Things I Love this week

1. The ACE animal recovery service who will kindly be removing the BATS from our attic next Tuesday.

2. The CSA we just joined!! I have been wanting to do this For-Ever and am ridiculously excited. It's called Gaia's Greens and I'll be receiving my first box of mixed fruits and veggies this coming Thursday. They let you pick which box you'd like a week before the delivery (what size, fruits, veggies, mixed, etc) and tell you everything that is in each box so you can plan your menu accordingly. It's 100% organic and totally comparable to grocery store prices, PLUS it gets delivered to your front door! On Thursday we'll be receiving 4 golden delicious apples, 2 bananas (correction: 2 Pounds bananas), 4 Packham pears, 2 oranges, 3 yellow peaches, 1 pound of red onions, 4 cobs of corn, 1 head of cabbage, 1 carrot, 1 of slicer tomatoes, 1 head of lettuce, and 1 pound of red thumb fingerling potatoes. I'm planning some corn and black bean salad, Katie Lee's Hoppin John, chicken with peach salsa, Deen family sausage and potato salad, and the rest is TBD. I would use more exclamation points to show how excited I am but I don't want to be obnoxious.

3. The lake. We're heading to our friend's parent's lake house tomorrow for the day and I cannot wait to get on the boat. Slowly of course, since it will be Madelyn's first time aboard and I will no doubt have 11 panic attacks about us going to fast and there being too many other boats on the water.

4. Kristin. Since she jacked up her leg mountain biking and we're best friends, she was kind enough to take my number 3 in the string of unlucky things to happen in the past 7 days. That's what best friends are for :)

Threes

You know how they say bad things happen in threes?? Well we're on number 2--anyone want to take a stab at what's coming for number 3??!!

Let me preface this by saying these really are not bad things, just inconvenient and expensive- two things I strongly dislike. Everyone is healthy and therefore these are just little, minor, pains in my generous rear end.

First my car went into the shop last week. Turns out I needed new brakes AND some oxygen sensor was out. I drive a 2000 Lexus SUV (which I got for a STEAL in 2004) that I absolutely love but I swear this part would have cost $50 on a Kia. On my car, $300. Ouch.

Then over the weekend I began noticing a squeaking, scratching sound in the upper right corner of our master bathroom vanity, where the ceiling meets the wall. Whatever it was decided to squeak the entire time I laid in bed that night, and hasn't really stopped since. We have an "animal removal service" coming out today to see what's going on. We can't tell if it's a squirrel, bird, mouse (pleeease not a rat) given that there are no real patterns to it's sounds, so it should be interesting. Inspection fee: $150. Trapping fee: $350.

I wish I was braver and I'd get up there and trap the darn thing for myself for $350!!! I just hope it's not a baby and they don't have to kill it. Other than that, I look forward to hopefully some quiet, sleepful nights in our future.

And so we wait to see when and where blessed number three will choose to rear his ugly head...

Website Rave

Lately, cooking for me has been all about efficiency. Madelyn is ready to eat dinner just after 6 p.m. so whether I work from home or the office, that doesn't leave me much time. I'm also more conscious than ever about what we're eating because I want to make sure she gets a protein/whole grain/ and fruit or veggie with each meal.

This sounds easy, but I assure you, even for a compulsive planner like myself it can get very difficult.

Lately I have been Loving this website, You've Got Supper. They have tons of healthy recipes with very few ingredients that cook up in no time at all. If you sign up, they'll also send you a weekly list of recipes with shopping list.

Here are a few I've tried and some others that are on my radar- enjoy!!

Proven delicious:

Cheesy sausage strata

One pot pork tenderloin and crispy potatoes

Couscous with golden raisins and pine nuts

Pineapple rice

In my lineup for the next few weeks:

Caesar salad and pepper shrimp

Grilled chicken caprese salad

Apricot almond chicken

My black thumb

One of my most vivid memories from when we lived in Michigan was my mom taking my sister Lindsey and I to the nursery and letting us pick out whatever little potted plant we wanted to bring home and grow. I always picked marigolds. From what I recall, so did Lindsey.

I doted on my plants, watered them every day, made sure they had sun, and they always died. Lindsey ignored her plants, and instead spent time playing with toys and what not, and her plants thrived. THRIVED.

This should have been my first sign that I was just one of those people who was not meant to raise plants.

I blatantly ignored the crystal clear signs and decided to proceed with my herb garden, planting one little pot of chives and another of sweet basil on the back patio last week. And this is what I came home to two days later:

Spontaneous combustion? The neighbor's cat? I'm not sure what caused the demise of my chives. All I know is that clearly someone is trying to tell me something.

Madelyn: 13 months

I realize I'm posting this a few days prematurely, but we've been so busy lately I don't want to forget it, and since this blog is some version of my baby book I figured it was time for a full Madelyn update.

Madelyn, later this week you will be 13 months old and you are becoming such a little person. I swear you are a 3-year-old stuck in a 1-year-old's body.

You now eat all table food, drink milk out of a sippy cup throughout the day, and have one small bottle of milk at night before bed. It amazes us how much food you can put away since you were never a big eater when you were younger. Your bedtime is 7:45 p.m. which is too early for me because I'd like more time to play with you, but that's when you like to go to bed and since lately you've been sleeping 12 hours, I'm not complaining :)

You have 8 teeth and I'm pretty sure a few more close to coming through. Your absolute favorite thing to do is be outside. You like to pick up leaves, take walks, play with the flowers, anything really. And you'll stand by the back door and cry if we don't take you out when you want to go(enter daily tantrum #1 :) The best part about being outside is that anytime you find something on the ground like a leaf or pine needle, you bring it to me and put it in my hand like it's a little gift :)

You are 21 pounds and 30.5 inches long- still tall and skinny (lucky girl!). You love to talk on the phone and anytime someone says "hello?" you put whatever toy you have in your hand up to your ear. You often talk and sing yourself to sleep, you give us hugs and kisses and are so sweet to us it really just melts our hearts. You even brush our hair if we hand you your hairbrush. The other day I told you to go get your shoe and you actually brought your shoe to me. That's when I realized how many words you're learning even if you can't say them yet.

We take a walk every night (weather permitting) and read Goodnight Moon almost every night before bed. That is, until you start eating the book.

You are wearing 12 month clothing and size 3 shoes. You love shoes and bags. You even have a little purse you put your blocks in and carry around the house. You're definitely going to be an accessories girl when you grow up.

Thank you for all of your sweet smiles and laughs, they make our day. I can't wait to see what you'll be doing a month from now!

Summer Projects

Life is about to get a little bit crazy, so why I feel the need to make this long list of things I'd like to accomplish this summer is beyond me. Regardless, here I am.

We are super blessed that Matt has a job he absolutely loves. It's demanding, a bit intense at times, and sometimes requires long hours, but he feels fulfilled and driven and for that I am extremely grateful. As much as we appreciate this job, I do not appreciate that it is making him spend EIGHT weeks this summer in Connecticut for training. Four separate two-week trips, leaving me a single parent for a total of eight weeks. Don't kid yourself, it's a long time. Actually, if you could start including me and Madelyn in your nightly prayers it would be much appreciated.

I plan to channel the single mom's I know and enjoy all of the alone time with Madelyn, and try to be as organized as possible so I don't have to make 19 grocery/Target runs a week like I feel like I currently do (and I'm an organized person!!). Oh, and I also plan to accomplish this tiny list of to-do's. No big deal.

1. Print and organize all of the pictures from Madelyn's first year of life. I didn't get a baby book for Madelyn so I guess this blog is my best source of documentation for all of her "firsts", but I would like to get one nice album together of the best pictures of her and then delete those that aren't that great. Lord knows I love the girl but even I don't need all the pictures I have stored on my computer and I think there is real value in just keeping those that are really good.

2. Finish our kitchen re-do. We did most of the major kitchen stuff earlier as you've seen in previous posts, now I'm just working on new detailed touches. We painted the walls a nice tan color (no more green!) and I'm working with my friend Amanda who has a sewing machine to make a roman shade for the back door out of this fabric, then adding the blue rug. (I have no idea why the black background is showing up in these pictures, sorry about that)

3. Since adding the bed to our master bedroom and moving the big armoire down to Matt's office, we now have a nice empty corner which I plan to use for my reading nook (I realize "reading nook" sounds a little silly but if you say it with a British accent it sounds much more distinguished). My mom gave us a great chair and a half a few years back and we're going to have it recovered. These are some of the fabrics I'm considering for the main chair and also a nice lumbar accent pillow.

3. Next, on to my summer reading list. Just like in school, except instead of reading Huck Funn and Moby Dick I plan to engorge myself in mindless chick lit novels, and possibly a few intellectual reads here and there- but only if they're quick and easy.

4. Make a once-a-week trip to the local farm to pick up fresh fruits and veggies with Madelyn. Yum.

5. Plant a vegetable garden (Sidebar- Is it just me or is this list getting long??) I at least want tomatoes, cucumbers, and some herbs. Since the last time I tried to "raise" flowers they lasted all of two weeks this should be interesting.

6. Plan a fall weekend for all of our friends at a cabin in the mountains to celebrate Matt's 30th birthday.

Oh and did I mention that I also signed up for a sewing class, would like our family to train for a 5K together early in the fall, and want to start teaching Madelyn Spanish? Kidding on the last one, although I wonder how "uh oh" translates....

I'm a Mama....

To the sweetest baby girl in the entire world. She loves to give me hugs and every once in a while a big open mouthed kiss. She wants to play paddycake, sit in my lap and read books, and be tickled all day long. She has the happiest disposition and is so calm natured. I thank God for sending me such an easy child for my first. I'm pretty sure #2 is going to be hell on wheels.