The Other Day

Sorry about the lack of creativity in my blog post title. Kids have been sick and sleepless for several nights now and I'm coming up a little short in the creative thinking area. So, 'The Other Day' the kids and I met Cyndi, Tony and Roman over at our parents' house for a little visit with everyone. Mary was even there and hung out with us.

Before we left the house Esperanza did a little coloring in her coloring books. A very typical scene here.

Roman and Esperanza climbed the tree out front of my moms house. Cyndi was out there with them taking pictures. I thought they both looked so silly this day: Roman with his shades and hat, Esperanza with her the pink skirt she's decided can be worn over anything, everyday. They made quite the pair and played together so well.

Grandma and Ezra

Esperanza wanted her nails painted (there are a few people who do this for her, Mary is one of them). She wanted blue nail polish, and Mary had it. Roman became interested and wanted his nails painted blue too! So, both Roman and Esperanza got treated to blue nail polish (Esperanza's toes are blue too).

Roman has so much love and affection for Ezra. He kept loving on him, giving hugs and kisses and holding his hand asking questions. It was adorable. He wanted to hold him and somehow I managed to snap a very sweet picture of them.

And then Esperanza wanted to hold Ezra, and I got a not so clear picture. Still sweet!

Standing Up

Just a few short weeks after Ezra learned how to crawl, he's now pulling himself up to stand while holding onto something. He's was attempting this almost immediately after crawling, with quick progress. Sometimes he will crawl with one knee down and one leg extended. I remember Esperanza doing a similar crawl, but she was 13 months old. Ezra is just 9 months, and would much rather walk or run than crawl. Esperanza on the other hand, was in no hurry to crawl, walk or run because she just wanted to be carried (which is still true to this day). It's just a matter of time before this little boy is chasing Esperanza around.

A very short clip of him pulling himself up. For a moment, I thought he was actually going to climb up the step. Not yet though.

A Baby Boy & The Box Of Tissue

We don't use a lot of disposables around our house. We try, with exceptions and room for improvement, to use reusable cloth for things that some households use disposables for (napkins, diapers, pads, tissues, grocery bags, etc). When Ezra was born, my home birth supply kit contained a ton of disposable things. Most of them were used, then tossed out with the garbage. A few things remained untouched, one of which was a box of tissue (I think it was on the list for the purpose of wiping tears?). If there were tears, I assume they were probably wiped with a sleeve, a cloth tissue or just allowed to flow down the cheek. Either way, box of tissue was left unused.

So, with that said, and 9 1/2 months later, what do we do with a box full of tissue? Well hand it to your baby boy when you are desperate for something, anything, to entertain him with for a few moments of course! And entertain it did, for a very, very long time. Long enough for me to do what I needed to do with lots of interest left for me to take pictures and play with him.

I stuffed them all back in the box after he was done playing

Ezra is 9 Months Old

At nine months old, Ezra is crawling around with speed and determinations. He has places to go, and he wants to get here fast. His destination is often blocked by a gate, a door or his sister. He makes lots of caveman sounding noises when he talks. He hasn't yet learned to point, but I'm already visualizing him pointing at something and making that noise, as if to say "Me, Hungry". He's going through a 'I'm too busy to sit and eat' phase. He'll take a few bites and then scream to get out of his high chair, not because he's full, but because he feels too confined and wants to move around. Some of the new foods he's been introduced to include lentils, dates, barley, green beans, blueberries and tahini among some others. His favorite lately is blueberries. Now that he's mobile, he hurts himself a lot. He bumps his head on the wood bench, on the floor and into the walls all the time. He's given himself a bloody lip and a bruised forehead already. Another thing mobility has provided him is the opportunity to get into things. He wants to stick his fingers into outlets, pull on the cords that are in the outlets, put fingers into electric wall heaters, pull on curtains and the strings to blinds. Because Esperanza never did any of these things (she just cried to be held 24/7) I never had the house completely 'baby-proofed'. Ezra is so different, so much more curious about things at an earlier age.

Crawling Naked Baby

It's a cute bottom, hope you agree.

Playing With Blocks

We love these blocks! Ezra tries to stack them like I do, sometimes successfully. Mostly he just chews and slobbers on them. Esperanza has rediscovered her love for them, because Ezra likes them. But also because they have animals on them with their name in Spanish (along with the Spanish alphabet and numbers). Armando uses them to teach Esperanza the alphabet, numbers and the animals.

Panda Bear, Panda Bear, What Do You See?

I'm not sure of where we got this book, probably a gift from someone. Wherever it came from, it's been a favorite of ours for some time. We absolutely love it! I've been reading it to Esperanza off and on for a couple of years. We read it so much that she had it memorized and knew all of the animals. It got put away for a few months when she found interests in other books, then found it's way onto the bed the other night for story time before bed. Instead of me reading, Esperanza read it to Ezra. So stinkin' cute! She couldn't remember all of the animals, so towards the end of story time (and this video), I was telling her the names of the animals and then she was counting. I only wish the lighting was better in this video, as we just had the bedside lamp on. It's pretty dark, but you can at least listen, which really is the cutest part.

Chicken Pot Pie

Last year when we were visiting my sister, she made this pot pie dish from this cook book she has. Since then I've been checking the book out from our local library, trying a few recipes then having to return it and check it out again to try more recipes. I made the pot pie recipe for the first time a couple of weeks ago and it was just as delicious as the first time I tried it, only I didn't have enough people to eat it (Armando was still on his juice cleanse and it's got too many things I'm not giving to Ezra yet). Esperanza and I ate on it for a few days then kinda forgot about it and the rest went bad. Next time, I'll either invite people over or half the recipe. The cook book has a ton of other amazing recipes with local ingredients specific to the NW and for each season.

Chicken Pot Pie

Ingredients:

3 Tbsp Butter

1/2 cup diced celery

1/2 cup diced onion

1 small bay leaf

3 Tbsp Flour

1 1/2 cups chicken stock

1 1/2 cups milk

Dash or two of Tabasco and Worcestershire Sauce

Salk and pepper to taste

1 to 2 cups shredded or diced cooked chicken

3/4 pound potatoes, diced and cooked

2 or 3 carrots, diced and cooked

4-6 ounces frozen peas or edamame

1/2 cup chopped parsley

Directions:

1. In a large saucepan, melt the butter over low heat. Add the celery, onion, and bay leaf. Cover and cook until the vegetables are soft. Sprinkle the flour over the vegetables. Stir well and cook 5 minutes.

2. Stir in the stock and milk. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the sauce thickens, about 15 minutes.

3. Remove the bay leaf, add the Tobasco, Worcestershire, and season with salt and pepper. Stir in the chicken, potatoes, peas and parsley. Keep warm while you make the Biscuit Dough

Biscuit Dough

Ingredients

1 cup white flour (or half whole wheat)

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

3 Tbsp cold butter

1/2 cup milk

3 Tbsp chopped dill

Directions

Preheat the oven to 425. Sift the flour, baking powder and salt together into a bowl. Cut in the butter using a knife or pastry blender. work until the chunks are the size of peas. Add the milk and dill and stir for a minute or until the dough leaves the sides of the bowl. It will be sticky.

Putting It All Together

Transfer the filling to a 3-quart oven proof casserole. Drop the dough over the filling with a large spoon, spacing it evenly to make about 6 biscuits. Bake for 20-25 minutes, until the biscuits are lightly browned and the pie is bubbling. Serve hot.

Babes In The Bath

These two love taking baths together!

Breakfast Scones

These scones remind me of the freshly baked scones I used to buy on some mornings from the local cafe/bakery across the street from where I used to work a few years ago. They are so yummy. Is there anything nutritious about them? Nope, not a thing.

While at the grocery store the other day, I came across this lemon curd and decided I had to buy it and had to make scones to put it on. I dug up a scone recipe a friend sent to me not too long ago and baked them for breakfast this morning. They turned out just as I'd hoped, flaky and delicious. Oh and that lemon curd is fabulous! I'll need to find another use for it besides scones. Maybe lemon bars or cookies of some sort...

Breakfast Scones Recipe

Ingredients

2 cups all purpose flour

1/4 cup white sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup butter, cold and cut into pieces

3/4 cup buttermilk*

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Dried Cranberries or other dried fruit (optional)

*If you don't have buttermilk on hand, add 3/4 tablespoon white vinegar, lemon juice or apple cider vinegar to 3/4 cup milk. Let it sit for about 10 minutes and you now have buttermilk.

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees and place oven rack in middle of oven

2. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Cut the butter into pieces and blend into the flour mixture with a pastry blender or two knives. The mixture should look like coarse crumbs. Add the buttermilk, cranberries or other dried fruit (if adding) and the vanilla extract tot he flour mixture and stir until the dough comes together. Do not over mix.

3. Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface and knead the dough gently and form into a 7 inch round that is about 1 inch thick. Use a 2 1/2 inch round biscuit cutter to cut the dough into circles. Or separate the dough and form wedge shaped scones. Transfer the scones to the baking sheet and brush the tops of them with a little milk.

4. Bake for about 18-20 minutes or until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Remove from oven and transfer to a wire rack to cool. Spread lemon curd on the tops or eat as they are. Can be stored at room temperature for a few days.

Makes about 10 - 2 1/2 inch or 8 wedge-shaped scones

Black Bean Brownies

Lately, my life consists of mostly cooking and cleaning...then more cooking and cleaning. An hour or two of sleep here and there, then more cooking & cleaning. It's an endless cycle. If I could have a maid and a chef, I'd be smitten. We've kept ourselves cooped up too much this winter I think, otherwise, I'd be smitten regardless. Since cleaning isn't very interesting and I need to start posting something on my blog, I've decided it's time to share some recipes.

These brownies brought a smile to my face, as well as Esperanza's. She never knew black beans were in them, even though she helped make them. When we got to the part where I added beans and she asked me what they were (which was odd, because we eat black beans in recipes quite often), without even thinking about it, and because she kinda set me up, a little white lie escaped my mouth and I said they were chocolate beans. Her eyes got big and she asked if she could taste one. I gave her one, and as she chewed on it. Her eyes got even bigger, she made the 'Mmmmm' sound and asked for more. Ha! I don't know if she was kidding herself or me, as black beans don't taste the least bit like chocolate, and she knows what chocolate tastes like. I assure you, these brownies DO NOT taste like black beans. They taste like sweet, moist chocolate brownies, and will exceed your expectations.

And Here's The Recipe

Ingredients:

2 cups cooked black beans (or 1 can, rinsed and drained)
3 eggs
1/3 cup melted butter OR coconut oil*
1/4 cup cocoa powder
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup sugar OR equivalent sweetener like honey
1/2 cup chocolate chips
1/3 cup finely chopped walnuts (optional)

*If you use unsalted beans and unsalted butter, add 1/8 teaspoon salt to this recipe.

Instructions:

1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. In a food processor bowl or blender, combine the black beans, eggs, melted butter, cocoa powder, vanilla, and sugar. Pulse or blend until smooth (or as smooth as possible).

2. Grease an 8x8-inch glass baking dish. Pour the batter into the greased dish. Sprinkle chocolate chips and nuts (if using) over the top and use a spatula to push them down into the batter just a little (but not too much; they will sink some while the brownies bake).

3. Bake at 350 degrees for 40-50 minutes, until brownies are set in the middle. Watch the edges for excess browning if you're not sure they're done. (Mine seem to take a full 50 minutes, and are still chewy but not gooey.)

Cool and then chill before serving! Store in fridge.

This Was Our February

Even with the extra day this year, the month of February flew by. Since I have a few pictures but not the time or desire to create a bunch of blog posts for all of them, I'll catch you up with our February events with one long one.

Probably the most 'exciting' thing that happened during the month of February, was that Ezra learned to crawl, and cut his first 2 teeth. On Valentines Day I felt his first tooth AND on that same day I saw him crawl for the first time. I was excited to tell Armando later that evening about him crawling, and his casual response was "Yeah, he did that the other day too".

Esperanza's preschool is moving locations. Still close to home, just not as close. Currently, it is within walking distance of our house, but still a good trek. We've never actually walked to school before though until the other day. It was a beautiful, sunny day so we loaded up and took off, making it there with a few minutes to spare and no hiccups along the way. I want to try to do this a few more times before the school moves and we'll have no choice but to drive.

We made Valentines for each of Esperanza's preschool classmates for Valentines Day. She has become a pro with scissors. I traced where to cut, and she cut out the hearts. She sprinkled sparkles on some, colored on others, and added a couple heart candies to each.

Our niece Anycia and nephew Antonio stayed with their dad for a couple of months recently. Being so close to us, we were able to have them over to visit often. One of the times, we took a little stroll to the neighborhood park/river.

Ezra has discovered Esperanza's kitchen!

We visited our friends Jessica, Nicholas and Ella recently. We hadn't seen them all winter. Nicholas is a few months older than Esperanza and has SMA (you can read his story here). He's such a sweet boy...so sweet in fact that when he heard that Esperanza did not get the 'Big Woody' from Toy Story she so desperately wanted for Christmas, he offered to giver her the one he received since he doesn't like it. Esperanza loves her Woody, he's a "great addition to the round-up gang" as her Jessie says between yodels. Thank you Nicholas!

Esperanza loves walking around in my shoes. Mostly my old high heel shoes that she dug out from the back on my closet. She also likes my rain boots.

We've had an exceptionally warm and dry winter this year. With the exception of a few days here and there, we've had very few opportunities to go puddle stompin'. We need to get some puddle pants to keep Esperanza dry...she really does stomp!

The kitchen sink is usually full of dirty dishes. For a brief moment though, it was clean at a time that was ideal for a baby bath. Ezra loved it.

Two Front Teeth

After months and months and months of teething, Ezra finally has a couple of teeth. The first showed up on Valentines Day and the second just a few days later.

First tooth

Second tooth

Juice

We've had a juicer for many years, but I pretty much forgot about it until Armando said he was thinking of doing a juicing cleanse several weeks ago. I loved the idea, not just for him, but to add some delicious raw juices to the kids' and my daily intake as well. Armando went a little over 3 weeks with juice as his only meals and is just now getting back into eating 'solid foods'. I think he's even lost like 30 pounds or something (wow, that's like the size of Esperanza). The rest of us are of course not cleansing, but we drink it like it's part of our meals each day. Fresh juice is amazing! AMAZING!!

We don't always have everything I want to juice but we typically have most of it. i end up making a few different combinations since Ezra doesn't get citrus fruits yet and Armando gets things like cucumber which I don't like. Esperanza and I drink the same. So, for Ezra, I add beets, carrots, apple and some greens (kale or spinach usually). Esperanza always asks for orange, pineapple, grapefruit and apple, not wanting any veggies. We rarely if ever have all of those fruits. What she doesn't know though is the flavor of what she thinks is her original requested juice, really has some combination of greens, beets and carrots, some citrus and apple. On rare occasions we'll do some tropical fruits like pineapple and maybe even some berries if I feel like giving up some of my frozen stash. Whatever I end up making, Esperanza loves it but would die if she knew the true ingredients. I add a ton of other things to Armando's since it truly was the only thing he was 'eating'. Cucumbers, celery, collards, spinach, beets, cabbage, beet leaves, carrots, dandelion leaves, bell peppers, apples, oranges, grapefruit, lemon, lime, etc. There was a time or two I even added a hot pepper, broccoli and green beans to his juice.

We juice every single day, with a few exceptions. That juicer has not left the counter top and will never collect dust again, unless ~ heaven forbid ~ it dies. It's such a tastier and healthier alternative to the grocery store juices recently found to be tainted with poisons and toxins anyways.

Ezra's, Esperanza's and Mama's (Daddy's gets a large mason jar - his 'meal' for the day)

My sister keeps encouraging me to use the 'pulp/fiber' the juicer spits out as a filler in muffins or breads. I haven't yet, but hope to and will share a recipe if and when I do. Until then, it all gets added to my worm and compost bins. I'm gonna have some amazing compost and vermicompost this Spring/Summer!

Ezra Is 8 Months Old

At 8 months old, Ezra...

...loves to feed himself and will not let me spoon feed him anything. Ever. I still steam fruits and veggies for him but instead of pureeing them, I just dice them up for him. Still, I've had to get a little creative with how and what I feed him since, 1.) he still does not have teeth and can choke on things that aren't soft enough and 2.) when things are too soft, they are clearly not the ideal finger foods. This means rice cereal is not even an option. Feeding him pureed foods only lasted all of maybe two weeks before he decided he didn't want me to feed him. I had expected to be pureeing for at least a couple of months. Nope. Good thing I didn't invest in any new baby food pureeing kitchen products! Some of his favorite finger foods are broccoli, cooked egg yolk (He loves an egg or two in the morning - LOVES!), cauliflower, prunes, avocado, kiwi, banana and kale (steamed then chopped and rolled up into little balls so he can gum it and swallow - if it's 'leafy' it just gets stuck to the roof of his mouth). He also loves to snack on Cheerios (Apparently Otios are no longer around like they were when Esperanza was a baby - so Ezra gets all that added sugar, salt and starch that Cheerios has to offer).

...poops in the middle of the night. Wakes up to poop. And then wakes up even more when I have to turn on some kind of light to take clothes off and change his diaper in the middle of the night. He does this every single night! At least once, sometimes twice. And no, he's not eating prunes before bed.

...is SO close to crawling. He can get around still a few different ways: the army crawl, a worm crawl (wiggling his butt up and down while legs push him), backwards scoot while on hands and knees and when he's in a sitting position he'll get into a crawl position then back into a sitting position and back to crawl position - before you know it, he's on the other side of the room!

...has finally settled into a fairly consistent and predictable routine for naps and night time sleep. He wakes in the morning about 7 or 7:30, naps from 11-1 (this creates a problem on days I take Esperanza to school at noon), naps again from 3:30 or 4 to about 5 then goes to sleep for the night around 8 or 8:30. He wake several times in the middle of the night to nurse, but drifts back into dreamland easily, most of the time. Of course this will all change now that I've put it in writing.

...enjoys swinging in the outdoor swing, shaking rattles, playing with balls of any size or texture, taking his socks off to chew on, taking baths with his sister, drooling all over himself, laughing and crying in harmony with his sister, nursing in the rocking chair with his super soft white blanket on him and sitting with his sister in the middle of a pile of toys and being entertained by her while chewing on all kinds of tasty things.

Hide & Seek

I tried to encourage her to hide under the table, behind the curtains or in the closet. She had her own idea though. She really does believe that if she can't see you, you can't see her.

Ready or not, here I come!