Baby Baby Lemon

Wordless Wednesday: A bit of yellow

Amy — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 23:02:03 +0000

I live in Southern California; this means I can grow many traditional bulb plants (daffodils, tulips, and the like), but they bloom super early. Every year, without fail, I get the first bloom of the year with in a few days of my Mom’s birthday (Feb. 5th). These two popped up on the 6th and made me smile. Happy Birthday Mom! Miss you!

Do you have a wordless wednesday post? Link up below.

Baby Baby Lemon! I would appreciate your comments and feedback on the entry you just read, Wordless Wednesday: A bit of yellow.

P366: Jan 29th-Feb 4th

Amy — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 21:00:14 +0000

::insert witty commentary about our week here::

Short version: It was long, I’m exhausted. Highlight was a road trip to Ojai to the best toy store ever.

Sunday

Helping me make heart shaped croutons.

Monday

Backyard explorer.

Tuesday

And I quote, “giddy-up, bouncy fish!”

Wednesday

He was very excited about his “toy story magazine”

Thursday

Coolest toy store ever! And Spencer was super well behaved. (in love with the floor, too)

Friday

Slide.

Saturday

He’s so pleased he can finally reach the tree.

That’s our week! Linking up with Amy!

Baby Baby Lemon! I would appreciate your comments and feedback on the entry you just read, P366: Jan 29th-Feb 4th.

Mama Duck Plays All Day

Amy — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 08:50:55 +0000

Spencer and I were having a lovely little bath time. Lovely if you ignore the fact that I practically had to hoist myself of my seat every time he needed adjustment or a toy fetched. He has a family of rubber ducks: mama, daddy and two smaller ducks (my charmingly self-centered boy calls both Spencer). He was playing driving, as he is wont to do in the bath and the following transpired:

Spencer: Daddy duck is driving to work. He works hard.
Me: What’s mama duck doing?
Spencer: Driving to Target
Me {laughing}: Is that all mama duck does? Goes to Target?
Spencer: No. {serious voice} She drives to Target, buys apple-peach, plays all day and then makes dinner.
Me: {speechless}
Spencer: Daddy duck comes homes and eats dinner and plays with Spencer ducks and has bath.
Me: Some mama ducks work.
Spencer: No. Mama ducks play all day.
Me: {sigh}

And then to complete my stay-at-home-mom cliche, after bedtime, I ate a giant bowl of ice cream, watched reality tv and thought about writing this post.

I am choosing to think that he is speaking to his experience (I do stay home, after all) and not his universal views on gender roles. We haven’t stressed a gender neutral upbringing, but we make very few restrictions on his choices for play, toys or dress-up. His preschool teachers are delighted that he plays with girls equally as much as boys and his dress-up fashion sense is favorably noted. Apparently he has a tendancy to put on some bracelets or a necklace with his firefighter outfit. And really, what better time for an arm party than when toddlers are fighting fires?

I was just taken aback. Ten, hell even five, years ago, I never would have imagined my future as a stay-at-home. Most days I love it and I feel that by Spencer being home most days and being in school two morning a week, he is really getting great exposure to both worlds. Part of me feels like it was a throwaway comment by a toddler and part of me thinks that I have failed completely in parenting.

At least he likes toca hair salon and robot lab equally on the ipad. That should count for something. Right? RIGHT?

Baby Baby Lemon! I would appreciate your comments and feedback on the entry you just read, Mama Duck Plays All Day.

Sweetheart Salad with Strawberry Basil Vinagrette

Amy — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 08:01:06 +0000

I’m so pleased to be a part of the Southern California Lady Bloggers Romantic Progressive Dinner. This collection of recipes hosted on different blogs is designed to inspire a little romance in everyone for this Valentine’s Day. Welcome! Please enjoy the salad course.

Sweetheart Salad is a simple little salad with which I decided to take sweethearts a little literally. The dressing is a slightly sweet blend of strawberries and vinegar (with no oil or added sugar) and just a hint of basil. Add some fresh blueberries, pecans and goat cheese and then top it all off with some simple, yet adorable, heart shaped croutons.

Pin It

Sweetheart Salad
Serves 2 (or more, just increase the salad toppings and greens as needed)
1 batch strawberry basil vinaigrette (well, probably a half batch for if making it for two) recipe below
1/4 cup blueberries
about 12 candied pecans
2 tablespoons goat cheese, crumbled
2 cups romaine lettuce or mixed greens (spinach would be great, too!)
half recipe heart shaped croutons recipe below

For this salad, I like to toss the greens with the blueberries and pecans and then plate the base salad mixture and then add the goat cheese and croutons on top after it is plated.
Please keep in mind that the salad as photographed is very lightly dressed because it photographed better. Your leaves will be distinctly more red.

Strawberry Basil Vinaigrette
1 cup chopped strawberries (fresh or unsweetened frozen)
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
3 tablespoons loosely torn fresh basil
dash salt
water

In measuring cup or small bowl, combine strawberries and vinegar.
Using an immersion blender, puree until smooth. (Or skip the measuring cup in step one and do it all in a blender)
Add the basil leaves one tablespoon at a time, pureeing until smooth.
Add salt and puree. If dressing is to thick, add water one teaspoon at a time until desired consistency is reached.
Keep chilled until ready for use.

Heart Shaped Croutons
Serves 4 (on a salad)
4 slices sandwich bread (or french or whatever you have laying around)
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
Heart shaped cookie cutters, pastry brush, cookie sheet

Using cookie cutters, cut heart shapes out of bread and place on cookie sheet
Let sit for an hour, then preheat oven to 350 degrees
In a small bowl or measuring cup, mix oil, salt and pepper
Using a pastry brush or a spoon, brush heart shapes with oil mixture. Flip and brush other side.
Place in oven and cook for 8 minutes. Turn shapes over and continue baking for an additional 8 minutes until shapes are golden brown
Let cool on cookie sheet and enjoy!
Croutons are best enjoyed on the same day, but will keep for a few day in an airtight container at room temperature.

Now head over to The Gonzo Gourmet for Steakhouse Steaks for Two to continue on to the main course portion of the Southern California Lady Bloggers Romantic Progressive Dinner.

Baby Baby Lemon! I would appreciate your comments and feedback on the entry you just read, Sweetheart Salad with Strawberry Basil Vinagrette.

Wordless Wednesday: 2.5

Amy — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 23:17:03 +0000

Spencer had his half birthday last week and while we don’t do much, we do try to at least acknowledge it. My original plan was to make some cupcakes, but I lost all motivation, but I’m glad I did. We picked up one of those big slices of cake when we got some takeout for dinner and I think it was the first time Spencer had chocolate cake. The results were hilarious. By the time he finished eating (and we gave him maybe a quarter of a slice), he was singing songs comprised mostly of jibberish.

He's got the 2 down, working on adding the point five

Do you have a wordless wednesday post? Link up below!

Baby Baby Lemon! I would appreciate your comments and feedback on the entry you just read, Wordless Wednesday: 2.5.

Heart Shaped Croutons

Amy — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 11:30:43 +0000

Heart shaped croutons are a super easy and fun way to make a salad festive for Valentine’s Day. It is such a simple way to add an extra little touch. Nothing says romance like toasted bread. Fact.

And, to be quite honest, any shape would do. I plan on making bunnies for Easter and you could even make footballs for the super bowl. All game days need a salad. It balances out the good stuff. I went with a simple salt and pepper combination with these, but feel free to spice them up with a little garlic powder, dried basil or oregano or red pepper flakes.

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Heart Shaped Croutons
Serves 4(on a salad)
4 slices sandwich bread (or french or whatever you have laying around)
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper. fresh ground
Heart shaped cookie cutters, pastry brush, cookie sheet

Using cookie cutters, cut heart shapes out of bread and place on cookie sheet
Let sit for an hour, then preheat oven to 350 degrees
In a small bowl or measuring cup, mix oil, salt and pepper
Using a pastry brush or a spoon, brush heart shapes with oil mixture. Flip and brush other side.
Place in oven and cook for 8 minutes. Turn shapes over and continue baking for an additional 8 minutes until shapes are golden brown
Let cool on cookie sheet and enjoy!
Croutons are best enjoyed on the same day, but will keep for a few day in an airtight container at room temperature.

I had a little helper today. This is a great cooking project to do with kids. Spencer is only 2.5 and could cut the bread, remove the shapes, and brush them with oil. I did a little evening out when he was done, but for the most part he was able to do it. (It does depend a little bit on your desire for neatness and precision. Some of the hearts ended up a little rustic and he ended up a little… oily.) Pin It

Baby Baby Lemon! I would appreciate your comments and feedback on the entry you just read, Heart Shaped Croutons.

P366: Week in Photos Jan 22nd-Jan 28th

Amy — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 06:08:56 +0000

Super fun week! Mostly. Except for Spencer’s cold still dragging on, but he went to school both days and then my sister came for a quick visit and Spencer had his half birthday! Fun times were had by all.

Sunday January 22nd

Sick toddler needed Toy Story and cuddles.

Monday January 23rd

Lounge Day

Tuesday January 24th

Vacuums!

Wednesday January 25th

1st nap in 2 weeks. Kiddo just passed out.

Thursday January 26th

Playing in the sunshine with chips, new shirt and Aunt Laurie. Life is good.

Friday January 27th (Half Birthday!)

Poor thing was worn out.

Saturday January 28th

Playing outside with Dad. I was asked to leave.

That’s our week! Crazy cake pictures from his point five cake to come on Wednesday. Linking up with Amy for week in photos.

Baby Baby Lemon! I would appreciate your comments and feedback on the entry you just read, P366: Week in Photos Jan 22nd-Jan 28th.

Drives Me Crazy

Amy — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 11:21:28 +0000

I’m a bad driver, probably a horrible one. I don’t enjoy it and it mostly just serves as a way to get me to the places I need to go. I avoid deviating from the route I planned in my head, unassisted left turns and driving on the freeway. I’m also a magnet for aggressive asshole drives. I once had a girl flip me off because I pulled over to let her pass. Classy.

I’m also a nervous driver, not aggressive (or even assertive) in the least. I’ve been told I drive like a grandma and absolutely hate driving with other adults in the car. I avoid it at all costs. My big issue with driving on the freeway is that I feel like all the cars are going to hit me. That and I hate passing. And merging. I’m a mess.

In an unfortunate turn of events, this is all exacerbated when I am pregnant. I noticed it last time with Spencer and except for one local highway, pretty much quit driving on the freeway for nearly a year. I’m not sure if it because of the increased hormone levels because I am carrying twins, but it is much worse this time. I can barely even ride on the freeway. My gasps and flinches and (literally) hiding behind my hands drove my husband insane during the drive to Knott’s Berry Farm. I had to stay focused on my phone to get through it at all.

Even my neighborhood doesn’t feel safe. There are three main roads that run through our neighborhood: two of them only have oncoming traffic from one side and the one down the middle is two sided. I can barely make it down the road that middle road with out having a heart attack. The stop signs are all on the side streets, but people have a tendency to roll them and not by a little but front wheels completely over the limit line is a normal stop. I know this. I know they are going to stop. Yet. Every time some one approaches, I flinch, my breathing stops and I can see, hear and feel the car crashing in to the side of my car. The sensation ends as soon as I get away from the other car.

It seems like a car almost hits me every time I drive. I’m not sure anymore how often it is real and how much it is in my head. I’m not entirely sure I can tell the difference. My accuracy rate when my husband is driving is about 75% for the car actually being too close for comfort. It doesn’t help that I have had a series of wacky things happen when driving recently that I know weren’t just my imagination. Cars not yeilding, turning in to my lane when going through a double-laned left arrow intersection, just the usual Southern California suburban driving adventure.

But, the panic attacks and the OMG THAT CAR IS GOING TO HIT ME AND WE’RE ALL GOING TO DIE every time a car passes a smidgen too close is much, much worse. I tried googgling, but mostly got results about pregnant women dying in car crashes, which wasn’t really what I needed. So, for now, I guess I’ll just spend the next 20 weeks only driving on city streets, on familiar routes during the daytime. Should be a piece of cake.

If only all the roads looked like this one.

Baby Baby Lemon! I would appreciate your comments and feedback on the entry you just read, Drives Me Crazy.

Wordless Wednesday: Does there always have to be an evil twin?

Amy — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 22:40:04 +0000

This is a very pressing question. Although, my sister and I were talking this afternoon and we decided that the good/evil twin thing only comes in to play when the twins are identical. And mine are not. But, I do have one other concern:

Perfectly regular if kind of mysterious and blob like Twin A.

Twin B is a STORMTROOPER.

So. There’s that.

Do you have a wordless wednesday post? I’d love to see! Link up below.

Baby Baby Lemon! I would appreciate your comments and feedback on the entry you just read, Wordless Wednesday: Does there always have to be an evil twin?.

All I Can Think About is TWINS!?!

Amy — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 17:30:30 +0000

I’ve had plenty of time to adjust to the idea of twins, but crazy things pop in my head all the time. I am thinking about things much more obsessively than I did when I thought this was just a singleton pregnancy. I’m still getting used to the idea of having them in my belly instead of it. I thought I’d bullet point out my thoughts and then people can tell me I’m crazy or weird or be helpful and point me in the direction of more information on things. Pointing welcome.

Twin pregnancy is going to be way more expensive. I was still working when I had Spencer and my insurance was amazing. I paid for nothing. Well, I paid a single $200 copay for an amniocentesis. That’s it. Out of my entire hospital stay, pregnancy, delivery and his first few months where we went to the doctor near weekly. Now, my husband’s insurance is the primary and I am positive this pregnancy/delivery is going to end of costing significantly more. And then after delivery, we pay per person on the insurance. Yikes.
I want to breastfeed the twins as much as possible. I had significant low supply issues with Spencer that were exacerbated by some mistakes early on. I plan on pumping from the beginning and nursing all the time, but I will force myself to be pragmatic and not be heartbroken if I am unable to exclusively breastfeed. Some is much, much better than none.
Cloth diapers. I’m thinking this might be the way to go. Maybe prefolds/flats and covers. I waited with Spencer until he was big enough to fit in the 12 pound and up diapers, so I have no newborn sized things already. I should be able to fix most of my diapers (I hope) to make the pocket diapers I have usable. Except for the ones where the elastic failed in the legs.
I really want to try for a vaginal delivery of twins. I don’t think the rate is fantastic at my hospital, but it is worth pushing for. If one looks to be breech or poorly positioned, I may opt for a c-section. What I really, really don’t want is vaginal delivery of one and a c-section for the second. If I have to get a c-section, why do all the work for a vaginal delivery too? Seems like the worst of both worlds.
I am finally getting a belly. I wasn’t really showing much before 16 weeks, but, I swear, the minute we found out it was twins, kapow!, out came the belly. I’m still in my regular clothes for now, but that mostly just goes to show how ill-fitting my clothes are. I am a little worried about being able to find shirts that are long enough. I remember that being a problem in the last few weeks of my pregnancy last time. On the bright side, I’m not working this time. I might just do tunic/sundresses plus leggings and cardigans for Spring.
Our house layout is stressing me out. We live in a two-story house with two bedrooms upstairs (currently master + Spencer) with a bathroom of the hall between them. It’s worked out great because we just gated the top of the stairs and Spencer could come into our room when he work up. He was never locked or gated in his room. But, the rooms are small (house was built in the 50s) and I worry about putting Spencer in a room with two babies, There might be enough room in the master bedroom for a shared crib in the beginning, but after that… We could move Spencer downstairs, but then we’d need to gate him in his room. I don’t want him waking up and having the run of the house. 3 seems a little young for that. I kind of just want to move.

If you made it thorough all the words, you get a picture!

At least his favorite matching/memory game is getting him used to the concept of TWINS!?!

Baby Baby Lemon! I would appreciate your comments and feedback on the entry you just read, All I Can Think About is TWINS!?!.