Leila-isms

Leila is a precocious, outspoken, silly little girl! There is really never a dull moment with her. That makes life both exciting . . .and exhausting! But I do love the element of fun she adds to our lives! Here are six of the cute/silly things she's said lately:


1) "I'm gonna eat my HAIR!. . .I'm gonna eat my SHOES!. . .I'm gonna eat HEIDI! . . .No. . .I'm not gonna eat Heidi, cuz then I wouldn't see her anymore! . . .I'm going to eat the scriptures! . . .No. . .I'm not gonna eat the scriptures. . .cuz then God would be so sad!"

2) "No. . .I don't wanna go to bed! How about YOU lie in MY bed and I'll sing YOU songs! . . .Is that a plan?"

3) "Mama, can you buckle her in too?" (The dolly also sat beside her in the cart at Costco, as per Leila's request)

4) During her prayers lately:

"Heavenly Father, thank you for God, thank you for Jesus, thank you for Santa Claus . . ."

5) Leila: Where are we going?
Me: To Smiths
Leila: What are we going to get there?
Me: Mommy's going to get some pills
Leila: Pills? . . .or pillows? The things you eat?. . . Or the things you put on the bed?

That reminds me of something I said as a kid:

Little Courtney: Mom, where are you going?
Mom: Downstairs
Little Courtney: Why?
Mom: I'm going to get some flour
Little Courtney: What kind of flour? The pretty kind? or . . .the lump?

6) Here are a few on the words Leila has for things that I think are cute

Restaurant= Restronk
Quesadilla= Quesa-tortilla
Who else?= Whobody else?

Those last two have started sounding so normal to me. . .I might just start using them by mistake :)

BIG Powder

This week I went in to get Leila after her "nap". A lot of the time now she just has "quiet time" and doesn't sleep at all. This was one of those days. I say "quiet time" because it's not really quiet at all. It usually consists of her singing songs like "I am a Child of God" or "The Sun Will Come Out Tomorrow" at the top of her lungs. She has a way of making us crack a smile even when she's not in our direct presence. So I guess her quiet times are really quiet times for me. And I'm glad she's content to play and be by herself in her room. 

Except, this time she was content playing with the wrong thing. It was time to get the little girl out of her room. I opened the door and she look a little pale and her hat, dress, tights, face, blanket, and the floor were covered in powder! Not just a mere sprinkling either! I shook her blanket out, thinking that would do the trick and that I could just throw it back onto her bed. Doing do sent a flurry of smelly powder all over my black shirt and fuzzy corduroy pants. The strong perfumey smell shot up my nose and attacked my eyes. It was so strong that my eyes started to water as though I had just cut open a nice juicy onion. She looked at me with the uh-oh-I've-just-been-caught-red-handed stare. Following with her expectation, I said "Leila! What did you do!?!" She responded "I can't clean it up, but you can if you want to!" My response? "Um. . .no. Time to learn how to use the vacuum!" She helped vacuum and seemed to even have fund doing it! . . .Apparently too much fun! I opened the door to a similar scene the following day after nap! Stinker! 

This is the collection container of the vacuum after cleaning up both days! I'd say there's at least a cup's worth of powder!

**update**

Lately Leila has been having this thing about not wanting to be a baby anymore, and wanting to be a big girl. I tell her that she's getting bigger, but that she will be a big girl when she wears panties and not diapers. A few days after this incident I was changing Leila's diaper. I told her to wait there while I went and found some baby powder. She said "Nooooo! Not baby powder!" (In her "silly mama!" tone). "I'm not a baaaaby! I'm a biiiiig girl! . . .Go get the BIG powder!

Nana's Birthday

Every year, Nana's birthday party is a memorable occasion. But this time was the first time it became memorable for Leila. It took place in late December (so almost two months ago) and she still can't stop talking about it! She talks about the cookies we decorated there, she talks about going ice skating, but most of all she talks about her family. In response to her question of who would be at the party, we must have said "our family" cuz now, she often says "My family were the people at the ice skating party". At that point we have to chime in and tell her that she has other family members (like the ones in Canada) who weren't there.

Leila talks about the ice skating party to herself when she is in her room after we have put her to bed. We kept water bottles in the car that we had gotten from the party. She would point to them weeks after and say where we got them. My favorite reference was after we had watched the movie "The Letter Factory". It has really simple songs for each letter of the alphabet (too simple to the point of boring if you ask me). They'll sing "the A says a, the A says a, every letter makes a sound, the A says a!" So we were in the car and singing the letter I. So we sang "the I says i (soft sound) the I says i, every letter makes a sound, the I says i!" Then I told her that even though the song says that the I says i (soft sound), it also makes another sound! The I also says 'I'(hard sound). Then Leila said "the I says 'I'. . .like ICE SKATING PARTY! Yep! Good call Leila!

Double Chocolate Chip/Mint Cazookie with Courtney's "Famous" Hot Fudge Sauce

A few years ago, my sister-in-law introduced me to the beautiful hot/cold paradox of a cazookie. I love to freeze cookie dough and make these when people come over for dinner/games/family night. That way I always have something yummy and more impressive than rice crispy squares. I made these the other night and one friend asked for the cookie recipe, so I thought, why not blog about it?

Ice cream and hot fudge? Mmm. . .yes! But there's more! This is a cazookie! Underneath that creamy/fudgey,
melty goodness is a double chocolate cookie with a chocolate mint filling. What makes a cazookie?
Cookie dough baked in a ramekin, with ice cream overtop! It's a simple principle, but the fact that you
eat it hot makes it a delightfully indulgent dessert :)

And the hot fudge. . .it might not be famous past my friends and family, but that's enough for me!

The truth is, you're pretty lucky to be getting this cookie recipe! (The original doesn't include the mints and has 1 cup of regular chocolate chips). I had lost if for several years (maybe seven). Then I found it hidden away in some of my stuff in my Mom's basement just a year before the fateful flooding that all but washed away my hometown. There were many casualties among my stuff.

For the Double Chocolate Chip/Mint Cookie

1 1/4 cups butter
2 cups sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 cups flour
3/4 cups cocoa
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup mini chocolate chips
About 24 mint chocolates

Nana brought these for Heidi's baby blessing dinner, which inspired putting them in cookies. Thanks Nana!

Preparation

1) Cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffy
2) Add eggs and vanilla and beat well
3) In separate bowl, combine flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt
4) Blend into creamed mixture
5) Stir in chocolate chips
6) Roll into 1" balls, then squish the ball in your hand to form a cookie dough pancake. place the mint in the middle of the circle. fold the cookie dough around the mint until it is covered. Squeeze the ball lightly in your hand to seal the edges
7) Place in greased ramekin dishes
Cook in oven at 350 for 12 minutes. remove from oven, place ramekin onto a hot pad. Immediately spoon ice cream and hot fudge over cookie.


For The Hot Fudge

1 1/3 cup chocolate chips
1/2 cup butter
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 12oz. can of evaporated milk
1 teaspoon vanilla

*This recipe makes a TON, like 4 cups which I would say is about 30 servings. It does keep in the fridge for about a month (I couldn't tell you past that--it hasn't survived longer than that before); so you've got time to use it up. But if you want, you can halve the recipe and use a mini 5 fl. oz can of evaporated milk (I get Kroger brand from Smiths). Don't worry that it's slightly less than half the size of a regular can. Just halve all of the other ingredients and it'll turn out great!

Preparation

Melt chocolate chips and butter over medium heat. Add sugar, salt, and evaporated milk. Bring to a slow boil and cook for 5-10 minutes, until thick. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla.

This recipe can be refrigerated and reheated. In fact, it seems to be thicker this way (which I like!)

A Visit from Grandpa Dixon and Uncle Logan!

Yesterday I said goodbye to my Dad and Brother, who I won't see again for another year. It was a short visit--only 3 days, and it went by way too fast! They came for Heidi's baby blessing! We waited until she was 4 months to bless her, knowing that they would be coming to town. Leila sure loved being the center of their attention!

We had a lovely family dinner following the blessing. We had 22 people in addition to the baby in our small apartment. We all had so much fun mingling, eating, and watching Leila and her cousin show off with singing, dancing, and somersaults!

*pictures from the family dinner will go here :) *

We went to The Museum of Natural Curiosity (My dad, brother, Leila, and Heidi, along with my cousin and her daughter) at Thanksgiving Point and had a blast! Wearing kids out like that is great fodder for a good nap! My favorite part about this particular visit was having Leila and Heidi play together in the baby water table in the WaterWorks wing! It was so cute seeing them play together and to have Heidi interact with her environment!

Whenever my Dad is in town, it's a tradition for us to go to one of the all-you-can-eat buffets, since the only buffets in Canada are Chinese food only (. . .which is good. . .unless you don't want Chinese). So we pigged out at Golden Corral and it was actually good this time! My favorite were the tacos. . .mmm. . .I want one now!

And because my Dad and Brother were in town for such a short period, we lived it up by going to the aquarium the next day! Unfortunately, Leila girl was in a sour mood, so we had to do our best to enjoy the aquarium despite her mood, rather than feeding off of her contagious enthusiasm. To her credit, by the time I got everything in order and everyone out the door, it was a little late and she was probably itching for a nap by the time we got there :P It was a pretty amazing place though! I loved the penguins, otters, and sharks!

That night we went out for Sushi--it's great (and pretty amazing) that all of us love sushi! Then our plan was to go to Applebee's for Karaoke, but to my horror I found out that they stopped holding karaoke on Tuesday nights! LAME! I was so looking forward to my Dad and husband singing Garth Brooks together! SERIOUSLY!! So we went home and played King of Tokyo (a boardgame) which Logan got us for Christmas. So fun! Especially because I won 3 out of the 4 times we all played together :)

With all of the good times we had, I think my favorite part was just having them come to church with us on Sunday. Even after they drove through the night and arrived at our place sometime around 9am, they still stuck it out for all three hours of church! Sitting with them in the pew in sacrament meeting felt so natural, like that's just what we did together every Sunday! I sure liked having them around! I wish I could have kept them here, but more importantly, I'd really like to keep them for . . .forever.

Free From Gluten Free!

So. . .why am I posting pictures of my daughter eating food?!  And why do these pictures make me want to jump up and down, clap my hands and let out high pitched squeals like a giddy cheerleader?! I'll give you a hint in the form of a question. . .what do these pictures have in common?! Answer: They are all of my daughter eating GLUTEN! Hooray!!!! And dairy in one too! Hip Hip HOOORAY!!

Let me give you a little back story. You see, Leila came out of the womb crying. (So what?! doesn't every baby cry when they're born?) Yes. But the problem is, Leila didn't stop crying! I'd feed her and she cried, I'd feed her more and she cried, I'd burp her and she cried, I cuddled her and she cried, I swaddled her and she cried, I sang to her and she cried, I rocked her in my arms or in the carseat, and she still cried. This girl was relentless! And that time of my life was "hard". K that's obviously the understatement of the century. By "hard" I think I actually mean it wouldn't have been a good idea for me to drive too far up Provo Canyon, cuz driving off a cliff might have seemed more alluring than being screamed at by my own baby when I'm trying to calm her down. Ya. We cried a lot together back then. And I just believed what well-meaning people told me "every baby is born with a different temperament"--as a side note, I am flabergasted by how true that is after having my second baby! But there was more to it than that. It wasn't until my hubby and I went on a much needed escape. . .I mean, vacation to Thailand when Leila was 10 months old. My cousin watched her for those nine days. My cousin had watched Leila several times before so I could go to the temple or so Robby and I could go on a date. But whenever possible I would purposely drop her off when she was asleep in her carseat so that my cousin wouldn't have to be traumatized by a screaming baby and never want to watch her again. As time had passed there were some times when Leila would cry while in my cousin's care and my cousin would handle it like a champ! So then I thought "maybe I'm the problem, I'm just not strong enough to handle the stressors of mommyhood with the finesse that some people can!" In desperate need of a break and some time alone together, Robby and I left ten-month-old Leila with my cousin and we flew to Thailand!

This is the unsuspecting little miss, right before we dropped her off.

My cousin and I spoke on the phone. From what she related, it sounded like each of her five older children, her husband and herself were pretty much taking turns bouncing the crying baby from morning until night. She admitted that she just counted down the hours until Leila would go to sleep. At this news I felt a great deal of ambivalence. I felt horrible for my cousin, her whole family, and my baby. But I also felt a rush of relief! Like taking in a huge breath of air after being under water for too long. Someone empathized with me! Someone knew how I felt! Someone understood why I didn't love getting out of bed every morning. As much as I didn't wish those feelings on anyone, it was nice to feel normal.

Well, desperate times call for desperate measures. I think it was the next time I spoke with her she told me that she had stopped feeding Leila the breastmilk that I had stockpiled for the trip. She had also stopped feeding her foods containing either gluten or dairy--I don't recommend taking a child off of two allergens at once, it makes it hard to tell which one is causing the problem or if both are actually a problem. However, like I said, desperate times call for desperate measures and both her and I were desperate, so we were willing to try anything! The only down side was that this meant I would have to wean Leila. I was actually devestated by this because that was the only time that Leila was consistently not crying--when I was nursing her. However, it was a worthwhile sacrifice, as Leila's mood improved dramatically and therefore there were many points throughout the day when Leila wasn't crying! I wouldn't say that her temperament became such that life was puffy clouds and sunbeams, but it was different. In a very good way. 

So then came the challenge--feeding my child. No bread, goldfish, pretzels, animal crackers, graham crackers, cheerios etc. No yogurt, cheese, cheese sticks, sour cream, cream cheese, cream soups etc. what on earth was I going to feed this child?! At first I would have these panicked realizations that I had nothing in the house that my child could actually eat and I'd have to make a run to the store. But I got used to it eventually. I was grateful to get a pancake recipe from my cousin (as she and two of her children eat GF) and I adapted the recipe a bit. This soon became Leila's staple food. As time went on, I learned that the gluten-free food groups are: eggs, potatoes, fruit, vegetables, meat, and rice and we got a long just fine. However, there are so many things I like to make that contained gluten or dairy that I would often just make something different for Leila and make what I wanted for us.  It was a lot of work! And I don't miss telling other moms that their kid can't share his or her treats with Leila because she's allergic. All along I was hoping that it was just a sensitivity, but our early experiments to put her back on gluten and dairy didn't turn out well. Trying to put Leila back on dairy, I first tried yogurt (which has the lactose broken down more than milk, so it's supposed to be easier to digest). The first day I gave her a half teaspoon. She was fine! The next day I gave her a whole teaspoon. . .she threw up three times! Two weeks later I tried again, this time with Greek yogurt, which is supposed to be even easier to digest. I tried the same method: The first day I gave her a half teaspoon. She was fine! The next day I gave her a whole teaspoon. . .she threw up FOUR times! There were also a few times when she would go back to being really fussy for days and I would realize that something new I was feeding her had dairy in it. So after all that I was afraid to try dairy again. I also tried putting her back on gluten. I geared her up by having her take probiotics for several days beforehand. Then I gave her a "sacrament-sized" piece of bread (for those of you who are not LDS, that's a piece of bread about 1-inch long). The next day she woke up with hives from head to toe. So that scared me out of trying gluten again. 

But oh how I longed for Leila to eat like a normal girl! I wanted her to eat an all-American hotdog! I wanted her to be able to eat cake at birthday parties! I wanted to bake cookies with her and have her be able to taste the fruit of her labors! I wanted to try again, but. . .I just couldn't! At least not fully! I had started feeding her goats milk Kiefer which, like yogurt is supposed to be easier to digest and actually aid in the digestive process, and she had done fairly well on that. She would just have messier diapers at first, which eventually normalized. But when it came to putting her back on regular cows milk, I chickened out! I couldn't go back to that life of Leila constantly crying! Finally a couple months ago I told Robby "I think you are going to have to do it! I am just too scared to put her back on these foods!" He was thrilled to receive the go-ahead--he was sick of the headache all this was causing too! He knew the method I would prefer him to use--have her on probiotics for several days before, then start with a small portion and work up. But I didn't demand he do it that way. (We believe demanding is a currency you don't want to use too often in marriage or it loses its value). So one day I came home from something or other and he announced "I performed a unilateral experiment!"

"Did you GIVE her that WHOLE roll?!?!? . . .
Did she EAT that WHOLE roll?!?!?"
"Yes. Yes."

And what do you know? She did just fine! No hives. No fussiness. No funky diapers! Nothing!

A few weeks later I started her on dairy, beginning with cheese. With that one her diapers did start a little funky again, but they improved and she's now doing just great!

Just for kicks, I thought I would share this gluten free pancake recipe that saved my bacon for a year and a half!

Gluten Free Brown Rice Pancakes 

2 cups cooked brown rice* 
4 eggs 
1/3 cup coconut oil (other oils could probably be used as well) 
1 over-ripened banana (optional) 

1) Combine all ingredients in blender, blend until smooth and pourable. If it's too thick to pour nicely I will add another egg or two. 
2) Pour in four inch circles on griddle. Cook on low to medium heat (I put it on 4 on my stove) on the first side for five to ten minutes (or until the pancake is golden-brown). If I try to cook it at higher temperatures it is uncooked on the inside and burnt on the outside. It takes less time on the second side. 

*the softer the brown rice, the smoother the batter turns out. I like to soak my brown rice for 7+ hours before cooking it (so usually overnight). If I soak 2 cups of rice with 4 cups of water I end up with enough cooked brown rice to make this recipe 3 times. I just refrigerate what I don't use, then when I go to make pancakes, I measure out two cups of the cooked rice, add a little water, cover with plastic wrap and microwave it for a minute or so, so it's softer and easier to blend. 

Hmmm. . . writing this out makes me realize this is kind of a nit-picky recipe (or maybe I am, I dunno:) But it's easy to get used to.

First Haircut!

This is the before shot if you can't tell.

I don't know what it is about "firsts" that brings a tear to a Mommy's eye. . .I feel kinda lame about it! Maybe it's the realization that your baby isn't a baby anymore--they're growing up and learning and trying new things. Not only that, but doing new things with confidence! That happened to me twice in the past couple of weeks! The first was having Leila ice skate for the first time (with absolutely no fear and hasn't stopped talking about it since) and second was her getting her haircut for the first time ever! It's taken a long time for her to get to this point! Actually, no. It's taken me a long time to get around to getting her a haircut. Because although she was born bald and remained so for a good long while, truthfully, her hair has been pretty mullet-esc for awhile now!

This is Leila at about 2 1/2 weeks old

The girl who cut Leila's hair was impressed that she didn't cry. She said kids Leila's age normally do. Yay Leila! What a champ!

Since we're talking first haircuts, I just had to share this cute
picture of Robby getting his first haircut at about 20 months old!