Thursday, October 28, 2010

Ode to Tahoe Snow

In honor of Nolan's first snowfall, I decided to dig up some pics we have taken of snowfall in Tahoe and post them in hopes of a big winter this year...

Here is me shortly after moving here.  This was on the road to the nordic center where I worked, you can see the scrapes in the snow from the plows going by.

 This was our first rental place totally buried:

Us snowboarding at Homewood:

 Our street after a storm:

That's Meg's Jeep in there somewhere...  You can see her side mirror poking through:

 Starting to dig the Jeep out...

Meg snowboarding at Diamond Peak:

I know it's only a half an inch, but Nolan has got the right attitude...

He'll be skiing in no time.



Thursday, October 21, 2010

Catching Some Heat...

Well, according to a lot of comments on Facebook, I need to step it up a little bit with my ability to Blog...  Alright people, even though I can't get myself out of sweatpants on most days until about 3:00pm, I will try to manage my time a little better.  (Although I have to admit, it's not Nolan taking up all my time...  I spent about an hour today making myself buffalo chicken wraps for lunch.  Delicious!)  
SHHHH!  Don't tell Meg.

Well, Dia De Los Muertos is quickly approaching and Nolan is starting to get some great Halloween gear, including this nice pumpkin hat.


Apparently someone isn't too excited for Trick-or-Treating to start...

Now we need some suggestions...  We have an idea for Nolan, but what should Blue be for Halloween???

Another hobby taking up a lot of my time at home with Nolan is flooding Meg's email with obnoxious pictures of us, Here is a sample:

Staying home with a baby making me a little nuts?  




Monday, October 18, 2010

Guilty as charged...

       Send me to blogjail. I'm guilty. I've ignored you, abandoned you, and at times forgotten about you. I knew being a working mom wouldn't be easy, but I didn't understand its full scope until this week. I'll share more of the details on balancing work + mommyhood soon...I promise...I hope. The gist of it is: Up at 5:00am to shower, down some coffee and get spiffied up. Once Nolan's awake I spent my time with him, squeezing out every second that I can before I have to head off to work. After work, I spend my evenings kissing baby cheeks, eating Jon's cooking, telling baby I'm going to eat him up, doing chores, and getting baby ready for bed. And then...I do it. All. Over. Again. My first week back consisted of a 6 day work week with a couple of 10 hour days thrown in there, just for good measure. 
       Yeah, I'm not the first working mom, and I won't be the last so I'm not expecting any awards or pity here. Just a little bit more time to find my balance, so that I can re-work blogging back into the mix. 
Until that balance is reached, I leave you with posts from Jonny Boy, 
whenever he has the time to crank them out. 
Blog speed to you.

Friday, October 15, 2010

Do Work.

And it begins.

As you may have noticed, there has been a brief hiatus taken from blog-posting in the Milam household.  No, Meg hasn't given up or grown tired of blogging, there has just been a slight alteration to the "stay at home" line-up.  That's right, Meg is back at work planning conferences galore, and I am taking 2 1/2 months family leave from my full-time job to stay at home and earn my mommy wings.  And yes, one pre-requisite to obtaining the prestigious title of "Mr. Mom" in this house is being able to create a blog-post while taking care of little Bugaroni.  
So here we go...

So lets start this little adventure with a quick lesson on ambition.  As the time to start my leave drew near, I started to really pump myself up.  I started a note in my iPhone to keep track of all the things I was going to get done...
  1. Rebuild my MTB wheels
  2. Get the new piston in the XL350
  3. Get a filing cabinet and organize our important documents
  4. Build a bookshelf for the office
  5. Etc, etc...
The list literally goes on and on.  Plus, I am still in class so studying is also a huge priority.  I couldn't wait to start cracking away at all the things I have been putting off.  I was going to have SO MUCH FREE TIME of course.  "I wasn't going to have to work for over 2 months" I thought to myself...  

"Ohh, and I'll take care of Nolan too while doing all these other things"

WRONG.

Let's rewind.  Meg and I are very sarcastic with each other all the time.  Pretty much every day after getting home from work for the last 3 months, I would say to Meg "Man, what did you do all day? watch Oprah?" 

Back to present.  Let's take a look at what "Mr. Ambitious" accomplished this Wednesday.  I was supposed to:
  1. Go to the bank
  2. Go grocery shopping
  3. Do Nolan's laundry
  4. Take the dog for a walk
  5. Etc.
Here is what I actually got done:
1. Went to the laundry room to get laundry basket.

 2. I Moved laundry basket upstairs to Nolan's room.


Whallah! Boom! Shazam!
In 8 hours, I literally moved an empty laundry basket up one flight of stairs and left it there.
Meg walked in the door, I was still in sweatpants, Nolan was still in his pajamas from the night before, and no chores had been done.

 Meg was AAAA-MAZED.

Apparently, taking care of a baby is a little more work than I thought...  We had been talking about nicknaming Nolan "LJ" for Little Jon.  I have now started calling him "TW" for Time Warp, because I have no idea where the time goes when staying home with him...

But I have to say, even though he keeps me crazy busy, he is pretty darn awesome:


So, keep your fingers crossed, and maybe by the time of my next post I will have been able to change myself out of sweatpants...


Monday, October 11, 2010

Falltabulous Recipe: Apple Spice Bundt Cake

       For me vacation means coffee, eating, lounging, and a bit more coffee. In that particular order. And Fall lounging brings this to a whole new level. If you read about our trip to Graeagle, you saw that we spent our mornings in our cabin next to the fire with our coffee. I failed to mention that we were enjoying a delicious breakfast treat along with our caffeine fix. Before we headed out of town on friday and in the mood to celebrate fall's bounty, I whipped us up an Apple Spice Bundt Cake. I love breakfast breads, cakes and pastries and Fall is the perfect time to celebrate that love. The mornings in Graeagle were chilly, and this bundt cake pared with a fire was the perfect fix. 
After dicing up some apples, 
I combined them with my favorite seasonal spices. 
Cinnamon, Nutmeg, and Cloves.
Here's the beauty before I popped her into the oven to bake up. 
Oh, and yes...we ate the whole bundt cake in the span of two days. 
By ourselves. 
Oh, the guilt.
So get in your kitchen, 
and fix up your own Apple Spice goodness.
You won't regret it. 
This recipe was adapted from 
Uncle Bob's Fresh Apple Cake, found on Paula Deen's website.
I opted out of the glaze 
(I had intended to create a glaze of my own, but I I ran out of time),
 didn't include the nuts, and added a few extra spices. 
3 cups diced Granny Smith apples, about 2 apples
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon cloves
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups sugar
1 1/4 cups vegetable oil
3 eggs
Directions

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Lightly grease a Bundt pan or tube pan.
In a bowl, mix together the apples, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, and salt.
Using an electric mixer beat the sugar, oil, and eggs in a large bowl. Add in the dry ingredients and beat until completely combined. Fold in the apple mixture.
Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 1 hour and 30 minutes or until a tester inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean.
Allow the cake to fully cool in the pan, about 1 hour, and then turn it out onto a plate.
Now, most importantly, light the fire, pour yourself a good cup of joe, and enjoy!

Friday, October 8, 2010

3 Months

        Where the heck have the past 3 months gone? Seriously. Where. The. Heck. It is so cliched to admit, but as the saying goes, time has flown by. This week I had to make adjustments to Nolan's closet, moving all of his newborn outfits out and filling those hangers with 3-6 month clothing. He is literally growing out of outfits on a daily basis. He currently loves looking into mirrors, has started to enjoy being read to, and looks for me as I leave the room (cue my heart melting) He is still completely exhausting, but his increasing adorableness helps us to bear it. At some moments, I literally want to eat him up. 
Here are a few photo moments from our recent session. 
Maybe if you're having a bad day, 
this face will help to make things just a tad bit better. 




Yes, those are shoes on those feet. 
(Thanks Erin!)
Jon thinks that when he holds his arms out straight, 
with his hands in fists that he looks like he's riding a bike. 
Kinda like this...
And my smarty pants husband also figured out a way to
help Nolan with practicing to hold his head up.
It just so happens to create a lot of adorable photo moments.
       This is my last post before heading back to the real world. I'll gladly admit, that this comfy at-home-world has been fabulous for the past thirteen weeks (although equally as exhausting). I CANNOT wait to hear about the adventures of Jonny and Nolan after I head back to work. I'm half expecting to walk in the door the first week to a crying dad, exhausted from his new stay-at-home gig. A certain husband of mine may be doing some guest blogging while he's filling in at home as well, so I apologize in advance if any posts on motorcycles, cars, or the principles of fire appear in the near future. 

Wednesday, October 6, 2010

Fall Excursion: Graeagle

       Jon and I are very fortunate to live in Tahoe and sometimes it seems a bit ridiculous, even to us, that we feel the need to getaway. More odd is the fact that often we like to escape to places in the mountains, visit sierra lakes, or to small towns. Apparently we just can't get enough of the great outdoors. Our getaway this past weekend is a great example.
       On Friday we packed our truck to its seams and headed out for our second annual fall trip to Graeagle. Last year was the first time that we stayed at the charming Feather River Resort Park after we were invited by friends. And this is where it gets a bit confusing. There is a local softball team that has a tradition of staying at this resort on the first weekend of October, and they've done so for the past twenty years. We happened to be invited by a friend of ours last year, and we were lucky enough to be invited  back this year. The weekend tradition includes a pot luck BBQ, fun golf tournament, an awards dinner, and the consumption of many adult beverages. I told Jon that we could return this year if he was on his best behavior. 
       Their tradition happens to fall on our wedding anniversary. Yes, that's right. For the past two years, we have shared our wedding anniversary with forty of our nearest and dearest (well, in actuality their a group of people that we're just getting to know). Intimate, isn't it? This year we were also celebrating Nolan's 3 month birthday, mourning the near end to my maternity leave, and Jon was in desperate need of a break from his hectic schedule. Last year the weather threatened to rain and snow on us, but this time around we were spoiled by 80 degree temperatures. Mark this place down as beautiful places to visit during the fall, and the perfect respite away from home.
The resort is comprised of cabins set along a 9-hole golf course. 
Our cabin sat along the fairway, offering views galore. 

The cabins are rustic, but they have charm to spare. 

And include a hammock on the porch.
One of the best parts about the tradition is that 
we are literally the only people there.
Which helps you to take in all the great surroundings.

And the timing of this weekend 
coincides with fall foliage perfectly.
We spent our mornings 
drinking coffee,
sitting by the fire, 
and walking. 



 As I mentioned, there was a golf tournament on Saturday. 
This year, everyone was encouraged to dress up. 
Since I was on baby duty while everyone played, 
I opted out of the costume.
Somehow Jon looked even skinnier 
and younger then normal in his garb.
And a huge bonus to being the only people 
around is that rules don't apply. 
i.e., Dogs rule the place, 
Golf foursomes become sevensomes, 
and 6 to a golf cart is just fine.
While everyone golfed, me and the boys rested.
On Saturday we headed out to the 
awards dinner with some apprehension.
We weren't sure how Nolan would handle
 the loud dinner party and late night. 
We only lasted about 15 minutes 
before it became clear that it was a bit too overwhelming for Nolan. 
So we politely excused ourselves, 
picked up a pizza and headed back to our cabin. 
After Nolan was tucked into bed, 
we enjoyed a quiet late dinner together.
Not a bad consolation prize. 
Not bad at all.
On Sunday morning we woke up to rain drops on our porch.
It was a cozy break from the warm weather we had had. 
As we made the drive home, the rain continued.
And it literally hasn't stopped yet. 
Last year, as we drove away from Graeagle, Autumn was ushered
in by the first snowflakes of the year. 
This year it came in the form of a great thunder and lightning storm.
We love the Graeagle area and I love tradition. 
I'm hoping to being an annual tradition of bringing all of our Tahoe 
friends up there for a relaxing weekend. 

And in case you wondered, Jon did not behave.