Five Minute Video of Mo's Facial Expressions... aaawwww....

Bread and Blessings

I recently found a spare few minutes (Mo took a long nap in his swing!) and made this delicious Blueberry Zucchini Bread and wanted to share the recipe.
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Blueberry Zucchini Bread

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1/4 cup packed light brown sugar

1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp. coarse sea salt

1/2 tsp. baking powder

3 eggs

3/4 cup canola oil

1 tsp. pure vanilla extract

2 cups shredded zucchini

1 cup blueberries

2 Tbs. turbinado sugar (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degree F. Lightly coat the bottoms of 4 5-inch loaf pans with cooking spray; set aside.

In a large bowl combine flours, sugars, soda, cinnamon, salt, and baking powder; set aside. In a separate bowl combine eggs, oil, and vanilla and mix well. Add to flour mixture and stir until combined. Gently stir in the zucchini and then the blueberries. Spoon batter into prepared pans and sprinkle with turbinado sugar, if desired. Bake about 40 minutes or until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center of each comes out clean. Allow to cool in pan 10 minutes before removing. Serve warm or cool completely before slicing.

(Recipe courtesy of Parents Magazine)

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I think I had the extra energy to make the bread (after doing the laundry, feeding Mo, changing Mo, cleaning the bathroom, feeding Mo, changing Mo, sweeping and mopping the floor, feeding Mo, changing Mo...)  BECAUSE I got to spend a few days at my parents' cabin outside of Estes Park.  Their home recharges your soul and the mountain air invigorates your very being.  Here's a pic of their "backyard":

Here's "Meemaw" holding the wee babe:

And here's sweet baby Mo after having a bath at the cabin because he had an epic blow-out while Meemaw was holding him!  Even the grossest poops aren't that bad when you look at that sweet face! 

SOOOO BIG!!!!!

Mo can now smile, laugh, stick out his tongue, grab for toys and raise his arms up for "SOOOO BIG!!"  Ooh!  and I'd forgotten to mention that he's already attended his first concert:

He hung out in a sling the whole time and loved it!  What an easy baby he is!  He's definitely a music fan already!!



Baby, baby, BABY OH!!!

Well well well, it's been a lllllloooooonnnnnngggggg time since I've been on this blog because I've been busy being MADLY IN LOVE WITH OUR WEE BABY BOY!! 

Morrison Christopher Hugo Tuck

He was born April 18, 2011 weighing 6 pounds and 7 ounces and measuring 19.5 inches.  We had an exciting delivery as he came earlier than our scheduled c-section -- lucky for me I got to experience several hours of labor and my water breaking, it was the full deal! 

As you can imagine I haven't been especially crafty lately but others HAVE been crafty in honor of Baby Mo.  This quilt my sister ("Auntie Em") made for him:

This handmade lovely features bold, vintage-inspired and tribal prints, animals (including owls, elephants and the cuddly sock monkey!) and is bordered by sky-blue satin.  I'm actually jealous of my son.  :)

And this quilt was made for Mo by my friend Lara ("Auntie Lala") in Seattle:

I am adoring the color scheme and the Asian-inspired prints!  I'm wondering if Mo actually needs two quilts... maybe he'll share with me...  :)

Mo is now seven weeks old and I'm nearing the end of my maternity leave -- except that we got REAL CRAZY and moved to Colorado during my leave and I had to give my notice to quit my job at the  newspaper where I worked since 2006.  Now I'm  in the process of figuring out what the heck to do next to earn our little family some supplemental income.  Nate is blessed to have been hired at the City of Westminster and has a job he likes and now it's my turn!  I'm loath to leave our baby at a daycare when it's so expensive (financially and emotionally) so am currently seeking work-from-home options... let me know if you have any ideas! 

Here are some pics of my little sunshine: