Our last weekend in May was glorious. We had perfect weather, and spent the majority of our days enjoying the simple things. We took walks and rode bikes. We barbecued, we inflated the baby pool, and we visited two neighborhood parks. It really felt like summer this past weekend.
On Saturday morning, Matt had a big task to handle. We've had a half cord of firewood sitting next to our house for about three years. A couples seasons back, Matt was a little overzealous about having fires in the fireplace all winter long. And so ordered a ridiculously large amount of firewood to keep on site. Three years later we had barely made a dent in it. (Mostly because our dinky little fireplace is completely unsatisfactory. And I'm too nervous to have large roaring fires in it. It's not energy efficient, it's an abnormally small unit, and we once caught a squirrel nest on fire which resulted in a visit from the neighborhood fire department.) Between Matt's lack of boy scout fire-building skills, and my nerves, we almost never have an indoor fires.
And just last week, we noticed that the wood pile had become infested with termites. So time to go bye bye! Matt spent the entire morning loading my car with bug ridden wood and driving it out to a local yard waste recycling center. I must admit, Sage and I got to have way more fun than Daddy that morning....
We went to the park.
He is so friendly. Says hi to almost anyone we cross paths with. And it's a very aggressive hi with lots of waving. He is just happy to be alive! If only we could all feel this way.
This stool just spins round and round and round.
After nap time, we determined it was warm enough to bust out the baby pool for the first time this season! Sage helped to fill it up. But hose water is icy cold. So I boiled a pot of water on the stove and added it to the pool. Then he willingly jumped in!
I fully support nudity when you're in your own backyard. If you don't wanna see it... then don't look! Plus who could possibly be offended by a cute little baby tushy?
Why not add some bubble action?
And after all that swimming, Sage was ready to lounge around.
(I'm guessing this kid will be a fabulous camper!
And in late July, we plan to find out.)
On Sunday, Matt got a wonderful surprise.
He got an early birthday present from his parents.
Matt got a brand new Weber grill!!
After its delivery Sunday morning, we took a family bike ride to another neighborhood park.
Then it was back home to break in the Weber. Matt cooked himself a t-bone steak. And I took over all the veggies for the family. The lettuce is from our garden. We have more lettuce than we know what to do with! The corn was from the grocery store. And it was superb! The trick is to grill it with the a single layer of husk on. So peel carefully...
And the potatoes were a new recipe I wanted to try. Salt and vinegar roasted smashed potatoes. I boiled the potatoes in a salt bath. Smashed them. Roasted them at 500 degrees. And brushed them with cider vinegar before and after baking. They were delicious.
On Wednesday, we were scheduled to have 2 new windows installed. I took the day off work to monitor the construction. While I was grateful for a day away from the office, it's hard to relax when you have a team of contractors running around your house for 7 hours. So the only thing I could think to do was bake. I first opted to make a Danish puff pastry.
Raw dough.
Baked dough.
Iced with almond glaze.
But in the end... it just wasn't that tasty. I have to say I think this recipe failed. And it's really frustrating to spend 3 hours cooking something only to dislike the final product. It's beautiful. But the flavor and the texture of the pastry just wasn't what I was expecting. I'm thinking I may have overcooked it. And maybe living in a high altitude location caused the pastry to react differently than intended. So I shall consider this one a dud and move on... Trial and error is all a part of the learning process!
For dinner, I tackled another new recipe. Crispy fried tofu in a chili ginger sauce with roasted garlic chips. This was much tastier. But... I think I made the tofu a little too crispy. That can be easily fixed next time with larger pieces of tofu and less cooking time. I will most certainly add this meal to my rotation, but with some minor adjustments.
And now time for a belly update.
Here I am 25 weeks along.
And for comparison purposes. Here is a picture (below) of when I was 25 weeks along with Sage. Look at the belly button difference! It's popped much sooner!
I think I look bigger now than then. And it certainly feels that way too. On many days my belly, sides, and back all ache. Everything is super tight....like I'm getting streeeeetched faster than I should.
I am finally big enough that I feel comfortable using these types of parking spaces! :)
I wanted to share with everyone a quick update on Nico. He is doing fabulous! After two days of IV fluids in the hospital, and a rigorous routine of oral medication and subcutaneous fluids at home...Nico's kidney levels have gone way done. In fact, we cut his levels by MORE than half! On the day he left the hospital we had cut the levels by about 25%. And we were told they might drop by just a couple more points. We didn't feel hopeful at that time. He was retested a week later. And surprisingly, after all his home treatments, the levels had significantly reduced. We can't be sure that his levels will stabilize at their new low amounts, but at this point, nothing indicates he is on his way out. He is as spunky and ornery as ever! He will be retested in a couple more weeks. He was originally given a month to live. Now we could possibly have him for another year!
And finally, to catch up on my CSU blog:
