evening (almost) giggles

Claire is about to start laughing. I am so excited! Words cannot describe how much joy this little girl brings to my life. It is so fun to watch her personality emerge. So far she's mellow, sensitive, joyful, and perceptive. 

drunk

Claire, after a very large meal. 

Me: She looks like she's drunk. 

The Husband: She looks like she's drunk and ate a giant burrito. 

So glad this girl is finally nursing!

posing like claire

It's cuter when she does it, but I couldn't help myself. Note my attempt to look like I'm sucking on a pacifier - I am truly dedicated to my craft. 

numbers

Yesterday, Claire spat two pacifiers onto the floor within three minutes of each other. A new personal best. 

Fiona spooked herself and launched all fifteen pounds of her obese body at my face. I also caught her licking one of the aforementioned pacifiers before I could pick it up off the floor. 

If these two ever join forces, I'm screwed. 

back in the saddle

I'm back. I have been avoiding posting here. Mostly because having a little baby is a ton of work. But partly because I didn't want to write about my illness, Claire's birth, and her hospital stay.

So let's not talk about that stuff just yet. Or ever. We will see. 

Instead, let's celebrate this little girl going from this:

To this:

quick link: slate picks for best books 2013

Slate published their staff picks for the best books of 2013! If I were rich, I'd buy this one for my dad. These illustrations look breathtaking. I'm hoping to read this one while on maternity leave but before baby girl makes her appearance. Because I won't have anything else to do, right?!

PS. A friend bought me this book and it's amazing. She's hilariously inappropriate and I'm a little more conservative when it comes to sexual stuff, and we both laughed a lot while flipping through this. I have a photo of The Husband reading it, but he absolutely forbids me from posting it here, unfortunately.

artist: danielle tanner

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Danielle Tanner of the shop GirlAndParrot on Etsy has a ton of beautiful prints and original paintings. My personal favorite (above) is the first original piece she could not bring herself to sell (though she does offer prints of it in her shop). She also has a sweet little blog you should check out, too. 

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Also, she does indeed have a pet parrot named Flojo. I'm usually not huge on birds, but this little guy is pretty cute. 

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vegan thanksgiving recipes part iii

I've been raving about my father-in-law's vegetarian stuffing recipe on this blog and in real life. Every year, I start talking about this stuffing on November 1. He resents the pressure to excel, but is always sweet enough to make extra stuffing for me. And you guys, it is the best.

After multiple emails and general annoying follow up from yours truly, this is the best I could pry out of him in terms of a recipe. I apologize for letting you down, but you really can't go wrong with this mix of ingredients. When we have vegan family members attending, he uses veggie broth and omits the egg. I've crossed out the non-vegan ingredients in this excuse for a recipe he gave me.

You know, Steph, I never do it the same.   And I just use amounts that seem right, depending upon the size of the end product…  I use that store-bought bread cubes…just plain bread cubes.   Lots of chopped yellow onion.   Much less (about ¼ as much) chopped celery.  A whole lot of sliced mushrooms.   I use crimini, but you can use any kind.   Usually chop up an apple or two.    Dried cranberries.  Sometimes I throw in pine nuts, or other nut meats that I may have around.  Very small pieces.   Lots of parsley.   Chopped.   An egg or two.   Then low sodium chicken broth, or if truly veggie, then use vegetable broth.    Salt and pepper to taste.  Fresh sage and thyme….lots of it, chopped well.   Then wash your hands, and stick them in it and mix it up real well.    I put it in low sided casserole dishes, maybe 2 to 4 inches deep, max.   Cover with aluminum foil and bake at about 350 to 375 for about one half hour.   If the pans are deep, maybe cook an extra ten minutes.   If you like it a bit crispy on top, then remove the foil for the last ten minutes.

Coming up next: the perfect apple sauce with no added sugar. I am making this, so I promise it will be an actual recipe next time.

nursery to-do list

I am 6.5 months pregnant and the nursery is not finished. I know this is normal, and that most people don't get the nursery done until weeks, if not days, before the baby decides to make his or her appearance. But I am Type A neurotic and a planner, so this is generally unacceptable to me. Don't worry; The Husband tells me I am crazy on a daily basis.

Our list:

• Donate clothes and other items that are taking up our limited storage space. Move items to our teensy garage.
• Get rid of extra dresser and set up large drawers in nursery closet for The Husband's clothes.
• Ikea trip for a solid wood unfinished crib, armchair (update: we got this armchair instead; way more comfortable AND cheaper), and small laptop table (update: we got this laptop table instead because it's more stable). Possibly purchase some new nightstands to make room for the cosleeper in our bedroom.
• Survive putting all these items together. Hope that the instructions do not drive The Husband and I to divorce.
• Paint wood crib with no-VOC white paint and seal with water-based acrylic gloss in order to prevent paint peeling and chipping, especially from baby teeth.
• Attach glider / rocker base to armchair to make it a glider chair, as shown here.
• Paint metal portions of laptop table gold, or use gold leaf. Accept that the laptop table you purchased instead will not be pretty, but it is also sturdy enough to not fall on your child's head.
• Give away current desk.
• Find a place to move the beloved lingerie dresser / craft cabinet (bedroom or living room?)
• Purchase blackout roller shades in white.
• Purchase cheapo white curtains. Realize you did not buy enough while at Ikea. Purchase more from their website. Remove hideous finials and paint curtain rods that came with the house.
• Purchase long dresser to double as changing table.
• Fill hardware holes, sand, and repaint. Drill new holes for knobs.
• Attach cute knobs that aren't baby death traps.
• Line drawers.
• Secure changing pad to top of dresser.
• Cut, fold, and glue colorful cardstock paper shapes to make mobile. Hang from painted embroidery hoops. Make one for over crib, one for over changing table.
• Paint walls and trim with no-VOC paint.
• Figure out storage and organization for diaper supplies (on top of dresser? Install wall shelves above baby's reach?).
• Get some sort of cute storage bin or basket for toys.
• Find and purchase inexpensive art and frames.
• Sew throw blanket / toddler bed-sized comforter.

fiona

In case it wasn't obvious, I kind of love my cat. A lot (maybe too much). We adopted her from the Ojai Valley Animal Shelter almost 3 years ago, when she was only a few months old. She grew from a shy, scrawny little creature into a big (14 pounds!) kitty who loves snuggling with me and attacking The Husband.

Fiona isn't very a good huntress. She has never successfully caught any sort of creature, not even a moth. Once, we watched her try to attack a tiny spider. She'd run at it, almost pounce, then wimp out and run away squealing in terror. This cycle repeated itself for almost an hour. The spider survived (easily).

We have to put vases of flowers (I always have flowers!) in places Fiona cannot reach, because she likes to chew the flower buds off of the stems.

Fiona loves to hang out in the bathroom sink while I'm putting on makeup. It's as annoying as you think it is.

Fiona also likes to jump in the bathtub as soon as you're done with your shower, or at least lurk between the shower curtains. It's as creepy as you think it is.

Fiona is good at fetch. If you throw a crumpled piece of paper, she will race after it and bring it back to you (or at least halfway back, depending on her mood).

Fiona doesn't have any sort of survival instincts or typical cat street smarts. When something scares her, she either falls on her back with her belly exposed (think fainting goat) or runs to her scratcher and hides her head underneath it. She thinks that if her head is hidden, she's safe, which puts her self-preservation instincts on par with a toddler's. 

Fiona is the most affectionate cat I have ever encountered. She loves to curl up on The Husband's lap or my shoulder. If she is sleeping next to me, she will reach out a paw to make sure she is touching me. Her happiest moments are when she can touch The Husband and I simultaneously while sleeping. She also likes to sleep on television remotes. It's weird.

Fiona likes to lay on a shelf between the kitchen and living room and swipe at anyone who walks by. Considering you have to squeeze by the shelf to get into the kitchen, she gets a lot of targets to hit. This makes The Husband really mad.

Whenever The Husband first gets out of bed in the morning, Fiona chases him and bites his feet while he tries to walk. He swears loudly at her throughout the process and I laugh. It's a good way (for me) to start the day.

Fiona is a complete nut and a bit more high-maintenance than your average cat, but we can't help but love her. She's been the queen of the house for the past three years, so we shall see what happens when baby girl arrives and knocks her off of her throne. Until then, we will keep enjoying her crazy ways.