The first farewell

We'll be saying goodbye to lots of things over the next few days as we move to a new house. But the first to go is our trusty living room furniture. I still remember when I was about 10 years old, living in Saratoga, and the family went out to buy new couches and tables for our house. I fell in love with this leather chair (it's so cozy!!) and wouldn't get out of it in the store until my parents relented and said we could bring it home with us. In the 20+ years since then, I've spent a lot of time curled up in that chair. Covered in a blanket. Reading a book or watching TV. It's been at home in our family houses on both coasts, in Ric and my first apartment in San Francisco. And our second. And it made the trek across the Atlantic with us.

Goodbye chair and couches. You've taken good care of us over the years. I hope you'll do the same in your new home for many years to come!

Little drummer boy

James update

We are almost exactly one week away from James's first birthday, so I thought I'd take a minute to write about what he's up to these days...

• Teeth: he's got six teeth (5 fully in and 1 halfway in). They're huge. Much bigger than other baby teeth I've seen. And he's got a big space in between his two top teeth. All of which makes for a pretty funny, and charming in its own way, smile
• Babytude: Ric had to go back to the US for work and two days after he left, James developed what I've affectionately termed a "babytude." He basically started pitching fits when he wasn't getting what he wanted. Very interesting development, and one that I wasn't expecting for a few more months at least. So we've started disciplining him to try and nip it in the bud. He gets a babytude with Ana and I, but not Ric, so Ric is trying to teach James that's it's not ok to pitch a fit with Mommy or Ana. I'll say one thing for sure, the kid knows what he wants and doesn't want. And while it's not behavior that we condone of , it is kind of cool to see him becoming more of his own person
• Mysterious sickness: Last week, also while Ric was gone, James developed a weird rash that at first only came out when we put him in the bath. After my initial panic - Oh my gosh, he's allergic to water! - we talked to the doctor and when the spots didn't go away after 4 days or so, we took him in. Turns out he probably had a viral infection of some sort, which also explains his insanely high fever the other night (which we chalked up to teething at the time). The bumps have pretty much gone away on their own, so we're now back to normal
• Food: the good news about James turning one is that he can now eat pretty much anything that we eat. I made scrambled eggs for him last weekend and he LOVED them. We've also switched him to real cow's milk instead of formula, and he likes that as well. And peanut butter on toast... yum!
• Eating: in a related category, James is now trying to feed himself with a spoon. It's pretty funny and REALLY messy. Food everywhere. And as a non-messy person, this goes against every fiber in my body. But he loves it so we're letting him experiment as much as he wants. Mostly.
  
• 12 month checkup: while we were at the doctor, we did a quick 12 month checkup. James is right on track with his development (he's saying a few words, can use his "pincer" grip to pick things up, is trying to walk, can wave, etc). And he now weighs 22.5 pounds, which is in the 70th percentile
• Walking: he hasn't officially walked yet, but he can stand on his own without holding onto anything (until he realizes he's doing it and then gets scared and sits down), and he took a couple unassisted steps. He gets around so well by crawling (that kid is FAST!) that he's not overly motivated to start walking. But I think he'll be there in the next month or so. We're excited about that... and preparing to put gates up all over our new house
  

Welcome Collin Parr!

Congrats to Sara and Jeff who welcomed a new member to their family on November 26th. Collin Parker Parr is just about the cutest thing I've ever seen. And his mom looks like a natural! He weighed in at 7 lbs and 1 oz and is 21 inches long. I can't wait to meet him in January!

Recipe share

Can't wait to try this one!

Hey Rach -

Here's my mom's Chocolate Chocolate Chip Pound Cake recipe. It's so easy and equally delicious!

1 package Duncan Hines yellow cake
1 package instant chocolate pudding mix
1 tbsp vanilla
4 eggs
1/4 cup water
3/4 cup canola oil
1 cup sour cream
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Pre-heat oven to 325 degrees. In large mixer, begin mixing dry ingredients. One at a time, add the ingredients (in the order listed above) until fully mixed together. Fold in semi-sweet chocolate chips at the end. Batter should be a creamy chocolate mix. Two baking options: 1) Pour batter into a bundt cake tin and cook for 1 hour 2) Pour batter into 3 loaf tins and cook for 50 minutes

I prefer the 3 loaf pans because you can keep one and share the other two! My mom wraps these cakes in Christmas saran wrap and gives them away to everyone for Christmas.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Wishing everyone a very happy Thanksgiving full of wonderful meals and lots of family time. In the spirit of celebrating from abroad, I wanted to share one of my favorite recipes. If you have yummy recipes to share, please email them to me and I'll post them on the blog. Amanda - your squash casserole sounded quite good!



Sweet potato casserole (from my Aunt Barb):

3 lbs sweet potatoes
1/2 cup melted butter
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp cinnamon
2 eggs, well beaten

Topping, mix:
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/3 cup butter, melted
1 cup brown sugar, packed
1/2 nuts (pecans)
1/3 cup flour

Cook sweet potatoes until soft. Mash and add all of the above. Add topping. Put in a baking dish (butter or spray with Pam). Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

Tee hee

Ok, now that I've communicated the emotional rollercoaster that is moving, I thought I would share something a little lighter. Funny pie chart passed on from my brother: