Green peas... no ham, sorry Sam I am

And the consensus is...

He likes them!

Ps - I apologize for the horrid white balance variations. Photoshop is out of commission so I was forced to edit in Picasa :)

Take Two.

So today I was off work. My baby was napping. Since my house looked like this:

One might think it would have been a good time to clean things up a little.

Nope, not this super-impulsive girl. I decided it was time to nearly kill myself while climbing up in the attic retrieve and dust off a much-anticipated baby shower gift...drum roll....the MAGIC BABY BULLET!!!

I did not register for this, because, c'mon, really, is it necessary? Really?
But my sweet sister thought that since I grow my own veggies and launder my own diapers, I would be a likely candidate to make my own baby food. I guess she's right, though I'll admit I didn't give it much thought prenatally.

Anyways - I decided green peas were on the menu for today...and I guess the rest of this week, ha! Poor little guy.

Since I'm not really up on where to buy baby food economically, I'm not sure what store is the best place to buy it from, but I know when I was at BuyBuyBaby we bought a few jars. For $0.89 cents each. Gulp! That would break the bank fast. So I paid $3 for this large bag of peas. I used half of it...like so.
I first steamed 2 cups of peas (I guess steaming retains more of the nutrients...or something).

After the peas were nice and soft, I added them, along with a 1/2 cup of water to Mr. Baby Bullet.

Isn't he a jolly sort of fellow?

Then a short twist and push and voila! A wonderful green pea puree.
I sectioned it out into the nifty little refrigerator and freezer storage cups which even include a dial to set the date it was made (again, necessary? pro'ly not. nifty? definitely)

Now in about 10 minutes for $1.50 I made 11 2oz portions. If you do the math, based on the aforementioned price, that is $8 in savings. Woot, woot!!

Of course, having Mr. Magic around is not neccesary. We've established that.
But these are sure pretty darn cute.

We had a lovely weekend to celebrate both of our mothers...and my husband and son helped me celebrate my first Mother's Day as well.
We hosted family for meals and I decorated the table with flowers from my garden

Will got to celebrate with his favorite only cousin Penny and Aunt Em

My hubs got me a great gift

(this will be my first massage!)

And I got some smooches from my boy...

Yes...I did pick out his outfit. What's it to you?

Happy Mother's Day to all you mothers out there, whether by natural birth, adoption, science, or fostering.

My first attempt at making baby food.

I hate to utilize this extremely over-used phrase, but...

EPIC FAIL!

Hello Spring Garden.

Baby Spinach. Grow baby grow.

Didn't know sage was a perennial. Fun surprise!

Chives, out of control.

Raindrops on a Lady's Mantle

Coral Bells

Bugelweed

Reading is cool. At home or at school.

The findings of a recent study suggest that reading to and verbally interacting with your baby may yield results in the form of word recognition even as early as 6-9 months.

Well, yay for us, we are at least doing something right as parents. We incorporated book-reading into Will's bedtime routine when he was only 10 weeks old. Yes, this was probably more for us than for him, but c'mon, let's not focus on that.

Now that he is 5 months, he really seems to enjoy reading. Whatever the subject may be.

He's usually interested in looking at the pictures and trying to turn the pages

Unless, of course, something more interesting is going on...like that ever-present snapping shutter!

Reading is something that is highly valued in our home. I can't wait until little Will is old enough to sit at our feet while we read and he rocks excitedly on his heels in eager anticipation to find out what will happen to Edmund and the Queen, or how Peter Pan will return from Neverland, or who will destroy the One Ring. Reading is something that we will enjoy vicariously through our son as we revisit all the great extant children's literature. After all, according to CS Lewis, an author and theologian who is adored in our household, "No book is really worth reading at the age of ten which is not equally -- and often far more -- worth reading at the age of fifty and beyond." And so...we will continue to read to our son.

Reading imparts culture. William is being cultured in other ways as well.

Yup, this is what happens when he has an older female cousin paired with a Grammy who always wanted a daughter...
He certainly seems to enjoy himself a cup of tea.

Perhaps William should move to Britian so that he really fits in.

At any rate, I know CS Lewis would have approved of both of our child's culture-building activities. When speaking about the subjects, he said, "You can't get a cup of tea big enough or a book long enough to suit me."

Another "first" holiday for our family

We had a lovely Easter with our family.
Baby Will was awake for most of the church service, which is unusual for him. While we were singing he laid on the pew with both of his fists in his mouth and flirted with the little girl behind us, who seemed to be very entertained by it all. After church we headed to my family's house in the city for a great feast (can't believe I didn't take a picture, the food was to-die-for!)
Here's a lovely cake my sister made

And some photos from Mr. Will's first Easter.

And these last two of our little family

I don't think I need to point out the drool or the double chin...but I will, because they make me smile.