Photo Shoot

Even though we don't celebrate Easter in a religious context, I love the idea of the Easter holiday as a celebration of spring and new beginnings.  When Kiki was here a few weeks ago, we found these ridiculously cute suits at Target for the boys and figured this would be the perfect occasion for them.  We tried to get them to wear the suits when Kiki was here but we made the mistake of waiting until the night before she left, right before dinner.  Suffice it to say, it was a no-go.  Amy brought Reid and Camilla over first thing this morning (first thing with a newborn being 10:30 am), we bribed them with jelly bellies and tried again.  I love having my Fridays off.  I don't know if I could ever give up my Fridays off.

Anyway, Norah was more than happy to oblige and wore her own Easter finest.  

These two are hilarious together.  In the past few weeks (knock on wood) they have gone from having a knock down drag out every 30 seconds to actually playing with each other.  I hope it lasts.

Unfortunately the suits weren't a great fit.  Lou's was way too big all around and Reid's pants were far too long.  Reid's outfit also had a bow tie, but we figured we were already pushing it.  I still think they looked adorable.  When Norah saw Reid she said, "You are so handsome, I want to marry you.  But, I won't marry you because if you marry your cousin you go to jail.  I don't want to go to jail."  I have no idea who told her this.  My money is on Bubby.

This might be my new favorite picture of Lou.  I think he had just swiped a jelly belly from Reid.

Always a delight.

I like the American Gothic feel of this one.

Norah's hair is losing some of its intense curliness and is slowly morphing into just being really wavy.  Her hair is currently a nightmare.  It's a battle to comb and she hates having it washed so much that I have taken to doing it maybe once a week.  When do kids learn how to wash their own hair?  I hope it's at 4 years, 10 months old.  

Lou had just gotten busted for something.

Amy wanted to try and get some shots of Camilla for her birth announcements.  I think there were some decent ones.  She was a trooper.  Later when I was changing her diaper she peed all over my bed and shot poop across the room.  I still like her.

I am not sure what we did before the ipad.  It allowed us a full 20 minutes to actually pay attention to Camilla.

Amy wanted to get at least one good shot of Camilla and Reid together.  He made it about as easy as you would imagine a two year old would.  There might have been more jelly bellies involved.  And maybe a time out.

Camilla got a costume change and Norah demanded some photos of the two of them together.

She's a sweet bunny, for sure.

Happy spring!

Snips and Clips

A round up of the last couple of weeks:

Lou's favorite color by far is purple.  He demands the purple plate at dinner, points out the color any chance he gets, and goes nuts when I wear my purple shirt to work.  So, of course, Norah desperately wanted to get him a purple shirt for his birthday.  It was really sweet and we searched high and low (and online) but no one makes a solid purple shirt for a toddler boy.  And so we got him a "girl" shirt.  It has darts in the front and capped sleeves and he looks adorable in it.

Norah got to meet Camilla when she was still in the hospital, which was the highlight of her life.

 A few weeks ago, Norah woke up in the middle of the night in hysterics.  She said it was because she thought the baby would be born and no one would pay any attention to her.  Totally weird, especially given the fact that she's never had even a moment of discord about her own brother.  Maybe because this baby is a girl?  I don't know.  Whatever it was it passed quickly and ever since Camilla arrived it has only been a great big love fest.

Louie did not get to go to the hospital (for the protection of all in the hospital), so he got to meet Camilla the afternoon she got home.  He was really into her and laughed and wanted to hold her feet.  Then he had a melt down about not getting to play with Reid's brand new garbage truck and we had to leave 10 minutes after arriving.

Lou's car seat got flipped forward the week before his birthday.  He loves facing forward and it's really nice to have him that way.  It's so much easier to count the school buses that go by.

Having a newborn around sure makes you realize how gigantic your toddler really is.

Lou goes to time out every day at school.  Usually it's because he's pushed someone, sometimes it's for hitting.  He just can't seem to deal when another kid gets in his space or wants something he has or had anytime in the preceding 10 minutes.  It is developmentally normal and I have been assured he's not getting kicked out but it is still frustrating and disconcerting.  It's terrible to be the parent of the hitter.

Norah does a lot of mediating between these two.  She eats it up.

She is very into putting together outfits for school.

Camilla is such a cute baby and, so far, seems super mellow.  I am sure her parents might disagree at 3:00 am, but in my world she is just about perfect.

Norah is going through a growth spurt.  She is eating like she's never eaten before and has finally cracked the elusive 40 lb mark.  This past week she's had some weird stuff going on with her belly and urinary system, but I am hoping it's just because her body is just not used to seeing all that food.

Kiki was in town to meet Camilla.

Lou is obsessed with the old Michael Jackson song "Beat It." I really need to get a video of him dancing to it.

See?  True love.

Norah got this cowboy hat from GG a few years ago and right now it fits Lou perfectly.  Sometimes he naps with it on.

The weather is so nice right now.  Mid 70's with a great breeze.  Since daylight savings we have been playing outside every night after dinner, mostly in the front with the sand table.  Soon there will be no more sand table play because Lou either dumps the sand in the grass or flings it into the air by the fistful.  I refuse to buy more cancer-free sand until he knocks it off.

Perfect apple eating weather.  It won't last.  All this week it is supposed to be mid to high 80's.  Yuck.

Norah drew this picture of me and BVZ.  He's picking me a flower.  My favorite part is his hair.

Kids table at breakfast.

Norah could not go to school on Friday because of the aforementioned stomach and bladder problems.  We were home bound so we made popcorn and watched Wreck-it-Ralph.  Twice.

Norah's latest and greatest triumph is that she can finally pump her legs on the swing.  She needs no help in getting on, swinging, and getting off.  This is particularly remarkable given the fact that she is the kid who won't try anything.  She is going to be seventeen and still using training wheels.

Just seems like such a big kid here.

 A big kid with cherry red toenails.

I always figured the best part of having two kids would be their ability to entertain each other and that is finally starting to come into fruition.  This morning I was making something to take to a friend who just had a baby and they played ballet school/day care in my bathroom for an HOUR.

Then Lou came out and grabbed a hot cookie sheet with his bare hand.  Norah got him a bag of ice and then insisted he sit on her lap until he felt better.  What a gal.

This kid is too cute.  I love having a baby around that I don't have to feed and don't ever see at 3:00 am.  LOVE.

Gluten Free Goldfish Crackers

My kids love crackers.  I mean, I know most kids love crackers, but these kids LOVE crackers.  Especially Lou.  That dude would eat crackers all day long if I let him.  Sometimes I am tempted to let him.  He still kind of sucks in that general realm of 'eat healthy foods to keep yourself alive' category.

Anyway, gluten free crackers are problematic because 1) they are freaking expensive, and 2) most are made primarily with rice flour which has basically zero nutritional value (and there's that whole pesky problem of the rice crop in this country having a high arsenic content.  I mean, c'mon.).  I have been wanting to make my own for a while now, and while my intentions are good, I am busy.  And oh yes, really tired.

I had tucked away a recipe from forever ago for homemade goldfish crackers (because it was simple), but of course it was made with flour.  Then I found a little something that has changed the whole gluten free game:

Bob's Red Mill, All Purpose Gluten Free Baking Flour.  For the most part, you use it interchangeably with regular all purpose flour, and the measurements stay the same (ie, recipe calls for a cup of flour, use a cup of this stuff).  I have used it in cookies, cupcakes, and a few other things with great results.  It is made from garbanzo flour, potato starch, tapioca flour, sorghum flour and fava flour.  It's definitely more expensive than regular flour, but it has made life around here a lot easier.

So, goldfish cracker.  Throw the following in your food processor:

1 cup GF flour
8 oz. shredded cheddar cheese
4 tablespoons butter
1/2 teaspoon salt

Pulse all of that together until it looks like coarse sand.  Then pulse in tablespoons of cold water until you get to the right consistency (takes me about 2.5 teaspoons to get it right).  Then scrape out the dough, roll it into a nice ball, and wrap it in plastic wrap.  Chill in the fridge for at least 20 minutes.

After chilling, roll it out on a cutting board.  Use the GF flour in the same way you would regular flour, to dust the cutting board and rolling pin (just take a deep breath and don't think about how much each pinch of that flour actually costs...)

We do not have a goldfish cookie cutter and I wanted to make them a little bigger than bite sized.  Again, the time factor.  So I let Norah pick out which small cutter she wanted to use and she picked the star.  

Line the cookie sheet with parchment paper and load it up.  The dough does not expand very much as it cooks so you can put them pretty close together.  Bake at 350 degrees for about eight minutes (but ovens vary, so just keep an eye on them).  

   

The ones that were cut a little thicker ended up being slightly chewier, which was the preferred consistency of both the kids and myself (I think I ate 17 of them).  They got two very enthusiastic thumbs up from everyone who tried them.  The next time we did hearts and I think we will do flowers next.

It is not exactly a healthy snack but it is a good alternative to keep in mind.

Sesame Street Live

Reid and Lou are only three months apart in age and they both really like Elmo.  So, we thought a perfect second birthday gift for them to give each other would be tickets to Sesame Street Live in mid-February.  It was a bit of a crap shoot because when we got the tickets in December we were not certain if Junebug (it is very strange calling her that now that she is a real outside baby) would still be gestating at the time of the show.  Thankfully she stayed put.

We got Bubby a ticket just in case and it was brilliant to have another adult around.  Three grown ups and two toddlers is just about the right ratio.  I do not work on Fridays (most of the time) and Lou does not go to school.  Norah goes to school for a half-day, so Friday mornings are usually the only time during the entire week that Lou has me all to himself.  We debated about going at a time when Norah could come but ultimately decided this would be something special for just the boys.

It was down at the Frank Erwin Center, which is where the UT basketball team plays.  We thought we were being responsible and went online and bought a parking pass in advance.  The lot we had to park in was about a mile away and lots that were much closer were only $1 more than what we paid.  Advance planning fail.

The story was cute...Abby loses her magic wand and Elmo finds it.  He casts a spell that makes everyone in Sesame Street break out in song that day.  In fact, they can't STOP singing.  The plot was way over the boys' heads but they liked seeing the characters and were really into the music.  The music and 12 bags of snacks I had in my purse.

No big surprise, Lou's favorite character is Cookie Monster.  This is pretty much how he looked the entire time:

There are a lot of things I worry about when it comes to my kids, but either one of them having ADD is not one of them.  Laser-like focus, those two.  I was actually a little bummed that Norah wasn't there because she would have loved it and would have been really into the story.  She is not that into Sesame Street anymore (I mean, she won't turn it down if offered, but that's not saying much), and considers it to be "too baby."  The show was entirely appropriate for a two-year-old, but would have absolutely delighted a four-and-a-half-year old.

There was a short intermission and folks walked around with cotton candy and Elmo head balloons.  They weren't that big and looked kind of half inflated.  Bubby really wanted to buy one for each boy and since it was a birthday celebration we were going to let her if they weren't too expensive.  The lady next to us bought one and I asked her how much and she said $10.  TEN DOLLARS?  That was down right laughable, but I wasn't surprised to see how many balloons were tied to chairs by the end of intermission.  People are crazy.  I also saw more than one balloon float way up into the rafters the second it was purchased.  That would have sucked.

Amy had the nerve to take her nine month pregnant self to the bathroom during intermission and Reid was pissed.

Thankfully she returned and all was right with the world again.

All and all a total success.

Camilla

My sweet baby niece Camilla was born a week ago today on March 1, 2013.  I got to see her be born.  Like, SEE her be born.  It was far and away one of the most amazing experiences of my life (remember, as hard as I tried I never got that push the baby out, tears of joy, euphoria moment with either of my own).  It was really, really cool and I am forever grateful that A & M allowed me to be a part of it.  And while this is not my story to tell, suffice it to say my sister was a rock star.  Oh boy, was she a rock star.

Welcome to the world, Camilla.  We are awfully glad you are here.