11 months old (and boy did i have to work for this photo!)

but i finally got a good one (and about 50 blurry pictures of the back of his head).

thanks for finally humoring me, sammy-sam.

experimental food (and why i'm a kitchen rockstar today)

so i'm technically calling this my second try at experimental food for 2010. i sorta cheated for the first one, as it wasn't exactly a new recipe or a new food, but a new technique. last sunday i tried making my own sourdough hot pretzels, complete with dropping them in boiling water and the whole 9.

but this week i was really jumping out of my comfort zone with this recipe for moroccan lentil soup. i've never used garam masala or (to my knowledge) cardamom for anything before, so i basically had no idea how it was going to turn out. overall, i think it was pretty successful -- i mixed some with sammy's peas before i pureed them, and he ate a huge helping -- and of course, i had a nice big bowl-full (and enjoyed it). mike, however, opted out of the adventure tonight, and that's why i'm considering myself today's kitchen rockstar -- i basically had to prepare three separate meals for us tonight. soup and homemade sourdough bread for me (and sam), skillet lasagna and spinach and broccoli salad for mike, and pureed peas (with lentil soup) for sam. AND everything got done at the same time, so we could all eat together. woot!

but the very best part is that we've got lovely leftovers for everyone tomorrow night, so even though i made a slight mountain of dirty dishes, it was totally worth it (especially when mike is on clean-up duty, heh heh).

progress

huzzah! one thing to cross off my project list. the scarf that has been in-progress for the majority of 2009 is finally done. it's sorta short, but it does the job and keeps my neck nice and cozy. of course, it looks about a million times cuter on my little model.

rewind: our christmas card

i just wanted to do a quick rewind post about our christmas card (since i didn't post a photo earlier). the one on the left is our traditional ornament card (6 geese a-laying). it was a lot of fun to be able to use mom and dad's machine to cut them out. it opened a whole new door of possibilities. maybe if i'm good, they'll let me use it again next year...

the one on the right was something i put together quickly for sam's daycare, the pediatrician, etc. i thought it came out pretty well for something that was as spur-of-the-moment as it was. i'm thinking i might have to do a photo card like this for everyone next year (along with the ornament, of course).

it's playtime

because we've had so much snow and cold weather, sam and i have been spending a LOT of time playing in the basement. he's got lots of new toys that we've been enjoying, but we've also been playing a lot of games. among his favorites are chase and piggyback rides. he's also doing a few new tricks, including clapping and this really cute thing he does where he just tilts his head to the side and gives a big grin. it's like he's turned all his cuteness on full-blast. he thinks it's funny when i fall over and say "you GOT ME with your CUTENESS."

on my list - notes to self, the 2010 edition

so it seems like all the bloggers are posting up a storm of resolutions (or goals or whatnot) for 2010, and i thought i might as well jump on the bandwagon, as i'm certainly hoping to do a little self-improving this year. maybe if i post them on here, i might actually accomplish one or two (or at least my collossal failures will make good post-fodder, eh?)

here they are, in no particular order:

• buy a new calendar and remember to write things down on it
• try more new foods/new recipes (ideally one a week -- realizing that life sometimes doesn't allow for such things - quick'n'easy/tried'n'true meals are called such for a reason)
• remember to set aside time for excercise (preferrably before 10pm)
• find more time to be creative and make things with my own two hands (this includes finishing the scarf i've been working on for nearly a year now, and various other projects in multiple stages of not-finishedness -- this does not include random messes and piles of unwashed dishes)
• fill up one sketchbook
• buy pretty/fun stamps and send real letters
• teach sam how to use a sippy cup
• buy less "stuff" (in particluar, do not buy more things for more projects that i have no hope of finishing before i'm able to finish all the projects i've already bought materials for)
• feel better about my post-sam body
• get more organized (especially when it comes to papers/magazines/etc.) and learn how to use the new back-up drive we got for christmas
• clean the bathroom before it becomes atrocious (this is a big one. it's always atrocious.)
• make a genuine effort to market myself (which includes setting up some kind of portfolio site)

*whew* i think this is enough to begin with.

p.s. that cute planner can be found here.

and another thing...

and now that i've finally conquered that christmas post, i can move on to one for the new year. not that there's a whole lot to tell. we had a pretty low-key new year's eve. we decided to just hang out at home and make some yummy dinner (which meant a great, big broccoli salad all to myself! woot!!) and clinking in the new year with a couple of cream sodas. it was lovely.
and we've already gotten our first buckeye win for 2010. i'd say things have started off swimmingly.
hope you all have a great new year! happy 2010!