Raising the most beautiful girls in the world…
Archive for June, 2009
Happy Father's Day, to one man in particular.
Jun 21st
Several years ago (pre-children) I attended a meeting for women scientists and they had a panel of successful women who had made names for themselves in the scientific community. The forum was answering questions about how to succeed as a woman in science. How do you balance the rigors of lab science with kids and life in general? I remember clearly one woman said, “The number one most important career decision you can make… is who you marry. The smartest decision I ever made was to marry my husband.” Now, marrying Dave was a decision I made out of young and unadulterated love! But it turns out, it was also the smartest decision I ever made mainly because of the kind of partner he has been in raising our three girls.
These days, women get a lot of support and recognition of the difficulties that come with trying to balance motherhood and work. This doesn’t make the job of being a mother any easier, nor does it make the juggling act that comes with trying to work outside the home while being a good mother any easier. But, at least we women are getting some recognition for the decisions we are having to make and the roles we are taking on. I actually think the Dads are getting a little shafted in this department.
As women have taken on more outside the home, Dads have taken on more inside. It’s not enough anymore for them to come home spent from the day at the office and plop into the lazy-boy with beer in hand. They need to be ready to help with the car pool, the homework, the laundry, the cooking and cleaning, the dirty diapers and potty training, and on and on and on. Dave (and lots more of our friends who are fathers) regularly hops into the mix and tackles whatever job needs to be done. He can change a diaper with one hand, dole out juice and snacks while avoiding arguments, swaddle like a mean-mo-fo, play princess and animal kingdom, build a bad-ass fort, give bubble baths, and even fix pretty good pigtails… all before or after being at the office for 8 hours.
I think our world is a better place due to this general shift in the caretaker roles. I see our own girls growing up loving their father, not only because he commands respect, but because he gives it too. He truly shares their lives with them in the small little moments that he makes time for them and participates fully in their upbringing. What an amazing gift from an amazing father.
Recipes and food!
Jun 18th
Well, its clear that everyone loves tomatoes and olives. I had 4 people email me or request Sara’s yummy tomato & olive salad recipe (pictured below). She posted it in the comments section, but in case people don’t visit there, I will post it here too. Thanks Sara!
Italian Tomato and Olive Salad
Sliced ripe tomatoes (garden variety or store bought ‘on the vine’ is best)
1 small jar of capers
Olives (I used olive bar style kalamata pitted black olives and garlic/red pepper green olives)
Olive Oil
Balsamic vinegar
1 small jar of capers
Olives (I used olive bar style kalamata pitted black olives and garlic/red pepper green olives)
Olive Oil
Balsamic vinegar
Salt and pepper
Tomato and basil feta cheese (crumbled)
Curly leaf parsely
Fresh basil
Tomato and basil feta cheese (crumbled)
Curly leaf parsely
Fresh basil
Slice tomatoes and arrange on a plate. Rough chop the olives and mix with feta and chopped parsely and olive oil and capers. Sprinkle mixture over tomatoes and top with salt and pepper and basil. Can also add green onions and garlic to taste. Reduce balsamic vinegar for 20 minutes or until syrupy, cool and pour over salad. Just sprinkle with balsamic vinegar if you don’t want to do this step.
And here is the awesome recipe for a cilantro cream spread that she also served. It was great on my hamburger, but you could also pair it with pitas/chips/brushetta… you name it.
Cilantro Cream Spread
1 block of 1/3 fat cream cheese
3-4 TBSP of light sour cream
Juice of 2 limes
2 garlic cloves
1 bunch of cilantro
green onions
salt and pepper
red pepper flakes or jalopenos (optional)
3-4 TBSP of light sour cream
Juice of 2 limes
2 garlic cloves
1 bunch of cilantro
green onions
salt and pepper
red pepper flakes or jalopenos (optional)
Soften cream cheese and mix with sour cream. Mix lime juice (I scoop out some of the pulp too), garlic cloves, cilantro, and green onions in food processor. Once lime/cilantro mixture is chopped well, add to cream cheese mixture. Add salt and pepper and red pepper or jalopeno if desired. Best when refrigerated for a few hours, then served. Can also be mixed with spinach and more sour cream to make a nice dip. Original recipe also called for one small can of tomatilla salsa and cumin.
YUM!
I’ve started going to a holistic health lady to help get me back on track after all these babies and nursing and so on. She is really great and has opened my eyes about my eating habits. I always thought that we ate really healthy since we eat lots of fruits and vegetables and lean meats… but I have learned lots of ways to improve our diets. First, just by getting real and keeping track of what I was really eating (instead of what I thought I was eating). EYE OPENING! Starting with how much cheese I was eating. I knew I loved it, but I was just kind of throwing it into anything and everything thinking “yeah, that’s healthy and has some protein”…. oh, cheese how I’ll miss you. The other thing was how little greens we were really getting into our meals. Greens are soooooo healthy and are really easy to cook with and incorporate into your diet. I thought we did a pretty good job since everyone in our family likes salads and spinach and even some swiss chard. But again, once I really paid attention by food journaling I realized that we don’t get as many greens as I thought. We have been working to add dark leafy greens into our meals at least once everyday. And, here is one way that we do it (without having to bust out a single saute pan)….
Spinach & blueberry smoothie
(You can make this lots of different ways, but here is an example that we made this morning)
1/4 c old-fashioned oatmeal
1 container (about a cup) Greek style plain yogurt
1/2 c soy milk
1/2 c OJ
1/2 banana
3/4 c blueberries
2 big hand
fuls of spinach (see all that yummy spinach in there)
fuls of spinach (see all that yummy spinach in there)
Blend, blend, blend. And then you get this tasty purple smoothie that the kids LOVE!
It has lots of protein, fiber, and phytonutrients from the spinach and blueberries. It is super fast, which we need around here. The kids and I split this one and even Dave likes them.Try it out! Let me know what you think. 
4 months old.
Jun 18th
Soooo cute, I could just eat her. Seriously, are mothers the only ones who physically feel the need to bury our faces into those chubby little baby necks and kiss, kiss, kiss? I guess so because I have never seen Dave behave in this way. But, how can you not want to kiss those adorable little cheeks?
At four months old she is really changing so fast. She is:
* almost rolling over… gets to her side but stops there
* laughing
* smiling and interacting with her people. (We love being her people.)
* almost sleeping through the night (we are going to be working on this one)
* waking up in the best mood in the morning. Total morning girl. (Why wasn’t I given this gift?)
* loves her mobile, her bounceroo, and anything musical
* just being the cutest thing on the planet
Photog Ava.
Jun 16th
I had an old Canon Powershot that was busted (as evidenced by the pink hue in all the photos and several menu functions that don’t work anymore) but rather than throw it out, I gave it to Ava. She loved the fact that she has a real camera that is hers, and has taken to toting it around and taking photos. It is kind of fun to download them and see what’s going on from her perspective. Here are a couple from our recent trip… Ava style.
Fort Hood trip.
Jun 16th
We made the trip to Fort Hood recently to welcome Jeff back from Iraq. It was so great to see him, and we had a good time visiting and eating yummy food with everyone. Sara made an amazing dinner (check out the tomatoes and olive salad below). We stayed in a hotel with a pool and the kids loved that. We made the 4+ hr drive without any problems, although at one point we did have all three kids crying! What’s a road trip without a little crying, right?
Is it the weekend yet?
Jun 5th
We are in full summer mode here. The girls are in PJs until at least 9 am everyday. We play outside most mornings until it gets too hot. We have hit the swimming pool a few times already, although I haven’t found an easy way to do this with three kids yet. I really need backup when NONE of the kids are good swimmers yet. Ava is getting ready to take swimming lessons, but so far doggie paddle is about the best she’s got.
Our veggies are doing great. We haven’t gotten anything to the table, because most of the time the girls just eat whatever is ripe (so far only beans) right in the yard. Our tomato plants are huge, but no ripe tomatoes yet. I’ll post some pictures soon (making mental note to take photos of the garden).
This weekend we are headed to Fort Hood (Killeen, TX) to welcome my brother-in-law Jeff back from Iraq! So glad that he is coming safely home after a year in country. We are staying in a hotel with a pool so the girls are excited about that. We are planning on visiting a pick-your-own farm on the way home, so I will post some pictures when we return.
Also, we played the room shuffle around here. Olivia is now sharing a room with Ava! This has been interesting and we are still in the process of getting a bedtime routine figured out. I think we need a little more time to adjust. They are having too much fun playing and singing and talking together at night. It is CUTE CUTE CUTE, but makes for very tired babies the next day, which is just not cool. Mia is in her own room now, which is great and helps her sleep so much. She is on a great schedule and sleeps from about 7 pm until short feedings at 11pm and 4 or 5 am, then she sleeps until 7 or 8 am. Can’t complain about that.