It's hard...

Ugg, if there was a Facebook "dislike" button, I would definitely use it to describe how it feels to be a parent of a sick little baby.

Right before the sniffles caught up with Claire, she was looking so cute in her patriotic Red/White/Blue outfit...

Hoping for a quick recovery!!

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Sick Little Baby

After one week of (very part time) daycare, we have a sick little baby. Claire got pink eye (again) and she has an upper respiratory virus consisting of coughing, sneezing, and a fever. It's so hard seeing your lil boo all snotty and in pain. Also, bye bye sleep... it all goes out the window when you have a sick baby on your hands. Come on breastmilk anti-bodies, do your magic!

Before Claire got sick, here are some pictures from Memorial Day:

Ross smoked ribs and made a BBQ sauce and baked beans. Charles and Kelley brought a delicious pear & celery salad, see below for a similar recipe.

Noelle, with Ross, Erik, & Charles staring at the food.

Eddie

The crunchy pear and celery salad was right up my alley. I google'd and found this recipe, similar to the one they made! We had the blue cheese/walnut variation.

INGREDIENTS

• 4 stalks celery, trimmed and cut in half crosswise
• 2 tablespoons cider, pear, raspberry or other fruit vinegar
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 ripe pears, preferably red Bartlett or Anjou, diced
• 1 cup finely diced white Cheddar cheese
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans, toasted (see Tip)
• Freshly ground pepper, to taste
• 6 large leaves butterhead or other lettuce

• PREPARATION

  1. Soak celery in a bowl of ice water for 15 minutes. Drain and pat dry. Cut into 1/2-inch pieces.
  2. Whisk vinegar, honey and salt in a large bowl until blended. Add pears; gently stir to coat. Add the celery, cheese and pecans; stir to combine. Season with pepper. Divide the lettuce leaves among 6 plates and top with a portion of salad. Serve at room temperature or chilled.

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Remembering how to Cook

So it's been a really really long time since I've cooked anything. Babies will do that. But inevitably you gotta come out of hibernation sometime right? Well here are the recipes that we chose for our first "couple cooks together" meal in months. You may be able to tell that I picked these recipes... but they have been tested and approved by Ross too!

Turkey Burgers and Quinoa Caprese salad.

This caprese salad is a great twist on the basil+mozzerella+tomato classic with the addition of quinoa and peppery arugula.

INGREDIENTS

• 2 cups cherry tomatoes - halved or quartered depending on size
• 1 cup fresh mozzarella - either bocconcini or ciliegine - small round cheese - quartered
• 2 Tbs red onion - minced
• 2 Tbs minced herbs - I used a combination of parsley and basil
• ¾ cup uncooked quinoa
• 2 cups arugula
• 1 large handful of walnuts
• 4 Tbs olive oil
• 2 Tbs red wine vinegar
• 1 garlic clove - finely minced
• 8 twists of pepper from a pepper mill

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Cook quinoa according to package instructions.
2. While quinoa is cooking, slice cherry tomatoes and add to a bowl.
3. Slice mozzarella balls in quarters so they are roughly the same size as the sliced cherry tomatoes.
4. Add sliced mozzarella, minced red onion and minced herbs to the tomatoes and toss gently.
5. Whisk together olive oil, red wine vinegar, finely minced garlic and pepper. Pour half of the dressing over the tomato and mozzarella mixture and toss gently.
6. Once quinoa is done cooking, strain if necessary so there is no water left in the pan, let the quinoa cool on a baking sheet for 5 to 10 minutes.
7. Give the arugula a rough chop and add to a separate bowl.
8. Once quinoa is cool, toss with the arugula and the remaining half of the dressing. Once combined, add the tomato mozzarella mixture and walnuts. Toss gently to combine and serve.

I didn't get a picture of the burgers, but here's the recipe. See link above for pictures:

Turkey Burger with Feta

Ingredients

•     1 1/2 pounds ground turkey
•     2 Cloves garlic, minced
•     1 Egg
•     1/2 Cup breadcrumbs
•     1 Cup crumbled Feta Cheese
•     1/4 Cup drained, chopped sun-dried tomatoes in oil
•     1/4 Cup diced onions
•     2 Tbsp. chopped flat leaf parsley
•     2 Tsp. dried oregano
•     salt and fresh ground pepper, to taste

Method

1. Pre-heat barbecue grill to high for 10 minutes.
2. In a large bowl, combine burger ingredients and mix to combine, being careful not to over mix. Shape into 6 patties, each 1/2–inch (1 cm) thick.
3. Reduce heat to medium and place burgers on lightly greased grill, cover and cook for about 8 minutes.
4. Serve with tzatziki on the bottom and topped with some baby arugula
5.  Enjoy!

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Fiesta Dress

Granna found the cutest little outfit for Baby Claire!

Claire's hair just cannot be tamed, even with little bows. It looks just like her Daddy's hair after he wakes up from a nap...

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Our Girls

We got some quality hang out time with our girls over the weekend...

Burp time with Dad

Baking cookies with Mom

On closer inspection, you may notice something odd about Roma? If you guessed, the giant blob on flour on Roma's back you'd be correct!

She likes to be a part of the action and in this case, the action was quite tastey :)

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Claire's first day of "School"

Welp, Mum is exhausted from Claire's first day hour of daycare. Yep that's right, we're easing into things... I dropped Claire off at childcare while I went to the gym for an hour. I think I'm more tired than her though, because I've been trying to put her to bed for the last 2 hours and she just keeps staring at me. It's hard to be too upset though because she has been sleeping through the WHOLE night for the past week. Big girl!

Pictures taken 5/6/2014, ~2 months old.

Little Owl

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Ham & Cheese Roll-Ups

Are you going to a party and need a super easy appetizer type food to bring? Well, I have just the thing for you... It's hard to beat the simplicity of 3 ingredients! I brought these roll-ups to Stamp Club today and they were a hit (evidenced by a clean plate!). It's a nice twist on a ham and cheese sandwich.

Baked Ham and Cheese Roll-Ups

Ingredients 1 package of cheese slices (colby jack) 
1 pound ham slices
1 can refrigerated pizza dough (or homemade dough)

InstructionsPre-heat the oven to 400F.Roll out the pizza dough into a large rectangle.Lay cheese slices all over the pizza dough.Lay a layer of ham slices over the cheese.Starting at the short end on the right, roll the dough with cheese and ham inside towards the left, jelly roll styleOnce it's completely rolled together, place it on a cutting board with the seam down.With a sharp knife, carefully cut one inch "rolls". Place them on a greased baking sheet.Bake at 400F for 12-15 minutes. Remove and let cool slightly. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Yields: 12-14 rolls

So go ahead and offer to bring an appetizer to the next party and no need to resort to run of the mill chips and dip!

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Little Longhorn

Katrina brought Miss Claire some longhorn gear. Such a cute little longhorn, don't you think?

Claire is discovering her hands which makes for some entertainment!

Burnt Orange Love.

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Girls Weekend

Ross went on a 4-day "man" trip last weekend, complete with boats and guns. Which also means I got some extra special bonding time with both my girls. Here's a picture of one of the more calm moments...

We had gorgeous weather and were able to get outside quite a bit. However, Claire came down with pink eye and I got a nasty stomach flu. We're all on the mend now!

I got to celebrate my first Mother's Day too :)

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Alaska Conservation Center

When Mom Huebel was here last month, we took our first daytrip with Miss Claire to the Alaska Conservation Center. They house many rescue Alaska animals, which you don't often get to see up close. We had to make a stop at Jack Sprat restaurant in Girdwood on our way. It was Claire's first restaurant outing and the first time she got in the Ergo. It was my first time to breastfeed outside the house (eee!).

Brown Bear

Black Bear

Wood Bison

Eagle

Elk

Musk Ox

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Claire at 2 months

Grandma brought to my attention that Claire is going to be 10 weeks old this week, but there haven't been any 2 month old pictures posted on the blog...

Touche Grandma (too-shay indeed!), you make a good point.

I've hadn't gotten around to posting them, but I can promise you these were taken right at 2 months!

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Purple Dress

Sometimes I wonder how this little cutie pie could possibly cry and fuss so much in the evenings...

She is such a good little baby all throughout the day and around 8pm her gas cramps kick in and she is inconsolable. Is it ok to let your baby cry and shut the door? AHHHHH!!!!

We're ready to turn this corner, that's for sure!

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Dress Up Fun

Claire has some cute outfits hanging in her closet. When Katrina visited last weekend, she brought a whole suitcase full of Hailey's old clothes for Claire to borrow. Mom is excited because there's lots of dresses and Alaska "summer" is coming up! But those will come later... :) These pictures were taken when Claire was 1.5 months old.

Purple bow outfit from Granna:

Little Nittany Lion, curtesy of Uncle Jeff (look at those thighs!):

Cow outfit, with a cute bum trap door, from Miss Kirsty:

Roma pup is always right there...

Outfit from Gigi's friend, Mrs. Stegman:

Love this girl!

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