Rankish Teapants

Two Thumbs Up for another great month!

20.4.09: On the ball

Just thinking about this month makes me want to scoop you out of bed, hug you so tight and do whatever I can to make you stop growing up. You are amazing as you are right now. Perhaps a little more progress with your verbal communication would be welcome, rather than the constant hand flapping that we are getting. Mind you, if you ever decide to become a professional horse racing bookie, you’ve got Tic Tac covered!

You are at the stage where you can let us know what you want and if needs must, you will come over to one of us and drag us to something to show us what you want. It is very handy for you and can be quite tiring for us. Especially for your Daddy as he seems to give in to this game of Do What I Say/Want easily, where I am a little harder to persuade as it takes me a lot longer to get up from wherever I am due to this ever increasing size of my belly.

8.4.09: Family Al Fresco

I am convinced that your advancements this month have been due to the extended periods we have spent outside, along with your increasing desire to grow up, graduate school and move out so you can eat all of your Easter eggs in their foil wrapping before coming out of your room … or so that you can have a bathroom all to yourself where people won’t take pictures of your constant love to preen yourself.

Pretty, I'm so pretty...

Speaking of prettying up yourself… you have developed this new, not so pretty, smile that you think is absolutely hilarious and which is nearly impossible to catch on camera because you close your eyes so tightly and smile at a random object (see photo above). This smile goes along with the dozens of new faces you pull, most consisting of pushing your tongue against your four bottom teeth as hard as you can without it popping out of your mouth. Your facial expressions never fail to amuse us, even when we’re trying to be serious with you. And your Clever Level has been reaching near Maximum Capacity! There are moments when we are being serious and you don’t want to hear it and we can actually see you go from starting to have a tantrum to realising the easier way to end this talking to would be to give out cuddles and kisses.

24.4.09: Cuddles for Mommy

So smart. So very very smart. That must be your Daddy’s genes kicking in. So far you appear to be getting his brain and his bathroom habits. Though I am not sure that the latter isn’t because you’ve become his shadow when he’s at home and so you’re just learning what the “men” of the family do. I guess that it is something I will have to look over and accept because seeing the two of you together is too sweet. Hearing the two of you laughing it up in the shower or watching you every morning as you realise that he is getting dressed to leave and demanding that he pick you up right then and there for cuddles is starting to erase all of the months of wondering whether I’d ever start to enjoy motherhood. Seeing how you look at him and look at me too makes me realise that perhaps I am not totally crap at this and that there have to be parts that I am doing right. Then again, you don’t really know better right now, which is another reason to keep you just as you are!

Daddy and Son Looking Over the Photos

This month has seen the milestone of your moving into your own bed. Not a crib or even a toddler bed, but your own double bed. It has only been a few nights plus your daily naps, but you are doing amazingly. We are so proud of you. Your independence has shone through this month. It is as though you not only learned to physically open doors for yourself (which has shocked and scared us!), but you are doing it metaphorically too. You’ve realised that you can do things without one of us being right by your side and you can still have fun.

A lot of this has been due to the weather getting a bit nicer and being able to be outside more. You definitely love it out there. Some mornings you have gone out on the deck after breakfast and stayed there until you could no longer hold out on a nap any longer. You don’t even need toys out there because you seem to find ways to entertain yourself without .. even if sometimes this means trying to catch bees with your bare hands.

21.4.09: Rider in the Sun

The only downside to this month that I can come up with, is that it is over. That means the time I get to spend alone with you is winding down and I’m starting to worry that I am going to miss all of these magical moments that I catch now because I am going to be back in a panic wondering what it is your baby brother or sister is telling me that they need. And I fear that you are going to think that we love you less because you will be sharing us. We do not want you to ever think that. We are amazed every day that our love for you continues to grow, that we find you even cuter than you were yesterday and funnier than anyone we’ve ever known.

26.4.09 - Peek a Boo ..Floor style

So, although month 15 is going to seem hectic as we try and get ready for the new arrival and we may even have a new family member before the month is up, I am going to do whatever it is that I can to make sure that we have another great month! Thank you for being so patient with me this far, it has taken me a while to get into the groove of this Mommy thing and I couldn’t have asked for a better baby boy to take this journey with. So bring on the sunshine and cuddles and faces …and okay, you can even stick your tongue out at me every once in a while.

27.4.09: Searching for Sunshine

Happy Fourteen Months, GrumpyPumps!!!
Mommy Loves You!!

A few years ago, my Momma and Randy were over here visiting and took me out for dinner to celebrate my birthday. We didn’t really know anywhere in the area, so we took to the Internet to find somewhere “nice” (not a chain.. not weird food.. not a carvery type joint) and stumbled upon The Birch at Woburn and decided to give it a go.

Having never ventured even as far as Woburn Sands, we were shocked to find such nice little villages so close to the booming metropolis that we were calling home. It was like Real England had been hiding in the shadows the whole time when I thought we were nowhere near it. Because of not knowing where we were, we actually passed the restaurant and ended up in Woburn itself and stumbled upon the Abbey and all.

After eventually finding out way back, we made it to the restaurant, got seated and quite enjoyed our meal there. Success!!

Lee and I then returned again a few months later and although some things were tasty, over all it was a let down and I was in fact sick by the time we hit the parking lot.

Due to this, we hadn’t been back in a couple of years!

Today, we made a return visit when Lee and Noah took me out to lunch for my birthday. The sun was shining and although we were tired from a late night out on Friday, we were all in pretty good spirits especially when once again realising that Real England is almost so close we can touch it .. without ever getting on or crossing a major highway/motorway.

We sat in “the bar” area which is more rustic looking than the tables located in the proper restaurant bit, but it was all the same menu so it didn’t really matter. Plus, with Noah, the less tables around for him to flirt with/demand attention from.. the better.

When the waiter came around to tell us about the menu I almost tuned him out straight away. I rarely ever order Specials of the Day because I normally forget halfway through what they were talking about. When he rattled off the soup and started with “tomato” I instantly thought.. .oO(ah here we go again), but he followed it with red pepper and horseradish cream. Okay, so there was no way I was going to order it seeing as I hate tomato soup, but I liked the interesting twist. He got to the special starter and it was grabbing me until I heard “stilton”, but it was alright since I’d already been busy debating myself over which of two that jumped out of me that I was going to have. And then I heard “veal”. Oh my.

Right after Noah was born I read an article about rose veal in the UK and how they were promoting it rather than perpetuating that it was a really bad thing to eat. I couldn’t help but cry when I read that veal comes from baby boy cows. Here my own baby boy was laying across my lap having a nap and I was reading about eating some cow’s baby boy. I cried. A lot.

Noah’s over a year now and I’m pregnant and sometimes I can understand why in some species of animal, the mother eats their young. My tears over veal are long gone and in fact I’ve been craving it like crazy.

So back to the man.. “fillet of veal with a mustard potato cake, served with asparagus wrapped in parma ham and topped of with seared fois gras”. DAMNIT! You had to throw in the fois gras. Instantly I knew that Lee had found his main course and I was left fearing I’d be there for hours trying to choose a main. But before I knew it I heard “salmon fillet on a bed of tagliatelle with crab and shrimp in a garlic cream sauce”. SOLD!

We asked for a moment to decided on the starters and when he .. or actually a totally different waiter… came back to take our order we were ready to go.

Lee’s menu: Terrine of Local Venison served with mustard aioli, roasted pear and rocket salad, the Veal Special (and to be added later, the Hazelnut Brulee served with Brandy and Orange Ice Cream and Shortbread)

My menu: Smoked Salmon with Potato and Horseradish Salad served with baby leaves and sauce vierge, the Salmon Special (and to be added later, the Glazed Lime Tart served with Coconut Ice Cream and fragrant lemongrass syrup)

Noah’s menu: A bit of everything with emphasis on the smoked salmon starter, the potato from Lee’s main and the Salmon and Crab from mine .. Lee’s brulee and my ice cream.

I went there not feeling like pasta at all. I was hoping for something more potato-y and with vegetable. I left completely happy with what I ordered and just wishing that fois gras was something that I didn’t find too rich and was pregancy friendly, because Lee’s meal looked AMAZING and the veal melted in the mouth. He even said that the fois gras there was better than the stuff he had at Boxwood Cafe.

The service slipped a bit toward the end, but it afforded Noah some running around time, diaper change time and time for me to be emotionally retarded and full on cry at the table when a song came on and I couldn’t stop thinking of my Daddy and how he was missing yet another one of my birthdays and how I never got to show him anything of England … where I live… and how he is so missing out on Noah.

But other than my hormonally charged self being unable to rein my tears in, it was a perfect lunch out to celebrate my favourite day of the year .. a day early.

And afterwards we drove through Woburn and then found this village that we were told we would love to live in and agreed.. we would love to live there. However, when I got home and looked up the houses for sale there we agreed that it might take a while to get there seeing as of the two possibilities (the third was too small) the cheaper one was just over £500,000.

But we got to discover a little more of what is around us and see more of what kind of place we want to go to when we leave here. We also got to drive through the deer park by Woburn Abbey and then come home and all have a nap… with Noah napping in his own room!!

What a Happy Day Before Birthday. Looks like the fates took their heads out of their bums and remembered how important my birthday weekend is after all!

And of course… I couldn’t let this lunch go by without taking photos!

At least there was one olive left when I remembered

Raisins while we wait

My Salmon Starter

Lee's Starter

Where did it go?

Finger Lickin' Good

My Main

Lee's Main

My Dessert

Lee's Dessert

Ahhhhh All Done

Okay, so I’m behind the times. We’re talking decades here.

3 years ago we bought a crockpot. 3 years ago I used the crockpot to make a massive fondue most of which was eaten by Sally and me at the post wedding gathering thing at that shady place we rented.

When we returned from the weekend it went into the garage and stayed there for .. 3 years.

That is, until about a month ago. I cannot remember what I was attempting to make, but I decided that I should try the crockpot out. Noah often gets very upset when I make dinner because he believes food is edible no matter the state and doesn’t understand waiting. So I decided to make something that I could put on while he was having a morning nap and just serve up when it came time.

I made a couple of things including my first ever pot roast and realised that I had been missing out. A crockpot makes life so much easier. But then I got stumped and couldn’t think of anything to make other that dishes that come out like beef stew or something similar. While I was in Toronto, Lee got in on the slow cooker action and made himself a chilli to last a few days and then the ideas ran totally dry.

Sure, there are a million sites out there with recipes, but I’m always nervous that what Mary-Sue in West Virginia thinks is tasty may resemble road kill stew. We are a house that loves spices and flavour and things that are filling, not just a 7 hour meatloaf.

Well lo and behold I was reading my Canadian ex-pat forum as usual and I saw a recipe for slow cooker lamb shanks. Let me state for the record that I never make the lamb in this house unless it is meatballs made from minced lamb. It looked interesting, but I was scared. I called Lee at work to ask what a lamb shank was (good thing I did because I thought they were just rough chops) and decided that I’d give this thing a go. I popped out to Sainsburys where the man behind the meat counter was rude when I asked how many people one shank served. Remember, only an hour ago I had no idea what a shank was!!

Seeing as they only had one, I went to the lamb aisle and decided to look there. There was a pack with two and I figured that Noah and I could share one .. especially as I was not sure that I’d be liking what I made. Then I got nervous because the recipe called for soy sauce and I couldn’t imagine a teriyaki lamb shank.

This morning I quickly looked up alternate lamb shanks in the crockpot recipes and saw one that called for ingredients I actually had. I gave it a quick read over and decided that I’d go with the ingredients and figure out the measurements and prep myself.

Oh my. Oh my oh my oh my. Why wasn’t I made aware of the existence of lamb shanks before?! A red meat that Lee will eat well done, that just falls off the bone and is cheap! It is heaven in a meat! Something that I just needed to brown, make the braise for and toss it all into a crockpot and leave it for the entire day. It was all in there and doing its thing by 8.30am and Noah and I then sat down to breakfast.

By the time dinner came, I couldn’t have asked for anything better. Even Noah kept looking at me as if to say “are you kidding me?! you could make this all along and you gave me that gross stir fry last night?”. It was one of the first times I was eating my own cooking and thought .oO(if I was served this in a restaurant, I’d totally pay £15 for it and not think I was being scammed).

Not that my food is normally crap, just that lately I’ve been trying things I’ve never made before and shocking myself that within me lives someone who can actually cook .. well.

Now if only I could regain some of my brain back so that I could think of other things to make!

Here is the recipe that I took the idea from: Honey Lamb Shanks

And here is what I produced!!!

My Dinner:

Noah’s Dinner:

See Momma, I told you that I was trying to be more flexible!

Though being shaped like a Weeble doesn’t help.

Noah is having a nap, and I was just staring at him wondering if I have Parental Blinders on or if indeed he is one of the most beautiful children in the world.

I quickly ran for a Cheese induced pee and further contemplated this, only to return, sit down and look over at him and he was lying there on his back ever so peaceful .. and then he popped one eye open at looked at me, all whilst remaining asleep.

It was not a beautiful moment. In fact, it made me think of my momma’s creepy doll from her childhood.

I guess if I can see the not so prettiness in him at times, I’m not wearing blinders. He’s just one of the most beautiful children in the world – most of the time.

When I was still employed by the wonderful National Probation Service and was pregnant with Noah, the paternity of my unborn BoB was often questioned. Many people tried to claim the baby as theirs, and even my beloved husband got in on guessing the father.

Well, it has taken 13 months, 1 week and 5 days to solve the riddle .. but we now know that the father of this little boy…

Can only be this guy…

The wildness of the hair can’t hide the truth any longer. It’s either the Heat Miser or Russell Brand. And well, at least the Heat Miser most likely bathes.