Fanfiction is taking over nap time.

I don't have time to do a good blog post today because I am too busy reading Harry Potter Fanfiction during Violet's naps.

I'm currently on chapter 13 of 78 of a horribly written story about Lily and James.

Interesting fact:  one of the most common pairings for HP romance fanfiction is Hermione and Draco.  Weird.  

Dinner success

Glenn is like the least picky eater ever.  Which is wonderful, and I really appreciate it.  This means that no matter what I make, he likes it.  But sometimes I can tell he LIKES it.  And doesn't stop eating until it is all gone, and that is when I feel like dinner is a success.

I have had this recipe bookmarked forever, and this week the stars aligned and I had a few of the ingredients already in my fridge and I needed to use them up before they went bad.  I am so glad I finally made it because it is definitely one of the best things we have had for dinner in a while!

It is called Indian Butter Chicken.  That isn't my picture, it is from this blog, which is where I got the recipe.  It is basically chicken tikka masala, so if you like that you will love this.  You can go to the link for the recipe, but it it was so easy!  We ate it with pitas, not rice, so it took me about half an hour from start to finish.  The only slightly weird ingredient that you probably don't have around is garam masala, a spice blend.  Fortunately, about ten steps out my front door is a liquor store that sells Indian grocery, so I didn't have to look to far to find some.  Other than that, you just saute onions, ginger, jalepeno, and garlic and all the spices.  Then you blend that all together with tomato paste and chicken stock and add chicken and half-and-half when you put it back in the pan.  Then I stirred in tons of cilantro right and the end.  But that part was optional.

This is getting to be a long post about something unimportant.  You can tell I really liked it!  One last thing: the best part was the sauce and I could have done without the chicken (although Glenn loved that part) but next time I make it I might do all veggies instead, like eggplant and cauliflower.  The pitas are a must though!  Sopping up all that sauce with the warm pita was heavenly!

The toy of the day

Long before Violet was born, before we even knew if she was a boy or girl, her Aunt Courtney bought her this (gender neutral) sweet stuffed zebra.  For the last few days the poor zebra has gone everywhere with Violet.

On a different note, I just finished reading The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society and I loved it!  I'd heard of it a hundred times, but hadn't read it because I feel like I've read too many WWII books and I'm not that interested in them in the first place.  But this one was so different!  It is actually post-WWII, and it is so happy and good. 

Becky, I think you especially will like it, if you haven't read it already.

The only bad thing about the book is it is a really quick read, so I finished it in like two days, and now I don't have anything to read.  And I am horribly injured from my soccer game (haha, at least the most horribly injured I've ever been) and I seriously can't walk for more than a few feet, which really limits our opportunities for entertainment today.  Even after just walking around church yesterday, my injury is about 10 times worse!  Ugh!  The possibility of doing the triathalon in three weeks looks bleak.

Violet the Smarty-pants

This is Violet's bathmat.  It is also her new favorite toy.  Yesterday she carried it around with her everywhere she wanted to play and used it as a nice cushy seat.  One time I even found her laying on it on her tummy.  Just resting.  

It seems like since Violet started eating food, she is getting way smarter.  Probably not related, but it sure seems like it!  Here are some of the smart things (for a nine month old) that she has been doing lately:

* When Glenn makes the Chewbacca sound, she crawls right over to her stuffed Chewy and picks him up.

* When we read "Where is baby's bellybutton?" to her, she lifts up all the flaps herself and squeals delightedly when she reveals the baby.

* The other day I was laying on my side in her room and she was trying to climb over me but couldn't.  So she pushed her bongo drums right up to my tummy, stepped up on them, and then climbed over me!

*  I am pretty sure she waved goodbye at someone on the street yesterday.

*  She can kind of put the shapes into her shape-o block.

I can't think of anything else right now.  Don't feel bad if you don't think she sounds as smart as I seem to think she is;  I'm a little biased.  :)

p.s. this is my other choice for the size of the font.  I hate it.  If anyone knows how to get the font somewhere between tiny and giant, like how I used to have it before they changed blogger, let me know.

The downside of Violet being so good at eating food now

This post is partially about breastfeeding.  You've been warned.

(but rather than embarrass you further and post a picture of myself breastfeeding, I will provide you will this sweet one of Angelina:)

One of the best things about our trip to Arizona was that Violet began to eat.  She has always been a champ at nursing, and maybe liked nursing a little too much, because food didn't interest her at all.  I remember watching my cousin's daughter (hi natalie!!) eat baby food for the first time.  She got so excited, opened her mouth wide, and cried if the food didn't get to her mouth fast enough!  Violet, on the other hand, even once she was doing a lot better at eating, would take about two bites, and then a tiny speck on the table would interest her for five minutes before she would half-heartedly open her mouth for one last bite.

However, Glenn's mom (master of baby-rearing) worked her magic and the whole time we were at Glenn's parents' Violet ate three good meals a day, mostly of oatmeal and applesauce.  When we got to my house, my mom and I took turns feeding her, and she continued to do great job at eating.  Since we've been home, I've really gotten on a regular schedule of when she eats breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

All of this is wonderful, and she is gaining weight like a champ!  But I am not ready to stop nursing her.  And I can tell that already, if I wanted to, I could pretty much cut out her nursings during the day.  She rarely acts like she wants to nurse during the day, and isn't satisfied by just milk anymore.   A couple of days I have cut out one of her usual feedings and she didn't even notice!  It's not the end of the world; it is actually a really good thing that it looks like she might stop nursing someday.  For a while there I thought I would be nursing my kindergartener.   

I feel so lucky that I am able to nurse her.  I don't want anyone to feel bad who couldn't/didn't nurse their babies.  But my advice to pregnant women is to learn everything they can about breastfeeding before the baby comes and then try to breastfeed.  And if it works out, then lucky you, because it is so cool.  I told my friend the other day that I think breastfeeding is one of those things that you pay for upfront.  While those mom's who are not breastfeeding are healing quickly and feeling more like themselves, you have sore and cracked nipples (yep, I just wrote that word on my blog, I'm so embarrassing) and are SO engorged for a month.  But now, I don't know how I would even take care of Violet if I didn't nurse her!  I love getting some breaks during the day when she will just sit still and cuddle for a few minutes.  

That is the end for today.  Obviously this is a subject I like to talk about.  I didn't mean for this to be so long!  You'll probably hear from me again on this subject when Violet stops nursing altogether!

The True Test Of My Spanish Speaking Skills

Before we left for Arizona almost three weeks ago, I asked my next door neighbor if she would water my basil plant while I was gone.  She speaks NO English, so I did the asking in the best Spanish I could muster (while her husband stood by and translated my Spanish into better Spanish.  ?????????)  I figured the true test of how well I did was if my basil was still alive when I got home!

So here are the results:

My precious pot of basil went from this:

To this!!

I was so pleased when I got home and it was flourishing!  However, today is the day I to thin it out.  It is going to be sad to pull out some of it, but I will save what I pull out and put it on our pasta tonight!

Our trip in instant photos - part 2 (the last part)

One of the highlights of our trip to Arizona was my family's talent show!  My mom told us a few weeks before we came that for family home evening we would be having a talent show, so to get ready!  For my talent, I decided to make dinner for the family.  I also helped Glenn with his talent and we learned a piano duet together!  We played "A Whole New World".  It was magical.

I made homemade pasta.  I love that picture of everyone getting ready to help me throw the pasta in the water all at once!

To wrap up, here is what everyone else did for their talents:  My dad also played the piano, Kenny juggled, Judson and Courtney did an awesome dance they made up, Annie made the best cookies ever, and my mom started a family scrapbook for each of us.  It was such a fun night!