Spoon Cornbread

Happy post-Thanksgiving friends! Did everyone get their bellies full? My family lives about 40 minutes south of Lance's family, so we have the pleasure of doing two Thanksgiving meals on Thanksgiving. Which typically makes me feel like I'm going to puke. It's no one's fault but my own, so I can't really moan and groan about it.
Every year I bring something different to each of our family's respective Thanksgiving celebrations. The trick with Lance's family is that there are some picky eaters. Namely, Lance's dad. He is the pickiest eater I've ever met. More picky than my friend Erika's husband, Ryan. Lance's dad doesn't even like cheesy potatoes! He announced during the meal that the reason America is fat is because of cheesy potatoes ... Moving on. In the past I've brought a few things that have been more on the "wild" side (hot pepper jelly chesse dip, sweet potato casserole, cheesecake with raspberry sauce) and my FIL has refused to try them. Then I thought that I would make something less "wild" like pecan pie bars and still he wouldn't try them. This year I made a classic spoon cornbread and to no avail, my FIL still wouldn't try it. Even though it's delicious, not at all threatening and contains a key ingredient from his list of "acceptable" vegetables. Whatever. Everyone else really liked it and had several requests for the recipe. I guess I'll just have to try harder at Christmas!

But spoon cornbread is yummy and is a great addition to any holiday meal or to a chili feed. Take my word for it. Not my FIL's.

Ingredients
1 box Jiffy cornbread mix
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 can of corn, drained
1/2 can of creamed corn
2 sticks of butter, melted (this is not a health recipe!)
1 cup of sour cream & chives dip
Cheese

Combine all ingredients, except cheese. Pour into sprayed 9x9 square pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes. Remove pan, sprinkle on cheese and bake for another 10 minutes or so, until golden brown. Enjoy!

5 Months

There are several reasons people blog. Some people are talented and are gracious enough to share their talents. These talents can be things like photography, sewing, remodeling, cooking/baking, saving money, building things, etc., etc. Some people blog because they are oversharers. I obviously fall into the latter category. The tendency to word vomit and the world's cutest baby combined with the opportunity to blog, well ... you can only imagine the endless opportunities to overshare!

So I apologized in advance, but to be fair, you were warned.



Lucan- 5 month update (2 weeks behind)

• Lucan is a solid 18 lbs. Solid being the operative word.


• I shouldn't have bought so many size 2 diapers. Really.


• We started you on cereal and he actually seems to like it! People keep asking when Lucan will get other foods, but your momma isn't ready to start dealing with that reality. So for the time being, rice cereal it is. The first time that Lance fed L, L proceeded to drool the cereal out of his mouth and then slurp it off his bib. Not the most efficient way to eat ...


• I'm still breastfeeding L. I'm really proud and happy that we've made it this far. There were so many times in the beginning where I thought this feat would be impossible. But as we are nearing 6 months, the impossible suddenly seems possible. If you would have asked me this when Lucan was one month old I wouldn't have believed you.


• With the introduction of solid food Lucan's poop is becoming, well, more solid. He has to exert a lot more effort and I can see it in his face. Pooping is a lot of work!


• I really hate Gerber onesies. They are so tiny and such a waste of money. There's no way you can fit into any of them.


• He has the fastest kicking legs north of the border. When Lucan is really happy, he kicks his legs furiously.


• This past month L started laughing. He smiles a lot, especially when someone is playing with him and L has learned how to reflexively smile back at his momma. But when someone is flying him through the air (ie: daddy or Josh V), L's will start laughing. And it's such a fun, bubbly sound. I can't wait for him to start discovering more of the world and laughing more.


• We have several songs that we sing to L that we've altered the lyrics to. I imagine that we are quite annoying to the average person :) Lu-can, Lucan Richard. King of Harvey Street (sung to the tune of Davey Crockett) Lu, Lu, skip to my Lu. Lu, Lu, skip to my Lu. Skip to my Lu my darling. As well as the classic "Shake, shake, shake. Shake, shake, shake. Shake you booty, not your baby." One time I got the lyrics wrong (Shake shake shake. Shake shake shake. Shake your baby, not your booty) and Lucan got upset. I had to apologize.


• L and daddy have several fun games they like to play. The newest one is called Startle. Lucan lays on the changing table and Lance drops down where Lucan can't see him. Lance then pops his head up and startles Lucan. Lucan acts surprised and smiles, smiles, smiles. Apparently it provides hours of entertainment.


• Rolling over. What a hot topic. Lucan won't roll over from his back to his front. He'll roll onto his side and hang out there for awhile, especially so he can see the TV better. But that darned shoulder keeps getting in the way! On the flip side (pun intended), Lucan is rolling over from front to back. Which I guess is the harder of the two to do. Lucan doesn't really enjoy tummy time, so it's not entirely surprising that he figured out how to get out of it. He is consistently rolling over, since last Friday 11/11/11. He did it twice for me and also did it for Lance and for my parents who were visiting.


• Lucan had his first Halloween costume. He was the most adorable pumpkin.


• We're no longer swaddling Lucan, but he does get a sleep sack blanket as our house is cold. L likes to sleep with his hands up by his head. Lance sleeps the same way, which leads to me getting elbowed in the face.


• No sign of teeth. That's fine by me.


• L has more control of his limbs and will pass things from hand to hand. He also likes to grab his feet and roll around a bit. Very happy-baby-pose from yoga.

Without further adieu, his monthly pictures.

"Mom thinks I may need a haircut soon. Especially around my ears."

"But I'm so cute and smiley. I don't need a haircut!"


"Oh no you did not just take my picture?!?! I wasn't ready!"

"Sometimes in the morning I like to catch up on my daily farm news."

"It keeps me up to date on my tractors and livestock."

"Don't take my Gerry!" (Gerry is Lucan's giraffe lovey)

Work Food Days

They bring out the best and the worst in me. The really do.



The best of Kara

1) I get to demonstrate my culinary prowess. Let's be frank. This gal can cook (except for chocolate chip cookies, but that's a story for another day)
2) I get to taste all sorts of fun things from everyone else that I normally don't take the time to make or buy (Krispie Kremes!)
3) I don't have to pack a lunch
4) I get to nibble all day long
5) Free food! Free food!

The worst in Kara
1) I get super annoyed by people who don't bring in food and proceed to eat everyone else's food
2) I get even more annoyed when someone signs up to bring "ketchup." Really!?!? Does one single bottle of ketchup even count as a contribution? According to Lance, not even a single bachelor can get away with that. Not unless they bring all of the condiments.
3) I wonder about people's common sense when they bring creamed herring. Again, quit being stupid and bring something that people actually want to eat.
4) I see random people from other departments stopping in the conference room and filling up a plate for themselves. This morning, I even saw a person filling up a plate of food who doesn't even work here!


You can stop reading now. Obviously this post was of utmost importance :)

Thank you notes: a ranting

There are some things I'm a little old fashioned about, things like properly written thank you notes and holiday cards (more to come on holiday cards). It's not like thank you's are hard or expensive, but it's the simple courtesy and acknowledgement of the nice thing that someone else did for you. My definition of a properly written thank you is one that is handwritten, includes a mention of the item that was gifted, and is longer than 3 sentences long. It also needs to be completed within an appropriate time frame. Personally, I will admit that I struggle with the timeliness part. Thank you notes should be personalized. If the person took the time and effort to give you a gift, you should take the time to thank the person properly. That means a real message and a real signature.

There are lots of great websites for custom thank you's, here are a couple of nice options:
Tinyprints.com

Papercoterie.com

Shutterfly.com

Rice Cereal versus Rice Krispies

Two Saturdays ago we started Lucan on rice cereal. According to the nutrition and food pamphlet our pediatrician gave us, if your child has doubled their birth weight, is somewhere between 4-6 months in age, can turn their head away when they are full and show an interest in table food, they may be ready for their first foods. Lucan is just shy of 5 months old, weighs a solid 17 lbs, and shuts his lips tight when he's full. Recently he's been intently watching me when I've been eating, going as far as sticking out his tongue and smacking his lips. Based on all of those things, we determined that Lucan was ready for his first solid foods.

Now some parents skip rice cereal altogether and go just for foods like mashed up avocados or bananas. But we're starting slowly and the rice cereal seems to be going pretty well so far.

A funny story about when Lance and I started discussing starting Lucan on solids. We had both read the pamphlet and agreed that it was probably about time to try cereal. When I told Lance that rice cereal is what is typically recommended he said "What, so like Rice Krispies that you let get really mushy in the milk? Is that what we're feeding Lucan?"

Oh good heaven's Lance. It's a good thing we're in this together! Baby rice cereal is more akin to Cream of Wheat and less Snap-Crackle-and-Pop.



"Feed me mom! I'm ready!"

"What? I'm supposed to swallow and not just put everything in my cheeks like a chipmunk?"

"I think I'm done."

Lucan's First Halloween

Originally I thought that it would be ridiculous to get Lucan a Halloween costume and dress him up. Based on the sheer number of pictures on facebook of parents and their kids in festive Halloween dress, I was wrong. So I'm glad that I went against my first instincts and purchased a Halloween costume for Lucan. Besides, a $5 consignment pumpkin costume is hard to beat!

We didn't actually go trick or treating, but we did take Lucan to our church's Fall Festival. He got to exhibit all of his cuteness there. Lucan also got to model his costume for Grandma and wear it at daycare for their little Halloween party. Lance also put Lucan in his pumpkin costume to wear for the trick or treaters that came to our door. You can imagine Lance's vast disappointment when no one visited before Lucan had to take off his costume and get fed (as it's really challenging to breastfeed a baby dressed in a pumpkin costume!)



Lucan's cheeks are so chubby that his little hat could barely contain them.



Happy Fall Y'all!