Two weeks old

Just another daily dose of cuteness.

First Date

Yesterday, after putting Stephen down from his late afternoon feeding, Joe and I snuck out of the house for a 2-hour date. Thank you Mom and Dad!
I was elated to get out of the house...
We went to Dot's on the bypass. That was the last restaurant I ate at with Emily Chappelear while still pregnant.
It's been tough getting enough calories to feed myself and baby. So we treated ourselves to some southern comfort food. Fried chicken, mashed potatoes and greenbeans for me, potroast and fries for Joe (he only ordered it because that was my second choice on the menu :0) What a lucky girl I am.
Dot's tends to have salty food but these two dishes were perfect. The chicken was a bit dry, but I like their coating-- not over spiced or overly crunchy... and it was white meat (didn't want to go too cholesterol crazy). Their potroast is perfectly cooked, fall-apart kind of meat. And I really like their fries.
The great thing about going to a restaurant at 4:15 is that service is lickity-split, we got a window seat with good photo lighting and the restaurant, which with its high ceilings can be noisy, was nice and quiet. Only a few other customers... a family with two toddlers, a single woman slowly savoring a bowl of soup, a elderly gentleman who seemed to know the owners. It made for a very nice date.... Plus we had the "Brownie Dot" for dessert. More of a chocolate cake than brownie, but they were nice enough to put the ice cream on the side. I'm back to watching my dairy intake now that I'm not pregnant. Seems all my old tummy troubles are returning.

One last nice thing to say about Dots is that they welcome substitutions and they are generally very good and carrying through with them. All side dishes are interchangeable and the staff is very friendly.

Glimpse of the backyard

We saw this little guy lounging around on our fence the other day. Maybe he thinks he's a guard-squirrel.

I consider myself extremely lucky whenever I get a chance to step out on the back porch these days. Even a walk to the mailbox in mid-afternoon is lovely. I had no idea how full my days would be taking care of Stephen... and this with my mom still helping out!

And now, time for your daily dose of cuteness

Now we really know Stephen is a man after my own heart. He likes Hoops and YoYo and he likes the IKEA fish mobile.
They're having a staring contest.

I am what he eats part 2

Maybe I'm being overly cautious, but I've been worried about how what I eat affects my little guy's digestion. I had a nice conversation with my friend and fellow mom, Kai. She encouraged me to eat what I ate while Stephen was in the womb.
Peach freezer jam, made by mom and I last week with the peaches from the Fairview auction. Unfortunatly I think it's the culprit behind my bright orange diarrhea and Stephen's bright orange poo. Thus spurring the conversation with Kai.
Tasty farmstand corn, chicken with thyme from Parrino's garden and some pasta salad.
Some beautiful Haigh Truffles all the way from Australia, where my brother-in-law Jack just GOT ENGAGED!! :-) Congrats to you and Oriole.

Stephen is going to have to like chocolate.

I am what he eats

No more onions, garlic, chili, or excessive cruciferous veggies... don't want to upset his little tum.

They also advised me not to eat tree nuts while nursing...something I never heard before. Still, as I grapple my way through raising my young foodie (who right now gets to eat whatever I eat through flavor-infused breast milk) I've been eating some good grub.
My mom and Joe's mom have been whipping up lots of tasty things.

Welcome little Munchkie

So begins a new era of one-handed blogging...
As promised in the mass e-mail Joe sent to many of you, I'm finally back at the blog. Stephen Vincent, born Sunday at 12:14 p.m. after 12 hours laboring at Jennie Stuart, is asleep (sort of) in his crib behind me, but I started this post cradling him in one arm and typing with the other.
This is the photo they took at the hospital just before we left on Tuesday morning. My experience at the hospital was worth writing about, and I'd like to write about it ... later. Let's focus on the fun stuff first.
This is a photo I took of Stephen Saturday afternoon. I was already having contractions at this point. He LOVED to be on the right side of my belly. I called in "triangle stomach" because from my angle it looked like I had some kind of wedge-shaped being inside me.

And we'll skip the trauma of delivery, right to the happy part afterward. Here's the happy Parrinos and a happy Tilsch (My mom, Mamie).

More posts to come, I promise. Just getting used to a routine that involves nursing every 2 to 4 hours and changing diapers, nuzzling, burping and cradling in between. Somehow, I still manage to eat! That will be the topic of the next post... "I am what he eats."

Chicago Style Grill

On my last day of work, Niecy, Tracey and I went to the new Chicago Style Grill in the old Skinny's building on the boulevard.
Here are Tracey's excellent photos of our meals.
Tracey had the Chicago dog... My dad said we should have asked if they use Vienna beef. But the toppings seem fairly authentic. Don't know what I think of the neon relish though :-)
"Chicago" burger. Guess that just means a burger with chicago hotdog toppings.
Mine was the eggplant parmesan sandwich... but I think they gave me lasagna on a baguette instead. It was tasty, but a little odd not getting any eggplant in my eggplant parmesan.

Mom and I went back to the grill for lunch the other day and I ordered eggplant parmesan again... there was actual eggplant in it this time!

Playing catch-up

I've been gone much longer than I intended. And probably a lot of you thought it was because I was busy having a baby. But I'm still pregnant! My last day of work was Friday (not yesterday, but the week before) and my folks have been in town since then. But dad went home Thursday to tend to things at home and in his garden where chinese mystery melons threaten to cover the house in tendrils.

We've been eating well...
Caprice salad from the garden, using lemon boy tomatoes and basil.

Also makes a mighty good open-faced sandwich.

And all the garden eating has been fuel for home improvement projects. Here's dad and Joe putting up bookshelves in our living room/Joe's new office since he got bumped from the nursery.

Speaking of nursery... I'm making a mobile. Here's a sketch of the critters.