food galore!

C'mon mom, I'm ready!

This morning I was granted with a rare and glorious thing ... Ryan offered to take the baby so I could sleep in!! The angels smiled down on me from heaven as I listened to him change T's diaper and put together a bottle .. all from my cozy spot in bed .. mm .. but the longer I laid in bed the more excited I became .. to offer T his first meal ... and to capture said moment on the best birthday/Christmas gift yet - my Flip video camera! So following my reading, I nursed him, as usual, before prepping a small dish of rice cereal + breast milk for him and plopping him in the Bumbo seat on the kitchen table (yes, I know he shouldn't be in the Bumbo on the table ... we were nearby the entire time, and I promise this won't become a habit ...)!  The entire time I was gathering supplies - rice cereal, breast milk, spoon, Bumbo seat ... Thomas eagerly chewed on and gripped his rice cereal box ... I think he was just as excited as I was!  This was the best part of our post-six-month-vaccines day. And ...

Lucky for you - Ryan was able to use my gift to capture this monumental occasion <3

As you can see in our video, Thomas absolutely loved the rice cereal and sipping/slurping it off of the spoon.  It is so amazing watching this video just twelve hours later, because it captures the moment so thoroughly compared to pictures!  It's so nice to see knowing his little baby-first has been captured in video for ever, for us to revisit as we like, or to share with family and friends - you really get a feel for his little personality!  I can't wait to give him another taste tomorrow ;-)

.........


The remainder of the day was spent preparing for company.  It was a long, busy afternoon, in which Ryan manned the fort (and the little t) while I bustled about the house cleaning, cooking, and the like.  I can't stop thinking about how amazing our tamales were - seriously some of the best I've had!  That either speaks to where I've been eating my tamales or to the quality we've made in the past ... hahah  Perhaps it was the LARD?? Yes ... it was my first time cooking with lard ... and our double-batch of batter contained a half pound of the mystery fat ... however, I'd prefer to credit both my fabulous cooking, as well as the great group of women gathered around my tiny table working assembly-line-style to spread, fill and wrap these amazing little morsels ...

Together we crafted tamales filled with spicy poblano mushroom, mole + chicken and that crispy pork ... they were all fabulous, although I think the mushroom was my favorite .. he he he .. we have a mountain of the filling left in the fridge - it'll be great taco filler!

Phew. It's been a busy two days getting ready for a fabulous night with friends.  It was so nice to come together and enjoy preparing a meal together.  From glitter hands to tamales ... first foods and razzle dazzles!  hahah what a night ;-)  Time to go load the dishwasher ... again!