Sneak Trip

We made a quick sneak trip to Salt Lake City yesterday. Sneak Trips are when we don't tell any of our relatives or friends we will be in town, and just spend some time together. We love visiting people, but sometimes it's nice to just get away by ourselves.

To start out, I have not been impressed with Wayne's driving lately. He drives way too fast, and we arrived in Salt Lake in record time. Wayne actually had a business meeting in the city, so Penelope and I left him at an office building and went exploring. After our quota of shopping had been completed, Wayne still wasn't finished, so we hit up a coffee shop. I was going to relax with a snack for a while, but Penelope seemed to be a bit antsy, so I decided we would just go to the car. That is when I looked out the window and saw a police cruiser parked right next to our car.

Me: thinking "Why is he parked next to me? Oh no, someone saw Wayne driving way too fast and reported us. This cop found us and is waiting for someone to come out to the car to ticket them. Ugh! I wonder if he will arrest me!? It wasn't even me who was driving. Maybe he will feel sorry for me since I have a baby. Maybe I shouldn't go out there, just stay in the coffee shop forever. Ugh!!"

I mustered up the courage to go to the car when I saw there wasn't even anyone in the police car. As I walked outside, I see out of the corner of my eye the police officer come out of another store and head straight toward me!

Me: thinking "Just stay calm. Don't act guilty."

Police Officer: walks to his car "Hey there, that's a nice looking car."

Me: "Uhhh...Th-thanks?"

Police Officer: "What kind of car is that anyway?"

Me: "I think it's called a s-six s-s-series." I also added a quick "Its-my-husbands" for good measure.

Police Officer: "Oh, cool. You don't see many of those around."

I tried to say something intelligent about the car, while shoving the carseat in the backseat of a tiny two door car.

Police Officer: "Well, doesn't look like it's real easy to get the carseat in! Well, take care!"

And off he goes. Whew.

We stayed at a hotel for the night. I have been wanting to take Penelope swimming for a while now, and the hotel had a decent pool. So we donned our cute swimsuits, or at least Penelope did, and the adults squeezed into theirs. Before we went down to the pool, Wayne took a picture of us in which Penelope is already looking pretty excited about the whole ordeal. However, it was nothing compared to when we got into the pool. Penelope apparently loves the water, just like her mom and dad. She squealed and splashed with delight until it was past her bedtime. We had a lot of fun taking Little Pea swimming for the first time.

Fan Mail

I got this from my cousin Laura, who we saw last week and is mentioned in the More from our trip post.

Laura: Look boys! You are on Sheena’s blog! See?

Ian: That’s ME!

Caleb: OOOHHHH!!! (squeals) WE’RE FAMOUS!!!

Ian: What does it say? What does it SAY????

Laura: (reads it to them)

Ian: I’m Wayne’s best buddy!

Laura: No, it says you’re one of his best buddies.

Caleb: THAT’S NOT FAIR! I’m Wayne’s best buddy, too!

Ian: Maybe Wayne likes me more.

Laura: Quit fighting. Wayne likes you both the same. You’re both some of his best buddies.

Ian: Wayne’s FUNNY! HAHAHAHAHA!!!!

Caleb: He sure is! He sure is funny!

Ian and Caleb: AHHH! (screaming) HAHAHAHAHHAHAHA!!!!

Caleb: Hee Hee! Look! Look at his beard!

Ian and Caleb: BWAA HAHAHAHAHA!!!!

Caleb: I miss him. I sure do.

Aww....

Makes me reminisce about our trip together to St. John back in 2009. Ian was three and Caleb was one. One of the highlights of Wayne's trip was when we went for a hike and Wayne carried Caleb. "He was the first baby to ever fall asleep in my arms," Wayne will say with a bit of nostalgia. See Caleb? You and Ian and both Wayne's best buddies!

Solid - and not so solid - Foods

Penelope has reached that significant milestone of eating her first solid foods. Rice Cereal, peas, and bananas, all pureed into a thin, not-so-solid, mush.

Although Penelope has proven herself as a near-genius, she hasn't quite figured out eating. She usually does good for the first few bites. And usually does pretty good with the cereal.

She has decided that when she gets into her highchair it is the perfect time to perfect her motor noises. Motor noises, as in the pppftthpppthhff noise a motorcycle makes. The effect is enhanced when she has a mouthful of green peas.

Once we finish our motor training we move on to the beauty mask. Since there is already some sort of pureed food already covering much of Penelope's lips and chin, she takes both hands and begins to massage the puree around to cover the rest of her face. Sometimes we do a deep conditioning of the hair as well.

Sometimes I give her a baby cracker to munch on. She thinks she is pretty cool, holding onto a cracker and feeding herself. That is until she breaks off a piece. There it sits on her tongue while she gags and coughs until it either dissolves or is expelled.

It is a good thing that feeding at this age is more of a learning experience than a nutritional one, as I'm not sure how much food actually finds its way to her stomach.

More from our trip

Here are some more pictures from our trip to South Dakota. Most of the pictures were taken on my phone and are fuzzy. I really need to buy a camera. We did see my family, but I am waiting to put up pictures from those days until my mother sends me some pictures that were taken on her camera. It might be awhile, as she is currently somewhere in the Caribbean soaking up some warm island air. Anyway, here are some pictures for those of you who are not basking on an ocean view balcony....

Penelope & I at Qdoba, one of the places I really miss in Rapid City.

We had an unexpected evening with my cousin Laura Rutherford and her family! Rachel was nice enough (and ambitious enough :>) to make us all dinner. Here is Wayne and one of his best buddies Ian.

We got all six kids in one picture! Quite a feat, and no photoshop was used! From left: Logan, Bradley, Penelope, Ian, Caleb and Aleah. The boys disappeared to the basement where there is a super cool sandbox/tractor grainary/truck area. I should have taken a picture, but to explain - Bradley has a plastic swimming pool in his basement that is filled with rice. He plays with his tractors, loaders, etc and scoops & moves rice wherever it is needed.

When we first got to Scott & Rachel's, Laura was holding Penelope and Ian came up and said "Can I pet her?" and "Is she a boy?" We should have expected this. When Ian's youngest brother was born, he told someone something like this: "Dad says we have to be gentle with the baby and not take it apart." Below: Aleah, Ian, Logan & Penelope.

My first cousin once removed Abigail with Penelope & my mom. Abigail has changed a lot since I last saw her and is growing into a beautiful young woman!

We stayed with our adopted family the Overbys. They took good care of us for a few days, just like they took good care of us for the 6 years we lived in Rapid! We used to drop by their house frequently, unannounced, and quite often hungry! It was always a great time. Since we left Rapid, the Overby's missed us so much that they are now taking in foster children. This is Penelope and one of their foster children, whose name is....Penelope! So this is Penelope & Penelope. Maybe when they are grown up they will practice together as lawyers. Penelope & Penelope & Associates.

Lana and Penelope.

Good food, good friends, and good soda.

We also stayed with the Barsch's. I was a nanny for the Barsch's for three years while we lived in Rapid, so we got to know them quite well. It was really hard to move to Nevada and leave my babies! However my babies grew up. Mia is almost eight and Ezra is almost six. They have a new little brother, Lorenzo, who is about 15 months old.

Ezra & Penelope - again, camera phone picture, I wish it was less fuzzy. And below, Penelope & Lorenzo.
Mia & Penelope reading.

We had an evening with some other friends, the Machaceks. Mia & Birdie Machacek go to school together and are best buds, so Mia came along with us. Mia & Birdie played with Penelope while the adults visited.

Downtown Rapid City

Rapid City has had lots of changes and growth since we moved away almost two years ago. One of the nice changes has been to the downtown area. Due to the gorgeous weather, we walked around the new downtown square area.

Trip to South Dakota

We had a great trip to South Dakota. Penelope got to fly for the first time. She and I went for about 10 days, and Wayne joined us for 6 of those days. I'll be putting up more pics in the next few days.

We got to see lots of family and friends. The weather was beautiful and we did a lot outside. However, it is so nice to be back home now, and looking forward to having Penelope back on a schedule, eating less than 4000 calories per day, and wearing clean clothes. And nursing without an audience. And sleeping. Ahh, the small things in life.

A big thank you again to everyone who treated us so well by having us - whether it was for a visit, meal, or several days lodging: Cassens x 2, Barsches, Overbys, Machaceks, Miranda, Freeds and anyone else I may have forgotten about.

Aleah and Bradley

We had a great time visiting Scott, Rachel, Aleah and Bradley.

Bradley is almost three, and does NOT wear a 'boppy' (diaper). When I innocently asked if he wore a boppy, he let out a huge laugh, and said, "NO!!! Boppy's are for babies!" As if I was totally uneducated in knowing these things.

Bradley has a very loud voice and loves to sing. He also has a soft spot for Penelope, and seemed to like her right away. I love the pic where they are snuggling.

Aleah is about 20 days older than Penelope. She is outdoing Penelope by eating lots of solid food and by growing long pretty hair!

Here are a few pics of the cousins:

The Secret to Transportation

The Attack of Daddy's Foot

The Things We Eat

The list of personal faults, addictions, and awkward private items that I share is growing. Today I will share some thoughts on another of my secret thrills: I am occasionally obsessed with diets, nutrition, recipes, and in general, all things food.

Yes, I love diets and nutrition. Which may seem weird coming from someone who has never really needed to diet. I am a sucker for the latest diet fads and nutrition books. Poor Wayne. As his primary source of dinner, I may have, on occasion, fed him interesting concoctions and put him on different diets. No carbs. No Fat. No Diet Coke. (yes it has happened)

Wayne and I have had our differences in the area of dieting. Once he came home and was not eating dinner. "I'm just going to skip it and do good on my diet," He says. I wasn't too thrilled when I found a receipt for corn dogs & candy bars in his pockets.

The diet of the day is now 'eat right for your body type' or something to that affect. Basically, out of four types of bodies, you figure out what your type is. Then you eat accordingly. Wayne is apparently an 'adrenal' type. So if he snoops in the pantry for something that is not on his list of foods to eat, I tell him, "Don't stimulate your adrenals!"

What I want to write about today is not food that is good for you. I never knew what it was to 'crave' things throughout my pregnancy. I didn't crave anything. However, my post-partum body has cravings. Mostly for food in general, but especially sweets. I am avoiding the dentist.

Since we have been eating right for our adrenals, I have been noticing what foods are generally eaten most. The usual culprits, of course: Salt, sugar and grease. But the somewhat eye-opening conclusion I have come to, is that our normal at-home cooking generally contains a TON of.....creamy stuff. Yep, creamy stuff. Forget about hormones, gluten and carbs....we eat lots of creamy stuff.

When I started looking for recipes that didn't overstimulate Wayne's adrenals, I had to discard any that had creamy stuff in it. I realized that everything had creamy stuff in it: Cream, mayo, cream of mushroom soup, sour cream, cream cheese, high-fat cheese, butter...the list goes on.

I must insert a disclaimer here. I don't care what you eat. I do not eat 5 servings of veggies and sweets only 'occasionally'. I eat just as much white bread and fried food as the rest of you.

I have come across a few recipes worth mentioning. The first: Gooey Butter Cake. It is gooey. And buttery. And I have eaten it; it is delicious.

Now, on to the ingredients:
1/2 pound butter
1/2 pound cream cheese
3 eggs
1 yellow cake mix

Since this isn't going to be quite good enough on its own, we add one last ingredient: A pound of powdered sugar. Yes, the whole bag. I added up the calories for this recipe: 5715. I then wished I hadn't. The recipe that I had claimed this recipe made 6-8 servings. At six servings, a piece of this ooey gooey-ness would be nearly 1000 calories. Thankfully, the recipe is for a 9 by 13 pan, and I have yet to witness someone cutting a 9 by 13 dessert into only 6 pieces. But still, that means 1/12th of the recipe would be nearly 500 (mostly fat) calories. Wow.

Let's move on to something a bit more healthy: Salad, right? A while back I made Strawberry Pretzel Salad to bring to a potluck. I placed it by the salads, and Wayne told me that it was in the wrong place: It needed to go with the desserts. I told him it was a salad, but he refused to believe it. So I asked my friend Poppy what the dish was. "Oh, it's that pretzel salad right?" She said.

But it made me think about the ingredients of this so-called salad. Pretzels, butter, sugar, cream cheese, cool whip, jello. Oh yes, and a few strawberries! Is this a dessert that we just call a salad to feel better about our eating habits?

How many salads are not better sprinkled with bacon and cheese? Or a savory salad smothered in real mayonnaise.

Moving on to main dishes, we can't seem to just eat meats and vegetables. We love adding cheeses and more creamy stuff. One chicken casserole dish I found contains 12 slices of cheese, two cans of cream of mushroom soup, 4 cups of stuffing crumbs, and a full cup of butter, among other things.

Once you start thinking about what you put into the food you are cooking, you realize how excessive some dishes are. If you made these three dishes for a meal, you would use nearly three cups, or a pound and a half, of butter. For one meal! It is amazing that many of us have not had heart attacks yet.

This food talk is making me hungry. I think there are some brownies calling my name from the kitchen...

A few pics

Penelope showing off how she can suck her paci upside down.

Trying to eat a bit of rice cereal.

Sunday in the mountains

This afternoon we drove up the canyon to the snow and enjoyed a little exercise. Wayne brought snowshoes, but ended up just walking and I cross country skied. It was above 40 degrees and sunny, so felt very warm. Penelope enjoyed snuggling with dad and didn't mind the loud snowmobiles that would pass by us.



Back at home

The Self Destruct Button

Anyone who has known Wayne for more than three months knows that he likes cars and buys and sells them frequently. Much to my dismay, every few months he says, "Hey hon, what do you think of this car?" He then proceeds to tell me how he loves the car so much and it has been his dream car ever since he was 16. I stopped buying that one after about 4 cars, but he still uses that line.

Last summer, the car that Wayne has always wanted was a BMW. This particular BMW had 130,000 miles on it. Oh, wait, no; it had 230,000 miles on it. Yes, almost a quarter of a million miles. Wayne said he always wanted to be in the million mile club. I reminded him that was flying, not driving. This BMW was also on the top 10 most UN-reliable vehicles list. Nevertheless, Wayne bought the BMW, and promptly spent quite a lot of time & money fixing it every few hundred miles when something went wrong.

About six months later, Wayne found a car that was WAY better than the BMW. It would be more reliable, fun, less maintenance, etc. And since he hadn't learned anything from the first BMW, he decided to buy yet another BMW. We will call this one BMW 2.

Most people would go to a dealership and buy a car. Or maybe look in the local classifieds. Not Wayne. He decides to buy the car on Ebay, and the car just happens to be located in Orlando. Orlando as in Florida. As in 2500 miles away.

OK, that is fine with me. Penelope and I will keep the home-fires burning while you fly to Florida and drive the new car back.

Wayne gets to Colorado and something is not right. The car is not working properly. Two batteries and some alternator/combustion/transmission problems later, Wayne limps the rest of the way home. (OK, I don't really know what was wrong, I'm not a car person, but something was wrong.)

A few weeks later, we get the problem fixed, and Wayne takes his precious car out for a drive. This car is so fancy it has seat heaters. So Wayne is cozy in his new car when he feels something sharp in his side. He wiggles a little, and everything seems alright. Next he smells smoke, and looks around to see the seat, his jacket and skin smoldering. Apparently there was a recall on the seat heaters on this model.

Wayne pointed out the seat heater button to me, and instructed me NOT to use it. Now every time I take BMW2 out, Wayne makes sure to remind me, "Don't hit the self-destruct button!"

A Dinner Guest

Penelope and I met Wayne in town yesterday for a late lunch. Around two when we were finishing, Wayne says, "Oh, Jerrod is coming for dinner."

I had met Jerrod once before, he is an easy-going guy from Vancouver that Wayne works with occasionally.

I wouldn't consider 2pm an ideal time to start planning and executing a dinner, but I like company and relished the challenge. Wayne wouldn't be home until dinner, so Penelope and I drove home and got to work. In between nursing and doing a quick pick-up around the house, I made dinner.

I could have made something easy and boring, but when we have guests for dinner, I am a bit of a perfectionist, things have to be just so. Dinner is served in courses, of course.

For an appetizer, I made bruschetta. I sort of cheated here. I sliced a baguette and broiled it with a bit of mozzerella. Then I smeared pre-made (gasp!) pesto on it and then sprinkled on some chopped tomatoes. Then a drizzle of balsamic glaze.

Jerrod is a vegetarian, so for our main course I made eggplant parmesan and a side of linguine:

Eggplant Parmesan
1 eggplant
2 eggs
1/2 c bread crumbs
1/2 c parmesan
1/2 t garlic salt
olive oil
Slice eggplant; Dip in eggs, dip in combined crumbs, parmesan & garlic; Fry in hot oil; drain on paper towels.

Mediterranean Sauce
1/4 c chopped onion
2 t oil
1 garlic clove, minced
1 can tomatoes
1 bay leaf
1/2 t each: thyme, basil, oregano, fennel seed
1/4 c dry white wine
1/8 c lemon juice
Saute onion in oil for 5 minutes; Add remaining ingredients and simmer for 30 minutes. Remove bay leaf.

Place sauce in the bottom of a casserole dish; Arrange fried eggplant on top; Sprinkle with mozzerella cheese and bake 30 minutes or until Eggplant is as tender as you would like.

I had never made eggplant parmesan before. For dessert I made flourless chocolate cake. I had never made flourless chocolate cake before either. Perhaps I shouldn't try TWO new recipes when having guests.

Flourless Chocolate Cake
4 oz good quality chocolate
1/2 c butter
3 eggs
3/4 c sugar
1/2 c cocoa powder
Melt together butter & chocolate; Beat in remaining ingredients; Bake 25 minutes at 375. Cool, sprinkle with powdered sugar and garnish with raspberries to serve.

I have recently discovered Ghirardelli 60% cacao chocolate chips, and am in love. So I used them for the chocolate. Someone recently gave us some cocoa powder from the Dominican Republic, so I used that also.

Wayne and Jerrid arrived around 6:30. The bruschetta was scrumptious, the eggplant was good, but the sauce was a bit tangy from the lemon juice. (I cut the lemon juice in half in the recipe above.) And the cake was delicious! Just like one I had in a quite fancy restaurant actually. We had a delightful evening.

She's a Genius!

We have decided that Penelope is a genius. This is no new development, it started when we brought her home from the hospital: Look, she kicks her legs; she's a genius. She watches you talking; she's a genius.

And later: She can put her pacifier back in her mouth; she's a genius. Hey, she figured out that if mommy ignores her when she wakes up at night and cries, daddy will come and get her; she's a genius.

One of the most recent signs that she is a genius was with the piano. Daddy regularily holds her while playing the piano. And now she will bang on the keys herself occationally. What a smart baby! She will be playng Mozart before she's out of diapers!

She did do something the other day that I did think was especially clever. She was sitting in her swing with a large ball-play-thing. Her legs were hanging over the front of the swing and she would push her ball down onto her legs, then lift the ball back up so it would slide back into her lap. Without dropping it! I thought it must just be coincidence, but then she did it again! And again! Well, the third time she dropped it, but I think doing it twice classifies her as genious type 1.

What good genes she has. Lucky girl.

Snowy Day Random Thoughts

It has been snowing and blowing forociously here the last two days. Wayne has been busy as usual at work and I have been busy making Penne Pasta laugh, which luckily isn't too strenuous. Other than that it has been a quiet newsless week.

Item #1

My mother, the newspaper baron of Edgemont, thinks that the reason I write this blog so she can use my posts as a column in her newspaper. Which is fine, and makes me feel super famous. To the 724 citizens of Edgemont, that is. Anyhow, I get an email the other day:
"I love the pictures, but I NEED STORIES!" Who knew the readers of Edgemont would be more demanding than an infant!

Item #2

Penelope is now doing 360's. Normally, when I put her on the floor to play, she immediately turns over onto her belly, and scoots herself around in circles, playing with toys. Very talented.

Item #3

The large appetite I had a few months ago has subsided a bit. However, I am proud of a recent meal I ate. Wayne & I went to an appreciation dinner with some of his associates the other night. Aunt Jenny (honorary aunt) watched Penelope, so it was really a treat to go out for the second time sans child! We went to 'The Star': Basque food, which is popular here. I think Basques must be giants, because this is what they serve you: Soup. Salad. Bread. Five side dishes. Yes, five large platters of side dishes that are served family-style. Oh, yes, and your meal. So I ordered a the filet and crab meal. A decent sized filet and one pound of king crab. It was delicious! And I put those miners to shame by eating every bite!

Item #4
I was excited to see on the scale that I had lost two more pounds, despite the Star dinner! It is also noteworthy that the easiest way to make Penelope laugh is by doing excersizes in the living room. I will do a few squats and sit-ups now and then, and Penelope thinks it's hilarious.