too hot

It's been hovering around 100 degrees with 75% humidity for what feels like months, but might actually be a week or so with the rest of this week following that same trend. It's too hot for the park, even in the morning, because I am weak. It's too hot for the pool because the sun beats down on it raising the temperature to warm bath water, which is not acceptable for a refreshing dip. It is pretty much too hot for anything that involves exiting our house. I know I'm not alone, the national news says it's just hot everywhere. So what are you doing to stay cool and happy?

Oliver is dressing up in dad's outdoor safety gear,

and dressing his owl up in cloth diapers for a bike ride around the house,

and driving his car around practicing his "smile for the camera" face,

and romping around in shoes that are 87 times to big for him,

and gnawing on a raw cob while mom makes corn soup,

and just generally acting adorable.

give me that carrot

Tomorrow our social worker comes to check on Oliver, us, and the house, for our first post adoption report. The Russian's want to keep an eye on their babies, and make sure everything is going well. I assume that post adoption reports are disliked by folks. People want to move on, want to be normal, and be done with paperwork. I mean do you people with biological children have to answer ten pages of questions about your parenting skills/style, how your kid is developing, and what your challenges are? No. Didn't think so.
You could call it dangling the carrot or bribery or encouragement. Whatever it's called I'm thrilled about it. Way back, who knows when, we had to give our agency $2,000. We will receive the money back $500 at a time as we submit our reports. $500 sounds like it will help pay the bill for the newly discovered giant leak in one of our giant windows. Agencies that don't submit said reports will likely end up on the dreaded blacklist and could damage the relationship between Americans wanting to adopt and Russian allowing it...as if the relationship wasn't already strained.
I'm sure everything will go just fine with the social worker tomorrow, granted Oliver doesn't show off his new favorite trick of scaling the knobs on the kitchen drawers so he can get on the counter and drink from the sink. Why go get the stool when you can scale the cupboards?

more tricks

Before we get to the tricks let's talk food. Oliver helps cook dinner most nights. He enjoys "chopping" stuff, yes I let my two year old use a knife, no he hasn't cut himself. Oliver uses the classic chop and snack method, so I make sure whatever he is in charge of chopping is something I want him to try eating. Yesterday it was raw zucchini and today it was orange melon, more commonly known as cantaloupe.

I found this pose especially hilarious

On to tricks, specifically trapeze tricks. Go here to see what he was doing last month.

The dismount

With my help he can flip all the way through, so brave.
Ta-Da

*No he is not wearing a diaper in the trapeze photos, we are a classy bunch here. We were getting ready to go outside and water the flower garden which usually ends in watering the flowers and the baby, the less clothes the easier.

dinner

Running out of ideas for your summer menu? Head to your local magazine selling store and get yourself a copy of Martha's Everyday Food special summer edition. I only purchase food magazines when I'm in a food slump. The other day Oliver and I were in a crazy long line at the grocery store, just trying to buy some milk when we ran into the above mentioned magazine. We had plenty of time to preview it, making sure that there were at least 3-5 things I wanted to try...there were and then some.
Yesterday, I put together a grocery list and Oliver and I headed back to the grocery store inspired and ready. Then on our way home my friend Michelle calls (hey girl hey!) we chat and then she asks "so what's for dinner" I tell her and she says she needs ideas and I should get posting.
So I'll share what's for dinner this week and maybe it will inspire you to try some yummy fresh summer foods and also to pick up the special issue of Everyday Food.

Monday
Lucky for us we were invited to a BBQ on Monday. I brought homemade chex mix, because it's not really a party unless there is party mix.

Tuesday pg.10
Roasted Zucchini, Onion & Peppers with Roasted Chicken

For the veggies
3 pounds of zucchini, cut into one inch rounds
2 red or yellow peppers, coarsely chopped
1 medium red onion, cut into 1/2 inch wedges
Olive Oil
Salt
Pepper
-Heat your oven to 475
-Put your chopped up veggies on a rimmed baking sheet
-Coat with olive oil
-Season with salt & pepper
-Bake for 25-30 minutes, until fork tender and browned in spots (for me the more roasted the yummier it tastes)

For the Chicken
If you are a fan of grilling you could just throw some marinated chicken breasts on the grill. I'm not. So I threw some marinated chicken breast in a baking dish and put them in the oven to cook with the veggies..same temp, but maybe only 20 minutes. If the chicken breasts are large, cut them in half.

*All members of the Tylick house enjoyed this meal

Wednesday
Slow roasted tomato salad pg. 37
I do not like raw tomatoes, I do not like them one bit. Not on a salad, not on a burger, not at all. However, something amazing happens when you cook, specifically roast, a tomato that's why I'm excited to try this. Martha seems to think this would be a good dish to serve cold or at room temperature, but I plan on serving it hot and calling it dinner.

Ingredients
10 plumb tomatoes, cut in half
sugar
1 pound of short pasta, cooked
1/4 Olive Oil
A lemon
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
1/2 cup fresh basil, chopped
---
Martha does not call for chicken, but my husband won't let it be called dinner it there isn't any protein...specifically in the form of meat. So I will dice up and saute a chicken breast or two and add it in.

-Heat your over to 350
-Cut the tomatoes in half and arrange cut side up on a baking dish
-Sprinkle with a little bit of sugar (little)
-Bake for about 1 hour
****
-When the tomatoes are nearing their end in the oven cook the chicken and boil the pasta.
-Add the olive oil, lemon juice & zest, parmesan, tomatoes, basil and pasta to the saute pan with the chicken.
-Toss & Eat

Thursday
Tuna and white bean salad pg. 79

-1/2 pound green beans
-2, 5 ounce cans of solid white tuna packed in water, drained
-1 can of cannellini beans, drained
-1 red pepper diced
-3 tablespoons of olive oil
-1/4 cup of fresh lemon juice
-1/2 cup fresh parsley, chopped
-1/4 cup fresh chives, chopped
--
Martha serves this with some hard boiled eggs, but I really don't care for eggs..they yolk freaks me out. I may have to serve this with a turkey sandwich to help it pass for dinner.

-Cook the green beans in a large pot of salted boiling water for about 3 minutes.
-Combine the rest of the ingredients in a bowl, season with salt and pepper, toss together and serve.

Friday
Shrimp & Tomato Saute pg.9

Olive Oil
1 1/2 pound of medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
salt
pepper
3 cloves of garlic
pinch of red pepper flakes
6 plum tomatoes, cored and cut into half inch wedges
2 tablespoons fresh parsley
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
----
Martha suggests that you serve this over pasta or spinach. I'm planning on serving it over some quinoa.

-In a large saute pan drizzle some olive oil over high heat, add the shrimp, sprinkle with salt and pepper and cook for 3-4 minutes, or until opaque. Remove the shrimp when they are done cooking.
-Add a touch more olive oil to the pan along with the chopped garlic, red pepper flakes and tomatoes. Cook for 4-6 minutes or until the tomatoes start to break down. Season with salt to assist the break down and the flavor.
-Put the shrimp back in the pan along with the lemon and parsley
-Toss everything and serve with pasta, or spinach, or quinoa, or whatever you like.

Saturday
Turkey lettuce cups pg. 75

2 tablespoons of soy sauce
2 teaspoons of fish sauce
2 teaspoons of sugar
---
1 large shallot (or 1/4 of an onion)
1 inch piece of fresh ginger
1 small jalapeno, stems and seeds removed
2 cloves of garlic
---
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 pound of lean ground turkey
--
Lettuce leaves
scallions
grated carrots
cilantro

-Combine the first 3 ingredients in a bowl and set aside.
-Chop the next 4 ingredients and then buzz them in a food processor, if you don't have a food processor just keep chopping until they are fine.
-Heat a saute pan with the vegetable oil and cook the shallot mixture for about 30 seconds. Add the ground turkey and start breaking it apart, cook for about 5 minutes.
-Add the sauce and cook for another 2 minutes
-Serve in the meat mixture in the lettuce leaves and top with whatever you like (scallions, carrots, cilantro, peanuts...)

------
There are a bunch more brilliant ideas in the magazine, including an entire section devoted to popsicles, beautiful fruity popsicles that are made from really real stuff like fruit and sugar not dyes and other such yuck.

then and now

August 2010

Fall 2010

This afternoon

loud show, okay

None of this at home fireworks stuff. Maybe when I become a better midwesterner or maybe when Oliver is older. Call me crazy, but I like to leave shooting off pyrotechnics to the professionals. I like driving to a place, forgetting where I parked, sitting for hours on the grass playing games, laying near strangers, and watching the fireworks show. I'm even okay with it taking longer to leave the parking lot than it does to watch the show.
With Oliver, and probably most two year olds, it's either love or hate. There isn't much middle ground. He is either going to scream and yell "all done" or clap and cheer. Jim couldn't join us for this first 4th of July fireworks spectacular because late night fireworks are not a good choice for someone who has to rise and be shiny at 4am. So we were out on our own.
We arrived at the spectacular around 8pm with the show starting at 9:30. Found a spot on the grass for our blanket then passed the time waving at strangers, playing games, and eating cheerios. At 9:30ish they set off a couple test fireworks. You know, so if you are sitting behind a tree or a sign or are facing the wrong direction you can adjust. Lucky for us we were in the just perfect spot. Oliver jumped at the big boom. I told him we were getting ready to watch a loud show, but it was going to be okay. Then he kept saying "loud show" "okay" When the show really started he snuggled up on the blanket with me and clapped when other people clapped and cheered when they cheered, so cute.
You are just going to have to picture the cute in your head because I forgot my camera at home.

first photo

Yesterday was the day Oliver's referral photo showed up in my inbox, one year ago. Getting to Oliver wasn't easy. I don't mean the traveling and such I mean just getting his referral was difficult. I know some people wait ages for a referral, like years. That blows my mind. We switched from Kazakhstan to Russia because our agency said there were boys in Kemerovo, Russia waiting. We couldn't say no. Our request to the agency was; an under two year old, either gender, minor correctable health issues.

This request landed us with Vlad (made up name) an adorable 19 month old, and according to our IA doctor he was the best referral he had ever seen. Wow, what luck. Our doctor said his biggest issue was red hair meaning he probably was not treated as nicely as other children. We said yes to little Rusty right away. He was adopted by Russians. Lucky boy!

Our agency asked if we wanted another referral and we said yes, please, as soon as possible. We weren't sad about Vlad, he was meant for someone else. We were not ready for what happened next. A day or so later we received an email with three little boys. I don't have much to complain about when it comes to our agency, but that email is at the top of our list. It just didn't feel right to pick. How could you choose? After we looked at the email I just forward it all to the doctor, Jim and I decided we would just do what he said. He said Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS). We said we weren't ready for that. Turning down all three of those boys was awful. Just a disaster. I felt like I was shopping for a child, I felt guilty, I felt just like I wasn't meant to pick. I actually felt so bad about letting go of all of those boys that I didn't tell many people.

Next we got a referral for a 22 month old. He looked perfect to me. He had that dent you need above your top lip, that dent that says "I probably don't have FAS" He had a set of fixable crossed eyes, and he was just pain sweet looking. I felt very confident in him as I forwarded him on to our doctor. Our doctor had a whole list of risk factors that I won't go into, and it was another no.

A grand total of 5 lovely babies. One adopted by others and four that we didn't think where meant for our family. I'll admit it. I read other blogs of people turning down babies, and it always boggled my mind, made me upset, and I just didn't understand it. I didn't understand it until I had to live it. You just need to do what is best for your family and for these children.

Finally this photo arrived.

and this one

This was the first child we saw smiling! A month later we were hanging out with him in the playroom at his orphanage.