A little bit of West + a meal plan.

I took a handful of (admittedly-very-similar) photos of West lying on my mom's rug after church while we were in Washington. My parents have a fireplace in the family room, & it was burning most of our visit (especially since Mike & I were constantly complaining about being cold - sorry, Mom!). I thought about cooling these photos off a bit, but I think about the warm glow of the fire in that room & it makes me think of being cozy at home, with lots of people that I love. So, I didn't touch them with Photoshop & that's okay. I'm too tired, anyway.

West! He's turning into such a lovely baby. I mean, all babies are great (sort of), but I've realized that I really struggle those first few months with a newborn, which makes it hard for me to initially think an excessive amount of happy thoughts. I've come to accept this as perfectly okay, & just the way it is for me. It doesn't mean I love my babies less, or that I'm a bad mama - I just need a little bit of time. I'm really happy for everyone that has perfect, happy, content, babies after perfect, easy, pregnancies + effortless labors & deliveries. I genuinely am. But I haven't had really any of those things with either of my babies, which probably contributes to the fog that comes post-birth. The good news is that most of that fuzzy grey is wearing off & we're all doing better now - my mental health, West's tummy, etc - & I'm really loving this squishy little boy. He gives smiles freely, giggles when I swaddle him for his nap, & has been much kinder to me in the sleep department than Quinn ever was at this age (I owe much of this success to the general wisdom gained from already having gone through it once). He never spits up - like, I go through 2 burpcloths a week, I think - loves the bath, tolerates diaper changes, & is patient with his older brother's not-so-gentle tendencies. He discovered his hand this week, & I caught him a half dozen times just staring at it in amazement. I was proud. These tiny milestones will pile on top of each other & soon I'll have another toddler who is reciting his ABC's, climbing up the ladder at the park all by himself, & building train tracks with ease.

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I cooked this week entirely out of a Real Simple special fall / winter cooking issue. I generally really love Real Simple's recipes - simple, good, healthy food - & I trust that none of them will be total disasters. Our best meal of the week was definitely lamb meatballs with couscous & feta. Oh my goodness, they were so great. The slow cooker creamy chicken was also delicious - & the drop biscuits came together so quickly (I guess that's the whole point of drop biscuits - go figure). Dinner tonight was so so (it didn't help that I bought turkey cutlets instead of chicken - oops) & we'll see how tomorrow goes (brussel sprouts? I'm on the fence). But this week - it was good to be organized, nice to have good meals when Mike was in town, & fun for me to try some new things. It also made the solo nights at home with a bowl of cereal a bit easier.

Saturday: Baked sweet potatoes topped with TJ's turkey chili, tomatoes, green onions & cheese
Sunday: Lamb meatballs with couscous & feta
Monday: Slow cooker creamy chicken with biscuits + easy drop biscuits
Tuesday: Out with girlfriends
Wednesday: Mike traveling (I probably had cereal?)
Thursday: Mike traveling (Q & I split a chicken burritos from Trader Joe's)
Friday: Yogurt marinated chicken with mushrooms & sweet potatoes (not good enough to share)
Saturday: Ravioli with brussels sprouts & bacon

Now say hello to West looking almost identical in seven photos. I just couldn't pick.