Little Chatterer

Freddy can use ANYTHING as a phone. Calculator, remote control, an actual phone...he usually calls Caitlin, but sometimes calles Grammy, Papa, or Pop. Notice the raised pinky. He's very cultured.

Watch and Learn

This is how onions get chopped in our house. We do not mess around.

Before the Rain

Ok, these photos are actually from last weekend, when it was warm and sunny, but it took me a while to download them off the camera. Sophia, our neighbor, figured out how to climb the big box elder tree in our yard, and Freddy was pretty fascinated. Great...I guess it's only a matter of time until we need a safety net around the tree! :) With short sleeves on, Freddy is starting to look like a little BOY (not a baby). I guess I'll live. Luckily, he still lets me cuddle him like a little baby.

Sunny Day

Freddy and Dad hanging on the front porch. I'm kind of surprised that Freddy isn't reading the paper.

Spring Bounty

We're pretty happy that strawberries are almost in season here in Utah! They go great with oatmeal, according to Freddy.

We had a nice, laid-back weekend here. The weather was chilly and rainy, so we laid low. Freddy had music class Saturday morning, which he is really starting to love (if only we had Mary here to do her old Teddy Time music class!), and Saturday night, Bill and I went to an event put on by the Nature Conservancy of Utah at the Great Shorelands Preserve. The Preserve is a tract of 44,000 acres along the edge of the Great Salt Lake that the Nature Conservancy purchased. They built really cool structures as visitors centers and endless boardwalks that run through the marshlands. We heard so many different kids of birds - apparently the salt lake is an important stop on the migratory path between Canada and South America. Then we went to a really hokey restaurant called the Prairie Schooner, where everyone sits in covered wagons and there are big displays of taxidermied bears and wolves, fake fires, the works!! The food was...well...pretty bad, but the scenery was good for a laugh.

Hope everyone's doing well and ready for a great week!

Passing the Time

This is Bill pretending Freddy isn't watching Sesame Street...but look how cute they are! :)

Big Helper

After seeing so many pictures of Dad (Papa) carrying the White Stone grandkids around in wheelbarrows, Billy just had to try it for himself. . Freddy had a pretty awesome time, I have to say! Until he wanted to push it. Why do kids insist on doing things by themselves? I mean, we're always happy to let them help us, but it doesn't work so well solo. Oh well.

Easter Fun

Well, Easter has come and gone...quickly. I scrambled last night to make Freddy an Easter basket after I felt guilty that he didn't have one. Not like he would have known if he hadn't, but I came up with a pretty terrible creation of construction paper, pom poms, ribbon, and a yogurt container, and I guess he didn't know what he was missing. The good thing was that it was really small, so didn't have much room for a lot of candy. He had his first taste of Peeps, which he didn't much care for, and could have eaten jelly beans all day long.

Then I settled down to do our taxes (ugh) and Bill got Freddy out of my hair by taking him skiing. Now, if you ask Freddy if he had fun skiing with Daddy, he just says "FAST!" Uh-oh.

We had a really nice dinner with two other couples. I made a ham (and it was GOOD), scalloped potatoes, and asparagus with a yummy walnut puree. The scalloped potatoes were "light", and although they weren't nearly as pretty as Gram's, I'm going to share the recipe because I'm sure the regular ones are really, really bad for you and these made me feel less guilty. It's hard to keep the potatoes in nice slices - especially the sweet potatoes, which fall apart pretty quickly. I think you could skip the fennel bulb altogether. I only added about 1/2 of it. Hardly noticed it and didn't miss it:

Lighter Scalloped Potatoes with Sweet Potato, Fennel, and Leek

Serves 8.

The quickest way to slice the potatoes is in a food processor fitted with a 1/8-inch-thick slicing blade. Halve the potatoes crosswise and put them in the feed tube cut-side down so that they sit flat on the surface of the slicing disk. A mandoline or V-slicer is the other option. Don't try to slice the potatoes with a knife; you won't get them thin enough. It is best to assemble all of your ingredients before slicing the potatoes. If the potato slices discolor as they stand, put them in a bowl and cover with the milk in the recipe. Don't be tempted to slice the potatoes and store them in water—this will remove some of the starch that is necessary to thicken the milk.

Ingredients

1	medium leek , white part only, sliced 1/8 inch thick
1	teaspoon vegetable oil
1/2	teaspoon table salt
1	medium garlic clove , minced or pressed through a garlic press (about 1 teaspoon)
1	teaspoon minced fresh thyme leaves
1/4	teaspoon fennel seeds , crushed
1/4	teaspoon ground black pepper
1 1/2	pounds russet potatoes , peeled and sliced 1/8 inch thick
1	pound sweet potatoes , peeled and sliced 1/8 inch thick
1	small bulb fennel (8 ounces), cored and sliced 1/8 inch thick
2	cups 2% milk
2	bay leaves
2	teaspoons cornstarch
1	tablespoon water
3	tablespoons light cream cheese
2	ounces grated Parmesan cheese (about 1 cup)

Instructions

1. 1. Adjust an oven rack to the middle position and heat the oven to 450 degrees.

2. 2. Combine the leek, oil, and salt in a Dutch oven. Cover and cook over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, until the onion is softened, 8 to 10 minutes. Stir in the garlic, thyme, fennel seeds, and pepper and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.

3. 3. Add the potatoes, fennel, milk, and bay leaves and bring to a simmer. Cover, reduce the heat to low, and simmer until partially tender, and a fork can be slipped into a potato slice with some resistance, about 10 minutes. Discard the bay leaves. Whisk the cornstarch and water together, then add to the pot and bring to a simmer. Off the heat, stir in the cream cheese and 2 tablespoons of the Parmesan, being careful not to break up the potatoes.

4. 4. Transfer the mixture to an 8-inch-square baking dish and sprinkle with the remaining Parmesan. Cover the dish with foil and bake for 20 minutes. Uncover and continue to bake until the potatoes are completely tender, a fork can be slipped into the center of the dish without resistance, and the top is golden brown, 10 to 15 minutes longer. Let cool for 10 minutes before serving.

5. PER SERVING: Cal 210; Fat 5 g; Sat fat 2.5 g; Chol 15 mg; Carb 35 g; Protein 8 g; Fiber 3 g; Sodium 340 mg

Happy Easter!

Missing all of our friends and family today...hope you are all healthy and happy! We are having some friends over tonight for Easter dinner (ham, scalloped potatoes, asparagus...), but otherwise don't have many plans - which is kind of nice! I decided F is a little too little for easter egg hunts with big kids, but we'll hide a few plastic ones in the back yard for him to find (if it's not raining, which it's been doing pretty much for a week). Here are some photos of us dyeing easter eggs yesterday. I had to seriously get over my perfectionist tendencies when he grabbed the wet eggs - the yellow became yellow smudged with blue, the orange smudged with green, etc. Oh well - I guess it's just another reminder that it's not about me anymore! :) Hope you all have a great day!

Self Portraits

Freddy entertained himself for about 20 minutes one evening this week by running around taking pictures - sometimes of himself, sometimes of random corners of the ceiling, sometimes of the floor...but he figured it out and was so pleased with himself! I know these are out of focus, but they make me laugh. Just picture Freddy skipping around (occasionally tripping), and the flash going off about every 15 seconds...and him cracking up!

On the Way to DC...

When we got off the plane, I had to give Freddy a lunch break before we even picked up the rental car. Turns out that the combination of french fries and mandarin oranges from Wendy's are the magic trick to make him immediately fall asleep, as evidenced by this photo from the rental car shuttle bus.....

woops...

I should mention that if you didn't see the video clip in your e-mail (for you subscribers), you might have to click through to the actual blog page to see it. It's pretty darn hilarious.

More Dancing

These kids just can't get enough! And with Uncle Doug leading the band, how can you resist?

Happy to See Daddy

I wish I could have captured the cuddles Freddy gave Bill when he saw him at the airport. It was adorable - Freddy just snuggled up and gave Bill a big hug (after saying "daddy!" when we came down the escalator and saw him). He's definitely glad to have Bill home, although he's been a little funny about who puts him to bed. Oh well. The kid gets a break for a few days.

We're Back!

Freddy and I have been on 3 planes, 2 metro trains, 1 airport train, 1 rental car, 3 other cars, and 1 shuttle bus in the last 9 days, and although we are GLAD to be home, we had a great week seeing family, playing with new friends, and (for me) doing a little nonprofit work.

Saturday - Wednesday morning:
While I spent 2 1/2 days lobbying for more funding for arts, arts education, and other related issues on Capitol Hill, Freddy got some great Grammy (my mom) and Nana (my grandma) time in. They went to playgrounds and parks, watched squirrels, rode the metro, looked at cherry blossoms, and did their best not to mark up Nana's furniture. Thanks to Mom for driving up to DC to babysit while I was in meetings, and to Gram for feeding us and letting us disrupt her schedule. Oh, and for not getting mad when Freddy dinged her dining room table with a toy train. We were sad to leave DC and cried a little when mom drove away. :(

Wednesday afternoon-Sunday:
After a 4-hour drive from DC to Fair Haven, NJ, where Bill's sister Steph and her husband Rip live (Freddy did not sleep but was very good!), we arrived to much excitement. Freddy and his just-turned-2-year-old cousin Caitlin took about 60 seconds to warm up to each other and were off and running. They were adorable, and so is the newest addition to their family, Lloyd Harrison Bush III (no nickname yet, so he might just be Lloyd). Unbelievably, tiny Steph gave birth to a 9 lb, 4 oz baby boy...which is why she is back in her regular clothes already, as he was obviously taking up her entire belly space. Lloyd is about 2 1/2 weeks old and is a pretty darn good baby for being so new. Caitlin definitely loves her little brother (maybe a little too much sometimes), except for the occasional "put baby down" comment. We went to parks, took walks, and generally hung out and ate well. It was great! Caitlin got pretty sick our last 2 days there, unfortunately, so we probably should have tried to catch an earlier flight just to give her some space (and her crib back), but everybody hung in there. We also got to see Freddy's Uncle Doug and Aunt Christine, Bill's Aunt Helen, and Pop and Jan (some more than once)! I'm sure Steph and Rip are glad to have their house back to themselves. ;)

Freddy and I drove up to the airport yesterday for a direct flight back from Newark. He was so-so on the plane...I guess all I can say is that it could have been worse. In the meanwhile, he slept until almost 8 this morning and I slept like a rock. Now back to work! I'll try to get our photos off my camera in the next few days and get back into the blog routine.

Here's a photo Mom took at my grandma's condo...it almost doesn't look like Freddy but I think it's adorable!