This past Sunday we finally had Samuel’s birthday party.  With his birthday so close to the holiday weekend we decided to wait a few weeks until we celebrated.  I’ve had this date circled on the calendar for almost an entire year.  Because our family is so spread out, I wanted to make sure I gave everyone who was able to come adequate notice.

We decided to have Samuel’s birthday at Sprayground at Riverside Park.  It is a fun little splash area for young kids {and we have season passes}.  Nathan and his parents went over a little early so we could get two pavilions right by the entrance while my parents and I finished up the cooking at our house.

I decided to go with a rubber duck theme since we it was a splash party.  It went over well, and Samuel is now obsessed with saying the word “duck.”  We worked hard to teach him that word in the week leading up to the party, and now he won’t stop!

I made the rubber duck cupcakes from one of my favorite cookbooks, What’s New, Cupcake?. These didn’t stay together all that well, but that had more to do with the fact it was 100+ degrees outside than anything else.

So, the duck.  I bought this duck bathtub from Target a few months ago, and Samuel hates it.  So I decided to go ahead and use it to hold the salads at his party.  It works, right?

Samuel and his friend splashing around the play area.  The girls {who always outnumber the boys around here} were playing a few feet over.

After we got home, we let Samuel play with gifts others were kind enough to give him.  He was in heaven!

Because my child eats like a football player, he had to have a second helping of dinner long after we got back to our house.  On some extra duck plates with a yellow fork of course!

The big hit of the day was this cool water table my sister sent him.  It came a few days before his party, and we hid it from him.  He is OBSESSED.  I’m not sure if he loves it more with water or without water, but he plays with it all day either way.

Overall, he had an amazing day.  It was so nice of our parents to come into town, and it was wonderful to have all of his local friends spend the day with us.  I gave the kids duck cookies and bubbles in a duck bottle for favors.

Now to start planning his second birthday

My favorite picture of us - Samuel is 7 months old.

Almost exactly two years ago I received a complicated infertility diagnosis and had major surgery to remove the right half of my reproductive system.  We were left thinking we may never have children of our own.  There were appointments with doctors to discuss possible drug treatments, and there was lots of prayer.  There were moments of ugly crying and moments of acceptance.

Exactly one year ago Samuel was born.  A little boy born with a full head of hair and the most beautiful blue eyes I had ever seen.  After 17 hours of labor and a c-section, there he was so perfect and gorgeous.

That little boy with a name picked out way before we were pregnant.  The little boy with a name from the Bible picked during the throes of infertility.  Named for a Prophet who was given to a mother who thought she would never have a child.  We just knew if our first {and maybe only} child was a boy he would be Samuel.

Samuel's Christmas photos - almost 6 months

Now my little Samuel is one.  He loves trains and cars, playing in water, hugs, giving kisses, fingerpainting, and food.  He’s been walking on his own since he was 9 months old, talks, and feeds himself.  He still has beautiful blue eyes and a full head of hair.  When he laughs his cheeks puff out, and his eyes practically burst with excitement.  He loves to listen to baseball games on the radio while he throws balls to Nathan.

Samuel at almost 4 months sleeping on the couch.

He is affectionate and daring.  Without a fear in the world he’ll climb up stairs or off of a couch.  He explores things on his own letting go of my hand as we walk side by side to check out leaves or bugs.  The world is his playground, and he will study trees or a book with equal concentration.  He points to everything and says “mine” with the self-confidence of someone completely unaffected by the world.

Samuel at 10 months

So here we are.  At one.  Samuel has tried over 250 different foods, has a vocabulary of 8 words, loves books and baseball, and adores the cat & dog.  He’s becoming more independent as he realizes he’s never actually alone, and he takes off down the hallway all for the sake of exploration.  He still nurses, and he sleeps best cuddled by my side.

Samuel during bathtime at 6 months

Tonight we’ll celebrate just the three of us, and in two weeks he’ll have his birthday party with friends and family as he splashes around at Sprayground.  Next week we are having pictures taken at one of our favorite parks, Morgan Falls, with popular photographer, Sarah Esther.

first haircut - 10 months old

So happy birthday, Samuel.  I can’t wait to see what this year brings.

Living 12+ hours from either of our families means trips North are long and often involve cool weather {75 is not warm, people}.  We pack up our bags and head above the Mason-Dixon to visit with friends and family who we see two or three times a year tops.  It’s fun and exhausting, and after 10 days away I’m glad to be back in my own home sleeping in my own bed.

We just got back from one of those trips – Ohio, New York, Pennsylvania.  It was fun and rainy and nice to see good friends get married.

We left for Ohio on Thursday June 9th, and we stayed there until the morning of June 11th.  On June 11th we headed to New York to see two of our college friends tie the knot.  Then on June 12th we headed to my parents’ house in Pennsylvania where we stayed until June 19th.  On the 18th we saw one of my best friends {13+ years of friendship!} get married to an amazing girl he met after college.

It was a great trip, but as always those long trips are exhausting.  We spent a lot of time in the car.

In fact, someone got a little silly in the backseat:

This was the first time we have been back to Pennsylvania since Samuel was 7ish weeks old.  Samuel put on a show for everyone: walking and chatting up a storm.  He’s been walking since days after he turned 9 months old, but he’s taken to practically running everywhere now.

He was so kind to even humor my mom and I by trying on an outfit my brother wore to a wedding in 1987.

As my dear friend, Mel, pointed out he kind of has an Michael P. Keaton thing going on, no?

Then there was the suit.  I about melted each time I put him in his cute little navy blue suit for these past two weddings.

Sans the jacket, but still adorable.

As we return and settle back into our lives post-vacation I’m working to improve TBF.  My posting over the past few months can be described as inconsistent at best.  The main reason is my refusal to use the computer once people in this house are awake.  My blogging has always been done before 7:00 AM, but as Samuel wakes up earlier {now 6:00 AM} I’m willingly trading computer time for early games of toy cars and catch.  I don’t like to blog in the evenings, because I like to save that time for reading or hanging out with Nathan.

Starting next week you can expect 3 posts a week – Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.  With vacation behind us and the summer ahead of us I’m looking forward to getting things “normal” around here.

What are your summer plans?

A few weeks ago a girlfriend and I were talking.  She’s a girl mom, and she is worried about teaching her daughter how to live a healthy life without being obsessive about it.  With her permission, I’m telling you she is a recovering obsessive exerciser who for years watched every morsel that she ate.  She doesn’t want to pass on that obsession to her daughter.  Her daughter is 11 months old.

At the end of our conversation she said,”You are so lucky you don’t have to deal with this.”

Except I do.

In a world where boys are bombarded with images of models, super fit athletes, and celebrities, they are just as subjected to the notion that women and men should have boy fat percentages under 10%.  Children of both genders see people day in and day out who starve themselves to wear sample sizes. 

Boys and Their Body Image

I’m married to a college athlete.  Nathan played football, and I remember him talking about weight, muscle, and what not.  Back then he weighed about 20 lbs more than he does now thanks to mandatory hours in the weight room and a steady diet of high protein {peanut butter hamburgers…so so gross} foods to keep weight on.  Now as we have gotten older and real life happens, he doesn’t have the 8 hours a day to be lifting weights and playing football.  Instead he opts for hiking and a lot less time at the gym.

We don’t usually think twice about the yo yo-ing boys do with their weight whether for sports or movie roles or whatever.  Christian Bale loses and gains weight so fast, and he gets applauded for it.  We hear stories about college athletes gaining weight in the off season only to be benched or told to lose weight when the seaosn rolls around again.  There is just as much pressure on boys as girls to look a certain way and be a certain weight.

I’ll never forget our high school wrestling team.  They were amazing.  I’ll also never forget watching them try to lose or gain weight so they could wrestle that day.  They would work out on the bike or stuff their faces at lunch.  They would weigh themselves constantly in an effort to qualify for their weight class so they didn’t have to miss a match.  It was exhausting to watch.

Boys are faced with judging their own appearance and habits constantly.  They get embarressed if they are too thin or too heavy.  They work out to be “rippped.”  They idolize guys like Barry Bonds who eventually come out to be frauds.  They are left with ideas like if I do steroids I’ll be able to hit home runs too in the same way girls read about models who only eat salads and fit into size 0 dresses.

Boys and Their Outlook on Female Beauty

If there is one thing I want Samuel to learn from me about women it is this: a size 2 doesn’t make someone more beautiful than a size 10.  It isn’t the size on the inside of a dress that makes a woman attractive.

Like Nathan, I’m also a college athlete.  The difference is I ran cross country.  However, I’ve never been obsessive about running.  I love to run, but missing a workout has never been a big deal to me.  My lifestyle overall is a healthy one, but as you can tell from my recipes I enjoy a wide variety of food.  For a long time I was a vegetarian, and then I started eating meat again in college.  Then I went back to being a vegetarian until I got pregnant.  I still don’t eat much meat, but I eat enough that I feel balanced.

My goal is to teach Samuel about beauty and health through example.  I live a pretty healthy lifestyle.  Samuel and I walk and run together, but I canceled my gym membership.  I enjoy a large salad for lunch, but I don’t think twice about eating a few chocolate chip cookies throughout the day.  I want him to understand balance.  He needs to understand that no one female or male should obsess over what they eat.  No one should be made to feel guilty for indulging every so often.  I never ever want to hear him utter the words are you sure you should eat that?

I was talking with Niki at Life in Recipes recently about this topic.  She’s a boy mom too.  Like me, she doesn’t want her sons hurling insults about women in front of them or behind their backs.  She wants to teach her boys to respect beauty in all of the ways it manifests itself.  She shared that her kindergartener is already coming home saying that people are being picked on for how they look.  Niki said something beautiful while we were talking, and that was Different is beautiful – it is what makes the world interesting.  She’s right. 

I want Samuel to understand that yes, Marissa Miller is beautiful, but it isn’t because she is a size 0.  I also want him to know that Toccara is also gorgeous.  They are both healthy and pretty women who look completely different.

This is all the long way of saying that just as girl moms face these questions so do boy moms.  We wonder if our sons are going to grow up with unrealistic expectations or be that boy who picks on a girl who looks different.  We worry that they’ll be faced with criticism about their bodies as well.  We will celebrate if they make it through life with confidence in themselves and kind words about the women around them.

So tell me, moms, how are you planning to breach the topic with your kids {boys or girls}?  Do you plan to have actual discussions, just set examples, a combination of both?

{this week’s menu is posted}

Today is my birthday!  To celebrate, Nathan, Samuel, and I went to Greenville, SC this past weekend.  We had never taken a trip just the three of us {because we live far from family we usually travel to see other people}.  First, Greenville is gorgeous.  Like I could move there tomorrow.  Secondly, the food was delicious.  I was ready to come home and pack our bags immediately.

I took some pictures, but I still need to go through them.  Plus it is 5:00 AM, and I can’t find the camera in all of the bags that still need to be unpacked.

Tonight I’m “celebrating” by going to a Junior League General Membership Meeting at which they will be announcing the new list of officers.  The most exciting thing about that is I’m on the list   Assuming that no one votes against the slate I’ll be the new Placement Chair for JLA.

We have my family in town so posting will probably be spotty this week.  I do have one or two things that I want to get up for sure, but we’ll see how it plays out.

Happy Spring!

A friend of mine pointed out that I rarely talk about Samuel on my blog.  That’s mostly done intentionally since this is a food blog, but I couldn’t resist filling out this little baby quiz that someone passed along.

{If you want to check out my parenting section, you’ll find more information about parenting, baby-led weaning, and an average day.}

Child’s Name: Samuel William

Child’s Age: 7 months

Nicknames: Homeslice.

Any words?: Lots of sounds.  No words.

Crawling?: We probably have a non-crawler on our hands.  Homeslice likes to walk {assisted} & stand only.  He’s a master at pulling himself up.

Walking?: Almost.  See above.

Favorite food?: Yogurt.  Hands down.  Also whatever I’m eating.  I’ll never need to diet again with how much of my meals Samuel manages to steal.

Favorite toy? Blocks.  Immediately followed by his basketball hoop.

Favorite place to go?: The library.  They have this cool toy that he likes, because he can stand and play with it all by himself.  Then after 45 minutes of that he likes to look at books.  And by look I mean try to eat.

Bedtime: We aim for 9:00.  Let’s say it is closer to 10:00, because we’re suckers for a good smile and a hearty laugh.

How many times does he get up a night?: Usually 2.  Sometimes more.  Sometimes less.

Any teeth? All four of his front teeth.  They all came in within a month of each other.

Eye color?: Blue, and it is staying that way.  Let’s hear it for recessive genes!

Hair color?: Brown.  {sidenote: is there any more adorable combination for a male than brown hair and blue eyes?  The answer is no.}

Favorite thing to do?: Stand.  “Pet” {smack} the dog.

Favorite babysitter?: Fact: we’ve never left him with the sitter.  He’s awesome out in public, so we just bring him everywhere we go.  So, yes, that does mean we haven’t had a kid-free night out together since he was born, and we want it that way.  We go on “family dates.”  He may be left with a sitter for the first time when he is 3 weeks shy of turning 1.  And it’s my mom.

Favorite activity to do together: Read books and play blocks.

Favorite book: Bible Friends

Best moment of this month: Hands down him learning how to give “kisses.”  He basically eats your face, but it so adorable you don’t mind that he’s washed off all of your make up.

About a week and a half ago, one of my friends sent me a message asking if I would post pictures of my kitchen.  She recently got engaged, and she is getting settled in her new home.

First, let me be up front.  My kitchen is mind blowingly small.  Our home is old, and while the home itself is a comfortable size, the kitchen is not.  However there are lots of cabinets and closets, but there are only 2 counters.

I took these pictures one night after making dinner without cleaning or organizing.  Obviously on kitchen cleaning day it looks awesome and organized, but let’s be honest that lasts about 5 minutes.

So here it goes…

I think at this point everyone understands I’m obsessed with menu planning.  A good calendar is a must.  I recommend this one from Orange Circle.

Baking cabinet #1.  This is where I keep things like sugar and chocolate chips.  Invest in those metal jars.  For $20.00 they will save you a lot of time, space, and hassle.

This is basically a random assortment of things I use only sometimes.  Including dryer sheets.  Our laundry room is attached to our kitchen.  The big Target bag on the top shelf is about half of my cookie cutters.

My other baking cabinet.  There is a mix of things I never use {grits} and use a lot {baking powder}.  The top shelf is home to my favorite mixing bowl & Kitchen Aid rolling pin.

Note: You are going to quickly realize I’m addicted to Kitchen Aid products.  It all started with my mixer in 2006.  What can I say I love their color red.

I don’t own a spice rack.  It’s one of those things I keep meaning to buy, but I always forget.  Instead I put the spices I use the most in the front, and the ones I hardly use in the back.  The middle shelf is reserved for olive oil, salt, etc.  On the top shelf I keep the lids for my cookingware.

I’m kind of short, so I try to keep all of our everyday dishes on the lower shelves.  Tip: don’t put ALL of your dishes {plates, bowls, coffee cups} out.  If you just put out about half it reduces the chances you’ll let things sit in the sink or dishwasher.

{see, like I said right after dinner. & more Kitchen Aid}

Get a good tea kettle & good pots and pans.  Both will make a difference.

This is the bar between our dining room and kitchen.  Because our kitchen is so small, we use the bar as a counter.  Now, we lived without a microwave for years.  Then we got Nathan’s microwave from college from his parents.  The Kitchen Aid toasted?  Definitely a necessity.  Cinnamon Toast Crunch?  Impulse buy.

This is my workspace counter.  Since I also drink {a lot of} coffee I have a good coffee maker.  Again by Kitchen Aid.  That empty milk jug in the back was waiting to become a planter for a small herb garden.

I keep the utensils I use the most often in a drawer right by the stove.  This has a few of my favorite spoons, spatulas, and other such items.  The rest are kept in a storage container on top of the refrigerator.  Keeping what I use most in easy reach is essential to making things run smoothly when I make dinner.

If I could replace one appliance in our kitchen the refrigerator/freezer would be it.  Both sections are incredibly hard to organize because there are no shelves in the freezer & only fruits/veggies drawers in the fridge.  There is zero organization here.  I just try to make it so nothing falls out when we open it.

One of the ways to keep the fridge organized is to clean it out every week.  I usually do that on Tuesdays.  By getting rid of old leftovers, almost empty condiments, etc it is easier to keep this hard-to-organize fridge in somewhat decent shape.

My pantry is very organized.  The very top shelf {not shown} holds some serving items {martini glasses, a few large servers, etc}.  The next shelf is where I keep things like Ziploc bags, the “big” bag of sugar that I use to refill my one in the cabinet, and my flour.  The shelf second from the bottom is home to my non-perishables.  They are organized this way: cooking supplies {vegetable oil, syrups, etc}, canned goods, oatmeal {including that converted butter container}, and finally pasta and beans.  That is it.  One of the benefits of monthly menu planning is that we don’t keep much in the way of non-perishables.  My goal is for the items to always fit on that shelf.  The bottom shelf is my cookbooks which I’ll touch more on in the next picture.

I have a decent amount of cookbooks.  Here is how it works: I organize them by “brand.”  So, for instance mine go like this: Parenting magazines, everything by Martha Stewart including Whole Living & Living, Better Homes & Garden Bridal Cookbook {the greatest cookbook ever made}, Betty Crocker Bridal Cookbook, Family Circle magazines, and so on.  I find that sorting by “brand” makes it a lot easier to find what I need.  Keeping them in my pantry also puts them front and center when I am looking for something.

For those of you that are parents {or going to be} I recommend keeping a “kitchen toy.”  When Samuel was younger it was just a vibrating seat.  Now it is this walker.  It keeps him occupied long enough {about 20 minutes} that I can get dinner started or do some quick cleaning.

So that is my kitchen.  Small, but it does everything it needs to do.

My tips for a small kitchen:

1. Only keep what you use in the areas you can reach.  For example, we have storage above the refrigerator, and we keep a lot of party hosting supplies up there.  I don’t use them often enough for them to take up my precious in-reach space.
2. Decide what you need and what you don’t.  A lot of people will disagree with me, but I don’t think you need a food processor and a blender.  I have a blender only, and I’ve never had problems.  If you don’t drink coffee just got a small coffeemaker for when guests are over and keep it off the counters.  There isn’t space to waste on rarely used items.
3. Utilize the space you have well.  We have a LOT of cabinets {only about 1/3 are shown here}, and I make sure everything is pretty packed and organized.  If that means you have to keep a few non-kitchen items in there go for it.  Just use the space.

{this week’s menu is posted}

What. A. Weekend.

I realize I owe you a recipe {or two} from last week, and I promise they will get up tomorrow and Wednesday.

We had quite the weekend here in the TBF Household.  Nathan was down & out with the flu.  Samuel is getting his two top teeth.  Oh, and it snowed last night.

I spent most of my weekend keeping Samuel & Nathan separated, running errands, and working on a special project.

Samuel & I did have a great weekend.  Saturday we went to the mall to return some items I had purchased at Gymboree, bought new blocks, hit up Babies R Us, and spent some time playing in the nursery with his new blocks.  Sunday we went to Costco and the library, then we hung out in the kitchen while I worked on the aforementioned special project.

Late Sunday it started to snow, and Nathan is off from work today.  There is 2-3″ on the ground, so we’re going to stay inside.  I have some writing to do here and for one of my paying gigs as well as some photo editing for another project so I’m planning on plowing through that today.

What are your plans?

{this week’s menu is posted}

I hope 2011 is off to a great start for you.  We’ve had a bit of a rough beginning.  We were driving back from vacation on Saturday, and we blew out a tire when Nathan hit what we think was a bad pothole {other cars were pulled over changing tires in the same area!}.  So, Nathan changed the tire, and we spent the night at a hotel outside of Knoxville, Tennessee.  Sunday morning came and NO ONE seemed to carry our tires.  See, I drive a sports edition, and apparently 17″ rims are not very common.  Finally, I tracked down a Firestone in Clinton, Tennessee that had what we needed.  So we slowly drove there.

Once we got there we found out our rear driver side tire was also about to blow out.  Which was very obvious looking at a 7 inch bulge in the tire.  So, we ended up getting two new tires and instructions to buy new rims when we got back home. Fun times.

Other than that the year is off to a typical start.  I’m making “goals” {not resolutions} for each month of the year.  Most of which have to do with saving money {more on this later} and reducing waste.  I’ve decided to make my goals for each month so I never feel overwhelmed.

January:

• switch to cloth baby wipes DONE!
• make a second wet bag for diaper hamper
• research home herb gardens using milk cartons DONE!

February:

• start home herb garden DONE!
• finish switching all light bulbs to energy efficient bulbs

March:

• finish posting all of my old work clothes to Craig’s List and/or eBay sans a few items DONE!
  

April:

• finish the transition to all homemade cleaning supplies
• open all windows & screen door instead of using air conditioner {continue as long as tolerable} DONE!
  

May:

• expand herb garden
• 100% make all daily goods at home – no more purchasing bread, crackers, tortillas, pie crusts, etc

June:

• do not use car unless absolutely necessary – walk through parks to get to Historic Roswell & local shopping
• try not to use any lights during the day

July:

• start buying even more produce at the farmer’s market
• stop buying coffee at coffee shops unless I have a reusable cup with me
• turn off all of our power strips each night

August:

• only buy certified organic coffee
• stop throwing away glass jars and use for home storage

September:

• stop using paper towels and officially switch to microfiber wipes

October:

• do all Fall/Winter crafts using as many items around the house as possible
• work on a Fall herb garden

November:

• donate any items we are not using and do not plan to use

December:

• winterize our home to save on heating costs

We had an amazing Christmas.  Everyone but me was excited it snowed in Atlanta on Christmas for the first time since 1882 {I hate snow}!  It was lovely to watch it fall from the comfort of our home.  With the heat on.

This year Nathan and I agreed not to exchange gifts.  Instead we used the money we would have spent on each other and adopted a child who needed clothes, toys, etc.  I got to meet the child, and he was absolutely wonderful.  I am looking forward to making this a tradition.

Nathan surprised us with a “family gift” on Christmas Eve. The 50mm lens for his Rebel!  We’ve had the DSLR since 2008, and Nathan uses it so well.  I, on the other hand, hate it, but this lens changed everything.  He bought it with two purposes: for pictures of Samuel & for my blog!  So I spent the holidays taking 20,000 pictures of everything.  It is a way easier lens to use than the other ones we own which makes the Rebel more tolerable.  I’m looking forward to using it on finished dishes {although I still plan to use the iPhone to photograph the steps}.

Then we went for a nice family hike at the Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area.

Followed by a nice big dinner.

We had a birthday cake for Jesus that Samuel helped me decorate. {My parents started this tradition when I was born.}

Before bed, we put out cookies and milk.

Oh, and we let Samuel play with blocks before putting him to bed.

Then we woke up Christmas morning to gifts from Santa.

Samuel loved unwrapping gifts, and he was pretty good at it.

The ball pit was a huge hit!!  Best $2.00 I’ve Santa ever spent {consignment sale for the win}.

After Mass, we watched A Wonderful Life.  Then had chili con carne and brown sugar cornbread for Christmas dinner.  It was a fabulous idea to go low key for dinner, because I spent less than an hour in the kitchen meaning I got to enjoy every second of Samuel’s first Christmas.

Hope everyone had a great holiday!  Recipes will be resume tomorrow