Craft Table

Luke's "big" Christmas present this year was a craft table. He's a huge fan of coloring, so he was really in need of a surface that he could use to be creative and express himself (without giving me a heart attack that markers and crayons were gonna get all over our furniture).

So, Andie and I decided to put our heads together and make a table for him. We both searched the internet far and wide to find examples of tables that we liked. Andie purchased the wood and I drew out the pattern for our fun project! Andie created the first prototype, suggested a few design changes, and I re-drew the base of the table (version 2 looked much better!). Andie built prototype #2 (which was a winner), so I proceeded to paint, monogram, and clear coat our final product.

Team work at its best!







I must take a moment to brag on my husband... he is such an amazing builder!! He has made SO many awesome things in our house - picture frames, changing table, headboard, computer desk - just to name a few!

He really needs to start a side business as a woodworker. I was telling him that we need to start pumping out these craft tables as our first item for sale. Once upon a time I created a blog/website for his future woodworking business - I just haven't updated it in forever! It showcases some of the previous projects that he's created. (www.andiehammond.com)

If anyone has any woodworking needs - you just let me know! :)

He just finished making a bookshelf for Luke's room - so whenever I get that thing painted, I'll post pics of it.

Luke Speak

This little post is mainly for my own documentation. Luke is now 18 months old, so I thought I'd make a quick note about his current "vocabulary":

mommm-eeeee (mommy)
da-da (daddy)
daaaaaaaaaw (dog)
baaaaaaaaaw (ball)
ah-oh
doooooh (door)
et-et (blanket)
moe (accompanied with the sign language for "more") (more)
mee-mee (read me a book)
itt (kitten, cat)
noh (nose)
deeee (accompanied with a finger pointing down) (down)

That's about the extent of it for now. Sounds to me like he's got all the major things that he'd need to talk about covered. :)

Goodnight Gorilla

I have to share this story because I love it. As I've mentioned several times before, Luke LOVES books. More than anything. Andie told me that when he picked Luke up from school the other day, all of the kids were playing in the middle of the floor with toys that were scattered around on the rug - but our little Luke was sitting by himself on the other side of the room flipping through a book. :)

Anyways, Luke and I read three books together every night before bed. Actually, we usually read countless books together BEFORE bed - but three additional ones are part of our routine. He picks them out, then we snuggle up in the rocking chair and read them before I tuck him in bed.

It is funny to see how his preferences have evolved. I used to just grab three books - different ones each night - and Luke would happily listen. Then one day, Luke made it very clear that I had made a wrong selection and said "no" as he forced the book closed every time I tried to read it. Now he picks the three he wants to hear and lately it has been the same three. Every. Single. Night.

1 - Llama Llama Red Pajama
2 - Ready, Set, Skip
3 - Goodnight Gorilla

That's the line up.

Needless to say, I've read Goodnight Gorilla many, many, many times over the past several months. Goodnight Gorilla is a book of very few words. The storyline is that a guard at the zoo goes around and says goodnight to all the animals before heading home at night. Little does he know that the gorilla grabbed his keys and goes behind him setting all the animals free. Then all the animals follow the guard home - they all get cozy in his bedroom - then his wife discovers them and walks them all back to the zoo. Keep in mind, the guard and his wife just live across the street from the zoo (obviously that's where they'd live, right?).

On the first page of the book, as the gorilla is stealing the keys from the guard, a little mouse sets a pink balloon free.



Luke (like all kids) is a big fan of balloons, so he always points it out and smiles. Cute.

Then on the second page, the balloon starts to float away. I always ask Luke where the balloon is and he happily points it out. Cute.



Usually, that's all the balloon action and we just continue on with the story. However, when I was reading the story yesterday and I turned the page, Luke immediately pointed to something on the page.

How funny, the balloon was on the next page and I had never even noticed it before! It was getting smaller (as it floated away) and it was partially hidden behind an animal's cage.

I flipped the page again, and Luke immediately pointed. The balloon! This one was really, really tiny!

Next page. Luke points. The balloon again! I'm talking teeny-tiny. Like, so small that I could barely see it.

As it turns out, the balloon is on almost every page of this book and Luke with his eagle eyes was spotting them all. I was so impressed at his skills! I know what you are thinking - the balloon is probably fairly easy to see (for an adult) - but I swear, I actually had to take the book into the kitchen and look at it up close, under the light to see if one of the images was actually the balloon or a tiny piece of lint on the page.

For example:



(see the little black mark above the "m" in "copyrighted material" at the top of the page? That tiny black mark is the string of the balloon)

I don't know why - but this balloon spotting was really cracking me up! As we continued through the book, it was fun to try to find the balloon before Luke did. On the very last page of the book, I saw the little-bitty, teeny-tiny balloon way out in the distance outside of the zookeepers window. Luke wasn't finding it. Finally, I pointed it out to Luke and once he saw it, he got the biggest smile on his face and let out a huge belly laugh. He was so tickled to see that it had made an appearance once again!

Maybe this story isn't very exciting to other people, but it just makes me smile to think about it. My little man is growing up so fast!

Deceptively Delicious

For Christmas, I got the greatest gift from my dear friend, Kristen! She gave me a cookbook called "Deceptively Delicious" by Jessica Seinfeld (yep, Jerry's wife). I had heard about this cookbook from my co-workers, but sort of forgot about it. Well, I was soooooo excited when Kristen brought this book into my life!

The idea behind the cookbook is using vegetable purees in the dishes that you cook to bump up the nutrition factor (or shall I say, hiding veggies in kid-friendly food) - an idea that I'm more than happy to get behind! Basically, you just buy, cook, and puree several veggies then freeze the purees so that you have them on hand when you are cooking (rather than having to do all that work every time that you make dinner).

As many of you know, when I first started feeding Luke solid food, I would make my own baby food. It was something that I really enjoyed doing! It was really easy to do, plus, it is awesome to feed your child wholesome, fresh, organic food!

I'm not really sure why, but I'm a little bit obsessed with the nutrition of my child. When I would send my homemade baby food to school with Luke, the teachers asked Andie if we were big health nuts. The answer is no - absolutely not! I'm pretty sure that I've shoved oreos into my mouth while steaming and pureeing a bowl full of carrots for the little guy. But for some strange reason, I really stress out when Luke doesn't eat his peas. Actually, let me rephrase that... I USED to stress out about it, but I've gotten waaaaaaay better!

Lately, Luke has been really picky about his food (especially since he's been sick) and only wants applesauce and crackers. Ugh - so annoying! It is really frustrating when you work hard to create a nice, balanced dinner and your child just looks at his plate and shakes his head "no". Without even trying anything! AND it is food that you KNOW he likes! At least, he liked it last week...

I digress...

So, I've tried several deceptively delicious meals now! We've had chicken tenders that were breaded with hidden broccoli puree, cauliflower in mashed potatoes, butternut squash in mac-n-cheese, spaghetti pie (with carrot in the tomato sauce and broccoli in the meatballs), applesauce muffins with carrot, and peanut butter banana muffins with cauliflower! Everything has tasted really, really good! I know that some of the combinations probably don't sound very appetizing, but it is a small enough portion of the puree that you can't really taste it.

Oh, I almost forgot, I also made the turkey meatloaf (with carrot puree) but we were not too impressed with that one. It was ground turkey with turkey bacon on top... I don't know... it just wasn't right. Andie and I both really like regular meatloaf - so next time I'll just make sure I use really lean ground beef and add the carrot to my old recipe.

I'm trying to be really good about planning out meals for the week in advance, going to the grocery store and using my coupons, and cooking a lot! We'll see how it goes for 2010! :)

Sounds like I'm becoming a real MOM!

Heart Melting

Tonight when I put Luke down to bed, he immediately curled up with his blanket and stuck his thumb in his mouth (as he always does). Then he sat up, gestured at me, said "Mee Mee" (mommy) and opened his mouth really wide (meaning, "I want to give you a big, open-mouth, sloppy kiss"). I leaned down and he gave me a big kiss (muuuuu-ah), then smiled and curled back up with his blanket.

ahhhhhhhh. My heart melted!!!