Silas laughing (for the first time!)

Silas has started laughing! Click here to see the video on youtube. There is truly no better sound in the world! Silas has giggled before but has never laughed like this. I am so thankful that the camera was near by so I could capture this moment on video.

Adventures in baby food

There is no time like the present to start blogging again. I may try to do some back tracking at some point but for now... onward!!!


After six months of exclusively breastfeeding, Silas was ready for solids. First up was rice cereal. The first time wasn't too bad. A few tastes and a few shivers and funny faces. Day two of rice cereal ended in disaster. Silas was up until 2:00 a.m. with a tummy ache. After a few days off, we tried oatmeal in place of the rice cereal. Success!
Don't be fooled by the funny face he's making in the picture. He really loved the oatmeal.

Carrots were next. Still not too crazy about the orangey puree on its own but loving it mixed with his familiar oatmeal! Sweet potatoes were next on the list. I decided that I would try my hand at preparing one for the son. Scrubbing, peeling, chopping, boiling until tender and then a few turns around the blender proved to make some super fresh, super tasty mashed sweet potatoes! A personal favorite of mine. I decided to see what Silas thought of them straight up (no oatmeal or mommy's milk mixed in). First bite - squinty face with a little shiver. Second taste - pondering this new stuff. By the time I offered him the third bite he was leaning forward in his high char with his mouth wide open! Looks like Silas is a sweet potato fan just like his mommy and daddy.


According to the book, Top 100 Baby Purees, pureed sweet potatoes are suitable for freezing. I washed up one of our extra ice cube trays and spooned the sweet potato into each little square. I put a layer of cling wrap on top and stuck it in the freezer. Viola!




Look at those perfect little servings! They will last in the freezer for two months too! One large sweet potato yielded about a dozen ice cubes. I also tried making some fresh carrots. Same as the sweet 'taters with the scrubbing, peeling and chopping except this time I tried steaming instead of boiling. They didn't blend up as smooth as they probably would have if I had boiled them. They sure did turn out beautiful though!

Silas still wasn't too sure about eating carrots on their own but that's ok. Carrot-y oatmeal is pretty awesome (at least Silas thinks so).

An update? Could it be true?

Since the blog was at risk to receive some trash-talk from James, I thought it was past time for an update!

The month of December was fun and very eventful. Maybe a little too eventful! The first part of the month was consumed with preparations for our Christmas play at church. The following week was busy with preparations for our women's ministry Christmas party at our house. The rest of the time before Christmas was VERY busy with preparations for Tom and Jane's Christmas present - a cd of favorite songs recorded by all of the Powers kids. It was a lot of fun but a lot of work. It is still not mastered but it really sounds great! The big reveal finally came on Christmas Eve. It was awesome. I know that all of us were relieved to not have to keep the secret any longer! Christmas day was very relaxing. I am now the proud owner of a KITCHEN AID thanks to my wonderful husband! We spent the afternoon and evening at Mom and Dad's. I even got to take a nap! A lovely day if you ask me.

Dan recording and Liz "accompaning" him. :o)

The Monday before Christmas was quite eventful for us as well. We were able to see our little baby again! I'm still amazed at how much development happens in such a short period of time. The heart was beating nice and strong. It had it's little fists clenched up over it's face. The tiny little feet were crossed at the ankles. It was incredible. I will have one more ultrasound on February 17th. If the little one cooperates, we will be able to see if we're having a boy or a girl!

My dear childhood friend, Raechel Paris, got married on December 27th! It was a beautiful wedding and reception. I have never been to a wedding that had 8 children in the wedding party (three of them being infants). It was a great day and we're so happy for them. Thinkphotographics did a great job with the photography (their photos are under Raechel and Michael married).

I was unfortunately hit with the stomach bug during the last week of the 2008. It was awful! Dan was a wonderful care-giver and (thankfully) didn't catch the bug himself. I felt well enough to get out of the house for a little bit on New Year's Eve. Kim and Phil Radcliff has a few of us over to ring in the new year with some guitar hero, poker and a cheese platter very much like the one served at the lovely Palermo Veijo. Good job Kim!


I am currently sitting in a hotel room in Chico, California! We flew into San Francisco on Tuesday and then drove the three hours to Dan's work site in Chico. We are driving to Napa Valley this afternoon and then drive back to San Francisco tomorrow morning to see some sights! We won't fly home until Sunday. We're trying to get some mini-trips in before the baby comes. I plan on posting an entire entry devoted entirely to sunny Cal very soon.

More muted...

Whew! What a week this past week has been! I didn't mean to go this long without posting anything but I didn't have the mental energy to type anything. Our church presented a rendition (complements of Mark and Kara Hubbard) of "A Christmas Carol" (entitled "A Scrooge's Christmas") this weekend. I must say that it was wonderful. We had five performances between three days with an additional day for the dress rehearsal. Courtney Paris was able to come to the dress rehearsal and grace us with her photography skills. I hear that the pictures turned out really well and I can't wait to see them. I'll post some pictures of the play once I get them.


I find myself more and more inspired by things more muted (and by muted I'm talking about color). A recent sneak peak on design*sponge really hit home and I've looked at it many times since it was posted. I had to share these two bedrooms with you because (to me) they are simply gorgeous. I hope that you enjoy them as much as I do. The title of the sneak peak is Dutch Canal Home by Uxus.

Lynn's Paradise Cafe with the Rudolphs

We were fortunate to spend some time with our good friends (Davy, Tara & Clive Rudolph) this past Saturday. We met them at one of our favorite restaurants in Louisville, Lynn's Paradise Cafe. Tara and I split the BLT fries and I haven't stopped thinking about them! I should have taken a picture of them because they were ridiculously good. I think I sense a craving coming on...

Clive is one of the sweetest little boys! He was feeling really perky on Saturday and was so good! He really loved his biscuit too.

Happy day after Thanksgiving!

This year was definitely different. I didn't eat one bite of turkey or dressing. Not one bite the entire day! I've been blessed to not have any morning sickness so far in the pregnancy. One thing that does bother me though is the thought of eating any kind of poultry or roast. I can't even stand to think about it. However, I did enjoy (and possibly indulge) in all of the awesome sides. I had to share the recipe for one of my new holiday dinner staples. Recipe courtesy of Kara Hubbard.


Cranberry Salad
Two 3oz boxes of cherry Jello
1 lb. raw cranberries
½ orange with rind (Yep! That's right. Just wash an orange thoroughly and cut it in half. Pop out any seeds that you see.)
1 regular can crushed pineapple (drained)
2 cups sugar
½ cup chopped nuts (pecans or walnuts)
½ cup celery (optional)

Make Jello according to directions. Grind cranberries and orange in a food processor. Combine all ingredients together. Put in bowl and chill in fridge to set.
This recipe is so great. I do use the celery and it adds a nice touch as well as a little extra crunch. Hmm. I think I might have to eat some of the leftovers right now.


Here are some pictures from our dinners over at the Ledger house and Powers' Mountain.

Be careful shopping!

The Radcliffs - Take 1

Our good friends, the Radcliffs, had asked if I would be willing to take a few pictures of the family for Christmas. We (thankfully) had some lovely weather yesterday afternoon and were able to get some cute shots of Kimberly and her adorable little boy Ethan. Dad (Phil) would have been there too but he had tweaked his knee playing basketball (again).

I love this one of Kim. Ethan was trying to squirm away but it's still cute. We'll get some more pictures once Phil's knee is feeling better. :o)