A note to spice up my day

I'm back in my kitchen with big projects this weekend.  Today's mountain: beef stew.  I've been chopping, searing, scraping, and seasoning my little heart out.  My kitchen smells fabulous and I can't wait for my guys to wake up (Britton from his 24 hr shift and Nathan from his awesome 2 1/2 hour mid-day nap).

I'm already high on life today: enjoying spending time in my kitchen and thinking about how lucky I am to have an amazing family that I love to cook for.  Then, to make it even better, I stumbled upon a little note in a tiny envelope in the back of my spice house.  Scribed in my dad's handwriting, it looks like the kind of note that may have accompanied flowers...?  I have no idea when he wrote it (maybe before PT school?), but at any rate, it's message is timeless.  I must have thought it was worth revisiting and tucked it away.  Smiling to myself, I snapped a picture to preserve the memory, then returned it to its envelope and nestled it into the back of the spice house...so I can stumble upon it again in the future.

Greetings from the Easter Bunny!

Presenting...Nathan's April photo shoot with mommy.

serious pose

thinking of fond memories

planning for the future

Do I look sexy like this?

What did mommy put on my head?

Here comes Nathan Cotton-tail!

Oh yeah, chicks dig this face!

chillin' with my bunny friend

Mini Me

 Well, Nathan is 8 1/2 months old and weighs 20 lbs and 9 oz  - about the 59% percentile.  Unfortunately, I know exactly how much he weighs because we were at the pediatrician's office yesterday making sure Nathan's wet cough was just a yucky cough, which it seems to be.

Nathan is learning to feed himself puffs like a champ, continues to sleep like a dream (even when he's sick), and is getting a top tooth!  This will be tooth #3 and it seems to bother him more than his bottom teeth did.

Last weekend, Britton and I went to a party on Sunday afternoon and Nathan was dressed as Britton's mini me.  My guys were so cute I could hardly stand it!

The secret is in the sauce

Before little Nathan came along, I used to cook all the time. I cook because I enjoy the process and because I love to eat good food. For the past, well, 8 1/2 months, I've cooked very little and have mostly resorted to quick meals and frozen dinners. Today I was craving some good home cooked meals so I made my shopping list and trucked Nathan off to Publix.

I got the ingredients to make a pear, goat cheese and caramelized onion salad, a spicy summer squash soup with mint yogurt and a beef stew.

Now, exactly what makes food "good" is very subjective. To me, it has to have an interesting combination of flavors, colors and textures. And, no, sugar and salt are not flavors. To Britton, any food worth writing home about has to have a sauce. For this reason, tonight I spent about an hour and a half in the kitchen making Smoked Salmon alla vodka sauce. I made enough to serve about 12 so that I can separate it into three four-serving portions and freeze two of them.

I also planted fresh herbs today and have added basil and parsley to my meal, yum! My kitchen smells sensational but unfortunately Britton is working a 24 hr shift at the hospital so I will enjoy the first serving alone.

Home Depot - for manly men

Nathan and I went to Home Depot to pick out herbs to plant.

And the beat goes on

 The weeks go by and continue to be action packed.  Britton had last weekend off (hooray!) and we went to a pool party on Saturday and a car show on Sunday.  Nathan enjoyed both events but did not go for his first swim.  The pool was still too cold, burrrr!  He looked cute in his sunglasses though!

Nathan now has 2 large bottom teeth and is starting to scoot at a snail's pace.

My two boys taking a nap.

My body is pretty much back to "normal" except for the fact that illness seems to constantly be a part of my life.  I used to be one of the healthiest people I knew but now I get sick ALL THE TIME!
It's pretty frustrating when I'm sleeping well, eating well, exercising, taking vitamins, handwashing like a maniac... and still getting sick, poo!  This too shall pass...I hope!