Monday, August 30, 2010
Friday, August 27, 2010
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Adventures in wheat bread making...
I've baked. I'm not great at baking, but I'm not new to it, either. I've made white bread, wheat bread, rolls, breadsticks, cornbread, focaccia bread, banana bread (see two posts below...), cookies, muffins, scones, brownies, cakes, et cetera. Most of the time, things turn out okay (don't see two posts below), but I want to get better so that I can make something spectacular. Something so good, it doesn't have time to cool before it's devoured. Something that people remember and ask for ("Oh, I hope Jeralyn makes her delicious <insert delicious food for which I am known, here>!"). Commence wheat bread experiments.
The other day, I ground up a little bit of wheat and made my first attempt (in a long time) at a delicious loaf of wheat bread:
(Overhead view necessary since loaf did not raise above edge of pan.)
Surprisingly enough, this loaf was rather tasty. The dough did not rise. At all. I think my water was way too hot and destroyed the yeast (yes, I used yeast). I let it try to rise for hours, and even punched it (it hardly made a dent, but it helped relieve my frustration at the dough ;) ), but it remained dense and heavy. So I cooked it. We ate it. I learned.
A couple of days later, I found some new recipes and wanted to try again:
(Overhead view not necessary since loaf is about a hundred times taller than the last one.)
(This loaf turned out so pretty, it deserves another picture.)
Okay. Big difference. I got the water the right temperature this time. I let the dough rise over a warm oven. It actually doubled! Success! It rose (raised?) even more the second time, and even more in the oven. The top was a little dark, but it was light and fluffy. It tasted alright, but Loaf Attempt #1 actually tasted better. This one is great with a little butter and honey, though!
So now I need a little break from wheat bread making. I think next time I will return to my first recipe and be more careful with the water temperature, and I may just have something. If it turns out, watch for me to bring some to your door one day :)
The other day, I ground up a little bit of wheat and made my first attempt (in a long time) at a delicious loaf of wheat bread:
(Overhead view necessary since loaf did not raise above edge of pan.)
Surprisingly enough, this loaf was rather tasty. The dough did not rise. At all. I think my water was way too hot and destroyed the yeast (yes, I used yeast). I let it try to rise for hours, and even punched it (it hardly made a dent, but it helped relieve my frustration at the dough ;) ), but it remained dense and heavy. So I cooked it. We ate it. I learned.
A couple of days later, I found some new recipes and wanted to try again:
(Overhead view not necessary since loaf is about a hundred times taller than the last one.)
(This loaf turned out so pretty, it deserves another picture.)
Okay. Big difference. I got the water the right temperature this time. I let the dough rise over a warm oven. It actually doubled! Success! It rose (raised?) even more the second time, and even more in the oven. The top was a little dark, but it was light and fluffy. It tasted alright, but Loaf Attempt #1 actually tasted better. This one is great with a little butter and honey, though!
So now I need a little break from wheat bread making. I think next time I will return to my first recipe and be more careful with the water temperature, and I may just have something. If it turns out, watch for me to bring some to your door one day :)
Thursday, August 19, 2010
Ever have one of those days?
...where everything you cook turns out like this?
(This is supposed to be blueberry banana bread.)
A couple of weeks ago, I made this banana bread. I've made banana bread successfully dozens of times. What happened here? It actually tasted pretty good... Anyway, I'm glad I took a picture because now I can laugh about it :)
(This is supposed to be blueberry banana bread.)
A couple of weeks ago, I made this banana bread. I've made banana bread successfully dozens of times. What happened here? It actually tasted pretty good... Anyway, I'm glad I took a picture because now I can laugh about it :)
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
Thursday, August 5, 2010
Leah and Grant lately
Back on the 27th of July, Grant had his two-month checkup, and it was confirmed that he is a BIG boy! He weighed 14 pounds 11 ounces (95th-ish percentile), and measured 24 inches long (90th-ish percentile). I know boys and girls grow at different rates, but I checked Leah's old measurements, and this is about how big she was at four months. Interesting comparison for us :)
Over the past few days, Grant has started liking the idea of sleeping for a 6-7 hour stretch every night (yes!!), followed by 30 minutes of diapering and eating, followed by another 2-3 hours of more sleep. By that time, Leah gets up and we all start our day. I can live with that!
Leah has been making some big improvements with potty training, too! When she has to go, she looks at Mommy or Daddy and says "I gotta go potty!" and then she runs over to her potty chair, takes off her underwear (yes, underwear!) and pants, sits on the potty and does her business, then counts to 10 (so she doesn't get up too fast), grabs a wipe and wipes, and then comes to Mommy and Daddy for help putting her underwear back on (she gets it all twisted still) and washing her hands (she can't reach the sink on her own). We still give her treats afterwards, and we still put a diaper on at night. Most mornings, though, she will wake us up with an "I went potty in potty chair!" and we go in and she has taken off her (dry) diaper and gone in the potty chair all by herself. We are so pleased that she is able to do so much on her own, and not have to worry about diapers anymore! We are still working on getting her to sit on the toilet though... so far, she is not a big fan of sitting on the "big potty chair".
After a couple minutes of tummy time the other day, Grant got upset and started crying and rubbing his face in the blanket. Leah was showing sympathy! :)
Cute, but it's hard when one kid crying gets the other one started, too...
Over the past few days, Grant has started liking the idea of sleeping for a 6-7 hour stretch every night (yes!!), followed by 30 minutes of diapering and eating, followed by another 2-3 hours of more sleep. By that time, Leah gets up and we all start our day. I can live with that!
Leah has been making some big improvements with potty training, too! When she has to go, she looks at Mommy or Daddy and says "I gotta go potty!" and then she runs over to her potty chair, takes off her underwear (yes, underwear!) and pants, sits on the potty and does her business, then counts to 10 (so she doesn't get up too fast), grabs a wipe and wipes, and then comes to Mommy and Daddy for help putting her underwear back on (she gets it all twisted still) and washing her hands (she can't reach the sink on her own). We still give her treats afterwards, and we still put a diaper on at night. Most mornings, though, she will wake us up with an "I went potty in potty chair!" and we go in and she has taken off her (dry) diaper and gone in the potty chair all by herself. We are so pleased that she is able to do so much on her own, and not have to worry about diapers anymore! We are still working on getting her to sit on the toilet though... so far, she is not a big fan of sitting on the "big potty chair".
After a couple minutes of tummy time the other day, Grant got upset and started crying and rubbing his face in the blanket. Leah was showing sympathy! :)
Cute, but it's hard when one kid crying gets the other one started, too...
Monday, July 26, 2010
Image overload
When we moved, I lost our camera for about two weeks. One day, after trying to research new cameras, I took a nap for approximately one minute, in which I pictured myself finding the old camera in a box under something. When I awoke, I thought to myself, I haven't checked the "cell phone stuff" box under the bed yet. I immediately went upstairs to check the box, and voila! There was our camera :)
I have since tried to make up for lost time by taking extra pictures. As a result, there will be a lot of (cute) pictures in this post. Enjoy!
Like Father, Like Son, Part I: Here is Grant wearing a little outfit that his daddy wore as a baby. Grandma Brewer brought it for us!
Like Father, Like Son, Part II: This is one of our first family pictures with Grant, and it was on his blessing day. We had just moved into our new apartment the day before, and we had both sets of grandparents in town. Grandma Brewer brought the little blessing outfit that Matthew wore when he was blessed as a baby!
Smart Girl: Yeah, we think our little Leah is a smarty, and sometimes dress her as such :) She is so social, too, and loves all of the neighbors we have now. She calls all of the kids her "new friends" and asks where they are whenever she doesn't see them.
Fun at the Park: We have been having fun trying out lots of new parks in the Seattle area. Leah loves the playgrounds and the water (a lot of the parks are along the Lake or the Sound). The sad part is trying to get her to leave! To save room, here is a little collage of the many pictures from our park trips:
Two Months Old: Grant turned two months old on the 24th. That seems both too long and too short for what it actually feels like. Hard to explain. He is super healthy! He has started to sleep during the night, only getting up to eat once or twice, and then going back to sleep fairly easily. We are very happy about that :) He is big and strong, holding his head up by himself most of the time. He smiles so easily when you smile at him, and he is getting really chubby too!
I have since tried to make up for lost time by taking extra pictures. As a result, there will be a lot of (cute) pictures in this post. Enjoy!
Like Father, Like Son, Part I: Here is Grant wearing a little outfit that his daddy wore as a baby. Grandma Brewer brought it for us!
Like Father, Like Son, Part II: This is one of our first family pictures with Grant, and it was on his blessing day. We had just moved into our new apartment the day before, and we had both sets of grandparents in town. Grandma Brewer brought the little blessing outfit that Matthew wore when he was blessed as a baby!
Smart Girl: Yeah, we think our little Leah is a smarty, and sometimes dress her as such :) She is so social, too, and loves all of the neighbors we have now. She calls all of the kids her "new friends" and asks where they are whenever she doesn't see them.
Fun at the Park: We have been having fun trying out lots of new parks in the Seattle area. Leah loves the playgrounds and the water (a lot of the parks are along the Lake or the Sound). The sad part is trying to get her to leave! To save room, here is a little collage of the many pictures from our park trips:
Two Months Old: Grant turned two months old on the 24th. That seems both too long and too short for what it actually feels like. Hard to explain. He is super healthy! He has started to sleep during the night, only getting up to eat once or twice, and then going back to sleep fairly easily. We are very happy about that :) He is big and strong, holding his head up by himself most of the time. He smiles so easily when you smile at him, and he is getting really chubby too!
Friday, July 23, 2010
Monday, July 5, 2010
Quilt Lady
At church, there is a woman who makes a quilt for every new baby born in the ward. No one knows who she is (except for a couple of people who help give them out), and she is anonymously known as the "Quilt Lady". We received Grant's quilt last week, personalized with his name on the back!
(It is a little hard to see in this picture, but each red square has elephants in the shapes of each letter of the alphabet.)
Thank you, Quilt Lady! It is beautiful!
(It is a little hard to see in this picture, but each red square has elephants in the shapes of each letter of the alphabet.)
Thank you, Quilt Lady! It is beautiful!
Thursday, July 1, 2010
Smiley
Grant has started smiling on purpose! He will smile back at us sometimes, and you can tell that some of them aren't by accident :)
Thursday, June 24, 2010
One month old
Today, Grant turned one month old. It is hard to believe that it has already been a month since he was born! But, it also seems like a lot longer since he was born... At his doctor's appointment on Tuesday, he weighed 10 pounds 15 ounces and measured 23 inches long. (Compare to Leah at two months: 11 pounds 4 ounces and 24 inches... her length then being in the 90-something percentile.) He still doesn't like to sleep at night, but he sure is growing!
It has already been almost five weeks since I stopped working. That is how long I had off after having Leah before I went back to work. I am relieved to not have to go back this time! I still feel way busier now than I did when I was working.
Matthew has successfully completed his last "full-time" quarter of classes, and has been doing research, which he will continue throughout the summer. Plus, we are moving to student housing in a couple of weeks!
Here are some pictures from Grant's "birthday" today:
Leah is an excellent big sister!
This is one of Grant's most common expressions so far. And notice we downgraded Leah's bandage... just to clarify, she's fine; she just hit her head on the edge of our fireplace the other day and, well, head injuries can get rather gruesome, which is why she had the mega bandage on the last post.
Leah got everyone involved in tummy time (yes, even me, not pictured):
Funny face:
Good-looking boy:
It has already been almost five weeks since I stopped working. That is how long I had off after having Leah before I went back to work. I am relieved to not have to go back this time! I still feel way busier now than I did when I was working.
Matthew has successfully completed his last "full-time" quarter of classes, and has been doing research, which he will continue throughout the summer. Plus, we are moving to student housing in a couple of weeks!
Here are some pictures from Grant's "birthday" today:
Leah is an excellent big sister!
This is one of Grant's most common expressions so far. And notice we downgraded Leah's bandage... just to clarify, she's fine; she just hit her head on the edge of our fireplace the other day and, well, head injuries can get rather gruesome, which is why she had the mega bandage on the last post.
Leah got everyone involved in tummy time (yes, even me, not pictured):
Funny face:
Good-looking boy:
Sunday, June 20, 2010
Bonk!
Yesterday, Leah got the worst bonk of her life... literally! Here she is showing off her mega bandage:
Thank you to Matthew for rushing home to rescue us right when this all happened! He sure has a special connection with his little girl :)
Thank you to Matthew for rushing home to rescue us right when this all happened! He sure has a special connection with his little girl :)
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
Awake
Not only is that how we spent most of the night last night, it is how Grant was when I took these pictures yesterday...
I still haven't caught his little smiles on camera... but let me assure you, they are so sweet :)
Also, I was looking at some of Leah's newborn pictures recently. I used to think she had a lot of hair when she was born, but now I'm convinced she was a bald baby, haha!
I still haven't caught his little smiles on camera... but let me assure you, they are so sweet :)
Also, I was looking at some of Leah's newborn pictures recently. I used to think she had a lot of hair when she was born, but now I'm convinced she was a bald baby, haha!
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
Two weeks
Our little guy is two weeks and one day old! He already seems so much older and stronger from when he was born.
We were very excited when Grant slept for a four-hour stretch last night!
Sometimes he finds his little thumb to suck on :)
And this was fom his first bath:
I have realized that I don't have very many eyes-open pictures of Grant... so that is something that will be worked on!
We were very excited when Grant slept for a four-hour stretch last night!
Sometimes he finds his little thumb to suck on :)
And this was fom his first bath:
I have realized that I don't have very many eyes-open pictures of Grant... so that is something that will be worked on!
Thursday, May 27, 2010
The Newest Brewer
Grant Lincoln Brewer was born at 12:22am on Monday, May 24, 2010, weighing 8 lbs 5 oz, and measuring 20.5 inches long! He came ten (almost eleven) days ahead of his due date. (Compare to Leah: 7 lbs 8 oz, 21.5 inches long, seven days late.)
Everything went so smoothly! We had some wonderful help with Leah from one of Matthew's friends and my mom, even though it was a little sudden. Labor was around six hours. When we got to the hospital, we found out that I was completely dilated and effaced (or, ready to go!). I was in a lot of contraction pain, but I felt mostly in control. I figured that any pain medication I got, wouldn't save me much pain since I was almost done already. (Which was true... we were at the hospital for about 40 minutes before Grant was born, so by the time I would have gotten any drugs--and they were taking their time--I would have only had them in effect for 15 or 20 minutes. In fact, it happened so fast that I was still wearing my regular shirt and jacket until right after Grant was born!) So I gave birth completely drug-free! The only drugs I got were after birth, because I needed a couple of stitches from a very small tear (MUCH better than when Leah was born).
Some thoughts: I never thought I could handle a "natural" birth. I had read a lot about breathing and relaxing, but mostly with the idea that it would help until I could get some medication. These things really helped me through, though. It really wasn't as bad as I thought it would have been. I mean, it was hard and very painful, but I was able to manage it. I felt very blessed and strengthened... there were a few very late contractions here and there that just weren't that bad, and I was so sleepy from a bad night's sleep the night before that it was easy to relax between the really bad ones. I don't know that I would ever plan for another "natural" birth, but I am SO glad I was able to make it through. I am amazed at how fast I felt good afterwards. No epidural = no epidural headaches!!! That might be the best part :)
Anyway, I am feeling great, Grant is nursing great (even that is going so much better this time), and we are all enjoying this brand new baby so much! Last night, he slept between every feeding so we even feel somewhat rested. Leah has been a good girl, but not showing a lot of interest in Grant yet (some, just not a lot). She has been more interested in playing with Grandma.
Okay, picture time!
Saturday, May 22, 2010, at 38 weeks 2 days ("before"):
Monday, May 24, 2010, at 38 weeks 4 days ("after"):
Right after birth:
Our sweet little Grant:
He has lots of dark hair!:
A smile? Kind of:
Leah came to meet her new baby brother at the hospital:
Leah and her mommy:
And just another cute one of Leah:
Everything went so smoothly! We had some wonderful help with Leah from one of Matthew's friends and my mom, even though it was a little sudden. Labor was around six hours. When we got to the hospital, we found out that I was completely dilated and effaced (or, ready to go!). I was in a lot of contraction pain, but I felt mostly in control. I figured that any pain medication I got, wouldn't save me much pain since I was almost done already. (Which was true... we were at the hospital for about 40 minutes before Grant was born, so by the time I would have gotten any drugs--and they were taking their time--I would have only had them in effect for 15 or 20 minutes. In fact, it happened so fast that I was still wearing my regular shirt and jacket until right after Grant was born!) So I gave birth completely drug-free! The only drugs I got were after birth, because I needed a couple of stitches from a very small tear (MUCH better than when Leah was born).
Some thoughts: I never thought I could handle a "natural" birth. I had read a lot about breathing and relaxing, but mostly with the idea that it would help until I could get some medication. These things really helped me through, though. It really wasn't as bad as I thought it would have been. I mean, it was hard and very painful, but I was able to manage it. I felt very blessed and strengthened... there were a few very late contractions here and there that just weren't that bad, and I was so sleepy from a bad night's sleep the night before that it was easy to relax between the really bad ones. I don't know that I would ever plan for another "natural" birth, but I am SO glad I was able to make it through. I am amazed at how fast I felt good afterwards. No epidural = no epidural headaches!!! That might be the best part :)
Anyway, I am feeling great, Grant is nursing great (even that is going so much better this time), and we are all enjoying this brand new baby so much! Last night, he slept between every feeding so we even feel somewhat rested. Leah has been a good girl, but not showing a lot of interest in Grant yet (some, just not a lot). She has been more interested in playing with Grandma.
Okay, picture time!
Saturday, May 22, 2010, at 38 weeks 2 days ("before"):
Monday, May 24, 2010, at 38 weeks 4 days ("after"):
Right after birth:
Our sweet little Grant:
He has lots of dark hair!:
A smile? Kind of:
Leah came to meet her new baby brother at the hospital:
Leah and her mommy:
And just another cute one of Leah:
Monday, May 17, 2010
Longest on record
"I want to go outside and play with bubbles!"
That's nine words! And a complete and correct sentence! It's the longest one I've caught Leah saying so far.
Also, she calls gummy bears "yummy bears". That always makes me smile :)
That's nine words! And a complete and correct sentence! It's the longest one I've caught Leah saying so far.
Also, she calls gummy bears "yummy bears". That always makes me smile :)
Friday, May 14, 2010
Big girl
I realized I haven't posted much about our little sweetheart lately... Here is some of what she's been up to!
Feeding the ducks...
One time, her duck friends followed her halfway to the car :)
Being incredibly cute...
Attempting to draw Ernie (from Sesame Street, or "Sen-sah-yeet" as Leah would say) for the first time...
Right afterwards, she drew Bert too!
Telling me she's a bunny when I put a banana sticker on her nose...
Making her own "rolls" when I gave her some extra bread dough to play with...
Learning to wink...
Picking all the "white flowers" (dandelion seed things) she can find, blowing the seeds off, and making wishes...
Playing at the park...
Feeding the ducks...
One time, her duck friends followed her halfway to the car :)
Being incredibly cute...
Attempting to draw Ernie (from Sesame Street, or "Sen-sah-yeet" as Leah would say) for the first time...
Right afterwards, she drew Bert too!
Telling me she's a bunny when I put a banana sticker on her nose...
Making her own "rolls" when I gave her some extra bread dough to play with...
Learning to wink...
Picking all the "white flowers" (dandelion seed things) she can find, blowing the seeds off, and making wishes...
Playing at the park...
And last but not least, learning how to do shadow puppets...
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