Hot Tamale - She Crawls!

Last night we had a Tamalefest. What is a Tamalefest? An evening of tamale-making, of course. Katherine, Carly & I assembled nearly 100 delicious corn creations. I wish I could take credit for making them, but that was all Katherine. She had the masa (dough), the soaked corn husks, and the three different fillings (pork, chicken, and corn/cheese) all ready for us. Still, it was about a four hour production from start to finish. And definitely worth every second. Pure deliciousness (for the 2nd time this week!). I now have three gallon bags of homemade tamales in my freezer awaiting consumption. We shall see how long they last (not long, I'm guessing).

AND...it's true. Miss Clara is a crawler. I know I just wrote about her lack of motivation a week ago. She appears to have mustered some motivation - but only a little bit. She is still a slow mover. And carpet fluff still distracts (the evidence awaits...)

Deliciousness

I love chocolate. I know you're thinking "me too" or "who doesn't?" But you need to understand that I really really really love chocolate. Especially the dark variety. Actually, anything homemade (even if it's not chocolate) is really tempting for me. So maybe I should say I love dessert. There have been times in my past that I have shied away from acknowledging that fact, but I basically embrace it now. I think I take after my mom. She works out hard, eats healthy, and indulges in dessert (am I right, mom?!) I would be completely fine eating grilled veggies and salad for dinner for the rest of my life as long as I had a nice serving of something sweet to follow it up. Maybe that's a little bit extreme; I love a good meal too. Okay, maybe I just like food.

This is all my preface (it makes sense, right?) for the real story, which is the three delicious desserts I made yesterday. I was so excited to finally host a home group gathering that I made not one but two cakes from scratch. Then I decided I needed to make some chocolate candy to deliver with some of Clara's valentines. The result? Way too much time spent in the kitchen, at least two hours of dish washing (I am the human dishwasher around here - no machine), and lots of calories consumed in the Hook home. Good thing I just got back from my 6 mile run with Carly. I might have to start running every day if I keep this up. Check two more new recipes from the list (I've made the Ina Garten cake before so it doesn't count) for this week :)...I am keeping my resolution. But then again it is only February.

Here are my Valentine baking endeavors. If you are still uncertain about making something/what to make, all three were delicious, especially the cakes!

Deliciousness #1: Ina Garten's Chocolate layer cake

Deliciousness #2: Valentine Cake from Spokane Jr. League (my go-to cookbook, seriously, everything I make from it is so good).

No, it is not supposed to have the "cave-in" look. That was a special Amy addition. I think I need to work on "presentation" next time :).

Deliciousness #3: Chocolate Chip Ball Surprise

That's it for now. And don't worry (Leah). This won't turn into a cooking blog. Clara will probably show up again in my next post. Or - wait -here she is after all...

Nine In, Nine Out

The Claranator reached the 9 month mark this week. She has officially spent as much time in this great, big world as she has cookin' in her mama's oven. 18 months of total existence. She is growing, changing, and adding new skills to her repertoire daily. I have kept the baby book handy because I just keep adding things. Recent additions include:

*tooth #2

*going from sitting to crawling position

*scooting forward on her tummy (no crawling yet!)

*clapping

*waving "bye bye"

*some pretty distinct "dada's"

*first dairy products...she LOVES plain yogurt mixed with bananas

*starting to pull up on objects

We've come to grips with the fact that our little lady is completely on her own time table. I swear I have heard parents say this before, but I guess we are still having to learn it on our own. I'm sure every parent is somewhat anxious about their child's development and wants to make sure they're hitting all the benchmarks. Yet I think the fact that Jonathan is a PT makes things slightly worse :). He has really been "setting Clara up for success" w/ crawling. Our little lady is just not up to the task right now. She's getting closer every day, but it is not a priority. Or at least it's not as much of a priority as cheerios, clapping, or talking.

Last weekend we watched our friend's little girl, Louisa, who is a month younger than Clara (pictured above). I'm pretty sure that in the same amount of time it took Louisa to roll over three times and grab five toys, Clara picked up a small piece of carpet fluff, studied it intently, and put it in her mouth. If Clara's 9 month old personality is truly a window into her personality later in life, I would predict she will be: easy-going, observant, care-free and happy. Only time will tell :).

We absolutely adore our little girl. Here is a Hook first...a video :)! I hope it works! This is one taken this last week of our little clapping girl. Especially for those friends and family far away, here is just a little taste of the Claranator. It's kind of tacky that she's laying right next to our running, shoes, huh? Sorry.

I Have a Nephew!!!

My first nephew entered the world on Monday! Isn't he beautiful?!! Everett David was two weeks early but still weighed in at a solid 7 lbs 10 oz and was 21 inches long. He even has a nice little head of blonde hair. We are all so excited - and can hardly wait until we get to meet him in late March! Here are a few more with Larissa & Dev. Yeah for the growing fam :)!