One little poang...so much love

We'd like you to meet most of Esme's entourage...
from the left: gogo, dolly, baby and (the most recent addition) roxy
apparently everyone is a fan of Word World!

If you can make it there...

We had a great visit this last weekend to where else but New York, New York!!
Esme and I were lucky enough to stay in our friend's (the Vroon's) apartment where Esme took full advantage of her friend Isaac's baby gear by not only playing with all of his toys (hope we got all the banana out of the toy box Julie :)) but she also took a nap in his crib...let me try that once more just in case anyone didn't catch it the first time...Esme took a N-A-P in a C-R-I-B...I know I could hardly believe it myself (the ups and downs of our sleeping life are a whole other post but I just had to share that very exciting tid-bit!)
Anyway... we started our exciting trip with a new haircut for mom documented below...
Of course our first order of business once in Manhattan was a stroll through Chelsea Market where Esme found the perfect hat to complete her Manhattan look...

Friday night we had a great dinner with Uncle Steve, Auntie Anna, Uncle Nathan, Auntie Veronica and Grandma Bette...I think we all must have been as tired as I felt because there are apparently no pictures to document our lovely meal from my favorite NY takeout spot Spice.
Saturday morning Esme and I walked up to the corner and shared a croissant and OJ from LaBergamot for breakfast before meeting up with Auntie Anna for some shoe shopping and heading off to Central Park where we met up with not only the rest of the fam but the pugs as well.
Esme was in seventh heaven running around the park with Grandma Bette and enjoying her first ice cream bar of the season (well maybe her first ice cream bar ever...)

The running did include frequent trips back to the group to check on the pugs...
We capped off a great day with a meal at our favorite restaurant Cafeteria, Esme has been frequenting this NYC hotspot since before she was born and when she was a baby their loud music made it one of her favorite places to sleep. It must remain one of her favorites as she spent the duration of the meal spinning around the corner of our corner booth like a little top and stacking the three ramekins our friend Anne-Lane's dinner came in as if they were mac and cheese blocks that she was playing with.
Esme and our friend Anne-Lane at dinner...
After an exhausting dinner topped off with blackberry cardamom margaritas (I don't need any of you to remind me I gave up alcohol for lent...this was an occasion, personally I think blackberry cardamom margaritas are an occasion all of their own) We decided to stay one more night in Manhattan and made the great journey back home on Sunday missing father daddy's sunday morning sermon...oh well, there will be many more where that came from :)

As I was parking the car after our return Andrew decided he should style Esme's hair for our Sunday night potluck...I swear I can't leave those two alone for a minute...


I have to throw in one last picture from today of Esme lounging in her new Poang chair...where does she learn this stuff?

granola

So there is not a ton in the food area I've done lately that I'm really proud of but yesterday I (well Esme and I really) made THE BEST granola!
I made granola for Christmas, to give as gifts, and it was pretty good...at least I heard that people ate it. I made another batch after that and it was edible. I was proud just because I made it, and I forced myself to eat it (also because I made it) but I'll be the first to admit it was not great.
Yesterday's granola however, totally different story!
I'm even going to post the recipe...
I took:
3 cups of oats
1/2 cup of slivered almonds
1/2 cup of raw pecan pieces
1/2 cup of roasted cashew pieces
(all from Trader Joes)
I think I also added almost 1/2 cup of sunflower seeds
obviously you could substitute whatever nuts you like best, these are just what I happened to have.
add 1/3 cup vegetable oil
then use the same measuring cup unrinsed to
add 3/4 cup honey
stir these ingredients together and cook at 300 for 30 minutes stirring or turning or something resembling that every 10 minutes
I used a baking pan that has a little higher lip than most cookie sheets to keep my stirring a little cleaner.
After I pulled them out I put them back in the original bowl and added as many craisins as I thought I wanted.
Then I gave it a stir and left it to cool, I came back to stir it about 3 times over the course of a couple hours...oh and to steal bites but I pretty much left it so that it would clumpy as it cooled.

I'm definitely a fan...now we just need to make more yogurt so I can eat it all up!

Esme was a very good helper, especially where the fallen sunflower seeds were concerned

The finished product

a brief update

It's been too long.
I realize when I get too busy I forget to have something to say.
And we've been busy, just with normal life.
Trying to get into a nap and bedtime schedule.
This week there were two church events during the week for Shrove Tuesday and Ash Wednesday, which, while wonderful sort of threw a wrench in our works.
Esme is adding words like crazy, her favorite right now is "No" and she has recently learned the trick of throwing herself to the ground on her bottom when she doesn't want to do what I'm requesting...I thought we were still a long way from two but apparently not so far.
Part of our new bedtime routine is teethbrushing and I think she must ask 5-7 times a day for "tee" she loves brushing her teeth (boy did she not get that from her mama :))
Esme just got her own little poang from ikea (it is soo cute) and she loves sitting in her chair with her baby watching Word World (I love it too!)
Here are some pictures of nothing particularly important...just life.

Esme and her "hat hat hat" (always said in a whisper)

Esme and Baby

Andrew and I dressed up for a formal Valentines Day event

A sneak peek at Isla's present (which I will someday mail)

An exhausted mama cuddling her first two babies

sleep

So far there is only one thing I wish I had done differently with Esme. (I have no doubt this will change in the years to come)

Minutes after she was born the nurse put her in my arms/on my stomach and immediately started nursing. She nursed to sleep that first night just hours after she was born and nursing has been her favorite thing ever since. If I could remember them, I'm sure I could count on one hand the instances in her infanthood when Esme fell asleep without nursing (stroller and car seat rides aside).

Now she HAS TO nurse to sleep every night and for most naps (see stroller, car seat comment above). I lay there lamenting the loss of any time I may have had to myself, as every moment it takes her to fall asleep ticks by v-e-r-y- s-l-o-w-l-y.

So when Esme and I came home from Minnesota where I had had a small taste of time to myself I announced that we were beginning a night time routine, only one nap during the day and an early bed time! "Why would we schedule her" Andrew asked "We've never scheduled her?"

"Because otherwise I might die" this was the only clear answer in my mind.

I know I should be loving these quiet moments where my child wants only me...there will be so many where she wants anyone but me (I'm assured by all) but I don't love them, because when you spend 3-4 hours a day just getting your child to sleep the list of things you could be accomplishing with that time becomes huge and un-ignorable.

Like today for instance...with two hours of personal assistant work looming in front of me (keeping me from the sewing projects and yogurt making I really want to be doing) I spent a full hour laying next to a screaming, exhausted child. She finallly slept for 10 minutes, I then spent 30 minutes trying to get out of bed without waking her, failed attempts every time. I then had to give up and realize she would just go without a nap today. This happens at least once a week. On days not as cold as today I will sometimes just haul her into the stroller, find a quick errand to run and pray that I can get her up the stairs and into the building without waking her after she has inevitably fallen asleep on our journey. But somedays I'm just not up for all that. Today was one of them. So two rounds of Word World later (I'm getting awfully sick of can, can, can you build a new word from these letters...) I got my work done...we played and YES!!! Time to begin the bedtime routine!

What I'm most amazed about is how quickly Esme has figured out this routine...we've probably  had it in place off and on for two weeks...we've had it down for a total of five nights and we took a two night break in the middle of them when we went to NY. But tonight after eating she announced "ah duh" and promptly said "Bah" (bath)...in the bathtub she announced "ah duh" and I said what should we do next...she sad "teeh" (teeth) we brushed her teeth and went into the bedroom (she still learning lotion which came next) then we came downstairs and tucked in baby and go go she has added the step of giving them nigh nigh kisses, then we go upstairs and read two books. 

In the first book they talk about hanging up their towels and Esme always points to where we hung her towel on the door, then they put on their pajamas and Esme points to her pajamas, last thing before turning out the light we read Good Night Moon, this is her favorite because of the "maw-maws" then she kisses bunny good night on the last page and lays down to get nigh-nigh milk.

and at 6:30 I'm cooking my dinner and writing this blog entry.

I love this routine!!!

Now we just have to figure out a naptime routine...any ideas??