At Home with Zade

"I've got my boys!"

Picture perfect close up.

It's worth having a king size bed just so there are room for babies...and moments like these.

Holding Zade for the first time.

Brothers meeting- first time, Friday morning.

Introducing....

Zadek Edward Dean was born at 2:50 pm, Thursday, February 18 after a quick 8 hour delivery and a speedy 4 push entrance into the world. He weighed in at 8lbs, 12 oz and is 21 inches long. It was another wonderful waterbirth and we were blessed to have the same amazing midwife that we had with Dace. We came home that night and both mama and baby are doing well. Zade is eating (and pooping) like a champ and Dace is in love with the newest member of our family. We are so grateful to have another well-mannered, strong, healthy, beautiful son. More pictures to follow soon.

Zadek is Hebrew and means 'righteous one' .

I Looked Out My Window and What Did I See....

Snow covered roof tops behind the palm trees!

It just doesn't look right, does it? Dallin and I woke up last night around 1am to what sounded like drunken screaming banchees of teenagers. We were both ticked at how loud they were. Dallin won the vote to go yell at them (we have been getting a lot of late night loud hooligans in this area lately) and when he looked outside, everything was white. No wonder they were carrying on so! It could have been their first exposure to snow. So we let them play and they simmered down soon enough. By the time we got up this morning, most of it had melted away. It's been over a decade since this part of the country has seen snow. Maybe it's an omen. Perhaps this half-Canadian boy will grace us with his presence this weekend.

Oh and did I mention I'm still pregnant? Mmm hmmm....

My Son's A Ham

But he sure looks good in blue!

Buttons

Dace and I have twin belly buttons these days. We both have juicy outies. Mine enters a room before the rest of me. He loves comparing the two and gets a kick out of pushing his little finger into mine before giving brother zerberts. I think belly buttons on a pregnant woman are like the popups on a turkey- Bing! Baby's done! Now someone tell him that. We are so ready to get this show on the road.

ps- yes, it's true. I have no stretch marks. Yes I have a secret and yes I will share it- Udo's 3-6-9 Oil. I take 2 spoonfuls of it every morning of my pregnancy. Yup, ya gotta drink it, not rub it on. Added Bonus- it makes smart, alert and attentive babies. It's amazing brain food for them and works wonders for your own skin. Udo's- it's the right choice. (insert cheesy smile and wink here). And no, I'm not paid for this endorsement.

The bliss of a Whipped Cream Beater

It has taken many baking sessions and numerous friendly encouraging words to finally convince Dace of the awesomeness of licking the beater. Today, I simply put it in front of him and went about building the pie. In a matter of minutes, loud esctatic sounds of Mmmmmmm!!!!! were coming from his side of the counter and they were repeated every time he tasted the fresh whipped cream.

So what kind of pie was I building? Only the best banana cream pie I have ever had. I got a hankering for it a while ago and this is the 3rd one I have made in the last month. It seems to be the new tradition to share said pie with our friends Emily and Craig so we had them over for dinner so that we could eat the pie together. Yeah we polish the whole thing off minus the tiniest sliver left over. And this one was the best one yet. I have attached the recipe below for all those wanting and needing a piece of what you see before you. So, so good!!!!

This is a recipe I found on allrecipes.com and just made a few changes. Enjoy! It's the best I've ever had!
Ingredients:

3 Tbsp cornstarch

1/4 tsp. salt

1 1/2 C. water

1/2 can of EAGLE BRAND sweetened condensed milk

3 egg yolks, beaten

2 Tbsp. butter

2 tsp. vanilla

1 (9 inch) prepared graham cracker crust

4 medium bananas

lemon juice

whipped cream

1. In a heavy saucepan, mix the cornstarch and salt with water. whisk together over medium heat. Whisk in the condensed milk and egg yolks. whisk over medium heat until thickened, about the consistency of pudding then remove from heat. Stir in butter and vanilla and set aside to cool completely (about 45 minutes- stirring it occasionally helps it to cool sooner).

2. Sprinkle a bit of lemon juice onto a plate and slice your bananas onto it. Give them a toss so they are lightly coated in the juice. You only need a little bit of juice! This is to prevent browning and no, it won't affect the flavor. if it does, you have used too much.

3. Spread half the custard into the pie crust. Arrange the banana slices on top of the custard then top with other half of custard. Spread a layer of whipped cream on top and you're done. I like to add a bit of shaved dark chocolate on top for extra pizzazz and flavor.

Bon Appetit!!!