebrated her 30th birthday. Several girls took her out to dinner at a nice, new restaurant which cooks everything over a wood fire. The food was outstanding. The drink selection, expansive. And most of all, good company was enjoyed by all of us. (I apologize for my photography skills. And unfortunately, the waitress was a much worse photographer than I!)

Chocolate brownie explosion!





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My Mother Liked Good Food

I can't help but post about food because eating well makes life so much more enjoyable! Dinner is often the event that brings a family together; and I want it to be enjoyable for everyone. Though my mom always had to work at least part time while we were growing up, she always ensured that we had at least one salad every day (often with dinner) and that we ate good, whole foods (like Romaine lettuce, whole grain bread and pasta, and lots of fruits and veggies.) And I confess, I try to reproduce that in our family. So, in Rich's and my quest to eat well (healthfully and tastefully), we've found some recipes that we do, in fact, really enjoy and do not feel one bit guilty about eating.

We have a few favorites that appear every week (pork tenderloin, pan-seared chicken in white wine sauce, spaghetti with meatballs, and our ubiquitous salad with pears, walnuts, and goat cheese), but here is a variety from this week:

Black Jack Burger Wraps (Recipe from Rich's sister). We used lettuce to wrap them b/c I'm still trying to lose about 10 lbs.!!

Ground beef, Monterey Jack cheese, tapenade, lettuce, and tomatoes -- Mmmmm

Roast turkey, honey mustard, avocados and sprouts on whole wheat toast - delicious!



Lamb rack with red wine and rosemary sauce.



Pan-seared chicken breast with white wine and thyme sauce.

{Sorry if you did not get the Don Knott's Ghost and Mr. Chicken reference, which the Onion totally ripped off for this article!}

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Marriage Is Bliss!

My old housemate and classmate, Mollie, moved back to the area a few months ago to be near her fiance and plan their wedding. And she ended up finding a home just three minutes from ours! So, this means that we get to see much more of her than we used to. Isaac really likes having company. Mollie is so good with him and gets him to coo and smile and chill.

Here they are hanging out after work:

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Will You Be Mine?

Will you be my valentine?

YYYYYYYYEEEEEEESSSSSSSS!!!!!

Now please take your flower before I rip all of the petals off of it.

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Like Father, Like Son

Likes the red man-chair.

Has to have short fingernails!

Is a Morning Boy.

 

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If I Keep Destroying My Diaper...

... Mom will keep running to get me new outfits. Hmmm....

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Super Bowl XLVI

One of my Facebook friends captured my sentiments about this Super Bowl perfectly by saying that she was "hoping both teams somehow lose." iBoy really enjoyed himself, though. He particularly liked the view upside down:

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Five Months Old!

And life couldn't be better!

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Taking a Break from Scrabble

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Thai Week!

Here are a few of our recipe wins this week.:

Thai Coconut Chicken Soup (America's Test Kitchen)



Thai Chicken with Peanut Sauce (from my friend, Laura)



Thai Chicken with Peanut Sauce in Lettuce Wraps (inspired by Clyde's Chicken Lettuce Wraps and my friend, Laura's, recipe)

Making a wrap with the sprouts, brown basmati rice, chicken and sauce -- the sauce really makes this recipe!

Oatmeal boiled in light coconut milk with walnuts, coconut flakes, sweetened with maple syrup -- not exactly Thai but we had extra coconut milk. (Recipe from my sister.)

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Home Decorating Fiasco

On Saturday Rich mistakenly sent me out to pick up new sandals at Ross in an effort to demonstrate that he wanted me to have everything I needed. [I often wait a long time before replacing clothes because it is so hard to find things that a) fit, b) look nice, and c) are reasonably priced.] I don't think that I ever told Rich that Ross is my weakness.

Unfortunately, I parked at the entrance completely across the store from the shoes. As soon as I walked in, I saw laundry baskets (which I've been wanting) and nice chairs and wall art; then red bed sheets and red and gold accents pillows and area rugs to match! All of these things were significantly cheaper than I saw last week at several stores with my friend Christine.

Shoppers were crowding around items and grabbing them before others could get to them. I felt a sense of urgency. So I grabbed a huge "Paris in the fall" hybrid oil for $40 and asked them to hold it while I tried on 15 outfits. I picked out some bedding with accent pillows and a rug and tried to make it all add up to $100 or less. Fail!

Because I was so focused on getting deals, I forgot that the parking meter was running out. So a parking cop slapped yet another parking ticket on our car.

When I arrived home, Rich asked where the sandals were. I hadn't found any in my size. But I had several outfits for him to check out and an oil canvas. It became clear that the "Paris in the springtime" needed a matching picture, so I went back to grab a mirror and a European bakery hybrid oil of the same size, bringing the total spending to over $200.

Then during the night I had horrible buyer's remorse. I woke up thinking about how careless all of the spending was and wanted to take it all back immediately. Rich loaded up the car after Mass and, with the exception of a $5 shirt, skirt, and bolero, took everything back. And now he's bringing me a coffee and trying to figure out whether I have a) obsessive compulsive disorder or b) am a shopaholic.

Awesome. And that's why I cannot shop at Ross: Dress for Less!

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Watch Me Roll

I'm so fast now. When I first rolled I had to crunch my abs and slowly turn. Now I've got the rocking motion down and it is really fast. I'm becoming so coordinated. They are so many more things that I can see and grab now!

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What Isaac Has to Say About Things!

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A Page From My Book

Isaac is taking his morning nap. The laundry is running (like so many other moms' laundry I read about on Thursday mornings!). And I am sitting here with a cup of coffee and so many thoughts! Though nothing is ever perfect (ie. we are still trying to solve some big issues brought on by the economy in our family and extended families - and this has occupied a lot of my thoughts and worries), overall I am truly enjoying life and have hope that all things will work out as they should.



Deep sleep brought on by the outdoors and hours and hours of rolling and jumping.



I've also come to the conclusion that it *almost* never pays to worry. Though many people have tried to steal my peace (often in the form of a political advertisement), life is still pretty darn good here in America. One such peace-stealing example is about the new capital gains home sale tax written into the health care legislation. While talking with a political friend over the weekend, we were informed that starting in 2013 there will be a 6% sales tax on all home sales. As it was presented, "your $400,000 home will cost you an additional $24,000." Yes, alarming! So, we looked into it ourselves and discovered that the tax will be 3.8% of the capital gains only AND then only if you meet the income requirements, which we do not. So, basically, it's an additional small tax on high-income earners. I'm not a fan of raising taxes on "the rich," especially because wealth is often defined as any income (not net income), but that's not the point. The point is that I've found so many people - whether intentionally or not - would love to steal my peace. 

End of month budget reconciliation: My least favorite time of the month. 

One of the things I love about my husband is that he has a balanced outlook in so many situations. This makes him a really great lawyer. He's helped me learn which questions to ask, the concepts behind many laws (esp. tax law), and how things actually change. Thankfully, he's given me a more positive outlook. Whether or not I believe taxes are too high (I do, btw), I do not believe that the tax code was created by a bunch of idiots who want to steal our money.

Flowers from Richie: another thing I really appreciate.

I've also discovered that the only way things will change for the better is if I make a change. I can get mad at Obama for raising taxes (although a better reason to be mad at him would be for his policies against prenatal life and conscience protections), but that won't change a thing. We all -- every last person -- has a streak of greed in him. And to the extent that we act out on that, we hurt other people. So, I've been thinking more and more that the only way I'll see a change in anything, including government policy, is if I become more generous.

I need to work harder. I need to be more disciplined. Sure, Rich and I have always worked as adults because we needed to in order to survive. And there were others who did not work and took advantage of the system, thereby requiring more of our hard-earned money to be taken in the form of taxes for social programs. But what moral authority do I have to point a finger at that guy when I put dinner on the table late last night because I got caught up in my Facebook newsfeed? Had I been more disciplined, we would have had dinner earlier, gone to bed earlier, felt more rested this morning, and had more productive days today. Rich would make just a little bit more money for the firm. And I would get my run in before lunch. We are all so connected -- each of us. Our wills are a powerful tools. And I'm so grateful that we live in a nation in which we can exercise them.

Preparing Potato Leak Soup for lunch.

So, in that vein, I've been trying to get back into shape. It's been very difficult because I have this lifelong habit of eating sweets. I LOVE sweets: milk chocolate, custard, crème brûlée, you name it. The fatter the better! After Christmas I stepped on the scale and realized that I had gained almost eight pounds (when I still had twelve left to lose post-pregnancy). So, I decided to take action. I'm not ready to give up the ghost of my figure just yet! Thankfully, there are so many programs out there to help one track his diet, exercise, and weight. I've decided to use Couch to 5K for exercise. For our diet, we've been picking recipes that are high in fiber and protein and trying to eat 5 fruits or vegetables a day. So far I've lost 7.5 lbs. and have 12.5 left to go. And yesterday, I surprised myself by running 2.77 miles (with the baby stroller, which totally slows me down!) in 35 minutes. And iBoy absolutely LOVES it!

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