Swinging in the Park

Today Grace went for a swing in a baby swing for the first time and I think she loved it. She was laughing and waving her arms around. I took a few cute pictures and am posting one that I cartoonized and one I grunginized on this really cool website I heard about. It's free and you can get some fun pictures from it. Enjoy!

State of the Blog Address (2-Year Anniversary)

Today marks the 2-year anniversary of this blog. Pennyrile was started to track the adventures of Matt and Anne and we hope that our readers have been satisfied. Along the way, we've had some mishaps with crockpots, stinky ice, and even a feeding bag. Who knows what the future of Pennyrile holds?

In honor of our two-year anniversary, I'd like to announce that a new writer will be added to Pennyrile soon. Baby Grace will begin writing her own posts in 2010, so look for that. She has a lot on her mind and the world wide web deserves to know about it. Don't expect complete sentences until 2011.

And now to commemorate our two years, I've giving out awards for this blog:

MVW (Most Valuable Writer): Anne. She keeps the blog regularly updated with relevant pictures and information. She even throws in stories and recipes. She wins MVW.

LVW (Least Valuable Writer): Matt. This was a unanimous selection by our panel of voters. Matt has clearly shown an inability to produce blog posts, especially over the last year. When asked to comment, Matt replied that he "has a lot on his mind right now". Speculation is that it involves an upcoming Packers-Vikings football game.

Most Read Post: Matt Got Anne Pregnant. Great title. Relevant information.

Best Sports Post: The day the Brewers made the playoffs.

Most Inspirational Post: Psalm 77.


Nerdiest Post: Memorable Day.

Best Video Post: Everything Is Amazing And Nobody Is Happy.

Best Interview: Exclusive interview with Matt.

We attempted to awards posts for the category of Best Picture, but we couldn't decide between every post that has a picture of Grace. Maybe that will be awarded next year.

On behalf of the entire Pennyrile staff, thanks for reading.

Labels

I just spent a chunk of time the last two evenings applying labels to all 202 posts on our blog. In case I want to reference a post it will make it a lot easier to find. And if you as faithful readers are looking for something on Pennyrile feel free to use the labels on the right side of the blog to link to certain posts on any of several topics. Have fun!

Alfredo Sauce

My friend Jenna has an excellent recipe for Alfredo sauce that we made tonight. We've been planning to cook together for several weeks and finally got around to it this evening. She brought one of her roommates over and there were WAY too many people than needed to get this sauce done. We had fun but this sauce is so easy it's really a one person job. This is just as good if not better than Olive Garden and only a fraction of the cost. Try it out and you will love it!!! I promise. In addition to just the sauce Matt grilled chicken and we had salad, garlic bread and oatmeal chocolate chip cookie bars that I made last week.

Alfredo Sauce

25 min | 5 min prep

SERVES 4

• 1/2 cup sweet butter
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 cups heavy cream (we actually doubled the recipe so we did half cream and half milk because I didn't have enough cream and it was still really good)
• 1/4 teaspoon white pepper
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 3/4 cup mozzarella cheese
• pasta
  

1. Melt butter in medium saucepan over medium/low heat.
2. Add the garlic, cream, white pepper and bring mixture to a simmer.
3. Stir often.
4. Add the Parmesan cheese and simmer sauce for 8-10 minutes or until sauce has thickened and is smooth.
5. When sauce has thickened add the Mozzarella cheese and stir until smooth. STIR FREQUENTLY.

5 Months

Baby Feet! (Photograph by my friend Teresa)

Another month has gone by and again I am shocked at how old Grace is and what new things she's doing. I will try to give a summary by category.

Rolling: About 2 weeks ago Grace realized she knew how to roll and has gotten very good at it. She loves being on her tummy and rolls to it shortly after we lay her down on her back. She has even taken to sleeping on her tummy sometimes.

Sitting: Grace is getting better and better at sitting everyday. She has gone from bending in half, to supporting herself steadily with her hands, to pushing off of her hands and sitting for short times unsupported. She shows the most bravery if we put a toy in front of her face (see recent video below).

Sleeping: Grace is still a great night sleeper and in general good at naps. She will always take 3 one hour naps a day and 3 or 4 days a week some of those naps will be up to 2 hours.

Eating: Grace is a great eater. I'm still just nursing her and we won't be giving her solids until she is 6 months old. I'd rather she get as many calories from me as possible. Assuming she stays content and continues sleeping well, we'll look forward to her 1st taste of mushy baby rice cereal on her 6 month birthday.

Beef and Broccoli

My friend Allison sent me a link for a great Beef and Broccoli recipe the other day and I tried it out tonight. It was delicious! Better than the Chinese restaurants. I would recommend doubling the sauce so I did that for you already in the recipe below. It gives you a little extra for your rice. If you want to see pictures and the original recipe go here.

Beef and Broccoli

Ingredients:

1lb flank steak
8 tablespoons soy sauce
4 tablespoons dry sherry
2 teaspoon cornstarch
1 bunch fresh broccoli (sliced into florets)
2 garlic cloves (minced)
2 slices fresh ginger (finely minced)
2 tablespoons vegetable oil

Cooking Instructions:

1. Slice steak against the grain thinly into strips.

2. Combine soy sauce, dry sherry and cornstarch. Mix well, and pour mixture over steak strips. Marinate for 15 minutes to a half hour.

3. Heat the wok and add oil. Add minced garlic and ginger root and stir fry over medium-high heat for about 20 seconds.

4. Add beef and stir fry stirring constantly for a couple minutes.

5. Add broccoli and stir fry for 5 minutes or until broccoli is cooked but still crispy and dark green.

Crock-Pot Beef Fajitas

I got a good recipe off of a Crock-Pot website and modified it a little bit. I posted my modified version below. If you are in the mood for fajitas and don't have time to make them the night you want to eat them try out this Crock-Pot recipe. It's not as good as the real thing but it was a pretty yummy easy meal. It only took me 20 minutes to cut and prep everything and it fed Matt and I for supper and me for 2 lunches.

Crock-Pot Fajitas

Ingredients:

1 pound flank steak, sliced

1/2 red onion, sliced

1 green or colored pepper, sliced

1 jalapeno pepper, chopped (I think I would add another for extra spice next time I make)

1 handful cilantro

2 teaspoons minced garlic

1 teaspoon chili powder

1 teaspoon cumin

1 teaspoon coriander

½ teaspoon salt
(I didn't follow the measurements for the spices and just added a small palmful of each)

1 8-oz can diced tomatoes with chiles

Directions:

1. Mix all ingredients. Add to slow cooker.
2. Cover; cook on Low 8-10 hours or High 4-5 hours.
3. Serve inside tortillas with guacamole dip*, sour cream, and cheese.

*I just cut up and avocado, tomato, added some garlic powder and mushed it all together. My guacamole is so-so. I'm really in need of a good guacamole recipe so let me know if you have one.

No More Swaddle

3 nights ago we put Grace to bed without the swaddle for the first time and it was perfect timing. We had been using the Kiddopotumus brand swaddles since the day she came home from the hospital and loved them. They are easy and Grace has slept great in them. But, all good things must come to an end (she can't be swaddled forever). She has only been sleeping in the swaddle at night and lately had been turning awkwardly on her side in it so we decided to just try to let her sleep without it. She did great and we had no problems. During the day yesterday she started rolling from her back to tummy purposefully. She wouldn't stay on her back for more than a couple minutes. It was really cute because in the past when she's rolled I don't think she really knew what she was doing. Then this morning when Matt went in to get her up she was sleeping on her tummy. Since she wasn't swaddled I wasn't stressed. I'm so glad we stopped swaddling just in time for her purposeful rolling days:)

Sleeping in her swaddle at a couple days old.

All swaddles in her crib at a couple of months old.

This is how we caught Grace on the first no swaddle morning when we went in to wake her up at 4.5 months old.

The Grandparents

Last weekend my parents, Matt's parents and one of Matt's Grandma's came to visit us for the day. It was a great time and it was so fun having all those Grandparents together. Grace got to meet her Great Grandma A for the first time and I think she loved her. I haven't really spent much time with Matt's Grandma A so it was fun for me to to get to know her a little better. She's wonderful! So now Grace has met all 3 of her Great Grandmas and her 1 Great Grandpa.

From top to bottom: Great Grandma A, Grandma and Grandpa A and Grandma and Grandpa H

Tasks

I've always prided myself on just being able to get things done. It was really easy when I was teaching because I usually had stuff I wanted to do at home so I would work efficiently all day long at school so I could leave right on time. Now that I'm home all day long it is a lot easier to let things slide. I've been pretty good at doing all my chores while Matt is at work and Grace is napping but sometimes I just want to be lazy. I've been reading a semi-interesting book called Shopping for Time: How to Do It All and Not Be Overwhelmed by Carolyn Mahaney (it was free on the Kindle or else I might not have read it) and this quotation by Alexander Maclaren in the book really resounded with me...

"No unwelcome tasks becomes any the less unwelcome by putting them off till tomorrow. It is only when they are behind us and done, that we begin to find that there is a sweetness to be tasted afterwards, and that the remembrance of unwelcome duties unhesitatingly done is welcome and pleasant. Accomplished, they are full of blessing, and there is a smile on their faces as they leave us. Undone, they stand threatening and disturbing our tranquillity, and hindering our communion with God. If there be lying before you any bit of work from which you shrink, go straight up to it, and do it at once. The only way to get rid of it is to do it."

The book is decent and has reminded me to prioritize God but this quotation was challenging and reminded me not to be lazy:)

So, tomorrow morning I will make a list of unwelcome tasks and do them before the day is out.