Free Admission to the Zoo!

We have an odd assortment of animals at our zoo, but we thank you for coming.

Little Minds

This is what Elsa looks like when she roars like a lion:

She roars like a lion when she sees this:

and this....

and this...

and this.

Can you see the connection? Fascinating. Watching little minds grow will never cease to amaze me. The associations they make as they interpret the world around them are amusing, perceptive, and to some degree humbling. How quickly we grow up and overlook the details that surround us: simple smells, common sounds, ordinary sights, everyday objects. But to a little mind, piecing everything together day by day, the world is full of lions!

And snakes...

(True story.)

Elsa Has Turned to the Dark Side...

Though some cabinets in the kitchen are off limits to our busy little lady, she can explore, at will, others we deem to be harmless. But lately, some things have gone missing, including two of these brilliant Star Wars cookie cutters. So we looked in all her usual hiding spots...nothing. Seems unfortunately likely that someone has been disposing of said items in the garbage can... But the saddest thing about all this is not that we can now only bake with the 1/2 teaspoon measurer (as all his friends have mysteriously gone missing...) or that we are going through wash rags at an alarming rate. The saddest thing is that the two cookie cutters that have been eliminated are Yoda and Boba Fett, sparing Darth Vader and the Imperial Stormtrooper. Elsa has officially turned to the Dark Side.

May the Force be with us.

Military or Marching Band??

Not sure whether this natural marching talent is from her grandpa's military genes or her daddy's marching band prowess! Only time will tell.

Welcome to the World of the Uprights

Sunday, October 23, 2011:

The day Elsa officially decided to leave the crawling world behind.

Take 5 Carrot Cupcakes

I came across this recipe in the January 2011 Food & Wine magazine. The memories surrounding its discovery are sweet and savory. Much like these cupcakes.

Justin, Elsa, and I were spending the holidays in Raleigh last winter. Both our families were present, which was a wonderful treat! I had been charged with dessert duty for Christmas with the Meeks as well as birthday #32 for Tina and I. (I know, twist my arm, right...) While the fruit tart and decadent chocolate torte whipped up for Christmas were blog-worthy in and of themselves, it is this simple carrot cake recipe, used to commemorate another year of health and happiness for my sister and I, that keeps finding its way back into the spotlight.

I modified the recipe in order to create a 10" double layer cake for festivities up to this point. Most recently, however, I made it for the first time in its original form to ring in the beginning of a new year for our sweet little lady. As with its previous performances, it did not disappoint.

So without further ado, I bring you Take 5 Carrot Cupcakes.

Take 5 Carrot Cupcakes

ACTIVE: 45 MINUTES TOTAL: 1 ½-2 HOURS

MAKES: 14 CUPCAKES or

10” DOUBLE LAYER CAKE

Ingredients	Cupcakes	10” Double Layer Cake
all-purpose flour	1 C	2 C / 243 g
cinnamon	1 ½ t	3 t / 7 g
baking soda	1 t	2 t / 12 g
salt	½ t	1 t / 5 g
eggs, large	2	4
canola oil	¾ C	1 ½ C
sugar	1 C	2 C / 400 g
vanilla extract, pure	1 t	2 t
carrots, finely shredded	1 ½ C	3 C / 380 g
pecans pieces, toasted	1 C	2 C

1. Preheat oven to 350. Line or grease muffin cups/grease and flour 10” cake pan(s).

2. In medium bowl, whisk flour, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt. In large bowl, using electric mixer, beat eggs with canola oil. Gradually beat in sugar at medium-high speed until thick, about 3 minutes. Beat in vanilla. Fold in dry ingredients with a rubber spatula. Fold in carrots and pecans.

3. Spoon batter immediately into muffin cups or spread evenly in cake pan(s). For cupcakes, bake 25 to 30 minutes. For cake, bake approximately 60 minutes.

4. Top with Cream Cheese Frosting (recipe below.)

Cream Cheese Frosting

Ingredients	Cupcakes	10” Double Layer Cake
unsalted butter, softened	4 T	12 T
cream cheese, softened	4 oz	14 oz
vanilla extract, pure	½ t	1 ½ t
confectioners’ sugar	1 ¾ C	5 C

1. In a bowl, using electric mixer, beat butter with cream cheese until smooth. Beat in vanilla and confectioners’ sugar. Beat mixture at high speed until frosting is light and fluffy.

Dust chopped, toasted pecans with cinnamon and garnish cupcakes/cake if desired.

http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/take-5-carrot-cupcakes

Happy Birthday Elsa!

One Year Stats:

Weight - 20 lbs. 12 oz. (44th %ile)

Height - 29 in. (44th %ile)

Head Circumference - 17.61 in. (39th %ile)

Teeth - 2 on bottom and a wee bit of 2 on top!

Distances Traveled - 15,200 miles! (7,900 by land; 7,300 by air)

Words and Sounds - owl, hi, hat, cat, Daddy, up, out, hot, snack, Momma, bath, "ow," "whoo-hooo," "ruff!," "quack quack,"

Signs - nurse, bird, eat, milk, drink, outside

Click here for a slideshow of the big day.

(Email: kathrynirenemeeks@yahoo.com Password: elsa1)

Noteworthy Moments to Conclude the Summer

Grew enough hair to wear hair bows.

Had fun in the sun.

Tamed an alligator.

Swam with sharks....

...and lived to tell about it.

Embarked on first motocamping trip...

...and lived to tell about it. ;)

California Girls

This month Justin traveled to Canada with the Kenny Chesney tour. We knew we'd miss Daddy too much to stay in Nashville, so we cashed in a free ticket and headed to California!

We were greeted by:

• sunshine (not a thunderstorm in sight!)
• dryness (actual temperature 75 degrees, real feel 75 degrees - imagine that!)
• warmth (and this time I'm not talking about the weather - we already miss our wonderful hosts...)

It's times like these that I love pictures so much. For what they capture and the memories they preserve.

Here are a few favorites from our trip.

Beach Salsa

Beach Salsa was conceived of and born at Cajun's Dream. Every time I make it I am reminded of that wonderful getaway in Emerald Isle, North Carolina. May it bring a little summer sun and beach-blown hair your way as well!

BEACH SALSA

1 can diced tomatoes

4 Roma tomatoes, chopped

4 peaches or nectarines, peeled and chopped

1/4 C red onion, minced

2 jalepeno peppers, minced

1/2 t habenero pepper, minced

1/4 C apple cider vinegar

1 T lime juice (approx. 1/2 a lime)

4-5 squirts chipotle Tabasco

1 1/2 t chili powder

1 t cumin

salt (to taste), approx. 2 t

sugar (to taste), approx. 1 1/2 T

handful fresh cilantro (or to taste), diced

Mix all ingredients together. Serve chilled with tortilla chips.

(Intended for a crowd, and only stays fresh for a day or two. Modify quantities if need be.)

They Say it all Happens so Fast

There are two comments that people routinely make when they encounter Elsa:

"Look at those big eyes!"

and

"Oh, she's a happy baby."

After engaging for a minute or so, another comment almost always spills out. With a nostalgic glance in her direction they say,

"I remember when mine was that little.... It all goes by so fast."

June was that kind of a month for us.

As May came to a close, Elsa was rocking on her hands and knees and had just figured out how to get herself into a sitting position from her belly. By the ninth of June we found her standing up in her crib. On June 11 she took her first feeble attempts at a crawl. By the 14th she was cautiously making her way across a room. Four days later you would have never known she was a novice. Cruising confidently from room to room. Exploring anything she could find and pulling up on absolutely EVERYTHING!

Stand, bounce, shuffle, sit, crawl. Repeat.

It's not that time plays a funny trick on us with our young children, making us think it moves faster than it really does. Things just really DO happen SO fast. Honestly! It will take me longer to grow back my toenail (a whole other story...) than it will to grow a baby, birth it, and watch her walk!

So, without further ado, here's our little lady putting my toenail to shame!

JUNE 9 - Standing Up

JUNE 11 - First Attempt at Crawling

JUNE 14 - Making Her Way

IN HER PEAK CONDITION!

It may be a big July and August for us too...

Bath Time!

Because every kid, at some point, has to succumb to the obligatory butt shot.

Crazy, Wild, and Beautiful

Finally compiled some videos we've been capturing over the past few months. Figured I'd better do something with them before they get outdated by the videos of her crawling, walking, talking...you know how it goes. So here's our independent, energetic, curious, joy-filled little gal in action.

Hubby's Homemade Margaritas

**WARNING**

You will have a difficult time enjoying other margaritas

once you have sipped on one of these!

HUBBY'S HOMEMADE MARGARITAS

Margarita Mix:

• 12 oz can frozen limeade
• 12 oz water
• 6 oz sparkling water
• 2 limes, squeezed
• 1/2 lemon, squeezed
• 6 oz fresh orange juice

Liquor:

• Tequila
• Triple-sec

Combine two parts Margarita Mix with one part Tequila. Add a splash of Triple-sec. Serve on the rocks with a wedge of lime.

Sit outside, put your feet up, and enjoy!

Chipotle Shrimp Tacos

You know a recipe is good when you've made it once for yourself, once for your friends, and again for visiting family all within two weeks! This has been a favorite in the Meeks' household for a few years now. It's quick. It's simple. It's full of flavor. And it tastes DARN good with a homemade margarita!

CHIPOTLE SHRIMP TACOS

Ingredients:

• 5 oz low sodium bacon, chopped
• 1/2 onion, diced
• 1-2 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 2 lbs raw medium shrimp, peeled
• 3 chipotle peppers in adobe, minced
• 1 lime, juiced
• 12 corn tortillas
• garnish - lime wedges, salt, sour cream, cilantro (or see below)

1. Cook chopped bacon 5 min over medium/medium-high heat. Remove from pan. Discard all but a couple tablespoons of fat. Lightly brown onions in bacon fat. Add cumin and garlic powder. Add shrimp. Brown quickly (3 minutes.) Add chipotle peppers and lime juice. Return chopped bacon to pan. Heat briefly just until shrimp are done.

2. Fill warmed tortillas with shrimp mixture. Top with lime, salt, sour cream, and cilantro.

Garnish:

We've also been known to throw on some black beans, slaw, and/or avocados. Be creative!

Say Ahhhhhh

You may need to get your glasses,

or perhaps a magnifying glass,

or simply embrace the placebo effect for a moment.

But if you look hard enough,

and truly believe,

you'll see that there's a tooth peeking through in there.

Stage right.

Warnings and Instructions You Don't Want to Overlook

To these I say, REALLY?? Check back, I'm sure there'll be more...

OUTLET PLUGS:

To Install:

1. Align the plug cover to the unused socket.

2. Align the thicker and thinner prongs to the appropriate receptacles. (Please note that upon close examination I was unable to detect which prong was in fact thicker or thinner...)

To Remove:

1. Pull the plug cover out of the socket.

And to think, after all that, in the installation instructions they never once said, "3. Push outlet plug into the outlet."

TEETHING TABLETS:

Uses:

Temporarily relieves the symptoms of simple restlessness and wakeful irritability due to cutting teeth.

Warnings:

Ask a doctor before use if pregnant or nursing.

Nurture vs. Nature

No, this is not a post about raising our daughter. This is a post about bees. Carpenter bees.

For three years we have been waging war against these plump, "harmless" creatures. Our battle is over sacred territory: our deck.

At first there were only a few who claimed rights to the soft redwood planks. They bore remarkably perfect, round holes and long stretches of tunnels in which to shelter their eggs. They would carefully gather and deposit pollen for the young to feast on when they emerged. Their efforts were admirable, at first. But with the young returning to their breeding grounds, the number soon multiplied. And multiplied. Until the relentless chorus of buzzes destroyed the peaceful lure of the place.

So, we decided enough was enough. We would no longer nurture this infestation of nature.

At first we armed ourselves with handmade weapons. Like a baseball making contact with a bat, our little bee friends would find themselves suddenly careening away from their nesting place, never to return, if you catch my drift... I admit to feeling bad for the little buggers, though Justin and I did begin to keep score.

Our only allies in the fight were the woodpeckers who sought out the larvae each summer. But their efforts, like their destructive prey, left our poor deck permanently wounded.

With the death of our beloved space seeming imminent, we looked with hopefulness to a new strategy. Rallying behind wooden dowels, a hammer, and some oh-so-sticky glue, we began filling dozens of holes.

The result: Ornery carpenter bees. Smitten homeowners.

But we knew better then to think those clever little devils would give up the fight too easily. Within days they bore new holes parallel to the old or came in perpendicular to their preexisting tunnels.

Lucky for us, they leave a rather noticeable display of their labor.

More plugs coming right up.

For all you relentless carpenter bees out there, I hope you are ready for Round 2. Ding! Ding!

Rollin' Rollin' Rollin'

Front to back. Back to front. We've got it down!

So well in fact that last night, when responding to a disgruntled moan coming from the front room, we discovered Elsa five feet away from where we had laid her, facing the opposite direction, and pinned up against the coffee table leg. Too cute! However...

Five minutes later she was up against the couch and had ripped off the tag from underneath. This morning she was hanging on an extension cord and kicking the window shades.

Wish the Flip camera came with a time lapse video option. It would be hilarious to capture 20 minutes worth of this new found freedom!

Our Journey through the Flavorful World of Food

Around the 5 1/2 month mark we embarked on our journey through the world of solid food. Mom's homemade oatmeal was, let's say not the perfection of creamy goodness it has since become. So for Elsa and I both, here's our first go at it.

Love at First Bite? from Kathryn Meeks on Vimeo.

And now, enter finger foods.

Figuring Out That Peculiar Thing They Call "Finger Food" from Kathryn Meeks on Vimeo.

Getting better!

Hope you continue to join us on our journey!

Go Ahead, Bring on them Pearly Whites!

Over the past couple months I have said many times that if I could pause things here I would. Pause time while Elsa is sleeping through the night and content nursing. While she's not mobile and not teething. Ahhhh what a glorious phase it has been. Simple. More predictable. Thoroughly enjoyable.

But Elsa just started sitting up. And now we are exploring new foods.

Simple may be good, and predictable may be comforting, but I'm ready for things to get a little more, well...complicated. Ready for our little lady to discover mobility. Ready to see if she will be the "foodie" her dad has become or the picky eater he once was!

Folks are right when they say you love phase you're in. And though I'm still skeptical about the whole teething thing, a smile this sincere deserves some pearly whites!

A little Michael in the Morning

Not quite the morning person her daddy is, but a bonding moment nonetheless!

Sleeping Beauty

A little puttering. A little squirming. Rubbing her face with her newly-available hands. A little sucking on the blanket. Then quiet stillness.

It's day five in the new world of non-swaddled sleeping for our little lady. The nap and nighttime rituals have gotten easier so we decided to embarked on this next step. The days of extended rocking, swaying, and soothing seem to be mostly behind us. No more hours spent in the middle of the night. The delicate transition from being held to being placed in the swing or crib is no longer so delicate. The swing...seems like ages ago that Elsa would only sleep in the swing. Guess she's officially growing up. She's becoming independent. But that's what we want.

Right?

My sister once blogged about being in Target and having one kid begin dancing in desperate need to use the bathroom while the other kid made a valiant effort to muster up a good fit about leaving his current location. A lady saw her and said, "I miss those days. I know it sounds crazy, but I do."

I am proud of our sleeping beauty. And I like going to bed knowing that even on a "bad night" I'll still get five hours of sleep. But I think I already miss those days. I know it sounds crazy, but I do...