this time last year...

Our Little Elf!

Let Me Peruse This Record Collection...

In Which Cecilia Professes Her Love For The Vaccum Cleaner!

True Story.

I had a dream 2 nights ago that I was poking around a pharmacy for decorations for a party for Ceci and in the back room, next the coolers full of pepsi and monster I found a table full of mylar banners. One of the them was the shape of a purple sports car with a grey exhaust plume swirling out the back. The shapes were made up of letters and the letters said: bagels are incredible.

All Girlfriend Wants To Do Is Chew On Kale Stems

Gifts from Grammy and Mimi:

Cecilia Climbing:

Also...

...Cecilia's crawling and climbing, more on this later though.

This Must Be What Normalcy Feels Like.

It occurred to me last week, as I was running errands with Cecilia on my hip that this might be the beginning of the rest of my life. I liked it, it felt good. To make small talk with my community and have there be nothing "special" about me... For the last year of my life whenever I've gone somewhere I've been pregnant (and that's a big fuss), or I've had a newborn baby (and that's an even bigger fuss) or I've been preparing for a wedding (and that's a fuss of a different nature!). However now there's no fanfare, I'm just myself and it's so nice. I think I might have been waiting my whole life to have this feeling.

It's a feeling of being settled. Of being Home. Of setting roots deep into the soil, into my family and into myself. It's learning the cycles of planting garlic, of planting a garden, of enriching the dirt with poop. It's knowing my farmer. Knowing my banker. Knowing my midwife. It's holding hands with my husband across the dinner table every night and knowing he'll be there to hold onto in the middle of the night, or in the mid-morning, or in the mid-afternoon. It's contentment sprinkled atop a spoonful of honey. I'm feeling so thankful that I am settled into this home with these people surrounding me.

Cecilia Rebecca's Present.

In Two Words: Thank You!

Oh wow. wow wow wow.

I'm feeling so thankful, so loved, so blessed, and so wowed...

For the greatest moment of joy I've ever known.
For tearful loving embraces and affirmations of us.
For coming out 200 strong.
For the most incredible kitchen staff.
For the very most helpful friends.
For Rafi.
For Cecilia.
For everything being beautiful and effortless.
For my Mothers and Fathers and Siblings.
For my new Mothers and Fathers and Siblings.
For the grace and elegance of David Hopkins.
For Devon's beautiful cake toppers and Elizabeth's decadently delicious triple chocolate cake.
For everyone who couldn't be there!
For no one pitching a hissy fit.
For the beautiful sunlight and hike.
For being married!
For Lindy Weston, who was my right hand design consultant through all of this.
For dancing and dancing and dancing!
For FANTASTIC music.
For a lovely, lovely poem.
For 3 quarts of water through the night.
For feeding you all myself with my own recipes.
For a lot of leftover Tide Mill Chicken.
For taking a bath with my family when we got home.
For Bergen Bagels for breakfast.
For everyone driving so far home today.
For Love, SWEET LOVE.

Pre-Wedding Jitters?

If it's 2:51 am two days before you're getting married to your beloved is that pre-wedding jitters, or just an over-active mama mind? I probably would sleep through the night a lot better if it were not for a certain cute someone becoming ravenous around 1:30 am. So I lay there and nurse and that's when the mind starts going....

I still have to sweep the floors. We didn't grind the coffee for the reception yet. Shit, I forgot to take the food out of the freezer. We still have to carve that great big turkey. The Dishes, unloading the dishwasher, loading the dishwasher, washing all those giant bowls covered in pesto that I simply had no time to wash today. The ladies from Brooklyn could be arriving soon. I want to see them. I hope they don't find any moose. I'm sure they're fine. I'll call them and maybe just wash the dishes and sort of wait for them to arrive. I am really wanting to see them. Oh no, I have a sore throat. Ceci has a wet diaper. The laundry needs to be cycled. I guess I'll get up and do as much as possible. The toilets need to be scrubbed.

T-Minus However Many Days Accomplishment List

• 300 meatballs
  
• 200+ chocolate chunk cookies
• 100 ice cream sandwiches
• vegan ice cream sandwiches
• 1 new window on the east wall of the house (thanks Elizabeth and Rafi)
• 1 pleasant baby through the whole thing
• 60+ fabric heart cutouts (thanks Lindy)
• 1 dress fitting (thanks Jana)
• 200 chicken wings pieced
• 10# baked tofu baked
• 50+ pounds of light colored smooth round rocks from Jasper's Beach
• 76 photographs printed
• BBQ sauce made
• 200+ chicken drumsticks thawing on the dining room table
• 1 smoked turkey in the freezer
• 12# of olives in my mother's fridge
• 2 kegs of Andrew's Beer ordered (thanks Beer God)
  
• 2 rings ready (thanks Heather Perry)
  

The Incredible Sitting Baby!

My How The Time Does Fly!

Well Cecilia's approaching the 5 month mark, it feels hard to believe that our little baby is now a great big baby! She plays so well on her own now, the term "tummy time" has a whole new meaning, we simply put down a blanket for her and she lays around on it cooing and twisting and rolling and grabbing for little rattles, miniature cloth carrots and crackly sounding soft books. With her wild brown hair (which is lightening) and bright, bright, wide eyes she looks like "Astro Girl." She's teething so very hard and we're starting to see some little white spots under her fantastic little gummy grin, and the girl's not afraid to smile... She's got smiles, and she knows how to use them! She also has vocal chords, she can now very effectively give a holler, or a hoot, or a great big belly laugh, and she doesn't ever hesitate to have her opinion known.

It's incredible how quickly the girl learns new skills, I remember when her namesake Cecilia Ziko was here in late August she started to hold on to toys for the first time. It was quite clear that the use of her hands was a vehicle to get objects into her mouth. She's gone from that early, blind "hand-eye-mouth" coordination to her current ability to very easily grab anything, and everything she can possibly see! The development is SO FAST!

It was around the same time in August that she flipped over for the first time; then only last week I was laying in bed with Ceci having morning cuddle/hang-out time and she got her little knees up under her butt for the very first time! Now only a few days later Cecilia can very easily get on hands and knees for a prolonged period of time, until she looses strength and sort of topples over/face plants. I even saw her lift one arm today, and another time one leg! I imagine she'll be some kind of mobile very, very soon, it's very exciting and quite intimidating all at the same time. We're not very far away from her having the ability to get in the kitchen cabinets, banging things around and wearing saucepans as hats!

Very impressive, I feel so proud of Cecilia, and you can tell she's proud too, as she let's out excited shrieks as her abilities change! And boy is the girl curious, and engaged with every little thing going on around her. If she's nursing and someone walks into the room she pops off the nipple like it's no thing, and lays there staring with a little milky mouth smiling up at the new entertainment. Then, just as easily as she popped off, she comes right back to nursing and has a little snack, until she's distracted even further. It's become quite evident how much more nursing is about than just nutrition, it's comfort and "home-base" as she grows and becomes more and more extroverted. I become a safe place for her to check-in with as she explores the world. It's a really beautiful relationship, I am so happy that I can supply that kind of security for her as she curls up like a little monkey on my lap.

You Don't Know About Pastries.

"How's your turnover?" I asked the 4 year old as he licked the apple turnover goop off of the styrofoam tray.

"This isn't a turnover, it's a pastry."

"Did you know that a turnover is a pastry?" I replied.

"No it isn't."

"Then what is a pastry?"

"Well you see, a pastry is a pastry."

"But a turnover is a pastry, just like a tart is a pastry. Remember that raspberry and blueberry tart I made earlier in the summer? That was a pastry, just like your apple turnover."

"No. You don't know about pastries; I'm the only one in this town who knows about pastries."

As I chortled under my breath I asked, "What is a tart then?"

"What a tart is, is sort of like a turnover."

"Oh, I see, but you do know that those are all just types of pastries?"

"Uhhh-arrrgh. You don't know about pastries," he groaned.

And A Few Pics Of The One, The Only...

CECILIA!!!
THAT LITTLE WONDER CHILD!

Cecilia has discovered riding on the back of her parents

(which has helped productivity tremendously!)

Peering over the edge of her co-sleeper, her granddad calls her "Ole Blueberry Eyes"

Is that a top knot I see on our precocious player?

"Oh don't mind me, I'm just wearing a denim jumper!"

"AHHHHHHHH-UHHHHHHHH"

I Wanna Go Back Baby, Back In Time...

Getting ready for the upcoming nuptials had me looking back through the pictures of the last 2 years, which record my life with Rafi. I plan to print them and display them at the wedding to give people another activity besides talking.... Sometimes you need a little downtime at a wedding. I thought I'd post a few of my favorites to get you all ready for the big day!

Tomatoes 3 Ways

Today was a day of tomatoes! First by processing 20 of the 40 pounds of tomatoes I ordered from Tide Mill Farm. First I put them in the food processor to make a pulp perfect for turning into hot sauce and tomato sauce. Those simmered away all afternoon and then my mother turned me onto the idea of making Pam Smith's Tomato Tart! I then considered making a Caprese Salad, but thought "oh no, that will be much too much tomato." But with such a bumper crop year and the short window of time we get to eat sweet fresh tomatoes, why not create an ode to them? And then the thought came to me... Tomatoes THREE ways! That would make it a real dinner to believe in. What to make for the third tomato???

I turned to me cookbook shelf and looked under tomato, The Red Cookbook, The Best Recipe Cookbook, The Moosewood and then old Julia had the answer.... STUFFED tomatoes! Yum, yum! It was on.

I made the tart, I made the caprese and I stuffed those tomatoes and while I was at Zumba Raf very lovingly put the plump tomato pods into the oven while Ceci screamed her head off. And I came home to a crying baby and hot squishy tomatoes. (poor Raf, she'd never cried like that before!)

"It's the trifecta!" Rafi proclaimed, while Cecilia hollered at her toy on the table. First you start with the nice cool, refreshing Caprese Salad, then a step up to the room temp mustardy sweet tart and on to the satisfyingly warm and gooey stuffed tomato. Very delicious.

TOMATO TART:
Crumb:
1 1/4 C. white flour
pinch salt
1/3 C. butter
Mix in:
1 egg slightly beaten
This dough should be very crumbly, simply push it into a pie plate or springform pan and place in the fridge for 30 minutes.
Preheat oven to 400.
After 30 minutes spread tart dough with:
1/4 C. yummy mustard
Arrange on top:
ripe tomato slices cut into 1/3 inch pieces.
Bake for 40 minutes. When the tart comes out of the oven drizzle with:
1/4 C. olive oil
1 t. dried tarragon
2 t. minced garlic
salt & pepper
Allow to cool and consume at room temperature!