One of Those Days

Today was one of those days.  I dutifully changed both Ethan and me out of our pajamas after we woke up at the crack of dawn, only to find ourselves in fresh, new sets of jammies.  Being woken up by a cramping belly instead of a cooing baby was a sign of a pajamas-only day.  It was the right decision.  All day long I have been suffering from these horrible aching cramps.  Luckily, I had my mini prince charming right next to me giving me hugs and kisses and love, making me laugh, and keeping me company.  He made me feel a whole lot better.  I guess the ibuprofen helped lift my spirits as well but the mini is to be thanked.  He did, however, demand that I drag myself out of bed and fill his already-protruding belly.  So I fixed him something.  Now that I think about it, I'm pretty sure 80% of what he ate today was the color orange.  Carrots, oatmeal, sweet potatoes, mandarin oranges, cheddar cheese, blueberries, peaches, goldfish, Chinese dumplings, tomato soup, and rice.  Wouldn't it be fun to do a rainbow week where you only eat one color from the rainbow each day in the week.  You would probably starve on blue day.  And purple.  I sincerely hope that E doesn't turn orange in his sleep tonight.  That would be tragic--too severe a punishment for a mother's cramp-induced negligence.

Man Pleasing Chicken. Not.

I found this recipe on pinterest.  Lots of my girlfriends pinned it with captions like "best chicken ever!" and "man pleasing chicken!  So easy to make!"  I've tried my fair share of pinterest recipes and most of them are indeed amazing so I had high hopes for this.  What a bitter disappointment.  How can I share the truth out but not sound rude?  Let's put it this way: there is room for improvement.  Lots of room to be exact.  Jake was more forgiving than I was, he gave it a three star.  I gave it a two.  It was just not very good.  If you're looking for a quick and delicious baked chicken recipe, try Parmesan crusted chicken instead.  The fresh rosemary in this reminds me of another chicken recipe I absolutely love with rosemary in it.  I'll make it and share it on this blog soon.

{ Maple and Mustard Chicken }

From Witty in the City

Chicken thighs, about one and a half pounds

1/2 cup Dijon mustard

1/4 cup maple syrup

1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar

Salt and pepper, to taste

Fresh rosemary

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.  Place chicken in a shallow baking dish.  Salt and pepper chicken.  Mix together mustard, maple syrup, and rice wine vinegar.  Pour over chicken.  Bake for 40 minutes.  Baste chicken with sauce half way through baking.  Sprinkle rosemary on top before serving.

Two Books and a Movie

Guess who read two books in four days after not reading a single non-parenting book for a whole ten months?  Me.  It's like I've been denied the happiness of reading and now I'm just soaking it all in while making up for lost time.  I really enjoyed both of these books and would highly recommend them.  Before you pick them up, know that they are both on the sad side.  Small As an Elephant really made me think about my relationship with Ethan and about the kind of mother I want to be.  Jefferson's Sons was very interesting.  This book motivated me to do some extra research on Thomas Jefferson, who I admittedly didn't know very much about other than that he was a founding father and the third president of the United States.  It also made me think hard about slavery.  I bawled hard at the end of this book.

Speaking of crying, this is a movie that will make you cry...

I know this movie has been out for a while, but the truth is that I haven't been to the movie theater since before Ethan was born (the last movie I saw in theater was Captain America!) so I'm a little behind.  Nevertheless, this is an excellent movie.  It breaks my heart to think of all the children who lost their parent(s) in 9/11.

I think of my own death someday in the future and of Ethan all alone in the world and it makes me panic.  I don't like thinking about it too much but I do think about it sometimes.  It could happen, you know, me leaving this world before Ethan is grown.  Maybe that's why I am always thinking of what kind of legacy I am leaving for him.  I have never been a very faithful traditional journal keeper.  I have a few of them stacked somewhere with only the first few pages filled because...  For starters, they don't spellcheck.  I would hate for my posterity to think that I'm no good at spelling (even though that's the truth!), and blogging is much more fun.  Whether I'm going to live till tomorrow or until I'm eighty years old, I would like E to have some of my words with him, telling him that I love him after I'm gone.  I love him so much, right now, as I type, and right now, as you're reading this.  I also hope that when he looks at the pictures I take of him that he'll be able to see himself through my eyes and realize just how special and important he is to me.  Life is fragile.  Love the people around you, be kind, breathe the air, and live life.

A Peculiar Email

On Saturday morning, I got a very strange email.  It was very strange indeed.  An email from the year '69.  See for yourself...

The most peculiar thing of all is that I couldn't open it, and I couldn't delete it either.  When an out of ordinary thing happens like this, I tend to let my mind go wild.  Jake said that it was probably just a junk mail gone bananas but that's just so uncreative.  I suspect that it is an email from my although-unimaginative-but-genius husband who, in the future, has invented a time machine and traveled back to 1969 to send me this email.  Heck it could even be from 1869 for all I know!  Actually, now that I think about it it's more likely to be from 2069.  Perhaps he didn't invent a time machine but an email time machine where you could send emails to the past!  Now wouldn't that be groovy.

Anyhow, our weekend was pretty quiet other than the email from the past (or future).  It rained when we were out on our Costco run, Ethan went wild.  He thought the umbrella was the coolest thing of all. How would you feel if we moved to Seattle?  I've always had a thing for Seattle and I blame it on Sleepless in Seattle, of course.

And we went to church on Sunday.  Here is a picture of our strikingly good-looking child.  He was quite sought-after at nursery today among the ladies.  One of the girls gave Ethan about a dozen looooong hugs and half a dozen kisses while we were in there.

Yes I take lots of carseat pictures.  There are no better opportunities for pictures than when a child is strapped still.

Thank You Muffin Tins

What do you do when you're trying to cook dinner and your baby is crawling on the kitchen floor, opening and closing your kitchen cabinets, strewing tupperware and cutting boards all over the floor, and pulling on your pants so hard that they're threatening to come off?  You can give up and cry and then order take-out.  But Pinterest suggests otherwise.  What you should do is to nicely set him in his highchair, explain to him that you're working in the kitchen, pull out a muffin tin, and drop some goldfish and cheese in the cups.  It's amazing how long this can keep him entertained, and it helps him to brush up on his fine motor skills as well.  Thank you muffin tins.

once upon a time, there was a little boy...

...he was very handsome with hair just like his daddy's: it seems to have a mind of its own, always so full of life and character, going every which way it desires, and makes the most awesome bedhead. These photos were taken by the little boy's mommy whose life was filled with light and joy ever since they put him into her arms for the first time.

Here's to obstinate hair and chubby thighs.

Salmon with Honey Mustard Glaze

I have been making this recipe ever since Jake and I were married almost four years ago.  It was a recipe I got from my cooking class.  Per my father's request, I took one just-for-fun class (almost) every semester at college and it was one of the best decisions I ever made in those school years.  Sure I thought Price Theory was fun but it's different when you're holding a whisk in hand in a classroom :)

Without further ado, let me tell you about this recipe: we love it.  Make it.  You won't regret it.  The end.

{ Salmon with Honey Mustard Glaze }

From BYU Cooking Class

1 lb. salmon filet

1 tablespoon packed brown sugar

1 tablespoon margarine, melted

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1 tablespoon honey

1 tablespoon soy sauce

1 tablespoon prepared mustard

1 clove garlic, crushed

Mix all marinade ingredients in a small bowl.  Place salmon skin side down in a shallow baking dish.  Pour marinade over salmon.  Cover and refrigerate 30 minutes.

Set oven to broil.  Remove salmon from marinade.  Reserve marinade.  Place salmon in broiler pan.  Broil with top 4-6 inches from heat for 10-15 minutes, brushing with marinade every few minutes, or until salmon flakes easily with a fork.  Discard remaining marinade.