father's day

I realize father's day was over two weeks ago, but life happens and I still wanted to give my amazing husband a shout out on here! Happy FIRST Father's day, Michael! You are such a wonderful husband and now father. Thank you for being such a great father to sweet Esther. We love you!

Esther "made" her first homemade card for her daddy for father's day with the help of her mor:) I helped her hold the brush and then Esther showed her artistic ability by running her hands through the paint on her own -- adding a personal touch:)

Every day we thank God for the incredible blessing we have been given to be Esther's parents and because of that getting to celebrate days such as father's day:)

faetter august

When we went to Texas we also got to meet our nephew August for the first time. What a cutie:) Esther's cousin (aka faetter), August, is only two months younger than Esther. It was fun seeing them interact. Esther was SUPER excited to meet him and screamed with excitement and joy into August's face the first couple of times she was near him. The raw emotion frightened August a little and he wasn't sure what he thought about his kusine Esther ... but soon enough they were friends. I am sure as they grow they will have lots of fun together ... and most likely get into trouble together as well;)

their expressions are so similar:)

what's up cuz!?

and then there was a cousin

We were blessed to also travel to Texas to visit my family last month. My brother's children (aka my nephews:) have patiently been waiting for a cousin for years ... and now they finally have a cousin, and a girl cousin (aka kusine) at that! It was so fun to see them interact with each other.

This was also Esther's first time meeting her uncle (aka morbror) and auntie on my side and the first time my parents had all of their grandchildren together. What a special time of being together!

nephew selfies:)

meeting washington family

One of Michael's sisters and family also got to meet Esther for the first time while we were in WA. So glad Esther was able to meet one of her aunties, uncles, and three of her cousins.

the cousins

Esther has a lot to say apparently:)

meeting great grandma

We only have one grandparent left between the two of us so Michael and I were excited about Esther meeting her great grandma Carlson when we were in town. One of the days Esther even had a chance to take a stroll through GG Carlson's garden. Esther loves the outdoors and especially trees - so she loved this special treat:)

daddy's old stompin' grounds

While we were in Washington for the wedding we had the chance to go to Stanwood where Michael grew up and where most of his family still lives. So Michael had the chance to show Esther a little around where he grew up. I'm sure there is much more to come and many more stories to tell - but at least he had a chance to wet her appetite;) And Esther seemed to enjoy it:)

congratulations nick and emily!

Last month we went to Washington state to celebrate the wedding of Nick and Emily. Michael was a groomsman so Esther and I flew in a couple of days later so Michael could participate in the groomsman festivities.

Esther did well (for a baby) for her first time flying. And I did ok too;) I did learn a couple of tricks that made flying back to Phoenix better ... All in all Esther and I survived our travels alone, but decided we prefer to have daddy along.

Since the wedding was in Washington we also had the chance to see family. Esther had the chance to meet her auntie, uncle and cousins and great grandma for the first time as well. But more about that later.

As you will notice we didn't manage to get a picture with the groom and bride (lame!), but I guess that is what happens when you attend a wedding with a baby and you flew in just hours before (lesson learned: too much packed into a day for a baby?! who knew. ha!)

milling mondays: whole wheat strawberry chocolate chip cake

I had a bunch of organic strawberries I needed to use and I needed to make a dessert for company - so this seemed like the perfect solution. This cake was yummy, fresh and moist and the chocolate chips created the perfect amount of sweetness.



Whole Wheat Strawberry Chocolate Chip Cake
modified from julias album


Ingredients

1 1/2 cup whole wheat flour (2/3 soft wheat berries and 1/3 hard wheat berries)
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp salt
3 TBS unsalted butter, softened
3 TBS Greek yogurt
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1/2 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/3 cup chocolate chips plus extra for topping
1 pound strawberries (fresh or frozen), hulled and halved


Directions

Preheat oven to 350F

If you mill your own flour, grind your soft and hard wheat berries. I use my WonderMill on the pastry setting. Sift the flour twice to make the cake less dense.

Mix together the flour, baking powder and salt.

In a different bowl mix together butter, yogurt and sugar until light and fluffy. I use my Kitchen Aid Mixer, but an electrical hand mixer would work just fine.

Then mix in the egg before adding the milk and vanilla extract.

Add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients a little at a time until just combined.

Fold in the chocolate chips.

Pour the batter into a prepared 9X3 inch springform pan.

Add the strawberries close together (cut side down) and add some chocolate chips to fill the gaps.

Bake the cake for 1 hour until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.


Let it cool on a rack.

ENJOY!

milling mondays: homemade baby rice cereal

It is common to feed babies rice cereal when they first start eating solid foods and it is SUPER easy to make yourself.

We decided to give it a try with E after trying sweet potatoes for a couple of days. We figured that maybe giving her something more bland with her formula mixed in would be less of a change for her pallet and a gentle way for her to learn how to eat. And she liked it much better than the sweet potatoes. Instead of crinkling up her face and closing her mouth, she would reach for the spoon and open her mouth. So we decided to go this route for a couple of days and then return to veggies. Since then she has loved every veggie we have fed her:)

Homemade Rice Cereal

Ingredients

1/4 cup organic short grained brown rice

1 cup water

Directions

Bring the water to a boil.

Grind the brown rice into a powder. I of course used my WonderMill which worked great!

Add the rice powder to the boiling water while stirring. Let it simmer for 10 minutes continually whisking to make sure it doesn't clump.

Mix in breast milk or prepared formula to the desired consistency.

sweet potato puree

For a while Esther has been very interested in eating - she keeps reaching for food or drinks that Michael and I are having. Since I felt like it was too early to share my coffee or Thai curry with her;) we decided to let her try to eat some solids (with doctors approval). I think Esther had high hopes for the experience. As I lifted up the spoon to give her her first bite I looked away to say something to Michael and before I knew it she had wrapped her mouth around the spoon and taken a bite. BUT I think it ended in disappointment for her. She was so eager and then ... then her face started frowning and she wasn't as eager for the following bites. She didn't complain, but her facial expressions revealed her true feelings. Ha! I guess food wasn't all it was cracked up to be in her mind and maybe sweet potatoes just didn't taste good to her in general so we will try another veggie or fruit in the near future.

In the end I think Esther's parents had more fun with it than Esther herself:) We started the day by going to the farmers market to pick up some sweet potatoes to bring home to puree.

farmers market

mor and daddy - why are you posing me with a sweet potato???

Sweet Potato Puree

Ingredients:
Sweet Potatoes, peeled
Water

Directions
After peeling the sweet potatoes cut the potatoes up into small chunks.
Add the chucks to boiling water and let it boil until tender, about 15 minutes.

Then add the boiled potatoes to your blender and add some boiled potato water (or other liquid) and blend until you get the right consistency.

The pureed sweet potatoes can be stored in the fridge for a couple of days or you can freeze it as well.

This is SUPER easy to make and has no preservatives. Both characteristics that are important to me when feeding my baby. 

I think it tasted just fine and even a little sweet, but for now Esther isn't the biggest fan. I guess once we start mixing food together we will try the sweet potatoes again with a fruit or something.

even if esther wasn't the biggest fan of sweet potatoes she was super excited about her new bib:)