baby bejos is 7 months!

And he is sitting up all on his own...with the occasional topple. Makes us rethink the lovely tile floors.

We spent the weekend pulling out the Christmas decorations, hanging lights, and, to SG's chagrin, attending holiday festivities. I love Christmas lightings and Santa sightings and was delighted this year to be able to share my excitement with baby bejos...I think a little bit of the holiday cheer even rubbed off on SG too.

Dear Santa,
all I want for Christmas are kitchen utensils, as I find them waaaaay more entertaining than typical baby toys.

Peanut Butter and Jelly Bread

Yum! 

This is the recipe I have been most excited about trying and it did not disappoint.

Bread

We have become a household of homemade bread, and not the kind out of a breadmaker. We are not purists, as we use a no-knead method, but the results make us look damn talented. And this is the book that makes it all possible

The issue is that I have stuck to the same few recipes time and time again. So, starting this week, I am venturing out and trying new recipes.

first up: Jim's Irish Brown Bread

Guinness, buttermilk, whole wheat flour....yum!

And thanks to my BFF, Auntie A , we are in the habit naming each loaf we bake. Perhaps you remember Cliff? Coming out of the hot oven this bad boy brought me back to Ireland and conjured up all things Irish, for it was in wintertime that we honeymooned in Ireland, and the bread was perhaps the highlight for me, a semi-vegetarian, in a not so veggie friendly place. On top of that I caught a fever induced sickness (we fondly dubbed it "the Irish Ick") and the only thing I could stomach was tea and toasted brown bread. This bread is nothing like the brown bread I enjoyed so much in Ireland but it does deserve an Irish name. So, I dub thee.... Murphy
because all that time I was sick all I really wanted was a Murphy's Stout

First real snow

This past weekend we received our first real snowstorm that left a few inches behind. Baby bejos was fascinated with the phenomenon. Glued to the window, slack jawed and drooling, it was hard to tell if it was awe or just another symptom of teething. Hard to tell these days.

Even though the temps these next couple of days are predicted to be near 50, I think we have seen the last of the bare ground for the season. It was so nice to get out of shoveling duty last year with the excuse of a baby bump...sigh

Thanksgiving

Here are a few shots from Thanksgiving. All was well except for the second round of the stomach virus that made it through our house. I am already sick of winter and it hasn't even officially begun yet!