Little Mister Grows Up

Today, Little Mister climbed inside the dishwasher. Fortunately, I hadn't loaded any knives yet.

Yesterday, I was moving the dining room furniture around in order to mop the floor (which is something we tell Little Mister not to do--move the furniture, that is). From his perch in the pack-n-play, he waved his little hand in my direction and declared, "No no!!"

He now says "Bye-bye!"; "Hi!"; "Mama;" "Dada;" "Nana;" "Papa;" "Uh-oh!"; "No no!"; "ball;" "book;" "dan doo" (thank you); "kna kna" (knock knock); "dight" (light); "hot;" and "butt" (much to Grandma's horror). There might be others, but those are the ones I can think of.

Last week, he had his first hair cut.

Tomorrow, he'll turn one year old. Where has this past year gone?

He's growing up right before my eyes...faster than would even seem possible.

DIY Yarn-Wrapped Wreath

Now that Little Mister is (gasp) actually taking a nap each day (ranging from 30 minutes to 2+ hours), I'm trying to redeem my "me time" by climbing back on the crafting wagon.

Before baby, I was very into paper-crafts (card-making, scrap-booking, and the like) and sewing/quilting. For my first big post-baby project, I decided to branch out and try one of those amazing yarn-wrapped wreaths that have popped up all over Pinterest. With fall right around the corner, it was the perfect craft for me to tackle--I got to use fun fall colors, and once I

finished, I had something fun and uniquely personal to hang on my front door.

Sorry folks; no tutorial here. There are too many wonderful tutorials already out there for me

to try to replicate what I did. For the one I relied on most, click here. I used less than one "super size" skein of yarn, and a handful of felt in various colors. A little hot glue and a whole lot of patience later, I'm pretty happy with the result. It'll look even better once it cools off enough to repaint my front door "Deep Sea Dive" by Sherwin Williams.

Pinterest, it's what's for dinner!

Ok, so my obsession with Pinterest has lead to a wide variety of recipe sampling...and every dish has been met with much approval from Mr. M.

Below are two of the recipes we WILL be having again. And again. ...And again. (And I can't take credit for the photos. They are shamelessly copied from the original posters.)

Baked Zucchini Fries

Serves 2.

In a small bowl, beat one egg and season with salt and pepper. In a ziplock bag, place 1/3-1/2 cup breadcrumbs and garlic powder (I used garlic & herb breadcrumbs and omitted the garlic powder); shake well. Spray a cookie sheet with cooking spray and set aside.

Cut two medium zucchinis into sticks. Dip the zucchini sticks into the egg and then place into the bread crumb mixture, a few at a time and shake to coat. Place the breaded zucchini in a single layer and spray more cooking spray on top. Bake at 400 degrees for 20 – 25 minutes, or until golden brown. Serve with some marinara sauce for dipping.

I served these with Italian chicken sliders. I bought the Italian-marinated chicken from HEB, grilled it in a skillet, and then sliced it up and served it on whole-wheat slider buns. Would be good with fresh basil and tomato, but I didn't have basil on hand.

Garlic-Rubbed Grilled Cheese with Bacon & Tomatoes

(I modified the recipe by cutting the amounts of everything in half, and subbing cheeses for what I had on hand. For original cheeses, follow link above. Ok, read on.)

Cook 3 slices of thick-cut bacon in microwave, as directed on package.

Pour a couple handfuls (real exact, right?) of grated Italian cheese blend and grated cheddar cheese into a bowl; mix with 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes.

Slice 4 slices of thick Italian bread. Lay them out on your work surface. Choose 2 and divide half of the cheese between them. Add a slice and a half of bacon on each. Stack a couple slices of raw tomato on top of that, then add the rest of the cheese mixture. Lightly butter one side of the remaining two slices of bread, and put them on top of the sandwiches, butter side up (obviously).

Heat a skillet over medium heat. Place sandwiches butter side down in the pan and cook on the first side until the bread is golden brown and toasted. Meanwhile, butter the top slice of bread on each sandwich. Flip sandwiches and continue to cook on the other side. Remove from skillet and immediately rub both sides with the cut side of a peeled garlic clove, to give it a subtle garlic flavor. Serve immediately. :)

Makes 2 sandwiches.

I served these with sea salt and cracked black pepper potato chips and iced tea. Excellent.

Helmet Head: One Month Later

Here's a quick update on Little Mister's head situation.

His cranial vault (the difference between the rounded and the flat spots) was initially at 14 mm, which is a moderate difference. The powers that be predicted it would take between 3 and 5 months to correct it, so at his one week check-up, the helmet specialist was amazed to find that his cranial vault had already decreased from 14 to 11 mm.

We had our first 3 week checkup yesterday afternoon. (We're supposed to go in at 3 week intervals from now on.) The helmet specialist took the measurements three times to make sure that he wasn't being overly optimistic, and it turned out he wasn't. Little Mister's cranial vault decreased even more--from 11 to between 5 and 6 mm. We were blown away!

The specialist said that if he continues to progress as quickly as he has been, after his next 3 week checkup, he might get to turn in his helmet early!

Bottom line--Little Mister is responding exceedingly well to the molding helmet, and we are simply praying that he continues to respond as well over these next few weeks. With the crazy heat we've been having, getting rid of the helmet early would be a blessing in more ways than one! Plus, I've really started to miss "seeing" him without the helmet. That one hour each evening really shows me what I'm missing--he looks so much older, so much more mature without it. I feel like I'm missing him "growing up"--just a little bit--which is hard on this mama's heart.

A Shameless Plug

My sister-in-law, Rebecca, is amazing. She and her husband moved to Nashville a couple years ago so she could pursue her music career, and she's been doing just that. Her 5 song EP, "Just Getting Used to You" is out on iTunes, and if you haven't already downloaded it, go download it. Now.

Seriously, it's worth the $5. She is a creative and talented songwriter, and her voice is very unique. Her website describes her style as soulful acoustic pop, and that about sums it up.

If you like her stuff, please take a few minutes to write a review on iTunes. You might not know this, but recording studios check out that kind of feedback when considering signing an artist. Help her out, folks!

DIY Lamp Facelift

When Mr. M & I got married three years ago, Mr. M had already inherited an old lamp from his mother--a nice-sized table lamp, which had the misfortune of being brassy, tacky, and outdated, reveling in its pleated lampshade glory.

Despite its ugly duckling appearance, I couldn't bring myself to get rid of it. The base, under its brassy surface, had a charming shape, and to buy a comparable lamp to adorn my end table, I'd have to spend $$$.

Since I am a firm believer in decorating on the cheap, I decided to take my old brassy lamp and give it a facelift.

(Exhibit A: Original Lamp)

So, the DIY project total breaks down as follows:

Old brassy lamp: Free ($0.00)

Metallic spray paint (in oil-rubbed bronze): ~$6.00

New lampshade from Home Goods: $15.00

For a total of $21.00, I ended up with a fantastic new/old lamp to read by. :)

(Exhibit B: My New Beauty)

Sorry I don't have any step-by-step photos, but basically I took it out to my parents' house, Dad and I (mainly Dad) spray-painted it, it dried, and I plunked on the new shade. The whole project, drying time aside, took maybe 10 minutes.

Before we painted it, I just lightly sanded the surface, then thoroughly wiped it down to rid it of dust and dirt so the paint would adhere cleanly. We also used painter's tape to cover up the socket and the first few inches of cord, to keep the paint only on the brass.

Super easy; super cute.

Settling In

A week and a half after "moving day," I'm feeling settled. Furniture is arranged, pictures are hung on the wall, and the few lovelies* that I'm willing to risk sitting out around Little Mister are nestled on end tables and book shelves.

It's starting to feel like home.

And...I've discovered Pinterest. Addicting, glorious Pinterest. Oh Pinterest, I salute you, you sucker of time, you consumer of spare moments, you collector of wonderful, practical, and sometimes edible ideas. There are so many creative projects I want to attempt, so many delicious recipes I want to try out...and so few hours in the day when I have a sleeping child and enough energy to do anything other than collapse into a chair with a book.

Speaking of books, I'm in the middle of an awesome one--The Shadow of the Wind. A review will be forthcoming once I make my way through it. For now, though, I'll leave you with the opening paragraph, to whet your interest, while I take a break from settling into our new home and settle down in my rocking chair with my deliciously captivating book.

I still remember the day my father took me to the Cemetery of Forgotten Books for the first time. It was the early summer of 1945, and we walked through the streets of a Barcelona trapped beneath ashen skies as dawn poured over Rambla de Santa Monica in a wreath of liquid copper.

*Mrs. M Dictionary--Lovely: (n) a sit-around, i.e, a figurine, floral arrangement, or book end; plural: lovelies.

Stupid Hot.

Today is just a day in a string of days that is inconceivably, grossly, stay-inside-and-do-nothingly hot. Or as others have so eloquently put it, stupid hot.

My brain is sweating. The AC is blasting. Little Mister is in nothing but his helmet and a diaper.

It's on days like today that I can't wait for fall.

Helmet Hair.

Mr. M & I have a new word in our vocabulary, and Little Mister is sporting a new accessory.

The word is plagiocephaly. There's a big technical definition I could quote you, but in plain English, it basically means that Little Mister's head isn't symmetrical. Since birth, he's had a flat spot on the back of his head from his breech intrauterine positioning. (His head was wedged up under my ribs, and it didn't allow his head to fully round out.)

For months now, the doctor has been keeping a careful eye on it, and even though it's rounded out quite a bit from where it started, the progress just wasn't complete enough. Two weeks ago, we went in for a neurological consult, and the specialist agreed--Little Mister would need to wear a special cranial molding helmet.

The helmet doesn't "push" his head into shape using force. Rather, it applies static pressure to the areas of his head that are already filled out, which encourages growth toward to the areas that need to fill out--i.e., the flat spot.

Given that his plagiocephaly is only moderate, he should only have to wear the helmet for three to five months. This first week is (thankfully) the gradual "getting used to the helmet" week, where he only wears it an hour or two at a time, with the sessions getting incrementally longer each day. At the end of the week, he'll begin wearing it 23 hours a day. We're hoping he'll be out of it before his first birthday, but if not--no biggie. We're just taking it a day at a time.

Of course we're kind of biased, but we think he looks pretty cute in his new helmet--helmet hair and all.

Mennonite in a Little Black Dress

Brief note: In a previous life, before marriage and kids, I was an English major. It seemed a good idea at the time to major in something I loved rather than something that would provide, oh, stable and profitable employment opportunities.

My love of literature only grew during my years of study; I devoured books and savored the opportunity to write and to create. So now, in my spare and stolen moments, I read. And when I'm truly blessed, I take a few moments to jot down my thoughts.

So every once in a while, I'll probably feature a brief review of some of my latest reading here on our blog--just for old time's sake.

Mennonite in a Little Black Dress (A Memoir of Going Home), by Rhoda Janzen.

So much has already been written about this little gem that pretty much anything I would add would just be redundant. But I do want to quickly summarize the book and scribble down my reflection on the book as a whole.

As the title points out, this is a memoir written by a one-time Mennonite, after her marriage of 15 years has fallen apart and as she is recovering from a debilitating automobile accident. Having no one to help her at home, she spends her recovery with her parents back in the Mennonite community of her childhood.

The book (humorously and achingly in turns) guides the reader through her life from childhood to the present--her Mennonite roots, her failed marriage, her life as a secular academic--and it's written cathartically, as she struggles to heal, emotionally and physically.

Her wry and intensely clever writing creates the literary equivalent of a talented stand-up comedian, who keeps your sides aching for over 200 pages, and yet laughter turned to tears as I grieved with her and her heartache. In the last half of the book, she turns introspective, struggling to understand faith and virtue as they relate to Christianity and to the greater religious experience. Even in introspection, though, her writing maintains its lighthearted vibe. And while no one is safe from her humorous revelations, not even her own mother, she writes with a loving and respectful attitude, which I found honest and refreshing.

Although I disagree with some of her conclusions, specifically as they pertain to my view of truth and Christianity, I wholeheartedly believe her memoir is more than worth the several hours it takes to read. It's a beautiful, almost poetic, exploration of life, love, loss, and finding out all over again what really matters.

The oldsters were singing and smiling and shivering in the breeze that had picked up, heavy now with the scent of lavender. Harmony rose like a prayer in the cool of the late afternoon, and the music was gentle as a hand on the small of my back, nudging me forward--the sound of my heritage, my future.

It's called being resourceful.

When it approaches mid-July in Texas, it's hot--really hot. Blisteringly hot. Too hot to take a baby outside to play between the hours of 11 & 4 for more than a few minutes at a time. So what's a mommy with cabin-fever supposed to do with a very active eight month-old?

That's the problem I faced yesterdayafternoon. Going to a park was out of the question, and Little Mister is really too young to appreciate any of the air-conditioned museums in the area. We could have gone to the pool, but frankly, I didn't have the energy--yes, I admit--sometimes I'm lazy.

So I gathered up all the "free" pillows lying around the house--a lot of our pillows have been repurposed as baby-proofing-barriers (see exhibit A), so our stash was somewhat limited.

(Exhibit A)

Oh, and did I mention we're getting ready to move? That's why there are boxes everywhere and why my living room looks like a war zone.

So anyway, after the pillows were all gathered, I dumped them in the floor and created a pillow pile. The concept is simple: a pile of pillows is soft--soft enough to fall on, roll around on, and attack mommy on.

It's safe to say this simple, cheap, and resourceful afternoon activity was a hit.

Oh, and then there's always the trusty cardboard box, which has entertained toddlers since its creation.

It's called being resourceful. It's called being a mom.

Coffee Mug Genius

Our blog title was inspired by a quote on a coffee mug I received several years ago--"Live imperfectly with great delight." The other side says, "Life is tough. I recommend getting a manicure and a really cute helmet." While that might be good advice, it was the first phrase that stuck with me.

Life isn't perfect. Real life--marriage, parenthood, friendships--is messy. It's hard. It's saying "I'm sorry" and "I love you" and "It's your turn to change the poopy diaper." It's laughing when you want to scream and sticking it out when you want to leave. It's beautiful despite its imperfections.

The Family "M" has been through a lot of changes since its inauguration three years ago, and we will only continue to change and grow. Living life one day at a time helps keep things in perspective. There's joy in the journey.

Since I shut down my previous public blog (that I started as a college student), I'd been itching to start a new project to reflect my new stage of life. Today, I bit the bullet. Welcome to the family.