ATTACK!!!!

I told you the animals would eventually come up on this blog.  Today, we see the re-occurrence of Jetta: the cat who may as well be a dog. She is a cat that loves people, walks up to strangers, wants to get petted, and mews for food or attention. However, she has been rather non-committal about Corgan.  She would always walk near her, sometimes she would sniff her, but most of the time Corgan was irrelevant in Jetta's life. Until Now.

Ever since Corgan was able to focus on things, she has been watching Jetta.  Her eyes would slowly follow Jetta around the room, and you could tell that Corgan was reeeaaaalllllyyyy thinking.  When Corgan was finally able to crawl, she would slowly make her way in the direction of the cat, but Jetta always saw her coming and would take off.  Not any more.

 Now, Baby Girl can catch the cat.

And she does it a lot. 

But every now and then, she misses. :)

My Cuddle-Bug

One of the things that I miss the most about when Corgan was little (Haha, I know, right? She's still little, but you know what I mean.) is that she used to cuddle.  I spent tons of time, especially on maternity leave, just holding her and loving on her.  Then she got busy.  Once she figured out how to crawl, forget it.  She was mobile and wanted to move! There was no cuddling. No holding. And from time to time, no comforting.  That's right. Even when she is crazy upset for some reason, she would rather calm herself down in her own crib than be calmed by someone holding her.  There has been many times when that wrenched my heart out, because a mother should be able to calm her own child. 

Last week, something shifted. Stuart and I were up on the loft, playing with Corgan, when out of nowhere she picked up a toy, toddled over to me, and sat on my lap.  She kept playing with the toy as if nothing was different, but she was in my lap.  It was so strange and wonderful at the same time. It has been a long time since I was able to enjoy her cuddle.  We'd been fighting a mondo diaper rash, and the next night she woke up in pain. I changed her diaper, and started to try and comfort her.  Once I got her in a position that didn't put too much pressure on her underside, she actually calmed down.  She let me bounce her. She let me comfort her.  My heart broke in that good way it does when you realize how much you love your child. 

The past few days, she's kept up the new trend, and I'm hoping it sticks. She's also starting to play on us.  She's learning that she can get bounced on our leg or horsey ride on Stuart.  This is definitely something I can get used to.

Foodie Friday: Chicken and Veggie Bake

We buy a lot of veggies.  A LOT of veggies.  First of all, we love them, second of all, they are almost all 0 points on Weight Watchers.  I had a lot of veggies in the fridge, and I was feeling inspired so I started listing all the side dishes I could make with them.  I got a good list going and them I challenged Stuart to the same.  We were on a roll! We had tomatoes, baby spinach, collard greens, radishes, carrots, asparagus, broccoli, celery, cauliflower green apples, white potatoes, green apples, and new potatoes.  Here is what we came up with:

• Parmesan Broiled Tomatoes
• Rosemary Roasted New Potatoes
• Brocolli Potato Soup
• Cauliflower/Potato Mash
• Roasted Sesame Carrots
• Balsamic Glazed Carrots
• Beer Braised Collards
• Sauteed Spinach
• Roasted Asparagas
• Sauteed Collard Greens with Bacon
• Fried Spinach Chips
• Stewed Tomatoes with Collards
• Radish Potato Bake
• Sauteed Carrots with Butter, Garlic, and Radishes
• Curried Carrot Soup
• Lemon Butter Asparagas
• Grilled Asparagas
• Steamed Broccoli with Smoked Gouda
• Roasted Cinnamon Apples
• Homemade Apple Sauce
• Broccoli and Cheese Stuffed Twice Baked Potatoes
• Hash Browns
• Smashed New Potatoes

Challenge for you: I would like to add to the list. Leave a comment, or two, or three with your own ideas :)

Here is what we really ended up doing that night: Chicken and Veggie Bake

 2 cups brown rice

3 cups halved radishes

1 large plain baked potatoes

3 cups chopped carrots

2 cups chopped onion

3 small sliced green apples

3 bone-in chicken breasts 

2 cups apple juice

2 cups chicken broth

Chop up everything.  Put the uncooked rice in the bottom of a large baking dish, set in the chicken, top with all the veggies, and pour all the liquid over everything.  Salt and pepper to taste. Cook at 425 degrees for an hour covered with foil, then cook for 15 minutes uncovered. Done and soooo good!  Makes tons and is super simple.  It's totally baby friendly too. Corgan ate her whole serving after she got used to the radishes. (Sorry, I forgot to take a picture of the final product, but trust me, it was pretty.)

From My Better Half

(Hee hee.  I convinced my husband to guest blog each Wednesday.  Hee hee.)

Hello everyone, my name is Stuart and I am Haley's husband.  Today, I am going to teach you how to trick to your wife about one specific subject: cooking.  I know what you may be thinking, "why would you ever trick your wife?  Don't you love her?"  Well, yes.  I love my wife very much and I want her to enjoy my cooking… even though it sucks.  Thus, for the her happiness, I had to be creative when tackling this issue.  Below is my man's step-by-step guide into getting her to think you can cook.  Your going to have to do this at some point anyway so just read below.

First off, let me give you a warning.  You need to make sure that you are only tricking your wife about your cooking.  Do NOT mess with her about anything else or she may kick your ass and leave you broke in the subsequent divorce.  Understood?  Great!  Let's move on.

Step 1:  Learn what you are bad at cooking and what you are good at cooking.  Try to cook the stuff you are good at as often as possible. For most dudes, this means Kraft Mac' n' Cheese, hamburgers, hot dogs, steaks (for some men), instant rice, and anything that can be microwaved.  Try to maneuver yourself so the nights you are made to cook fall on the days you have the ingredients for YOUR dishes.  If she doesn't want hot dogs again, talk to your kids and have them convince her that's what they really want.  You can substitute friends if you don't have kids.  The rule of thumb on substitution is that it takes 2.178 friends to every 1 child substituted.  I've done the math very carefully, so you can just remember that conversion and be fine. If she is on the fence you can use the phrase, "I can't believe you are not going to let ME cook what our child(ren) want for dinner."  It should work, but don't use it too often because it has a long cooldown and is subject to diminishing returns.

Step 2:  Learn the "Treat You" technique.  If you are out of hot dogs, steak, etc., then you can take her out to dinner to 'treat her" after she's had a long day.  This does 3 things that work for you.  First, it gets you out of having to cook anything.  Second, your wife gets to choose where to go so she can try something she's been wanting to do for a while.  Third, no one has to clean up afterward and there might be leftovers. Overall, this is a very good strategy for misdirecting the evening away from you having to use the rest of the techniques.

Step 3:  The "family night" scenario.  You can use this one mostly on the weekends, since the kids won't be on a school night and everyone will have more free time.  In this instance, you can bring her attention to the fact that everyone is home and you could use this as an opportunity to bring the family closer.  "Hey honey, since everyone is here.  Why don't we order some pizza, put in a family movie (such as Finding Nemo, Star Wars, or the Expendables), and spend some time with the kids."  You can exponentially increase the pressure on her to cave to this technique by having your kids and their friends in the room. Once they hear pizza and Nemo, the only way you can fail is if you mention board games after that.  No one sticks around for board games unless your living in the 50s.

Step 4:  In the event that the other strategies presented haven't worked for you, the only option you have left is…the grill.  Whatever she wants you to cook at this point needs to be on the grates of that bad boy. Brussel Sprouts?  Grill them.  Cassarole?  Grill it. Quiche?  Grill it.  It could be the most awkward food ever conceived and it will be passable if you grill it.  I know what you may be thinking, "but Stuart, I don't know how to grill.  What do I do now?" Let me take this opportunity to say something that you should have
heard a long time ago…shame on you.  Your lack of interest in charring items makes me a little sad.  Do you remember the crying Native American in the commercials way back when?  He wasn't crying because  someone littered.  He was crying because he found out that you can't grill. I digress; if you are not good at grilling, then still put the food on the grill.  Over-season it so it won't lose all of the flavor after you extinguish it and that will take you far.  If anyone complains, you can just use the phrase "that was how my mother taught me to cook it."  No one will pick on your mom unless they are heartless.

The worst (best?) case scenario that could happen is that you follow the steps, everyone hates it, and you aren't nagged to cook for awhile.  It won't last forever, but you can just run down the steps when it comes back up.  Well, I am off to figure out how to keep shallots and a red wine-truffle reduction from falling through the grates again.

My Husband, Ladies and Gentlemen...

Many of you know my husband personally, and many of you have never met him.  For those of you who don't know him, there really isn't an easy way to explain who he is, so I'll have to give you and example.  I was talking to him the other day about how no one was commenting on my blog, and he was rambling some odd thing about internet trends and the new way people interface with blogs, blah blah blah...

The next day an 'anonymous' comment was left on one of my blogs:

I remember when I first met Stuart.

We were hiking in the Texas hill country when this giant bear came out of the woods. He immediately ran in-front of me and used his muscular frame to wrestle the bear into submission. He used strands of his own Samson-esque hair to make a muzzle and reigns. We rode the bear back to camp where he feed the animal, tended to it's wounds, made (yes MADE) it a rabies vaccine, and released it back into the wild. As the beast was walking away, I swear I saw it look back and weep. It knew it was the last time that he would see Stuart again...

All I can say is, "I love my husband."

A New Swing for Baby Girl

We took Corgan to the park in our neighborhood a few months back and we put her on the swings.  She went into absolute giggle-fits!  She couldn't get enough.  The park is just one street over from us, and we like to go there after our family walks when weather is permitting.  No matter how often we go, or how cold it is outside, she loves her swings!

You might remember the first day Corgan moved up to the new room at day care, when she hated going outside to the playground.  The only thing that would calm her down, was going on the swings. Well, her Uncle/Godfather Philip heard these two stories, and got Corgan her very own, personal swing for the backyard for her birthday.  We put it up last weekend and invited Philip to be the one to give her the first push. 

Here's a happy moment: Corgan trying out her new swing for the first time!

Slightly Broken and Alone

Wow, does that post title sound bleak, or what?  Don't worry, this isn't a woe-is-me post.  This is actually a count-my-blessings post.  So, let's get started...

If you read to the end of my post yesterday, you know I broke my butt.  On Monday night fell part way down my stairs and landed flat on my tail bone.  Since then, I've been in pain. I'm slightly broken.  In many ways I'm more uncomfortable now than I was after I gave birth to Corgan.  There is something not right with that. I'm sitting on pillows, I'm not moving hardly at all, and then don't get me started on what it's like to sleep like this.  Wait...I did tell you this was about blessing, right...here you go.  When you're in pain, you really focus on what it was like before and what it will be like after.  You remember all those who are in pain daily (like many of my friends and loved ones) and can't do anything about it.  I am blessed.

Next, I'm alone. Kind of.  Stuart went back to grad school this week, so two nights a week he goes straight from work to school and doesn't get back home to after 10:00.  I love the one-on-one time I get with Corgan, but it does make for lonely nights.  I also could've picked a better week to break my butt.  It's been quite the challenge for me to pick up baby girl, but I've managed.  Again, here is the blessings part...I have the best husband. 

When the previous semester ended last December, I got to start a whole month of having a full-time husband again.  We spent a month really living into the family thing.  He totally stepped into fatherhood.  He cooked dinner more than I did, helped out around, played like crazy with baby girl!  I was in heaven!  (SAPPY ALERT) I realized how wonderful it is to have him as the father of my child, and how much I look forward to him graduating.  7 months and counting.  I am blessed.

A Day to Relax: What is that?

Monday was awesome!  Both parts of my job were closed on Monday for MLK day, but baby girl's day care was still open.  I had a day off with guilt-free baby care!!! Yeah!!!  To start the day, baby girl gave me the gift of sleep.  She slept in until almost 9:00 AM! Stuart (who was working a later shift than normal) and I got up with Corgan, and headed downstairs for breakfast and coffee.  Corgan got milk.  Then Stuart took Corgan to day care and I headed off to massage number one.  Yes.  You heard that right.  Massage Number One! 

A blissful hour later, I headed in to the office to get a little work done. I know that I said I was off, but I almost always go in to get a little work done when no one else is there.  It's so peaceful, and I get a ton of work done.  Next, I went to Folawn's Day Spa on Blanco to redeem one of my Christmas gifts.  My mom had gotten me an Oasis treatment.  It's a 90 minute facial at the same time you're getting a manicure and spa pedicure.  Oh my dear sweet holy man, it was awesome! The room was almost totally dark (the manicurist had on a headlight), with soothing music, and not a care in the world.  I forgot what it was like to really relax. 

After that, I headed back to the office, but not to work.  I changed my clothes, and went for my first 'run' since before I got pregnant with Corgan.  I say 'run' because not even a block into it, my music player died, so I walked the whole way. I don't really get motivated to actually run without music.  I walked around beautiful Castle Hills for 30 minutes (earning me two activity points), before heading out to pick up Corgan on the way home.  Mom came over for dinner (leftover navy bean and mushroom soup with serrano corn bread), we played with baby girl in the loft, and put her to bed before 7:00 PM.  All in all really relaxing...until I fell partway down the stairs, landed on my butt, spilled cold coffee everywhere, caught myself on the baby gate, and bruised my tailbone.  Not the best way to end the day, but up until then it was AWESOME!

I Joined Weight Watchers

Yeah. Joined Weight Watchers. Again.  I'm actually really excited about it.  About a year before I got pregnant with Corgan, I was overweight and at my heaviest.  I decided to join Weight Watchers, and in four months had healthily lost 20 lbs.  It's a great program.  It's not about starving yourself, cutting out all fat, or counting calories.  It really is much more 'all body' and focuses on eating a crazy amount of vegetables and fruit, and it's about getting off your already oversized backside and working out.  :)

For those of you who really know me, you know that the term 'lazy' does not really apply, however, inactive does.  I used to be on swimteam, play sports, and dance.  I danced so much that I practically lived in tights and tap shoes. Since moving state-side, I've little by little become less and less active.  At least last year, my job consisted of standing for 6-8 hours a day, but now I sit for most of my workday.

The last time I did Weight Watchers, I also took on running (reference my posts 'Ship in a Bottle' and 'Smells Like... ').  Part of the program is earning 'activity points,' so I took up running.  Now with a crazy busy job, co-directing the musical, raising a one year old, and doing it all with a husband in grad school, I've all but come immobile in terms of actually working out.  I'm getting back on the program to help me be honest.

I went a little insane with the prep work.  I went grocery shopping for TONS of veggies and then cut them all up (with the help of my awesome husband), and bagged them up.  Each bag is 0 points!  O, happy day!  Eat them with 3 Tbsp of hummus and you have an awesomely filling 3 point snack.  I've also gone through every pantry item and labelled them with a point value by serving.  It's way easier to stick to Weight Watchers if you don't have to look up points and portions.  That's one of my big problems: portion control.  We love food, so we eat a lot of it.  We don't eat unhealthy, but we eat a lot.

Lastely, I'm telling everyone I know so that you can help keep my accountable.  My goal is to lose 10 lbs in two months, which is more than reasonable, but it will require me to GET OFF MY BUTT!!!!!  If you see me on a regular basis, please know that an encouraging word goes a long way, and that a cattle prod works even better.

Double Ear Infection = Badness

What did baby girl get for her birthday? An ear infection in one ear, with one beginning in the other, all stemming from a possible RSV infection.  Boo hoo.  I got a call midway through Wednesday afternoon that Corgan had woken up from her nap at day care with a fever of 101.  The day before Kat, one of her day care teachers, had mentioned that she had been pulling at her ear, but she didn't do anything out of the norm that night so we took her in. After I picked her up, my wonderful mother came and took over baby duties so that I could get back to work (Did I mentioned that I'm one of the directors for my school's musical? We had practice that I couldn't miss.) By the time mom got to the house, we were joking that baby girl wasn't really sick.  She was giggling, eating well, and being her normal, jovial self.  I went back to work, and the day went swimmingly.  The next day? Not so good.

Stuart took her to the doctor in the morning 'just in case,' and we got diagnosed with a double ear infection.  We made it to one year of age before we had the first ear infection, and man was it a doozy.  Stuart stayed home the first half of the day, and I came home for the second half.  He lucked out and got the nap.  I spent the next 6 hours holding her.  She was not herself at all, and didn't want to be set down anywhere.  We stayed downstairs, while I held her, and we watched t.v. and the dogs.  It was a long day (probably longer for her than me), but we made it through.

The next day, mom, yet again, came through, and took over baby watching duties mid-morning.  Stuart couldn't miss any more work, and I really needed to get in to work and finish prep for Sunday.  I work at a church so it's all about prepping for Sunday, and I did not want to have to come in on Saturday.  The angel that is my mom stayed with the ear-pained child until Stuart and I got home after 5:00 PM.  Tylenol is a great thing, but even then, she was a fussy, fussy child.

I think the antibiotics kicked in by Saturday morning and we had our perfect little girl back.  Her fevers were gone, and her fussiness was gone as well.  She and I spent three hours grocery shopping (at multiple different locals) without so much as one fussy cry. It's good to be back to normal, and it wasn't nearly as bad as the first time she got sick which was with a cold and a double case of conjunctivitis.  That was a bad time!

Corgan with pink eye :(

Best Brussels Sprouts Ever!

So, I'm back in true Fits & Starts fashion. I segued away to a week in homage to Corgan's first birthday, and now I return to the good ol' randomness.  Here is a fantabulous recipe that we eat all the time.  Enjoy.

You will notice that we in the Bankey house love our veggies.  There must be something fresh and green at every meal!  Our favorites are roasted asparagus, broccollini, bok choy, and brussel sprouts, and we pretty much do the same thing to all of them, and they are scrumptious.  Corgan is quickly following suit in her love for all things veg.  She even went to town on a raw bell pepper the other day :)

My future foodie!

Best Brussels Sprouts Ever

Brussels Sprouts

Pine Nuts

Olive Oil

Cavender's Greek Seasoning (not pictured)

Trim the ends of your cleaned brussels sprouts (who knew it was with an 's'? I've been saying brussel sprouts my whole life!), then cut them in half lengthwise. Save any leaves that fall off!  We even pull off a few extra leaves, and you'll see why later.  Toss in about 1/2 cup of pine nuts, and mix with enough olive oil to coat.  Spread the sprouts out on a cookie sheet, then season with the Cavender's.  You can also use Adobo or any other seasoning mix you like.  They would probably be good with just salt and pepper, too, but we are serious about our Cavender's use in this household.  

There's the Cavender's!

Place the sprouts on the middle rack of a 375 degree oven for 20 minutes.  Stir them around about half way through.  You want to keep them in until you start getting nummy brown bits all over the place. 

The inside of the sprouts should be perfectly soft, while the outside (and all those flaked off leaves) will have a nutty crunch.  You will never turn your nose up at brussels sprouts again.  Stay tuned for the recipe for the frittata.

The Party

So, all week we've been sharing stories about Corgan turning one, how much she's grown, how amazing this year has been, etc.  But we haven't shared any pics about the party itself :)  Now it's time!!!  We had the most fabulous time.  We had a house filled with people we love, celebrating the a whole year with the newest member of the family.  Stuart's family came, my mom came (dad's in Africa), Corgan's Godmother and Godsister (and their husband and father, respectively) came, and my aunt, two cousins, and my two second cousins from Mexico were all able to come.  One of the reasons we got the house we did, was so that we could comfortably fit all of our loved ones into one space.  What a true blessing.  Now for the story....

At first I didn't know if I would be giving a 'theme' to the party.  It's the first birthday, Corgan won't even remember it, and it's only really going to be a bunch of adults hanging out.  Then I saw the most perfect cake on Pinterest.  I was in love and had to do a Very Hungry Caterpillar theme! What better theme than one of the best children's books ever?  Well, Stuart happens to work two desks down from someone who bakes for a side-job.  We asked her if she could make the cake, and she was all for it!  Here is what we got:

It was scrumdiddlyupmtios, and everyone loved it!  The cake and cupcakes were strawberry, and the frosting was colored butter cream.  Jodi (the baker extraordinaire with The Comal Cake Company) even made little fondant legs. How cute!

To carry on the theme, I also saw on Pinterest that I could hang colored balloons like the Very Hungry Caterpillar. Granted, they used helium and actually bought balloons that were big, but I think mine turned out pretty cute.  I thought it was funny that a few of our guests didn't even notice it until we ate dinner about an hour into the party.  You have to walk past it to get into the house. How do you miss a giant hanging balloon caterpillar, people?

Then came cake time... My mom has a picture of one of my brother's early birthdays, where all of the dads had set up their giant cameras on their giant tripods and were filming everything.   This is my homage to that picture.  Corgan was about to bust into the cake, and everyone whipped out their phones/cameras and watched through view finders.  Ah, modern technology.

Here is Corgan with the 'head' of her cake.  Apparently that's called the smash cake.  I never knew that.  Those two lovely ladies are my second cousins, and I think we decided that that means they are Corgan's second cousins once removed.  Is that right? Mya is on the left and Ella is on the right.  They had soooo much fun playing with Corgan! It was great to watch.

And here we have the classic frosting-all-over-the-face picture.  I did not think through the whole red frosting thing.  I spent hours with my mother-in-law finding the perfect 1st birthday party outfit, and then I give my child a red-frosted cake.  Not the smartest thing I've ever done. She was perfect though.  She daintily scraped at the frosting for a while (smearing it everywhere), then she realized there was cake underneath.  We have the whole thing on video, and as soon as I figure out how to get it off the camera, I'll post it.

The party wound down and a lot of us headed upstairs to play in the playroom/loft.  We soon found out how much Stuart's brother, Philip, looooooves kids.  He spent the better part of the next hour giving horsey rides, piggy back rides, shoulder rides, you name it.  The best part was when Ella was riding the pony and began slapping Philip's butt saying, "Giddy-up!"  Janet and I just about died laughing!

All in all, it was a perfect day.  Tons of food, tons of family, and way too much fun!  Here's to another great year with our baby girl!

More Than One

"yes, no bottles, no binkys, no tears when leaving, 1 year old, she crawled, then walked, she climbs, eats solid food, plays, has imagination, laughs…all in 1 year.  Think of what is going to happen when she is 2!"

Stuart sent this to me over AIM the other day, and it hit me.  Being 1 year old is about so much more than changing over to a new year of age.  This is still a hugely big deal, but there are so many other things going on right now. I told you a little bit about all the new things going on in the post Moving Up, but baby girl didn't stop there. In the past week since her birthday, Corgan has taking two huge leaps, and she's made it waaaaay too easy on us.  


1) No more bottles.

We keep the cabinet above the microwave as the 'Corgan cabinet'. One thing we weren't prepared for was the sheer amount of stuff that goes along with having a kid.  We've kept her bottles, formula, cleaning bags, gas drops, Pedialyte, nipples, cleaning bags, sippy cups, and bowls all in this tiny cabinet.  Well...since she went to whole milk at day care we made sure that we never put the milk in a bottle.  She loved the milk so much that she devoured it from the sippy cup even though she would hardly touch the formula from her sippy cup.  One day we just stopped the bottles all together, and I'm fairly certain she doesn't care one lick.  I cleaned out the 'Corgan cabinet' of all the bottle and formula paraphernalia, packed it into a big HEB reusable bag, and stored it in a closet for kiddo number two. 



2) No more binkys.

Three nights ago, on Corgan's birthday, we opted to take away the binky. For a while now she hasn't really wanted it during the day.  The kid is non-stop and binkies just get in the way.  Then, at day care, the binky didn't survive the transition between rooms, so she's been napping without it.  WE figured we would rip off the bandage completely and just put her to bed without the binky.  We had this long conversation about how long we would let her fuss, how often we would go in and comfort her, and who would take what shift during the night so that we wouldn't be too exhausted the next day.  Yeah.  That was a totally wasted conversation.  She psuedo-fussed for about 20 minutes off and on, then slept through the night without a peep until 6:30 the next morning.  The next night she fussed for 5 minutes at bed time, then for about 20 minutes at 12:30.  Last night she was out before we even shut the door, and didn't make a peep until morning.  

I was totally prepared to be an emotional wreck when Corgan turned one. Stuart even made a bet with himself that he could make me cry. He so failed at that.  Really, with all the changes and all the growth, I just kept beaming the whole time.  I have a freakin' awesome one year old!!!

A Year in Review

As we continue our week-long blog series on All Things Corgan, I want to take us on a stroll down memory lane. It has been the most indescribable experience watching her grow up into the one year old she is now, and here is glimpse at some of the moments.

 8 weeks and already making me sick as a dog! She is in between the two little star do-hickies.

16 weeks and she's really taking form.

 Corgan in profile and her hand up above her head.

 

Me at the Christmas before she was born, about two weeks from her birth.

Day two: going home from the hospital on the coldest day of the last year. 

Try bundling up at 5 lb 14 oz baby.  She was soooooo tiny!

 One month: sleepy baby!  She knew that eventually she would all but stop napping.

2 Months: I don't know what it is about this pictures, but she just looks weird!

3 Months: tummy time! Corgan's least favorite time of day.

 4 months with her Gigi Freeman on my first mother's day.  

5 months and fun in the sun.  We were in our backyard playing in the kiddie pool.

6 months playing in our loft.  She went to town trying to eat every toy and book we had.

 7 months old and at her first professional photo shoot.  

I love how she's holding onto my hands in this pictures.

 8 months and I don't think she is appreciating the butt cut hairdo. :)

9 months in one of my favorite photos to date.  She loves her Dada!

10 months and my little gourmet is enjoying some yummy noms.

11 months trying to figure out how to use a spoon.  

She places the food on it, then takes the food off of it.  She'll get it one day.

1 year at her birthday with her Momma.  Stay tuned for all the pics from her birthday party!

What's In a Name?

Before we were even pregnant, I told Stuart that I already knew what I would name our son.  I've known for a long time what it would be, and there was no way that I would be swayed.  To that end, we agreed that Stuart would be able to name any daughter we had.  It took us years of conversation and debate to come up with the perfect name.  We both wanted a name the meant something to one of us.  My boy's name means a lot to me and reminds me of who I am, and we wanted the same for our girl's name.

Well, Stuart is a 2nd degree black belt in Tae Kwon Do, and we wanted to pay homage to that important part of his life.  He is obsessed with martial arts films, and his favorite movies are anything starring Bruce Lee.  Also, his favorite music is from the 80s and 90s, and specifically, he loooooves the Smashing Pumpkins.  Billy Corgan is his idol, and he knows every Pumpkins song by heart. We had a name.

Corgan Lee

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Happy Birthday, Baby Girl!!!

Corgan Lee Bankey

Born: January 9, 2011at 2:53 AM

5 lbs. 14 oz. & 19 in.

I can't believe she's already one year old!  This whole week on my blog is dedicated to the most precious thing in my life.  Each day you will get a little glimpse into the miracle that we were given.  I thank God everyday for how lucky we are to have her in our life.

 After 5 1/2 hours of labor, Corgan Lee entered the world as a tiny little girl.

I finally got to meet her after 38 weeks.

 One proud, and exhausted, papa!

Does this really need an explanation?

Meet the Aminals

I'm sure, eventually, that you will see news of our other children: Darwin, Dexter, Lucy, and Jetta on this blog, so I'm going to introduce them now.

Jetta - The Cat
I used to work for a vet, and she would always say that if I wanted to continue in the field that I should get a cat.  I've always owned dogs, and having a cat would help me get used to how they move.  I got Jetta and her sister Roxy (who later went crazy after eating a Christmas cactus).  I also knew that I really wanted a silver Volkswagon Jetta.  The cat was silver, and I drove a beater.  She became my silver Jetta. I love her to death although she doesn't act like a cat.  She talks to you, begs for food, and craves attention. Random fact: Stuart's brother Philip calls her 'Gak'.

Jetta, the cat.

Darwin - The First Born
If you combine 1/3 large guard dog, 1/3 lap dog, and 1/3 squeaker toy, then you get Darwin.  It would actually be 1/2 large guard dog and 1/2 lap dog, but he has destroyed so many squeaker toys that they have become a part of him.  He is a really sweet dog, but he really thinks he is a person, and our first born, so it was difficult to get him used to Corgan at first, but he has come around.  Oh, and he has the dapple gene, so he has a spec of blue in his eye, some black on his tail, and his fur is so soft that it still feels like his puppy coat. Random fact: he's a little priss and won't go outside if it's wet. (written by Stuart)

Darwin chilling with Stuart and Corgan (at 3 months).

Dexter - The Rescue
Darwin needed a buddy. After we got Darwin, we found out how much energy dachshunds have, and we couldn't keep up with him. We found a dachshund rescue society, Diamond Dachshund Rescue of Texas, and started searching through their available dogs. I really wanted a girl, and we found the perfect dog so we applied to adopt her. As a part of their adoption process, volunteers come over and interview potential owners and check out their house for safety and comfort. When the volunteers came, they brought Dexter to see if Darwin would get along well with another dog. The two of them spent the next two hours playing with each other! Since Dexter was available for adoption, we decided to adopt him instead of the female puppy, and it's been great for Darwin ever since. Random fact: he has a malformed front leg that makes it look like it's going to twist off at any second, but he's fine.

Dexter-man.

Lucy - a.k.a. Dinkenesh
What's one more animal when you already have three? A lot. We found Lucy in the middle of the road, literally, when she was about 6 weeks old. She and another puppy, this one a lab mix, were playing in the road on Walzem over in Windcrest. Stuart, with the big heart that he has, picked them up and took them home. We found an owner to adopt 'Big-un', who is now Sophie, and we kept Lucy.  She was a perfect little dachshund puppy, so it worked.  Until she grew up. She is not dachshund.  Oh, sure...there is dachshund in her, but she is not dachshund. She's huge! Her official name is 'Dinkenesh' which is Ethiopian for 'beautiful one.' This is what they named the first Australopithecus afarensis found in Ethiopia.  The anthropologists who found the skeleton got drunk the night after the discover, listened to The Beatles on the radio, and nicknamed the skeleton 'Lucy' after the song 'Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds.' Best name ever for a dog :) Random fact: she eats poo.

Luce-girl.

Poor Baby Girl

Yesterday was not a good day for baby girl's head.  I got a call from day care just after lunch and it started with, "Hi, Mrs. Bankey. Corgan is fine, but..."  That's never how you want to be contacted by your child's day care.  The only thing is that I get that phone call at least once a week.  I gave birth to Evel Knievel.  Corgan fears nothing; not heights, not stairs, not edges, not anything.  This call however was slightly different. Aparently another kid in her class clocked her upside the head with a toy.  Yeah! Corgan didn't hurt herself! Someone else did! I probably shouldn't be that happy, but it was a relief.

One would hope that would be enough for the day, but ooooohhhhh no.  Corgan had other ideas.  We were up in the loft after dinner and after her bath, and we were playing.  The loft is her play room, so that's where all her toys are, and that's where most of our baby proofing is.  But Corgan, being Corgan, managed to trip in just the right spot for her to face plant into the edges of one of the bookshelves.  'Mom panic' set in immediately!  I rushed to her, Stuart looked on rightfully concerned, and Corgan screamed so hard that she didn't breathe for a long time. Finally I got a chance to look more closely, and found that she had smacked the edge right at the corner of her eye socket and broke the skin.  My baby was wounded!!!  I was freaking out.  Not in the panicky, frozen kind of way, but the overly concerned kind of way. 

Within less than a minute Corgan was fighting to get out of our hands to go play and run around again.  There was no actual blood.  She seemed to be fine.  I continued to be concerned, called Stuart's mom (I knew mine was not available to pick up the phone), called Corgan's godmother, all to find out if I should be doing something more than watching her play.  Stuart?  What did Stuart do? He laughed at me!  He hysterically laughed at me!  Now...I admit that I was overreacting, but my poor, perfect child was damaged :(  I am at this point over it, but it was not a fun experience.