Take out your No. 2 pencil. It's back to school!

I just returned from taking my first test in eight years!  In hopes of staying at home with my current and future babies, I am learning accounting to help my husband's business.  For someone with an Economics degree, let me tell you, I used to consider accounting to be in one of my personal circles of hell.  Debits and credits, blah!  Accounting was my lowest grade in college and I remember that class as four weekly hours of torture amidst the backdrop of beautiful spring afternoons.  However, time and circumstance have given me a different lens through which to look at things and accounting has been almost enjoyable this time 'round.

My class is online through Nashville State Community College, but I have to go on campus to take the tests.  Now that I have matured, I refuse to wear shorts or casual clothes to college - treat it like work, I tell myself!  So, I put on my nice Ann Taylor sweater set and black pencil skirt, sharpened my pencils and even put on makeup!  My goal was to be mistaken as a NSCC teacher, which I was not.  Since I went to college before the explosion of cell phones, I had the new experience of forfeiting my phone to a cubby before receiving my test so that I couldn't text for answers.  I feel very old saying that I went to college before cell phones.

I'll keep you posted on the class.  I'm hoping for an A++.

Love at First Bite

My baby and I took a big step this month.  Let me clarify, we took a big bite.  His was rice cereal; mine was little tears over the loss of my little bitty, teeny weeny newborn baby.  As I write these words, my bottom lip sticks out and I feel sad.  Cry with me.  I am sad because with Food my baby is telling me "I'm growing up Mom, I'm going to be walking soon, I'll have teeth soon!"  I'm sad because I am saying goodbye to a very sweet chapter in my son's life.  I look at his Michelin Man body now and try to remember when he was only seven pounds.  As they say, "they grow up so quickly." 

As you can tell from the picture above, JT was not quite as sad to reach his new milestone.  He LOVED rice cereal.  You can tell it rocked his world.  He would reach out for every spoonful like a baby bird reaching to his mama for his morning grub, neck extended, lips up in the air waiting for the next bite.  We decided to keep feeding him food (our pediatrician would be happy), and last night fed him green beans.  He swallowed approvingly.  I'm scared of his next poopy diaper.  Will it be Incredible Hulk - like?

What was your baby's first food and did you weep like me?

Ode to the toes

If baby milestones could have ringtones, the 80's song "You're My Obsession" would be JT's discovery of his feet.  He has been spying his piggy toes since the first week of June.  He finally got these bad boys into his mouth recently.  He was sucking on his big toe so hard that when it came out it made a loud popping noise.

I wonder how long this song will be stuck in my head now....

I will have you, yes I will have you

I will find a way and I will have you

Like a butterfly, a wild butterfly

I will collect you and capture you

Let's go Krogering!

Even though I'm 30 (it still hurts to admit), I still don't have a clue as to how to put a meal on the table five days a week, let alone seven.  Now that we have a baby, cooking seems like a required skillset for a mother.  With all that said, it's been quite a bumpy road in the kitchen.

One of my good friends, Ellen, turned me onto meal planning. She plans a week of meals at a time and buys groceries over the weekend. At first, this seemed like a very daunting task.  So many decisions!  But, I worship practicality, and this seemed like a very practical approach to cooking.  As a bonus, it also allows my sweet husband the chance to "pre-approve" my meal decisions and rule out anything too weird or pricey.  We tend to not agree on all things culinary and he is quite a grocery penny pincher (we save $1,000 each year with our Kroger card). 

So, here was my first weekly menu: Monday - "meal of blah" (previously discussed); Tuesday - hot dogs, grilled tomatoes stuffed with pesto and artichokes and roasted corn on the cob; Wednesday - BBQ ribs + apple slaw ; Thursday - BBQ pizza + pesto pizza & salad.  Everything outside of Monday turned out pretty good.  Anyone have suggestions for next week?

Crock Pots...what a crock.

Someone gave me a Crock Pot as a wedding gift.  In theory it seems like a great tool in the kitchen, but, every slow cooker recipe I've tried has resulted in "eh, it's okay" reviews.  What's the deal?  Take for instance tonight's dinner - Coq au vin.  Since my husband doesn't watch the Food Network, I translate it for him as "French chicken."  From the start, I realize that my "Fix it and Forget it Lightly" coq au vin isn't likely to taste just like my $30 coq au vin from the fancy french restaurant.  But, there's a recipe and I have the ingredients (most of them anyway), so I get a little excited.  Now, I didn't have the red wine (used extra chicken stock) and I couldn't use mushrooms (J hates them), and we never have fresh thyme (or dried for that matter), but I threw it all in the crock pot and headed out the door expecting culinary mastery. 
When we return and I open my Croq pot present, I subconsciously realize that what I had was "chicken cooked in chicken stock with bacon and onions with a tomato paste sauce" and not necessarily coq au vin, but I thought my taste buds could still sing.  Think again.  The chicken turned out moderately juicy, but the sauce was ho hum and there was no resemblance of my fancy French restaurant coq au vin.  It was a nice plate of boring.  You know you have a nice dinner of "blah" when the highlight of the meal is the only thing that's fried.

So, tonight I wave my white flag of cooking defeat and plan tomorrow night's dinner of hot dogs and chips.  Hey - don't judge me.

Me Time and the MLB

It's a Friday night and the baby is asleep.  The hubs and I are alone.  I always look forward to this time so that we can reconnect as a couple and wind down our day.  However, I can always tell when a good baseball game is on.  I usually go downstairs after putting the baby down to bed to either clean up the kitchen or check facebook.  If I'm not back upstairs within twenty minutes, my sweet little husband comes down looking for me.  But, not tonight and my bet is that it's a good game between the Braves and Mets keeping him company.  So, I'm stealing a few extra minutes to update my blog.  Who knew that baseball could actually help my marriage?  Thanks Bobby Cox!

Yep, he's a momma's boy

For my ahem, 30th, birthday, JT rolled over for the first time.  Look how proud of himself he is.  And, keep in mind that he slept through the night for the first time on Mother's Day.  What did he do on Father's Day, you ask?  Nada.  He loves his momma!  XOXOXO my little puppy.