Angel of God, my guardian dear,
To whom God’s love, commits me here.
Ever this day, be at my side,
To light, to guard, to rule, to guide.

This is the prayer that Missy Pie recites with our little one every night before going to bed. To those who know me, I’m not particularly religious, but this prayer has a very positive effect on me. It makes me feel like my little one is in constant watch of her guardian angel, which, in turn, has mine in constant watch of me.

As stressed as I get, by nights end, I have a tendency to let it all go, and relax. This catholic prayer helps, and at the same time, reminds me of something blissful of my youth that I just can’t seem to remember. And then, there’s a Spanish version, Angel de la Guarda, that always made me stop what I was doing just to listen to the melody.

Ángel de la guarda, dulce compañía, no me desampares ni de noche ni de día. No me dejes solo que me perdería. Ni vivir, ni morir en pecado mortal. Jesús en la vida, Jesús en la muerte, Jesús para siempre. Amén.

The closest I could find after days of searching the internets is this version. Mi gente de PR, tu sabes la cancion a que refiero; si tienes un link, porfa me mandas un mensaje!

To all, thank you for letting me reflect briefly on this prayer, and may you be guided by your own guardian angel…

Back again with more eats for the Lady Cakes. Goodness, she is eating even more, and so much more quickly; I think she’s taking to all the wonderful tastes in the foods we cook for her! This is absolutely exciting for us, as the “sour” faces that she makes start to diminish, and the speed at which she adapts to each new food increases. I can’t wait for when she actually starts to cook!

Again, I cannot apologize enough for not being specific in the preparations of these meals; were following from the published work of Tyler Florence, and I would hate to step on any toes while sharing our experiences with you.

The instrument of baby food cultivation!

Before posting the next few meals, it occurred to me that I haven’t included a picture of the puree instrument of choice (really, the only one we have). Some of you might be peculiar like that in wanting to see the actual blender; hey, if that’s your thing, here it is! Great for making piña coladas, coquitos, and baby food; no food discrimination here!

Well, on to the recurring and new foods that we’ve made for our little one! And yes, we did this all in one night; the first two meals really don’t require that much to prepare and cook.

Roasted Apples and Cinnamon (Source: Start Fresh)

Ingredients, Baked, Blended, and Spooned

This is a sure-fire dessert for our little one; she loved this meal from day one, and it is so easy to prepare. Simply core, bake, and blend. That’s it! I’ll swear that this applesauce is better than Mott’s, and lots cheaper. We started this one with Granny Smith apples, but we found that it was too acidic including the dash of lemon juice that is added. You can use any variety; Sonya, Gala, and Breaburn are some of the ones we’ve tried. The Gala are so far my favourite. If you do this one regularly like we do, you’ll find your favourite too.

Summer Squash, Yukon Gold Potato, and Parmesan (Source: Start Fresh)

Ingredients, Chopped and Oiled, Blended, and Spooned

A new recipe, but mostly the same ingredients we’ve used before. Another easy one; simply chop all ingredients, drizzle with EVOO, and stick in the oven. Then, you got it, blend it up into a puree. For this one, I tried not to blend too long, so as to have a little texture; even though she has no molars yet, the little one needs to know that food can be enjoyed without being the consistency of very thick soup! Lady Cakes couldn’t get enough of this one tonight; she had about 2.5 oz in one go!

Chicken and Kale Risotto with Pine Nuts and Bacon (Source: Start Fresh)

Seasoned, Baked, and Cooked!

This last meal was really meant to be for Missy Pie, and myself, with the intent to chop small quantities for Lady Cakes as we go through the week. The little one hasn’t tasted it yet, but both Missy Pie and myself love this one already. This will be her introduction (the little one, that is) to food with more texture. It is a little more involved than the previous two meals, but well worth it! More baking, of course, then coarsely chopped in a food processor. Fold in with rice, and you’re done!

That’s it for this chapter! If you like any of these or the previous meals, give us a like! And be sure to tell us some of your favourites in the comments! ¡Hasta luego!

Now, not to brag, but our house is pretty filled to the rim with the love. Mr. Sir and I are that disgusting couple who send lovey texts to each other randomly throughout the day and get real excited when it’s the end of the day to see one another. We say stuff like, ” Did you know about the love before we met?” to which the response is usually, “No but now I know and it’s a lot..” or “Missy Pie, I love you honey bunches of oats!” to which I reply, “Oh Mr. Sir, I love you honey nut cheerios!” Are you throwing up yet? Well it’s over the top and we love it because, damn it, we’ve both had some shit ass unloving moments in our lives and we are thankful everyday to have found each other so we show it every chance we get. We know all too well that it can be ripped away from us without warning. So in the words of a creepy Russian man with a tiny giraffe, we “jump in it!”

Mhwaaaaaa!

Oh Lord, and then along comes this little Snug and the love is just overwhelming for both of us. So with all the gushing exploding love that fills us up and overflows daily, what the hell do you do on a love fest such as Valentine’s Day?

In days of yore, Mr. Sir and I used Valentine’s Day to share in our common love of cooking. We would find a complicated dish we had been wanting to try and spend the evening cooking, drinking wine and sampling the deliciousness!

fried mozzarella ~ Valentine's 2010

Paella ~ Valentine's 2010

That tradition was put on hold when last year. Mr. Sir had to go up on a mountain in New Mexico on a three week research trip to work on a big telescope. Cool gig. Sad timing. I was way pregnant though and happy to lay in bed, Skype, and eat chocolate all night. He did send some pretty beautiful flowers and I sent him some peanut brittle. It was love afar!

Mr. Sir flowers Valentine's 2011

This year we had a feeling that we would be too burnt to make a big experimental meal in the middle of the week. Life with Snuglet makes for busy evenings with no huge amount of time in sight. So we tweaked our plans…..

The Sunday afternoon before Valentine’s, Mr. Sir and I took Snug down to Lil Mama’s so that we could go adventuring. I had made a list of dates I would like to take and one of them was to go to the shooting range! Mr. Sir and his best friend had gone recently and I wanted to try my hand so to speak… Nothing says Valentine’s like going down into the basement of a shop called “Guns and Leather.” **Best Date Ever!!!**

Don't mess with this Sweetheart

Lucky shot in the center of the forehead or just good?

On the actual day, Mr. Sir secretly delivered the best Valentine’s ever; a box of chocolates where the box is also chocolate! Seriously, the box may have been more delicious than the decadent little truffles inside! Perfection.

chocolate love

As for that Little Lady, We got her a Valentine’s bear from the same plush toy line as her Crocodile. She immediately kissed that guy. She loves him. Every time she sees him, it’s like reuniting with a long, lost friend. Oh, she’s such a snug!

Hey! I know we just met but I think I'm going to "jump in it!" Mwhaaaaaaa!

I hope every day is filled with the same kind of love that fills our home 365 days of the year. Nothing wrong with a sweet day set aside to acknowledge all that love! Cheers!

So it’s mid-week, and Lady Cakes has run out of her vegetable portion of her meals; oh noes! No worries, a mad rush to the grocery, and we have lunches AND dinners for the next few days… Again, please pardon the vague descriptions, but since this is from a published book, I cannot “reproduce, in any way, shape, or form” the recipes I find within. I do promise that wherever the recipes are our own, we will be as descriptive as possible!

Potato, Green Bean, and Kale Puree (Source: Start Fresh)

Potato, Green Bean, and Kale Puree. Ingredients, boiled, blended, and spooned!

Not much to say here; chop ingredients, boil, blend, and you’re set! This meal is best served warm.

Our little Lady Cakes recognized this meal right away; no face whatsoever! She even ate double what I’ve seen her eat recently, nearly 1.5 ounces. She’s really been stepping up her quantity, and I’m excited to introduce her to the world of food out there!

So, early on in Missy Pie’s pregnancy with Lady Cakes, we decided that we wanted to make baby food for our little one. Yeah, I know it sounds crazy, but both Missy Pie and I love to cook, and what better way than to cook for the baby!

This concept got kicked into high gear when Tia Clara got me Tyler Florence’s Start Fresh (do a Google search, you’ll find it!) for father’s day (thank you Tia Clara, you have no idea how much of a joy it’s been to cook from this book!), and we haven’t turned back since. My biggest concern when feeding baby is the preservatives. Now, as a grown up, I can decide to get these processed foods (Lord knows I do it every day), but baby has no say in the matter. We might not be able to get all the other crap out there out of our food for now (steroids, aspirin, fluoride, you know, all that harmful stuff), but a home-cooked meal is as good as any!

As we try new stuff for our Snug Bug, I’ll post pics and a few words (no recipes, at least not from published books. Don’t want to get sued, now!) about them and let you know what we think! Most (if not all) of these meals can be enjoyed by the adults preparing them as well; heck, they’re better than what you can get at a grocery store, I can guarantee that! And no, you don’t get anything if you don’t agree with me!

Banana, Pineapple, and Avocado Pudding (Source: Start Fresh)

Chopped ingredients

Blended

Spooned

The directions for this meal adamantly state “Serve immediately.” I would recommend the same, as the avocado, once exposed to air, will begin to brown. What results is a brown and green mash after 2-3 days in the refrigerator.

With that said, the little one loved it immediately! I’ll make this one again soon, but much less of it because of the reasons stated above. Could be fixed as a smoothie for adults; I dislike yogurt, so this won’t do for me!

Carrot, Mango, and Apple Puree (Source: Start Fresh)

Chopped ingredients

Blended

Spooned

Prepared differently from the previous meal, these ingredients need to be roasted in the oven. When ready, toss all in a blender, and blend to your favourite consistency. Also great as an adult treat; think apple sauce, but with carrots. I tried this one, and the carrots were toned down by the apple and mango in this recipe. Give it a try!

So my BabyCenter app gave me an activity idea that was actually pretty good the other day. (Some of their ideas are a little low for my super advanced baby…wink.wink) It said something to the effect of… “Highchair Art ~ Turn dinner into art class by putting a few dollops (good Lord, I love that word!)of pureed food on baby’s tray and let them ’paint’… blah, blah,blah.” You get the idea. Snug was home sick and we needed some action. So we put on one of Snug’s favorite JT songs (really anything from the Futuresex/Lovesounds album) ~ Don’t judge, she likes the beat – and did some serious art.

The music is moving me to create beauty right here on this tray

Yes! I am the most creative genius to have ever lived. Bow to me! WAHAHAHAHAHA!

Oh goodness. I have lost control. It happens when I create.

You have caught me at that dark moment where I doubt myself as an artist. You can only understand if you've been there.

I think I'm just going to destroy this piece and start over. Since it's lunch, I'm just going to eat it.

As have many artists throughout history, I succumb to the bottle to ease my troubled mind.

Having a crappy day? Feeling like you are just not making the most of it all? Here’s a list of Snug tips that can brighten those humdrum moments that make up life… Even with a fevery, horribly bad cold this week, Snug still found ways to perk up her world. And now that she passed that nasty bug to me and Mr. Sir, I realize that she handled her first official sickliness so much better than we, experienced sicklies, are handling ours…So use these anecdotes as needed…

1. Kiss every character in the book you are reading. If your book has no illustrations, then just imagine yourself kissing them.

2. Find the rhythm in,  and move to any and every song AND repetitive sound that you hear. Even if it’s just for a few seconds. It will lift your spirits and get you listening for opportunities to get your groove on in the most unlikely places…

3. Examine something deeply. Even if you use it everyday. It may just inspire you. (May want to refrain from tasting said item…)

4. When walking up or down a set of stairs with a chandelier, look up and get a different perspective on it. You may want to stop and smile at what you see or do a happy screech. (I would not recommend the latter if strangers are in the area. They may fear you are a nut job…)

5. Go explore your surroundings. Take a walk or a drive around your neighborhood or town. Stop at every interesting thing you see and investigate it more thoroughly. (Again, you may want to refrain from trying to taste these points of interest…)

6. Try a type of food you’ve never had before. Make a face if it tastes weird but keep eating it. It may just be the best thing you’ve ever eaten! How will you know if you don’t try it?

7. Go to sleep in the well know yoga position “child’s pose.” This simply means to put your butt up in the air. (From the monitor image, she always looks very comfortable and she slept soundly every night she was sick which is more than I can say for me and her father…)

8. Smile and wave at yourself in the mirror at least once a day like you have never been happier than to see that person staring back at you. It will recharge you without having to do those creepy SNL Al Franken affirmations…

9. If you don’t agree with something or don’t like what’s happening, yell about it. Maybe throw your hands up in the air dramatically for extra effect. Get people’s attention and get them to think about what they are doing that isn’t right. Hopefully, all your fussing will bring someone happiness in the end. At least you can walk away saying you did EVERYTHING you could to get your message heard.

10. Practice something you want to be really great at all the time. Give yourself a big smile even if you are only able to do it for 1, 5, or 10 seconds. Then keep right on working at it. (Pretend like you never learned the words “fail” or “discouragement”) I promise you will achieve the greatness you desire.

Dear ladies (my ladies, that is!),

This is not going to be a #documentationfail recovery attempt; rather, this post is to convey the gratitude that I have for you girls in my life in this journey called graduate school. I have been thinking about this lately, amidst all the crazy things going through my head and worries of the future, and I wanted this to go down in the record so I can remember when I thought this…

To Missy Pie; thank you for having my back. For listening to me bitch and complain about how hard and f@%ed up graduate school is (even though I enjoy what I do!), about how much I want to quit it. For not telling  me to “hang in there” or “suck it up”, but rather for supporting whatever decision I make with regards to this difficult road. For not believing any less in me because sometimes I want to stay in bed and give up; for not giving up on me. I love you, and thank you!

To Lady Cakes; for allowing both mama and papa to sleep. God knows that without that precious sleep, I could not maintain a family and social life, be edging ever much closer to a degree, and generally get a little time to myself as well. I would give up everything in a heartbeat to spend the day with you, but we do still have to work to make it better for you tomorrow. I know that you are not aware of any of the worries that mama and papa may have, but all I need to keep me going forward I see in the eyes of you and your mama. Thank you for being such a happy child, and for bringing joy into our lives. For filling that empty gap that I’ve always felt like forever. I love you, my sweet Boo-Boo, and keep smiling!

Sincerely,
Mr. Sir and papa!

To our sweet little Snuglet,

In your 8th month, you were on the move, a master crawler, going everywhere and getting into everything! If there was something dangerous in the area you were there to check it out; electric cords, burning fireplaces, potted plants, christmas trees with nativity, etc.

Let me at em...

In your 8th month, we celebrated your first Christmas! You sat on Santa’s lap (you totally liked that guy!), went to your first mass on Christmas eve and made it through the whole thing with the help of Lil Mama, who whispered sweet lovelies in your ear and snuggled with you the whole time. We read Twas the Night Before Christmas, The Story of Christmas, and Llama Llama Holiday Drama. You loved listening to Christmas carols! Your favorites were Elvis’ “Blue Christmas” and the Beach Boys’ “Little St. Nick.” Your Nanny gave you a little stuffed reindeer that played Rudolf which we played and sang to every time we changed your diaper because you had become a super twisty lady who couldn’t be still for diaper changes unless we did a full scale Broadway show for you! Thank goodness for Rudolf (we packed him up with christmas stuff  for next year because mama refuses to have Christmas music playing after Epiphany.)

You were a gift opening queen, starting with papa’s birthday where you had your first go and then cruised through Christmas as a professional level wrapping paper destroyer!

Weehoo!!!

In your 8th month, you decided that you’d rather stand than sit. You pulled up on everything and began maneuvering your way between furniture taking a couple of steps along the way. By the end of the month, you had let go a couple of times to try it out and promptly dropped back down to the floor immediately.

I'm still standing...

You tried lots of new foods like potatoes, spinach, green beans, and vegetable soup with chicken. You started eating finger food and practicing your pincer grasp which took you about three tries to get the hang of and then you used it for not only food but tiny specs of dirt and dust bunnies in the carpet (yummo!). You love eating peas, baby mum mums, and little pieces of banana!

Food is delicious. All of it.

You cut your first tooth! The week leading up to that momentous occasion was rough. You were cranky, restless and had virtually no appetite. You sucked on frozen washcloths and started doing funny things with your mouth and tongue. One morning in early January, your Papa and I saw a little bulge on your bottom right front gum and within a couple of days your sweet little tooth was peeking forth! Then you were all back to your happy, rested, hungry self! You had a basket full of felt vegetables to play with and you loved crawling around with a garlic bulb in your mouth. You loved real AND imaginary food!

I love my garlic bulb. Don't judge.

In your 8th month, you said “dadadadada” and “tatatatatata” and babababababa” and you repeated these sounds if we said them first. You also started spitting rasberries back at us (Thanks, Papa, for your initial teaching of the fine art of raspberry blowing at the wee age of 2 months…) Oh, and you made up your own peekaboo game with the burp cloth that I like to call “Where’s Elena? There she is!”

We started putting you in an exersaucer that Katie and Dave gave us and you thought it was awesome. You bounced like crazy, spun around and played with all the parts and we all loved the song that the iguana played; Red, Yellow and blueueueu… We will sing it for you as it is ingrained in our brain forever…Seriously, there may come a time when you are all grown and Papa and I are very old and don’t know who you are anymore but I promise we will remember that darn song and then you will take comfort because remembering that will show you that we remember you in the deepest corners of our minds, to the bottom of our hearts and we will carry you in our souls for eternity.

There are so many little and big miracles that Mama and Papa see you do everyday but for now we bid adieu to your 8th month and go excitedly into your 9th and can not wait to capture all your loveliness!

8 months

We love you so much!
Mama and Papa
January 15, 2012

Ok, so nobody is going to talk about it, so I’m gonna go there…

In making this blog a positive place to be, I’ll be sure to make this issue as light as possible (please let me know in the comments below if you think it’s getting too deep up in here!). It’s one that not many of the people I know talk about, but I’m sure some experience.

It starts, as always, when I’m out with my family. For some reason, the following math brings out many mixed reactions from the people we meet:
 +  = 

1. The most amusing of all are the stares back and forth; even more amusing when it’s just me and Lady Cakes around and about, as in our recent adventure to see Santa. While on this adventure of ours, Lady Cakes and I came across an asian couple who first stared at the little one, then at me, then quickly back at her. By the time they both looked at me again, there was a perplexed look on their faces. My only reply was a smile and a nod as we continued on our merry way. Yes, she’s my baby!
2. The slightly annoying, but still amusing ”gimme a high five” reaction from people who are either finally in this century, or those who just don’t really care about race relations is funny as hell. This amuses me because it makes me feel like I’ve just joined an exclusive and secretive club, and now I’m being rewarded with knowing nods and smiles.
3. The one that I love the best is from other interracial couples. These folks seem to understand that love truly does conquer all. They really don’t care what others have to say about their relationship.
4. The most annoying, and frankly, rude reaction of them all, is the disbelieving stare. The “but, wait, how come your baby is white? You’re black!” or the “I can’t believe you leaving your black sistas out.” This one comes mainly when I’m out with my lovely family, and is mostly given by the traditional large family units (older parents/grandparents with their children of one race).

This post is mainly for group #4; I think I know why we get that stare from you. First and foremost, I’ll tell you that it bothers me, but not for the reason you think. I love my wife, and I love my baby girl. I love my family. I could care less what anyone thinks of the choices I’ve made, because they are mine to make; I’m very proud of my choices and my family. I think these assumptions are made about what I look like and who I should in turn be. Well, just stop it. The generalizations that have gone on with me since I stepped foot in this state are just plain ridiculous and they simply must stop. I realize that that may be a pipe dream… So since you stopped here today and are wondering what generalizations I’m talking about, here are the assumptions (and how they are wrong):

1. I am Jamaican – I know that I have dreadlocks; I’ve been wanting to grow them for as long as I can remember. I also know that Jamaicans (in your mind) have dreadlocks; however, that is not to say that all Jamaicans have dreadlocks. And most importantly, I am not Jamaican. I could probably fool the untrained ear, but I’d be up a particular creek without a paddle amongst true Jamaicans…
2. I am an athlete – There have been many prolific football players in the past two decades with dreadlocks. Applying the same logic as above, I can assure you that I am not an athlete. I used to be mistaken for “Pacman” Jones, a former Tennessee Titans player and even now am asked a lot if I play fottball. No, I’ve never played football in my life. In fact, I’m still trying to figure the game out even after 8 years…
3. I am a purist – And what about me gave you that idea? I’m of the school that we are one people, and colour makes no difference. If love prevails, then let it be, I say! And I do love my family, which includes Lil’ Mama, Tia Clara, and everyone related to me by any means! I don’t ever remember race or colour being a issue in the Caribbean (please correct me if I’m wrong, my Caribbean folks!, and NO, I’m not talking about race relations during slavery! Surely, we’re over that aren’t we?). And although I’m not shocked or surprised anymore, it’s still embarrassing that you think that way… (I couldn’t care less, remember?)
4. I like to do (fill in the blank…), just like everyone else – Again, what about me leads you to think this is the case for me? If you know me, you’d know I’m really my own person. I do what I want and what I want most is to be with my family, free from ridiculous assumptions and notions.

Hey, where’d the light part of this post go? In any case, I love my family; I love the rich heritage that BOTH of us can pass on to our daughter, and she should know that there is nothing, absolutely NOTHING to be ashamed of! We all are one people, and no one can tell me otherwise! So stop sippin’ that Hateade, and celebrate the differences that makes us all so unique!