Heath's 6 Month Update

Last Friday, our little pumpkin turned 6 months old!  He continues to be the most charming and happy little guy and has started grabbing and exploring EVERYTHING he can get his hands on... and of course, putting it right in his mouth.

A few weeks ago, he went on his first plane ride and did awesome!  We only went to Florida for a weekend to attend a wedding so it wasn't too long of a flight, but we're glad he was a great baby on the plane.

We're working our way up to the 5.5 hour flight to San Francisco.

At the wedding, our handsome little man stole the show with his super cute outfit at the wedding.

And thank goodness for the chewbead necklace that our friend (and experienced mama) got us.  It was perfect for the trip and for Heath's little teeth that just broke through last week!

Our little guy still loves his baths... and they are especially necessary now that we've introduced solids.

We're doing Baby-led Weaning to introduce whole foods and incorporating him into our dinner routine.  So far he's loved bread, banana, and broccoli.  Here's a video of his first taste:

Although he still likes nibbling on his toes too.

Heath's 5 Month Update

I figured I should just do a Heath update since it's taken me so long to post!  Last Thursday, he turned 5 months and I can't believe my little baby has gotten so big already.

The photo above is his 4 month check-up (done 2 weeks late... so more of a 4.5 month check up) and we got the fancy NASCAR-themed room!  Heath weighed in at 16 pounds 4 ounces (65th percentile) and 27 inches tall (95th percentile)!  Yesterday, we upgraded to size 3 diapers so he's probably over 17 pounds by now.  How is my little baby boy growing so fast?

A couple weeks ago, we met Grandma and Grandpap up in Pennsylvania at the cabin (close to FLLW's Falling Water) and Heath had a great time in the crisp mountain air.

He played with Grandma in the front yard...

And Grandpa introduced him to his first toad!  It was a great weekend trip!

At home, Heath sits in his Bumbo chair while we eat dinner and LOOOOOVES the fruit bowl.  He'll spin and push that thing all over (if he wasn't stuck in that silly chair!)  It's amazing all the toys we have and he prefers the fruit bowl and my water bottle!  Go figure.  

Last week, Heath even got a surprise visit from daddy at lunch time!  I don't know who was more excited: Heath or Michael... it was so sweet.

And last but not least, Heath is quite the roller now!  He has finally figured out that he can get places by rollin', rollin', rollin' over there.  He's also discovered his little toes taste delicious and we love watching him play with his sweet little feet (as you can see from the video).

All in all, it is just pure joy to watch our little boy grow and develop.  We have a feeling that his natural curiosity paired with his increasing mobility will force us to baby-proof our place sooner rather than later.  But we have learned to savor every minute with him because the last 5 months has been like a blink of an eye.

Yellowstone and Grand Tetons National Parks

Finally!  I finished our digital scrapbook for our 2nd Joint Family Vacation in October to Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks!

It took me a while, but it was great to finally see this in print and relive the fun memories we had in the GORGEOUS national treasure in the middle of our great country.  (Confession: hardest part was going through the 1500+ photos that we took and picking out the best ones)

Scroll through the digital scrapbook link to check out what  we did and you can zoom in on a specific page by clicking on it.  Special thanks to geologist extraordinaire Carl Merschat for verifying and editing the scientific text throughout the book.

What a trip. What great memories. We are so blessed to have such wonderful families and we can't wait until our 3rd Joint Family Vacation with the addition of with our new little mountain man!

Mushroom and Goat Cheese Tortas + Aina!

It's been about 3 years since I visited Aina in Oslo and she introduced us to one of our first go-to vegetarian recipes - vegetable casserole with herb dumplings!

Now it was her turn to come visit DC and for us to share one of our new vegetarian recipes from Food & Wine, of course.  Goes perfect with homemade rosemary bread too!

INGREDIENTS
2 large heads of garlic, cloves peeled and lightly smashed
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 cup fresh lime juice
Salt
1/2 pound cremini mushrooms, thinly sliced
1/2 pound shiitake mushrooms, stems discarded and caps thinly sliced
1/2 pound oyster mushrooms, stems discarded and caps thinly sliced
3 tablespoons chopped cilantro
6 bolillo rolls or other crusty rolls, split
3 cups packed arugula leaves
1 cup prepared tomato salsa
1/2 pound soft goat cheese

Preheat the oven to 325°. Put the garlic in a small, deep baking dish and toss with the olive oil, lime juice and 1 teaspoon of salt. Cover and bake for about 30 minutes, until the garlic is soft and golden.

Increase the oven temperature to 400°. Combine all of the mushrooms in a 9-by-13-inch baking dish and toss with the roasted garlic and 1 teaspoon of salt. Cover with foil and bake for 10 minutes. Uncover and bake for about 35 minutes longer, until the mushrooms are tender and golden. Stir in the chopped cilantro.

Scrape some of the bread out of the center of the rolls and set the rolls on a large baking sheet, cut sides up. Spread the mushrooms over the rolls and bake for about 5 minutes to crisp the rolls. Spread the arugula and salsa on one half of the rolls and the goat cheese on the other half. Close the sandwiches and bake for about 5 minutes, until hot and crisp. Cut the sandwiches in half and serve.

MAKE AHEAD: The cooked mushrooms can be refrigerated overnight. Reheat gently.

AND AINA!!!!

We had to stop by the Library of Congress since we both worked at the library at UNC!

And the weather was PERFECT to catch the last of the Cherry Blossoms.

Gorgeous...

...and so much fun to have Aina around.

Guess it's our turn to visit her in Norway next!  It's a rough life...

NYC Pre-Christmas Trip: Day 3

We're currently on the train coming home. Of course we pick the seats right behind the screaming child but otherwise, it's been a smooth ride.

We finished off our weekend exploring the southern portion of Central Park. Then shared some delicious macaroons from the newly opened Luradee location on the East side.

A sweet ending to our short, mini-vacation.

NYC Pre-Christmas Trip: Day 2

What a gorgeous day to be in the city! Sunny, 60's, and full of holiday spirit.

We explored Brooklyn, got a lot of exercise by walking everywhere, and had a delicious belated birthday dinner for Michael at Fishtail by David Burke.

It's sad to think we have to leave tomorrow...

NYC Pre-Christmas Trip: Day 1

I just downloaded a new app: instagram! Loving all the filters and definitely taking more pictures.

I also downloaded the blogger app so let's see how this mobile blogging goes!

Here are some of our favorite pictures from this afternoon.

Mr. and Mrs. Ryan's Wedding Album

I just finished Ming-Cee and Patrick's wedding album!

I don't usually like purchasing groupons because I'm REALLY bad about using them before they expire so it just seems a waste of money most of the time... but this was a great investment!  A friend suggest that I purchase a groupon for $35 to get $100 worth of products from Picaboo and it worked perfectly.

I was really pleased with the product and, most importantly, Ming-Cee and Patrick were very happy with their album.  Can't believe my baby sister is all grown up and married!

Ming-Cee and Patrick's Wedding

We just returned from my sister's amazing wedding in gorgeous Sonoma, Calif.  Here's the sneak peak from the photographer's blog.

More photos to come...

Christmas 2010

We finally have photos posted of the first half of Christmas in Northern California and the second half of Christmas last weekend in Western North Carolina.  You can look at them at our website here.

Happy New Year!!!

London and Paris Photos

Our photos from London and Paris are finally posted on our website here.

Thanks for your patience... I told you it would be a productive weekend!

Farrell/Merschat Joint Family Vacation 2010

Just posted some pictures from our first Farrell/Merschat Family vacation last month here.  Mount Diablo, Chinatown, Yosemite, Tide Pools, Napa Valley and San Francisco... we did as much of Northern California as we could and I think we can call this trip a huge success!

Have a happy and safe 4th of July!