Boating with Babies

The first family vacation officially took place in early September. Bubby and Grandpa graciously rented a large house on the lake for a week so the kids and grandkids could come and stay as schedules permitted.

We missed the first half of the week.Hubs was working hard to bring home the bacon. We left on Wed. night after C’s bedtime to ensure she would sleep through the entire 6 hour drive. She did and we arrived in the wee hours on Thursday morning. On Thursday, the only people at the house were Bubby, Grandpa and Quinn. The others had come, left and would show up again later in the week.

Before I digress into the details, please note my key learnings from vacationing with a baby. 
• It takes longer to do EVERYTHING
• All activities attention is centered around babies.
• Babies do not observe the lazy sleep-in schedule on vacations that we adults are accustomed to.
• Late night drinking and tom-foolery no longer extends into the wee hours like it used to. This is directly driven by the point above.

C and Quinn were on completely opposite schedules. Each day, they were probably both awake at the same time for 3 or 4 hours. We had so much fun watching the two of them interact, dissecting the plethora of ways they are different.



As we went for C’s first trip on the boat, we had to strap/zip/stuff her into the infant life jacket prior to even WALKING on the dock. Safety first people, this is my baby girl we’re talking about. It is hard to gauge if C liked the boat or not because she DID NOT like the life jacket! In all honesty, I could see why. It is big, cumbersome and has a flotation piece that supports her head.

The uncomfortable but super SAFE life jacket. I swear there is a baby under there!


Once the boat was beached, the girls had a little freedom from the life jackets. They floated in the water, slept and enjoyed life.






We only got out for a couple trips on the boat during the trip, mostly because of baby schedules. I think it was a learning experience for the whole family. We learned how different things are now and how we have to shift our idea of a vacation on the lake to fit our new reality. My guess is that in the future, we’ll try to be right on the water so we don’t loose so much time shuffling back and forth, and more people can take smaller trips out to ski and relax.

I also need to mention the strong sense of nostalgia I felt through out this trip. Our boat, Mellow Yellow, is… how do I say this? Vintage. The boat is old, but thanks to Grandpas diligent and expensive upkeep, we still get to vacation on the same boat on which we grew up. There were several times on the trip it felt strange to see the next generation on Mellow Yellow. Case in point is the picture below. That cubby was home to many a tired, cold, worn out kid. There is C, taking a nap in that same spot.





It was an awesome trip. And as a new mom, each new experience illuminates the ways my life is different now, in the best way of course.



FYI, this picture is to illustrate the importance of swimmy diapers. It looks like someone used a pump to inflate her booty.

Who is afraid of a little ole comma?

I guess it's me. I often find myself reading through my posts after I've published them. There are numerous grammar mistakes (INSERT COMMA) but it seems like my most egregious offense is omitting commas.

At least there aren't a bunch of run on sentences who could read that mess all jumbled together without any punctuation not me besides how could you understand tone without punctuation?

Thank you everyone who reads my blog. Please don't hold my lack of editing against me.

New Mom

I know I haven't posted in a while. The intention is there, but the time isn't. I'll just use my standby excuse, "I have a baby". I don't know how long I can use that excuse because it doesn't seem to stop some of my more organized friends from getting it all done.

Anyways, the past month has been very eventful for our house. Caroline got sick for the first time. Hubs had a birthday. And we went to the lake and took the babies on their very first vacation! If that wasn't enough, we come back from vacation and Caroline gets sick again right as I have to leave for a business trip.

If I've learned one thing in the past month, it is that I am the baby in this scenario, the newborn mom. As Caroline is leaning to crawl, I'm learning to let her fall. As she is learning new people, I'm trying to learn not to hover. As she is experiencing new things, I'm discovering new levels of worry.

All my mom-friends probably tried to prepare me for this, but I tell you now it must be learned through experience. I now know how worthless you feel when your baby is screaming and crying looking to you to fix it and there is nothing you can do. Baby tears are heartbreaking. On the flip side of that coin is laughter. I have NEVER heard a sound so sweet. It fills me with joy. I am doing anything I can think of to encourage her giggles. She is a tough sell!

So all this to say that almost 9 months later, I'm probably less confident than ever. Let's hope this trend doesn't continue or my daughter will end up raising me.

As soon as I can I'll fill you in on Caroline's first vacation. In the meantime, I'll leave you with the best shot Hubs took with his phone on vacation - Bubby and the Babies.

Picture Pages

Pictures of the lovely Caroline from Biscuit's wedding.



This is her "I'm going to get you" expression




And some other pics from this past weekend.

Stealing Kisses.


Checking out Brutus

Veggie Bag

This year I signed up for the greener grocer, which I have dubbed ‘veggie bag’. This weekly bag of local, organic and fresh produce is delivered directly to work. Unlike other CSA’s, the contents each week are determined by what is in season and available. I LOVE it.

Normally you’ll find me wandering around the produce aisle stocking up on my staples, tomatoes, bib lettuce, yellow or red onions, shallots, garlic, and maybe some peppers.

I will lingering over things like leeks, beets and endive wanting to purchase, but knowing without a plan of action they’ll just rot. I’ve purchased these exotic-to-me veggies before.

They just taunt me from the fridge

“Hey lady, are you going to cook me? I could be delicious if you KNOW WHAT YOU’RE DOING. You don’t know what you are doing, do you?”

Mean veggies deserve to rot.

The good news is that the veggie bag has forced me out of that destructive relationship. On Monday, we get an email of the contents of the bag we receive on Wednesday. Included in that email are some recipes and tips for the ingredients. This two days also gives me valid research and planning time. I can go to the grocery and pick up the appropriate accompanying ingredients.

Since I didn’t have the time for a garden this year, this is the next best thing. Mine and Hubs goal is to make sure NONE of the veggies go bad. So far I think the radishes were the only thing we had more than we could digest. You can only use SO MANY RADISHES….

Below are some of the great recipes I’ve tried for using all the veggies. Disclaimer - I don’t put any recipe on my blog unless it’s been tried and tested in my kitchen and with the hubs or otherwise noted, i.e. this week’s recipe below.

Extra crispy roasted potatoes – The best roasted potatoes ever, crispy on the outside and creamy on the inside.

Roasted Green Bean Fries – nice and salty Hubs and I eat these like chips.

This week’s recipe, Cherry Tomato Cobbler (Not yet attempted in the littlebit test kitchen)

Additionally the veggie bag newsletter provided some nice storage and prep tips. The berries trick is a new favorite.

Tomatoes: This is probably not news to most of you, but tomatoes should not be refrigerated as the cold damages their flavor. Keep them on the counter until ready to use. If you're worried about them spoiling before you're ready to eat them, toss them (whole) into the freezer. They won't be good for slicing and eating fresh, but they will be delicious in gazpacho, sauce, or any other cooked preparation. Even better, after they defrost the skins will slip right off.

Peaches: Firm peaches will ripen on the counter and are best when they give to gentle pressure. If you need them to keep for a few extra days after they're ripe, they can be stored in the refrigerator. Be sure to allow them to come to room temperature before eating for best flavor. The same guidelines apply for melons.

Basil: Fresh basil will turn black in the refrigerator. Instead, store basil like fresh flowers. Cut the ends off the stems and put them in a glass of water on the counter. You can also do this with parsley, cilantro and mint.

Lettuce and leafy greens (kale, swiss chard, collards): Store these in a plastic bag in the crisper drawer of your fridge. To extend the shelf life, add a piece of paper towel or a small cotton cloth to the bag before you seal it. This pulls excess moisture away from your veggies and keeps them fresher longer.

Berries: Conventional wisdom says that you should store unwashed berries in their original containers or a bowl lined with paper towels in the fridge. And most people will tell you that you should wait to wash berries until you're ready to eat them. This works fine for a couple of days. However, the folks at Cooks Illustrated recently discovered that a quick dip in vinegar solution and careful drying can keep those berries fresh for days, if not weeks - I haven't tried it yet so I can't vouch for it's success, but it certainly sounds interesting.

Onions and garlic: In general, onions and garlic should be stored in a cool, dry place outside the refrigerator. However, fresh onions and garlic that have not been "cured" and do not have a papery exterior (like the ones in this week's bag) should be stored in a bag in your crisper drawer.

sick baby girl

Caroline has been sick this week for the first time ever. Talk about turning our world upside down. Our normally good-natured, laid back baby has turned into a clingy, crying mess. She won't eat, doesn't want to sleep or be put down. She bursts out into big sobs and my heart breaks as the crocodile tears spill down her cheeks.

I have never felt so powerless.I know she will get better soon, but this sucks.

Poor baby girl.

Hopefully happy post to follow next week.

The life and times of Baby C

Everytime she sees the cat it's like the first time. Here is a pictoral of her latest discovery. The pics are from my phone so forgive the quality.







Sometimes in the morning she wakes up and waits for me to greet her. This series is how cute she is in the morning.









She's totally anxious to crawl and we're trying to capture videos on our crappy phones. Hopefully I'll have something to share soon.