Whew!
I managed it! My first day back at work after 4 months of maternity leave. The best part about today? Coming home to this:
As soon as he saw me, he gave me a huge smile. It was amazing. I love this baby!
Laughing!
Last weekend I was driving home from Oregon in our new family car, and Max was at home with George. She was blowing on his feet, and out of nowhere he started laughing! I wish I was there to see it, but at least she caught it on video. I’m still waiting to see it in person.
Oh, and here’s our new car!
Banana Muffins
A few weeks ago, we were up in Bend, Oregon visiting Brad’s parents. It’s always relaxing going up there and there is always plenty of time to eat and plenty of time to cook. Mimi and Todd have an amazing kitchen and this time, I decided to make banana muffins. Following is a recipe from Mimi’s collection. I added pecans and chocolate chips – just because I could!
- 3oz butter
- 1 1/8 cup sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 tsp. vanilla
- 2 ripe bananas (mashed)
- 1 1/3 cup flour
- ½ tsp. soda
- ½ tsp. baking powder
- ¼ tsp. salt
- ¼ cup buttermilk
Pecans optional / Chocolate chips optional.
Cream butter and sugar until fluffy. Beat in eggs, vanilla and bananas into butter mixture. Combine dry ingredients. Add alternately with the buttermilk into mixture. Can add nuts and chips if desired.
Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. You can also made this as a loaf: 40-45 minutes, but the muffins come out more evenly cooked than bread.
You can also top with “crisp topping” if desired (which I did of course!)
- 1 stick (4 oz) butter
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- ½ cup brown sugar, packed
- ½ cup white sugar
- Pinch salt
Cut softened butter into 8 pieces and mix in with dry ingredients until it is well integrated. Keep in the freezer until ready to use.
My 4 best friends
People told me while I was pregnant that getting a baby to nap is one of the hardest things to do. Some days Max will fall asleep after eating in my arms and I can lay him down in his bassinet and he’ll nap very well. Other days, he’ll show signs of sleepiness – rubbing his eyes, yawning and fussing a bit, but he’ll just fight it and get cranky until I bring out the big guns. Introducing my 4 best friends: Mr. Car, Mr. Vacuum, Mr. Stroller, and Mr. Swing. (They’re all Mr. since Max is a boy!).
The car is the easiest, but not so eco-friendly. Getting him in the stroller and walking around the neighborhood is also easy. But on days when it’s just too hot to go out in the afternoon, I have to put him in the swing to help him fall asleep. Most of the time he will, but then there are times that he’s just too exhausted and that’s when I have to bring out the vacuum cleaner. Well – up until a few days ago when I realized I might wear out my Dyson! I downloaded this MP3 and although it doesn’t sound much like a vacuum, it seems to do the trick. I have to crank it up pretty loud before he’s calm and he sleeps very well with it in the background. I gradually turn it down every few minutes until it’s just a soft hum otherwise I’d go nuts.
Hopefully he’ll grow out of the phase soon and just fall asleep in his crib, but I’ll do anything right now to get him to nap. He’s 3.5 months now and weighs about 15 pounds – double his birth weight! Here are a few recent photos from my phone:
