Smith Family Weblog

7 May

First bites

Posted by Rebecca in In the kitchen, Olivia. 7 Comments

Since starting cereal a few weeks ago, Olivia has tried avocados, sweet potatoes and now, green beans. She was pretty skeptical after the first bite, but warmed to them quickly.

As I did with Ava, I’m making Olivia’s baby food. The first time around, I reasoned that it was easy to do, not to mention less expensive than jarred foods. Now, I’m not so sure about either of those things, but I’m committing to it anyway. For now.

It is a relatively simple process. Steam:

Process:

Freeze:

Eventually, we’ll just run whatever we’re eating through the food mill for Olivia. For now, though, we’re introducing new foods one at a time about a week apart, so it’s nice to have a few frozen options on hand.

7 May

Appreciating the scenery

Posted by Rebecca in Outdoor life. 5 Comments

My trainer has really been pushing me to run lately. I am opposed to this because, as I told him, no one is actively chasing me, and I do not like the way my butt shakes at speeds faster than a brisk walk. He responded, “Do you know what will help with that? RUNNING.”

He suggested focusing on–and I am not kidding here–the beauty of the nature around me, rather than the act of running itself. Seriously? Has this man ever tried to run? It’s hard.

I am giving him the benefit of the doubt. Here are a few shots from my run this morning.

It’s 6 a.m. The light is actually quite pretty. The lawn has never looked better. (Thanks, Bry.)

I can smell these lilacs from a block away.

This view is also quite pretty, but really it just reminded me that sun wasn’t actually up yet.

I found a snowball tree along the path–there’s one of these behind my grandpa’s house. I remember being totally awestruck by it as a child.

So, okay, maybe he has a point. This has been rather–and I can’t believe I’m going to say this–enjoyable.

Maybe it was that I focused on my surroundings, rather than the obvious and somewhat blinding pain of my screaming lungs. Probably, though, it more manageable because I stopped every five minutes to take a photo. Yeah, that definitely helped.

Know what else made it enjoyable? My running parter.

6 May

Cheesecake!

Posted by Rebecca in In the kitchen. 3 Comments

I love making cheesecakes–they’re deceptively simple. This is one of my favorite recipes–Raspberry Cheesecake Swirl from Martha Stewart.

Despite employing a number of supposedly preventative tactics, I almost always have trouble with cheesecakes cracking. The nice thing about this recipe is that the cracks occur along the swirls, making them a bit less noticeable!

6 May

Post baby brain?

Posted by Rebecca in Parenting. 5 Comments

In the last few hours, I’ve tried to make coffee without grinding the beans, left the shower without rinsing the conditioner from my hair and washed the remote control with a load of laundry. What gives?

5 May

Ava Fix

Posted by Rebecca in Ava. 2 Comments

It’s 75 degrees outside. You need to mow the lawn. What’s a fashion-forward girl to wear? How about a sweater, pajama bottoms and mis-matched winter boots?

Perfect.

4 May

Livie Love

Posted by Rebecca in Olivia. 3 Comments

Olivia hit the five-month mark a few days ago. She celebrated by cutting a second bottom tooth, and I don’t think her top teeth are too far behind.

She’s spending a lot of time scooting around her on belly, and when that doesn’t get her where she wants to go fast enough, she’ll just roll. She still loves to nap and manages to squeeze in about four a day. When we lay her down, she rolls over on her belly and buries her head in the fitted sheet. She’d prefer to nuzzle up to a blanket or soft toy–she has a penchant for situating highly-suffocative objects right next to her nose. She allows just enough room to cram her thumb into her mouth.

When her thumb’s not there, Olivia is constantly trying to find other things to put in her mouth. As Ava almost always has something on hand, they make for a dangerous pair. In the past few days, I’ve caught Ava trying to give Olivia a rock, a Cheddar Bunny and sip of milk. Needless to say, there’s a lot of supervision going on around here.

As predicted, Olivia has lost most of her hair. The mop left on the very top of her head is getting lighter by the day. She may not be as blond as her sister, but I don’t think she’ll be a real brunette, either.

I’m a little sorry to note that she’s discovered there’s a world beyond her mother. While she used to spend hours just staring at me (while I was staring at her), she’s now realized that there’s always something a tad more interesting to check out, and besides, she knows what I look like anyway. So instead of being unable to nurse because she’s too busy smiling at me, now she’s unable to nurse because she’s trying to crane her neck around to see what exactly is making that noise. (It’s almost always Ava.)

Still, I’m a pretty lucky mom–she’s a delightful baby.

3 May

Race Day

Posted by Rebecca in In the kitchen. 3 Comments

Ever since Bryan and I visited Louisville, Kentucky, for our friends’ wedding, I’ve been completely enamored with the area. My two favorite stops were Churchill Downs and the Maker’s Mark distillery. Fortunately, the Kentucky Derby presents an opportunity to celebrate both—with a drink, of course. What could be better?

Here’s my favorite recipe for mint juleps. There are thousands out there, but I prefer one that muddle the leaves instead of boiling them into simple syrup. Maybe you can stir up a batch before the race this afternoon.

Here’s all you need–sugar (preferably superfine, but you can spin regular sugar in your blender or food processor if you don’t have it on hand), mint and bourbon (I like Maker’s; Bry loves Wild Turkey).

Pour a teaspoon of sugar into a glass and add six mint leaves and a couple of teaspoons of water, then smash it all together with the back of a spoon. Traditionally, mint juleps are served in cold silver cups, but who has those on hand? I found this glass worked pretty well.

Then, fill the glass with crushed ice and top with a shot of bourbon and sprig of mint. Cheers!

3 May

Farmers’ Market

Posted by Rebecca in In the kitchen, Outdoor life. Leave a Comment

3 May

One last Boston post

Posted by Rebecca in Family. 2 Comments

Thanks, Katie…

We had a great time!

2 May

Believe it or not, more Boston

Posted by Rebecca in Family. Leave a Comment

Saturday was our last night in Boston, and we went out with a bang. Katie took us to the Barking Crab, an open-air seafood restaurant on the harbor. The atmosphere was great–marine-varnished picnic tables, old fishnet lanterns, great local beer and a (very loud) live band.

The seafood was fantastic, too, thought we all agreed that we should never divulge the cost of this meal. After all, we had to crack the crab legs with a rock. That’s right–no tools, just a stone.

I really wish I had a photo of Katie covered with lobster insides–she forgot to cover the lobster with a paper plate before cracking the tail from the body…with the rock, of course. As I was not the one covered in what I can only imagine to be crustacean poop, I thought it was hilarious. Thank goodness for those wet-wipes they leave at your table.

This is the “crab bowl”–three different kinds of crab, some local, some Alaskan. All delicious.