Adventures in Baby Food Making: Sweet Potatoes/Yams.

Today I made some yams for Charlie and I think he liked it. I'm not sure if its love at first feeding but he did eat some of it. I cooked the yam in the microwave and pureed it in a baby food processer that my sister Ashley gave me. Today I learned how to say puree. Apparently I was saying it wrong because after reading the puree instructions outloud, Rob started laughing at me. "It's pure-ay, not purr-ay". Oh, whatever! So anyway, I added a little bit of water to it to thin it out a little. You can also use breastmilk but I'm barely keeping up with Charlie when I pump so I am trying to save all that I can. I made a little batch today which will last a few days but I eventually plan to make Charlie's food in bulk and freeze it in ice cube trays. I have learned a lot about making/storing/freezing baby food at http://wholesomebabyfood.com/ The yams were very simple to make. I think next on the list will be squash - stay tuned!

Happy.

I was looking back at some "old photos" and found this one taken 2.5 months ago. How long has it been since YOU have been this happy and carefree? I think there is a lot to learn from our little ones.

My New Favorite Picture.

I posted this on Charlie's blog already, but I just love this picture Mimi took of Charlie!

Started Rice Cereal.

We gave Charlie rice cereal for the first time a week ago today and he LOVED it. He ate it all up and tried to feed himself with spoon and would try to grab the bowl full of cereal when I turned my head - little stinker!

Crawling.

I wouldn't say Charlie is a crawler but he might have taken his first real crawl yesterday with Mimi. He was on all fours, moved his left hand forward, left hand forward....then his left knee forward. This is the first time we've seen him move his legs forward when in that position. Later that night, I saw him do the exact thing one time. It won't be long!

A Couple Firsts This Week.

I know you are probably thinking I'm going to post a couple firsts about Charlie. Sure, he is up on all fours doing the skoot skoot and getting ready to crawl but Buddy had a couple firsts this week that are worth mentioning.

First first was yesterday. It was the first time he got barfed on. I was holding Charlie and heard a splat (this usually means barf on the floor). I looked down and poor Buddy got it on his back - his tail down not knowing what just happened.

Then this morning my mom text'd me this picture:

I didn't get it - I knew he looked wet. She said she was outside with Charlie because he was a little fussy - I think this happened around 8:00 am. She heard a big splash, looked over and Buddy is in the pool. This is a first. She wasn't sure if he jumped in or fell. I'm guessing he fell. My mom quickly put Charlie on the floor inside and came back out to see if she would need to perform a doggy rescue. Luckily he found his way to the step and got out of the pool. He then ran into the house and shook off the water onto Charlie - maybe getting him back for yesterday's barf?

All this before 8:30 am. Poor Mimi!

First Father's Day.

The Dads.

This year was Rob's first Father's Day. Charlie and I went to a paint your own pottery place in town but they messed up and didn't get the "art" in the oven in time for Father's Day. They missed it - I was not a happy camper. For Mother's Day, Rob got me this...


It's a Tanzanite (Charlie's birthstone) and Diamond ring. He set the bar pretty high - we both agreed being first time parents was a big deal and a big year for us so we went big for our first "parents' days. So, I saw his Tanzanite ring and raised him this...


Rob: "What is it? A rock?"
Alyssa: "No, it's not a rock"
Rob: "What the..?"
Alyssa: "It's a pebble."
Rob: "Was I right?!"

Rob had guessed the present a few weeks ago but I pretended I didn't know what he was talking about. His gift is a round of golf at Pebble Beach. He's always wanted to play and his parents even gave him a gift card once but he instead used it so we could stay the weekend there. I spoke to someone at PB and they told me you only get to reserve your tee time 24 hours in advance (lame!) unless you stay there for two nights. If you stay for two nights, you can get two people on the greens. I had told Jen my idea about PB and she wanted to get her husband Brad a round there, too. So.....Rob and I HAVE to stay there for two nights (DARN) and he and Brad are playing on his birthday next month. I think it all worked out well...a nice gift for Rob and a little vacation for mama!

Sassy Pants.

My mom got me the Sunken Ship necklace from Anthropologie for my birthday. I liked it, but I didn't know if it was too sassy for me. I decided to try it out and see what kind of feedback I got. Since the necklace is a little wild, I paired it with a very simple Ann Taylor t-shirt, dark blue Citizen jeans and some brown wedge sandals. I think it turned out really cute!

I got 3 compliments so the necklace is here to stay. One of the ladies said "I'm surprised your mom got that for you - sounds like she is pretty hip!" I think so. Thanks, Mom!

30 While 30.

I turned 30 a couple weeks ago and finally finished my list:

1. Learn how to make a Thanksgiving turkey
2. Sew something
3. Swim with Charlie
4. Take Charlie to the zoo
5. Make biscotti from scratch
6. Have Dorothy watch Charlie while I go on a date with Rob (she came up with this one!)
7. Take Charlie to Sleepy Hollow
8. Take Charlie to Gizdich Ranch
9. Feed geese at Vasona Park
10. Show Charlie snow – I’m kind of nervous about this one. I’m not convinced we’ll have the opportunity or be up for traveling far enough to see snow. I might have to have a back up “thing” to do in case this doesn’t work out
11. Use the ice cream maker
12. Start and complete interior painting (hallway, guests bathrooms, etc.)
13. Go to the Mystery Spot in Santa Cruz
14. Get clam chowder at Phil’s in Moss Landing
15. Pay for the order of the person behind me in the Starbucks drive thru
16. Take Charlie to a class like Gymboree or The Little Gym
17. Take Charlie to story time at the library
18. Get my palm read/go to psychic
19. Ride a cable car (I’ve lived in the San Francisco Bay Area almost all of my life and I have never done this)
20. Make a first year photo book for Charlie
21. Take Charlie to the Monterey Bay Aquarium
22. Use my sno cone machine
23. Take Charlie to a national park
24. Learn how to make gnocchi - are you up for it, Nonni?
25. Take a cake decorating class
26. Lose 10 pounds
27. Get family pictures taken
28. Introduce Charlie to Santa
29. Buy the Groupon offered on Charlie’s birthday, December 29
30. Take a family road trip, somewhere 60+ miles away

Bag 'O Crap.

Yesterday I was reading one of the blogs I follow and the author took a picture of her bag and what was inside. Looking down in the bag, you can see it was very orderly. She layed everything out on the table and explained what all was in there. It made me laugh because if anyone looked in my bag, the would think "what the...?" Luckily I finally took out the spit up rag thats been in my bag for about a week now.

So I decided to go ahead and lay it all out on the table.

I was at the gas station this morning and killed some time taking a couple pictures of my bag.

I really like my bag. I typically change my bags out every 6 months or so but I've been using this one almost every day since I got it two years ago. Rob bought it for me in Vegas when we were there for my birthday. Its my first Gucci purse and I lovvvve it. We had had our townhouse on the market for many months and we had been saving our penny's so we would have more to put down on the next home. In Vegas Rob said "let's face it, it's not going to sell, lets go ahead and get the purse you've been wanting" (or something to that effect). So we bought it and the day we got home, our realtor told us we had an offer on the house, go figure!

Vertical shot of whats in there.

Laying it all out on the table.

So what is all that crap you ask?

1.) Envelope of receipts for Rob (if it weren't for the blown fuse at work yesterday, they wouldn't have been in a nice, contained envelope but rather all dumped randomly in my bag)

2.) Coupons

3.) Manicure set

4.) Keys

5.) Random cards in rubber band (subway, erik's deli, carters, my business cards, library card, etc)

6.) Gift certificate to a day spa Rob got me for Valentines Day

7.) Purell cleansing wipe

8.) Multiple lips glosses and chap stick

9.) Lotions and hand salve

10.) Tampon

11.) Mirror

12.) Hair tie

13.) Clutch wallet

14.) Gum

Not pictured...Ricola sore throat logenze (just one), safety pin, company badge, birth control prescription. The only other thing missing (besides some organization) is my sunglasses.

I have to say I'm not as embarassed as I thought I would be by exposing my bag mess. Its definately been worse, and better, but this is pretty typical.

Happy 1st Birthday, Annabelle!

Our friend's Mike and Sarah have a daughter, Annabelle, and she just turned one on Friday. Yesterday was her birthday party and it was a luau themed party because they are leaving for Hawaii in two weeks (lucky ducks!).

We happened to have two tropical outfits that we recently got at Janie and Jack (you have to have a back up when your child spit up episodes competes with the likes of the Bellagio fountain in Las Vegas). Here is Charlie and I before we left for the par-tay.

Look at those shoes. Go on. I'll wait.

The whole fam (Charlie trying to chew on who knows what).

Mike, Sarah & Annabelle.

Charlie recently started doing this..

I'm not sure what this is all about but my sister's friend Jamie has a daughter who used to do this too. Anyone know why kids do this?

Botox is not in my near future.

I've always had a baby face. I hated it growing up - I just wanted to look "older." Or - I guess I just wanted to look my age. I think thats all I want to look like now - not older, not younger. Apparently I still look pretty young. I've received a couple comments recently that I thought I would share. Apparently people think I'm a teen mom or something - not that I have anything wrong with that, I'm just far from a teen mom, like at least 10 years past having the possibility of being a teen mom.

So the first comment I got was at the store a couple months ago. I had Charlie in the cart with me and I was wearing a San Jose State University sweatshirt. The cashier guy was I'd guess around 20 years old. This is how our conversation went:

Cashier: SJSU, huh? Are you going to go there?
Me: Yeah, I went there.
Cashier. Cool. What did you major in?
Me: Business
Cashier: Are you going to make a career out of it?
Me: Yes, I have made a career out of it. I graduated.
Cashier: You graduated?
Me: Yes....seven years ago.
Cashier: Oh...I thought you just graduated high school. You look good!

Nice backpeddling, buster.

And the most recent episode happened this morning. A man rang our door bell wanting to wash our windows. I answered the door with Charlie on my hip and the man asks to speak with my mom. I told him I own the house - for some reason that was easier for me to say than "I'M the mom" - because lets face it, I still feel weird that I'm a mom. He apologized, was very nice, and then proceeded to try to sell me his window washing services.

I guess I should be happy that I look young but it is annoying sometimes. When I go to Target with my mom and Charlie, people look at me and probably assume I'm "16 and pregnant." Most of the time when I run errands I'm in yoga pants, don't have make up on and not wearing my wedding rings. Oh well, I guess there are bigger problems to have!

Um, I Bought 5 Pairs of the Same Shoe...

I was browsing online about a month or so ago and found these cute sandals. They were $70 on sale for $40 and I had a 20% off coupon so they were only $32. I was reading the reviews and it got really good reviews so I decided to get 2 pairs. I got the beige and white combo (white is really a cream) and the brown and army green one. They arrived in the mail and they were just as cute in person but the best part: sooooooo comfy!

I'm one of those people that when I like something, I buy a couple of them in different colors so this was no biggie to me.

I found myself browsing online again this morning and these darned shoes were on sale for $29.99!!!! Plus, if you buy 3 or more you get an additional 30% and the kicker? I had a coupon in my purse for $20 dollars off any purchase over $50 that I could use online and on sale items. Did I lose you yet? So, I bought 3 more pairs and my total with tax AND shipping was $58.32! Holy crap do I love a deal.

When I originally bought them, they only had two colors. They must have sold so many that they decided to expand. I love love love the red ones. I also bought brown (I can always wear brown) and silver. I admit, I will probably use the silver ones the least but they were cute/fun/cheap/comfy so I got them.

I hope Rob doesn't have a heart attack when he reads this. Rob, I swear I'm done. I'll just stop looking online all together. Love you!!

Oh and I do not recommend these:

I bought them at Macy's on Wednesday. They are very cute and were on sale for $50 and I had another $20 off any $50 purchase but they are soooo uncomfortable. The first couple hours were fine but after that I had to put a ton of bandaids on my feet.

I feel like I have to say that I'm really not a shoe person. I like shoes and appreciate a good shoe, but when I go shopping I typically buy tops instead of shoes. I think this shoe shopping spree is a result of not buying cute shoes for 9 months when I was pregnant and not buying new shoes for probably at least 6 months before that. I think I'm done for awhile (awhile meaning until the fall/winter).

Fate and Stuff.

A heard a neat story on the radio this morning, I’ll try to get all the facts right. Basically, this couple who were engaged to be married were looking through some old photo albums. They found one of the girl at Disney World when she was little with her family. Her fiancé was looking at the background of the picture and noticed that his dad was in the background of the picture, pushing a stroller, with HIM in it. How crazy is that? I guess this was in Florida and one of them lived in Canada so it’s not like they were both locals. Totally weird....fate perhaps?

This reminds me of a story about yours truly. Rob had told me after we met that he thinks he remembers seeing me driving on the freeway. Yes, I must be that special that he remembered me! Just kidding. He remembered me because he remembers my license plate (it has part of my name on it). Apparently he drove by me, checked me out and thought “she’s cute.” He told me this was by the outlets near my house – he had gone down there with his friend Will in his new Viper. And then I vaguely remember seeing a Viper on the freeway (you don’t see them THAT often) and thinking “what a dork” because they were driving fast and “thought they were cool.” I don’t remember Rob looking at me, probably because they drove by too fast.

So weird how your lives can intersect and not know it. I often think about how many pictures I am in the background of – and if I’m making a funny face? I used to think years ago “I wonder what my future husband is doing….now. And where does he live?” Little did I know that we had crossed paths at least once already.

Chicken with Green Onion Sauce

I had the day off yesterday since I don't work Wednesdays and decided to cook the fam a little din din, weight watcher style. On Tuesdays, my mom makes dinner for us then takes some home for my dad. On Thursdays, Rob cooks and my dad comes down for dinner. The rest of the week's dinner is usually leftovers or whatever we have around (cereal, quesadillas, etc.). I want to start cooking again on Wednesdays - we'll see how long that lasts!

Last night I made Chicken with Green Onion Sauce and served it over quinoa (I pronounce it "quin-oh-uh" but Rob tells me is "kin-wa". Whatever it is, its yummy!

Chicken with Green Onion Sauce

1 14-oz can fat free less sodium chicken broth
2 T flour
2 garlic cloves, minced
¼ t dried thyme
Cooking spray
4 4-oz skinless, boneless, chicken breast halves
1/3 c finely chopped green onions, divided
1/8 t salt
1/8 t pepper

1. Combine ¼ cup chicken broth and flour in small bowl, stirring with a whisk until smooth. Add remaining broth, garlic, and thyme; set aside.
2. Place a large nonstick skillet coasted with cooking spray over medium-high heat until hot. Add chicken, and cook 4 to 5 minutes or until lightly browned. Turn chicken; add 2 tablesppons green onions. Pour broth mixture over chicken; sprinkle with salt and pepper. Reduce heat, and simmer, uncovered, 15 to 20 minutes or until chicken is done, basting often.
3. Remove chjicken from pan; keep warm. Bring sauce to a boil over medium-hihg heat. Scrape bottom and sides of pan, using a rubber spatula. Cook 2 minutes or until sauce is reduced to ¾ cup. Pour sauce evenly over chicken, and top with remaining green onions.

Yield: 4 servings (serving size 1 chicken breast half)
Points: 3
Calories: 155
Fat: 2.1 g
Fiber: 0.2 g

Source: WW Annual Recipes for Success 2003

First Video

I got a flip for my birthday! Here is our very first video using the flip. Charlie was just waking up from his nap when I opened it up. Its a little shaky and boring but that's ok.

Do You 911?

Have you ever called 911? The first time I did was at home, just to see what would happen (I was little). I hung up when they answered and they called us back. A few minutes later my mom found me and said "Did you call 911?" "No" I told her. Sorry Mom!

The next time I called was years later when I was babysitting with my friend Karla. We thought for sure we heard someone jiggle the door knob to the front door. The house was in a wooded area which added to the creepy factor so we called 911. We stayed on the line until the police came and assured us no one was there.

I didn't call 911 again for a good 5 years. I was driving home to the bay area from college (San Luis Obispo) when I saw a cow and its baby running along the freeway. I was the only car around and didn't want the cows to get hurt.

After THAT call, I didn't call again for about 10 years but I've been making up for lost time. Rob even called me a nark!* From what I can recall, these are the reasons I've called 911 in the last 2 years (in no particular order):

1.) Kids spray painting a sign off the freeway* (this was in rush hour - what were they thinking?!)
2.) Guy throwing a beer can out of car (I didn't call because he littered even though that makes me a little pissy when I see that, but I was worried he was drinking and driving)
3.) Dog in car (this was at the outlets - it was 80 degrees outside on a Saturday and the window was just cracked. The outlets are always very busy on the weekends so I thought they most likely didn't just "run in" to grab something - who knows how long the puppy would have been in there!)
4.) Farm animal walking on side of the road (I think it was a goat)
5.) Drunk driver (either drunk or a horrrrrrrible driver - this was a few days ago and actually quite exciting. The California Highway Patrol came up behind us in just a few minutes and pulled him over and I thought "oh crap, I did that!")
6.) Weird guy running around on a hill on the side of a freeway (pretty sure he was out of his mind and I didn't want him run into traffic and get hurt)

Gosh...I feel like there was more than that. Rob's getting used to me coming home and saying "I called 911 again". I'm not an advocate to call and hold up the lines but if I think something is going on that is going to hurt someone, I'm going to call.

Feel free to share your 911 stories (if they aren't too personal of course!).

WW

I'm feeling inspired. Three of my friends are doing well losing weight and, well, I'm not. I was doing ok but now I'm up 3 lbs and getting frustrated with myself. I'm frustrated because I am not even trying. So starting tomorrow, I'm going to go back to counting weight watcher points. I'm not going to join (yet), just count the points at home. I need to check my paper at home, but I think I need to lose 17 lbs to get to where I was before. I'll find out and update my blog to keep me honest. I might even have Rob take pictures of me. I never did that on my prior weight loss journeys and wished I did.

And...I'm loving this bag at Anthropologie. They had a similar one last year that I almost bought but resisted temptation. They did it again this year with the big ass bow (love that big bow!) but it has a different pattern on the bag than last years.

*I'm updating this because I'm a liar. I went to Anthropologie last year to buy it but they didn't have it. I guess that doesn't really go into the "resisting temptation" category does it?

Our Family On Charlie's First Memorial Day.