Homemade Jam!

So, most people who know me well know that I have a secret fantasy to lead more of an aggie lifestyle.

Raise chickens.
Grow all my veggies in a big garden.
Cultivate a fruit orchard.
The whole bit.

Alas, sometimes our little postage-stamp of a backyard doesn't facilitate this pipe dream.


When we came away from Zachary's birthday party, we had an overabundance of fruit - mostly strawberries and pears - that would absolutely spoil before we could eat it all.  So Andrew, as he often does, came up with the brilliant, yet slightly hair-brained idea to make preserves with our fruit.  We had never done it before, but it sounded like the kind of thing that is right up our alley.

We called half a dozen stores to find canning supplies (nobody in orange county makes jam, apparently), we read up about techniques online, and went for it.  20 jars later, we are in love with the process and would do it again in a heartbeat!  The stuff is DELICIOUS!  We made 8 jars of strawberry and 12 jars of pear vanilla bean (yes, vanilla bean....I like to mix things up!).



Here's what I thought about the process:

It was hot (expected that).
It took 45 minutes per batch (shorter than I thought!)
It took 2 cups of strawberries or 4-5 pears per batch (less fruit than I thought!)
It tastes AMAZING on a slice of french bread with a generous slice of brie (we had a wonderful backyard picnic and ate half a jar last weekend) :)

The initial investment of fruit, cans, lids, and pectin (the jelling agent) was expensive, but overall, we thought it was a more rewarding experience than just purchasing a jar of jam in the store.

So, if you invite us over for dinner or do something thoughtful for us, you will likely find yourself with a jar of our homemade jam :)

One

A friend of mine recently asked if we were okay - because I haven't blogged in awhile. We are alive and well, just busy playing with blocks in the living room, going to the park, and enjoying the antics of our ONE year old!

I feel like we just blinked and a year was gone. We enjoyed (almost) every minute of it! I would say the sleepless nights did not rank so high :) But seriously, we kept pinching ourselves all year thinking how unreal it was that we got to be the parents of this sweet little guy.

So, here are some current tidbits about Zachary at one year of age: He weighs in at 19lbs, 10oz (he's about the 10th percentile) and 28.5 inches long.

His favorite things to do right now are cruising around the living room and the water table (loaned to us for the summer by Uncle Kevin and Aunt Katie...many thanks!), pull laundry out of the laundry basket (much to mom's dismay if it's already folded), and point to all the things that he likes....which is a great way for us to communicate.

His favorite words are dada....dada...and I've heard a couple other things, including ducky and kiss (which came out as 'tiss').

To celebrate Zachary's first year of life, we had a little park shindig. The party was themed around the amazing children's book by Eric Carle, The Hungry Little Caterpillar, and we had it at a great local park.

Of course a caterpillar birthday party is not complete without caterpillar antenna & butterfly wings and insect & butterfly tattoos for the guests:

I did caterpillar themed invitations, decorations and some yummy food (including pulled pork sliders from our favorite BBQ joint)

And of course a toddler-sized cake for the little man and chocolate 'dirt' caterpillar cupcakes for our guests! Zachary was not a fan of the cake, but I guess that just means that he'll be content with fruit for a little while longer :)

And I must end with pictures of the ADORABLE babies that attended Zach's party (I am including Zachary in the 'adorable baby category', so we've gotta have one more shot of him with mommy) :) We loved having you all celebrate our little guy with us!

Love these 3 with their matching shirts and jeans!!

Growing like a turtle

I love looking back to see how our little Zachary has grown! Check him out with his turtle blanket over the last 5 months...and yes, he was not a happy camper for some of these pictures. Just keeping it real :)

2 days old

10 days old

1 month old

3 months old

5 months old

The Art of Pasta

When we first got married, I was surprised and excited to find out that Andrew had a pastamaker. We often have lazy weekends where we decide to make homemade pasta - which is SO incredibly delicious, but also labor intensive. I think it is a beautiful process to watch flour and eggs turn into these long silky sheets of pasta, that then turn into a rack of richly golden strands of fettucini or spaghetti. We made spaghetti this weekend, and I decided to document the process. If you've never had homemade pasta, invite yourselves over for dinner sometime and we'll make some for you!

3 months and the Elusive Smile

Zachary just hit the 3-month mark. Wow, time sure has flown by! He has gone from a 2-week premature 6 pounder, to a chubby baby with his personality starting to emerge. At 3 months old, Zachary measured at 24.5 inches and 13.4 pounds. He loves reaching for rings and batting at the toys on his activity gym. He's somewhat ambivalent about tummy time, and he doesn't like the carseat or the car (and he likes to let us know!).

One of the things that has been the biggest reward so far is his smile. He loves smiling at me while nursing, during diaper changes, and especially when he sees the 'little boy in the mirror'. He LOVES the little boy in the mirror...I don't think he quite gets that HE is the little boy in the mirror!

And often when I see that sweet smile, I grab my camera to capture it. However, the moment Z-man sees the camera come out, the smiles hit the road, only to be replaced with a furrowed brow. I tried to trick him by holding the camera off to the side...and I was successful at capturing smiles, but cut his head off in the process. Here are the results:

Jane Eyre

I must say that I adore reading, and one of my hopes for Zachary is that he grows up to be an avid reader.

About a year and a half ago, a friend and I started a book club. I'm really proud of the group and what it has become. We read biographies, fiction, non-fiction, you name it...and I'm glad that we're not afraid of books that we don't necessarily agree with. It's a way to learn about other places and times. Get inside someone else's head. Wrestle with moral questions. Decide what I would have done in a particular situation.

This month, our book club is reading Jane Eyre (and surprisingly enough, I've never read it before). One of the benefits of nursing is that I have 3-4 hours a day to multitask - feed my baby AND do some reading. So, Zachary and I read Jane Eyre - his first piece of literature! And we (I) LOVED it. I didn't read him the entire thing, but little portions here and there to "enrich his learning experience" (aka hear the inflection of my voice).

Rub A Dub Dub

Why is it that babies taking baths are so darn cute? I still can't put my finger on exactly what it is...but my current theory is that the oh-so-cute rolls of chub are front and center. Funny how triple chins and 'rolls' are acceptable - lovable, even - on infants, but not so much on adults....but back to my point.

One of my favorite activities to do with Zachary is bathtime. During his first month, he hated the bath, but now that the air is a bit warmer, and he has more insulation, he just loves bathtime, and rewards his bather with lots of smiles. Normally I can't bathe him AND take pictures of him, but since Daddy was able to do bathtime with us this weekend, I just grabbed the camera to capture my little man in bathtime. Oh, and as you can see, he likes being IN the bath, but doesn't necessarily like being taken OUT of the bath :)