My Handsome Cook

My Dad is caring for my ailing Aunt Nell, his sister. She is slowly dying from congestive heart failure and requires more care than a newborn. She is anxious to go, to be with her husband, who passed away last summer.

Prior to her worsening, my Dad was bringing us soup once a week. Daniel and I love soup, although my specialty has always been high-fiber bean soups. Dad's specialty is chicken noodle soup, which is addicting, I must say. We missed it, so Daniel and I set about making a big pot of our own. I really didn't think I would be able to pull it off; Anna Grace kept waking frequently every time I would rock her to sleep and put her down in her infant seat. Since she won't sleep on her back, the infant seat is her napping place until she can roll over and use her crib for belly sleeping.

Anyway, Daniel wasn't happy with the delay, so he set about making the soup himself. Surprisingly, he had the maturity to wash and slice all the veggies. I was pleasantly surprised. He absolutely loves to cook, just like his Daddy. Don finds cooking relaxing. If I didn't get interrupted every five minutes, I would enjoy it as well. The soup finally made it to completion. Pretty good for our first try. Next time I need to use a lot more broth. We sacrificed some taste using the lower-sodium broth, so I'll have to research what other spices will work to jazz it up.

Anna Grace had her two-month check up today. She gained 2.5 pounds over the past month, transforming her from a scawny-looking 5.9 newborn, to a full-cheeked, full-thighed young lady. Mind you, she was born with literally no fat at all. It's a transfer that works for me - from my thighs to her thighs with love! lol I've still got nine pounds to go, to fit into any of my regular clothing. I find that having to wear my coat everywhere makes for pretty convenient coverage. All my babies were winter babes, luckily.


Emily Rose got her stitches out today as well. The doctor said the ER did a great job; he predicts no scarring. Thank you, Lord! He did recommend sunscreen, even in the car, to keep it from getting discolored, as well as the same over-the-counter scar cream that Stephanie and Margie recommended. Thank you, ladies, for the great advice!

I am working on labeling all my old posts. So far, I've only gotten through last November, 2008. If you have a newer blog, I would really recommend tagging your posts now, rather than later. Having to do all the catch up is a huge pain. Just go to "post options" at the bottom of your typing screen and enter the tags you want for each post. Blogger tallies the labels and places them as a link on your blog. If you click on "show all", all your personalized labels show up and you then just have to click on the labels that fit your post for that day, or you add a new label. Pretty neat. It makes it easier for your readers, or for you, to find old recipe posts or other informational posts.