Lucia Lately (3 months)

 Lucia is 3 months as of last week. It has been fun to see all the little changes and development over this month. The last time we were at the doctor (about a week and a half ago now) she was 13 lbs 9 ounces so she continues to be about 90th percentile for weight and 75th percentile for height (seems like she'll be taller than me since I was below 5th percentile for a long time when I was a baby). 

She is smiling and giggling, rolling over, grabbing toys and putting everything in her mouth. She has started more consistently to sleep through the night and has also started to really like her pacifier over the month. She likes to fall asleep holding onto something like a hand, her pjs or a sock but she has also perfected the art of wrapping her little fingers around her pacifier and yanking it out (that's when she gets one of her socks instead). One of our favorite times with her is first thing in the morning when she squeals with delight as we go to get her from her crib.

Here are some more pics from the month...

 Having fun with her dad

 And her uncle Jeff

 She loves to go for walks in the moby wrap and look around at the trees and surroundings. Now that she is bigger she has graduated to this legs-through way.

 Now that she can roll over she has started to sleep on her stomach sometimes.

 Me and my grandma decided that blue is her color.

 This is her other favorite way to sleep these days.

Here is a little series I call "Lucia at Night". It all started when I was putting the stroller away in our storage unit and saw Lucia smiling and giggling away to herself. (Don't worry, she was never actually by herself.) I just thought it was funny to see this happy little baby in this dark, dingy space (I have a weird sense of humor). So obviously I had to take some pics...

 

 We had a great visit this month from Matt's brother, Jeff.

 And my brother Eric graduated from college and is living in Chicago now. I guess Naomi really missed him, she wouldn't let go of him!

 It was also my birthday last week. We celebrated with some good Indian food.

 And took over Moody's pub with the fam. Moody's is such a great summer spot. It was here last year that I announced to my family that I was pregnant (via the game "Telephone" so that Gwen and Sonja wouldn't find out yet).

Naomi was really enjoying her moody burger.

Simple Egg Dish

I have been tweaking this basic egg casserole recipe so now I need to write it down before I forget it! We always seem to end up with lots of eggs and this is a great way to use them up (breakfast for dinner, anyone?). And very versatile, I just use whatever veggies I happen to have...there is an endless list of good combos. Oh, and that beautiful pink jam is my homemade rhubarb-strawberry jam, yum! (recipe found here).

Recipe:

• 8 eggs
• 1/3 cup half and half (plus a splash of milk for good measure)
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 cups sharp cheddar cheese
• veggies/meat (this time I used bacon, red pepper, onion and mushrooms)

Method:

1. Whisk eggs, add half and half (and milk). Add salt and most of the cheese, set aside.
2. Bake bacon (my method: place bacon on foil-lined baking sheet. The baking sheet needs edges to catch the grease. Place in cold oven, turn oven to 400. Check after 20 minutes but keep on baking till desired crispyness.) Allow to cool.
3. Saute onion, red pepper and mushrooms in olive oil for a few minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Allow to cool.
4. Add bacon and veggies to the bottom of a buttered casserole dish, spreading evenly. Pour egg mixture over veggies and top with the rest of the cheese.
5. Bake at 425 for 20-25 minutes or until top is browned.

Memorial Day Weekend Camping

 We went camping last weekend with some friends (we missed you, Austin and Ashley!). We were by a lake in Wisconsin. It's always great to start off the summer by sitting by a campfire and getting away from it all for a few days. It was tons of fun, great to be outdoors and always great to spend some quality time with friends (plus some great food thanks to all the gear, bacon every morning, anyone?). The one problem: looking aback at my pictures it seems like I only took ones of Lucia, oops! (I'll have to get some from you Janine). Lucia did great so I guess she loves camping!

But I mean, how can you not love camping when this is where you take your naps!

Chillin at the beach

And she's out...

 We upgraded to a big tent this year and I love it! Here was Lucia's 'wing'.

 

And ours...complete with air mattress. Now this is the kind of camping I can handle!

Tilapia with Lemon, Garlic and White Wine Sauce

I'm not much of a fish person. Basically, I only really like the kind of fish that doesn't actually taste like fish. For this reason tilapia seems to be my go-to and this is my go-to recipe for it...

 

Sometimes I add veggies like fresh asparagus or green beans under the fish when cooking but you can leave it without as well.

The Recipe and Method:

1. Preheat oven to 400.
2. Season both sides of 4 fillets of fish (give or take a fillet) with salt and pepper and lay on foil lined baking sheet (with veggies below if using).
3. Sprinkle a few tablespoons each of olive oil and white wine over the top of the fish.
4. Mince 2 cloves of garlic and sprinkle over top.
5. Cut one lemon in half and another into thin slices. Add the juice of half the lemon over the fillets (For extra flavor, reserve other half of lemon for lemon butter to top fish after cooking...heat the juice of the lemon in a small pan until it starts to simmer, turn off heat, swirl in one tablespoon of butter.) Top each fillet with a few slices of lemon.
6. Place a piece of foil covering all of the fish, fold up edges with the bottom piece of foil so that everything is enclosed.
7. Bake for 20 minutes.

 

Right before baking.

 

Fish packet!

All done and ready to eat.