Categories
Reading

The Age of Miracles

The Age of Miracles by Karen Thompson Walker was my book club’s September pick. I read it on my Kindle Fire within the last week or so. I’ve found I can read on my cell or tablet while nursing &/or holding a sleeping baby much easier than I can read a ‘real’ book these days. Sadly, I was the only book clubber to have finished The Age of Miracles. We all were having busy weeks, so we decided to cancel last night’s discussion though I gathered that the others were all unimpressed with the book.

I’m still working through my thoughts on The Age of Miracles. It was definitely pretty crazy & somewhat intense. I liked that it was told from the point of view of a middle school aged girl. I think the young adult point of view helped tone down the intensity, making the story more readable.

The premise of The Age of Miracles is that the Earth begins to slow down its rotation or as its called in the book ‘the slowing’. The main character, Julia, takes us through what happens to her, her family, friends, school, community & really the US as a whole because of the slowing. And none of it is good. It’s very much an almost post apocalyptic situation.

I’d never thought of the Earth’s rotation. Never pondered what would happen if it suddenly or slowly changed. I’m so used to 24 hour days. And knowing we can count on days being light & nights dark that it was wild reading about life any other way.

I don’t know enough about science to have been fact checking my way through The Age of Miracles. And honestly I just was thinking my lucky stars to have had the free moments to read. So I don’t know if all the wild events would or could occur. I just suspended my disbelief & read. And when The Age of Miracles ended, I was okay. I was glad I’d read it. But I’m not sure I’m jumping up & town ready to encourage you to go read it. But if you like science fiction, end of the world maybe novels, then this one might be for you.

Categories
Food

Sarah’s Lemon White Chocolate Bars

My college friend Sarah recently started a blog. She’s one of the most crafty women I know & she’s also a great baker. I was so happy to discover her lemon white chocolate cookie recipe earlier this week.

I’ve been craving all things lemon since popping these babies out. I think it’s due to the fact that coming within 10 feet of lemon at the end of the pregnancy gave me heartburn. I’ve nommed like crazy on lemon squares from my mom’s friend & drank lemonade by the gallon.

I ventured out with Lucy in tow Wednesday, just happened to pass the cake mix aisle & somehow lemon cake mix & eggs ended up in my cart. And then the world smiled upon me & both babies napped *at the same time* Wednesday evening, so that I was able to make these delicious bars. Like Sarah says, seriously the BEST & EASIEST ever!

Ingredients
1 box lemon cake mix
1/2 c vegetable oil
2 eggs
1 c white chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350. Mix together cake mix, oil & eggs. I mixed by hand for noise sake but you could use a mixer too.

Blend in the chips.

Smush & flatten the batter into a 8×8 pan. I used non-stick brownie pan but still sprayed in with Pam.

Sarah recommends baking for 18-19 minutes. My oven is slow & things got a little crazy {shocker right?}, so these bars baked for more like 20+ minutes. They are still delicious & I may or may not have enjoyed almost half a pan in the last day.

My favorite way to enjoy lemon treats is with fruit, especially raspberries. It makes them healthy, right {please say yes & go make these & enjoy}!

Categories
Babies

Leaving the Nest

I’m tempted to place blame on my super Daddy of a husband in this post, but I’ve been a bit nervous & more protective than I expected. When I learned our babies were going to be born early, I figured we wouldn’t be taking them out & about right away. Hells, when I learned I was having multiples, I knew I’d been intimidated by that. But I figured it wouldn’t take us three months.

But aside from pediatrician appointments & a quick visit to each of our works, these babies haven’t left our nest together. A couple {Lucy’s had two & Zach one} walks have been taken, but it’s been hot. With my mom on tow, Lucy, in the Moby wrap, went to a baby store, BJs & Lowes Food about a month ago. She did great; sleeping her way from place to place. Two Saturdays ago, Zach joined Mom & I out to return my rented Symphony & go to Harris Teeter. Mom used our Ergo carrier & Z slept the whole time.

So yesterday I was feeling a bit stir crazy & hungry. I love dining out & while take out is good, it’s not the same as a restaurant experience. I brought up eating out Monday morning. The husband didn’t immediately say no. {I took this as a good sign.} Later when he mentioned craving Relish take out, I popped out ‘what if we all went?’. Husbands’ parents are in town & were game, so I began preparing for a 7p dinner at 530. Getting non-spit-up covered clothes out for myself. Clean, cute clothes & disposable diapers out for the babes. Waiting for them to wake up, nursing Zach, then handing him to Jason for burps & dressing while I then nursed Lucy. I got her & I dressed while Jason put them in the car seats. And off we went. We were just five minutes late {pretty sure I’ll never be ‘on time’ again}.

And I think it went well. Babes enjoyed the car ride. Zach fell right asleep at the table, only waking once we were done eating. Lucy stayed wide eyed for a while & then got sick of the car seat seconds before our food was served. J & his mom took turns walking her & eating until she fell asleep. Once we gulped down our delicious food, we called it a success & left before anyone melted down.

Zach slept 3.5 hours in his crib & Lucy fell asleep at 1115p last night. So their trip out did good things to them too. Watch out world, we’ve made a {little} step out of our nest with the two babies!

Categories
Babies

Zach: Three Months

Oh Zachy-poo. I thank God for this easy going little guy. He’s content just about anywhere you put him: boppy, rocknplay, bouncy seat, swing, playmat, our arms or just a blanket on the floor. I brought out his tiger wubbanub last week & he has a new love. He cuddles it even if the paci falls out while he’s sleeping.

And speaking of sleeping, he’s cool there too. Happy on us. Good on rocknplay. Likes the packnplay if Lucy’s not in it. And he does well in his crib too- slept their Sun night for 5 hours. He still doesn’t sleep the 7 hour stretches that Lucy will {he usually wakes every 3-4 hours still}, but he did give us 12-6 Mon so maybe its coming soon.

{taken one day late 8/22}

Eating is currently our hard spot with lil Z. He’s hungry & that’s when he’s the most vocal, but he also has silent reflux & some lack-of-poo tummy issues. So every feeding is a toss up. Some days, he’s a breastfeeding champ. He actually does better nipple shieldless than his sister. Other feedings though, he’ll just scream at the boob, but take his reflux meds sneaked in 1oz breastmilk bottle fine. After trying to get out burps with pats, bouncing, walks, if he’s still screaming, I’ll have husband or MIL give him a breastmilk bottle. That’s happened more than I like recently, but I reassure myself knowing he’s getting my milk either way.

But the boy is growing! While still hovering around or a little below the 1 percentile, he’s more than doubled his birth weight & I think around 10-11 lbs now. Zach can fit into some NB clothes still but the pants/sleeves are getting short. The onesie above is the same one Lucy wore in her 3 month photo for comparison. To give him footie room, his sleepers are 0-3 months. He’s still fitting in the extra small & NB cloth diaper covers. But we have him using huggies naturals in size 1 over nights.

Categories
Babies Food

{Make Ahead Meals} Chicken, Mushroom & Wild Rice Casserole

We’ve received a bunch of chicken casseroles as chicken is my go to meat. This was one of our favorites {& I have this recipe written down}. SIL Beth made this one after finding it on eatingwell.com

Chicken, Mushroom & Wild Rice casserole
Ingredients
2 c water
1/2 c wild rice
2 lb boneless chicken breasts
2 tbsp EVOO
2 leeks, rinsed & chopped
1 & 1/2 lbs mushrooms, sliced
1 c dry sherry
1/4 c flour
2 c milk
1/2 c parmesan cheese
1/2 c sour cream
1/3 c chopped flat leaf parsley
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
2 c frozen French cut green beans
1/2 c sliced almonds

Combine water & rice in small saucepan. Bring to boil, then cover & reduce heat to maintain simmer. Cook until tender for 35-40 minutes then drain.

Meanwhile, place chicken in large skillet, add lightly salted water to cover & bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat & simmer until chicken is cooked through {10-15 mins}. Transfer to plate or cutting board to let cool.

Heat oil in large skillet over medium heat. Add leaks & cook until lightly brown {4-5 minutes}, stirring occasionally. Add mushrooms, continue stirring while cooking until their liquid is out & evaporated {12-14 minutes}. Add sherry & bump the heat up to high. Cook until most of the liquid is gone {5-7 minutes}. Sprinkle the vegetables with flour then add them to the skillet. Add the milk then bring to simmer for 1 minute. Stir in the cheese, sour cream, parsley, salt & pepper. Remove from heat.

Spray a 9×13 dish with cooking spray. Place the rice in the 9×13 dish. Cut the chicken in bite sized pieces then add them on top of the rice. Add the green beans then pour the sauce over & spread evenly. Sprinkle on the almonds.

At this point, you can either cover & freeze. Or bake on 350 until almonds are golden brown {about 30 minutes}. Enjoy ~ we sure did!