Tomato Soup and Grilled Cheese

This is the week of grilled cheese and tomato soup.

I love soup SO much. I cannot express that enough. And I've been wanting grilled cheese all the time. Nothing like grilled cheese and tomato soup.

I had the excellent idea of trying new tomato soup recipes all week. I'm thinking I'll get to try about four before the week is over and Michael's patience with this theme is expended.

I wasn't supposed to start the week of grilled cheese and tomato soup until today, but I was too excited, so I started last Friday. I LOVE grilled cheese and tomato soup.
The first recipe I tried is right here. Michael and I both agreed that we are excited to try the next one. Not that this one was terrible, but it just wasn't what I was hoping for at all.
The second one is one I can make in the Crock Pot (and I have been cooking it all day). It smells a little too much like spaghetti sauce, but I have great hope for it because I haven't put the finishing touches on it yet. Instead of a gallon of fat, though, I am going to use either evaporated milk or just half skim/half whole milk. I haven't decided yet.

What a wonderful week! I can't wait for Michael to get home from work so we can have some grilled cheese with this new (hopefully improved) tomato soup!

A Birthday Surprise

I can't believe I'm typing this from the 15th floor of the Radisson hotel in downtown Salt Lake. Rachael called me Saturday to offer a 2-day stay as a birthday present and so far, I'm having a total blast. (Michael not so much.) It was super-short notice, but since it's not too far from home and Michael can still get to work easily, he said it was okay. I had just been telling him how much I would love a birthday surprise--something cool. And how much cooler can you get? Rock and I are in walking distance from a ton of super-fun things!

We checked in yesterday afternoon and settled in and explored the hotel. We walked around the pool and talked about the stinky water and pool safety. I can't wait to go and play in it today. It's going to be great. Rock had a really good time standing on the a/c unit and staring out the window at the tiny cars and people and trees and everything. He wasn't afraid at all to look down and point at things. He's having such a good time.

They brought him a little portable crib that is just so cute. He liked it when we were just trying it out, but after he had a bath and it was actually time for bed, he couldn't stand it. Then he took over our bed and I was so glad there were two beds (picture coming). Michael didn't sleep too well, so he just turned off the alarm and left for work ten minutes before the alarm was even scheduled to go off. He is a little sicky icky, and he used up all the tissues here. I guess I didn't sleep too well, either. I jumped out of bed every time I heard a little whimper or cough coming from Rock, which Michael didn't stir for at all, so then I started trying to be really still as I tried to ascertain whether Rock was awake or just whining in his sleep. But Rock has only woken up crying twice so far, and he called for me both times. That is comforting to know that he loves me. Usually, he calls out Superman first, then daddy, then mama. I worry sometimes that those are really in order of importance to him.

But what a fun surprise! And tomorrow (later today, I guess, when it's daytime) we'll go play in the pool and go explore the hotel and then we'll hang out downtown. I simply can't wait. I don't know if I'll be able to get back to sleep. But Rock is breathing peacefully, so I know he's asleep, so I should probably try to get some sleep now, while I still can.

Wow! What a fun birthday surprise! I seriously can't think of a better one. It came as a complete surprise and just in time to celebrate my birthday before I start freaking out that my baby is turning two years old two weeks from today. Also, it's nice to have something nice just for me without overlapping with Rock's celebrations. Even if Michael is being kind of a stinker about it. I told him it was okay if we didn't go--I knew he didn't want a longer commute to work when he has to be there by 5am and he still wasn't feeling great, but he knew I was lying, and I'm glad. I really wanted this. We haven't stayed in a hotel since we got married--over 5 1/2 years ago. And I absolutely love staying in hotels. Stealing the soap, having someone else wash the sheets and towels, even make the bed if I could let myself not do it. I seriously love it. How can Michael not love it? There are fun activities for Rock to do and explore all over and it's all new and different and there is such a fun view--I mean, the TOP floor! I am having a total blast. I now see there is no way I will be able to get back to sleep. HOORAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Embracing My Mom Body

I knew that my body would never be the same after having a baby, but I wasn't prepared for just how different it would be. Even the texture of my skin is different--even the skin on my arms. It's drier and ...just different. And then there is my belly and my inner thighs. There is nothing to say about those parts of my body except that they make me look like a mom. Not just any mom. MY mom. Ugh. (No offense, Mom) And then my boobs--don't even get me started. I used to have super cute boobs. TMI? Too bad. Now, they are just lame. And slightly smaller. I thought they were supposed to get bigger, but not mine. I have a huge, weird belly offset by smaller, saggy boobs. The crazy extra skin on my belly is unreal. And stretch marks? Blah. Nothing I can do about that, so I have decided to embrace the new me. A little fatter, a little older, a little drier, a little saggier, but that doesn't matter. I can buy more lotion and just learn to deal with the rest. I can't look 20 forever--and who would want to live with all that pressure?

So, in an effort to just get out and be confident, I bought a new swimsuit--for the first time in 10 years. Unreal, really. It's so cute. I had to buy it from two different companies, because I really wanted boyshorts and the company that sold the top I wanted didn't have boyshorts as an option, so as a result, the browns of the top and bottom are slightly different. I'll just embrace that, too. I deserved a new swimsuit. I got rid of my old ones a couple months ago after trying them on again and seeing they were too big. I can't figure out how they were too big--I'm pretty much the same size except for my mom belly, which is bigger--but still, it looked like I was wearing my big sister's suit. So I decided to buy a new two-piece with a swimskirt coverup. Adorable! I can't wait to actually wear it other than trying it on. That is a BIG plus--I haven't felt that way since before I was pregnant. But so what if I have a weird belly? It'll be covered up so you can't see all the little stretchies on it. And even if you could see the saggy stretchies--I will love me no matter what. But it's still hard--for 30 years, I looked basically lean and suddenly, I just don't. But a cute new swimsuit helps with the hurt.

Here we come, Summer! I'm ready for anything now! Hooray!

Rock, the Candy Thief

Today started off just great. I went to get Rock when he woke up (well, it was half an hour after he woke up because he knows he can't really get up until it's daytime--which is now 7am). I cleaned up his diaper and we got underpants on, then I let him off the changing table and I washed my hands. I came out into the living room to find he had climbed on my computer chair, practically on my desk to reach some Cadbury mini eggs I accidentally left out. He had one in his mouth and was spitting "yummy! Yummy!" along with candy coating out of his mouth. He got down as soon as he saw me and kept saying "yummy. [chocol]ate!" And he didn't want to eat cereal, because such a thing as chocolate exists in the world. Bless his little heart. He thought that was the most delicious breakfast alive.

What a Day for Snow!

This morning, I was greeted by super-wet snow, and a TON of it. I couldn't resist letting Rock play in it. He was so excited to go out in the snow. I got his snowsuit (which he absolutely hates) out of the closet and took it off the hanger, then went to get on some jeans and a sweater. I came back and saw Rock lying on the floor with the snowsuit on top of himself, trying to figure out how to get it on. So sweet. I couldn't believe how easy it was to get on him--even the handflaps. I wouldn't have used them, but we lost one of his mittens a little while ago. I didn't think it would be a big deal, so I didn't make another one. I can see now I should have gone ahead and made more mittens. Oh, well. I'll make new ones for next winter.

Going out in the snow was so much fun. We never even had to leave our front stoop/porch/landing/whatever. Michael just shoveled the steps and left some snow on the landing. There was SO MUCH snow.




What a fun way to start the day! Then we came in to have some delicious hot cocoa. And Rock sat on the window sill for a good half hour. Just watching the snow and the cars driving through the slush on the street. Days like today make me happy to be alive.

A Big-boy Bed

I can't believe the time has come for Rock to sleep in a toddler bed. I mean, who knows when it's really time to transition? We've been thinking about it since the beginning of the year and we set it up and let him play on it and stuff, but he never had to sleep in it until Saturday afternoon for his nap. He did such a good job. At first, I heard him banging on his door, knocking and asking for us to come and get him from the torture device. I worried he wouldn't take a nap at all, but then he was quiet for more than five minutes and I peeked in to see this:

So sweet! He climbed back into bed all by himself and fell asleep. That night, he cried a little and I held him and we sang an extra song before bed, but he did just fine. And then, on Sunday, I just tucked him in and gave him a kiss and he went to sleep. For about half an hour, but then he was up for a little while and went back to sleep. And since then, it's been just perfect. It's nice to have a slightly smaller piece of furniture in that corner, even though we just moved his crib to the other corner of the room, it seems bigger, or at least different. Maybe we'll take the crib down and store it in even less space. That could be a plan. The possibilities are endless! And, now, if Rock would just go potty by himself, everything would be so much easier.

Rock Loves Superman

I never knew that it was possible to get so attached to a fictional character at such a young age. Rock loves Superman SO much. I feel like the only thing I say all day is, "You're right! Superman can fly!" That can't be true, I know, but it still seems like the truth. I love how he flies like Superman. It's amazing how he comes up with these things on his own--has he ever seen Superman fly like that? Not as far as I know. But he's flown like that since he heard of Superman.

What a stinking cutie!