New outfit #2

Atti wore today's outfit to HEB. He looks like such a big kid! Outfit by Rocawear, size 12 months.

Things you learn as a parent

Wow! It's been forever since I have blogged. I think the last time was right after Atti's first tooth arrived. As of today, he has 5 teeth with the sixth one well on it's way and he will turn the big one in two weeks!

Right now, all three babies have been snoozing away for almost two whole hours and Will is still working so I have found myself with some free time. I know, that hardly ever happens!

We recently came back from visiting our families for one whole week. During our vacation, Atticus made out like a bandit in the clothing department! I am going to dress him up in one outfit each day for a photo shoot. This way I can ensure he gets to wear everything at least once. All of the clothes are from my parents, Atti's Grandma and Grandpa.

Remember wind suits? I know there are a ton of pictures of me (which will never surface) in wind suits. I had no idea they were back (still?) in! Here is Atticus in his fancy Tech wind suit.

Atticus story of the day:

One of Atti's newest things is putting things back from where he got them. This has been great and has helped kind of with cleaning up in the evenings. Sometimes, though, it doesn't help. This afternoon, I brought Atti into our bathroom with me while I was fixing my hair. Atti entertained himself by pulling out my nail polishes, putting them in his mouth, and then putting them back. Then he found our q-tips and you already know what happens next. Yep, he sure did grab handfuls of q-tips, put them in his mouth, and then put them back. Oh boy. Cleaning our ears is going to be quite fun!

Hope you're doing well!

Tooth!

That's right, we have a tooth growing! Atti's bottom front left tooth made it's debut on Tuesday, July 10th! Will and I have thought Atti was on the verge of teething for months now, with nothing to show for it. And now that there is a tiny tooth growing in there, suddenly I feel like I'm not ready for this to happen, like he's too little and I can't believe my baby is getting so big and etc. But really, how else is this kid going to have a steak some day?

So far, he has not been fussy, no screaming bloody murder, and no fever! I have heard horror stories about teething, but so far so good.

Atti testing out his new tooth while eating a banana teething biscuit.

Adventures with Solid Food #13: Cucumber

This sums it up pretty well:

http://flic.kr/p/cnYD2C

Cucumbers were the easiest puree to make -- you peel and seed them, then throw them in the blender! I will say to double the amount of cucumber. I bought 2lbs, but after peeling and getting the seeds out, I wasn't left with much. Atti does not like cucumbers by themselves, but really likes them when mixed with peaches.

Up next:

Zucchini

Adventures with Solid Food #12: Eggplant

The twelfth food for AMD is eggplant. I have really been lagging on the blog posts as of late, as I have been making DIY pore cleanser masks that made me break out (all over!), and doing all kinds of other things - like raising a baby!

Back to the "meat" of the post - eggplants. Every time I think about eggplants, I think about the movie The Coneheads.

I have never really had any cooking experience with eggplants, so all of this was new territory! I only used one eggplant and had to peel it and then cut into cubes. I had no idea that they had tiny seeds in them! The recipe said to leave the seeds in, so I did. After cutting them into cubes, I cooked them on the stove with some water until they were tender. Then I blended them up and they were good to go! One eggplant made a little over 24 oz.

http://flic.kr/p/ch9qkC

Review:

 

 http://flic.kr/p/chaUXQ

Meh, they're all right. They are pretty bland, but Atti eats them up when we mix in eggplants with other, more delicious foods.

Up next:

Cucumber

Roasted...again!

I am glad I wrote down the recipe for this roast nearly four years ago, because I keep referring back to it when I want to cook roast. Today I am making it again, only this time I decided to formalize the measurements for the seasonings. You know, to make things more repeatable. Atti's still young but in a few years he'll be helping us cook, so it will help for us to have clear recipes.

To start with I collected all the vegetables, meat, and concentrated soup as noted in this post. I did add more garlic, perhaps six cloves total. (What's the difference between a garlic clove and garlic bulb?) The meat I used today was a two pound shoulder chuck roast.

Here are the precisely measured spices:

• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp ground black pepper
• 1/2 tsp chili powder
• 1 tsp dried oregano

These are all experimental amounts, so after we eat it I will see what I need to add (or remove).

No time to cook overnight, so today I'm cooking it on high for a few hours so it will be ready in time for dinner.

Homemade pore cleanser review

Thursday morning I tried this:  http://petitelefant.com/how-to-pore-strips/

I was really excited about it and had to try it out right away!

The only ingredients needed are one envelope of unflavored gelatin (right by the flavored JELL-O gelatins), and 1 tablespoon of any kind of milk (we have 2%). You mix these up, put it in the microwave, then put this wherever you need it on your face -- FAST!

I have had lots of skin issues after the birth of Atti Murph. I have tried all of the stuff that I can safely use and it was nice that I didn't have to shell out lots of money to get my face some help!

So, yesterday (Thursday), before Atti woke up, I got down to business with this cleanser! Something I didn't think about when reading the instructions -- when you put things in the microwave, they get hot! So, after giving myself second degree burns (okay, it wasn't that bad, but still - ouch!), and piling this stuff all over my face (yes, I need that much help), it was ready to dry. And yes, you do have to move fast - by the time I was at my chin (the last part), it was already starting to dry in the cup.

Unlike other face masks, this one doesn't smell too great. And I piled this stuff all over my face so I had to smell it for 15-20 minutes while it dried. Yuck.

When I couldn't move my face anymore, it was time to peel the mask off! The good thing about waiting until after Atti was born was that I had labor to prepare me for the pain of peeling this thing off. Talk about ouch! This hurt like a beast and I immediately regretted putting this goop all over my face. I read from the writer that afterwards she had a clean, pore-free, and hairless face. No kidding! What she doesn't mention is that you are probably also peeling off a small layer of skin to boot! You know those tiny hairs at your hairline that never grow by your forehead? Yeah, a few of those were yanked out as well.

The main thing I wanted sucked from my face were the giant blackheads on my nose. Kind of TMI, but that's okay. This mask didn't really get those suckers - of course! After all of that torture, it didn't do what I really hoped it would do. So afterwards, because I hadn't suffered enough, I put on a Biore nose strip and that got some of them.

Overall, I have to give this a C for a hot, smelly, painful mess!

I have three more envelopes of unflavored gelatin if you want them.