Easter egg dyeing with Leo

Leo is old enough this year to really enjoy some of the Easter traditions like egg dyeing and hunting. So he was thrilled when we went to the market to get the egg coloring supplies. Beets and blueberries and tumeric, I told him. I fully intended for us to make our own natural dyes this year. But with beets in my cart and two kids already starting to fuss a little bit, I panicked and grabbed the last packet of natural dye from the shelf. I told myself that we would still make the dye from scratch if we had time, but I knew that we probably wouldn't, and that was okay. I am learning that with two littles, sometimes you have to take short cuts and postpone the big projects for another time.

Leo didn't even seem to notice that the plan had changed. He was perfectly happy when I set the 4 plastic cups of colored water in front of him and he didn't even complain about wearing a smock. He enjoyed drawing on the eggs with crayons before dunking them into the colors, and he thought that the ones with his name and Everly's name were "cool." He also wanted to sample one of the eggs right away after dyeing, and looked a little disappointed that it tasted like a normal hard-boiled egg.

We used brown eggs from Vital Farms because we like the taste of them and I knew we would be eating them. I didn't think about what brown eggs would look like dyed, but I think the colors actually turned out beautifully, especially the saffron orange, the lavender, and the violet ones. Leo double-dunked some of the eggs, in two different colors, so I think that made for some of the darker, deeper shades. We also stickered the eggs after dyeing them.

Evie slept through the entire project, which actually gave Leo and I some nice quality time together. Maybe next year she'll be up for it. And maybe I'll be up for making homemade dye!

Belated St. Paddy's Day Pics of Kiddos...

Everly 8 months

Dear Everly,

Watching you grow these past 8 months has been such a wonder for me. You went from smiling and giggling to crawling and sitting so fast that even your big brother had a hard time keeping up with you. You have two little teeth coming in on the bottom and you are happily eating solids -- avocado, banana, and butternut squash are some of your favorites, but you also like broccoli and pears.

You are such a sweetheart and you smile often. When you do, the affection just pours out of you. Your biggest smiles are for your brother, but your daddy has clearly won your heart and you love to smile at him and then turn away quickly and bury your head in my shoulder as if you are flirting with him. Your eyes light up every time Daddy walks into the room. Your first word was Mama back in December in Los Angeles, but you said Dada shortly thereafter, according to your father.

You officially started crawling on Febrary 13 and you haven't stopped since. You can also push yourself up to seated and pull up on chairs/couches/toychests to get onto your knees. You started doing this in your crib, too, and I had to have Daddy lower the mattress level so that you won't go over the top bar. We have also seen you stand a few times holding on to something but I don't think you're quite strong enough yet to really stand on your own. Don't even think about walking anytime soon, mama can't take too much change all at once!

You and your brother are quite a fearless duo. You are watching him closely, learning all of his tricks, I am sure. He makes you smile and laugh every day, and if he's planning on being naughty, you are unknowingly his partner in crime. He loves to give you toys to play with but will occasionally snatch the toys away from you or bop you on the head with something when he thinks I am not looking. You often cry instantly when he does this because you know I will come running to soothe you. Your crying never lasts long though before you're ready to be back down on the play mat with Leo. You two....

I love you very much, sweet Everly, and look forward to your next move.

First photo he ever asked me to take of him...

First Snow / Snow Pro

The snowstorm we are expecting this week/weekend got me thinking about Leo's first snow here in Bronxville and the magical expression on his face when he saw the snow falling outside for the first time.

Now, several months later, he seems like an ol' snow pro with the way he tromps around in his snow boots; admires his tracks; makes and throws snowballs at me; sticks out his tongue to catch the snowflakes; drags his Snowboogie board up the hill with daddy and rides it down himself; shovels snow with the big red snow shovel that is much bigger than he. This kid even wants to cut out paper snowflakes and make a "snowman" when we're indoors! 

He may be the only one not waiting for spring to arrive....

What a difference a year makes.

It's been just over a year since I last posted on this blog and so much has changed. The new title of this blog only tells part of the story. As I sit here in Bronxville, New York, writing this post, my two kiddos are asleep in the room they share down the hall, and Christopher is working as a real doctor (no longer a student doctor!) in his first year of residency at St. Barnabas Hospital in the Bronx. The last year has been the most challenging of my life thus far, but my heart is swollen with love and gratitude for these beautiful, healthy children, and their super-dad who keeps life interesting and exciting every step of the way. I wouldn't want to be on this journey with anyone else.

One year ago, I was working full time and looking very pregnant with the soon-to-be Miss Everly. One year ago, Christopher was waiting to hear back from the residency programs he had applied to. Where would we end up? One year ago, I was feeling nervous and excited about our next adventure and hoping that it would be New York. One year ago, my baby boy was about to turn 2. One year ago, I was looking forward to spending more time with my Leo and watching him grow into a little boy. 

Now, here we are. In the place I imagined, with the kids I imagined. But of course nothing is exactly how I imagined because I could never have known what all of this would be like. How it would feel or how much work it would be. Being a stay-at-home-mom is by far the hardest thing I have ever done in my life. For a while after Everly was born, each kid felt like a full time job. Now it just feels like one very intense job...long hours, late nights, lots of overtime, no personal time, no vacations, oh and did I mention no pay? Ha! I complain but I really do love the experience of being able to be home with the babies now, to watch all their firsts and to watch them grow closer as siblings. Every time I get frustrated with the latest mess or complaint or crying fit, I try to think about how quickly this time is passing and how I won't get to hold them like this forever. I know the day will come when I will need and want to do something other than be their mom, but for now, I am relishing these moments and working on my mindfulness parenting as best I can. 

I have decided to turn this once food-focused blog into a blog about our family's New York adventures and milestones, mainly for family and friends who want to follow them. I also want to document this time in our lives for my children and for me and Christopher. This seems to be a perfect outlet for that. I am, however, planning to start a separate, more sophisticated food blog in the not-so-distant-future that will document our exploration into food health with delicious recipes and kitchen adventures. Stay tuned for more news about that! 

-A

From True Food Kitchen to Our Table

Oh, hello there. It's been a while since I've posted here but I'm finally "back" from a particularly rough first trimester of pregnancy with baby #2. Yay! We are doing well at about 17 weeks now - wow, I had forgotten how fast it goes! And now that the cat is out of the bag and I have my appetite back, I can get back to blogging about all things savory, scrumptious, and decadent...which brings me to a recent meal we prepared for a particular birthday boy.

My in-laws were visiting from Los Angeles last weekend and we celebrated Uncle Jim's birthday with a deliciously healthy feast inspired by Dr. Andrew Weil's True Food Kitchen. The featured dish was this Tuscan Kale Salad, and I have to say that if you have not yet enjoyed kale in its natural state, you need to make this recipe for dinner tonight! Not only was it a huge hit but after two days of leftovers, we were seriously considering making another batch.

Salmon and chicken were served with the kale, both very complementary. The salmon rub, which I believe my mother-in-law also found from True Food Kitchen, was delicious. I feel blessed to have in-laws who enjoy cooking and are so good at designing tasty menus on the fly to accommodate wheat/gluten-free diets. The one thing that my mother-in-law noted about tripling the kale recipe was that we needed more dressing than she anticipated (I actually did not feel that my kale was underdressed but the verdict was more dressing next time).

We finished off the dinner with a chocolate nut torte that I had been wanting to make for eons (recipe courtesy of Aunt Janet) and it was superb. The party favor was a jar of homemade lemon curd, made with honey as the sweetener. I will post these dessert recipes at a later date because they are both just to die for. Happy Birthday, Uncle Jim!