Twice Baked Christmas

For Ariel's first Christmas, she had the chance to celebrate twice. Lucky girl.

Colorado: We celebrated with Eric's family the Sunday before Christmas, as we were headed to my parent's house on Monday. We had a very tasty meal, courtesy of my Rachel Ray cookbook (I love this girl)! It was a radicchio salad, which I didn't care for and a gnocchi, chicken sausage dish with a blushing cream sauce. For dessert, we had Holiday Parfitinis, (scoop strawberry ice cream, creme de menthe over top, a healthy squirt of canned whipped topping and a cherry, garnish with pirouette cookies) delish!

Ariel, of course, made out like a bandit. Some of her highlights were a reindeer beanie, clothes, a Vtech laptop (she really enjoys slamming the lid shut) and some requested books. Eric got me a pancake griddle that makes smiley face pancakes. It sounds silly, but together we put away a small country's portion of pancakes. I got Eric a pair of Mario Bros. pj's to go with the Super Mario Bros Wii game we got. We enjoyed our day and Ariel went all day with no fussing, even though she only had a 15 min nap all day! No, she didn't sleep all night either.

the loot opening gifts first laptop

New Mexico: We made to to good ol' Alamogordo late Monday night and enjoy the laid back pace that is the southwest. Eric managed to maintain his running regimen (over achiever) and I tried to sleep as much as I could. Christmas day was a bit hectic, as my sister flew in from Florida that morning and Ariel took a super late nap. We opened presents about 2 pm. Laugh, it's funny. We ate the traditional fare of glazed ham, potatoes, mac 'n cheese, and green bean casserole. My mom made her beautiful ribbon jello, which is always on of my personal favorites and her Indiana rolls, which Eric could have single-handedly eaten. Present highlights were lottery tickets (Eric won $70 plus 3 tickets), cupcake cookbook (the things you can do with cupcakes nowadays), and step/start walk 'n ride. I was able to catch up with some friends from high school as well during this visit.

shake it or eat it santa arrived Vicki lends an elfing hand

What a way to close out the year. I hope that 2010 has more wonderful memories in store for us.

The Little One Stopped for Heavenly Seven

It seems that as soon as we start bragging about Ariel's sleeping, she gets the final laugh and changes everything on us. How sweet she is. Well, our little princess isn't crazy about solids. Most of the time, she cries when we fee them to her, even the purees. It wasn't until recently that we decided that she just doesn't like the rice cereal . . . or peas . . . or green beans . . . or anything that isn't a fruit. Great. She inherited mom's sweet tooth.

Right now, she is working on rolling from tummy to back and getting onto her tummy from the sitting position (without the face plant, of course). Ariel's sleep habits are still a battle Eric and I tend to lose, but we fight the good fight anyway. She sleeps GREAT during the day, but once 7 pm rolls around, our little princess turns into a toad! She gave Eric's parents a run for their money, when they babysat one evening. We are very fortunate that they are masochistic enough to want to watch her at night again. "One of these days she'll sleep", I keep telling myself, "One of these days."

We survived Ariel's first cold, minor upper respiratory junk that she caught on Thanksgiving (must have gotten it from a certain pickle someone gave her . . . inside joke). Other than that, Ariel is status quo. She continues to like story and Jumperoo time. She is partial to the board books, as she has a thing for eating paper. Church is one of her favorite places to go. So much going on, it really keeps her entertained. The other parishioners enjoy her smile each and every Sunday.
On the horizon this month: First Christmas X 2, First New Year. Please enjoy this month's pics.
Roar! The Abominable Fleece Girl
Christmas Peek-a-Boo
China Doll If you give Ariel a stuffed mouse . . . Eric and I out celebrating a friend's birthday

Fire in the Hole

Let me just start by saying, that I consider myself a competent, knowledgeable, and able-bodied home cook. So you can imagine my astonishment when I inadvertently tried to burn down the kitchen.

Here's the story: For our wedding, Eric and I received a wok as a gift. I'm a huge fan of Asian food and the wok soon became my favorite piece of kitchen cookware. However, I damaged the finish the first time I used it, because, like a dummy, I didn't read the cleaning directions. Oh well, I thought. The thing still works. This simple fact comes into play later.

Last night, I prepping dinner for a chicken and cashew stir-fry. While dredging the chicken in flour, I have the wok heating. After awhile, I notice black flakes in the bottom of the pan. I just attributed this to damaged interior. So I get my trusty oil and put in my hot pan (as instructed by the recipe). I turn to get my chicken, when I hear a "whoosh." I screamed as I was suddenly cooking a wok full fire. Now this is one of those times when having a good swear word would be handy and aptly appropriate. Then the scenario turned into a scene from a movie. Where one person is in the midst of chaos, while another party is oblivious to the carnage. I.e. . .

Eric: Nicole, is everything ok?

Nicole: (glancing between fire and back door, fire and sink) Umm, yeah.

Eric: You cut yourself did you?

Nicole: No (watches in panic-stricken awe as the ventilation hood gets singed and hopes they don't end up on the evening news)

Eric: Are you burning the food?

Nicole: Not exactly (turns for the fire extinguisher)

Eric: But you're ok.

Nicole: Uh huh (ready to pull the pin, when flames suddenly die)

Smoke alarm goes off

Here's what I think happened. I think the wok was TOO hot and this started to flake the damaged non-stick finish. When I put the oil in the pot, the flakes started to cook at a rapid rate and the excess heat caught the oil on fire in spectacular fashion.

Pride aside, everyone is ok. It took thirty minutes of open doors and fans to get he smoke out of the house. Eric said I did it on purpose to get a new wok (well, I actually want a new kitchen). I thought about asking Santa for a new one. But for the safety of all parties involved, perhaps he should just skip this one on my list.

Side note: Somehow, this picture looks almost exactly like my kitchen at the height of chaos. There has to be something said about flies on the wall.

Running Library

We now have a new feature on our blog: Eric's running library. Since Eric has qualified for the prestigious Boston Marathon, he's been ramping up his weekly running totals. So to kill two birds with one stone, he's been "reading" audio books during his runs (5-14 miles).

On the right hand side of the blog, will be the running library (we might rename this, maybe something with more pep). A letter will appear before the title to denote Eric's ranking of the book. This is followed by the title, author, and genre.

He's been killing some books lately, so we thought it would be nice share with all of you. In case you are of the reading variety. If you have any suggestions, we're all ears.

Monkey & Bananas

Ariel had her 6 month well baby check up yesterday. She is 25 inches long and barely 16 lbs. Really, only 16 lbs? She dropped from being in the 50% for weight to the 38% (based on age). She should be weighing in closer to 18 lbs. So what happened?

Grazing.

It seems that Ariel was eating too frequently and just snacking all day. Her peds said she was "abusing" me. Great. Our homework is to go 3-4 hours between meals. The hope is that she'll eat more and start gaining a few more rolls. Everything else is on the up and up.

Last night, we started Ariel on her first solids, aside from cereal. We chose bananas left by grandma. We don't have much int he way of mashable baby food, so I was glad to have this on hand and not have to run to the store.

My mom bought us a baby food mill, so I washed the colorful and complicated apparatus and made Ariel's first baby food. After I got the hang of what the mill was supposed to do, it was so easy. But man what a learning curve. I didn't think I was that slow.

Ariel dug right in with the bananas, trying to take the spoon from Eric and feed herself. Dinner was a very frustrating battle for Daddy and baby. I am loathe to say that Ariel might be a sensitive child and a bit of a drama queen. Just like her mother. Wonderful.

Next food on the horizon: avocados. Maybe Ariel will share an avocado or two and Eric and I can have some guacamole. Ole!

The Little One Stopped for Crazy 6

I know that 8's are crazy, but Ariel change in attitude isn't going to wait until January. So the little one is six months old now. She is now able to roll over from front to back on both sides, eat yummy rice cereal for dinner, clap her feet while grasping her toes, and sit up independently. Ariel also experienced some firsts: serious flirt session with a boy (Eric was not happy about this), snow storm, and Halloween. She's actively teething, but no teeth have made a grand entrance yet. Oh yeah, she's finally sleeping through the night. Hooray! Now if we could just get to bed on time.

Speaking of Halloween, we actually took our little Pikachu out. We went to visit a handful of neighbors (really just to show her off). Ariel had a trick-or-treat bucket and the neighbors were more than happy to plunk a couple pieces in. Now, since Eric and I are Halloween chauffeurs, we take a 25% commission each on candy. I now, we're expensive. But that includes a driver, door-to-door service, and a stellar introduction.

Here's what we're looking at in the next 30 days: baptism, 1st Thanksgiving

Here are some pics from the last month. Ooh, Ahh and enjoy
pumpkin patch

snow bunny

maniac on the floor!

no poisoned fruit here

daddy's girls

Halloween loot

puppy love

sloppy kiss !

First Bite

According to Ariel's pediatrician, we aren't supposed to start her on rice cereal until next week. That was fine, until we had "Night of the Ever-Waking Dead" (just in time for Halloween). Ariel woke up five times last night and ate 4 times out of the five. I'm not sure if her teeth are bothering her or if she was just a very hungry caterpillar, but in any case, no one got much sleep. This translated into a very grumpy little girl ( and a not-so-happy Mommy) this morning. I don't really know what to do, but I'd better figure it out soon or we're all going to be walking around like zombies.

We decided to give the rice cereal early. Ariel didn't seem to mind the soupy concoction in her mouth, but then she didn't seem to enjoy it either. The box directions say to make the cereal soupy, but wouldn't this make it more like breast milk? Where the texture? I think we'll make it a bit thicker tomorrow. Anyway, enjoy the pics and video as Ariel experiences her first bite of "solid" food.

Gotta Catch 'Em All!

As everyone knows, the All-Stars do enjoy dressing up for Halloween. Since the addition of the team's shortstop, the costumes this year had to be a very special team costume. After kicking around a few not so good ideas, we decided on "Pokemon." It's kind of a shame to do this now, as most people have gotten out of the Pokemon craze. The younger kids don't even know what it is. *Sigh*

Pictures are posted early as we participated in the Pet Palace Pet Costume contest. Last year, Eric and Pazu won 4th place for the Red Koopa Troopa and Luigi group costume. This year, we shooting for gold. Pazu and Ariel will be Pikachu, and electric mouse Pokemon. Eric will be Professor Elm, a Pokemon scientist. I'll be going as May, a Pokemon trainer and coordinator. Who wouldn't fall in love with a matching set of Pikachus?
Well, it appears that cute and adorable would not be enough to win this year. The competition was stiff and as we walked in and scoped out the other costumes, we knew we had a snowball's chance in Haiti. The Aurora Sentinel (a local newspaper) was there to document the event through pictures. That's where these links are coming from. I hope they don't mind I borrowed them.
http://aurorasentinel.com/content/gallery/gallery_3/album_195/midsize_photo4ae4d7ebbcaba274808613.jpg

Our costume didn't place this year, but we lost fair and square.
Fourth place went to a long haired Chihuahua dressed as "Strawberry Shortcake" (striped tights and everything). http://aurorasentinel.com/content/gallery/gallery_3/album_195/midsize_photo4ae4d7ea3c83a874476261.jpg

Third place was the winner from last year. He and his Lab were the "GhostBusters" (jumpsuits, hoses and all). http://aurorasentinel.com/content/gallery/gallery_3/album_195/midsize_photo4ae4d7e9dc314121858515.jpg

Second place was my personal favorite-superhero Green Arrow with his sidekick (a cat), the Hairball Breathing Dragon http://aurorasentinel.com/content/gallery/gallery_3/album_195/midsize_photo4ae5c84165b98366052221.jpg
. I give props to this guy. He showed up in spandex green tights and totally rocked it.
The winner was a couple of cocker spaniel mixes dressed at Peter Pan and Wendy (the owners were Tinker Bell and Captain Hook). http://aurorasentinel.com/content/gallery/gallery_3/album_195/midsize_photo4ae4d7ed85edc662037135.jpg
Like I said, competition was tough, but we had a great time. People are so creative with Halloween costumes.
So we're thinking about costumes for next year. Yeah, we're not competitive or anything. I'm going for the "Wow" factor. We are accepting ideas if you have any.

Professor Elm

May

Pikachu

Family Fued: The Sequel and Me

So, I've come to the conclusion that writing is very similar to having children.

It all starts with the idea, the conception. There there is the joy of creating this world and these lives for which you are the sole caretaker. You spend months, even years, perfecting and nurturing your creation to ensure that everything happens the way it should. All loose ends are tied, you've done the spit bath just before you send your "baby" out into the world. It is the greatest to joy to finally see your "human" child come into the world or finally completing your novel.

But here is the problem I'm running into.

The sequel. The second born.

While I'm not currently pregnant, I do have an imagination, so just indulge me here. With the first, everything is new and exciting and you wonder where this adventure is going to take you (applies both to babies and books). But the second should be easy, right? Been there, done that, sorta thing. But it appears to be more complicated than that. You really must treat them like separate individuals. While the two are similar, you have to find what makes the second tick.

As I'm currently 8 chapters deep in my sequel, I found that the energy is different. My characters have grown up and changed and I'm struggling to get to know them. I have a game plan for this book (as I had a general idea for the first), but it feels weird writing this time around. It could have something to do with my diminished writing day ( I get 2-3 hours some days, when I used to write 8+ hours daily), or perhaps Ariel has stolen a bit of my creativity (she could have stolen my IQ, so I should be thankful). For some reason I'm only able to write 7 pages within 4 weeks. That's pretty sad if you're me. I was writing 10-20 a day! It seems that when I get to 7 pages, my muse leaves the building and my brain shuts down. Totally weird and super depressing.

"Liquid Light"and I have to find some common ground if it ever hopes to join its sibling in the literary world.

Five Years of Lovin'

It's hard to believe that Eric and I have been married for five years! Honestly, its feels longer than that, but in a good way.

Originally, we were going to celebrate by going back to Jamaica or head off to the Cayman Islands, but having Ariel post phoned our plans for a few more years. While it would have been nice to sit on the beach with an ice cold beverage, what better way to celebrate our love than with our precious angel?

On the fourth, our actual anniversary, I made a sizzling citrus shrimp with angel hair pasta, crusty bread and garden salad. Since I can drink again, Eric and I are getting reacquainted with our wine. For the occasion, we chose a chenin blanc from Africa. It claimed to have hints of peaches and pineapples, but we found it quite nasty. It could have been that it was dry or that it just wasn't that good. Anyway, it made a great de-glazing sauce when I used it a few days later.

Anniversary weekend, Eric's parents were on babysitting duty, so we ventured out to Dave and Buster' s where we feasted on a late lunch riddled with calories (you know calories don't count on birthdays and anniversaries). We tried burning off some of lunch by playing a bunch of games. Nothing really burns calories like good old fashioned competition, or in our case, Dance, Dance Revolution (we suck by the way). To finish off our calorie splurge, we went to Baskin Robins to seal the deal. We were only away from the house for about four hours. We easily could have been gone a lot longer. Its amazing how fast time flies. We really enjoyed our "adult" time together. Date nights are few and far in between. Here's to many more wonderful years.

20042009

The Little One Stopped to Roll for Five

While Ariel is not technically dancing, she is rockin' and rolling over (front to back only). See her cool video below. At her last doctor's appt, she weighed 13 lbs, 10 oz (50th percentile) and she was 25 inches long (25th percentile). She'll be ok'ed for solids around her 6 month birthday. Her new thing to do now, is scream. Not a "I'm-in-pain" scream but those high pitched screeches that are reminiscent of tropical birds. Sometimes she does it out of delight or to get our attention. But in general, she does it because she can. Ariel also enjoys hiking the hem of her pants up to her knees. Showing off her cute little baby legs, I guess.

There aren't many pics this time around, as we have been home-bodies. But enjoy anyway.



daddy kisses

can you believe we're watching "the view?"

hang on

chill'axin in mom and dad's bed

we're cute

bath and bubbles