Jackson's First Thanksgiving

We spent the holiday in Lubbock, Texas with Josh's family. Jackson was amazing on the flight and throughout the whole trip.

On Thursday once everyone arrived we had our turkey dinner followed by mandatory naps for everyone.

Aunt Carol, Jackson and Susie

Jackson and Susie

Jackson and his Papa

The whole family at lunch on Friday



Later that night we went out for some more food...
"Mmmm, Papa. Your burger looks tasty."


On Saturday, our day included another yummy lunch
(do you see a trend here?)...

...and a trip to Dave's Need for Speed , where Jackson received his first balloon while Josh got to ride the go carts and everyone played Cosmic putt-putt.



Throughout the entire weekend, Jackson decided he really liked pulling hair.
Everyone got to feel his strength...

Its a good thing he's so cute.

This year, I am thankful for...
my husband, who works so hard for our family and makes me feel loved everyday.
my beautiful son, who reminds me to enjoy the little things in life.
our family, who gives us continued support, love and much needed parenting advice.

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

A few firsts

This week was pretty slow, with Jackson getting over a cold and me catching the cold from Jackson. Not so fun, but Jackson did have a few firsts.

First boo-boo

Jackson's forehead met a wood support beam while he was playing around Josh's desk. Oops. He was all smiles in mere moments and the bruise was gone the next morning. (Can you tell Sophie felt bad for him?)

And, finally... his first tooth!!!

Its been teasing me for weeks now and it finally broke through yesterday. Isn't it cute?

This week, we are headed down to Texas for Thanksgiving with Josh's family. We're looking forward to the trip, and I'm crossing my fingers that Jackson will enjoy the flight! I'll update with holiday pics when we return.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Raising a Foodie, Cont. - Proteins

Its been a while since I've posted about baby food. Jackson is such a good eater, and we have been expanding his diet. My last post talked about simple purees of fruit and vegetables. Since then, we have added meats and protein to Jackson's diet. The first meat we tried was chicken, again using recipes and ideas from Top 100 Baby Purees. I made Chicken with Carrots, Leeks and Peas and Chicken and Apples.

Here is the Chicken with Vegetables before:

And after:

At first, I was not thrilled at the idea of pureeing meat. It just didn't sound appetizing. Using the Magic Bullet, the texture came out like a fine chicken salad - not too bad. I've had friends say that their meat purees have come out a little grainy. They both blended the meat using a food processor, so that might be the issue. I also think it is important to blend the meat with additional vegetables/fruit. This adds a smoother texture and more moisture overall.

When finished, I froze the vegetables in my ice cube tray and we were set!

Our next protein was a vegetarian option: Red Lentils. I don't cook with lentils very often, since I'm not the biggest fan, but I really enjoyed the red lentils. They are smaller and take less time to cook than the green lentils I am used to. I cooked them with carrots, onions and cauliflower. Jackson loves it, and they are a good alternative to meat. I've also found it to be a good way to introduce curry into his diet (since Josh and I are big fans). I add the spice at each meal, which allows me to start light, and increase the amount of spice with each meal.

Jackson's first taste of beef was a braised beef stew. I slow cooked the beef with carrots, potatoes and other vegetables. Though it took a few hours to cook, Jackson has enough stew to last a while. He likes it, but I will make some changes the next time I make it for him. In order to get the right consistency for the beef, I had to puree everything a bit longer, which resulted in a gluey, sticky potatoes. Next time, I will cook and mash the potatoes separately and then mix that with the pureed meat and veggies.

Right now, I am still making Jackson's food separately from our meals, though he is starting to get little tastes of our food at dinner. We are working on finger foods now, and I'll follow up soon with some of Jackson's favorites.

Free Things Babies Like

With Christmas just 6 weeks away, I've been thinking a lot about gifts for Jackson. It would be SO easy to run to Target and get him all the latest and greatest in baby toys. But, in the interest of keeping within my budget and trying to keep my house from looking like Toys R' Us exploded in it, I will have to curb my excessive shopping desire.

He's only 8 months old after all. How much will he really remember? Since everyone says babies mostly have fun with the wrapping paper, completely ignoring the actual gift, I looked back to the normal things that Jackson enjoys that don't come from toy store.

Here is my list of free things that babies love. Forget Black Friday - just wrap these household items up in shiny paper and enjoy the holiday.

Cardboard Boxes

Door Stoppers

Shadows

Good Old Fashioned Family Fun

Puppies

Not pictured, but also huge favorites:

Tupperware
Metal Bowls
Wooden Spoons
(Together, its like an infant orchestra)

Okay, so some of those on the list can't be wrapped up. But the main point is to not stress about the perfect gift for Jackson. We just have enjoy him in the moment - something that is so easy to do!

Sign Language Update

In a previous post, I mentioned that I was going to start working with Jackson on some signs. Well, I saw some results just a few minutes ago! This week, Jackson has had a cold and a decreased appetite, so his feedings and bottles have been all off. As I was putting him down for his nap I was wondering to myself if I should give him a bottle before the nap or after. I was going to wait, but as we were reading a book, I noticed he was doing a one-handed clap. At first I thought he was working on his "hi" and "bye" wave. Then it hit me. That motion is pretty similar to the sign for "milk." Duh, mom - way to pay attention. I made him a bottle, which he promptly gulped down and he is now happily napping way.

Success! Can't wait to see what he signs next!

8 Months Old!

Jackson turned 8 months old yesterday and celebrated the day by hanging out in his PJ's and watching football with Dad. I was working an event, so we did our 8 month photo shoot this morning. Here are some of my favorites.

(and yes, that is a bubble coming out of his nose...)

In other news, Jackson has gotten so good at crawling that he does it everywhere...even in the tub!
Jackson is also hard at work on some new teeth. You can clearly see them, but the teeth haven't broken through yet. I've been checking every morning for weeks now, and the progress is slow. Any day now...

Penny Pinching, Starbucks Style

Most people who know me know that I love Starbucks. I know it gets a bad rep, but to me its cozy in a cup. When the weather gets colder and leaves change, I start craving Starbucks real bad. And I don't just crave a cup of coffee. I'm after the steaming hot, sugar-laden, foamy, frothy latte. Vanilla is my standard, but during the holidays I mix it up - Caramel Macchiato, Pumpkin Spice, Eggnog, Chai Latte - it depends on the day.

When I was working, I would run through the drive-thru a few times a week. Now that I'm home full time, our budget can't handle my indulgences. So, it has become my journey to recreate these tasty treats at home, all without a fancy espresso machine on the counter.

For many of the drinks I have gotten close, but the thing that's been missing is that foamy creama. After months of searching kitchen and homegoods stores I have found the perfect frother: the Aerolatte Moo.

This frother is super easy to use and clean, and its really fast. I usually use nonfat milk in my coffee, but have found that the frother works SO MUCH better with whole or lowfat milk. Now I get yummy foamy lattes everyday!

My other fantastic find is Tazo Chai Tea Concentrate, which I recently found at Target Its very similar to the concentrate that Starbucks uses and really easy - half tea, half milk with a dollop of foam on top. Its the perfect treat for a cold day.



Now I'm excited to try the Aerolatte Moo for an Eggnog Latte. I have my milk delivered, and eggnog will be on my order through the holidays.... yum! Now if I can only figure out how to make Starbucks' Eggnog Mini Loaf...

Halloween

Opening a Halloween treat...

And dressing up...

We went to a fun party this year with Jackson. Since he already had his dragon costume, we tried to go with a medieval/fantasy theme. Josh was a knight and I was a fairy (and very proud of my homemade skirt). We had a lot of fun!

Happy Halloween!