homemade baby food, a mop, and some quiet

i have been busy like a mad woman these days. busy with enjoying the television, my favorite shows, taking care of baby, keeping up the house, and making baby food.

it's been a good week. the family has been out (did i mention that Chris, Grace, and i moved in with our in-laws at the start of february, while we searched for a house and tried so save up money for a down payment? oh yes) (total amount of people living in this house: 10. two married couples, two teenagers, two kingergarten+under, and two babies. welcome to my life.) it has been joyfully quiet, peaceful, and relaxing.

right now, the fam is in San Diego, CA... enjoying the beach... celebrating my brother-in-law Joshua's (14) accomplishment of qualifying to compete in the Junior Olympic National Championships. he is a completely kick-ass gymnast. yes, i just said that. he's currently level 9; there are only 10 levels - and the level 10's are the ones you see at the olympics. yes, like the Hamm brothers. that said, being 14 and a level 9 is a big deal. watch out, US gymastics, here comes Josh Everitt...

we're pretty excited.

so taylor, chris, grace, and i have been enjoying ourselves in the quiet house since wednesday. the family comes back tonight.

over the course of the week, i have watched more TV than imaginable, cleaned, organized, and just been. do you know how nice it is, to just BE?

i also made homemade baby food. i boiled up some carrots and sliced granny smith apple, cooled them off, threw them in a food processor with some cooked white rice... blended it all... and made a round meal for grace to enjoy. i made enough for 4 servings. i am pretty happy with it, because she loved it, and it was SO EASY to make.

what else? let's see. grace has expanded her food repertoire: macncheese, avocado, green beans, cheerios, applesauce, all kinds of jarred baby food, pears, banana, those gerber puffies... yep. i have an excellent eater. with her two teeth, the manages to eat tons of solids. i am really proud of her! she loves food!

so that's my story.

peace. time to play with the baby! because let's be honest: with a face this cute, no one can resist playtime.