Boston Children's Hospital

This beautiful place, Boston Children's Hospital, is a magical land of beautiful paintings, artwork, and life-size ponds. When you enter, you begin a world tour through each of the rooms. Except in Milah's room this time there was something even better. A bright colored painting of a little doggie on the beach. They know exactly what little babies love in the Orthopedic Pediatric's office :)

All the receptionists oohed and aahed over Milah. 

The bathroom had a 5 ft changing table -- impressive! 

And many little children had disabilities, so when we walked out of the doctor's office with Milah's brace it didn't seem so strange. 

Then we got home and reality hit. This is going to be a little challenge for us. We change her diaper differently, nurse differently, don't wake up to Milah kicking her legs and flailing her arms as crazy as she can (which was so joyful). When we put on the brace at first she cried and that was sad, but she's getting used to it and so are we. Today at church a few of the ladies asked "Alyssa???" and I actually didn't know what they were pointing at! 

So the therapy is 23 hours a day for at least a month. We'll make it through! 

P.S. Danny and I laugh because every time she goes to the hospital or doctor's office, she learns a new way to cry. Sure enough, Dan came home that night and said "Wow, milah seems like she's crying differently!" 

This weekend: Grey Fox Bluegrass Festival

This picture just makes me laugh because during family photos, you're always trying to get the baby to look at the camera. Here we, the parents, are distracted and Milah's so focused on the camera. It's just so ironic! I love it!

I have to say this was something on my bucket list! I grew up listening to Nickel Creek, a Bluegrass band. I have always thought it would be so fun to see them in concert because they have such amazing talent! Well we got to see the lead singer of Nickel Creek in concert this weekend!


Chris and Cheryl invited us to the Grey Fox Bluegrass Festival in upstate New York and we had a blast!

Driving out there, we listened to some new music: "set fire to the rain" I know we're so behind the times :), John Denver, High and Dry by Nik Day, John Mayer live, Jewel Lullaby, and tons and tons of Kenny Loggins lullabies.



We loved being out in the country again; sometimes I crave getting away from the city life and people all around but luckily it's only a short drive away and we're in the Catskills mountains!

Chris booked a really fun hotel (thanks Chris!) called the Bavarian Manor. It was a quaint, intimate hotel nestled near a lake in the Catskills. We loved the German feel and seeing German words again  :) (Dan and I have both dabbled in the German language).




















We got to listen to the lead singer of Nickel Creek, one of my very favorite bands growing up and we discovered a lot of other bands we like too!


Our very favorite band was "Bearfoot" and our favorite song, "When You're Away."   "Dirty Kitchen" was another favorite band.


We LOVED walking around and saw lots of fun musical instruments....cardboard dulcimers, inexpensive homemade lap harps and banjos.


On the left is Dan playing the banjo. Below, on the right, this man made a neat African instrument out of 2"x4"s that we want to make someday!



Then of course we saw beautiful banjos and mandolins that were beautifully crafted. Dan and I feel like we better understand the distinction between violin, fiddle, banjo, and bass.


We decided as we visit different countries we're going to collect musical instruments and make a special room in our home of musical instruments from all over the world. Some can be as easy as shakers for the little kids, they can be homemade instruments we did as part of schooling (like the 2"x4" instrument below), and beautiful mandolines and maybe even (hopefully) a harp! Now the trick is going to be learning to play them all :)


We absolutely enjoyed this experience and would love to do it again someday!

I can't get behind.....

Ok, so when I get behind on blogging, that's when I don't blog for forever (same goes with journaling). Do ya feel me? I think it's that way for a lot of people so I'm going to try and catch up tonight!

Here goes...

Salad, Fajitas, and Asian Stir Fry

A few new favorite recipes I put together that we love

Tonight's salad was: 

romaine

arugula

spring mix

spinach

snow peas

basil

cilantro

green onions

sesame seeds

sunflower seeds

carrots

clover sprouts

alfalfa sprouts

sunflower sprouts

dressing: 

liquid aminos (basically soy sauce without the salt)

sesame oil

sesame tahini

rice vinegar

all of that is super strong! 

I combined those ingredients with Annie's Asian Dressing (that's more bland)

Fajitas Recipe: 

fresno peppers

zucchini

yellow squash

roasted red peppers (the kind in a jar with vinegary sauce)

shallots

green onions

white onions

mushrooms

garlic

cumin

chili powder

cilantro -- lots! 1/2 a bunch

lime -- lots!

put in spinach tortilla

romaine lettuce

salsa and guacamole on top

Asian Stir Fry:

zucchini

broccoli (tons because we love it!)

almonds (add at the end)

watercress (add at the end)

sesame seeds

brussels sprouts (cut up really small so they cook quickly)

green onions

regular onion

shallot

bok  choy

garlic 

sauce: 

rice wine vinegar

sesame oil

liquid aminos

tahini

teeny bit of hot sauce 

exceedingly delicious with potstickers!

Add in some hoisin sauce to the rice or something because it's really good!

Feel the Burn

Aw man, I am so bummed! I got a sunburn yesterday on my run.

Dan and I had even watched this video a couple of days earlier.

This is stunning. My pediatrician told me babies who are sunburned one time in the first year of life, their chances for skin cancer goes up 80 times. This video puts into perspective how important it is to protect your skin! I got a bad sunburn yesterday and I'm totally regretting it!

Meeting Danny for Lunch -- In Other Words, I Ran 9.5 Miles :)

Today I went on a run with Milah...this run turned out to be 9.5 miles! We decided to try the opposite side of the river (the way Dan goes to work). After running for a while, I noticed the Esplanade where we saw the Boston Pops perform and I knew we were fairly close to Dan's work. So we decided to jog the last mile or so and meet him for lunch. We had a fabulous time!

This is the healthiest Asian food I've ever eaten! But the funny thing is, it's at a Mexican restaurant and you can order as many ingredients as you want, so I basically combined a salad with a burrito with Asian food. I know, it sounds strange but I thought it was really good! And it was definitely healthy :)

On the run we could see beautiful ships in the Boston harbor. It was pretty windy and they were sailing by the bridge and you could see downtown, so I thought it was pretty and I took a picture :)

Cute Dress, Sad Face

Milah is so funny! She had been smiling at the ceiling and just cooing and laughing at the brass light fixture on the ceiling so I grabbed the camera to take a picture of her...and this is the only face she would make! ;)

Luckily we got a happy picture of her too :)

Thanks to Grandma Brown for the darling dress!

Oh, PS She was obsessed with sucking on her hands that day. She doesn't take a pacifier EVER and she likes sucking on her hands if they're curled up, but if she gets an entire finger she starts gagging!