Merry Christmas 2011

Boldly going where we have never been before..

Captain's Log, star date 1208.2011.  This is the first entry (long overdue) from the man of the house.  I enjoy reading this blog, the only one I read, and felt compelled to contribute. 

We are in the heart of the holiday season, a time when the media reminds us that things will be stressful.  Between work, shopping, traveling, overeating, and the rest of it, so many people lose some of the holiday spirit in the hustle and bustle.  They are in a foot race at walmart for the last iPhone, iPod, iPad or Tickle Me Elmo.  Afterwards, sporting a fresh bruise and the perfect gift, they return home to have one mother tell them how they should cook dinner, and the other tell them that the house could use a good cleaning.  Too many people are eagerly awaiting the return to the routine that January offers.

Little Maddie, now 8 months old, has just seen her first Thanksgiving.  It was a great time, especially because the whole Mueller crew made the trip to New Orleans to help us celebrate.  She stayed pleanty busy socializing with the family and picking up fun new tricks from her older cousins.  We ate gumbo and po boys and beignets in addition to a full traditional Thanksgiving dinner.  Stacy was an amazing hostess!  She kept the great food coming and left us with no shortage of things to do.  We visited the French Quarter and French Market, went shopping, ate at Acme Oyster House, and more.  The only sad part was watching the family pack up and leave after a short 3-day visit.

Since that visit our baby girl has continued to grow at an amazing rate.  In the past few weeks she has sprouted 4 new teeth!  She has had a few moments of obvious pain, but typically remained in good spirit.  She is crawling so quickly, responding when we call her name, walking around with help from parents or furniture, and even giving kisses on demand.  Madelyn also had an opportunity yesterday to visit with a bunch of her Parenting Center buddies as moms and babies gathered near Audobon Park for their first ever "Real Housewives NOLA Christmas Party." 

We will miss spending time with the Muellers and Glasses for Christmas but a part of me is glad that it will just be the 3 1/2 of us this year.  I have discovered an increasing appreciation for Christmas time over the past couple years.  From a time of hustle and bustle, working, spending, and eating, it has transformed into thoughts of how fortunate I am and memories that have brought me here.  I remember my engagement to Stacy, a moment and a woman who has changed my life for the better.  I remember our first married Christmas as we thought about the next one and the little jalepeno we would spend it with.  Now, with Madelyn here, we celebrate our first Christmas as a family.  Without distractions, without chaos and stress, we can sit together snuggled by the tree and appreciate these times, making memories for the years to come.

Happy Holidays from the Glass Family!

Pineapple Pulled Pork

2-5lb Pork Roast (Or any fatty pork cut - I used short ribs)
1-18oz bottle bbq sauce (I use Kraft's "Sweet & Spicy Chipotle")
1 can chopped pinapple (drained)

Add all ingredients into crock pot.  Simmer at low temp for 5 - 8 hours.  An hour before serving, pull pork from bone and return to crock pot.  We love to serve the pork on a hearty bun with dill pickle chips and mustard.  So good! Thanks, Sarah LaNore, for the inspiration!

My Hands are Never Idle

Toilet Paper Flowers - Before Paint

These are so easy to make!  The hardest part is collecting all the toilet paper and paper towel rolls! 

• Flatten the tube
• Cut the tube into 1inch strips (you can do larger or smaller) to make "petals"
• Glue the petals together!  (I used hot glue because it's quick, easy, and doesnt take long to dry)
• Spray paint!

Happy-Almost-Halloween!!  We love this time of year and now that we have a little one to share it with, it's getting more and more fun!  We visited a "pumpkin patch" the other day and had fun taking fall photos with our friends Marc, Sarah, and baby Emma.  The girls are only 4 days apart and it's been fun to watch them grow. Madelyn is at the age now that she smiles without too much prompting and her little grins are just to-die-for.  She's begun to pull herself up on EVERYTHING - she is no longer content to just sit or even crawl.. she always has a destination.  Keeps us busy!  Grandma Lu flies in tomorrow and bot are we ready to have another set of watchful hands in the house!  Mom and Dad need a break!

Happy Halfy

We can't believe that our baby girl is already half of a year old!  When people say "enjoy it.. time flies" we never really understood until now.  Our beautiful 6month-old has grown herself two (sharp) teeth, has begun crawling, eats lots of different baby foods plus about 25oz of formula a day (she loves bananas and mango), sleeps through the night, just began wearing size 3 Huggies, and has even shown signs of climbing and pulling herself up to a standing position.  No "dada" or "mama" yet but we're sure it's coming soon.  We're looking forward to Grandma Lu coming to visit in two weeks to give mom and dad a well-deserved break.  Still happy, healthy, and in love.

Happy 5 Months, Madelyn Frances!

Today is Maddie's "5 Month Birthday"!  As a five-month-old, she can check a few more things off of her "bucket list".. she has:

• Grown a tooth.. one has finally broken through and we think the second one is close behind!
• Started to "scoot".. she pulls herself onto her hands and knees and just rocks - it won't be long before she is coordinated enough to crawl.
• Had her 1st cold - no fun!  I thought it was teething related but she's passed it on to momma and momma already has all of her teeth!

Stacy made (with help from Mike) a coat hanger for Madelyn's room.  The inspiration came from www.pinterest.com .. what a fun

website to get unique DIY ideas!  Maddie's Halloween costume is almost finished - we can't wait to put it on her in 6 weeks and take pictures!  Stay tuned!

A New Caprese

We've gotten to love Caprese "salads".. fresh mozzarella cheese, tomatoes, and home-grown basil leaves.  We sometimes add cucumber - but this time I added steak!  I pan-seared a flank steak to about medium, let it rest a bit, cut it against the grain, cooled, and slid it on to the end of the caprese skewers... they joined some other goodies for Mike's mini-party.  Yum!

To whom my heart belongs...

Are You Ready For Some Football!?

We are!  Today was Mike's Fantasy Football Draft with his friends in Michigan - I really wish he could be there to enjoy the "man-ness" with his friends.  He had to be Skyped in ... but I did everything I could to make him feel like he was part of the party. Following his "party", we watched the Lions win.  Yes.. I just said WE WATCHED THE LIONS WIN!  Everybody else in the world is so concerned about Hurricane Irene that they probably won't even notice!  [side note - thoughts and prayers really DO go out to those affected by the hurricane .. including our family in Virginia]. 

Madelyn will be 5months old on Monday and she is showing more and more signs of crawling - craaaazy!!  Tonight she took a 20min nap on my tummy and it really made me miss her newborn days -  

DIY Fabric Wall-Covering

One of the hardest parts about living in a rental home is the fact that we can't paint the walls.  The starch-white walls that landlords leave their tenants with is enough to drive a sane person crazy.  I caught an episode of the Nate Berkus show and he saved us!  He shows an easy way to put fabric on the walls!  SImply apply liquid starch to a blah wall and lay on a top of it a bright fabric!  Voila!  You have color!!

Our Sprout is Growing Her Own Personality!

Madelyn's Nursery

I haven't posted a new blog since before Madelyn was born - so, if you haven't heard...IT'S A GIRL!  :)  She's a few days shy of 19weeks - so just over 4 months old and growing leaps and bounds.  Sometimes I feel I put her to bed and she wakes up so different!  Different good.  I'm finally starting to "know" my baby and it's not so much a "guessing game" anymore.  When she fusses, we know what she needs.  We know how to make her smile.  We know when she needs a nap.  Parenting has definitely grown on us, as I knew it would.  Tomorrow is Aug 15 and school recommences but I will not be returning.  I didn't love teaching, to say the least, and I'm still having a lot of inner turmoil as to whether or not it was due to so many different factors that went into my first year of teaching:  we lived in a new city, had no friends or family to help alleviate stresses, I was pregnant, I didn't feel welcomed at the school (by the principal and many of the staff), I was teaching something I'd never taught before to groups of kids who, for the most part, didn't want to be there.  So needless to say, I'll be sitting the next few months out with my sweet baby girl. I don't think I'll want to be a housewife forever - I just need to find something that I love enough that will make enough sense for me to be away from Maddie all day, 5 days a week.  Until that happens, I stay busy trying to be the best mom I can be to the cutest baby in the world.  When she naps, I try to keep up with housework.  If I'm lucky enough to have a sleeping baby AND a cleanhouse, I like to stay busy with crafty things.  I've just about finished her nursery (something that didn't really get underway until after she was born and we knew we had a "she").  I'll post other crafty things as I finish them.  Happy blogging!

35 Weeks - only 33 days until due date!

Happy Mardi Gras! 
It's Mardi Gras season here in the "Big Easy" - that means LOTS of beads, LOTS of parades, and LOTS of crowds!  We did our best to avoid too much of the festivies but still did what we could to experience our first NOLA Mardi Gras.  One night, we decided to go to one of the biggest acclaimed parades : Endymion.  People who have never experienced a New Orleans Mardi Gras have NO IDEA the hype that's involved.  It's a city-wide tailgate that lasts for over a week.  Basically put - it's NUTS!  But we decided to brave what we could.  We drove into the city on Sunday night.  There were hundreds of thousands of people pouring into the city.  But, I was driving so of course I found the PERFECT parking spot.  I was pumped.  We left the car and had only a block to walk to the parade (a truly rare situation considering all the people).  It was dark and I was excited - I failed to see the dip in the road and took a pretty big tumble :(  First, I landed on my knees, then fell to my hands.. and then they all buckled and I fell flat on my stomach.  It all happened so fast.  Not only did I have pain from my muscles trying to stop my fall, and from my bones hitting the pavement, and from the open wounds on my knees and belly - I was terrified that I'd done something to the baby.  I'm usually pretty brave but I just broke into tears.  I wouldn't be able to live with myself if my clumsiness had hurt my baby.  With Mike's help, I hobbled back to the car - tears streaming down my face.  I couldn't stop shaking - I was so mad at myself.  Mike wanted to take me to the ER but of course my stubborn side wouldn't let him.  It wasn't long before I felt the baby kick.. what a relief!  But the whole thing shook me up pretty bad.  The next morning, I called the Dr and they had me come in for an ultrasound.  Thank GOD everything is running smoothly with baby - he/she weighs 6lbs 11oz.. heartbeat is normal... head is down.  We got a great US picture of the baby and it reminds me to be MORE CAREFUL with my footing - especially in the dark!  Now I just have to heal this bruised and bloody knees :(