Sometime soon perhaps ...

As I note in my profile, I love to play with pots and pans in my kitchen and back in January I set out to check  'trying a new recipe every month for 12 consecutive months' off my life list. The first quarter of the year-long effort went well with moose stew, blueberry scones and cheddar and broccoli soup making the journey from stove top to table top.

However, since Hudson's arrival on April 4, there's been little time for cooking period. Let alone trying out a new recipe. The only meals I've been serving around my house this month are milk for the little man and pre-prepared frozen meals for mama and daddy. (Though I must give a shout out to my mom who cooked fresh meals for us when she's been staying with us - thanks again mom, you're the best!).

So, with the end of April just a day away, I can say with certainty this life list item won't be accomplished by December 2011 as originally planned - and that's a-ok. Maybe by May, I'll be in a good groove and that check mark will come in January 2012. Or maybe not, we'll see. In the meantime, here are a few recipes I've come across online that have my taste buds watering and might make their way onto the bloggo sometime soon:

Grilled Chicken Salad with Feta, Corn and Blueberries

Looks fresh, tasty and very suitable for a summertime side. 

image and recipe from The Pioneer Woman

Breakfast Quesadillas

I'm always on the lookout for interesting new breakfast morsels and these look like a nice break from the norm.

image and recipe by Kate Goodman over at Good Life Eats

Tiramisu Cupcakes 

Mmmmm. Tiramisu. Cupcakes. Tiramisu + Cupcakes has to equal deliciousness.

 

image and recipe shared by EatLiveRun on TastyKitchen.com

Stay hungry my friends.


Right Now...

Right now, I am:

... in awe of this handsome, healthy, happy boy of mine.

... completely sleep deprived, trying (relatively unsuccessfully thus far) to teach myself how to nap midday.

... craving hot cups of coffee and long hot showers, yet enjoying cuddles and the occasional coo instead.

... adjusting to our new life routine with Hudson - eat, burp, diaper change, sleep (him, not me), rinse and repeat.

... grateful for my mom, who made the transition home and first couple of weeks with little man so much easier.

... adoring and appreciating my handsome husband for his patience, love and support. We were a family of  two and now we're a happy trio.

... reminding myself to be OPEN to this new experience of motherhood, with all its ups and downs, knowing these early days will pass much too quickly and before long be a distant memory in my heart.

Maybe a little MIA

As most of you know, I've been a little busy over the past week. D and I welcomed Hudson Peter Ryan into our lives last Monday morning and life has been completely and wonderfully changed ever since.

We're adjusting to sleep deprivation and frequent feedings, to diaper changes and figuring out little cries. And of course we're also enjoying plenty of snuggles, cuddles and kisses.

We're very fortunate and beyond grateful that my mom has been here with us since last Friday and will stay until this weekend. She's been a God-send, keeping the laundry, dishes, meals and such going. But better than that, she is an amazing snuggler. Or at least that's what Hudson tells me.

As we continue to adjust to this new life as a family of three, I expect I'll be a little MIA on the blog over the next few weeks. Perhaps a post intermittently, but my first priority will be keeping the wee one fed, rested, clean and clothed. After that, I'll be focusing on the same for mama. If there are spare minutes in between, you might find me here. And of course, for anyone who's close enough you can come enjoy the soft-skinned angel for yourself.

Happy Birthday

We meet many people in our journey through life. Some are passing just briefly passing through, some are part of our lives for a short while and others stay with you for a lifetime. I believe everyone we meet, we do so for a reason. Either they have something to share, teach or leave with us or it is we who have to something to offer them. Each encounter leaves an impression on who we are as people. However, it is those who are long time presences in our lives that play the greatest part.

For me, one of those long time presences is one of my best friends - Sandy. We've known each other for more than 13 years and as we both like to say "she's the one that knows the good, the bad and the ugly and loves me anyway". We met in university and have lived in residence together, worked on class projects together, shared an apartment and danced downtown until the wee hours of the morning. I was honoured to be her maid of honour when she married her true love and lucky to have her first-born as my ringbearer when I married mine. I've watched her become a mom to three handsome boys and have turned to her for advice as I myself entered into motherhood.

Patient, kind, loving, fun, spirited, compassionate, genuine, honest, caring, considerate, smart. These are but a few of the words that come to mind when thinking of Sandy. She is by far one of the nicest people I know and one of the best friends any girl could have. I am blessed to call her one of mine and with great pleasure wish her a very Happy Birthday!



the birthdat card I made for her special day :)

In just 13 short years, we've grown together from single university girls to working professionals to doe-eyed fiances to doting wives to loving mothers. I can hardly wait to see where many more birthdays will take us. Though one thing I already know for sure is, no matter where life takes us, Sandy is one of the people on my journey through life that will stay with me for a lifetime.

Happy Birthday Girlie!

Poo Stains

Somehow, I think this laundry tip will come in handy over the next few months.

Before

Image from ohdeehdoh.com

 After

Image from ohdeehdoh.com

I hope D doesn't mind a spread of onesies on the lawn next to his muscle cars. Maybe if it's this onesie he'll be OK with it:

Happy Friday!

You know it's official when it's on Facebook

Another scrapbook layout for your viewing pleasure. Also going in the pregnancy album, this one shows all my status update announcing the pregnancy and all the congratulatory messages from family and friends. I used one of my profile pics and kept the rest of the layout fairly simple.

It's funny, as I love the way simple layouts look when other people do them, but have a hard time leaving my own simple. I felt like this one was unfinished even when I was done with it ... so I lived with it for a few days before deciding it was indeed done!

Happy Monday.

Simple Things - Sunbeams

After a week of going a little stir-crazy in the house and awaiting baby's (overdue) arrival, seeing sunshine and blue skies on Friday was wonderful.

There's just something about feeling spring in the air that brings a smile to your face. You can't help but want to be out in it, soaking up the light, breathing in the fresh air, listening to the drip of melting snow. The ground might be a mix of mud and slush and crusty snow, yet you know just beneath it, new life is waiting to burst through.

I ventured out for a short stroll (not straying too far from the house in either direction, just in case the wee one decided it would be a good time to be a new life bursting through) and couldn't resist capturing the beautiful sunbeams.

Spring shows what God can do with a drab and dirty world. ~Virgil A. Kraft

What made you smile this week?

Linking up with Rebecca Cooper's Simple Things challenge:

Halloween in April

I know, you're thinking I have my holidays mixed up. Easter is in April, not Halloween - it's the month for bunnies, peeps and chocolate eggs, not ghosts, goblins and mini chocolate bars...mmmm, I could do with a mini kit kat right about now. Alas, I digress.

No, I'm not off trick or treating, just finishing another layout for the pregnancy scrapbook and it just happens to be the one of our Halloween costume back in October. The Paperie posted this sketch for their Mojo Monday challenge, which was perfect for the two pictures I had already printed.

copyright pagemaps.com

I don't often use sketches, but whenever I do I love it! It takes some of the planning work out of the process and makes pulling a layout together quick and easy ... which is exactly what I need to get this album done. I followed the sketch pretty closely and ended up with this:

Given I was pregnant, we thought it would be fun to find a costume suited to a preggo duo as really, how often do you get to do that? We settled on going as Juno and Pauly from the movie Juno. I just happened to have the orange t-shirt in some borrowed maternity clothes and of course the jeans and cardigan in my closet. A quick visit to Value Village and I found the skirt and the t-shirt and shorts for Des. The shorts just needed to be hemmed and I created the crest in MS Word, ironing it on lickety split. With a pillow stuffed up my shirt for the preggo belly, I think we looked pretty spot-on.

It was really funny at the party too. Almost everyone thought I was actually that far along in my pregnancy even though I was only about 4 months in at that point :) These days, I could pull of the costume without the pillow - thankfully it's almost Easter and I don't need to worry about Halloween this month.