New Favorite Picture

Walkin

Cason and I went for a walk in his umbrella stroller. I'm sure the neighbors thought I was hearing voices or something because I laughed and grinned up and down the street. Here's why...






He wouldn't bend his knees the whole time. I even stopped and showed him how. We walked feet first through the neighborhood!

No power

I have no power for some reason. Called txu, they said "estimated time, as soon as possible" do they know that's not an actual time? I informed them that was a stupid answer but they didn't care. If we loose the food in my fridge and freezer I will be so angry.

Here's some fun pics of Cason in his new jumperoo. I tried to put something under it because he was too short but I figured out how to lower it.




-- Post From My iPhone

I Must Confess

okay, so some (maybe all) of the photos from the Cherry post below have been altered. I just can't stop! It's so much fun but I love how they are coming out. I'm going to try not to alter my child's photos so much that when people see him in real life they don't think "wow, he's not near as cute as his photos!" :-)


Here is the straight out of the camera shot. Pretty good right? I think I can make it look more appetizing than that!

Here is the altered photo. I found some places that have photoshop "actions". They are presets that take a lot of the work out of altering photos so I can't claim all of the touching up myself, I just made a few minor adjustments.

And the bowl of cherries before. Looks pretty good. In fact, when i saw how it turned out I was pretty impressed with my picture taking ability. But I couldn't resist the urge to see what it would look like after a photoshop tool or two.

Mmmmm... Is everyone hungry for Cherries now? I know I am. They are just so pretty!!!

If you want more of my secrets let me know, I'm happy to share all of my sources. If you don't have photoshop and want to play on mine sometime, come on over- I'll give a tutorial (don't worry, it will be short!)

Adventures in Baby Food Making- Part 2

Well, not exactly Part II because I have been making some food all along but this was the next major food making.


Today was cherry day. Every week I check the grocery ads through Grocery Game (more on that later) and this week Cherry's and Plums were on sale. I love sales so I grabbed a big bag of each and got started. How hard can Cherry's be, anyways? They are so cute and yummy!



Here's the beautiful bowl of cherries ready to be de-seeded. I grabbed the knife and began the process.
This is how many I did before I realized this would be harder than it looked.... and messier! I had to cut each cherry in half around the pit and twist it open, then remove the pit... then get the pits in one bowl and the cherries in another- sounds like a simple step but if i mixed it up even once, that little pit could cause some problems when it got into the food processor. Since a friend had recently sliced her finger open with a sharp object I was extra careful with the knife!

This is what my hands looked like when I was done. I think I still have purple under my nails. Yuck!

Whew, empty bowl... finally.

And the beautiful cherries ready to be chopped up.

For most baby food I have made so far, you steam the items first then process. For cherries and blueberries and some others, you puree then heat. Supposedly it breaks down something that makes it easier to digest- I don't know, I just do what they say.

And it's ready to freeze or eat. Cason's not ready for Cherries but I had to give it a try. I prefer my fruit with a little more sugar but it was still good. Frozen cubes are put in labeled freezer bags and heated up when needed.

"Is this really worth it?"

I'm glad you asked. Actually, I have no idea. For me, I like knowing exactly what is in his food at his young age. Also, I think it saves money. Here's the rundown and I'll let you figure it out, I was never good at math. I got the Cherries for $7.27. (Yes, that's more than I would normally spend on a snack and Yes, that was the sale price). I made the equivalent of 16 jars of baby food (according to the Internet- the source of all good information- 1 jar = 2 cubes). I don't know how much baby food costs but surely it's more than that! Even better were the plums I also made. Paid $2.68 for 18 plums and it made about 10 jars.

"Do you always buy organic?"

Nope. Typically if baby is eating the peel of the fruit or veggie I will like Zucchini but otherwise now. I did use canned green beans for one puree and those were organic. Using fresh green beans didn't sound like fun... but after cherries I can do anything. No, the cherries were not organic (although it breaks my peel rule) but if regular cherries cost over $7 then imagine how much organic cherries cost.

"Where do you get your info?"

My main source is from a book called Cooking for Baby from Williams Sonoma. My other sources are Nurture Baby and Wholesome Baby Food.

"Does he like the food?"

So far we have tried Zucchini, Peas, Apples and Butternut Squash. He loves them all!

Movin all Over

This is how i put him down to play.

This is how he was the next time I turned around.

Not sure how that happened!

CUTIE!!!

Restaurant Week- Grace Fort Worth

I love August for many reasons: my birthday, the season premiere of Psych, and Restaurant Week! Every year restaurants around the metroplex participate to offer a special deal to those who can't afford to eat at extravagant places all the time. There's more info HERE, but I'll tell you the basics. For $35 you get a 3 course dinner at places that typically cost more than that. I like to go to as many places as I can afford each year because it's the only time all year we eat this good.

Last week it was Grace Restaurant in Fort Worth. I didn't even know about this place until I saw the restaurant week locations. It's relatively new and in the bottom of the Carter Burgess Building (is it called Jacobs now?). For me dining out is about 60% decor and 40% food. If a place is nicely decorated and makes me happy, I can let the food slide a bit... just a bit. The decor here is wonderful. Beautiful finishes, very clean and modern, great outdoor patio. Fortunately, the food here was wonderful too.

My first course was a melon and tomato salad, then a fillet with squash and grits, then a chocolate melting cake. The salad and fillet were beyond excellent. My table mates said the grits were great as well, I'm just not a fan of grits so I wouldn't know. The chocolate melting cake was good, but I think the ones on the cruise were better. I wanted the center to be even more melty than it was. All in all, a great experience.

There's probably still time to make reservations at some of the places (if you are hoping for Abacus think again, it's been full since the first day). Don't go thinking you will get to choose from their full menu, it's a limited menu, typically 3 selections for each course. There was only one restaurant we went to that had no selections. Oh, I forgot to mention the best part- $7 of each meal goes to charity!

So run, make your reservations, and if you are participating this year, tell me what you think of your restaurant!

New trick

This evening I was playing with Cason and he rolled from his back to tummy. He kept doing it until he was off the mat. He's been rolling from his tummy to his back for awhile but I forgot to blog about it. He's so much fun to play with now!


-- Post From My iPhone

Snapshot from Today

This isn't how I pictured this going

In my attempt to put a good dinner on the table instead of eating out, I grabbed a pork roast out of the freezer at 3:30 on Sunday afternoon intending on throwing it in the croc pot on high for a couple of hours and having a yummy pulled pork dinner. Problem #1, pork didn't exactly fit in my croc pot, #2 it's completely frozen and cutting it down proved to be rather difficult, #3 a huge frozen piece of pork doesn't cook in a croc pot in 3 hours. I started by running hot water over it and hacking it apart to make it fit. By the time I got done it was 4:00 and I thought dinner would be rather late (I still did not realize how long it would take to cook it). 3 hours later when we still had raw pork, I grabbed something out of the freezer and microwaved it for dinner. The pork cooked overnight on low and we had yummy pork the next day. If there was any doubt, I will not be adding "chef" to my resume.

Time to Waste

I don't have extra time but I got caught up reading this blog and trying out her tips. http://www.thepioneerwoman.com/ DON'T get addicted like I have. She gives you step by step instructions to photoshoping your photos. LOVE IT!!!

BEFORE

AFTER
ANOTHER AFTER

Now I'm going to do some work which is why I sat down at the computer in the first place... work I get paid for. If I could figure out how to get paid for photoshoping my own child's photographs, I would, but I have not yet figured that out.

What are you looking at?

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Oh, the super cute plates I have on the wall. I knew that would be the perfect place for those. I'm glad Cason likes my style already!

Post From My iPhone

A day at the waterpark

-- Post From My iPhone

I just got this

Not sure if it will work but I'm hopeful. It's a band that goes around your stomach and helps tighten everything back up. Sounds like a bunch of crazy talk right? Well, I did some reading and if it worked for Minnie Driver then it can work for me! Just kidding. I did do some reading though and people have only good things to say. I mean, it certainly can't hurt and in the least, it will help smooth things out under my clothing. Here's what one mommy product testing web site had to say:

I found the most amazing invention out there for new Moms! It's called the Belly Bandit.No matter what kind of body shape you had before you got pregnant, your body is certainly never the same after giving birth to your beautiful bundle of joy! That is where the Belly Bandit comes into play! The Belly Bandit is an abdominal compression wrap that helps to reduce the swelling of the uterus, decrease bloating caused by water retention, supports your legs & back and provides additional comfort and support for breast feeding moms.Of course, it isn't a miracle worker, you need to watch your diet and exercise as much as you can, but this product aids in speeding up your recovery time and getting your body into its' pre-pregnancy state much faster with the added benefit of helping your body to look better at the same time.There are three wonderful lines of Belly Bandit: Original, Couture and the Bamboo line for those individuals who are looking for a more eco-friendly alternative. All three lines are made with comfort in mind and are also rather stylish even though they aren't meant to be seen by anyone ;)The Belly Bandit comes in a variety of sizes in order fit almost every woman out there. Finding the proper size for you is key to ensure a proper fit and therefore providing you with the best and quickest results.What I like best about the Belly Bandit is that it holds your tummy in tight to give the sneaky appearance that it is firm and not loose and jiggly. It provides you with additional confidence in your body, something that is so difficult to achieve for a new Mom!Unless you are wearing skin tight clothing (what new Mom does?) that is made out of a thin material, the Belly Bandit is very nicely concealed!I highly recommend the Belly Bandit for any new Mom out there :)

Here's the web site if you want to see for yourself! www.bellybandit.com

Camera Issues

I've posted a bunch of stuff today so keep scrolling down to see all the new stuff.


This is the last post tonight, I promise. I just wanted to show you how the majority of my pictures look. Drunk Cason. My camera takes so long to flash and flashes so much that Cason has already started to shut his eyes from the bright light before the picture snaps. Ugh, very frustrating.



We are getting ready for bath time! I let him sit in his bumbo chair while i get the water ready. He gets to look in the mirror or admire the black and white plates.

I thought he looked so cute after his bath while I was dressing him i had to take a picture. He was so much fun today. We played a lot and I just put him to bed so I'm hoping he stays asleep for a very long time! Now I'm off to bed. Goodnight!

More Pictures

Here are some pictures I snapped in the past couple of days and tried to alter in photoshop. I really wish I knew photoshop enough to make all my photos look good but I'm just playing with what I do know right now. Today I tried to make the backgrounds blurry and adjust the coloring and crop. I think they look okay but I don't know. I need pictures for my wall so I'm trying to take more and be "artsy". :-)

Play Saucer

A friend loaned us a play saucer to see if Cason liked it. He's just now able to start using it and I think he really enjoys it(can't you tell from the pictures below?). My mom and Mike on the other hand think there is too much going on with it and see it as over-stimulation. I'm just happy with anything that keeps him happy. One funny thing about this toy is that there are several different items that make noise and light up. I don't know where all the switches are to turn everything off or if there are even switches for everything. Randomly throughout the day the saucer will make noises; a honking horn, children laughing. It can be quite disconcerting if you are home alone. That may be one of the reasons the above parties are in favor of the toy leaving the house.

Baby Dedication

These are quite late but I just got the pictures the other day, then I took pictures of the pictures so they are not great but since events don't really happen unless I post about them I figured it was important to get them up.

Baby dedication was on mothers day. Cason looked so different then! I thought this was a great picture of Mike.

I think this may be the only family photo I have!

Just Playing

One of my college friends made me this cute Baylor blanket with the ribbons on the edges. I had no idea how much babies like playing with these things. I've been trying to get more good pictures with the real camera and not just the cell phone so you are forced to view many photos of the same thing, since I can't decide which ones to post.

A side note about this picture. The other day I put Cason on my bed so I could do something. I heard him start to cry and looked over and somehow he had pulled the sheet over his head and couldn't see. It was so cute to see him so confused. It also made me paranoid about covering him with a blanket at night, what if he pulls it over his head? I guess you can't worry about everything, right?