Ravioli

About two years ago now, actually very close to two years ago b/c it was on my birthday, all the girls in our family got together to learn how to make Grandma Angeline (Paoli) Paulson's Ravioli. It was a wonderful weekend, and now after two years I finally made them for myself. Believe me, it was MUCH easier to make with 7 women.

It took me all morning, with Tommy, to make the filling. Then in the afternoon I filled the ravioli. As I was making them John started to say something but then stopped after the third word. He said, "There are so..." many other things you could do with your time. I knew exactly what he was going to say, I just looked at him and said that he doesn't understand and couldn't understand.

I'm Italian, I enjoy cooking. I like being able to serve a good meal that people enjoy. Right now I feel like I'm so busy working and going to school that it's not often that I get a chance to be a housewife and cook! (Dishes weren't done until the next day...)Here's a picture of the first bunch I made. I had to wait until the next day to make any more b/c it did take all day to do. They were very yummy. The couple we had over John and I know the husband for work. The wife is vegetarian, so I was able to experiment with cheese and spinach ravioli stuffing. They were very yummy. I also made Gargonzola sauce which was very delicious.


You can tell that the cheese ravioli is on the left because it flattened out and didn't keep it's shape as well as the meat ones did. Although Tommy didn't get to eat the ravioli, he did have some meat and spaghetti baby food. He obviously enjoyed it!

This is one of the few times when you can tell that Tommy has eyebrows, when they're filled with food!

We also enjoyed ravioli with John's parents, brother and sis-in-law two nights later and there are about 12 in the freezer. I think it will be a while before I make them again, but they sure are yummy.

Ciao!

New Stage in Tommy's Life

I'm kind of playing catch up with a bunch of pictures. At least these are all in the last month. This week my professor cancelled class so I have gotten more done after work this week than I have since long before Tommy was born.

If you look closely in this picture you can see Tommy's first black eye! What a shiner! John felt so bad for Tommy that he let tommy eat a candy cane. He sure loves his daddy after that one!

Just a cute family picture.

John and Tommy decided to trade thumbs for a little while.

This next picture may seem a little strange but I am proud of it.

It's a picture of my in-law's freezer. The bags are all filled with milk, breast milk to be specific, 6-7 oz per bag. I think there are 55 bags in that picture, 55 bags x 6 oz/bag = 330 oz breast milk!

I do have to note that these are all Lansinoh bags and I am VERY DISAPPOINTED! Several of these bags have leaked while they were defrosting in my fridge. What a COMPLETE WASTE of my milk!

Last week, January 27th was the day that I stopped pumping, I was down to only once a day, I had last nursed him that weekend, the 24th. Interestingly enough, that first day I stopped pumping was the day that his two bottom teeth broke through!

Tommy is now officially weaned, although I'm not sure if that's the best thing to call it. Tommy has been fine with a bottle since he was a few days old. He didn't care that his mommy wasn't attached to the nipple as long as it gave him milk. (Yes, I know, that is a very Betty thing to say).

Overall breastfeeding Tommy was a wonderful experience. Tommy didn't have any problems latching on and eating at the start. I didn't have any issues with cracked nipples or anything of that sort. Work was a little of a hassle pumping twice a day, but it was kind of nice b/c I did some reading during that time... And I was able to store up a ton, 330 oz to be exact, of milk for Tommy to have after I was finished. I enjoyed the bonding Tommy and I got from it and I know that he enjoyed pulling my hair and grabbing at my earrings while feeding.

Tommy has reached the end of infancy. He has teeth and can chew through just about anything, or so it seems.

John on TV!

How often is it that a short home movie made with your brother gets you on the television? I heard about a contest on the radio to make a short commerical to promote getting screened for cancer about a million times from October to December. I initally thought John would do a great job, but being in school left him no time. I heard it again after Christmas and decided that since John was on Christmas break I'd make him do it. A very wise decision. Don't try, can't win.

Deadline was Dec. 31st and John and Jay filmed it on Dec. 30th and John edited it. We basically forgot about it until John got an email saying he'd won the contest, since they couldn't reach him on the cell phone, common problem. On Friday, Jan. 22nd, John was on the local news and today, Sunday, his commercial aired on local television! It was very fun b/c we had no idea when it would be on.

If you want to see the video here's the link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kw6b64SfRQM

Oh, and the best part. John won $2500! Who knows, this could be his lucky break! ;)

A Very Merry Christmas

Disclaimer: This is not our Christmas tree. Our Tannenbaum is maybe three feet high, perfect for Tommy to pull as he eats the lights.

I must admit that the past few years Christmas has lost a lot of that magic that existed when I was younger. This year with Tommy the magic of Christmas has started to return. Granted, Tommy really had no idea what was going on except that he had to get to the pieces of wrapping paper faster than his mommy could grab them. He did find something he likes almost as much as paper, bows. All the colors and textures are yummy to eat.

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Tommy's first gifts from Santa this year in his stocking were a BYU football and t-shirt. He LOVES the football. The 2030 starting BYU quarterback has started training.

Tommy got a handful of gifts for Christmas. He got several more books and balls not pictured here. As you can see from this picture, one of his favorite gifts was some shoes from Aunt Stephanie. Except he likes them more to eat then to wear. Who am I to tell him what to do with his Christmas gift?

Also seen here in this picture is a magic set. The bunny comes out of the hat, there is a magic wand with a "magic" sound, and a fish that hides in a cup. John loves to do magic and Tommy doesn't like to be left out. I think Tommy needs a little more dexterity before he attempts any card tricks though. Oh, and coins are out of the picture, I'd rather not have to find them in his diaper.

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Overall it was a very Merry Christmas. I am very grateful for our little family. We are blessed. Every year I like to read the Christmas Box by Richard Paul Evans, which I am sad to say hasn't happened yet this year, but I still have another week. Stop reading here if you haven't read it yet, go read it then continue reading. The premise of the book is that the first gift of Christmas is the Christ Child. The love that Heavenly Father has for each one of us that He would send His Son to atone for our sins. I can understand a little more the importance of that gift now. I love Tommy more than I could ever have imagined. He is the best gift I could have ever recieved.

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I look forward to the new year and the many blessings and grand adventures we will have.

Fashion Disabled

Tommy was very lucky to have two boy cousins born the same time of year as him. That means that he has many, many cute clothes to wear. I picked up Tommy from his grandparent's after work/school today and saw what he was wearing.

Tommy is too young to have picked out his own clothes, that excuse doesn't work yet. Apparently the sandals matched the pants and my guess is that the tan in the shirt matched the tan in the camouflage.

I guess it's time to do the laundry.

Caught Red Handed

A few months ago while John was in the shower, Tommy decided to feast upon the word of God. He ate through the front cover of the General Conference Ensign. Today, again during John's shower, Tommy decided that he was a little hungry.

He's not eating the plant, just the dirt. John quickly snapped the first picture and then said, "Tommy, what are you doing?" That's when the guilt started and he cried. John's mother saw these pictures and said it reminded her of John when he was a baby. John apparently felt the need to share the experience with me and left me the dirt to clean up after I got home from work.

And so the fun begins...

Busy Life

I keep telling myself that I'll do all these things when life slows down. Unfortunately I've been saying that for at least the last 5 years. Between work, school, husband and baby, I don't think that's ever going to happen. Harmony has so lovingly reminded me that I've really slacked off on posting up pictures of Tommy. This blog is dedicated to her.

In August Tommy and I took a trip to Cincinnati. He got to play with his cousins, Grandma Paulson, Uncle Ben and Aunt Kelly all day while I was at a Cooling Tower Conference. He definitely had a better time than I did! Still, it was wonderful to see Colter and his family. We appreciated their hospitality and loved that Grandma and Ben came down to babysit.

Tommy has been drooling non-stop for about a month now. John will often hold Tommy high over his head and sing "Oh I'm just a little white rain cloud hovering over my daddy dear..." Tommy just laughs and rains on you.

Tommy is now at home with his daddy all day while mom works. As you can see he's still alive and happy, so I guess things are going all right. Now that we've been in our home since June, I'm finally starting to feel like it's coming together. I even had book group at my home on Thursday. Tommy enjoyed the ladies and even gave them several laughs. Now that the inside is almost all put together, just organization of the office is left, we're able to work outside the house. I had a fight with some long grass, Persian grass I think, on Friday and fortunately I won! I did come away with horrible looking scratches all over my arms, but the grass is a stub waiting to be dug out.

This next picture I adore! My two boys were hard at work all morning trying to clean up the back yard. Tommy is even wearing his Mr. Fix It overalls.

Tommy is rolling over at night, which means he won't always sleep through the night anymore. Often I'll go in there flip him over and hold my hand on his butt for about 5 minutes before he stops trying to roll over. I just need to teach him to roll back over so that he can fall asleep himself. He smiles and laughs almost constantly. What a joy he is to have around! I can't imagine our life without him.