mama confessions: baby names & bath time

I have had my 'girl baby name' picked out since I was eleven.  I was on the floor of my bedroom, during the heat of the summer {we had no AC} flipping through a Seventeen magazine, when I saw it.  It was some girl from Arizona State in a feature on fashion at different universities.  She had the perfect name, and I decided right then and there I would name my daughter that.  

I also have three 'boy names' picked out.  I'm pretty convinced I will have another boy or two, so I must be triply prepared on this one.   And no, I won't post any of my names - I like to surprise {and annoy} people! ;)

Why am I even thinking about this? My sister in law Jen recently announced on her precious blog that she is pregnant!  I love all things baby and pregnancy, so I am super excited for Baby B!  Plus, a whole lot of other bloggers that I adore and follow are also pregnant...and it is interesting to see every woman's different take on her journey towards having a baby {or another baby!}

{Side note: No, I am not pregnant, nor do I plan to be any time soon.  That will happen when my current baby can walk, talk, and feed himself.  I am very confident I can take my birth control correctly until that happens.}

Anyway, here is a list of the baby names most likely to be used in 2012 {at least according to this survey.}  Check it out by clicking HERE.  Any catch your eye?  

None of my names are on this list...which makes me happy.  I really like some of them - Jude, Isla, and Scarlett are my favorites.  But I, like the article's author, feel darn good that none of my names are predicted to be trendy this year.

Heck, let's face it.  My names will never be popular.  I mean, I named my kid Cormac.  Which I still adore, even though no one seems to be able to pronounce it {Carmex?  Cognac?  CorMACK?} and most give me a weird look when I tell them.  Which only makes me like it more.  People did {and sometimes still do} that with my name, too.  I think I've met 3 people named 'Greta' in my life.  I love having a name no one else I know has...and I think he will, too.

On to my confession:  I have yet to take any bathtime pictures of Baby Cormac.  I know, right?  Slacker!  My excuse is that taking photos of my baby while he is in the bathtub seems kind of dangerous, as bathtime is typically during the day when Hubby is at work.  And since I still have to keep him upright in the tub, and quite frankly don't want my camera to fall in the water, we will have to settle for some post-bath pics.  Which are almost as good.  :)

If you haven't noticed, my baby does not smile at cameras.  

He stares in wonder...

or sometimes annoyance.

We'll work on that.

Someday.

Anyway, did any of the names on 'the list' make it on your list? {if you have one!}

How do you choose your baby names?  A list like this?  Books? A generator/name wizard?

Family names? And do you/will you share the name prior to birth?

I only tell my sister.

Much Friday love to you!

g

chicken with goat cheese and basil

I think the best recipes contain all the ingredients in the title.  Take for example, chicken with goat cheese and basil.

You will need:
chicken - 4 boneless breasts with skin on {specifically ask your butcher/meat guy} I used bone-in breasts this time...taste is the same, just more work to cut around the bone.
goat cheese - one 8 oz herbed log
basil - fresh leaves

Okay, you also will want to get out your olive oil, salt and pepper.  But that ain't no thang.

I've made this a few times, having found the recipe in House Beautiful magazine, in a feature with recipes by Ina Garten.  Could anyone have a better name???

Anyway, I was drawn to it due to the goat cheese, naturally.  If you don't know about my obsession with goat cheese, you just don't know me well enough yet. :)

To make:
1. Heat oven to 375.
2. Set the chicken breasts in a casserole dish or on a sheet pan.  Use your finger to separate the skin from the chicken breast in one area{carefully, without creating more than a small opening.}
2. Cut your log of delicious herbed goat cheese into half inch rounds.  Insert no less than 2 of them under the skin of each breast.

3. Insert 1-2 basil leaves under the skin as well.  Pull the skin back over as much of the meat as possible, so the meat stays moist.

4. Baste each breast with olive oil, then season generously with salt and pepper.

5. Bake 35-40 minutes until cooked through and golden on top.

Serve on a bed of brown rice, for a healthy dinner!

g

DIY: {personalized subway sign}

What do you get the guy that has everything?

Okay, Hubby really doesn't have everything...but he usually puts everything he needs on his Christmas list for his parents, and I get stuck with get the honor of trying to think up something creative.  :o)

This past Christmas was no exception.  So I decided to get artsy.  Not really, as I don't have any artistic ability as a painter.  However, using some wood, stencils, and paint I created a low-budget piece that really had some personal meaning to our relationship...

a subway sign -- using streets, or "stops" from our relationship.  Our first date, first apartment, first engagement, second engagement, etc...and then ending with the three streets we have now owned homes on.

I priced having it done professionally, and that would have been several hundred dollars.  I did the project myself for $30 {most expensive part being the stencils, which I can use again for other projects!}

I've always loved these signs that have been all over the place for quite a while.

It seemed like a simple project.  Stencil on the letters and paint them.  I wanted it to be a wood sign that I handpainted.  So I used a 2'x4' piece of birch wood ($8) and painted it black with paint I already had.

Then I placed my letters, which took quite a bit of time.  I had to decide on the order, what size lettering, etc.  Then I had to make them even.  Precision is not my forte, nor is patience.  So this was a daunting task.  Plus, I had to do all of this whenever the baby napped.  Needless to say, not much cleaning got done for about 3 full weeks.  A baby-free person could probably get this done in a weekend.  It needs two coats of white paint.

Here is the sign nearly completed.  See the pile of towels in the background?  Yeah, those probably sat there a while.

And here is the finished sign!  This is not where we're going to put it, as I made it with the thought that we would hang it in our new home, whenever we actually move into it.  That could be a while, as we have to sell our current house first.  But I had to take a picture, right?  

 Can't wait to see where this ends up!

Happy Monday, friends!

g

six months!

I have a full-fledged BOY on my hands.

Cormac is a punching, kicking, grabbing bundle of boy energy.

Which is why this month's photo session was especially challenging....

and basically ended up as just a cuddle session.  Which I'm okay with.

Here are some outtakes.  

Yes, I was wearing my bathrobe/pajamas. 

not quite able to sit yet...

whoa.

there's that smile

in mid flip...
and please check out that adorable fat knee!

"just relaxin'...and eatin' my hand..."

my little deer in the headlights...

"I will look anywhere but the camera."

"Just wait 'til I have teeth.  Then try to resist this smile."

He mastered the art of rolling last month, and recently has been making the moves to crawl.  He will actually get up on his haunches in the crawling position and boisterously rock back and forth about ten times until his falls on his face.  Then he does it again.  But no actual forward movement. Yet.

Jumps so vigorously in his exersaucer that sometimes I am afraid to bend down to try to pick him up, for fear he'll jump and knock my teeth out with his big ol' head. He'll try to fake me out:  he'll stop bouncing and smile up at me sweetly.  I approach with caution.   Then as soon as I reach down he starts jumping crazily again!

Sitting, but I still need to be there in case he takes a tumble.

Starting vegetables next week!

Weight: 18 lbs 6 oz {60th percentile}

Height: 26.5 inches {50th percentile}

Head: 18 cm {90th percentile}

* * * * * * * * * 

Happy six months

to my little man!

{hint, hint about his 1st birthday party theme!}

g

{25 things}

Source: etsy.com via Greta on Pinterest

1. I have exactly seven half-finished blog posts in my queue, and yet I decided to write this completely random one instead of finishing any of them.

2. Today I entertained Baby Cormac by whistling the Andy Griffith Show theme song for literally a half hour straight.

3. Then I allowed him to chew on my beaded necklace...that was still around my neck.

4. The first thing I thought of after putting him to bed was pouring myself a glass of wine.

5. I love wine.

6. I really love wine.  Especially after whistling the Andy Griffith theme song for a half hour.

7. My husband can't whistle.

8. I get a sense of satisfaction when I find things I can do that my Hubby can't.  Sorry babe.

9. Tonight I am hoping my Hubby will pick up a pizza for dinner on the way home.  By Thursdays I don't feel like cooking.

10.  I'm a total city girl...but I kind of want to escape to the country.  Wake up in a big feather bed and eat a huge, homemade breakfast.

11.  I'm determined to learn to make homemade cinnamon rolls, a la my Grandma Mole.

12. Grandma Mole is not her real name.

13. Did I mention I love wine?

14. I really, really don't want to get up off the couch and wash bottles right now.  So many bottles...

15.  Okay, only six bottles.  But still.

16. I can't wait to finish all those other posts.  Tomorrow, maybe?  One of them, maybe?

17. I made some really good linguini with scallops last night...but my camera battery died so I couldn't take any pics.  Boo.

18. When I finally make those cinnamon rolls, I promise to take pictures.

19.  I have been doing really well with my resolutions!  I took a nap and ran and drank lots of water today.  Yay, me!

20. I'm watching the Seinfeld episode where Elaine tells Jerry she "faked."  This is why I love Elaine.

21.  Now Jerry is calling all his exes to ask them if they did, too.  This is why I love Jerry.

22. Pizza's here!

23.  I love my Hubby.

24.  If you made it this far, I salute you.  And wonder about you.  :)

25.  I promise my next post will not be this random...

Much love!

g

ham & cheese sliders and raspberry-pecan salad

New year, new foods!

One of the reasons I love Pinterest is the abundance of food ideas.

I've tried quite a few recipes, some of which I really liked,

including...

Ham and Cheese Sliders!

They were easy and so yum.

The full recipe can be found {here}on 

this cute food blog.

I halved the recipe to make this for Hubby and I.

But after tasting them I wished I had made them all!

This is before I baked them.  They get golden brown on top and the poppyseed sauce gets absorbed in the bun {use Hawaiian rolls!!!!} making them a-maz-ing.

Make sure you use thick cuts of ham 

and thick, good quality Swiss.

Because the sliders were so gooey and savory, I paired them with a fresh, sweet raspberry-pecan salad.

You will need:
bag of lettuce - I like mix of spring mix and baby spinach {darker the lettuces the healthier!}
red raspberries, washed
handful of pecans, finely chopped
1/2 cup raspberry vinaigrette - I like Newman's Own.
cheese to grate over finished salad - I used a chunk of pecorino with truffle

Just combine all the ingredients {except the cheese} in a bowl and toss to coat with dressing.  When salad is in serving bowl or on individual plates grate the cheese over and serve.  So sweet and delish!

Add some sliders to the plate and enjoy 

a sweet and savory 

supper.

g

{be resolute}

I think of all the New Year's resolutions 

to be made right now and my head starts to spin.  

Of course I want to be healthier.  Of course I want to be more organized.   Of course I want to be a better wife and mother.  And on.  And on.

{source}

It is enough to make a girl throw her hands up and ask the heavens, BUT HOW?!?!  They are such broad and lofty goals!  I realize I am the type of person who needs I need baby steps.  I need a precise plan of attack.

This year I resolve to be more resolute.  That is, wholeheartedly commit myself to something concrete.  I will commit myself to the following three manageable, attainable goals:

I will drink 3 bottles {or more} of water per day.  Formerly I barely drink any water...unless you count that which is in coffee. I would fill up my Nalgene in the morning and it would sit on the kitchen counter all day, untouched.  It's so big. That's soooo much water! I would think and ignore it.  Even when I would go to the gym I would usually forget my water.  So now I am toting a smaller {less bulky, more portable} bottle around with me wherever I go.  So far I've drank at least three each day, some days five or six.   My pregnancy prepared me for all the peeing I'm doing now.

I will take a nap every day.  I never did much napping...and I should.  I clean and plan and run and push and play and entertain baby...and by the end of the day I am not the most fun person to be around.  Hubby would always ask, "Why don't you take a nap during the day?"  Others would advise, "Sleep when he sleeps!"  Ha, I would think, my head buzzing with all the tasks I wanted to check off my list.  But something has to give, and since Baby takes 3 naps a day I resolve to dedicate one of those to napping myself.  Well, at least for 30 minutes.  Power nap.  This should help with the whole "be a better wife and mother" thing. :)

I will get my abs back.  I have never had a perfect body {no one does...except maybe Gisele} but my tummy was one of the parts of my bod I especially liked.  Also, I felt really great before and during my pregnancy and mostly now I'd like to get that feeling back -- of health and strength! And flat abs.  Sigh.  I have learned that even if you had a hard, flat tummy pre-pregnancy it will not stay that way.  You have to work back to it.  I remember being visited by an in-home nurse a couple days after delivering my baby boy in July, listening intently to everything she had to say, but then grabbing my "baby belly"and asking her -- "Okay...but when will this go away????" I was sort of trying to be funny {post-labor attempts at humor are always a hoot} but she took me seriously.

Her answer sticks in my mind even today, "Well, that is up to you."  
In other words: Be resolute.

So my plan is to cut out carbonated beverages completely {goodbye for now, my precious Red Bull!!!}, as well as cut out sugary snacks.  Thankfully I'm not a big soda drinker and have never had a major sweet tooth.  But every little change helps. Plus, I'll continue to run and have started doing strength training again at the gym.  Oh, and crunches.  Lots and lots of crunches.

Well, time for a nap... :)

g