Our Contribution to Stimulating the Economy

Behold the newest member of our family, Amy's sparkly new 2009 Saturn Aura. We had been considering buying a car for a while, at least since we knew Happy would be joining us, if not before. We wanted something big enough for two car seats, one of which would have to be rear facing, but small enough that we'd feel comfortable driving it. Oh, well, and it had to be pretty safe. Since we both rather like Saturns to begin with, we started there. You might remember that we very nearly bought a Vue before Happy came along, but came to our senses. Thank goodness! The rear seat of the Aura has MUCH more room than the Vue, which surprised us considerably. Happy's seat can easily fit, rear facing, without the passenger seat being uncomfortably close to the dash. As an added bonus, there's enough room that Poet currently can't kick the back of the driver's seat. Factor in that the Aura has ABS standard, plus front and side airbags, plus has a ginormous trunk, plus gets better gas mileage than the Vue PLUS costs less, well, it's a pretty good fit for us. Factor in that we ended up with about 17.5% in varying discounts that might not have been available in another few days, we went ahead and bought it. I think the only thing at this point that we don't like is that we'll have to fuel the car from the passenger side, which will be a big learning curve for both of us.

My favorite feature (dunno if it's standard in all Auras or if it just happened to be installed in the one we bought from the lot) is called "tap shift". All the cars I've ever owned have had a manual transmission, but Amy perfers automatic. Since this is Amy's car, it's automatic. But with the tap shift feature, the transmission has a "Manual" setting which allows me to control the transmission, well, manually. It's not anywhere near as fun as driving a car with a real manual transmission, and it definitely has its quirks, but it's a hoot, nonetheless.

So, the red 2009 Saturn Aura replaces Amy's red 2000 Saturn SL2, and joins my red 2002 Saturn SL1, which in replaced my old red 1992 Saturn SL 1.

Yay...

We've got conjunctivitis in the house again. Happy this time, can Poet be that far behind?

Yay...

An open letter to the lady in the blue SUV (aka a vent!)

Dear "Ms. I am SO important driving my SUV ":

I am in the lane you are merging into.. that means you have to yield. FYI- It is common courtesy to use a turn signal. Also the lines on the road - they have a purpose.- solid lines equals no crossing- wait for the dashes on the road. Finally, your middle finger looks fine... I am so glad you took the time to show it to me- wanna see mine?

Yours truly,
Amy

PS- AHHH I hate people who think they are above the rules of the road.

Pink Eye v2.0

Yep- The girl has pink eye again.
Yep- She got the pink eye all clear from the pediatrician on Friday
Yep- Children's Hospital Close to Home Urgent Care is open till 8:00pm on Sunday nights
Yep- The pink eye come with ear infection and upper respiratory infection
Yep- This is the 4 ear infection in 3 months
Yep- Tom rocks for spending the day at home with a sick 15 month old
Yep- She is still a trooper about getting drops in her eyes three times a day.
Yep- We need to add Lysol to the grocery list

Kick-@$$ Pork Chops

While Amy may not have cared much for my beef stew, my pork chops, based on this recipe is such a hit that it has been dubbed "Kick-@$$ Pork Chops".

The Players

The Hardware	9" cast iron skillet, well seasoned Meat tenderizer A flat, non-porous surface such as a plastic cutting board Tongs Whisk A piece of foil large enough to cover the skillet
The Ingredients	2 boneless pork loin chops, ~4-6 oz each, ~1/2 in thick kosher salt 1 tbsp flour, plus lots more for dusting and pounding 3 tbsp butter ~ 2 cups chicken broth

The Method

Preheat the oven to 350. Season the meat with a few pinches of salt and let stand about 5 minutes. Dust your work surface liberally with flour, put the pork loin chops on the dusted surface, liberally dust the other side of the pork with flour, then pound the bejeebers out of them with the meat tenderizer, adding more flour as needed and flipping once. Get them as flat as possible (I usually shoot for 1/4 inch or less), and in the process they'll gain a lot of surface area. I have a double-sided mallet, one flat and the other textured. I prefer to smack the chops with the textured side. Once the chops are sufficiently flattened, let rest a few minutes, while you put the skillet over high heat. Melt a tablespoon of butter in the skillet and then brown both sides of one of the chops. Remove to a plate and repeat with the other chop. Remove the second one, reduce the heat to medium, then add the final tablespoon of butter to the pan. Once melted, whisk in a tablespoon of flour, continue whisking for about a minute. Whisk in the chicken stock and let simmer for a couple of minutes. Add both chops back into the pan, making sure they're both submerged in the gravy. Cover the pan with foil, then pop in the oven. Cook for 75-90 minutes. Serve with a side of mashed potatoes (garlic mashed, if you're so inclined).

Makes 2 servings.

15 months

Time is moving fast! Our little girl is 15 months old today. She went to the pediatrician yesterday for her check up/pink eye follow-up visit. (yeah- she had pink eye last week!)

Only one vaccine shot this month and she did very well... only cried for a minute.

The Stats:
weight: 21lbs. 13 oz. -30th percentile
height: 31.25 inches tall- 60th percentile

no head measurement but she is still our little bobble head :)

Cool Site For Today

I stumbled across the site, www.befunky.com, which has sucked up inordinate amounts of my evening tonight. Here's what it does:

Take a picture, such as this freakishly odd picture of some random bald guy I found lurking around my hard drive

Upload it to the BeFunky.com website, and start playing. There are a number of preset styles, most of which have several options, and those options can be customized to a greater or lesser extent. Here are several new images I created in just a few minutes.

How cool is that? Plus, if you do something you really, really like, you can email your family and friends, and if you really, really, really like it, you can order merchandise through their site with your creation.

Duck, Duck, Goose!

A cute little story to share and remember.

Teagan has an alphabet book. It is a favorite because it is a touch and feel book. The letter "D" is represented by two ducklings. When we read the book, I have gotten into the habit of patting both on the head and saying "duck, "duck" and patting her head and saying "goose". I thought it was silly and went onto letter "E". Over the weekend, we were playing the game- Where is your nose? or Where is your belly? Later, when we were reading her book, she automatically put her hands on her head when we got to "D". Hmmm went my memory- so I asked her- Where is your goose? Up went the hands right on her hair. If you ask her where is her head is she has no clue, but if you ask her where her goose is, she consistently goes to her head. It is SO cute. We will need to work on the correct word but for now she is so proud of what she knows that I don't want to break her heart.

Skillet Beef Stew

The last time I blogged about making chili, my good friend, Joann commented that my recipe would have sounded good, if she didn't loathe chili. I responded that I thought it'd be possible to make a few changes to the recipe and get a pretty passable beef stew. Well, I finally got around to taking my own advice and giving it a go.

Bald Man Tom's Skillet Beef Stew, Take One

The Players

The Pan	12" cast iron skillet, well seasoned
The Ingredients	1 lb. "stew beef" kosher salt vegetable oil 1 tbsp butter 3 oz onion, finely diced 2 clove garlic, run through the garlic press 4 oz carrots, cut into bite-sized pieces 8 oz red potatoes, cut into bite-sized pieces 1 bay leaf 1 tbsp sage 1 tsp freshly ground black pepper 1/2 celery stalk, split 2-1/2 c beef broth, plus 6 tbsp 6 tbsp flour

The Method

Season the meat with a few pinches of kosher salt 5-10 minutes before cooking begins. Keat the skillet over high heat. Coat the skillet thinly with oil, then sear the meat quickly on all sides. Remove the meat from the pan and set aside. Lower the heat to medium, melt the butter and sautee the onion for 2-3 minutes. Add the garlic and continue another minute, or until the onions are soft. Stir in the onions and carrots, cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally 5-7 minutes. Add the meat back to the pan with 2-1/2 cups of the broth, the celery and all the spices, mix and bring to a simmer for 5 minutes. Make a slurry with the flour and remaining broth, then add to the pan and give it a good stir. Cover the pan with foil, then place in a 350 degree oven for 75 minutes. Serve over noodles or rice.

Makes 4 servings.

Notes

I would have added more carrots, if I'd had them. The 4 oz listed was all I had. If you're interested in trying this with other veggies, add your root-type veggies with the carrots and potatoes, and things like beans and peas about 15-30 minutes before cooking is complete.

The Verdict

Not too bad, not too good. Amy didn't care for it much at all, there was something about the flavor that she found off-putting. I think it was probably the sage. I didn't find it overpowering, but I think her tastebuds are a little more sensitive than mine. For myself, I thought there was something missing, but I can't put my finger on it. I'm thinking that sage isn't the right herb for this job, but I'm not sure what I'd use with beef. I'll have to do some reading. Or, if any of you out there in interwebland have any ideas, I'm open to suggestion

Lessons Learned

Lessee:

• Beef broth just doesn't have a lot of taste. I've tried several different brands and styles, nothing really works for me. Maybe that's why I felt something was lacking. I might also consider a combo of broth and tomato juice.
• I think the 6 tbsp flour was too much. I'll cut that in half next time, but I'm worried that it'll be too thin.
• The beef didn't get nearly as tender as I'd expected. I'm going to blame the "beef for stewing" package I got from my local megamart. Next time I'll buy a hunk of chuck and break it down myself.
• I need more practice...

2 month old stats

We were back at the doctor's again today.. This time for the boy's 2nd month check up, oxygen level check and the girl's 10 day ear ache follow up. I am happy to report all is well.

Now for the stats:
Weight: 12 lbs. 5 oz. -50th percentile
Height: 22.5 inches- 25th percentile
Head Circumference: 15.5 inches- 30th percentile

Happy Is Home

Thanks to all of you for your thoughts and prayers. Happy was released from the hospital around 11A this morning. The virus still has to run its course, but the doctors think that the worst is behind him.

Nicknames

You'll noticed that I've started referring to the kiddos by different nicknames. Bambina and Bambino are visually too close to each other, so I chose new nicks which are the meanings of their names. The Boy's name, literally, means "happy," The Girl's name means "little poet" or "beautiful."

So now you know...

... and knowing is half the battle! *

* Do I owe Hasbro money for saying that?

Update on Happy

We'd had high hopes that we'd be writing with news that Happy was safely back home, but that news will have to wait for another day. He's spending another night here at Childrens' hospital. From what we know, the only hurdle to his release is being disconnected from the oxygen. He needs to have it off for 6 hours and have his blood oxygen level remain above 90%. Unfortunately, that hasn't happened today. Maybe tomorrow. But, he's looking better, and as long as we suction the gunk out of his nose, he is able to keep down what he's eating, which is a marked improvement. Gonna have to find one of those industrial nose suckers, they really help!

Happy Thoughts for Happy

Looks like I posted about an hour too early last night. After I put the computer away, Amy tried to feed Happy, who subsequently blorphed the little he had taken, plus most of what he had taken his previous feeding. When we changed him, he hadn't wet, and we got thinking that he hadn't had one in "a while," mostly likely 5-6 hours. We took his temp, and it was between 99-100, so we called the pediatrician, who told us to take him to the ER at Childrens' Hospital. So, about 12:30A this morning, we got him checked out. The ER doctor told us that he likely just had a cold, to feed him less formula but more often, and to check in with urgent care this afternoon for more tests in case something else was going on. He spent most of the day sleeping until we went to urgent care, and only took about 5 oz of formula in the 10 hours we were home (he usually takes 4 oz in a feeding every 3 hours). The urgent care doctor took an x-ray and did a test for Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV). The x-ray was negative for pneumonia, but the RSV test came back positive, so she recommended that he be admitted to Childrens'. So, about 3P today, we checked him in. He's been officially diagnosed with BSV, bronchiolitis, and dehydration. He's on an IV to help with the dehydration, and Amy just called and told me he's on oxygen, as his blood oxygen levels had dropped. Hopefully, by tomorrow, the rehydration will have helped with his appetite and we can get everyone back home. We'll keep you informed...

Toxic House

Enter at your own risk...

We've had a pretty long run of bad health here lately. Poet has had a runny nose for... about two weeks now? Her nose gets very caked at times, and she just cries so badly when we try to clean her up. Amy got something nasty on Monday, I came down with a nasty cold on Tuesday, and Amy got the brunt of the same cold on Wednesday. While we've been recovering, Happy finally came down with it something last night. He's blorphed all over me twice, not the typical "spit-up" blorph, but the "soak-you-enough-to-change-your-shirt" kind. Ugh, poor kid...

Currently Serving as the Wallpaper on My Phone

Sorry about the poor quality, but I took it with my phone's camera, which sucks mightily. But, it's a darned cute picture :)

Stats

Asher went for his one month check up this morning. No shots today, they start next month. He was a good little boy and didn't cry that much, even with the cold stethoscope.

Weight: 10lbs 15oz.- 75th percentile
Head Circumference - 15 inches- 50th percentile
Height: 21.5 inches- 40th percentile

This would have been a great post...

So around 3am this morning I had a great post written in my head. Unfortunately between then and now I have forgotten most of what was in my head. It went something like this...

Our house is quiet... too quiet. So I begin my journey:

• Baby Boy now fed and sleeping, snoring slightly.
• Little Girl in her crib, sleeping with her "tags" blanket with in easy reach, snoring slightly
• Two spoiled cats sleeping at the end of the bed taking up majority of the leg room, both snoring
  
• Hubby sleeping but so still and not currently snoring. I give him a small nudge and he grunts and goes back to sleep.

It is 3am and all is well and my blessings have been counted.

The Oddest Question I've Been Asked This Year

"Do you eat butts?"

-- Amy, while holding up a mostly empty bag of bread

Happy 1 month Baby Boy!

It is hard to believe that it has been one month since our little family expanded to four. Asher is a good little boy.

A few things to remember:

• He enjoys his naps (knock on wood!)
• He is a good traveler- He traveled several hours in the car over the Christmas holiday.
  
• He doesn't like to burb... but will be miserable for 30-60 min after a bottle.
• He likes his bottle- he is currently taking 3-4 oz every 3-4 hours
• Yes, I know it is gas, but he has a heart-breaker smile.
• He loves a good snuggle.
  
• He looks like his dad.