Sweetheart Dinner

I have been following the date ideas on Rebekah and Andi's dinner at eight project for a while now and finally decided to take the plunge this month and join in. I'll admit I was a bit intimidated by the idea as I am much less crafty than they but couldn't agree more with their premise to date our husbands so here goes!

I used to wonder how women could convert to sweat-pants-wearing, non-hair-doing individuals after they had kids. Now I know because I'm one of them. Graham is lucky if he gets home before I've changed into my pjs for the night. I've forgotten what perfume and jewelry are. And as for shaved legs--do people still do that?! Needless to say, a nice night filled with intentional romance was in order for my dear man. Neither of us wanted to bother with finding a babysitter so we option to follow tradition and celebrate at home.

As you can see, our dinner started a little late. :) Graham had to work and so didn't get home until after 8. He wanted to have a fire after dinner and insisted on picking up the firewood himself as I think he wanted it to be a treat for me. He said the line of frantic men trying to buy flowers for their ladies at Safeway at 8 PM was rather comical. :)

I think Graham nearly fell over when he came in saw that I'd actually cleaned up and put a dress, jewelry AND perfume on for our little "date." I think my attire must have inspired him to change out of his scrubs and get dressed up too. Both of us completed our outfits with slippers which unfortunately I neglected to document on film. 

I had a light appetizer ready for Graham when he came home. I used a cookie cutter and to keep the olive tapenade in the shape of a heart (almost!) on slices of baguette. And I splurged just a little on this Spanish tempranillo (a wine recommended by Bon Appetit Magazine to pair with our entree). 

Graham handed me these succulent plants when he walked in the door (he's been instructed over the years not to bring any "dead" flowers home, only live, potted ones) and a tear-jerking card. What a guy!

We've been on a duck kick lately and so a special request was made that duck be on our Valentine menu. Graham selected a phenomenal (and easy!!) recipe from Bon Appetit: Seared Duck Breast with Cherries and Port Sauce. Seriously amazing if you like duck! After enjoying a couple appetizers, we got to work searing our duck breasts and reducing our sauce.

I made a Potato and Celery Root Puree to accompany the duck and boy was it a great combo! I replaced the russet potatoes with yukons and used garlic salt instead of celery salt. It was a breeze to make and definitely came out restaurant-quality.

Graham voted for brussel sprouts to complete the meal (seriously who is this man that I married!?) so I found a recipe that included red pepper flakes for heat and a dash of nutmeg.

The plate came out near-perfection if I do say so myself! And I'm pretty sure the entire meal could come together in 30, maybe 40 minutes tops, depending on who's cooking.

We savored our meal over candlelight, exchanged cards and enjoyed in-depth conversation over wine. I think in the busyness of this season of young-child-rearing, it is so easy to forget to intentially compliment one another. We were able to spend some time doing that as we read each other's cards. I really, really love this man and he truly is God's perfect match for me.

I felt so blessed by our evening together. It took a little advance planning but the experience was so worth it!

Oh and lest we forget about dessert! We closed out the evening (nearing midnight!) with Graham's favorite: Rhubarb Custard Pie. A la mode of course.

Happy Valentine's Day Sweetie! Here's to many more!

Contentment

I am desperately in need to developing some of this in my life right about now. On and off over the past few months, I keep finding myself in this yucky space of dissatisfaction, fear, anxiety and self doubt. I guess you could call it discontent. It isn't a place I enjoy being and it's a place I'd really like to learn to stay away from.  The Lord kind of thwacked me over the head this weekend and pointed it out to me as if to say this needs to change. I am grateful but I'm also at a loss. How does one learn to be content?

I'm kind of excited because usually when I realize one of my faults, I get overwhelmed and end up running away and not doing anything about it because I don't even know where to start. But this time I keep hearing the Lord speak to me. Stick with it. Study. Be honest about your struggle. Read my Word. So last night I told my pastor's wife and a couple other women I am in leadership with. I wasn't really planning to but I sort of just blurted it out. I felt very vulnerable but also very free. (And now I'm telling you all, whoever "you all" may be!) My pastor's wife immediately began quoting Philippians 4:12: “I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want." That is my heart's desire but how do I get there?

Today I came across this old devotion from Our Daily Bread:

"A poet once wrote: “As a rule, man’s a fool. When it’s hot, he wants it cool. And when it’s cool, he wants it hot. Always wanting what is not.”

What an insightful observation on human nature! So when we read in Philippians 4:11, “I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content” we wonder, Can this be possible?

For Paul it was. Philippians 4:12-13 describes Paul’s response to life: “I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through Him who gives me strength” (NIV). Paul’s relationship with God superseded whatever he did or did not have. His contentment was not based on his circumstances, but on his relationship with Christ.

Paul reminds us that contentment doesn’t happen overnight. It’s something that we learn. As our relationship with God develops over time and through experiences, we learn to trust God more and ourselves less. Paul knew that Christ would give him the strength to persevere in whatever situation he encountered (v.13).

No matter what you’re facing today, through prayer you can receive the strength to be content."

My contentment is not based on my circumstances but rather on my relationship with Christ (praise God!) This is my take away snippet for today. On that note, any other nuggets of wisdom from you readers who might be more mature in this area than I? How have you learned to be content?

Valentine's Past

Just for fun, I've been reminiscing over Valentine's Days past and figured I should get down to business and document them. It's a good thing too because my memory is fading fast! Someday I'm sure my girls will want to look back and see how their parents did romance "back in the old days." We must really be getting old because the first few years are in the pre-digital camera days so I have no pictures.

2004? - Or possibly 2003? Graham reminded me today that we've spent more Valentine's Days together than I originally thought. Our first V-Day was actually before we were a couple. He was chasing after me but I was oblivious. Somehow he sneakily managed to go take my sister, our friend Danae and myself all to dinner. Very smooth. We went to the Mongolian Grill because "none of us had other plans" but looking back I'm pretty sure Graham had a hand in orchestrating it all. He didn't pay (because he would have had to pay for all three girls!!) so I guess technically it wasn't a date. Following dinner, we met up with a group of fellow SPUers for mini golf at Bullwinkles. I'm pretty sure I won.

2005 - Technically our first Valentine's Day "together." I told Graham to be ready at 6 AM or some ungodly hour and picked him up before our classes and drove him to a neighborhood on Queen Anne hill where we had a "sunrise" breakfast (in quotations because it was so cloudy there wasn't really a sunrise to be had). I served him hot chocolate, fruit and heart-shaped scones and introduced him to homemade raspberry jam which he now adores. We always joke about this part because the jam jar had an old label on it that never washed off from a prior batch that read "Rasp 1999." Graham called it "Vintage Jam" and barely believed me when I promised the stuff I served him wasn't really that old. Graham returned the romance that evening and took me to a place we think was called The Atrium downtown Seattle. I'm not sure if it is still around but it was up in one of the tall buildings with a nice view. The main reason he chose it was because he had a coupon for it from the entertainment book and when you are a poor college boy, you do what you have to do. Unfortunately, they didn't honor coupons in Valentine's Day so he had to pay full price--oops! I asked him about it today and he said "It was ok because you ordered gnocchi which was pretty cheap." I love that he remembers! :) Then he brought me back to his place for some homemade chocolate fondue. He had candles burning and everything which proceeded to leave smoke stains on the walls--sorry SPU housing! I bought him a CD storage book (you know the kind with all the sleeves to put the CDs in?) and wrote all the things I loved about him on these heart-shaped cards and put them in the pockets. Apparently that was back in the day when I had endless time on my hands.

2006 - This was a hard V-Day as I was in Texas for my internship and we were smack dab in the middle of our year of long distance. Graham sent me a special package that I remember opening in the car outside of the WIC building before I went inside for my rotation. I think the package contained a letter, a CD of burned love songs (a classic Graham gift that I always cherish) and probably some chocolate. He claims there was a book of love poems in there too.

2007 - This year was really memorable. So memorable that neither of us can remember it. We were engaged and must have been deep into wedding planning as we got married the following month. I'm pretty sure this was the year we went out to breakfast at Dish in Fremont. I remember something about red strawberries and whipped cream. Maybe Graham was working the night shift or something? Whatever the case, we couldn't celebrate that evening and so did breakfast instead. That's all we could glean from our fading brains.

2008 - I came across this picture of our Valentine's Day in 2008. Too bad it gives me absolutely zero hint as to how we celebrated except that apparently we drove in the car! :) I'm pretty sure this was the year that we decided to go down to Pike Place Market and buy all the ingredients for a fancy, make-it-yourself Valentine's Day dinner. We bought fresh pasta, scallops and mushrooms and made one of our all time favorite dishes: Seared Scallops with Portobello Mushroom and Truffle Emulsion (apparently our Valentine's tradition as it also made an appearance on our 2011 menu pictured below).

2009 - I remember this evening pretty well, mostly because I was beyond exhausted which is probably why I didn't think to take pictures. I was early in my pregnancy with Isla and, as is tradition in our house, we were a little behind the eight ball on making reservations for the big night. Sooooo, when we finally got around to it, the only option left at our restaurant of choice, Brad's Swingside Cafe, was 9:30 PM. We should have just said "forget it" and stayed home but apparently that didn't feel right either. It was a work night for Graham and I remember feeling ready for bed before he even arrived home at 7:30. I made some appetizers to enjoy (mostly just to keep me awake!) until it was time to go to dinner and we ended up having a lovely time out. What sticks out in my memory the most is that, in my naivety, I asked the waiter if the pasta sauce was simmered for a long time because wine was listed as an ingredient and I was absolutely paranoid that it might hurt the baby. I'm sure he probably left our table laughing his head off on the inside.

2010 - This was probably one of my favorite Valentine's. You can read more about it here. Since Isla had joined our family, we got creative and had a family overnight date at the downtown Seattle Sheraton, complete with swimming at the hotel pool, Thai takeout and champagne. Fun times!

2011 - Wouldn't you know it, I was pregnant again. And Graham had to work. So, it was another home date for us which have actually become quite fun when I have my act together enough to do some planning. I built a fire and made a multi-course meal of our favorite French salad with puff pastry-wrapped goat cheese, Scallops w/ Truffle Emulsion (mentioned about) over pasta and strawberries with whipped cream which we ate in front of the fire after Graham got home from work.

Graham was in the middle of an unbelievably busy week with school, work and church so hadn't even had a spare second to think about V-day. I was really shocked when he came home, gift in hand with a sweet card and these lovely silver lace earrings

 

Well, that was a fun little walk down memory lane. Looking forward to whatever we may conjure up for Valentine's Day 2012!

Goodbye January!

If I'm honest, I'm ready for February to come. Or at least I think I am. Lots of fun things happen in February. There's my half birthday and Isla's half birthday and Emma's half birthday should be in there too though she technically doesn't have a half birthday since there is no February 30th. How did I let that happen?! Oh and then of course there's Valentine's Day.

January has been a bit bumpy this year. It started with illness for all of us girls, sleep deprivation, a near loss of my milk supply, poor growth and bottle rejection for Emma, a second bout of illness for the girls, sleep training. And then some bad news. It's been stressful and I've been emotional. But I've also been growing in my faith and for that I am grateful. I'm gaining perspective. So many of these challenges are temporary and so I'm learning to focus on the eternal.

I'm really looking forward to flipping my calendar page tomorrow and starting a new month. There are lots of things in February that I'm really nervous about but also so many occasions to celebrate. I for one just adore holidays and of course Valentine's Day is no exception. I mean really, what girl doesn't love a little extra affection from her man if she's being completely honest? Isla's already asking "What is a Valentine?" and I'm excited to show her! Happy February!

Emma: 22 Weeks

Emma is now officially 5 months old!

This week has gone much better than some of the weeks prior. We seem to be making headway on the whole sleep training ordeal for which I am oh so grateful. It is not easy to let your baby cry but after the last few weeks, I am 100% confident that sleep is a learned behavior and that sleeping and bedtimes must be taught. We've gone from having a baby who wouldn't go to bed before 11 PM (and who ate at 5 PM, 7 PM, 9 PM, 11 PM etc) to having a baby who eats for the last time ~6:30 PM and then is able to make it until early morning before needing to feed again. Last night, she went from 7:15 PM to 8 AM without eating!!! Granted, that could have been a fluke, but it's major progress. She still lets out a few squawks throughout the evening after we put her down but is no longer crying for long stretches before falling asleep. She usually wakes 1-2 times a night but I'm not feeding her if it's before 4 AM. The last couple nights a binky plug is all she's needed. Tonight I got brave enough to put her down back in her room with Isla (because I have company coming this weekend who will need the guest room!) I am so hoping we don't undo our progress.

Emma absolutely adores her sister. Every time Isla talks, it gets her attention, even if someone else is talking at the same time. Isla has a knack for making her giggle and you can just tell the two love each other.

Emma loves grabbing my hair and swatting my face while she nurses. Now I remember why I wanted short hair after having Isla!

She loves being held up above my head like an airplane and is starting to really enjoy peekaboo. Apparently she is also rather intrigued by her tongue.

DIY

I have a rather long list of projects I'm hoping to tackle. If I didn't know better, I'd wonder if I might be pregnant and experiencing some form of the nesting phase. Maybe there is such thing as I-have-a-2-year-old-and-a-5-month-old-and-I-need-to-do-something-other-than-change-diapers-and-feed-with-these-hands-of-mine sort of nesting. I'm not quite sure where I expect to find the time to implement this mental list of projects since I can't seem to get the girls to sleep at the same time but who cares about that detail! :) I just need to create!

Sooooooo, I placed an order yesterday for this fabric:

Our dining chairs have white cushions (seriously, who buys dining chair with white cushions and then proceeds to have kids???) Or at least they used to be white. Now I think each and every one of them has at least one giant stain in a variety of colors. So, I am going to recover them with this stain resistant fabric. I ordered a swatch of it first so I could try it out. When I poured water on it, the liquid beaded into droplets and was not absorbed. I even squirted some bright orange sriracha sauce on it and it wiped right off. Anyway, if you haven't already put two and two together, I'm going to attempt to recover all 8 of our chairs.

While I was at it, I also decided to order a yard of each of these fabrics to recover some of our living room pillows. Never thought I'd say this, but I feel the need for CHANGE!!!

Three of our dining chairs sit at the bar in the living room so I'm hoping the pillows will help tie together the green on the chairs with our bright red accent wall. It could end up looking like Christmas all year round, but hopefully not.

Then I've been scouring all the Value Villages in the area for a large frame. We have a huge vase full of wine corks we've been saving and I want to make my own fashionable cork board to hang near the entryway. I'm hoping this will be a great place to post the Christmas pictures you all sent! So far my frame hunt has left me empty handed but I'm sure I'll find one I like somewhere.

In my Value Village treasure hunting, I did come across these silver gems which I'd been in the market for since Christmas. After taking down my garlands, I realized our mantle was a bit barren. We almost spent $60 on some silver pillar candle holders at Ikea but I'm glad we didn't because I scored these for 4 bucks!

Oh and now I'm in the market for another couple yards of fabric to make a 2nd crib sheet for Emma's bed. One is definitely not enough! I'm having a hard time finding anything that doesn't look too busy with the fabric I chose for her crib skirt.

The peaks of sunshine we've been having reminded me that my garden planters are all disintegrating on the patio and that it's time for something new. I'd love to have one BIG one made that I can actually fit a large variety of produce in. So, of course dreaming up a garden planter reminded me that I need to pick out my vegetable seeds for the spring.....

Gosh, there's a LOT more I'm hoping to do but this is sounding like a lot already. One thing at a time. Hopefully I will have some pictures of finished projects to post soon!

Emma: 21 Weeks

Emma finally rolled over a couple more times for Graham to see on Jan 25th. He was beginning to think I'd made up that milestone. She frequently rolls to her side now to grab toys and can spin herself and scoot up with her feet. She seems to really enjoy rubbing her feet together and is almost always missing at least one sock.

We began our own version of sleep training this week. I just couldn't take the 15 hour days anymore and determined it was time to get her to fall asleep and stay asleep at a set time in the evenings. At first I tried putting her down after Isla around 7:30 or 8 PM but she was beginning to melt down closer to 6:30 so I bumped it up. I'm trying to give her a bottle at 6:30 PM and have her in bed by 7. If I can get my act together, I might even try bottle at 6 and bed at 6:30 but it is proving rather challenging doing all that right at the dinner hour. I can now see why my mom used to feed us at 5:30 PM!



Anyway, she was going down fine at first but then would wake up again anywhere from 15 minute to 2 hours later. We started by letting her cry for 5 minutes and then we'd calm her and then 10 minutes etc but she only got more and more worked up. I re-read my Healthy Sleep Habits book and finally we decided just to let her cry. I know there are a multitude of opinions on this but I believe whole heartedly that she needs to learn to fall asleep and fall back to sleep on her own. So, with Graham's support, I bit the bullet and decided we wouldn't go in there if she started to cry (ok, if we're honest, maybe he decided that one). The first time we tried it, she cried for 1 hour. And then the 2nd night it's like she knew it was coming and so decided not to to go to bed at 7 and cried for a half hour. Then she woke again at her usual 9:30/10 PM mark and we repeated the process. Of course I spent a lot of time crying too. Last night, after 8 or so nights of this, she finally went down without crying and didn't wake up again until 3 AM. Success! I'm feeling better about bedtime but now we need to decide what to do about the middle of the night awakenings and then conquer her cat naps during the day. 

Emma is extremely wiggly. She doesn't really sit on your lap anymore but rather tries to catapult herself out of your arms and onto the floor. We've had a couple close calls. She really loves is when I strip her down just to a diaper-all her limbs go crazy.



She is losing her hair by the bunches now, especially after I bathe her. You'd think we had a cat by the look of her sheet and swaddle. Makes me so sad. I know it will grow back, I just loved the way it was.

I think Emma is ready for solids. It's just that I'm not ready yet. She throws herself toward my dinner plate in the evenings and gets really frustrated while we're eating. I'll probably start in the next couple weeks but I'm dragging my feet as I've never been one to believe in starting before 6 months because it's just easier to wait. She obviously has a mind of her own though. Watch.