Is this thing on?

I sure hope not! This is now going to be a place where I store my otherwise offline recipes. Here's the first!

WORLD FAMOUS (7^TH FLOOR FAMOUS?) CHEESEBURGER TURNOVERS

INGREDIENTS

·        1# ground beef

·        1/4c. yellow onion, diced

·        1t. garlic powder

·        1t. onion powder

·        1t. black pepper

·        salt, to taste

·        4 oz. (ish)  Velveeta

·        Rhodes frozen dinner roll dough (can substitute with any frozen bread or pizza dough, but I like the convenience of the pre sized rolls.  Refrigerated Grands Biscuit dough, puff pastry sheets or pre made refrigerated pie dough would also work well)

·        Egg wash (optional) - 1 egg mixed with 2T. H2O

·        Optional add ins - chopped blanched broccoli (or thawed frozen), crumbled cooked bacon, sautéed mushrooms

INSTRUCTIONS

Thaw dough, covered with plastic wrap,  on a sheet pan in the refrigerator overnight.  I like to line the pan with parchment paper and spray it with PAM first to prevent sticking.  Pull thawed dough out and let sit at room temp for about 1 hr., until roughly doubled in size.

Saute beef and onion together until cooked through.  Turn heat off and season with garlic and onion powders, pepper .  Give it a good stir then add the Velveeta to the mix while it's still warm.  Taste, then add salt if it needs it.  Mix in any extras (broccoli, etc.) and set aside to cool.

On a lightly floured surface, either roll dough out, or gently stretch by hand, into thin rounds approximately 5 in. across.  Place about 1/4c. of the cooled filling in the center, fold over and seal using your fingers.  Place on parchment lined baking pan.  Brush with egg wash (optional) and sprinkle with poppy seeds, sesame seeds or Everything bagel spice.  Let sit for 20 min. at room temp while oven heats.

Heat oven to 350 degrees.  Bake for 18- 20 minutes, or until golden. 

Click here to read more!

365 days ago

One year ago today, just around now-ish, I was hooked up to pitocin, covered in monitors and was 23 hours and 53 minutes away from starting the biggest adventure of my life.

That is all. :) Click here to read more!

Will's Third Month

William's third month began with my starting to figure out the whole at-home mothering thing and ended with it abruptly being taken from me as my maternity leave ended. While I can now say that being a working mom is not only survivable but probably also good for me and Will in many ways, at first, it was very very difficult.

I mean, who would want to not spend all day with a tiny little guy who is testing out his vocal chords, cooing like a little angel and batting adorably at toys hanging above his head???

Although, the third month did not entirely consist of 24/7 cooing and adorable body movements. There was also fussing and the beginning of our many-month-long streak of constant wondering if every inexplicable scream, shriek or wail was teething-related (note that Will did not get his first tooth until he was over 8 months old - such rookies we are!!). In our defense, drool appeared at this stage, which seemed to support our theory, until I read that salivary glands really step up drool production at three months. :)

So the swing and the bouncy chair were critical elements of our keep-Will-happy strategy. And there was lots of walking around while holding him in our arms (his head on our shoulder and NO SITTING on our part! - amazingly, he was extremely particular about the way he was held).

Sleeping in the third month was still in increments of less than 2 hours each, which was tough overnight but made going out to dinner after work possible. And so Alex and I did that, knowing that such freedom would soon come to an end. Going out as a little family with a tiny baby is such a happy memory from that time.

And while I tried not to, I spent a lot of time during Will’s third month thinking about how much I would miss him when I went back to work. I tried to focus on taking in every moment and creating as much quality time as I could with my little man – walks to the park, long conversations by the Boppy, and cozy naps in the glider.

And then I did go back to work, and I did miss him…tremendously. The transition from maternity leave to life as a working mom was a tough one but was not nearly challenging as I thought it would be. Eventually the toughest part was functioning during the day on very minimal sleep, but we got through that too (spoiler: there is indeed good news on that front in the fourth month)!

Fortunately again, I wrote the following letter to Will so I do have some fresher/more of-the-time memories than the ones above that I'm trying to piece together from emails and chats. :)

Dear Will,

I shouldn't be surprised that you're three months old, but I am. The evidence is clear. I am back at work. You are in daycare. These are the things that happen at three months of age, but I find myself asking how a quarter of a year already went by.

I used to dread the thought of you growing up, getting bigger, losing your newborn infant tininess. And while I loved you as a tiny baby, you are so cool now. The smiles you give me, the "conversations" we have when you lay down on my lap, and the strength of your little body are amazing. I cannot help but think that today is the most sublime day of your life, but then again, I think that every day.

Today is our third day apart. I miss you terribly while I am at work, and I spend my days watching my slide show of your pictures on my computer. I take comfort in the fact that you seem to love daycare. This morning, when I brought you into your room at "school," you reached for the floor the moment you saw your little friends and your teachers there waiting for you. I don't know about that - I might have to teach you to scream and cry and pretend like you are going to miss me while I am away for my sake - but mostly I am happy that you seem to like it there.

The next item on our agenda, little man, is sleeping. You have gotten very good at laying down in your crib and going to sleep - you just do not like to stay there in the middle of the night. We'll work on it. I have faith in you. I just hope next month I am writing about what a fantastic sleeper you are! Ha!

Love,
Mommy

Here is a video of the little man's third month. Enjoy!



Some statistics on Will's third month:
Firsts - First trip on an airplane! It was to Florida to introduce Alex's grandparents to their first great-grandchild. Will even got to fly in first class - what a fancy baby! :)
Favorite thing to wear - The same thing as daddy - he told me so!
Nights slept through - 0 this month, leaving the grand total at 1.
Biggest pet peeve - Having to get ready for bed before eating (this pattern of screaming post-bath continues until about a couple weeks ago). Click here to read more!

Will's Second Month

If Will's first month was, like, forever ago, his second month was at least a very, very long time ago. I certainly remember a few more bits from the second month than the first, but as I reflect on the pictures and videos, he still seems like a very different little person.

My memories of Will's second month are mostly a blur, dotted with angry attempts at tummy time, lots and lots of eating, and the most beautiful smiles I had ever seen. And in between there was sleep. Sometimes there was less sleeping and more crying. Sometimes there was lots of crying. Sometimes I cried too. I won't lie - sometimes that second month was tough.

Tough as that month was, and bald and suffering (a bit) from baby acne though Will was, I still love watching this video. Will, in my humble opinion, was simply adorable. You be the judge:



Some statistics on Will's second month:
Starting length/weight - 22.25", 10lbs, 1oz
Ending length/weight - 23.5", 12lbs, 13oz
Biggest pet peeve - Having to stop eating to burp
Favorite drug - Mylicon
Nights slept through - 1 (Spoiler alert! This number doesn't increase for a while.)
Other milestones - Seeing the bugs on his swing, batting at the toys in his gym, and smiling!! Click here to read more!

Will's First Month

Let me start by saying that it is really weird to be writing about the first month of Will's life, because that was, like, forever ago. I barely remember it. And that's the problem. If I don't write it now, what little I remember will disappear and forever be lost. I cannot let that happen.

Fortunately for me and my increasingly weak memory, I wrote a letter to my little man on July 22nd:

Dear Will,

I cannot believe that you are already one month old. In some ways, I am shocked by how quickly time flies, and I want to keep you tiny and bundled in my arms forever. In other ways, I am so excited for you to grow up so we can go to the park and play together, read stories, and share cupcakes from Sweet Mandy B's. I spend a lot of time these days eagerly anticipating our the great fun we'll have as a family together.

For now, you are still a bit of an enigma to me. There are days when you eat peacefully, gaze lovingly at me and sleep easily. Today is one of those days. Thank you. But there are also days where you scream loudly, fuss inconsolably and sleep, well, never. That was yesterday. I think. I've already forgotten it. The pediatrician told us this afternoon that you'll get angrier before you get happier. Your father and I are braced for all kinds of excitement in the coming weeks!

You're still learning to move your arms and legs and fingers and toes in the wide open space of the world you now occupy. Sometimes you shake your limbs violently, sometimes your fingers dance in front of your face in graceful patterns. I usually assume these movements and gestures are random, but the frequency with which you raise your middle finger to me while you nurse has me somewhat concerned. I keep telling myself that it's just a random gesture, and the graceful, random movement of your hand that just happens to result in the one finger salute is your way of communicating that your content.

We need to work on your communication skills.

This first month has been a bit of a roller coaster. Since you were born late at night, you didn't spend very much time in the hospital before we were shipped home. As a consequence of being rushed through, you gave your parents a bit of a scare when you didn't pass two of your initial screening tests. But a couple weeks and a couple trips to Children's Memorial later, the doctor called to tell us what we already knew deep down...

You are perfect.

We are so lucky to be your parents.

Love,
Mommy

Looking back at the pictures from Will's first month, it strikes me how much he has changed and developed, how new and foreign he appeared in those first few weeks, and how little I remember. Our pediatrician told us it would be a blur and that we wouldn't remember the bad stuff, or really much at all. He reasoned that if people really remembered a lot about the first month or two that no one would have a second child. The implication was not solely that the first months were that bad but also that the following months were so worth it. And they have been.

I was taking an inventory of some of our early videos of Will. The difference between to little boy who lives in our house now and our new-to-the-world, alien boy from last summer is great, but I love him then and now all the same. Here's a taste of what I've been looking through as I remember.



I hope you enjoy it! Click here to read more!

Remember when?

Remember when I used to post here? I used to cook and travel and take pictures and do other stuff and write about it here. Back when life on Southport was really just about me balancing my personal life with my working life. Back when Alex and I were DINKs...

And now? My life is a million times more interesting and I've kept it to myself. Sorry about that. :) Little William is the center of our worlds, the focus of our free time, and when he is asleep, we're cleaning up after him, editing pictures of him and planning out his future. Because we are parents now, and that's what we do!

Fortunately for me, things are a bit slow at work this week, so I've decided to catch up what few readers I might have on our activities and Will's growth and development into the best (!) little (!) boy (!) in the world (!). (We're so lucky to have been chosen to raise this one. Honestly.)

So where was I? Ah yes, it was November, Will was almost 5 months old, and he was just working on sitting up. Now he babbles, he crawls, he claps, he pulls up, he cruises (I haven't seen this one yet, but we hear he did this at daycare the other day), and generally speaking he makes us smile and count our lucky stars non-stop. It's the smiling and counting that has really gotten in the way of my blogging.

So perhaps some catch-up is in order. Let's start with looking at how big he's getting!








Next time, I'll start working through a month by month recap. It's probably more for my own sake (I don't want to forget this stuff!!) than for your enjoyment. I apologize in advance. :) Click here to read more!

Nablopomo = FAIL

It started Friday night. We went out (!) for a friend's birthday! And we had a great time. (Nanna Maggie was kind enough to babysit.)

We got home at 11pm and by the time we got organized to go to bed, it was midnight (!).

I woke up the next morning and thought to myself, oh, shoot, I didn't blog last night. Maybe I could post something quick this morning and back date it to yesterday...

But then an adorable little man who is working on sitting hopped on my bed and took precedence over my schemes.

Almost there........................................................................and he's got it!!

And I think that was the right answer. Hope everyone had a great weekend! Click here to read more!