Gram and Gramp came for a visit this weekend! G and his dad went on a men's retreat with our church, while Gram, N and I spent the weekend together at home. Of course N had to model his LSU hat for his Louisiana grandparents.
When Gram and Gramp arrived Thursday afternoon, they came with gifts from the "Louisiana Easter Bunny." N got a kick out of his new sandals!
He and Gramp built lots of towers together.
This book, A Boy and His Bunny, was an instant favorite.
The weather was beautiful on Friday, so we spent lots of time outside in the sunshine. It's a good thing, because the weekend turned cold!
There aren't many pictures from Saturday because Gram sent me off to do some wedding-related shopping with my mom and sister. Sorry ~ I was very spoiled with all of the extra help! If I ever had to have a live-in mother-in-law, Gram would be an ideal candidate!
On Sunday evening, we watched the Davidson-Kansas game and then Gram and Gramp treated us to take-out burgers from Five Guys. Here are wonderful Gram and Gramp with N right before we put him to bed for the night.
We love you and will miss you so much, Gram and Gramp! Thanks so much for making the trip.
Nanny came up Saturday morning for a little bit of shopping. We hit a great children's consignment sale and Marshall's before stopping for lunch (Nanny's treat!). G had planned to do some yard work while we were out, but unfortunately he was under the weather with a 24-hour stomach bug and spent most of the day recovering.
It was a big basketball weekend at our house. We watched both semi-final games on Saturday, and then we cheered the Tarheels to victory over Clemson for the ACC Championship title on Sunday. Go Heels!
We went to the park after N woke up from his nap on Sunday afternoon. He went down the slide with Dad a few times, walked around the playground, and then we all took a short walk around the park before heading home.
The weather has been beautiful all week long, so N and I have taken advantage of the sunny days by spending some time at the park. N particularly enjoys testing his balance and new-found walking skills on the grass and any other outside surface, and I'm quite certain that if our yard was covered in mulch he would be the happiest baby on the block!
Today he discovered the pleasure of the slide, and went down on his belly several times. (It was a slide for little toddlers, and of course, I was right there to "catch" him.) He is not crazy about swinging right now. I imagine that's because he'd rather be using those little legs and feet to go somewhere new and exciting!
Once again, the camera didn't make the trip, but here are the results of a morning well-spent.
Yesterday I tried my hand at making Red Beans and Rice. G has approved it as authentic Louisiana fare, so I thought I would share the recipe. I believe it's traditionally served on Mondays, but it was good at our house on a Wednesday night. The best part was that it cooked all day in the crock-pot!
New Orleans Red Beans
1 pound dried kidney beans
5 cups water
¼ lb turkey sausage, sliced
1 onion, finely chopped
1 bell pepper, finely chopped
5 ribs celery, finely chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp thyme
salt, to taste
Tony Chacherie's seasoning, to taste
Worcestershire sauce, to taste
Tabasco sauce, to taste
1. Wash beans. Combine with water. Boil 2 minutes. Remove from heat and soak overnight.
2. Brown sausage slowly. Add onions, bell pepper, celery and garlic, and saute until tender.
3. Combine all ingredients, including bean water, in slow cooker.
4. Cover, cook on low 10-12 hours. During last 20 minutes, stir frequently and mash lightly with spoon.
5. Serve over hot cooked white rice, and with Martha White cornbread on the side.
After breakfast, N immediately found one of his current favorite toys - nesting cups that may be stacked or converted into balls. He brought it to me with a big smile on his face, saying "ball, ball, ball, ball!"
We had a nice weekend. On Saturday morning, I took N to visit my Grandma. She and the other ladies who live on her floor were delighted to see him walking up the hallway to greet them! Next time I need to bring my camera to capture the look on Grandma's face when she plays with N. Somehow the camera bag didn't make it on this trip.
G grilled out for us on Saturday night, and then we listened to Woody call the UNC-Duke game play-by-play on the radio. G felt so sorry for me that he had actually called that afternoon to see if we could upgrade our service, but they weren't able to send someone out on such short notice.
The customer service representative asked if there was a specific reason we needed someone to come so quickly, and G told them that his wife was dying to watch the game. "Your wife?" she laughed! Yep, I'm the one you can hear yelling from the street when a Carolina game is on. Even without the visual, I got pretty excited when I heard about Marcus Ginyard's dunk and Danny Green's shots dropping every time!
For those of you who think we have been incredibly "behind the times" when it comes to media, consider that G and I didn't even own a television for the first few months of our married life! The good news is that I will now be able to watch NCAA basketball to my heart's content because we are officially upgrading our cable package this Saturday.
N and G started playing a few new father-son games this weekend - "possum" and "drums." N tiptoed around to try and "wake" G and got a big kick out of it every time his daddy grabbed him! He has also discovered that his high chair doubles as a drum machine. Fun, fun, fun!
Here is a shot of N in a more quiet mood after his Saturday afternoon nap. He's napping right now, in fact, so I should probably get busy working on my to-do list.
A friend of mine, who happens to be single and without children yet, recently asked what I have been up to lately. My life has developed much more of a rhythm, or pattern, since N was born.
For example, I go to the grocery store on Mondays. On Tuesdays, N and I go to church where I help to lead a women's Bible study group. We spend Wednesday mornings gathering with a wonderful group of my friends who also have young children at home.
I tend to keep Thursdays open for outings, either to visit my Grandma or a friend. Fridays are somewhat of a "catch-all" and include everything from laundry to the library to cleaning the house. Most every afternoon, I take N for a long walk around the neighborhood.
This week, some of the "postcard-friendly" highlights included playing at our neighbor's house on a rainy afternoon, meeting my friends and former coworkers for lunch, going to the park, and meeting a friend at ImaginOn.
For those of you would like a more "realistic" picture of a typical day with a 16 month old child, let me share today's happenings with you:
I woke at 6 a.m. to have a cup of coffee and read my Bible for a little while.
N woke up around 6:30 am, happily talking to himself. After about 10 minutes or so, he began whining because he dropped his blankie, so I went upstairs to rescue it for him. At this point, we turned on music and changed his diaper (a big nasty one, and since we use cloth diapers, I wiped the poop off into the toilet before moving forward with the morning routine). N then went back in his crib with some toys and books while I took a quick shower.
We ate breakfast together around 7:30 am. This little guy loves to eat! He consumed an entire banana, handful of cheerios, and a bowl of oatmeal, polishing it all off with a cup of milk.
We played downstairs for about an hour or so, reading books, playing with blocks and other toys. Then we took a diaper change break, and I finished getting ready (brush teeth, makeup, make the bed, etc.)
Today we went to ImaginOn for story time. It's a rainy day here, so we bundled up with jackets and hats and made a run for the car. When we arrived at the library, N wanted to explore, so I followed him around while he looked at everything. After he put his books in the book return ("bye-bye books!") he played on a children's stage.
Since he has started walking, I have noticed N's independent streak coming out more and more on a daily basis (hhmmm...wonder where that comes from?) Today's example - he didn't want to move from one area of the library to another, so he had a little temper tantrum. Oh well, my love - Mama is still much bigger than you are and you're coming with me!
N fell asleep in the car on the way home, and woke up sweaty and grumpy. He picked at his lunch (a potato-veggie-rice pancake) and then mashed the leftovers all over his tray.
Following lunch, we played a bit more and folded clothes. Around 1 pm, we headed upstairs to get ready for a nap. I suppose since he had taken a mini-nap in the car, he wasn't quite ready to sleep, so he's been up there awake for about the past 20 minutes. The blanket went overboard again, so I rescued it and settled him back down.
Now here I sit, listening to him talk to himself before he drifts off to sleep. The rain is making me really want to hit the couch to read Anna Karenina and nap a little bit, but I need to get hopping on the Friday cleaning plan.
All in all, I find that routine is good for me and great for N. I couldn't be more thankful for this season of being at home with our son. Sorry there's not a picture to accompany this post - blogger is having trouble uploading photos right now, and honestly, I only took about 2 good picture this week. Sometimes it's like that - the camera stays in the bag while I chase a curious little boy!
What a beautiful day! After everyone enjoyed an afternoon nap, we ventured outside to soak up some warm sunshine. I picked a few daffodils to bring a taste of Spring in the house.
G is working in the yard a little bit, and it's halftime in the UNC vs. Boston College game...I'm teaching N to cheer even when the Heels are down at the half.
