Baby Madeline

Mason and I finally made it down to see Baby Madeline! She is such a little cutie and looks so much like her big brother Jack. Madeline makes the most adorable high-pitched squeak every once in a while, it absolutely melts your heart.Auntie Roseanne was also there visiting... this was the best picture we could get of the two of them though. It was a bad hair day. ;)

I can't say Mason was having a bad hair day... more like a bad photo day. He looked like this in all of them. At least in the picture above he didn't have his tongue sticking out part way.
I found a tutorial for these Ruffle Bottom Onesies in a link from Joy's Hope a while back and couldn't wait to try it out. My sewing skills are limited but it looked like something I could handle.
I will admit that my first attempt wasn't my best work... but the second one turned out great! And yep, this is my son, modeling Ruffle Butt Onesie #2. Hopefully Madeline will enjoy these in about 6 months...
(Someday this picture is going to come in handy, I'm sure.)

6 Months

Mason turned 6 months old on Sunday. All I could think when I woke up was, "How in the world could we already have a 6 month old?" There is just something about that milestone.Tuesday was his check-up and our little chunk weighed in at 17 pounds, 14 ounces and measured 27 1/2 inches long. He is in the 60th percentile for his weight still and 80th for his height-- Mase is definitely going to be tall.At 5 months we started him on baby rice cereal and in the past two weeks he has enjoyed watermelon, banana, nectarine, avocado and carrot. We are trying to expose him to as many varieties of flavors as possible. This week will be cantaloupe, broccoli and beets. And yes, I'm making our baby food. It's so ridiculously easy and CHEAP. Not to mention I know exactly what goes into my baby's mouth and can make sure there are no chemicals, preservatives or pesticides. Kim, it's so easy and takes so little time, even you could do it. ;)

He is working on rolling over from back to front and can sit up on his own now (even though he is still a bit wobbly.) He likes to babble and sings in the bath tub in the evenings. Mason is such a little snuggle bug and loves our morning play time in bed before we all have to get up and get going for the day. He is still sleeping great and lays down in his crib around 7:30-8PM, babbles and plays on his back for a while and falls asleep after I come in and kiss him goodnight and turn him over onto his belly. He is off in dreamland until usually 5-5:30AM.

Tage and I feel like we have the best baby ever. He still rarely cries and is really good about communicating when he is uncomfortable, bored, tired or when he is content, happy or pleased.

Happy 6 months Mase!

Weekend Fun

On Sunday we drove up to the cutest little lake about an hour away and got a chance to use our baby backpack thrift store find. Mason loved the view from over Daddy's shoulder!Our little family of three started the day off by visiting the Sunday farmers market and picking up some yummy ripe fruit for our picnic lunch. We also got 3 dozen extra large (organic, hormone-free) eggs for $4! You can't beat that deal.

Mason is wearing my hat because we forgot his. Tightened up all the way it actually worked fine. The burp rag on his head helped it fit a little better.

After hiking down to the water we were surprised to discover how warm the water was. Even Mase got in and swam around with Mommy and Daddy. The lake is surrounded by Tage's favorite trees, Quaking Aspens.

Mason LOVES being outdoors and his favorite part of the day was just relaxing on the picnic blanket, nestled in my lap, watching the leaves sway with the breeze. (This series of pictures cracks me up-- our son, the Old Navy model in this season's rash guard. :)That's my little water bug!A perfect Sunday afternoon.

Good reads

When you have a few moments or could use a laugh, you need to check out...

Handmade Gone Wrong

and

So Not That Mom

So, so funny!

(If you're a mom you know you can relate to that second one.)

Super hero cape

Jack is faster than a speeding bullet with this super hero cape on-- that picture is proof! I brought over the cape I made for Connor's birthday during the barbecue last weekend so Jack could test it out for me. I wish I had taken a couple of pictures more close up so you could see the detail, especially in the "C" on the back.

I believe every 3-year old needs an extensive collection of dress-up clothes (encourage their imagination and creativity) so I checked out a few tutorials and found this one to be the one I liked the most. I used the diagram on that post as a guide and got a yard each of red and yellow fabric so Connor's cape would be two-sided and reversible. I also don't have a serger on my sewing machine (or if I do, I have no idea) so doing a double-sided cape was going to be the best option.

After cutting the fabric, sewing the sides together, turning the cape right-side out, ironing it, and top stitching the edges it was time to apply the monogram. I cut out red and orange circles out of (eco-friendly) felt and cut out the letter "C" from green scraps I had from other projects. I just used the sewing maching to sew around the edges of the circles and the "C" and sewed it right onto the cape.

To finish it off I stitched on multi-colored polka dot ribbon to the neck and made a quick mask out of the left over red and orange felt scraps, stitched with green thread and secured with the polka dot ribbon.

Thank you to my model, Jack (who is also a brand new big brother). I hope Connor enjoys hours of make-believe fun with his super hero cape and mask.

Saturday Smile

How is it possible that I didn't know how valuable this contraption was before this week???
Mason thinks this is the greatest invention EVER... and I agree! Watching him when he really gets going bouncing in it is so, so funny.

(Sorry that the video is sideways... I forget that you can't rotate a them like you can a picture.)

Homemade Sidewalk Chalk

I think it was on The Crafty Crow that I recently saw the link to this post on how to make your own sidewalk chalk. I didn't realize it was so easy! It is simply Plaster of Paris mixed with water and tempera paint. This would be a great crafty thing to do with school-aged kids but since I don't have any of those my excuse to try it out was Connor's upcoming birthday. Using sidewalk chalk helps build little hand muscles after all, and what 3-year old doesn't enjoy creating masterpieces on their driveway?

Here is what you need...

-toilet paper or paper towel tubes (basically a mold-- next time I'm going to Ikea for some of their silicone ice trays, they always have cute shapes!)
-scissors
-duct tape
-wax paper
-3/4 cup warm water
-small bucket or disposable container
-1 1/2 cups Plaster of Paris
-2-3 tablespoons tempera paint
1. Cover one end of each tube with duct tape. Cut as many pieces of wax paper as you have tubes. Each piece should be as long as the tube and about 4 inches wide. Roll up each piece of wax paper and slip it into the tube. (Note: My wax paper kept getting crunched up inside the tube as the Plaster of Paris mixture was pretty thick. Next time I would probably tape it to the outside of the tube to prevent it from slipping down inside.)

2. Pour the water into the bowl or bucket. Sprinkle the Plaster of Paris over the water and stir the mixture thoroughly. Mix in the paint. (I started with yellow and divided it in half to stir some red into one half in order to make orange, then I did a batch of green and a batch of red.)

3. Place each tube tape side down on a level surface. Pour the wet plaster mixture into the tubes. Lightly tap the sides of each tube to release air bubbles, then set the plaster-filled tube aside to harden for a few days. (Mine was dry over night.) Once they are dry, peel off the tubes and wax paper. Your chalk is ready for action!
To present the chalk as a gift, I wrapped the tubes back up in wax paper, secured with double-sided tape, and colored dots on the paper in the same color as the chalk. I placed them in a strawberry basket (the small green ones they come in at the store) and tied multi-colored polka dot ribbon around the basket. No wrapping paper to have to buy, only to have it thrown in the trash. Who knows, maybe Connor will be the next Picasso? And to think, it all started with some homemade sidewalk chalk. :)

Mini Kumquat Cheesecakes

Jaime and Al hosted a barbecue on Saturday afternoon. You can barely tell Heidi is pregnant in the picture above! It was really nice to hang out with good friends on a warm (okay, HOT) weekend evening watching the kids play.
The house was full of boys with Jack (3), Vincent (18 months), and Mason (6 months). Mase was a little nervous around all of the commotion and noise but eventually got used to it (or at least stopped crying when someone screamed.) He was pretty content in Vinny's high chair at the table with the mommies. Clay, Al, and Tage were in the next room watching baseball.For dessert I brought these cupcakes and Mini Kumquat Cheesecakes. Let me first say that it was foolish of me to assume that just because my friends are all in their 30s' now (except for Lindsey, who will be there in 4 months) that meant they are mature enough to say the word "kumquat" without snickering. Not so! At any rate, I happened to have kumquats in my refrigerator when I came across this post from the Poor Girl Eats Well blog introduced to me by Elaine. I'm a serious sucker for cheesecake so of course I had to try it... the barbecue was just a good excuse. It was really easy to make but slicing and removing the seeds from the small kumquats was a bit labor intensive. The result was awesome though. The candied kumquats were tart and delicious with the sweet, light cheesecake filling. As Roseanne put it, "The graham crackers were key." The recipe doesn't call for them but I added a couple of squares as a garnish and ended up wishing I had taken the time to crush more graham crackers and add a couple of layers when I assembled the individual servings. This recipe made enough for 10 ramekins.

Also, I made these the night before so all I had to do was take them out of the refrigerator, garnish and go. In all honesty, if your friends aren't very adventurous when it comes to their desserts, can't stop giggling at the word "kumquat" or there are Chocolate Chip Cookie Cupcakes around to compete with, you'll be taking home a few extra individual cheesecakes... but if you're me, you are totally fine with that!

Welcome Baby Girl Kirby!

Madeline Alice Kirby
6 lb. 1 oz.
19 in.
11:47am

Proud mommy and daddy, Heidi and Clay Kirby (and big brother, Jack)

Thanks Rose, for sending the picture and the updates!

Mommy and baby are doing well. Isn't she a cutie? Look at those lips... and bright-eyed already.

CONGRATULATIONS YOU GUYS!

We can't wait to meet Madeline.

Weekend Fun

First thing's first... phase 2 of our strawberry farmers market mission is finished! I have now successfully completed my first attempt at canning and can't wait to do more. It helps that I got the inspiration and the recipe from Mel of the Larson Lingo and the jam post she shared a few weeks back. Her pictures are always gorgeous and she made it all look so easy, so I thought, "Why not?"The finished product is pictured below, ready to be handed out to our new neighbors, friends and family, and to keep on hand as hostess gifts. (Don't worry, I made sure to hide a few jars in the bottom of our freezer-- strawberry jam is my favorite!)There was so much that happened this weekend I'm just going to skip to the end and save the rest for posts this week. Mason and I took a mini road trip today to celebrate a good friends 3rd birthday. Connor had a fireman party, complete with a visit from the actual fire department. How Laura got the men in blue to park their truck in her driveway, I'll never know. Mason enjoyed it though.First from the protective arms of Auntie Roseanne.Not too sure about it, even in Mom's lap.The birthday boy himself!Mason finally warmed up to the fire truck.

The rest of the weekend included homemade sidewalk chalk, a super hero mask and cape, a barbecue with friends and delicious kumquat cheesecake desserts. All to come!

Farmers market, finally!

I love Mommy and Mason days! Today we (all three) slept in until 7:15am and Mason and I saw Daddy off to work. We had a couple of errands to run and at the top of our list was the farmers market. Mason was ready to go with his Explorer hat and trusty owl sidekick.There were so many stands and a TON of people there. Who knew a mid-day mid-week farmers market would be such a draw? We are going to make it a weekly visit as long as we can. This week we took in the sights, familiarized ourselves with the growers, and fulfilled our one farmers market mission.

Mission accomplished: super sweet and fresh, organic strawberries

I've got plans for these berries, but for now let's just say that phase 1 is complete...

...and ready for phase 2 tomorrow after work.

More to come!

Everything really is okay... right?

I've discovered that one of the most difficult parts of being a parent is trusting that "everything is okay." I can't even count the number of times each day I think to myself, "Is he eating enough? Is he eating too much? Did he get a good enough nap? Should I let him put that in his mouth? Is he bored? Is he over-stimulated? Is he getting enough sleep? Is he sleeping too much?"

It can be exhausting. Even though by now I know Mason really well and can decipher his cues and signals, I still can't help but wonder. So here is my question: Can he be sleeping too much? (Kim, if Ella is still not sleeping all that well you may just want to skip the rest of today's post!)
This is our little peanut snoozing on Daddy's lap last night at 7pm. He did wake up for bath time but was in his crib by 8pm and sound asleep shortly thereafter... not to wake up again until 5am, at which point he nursed and fell back to sleep until 7:30am when I had to wake him up!
Admittedly, he was in bed with Tage after he woke up to nurse so that usually knocks him out, but I mean come on, that seems like a LOT of sleep to me. Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining, and even when I wake him up he is usually in a super happy mood. Sleep is good for brain development and all that. This kid better be a genius! :)

Before and After: Vocabulary

"Pumped"
Before: adjective; meaning to be excited about something
After: verb; what I just did on my break at work

"Blow out"
Before: adjective; when your car tire explodes
After: noun; when your baby's diaper explodes

"Sleeping through the night"
Before: adjective; actually sleeping all night
After: adjective; when your child reaches a point where you are getting enough sleep (measured by consecutive hours) that you no longer forget your own name

"Cereal"
Before: noun; comes in a box, it's crunchy, you pour milk on it and then eat it with a spoon
After: noun; it does come in a box and you do pour milk on it... you start out with a spoon but end up just pouring the remainder of the bowl into your child's upturned mouth, hoping more goes in than comes out

"Sleeping in"
Before: verb; to wake up after 9AM
After: Um... yeah... I'll have to get back to you on this one

Jumping on the zucchini bread bandwagon

One of THE best perks about living in California is the produce. We didn't realize how good we had it here until we moved to Spokane where you can't find an actual ripe tomato to save your life and you have to pay $2 each for avocados. All summer long we get fresh tomatoes and zucchini from my dad's garden. The tomatoes don't sit around for long before they are consumed in tomato salad or tacos but there are only so many ways to make zucchini as a side dish for dinner. (Incidentally, if you know of some good recipes I could use a few more to add to my repertoire.)

The solution? Zucchini bread, or in this case, zucchini muffins. Tage's sister Taina has a delicious recipe...

Preheat oven to 350

Beat:
3 eggs
2 c. brown sugar
1 c. oil

Add:
2 c. whole
wheat flour
1/4 c. ground flax seeds (I added this)
1/2 tsp. baking powder
2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
3 tsp. cinnamon
3 tsp. vanilla

Mix in:
2 c. grated zucchini

Pour into two greased loaf pans and bake for 55-60 minutes. Sprinkle with granulated or brown sugar as soon as they come out of the oven.

You may notice that my muffins are a little on the, um, dark side. When I was making these at 10:30pm last night I neglected to modify the cooking time due to the fact that I was making muffins and not loaves. While I'd love to say it was the oven's fault, it was entirely my lack of cooking experience and the fact that it was late and I was tired. I'm okay with it though. While the muffins (over) cooked I whipped up my first batch of baby food for Mason. More to come on that!

At any rate, I still ate them for breakfast and they were delicious despite being over cooked. Heather posted her recipe for zucchini bread yesterday and Mel of The Larson Lingo also posted her recipe for zucchini bread, so I jumped on the bandwagon. :) Using Mel's suggestion, I grated a few extra cups of zucchini with the intent to freeze it, but it looks like it's going to get used tonight for a fresh (correctly cooked) batch of muffins...

Fourth Festivities

Mason was perfectly content watching the neighborhood parade from the vantage point of his cousin Katherine's lap.

The parade takes place in Tage's old stomping grounds (where his mom still lives) so we had plenty of yards from which to enjoy the day. Mason couldn't get enough of the sights and sounds. When he wasn't with his cousin Katherine, his Uncle Keith was happy to give him a seat.

Me and my little guy in our red, white, and blue. He has my fair skin, so the poor kid was slathered in sun screen and forced to wear that hat all day (thankfully he actually doesn't mind the hat!)

After the enjoying the parade, walking the streets listening to the live bands and all the people watching, it was home for nap time before we headed over to Grandma Pete's. My youngest brother is a 4th of July baby so we always celebrate with swimming and a barbecue. My dad caught fresh tuna during a trip to the ocean the night before and the fish, served with summer squash from his garden and fresh fruit salad was amazingly delicious.

The water in the pool was on the cold side for Mason's first swim lesson but he was digging it. First on the steps with Daddy then all the way in with Mom. He loves to splash around! I have no doubt he'll be a water bug like his mommy.

Look at the sun glaring off the (sunblock covered) heads of my two baldies... so cute! Even Astro wanted to join in the fun but, as it typical of our dog, he was too chicken. Astro was entertained by running around the pool though, and was worn out by the end of the day.

Actually, we were all worn out by the end of the day. Tage and I were packing up dog and baby by 7pm and heading home. No fireworks for us this year, but a wonderful day with our family-- which is what it's all about.

Mason winding down his day with his great grandma.

Mason's First: Rolling over

Mason and I had some Pear Tree business to tend to this morning which called for a trip to a friend's house. Katie has a toddler so when it was nap time I was able (or so I thought) to lay Mase down for his nap in their crib upstairs. As usual I rocked him for a couple of minutes and laid him gently down on his belly for his nap.

A few minutes later I walked up to check on him and make sure he had gone to sleep. I was surprised to discover that he was on his back, looking around at the pink and purple gingham bedding he was surrounded by. I can't say it was too much of a shock; two days ago he discovered that if he presses down with his big Flintstone feet and arches his back while I'm trying to strap him into his car seat it can be a fun game for him as I try to tickle and distract him so he'll relax and let me finish the job.

Later on at home our little ham let me get some action shots...