Just A Walk In The Park

My sister, Shauna, came for a visit to spend my first Mother's Day with me so I have lots to post about...just not a lot of time to do it. I do plan to do one about my Mother's Day I just haven't had time to get the pictures off the camera yet.

On Friday Shauna, Grant, and I decided to go for a walk at White Deer Park in Garner. I love taking Grant for walks there. And it connects to Lake Benson Park so we can take a longer walk when we have time. We didn't have time Friday so we just did White Deer Park.

It was a really nice walk and it had just rained so the park was desserted. Which means the two playgrounds were desserted. And since we are both over grown children we took advantage.

Grant at the "rustic" playground (that's what I call it)

Grant and Auntie Shauna

 

It looks like he's kissing her cheek, huh? He's trying to bite her face.

"Oh Tar! Can I take him down the slide?? Please?"

 

"Ok ready? Try to get a picture of him in the air!" It didn't work.

The "rustic" playground also has two teeter totters that are made of logs. One is pretty big and has quite a crazy angle. I had to sit on one end and it's so tall that my sis had to McGuyver shimmy up to the other side. When we were teetering it sort of felt like we were going to be shot up to space. So much fun! We were laughing so hard that we made Grant laugh (after he wiped that "OMG they're so retarded" look off his face while watching us try to get on it). There is also a more modern playground on the other side of the park. The teeter totter there is suspended from stretchy cables and it too was empty of children. So we hit that one before we left. I had been wanting to go on that one since the first time I brought Grant and husband won't play on the playgrounds with me. We had lots of fun!

First "Self Feeding"

Do all mothers assume that their child will be quick learners? I know I do, I admit it. I figured I would put the little cereal puffs in front of Grant and he would know to pick them up and put them in his mouth. Well, last weekend we tried it. The had doctor said we shouldn't help him. "He has to do it on his own. That's why it's called self feeding". Umm...yeah. He doesn't like self feeding. All he did was push the little bits around on the tray until I decided to put one in his mouth. I learned that he will open his mouth for me to put anything in there. He totally trusts me to put something yummy in his mouth. He was sorely disappointed. He gagged immediately. And then spit it out. At that point it was mushy like his normal food so I shoved it back in there. More gagging. Then a total melt down. Good times.

Checking things out

 

Hmmmm...



Just what do you expect me to do with those?

In it goes (I put it there)

 

Oh yuck Mama



Melt down.

 It is obviously a texture thing. And it has gone pretty much exactly like this every time I've tried to give them to him. I tried other flavors. I tried those freeze dried yogurt thingies. I know it's only been a week and he's got to figure it out eventually. I didn't think he'd figure out the sippy cup and he's doing great with that. So I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

P.S. They crunchy cereal thingies and the freeze dried yogurt thingies are pretty yummy.

Two Firsts In One Day

Really, only one counts as a "first". And, of course, it's the one I don't have a picture of. So we'll start with the one that sort of doesn't count. Yesterday, Grant and I did a little grocery shopping. Very little because we were at Wal-mart (it was nearby) and as soon as we walked in I wanted to leave. But anyway, I decided Grant was big enough to sit in the cart like a big boy. That way I didn't have to lug that baby carrier in there. He loved it! He just sat there staring at everything - and all the people. I mean, it's Wal-mart...lots to stare at (and watch out for).



Starting at the deli counter lady



How you doin'?



So after we left the nightmare known as Wal-mart we headed home. Husband was having a friend help deliver our new riding lawn mower so Grant and I checked it out. We found out that the brand new mower was having some issues and needed to be returned. So as Husband and his friend were leaving, the friend waved by to Grant and guess what?? HE WAVED BYE-BYE! First time! I got a little emotional about it. It was clearly a bye-bye wave. And of course, we haven't been able to get him to do it since.

Socially Acceptable...Or Just Rude?

I don't like money. It makes me uncomfortable. I know we all need it but I hate what it does to people. Especially those people that let it completely run their lives. The kind of people that when I announced my pregnancy to them said "Woo, having a baby is expensive!" rather than the congratulations I was expecting. Or a comment I heard when I said that Grant was starting solid foods "Oh your grocery bill is gonna get high!" instead of, well, anything else they could have said.

But when did it become socially acceptable to talk about your financial situation in general conversation? When did it become OK to ask someone - actually ask someone - about their financial situation as if it were their business?

Yesterday while having a conversation with a person in my office building they asked how Grant is doing, specifically how he's sleeping. It turned into a conversation about all sorts of things including day care which I said I wasn't happy with. That person said that it seems like we should switch to a new day care. I told them that my husband doesn't want to do that, he just wants me to quit my job *chuckle*. To which they replied "Well, does your husband make enough money for you to quit your job?" with a slightly condescending tone (typical of this person). I was floored. Is that the new normal? Am I silly for feeling like this was completely uncalled for? Perhaps I need to get out more, but I'd like to know when it became socially acceptable to ask someone a question like that.

Royally Obsessed (And a New Recipe)

All right, I admit it. I've been anticipating the Royal Wedding for at least a month now. I even downloaded the Royal Wedding App for my phone (it was free, I definitely wouldn't have paid for it). Mostly, I wanted to see what Kate's dress looked like - that's always my favorite part of a wedding - since it was "the secret" of the wedding. And it did not disappoint. I'll admit that it didn't look anything like what I thought it would but I thought it was gorgeous. But let's face it, she could have walked down the aisle in a potato sack and she would have looked gorgeous.

I'm fascinated with the Royal Family. I don't think it's out of any desire to be a princess or anything silly like that. After seeing just how much attention this got, especially over the last month, I can say for certain it is not a life I would want. But, nonetheless, it is really interesting to watch and read about. I recorded roughly 7 hours of Royal Wedding coverage and as of this moment have only been able to watch 2 1/2 hours of it. I'm hoping to be able to watch the rest of it but if we need room in the DVR queue...well, it'll have to go :(

So you can't help but notice how much those people love their Queen. And also how much those people love hats! Husband, being very fashion forward, commented on one rather large headdress saying "What's that bitch doing out in public with that on? If I was sitting next to her I'd say WTF are you wearing?? Get that thing out of my way." And I wonder how badly the TV people wanted to point out that you can't help but feel sorry for Kate's sister, Pippa. Mostly because her name is Pippa but also because no matter what she does - ever - she's never going to do anything at all that compares to this. But seriously, how cute are William & Kate? I can't wait to watch more of what I recorded.

So, in honor of the Royal Wedding, I decided to try a new recipe. Scones! Love scones. These are Brown Sugar-Pecan Scones and the recipe can be found HERE . I haven't had one yet, but I had a bite of Husband's and I thought it was so yummy! I plan to have one in the morning with my coffee...if I can wait that long.



There is a stick of cubed butter that is supposed to be there as well, but
it was in the fridge keeping cold and I forgot it for the picture. Oops.

There it is! Being added to the dry ingredients.

You're supposed to blend it together with a pastry blender. I don't
 have one. So I just use a fork and it seems to work well.

It's supposed to look like "small peas" but I don't think it does. But since
there were no more chunks of butter I called it "blended".

Adding the cream and toasted pecans to the party.

Mix until "just moistened". I always feel like I over-mix.

You pour it out onto a sheet of wax paper and pat into a 7 inch circle.

Cut into 8 wedges and place on a greased baking sheet. Brush tops with remaining
cream (and if you're like me then you'll add a sprinkle of sugar).

Bake until golden brown...YUM!

I do not trust cake or anything cake-like without some sort of frosting. So
I made up a quick cinnamon sugar glaze to go on top.

Yum! I can't wait to eat one.

Notes/Suggestions:

• I used 3/4 cup toasted pecans instead of a 1/2 cup. The 1/2 cup just didn't seem like enough.
• I had to use heavy whipping cream (instead of whipping cream) because it's what the store had. It seems to have worked just fine.
• I'm a big fan of glaze on things like this so I just made a simple powdered sugar glaze and added some cinnamon to it. LOVE cinnamon.
• Great for a brunch or "tea party"

Enjoy! (And sorry for the super long post.)