Baby: His first year... in numbers

The best thing about having a financially-minded husband is that we track all of our spending (this is how we found out that we ate out way too much during my pregnancy).  So in honor of Wesley's 1-year anniversary in our financial books, I've put together his numbers ... because of course he has his own category and sub-categories!

Food: $1250 (formula is expensive, this alone should be a motivation to breastfeed longer next time)
Diapers: $680 (we shouldn't have to buy anymore of these, my cloth diaper stash is set)
Clothing: $400
Other (like classes, necessities): $650
Babysitting: $2000

Final Cost for Baby's First Year: $5000

That's a whole lot of shoes mama could have bought! Totally worth it!

One Years Old

One year ago this evening, I had my baby boy (Relive the memories here with my birth story).

The ever elusive "they" say that time flies the first year, but I never believed them. The first few weeks alone seemed to drag on and on... sleep deprivation helped the dragging. But once we got into a rhythm ( say 5-6 months?), the days just started ticking away like seconds, and before I knew it summer rolled in and my baby turned one years old.

To celebrate, we had a birthday party for him on Saturday -- our house was packed with family, friends, and kids and I can't even imagine what it would have been like if everyone could have made it. We had a lot of good food - courtesy of my mom - and a cute birthday cake, balloons, and games for all the kids. Wesley wasn't bothered by all the people (quite the opposite), but we kept forgetting to feed and change him (so busy with everything).

"I like this shirt!"

On his actual birthday, we went for breakfast at the hospital (the scene of the crime) - where they have amazingly good, cheap food. I thought it would be cute to go back - some people may find it weird, but I have a soft spot for that place (everyone was so nice). Later that day we all went to the Zoo and then to my mom's for another round of Happy Birthday and cake.

At the Zoo

Wesley already seems like an older kid, babbling away and playing with all his new toys. What a year this has been... Happy Birthday my sweetie pie!

Gastronomique Society: Suburban edition

Another meeting cooking of the Gastronomique took place last weekend before the holiday, and we were the hosting house! We're so lucky to have this great group of friends to share this "communal" meal with!

We set up the table and citronella candles in the woods (aka our backyard) and had margaritas and ceviche to start. The ceviche was halibut and that was Matt's baby - he was so excited about this dish inspired by Rick Bayless and it was delicious (might be on the menu for some future parties).

The theme was red, white, and blue so all our food represented that with red, white, and blue chips to dip into the ceviche, and red, white, and blue cold soups as our next outdoor course.

White vichysoisse, red gazpacho, and blue blueberry soups

flank steak with a tomato relish, a blue potato, and some white horseradish butter.

lime infused watermelon circle, plums with basil, and a mixture of cheese on top a Parmesan crisp with berries

We hired our babysitter to watch Wesley and our friend's kids, so we could enjoy eating, drinking, and talking as much as we wanted.  At the last Gastro, Wesley did not want to sleep (too much going on) so we had to leave earlier, but this night went past midnight (I believe). Thank you for babysitters!

a cherry brownie with a cherry on top, vanilla ice cream, and for the blue ... flambee!

4th of July

We spent a beautiful weekend in lake Geneva for the 4th, opting out of fireworks since it was Wesley's bedtime. It was a nice quiet weekend where we spent our time between our house, the park downtown, and at the pier with my family.