Too Good not to Share

I originally decided to use this recipe in order to use up some mascarpone cheese I had left over from making a cheesecake...but hot dang was it yummy...and easy! so I thought I'd share

Creamy Broccoli & Sun-dried Tomato Orzotto

-1 medium onion
-3 garlic cloves (pressed)
-2 tsp olive oil
-1 1/2 cups uncooked orzo pasta
-3 1/4 cups chicken broth
-3/4 cup dry white wine (can also substitute with additional chicken broth, which is what I did)
-8 oz jar of sun-dried tomatoes, drained and patted dry (I cut this amount waaay down in attempts to get my husband to actually eat this dish)
-1 head broccoli (about 2 cups of florets)
-2 oz. Parmesan cheese
-6 oz mascarpone cheese


1.) Heat olive oil over medium heat 1-3 minutes or until shimmering.  Add finely chopped onion and garlic, cook 1 min or until fragrant (next time I might cook longer, Ivan didn't like his onions crispy).  Sitr in orzo, chicken broth and wine, cook, uncovered for 14-16 minutes until almost all liquid is absorbed and orzo is tender. Remove from heat.

2.) Chop broccoli into small florets and thinly slice tomatoes, add to the hot orzo mixture, cover and  let stand for 5 minutes.  Add cheeses and mix well.....and enjoy!

I of course was not crafty enough to have taken a picture of my cooking so you'll have to take my word for it that it was freaking good!

p.s. The husband....and the baby both loved it!!

Working Moms

I had an entirely different post written just now, but decided to scrap it....this is the main point that I found myself trying to get across and the one that I felt most emotional about, so here it is:

There is no support or encouragement out there for working moms

While I was working full time, and the mother of an infant I always received comments like "wow that must be hard" or "that must be so tough, I could never do what you're doing"....I never heard anything like "wow you can manage a baby and a career" or "you're doing such a great job"  Never once did I hear "its all worth it".  So I felt like a terrible mother and a neglectful wife.  I tried to manage a house, a baby, being a wife and a having career...but I couldn't...it was just too much.  How could I ever have imagine being able to do such an unimaginable feat when no one in my life has ever managed it.  My mom, my family, my friends, I've had no example of how to make this work.  All the moms I know - don't work, and the ones that do, even part time, are miserable.  And so I was miserable..... so I quit. 

In my head I may be second guessing my decision to quit, but in my heart I know I made the right decision for my family.  I will just continue to pray that I will have peace over this decision.  A decision I'm sure many mothers have had to make.  I just wish that there were more options, more encouragement out there for those that do continue to work.  We've all worked hard for our careers and we all love our families, should we really have to choose between the two?  or feel like terrible mothers if we decide to continue working?  I made my decision after a long year of feeling like I never saw my baby or my husband, a frustrating year where I felt like I was barely keeping everything together.  And still it took me a year to make this decision, a choice that would have been even harder had I actually liked my job. 

I knew this moment of doubt would come, I just never imagined that the magic of "staying-at-home" would fade so quickly.  Blame it on the fact that G is teething like a mo-fo, or that Ivan is working a double this weekend and I'm feeling lonely, or even that the realization of me quitting is finally sinking in.  I have my doubts and my regrets, but when it comes down to it, my baby is more important than my need to feel gratified by my career.  His happiness and development come first and whether he's happily playing peek-a-boo or crying himself to sleep in my arms I'm just glad to be there for all of it. 

Trip to the Park

Thoughts on having a 1 Year Old

Things I Hate Strongly Dislike

• Teeth - holy moly! I thought getting front teeth were bad but its nothing compared to these gosh darn molars.  It's as if someone replaces my happy smiley baby with a cranky pants non-eating/sleeping/playing little monster who has a meltdown every time we look at him wrong.  Thank heavens for clips of elmo on youtube!  (its true I've joined the throngs of medicore parenting and soothed my child with mass media...sigh)

• The naughtiness - G is into everything, and try as we might to distract him away from baby inappropriate objects he just keeps going back.  I just feel like we're in this phase where he has the physical ability to do so much but not so much the mental ability to remember that mommy and daddy don't want me to tear the pages out of their books....or that sitting on the cat is a bad idea.

• Diaper Changes - Ever since he was about 7 months G has fought diaper changes like we were trying to cut off his legs rather than change his pants.  I thought it was just a phase but its been one heck of a long phase.  We've tried holding him still, giving him toys, giving him food, nicely telling him he needs to hold still, firmly telling him to hold still.....singing and bribes.  But it all ends the same, with a screaming toddler crawling away from his frustrated parent with a half attached poopy diaper hanging off his bum.  (any advice on how to make this oh so common occurrence more peaceful would be much appreciated!)

Things I (really really) Love (and totally make up for all of the above complaints)

• The Kisses - G gives these out far and few between but they light up my day when he decides to plant one on me.  Its usually when we're on the floor playing, he'll crawl up to me and lean in and then crawl away laughing hysterically.  

• Books - G has recently started to love books!  and I love it!  I love watching him crawl over the the shelf and pull out a book, crawl over to me, hand me the book and climb into my lap.  I love how he points at all the pictures and makes his "ooo ooo" noise when he wants me to read it again.

• His curious nature - G loves to explore everything!  nothing goes unnoticed by this little guy.  Its so fun watching him experience new things like splashing water and playing in the sand, wouldn't it be great to be able to experience everything new again?

• Becoming a Mother - my friend emili posted this quote on her wall the other day and I really took it to heart  "It takes all the years of making a boy into a man —  to teach a woman how to be a mother".  Being a mom has been one of the best...and most challenging things I have ever done, and I am still learning how to become one.  Such a great reminder that God is not finished with us yet and that on our journey to becoming a mother he uses our children, our experiences, our successes and our failures to mold us.  

 G and Daddy enjoying one of his favorite books

G's 1st Birthday Party

We celebrated G's birthday at the end of the month rather than his actual birthday so that both sets of grandparents could be there.  It turned out to be a beautiful day and we spent it eating some great food and with some great company.  Here are a few pics.....

The Spread

 The amazing Cake (made by a friend from work)

The Birthday Boy 

Visit from Grandma and Grandpa

My parents came out for a visit and we spent the week playing and walking and reading books.  All in all really relaxing and it was great seeing G get to know his grandparents a little bit better.  I have a bajillion pictures of their visit...I thought I'd spare you and just show you two of my favorites. 

First Haircut

We let grandpa and grandma do the honors when they were out last week.  It all started out fine and dandy with G in his high chair, contentedly munching on a graham cracker.  But then grandma got nervous, what with all the sharp blades so close to that precious little head, and decided he needed to be held still.  Then things got a little hairy (pun intended) The look on G's face in these pictures will do a much better job than any description I could give of the event.......enjoy.....

 not so bad at first....

 wait a minute....

 I don't like this at all!

Someone please...get me outta heeereee

 Ok...now I'm just pissed!

Busy

I have lots to blog about, but no time to do it in.  Since my last post we've been super busy.  Ivan has started his new position, I've been preparing for the end of my job, my parents have come for a week's visit, Ivan's parents are in the midst of a two week visit (with his uncle coming for a few days next week), we've also thrown G his first birthday party and we are busy making lots of summer travel plans... and last but not least we've been trying to soak up as much of the beautiful sunshine that God has blessed us with these last few weeks!

so....maybe in the near future I'll have a quiet moment in which to update you all on our lives.  

until then

Lisa