Mae is 1/2

I can’t even believe this little baby of mine has been in my home this long. It has been a wild and most desirable ride. I love her in a way that never existed before.

We went to her doctor appointment on her half-birthday and can I just tell you that I love our doctor? We get her stats back: 30th percentile for weight and 87th for height. My doctor doesn’t ask anything other than to confirm that I am still breastfeeding her, then tells me that everything is more than ok and I am doing exactly what I should be doing. I love it. She also let me tell her my concerns with Mae’s shots interferring with her daily life the last two times we got them, so without any argument she says that we can go ahead and skip these ones and do only a few of them in three months from now. Wonderful! I am so used to my OBGYN and all that nonsense tug-of-war with the induction. This doctor is my favorite. She gives me great advice and really listens. She really cares about Mae.

I took Mae to the park for some photos. It is the Riverdale park. We often eat lunch there. The trees are so big and shady. It is a good picnic park.

 

She can do barrel rolls to the right (flipping from front to back to front until she is across the room) and hopefully will figure out the other direction, haha. She can sit up a little on her own. She has already begun eating solids. She babbles through the live-long day, and gets louder when I am talking to other people. She loves being outside, and enjoys so much walking around in the sling. She has taken a shine to Django. Charlie stays clear, but that is because he is an old man butt head.

I look forward to the next stage; this first one was amazing.

Weekly Wednesday Photo

26 Weeks

Adam’s Ogden Marathon 2012

Tags

beard, finisher, ogden marathon

My dear husband ran the full 26.2 miles of the Ogden marathon this last Saturday and I couldn’t be prouder. After he accidentally ran a half marathon in Montana some ten months ago, he had planned and trained for this. He started growing his manly beard about six months ago, stating that he wasn’t going to shave until he ran the marathon, and he is and always has been a man of his word. My dad, who has a prosthetic leg and runs a lot of marathons (runningonmylastleg.com) ran with him. Adam was really nervous, but he was as prepared as you can be, especially for someone who has never been athletic before.

He blew me a kiss

I met up with him at the Dinosaur Park (23 miles in) just out of the canyon, then (fed Mae in the car) booked it to downtown to make it just in time to see him cross the finish line. It was so crazy and hectic. There were so many people and so many things going on. They came in at 5:06, which is my dad’s best time. It was a great time! Everyone went on and on about how beautiful it was, too. Adam was in pain, but not nearly as bad as I saw other runners. His diet and training were spot on.

This is how Mae passed the time waiting for her dad to come out of the finisher’s area.

Afterward we went to Jeremiah’s for a big turkey sandwich and a super big sprite, then home for an ice bath. He said it was like an giant icepack. A long time ago he asked that I set him up with a massage after the race, but much to my frustration I couldn’t get a hold of anyone for the last few weeks for a massage. However, I think I made up for it. Since he was planning on cutting the beard, and it was a rite of growth beard, I set him up with a hot shave from a barber. It was like the ultimate man-pampering (manpering). Adam’s beard was so stout that he had dulled for the poor barber’s straight blade. Also, I was trying to film it, and it made the barber so nervous he cut Adam’s lip, so I stopped and took the occasional photo, then tipped the guy extra. I felt really bad.

Before:

After:

I am going to seriosuly miss that thing, but Adam’s hair is so insane it has already begun growing again like criz-azy. We should expect another beard soon, I am told.

 

Congratulations, baby! You are my hero!

 

Salmon & Couscous

Can I just tell you this was one of my favorite meals I have ever made? It was so light, quick as all-hell, and delicious to the taste, texture, and smell. It took around ten minutes from start to table. The couscous was pretty well cooked in three minutes. The salmon needed about five minutes per side. I wish I took a picture for you! Here is the recipe I used, Salmon & Couscous. I added some fresh flat-leaf parsley, omitted the oil from the vinaigrette (on accident, but it was a good move), and made two batches of the vinaigrette, one to fluff with the couscous the other to poor on the salmon when it was cooked. Also, I couldn’t get a hold of sumac, so I used a bit of paprika. Oh goodness it was good.

Mae had dinner with the family for this meal. Here is the list of foods she has tried so far:

1. Apple – gummed, loved
2. Pork – gummed and tried to swallow, loved
3. Banana – mashed, disliked
4. Waffle – gummed and swallowed, loved
5. Chicken & Spinach sausage – gummed, disliked at first then liked
6. Mashed potatoes – licked, mushed, and liked then disliked then likes
7. Kale – it was crumbly, but she disliked at first when it got in her mouth, then liked.
8. Fresh pizza crust – gummed and swallowed, loved
9. Mango – gummed, liked
10. Salmon – tasted, disliked
11. Couscous – swallowed, disliked then liked

Mostly, she always gives this look when she tastes something new (this is her first taste of salmon or fish):

Then she keeps trying to it over and over again, no matter the first reaction. It is mostly from her desire to grab things and put it in her mouth stage that she is in – which is why this is the perfect time to start her fooducation! I am going to keep trying foods, cooking them in different ways, presenting them in different ways, until she gains an appreciation and maybe even a love for it. For example, Adam always hated coconut (still does), but I made a coconut cake and coconut shakes (all from real coconuts I shucked myself) and he really liked it. The coconut shreds are disgusting, but done right, the shreds can be used to make amazing coconut milk, and the coconut water is amazing in specific causes. I was proud of myself for that one.

We tried the spoon for the first time this dinner. I put a little bit of couscous on the spoon then put it in her mouth. She made that same look above, but because the little grains were so small, they were in her mouth. We had her water there, so we handed it to her, and she sucked a little down. It is all so confusing for her, but we keep reassuring her that this is the way dinner is, and she is doing well. She then took over the spoon and would take it out and put it back in, every once in a while I would put a small amount of couscous on it. She would also put the couscous in her fingers then suck her fingers. She doesn’t quite understand she is eating, so she gets confused like I said. However, she gets ornery sometimes at night, and dinner always calms her down. It might just be because it is new and requires concentration, but I wonder if she is wanting it and needing it.

I love my little baby Mae. She is so smart. I know most parents say that, but she really is a smart baby. I talk to her often, and I know she understands me at times. She makes these amazing babbling noises that are very much in a conversation cadence, so when she pauses I speak to, and we have these conversations that make me laugh. I am attempting to not talk over her when she is talking, out of respect. I talk over people, so this is really helping me get over that, and it is helping Mae. I hope that in the future because I respect when she speaks, she will do the same for me.

I love raising her, I can’t wait to raise a whole mess of babies!

Weekly Wednesday Photo

25 Weeks

My First Mother’s Day

I love my husband. So, the story starts a few weeks ago. We were driving through South Weber (a windy road with rural farms nestled into a beautiful canyon) on our way to our niece’s 2nd birthday when we saw it. A baby donkey. I don’t know what came over me, but I just started screaming like a little girl. It’s head was so big and fluffy and it’s little donkey baby body was running and kicking, it was the sight to behold. Because of my overwhelming emotions, my brain went dead and I couldn’t remember the word “donkey” so apparently my brain really went bonkers and found the next best thing, I squealed, “Burro! It’s a baby burro! A burrito!” And don’t worry, I rolled my r’s with much vigor. I don’t know Spanish, so I don’t know what that was all about. Needless to say, I got laughed at, and the story was retold at the party.

Well, the day before Mother’s Day, Adam surprised me by packing up the babe and I, along with cut up apples and drove to this little farm. It was not my idea and I was really afraid. Apparently Adam told me that he has never seen me freak out that much over something and thought a great present would be to take me out there and feed the burrito some apple slices. He kept laughing at me when I would say things like, “What if the burrito is all grown up now?” Well, she was a bit older, but she still looked like the giant headed little baby donkey she is. The donkey family came up to fence, but the burrito wouldn’t take the apples. The daddy made a very loud “heehaw” at us and demanded apples. I was too scared so Adam fed him apples while I just held Mae and smiled from ear to ear. Best present ever. The burrito’s head was fluffy and large she looked like an alpaca. It may just go on record that I really like donkeys. I don’t know why, but there it is.

Adam really went out of his way to make Mother’s Day special. On that Saturday, him and my dad finished building the rest of my garden boxes. On Sunday, my mom came up for church and brunch afterwards, so that was really nice. We dropped off some gerber daisies at my mother-in-law’s and Adam’s grandma’s house. Then Adam did something I have only ever dreamed of- he made dinner. I can’t believe he actually did it. He doesn’t make dinner. The occasional waffle or pancake, and he packs up his own lunches with leftovers or sandwiches, but dinner? No, no, my friends, that just doesn’t happen. He made grilled steaks and grilled corn on the cob, a green salad, and mashed red potatoes. I was floored. He even cleaned up the dishes. (BTW, Mae got her first taste of mashed potatoes. Her first reaction was disgust, but it grew quickly into positive interest.)

It was a lovely first Mother’s Day. I love being a mom, and I love that Adam made it such a special day. I will leave you with a video that made me ball like a baby without a burrito: