Evan's Baptism Weekend

We had Evan's baptism this past weekend, which was long overdue. I think it's probably been a while since an 8-month-old baby has been baptized at our church. Usually it's done at a much younger age, but we'd been really lazy about arranging it. I was pretty concerned with how he would behave. There really wasn't a chance that he would just sleep through the whole thing like some younger babies do. I was worried that he would freak out when Father Jim tried to take him from us. Part of the baptism is to have the priest take the baby and walk with him down the aisle to the baptismal font, where the whole thing takes place. Since Evan isn't always so good with strangers, or with other people holding him, we kept our fingers crossed that he would stay calm.



Well, I am happy to report that not only did he stay calm, but he actually seemed to enjoy himself, and enjoy all the eyes that were on him. Even from the moment he got dressed in his little white christening suit, he had this air about him, like he knew that he was special, that it was his day. I know it sounds silly, but he acted excited and eager all the way to church, and all during the service, up until his baptism. Then, when the baptism itself was going on, he kept giving Father Jim these awed stares, like he was really listening to everything and taking it all in. It was pretty cute. He was on his best behavior the whole time, and even when it came time to have holy water poured on his head, he took it very well. He looked a little confused, but he didn't seem bothered by it at all.



When it was over, Father Jim held Evan up high over his head and introduced him to the whole congregation as its newest member. Then, Evan got a huge round of applause. It was so cool to watch, I have to admit. I know I'm biased, being his mom and everything, but I'd like to think that if I had been a mere spectator that day, I still would have thought it was a very beautiful, special christening. I couldn't have asked for everything to go better than it had.

Afterwards, Evan passed out almost immediately in the car. I actually had to drive around for a half hour or so in order for him to have a long enough nap before his party. I was glad I did that, because when we got back home, everybody was already there for lunch, and Evan was well-rested and very happy. He hammed it up for all his guests, and thrived under all the attention he received. I think he really blossomed this weekend, no longer a timid, wary baby when it comes to strangers. In fact, he's actually pretty social! Unfortunately, he came out of the whole experience with a bad cold. I think maybe he caught it when we took him to the children's hospital for some appointments last week. On top of that, he's about to cut some teeth, so it's making him extra miserable. I'm glad he was able to have this past weekend, though. I'm grateful for everyone who was able to come and be a part of his special day. Also important? We survived our first official party in our new (not so new anymore) house!




P.S. Yes, I realize all my pictures are on the left side of the page, and not centered or embedded properly in the text. I plead computer ignorance and exhaustion, and promise to do better next time. Or my husband will do better next time!

Birthday Cupcakes

So I had my 30th birthday. I actually feel pretty good about it, even though my son keeps reminding me that I'm starting to look my age. Long ago are the days when I could pass for a college student. Now I get questions like this from Xander: "Mom, why are there so many lines around your eyes?" Or I get exclamations such as this: "Mom, I can see all your white hair!" Ah, kids. You just have to appreciate their pure honesty, and laugh because it is at your expense.

I had a hard time trying to decide what kind of cake to make myself. Originally, we debated the idea of having Andy make a cake for me, but we decided that it would be fun for me to get a break from the kids and just bake in a quiet house. So he took off with the boys and I holed up in the kitchen with my brand-new cookbook, Baked: New Frontiers in Baking. After much consideration, and after finally asking Xander his opinion, I decided on Red Hot Velvet Cake with Cinnamon Buttercream. Because the cake itself is a three-layer cake loaded in between its layers with piles of buttercream frosting, I didn't want to make the whole entire cake for just myself, Xander, and Andy. I had the good fortune of finding an adaptation of this recipe on Recipezaar where it was turned into cupcakes for Oprah's magazine back around Valentine's Day. So I simply used this idea, cut the recipe in half, and ended up with 12 cupcakes. Perfect! Or at least, a perfect amount for our little family.

The cupcakes turned out really good. I was a little bummed because even though the recipe called for dark cocoa powder, I used regular because I was certain I had used all my dark for a different recipe. About a week after I baked the cupcakes, guess what we found in our cupboard? That's right, the dark cocoa powder. I'm sure it would have made the cakes taste richer and even yummier, but they were still good. Next time I will definitely use the dark. It was also fun for me to play around with using a piping bag to get the frosting onto the cupcakes. I think I've been inspired now to take a cake decorating class or something, because I know I'd have a blast. In the meantime, I'm going to have fun at home experimenting with the delicious-sounding recipes in my new cookbook.

Oh, by the way, in the picture of Xander, he is eating a cupcake, not losing a bloody brawl in a dark alley!

Breakfast (and Leftovers) For Dinner

I love eating breakfast for dinner. It's probably one of my favorite things to eat for dinner. So when Xander suggested having pancakes tomorrow night, I responded with, "How about tonight?!" So thanks to my son, we all had pancakes with bacon, sausage, and some seriously delicious hash browns.

Last week, we were given the gift of fresh vegetables from Andy's parents' garden, as well as a new herb garden. We've already made basil pesto, with basil fresh from the overgrown herbs, and Andy made an inspired pesto pasta frittata this morning with the leftovers. It was awesome. Anyway, we used some of the vegetables in the hash browns this evening, and the result was a really scrumptious hash brown concoction. The fresh veggies liven up the frozen hash browns, and gives them a whole flavor makeover. Plus, cooking everything in the leftover bacon fat doesn't hurt either!

But what I really want to talk about is the pancakes. Oh, the pancakes. I love pancakes to begin with, and I am hardly discriminatory. However, these pancakes were truly something special. I don't know what it was about them. Maybe it was the fact that it has been quite a while since I've made pancakes from scratch. Bisquick pancakes are great, don't get me wrong, but there's no real substitute for pancakes from scratch. They're just so much lighter, and moister, and more flavorful. I found the recipe for them on Recipezaar, my favorite recipe website. There are 217 reviews on this particular recipe, and almost all of them give these pancakes five stars out of a possible five. They are seriously, seriously delicious. Seriously. Here is the recipe, with my slight modifications.

Pete's Scratch Pancakes
adapted from Recipezaar
makes about 16-20 pancakes

Ingredients
2 cups flour
2 tablespoons baking powder
3 tablespoons sugar (I used 1/4 cup)
1 teaspoon salt
1 3/4 cups milk (I used 2%)
2 eggs, beaten in a separate bowl before adding to other ingredients
1/4 cup butter, cooled slightly (I used Smart Balance 50/50 Blend)

Directions
Mix together the flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt in a medium-sized bowl. Set aside.
In a large bowl, combine the butter and milk, then whisk in the beaten eggs.
Slowly whisk in the flour, making sure not to overmix.
Let batter sit for at least 10 minutes before forming pancakes.
Drop 1/4 cup-sized batter circles onto a greased griddle, flip once bubbles start to form, then cook another 2-3 minutes on the other side, checking to make sure they do not become overly brown.
Serve with your toppings of choice, and enjoy!

Bacon Cupcakes: No, Really, They're Good

Evan and I were shopping for Father's Day cards the other day and I became distracted in the store by the latest issue of Food Network Magazine. I started perusing its pages, and I came across the weirdest, most outlandish, yet most wonderful-sounding recipe I'd seen in a while. I'm a sucker for cupcakes, and these cupcakes I found were just too unique not to try. Maple French Toast and Bacon Cupcakes, for the record, are awesome! Yes, they are sweet little treats, and yes, they contain cooked, chopped bacon. It's delicious. I've always liked the maple syprup/bacon combo, and this recipe marries the two wonderfully. The cakes are great on their own (just ask Xander, he ate three mini cupcakes for breakfast), but when you add the frosting, it just takes these way over the top. That's right. These little lovelies have a maple cinnamon cream cheese frosting on them, too. The original recipe even garnished the cupcakes with more cooked, chopped bacon, but I held off on doing that. One, I was too lazy to cook more bacon, and two, I thought if we liked these and I made them again, maybe I'd be braver next time and add the extra bacon.

So the verdict is that everyone loved them. They made a great Father's Day treat for Andy, even though he ate too many and was then plagued with a cupcake coma for about an hour afterward. I ended up with 12 regular-size cupcakes and 12 mini cupcakes, so I frosted the regular ones only so that Xander could have the mini, unfrosted ones all to himself. Either way, these are fantastic. The only problem with them is that you can't quite figure out if you should be eating them for breakfast or for dessert! They're definitely decadent enough to be a dessert, but they have all the flavors of breakfast, and are filling enough to be a breakfast. I think we'll probably solve this predicament by just eating them at both times of the day!

In other news, we bought Xander and Evan bunk beds. Obviously, with Evan being just 7 months old, it'll be awhile before they get to share the beds, but Xander's pretty excited about the whole thing. Andy got everything assembled yesterday, so Xander was able to sleep in his new bed for the first time last night. We were all a little disappointed initially to find out that the bed came with instructions stating that a child has to be 6 years old before he can sleep on the top bunk. However, once everything was put together and I actually saw the top bunk, I have to say I am a little bit relieved that I don't have to worry about him falling from a great height for at least another two years. Xander took the news better than I thought he would, too. I guess his brand new Transformers bedsheets softened the blow.

Now, his bedroom is his new favorite hangout. He was extremely eager to go to bed last night, and took great pleasure in tucking in all his stuffed animals and snuggling in himself. This morning, he played in his room, which is a rare occasion. Then, about two hours after he got up for the day, he actually - get this - requested to take a nap! All because he wanted to hang out in his new bed! It was hilarious. He actually stayed in his room for over an hour. We don't know if he actually fell asleep or not, but he at least entertained himself and got a little rest. Too funny. We should buy him a new bed more often. Just like I said in my last post, why spend money on toys when you can just invest in normal, everyday household objects?

Xander's Stuff

I don't know why we even bother to provide Xander with toys. Really, sometimes it seems like anything else is infinitely more interesting than the things he owns, that are his to play with and enjoy.

Right before (or maybe it was right after) Evan was born, I had mentioned to Andy that it might be nice for us to buy Xander a doll, a baby of some kind. I know, boys don't usually play with dolls, blah blah blah, but he's such a nurturing kind of kid, and he genuinely enjoys caring for his stuffed animals. I figured if he had a baby of his own, then he could take care of his while I took care of mine (Evan). He likes to role play just about everything Mommy and Daddy do, so I thought baby care would be no exception.

Well, as it turns out, we didn't buy him a doll. However, he does enjoy playing caretaker to a baby of his own. In his case, his baby is Fred, his favorite stuffed doggie. Nowadays, he follows along with just about everything I do with Evan. Is it time for Evan to take a nap? Well, it's time for Fred's nap, too! Where does Fred sleep? In a "crib" of his own, which is just a cardboard box that Xander nestles him in with a blanket. Where is that crib located? It used to be right next to Xander's bed, just like Evan's crib was right next to our bed. Last week, Evan moved into his own bedroom, so now Fred has moved into his own bedroom, too. When Fred is "sleeping," Xander becomes very concerned about how Fred is doing, so he'll get up out of bed a lot to check on him. Eventually, I think Fred ends up in Xander's room every night, anyway.

Xander has gotten very creative in making sure that Fred has all the same necessities as Evan. This morning, his toy farm silo was sitting on our kitchen table, and I later found out it was because the silo was really Fred's baby monitor, and he was using it to listen for him while he slept. When we ate couscous for dinner the other night, Xander fed couscous to Fred, too. He threw Fred into a box (I guess that was his high chair or something) and tossed a bunch of loose change in there with him. The pennies and dimes were little grains of couscous. When we are playing with Evan on the floor, Fred will take the opportunity to use Evan's rocking chair. The list goes on. There are seemingly endless ways in which Xander will use what we already have in the house and turn it into something else, something that serves the purpose of this elaborate Fred-as-baby game we play. It is so funny to me that half the time Xander whines and begs us to come up with something for him to do, because he's bored. With an imagination like his, how could you ever be bored?

As I said in the beginning, we don't ever need to buy Xander toys, it seems. He either plays with things in the house that aren't really toys, like chair cushions or empty envelopes, or he plays with Evan's toys. This is particularly interesting to me, considering that Evan's toys are baby toys and should therefore be rendered useless by Xander. I was wrong to think that, I guess. Turns out Evan's toys are way more fascinating than just about anything else we own. Of course, you can guess what happens when the shoe's on the other foot and Evan touches Xander's toys! It's like the end of the world! I'm still figuring out how to entertain a boy with so much going on in his little head. One thing I do know for sure now, though, is that we could have saved so much money on toys these last few years. Oh, well, we've learned, and now we're better prepared for Evan to be three.

Cookies and Changing Rooms

Well, I have been missing for a while now! It has definitely been too long since I have posted here. There has been a lot of change and adjustment going on in our household lately, and that has been part of the reason why I haven't been good about updating the blog.

First of all, we had Xander's last day of school last week, and then we've been transitioning him into his summer preschool class. So far he seems to be loving it. It is only for two days a week, though, so I'm getting used to having him around more. It's been a little challenging, coming up with new and exciting things for him to do, but we're working on it. I try to use this genius booklet that his teachers came up with and handed out at the end of school. In it, they list tons of things to do with your child, so that he/she doesn't forget or lose all that they've learned this past year. I figure if I use just one of the ideas every day that he is home with me, we'll get to do lots of different activities that are fun and educational for him, and it really helps to have the variety. He is also old enough now that taking him to the pool, even if I have Evan in one arm, should be much easier, though I have yet to attempt it. Maybe I'll be brave next week.

Evan has finally gotten his own bedroom! He has spent his first six months bunking with us, first in his little cradle and then in his crib at the foot of our bed. Now we have done a big room swap, converting what was an office next to our room into his nursery. Tonight will be his fourth night sleeping in there, and I have to say that so far I am happy with how things are going. He still has yet to sleep through the night, so it's a little rougher for me to get out of bed and head next door to his room for nighttime feedings. Plus, I am so paranoid that he's going to wake up and be upset, I tend to lie awake and listen to the baby monitor a little too much. However, Evan himself is doing just great! He is sleeping over four hour stretches, and this morning he woke up at 7 a.m. in the crib, just as happy as could be. I'm really proud of him; he's adjusting better than I thought he would. Now I just have to follow suit...

This past weekend I baked some cookies, which was fun to do alone. Originally it was going to be a project for Xander and I to do together, but let's just say things took an ugly turn with his behavior and I had to take away the baking party. Anyway, the cookie recipe was the first I made out of a cookbook I received for Christmas, Martha Stewart's Cookies. They were a fun, interesting twist on an oatmeal raisin cookie. I especially liked the fact that there was only a half a stick of butter in the whole recipe, which meant I could actually eat them! That's right, these were relatively healthy cookies! They were delicious, too. Here's the recipe, and some pictures of the finished product.

Another Mother

Most of the time, parenthood feels like one of the most difficult jobs in the world, yet it definitely feels rewarding at the end of the day. Everything we do, it's for the kids. Even when they're not around, whether Xander is at school or if they're sleeping, we are thinking about them, trying to come up with ways to make their lives better in some way. What do we want in return? Well, we want our kids to turn out well. We don't want to do anything that we think may scar them, or that will make them an unhappy person. Mostly, we want to know that despite all we've been through together, they still love us and are glad that we are their parents.

These musings, of course, lead me to an entertaining story. The reason I was thinking about all this parenthood stuff was because of what happened while I was driving Xander into preschool this morning. We were chatting, and he started asking questions about why Daddy and I don't live with our parents anymore. I was explaining how, eventually, people grow up and want to live on their own, or with their husband or wife, and how it's a totally natural thing. I felt like mentioning the natural part, since he was starting to get sad about the prospect of himself growing up and moving on. Just when I thought he might say something heartwarming about how much he would miss Momma and Daddy when he moved out of our house, he drops another, completely unexpected bombshell. "Well, I wish I had another Momma." The radio was playing, and it's always somewhat difficult to hear him talk since he sits directly behind the driver's seat, so I asked him to repeat himself. Surely I had heard wrong. "I didn't want you for a mom. I wanted another girl to be my mom. But it didn't happen," Xander said. I was incredulous. He's only three years old; I wasn't expecting such a statement to come out of his mouth until he was at least 11 or 12! It's too soon for him to hate me.

Not entirely knowing how to handle the situation, I asked him to explain himself further. Maybe I'm a glutton for punishment, I don't know. He elaborated, but he didn't really say anything I wanted to hear. He mentioned wishing for a different mom and something about how before he was born he had hoped I would be somebody else, or something like that. Whatever he said, I know it wasn't pleasant. So I tried to recover as best I could, and started a speech about hurting people's feelings when we say stuff like this. I explained that it hurts Mommy's feelings when he says this, and I asked him to put himself in my shoes for a minute. He didn't like that too much. I hope it made sense to him, that Mommy has feelings too and that he is able to hurt them, but I can't be sure it sunk in. It was an interesting situation, and one I wasn't prepared for.

That's like so many things when it comes to parenting though. You're suddenly faced with a new and unusual scenario, and you need to think on your toes. If you don't, the kid sure knows that he threw you for a loop! Then you're in trouble, because he can use that "weakness" to his advantage. It's kind of like sharks, and how they can smell fear. Kids totally smell the fear and uncertainty. The best thing to do sometimes is to wing your way through, and sometimes I find it's better to just tell Xander that I need "time" to think things over. If he does or says something and I just don't know how to respond, he needs to give me time. It works wonders, too, usually. If all else fails, there's always the patented "Daddy and I need to talk this over and decide how to handle this" speech. It never hurts to have a second opinion!

I'm over the other mother thing by now, and I know he's young and doesn't really mean it the way it could be taken. But it's always going to feel lousy when your child says something hurtful to you, no matter what. All I have to say is that if he keeps saying stuff like that to us, we'll be more than ready to handle him as a teenager!