Glenn, Afton, Violet

My first foray into the world of cooking tofu...

2012-02-17T09:36:00.000-08:00

I just couldn't let this whole month of vegetarianism go by without cooking some tofu, right? Actually, Glenn probably thinks I could have. But he was such a good sport, and agreed to try some.

So I made this: tofu with tons of veggies and a coconut milk/peanut sauce over brown rice. You know it is going to be good for you when it starts out like this, right?

First I cooked all those veggies, then I cooked the tofu. Then mixed it all together.

And the verdict? Really good. The sauce and the vegetable were delicious.

But, how is this for a twist ending?

Glenn kind of liked the tofu, and I thought it was kind of weird.

A date

2012-02-16T09:06:00.000-08:00

We went on Valentines Day date last night! It was so fun. We were only gone for like an hour, but it is fun to be just the two of us once in a while! My handsome date:

We went to a greek place near us that we'd heard was good. We figured greek would be a good choice because there are always lots of vegetarian options. Glenn got a lamb kabob sandwich, which made me so jealous, because that is what I always get when we get greek food. He said it was amazing! I got a falafel sandwich, which was good, but I'll admit it, Glenn's looked better. This was one of the few times I've felt deprived during this vegetarian month. We also got spanikopita for our appetizer, which is phyllo dough filled with spinach and feta cheese. Delicious!

It is a pretty cool restaurant because it is attached to a greek market where they sold big jugs of olive oil, tons of different kinds of olives, and lots of other cool greek stuff. Also they had this dessert case:

Naturally, Glenn couldn't resist. He got a big square of baklava, and I got a biscotti dipped in chocolate. Yum! We brought them home and ate them sitting in our car in our parking lot and talked for a few minute before going inside.

Oh yeah, I also bought some pitas from the restaurant kitchen before we left, because they were so good! I'm always hesitant to make anything at home that we need pitas for, because it is impossible to buy good pitas at normal grocery stores! So I put them in the freezer, and next time I see a recipe for which I need pitas, I'm making it!

Chocolate Roses/A Mean Girls quote

2012-02-15T08:56:00.000-08:00

Here is the story of how we got five chocolate roses in a vase on our table:

Yesterday morning, when we exchanged our Valentines Day gifts, Glenn gave me a chocolate rose, because his school was selling them as Valentines-grams. So that is how we got the first one.

Then, when Glenn walked into lab that morning, he was greeted by his classmates yelling, "FOUR FOR YOU GLENN COCO, YOU GO GLENN COCO!"

Please tell me someone reading this gets the joke?? Those crazy dentists.

p.s. We are going on a date tonight! We didn't want to get a babysitter for the night of Valentines Day because we felt like whoever we asked, it would be like, "We know YOU definitely don't have a date tonight, will you babysit?". So we got one for tonight. We don't even know what we are doing for the date yet, we are just excited to have a babysitter!

Happy Valentines Day!

2012-02-14T08:59:00.000-08:00

Happy Valentine's Day to you all! This morning, Glenn and I opened presents on the bed before we got Violet. I gave him his old watch with a new battery. Most romantic gift ever.

Glenn gave me my most favorite movie ever, No Reservations! I know, such a random movie to really love, but I DO! He also got me a book that he saw on my goodreads "To Read" list, called Looking for Alaska. Has anyone read it?

Here are two love stories for you, to celebrate the occasion:

Story #1:

About 3 years and 3 months ago, Glenn and I spent 10 days in Ambergris Caye, Belize for our honeymoon. It was awesome. We snorkeled in Shark Ray Alley and climbed the ruins at Lamanai. (If you are watching quality television on Monday nights, you may already know what story #2 is going to be).

Story #2: Last night on The Bachelor, Ben took 3 women to snorkel in Shark Ray Alley and spent all his time with the girl who was afraid of sharks, but then gave the rose to Kacie B. But that isn't the important part. Then, he climbed the ruins at Lamanai (the very same pyramid!) with COURTNEY and told COURTNEY he felt THE SPARK with her and wants to meet HER FAMILY! I realize I am overusing the caps, but BEN!! COURTNEY??? SHE IS CRAZY!

K, I'm done. This happens every season on The Bachelor. They keep the crazy one around way to long. I don't know why I'm even surprised anymore.

3 good things

2012-02-13T09:02:00.000-08:00

Aren't Sundays the best? Three good things that happened this Sunday:

1. Violet was SO good in church. She just played on the floor or in my lap for all of sacrament meeting. This is the first time I haven't had to take her out or at least stand in the back with her in months.

2. We had cottage cheese-chocolate chip pancakes with strawberry syrup for lunch. It was awesome.

3. During Violet's nap, when I asked Glenn if he would like to play Starcraft with me, he said, "no, let's watch Sound of Music." But then later, when we did play Starcraft, we beat four computer zerg teams against just the two of us!

What good things happened to you on Sunday?

Spinach Ricotta Pie

2012-02-10T08:40:00.000-08:00

I warned you that this was going to become a food blog for the month of February, right?? Because I have another recipe to share!

Although this is called a "pie", it seems very much like a quiche. It really should just be called a spinach ricotta quiche.

Incidentally, I made the best pastry dough of my life yesterday for this pie! Thank you Julia Child. I got the recipe for the filling from The Moosewood Cookbook, which my friend lent me. It is interesting because it is handwritten and black and white, and from the 70s, but has so many cool recipes! This recipe is the one my friend pointed out to me as her favorite when she lent me the book. The whole book is vegetarian, which is why my friend lent it to me. Her name is Marie. I feel weird calling her "my friend" over and over again.

Recipe:

1. Saute half an onion. At a pound of chopped spinach, salt, pepper, and nutmeg.

2. In a bowl, mix 3 eggs, about two cups of ricotta, 1/2 cup of shredded cheese, some basil (I used pesto because I didn't have any basil), and the spinach mixture.

3. Pour the filling into an unbaked pie crust and bake for 45 minutes.

It was easy and so good! Next time though, I might add more stuff. Like artichoke hearts. (Secretly, my unvegetarian heart tells me it would be good with bacon too.)

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The Doctor

2012-02-09T08:54:00.001-08:00

Wish Violet luck, we are headed off to the doctor again! Probably for more shots. But hopefully no more Hep B shots. We think she got four?? It that bad? I'll ask the doctor today.

Gamer

2012-02-08T08:04:00.000-08:00

Glenn can hardly wait for the day when we can play MarioKart as a family!

Veggie Lasagna

2012-02-07T08:35:00.000-08:00

Another vegetarian meal success!

A few months ago at our ward's break-the-fast, we had lasagna. There were like five different ones and Glenn got a different one than me. He loved the one he picked, so I tried it, and realized he was eating the vegetarian one! So going into this month of vegetarian meals, I knew I wanted to get that recipe.

The recipe was more of a flexible outline. I will share with you what I made. One different thing about this lasagna is rather than boil the noodles, you make it the night before with uncooked noodles, refrigerate it overnight, and then back the next day. The texture of the noodles was wonderful, much better than other lasagnas I've made where I boiled the noodles first.

Another good thing about this lasagna: you get to eat this big pile of veggies!

Here is the "recipe":

Basically, you cook some veggies with garlic and onion in a big skillet. I picked zucchini, summer squash, asparagus, and carrots. The recipe also suggested bell peppers, which probably would be delicious, so I'll have to make this again in the summer when the bell peppers aren't so expensive.

Then you assemble the lasagna:

Put some tomato sauce on the bottom of your 9x13 (I just used a jar of store-bought sauce)

Then layer:

noodles (uncooked!)

veggies

sauce

ricotta

(repeat two more times and put mozzerella cheese on top.)

Bake for an hour at 350!

It was SO GOOD. Glenn loved it too, and we have enough for two more dinners! That is what I call a success!

post update: I'm eating leftovers for lunch right now and it is even better the second day! I don't know what makes this lasagna so much better than others but it is the best!

This weekend

2012-02-06T12:24:00.000-08:00

This weekend my parents came to visit! It was wonderful to have them here! On Saturday, we went to Santa Monica to shop, and also to try a trendy vegan restaurant that I'd hear of called RFD. It stands for Real Food daily, and I used my New Years Resolution of Vegetarian February as leverage in convincing the meat-loving men to consent to this place for lunch.

It was really cool inside, and my food was GOOD! I think I ordered the best thing. It was Kung Pao Tempeh, and I loved it. There was one thing in it we didn't recognize, so we asked what it was, and it turns out it was Lotus Root. Didn't even know you could eat that. It was good and crunchy, like a water chestnut.

(Cool light fixtures)

(Violet trying to escape from her high chair)

(The lotus root)

(Violet and her grandpa!)

It was so good to have my parents here. I'm glad we have Violet so we can lure them here for a visit once in a while!

p.s. Here's a sad story for you: One of my favorite parts of the day is when Violet is napping and I make myself lunch. I have a tuna sandwich or soft-boiled eggs every day for lunch when Glenn is gone. Tuna fish is out this month obviously, so eggs it is. I pride myself on the perfection of my soft-boiled eggs. And today they were undercooked and gross. However, this weekend my mom made me a pile of chocolate cookies, so I had some for dessert and the meal was salvaged. The end.

Honey Pasta Salad

2012-02-03T10:34:00.001-08:00

I made this for dinner on the first night of vegetarian month because I knew Glenn and I already like it, and we wouldn't be missing the meat, at least for one day! (See yesterday's post for how I ate a ham sandwich later that night.)

I tried to take a screen shot of Pita Jungle's menu, but apparently this isn't on the menu anymore! I have eaten this salad there a few times and I love it, so a few months ago I decided to try to make it myself. Back then, it was still on the online menu for Pita Jungle and it said something like "Vegetables pan-fried with garlic, ginger, and basil, and tossed with pasta and a honey vinaigrette." I remember from having it at the restaurant that it usually had eggplant, squash, and sometimes cauliflower. I left out the cauliflower the first time, and it was so good I've just never added it, but I'm sure it would be delicious if you put it in!

Here is the recipe I came up with:

Honey Pasta Salad

Ingredients:

1 box rotini pasta (veggie kind, if you want, so it is three colors)

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

2 cloves of garlic, minced

1 inch of ginger root, grated

1 Japanese eggplant (or small regular eggplant)

1 summer squash

1-2 Tablespoons fresh basil, chopped

salt

vinaigrette:

¼ cup of honey or agave (or more, if you want)

3 tablespoons of red wine vinegar

3 tablespoons of olive oil

1. Make the vinaigerette: Put honey and vinegar in the bottom of your serving bowl. Whisk in the olive oil.

2. Cook the pasta.

3. Meanwhile, cut the eggplant and squash into similar shapes and sizes. In a skillet, heat the vegetable oil. Add the garlic. After about 30 seconds, add the veggies and ginger. Cook until veggies are soft and caramelized. (Don’t stir too much or the veggies won’t get a good caramelization.) In the last minute of cooking time, add the salt and most of the basil, reserving a little for garnish.

4. Add pasta and veggies to the serving bowl with the vinaigerette and toss. Garnish with the remaining basil.

Fail

2012-02-02T09:59:00.000-08:00

Last night was awesome in all all ways but one. Here is what happened:

A guy in our ward wanted to go to the Van Halen concert last summer (I'll try to get this story back around to last night pretty quickly). Apparently, the only way he could get a ticket was to also buy a bunch of VIP box tickets to a Kings game (hockey). So he offered four tickets to our friends in our ward, Paul and Courtney, who also happen to know that Glenn is a huge hockey fan, so they invited us! The game was last night and we both got babysitters. To make it even more awesome, our friends live like less than a five minute walk from the Staples center, so we just parked in their garage. Parking for the Staples center is CRAZY so it was so cool that that wasn't even an issue for us.

(Seriously, it is impossible to take a decent picture at a hockey game.)

The game was awesome. It was 2-2 and in literally the LAST SECOND of the game the Kings scored the winning goal. Glenn was in heaven. Also, we got to use the VIP entrance, the VIP elevator, and joke about the "poor people" at the game who weren't us. (haha, we were probably the four poorest people in the stadium. Paul is also a dental student.) Also, there was all this delicious free food for us in the box! Like this giant and delicious chocolate chip cookie.

This brings me to my failure. There were also sub sandwiches in that amazing box. Full of ham. And I ate one without even thinking. I didn't even make it ONE DAY into my vegetarian month without messing up! Oh well, I guess I'll just continue my month one day into March to make up for it.

For dinner before we left, I made this delicious pasta:

I've made it many times, and both Glenn and I love it, but the recipe will have to wait til tomorrow, as it is about time to wrap this post up.

It begins!

2012-02-01T06:41:00.000-08:00

Remember how one of my New Years Resolutions was to be a vegetarian for the month of February? Well, guess what? It is February already!

So Happy first day of vegetarian month!

(Also, happy birthday Meredith Lewis. I think. I randomly remember that this might be her birthday, and I think she reads this blog.)

To celebrate, tonight I am making one of Glenn's (and my) most favorite dinners, which also happens to be meat free. I'll probably post about it tomorrow. In fact, prepare yourself for more food posts in the next month, because I'm trying a lot of new things. I'm pretty excited!

P.s. My first book club meeting was last night and it was a huge success! Six girls came who had read the book, and we had a great conversation! Everyone liked the book and participated in the conversation. Also, everyone loved the brownies.

p.p.s I made tamales yesterday. They are delicious. I can't believe I didn't take a picture. There are about 25 left in the freezer, so maybe a picture later.

My favorite thing that happened yesterday...

2012-01-31T09:02:00.000-08:00

If you know me at all, you know that I go to sleep with the sun. So yes, that means that when I put Violet down at 7 o'clock, I'm feeling pretty ready for bed myself. Last night, it was only 8:15 or so, and I told Glenn I was going to get ready for bed. When I came out from washing my face/brushing my teeth, Pretty Little Liars was on the TV! (best show ever. Or should I say #bestshowever. Still not sure if I'm using that right). And I was like "Yes! PLL!" and watched the last five minutes of the episode with Glenn. Then as soon as it was over, Glenn switched it right over to The Bachelor. And I was like "Yes! The Bachelor!". Then I realized, he was trying to keep me awake with him by baiting me with quality television (haha). And it worked. And it reminded me that I have a sweet husband who just likes to spend time with me even if he has to watch Pretty Little Liars and The Bachelor.

P.s. Anyone watching The Bachelor? Courtney the Model???? CRAZY!

She scoots

2012-01-30T06:29:00.000-08:00

Violet is slowly getting mobile! She does not crawl yet, at all, but she is learning how to get from place to place! She can roll both ways just fine. When she is on her tummy she can scoot backwards with ease, and if she is not wearing pants she can kind of scoot forward. You know, because then she has more traction. She is best at turning herself around when she is sitting on her bum; she just moves her legs a lot until she has turned which ever direction she wants.

(In mid-turn. And pretty proud of herself.)

Everyone always wants to tell me how much harder it is once they learn to crawl, and it probably is, but I'm so excited for her to be able to move! She has been so frustrated for the last couple of weeks because she wants to go places so badly!

And the winner is...

2012-01-26T14:27:00.000-08:00

ME! I won a contest! Specifically, I won a gift card to Trader Joe's in a blog give away from this awesome blog!

Ok, so I love Trader Joe's always. But the timing is perfect! Remember how one of my new years resolutions was to be a vegetarian for the month of February?? Well, February is right around the corner, if you didn't notice. I have written up a meal plan for February, and I'm really excited about all the new recipes I have an excuse to try, but I am definitely going to need to get a few ingredients that we don't usually keep stocked. Trader Joe's, here I come!

Baby food muffins??

2012-01-25T09:54:00.000-08:00

I should not have titled the post that. It sounds SO gross. The truth is, I had that leftover carrot baby food I made Violet that she hated. But it really is just steamed pureed carrots. Keep that in mind as I continue.

I had over-ripe bananas that needed to be used, but I'm not the biggest fan of plain banana muffins. And I also had these pureed carrots. So I made carrot-banana-oatmeal-raisin-delicious muffins! Seriously, they are good. And don't taste like baby food AT ALL.

Coolest kid at story time

2012-01-24T07:34:00.000-08:00

We are headed off to story time at the library again this morning! It is getting to be a Tuesday morning routine. I hope somebody notices what a big Harry Potter fan she is for such a small person! (Do you think I am brainwashing her?)

AYCE KBBQ

2012-01-23T08:19:00.000-08:00

How's that for an acronym? We live near Koreatown, and have been wanting to try Korean BBQ. I think I mentioned that one of Glenn's New Years Resolutions is to do fun things as a family every Saturday, and try to see new parts of the city.

We looked online for "best KBBQ in LA" and a place called San Ya kept popping up, so we went! We didn't know what to expect at all. The waiter took pity on us and showed us what to do. Basically, you are served a bunch of small side dishes (like kimchi, mashed potato-ish stuff, bean sprouts, etc). Then, you choose a few kinds of meat you want to try and they bring it to you raw. Then, you cook it on a grill in the middle of your table. We chose pork with bean sprouts, marinated pork, marinated chicken, and angus beef. It was all really good. My favorite was the marinated pork, but Glenn's favorite was the pork with bean sprouts, and I thought that one was delicious too. It was all you can eat (AYCE), so we were stuffed by the end!

The only downside? You leave with your clothes and hair and skin REEKING of Korean BBQ. I had to take a shower when we got home.

Pfannkuchen!

2012-01-19T10:06:00.001-08:00

Lately I've been on a cottage cheese kick. It is just so delicious! But a girl can/should only eat so much of it straight from the carton, so I needed a plan for using some of it up.

Glenn didn't have school today, so we went running this morning, and then I made pancakes (aka Glenn's most favorite food in the world). AND THEY WERE SO GOOD! They were blueberry-cottage cheese pancakes, and they were amazing. One of my least favorite things in the world are flat, pale pancakes. These were fluffy and golden brown, spiked with cinnamon, loaded with blueberries, and tangy and moist from the cottage cheese.

I got the recipe here, and mostly followed it, but I used wheat flour, and it made them so good.

p.s. Glenn still says he likes my oatmeal pancakes the best, but these were my favorites I've ever made. fyi.

Carrots

2012-01-18T09:41:00.000-08:00

Is it too early to say my daughter is a picky eater??

She half-heartedly ate rice cereal for a week. Then we started oatmeal, and she really took to it! So a week later, I lovingly made some homemade carrot baby food. Violet took one bite, made the biggest stink face you have ever seen, and threw up everywhere! This was two days ago, and yesterday I gave her a carrot-break and fed her only oatmeal. This morning I tried giving her another bite of carrots (clueless-mom moment: she was wearing her new, beautiful, all-white outfit) and she threw up everywhere again! Anyway, the remainder of the homemade carrot baby food is in the freezer now, and I'll wait a few weeks before I try that again! Any suggestions for her next new food? I would prefer for it to be a vegetable.

The Wedding

2012-01-17T06:58:00.000-08:00

Here's the happy couple!

When the bride and groom are both this good-looking, every picture turns out beautiful!

I posted the following picture on facebook, sure that a sweeter picture was never taken:

But then I saw this one, which definitely rivals the first one in sweetness:

Have I mentioned that Glenn is the best dad in the world?

Incidentally, Glenn was not originally planning on coming to the wedding because of school. But then he decided he really wanted to be there, so he surprised Courtney and Judson and drove down all by himself late Friday night! It was the so wonderful to have him there for the festivities. The whole wedding was so fun! Courtney and my mom did a great job of making every detail interesting and perfect. Congratulations to Courtney and Judson!

Story time

2012-01-16T06:01:00.001-08:00

Well, I never did manage to post while I was away. But the wedding was perfect! We had so much fun being there for it. And Violet did a great job on the plane, which was such a relief!

This happened last week, but I never posted about it. I took Violet to story time at the library! I thought she was too young to really appreciate it, but she looked right at the story teller the whole time, and when we did the dancing part (yes, there was a dancing part, and it was kind of awkward, but I participated for Violet's sake) she smiled the whole time!

(Look carefully, I promise she's in there)

(I'm sure you recognize that tall hair by now)

We went with Courtney and Parker (seen here), and they had fun together. I'm so glad I have a friend with a baby near Violet's age. It is so much more fun to do things like story time with a friend!

Back home!

2012-01-12T12:42:00.001-08:00

I'm headed back to Arizona AGAIN today! My sister is getting married on Saturday, so congratulations Courtney and Judson! I'm too busy packing to post about what I planned. Tomorrow maybe??

Houdini

2012-01-11T09:06:00.000-08:00

We started calling Violet Houdini in first hours of her life, when she continued to break free from the swaddle no matter how tightly we wrapped her. It has remained an apt nickname; she is still a master escapist. Last night, though, she outdid herself.

We don't know how it happened! Glenn was holding her, and we were talking, and when we looked down at her she was halfway undressed! When she can crawl and walk, I'm really going to have to keep an eye on her.

At the beach!

2012-01-10T08:41:00.000-08:00

We have had beautiful warm weather around these parts lately, so we decided to take advantage of it and go the beach on Saturday! When we woke up Saturday, it was cool and cloudy! After a week of 75-80 degrees, it was cold on our beach day! But by 11 it had warmed up, so we still went, and by the time we got to the beach it was beautiful!

We learned long ago that going to the beach by ourselves (just Glenn, Violet, and I) isn't really that fun. It will be when Violet is a little older, but for now someone has to sit on the blanket with her. And the other person then has to play on the beach by himself.

So this time we invited some friends! They are in our ward, and have a little boy who is four months older than Violet. They had fun playing together! Before Christmas break (the last time we saw them) Violet was still too little to be very fun for Parker to play with. This time she could sit up and play with his toys, and they were very interested in each other!

I brought a picnic, and we stayed a couple of hours. Glenn and Paul played whiffle ball and Courtney and I played with the babies. All in all, it was a wonderful way to spend a Saturday afternoon!

Oh yeah, Paul is the other member of the bishopric, besides the bishop. And Glenn got his call like an hour before we left for the beach, so they had fun talking about Glenn's new calling!

A Surpise Visit and a Suprise Calling!

2012-01-09T07:22:00.000-08:00

(The most recent LeSueur family picture. Can you believe everyone was there at one time?? They all turned out beautiful, this one is blurry because it is a cell phone picture of a computer screen.)

Glenn's parents came to visit us this weekend! It was a total surprise, and so fun to have them here, even though it was for less than 24 hours. Here's why they came:

On Friday night, Glenn found his lost cell phone. It had been gone for about two days. On it, there was a voicemail saying he needed to call the stake president before Sunday. So on Friday night, GLenn did so. They set up a meeting for Saturday morning and said his wife needed to come too. They called him to be the second counselor in the bishopric of our ward!

We called GLenn's parents after the meeting to tell them. And then, at about 7 at night, they called to tell us they were halfway to LA! They decided to drive out to be there for the sustaining and setting apart. It was really cool to have them there, and I'm just glad we got to see them. Also, Terri held Violet all day at church, so I actually got to listen to all of relief society. (I'm going to try out something new here:) #haven'tdonethatinsixmonths

Did I use that number symbol thingy right? Courtney? Anybody? All of the sudden those were popping up everywhere, and I have no idea what they actually mean. Or how everyone else knows how and why to use them and I don't.

Happy Friday!

2012-01-06T13:43:00.000-08:00

Glenn didn't have school this morning, so I'm getting to the blogging a little late. I love when Glenn has a morning off!

Yesterday, we went to my favorite farmer's market. I bought 1 onion, 1/4 of a kabocha squash, and 1 bunch of dinosaur kale. And then last night I made DELICIOUS lentil/curry/squash/kale stew. But Glenn didn't really like it. I loved it though!

Happy weekend! Violet will probably be busy playing with her favorite Christmas present:

Thanks, Redd Cousins! She loves it!

New Years Resolutions

2012-01-05T07:48:00.000-08:00

I made some this year! And I'm really excited about them:

1. Be a vegetarian for them month of February. (I've been collecting recipes like crazy. See some I'm really excited about: here and here.)

2. Start a book club in my ward. Any suggestions for our first book would be greatly appreciated.

3. Run a triathalon. Probably will tackle this in the summer.

4. Gosh darn it. I know there is another one. I just can't think of it.

What are your New Years Resolutions???

p.s. Last night, Glenn and I decided it is time for Violet to start sleeping through the night. She is old enough to not to eat five times a night anymore. She is even old enough to not to eat AT ALL at night anymore. So we decided that I would not feed her last night. And guess what? We made it through the night! She actually only woke up once, at 3:30, and cried for about an hour and then went back to sleep. It was a very sad hour for me. And for her, I'm sure. But after she went back to sleep, she slept til 7 and woke up happy! And I was super excited to feed her to show her I still cared about her. The end. That was a long post-script. Bonus picture:

Violet and her skills

2012-01-04T07:33:00.000-08:00

As I mentioned yesterday, Violet is doing all sorts of new things these days! It was fun that we were with our families while she was changing so quickly!

1. Violet has two teeth! She got them both in the same 24 hours. They are her mandibular central incisors. I tried to take a picture, but she sticks her tongue out every time you try to look. It is pretty cute though, so I'll post that picture:

2. She can roll over! She was a little late learning how to do that, so I was really excited when it finally happened. She done it a couple times a day since the first time. Incidentally, she did it the first time last Tuesday, which was also the day she got her teeth. A big day for the little girl!

3. She eats solid food! Kind of. I can't believe they actually classify rice cereal as "solid food". It looks as thin as milk to me. We started her on it two nights ago. She doesn't swallow much of the time, but she eagerly opens her mouth for the spoon! We documented the first time:

p.s. I'm wearing one of my Christmas presents for the first time today. IT IS SO AWESOME!

(Hey Annie, it fits perfectly! Thanks!)

Home!

2012-01-03T06:00:00.000-08:00

It feels good to be back home! Our trip to Arizona was long and awesome. This afternoon as we were getting stuff done and settling back in, I said to Glenn, "Too bad we can't live at our parents' houses all the time." I didn't really mean it, I love being independent from our parents and all, but it is so awesome having someone cook your meals and play with your baby while you read all day long! Also, I really loved hanging out with my family, it was so fun playing games and just having them around all the time.

Here's why I didn't post more often:

We were too busy jigsawing.

How ridiculous/funny is this picture I tried to take of all four of us?

Here is a better one:

More about our trip tomorrow! And you'll never believe all the new things Violet is learning to do!

Violet and Davi

2011-12-15T16:19:00.000-08:00

I hope you aren't tired of posts involving solely pictures of Violet and Davi looking cute together! I'm back with another one. Already the girls seem so much older than last time we got them together, and that was only two weeks ago! Behold:

Last time we saw Davi she couldn't sit up at all, and now she is doing it practically by herself! They smiled a lot at each other and were just cute all around!

Bookmans! Bookmans! Bookmans!

2011-12-14T07:13:00.001-08:00

One of the things I've missed the most about Arizona is Bookmans. Even finding The Last Bookstore did little to ease the longing. We went to Bookman's yesterday, and it was awesome!

We had lunch:

And although their cafe is smaller than it used to be, they blessedly still serve their heavenly pasta salad. It is SO GOOD!

And I found some books!

I had heard of Animal, Vegetable, Miracle and I was so excited when I found it. I've started it, and I love it so far. I will let you know how I like when I'm done. Just in case you are wondering, I did not blur out the title of the DVD because it is x-rated and therefore inappropriate for this blog. It is actually the Christmas present of one of the two avid readers of this blog.

Merry Christmas! I love Arizona!

Arizona

2011-12-13T05:49:00.001-08:00

We are back in Arizona! Even though we were just here two weeks ago for Thanksgiving, it feels like we've been away for too long! We are here for almost three whole weeks, so we are settling in for some serious fun.

I plan on posting while we here, but we'll see how well that goes. I didn't post even once last time we were here! I'll do better this time!

I had a Party

2011-12-12T06:34:00.000-08:00

Last Thursday, I had a party! I invited 8 girls from my ward, and it was a cookie exchange. Only one person that invited couldn't make it, and we had such a fun time! I was a little (a lot) nervous to have a party because I'm so new in the ward. But everyone just seemed really happy that there was going to be a party! I should have taken some pictures of every one there, but instead you just get to see the cookies:

Lest you think that someone brought a plate of pretzels and graham crackers as their cookie, I should tell you that that Is what I served with what I made.

Here is what I made:

Chocolate chip cookie dough dip! I have recently looked on Pinterest for the first time, and this is what I saw. I knew it would be perfect for my party, because gave a little variety to the table full of normal cookies. Later, Glenn and I ate it with apples, and that was definitely the best! But the pretzels were amazing too.

It was so fun preparing for this party. I got to use all my pretty things! I have some Christmas plates that I had never used before this party. I put out both my cake plates and two of my pretty pitchers and a table cloth I never use. Basically, the success of this party made me think I should have parties more often!

Saturday Morning

2011-12-10T07:06:00.000-08:00

A sweet naked Violet spent her morning reading the magazines with her dad:

Happy Weekend!

3 good things

2011-12-09T07:10:00.000-08:00

1. I'm having a party! Today at 1 o'clock! It is a cookie exchange and I invited like 7 girls from my ward. So excited! I can't wait to show you what I'm making for it.

2. I'm reading a really good book. It is called Sister Carrie and it was recommended to me by Sister Courtney.

3. THREE DAYS til we go home to Arizona! And we'll be there for three weeks! It is going to be awesome.

What are three good things in your life today?

Shots

2011-12-08T12:09:00.000-08:00

Guess who got her shots today?

Miss Violet was so brave. She only cried for about five seconds after they finished giving the shots, and has acted fine and happy since! It is still so sad to watch her cry during the shots though. Good news though, Violet is average! 50th percentile in height and weight, that is. I'm so grateful for such a happy, healthy baby!

p.s. The doctor was totally charmed by her.

Violet Sits

2011-12-07T09:54:00.000-08:00

As you can see in this picture:

and this one:

Violet sits up now! She LOVES it, but unfortunately is not great at it yet. If fact, as soon as something catches her eye that is not directly in front of her, she usually ends up in this position:

If fact, in church on Sunday we were letting her sit on the floor by our feet, and we were TOTALLy watching her, but she sneakily tipped over and hit her face on the chair. And has a teeny, tiny shiner. She only cried for like one minute and then fell asleep, and hasn't noticed the bruise since, so I'm pretty sure she is fine!

Some Harry Potter Thoughts

2011-12-06T07:29:00.000-08:00

1. This weekend on ABC Family they played the Harry Potters movies over and over again. We ended up watching parts of every movie, I think. And they were the extended versions so there were parts I'd never seen before! I was reminded that Hermione was a way better actor in the early movies (in Glenn's words, "so spunky!") and that the sixth movie doesn't follow the book at all. That scene where Ginny and Harry kiss in the Room of Hidden Things? I hate it so much I want to throw something at the TV. However, I enjoyed the earlier movies a lot, and realized I haven't read those first three books in ages. We actually don't even own them! I'm definitely going to need to get those soon and reread them.

2. Pottermore. Is anyone else really excited for it to finally be up and running? And not really understand what it is, but still excited? And wondering what a "beta-user" is and why there are one million of them for Pottermore and I am not one of them?

3. Steven King is smart:

4. I really, really want this t-shirt:

5. Oh yeah, one last thing about the movies. In #4, Cedric doesn't really act creepy at all. Why couldn't he act that way in Twilight?

More Christmas Deco

2011-12-05T08:13:00.000-08:00

I love to make paper snowflakes! Like I make them every year. I think maybe next year Violet can help me make them! Or at least be interested when I unfold them and show her how pretty they are.

Our house is looking a little more festive every day!

In other news, I think I found the dress I'm going to wear to Courtney's wedding. I just called J Crew, and they are holding it for me to come try on. Here it is:

I'm going to get it in red though. And I definitely won't look like that girl in it. Also, dresses with pockets are the best!

Phone Pics

2011-12-01T10:04:00.001-08:00

Violet and Food.

Those are apparently the only things I take pictures of with my phone. Today I will share with you the phones pics that have never made it into a post:

I left out the really pointless pictures. Like about 15 closeups of Violet.

Christmas is here!

2011-11-30T09:24:00.000-08:00

I am totally all about waiting until Thanksgiving is over to start celebrating Christmas. Seriously, Thanksgiving is the best holiday. Very little build up, and then on the actual day, all anyone expects from you is to eat as much as you possibly can!

However, now that Thanksgiving is over, I can get to enjoying the Christmas season! We didn't want to do a bunch of decorating because we are leaving on December 12th for Arizona, and won't actually be here for Christmas. So no tree. But we didn't want to look like total scrooges!

My mom gave me this nativity last year for Christmas, so this is the first year I've gotten to use it! I think it is so pretty.

There is no Joseph, so we have old shepherd man stand by Mary instead. Crazy Catholics.

(Don't tell, but I use this wreath year round and just change the ribbon)

Happy start to the Christmas season!

Davi and Violet - Part 2

2011-11-29T05:57:00.000-08:00

I hope you didn't think yesterdays post was going to be the only one featuring Davi and Violet together! No way, they are back again today for more cuteness.

The most amazing thing happened on Thanksgiving. Davi and Violet came in the SAME dress! We didn't plan it, I promise! We didn't even know they both had this dress! So of course, it was time for another photo shoot.

Just so you know, there was another super cute baby at the festivities. Riki's baby, Emma, is just six weeks younger than these two, but somehow we never managed to get a picture of the three of them together!

Also, on Thanksgiving, I never said anything I was thankful for. I guess neither of our families do that at dinner? Anyway, the next morning as soon as Glenn woke up, I made him list of ten things he was thankful for as fast as he could. Then I did the same. Here are ten things I'm thankful for:

1. Violet

2. That Violet is healthy (Glenn thought these first two were the same thing, but they are totally different)

3. Glenn

4. That Glenn is in dental school

5. Our families

6. Our apartment

7. Our car

8. Our school loans

9. My healthy body

10. The gospel

I know, nothing ground-breaking on that list, but this is the time of year you say stuff like that.

I decorated for Christmas! Pictures tomorrow!

We're back! - Violet's best friend

2011-11-28T07:29:00.000-08:00

We are home! Our trip to Arizona was wonderful. I didn't get close to blogging even once while I was there. Ever since we decided to go home for Thanksgiving, I knew the first thing I was going to do was go visit my cousin Roni and her daughter Davi. Davi is only 3 days younger than Violet! Prepare yourself, these pictures are so cute they are going to break your heart. In this first one, they are holding hands. It was like they remembered each other! They just snuggled right up to each other!

Now, for the cherry on top...

I can't help but smile when I watch that!

We are coming home!

2011-11-22T07:00:00.000-08:00

We leave this afternoon for Arizona! I couldn't be more excited. Here's hoping we beat the worst of the traffic out of LA!

See you tonight Mom, Dad, Courtney, maybe Judson.

See you tomorrow Scott, Terri, Chris, John, Kenny, Annie (hopefully), Roni, Davi, Riki, Emma, Emily, Doreen!

See you on Saturday, Becky, Jessica, Kali, Ashley, Courtney, Kassi, Abby! (This day is going to be awesome.)

Can you tell I can't wait? Just a lot of packing and finishing milk left, and then we are out of here!

I love our family!

The Hike

2011-11-18T06:19:00.000-08:00

Do you see it? (No, not the dumpster on the right. Look harder.)

We hiked Mt. Hollywood yesterday! Which is actually the mountain next to the one with the hollywood sign, so you get a lot of good views of the sign. It was a fun, and pretty easy hike. It was only about 1.5 miles to the top, and the trail was totally even and wide the whole way. It is definitely a tourist attraction.

This is about half way to the top, and there were a lot of people that only walked this far, in non-hiking clothes, because this is the best view of the sign. There were a lot of views much better than of the sign.

The mountains were beautiful, and you could see all of Los Angeles from the top!

(And all of the smog, haha)

Glenn carried Violet on his back all the way up. I didn't fully appreciate that until I wore her in the carrier going down, and we got on the wrong trail, and had to hike back up the hill a very short way. It was HARD going uphill with her added weight! Also, Violet got tired of being in the carrier, so Glenn carried her in his arms for about half of the way down. He is a champ.

At the top of the mountain, Violet expressed interest in drinking from our water bottle, so we gave it a try! She loved it! Although most of the water, if not all of it, ended up on the front of her shirt.

Doctor in the House!

2011-11-16T09:55:00.000-08:00

Who is that? Is that a doctor??

It is Dr. Glenn!

He got his scrubs at school yesterday, and looks so awesome in them. He is just glad he can stop wearing button-up shirts and slacks to school everyday!

Two things that happened on Saturday while Glenn's parents were visiting

2011-11-15T13:55:00.000-08:00

I had a soccer game scheduled for 8:30 on Saturday morning. Glenn's parents kindly offered to watch the Violet so Glenn could come watch! We drove out there, and my whole team was there. And no one else was there. None of the other teams for the other games, not the team we were supposed to play, no refs. We still don't know what happened. However, Glenn and I took advantage of the situation and went out to breakfast, igoring the fact that we had eaten breakfast before we left for the game. It was our first date in ages! We actually went back to Jacks and Joe, the place we went for his birthday a couple days before. It was delicious again!

Later that afternoon, we went out with Glenn's parents and Violet and explored a part of downtown I've been wanting to see!

It is called Grand Central Market. It is basically a huge food market, and it has been there since the early 1900s. There are vendors with TONS of inexpensive fresh produce, spices, dried rice and beans, etc. You get free parking if you spend $10, so we did! For our ten dollars, I got:

1 watermelon

4 red bell peppers

1 bunch of fresh basil

1 zucchini

1 chunk of fresh ginger

like 5 heads of garlic

2 pints of black berries...

I can't think of anything else. Maybe that was it. Oh yeah, like 3 bananas. Maybe some other stuff.

It was so fun, and I love whenever we get to know this city a little better!

A Birthday Comparison

2011-11-14T08:52:00.000-08:00

As I was looking at the pictures from Glenn's birthday this year, I noticed something.

Glenn's birthday cakes: 2009 and 2011

Glenn's wrapped present from me: 2009 and 2011

(Why don't I ever have wrapping paper when I need it?)

Glenn's birthday gifts: 2008 and 2011

(Blue Planet and Life = very similar movies)

Glenn's birthday pancake breakfast: 2009 and 2011

Things that are different from 2009 to 20011? We finished our undergrads. I taught for a year. We had Violet! We moved to LA! It's nice that some things stay the same though. :)

Glennstorm's Birthday

2011-11-11T06:00:00.000-08:00

The day began well - Happy baby, happy husband!

(That isn't foreshadowing for bad ending to the day. The whole day was good.)

Glenn's parents are in town for the weekend! They came over at about 8:30, and we left for breakfast!

We ate at a delicious place near our apartment. We hadn't tried it before, but it is called "Jacks and Joe - A breakfast all day kind of place". Just the kind of name that entices Glenn. He SUPER loves breakfast food. And this breakfast food was delicious!

You can tell it was good because here is what was left of my sausage, avocado, tomato, spinach, mushroom, cheese omelette. So good.

Glenn had to go to school for a few hours in the afternoon. For dinner, we had his favorite pasta and cake! He gave me specific instructions for his cake: Yellow cake, boston cream between the layers, chocolate frosting. Behold:

Delicious!

Glenn opened presents after breakfast, but I don't have the pictures on my computer yet, so maybe I'll share them later. Glenn says he had a good birthday, and he sure deserves it. He is such a great husband, a good dad, and a hard working student. I love you, Glennstorm!

Cookies for Two

2011-11-10T06:00:00.000-08:00

I read countless food blogs every day, and the other day I saw this post. That's right. A cookie recipe for ONE cookie. For some reason, I love this idea. It seems SO luxurious to make one giant cookie all for yourself. I'm really into selfish things these days.

Also, the picture of the cookies cut in half looked so delicious I could hardly stand it. So I did the right thing and doubled the recipe. It was only fair that Glenn get a giant cookie too. Let me tell you... they were amazing. The consistency was perfect (as good as Romancing the Bean's, mom!). I just used tons of chocolate chips instead of reese's pieces. There isn't a lot of peanut butter in the dough, so they aren't overly peanut buttery (I realize that concept doesn't exist for some people. I'm looking at you, Annie. You can add as much peanut butter as you like).

When I started to form the cookies, I chickened out. Two cookies out of all that dough? I just couldn't do it. So I made three. Before they went in the oven they were the size of baseballs! See:

When they came out, I could tell they were perfect. I'm not sure you can tell just how big they are. They were bigger than my hand.

We each ate one for dessert that night, and then split the third one after lunch the next day. I will definitely be making these again. And I will probably make all of my cookies this big from now on.

P.S. Happy birthday to my main man! Glenn, you are the best husband in the world! I'll report on the birthday festivities tomorrow.

My sister is getting hitched

2011-11-09T06:00:00.000-08:00

Courtney is getting married! (I loved their save-the-date)

Judson is her awesome fiance. They got their engagement pictures taken last weekend, and I loved how they turned out so much, I figured I'd share them here. They were taken by Amanda Snider, who also took our family pictures. Does Courtney look like a model or what?

(Did you notice her cool engagement ring?)

Baby Booties - Take 3

2011-11-08T07:06:00.000-08:00

That's right, another post about baby booties. Notice how these ones are perfect? Fit her, look like shoes? That is because I didn't make them.

We got a package in the mail the other day from my sister-in-law, Cheeri, and this is what was inside! The picture doesn't even do them justice. Cheeri is an amazing knitter, and these little shoes are so perfect. She has also knitted Violet a sweater and hat in the past that I cannot wait for Violet to grow into! Thanks Cheeri!

Another picture for good measure:

Family Portrait

2011-11-07T07:06:00.000-08:00

Happy Monday!

There is a website called Free Crappy Portrait. Here is how it works: You send them a picture of yourself, or your family, with a few sentences about yourself (or your family). Sometime within the next day to 10 years they send you a portrait drawn by one of their 20 or so artists. (If you want a good laugh, read the "testimonials" on their website). So...

I sent in a picture of our family! I did this about 2 months ago, and for about a month after that, every time I checked my email, I said to Glenn, "Maybe our free crappy portrait is here!". And it never was. So I forgot about it for a month. Then yesterday, when I was least expecting it, there it was in my inbox! I told them we had a new baby whose name was Violet Hermione LeSueur. I don't remember what else I told them, but they obviously picked up on Violet's middle name.

Enough talk, here it is!

I love it! But don't ask me why they made me look like Harry instead of Glenn.

Happy Weekend! - Violet Dances

2011-11-04T07:12:00.000-07:00

Happy Friday to all of you. Sorry about no post yesterday. To make it up to you, and to hold you over for the weekend, here is an excellent video!

NINE HOURS!

2011-11-02T09:35:00.000-07:00

I'm a little late posting today. That is because I was so elated when I woke up this morning I forgot to post. Violet slept nine hours straight last night! She hasn't done anything close to that in a month. It was wonderful! I fed her at 5, she woke up again at 6:30, I put her in bed with us, and we all slept in together til 8. Such a wonderful morning.

We hardly ever see Violet's bottom lip these days:

Halloweens Past and Present

2011-11-01T07:11:00.000-07:00

Glenn had a new leading lady this Halloween! Every Halloween we have been together (except the first one, we were barely dating then) we have dressed up together. This year, I coordinated Violet's costume, so I excused myself from dressing up.

2008 - Peter Pan and Tigerlilly. Glenn looked good in tights. (Is my husband a good sport or what?)

2009 - Han Solo and Princess Leia (This was the year everyone asked if we were Luke and Leia. Of course we didn't dress up as brother and sister!)

2010 - Martin Hanzal and Peter Mueller. Haha, just kidding, we were just anonymous members of the Phoenix Coyotes. And unless you are a big hockey fan, you probably don't even recognize those names.

2011...

Harry and Hedwig! Glenn and Violet looked adorable! When we arrived at our ward party, Glenn taped a tithing envelope on her ankle for good measure.

Violet doesn't sleep anymore

2011-10-31T06:20:00.000-07:00

Remember how once in a while, Violet used to sleep like ten or eleven hours at a time? But most nights she slept about eight hours, and after I fed her would go back to sleep for a few more hours?

Not anymore.

For the past month she has woken up an average of four times a night. It just happened all of the sudden! Two months of wonderful sleeping habits, then one night she woke up a bunch and has been doing it ever since! She wakes up once before midnight, once around two, again around five, then at six thirty, then at seven thirty she wakes up for good.

I know there is nothing any of you can do. I just wanted to tell you so you can feel sorry for me.

(She is still cute. This is the picture she left for her Uncle Chris on his facebook wall this weekend!)

The Italian Baker

2011-10-28T08:51:00.000-07:00

I'm working on something today.

It includes this:

and this:

and a lot of this (as usual):

Come back in a few hours, and I'll update this post with my finished product!

Updated:

Fresh from the oven Pane ai Peperoni (Bread with Roasted Red Bell Peppers)!!

It is soooooooooooo good. I wish you could try some.

Happy Halloween

2011-10-27T06:00:00.000-07:00

In honor of Halloween, here is are some super creepy pictures:

(I probably want to cut my hair short. So I found one of those websites where you upload your picture and try on different hairstyles. Hence...)

Full disclosure: I actually found one I liked.

Maybe by Christmas I'll have the courage to chop it all off? My hair is ridiculously long right now.

Yum

2011-10-26T06:30:00.000-07:00

Two nights ago, I made this sauce:

(roasted red bell pepper, goat cheese, dijon mustard, lemon juice)

and then roasted asparagus, fried two eggs, and toasted two english muffins!

I'm lucky I got a couple of pictures before they were gone! Glenn loved it! So did I, it was delicious.

(I got the recipe here. She used yellow bell peppers, which is why her sauce looks different than mine.)

Violet Laughs

2011-10-25T07:30:00.000-07:00

Violet laughs now! It still sounds a little bit like a grunt, but she smiles really big with her mouth open while she does it. See for yourself!

(Today is a rainy day here! Yay!)

Kenny and Annie

2011-10-24T06:44:00.000-07:00

Last weekend, my brother Kenny and his wife Anne came to visit us! They were on an amazing journey that just happened to end in Southern California. They road tripped from Pho-town to Salt Lake to Olympia, WA, to Portland, to San Francisco, to LA (us), and then stopped by Rancho Cucamunga on their way back to Pho-town. It sounds like their adventure was super fun!

Anyway, we got to have them with us for a couple of days! Violet loves Annie, so she was in heaven, and Glenn and Kenny got to bond over video games. We all went to the library together (I told you I am taking anyone who visits me there!) and had the best time at the beach. It seemed like Violet enjoyed the beach this time. In the past it has made her kind of nervous.

Pictures!

The Big Reveal

2011-10-21T10:33:00.000-07:00

Are you ready to find out what was in this mysterious bag?:

BOOKS!

Here is the story:

When Glenn worked at Bookman's, he could buy me practically any book I wanted as soon as I asked for practically nothing. So basically I was very spoiled obtaining-books-wise. We aren't really close to any Barnes and Nobles here, and books are so expensive there anyway! I have ordered a few books online since we've been here to keep me going, but that was getting old.

So I googled "secondhand bookstores downtown LA" and found the coolest place! It is called

THE LAST BOOKSTORE

and it was awesome! I am so mad at myself for not taking pictures while we were there. There was a giant sculpture hanging from the ceiling made from paperbacks. It didn't have as good of a selection as Bookman's, but it was a little cheaper (which is saying something, because Bookman's is cheap). I picked about ten books, but Glenn made me put some back. I got:

1. Matilda. I already read this one, and a lot of it I read aloud to Violet! She loved it! She really was fascinated by the pictures. I was reminded of how awesome this books is. Seriously, Roald Dahl is such a good writer.

(Glenn sneakily took this picture yesterday morning while I was reading to Violet)

2. Frankenstein. I am joining a bookclub! It is for the Pasadena ward that almost all the LDS dental students are in. I met one of the wives at an institute class and she invited me!

3. Eragon. I started this once and hated it, but lately people have been telling me they loved it, so I'm going to try again.

4. The Pearl. I have wanted to read this forever! And now I am taking a Pearl of Great Price institute class, and we talked about the scripture MATT. 13:46. And this scripture is totally what this book is about. So I finally got it, and I can't wait to read it.

We will definitely be back to THE LAST BOOKSTORE soon!

Violet goes to Disneyland

2011-10-20T06:41:00.000-07:00

(We saw Mickey, Jasmine, and the evil step sisters, but this is who I managed to get a picture of Violet with!)

Last week I had the pleasure to hang out at Disneyland with my wonderful cousin Desi and her family! I feel so lucky whenever Desi is around. She makes everything more fun! And her kids are pretty cute too.

When we moved (they live in Arizona) I thought Benjamin was so big. He is two months older than Violet. When I saw him last week, I couldn't believe how small he was! Violet was almost as big as him! I guess when he is not sitting next to a newborn he looks normal sized. Isn't he beautiful?

Sorry, no pictures of Natalie, who is also exceptionally cute. In fact, we weren't great at taking pictures. I didn't take any, and these are the only ones Desi took! I need to start taking my camera places! We took turns watching the kids for a few rides, and I got to ride Indiana Jones and Thunder Mountain, my two favorites! Also, once while Kevin and Desi were on a ride, all three kids were crying at the top of their lungs and a stranger stopped and made me let them hold Benjamin. She was super nice though, and didn't kidnap him.

We were beat by the end of the day. Violet and I actually left by 3:30 because we were so tired. Has anyone ever seen "Captain EO"? Definitely the funniest/weirdest thing I've ever seen at Disneyland.

Ten points if you can guess what is in this bag! We discovered a wonderful place yesterday!

Success!

2011-10-19T11:07:00.000-07:00

Well, the ciabatta bread was good!

I made us sandwiches out of it for dinner, but we both agreed we like it plain, so we will probably eat the second loaf just dipped in olive oil.

The only disappointing thing was how little bread it made. Oh well, I guess we just really have to savor it!

My Biga is Fermenting

2011-10-18T06:00:00.000-07:00

Afton: I wish you could come home so I could show you my biga.

Glenn: You know I would love to see your biga.

(The first of many obscene sounding conversations Glenn and I had yesterday after realizing "biga" is a funny word.)

A biga is just the starter for the ciabatta that I am working on. I told you it is a two day process! The fermented biga is what gives ciabatta bread and sourdough bread their tanginess. Today is the second day, and soon I will get to put it in the oven!

Maybe tomorrow I will have pictures of golden, perfect ciabatta loaves to show you instead of gooey biga.

And because no post is complete without a picture of cute Violet:

(she looks like a pirate with that earring, right? We tried to get a picture with her flower headband covering her eye like an eyepatch, but she wasn't having it.)

Midterms

2011-10-17T09:13:00.000-07:00

(My husband the dentist. These glasses are called "loupes" and they cost like one thousand dollars. And they look super dorky.)

Glenn has midterms this week! He has been studying a lot, and I think he is going to do great. He is going to be extra busy this week, so I'm looking for things to do to keep me busy. This morning I started making ciabatta bread! It is a two day process. I'll let you know how it goes.

(I used active dry yeast instead of instant yeast. Is my bread already doomed? I just can't see how a bread that takes two days to rise needs "instant" yeast.)

Vi is getting into the halloween spirit! See for yourself:

Mexitalian

2011-10-14T07:34:00.000-07:00

I am really into reading vegetarian and vegan blogs lately, and my sister Courtney sent me a link to an awesome one! Particularly to this recipe, because she thought it looked really good. It looked so good that I made it last night for dinner!

The ingredients:

(whole wheat spaghetti, lemon, garlic, basil, avocado, olive oil, black pepper)

The avocados were PERFECT! Is there anything better than perfectly ripe avocados?

You just blend all those ingredients into a sauce and mix it with the cooked pasta.

And of course, we unveganized it by adding chicken and parmesan cheese:

It was... good. Really good. But not the most amazing pasta I've ever eaten. Glenn gave it a 7 out of 10. We just couldn't quite get past the fact that it tasted like guacamole and spaghetti mixed together. It was SO easy, and definitely good enough to eat that I'm glad I tried it.

(warning: green spaghetti=green splatters of sauce on everyone's clothes. Even Violet's.)

Another shoe!

2011-10-12T14:50:00.000-07:00

I made another shoe for Violet, and this one was much more successful. It totally fits her! (It also was a WAY easier pattern.) I only had blue and white yarn, so I made a flower for the toe so they would look like girl shoes.

Also, Violet has a patch of longer hair on the back of her head:

Today Glenn said, "We should style her patch of hair. Like put a bow in it."

Haha, how funny would that look?

Nightmare

2011-10-10T08:18:00.000-07:00

The other night I had a dream that it was Violet's blessing day again:

And Voldemort came over.

It was super scary.

Have you had any scary dreams lately?

(p.s. In other Harry Potter related news, Violet is going to be Hedwig for Halloween. And here is a sneak peek!)

(Thanks Grandma! She made this cute hat!)

3 good things

2011-10-07T07:39:00.001-07:00

1. Last night Glenn and I made chocolate chip cookie bars. We accidentally took them out of the oven a little bit early. Maybe a lot early. They were basically chocolate chip cookie pudding, and we ate them with a spoon. I think that is what food in heaven will taste like.

2. I am crocheting with my friend Juanita again today! I love having friends.

3. Kenny and Annie are coming tonight!! Woo woo! I love company, and I REALLY love Kenny and Annie. Fannie. Fangela.

LA Central Public Library

2011-10-06T09:17:00.000-07:00

A few days ago I decided I needed to figure out where the library was around here. I learned that we are closest to the "LA Central Public Library" and yesterday I went! (sidenote: I only paid $1 for parking! hallelujah for not making a parking mistake!)

It was the COOLEST LIBRARY EVER! See for yourself:

(This lobby is amazing, but this picture doesn't do it justice. Those are beautiful sculptures hanging from the ceiling.)

(This library has more than just books. In fact, it took me a while to find the books. On each of the four sides of this big hall, there is an art gallery. Like this one:)

(I did finally find the books. I am getting a couple on crocheting, because my second shoe turned out really dumb looking.)

And the best part of the library:

The children's section. It was SO beautiful!

I reserved a few books, but we are going back today because I need to bring a piece of mail in order to get my library card. I was so amazed by this library, I had a big smile on my face the whole time I was walking around. Glenn doesn't have school today, so he is coming with me today! Basically, if you ever come visit us in LA, I am going to take you here. Definitely the coolest thing I've seen in LA so far!

The Dad

2011-10-05T08:23:00.000-07:00

Today Glenn left for school a couple of minutes late because he was playing with Violet and he said she was too sweet to leave.

Glenn is such a loving dad, and I love that about him. It amazes me every day how unselfish he is when it comes to spending time with Violet. He works hard at school all day, and when he gets home he takes Violet from me and plays with her until it is her bedtime.

He just left for school. While I am writing this post, I got a text from him:

"I already miss my girls. I wish I could spend this rainy day with you."

Remember that conference talk about dads and how they should raise their daughters? I loved listening to that talk, because I know Glenn is always going to be so loving towards Violet, and such a fun dad. I hope they are always as close as they are now! I hope he still hugs her and holds her hand when she is a teenager. (But Violet is never going to be a teenager. She is going to be a baby forever.)

p.s. Violet and I are going to spend this rainy day at the public library. I can't wait.

The shoe

2011-10-04T08:13:00.000-07:00

Violet took a ONE HOUR nap in her crib yesterday! This is a huge improvement that I've been working up to, because for a while she would only sleep in my arms during the day.

Also, at dinner during priesthood session, my friend's daughter who is about 18 months old was wearing some really cute little crocheted shoes that my friend had made.

Yesterday, because of Violet's miraculous nap, I found myself with an hour to do whatever I wanted with both hands. Accordingly, I decided to try to make some shoes like Julia's. It was sort of a success. They look like shoes:

But they are also gigantic:

Also, so you can really see how mediocre they are, here is what they are supposed to look like:

Oh well. I have only made the left shoe so far, so maybe the right shoe will turn out better! I'm going to try to make a smaller pair next. These probably won't fit her until she is five.

Girls' Night!

2011-10-03T07:38:00.000-07:00

Twice a year during priesthood session, for like the last 12 years, I have gone out for dinner with my mom, sister, aunt, and cousins. This was the first year I've ever had to miss it! I knew I would feel SO lame if I just sat at home by myself this year, so I rounded up some girls from my ward for dinner! I was pretty proud of myself, since I don't know anyone that well. There were five of us, plus Violet and Julia, one of the other girl's daughter. I should have taken a picture of everyone so you could see what my new friends look like! Already I feel so much more like part of our ward and like I have friends here.

We went here:

Apparently it has been there since 1923. It was delicious, and there were pictures on the walls of all the celebrities and sports stars that eat there! But we didn't see any. Violet gave me a run for my money while we were there. She just needed constant attention, and maybe once I fed her in a bathroom stall. Oh well, I still got lots of time to talk with the girls, and I was glad to have Violet there for her first girl's night!

Glenn and Violet Watch A Movie

2011-09-30T06:00:00.000-07:00

Act I

Glenn: Violet, do you want to watch a Disney movie?

Violet: ... (obviously)

Glenn: I'm going to take that as a yes. Which one do you want to watch?

Violet: ... (fixes a steady gaze on The Little Mermaid)

Act II

(Violet actually watched the movie. For a while.)

Neighbors

2011-09-29T11:44:00.001-07:00

We have tons of kids who live in our apartment complex.

Every evening, Violet and I wait on the front door step for Glenn to get home from school. One by one, I've been making friends with the neighborhood kids. They LOVE Violet! Everyday they tell me she looks like a doll. Yesterday as I talked to my mom on the phone, they started to show up, and soon there were like 8 kids just hovering right around me on the door step. They kept shushing each other and saying, "Be quiet, she is on the phone!". It was so funny, I took a picture.

When Glenn turned on to our street, the kids saw him, and yelled to me, "The dad is home, the dad is home!"

Soccer Team

2011-09-28T14:46:00.001-07:00

Soon I will be doing this again!

This morning I got this email:

Hi Afton,

My name is Arielle. I manage the Sparkle Motion team you approached last Saturday. You spoke to some of the girls and your information was forwarded to me from Erin. Sorry I could not be there myself to meet you, as I was ill and couldn't play.

Why don't you come out this Saturday?

Our game is at 8:30 am (early I know) and play. Let's see how you feel playing with us and what kind if chemistry we all have. This way if you decide we are raging b*****s, you haven't wasted your money, haha. Totally kidding, we are a really great bunch of girls, super fun and warm. Most of us have known each other a long time and have played many seasons together.

Black shorts, white socks, shin guards and cleats to play. Look for us in our green jerseys.

Feel free to call or text me and I look forward to meeting and playing with you!

Arielle

I realize that I probably could have just told you what the email said instead of pasting the whole thing on this post. I censored it for you.

So on Saturday I'm going to the game! Glenn and VIolet are going to come watch. I'm just excited to play again! It's been a little over a year, and I bet I'm SO out of shape.

Hotel

2011-09-27T20:54:00.001-07:00

Is this the coolest hotel you've ever seen in your life?

Tomorrow I have to do something really scary:

Take Violet to get 5 shots. I already feel sad about it. I will let you know how it goes tomorrow!

(She has slept 10+ hours for four nights in a row. I love her.)

My new project

2011-09-26T08:12:00.000-07:00

I have a new friend in my ward, which is awesome, because I definitely need some friends around here. She said we should get together sometime and crochet, so I started a new crocheting project! I started it last week, and I think we are going to crochet together today.

You will see that in order to take this picture, I had to risk waking Violet up as I laid the blanket over her. Which as any mother of a baby knows, this was very brave, because her sleeping time is very precious to me.

It is white and green. You know how some people spend tons of time making a really cute nursery during the time they are pregnant? I would have loved to do that, but we didn't have a room for her while I was pregnant. Now we have this prefect big room for her, but it isn't very cute. I've been kind of ignoring it since we've moved here. I'm going to try harder to decorate it. I wanted the color scheme to be green, so this blanket it green and white. It is the biggest project I could tackle towards improving Violet's room for now!

(p.s. Violet slept for 11 hours last night! That means I was awake with just Glenn for 2.5 hours before I went to bed, slept for 8 hours, and still woke up before Violet! It was awesome.)

The Bubble Beard

2011-09-25T18:34:00.001-07:00

I didn't post on Friday, so here's a bonus weekend picture to make up for it!

Violet's new favorite past time - blowing bubbles:

We call it the "bubble beard". It is even more impressive in real life! My mom was here last Wednesday through Saturday, and we had a wonderful time! I didn't post on Friday because we were just having too much fun doing other stuff!

Photo Booth

2011-09-22T08:17:00.001-07:00

You know how it is funny to take pictures of yourself on photo booth?

Well, it is even funnier to take pictures of your baby:

Little Tokyo

2011-09-21T08:55:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday, we excited to explore a new part of downtown - Little Tokyo! We looked online for the best restaurant there, and many sources agreed that it was Daikokuya. So we went for lunch! A lot of reviews said it is so popular that there is usually a long wait, so we got there at 11:30, thinking we would beat the lunch rush. We kind of did. We waited about 25 minutes and got a place at the bar, but when we left, there was a way bigger crowd waiting on the sidewalk than when we went in.

It was SOOOO good! We split an appetizer of gyoza, and Glenn picked the "shredded pork bowl" for us to share. The shredded pork bowl was HEAVEN. Seriously, probably the best asian food I've ever eaten. The gyoza was good too. I should have taken a better picture of the food, but this is all I have:

Oh, and Little Tokyo is right next door to this:

Recognize it? I think of the movie Get Smart every time we drive by it.

(It is the Disney Concert Hall)

One last thing: In Little Tokyo, we also walked through a collectors' shop. It was so weird! Every wall was jam-packed with these tiny figurines! I can't believe people would actually buy them, but the place was crowded!

Quinoa - This post is dedicated to Becky

2011-09-20T07:27:00.001-07:00

Remember how I went to Whole Foods here? Well, I made the quinoa! And it was delicious!

(And Becky wants to make quinoa, and I'm going to share my "recipe", so that is why I dedicated this post to her. And I really like her.)

I called it a "recipe" instead of just a recipe, because I totally made it up and didn't measure anything. Also, you could definitely add some chicken and it would be delicious, but I've been trying to made vegetarian meals for Glenn and I a couple of times a week. And this was one of them.

1. Cook the quinoa. Basically, you cook it like you would cook rice, but it only takes 15 minutes. Awesome.

2. Make a lemon vinaigrette, with lemon juice, a little honey, and olive oil. Make it in the bottom of the serving dish.

3. The vegetables: I know corn is not really a vegetable, but it the most important thing to include here. You can probably add which ever ones you want. The corn made it so sweet and good though! Cut the kernels off two cobs and saute with red onions. Add chopped fresh parsley to the pan and take off the heat. Add tomatoes and cucumber. I sprinkled in a little feta cheese at the end.

This took me about the same amount of time to make this as it took the quinoa to cook. We ate it warm that night, but the next day we had it cold for lunch, and it was delish! I think I even like it cold better.

p.s. Quinoa is super healthy. Here is what my cookbook, "Super Natural Cooking" says about it: "...thought to promote cardiovascular health, stave off certain cancers, tame headaches and migraines, provide antioxidant protection, and on and on. This is the grain credited with keeping Incan armies strong and resilient." Cool, huh?

The White Coat Ceremony! - and Vi skim boards.

2011-09-19T07:00:00.000-07:00

At last! Here are some pictures of the white coat ceremony that I promised I'd share so long ago:

(Love this picture. What the heck is Vi doing with her head??)

Glenn's parents came into town, just for the ceremony, and it was so fun having them here! Glenn's dad is an alumnus of USC dental school, and the photographer was so excited to take a picture of Glenn and his dad together! I wish we'd gotten some pictures of the actual ceremony, Glenn was in the front row! He looked so handsome and legit in his white coat. Did you know that his USC ID says "Dr. Glenn LeSueur" on it? Cool, huh?

We went to the beach the day after the ceremony. This time, it was Glenn's dad who was the only one brave enough to get in the water. The water was much warmer this time, but I didn't bring my swimming suit! I really wished I'd brought it so I could get in. Since the day was so warm, this time we let Violet walk in the sand. And skim board.

Violet Smiles

2011-09-16T09:02:00.000-07:00

Violet has been amazingly smiley these days! Sometimes, she smiles while I'm trying to feed her, and it takes her forever to finish eating. Which is kind of annoying, but mostly SO cute. Seriously, probably the cutest thing I've ever seen in my life is when I'm nursing her, and I feel her stop, and when I look down at her she has a giant smile on her face with milk running down her chin.

I'm sure I can get a video of her smiling better, but this is the best I have for now. She always gets a little serious when she sees the camera or video camera out.

Yesterday Glenn didn't have school. We wanted to do something fun, so we took the shuttle to campus, then walked the rest of the way (not very far) to the Science Center! Acutally, first we went to the Museum of Natural History, which looked awesome, but cost money to get in. We thought it was free. So we walked to the Science Center, which is just through the Rose Garden (so pretty and awesome!), and it turned out the Science center was free. We spent about and hour and a half playing there and we only saw maybe a quarter of it. Violet is going to love that place when she is older! This time she mostly napped in the baby carrier. She woke up during the earthquake simulation.

(us waiting for the bus. I don't know if you can tell, but all three of us totally matched.)

Whole Foods

2011-09-15T08:53:00.000-07:00

I have been wanting to make quinoa lately, so I had planned to go buy some at Trader Joe's this week. But then I saw a deal on livingsocial.com for 20 dollars of groceries for 10 dollars at Whole Foods! It was kismet.

So yesterday I went to spend my 20 dollars at Whole Foods. I went to the one in Beverly Hills, and apparently it is like the biggest one there is. It was so awesome! They had so much cool food, and I was basically getting everything 50% off (since I paid 10 dollars for 20 dollars of groceries.)

They had every grain, seed, nut, and type of flour you can imagine in the giant bins, and you could buy as much or as little as you wanted. I got forbidden rice (cool name, huh?), quinoa (the grain that started this whole adventure), and pumpkin seeds (because they are delicious.)

I also bought a few other things. Here are some of them.

1. Glenn loves peanut sauce. So do I. And I thought this looked delicious and similar to peanut sauce.

2. If you know me at all, you know I couldn't pass up a pint of multi-colored, baby heirloom tomatoes.

3. My groceries only added up to 19 dollars. This chocolate was by the register and it cost 1 dollar.

My mom is coming to visit next week! I am going to save some of the cool stuff I got to cook when she is here. Like the Forbidden Rice.

Smarty-pants LeSueur

2011-09-14T14:00:00.000-07:00

That title refers to Glenn, of course. We don't know if Violet is smart yet.

Glenn will probably be embarrassed that I'm sharing this story, but it made me so happy! This weekend he spent a lot of time working on a homework assignment that he turned in online on Sunday. In his class on Monday, his teacher said, "I've noticed some of you are not doing the assignments very well. But who is Glenn? He did the assignment perfectly! You should all do it like him." He proceeded to use Glenn's summary as an example of what everyone's should be like. Cool, huh? Dental school is full of smart people, and Glenn is the smartest!

I love that Glenn is so smart, but he is also so humble! So, because I'm his wife, I get to brag for him.

(He looked particularly handsome on this day as he left for school, so I sneakily took a picture)

A Video! (Violet Walking)

2011-09-13T21:07:00.000-07:00

So I'm a little late posting today! Today we uploaded all of the videos we have taken of Violet from our video camera to our computer, and it was so fun to watch them! I can't believe how much tinier she was when she was born than she is now! It made me so happy to see the very first video, when she was so brand new. I also love that she is now so strong and thriving!

Here is a video we took today, but we could have taken it any time in the last month. Every night, when it is close to Vi's bedtime and she is getting a little fussy, we go sit on the front porch. She is always calm when we are outside. Every night Glenn has Violet practice her walking, and it is so cute. So tonight, I finally video taped it! Enjoy!

(the video is choppy, sorry)

Maybe I'll post about the white coat ceremony tomorrow??

2011-09-12T07:32:00.000-07:00

The other day at the park I saw clovers growing everywhere in the grass! Courtney and I always used to make jewelry out of these flowers when we were little, so I made Violet a crown! She look SO cute in it I could hardly stand it!

FYI, I feel like that first picture is a very true representation of what Violet looks like. It is hard to get a picture of a baby where they look normal, and I feel like she looks different in every picture!

I am really really going to try to get the pictures to post about Glenn's white coat ceremony for tomorrow! It happened like two weeks ago, but I still want to post about it because his parents took some pictures of all three of us together! This is rare, so I want to document it.

Apartment Makeover - 2 of 2

2011-09-09T20:52:00.000-07:00

As promised, here is the second project we have recently completed!

Remember this picture?

Remember how I said Violet was "helping" me with a project? And that I might show you the completed project "tomorrow"? And how that was like two weeks ago? Well...

Now this:

Looks more like this:

I needed a place to put all our framed pictures, and I thought that random moulding would be a good place for them. They aren't actually resting on the moulding. Glenn hung them on nails because he said if they were just resting on the moulding they would fall as soon as we had an earthquake. (Glenn is really excited for our first earthquake.)

Oh, and this picture is for you mom. She says I don't post enough pictures of myself on this blog, but I just found this one when I was getting these other pictures off the camera.

[At Santa Monica with Violet and Glenn (behind the camera this time). Notice, Violet is wearing her USC sun hat! So much school spirit at such a young age!]

Break in the Action

2011-09-08T13:21:00.000-07:00

Sorry, you'll have to wait for "Apartment Makeover - 2 of 2" until tomorrow. The unexpected has happened: they are fumigating our apartment and only gave us a day and a half notice! Violet can't be in the apartment for 12 hours after the fumigation, so we are staying here:

Beautiful, huh? We are so lucky to have family close to us in LA. My mom's cousin Peggy is so nice, and was totally ok with us coming to stay with her for a couple of days. Their house is awesome, and Peggy is an amazing cook. It is a great place to be waiting out a fumigation! I really appreciate family now that I'm living away from most of mine.

Apartment makeover - 1 of 2

2011-09-07T06:00:00.000-07:00

Get ready to be blown away by this corner-of-our-bathroom makeover!

Besides picnicking, we spent our labor day doing a couple around the house projects. My wonderful husband built this:

(That last picture is the face he made when I said, "Smile proudly next to your shelf.")

And we put it in our bathroom and filled it with stuff...

So the corner of the bathroom went from this to this:

It is such a relief to get the bathroom organized. It was one of our last few places in the apartment that still needed to get "moved in".

Come back tomorrow for the next makeover - which is equally mind-blowing!

Labor Day

2011-09-06T08:10:00.000-07:00

To celebrate Labor Day, we went on a picnic! There is a little park just around the corner from our house. We packed our picnic basket with pita chips, hummus, carrots, and oreos and walked our little family over there!

The weather was beautiful. You can see from the pictures that Vi has a new toy! She has been wanting to sit up so much lately that yesterday we got her a bumbo! (that is the little seat she is in.) She is still getting used to it, but I think she likes it!

Ten Hours

2011-09-05T06:36:00.000-07:00

10 Hours.

That is how long Violet slept last night! Consecutively, that is. She ate an hour and a half ago and went back to sleep and is still sleeping.

Our guests left this morning. It was so much fun having Courtney and Judson here this weekend! We played a lot of ticket to ride and four-player nintendo games, and spent some time admiring Violet. Also, I made some delicious vegetarian pasta which was one of my favorite meals I've ever made! I sure wish I'd taken a picture. In fact, I didn't take any pictures the whole weekend!

They are driving home right now. Good luck to you, Courtney and Judson! I wish you a shorter return trip! (Their drive here took 9 hours - yikes.)

Book Review: Poisonwood Bible

2011-09-02T08:22:00.000-07:00

I finished a great book a few days ago, Poisonwood Bible. It was recommended to me by Courtney Fanello (Thanks Courtney!) and I loved it!

It takes place in the Congo in the 1950s. An American Baptist family is there with their Preacher/missionary father. The story is narrated by the wife and her four daughters (a different narrator for each chapter). I don't want to give away anything, so I won't tell you more, but it was awesome. It is a pretty long book, but I didn't want it to end! Lately it seems like every book I read is about motherhood. Maybe I just never noticed it before and now it is more applicable to me and I notice it? This one is an amazing commentary on the complexities of being a mother. Obviously I'm really new at being a mom, but this was so interesting to read. (Incidentally, the last two books I read before this were These is My Words and Shadow of a Giant. They both really made me think about how cool it is to be a mom. Violet is sleeping next to me on my bed right now being really cute, btw.)

Since I spend half my life nursing Violet, and even more time holding her while she naps, I have A LOT of time to read. But I'm always running out of books to read! I love it when people recommend books to me, or tell me what their favorite book is. So feel free to give me some recommendations!

(Courtney [my sister] and Judson [her fiance] are coming to visit this weekend! Violet gets to see her aunt and I get to cook vegetarian meals for Judson!)

My Kitchen Smells like Basil

2011-09-01T12:49:00.001-07:00

My kitchen smells like basil, which is wonderful, but it came at a high price. Here's a sad farmers' market story for you:

Last time we went to the farmers' market, we spent about 6 dollars on food. We parked at a meter that cost 3 dollars for an hour, and made it back just before our hour was up. However, we found a parking ticket for 53 dollars on our windshield. Apparently we were about one inch out of the paring space. So we spent about 50 dollars more on parking than on food that day.

Today, I went by myself. I drove up to a parking structure right by the market just to see how much it cost. 3 dollars for every ten minutes. Then someone drove up behind me and I was trapped! So I parked there, shopped as fast as I could, and ended up spending $9.40. And about 4 dollars on food. So not as bad as the first time, but it would be cool if we could figure out how to spend less on parking than we do on food!

(Here is what I made for dinner last night. So good!)

Project

2011-08-31T15:51:00.000-07:00

I'm working on a project! And Violet is helping. If "helping" means making the project take about ten times longer but still being cute.

Maybe this project will be done tomorrow. And maybe tomorrow I'll have pictures of the white coat ceremony to share. Maybe maybe maybe.