Such a GOON!!!

I can't believe how embarrassed I am! I shouldn't even say why... I am not even sure I will...
Long story short (and without revealing my secret embarrassment), there has been something that has been bothering me about my blog/blogging that I have not told anyone besides Marcio and last night I discovered that it was all my fault. I corrected it and am thinking that I am really, really glad that I haven't told anyone about what I was thinking. Now I am blushing shamelessly and at the same time, I feel so much happier now that I figured it all out.
As for today, C.J. is just getting cuter and cuter every day. I am so in love with my little boy. He is also so attached to me! I guess I never realized what it would be like to be on this side of the parent/child bond. Wow! Is it great, or what?
Tomorrow I am going to be watching my sister's kid's overnight. They will get here around 2 PM and they will pick them up around noon on Sunday. I am both excited and nervous. She is the proud (and wonderful/awe-inspiring) mother of six, 5 of which will be staying with us. They are really good kids, though, so I am not too concerned. I am just hoping to be helpful.
Tonight my mother-in-law watched my baby while we went on a much needed date together. We went out to eat and then bowling and then home. I had such a blast bowling again. I actually did better this time than I have since I met my husband. I got a strike and about five spares on our first game and actually was able to score more than 50 points (I know that shouldn't be something I ought to brag about, but :-) for me it is :-D). Marcio took me bowling on our very first date together, so it kind of feels reminiscent every time we go together.
Well... I think I hear my baby calling for me (and my husband trying to take care of it alone).
Good Night everyone!

Happy Love Thursday!!!

I was reading a post on my friend's blog entitled "Love Thursday" and I thought I would follow the links to see what she was talking about. If you want to know more about it you will just have to visit the site yourself. :-) I really like the idea of Love Thursday. Really, I like thinking about all of the people I love. I wish I could put all of them on here. Actually, mabey I will. Maybe I will begin making every Thursday a "Love Thursday." We will see I guess.
I know that technically the day has already expired and it is now Friday, but I get my best blogging done when everyone is sleeping quietly and my house is still. So for me it is still Thursday and I have a lot of love in me to carry over anyway.
I wanted to post this picture as a representation of the two biggest loves of my life. This picture was taken shortly after five of the most challenging days of my life. All I have to say is, I am so in love with both my baby and my man and I don't want to picture life without either one of them.
I wish I could make this post longer, but I hear my baby waking up for another nursing.
Happy Love Thursday everyone!!!

More and More...

Caio just keeps growing up. It is amazing to watch.
Saturday afternoon he began trying to clap. Every time he gets really happy or excited he hits the sides of his fists together and calls out, "Aaay-ee!!!" He is also getting into everything!
I already mentioned his love for his stuffed animals, but Caio also likes us to play with him with the stuffed animals. Saturday we each took one and had some family stuffed animal fun. He climbs everything and is trying to figure everything out.
Sunday, in Relief Society, he decided to try his voice out again. He just kept getting louder and louder until I was pretty sure that nobody around me could hear the teacher. At that point I took him into the foyer until I was pretty sure that it was disrupting that ward's sacrament meeting. Then I took him into the bathroom where he flirted shamelessly with the baby in the mirror until I was pretty sure he would be okay for the rest of Relief Society.
I am just very happy to be his mom.
Wednsday we are going to get family pictures done with my parents' family. I will have to see if I am able to post any pictures from that for everyone to see what he is looking like today. His hair has grown so long, but we are planning on cutting it within the next week or two (just in time for more pictures of him). Anyway. I have to go now. Check back in with y'all later. :-D

Churrasco!

Churrasco (pronounced: shoo-hah-scoe) is the Brazilian word for barbecue. And tonight we had one at our house for my husband's brother and his wife. They have been away in California and are finally back. I have been so excited.
Last night we got very little sleep because CJ had such a hard time staying asleep. I could tell it was hard on him too. And I think even my husband felt as though the baby was really trying to sleep, but just couldn't for some reason. Tonight he seems to be doing better so far, but I can't sleep because my hair is wet and I can't sleep with it like that. I usually like a shower in the morning or late afternoon, but I will be up for a little while longer tonight to let it dry a little more.
I think things went pretty well tonight. For those who have never been to a real Brazilian churrasco (or a real Brazilian restaurant) the food is always great. I love Brazilian food. And to think, I probably would never have tried it if not for my husband (just one more reason to be grateful for this one :-D).
In Brazil it is a very masculine thing to be a great grill master and my husband has been working on this skill ever since we acquired our very own propane grill. Tonight he made steaks and skewered bacon wrapped chicken. A real Brazilian barbecue usually serves up a much bigger variety of meat at one sitting, but we were only cooking for a small gathering, so we didn't need as much.
I cooked Pao de Queijo (which even impresses the Brazilians I have met, because none of them have ever even tried to cook it from scratch). The recipe is really, really simple:

Pao de Queijo

2/3 Cup Cooking Oil
2 Cups Milk
4 Cups Tapioca Flour
2 Eggs
1 1/2 Cups Grated Parmesan Cheese
Oven 350 degrees

Put tapioca flour in a bowl. Heat the oil and milk in a sauce pan until boiling. Add to the flour. Mix thoroughly. Add eggs. Mix thoroughly again. Add parmesan cheese. Mix thoroughly again.
Let the mixture sit for 10 minutes. Lightly greese the palms of your hands with the cooking oil and make into 2 inch balls. Make sure to keep your hands oiled. Place on a greased cookie sheet and cook at 350 degrees for approximately 20 minutes or until the outside of the balls begin to brown.

There it is. Pao de Queijo literally means Cheese Bread. The texture is a little different, like real cheese. I find it difficult to use a spoon to mix in the last couple ingrediants and usually end up using my hands to mix it up. It was a real hit tonight.

I also made banana bread. I love making banana bread. I remember that I used to kind of hate it and think that it was a really hard thing to make, but then one summer we ended up with a box full of bananas and my mom asked me and my sister, Heather, to make it all into banana bread to share with the neighbors (and to have some for ourselves, of course). After a few days of baking it over and over I realized that it wasn't that hard and I had a lot of good memories linked with it. Now it is probably my absolute favorite thing to make. It is definitely my favorite baked good to share with anyone. This is my favorite recipe:

Banana Bread

1 3/4 Cups Flour
2/3 Cup Sugar
1 1/4 Tsp Baking Powder
1/2 Tsp Baking Soda
1/2 Tsp Salt
1/3 Cup Butter, Softened
2 Eggs
2 TBS Milk
1 Cup Mashed Ripe Bananas (2 to 3 medium)
Oven 350 degrees

In a large bowl combine 1 Cup of the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add the mashed ripe banana, butter, and milk. Beat on low speed with mixer until blended. Beat on high speed for 2 minutes. Add eggs and remaining flour; beat until blended.
Pour into a greased loaf pan (8x4x2 inch). Bake in 350 degree F oven for 60-65 minutes or until a wooden toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes in pan. Remove from pans and cool thoroughly on wire rack.

This tastes great warm, but slices easier as it cools. I think it is recomended that the loaf is cooled over night before cutting into it, but like I said, I think it is up to personal preference.
Also, you can store the loaf in your freezer in a freezer bag for up to a month with great results. Just thaw it out to room temperature before serving it up. (I have tried this with great success).
You can eat it plain or spread butter on it. I have seen some people enjoy it with cream cheese. It is up to you.

Well... back to the barbecue. Actually, I am really tired.
I think that everything went great tonight. My baby was adored by all (no surprises there!) and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves and the food.
I will definitely try to jump in here again and keep this updated.

Lots of Stuff

It is the middle of the night and I have thought about getting back in the swing of things and updating this for the longest time, so here it goes. Please forgive me if this begins to sound a little unorganized or rambling. I just want to talk to someone and my husband and baby are both so tired and they both need their sleep.

My husband gave me a new computer for my anniversary. Because of all of the changes (I always hate getting reaquanted with my electronics) I didn't get back on here right away. It was an unexpected present (I guess that is probably obvious). When we first got married (on our honeymoon) he told me that he built a computer for me from scratch as a wedding present and it had all of the features that he thought I would find important for the things that I liked to do at the time. I thought that was so sweet. I felt bad because I didn't think to have a present for him. He said I was his present (cheesy, I know, but it made me melt :-D).
This year I remembered my anniversary about three days before the fact. I got all worked up and called him at work and said, "Honey, with all of the distractions this year like the baby and the move and everything else, we forgot our anniversary is this Saturday!!!" He replied, "We didn't forget..." I felt so stupid! He told me that he had been looking forward to it for over a month and had been "putting some things together" for the occasion. He bought me a treadmill I had been drooling over forever, and he took me out to buy a whole new set of clothes (just because he knew I was wanting them), and then he brought home a new computer that can handle more of the things I am into now (like video/photo editing and music and extra storage).
Because I had forgotten that it was our anniversary I had already RSVPed that I would be at a bridal shower that night, so I thought I was doing really great to frantically arrange for a babysitter for the afternoon so I could take him to a really nice Chinese food place for lunch (his favorite food, right). Then I arranged to have a family friend watch Mission Impossible 3 with him because Marcio had been wanting to see it but hadn't because he knew that I didn't want to. When everything was said and done I felt pretty bad about what a romantic clutz I am. He just gave me a hug that night and told me that it had been a great anniversary and that he is just happy to be my husband every day. I think that kind of thing is exactly why I married him.

Caio is getting bigger. He is always into everything. He has learned the joy of getting into my house plants and eating the dirt. I am always vacuuming and sweeping up the dirt on the floor and cleaning mud off of his hands and face and out of his mouth. It is a little disturbing to me. He is really mobile. He crawls and pulls himself up to things and walks along the edges of surfaces. He has two little teeth right up front and on the bottom of his little mouth and he likes to bite me, but he is getting better about it every day. He did bite my bottom lip while I was at playgroup today though.... that wasn't very fun. He has these stuffed annimals in his crib that he absolutely loves and he has begun to play with them a lot more lately. One is a blue Whinney the Pooh and one is a blue bear that says "My First Bear" on the front and the other is a little monkey with a red sweater on. He especially loves the two bears. He will pick all three of the toys up and bite their noses and he will hold one in both hands and hit them into each other and giggle. I have also seen him give them hugs and lay down next to them and snuggle his face next to theirs while he smiles up at me. Yesterday he began bouncing a little yellow bouncy ball on the kitchen floor. He would bounce it and then crawl after it and bounce it all over again. I just watched him and laughed and laughed. I love him SO MUCH! More and more every day!!! What a special joy to my heart. I am so blessed to be his mom.

I have been looking forward to my sister-in-law, Ruth, coming back from California for the longest time (a couple of months, actually). She got back last night and we invited them over again tonight to watch a movie. She is expecting a little boy in about 4 weeks. I am really excited for her, her husband and her baby. I am also excited for CJ to have a new cousin.

I teach Relief Society once a month now. The second sunday. When I taught this last Sunday, all these ladies wanted to hold him. I was so grateful for the help and also very happy that he was a hit. This one lady asked what his name was and I said Caio (I always am thinking should I say Caio or CJ or both???) and she said, "Cai....OH???" "Yep," I said, "Perfect!" I usually say perfect because most people come pretty darn close anyway, and I'm not all uptight like that. Then the sister who finally ended up with Caio said, just as I was getting up to teach the lesson, "Come here, Chacho."!!!!! I just about busted up laughing!!! I have had a lot of funny things said about his name and some people have tried to change it to Tchao (brazil) or Ciao (itally) both pronounced "Chow", but that was the first time anyone has ever changed it so drastically. I kind of like it, though. Maybe Chacho will be my new pet name/nick name for him! :-D We'll have to see. ;-)

Friday-Saturday of last week was actually our ward campout and we decided to go and try out our first family campout. It sounded fun at the time we first talked about it anyway. In fact it seemed like such a great idea until Friday night/Saturday morning. We went and bought a tent and borrowed sleeping bags and got all of our gear together. We were all set. We were going to be an outdoorsy, nature-loving, ward-camping family! We set up our tent next to the tent of my husband's youngest brother and joined in the campfire fun and ward dinner. We were doing so great! We even went back to our tent and put the baby to sleep. We snuggled into our family sleeping bag and whispered to each other about what a great idea it had been to come and do this, finally. Right about then a bunch of loud, giggling, teen-aged girls came by screaming and laughing and making a lot of noise. Baby Boy woke up and began screaming with them, but for quite a different reason. That was the end of our peaceful night. He screamed non-stop from around 12:30 AM (when they woke him up) until around 2:10 AM (when we finally decided to leave the campground for our own sanity and to be nice to the other campers around us). We grabbed only the most necessary things and promised to come back first thing in the morning for our camping gear and my brother-in-law (and his friend). CJ basically cried the whole ride home and then continued to cry until between 4:00AM and 4:30 AM when we both finally fell asleep while I nursed him. I woke up late Saturday morning alone with Caio. Marcio was back at the camp getting our stuff. I don't know if we will be camping again any time soon.... but then agian???? I guess we will see.

I guess that is enough for now. I will try to get back in here and keep things going again.
Good Night!