Pumpkin and Leeks

I found this recipe in a baby puree book, but after tasting it, I WILL be making this a side dish for fall meals. It's easy and delicious! All you do is take the white part of a leek, wash it and slice it (about 1/2 cup) and throw it in a saucepan with about 2 tablespoons of unsalted butter. Saute under tender and slightly browned. Then add about 2-3 cups of chopped up (and this is important) FRESH pumpkin and about 1/2 cup of water (or Chicken stock) and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for about 30 minutes or until the pumpkin is tender. If serving to baby, puree and you're done. If you are eating it yourself, as I will be the next time I make this delicious little dish, just move to plate and devour! Enjoy!

Madyson is sitting up on her own! One of the little boys in her daycare is about 2 weeks or so younger than she is and this kid is on the verge of walking! I am in no way jealous of his mother. I am completely content with Madyson taking her time becoming mobile. :) Although part of me thinks she will skip the whole crawling thing and move straight to walking. We'll see and I will keep you posted. For now, I am just happy she is self sufficient in the sitting department. It makes it much easier to take pictures of her when Kevin is not around.

Speaking of taking pictures. Steph and I are moving right along with the business. We are official in Virginia, just waiting on California and North Carolina business licenses and we will hit the ground running. Actually, I think we have already hit the ground sprinting! We both already have a couple of things lined up and I cannot wait to get started. It feels amazing to start something new, but even more so, something creative. For those that know me know I have an "A" type personality, but with that, I also have a very creative side that I have always nurtured in some way, whether it was throwing clay, working with watercolors and charcoal, pastels or woodburning. While in the Marine Corps, I think my favorite job, second to being the Flight Line OIC, was S-5. I absolutely loved planning for events such as the Ball, Christmas parties, and squadron events. I think my favorite thing in the S-5 though was putting together the Squadron's cruise book. We hadn't had one since Vietnam and with our 40th Anniversary coming up, the CO wanted one and I jumped at the chance. Plus, it killed a little of the deployment time that seems to drag on forever.

Anyhow, the website is currently under construction but I cannot wait until it is finished! I think we're headed in the right direction and we both love photography and composition. I just need a little refinement in the capabilities of my camera. More on this later...

Until then, here's a little Madyson fix:

TEETH!

This is late, however, Madyson has teeth! Yes, I said teeth and not tooth. Originally, we only noticed a tooth, but a couple days later while checking on the first one, I "noticed" (which means while checking on the first one she bit down and I felt the other one). She seems to be doing okay with them for now. A little fussy here and there, and sleeping about 12-14 hours a night (occasionally waking for her paci) but otherwise good! You may be thinking that it's amazing that she sleeps that long... what I find amazing is that she isn't sleeping during the day! Maybe 15-45 minutes, but that's it folks. I guess she is too interested in the things going on around her. She's happy and healthy and that is all I ask. Being so cute you just want to eat her up is just a bonus! :)

This weekend I plan on taking her to the pool, we'll see how that goes. She is fair skinned like me and I will definitely be putting SPF 250 on her and myself!

The only other thing is that she is darn near close to crawling! Someone help me! :) I am actually looking forward to it. I know it will mean we will have to be more careful about the things at her level and both stairways, but it should be fun, if not interesting! Next week she should be walking and by Halloween maybe talking! :D I kid, I kid.

Other than that, not much going on. Here are a few photos, enjoy!

East Coast Vacay

Madyson and I have just returned from a whirlwind trip back east. As you can see from the post below, the trip out was a little frustrating, however, once we got back to mom's house we were both in great spirits! Madyson stayed up until about 7pm and was ready for bed. Who could blame her, she had a very long day that began at 0430!

The next day we drove up to Maryland to visit with Dad and Sharon. Madyson even got to meet one of her uncles, David, for the first time. They got along great!



Both Madyson and I were pretty jet lagged. Madyson napped quite a bit while I relaxed on the couch. It rained most of the time we were there with some great thunderstorms at night. They did not seem to phase Madyson and she slept pretty good through the night, until about 0330 where she didn't go back to bed until around 0500 or so. Rough!

Once we left Maryland, we headed back to mom's to take a rest from driving and stayed the night. The next day we drove down to Norfolk to visit with Paw Paw and Grandma Marlene. Madyson had a great time visiting and loved the carrots they fed her!





After Norfolk we headed back to mom's where we would stay for the remainder of our visit. Madyson still had a lot of people to meet! She met another one of her uncles, Kenneth. They both seem to share a fondness for electronics.




We went up to Georgetown to visit with a friend of mine, Meredith. Madyson got to meet her and her two beautiful children, Nattie and Jakob!





We also went over to Dottie and Willie's for some crabs!!!! Now this was a treat as I thought we weren't going to have crabs until Saturday's picnic, but we had them on 3 separate occasions!





Madyson also met Mitch, Pat, Cindi, Sheri, Sean, Brad, Brandon, Jenny, Brian, Hayley, Hudson, Claire, Elaine, Beth, Susan, Jenny, David, Dylan, Nathan, Kimmie, William, Avery, gosh, she met almost the whole family and then some!





It was a very tiring, yet awesome trip! Definitely good to see everyone!! We missed visiting with a few people as we ran out of time, but hope to make the rounds again in the fall. I definitely miss being back in Virignia, but I was ready to be home with Kevin and Shaye and to have a good night's sleep in my own bed. I am looking forward to Christmas!