Backtracking: Making Meaning Times 2, and a Snacking and Crawling William

A quick break from food and music to do some backtracking to some fun times in the past month:

William eating big boy food. :)

Wiliam starting to crawl!

There goes the big boy!

One afternoon before nap time, I decided to take the boys to a nearby park.  Since Alexander was having a really great week, we stopped by McDonald's to get an ice cream.  Unfortunately, on our way to the park, Alexander dropped his ice cream cone on the ground.  Thankfully, he didn't freak out, looked at me and said, "I know!  Mommy can share her ice cream with me!"  Quick thinking kid....quick thinking.

Alexander, enjoying the rest of my ice cream cone
after he had dropped his on the ground.  

Alexander was having a blast running around the playground, and poor William was sitting in his stroller watching Alexander have all of the fun.  So, I took William out of the stroller and plopped him inside the baby swing.  Here's his reaction:

He absolutely LOVED it!  You couldn't wipe
the smile off of his face.  He kept laughing so hard.

"Hi mom!  Look at me!  I'm a big boy!"

The little man in action.

Alexander, looking through the periscope.

He loved exploring what this new park had to offer.

He's finally learning how to pose.  Look at this handsome guy!

Both boys swinging together.  William loved watching
Alexander on the swing.

The next day, it was somewhat rainy and overcast.  Thus, I had to find something to do indoors and really didn't feel like going to the aquarium or a museum (I try to save those for the fall/winter, since that's ALL we'll be able to do when it's cold outside).  I remembered a place called "Making Meaning" that was nearby.  It's a pretty cool place (unfortunately a little on the pricey side) where you can decorate your own cake or pottery, make a candle, jewelry, or soap.  I thought we'd give this place a shot.  

I took Alexander around and showed him all of the possibilities of activities that he could do that morning.  Out of all of the activities, he chose to make a candle.  I was quite surprised since he LOVES cake, but he was so excited about making the candle, that I let him do it.

He chose all of the colors of wax cubes that he
wanted to place in the mold (also of his choosing).

Here's the big guy at work - placing the wax cubes
into the candle mold.

Once he finished filling the mold, he got to choose
the scent of the candle.  He chose "Birthday cake"
for the candle scent.  It smells delicious!

He also chose a little wax baseball bat to put on
top of his candle.  Which is funny because we've
never introduced him to baseball, but he was
insistent that the baseball bat be at the top of the candle.

Here's the employee pouring the scented wax into
the candle mold.

The candle had to cool off in a water bath for 20 minutes
Here's Alexander watching the candle settle.

Here's Alexander with his finished candle!  He
was SO proud of it and still, a month later,
carries it around the house with him wherever
he goes.  He loves it.  

That following weekend, it was still gross outside.  So, I decided to take Joseph and the boys back to Making Meaning so Joseph could see it and Alexander could make another project.  This time he chose to decorate a cake.  He got smarter because this time he got to EAT his project!

The employee is spraying Alexander's cake
green (per his request, of course.)

Alexander chose to decorate his cake with
fondant cut-out "A's" and blue sugar monsters.

Here's Joseph, helping Alexander to roll out the fondant.

The men at work.

During the summer, I try to do outdoors activities as much as possible (since I cooped up indoors all.the.time.).  One weekend, Joseph had an overnight call where he left at 7 p.m. and worked until 11 a.m. the next day.  Once he got home, he had to get some quality rest so that he could refreshed for the next day.  So, I decided to be bold and take the boys to a water park for the morning by myself.  We ventured to a fun water park called "Water Wizz" in Wareham, MA.  

It took a little over an hour to get there, but it was well worth it!  The boys had an absolute blast splashing around in the water.  Alexander LOVED that there was a pirate ship that he could climb on and go down the slides.  However, my favorite part of the day was taking both of the boys with me onto the lazy river.  We had been going for so long and the water was so calming that William fell asleep in my arms while Alexander and I floated along together in our own inner tubes.  It was wonderful and I'd totally go back next summer.

Alexander at the water park.  (The only picture
I could take since I had to get both boys in life vests
and carry them around by myself.)

Sorry for the back tracking, but these were some fun times that I thought I'd share with you.  Until next time...

Love and kisses,

Nikki

Lots of Food, 9 Month Old, Pulling Up and Cruising, and Lookout Farm

On the plate:  Tuna fish salad, honey lime pork tenderloin, and stuffed portobello mushroom caps with creamy basil lemon spread

Soundtrack to cook to:  Number 1's by Marvin Gaye. Feel good music for the soul.  Love it.

Now that William's older, it's been a lot of fun to see what foods he likes.  I started making some tuna fish salad for lunch the other day and found that I didn't have any celery.  I still wanted a crunch to my salad, so I decided to chop up a bunch of cucumber.  While I was chopping, I gave Alexander some cucumber sticks to snack on, and went ahead and gave William one, too.  He LOVED it!

William and Alexander, snacking on cucumbers

William was quite proud of himself.

The little guy, grinning and gumming the cucumber.

Here's what I threw together for lunch to make some tuna melts for lunch one day:

-2 cans of tuna in water

-4 small cucumbers, diced

-1 red pepper, diced

-3 green onions, sliced

-2 tbsp relish

-4 tbsp Greek yogurt

-1 tbsp sesame seeds

-Salt and pepper

*Normally, I would add 2, seeded jalapeno peppers (but they're too spicy for the kids) and 1/2 medium onion as well.

Finely dice the cucumbers - if you have extra time, allow these
to drain over some paper towel because they will add a lot of
water to the tuna fish salad.

Toss in the red peppers and green onions (I used green onions
because I ran out of yellow onions and had to improvise).

Mix in the tuna fish, relish, sesame seeds (if you like), salt and pepper.
Then dollop some of this in between two pieces of bread with a
slice of cheese in the middle and you've got a deliciously yummy
and crunchy tuna fish salad melt!
It's a quick and easy lunch to throw together and you'll always have
enough for leftovers the next day or for snacks on top of crackers later on. :)

My view while I was prepping the meal - they looked like they were up to no good.  :)

Here they come!!

Towards the end of William's 8th month, he started to pull himself up onto his feet and started cruising.

William was SO proud of himself for pulling himself up to the standing
position.  Here's Alexander, pretending to pull himself up
next to William as well.

Look at how excited and proud this little guy is of himself!

There he goes!  Pulling himself up onto his jumparoo.  You can't
put him in it anymore because he puts up a huge fuss.  However,
you can let him pull himself up to standing on it and he plays with the
toys that way.  What a ham!

Again....so proud of himself! :)

Another day, but he still has the same prideful look on his face. :)

I love that grin!

I found an awesome and promising recipe on pinterest and decided to give it a go.  I saw this beautiful picture for grilled honey lime chicken.  Since we had had chicken recently, I decided to try this marinade out with pork tenderloin.  It was very easy to throw together while the boys were napping.  I even had time to take a nap myself!  Boo yah!

In a medium mixing bowl, mix together the following ingredients:

• 1/4 cup fresh lime juice
• 2 tsp lime zest
• 1/4 cup honey
• 2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1 Tbsp soy sauce
• 1 Tbsp packed light-brown sugar
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
• 1/4 tsp onion powder
•  1 clove finely minced garlic

Then pour over 2 lbs of pork tenderloin and marinade in a Ziploc bag.

While the pork was marinating, we woke up from our naps and got the first harvest from our little garden!  We harvested 3 grape tomatoes (2 of which I handed to Alexander and asked him to bring them in the house so we could wash them).  I held the last one in my hand, walked into the house, stepped up to the sink and asked Alexander to hand me the other two tomatoes.  Alexander looked at me with a blank look.  I then asked him, "Alex, where are the other tomatoes?"  To which he replied, "I ate them, mommy!  They were goooooood!"  

HA!  That little stinker.  Oh well, at least he liked them.  :)  Joseph and I halved the one that we had left, and yeah, they were actually pretty tasty!  Hooray for our first little harvest!

Alexander, posing with our lone tomato that he hadn't eaten.
I had to quickly take the picture and then snatch it back from
him so that Joseph and I could try this one.  Little stinker :)

I let the pork marinate for 7 hours and then we put it on a rack under the broiler.  We broiled it on high for about 15 minutes per side (or until the pork was cooked through).  

This recipe was OK.  I think if the recipe had extra soy sauce, lime juice, and possibly some ground ginger, that it would be better.  Plus, I would totally marinate it overnight to make the marinade really seep in.  It definitely has promise, but could definitely use a little something else.

Here's the honey lime pork tenderloin that I served alongside
some veggies (we needed to go grocery shopping the next day),
and mashed potatoes that I made with some of the leftover buttermilk
from the fried green tomatoes.  They were substantially better,
had more flavor, and were more smooth and creamy than when
I make them with sour cream and milk.  I'll totally be making my
mashed potatoes with buttermilk from now on.

Alexander liked the meal that evening!  :)

Happy 9 month birthday, William Billiam!!
Statistics:
Height:  29.75 inches
Head Circumference:  19.5 inches (off the charts!)
Weight:  22 lbs 12 oz
Abilities:  He upgraded to size 4 diapers, just began eating level 3
solids (he's not a fan of the more chunky food), has 4 teeth on the bottom
with one tooth peeking from the top right, says "Mama," loves to eat
cheddar puffs, fruity puffs, and yogurt drops, has perfected his pincer grasp,
feeds himself puffs, pulls himself up to standing position, crawls, and understands
the word, "No!"

*Fun(ny) fact:  As soon as I put William down in our bedroom, he immediately
crawls to our bathroom pulls himself up and flushes the toilet.  It's his favorite
thing to do.  He's a naughty little guy.

One more cute picture :)

It was inventory reduction night at our house.  We still had some pork leftover from the previous night, so all I had to do was throw together a veggie dish for the evening.  I went to the pantry, garden, and refrigerator to whip up the following DELICIOUS side dish:

Creamy Cannellini, Basil, and Lemon Spread:

-1 can cannellini beans

-1 cup fresh basil leaves

-Juice of 2 lemons

-1 clove garlic

-2 tbsp neufchatel cheese

-Salt and pepper

*Blend all of the ingredients in a blender until smooth.

I literally threw that recipe together in my head and it turned out to be absolutely heavenly!  Joseph was looking around for extras of the bean spread later on because he wanted to use it as a dip.  This spread would be excellent to serve along with baby carrots, red pepper sticks, or pita chips.  It takes absolutely NO time whatsoever to put together.    Delish!

I put the delicious bean spread onto portobello mushroom caps.

Then I sauteed the following:
1/2 yellow onion, diced
1/2 red pepper, diced
The stems that I chopped up from the portobello caps (YES!  You can use those!)
2 green onions, sliced
Salt and pepper
Garlic powder

I then put the sauteed vegetables on top of the mushrooms with the
bean spread.  Then, I grated a little bit of romano cheese to make
a nice crust on the top.
I put these babies in the oven at 400 degrees F for 20 minutes.

Voila!!  A creamy, juicy, and meaty side dish that will have you
going back for seconds.

I don't like to toot my own horn, but, *TOOT!  TOOT!!*  This was delish!

If you couldn't tell, I LOVE to pick my own fruit.  It was an overcast day and I had both boys home with me, so we made a morning of it!  We traveled to Lookout Farms (one of our favorites) to pick peaches, red dandy apples, and divine apples.

William and Alexander on the train 

Grapevines line the train's pathway to the orchards

The beautiful orchards

Alexander picked his own divine apple and took a big bite!

He much rather prefers to pick big apples than small blueberries.
(I suppose because you don't have to pick so many in order to
fill up the bag.)

While we were picking, I looked back at William to find that
he was cracking up!  What a funny little guy.

Alexander loves fresh fruit.

There he goes again!  I wish I knew what was so funny.

Red dandy apples

Since William saw the both of us chomping away on apples,
I decided to give him one to try as well.  He loved it!!  He only
has four bottom teeth at the moment (with one peeking out from
the top), so he was only able to make a few dents in the apple.

He was still very pleased with himself, though.

Both boys, chomping (or gumming) away!

Alexander on the caterpillar train in the play area.
He has to hold both steering wheels while the train
is running.  He takes his job very seriously.

Alexander posing in the peach orchards.

We've really enjoyed this past month because Joseph has had a more lenient work schedule.  It's been lovely because he's been able to leave for work around 6:30 a.m. and get home around 5-6 p.m!  Unfortunately, this upcoming month is going to be a little more demanding and we won't be seeing him as often.  Thus, the boys and I will be doing lots of exploring and play dates to get us out of the house for when Joseph needs his rest.  Until next time...

Love and kisses,

Nikki