"What's that dearie"

My hearing is still not good. I went to the ENT Monday, they said the hearing loss isn't permanent my ears just need to unclog, so it is like I am hearing underwater. At this point though I am functioning with 25-30% hearing loss. I really can't hear Dane crying at night, like not even muffled crying. (Maybe he will learn to sleep through the night.) I am really hoping this is over soon! I don't hear Andy when he comes home until he is standing in front of me, unless I happen to feel the door close. And I need to figure out how to get the TV on closed captioning. My grandma probably hears better than me. Right now Andy is watching TV and laughing and I am sitting here blogging because I can't hear what is going on. boo.

I was going through some pictures today and was trying to decided who Dane is favoring these days. I would have to say he has his own look. He does look a lot like his dad, but I think he may look like my brother the most at this point. His newborn picture was for sure like his dad.
What do you think?

Time to learn to sign?

This has been a long week. Wednesday morning I woke up with an earache and I knew things were going to be bad. I got into the Dr.'s right away and he told me I had a double ear infection. I was hurting so bad I couldn't see straight, and was wondering if there was an epidural for the head. (my mom now tells me there are drops that can numb the inner ear- wish I would have known about those.) I was dreading what could happen since it happened before, only this time both my eardrums ruptured. I haven't confirmed it yet with a Dr. but my ears are bleeding. And I remember quite well from the last time when I was in 6th grade. Most of the pain subsided after they ruptured. This also means I can't hear very well right now either. Everything sounds muffled like wearing big headphones that cover your whole ear, and it is really annoying to eat crunchy food. So I am really hoping and praying that this is only temporary. On a positive note, Dane has been waking up every 2 hours throughout the night like 12am, 2am, 4am for a snack. I know there is no reason he needs to be getting up that often to eat, so last night I fed him good at 2am and it was really easy to ignore him at 4am and let him cry it out since I could barely hear him crying. I had to ask Andy a few times if he was quite or not. I did go hold him for a little bit but laid him back down and it worked. He slept until 7:30am.

Ski fun with my Valentine.

Today I am trying to recover from our weekend in beautiful Colorado. We left last Thursday after everyone got off work, we were planning on leaving early Friday morning, but left asap since a big snow storm was moving across the country. We got within 2 hours of my parents at 3am and had to stop for some much needed rest, after driving for and hour in blizzard conditions, would have stopped sooner had there been a place.

My sister came up to Breckenridge to nanny for us while I got to ski for the day. Well most of the day. Dane decided bottles weren't going to work for him, but my wonderful husband did everything he could to make sure I would have a good time, and planned ahead and got a ski in-ski out condo for the night. He even offered to let me get a massage in the spa, but turned out they were booked for the night being V-day and all.

Sunday turned out to be the perfect day for skiing, a beautiful clear day and fresh snow. When my sister called to let me know Dane was clearly hungry and not taking his bottle it took me an hour to get off the slopes and back to the lodge. What a great aunt to put up with a hungry baby for an hour! That boy was sure happy to see his momma, so happy all he did was smile instead of getting busy and eating.

Unfortunately our camera did not make it up to the mountains to document Dane's first trip up. I will have to wait for Katrina and Melissa to give me some copies.

"They see me rollin'..."

We have been practicing this rolling over bit since Sunday. Today I think he has the hang of it. He is getting too fast. I would flip him over and by the time I would back up and push play I was too late. So this is about the fourth time over. I love watching him learn all these new skills.

New England Baked Bean Stew

Here is another souper easy recipe. I made this last night for a couple of friends who came over to hang out. As I was typing it out I realized that I don't really follow the recipe, real close, at least not the cooking directions, but it is the same end result. I don't know if I have ever used Polish sausage in it either. Mainly because I didn't bother to look real hard and find it. Last time I used Kielbasa, which was really good.

New England Baked Bean Stew
prep: 10 min
cook: 20 min

1/2 pound boneless skinless chicken breast, cut into 1/2 inch slices
1/2 pound fully cooked Polish sausage, cut into 1/2 inch slices
1 can (15-16oz) great northern beans, rinsed and drained
1 can (15-16oz) dark red kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1 can (14 1/2oz) diced tomatoes with olive oil, garlic and spices, undrained
1 can chicken broth or improvise as desired
1 Tablespoon packed brown sugar
4 medium green onions sliced (1/4 cup)

1. Spray 12 inch nonstick skillet with cooking spray; heat over medium-high heat. Cook chicken in skillet 3-5 min, stirring occasionally,until brown.
2. Stir in remaining ingredients except onions. Cook uncovered over medium-low heat 8-10 min, stirring occasionally, until chicken is no longer pink in center.
3. Stir in Onions. Cook 3-5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until onions are crisp-tender.

Yield: 4 servings

Birthday Fun 2.5.82

My husband planned a semi surprise lunch date for us at the Des Moines Embassy Club at the top of the Principal building. It was fun to get dressed up and pretend to be corporate again. Our table was in a corner where two floor to ceiling windows met. So we had a great view of the city and the lunch buffet was delicious. What a fun date! I forgot my camera, but maybe it wasn't the place to whip it out with the VP of Principal and other executives dining there.

My birthday present is requiring a trip to Ikea! Exciting!

Later in the evening I had a small last minute cousin birthday party and Tessha invited herself and a few other cousins over and made me a birthday cake and some chocolate covered strawberries and even froze a homemade pie crust for me. I also got several fun small gifts from people throughout the day which was so thoughtful of everyone. I was disappointed to realize today that I forgot to use my free drink from Caribou, that is good only on the day of your birthday. Oh well I still had a fun day.

Tessha the bakerAll out cheesiness from the birthday girl

Productive

To Do List:

• finish laundry
• wash sheets
• wash towels
• fold and put away
• sweep
• dust
• vacuum
• clean bathroom
• take cute picture of baby
• tidy up baby's closet
• blog
• make dinner
• work on sewing project

DONE- If I knew how to cross things off on the computer it would be really satisfying. All I have left to do is make dinner and possibly my sewing project, and if I went to church dinner would be provided for the smallest of fees.

It's amazing what gets done when baby takes two 2 1/2 hour naps. (and if I am feeling motivated)

Tasty

Here is another delicious easy recipe for a meat dish. Right now and until I am done nursing, I have to stay away from dairy since Dane is lactose intolerant. Tried and true, if I do eat dairy he becomes very fussy and the diaper rash reappears. The other challenge is tomatoes do not always agree with me. So it seems in many dishes it is either dairy or tomato, (cream of ____ that is dairy too :o(. This poses as a huge challenge when you are eating more than a high school boy. The easiest thing I have found is making a meat dish and then finding a side dish to go with it. Good ol' midwestern meat and potata's.

Tasty Roast

1 (3lb) chuck roast - or any roast would be fine
2 pkg. Italian dry salad dressing seasoning
1 pkg au jus
2 c. water

Cook all ingredients in crock-pot for 8-9 hours on low. Serve on hoagie buns or as a regular meal.
I usually make a gravy out of the juice when it is done.

Month 3

I can't believe it has been 12 weeks already. He is getting so big, I love watching him learn how to do new things. He is getting so much better at grabbing things, and mimicking the faces I make at him. I even saw him roll over a couple times from tummy to back, though it did seem like a fluke, it won't be long. He is not sleeping well at night, though one night the problem was he had gotten his arm out the neckhole of his sleeper. Don't ask me how, I will never know. He thrives on one on-one-attention, it is not good enough to just hold him, you need to be talking to him and paying him some attention. Last night towards the end of the super bowl party we were at, yes the intense moments before it ended, he was laughing at me the hardest I have heard him laugh yet, and all I did was talked to him and asked him what was so funny. I love that boy. It did end in hiccups.

When you think your kid is cute how do pick which pictures to use? SO I picked a lot of them.

Black Bean Soup

This is a new favorite soup recipe of mine. I first tried it last year at Panera Bread and loved it so I did a google search to find something similar. Here it is:

4-6 servings
25 min, 5 min prep

1 onion finely chopped
2 garlic gloves minced
2 celery ribs, finely chopped
1/4 large red bell pepper, finely chopped
2 small chicken bouillon cubes
1-1 1/2 cup boiling water
2 (15 oz) cans black beans, undrained
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/2 lemon, juice of ( I was unclear as to what this was, I think I did 1/2 Tablespoon?)
1 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch

1. In a pot, combine the first six ingredients; simmer for 10 min.
2. Add half a can of black beans, salt and cumin; cook for 5 minutes
3. Puree soup. (I used my blender)
4. Add the rest of the beans to the soup
4. Combine the cornstarch with 1 1/2 tablespoons of water.
6. Add the lemon and the cornstarch to the soup; cook until thickened