The Life We Lead
My brother and sister-in-law welcomed there second little girl on Saturday afternoon. I know, I’m a little late on posting. They made it home and our enjoying their new addition. Also, Lilly has been adjusting well to being a big sister!
Camille Elizabeth Wilson
Born September 11 at 2:41 pm
7 pounds 2 ounces and 21 inches tall
Congratulations Matt, Kori, and Lilly!!
Braedon loves to sit at the table with us now and has no problem climbing up into his chair. He also loves his smoothies (frozen fruit, yogurt, and a little juice…sometimes I will add peanut butter and oatmeal to make it a meal for him).
If left alone for too long, and by too long I mean 30 seconds, sometimes this happens.
Yes, the smoothie is upside down on the table. Luckily I wrap his cup in saran wrap and then poke a hole through it with a straw to create a lid since I don’t have any.
Is that how you spell saran wrap? It looks funny to me.
Braedon loves Grandpa Wilson’s motorcycles and after being able to sit on them and look at them this summer, he has become obsessed and is always the first to spot one, give the sign for motorcycle, and say, “vroom, vroom.” This kid sees them before I do when we are driving or going on walks. I’ll hear him say, “vroom, vroom” and then I’ll look around and sure enough I’ll see a motorcycle drive by or parked somewhere. If he gets the chance to get near one, like when we are walking through a parking lot or something, he will walk up to it and sign please. Sorry Braedon, but I don’t think it’s a good idea to test out the seat on a stranger’s motorcycle.
Well, today you will never guess what was parked outside our window all afternoon. Yup, a motorcycle. I bet you can guess what Braedon did for a good portion of the afternoon.
I made this dish last night for dinner and recommend it. It was really good and even though it is vegetarian, Derek loved it and even ate leftovers for lunch the next day.
Serves 4-6
Directions:
Preheat oven to 400.
To prepare zucchini, cut a strip off of one side to make a flat base.
Thinly slice zucchini into “noodles.” You’ll want 12 noodles in total.
Place noodles in a colander and sprinkle with salt, layering between paper towels.
Combine quinoa, vegetable broth, tomato sauce, onion and oregano in a large saucepan and bring to a boil.
Cover and lower heat, simmering for 20 minutes.
When quinoa has absorbed all the liquid, fold in cream cheese and herbs.
Add salt and pepper to taste
Pour enough of marinara in the bottom of an 8×8 baking dish to cover the bottom. Using a clean dry towel, blot remaining moisture and salt from zucchini and layer noodles across the sauce.
Put a layer of quinoa across the zucchini, and cover with another 1/3 c. of marinara sauce.
Repeat with another layer of zucchini, quinoa, and marinara sauce.
Top with cheese.
Bake lasagna for 30 minutes, until heated through and zucchini is tender.
Very good! Try it!
Yesterday we took Braedon to a Nature center here in Ithaca that had different kinds of animals, which honestly wasn’t all that impressive, a butterfly house, and a six story tree house.
The tree house was the probably the coolest thing there.
We spent some time climbing the tree house and letting Braedon explore.
I like this picture.
We saw a few butterflies.
And then this guy was finished.
Braedon doesn’t only sign finished when he is done eating, he will sign it when he is done with whatever we are doing whether that is a car drive, some kind of outing, swinging…
The nice thing is Braedon and I have about the same attention span and I am usually ready to be done as well.
Braedon absolutely LOVES his Peyton. He is getting better at throwing a ball for her, loves to chase her around and cuddle with her. I wish Peyton would return the affection and not just use Braedon for his food! I’m sure she will come around once he gets a little older but for now we will just have to deal with the fact that she DOESN’T like to cuddle with Braedon and usually gets up and moves before he makes his way over to her. Poor guy. However, they do share some interests.
They both like looking out the window and watching the cars drive by and the people walk by. Peyton may bark and Braedon may say hi to random folks walking down the street. It’s pretty cute and keeps them both entertained.
Also, Braedon has started bringing me a diaper some of the times when he needs a changing.
Do you think he’s trying to tell me something here?
Friday night we decided to bite the bullet and take Braedon on his very first camping trip. It was a last minute decision as we were just going to meet a bunch of college friends at the camp site and spend the evening and then head home. Braedon loves to camp! He did really well, and even though he had a little trouble getting to sleep at first, which I don’t blame him, he slept like a champ.
Our first camping trip!
Baeo enjoying the campfire with the big kids.
Exploring the tent.
Derek and I were able to enjoy ourselves a lot more too because after Braedon went to bed we were able to hang out with everyone without having to worry to make it home in time for Baeo’s bedtime, which is early! We had a great time!
Unfortunately, it was the worst night of sleep for me…as in I didn’t really sleep at all. I’ve decided these days when I go camping I need a little extra cushioning and two pillows. I could not get comfortable at all and I was also THIS close to just driving home in the middle of the night.
I don’t think the big guy snoring in the campsite across the street helped…nor did the couple who were doing the hanky panky….for what seemed like hours. It sounded like we were in the same room. I’m gonna be honest….it was kind of uncomfortable and all I can say is I’m glad Baeo had a noisemaker.
Peyton decided that at 6 it was time to get up and greeted us with many kisses.
I looked across the tent, saw this and just started laughing!
Braedon butt!! Here’s a closer look.
This kid cracks me up! Eventually he was joining in on the fun with Peyton and started attacking dad.
I drove home and was rescued by a cup of coffee!
Despite the not so good sleep, I think the trip was a success and I am no longer worried about going on longer trips in the future.
