Almost crawling?

Elizabeth has been getting up on her knees for a month now... but not a whole lot of forward progress that has looked anything like crawling.  This last week she has started to move her hands and knees forward, but prefers to go a few "steps" then sit.  She is pretty quick at getting across a room and we have started baby proofing. 

Check out our latest video:

Almost Crawling from Nathan Marvelle on Vimeo.

6 months of Elizabeth

Cooking...

Inspired by this recipe we cooked a
Swiss chard and potato gratin.

Our variation on the recipe:
10 new potatoes sliced thin in the food processor leave skin on
1 cup aged cheddar
1/2 lb swiss chard chopped in small pieces
1 tablespoon butter
dash of salt and pepper
1/2 cup milk

Preheat oven to 350.
Par boil the potatoes so they are almost the texture you'd like them in the gratin (this saved us so much time!).  Spay a deep cooking bowl with non-stick spray.  Layer 1/3 of the potatoes, 1/3 of the chard, and 1/3 of the cheese, 1/3 the butter cut in little pieces, and sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Do again twice making sure the top is cheese not swiss chard or else it will burn.  Pour the milk down the edge.  Bake in for 20-25 minutes or until cheese is melted and the chard has cooked to the right tenderness.  

Cooking...

Cabbage and Apple Slaw

A very tasty and a good way to use our CSA pointed head cabbage
I used a combination of recipes and this is what I ended up with:
1 pointed head cabbage (~4 cups) shredded in the food processor
2 granny smith apples diced in small chunks
1/2 cup low-fat sour cream
1/2 cup plan fat-free yogurt
3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper

Mix the dressing in a separate bowl.  Combine with the cabbage and apples.  Enjoy.

A new face

We snapped a few shots after her bath, and she started doing this new face. 

Cooking...

Yellow squash and zucchini rice casserole. What a great way to use all the squash we are getting from our CSA.

The Grueling Triathlon of Doom

Putting the "Do" in Doom since 2008.  GToD.

This morning I participated in my first triathlon.  Before I injured my knee I have played with the idea of doing a triathlon. I had even looked into signing up for several, but never got the courage. Recently I've been working out pretty consistently and again started to think about doing a race again.  Coincidentally, my friend Erin told me about this race, and even though I was past the registration date she was able to get me in.  We met up this morning and were able to do it together.

The North Carolina summer did not disappoint - at 8am it was in the low 90's with sweltering humidity and the air was completely devoid of a breeze. Amazingly enough the weather wasn't too much of a factor. I might have been a little faster on my run if not for the sun beating down on me, but then again I had just finished swimming and biking so there is no way I would have been going very fast no matter what the weather. While the name sounds intimidating don't let it fool you; this triathlon is for the beginner triathalete. It is an actual super sprint distance.  We started off at the downtown Y with a staggered start of 10 lengths of the pool, then transitioned in the parking lot and hopping on our bikes for a 6 mile ride down the American Tobacco trail, then back again to the Y parking lot to transition into the 1.5 mile run (more like slow slow jog for me).

The whole event was super fun, and I really hope to do another one soon!

The two of us swimming

Me finishing

Erin finishing

More pictures here.

Elizabeth's first hike

This afternoon we tried to find a heron rookery by Ellerbe Creek here in Durham, but were unsuccessful. I think they were hiding because it was too hot!

Elizabeth did great. She didn't mind the heat and even managed to briefly fall asleep in the Bjorn.

Elizabeth's new swing

Elizabeth's new swing from Nathan Marvelle on Vimeo.

Family photos

My mom has been wanting a family photograph of the Naves, Marvelles, and Lankfords for a long while... and before we get around to it the family gets bigger.  So as a gift to her, I organized all of us (it is crazy how hard it is to get us all together for a weekend) and had photos made.  Here are a few of the best.

Elizabeth rolls over from back to front and leaps tall buildings.

Last night, a few days shy of Elizabeth's 6 month birthday, as I was out with some girls I got a text from Nathan telling me that Elizabeth rolled over.  He got out the video camera immediately and caught her new trick on film.   Today she is doing it as if she always knew how.  She even started to move her knees and try to get across the floor - crawling is not far off.  She is really developing into a little person.  It is crazy!

Elizabeth at six months from Nathan Marvelle on Vimeo.

Cooking...

Creamy Green Garlic and Potato Soup

We started getting our CSA last week from Brinkley Farms.  We are so excited about it!  This particular CSA allows us to choose what we want in our box each week from a list of available items. Last week we choose chorizo, red leaf lettuce, green leaf lettuce, bok choy, and chinese cabbage.  This week we choose to get some ground beef, green onions, collards, spinach, and green garlic.   We weren't sure what to do with the green garlic... but after asking around, we heard of a green garlic potato soup that Toast (one of our favorite Durham restaurants) makes.  

I googled and found a few recipes and ended up doing a composite of multiple recipes.

• 2 Tablespoons butter
• 2 large green onions
• 3 bulbs green garlic, thinly sliced  (I used the whites, pink, and part way up the green)
• 4 medium Golden potatoes
• Salt to taste
• 1 Quart Chicken Broth 
• Fresh Ground Black Pepper, to taste
• 3 tablespoons 2% milk
• a splash of lemon juice to taste

Heat butter in a dutch oven over medium heat. Add the onions and saute for 3 to 5 minutes.

Add the garlic, potatoes, and some salt, and saute for another 5 minutes. 

Add the broth and bring the soup to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low, allowing the soup to simmer for about 20 minutes, or until the potatoes are nice and tender. Do not cover.  When potatoes are soft and most of the liquid is absorbed or evaporated, use an immersion blender and puree.  We didn't completely puree till smooth, but you could do that.  

Add milk and broth until the soup is a soupy consistency.  Taste the soup - add lemon juice, salt and pepper until the flavor is bright.

Mmmmmm - Yummy!

Making...

Shirts for Elizabeth and Lily.

Elizabeth's first baseball game

On opening day (April 15th) we took Elizabeth for her first baseball game.  It was an amazing night, although the Bulls lost.  Elizabeth loved it! Which is pretty standard for her as she is very social.  She enjoyed the music, watching all the people, and being outside.

New pictures

Check out our fotki site. We have tons of new pictures!

Beets can't be beat!

Check out this article on the New York Times about the TripAdvisor review of the agrotourism destination Schrute Farms from The Office.  So funny!    

Elizabeth Laughs

I can't stop smiling whenever I hear her laugh...
Make sure your sound is up for this!!!


Elizabeth laughs from Nathan Marvelle on Vimeo.

Cooking... Tuna and eggplant stew

Tuna and eggplant stew

Nathan found this recipe on the New York Times, and when I read it, it initially did not appeal to me.  But Nathan was game, and we had most of the items.  For items we didn't have we did a bit of substituting.

No anchovy fillets (not a staple in our cabinets)
Eggplant for the bell peppers
1 fresh tomato, 1/2 can of tomato paste, 1/2 cup water for the 14oz can of chopped tomatoes with juice (we usually have this in our cabinet, but we were out!)
Cooking sherry for dry white wine (the white wine we had was really too sweet)
Russet potatoes for red potatoes
Ahi tuna filets for albacore
Cilantro for parsley

We also were short on time so we cut out the 1st 30 minute simmer and reduced the second simmer to just enough time to get the potatoes soft.

During the middle of the cooking process I tasted it and was really disappointed!  But once it was done I was quite surprised at how delicious it was!

BABIES the movie

We loved this trailer:

Spontaneous laughter

Elizabeth has been giggling for quite sometime now.  She giggles on the changing pad when you tickle her  belly and under her arms.  She has recently started giggling when you hold her up in the air above you head and lift her up and down and just today I started giving her a little toss and she laughs even harder!! But this afternoon she giggled for the first time spontaneously.  We were standing at the bottom of the stairs and I was holding her on my shoulder with her looking up. Pancake started running down the stairs and Elizabeth broke out into laughter!  It was the best!!! We still haven't gotten it on tape yet, but hopefully soon.