4 years!

originally posted sept 2, 2015

okay, I totally forgot to write something. Babies...

9 months

originally posted sept 2, 2015

Ansel, You made it to 9 months in August! Holy smokes kiddo. We went to Lake Michigan to celebrate. You like the water, but were scared of the waves, that is okay.

This towel though. Exponential cuteness.

As a 9 months old you are pretty neat. You learned to crawl super fast, especially if it means you can get  to someones phone, a roll of toilet paper, or me right at the moment when I'm cooking and cannot hold you. 

Once you were crawling you started pulling yourself up on everything. And once those skills were mastered you decided it was okay to learn to sit by yourself. Seriously though you just barely learned. It is adorable watching you sit your little cheeks resting on your chest while you play with a toy. 

Favorite things:

• Pizza! Pizza! Pizza! you can't get enough, many a tears have been shed when the pizza is gone.
• Eating with your fingers! You love it!
• Squash.
• Biting leaves off plants in the garden.
• Giving raspberries.
• Bath time! 
• Eating fuzzy lints off the floor.
• Flirting with old ladies at the grocery store.

Not so favorite things:

• When I stop you from pulling the lamp down on yourself.
• Fruit is meh
• Falling

What can I say, you like almost everything right now!

At 9 months you were like 22 lbs, 30", so chunky and lovely! 

Desert Family part 2

originally posted august 14, 2015

After our tromp through the desert we headed up north to visit with the Wood Family! Ansel at this point was in love with getting attention all day long, and hated driving in the car the rest of the time.

 Michael being the greatest uncle to his new best friend We stayed at the cabin for a few days soaking up even higher altitudes, clouds and trees.Mr. Wood took lots of beautiful photos of the hummingbirds and the nature     The miraculous everybody shot! All Ansel wanted to do was grab Simon's hair. Then we left and it was sad. But my brother Michael and his wife Danielle took car of us before we flew out of Vegas and watched their baby girls play video games and dance with Mr. Wood and it wasn't so sad anymore.

The End.

Desert Family

originally posted august 14, 2015

We did our pilgrimage to the ancestral grounds this summer! First south, then north. Here are some photos.

Also, I cut my hair.

Also, Ansel is getting humongous. 8 1/2 months!

Also, My Mr. Wood is a stud

 

 The desert feels like the cleanest place. It dries out the gross inside of your body and fills it with sage, clean air and sunshine.   The Chadaz Cousins, who are very good at playing with Ansel even though all he does is scratch their faces, featuring the family Emu! Sorry Aunt Marilyn we snuck into your yard while you were getting surgery...Great Grandma Brimhall

Great Grandma Malaska

The beautiful men in my family. You know what they say, if you can't handle the heat get out of the kitchen.

Or something.. 

Grandma-Grandpa Malaska and babe. Accidentally but perfectly color coordinated for the last photo before our leaving! ugh, why must we be so far?

The Salad Sandwich

Can we talk about something?

Like... There was a time that I thought getting a sandwich on wheat bread was the worst part of my week. Or the time of my life where eating a salad was as difficult as tying my shoe. Unfortunately for tiny Shannon my mother made salads constantly. It was such a chore to eat. My brother opted for combining his lettuce with whatever we were eating for dinner (the lettuce pizza--I'm sure you've heard of it?) but even pepperoni couldn't soften the blow of that cursed side dish.

Now days? I gladly make salad for dinner. Just salad. Like a giant plate of salad.

Isn't growing up crazy?

However, man cannot live on leaves alone. So over at the Wood house we regularly switch up our salad routine. 

This one though... Friends. Strangers. Listen. This salad sandwich. It has changed our world. To the point that if someone offered me a choice between this salad sandwich or a burger, I would have a difficult time choosing. If you don't know, I have a thing for hamburgers. And this isn't just puffed up food blogger talk, this is real. 

I don't know how you could not like vegetable sandwiches after eating this. This is really more method then recipe, but the key is the bread and the sauce. To be sure my favorite part of a salad with all the dressings is the dressings--so this recipe celebrates just that. If you are a leaves only type, I encourage you to step out of that cabbage patch and come join my veggie-explosion over here. Add whatever veg is in season or your favorite produce. Things like onions, radishes, olives and tomatoes are sure to debut in the coming months. 

Also, the bread is a monster crouton. I like to make a few croutons with our salad meals whenever we have stale bread on hand. I just chop up the bread and throw it in a frying pan with some oil and spices. Tastier and fresher then the box. This is the same method, but with a whole slice. Crispy and flavorful, not dry. Do not skimp on the crouton bread.

And before I go further, since it is a Salad Sandwich you could eat it with your hands. But since it is a Salad Sandwich, you should eat it with a fork and knife.

Are you convinced yet? I feel like you are not convinced yet. But I'll stop before you tire of my exuberance. It is just good! I mean, look at all the pictures I took of it! Mr. Wood was so sad when he came home and I told him what I had just eaten. But a girls got to do what a girls got to do before the light is gone.

Enough. Recipe :

Salad Sandwich

Dressing:
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1 tbsp juice from pepperoncini jar
1 pepperoncini chopped
1 dash garlic powder
1 dash hot sauce
1 tbsp parmesean
salt and pepper to taste

Sandwich:
1/4 head Lettuce
1 Cucumber
1 Carrot
1 Avocado
1/4 Green Pepper
Slices of your favorite cheese
8 thin slices of bread
softened butter
1 tbsp oil
Garlic Powder
Salt and Pepper

1. Prepare veggies by washing and slicing each. Thin slices are best.
2. Prepare dressing by mixing all ingredients together, keep in fridge until ready to use.
3. Heat a large skillet on medium heat. Drizzle a little oil in the pan. Spread each side of bread with a little butter (less than you would if you were making grilled cheese). When the pan is hot place your bread slices in and cook until golden crisp. Sprinkle one side with garlic powder and then flip and cook that side until golden crisp.
4. Assemble sandwiches by generously layering veggies, cheese and dressing. Lightly Salt and pepper the avocados and cucumbers. Enjoy!

notes

You can thin the dressing out by adding more pepperoncini juice. Thicken it by adding more mayonnaise.

Add any veggies you like to the sandwich!

6 Month Ansel

originally posted may 22nd, 2015

Happy Six Months lil' handsome.

You are completely breathtaking. Mr. Wood and I love to play with you as much as we can. You just laugh and smile all day (mostly).

Once the camera is out however, you only give your serious face.

You want to eat everything. Today we tried tiny dots of plain yogurt. You sucked them off my fingers and made a face that was a mixture between disgust and amazement that we would willingly consume something so inedible. You did want several more licks though. The only thing we eat that you insist on tasting every time is pizza crust. To the point of baby tantrum if you don't get a lick.

You could suck on a pizza crust and be happy forever. That is how I know you are our true son. Goober.

You have recently learned how to kiss me. When I ask for a kiss you give me a big sloppy one and it is the best part of the day. It only works when you are hungry, so you are just tasting my face, but that is okay.

Your favorite toy is the tag on anything and everything. You could gently caress and pinch the tag on a pillow for a half hour if I let you.

You have also started to roll around. Now that you have discovered self propelling you are equally excited and frustrated as you spin quick circles on the floor in attempts to reach something right in front of you. Soon baby cakes, soon.

Finally. You are totally huge. 19 something pounds and 29 something inches. Luckily you still love cuddling, so for now all that hugeness makes for prime squishes, kisses and loves.

Happy Half Year!

Friday Favorites: Mother's day

originally posted may 15, 2015

There isn't much to be said, other than motherhood is a great blessing in our life. I love this little man. I love how his face scrunches up when he laughs. Life is good.

Lakes and Friends

originally published may 6, 2015

We are right in the middle of finals week here in the Wood home. Granted I am not writing any papers, but Mr. Wood has spent enough time typing  for the both of us in the last few hours--let alone the past 3 days. We decided that next time we need to get him a laptop neck tray (typing of the dead style) so that he can take walks with babe and I, and still write.

 So while he types deep into the night it is my job to record our more happier histories of the past month.

Like this lovely lake trip with our dear bosom friends Q and E. Naturally their whole visit was lovely. We walked, talked and ate delicious food till our hearts were full. Q and E got a small glimpse into the life with a young baby on antibiotics and the rashes that follow. Also, Spring finally came out. The only thing better then the floral explosion of spring after a icy drought? 

This:

Like a siren of the sea I cannot turn away from that face. Those cheeks! The glittering eyeballs! 

We visited Tiscornia Beach in Michigan and their North Pier Lighthouse. The further out you go, the colder it gets--but at the tip it is just fresh air and blue water as far as the eye can see.

It was a cold day. The sand was hot and littered with lady bugs.

The end.

The Babe in My Arms

originally published april 7, 2015

It is happening. That thing that happens to all moms. My baby is growing too fast. Maybe being a mom is always feeling this constant tangle of hurt and pure joy. Hurt as they grow and change into new people, and joy as you see the growth. Happiness for the moments you have, excitement for the moments to come and heartaches for the moments that have gone.

So let's save this little moment Easter Sunday, where Ansel, at 4 1/2 months wore a big boy outfit, and we tried to take pictures in the cold sunny wind, and we marveled at his chubs and fingers and toes and little dusting of bright red hair.