Five on Friday (7)

I've had different variations of this post in the works for a while now, but finally I'm actually here writing it down. Which means I'm excited to say I'm linking up with Five on Friday!
1. The boy and I recently purchased a new set of dishes from Sur la Table. Our old ones were random and mismatched so we figured it was finally time to act like grown-ups and upgrade. We actually couldn't decide on one design, so we bought two different sets. Since both of them are all white they do still go together. The photo above shows the square ones, with the boy's coq au vin, and the one below the more circular ones, with some of the boy's pad thai.
2. Earlier this week it was announced that Garth Brooks will be having a concert in New Orleans in July. I was hopping this would happen, and am so, so excited about the news. The first concert I ever saw was Garth, back in 1996 or so, and am so excited to see him again. Tickets go on sale in a week, so hopefully I'm able to score some good seats!
3. The boy and I recently discovered a new Italian restaurant right by our house, Randazzo's. It's a tiny, family owned restaurant where the chef is from Italy and is so, so good. The first time there I had the lasagna, and while good, the marinara overpowered the homemade pasta a bit. However, on the second visit I had their vegetable pasta with pesto, which was amazing. Honestly, the pesto is likely the reason we'll be going back again and again.
4. The past two year's I've been ending every month with a recap post, except I never got one up for April. Honestly though, with everything I'm trying to balance it's hard for me to manage to post anything, let alone a timely post like a recap. Plus with my daily photos and Elley's monthly updates, I'm still basically recapping daily happenings. What I'm trying to say is that for now, I don't plan on posting monthly recaps. But who knows when or if it will return.
5. One item I will miss from my monthly recaps are my flashbacks where I highlight a post from year's past. But there's no reason why I can't still do that in other posts, like a Five on Friday post! With that said, 3 years ago, in May 2012, I posted about my bridal shower out in California.

If you're stopping by from Five on Friday be sure to say hi! Also let me know your view on monthly recap posts.

From England to India

The Betrayal of the Blood Lily by Lauren Willig
Published: January 12, 2010 by Dutton Adult
Series: Pink Carnation #6
Going into this book I was really excited that it takes place in India. I can't think of another book I've read about India, and I was really looking forward to being transported. Except while it was clear that the story was in India, I didn't quite feel like I was there myself.

I'm not sure why, because all the details where there that should have made it happen. I think it's more that it's hard for me to picture India, so I couldn't quite get a clear picture. Even so, the parts of India I got to experience I really did enjoy.

I was much happier with the modern day story line this time. It still wasn't my favorite of the series, but I at least didn't cringe through the modern day chapters.

Similar to the last book, the Pink Carnation doesn't appear, which makes me wonder when she'll be back. There was still a mystery which I did enjoy, more than a lot of the others. Of course there was a love story too, even knowing that this books heroine starts off married. I wasn't quite sure how that would work, but when it happened it wasn't too much of a surprise.

Once again, upon finishing a book in this series I'm really excited for the next. This one is finally about Turnip” Fitzhugh which will be interesting, although what I'm most excited about is that it's a Christmas book.

4.5/5

Mother's Day Rewind

I know we're a few weeks late here, but I couldn't let my first Mother's Day go by undocumented, so finally it's making it to the blog. Normally on Sundays the boy has his baseball game, but with it being a holiday, we started off the weekend seeing the boy play on a Saturday. And by seeing, I mean one of us may have slept through most of it.
While you can't quite see Elley's onesie, here's a slightly better, although still obstructed photo. But for even more clarification it says, I Have More Hair Than My Dad. You can see a much clearer photo of the text when she received it as a Hanukkah present.
On Mother's Day itself, well there was more baseball to be had, and we went to an LSU game. The game was crazy hot and as soon as we arrived the boy bought us both snowballs, which Elley attempted to enjoy herself.
We then spent sometime in the air conditioned souvenir shop and hall of fame, before the boy took her into the shade, where we basically passed out for several innings.
This time her LSU onesie actually made it to the game and not so coincidentally LSU won what was their last regular season game, against Missouri. Maybe not the most expected Mother's Day celebration, but still fun. Although don't be surprised if you see an upcoming post about the weekend after Mother's Day that looks a little more traditional. And just for fun, here's one more picture taken on Mother's Day.

Brr... It's Cold in Here

The Long Winter by Laura Ingalls Wilder
Published: 1971 by Harper Trophy
First Published: 1940
Series: Little House #6
I feel like I knew exactly what I wanted to say about this book. But now that I'm sitting here writing my thoughts down, I seem to have forgotten everything. Basically, I'm guessing this one is going to be a little "rambly".

One thing I've always loved about this book are the chapters from Almanzo's point of view. I'm not sure why exactly, even now I enjoy them, but again can't articulate it. Maybe because it's different from what we're used to always seeing things from Laura's perspective?

Yet, it is also hard reading his chapters. Those scenes where Pa visits Almanzo and Royal and they're eating ham and pancakes and he knows that his family literally has nothing to eat. Well, it just seems so wrong to me. I kind of understand why he doesn't, but part of me still wishes he was able to take some of that deliciousness home. Plus there's the fact Almanzo hides his wheat seed. As an author Laura does show his reasoning and tries not to make him look like a bad guy, but still, he just seems a selfish, which I guess you kind of had to be living all alone on the prairie.

Again, reading it know I'm struck by just how hard things actually are for the Ingalls. It's so miserable the idea of never being able to get warm for months at a time. It's hard to imagine considering the way we live now, but they really did spend most of the winter close to freezing. It's pretty much a miracle that everyone survived. Although if I had to guess, in terms of actual history, I wouldn't be surprised if there were townspeople who didn't make it, it just wasn't included since it's a children's book.

It's funny, because so often in my reviews of these Little House books I've mentioned how it's basically about nothing. Except here, this book where their stuck inside the entire time and nothing is happening, instead this one feels like it's really about something. Interesting the way things work out sometimes.

5/5

Today I'm linking up with Blonde Undercover Blonde for Book Club Friday!

Project 365: Days 107 Through 114

Why yes, I am managing to post two Project 365 updates in one week!
April 17, 2015 - 107/365: Butternut Squash Raviolis.
April 18, 2015 - 108/365: Wearing a Bunny Dress.
April 19, 2015 - 109/365: Homemade Eggs Benedict for Breakfast.
April 20, 2015 - 110/365: Testing Out the Highchair.
April 21, 2015 - 111/365: Snacking on Raspberries.
April 22, 2015 - 112/365: Practicing Her Crawling Form.
April 23, 2015 - 113/365: Staring at the Globe.
April 24, 2015 - 114/365: Salmon for Dinner.

May Graze Time

After last month's awesome graze box, it only seems fitting that this one was less than stellar. Don't get me wrong, still good, but not one I was too excited about.
Once again two snacks were repeats, which I think is hard to overcome. It's partly my fault since I don't mark as trash more often to tell them I don't want it again, but I need to get better about it. As for the repeats, I had Lightly Salted Popcorn and Cracking Black Pepper Cashews, which I actually did like better this time.
As for the new boxes, first up with Chai Latte which included chai seeds, coconut, macadamias, and yogurt covered sunflower seeds. This was my favorite out of all the snacks, and out of this mix I liked the yogurt covered sunflower seeds the best.
Then there were Thai Sweet Chili Bites, sweet chili sauce with baked soy bites.
At first I didn't take a picture of these, because I was sure I already had them. Except then realized what I had before was My Thai, and then took a picture. Turns out I may have actually been right, since these two boxes have the exact same description. It's hard not being able to taste them at the same time, but I'm pretty sure it's actually a case of rebranding, making it the third time I received this particular box.
With only one new snack to try it isn't too surprising this box was less than favorite. But as I started off with the boxes tend to go up and down, so hopefully next months box is that much better.

If you want to try out graze you can sign up here to get your 1st and 5th box free! This post is not sponsored by Graze, however if you sign up using my referral link I'll receive $1 off my next box. All opinions expressed are my own.

Project 365: Days 99 Through 106

Why yes, I am like a month behind on my Project 365 posts. But eventually I just might catch up... right?
April 9, 2015 - 99/365: A Baby and a Hippo
April 10, 2015 - 100/365: Chewing on a Crocodile.
April 11, 2015 - 101/365: 4 Month Outtakes.
April 12, 2015 - 102/365: All Three Asleep. Technically the boy was asleep in the bedroom at this point, so it would have been four asleep instead.
April 13, 2015 - 103/365: Yet Another Sleeping Baby
April 14, 2015 - 104/365: Softshell Crab BLT at Beausoliel.
April 15, 2015 - 105/365: Spicy Chicken Pizza at Newk's. This was my first time there since it open and since then I've been slightly obsessed. I've been back 3 or 4 more times and have loved it every time.
April 16, 2015 - 106/365: Hanging in the Exersaucer

Party Like I'ts 1999

Attachments by Rainbow Rowell
Published: March 27, 2012 by Plume
First Published: April 14, 2011
I went into this one really excited. So much so that it easily could have been one where I'd over hyped it, and it didn't live up to my expectations. Except turns out, I didn't hype it enough, and I loved it so much more than I could have expected.

This is a love story, so in a way you know what's going to happen. Which is why it's so surprising just how suspenseful the whole story actually is. You have a pretty good idea how things are going to end up, and yet you can't quite be sure. Even more you have no idea just how the characters will actually get to that point.

I also loved that the story takes place in 1999. I really enjoyed when tv shows or music was referenced and I knew exactly what they were talking about. It's just the perfect amount of nostalgia, without it being over the top.

As you can probably tell, like so many others, I fell head over heels for this book. Now that I'm finished I'm even more excited than I already was to read everything else Rainbow Rowell has written. The real question is, which one do I want to start with first!

5/5

Today I'm linking up with Blonde Undercover Blonde for Book Club Friday!

5 Months Update

You are five months old!

May 11It's so crazy going back and reading last month's update because so much has changed. It's like you're a different baby in a way. First though, a few things that are a little more consistent.

Heading to Your Cousin's First Communion, April 19You don't have a doctor's appointment this much, so no official stats to report on your height and weight. You are still primarily in 3-6 month clothing and are wearing size 2 diapers. We've actually been dealing with a diaper rash lately, so you haven't worn your bumgeniuses lately, which means I'm not completely sure how you'd be wearing them.

Trying Green Beans, April 24You're drinking 4 bottles of 4.5 ounces of pumped milk each day, plus nursing first thing in the morning and last thing before bed. Although on the weekend, when you're with me all the time, we tend not to bother with bottles. You did try your first food, green beans, this month. While you didn't seem excited about it, you didn't hate it either. You did break into a diaper rash not long after though, so we haven't introduced anything else yet, but the plan is to try sweet potatoes next.

At Your First LSU Baseball Game, April 25Now for the fun stuff! You've started rolling ALL. THE. TIME.. You're not necessarily rolling to go places, but more that if we put you on your back you'll shortly decide you'd rather be on your stomach. It doesn't matter where you are, on the ground, in your crib, or most fun of all on the changing table, you'll attempt to roll to your tummy.

Wearing an Outfit and Hat My Mom Made for Me as a Baby, April 26This is why you're now sleeping in a sleep sack. Since about an hour or so after we put you to sleep on your back, you roll over. Thankfully it hasn't impacted your sleep too much and you're still sleeping all night fairly consistently.

Holding Toes, April 29While you can still roll from front to back you're doing it less often. Unless of course you're playing with Daddy and he lets you roll off his stomach onto the bed. Yes, it's fun, or at least it is until you realize rolling off places doesn't always results in a few inches drop landing on a soft surface. But so far you haven't had any real disaster.

Playing with Daddy, April 30It doesn't look like you're anywhere near to sitting on your own yet. But that's more because when I try to get you to sit you'd much rather reach forward to grab something and get on your stomach. Or if you're upright, you much rather have us support you on your feet, instead of being forced to sit down.

Starring at a Chameleon, May 3You're laughing now too! Not very often, but when it happens it's pretty much the cutest thing ever. Daddy has gotten you to laugh more often by pretending to takes bites out of you, but I've managed a few as well. Although I'm pretty sure you're keeping this talent hidden and so far have only let the two of us in on it.

Chewing on a foot, May 5It's so crazy to think that you're almost half a year old. I keep looking back at newborn photos of you with a little disbelief at how much you've grown. I can hardly believe you've already gotten so big. Honestly, I already wish I could go back and relive those first few days with you, which is crazy because it really wasn't that long ago.

Chewing on a Snowball Cup, May 10As I started off this post, so much really has changed between this month and last. You really are a baby now instead of a newborn! I wouldn't be surprised by next months update you're crawling or doing something else amazing, and I can't wait to find out just what that may be.

1 Month ~ 2 Months~3 Months

4 Months