Happy Halloween!

Lila wanted to wish everyone a happy Halloween!



She is a flamingo this year...not an owl or a cupcake as have been suggested by some people.

She also wanted to remind me that we forgot to carve our pumpkins this year, so she was just going to do it with her teeth.

Once we came inside, we realized that our costume made playtime kind of difficult.  The wings kept getting in the way of the sweet potato puffs she was trying to eat.  Rude.

Mushy Peas

Before Lila started eating solids, I looked around online for recipes for baby food.  I found that all of my favorite sites had one or two recipes, but that was it.  I wondered why they always stopped after a few.  Then I started making my own baby food and realized how extremely boring it is.



Follow these instructions explicitly:

1. Cook whatever vegetables you have in your fridge.
2. Puree them in a blender with some water.
3. Feed it to your baby who has both of her vampire teeth but not her two front teeth.



We also tried some solid cereal puffs today.  After I put them on her high chair tray, Lila picked them up individually and threw them each on the floor.  Then when she got a new round, she collected them in her sweaty little fists, about four or five in each.  She eventually ate a few of them but only when she thought I wasn't looking.

Finally...Success!

If you have been to my house at all in the last few weeks, you have probably seen at least one batch of failed macarons.  I probably could have done about seven posts on all the different mistakes I've made.  This morning I had to throw a batch out without even cooking them.  I almost decided to never make them again, but then I tried a new recipe, followed it very closely, and...the entire batch worked!



Look at the feet!

Perfect little bottoms!

Of all the recipes I've tried, the Not So Humble Pie one worked the best for me.  I added some cinnamon to the macaron recipe and filled them with pumpkin butter from Trader Joe's.  I'm hoping to make these candy cane ones and some caramel ones as the holidays get closer.

Disclaimer: I know that I am no food photographer, so forgive the attempts.

Christmas Photo Sneak Peak

I do realize that people hate me bringing up Christmas so early but tough cookies.  It is only 11 days until Christmas Music Day, after all.

Johnny, Lila, and I went out post flu shots this morning to get our Christmas card pictures taken by my mom.

We were about four minutes from walking out the door to go when Lila soaked through her diaper.  But could we change her outfit? Of course not! I just lay her down on the floor and dried her with my hair dryer.

Sometimes I forget how much Johnny and Lila look alike.  He's currently standing behind me brewing another batch of beer in his giant cauldron, by the way. 

I'm tempted to send out this photo just to show everyone what my child is really like.  You can't see it, but I guarantee that she also has a large chunk of my hair in her hand, and it's probably half grey.

Seven Months Old

Lila turned seven months old yesterday!



We had to forgo the pillow in the basket because she's gotten too big.

I'm not exactly sure how much she weighs, somewhere around 19.5 lbs.  I have absolutely no idea how tall she is, but I'm pretty sure she'll be my height by age 3.

At seven months old, Lila is really good at sitting up on her own.  She is also trying to crawl, but she just moves backwards and occasionally lifts one leg up in the air and kicks it.  She likes to say, "Ba!" and shake her head, "No," to everything I say.  We don't seem to be anywhere near saying, "Mama," or "Dada," but we're working on it.  Lila has two teeth, and it looks like another one is coming in.  Before we know it, we'll be sending her off to prom!  Hopefully she'll have more teeth by then...and wear a shirt. 

Mr. Bunny's Accident

When Lila was born, my sister gave her this stuffed animal that we call, "Mr. Bunny." I have since realized that it's probably a girl because it has one of those dots on its forhead.  So I suppose "Mrs. Hindu Lady in a Bunny Costume" would be more appropriate, but that's besides the point.



Mr. Bunny had an accident yesterday.  He was stuck under Lila's butt while she was in her carseat, and when I pulled him out, the fabric on his leg tore in multiple locations.  There was nothing we could do.  So we had to amputate.



Lila is very non-judgemental and still loves him just the same.

 

Christmas Cards 2012

As I prepare to dust off the visions of sugar plums that will soon be dancing in my head, I find myself beginning my Christmas card address list and looking around on various websites at the Christmas cards they have to offer.  Doing this reminded me of something I've been meaning say since last Christmas.

Before you order your Christmas cards this year, please hear me out.  On this blog, I usually focus on crafts or cooking or Lila, but one of my other passions (and I don't use that word lightly) is teaching English.  I blame it on being corrected on my grammar at the kitchen table throughout my childhood up to this very day.  And because of this, one thing that makes me cringe at Christmas time, and it's getting worse every year, is the excessive use of apostrophes in Christmas letters.  I do not want to be offensive, and please forgive me if you are someone who does this and I am offending you, but do consider it an intervention rather than an insult.

Incorrect Christmas Greeting:

Merry Christmas! 

Love,

The Hutson's

This would be incorrect.  In this situation, the Hutson family does not own anything.  All we are doing here is making "Hutson," our family's name, plural because there are multiple Hutsons (Johnny, Rachel, Lila) wishing you a Merry Christmas.  You would not say, "Look at those blimp's!" or "I love sale's!" Ehhhhhh...sends chills down my spine.  Now if, say, your dog were to send out a Christmas card, you could use an apostrophe, but it would be on the other side of the "s" because multiple Hutsons own the dog.  Like so:

Merry Christmas!

Love,

The Hutsons' Dog

We will never have a dog, by the way, and even if we do, it will not send out Christmas cards.  Now if your family and not your dog are the ones sending out the Christmas card, this would be a proper way to do it.

Correct Christmas Greeting:

Merry Christmas! 

Love,

The Hutsons

Ah, an appropriate way to greet people during the Christmas season.  Only seventy-one shopping days left!