From Pasadena to the Penthouse

 "There is honor in being a dog." -Aristotle-

When we first adopted Winston (formerly known as Rutherford to the Houston Hound and Beagle Rescue group) he would not even walk through the front door of my house.  He had never been on wood floors and was truly scared to cross the threshold of W 10^th Street. 

Brian and I had only been married a few months and he was out of town in Australia.  I remember talking to him on the phone and Brian was like, “just adopt him, it’s fine.”  But I knew I wanted him to meet Winston, as I did not want to make such a decision without Brian’s presence.

Well, needless to say, when Brian returned he was all about adopting Winston.  I knew he would be, but did not want to make that decision without him.   The night we adopted him we took him to Discovery Green to see a Beatles concert performed by the Houston Symphony.  He was a mere 16 pounds and so skittish (now a hefty 28lbs…still a bit skittish).

The funniest part of it all is that HH&B told us Winston did not bark/howl.  Having had a beloved beagle as my childhood dog, I seriously thought that Winston was horribly abused, as the concept of a mute beagle was far off.

Trust your intuition.  All beagles howl and Winston is no exception. 

Christmas Ton

Custom art work (obviously pre-kids)

Momma monster.

It is funny how things happen.  We have all wanted something so bad, like really wanted something, only to find that when you get it...you are not certain you want it.  As any parent can relate, when you have your first child, you eagerly await and celebrate all of the first milestones.

The first smile…the first roll over…the first crawl…the first steps…the first words…

Well, according to everything I had read, your child is supposed to be speaking sentences by age 2.  When Logan was about 22 months, I made an appointment with our pediatrician to see if he needed a speech therapist because we were far from speaking sentences.  I told her how he had around 76 words in his vocabulary, but no actual sentences.  The pediatrician talked me down from my self-diagnosis of Logan's perceived speech issues.  She said everything was on track and that I needed to just sit tight…the sentences would come.

So sure enough a few days later.... his first sentence.

“Airplane gone.”

He was pointing in the sky at the sound of an airplane, but it was behind some clouds so we could not see it.  I immediately called Brian at work and proudly told him Logan spoke his first sentence.

We are speaking now and it is non-stop.  Some legible, some not.  Some sentences, some phrases.

This morning I was trying to delay waking up and he jumped on the bed screaming (not speaking), “Momma up.  Blanket off.  Katie milk.”  Now repeat over and over and over again.

Later, as I made my way to the kitchen to brew my essential cup of coffee, I passed the medicine cabinet.  “Katie medicine.  Momma medicine.  Logan medicine.” Repeat over and over and over again.

After I explained that we don’t need medicine, he abruptly cut me off,  “Logan hurt.”  “Band-Aid.  Band-Aid.  Momma, Band-Aid please!  PLEASE!  PAAAALEAAASSEEEE.”

(Melt down ensues.)

While I am happy that Logan is progressing with his speech, I do miss that innocent baby that could only babble and laugh (and sometimes cry!) 

A few nights ago when I was putting Logan to bed I got to hear a brand new sentence.  I was reading one of his favorite books, Where the Wild Things Are.

He stopped me mid-sentence and flipped back a page, pointing to the meanest dragon in the whole book, and said “Momma monster.”  And I said, “Oh no Logan, that is not Momma; that's the monster that Max runs into in the water.”

I turned the page to continue.  He turned it back, looked at me, pointed at the monster, and repeated, clear as day, “Momma Monster” (with a very large smile).  

So I asked him who told him that this monster is Momma…he smiled again and said, “Da-Da.”

Mike

On Friday we embarked on what proved to be the longest trip to NOLA ever.  It took over 9 hours as we came to three separate stand-still stops on the interstate.  I was ready to go CRAZY!

So, while sitting on I-10 east bound just west of Baton Rouge, you would expect the Logan melt downs to start.   But instead he was completely happy and entertained.  He was pointing out the water towers, the boats, the bridge, and the buildings.  You would think he would be exhausted and screaming for milk during this witching hour.  Even Catherine, who was breaking in a new car seat, was content.

This is when I realized it is coursing through their veins.  What you might ask?

The absolute passion for all things LSU (which apparently includes Baton Rouge traffic).

Brian’s traffic diversion took us down Nicholson and through campus providing a much needed final break to get the kiddos into the final stretch.  A quick visit to Mike the Tiger’s spacious habitat was just the thing this tired group needed.  Mike’s romping and swimming got Logan running between each window and roaring like a tiger trying to get Mike’s attention.  Catherine would have pulled the cage down if she was able to do so; she wanted to pet the big cat. 

Winston did not.

Giving a shout out to Aubie

Red Beans & Rice

We all know that May is a busy month.  Well, May 2012 was no exception in our household.  One of the many things that I learned this past month (both positive and negative) was that Catherine is anemic.  It's kinda ironic because I was convinced Logan was not getting enough iron and never thought that maybe Cat was not.  Regardless, I have been feeding her lots of beans along with other foods and iron supplements.  

I know I have gotten countless recipes from my friends blogs so I wanted to return the favor.  

Happy Monday.

Red Beans

Ingredients

1 lb beans (Camellia are my favorites)

1 onion

2 sticks of celery (off the stalk)

½ bulb garlic

1 ham hock

1 lb sausage (I prefer Kielbasa)

3-5 squirts Tabasco

1 tbs Tony’s (heaping or any other Cajun seasoning)

Other seasoning to taste if needed

Directions

Night Before – Rinse beans and put into pot with water covering them by 2 inches.  Bring pot to rolling boil.  Stir.  Turn off stove and let soak over night.

Next Day (anytime) – If beans have soaked up water, add more, about 1 inch above bean line.  Add seasoning, crushed garlic, diced onions, celery and ham hock.  Bring to a heavy simmer.  Stir occasionally so bottom of beans don’t burn.  Cook on medium for 1 hour and 15 minutes…keep stirring occasionally.  After about 1.25 to 1.5 hours, beans should be able to smash to side of pot.  Smash some up to create a thicker sauce.  Add sausage at 1.5 hours and cook for 15 minutes or until sausage is hot. (most sausages are pre-cooked so you are really just heating it up) Serve.

- If you find that the ham hock is too salty, you can always do 2lbs of beans for one ham hock

- When I do a double batch, I use 1 package of Zatarains Red Bean seasoning mix INSTEAD of the     tony’s…good luck finding that in Texas grocery stores though.

- In my calorie counting days, I used a turkey Kielbasa which works fine as well.

- Lastly, beans are a perfect freezer food.