Can you find Sydney??

I stayed home with Sydney today since she was so sick yesterday. She and I were up several times in the night but overall I think she is doing well today. We have spent the day watching baby Einstein videos, reading books, painting, and doing crafts with stickers. Sydney finally agreed to a tubby when I showed her she had purple paint in her hair. After rocking and singing a few songs she decided she wanted to sleep in her tent instead of her bed. I put her pillow and blanket in with her and let her fall asleep. When I went up to check on her this picture shows what I found. So sweet. I did not let her sleep with any of her babies or doggies last night for fear that she would vomit on them but I guess she just had to have them ALL for her nap.

My poor baby

Sydney is sick...I got the dreaded call this afternoon from daycare saying Sydney was throwing up and running a fever. So after wrapping things up with my last patient I race from the office only to be confronted with rain. Of course not just rain but the kind that goes horizontal! When I get to the daycare one of her teachers is holding her and she just looks so pale. Now we are home and in the last 1.5 hours my child has said 1 word, this is not my Sydney. She just fell asleep and I am washing her clothes and getting something to eat. Now that I am working in pediatrics I tell parents daily that their children have a virus and it will run its course. As a parent this is so frustrating, I wish there was a medication I could give her to make her feel better. Instead I can only hold her, and tell her she will be better soon. Does she understand?? So I guess for the next day or so we will be at home snuggled up trying to get well.

Books, books and more books!

Today is my half day so I am home working on projects, laundry and cleaning. One of my projects for today was to organize Sydney's books. I recently moved a bookshelf from our office up to her bedroom and I needed to reorganize all her books. Just out of curiosity I counted her books, 89! Wow, I think that is a lot of books for one 2 year old. Mom 9 of them are Christmas books. Sydney has loved to listen to stories from day 1, she has always been willing to sit still for a story. Some of her favorites lately have been Jack and the Beanstalk (she walks around the house saying FEE FI FO FUM!), Goodnight Maine, Curious George books, and Polar Bear Polar Bear. I hope that she will always have a passion for books!

Sunday Cooking

On Sunday afternoons I can usually be found in the kitchen cooking several dishes at one time. I love to cook and bake and I am limited with what I can make during the week due to time. I usually clean and chop vegetables for dishes during the week so that I can get dinner on the table faster on week nights. Today Sydney and I made a black bean soup for dinner tonight (new recipe that I will post if its a hit), oatmeal cookies for the week, chopped vegetables for a beef stew, and made pimento cheese for lunches. I come from a long line of cooks and bakers. My grandma and grandpa Sandera both enjoy being in the kitchen and cooking, my mom and dad both cook, several of my aunts are great cooks and bakers. One of the character traits that I hope to pass to Sydney is the love of cooking and baking. This afternoon she enjoyed helping put cookies on the baking stone. She loves to help wash beans and then wants to keep checking on them as they soak to see if they are getting bigger. I have so many fond memories of being with family in the kitchen and I hope to pass those on to my children. I have one memory that is rather comical. I used to love to bake and of course since I am a talker I would pretend to have my own cooking show and talk into the spoon for a microphone. I can remember standing on a chair in my parents kitchen making brownies and lecturing about how important it is to clean the kitchen as you prepare your food. I will probably never have my own cooking show but I certainly enjoy preparing food for friends and family.

Southern Soup

Tonight we had a new soup for dinner. I created the recipe yesterday afternoon while we were all home due to the snow. I think it is safe to say that I had never eaten collards until we moved to North Carolina. I think collards are okay as a side dish but wonderful in soups! Sydney loved the soup especially the beans!

1/4 package of smoked sausage, cut bite size
1/2 can collard greens
1 can northern beans or cannelloni beans
2 cans of chicken stock
1 can stewed tomatoes
1/2 onion
cumin
crushed red pepper flakes
pepper

I cooked onion, and smoked sausage in small amount of olive oil in a large stock pot for 3-4 minutes. Then I added 1/8-1/4 tsp of crushed red pepper flakes and a dash or two of cumin. Add collard greens, beans, chicken stock and tomatoes. Bring to boil and then simmer 15 minutes. Add pepper and salt to taste, Enjoy. This recipe served our family of 3 and we had a small amount of left overs.

Snow in North Carolina

Today was a snow day! Snow is not a huge deal to us since I am from Michigan and Bill is from Indiana, however in NC kids pray for snow. This morning we woke up and we had a few inches of white fluffy snow! My office closed for the day and daycare was also closed. Bill did not have an appointment until late in the day so we bundled up and went out to play. Sydney enjoyed brushing snow off our landscaping rocks and also the from the front steps. She helped daddy shovel the driveway and sidewalks. When we came inside she had her first taste of hot chocolate, yummy.

First Blog

Well here we go this is my first blog. I have been considering creating a blog for a while and I keep telling myself I just do not have the time. As you can see I have never been one to admit defeat. So I may not have time to post daily or even every other day but who said there are rules to blogging. Since we live far from all of our family and many of our friends I feel this is a good way to keep everyone up to date.