Seriously...

...it's snowing today.

It's not even November yet.

This is going to be a long winter.

Tuesday Wednesday 47° F | 27° F 38° F | 20° F Rain 90% chance of precipitation Chance of Snow 40% chance of precipitation Today is forecast to be Much Cooler than yesterday. Forecast for Salt Lake Updated: 3:50 am MDT on October 27, 2009 Winter Weather Advisory in effect until 4 PM MDT this afternoon... Today Breezy. Rain and snow in the morning...then snow likely in the afternoon. Cooler. Accumulation up to 2 inches. Highs in the mid 40s. Temperatures falling throughout the day. Northwest winds 15 to 25 mph. Chance of precipitation 90 percent. Tonight Snow showers likely. Colder. Accumulation around 1 inch...locally higher totals south of the lake. Lows in the upper 20s. Northwest winds 10 to 20 mph. Chance of snow 60 percent.

Green Monk

So my husband has been working his butt off for the past year to get his mini-comic, Green Monk, done and printed. He's been doing it at night while working full-time at EA Games during the day (with a little help from his wife on finding and comparing prices of local printers and doing other administrative work for him). So he is finally done and I finally get my husband back in the evenings and on weekends. He even brought his work on vacation in Japan.
Here he is while we are at the onsen in Japan, hard at work.

You can see all about his progress of the project HERE on his blog and you can also order a copy of the comic if you feel so inclined HERE. If you live in the SLC area, don't want to pay for shipping, and are free on Saturday afternoon, you can come to the Book Release Party at Black Cat Comics. Details are HERE.

Here is a brief synopsis of the comic:
Green Monk follows the adventures of a Monk cast out of his order, wandering a mythical Russian countryside. His only companion is a magical blade of grass that draws him into a brutal struggle against a terrifying foe.

Sounds pretty exciting, huh? It's pretty cool, even for a girl not so into comics like myself. And I'm pretty stoked that I had a hand in the creation of it, or rather, supported him while doing it (emotionally, not financially). That is what spouses are for, right?

Mommy Mishaps

You know how you just think that you are getting the hang of something and then you fall flat on your face? Or rather, your baby falls flat on her face. Okay, Lucy didn't literally fall on her face but here are a few of my less brilliant mothering moments:

Is it true that a woman's brain turns to mush after she has a baby? Or is that just an excuse we make for ourselves. I'm usually very detail-oriented and like to think that I am right on top of things but sometimes you just forget...to buckle the car seat in the car. Yup, as I'm pulling Lucy out of the car after a grocery shopping trip, I realize that I've buckled her in the car seat but I haven't buckled the car seat into the car. And this is the second time this has happened (that I've noticed). Both times have been in a different car than my own because my own car has a locking base so you don't even touch the seat belt. But when there is no locking base, you need to buckle the car seat in with the seat belt. Maybe I just need to get another locking base for the other car.
In my efforts to multi-task, I was holding Lucy in one arm and holding a full laundry basket in the other arm balanced on my hip. On the stairs, I missed a step and fell. Fortunately, I fell backward and only slid down a couple steps and Lucy was fine but I was thisclose to planting my teeth in Lucy's head. I also managed a wicked rug burn on my back from the carpeted stairs. But this could have been a lot worse.


This:Plus this (that's not me and Lucy but you know, I don't have a camera so must use Google image):Plus this:
Equals this:(Except no one else was there except a baby and laundry basket)

I was changing Lucy's diaper on the floor in a hurry and when I picked her up, I scraped her head on the corner of the coffee table. This was just in time for her pictures from the other day but thankfully, her cat outfit had a hooded part that covered up the red scrape.

Lucy is in full crawling mode. Not on hands and knees but pretty fast military style - she'd put to shame many a Marine but she has very tempting targets - the cats. Anyway, while she was on the floor, I totally tripped over her and this part of my ankle...
the lateral malleolus, hit her head and she had a nice red mark there. (By the way, that is not a picture of my feet - again Google Image Search)

And all this has just happened in the past couple days. How do babies survive their infancy and toddler-hood?

First Tooth!

Last night, while Lucy was chewing on my finger after nursing, I felt (ouch!) a tooth coming up on her front, bottom gums. Teeth already?! I know it's about that time but it still blows my mind how fast she is growing. I didn't notice a huge change in her mood yesterday but today, she seems a little fussier than normal. But maybe she will take really long naps...

Millions of Peaches

...peaches for me.

Last year, I discovered peaches...not just any peaches, but Utah peaches. This was around the time that I stopped doing my grocery shopping at Walmart and started shopping at Harmons where they didn't look at me funny when I asked if they had prosciutto or when I brought my re-usable shopping bags. But that is besides the point - what I really love about Harmons is that they support local produce and have these great signs saying "Utah's Own" which also tells you what farm and city in Utah it is from. And Utah does some things really good - peaches is one of them.

I meant to write a post about this last year so these peach pictures were taken then. I was pregnant at the time with Lucy and one of my biggest cravings was fresh Utah peaches. This year, I'm not pregnant, but I still crave Utah peaches. After we returned from Japan, I saw that peach season was in full swing and every week at Harmons, I would stock up on peaches (also very reasonably priced because they're in season). I just can't get enough of them. I should really bottle them (which is hear is quite easy) but maybe next year. What I have done this year (besides just eating them normal) is make peach desserts - Open-faced Peach Custard Pie and Peach Rasberry Cobbler (from Joy of Cooking) and Country Peach Tart (from Better Homes and Garden). My favorite so far has been the Peach Custard Pie. I just wish I had a picture of it. But here is the recipe even though peach season is just about done:

OPEN-FACED PEACH CUSTARD PIE (from Joy of Cooking)

Prepare a 9-inch pie pan, glazing with egg yolk:
Baked Flaky Pastry Crust (There is a separate recipe in the Joy of Cooking for this but I cheated and used refrigerated Pillsbury Pie Crust)
Position a rack in the lower third of the oven. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
Whisk together until well blended:
1 large egg or 2 large egg yolks
3/4 cup of sugar
6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, melted
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon salt
Arrange in a single layer, cut side down, over the bottom of the crust:
3 to 4 fresh peaches, peeled and halved, or 6 to 8 drained canned peach halves ( I actually quartered my peaches or maybe even eighth-ed them so they fit better in the pan)
Pour the egg mixture over the peaches. Bake the pie for 10 minutes. Reduce the oven temperature to 300 degrees F and bake until the custard is brown and crusty on top and appears firmly set in the center when the pan is shaken, about 1 hour longer. Let cool on a rack. Serve warm or at room temperature. The pie can be stored refrigerated for up to 1 day. If you wish, accompany with:
Whipped cream

I'm too lazy to put the "from scratch" recipe for the pie crust so do yourself a favor and just make whatever pie dough you usually do or buy the refrigerated kind. I've yet to make pie crust from scratch cause it just seems too time consuming when the stuff you buy is so much more convenient and tastes just as good.

Sadly, peach season is done...but pear season (another thing that Utah does very well) is still going strong. Next up, Almond Pear Buckle...

Six Months Already?!

So Lucy had her 6-month appointment yesterday. Here are the stats:

Height: 26 1/4 inches (75th percentile)
Weight: 13 lbs 4 oz (8th percentile)
Head Circumference: 43 cm (70th percentile)

So she is still growing but taller rather than wider. But her pediatrician didn't seem concerned at all. And her head has definitely gotten bigger - does this mean big brains? She also got more vaccinations which meant one liquid and 3 shots. She cried but it was only for a minute, literally. So it was a pretty quick recovery but she did seem more tired than usual that day.

Today, we headed over to JCPenny to get her 6-month pictures and dressed her up in Halloween costume (I want to feel like we are getting more use out if it instead of just one night!). She was adorable, of course as a black cat. Elaine thinks that I should dress up like Kiki from Kiki's Delivery Service to match Lucy.
All I would need is a plain black dress, a red bow on my head, and a broom. But I'm not sure how well Lucy would be able to sit on my shoulder or the broom...
...she might end up like this.

But here they are:
These are the two that I ordered.

This one was a close third but I took the smiling ones over this one. But that is a pretty cute expression.

She is usually so smiley but not so much today which I don't understand because she took a two hour morning nap - she usually only goes for half an hour to an hour. Maybe because we had to rush off for our appointment and we rushed through her nursing. Babies seem to catch on to that stress...

Then we did a quick costume change...
...but again, no big smiles. She just looks very contemplative.

And here are the "special" ones that always make me laugh...
They've really got to think of something new besides "LOVE".


Halloween I can understand, but Christmas - already?

Look Alike

I swear, this is my sister, Emily...
...the one with the dark hair and peach top. It's actually from the October issue of Parents magazine and it is from an article about lice. Emily doesn't have lice and she is actually 27 years old, not 8 (or however old the girl model is). But I swear I did a double take because it looks so much like here. Look at this real picture of her (in the middle) and tell me that there isn't a likeness:
I'm sure there is a picture of her in a family album that looks even more like the picture from the magazine but I don't have any family albums with me.

And I kinda thought this model from Parents magazine looks like me:
Hmmm - am I pushing it here? Maybe just the eyes...that could have totally been me and Lucy.