Past few days

Chris got to spend a lot of time home this week...yeah!!  We picked up all of our new windows the other week and Chris figured better start with the original home first; get practice in before putting the ones into the home we live in.  Chris got 2 windows in in less then 1.5 hours, which I think is pretty good since he has never put windows in.  Late that night we decided to drive to Colorado Springs in the morning to look at a boat.  We figured if we bought it we would take it to Lake Pueblo for some fun and camp out.  When we got there Chris looked and decided it really wasn't what he wanted.  Instead of just driving home (4 hour drive) we went to Lake Pueblo to check out the list of the boats at the marina.  We figured we would go swimming there, but they informed us the swim beach was closed and they recommend no swimming in the lake right now due to a drowning last week.  So now what....well we decided to find a hotel with a pool and stay the evening.  The three of us had fun swimming and relaxing in the A/C.  We don't have A/C at the house and it has been pretty warm lately (high 90s and even in low 100s).  Tuesday morning we got up early and headed to the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo.  I am so happy Chris took us there, it was a lot of fun and the zoo had beautiful views.  Then it was time to make our way home.  Here is a slide show of some pictures from our trip and a couple from around the house this week.

Oh yeah, forgot to mention Henry got his first tooth on Saturday.

7 Months!!!

Our amazing little guy is growing up so fast.  He weighed in today at 16 lbs 7 oz, eating solids 3 times a day, loves when daddy is home, trying to crawl not quite there yet though (moving backwards and sideways only), giggles and laughs more every month, enjoying playtime by himself, sitting unsupported with just the occasional fall backwards and still loving his jumper.  Oh and he isn't crying as much in the car seat, only a 10% chance he will cry...maybe he just likes the new car seat better.  All around he is a very happy, loving and perfect little boy.  Today we did a clay hand imprint of Henry's hand to put in a shadow box (gift from Grandma Pam....thank you!!).

 As you can see flash cards are real good for licking/chewing.

In the Kitchen

Baby Food

I am sure most of you know but for those who don't I make all of Henry's baby food with the exception of Rice, Barley and Oatmeal Cereal.  Surprisingly I enjoy it and I love knowing exactly what he is putting in his tummy.

Once a week I go to the store and pick up the fresh fruits and vegetables he will be eating.  Most of the foods he eats need to be steamed/baked/boiled and I use the nifty Steamer my mum bought for us. I dice up all the food I am preparing and put in in the steamer.  Then steam until tender.

After the steamer I put the food in the food processor until it is of the right consistency (sorry no picture).

When done I spoon the pureed food into ice cube trays. 

Then cover the ice cube trays with aluminum foil and label them.  From there they go into the freezer.  When I am ready to defrost I take the amount of cubes I plan to use over 2 days out and put them in a container in the fridge.  By the end of the day or the next morning they are ready to be served.  

So far Henry likes bananas, sweet potatoes, zucchini, summer squash, peaches, pears, apples (only when in the Sweet Potato Apple Mash though) and plums.  He does not like avocado, green beans and carrots.  I mix the fruits with Barley or Oatmeal cereal (to add some filler) since he seems to like them better then Rice cereal.  

I use this website http://wholesomebabyfood.momtastic.com/ for recipes and reference on cooking methods.  This site has a lot of information is you are looking to make your own baby food (age appropriate foods, freeze chart, recipes, etc.).

Garden Update:

These pictures taken 35 days after everything was planted

On Sunday Chris brought in a large crate full of radishes.  After trimming the greens and tossing the real bad ones they filled up about 3/4 of our sink. 

Now I have to chop, blanch and freeze all of these :-(

 The greens and the real mangled ones go to the chickens.  On another note the chickens finally moved out to the chicken coop....yeah my porch no longer smells like chicken poop.

Fun

Playing with Daddy

Vote For Henry

I entered Henry into the 2011 Gerber Generation Photo Search last week.  We need votes for him!!

Voting started today and ends July 31.  You can vote once a day per facebook account. 

To vote for Henry go to: http://apps.facebook.com/gerberphotosearch/entry/132712/henry.aspx and click VOTE.  Their website has been very slow due to everyone trying to vote, so please have patience and vote for our little man. 

We would really appreciate your votes and hopefully you can vote for him a few times or everyday :-)

Thank you in advance for your support.