A Cure for What Ails Ya

Oh, this is just priceless!!

Sign Language etc.

I feel like we've been really, really busy lately, but we haven't done that much at all. It seems like endless work trying to get the house together. We JUST started getting pictures on the walls this week! We've been teaching Maddie sign language and she knows quite a few signs. She can recognize and will respond to kitty, ball, milk, more, water and hungry and she even makes the sign for 'more', which she uses for both 'hungry' and 'give me more cheerios'. 'More' also looks a little like clapping, which she is doing readily when she's excited and when she hears music, so you really have to use context clues to decipher what she wants. So fun!

She's moving between pieces of furniture (I think that's called 'cruising'?) and is really crawling like a maniac! She discovered outlets the other day and today she discovered the doggie door. I'm exhausted.

I've been doing Weight Watchers for the last few months (slowly, as to not affect milk supply) and I recently purchased one of their cookbooks. It's PHENOMENAL! Tonight I'm making one of my favorite recipes, called Pork Marrakesh. All of you foodies out there must try it. You'd never know it's good for you!

Ingredients
2 t olive oil
4 pork chops
3/4 t salt
1/4 t pepper
3 small red onions, thinly sliced
12 dried apricots, sliced
3/4 c apple juice
2 t minced ginger
1/2 t thyme
1 cinnamon stick
1/4 c chopped cilantro

1. Heat 1 t. oil, sprinkle pork chops with salt and pepper, add chops to skillet and brown on each side (about 2 min per side), transfer to a plate

2. reduce heat to med and add onions and 1 t. oil, sautee until the onions are golden

3. place half of the apricots and half of the onions at the bottom of a slow cooker, top with pork chops and the remaining onions and apricots. add apple juice, ginger, thyme, and a cinnamon stick. cover and cook until the pork is fork tender. The book says 3-4 hrs on high or 6-8 hours on low. I did 4 hours on high last time and I felt that everything was a little 'too' done, so this time I'm going to lean towards the 3 hour mark, if not less.

I served this over couscous and it was fantastic!!!

The last few weeks or so...

Here we are trying out the backpack we got with our REI dividends last year. (Yay REI!) She seems to like it, but gets frustrated without interaction, so we brought along a compact mirror to use to look back and smile at her.




She used to lay under this thing and gaze up at it adoringly. Now she uses it to teethe and to climb on. It's not very sturdy, so it works on her balance quite a bit when she's trying to stand. Pretty cute! I took a video of this and will post shortly.



These were taken last Saturday night at the Houston Museum of Natural Science. ExxonMobil rented the museum for the night as a celebration for an, um, extraordinary 2008. Fine by me! We got free food and drinks and got to see Body Worlds 2! Luckily Maddie isn't old enough to be scarred by injection molded bodies.

Videos of my girl

If you're wondering about the bruise on her forehead its because she has a tendency to 'test' things with her head, most commonly the coffee table and the glass shower doors. Which reminds me of the Parenthood scene where Steve Martin's kid is banging into the wall and SM says "He likes to butt things with his head..." and Rick Moranis says "You must be so proud..." That's my girl!

The Evolution of the Bathroom

This is the earliest picture I can find of the bathroom. I guess we were so excited to get the shag carpet out and the wallpaper off of the walls that we went in with wild abandon. Please note the very dated cabinet with the beautiful granite on top. That kind of thing is all over the house. Gorgeous granite on top of ugly cabinetry. Clearly someone did a half hearted renovation. Ah, well. We'll do it right I guess...



this light fixture was actually painted gold metallic!!





Jeff taught me to solder pipes




almost there!!!

Christmas and all that jazz

Soooo... it's been a while. Things have been crazy! There was Thanksgiving, followed by a lovely visit with Elise and Justin Stubbe. Then we took a trip to the Texas Renaissance Festival, which is a mere 20 minutes from our house. (I did not dress up in period clothing as Jeff urged me to do to be "one with my people". They are hardly my people and haven't been since high school!)

Then we started The Bathroom Renovation. How much trouble can 25 sq ft be?? Let me tell you. Inordinate amounts. We began with shag carpet, a dated oak vanity with an oversized (albiet granite counter) sink, wallpapered and painted on walls, a painted gold metallic light fixture and a broken toilet. The plan was simple: gut it, take down wallpaper, repaint and install a toilet and pedestal sink on slate tile. It started with a combined 40 hours of picking off wallpaper from unprimed drywall in bits the size of quarters. Granted things have gone downhill from there, but it's more of a gentle slope rather than a nice steep hill.

We had the pleasure of my brother Alec's company for Christmas. Maddie warmed up to him right away and really seemed to love playing with him. Unfortunately Grandma Mag couldn't make it, but we're looking forward to seeing her in the upcoming months. N'est pas??

Anyway, we didn't shower Maddie with gifts. She was more than happy to play with the bows and the wrapping paper (sure hope they're non toxic!). But we had a wonderful day and a great meal and a good time was had by all. Thank you Alec for my black Santa. He's lovely.

So, without further ado, here are the pictures..

Miscellaneous and Christmas

..the living room now that the metallic red is gone






mmm! avocado!



she sits in a runners' stretch



At the Houston Aquarium