Well, after my two week almost-absence, things are back to normal here in The Brunette Foodie household.

Where was I you ask?

A glorious two week vacation with my three favorite boys: Nathan, Samuel, and Stitch {the pug}.

Nathan and I started planning this trip when I was about 30 weeks pregnant.  It took a lot of planning and scheduling, but we managed it with no hiccups.

First stop: North Carolina to see Steve & Cat

{Samuel’s reaction to the outfit I picked out for him.}

Second stop: Washington D.C. to see Callie

{stolen from Callie’s Facebook page}

Third stop:  Pennsylvania to see my family

{who are these people?!?}

Fourth stop:  Ohio to see Nathan’s family

{Samuel with his great-grandfather a few days before he turned 90}

{Samuel in seersucker during his great-grandfather’s birthday party}

Fifth stop: another Ohio city to see Nathan’s aunt & uncle and my sorority sisters

Sixth stop:  Cumberland Falls, Kentucky

Finally back home!

Oh, and while in Ohio, Nathan surprised me with a copy of What’s New, Cupcake? So expect a LOT of cupcake recipes in the next few months.

Unfortunately Nathan is slow to upload his photos, so the only ones I have right now are from my phone.  I’ll have to post more once he gets to it!

I hope everyone is doing well

Things with us are crazy right now.  In fact, this is the first time I’ve pulled out my laptop since Monday when I wrote my last post {and I’ve got about 5 minutes of time here…}.  Samuel had his first round of vaccines yesterday, and he has been a little {a lot} fussy since.  He’s usually such a happy baby and never fusses, so we’re trying to give him every moment of our time.  He did well, and I am fairly certain I cried more than he did.  Not kidding.

Oh!  His stats!

At exactly 7 weeks old {NOT OKAY}, Samuel is 23.75 inches & 10 lbs 12 oz.  For comparison, at birth he was 21 inches and 7 lbs 10 oz, so he has gained over 3 lbs!

He’s in the 90th percentile for height & 47th percentile for weight {at his height}.  Funny thing too, the pediatrician thinks his eyes will stay blue!  This is hilarious, because both Nathan & I have very dark brown eyes.  Mine are almost black.  However, I have a sister with blonde hair & blue eyes!  So it looks like we may have a boy with brown hair & blue eyes.  What a FAB combination.

Anyway, the next two weeks I’ll be posting very sporadically.  There just isn’t time to post much right now.  I promise I’m going to post when I can, but we just have a lot going on these next two weeks!  I’ve got some great recipes, so definitely stay on the look out!  Plus, September brings Foodbuzz’s Food Blog Challenge in which I am competing!  So September is going to be a very full month on the blog.

Enjoy the end of August!

Yesterday we took Samuel in for his 1 month photos.  How is he already a month old?!?  Anyway, they turned out spectacular.

Here is my favorite:

Last week, I resigned from my job that I loved.  It was a tough decision, but Nathan and I talked about the realities of what it would entail for me to keep working I knew it was the right thing to do.  My commute was over an hour each way, and it just wasn’t worth it to me to be away from Samuel over 10 hours a day!  So, I’m officially a stay-at-home mom.  As much as I love working and having a career, I’m excited to spend the days with my little boy.  We’re having a blast together, and I’m glad that won’t be up at the end of 8 weeks.

On that note, I am trying to get into some sort of routine which I realize is a joke with a newborn.  I signed up for FLYlady to help me keep on top of the cleaning.  I’m also really trying to stay on top of my correspondence and emails.  Sending handwritten notes is one of my favorite things to do, so I want to make sure I find the time to keep doing that.

I’ve also signed up for a mom’s group, and I’ve taken on a new volunteer position at Church in addition to teaching Sunday School!  I also have my Junior League commitments and placement at Grady Hospital and the Nearly New Shop.  Keeping busy definitely shouldn’t be a problem.

The exciting thing about where we live now is that there is room for me to have an office.  I’m definitely going to need one to stay on top of everything.  I have a lot of the things I need already, because I’ve always decorated my offices at work to my taste {down to pink legal tablets!}.  My hope is to have that all set up by the end of next week.

Any suggestions on how to decorate the office are more than welcome!  I’m trying to do bright colors: pinks, greens, yellows, etc.  The walls are an off-white, and I’m not going to paint them.  There is a big window right next to where I am going to put the desk.

Ready…GO!

Happy Sunday!

Yesterday was a busy day for us despite the ridiculous heat.  My in laws left in the late morning to head back to Ohio, and then Nathan, Samuel, and I spent a few hours running errands: Home Depot, Target, Zesto’s for ice cream, and finally Samuel and I took a long nap.  Nathan also finished designing Samuel’s birth announcements!  I can’t wait to send them to the printer.  It is awesome being married to an artist.

We’ve been waiting for Samuel to fit into his cloth diapers.  His legs were so skinny that even set on the tightest fit, they were all too big.  Yesterday we tried again, and the Bum Genius 3.0s FINALLY fit him!  They are ADORABLE.

{Seriously cloth diapers are the cutest things ever.}

This morning I tried his GroBaby diapers on as well, and they fit too!  I’m just waiting for the FuzziBunz, Flip, and Econobum to fit a little better.  So we’re still {very reluctantly} using disposable at night.

Since I haven’t been to the grocery store in what seems like forever, last night’s dinner was a “use what we have” kind of night.  I made Nathan pasta with tomato sauce, but I’ve been trying to avoid anything with garlic in it {like onions it seems to bother Samuel}.

Instead, I went through the fridge and came up with this:

Summer Pasta {my recipe}

Ingredients:

• 1 cup cooked linguine
• 1 cup chopped fresh spinach
• 1/2 cup fresh diced tomatoes
• 1 hard boiled egg, chopped
• 2 tbs olive oil
• 1 tbs Parmesan cheese

Directions:

1. Cook pasta according to box.
2. In a bowl, mix olive oil, egg, tomato, spinach, and cheese.
3. When pasta is done cooking, add to bowl and toss.

Grade: A

Comments: Delicious!  It was so light but incredibly filling.  The veggies tasted wonderful with the pasta.  I wasn’t sure I’d like the egg, but it was actually really good.  It gave the dish some texture and added protein which this dish was severely lacking otherwise.

Hello hello!

Things have been wonderfully busy around here these days.  My in laws are in town to visit with Samuel, and we’ve been keeping active.  I haven’t been at my computer for more than 5 minutes it seems {and that was to pay bills…ugh}.  So far we’ve been to brunch, the library, dinner, Target, and we’re heading out to Stone Mountain later today I believe.  Samuel is enjoying his time with family, and he is eating up all of the attention.

A few days ago, Samuel was spitting up pretty badly {or at least I thought it was bad…no one else did}, so I called the pediatrician.  They had me cut out a LOT of foods from my diet to see if something I ate was making his stomach upset.  {This is going to lead to a whole post on breastfeeding one of these days.}  During my 48 hours of staying away from most vegetables and a lot of other foods.  I decided I had to do something to make my oatmeal a little more filling & delicious, so I added some peaches!

To make the above oatmeal:

• 2/3 cup quick oats
• 1 1/2 tbs cinnamon sugar
• 3/4 peach, diced

It was so delicious, and it felt like dinner.  Thankfully, I’m back to eating regular foods.  It seems Samuel has an aversion to onion.  I’ll just need to avoid that so long as I am breastfeeding.  No big deal!

Samuel is 3 weeks old today.  I can’t believe we’re almost at a MONTH.  Next Tuesday are his month old portraits, and I am so excited to see how they turn out.  We got his newborn photos in the mail a few days ago, and they are just absolutely adorable.

In honor of Samuel turning 3 weeks old, I leave you with this adorable picture.  He’s in his monogrammed hippo towel after his bath a few days ago.  It just makes me swoon!

{This week’s menu is posted.}

Samuel is 13 days old today.  WHERE is time going?!?

Today is my second day home alone with Samuel.  I spent Friday relaxing with the baby and dog after my mom left to go back to Pennsylvania, so today is the first day where I actually have to get things done.  This morning was spent running laundry, cleaning the dining room, and singing Old McDonald more times than I can count.  I am eating my lunch right now while Samuel entertains himself in the {magical} Fisher Price Little Lamb swing for a few minutes.

You see my child has decided he’s only taking 2 naps a day and neither is more than an hour and a half: one in the AM and one in the PM.  This has happened the past two days, so during those naps I am attempting to do housework in a fury.  I’m sure I’ll adjust, but I don’t think I have ever dusted so fast in my life!

This afternoon Samuel and I are venturing out to meet some of my girlfriends for coffee.  The plan is to meet at a Starbucks in a Super Target.  This way I can spend some time with my friends, and then pick up a few items that we need.  Then later tonight {assuming it doesn’t rain} Nathan, Samuel, Stitch, and I are going to hit up the park for a nice long walk.  We haven’t unpacked our stroller yet, because I’ve been so obsessed with my Moby wrap…but I think we’ll give the stroller a try tonight.

More recipes to come later this week.  Pinky swear!

I know I said I’d be back this week with recipes, and I swear I will…but for now you have to deal with another non-food post.

Yesterday was our second anniversary, and we could not have enjoyed it more any other way.  My mom is in town this week to meet and hang out with her first grandchild.  We decided that we would spend the day in downtown Roswell eating lunch and doing a little shopping.

So, this morning I got Samuel dressed {in what could be one of the cutest onesies ever}, and we all headed out to downtown.  We did a little shopping at The Chandlery and then went to STREET for lunch {slowest. service. ever.}  After we ate some delicious sandwiches, we headed over to LOLA too look at their off-beat gifts.  Nathan even snapped this picture of Samuel and I perusing:

{If you don’t own a Moby wrap and have a baby, RUN to get one.  They sell them in Target now, but only in black.}

After we walked around some we headed back home for some relaxing.  Dinner was steak, roasted peppers, and baked beans…followed by pie leftover from yesterday {we had a 4th of July get together last night}.

Then we gave Samuel his first bath!  He absolutely loved the water, and he was so pleasant.  After I subjected him to no less than 20 pictures of the event, I humiliated him further by wrapping him up in his duck bathrobe!

It was honestly the best anniversary I could have imagined.  Last year for our first anniversary I was bedridden after my surgery so we couldn’t do anything.  This year was a blast!  I am looking forward to another amazing year of marriage!

You may {or may not} have noticed I disappeared for a week-ish.  Our baby boy was born on June 29, 2010 at 2:02 AM!

I went into the hospital on Sunday June 27th to prep for an induction the next morning.  I was induced on Monday, labored for 17 hours, and Samuel was born via c-section at 2:02 AM on Tuesday June 29th!  He weighed 7 lbs 10 oz and was 21 inches long!  He’s so long and skinny!

Everyone is doing great, and I am recovering amazingly well.  I was up and walking around the next day, and I was able to stop pain meds less than 24 hours after my c-section.  I am going to credit a lot of exercise during my pregnancy and the fact I had a similar incision done for surgery last summer.

We left the hospital on Friday around lunchtime, and we have been enjoying having him home.

Samuel is a great little sleeper & eater.  Now that we have breastfeeding down, things are going so incredibly well.  Nathan and I are over the moon, and we can hardly stand to put Samuel down.  One of us is almost always holding him

I should be back to posting some recipes again this week, but as you can tell I am WAY behind.  My parents are in town this week, and then my in laws are coming shortly after…but I want to get caught up!  I have some great recipes to share with you, and I am planning to get back to menu planning next week.

I’ll leave you with a picture of Samuel in his going home outfit:

Confession: I have serious type-A issues.  Like I plan almost every moment of my day out ahead of time issues.

So you can imagine my slight discomfort with not being able to put together a menu for the end of June/early July.

We’re currently in “clean out the kitchen” mode.  This means lots of dishes with random vegetables that are left and anything else that has an expiration date in our fridge.  I plan on being able to make it through the next few-ish days without going to the grocery.

I was talking with a friend who is also pregnant the other day, and she asked me what our plans were for meals in the first few days we’re home from the hospital.  See, neither Nathan nor I have family here.  For the first few days we’re home there won’t be anyone extra to run to the grocery for us {although one of us could do it} or cook meals {I’m pretty sure we’ll be exhausted}.

So here is how I’m preparing the kitchen:

1. Frozen meals.  I’ve been freezing leftovers for about 2 weeks now.  We probably have enough to get through 5-8 days of dinners and lunches.  Make sure to store them in freezer safe bags or containers so they don’t go bad.
2. Stocking up on non-perishables.  Pasta, taco shells, sauces, peanut butter, jelly, frozen vegetables, meats that can be frozen and defrosted.  All of that stuff.  It lasts forever, and in a pinch things can be thrown together to make a decent meal.
3. Cleaning out the fridge.  I tend to let things in the fridge that have expired.  Not for a long time, but sometimes a few carrots will sit there a few days too long.  I cleaned out the fridge on Thursday.  Everything that was unusable or an old leftover got tossed.  There wasn’t much…maybe 2-3 things, but it means I don’t have to worry about it in the coming days.
4. Make a list of veggies and fruits in season.  I made a list of what is in season right now, and I threw it in my little shopping notebook.  This way when it comes time to decide what to eat for a few days, we have quick access to what is in season and what goes with what we have around the house.
5. Keep it clean.  I love the Up & Up {Target} brand disinfectant wipes.  I bought the largest thing of them you have ever seen so I can wipe down the counters quickly post-baby.  It will keep the kitchen clean enough until you can find the energy to give it a good scrub.

{this week’s menu is posted!}

I don’t mean to keep disappearing for days at a time.  We are still without home internet thanks to a company whose name starts with an A and ends with a T&T.  It’s taken at least 5 phone calls and 3 weeks to get this straightened out.  I used to think they had stellar customer service, but I am starting to rethink that.

Anyway.  I digress.

I haven’t ever done a store review {although I do frequently mention stores on Twitter}, but I wanted to bring special attention to Cotton Babies.

As I’ve mentioned, we’re going to be using cloth diapers {read my post why here}.  About 6 months ago, I started researching the various brands, talking to friends, and making some decisions about how we’re going to do this.  However, finding cloth diapers at a reasonable price {including shipping} can be a bit of a challenge.

I was turned onto Cotton Babies through a friend, and I placed a huge order about a week ago.  They had everything.  I just wanted to finish buying all of the diapers I needed to get started.  I already had about 6 Bum Genius 3.0, 1 set of Econobum, and GroBaby hybrid diapers.  I still needed at least 6 Bum Genius 3.0, 4 FuzziBunz, and I wanted to try a Flip diaper.  I also needed some extra inserts.

First and most importantly, Cotton Babies had good pricing.  I was so excited about the free pack of Flip inserts.  Also?  Loved the free shipping.

My package arrived just 3 days after I placed my order.  I couldn’t believe it.  Everything was nicely labeled and organized in the box.  I checked my order against the invoice, and everything was there.  Not only that, but I could see that they had double-checked my order {there were pen marks on my invoice}.

Cloth diapering is a very overwhelming decision.  I’m not going to lie.  There are a billion companies out there that make cloth diapers and just as many sell them.  There are hybrid diapers, all-in-ones, inserts, prefolds, etc etc.  It takes a lot of effort to decide what you *think* is going to work best for your family. 

I love a store that can make it easier to navigate that information.  Cotton Babies had a ton of information on their site about each brand.  There are reviews, washing instructions, cloth diaper kits {for those who want to try a few brands in the beginning}, and a lot more.  I was able to make sure that I understood how to wash each diaper and keep it in good condition.

They don’t just sell diaper products either.  Cotton Babies has everything from products for mom to baby slings to potty training items. 

If you are even considering cloth diapers I would check out Cotton Babies.  The information available right on the homepage {scroll about halfway down for links to info} helped me decide this was the right choice for us.  I suspect that it will answer a lot of questions that you may have about using cloth diapers.

I was not compensated for this review in any way.  In fact, Cotton Babies has no idea I wrote it.  I just think that they have an awesome store.