I am SO bad at this blogging thing!

Theo's check up with the cardiologist went well!  The doctor reported that he does not need intervention at this time but will need to return in 3 years for a check up! Yay!

Waiting for the doctor.

We are so thankful for the positive news.  I know there are many families who haven't been so lucky and my thoughts and prayers are with them all.

Hugs, Missy

Besides being born a giant and having his blood sugar monitored every 4 hours for the first 24 hours of life, Theo was the picture of health at birth and at his subsequent few check ups.

At his 10 day check up, the pediatrician did her normal thing and while listening to his heart she muttered "Yep, I can still hear the murmur."  She had not mentioned the murmur in the previous 2 appointments, and no one at the hospital heart it.  So, I immediately lost it.  It was the first appointment I was at without Dave and I was full of hormones (and rage, at this point). "Oh, I didn't mention it last time?" was her response to me when I asked WHAT MURMUR?!

She suggested we go see a pediatric cardiologist, but we "could also wait if we wanted".  Um, does this seem like a decision we should be making?  Needless to say, I quickly scheduled a 2nd opinion with a different pediatrician (in a different office).  Our new pediatrician (whom I LOVE), also heard the murmur and described it as "harsh", and while it is common for babies to have a heart murmur early in life, this one didn't sound the same as those, so he said we should go to the pediatric cardiologist.

We went to A.I. duPont Children's hospital September 9, 2014 to have his little heart checked out.  He had an EKG first, and we were told that the doctor would discuss those results with us right away and we'd stay for an echo cardiogram if there were concerns.  Well, there were concerns so we did the echo right then.

Theo during the EKG. September 2014

Theo was diagnosed with 2 heart defects:
Patent foramen ovale (PFO)
Pulmonary valve stenosis (PS)

The PFO diagnosis is the "common" cause of a murmur.  It is basically a small hole between the upper chambers of the heart.  It typically closes during infancy, but if it doesn't, it usually does not cause any life impacts.

The PS is the more serious cause, though Theo's is a mild form and will likely not cause an issue.  Basically, the valve that pumps blood from the heart to the lungs is thickened, so the blood creates a murmur when it is forced through the valve. 

Theo waiting for the doctor September 2014.

We were ordered to return for a check up in 6 months.  If the PS has worsened at all, Theo will need a procedure to increase the size of the valve.  If the condition has stayed the same or gotten better, he will not need intervention but we will likely have to return for check ups every 2 years until it is gone. 

Hanging out with Abbey at home after the visit to the cardiologist. September 2014.

The anxiety leading up to the first visit with the cardiologist was extreme.  I was so worried about my otherwise healthy baby.  The diagnosis was the very best we could have hoped for.  I know the situation could be much, much worse, so we are very thankful that there was not a bigger issue.  His follow up appointment is tomorrow, March 10th.

We are praying that the issues have corrected themselves and that Theo will not need a procedure of any sort.  I will post an update after his appointment.

 For dinner, we went to a restaurant that had this "all you can eat menu" for $15!  It was such a deal!  Although we ingested no vegetables all day and a lot of raw seafood, it was delicious!!



Sunday morning we got home to more snow and mild temperatures so we built Theo his first snowman!  It was nice to get outside and get a little sunshine.


Hope you all had an enjoyable weekend!

Dave worked late last night so I decided to go on an adventure with my new kitchen-aid mixer (best birthday gift, everrrrr!).

I LOVE soft pretzels but have always felt that it's too much work to make them at home.  Turns out, there are a lot of steps making it feel like work but the results were worth it for me.  I couldn't wouldn't have done this without the stand mixer.  Even though it only would have been 5-7 minutes of hand kneading, ain't nobody got time for that.  Being able to slap on that dough hook and let it do the work for me was a major bonus.


I'm not going to type out the recipe, you can find it here.  I pretty much followed it exactly except I used the brown sugar instead of barley malt syrup (who has that anyway?).  Also, I only had kosher salt so I used that which is why you can't see the salt on my pretzels.  But trust me, it's there.  The salt is probably my favorite part of the pretzel.  From start to eat, these pretzels took me a little less than 2 hours.  But, half of that time was letting the dough rest. 


I enjoyed rolling out the dough and doing the pretzel flip like I used to love watching at Auntie Anne's.  I think next time I'll either do bites or twists.  Or maybe make a couple bigger ones.  The options are endless!

Happy pretzeling!

So, I deactivated my Facebook account last night.  As much as I do see the advantages of being able to interact with hundreds of people in the click of a button, I was just starting to get the nagging feeling that it was bringing me down and ultimately, wasting my time.

I don't know how long I'll stay away, but I'm also trying to detach myself from my smartphone and even the tv too.  It's time to read more books, do more crafts, roll around on the floor with the dogs and Theo, and spend better quality time with Dave. 

I'm not sure how many friends and family followed me over here to this blog, but this is how I'll post pictures and update about what's going on in our lives for now. 


ANYWAY.

Valentine's Day weekend was nothing over the top in our house.  We've never really celebrated it as a holiday, but Dave did get me a sweet card and some of my favorite candy =)

This was the first weekend in a long time that we didn't have plans and there was nothing to hunt!  So we spent the time just hanging out. 

Abbey absolutely loves this kid!

Bundled up to take a trip to the grocery store!

Snuggling with daddy before bed Sunday night.

Genny on her 5th birthday

I'm sure there are many, many articles similar to this one about losing a dog, but I read this one this morning and it touched me.  So, although we have 2 dogs in our home, we each had one before we were married.  Today, I'd like to share a little about the dog that was "mine" before she was "ours", Genny.

Abbey and Genny, circa 2012

I decided to get a puppy when I started my graduate position at UD.  The position required me to first move to Cambridge, MD (October 2009) to work as a technician for 3 months and then move to Milton, DE in January to start my research.  I knew I'd be alone 95% of the time and that this was a great time to get a dog.  I've always been a fan of rescue dogs, in fact our family dog, Shelly, was a rescue and she was by far the greatest dog I've ever known.  But, I was just getting into hunting and I wanted to get a lab that could eventually be a hunting buddy. 

September 18, 2009

I searched for a while and eventually found AKC labs in Kirkwood, PA that were born on July 19, 2009.  Dave and I visited to make sure it wasn't a puppy mill, and it certainly was not.  The pups were all in a backyard with their mother and "aunt".  When we visited there was a huge black male puppy who I nearly chose.  Until I met the little yellow one who was calm and already fetching perfectly.  We picked her up and she let us pinch her toes and hold her upside down (good ways to check to see if a dog will make a good hunting dog).  She was really a sweetheart and I knew then that she'd be coming home with me.

Genny's first Christmas and Shelly

The lady informed me that the puppy I chose was a "dudley" as far as AKC standards were concerned meaning she has yellow hair but chocolate lab genes for pigmentation of her eyes and nose.  The yellow lab "standard" is brown/dark eyes and black nose.  So, Genny is still considered a pure-bred labrador but would not be able to be a "show" dog.  Didn't bother me!

October 2009

Dave and I picked Genny up on September 18, 2009 and brought her home to live in Dave's apartment for a couple weeks before I moved to Cambridge.  She is named after the beer from NY, Genesee Cream Ale for several reasons.  It's a tasty beer, Abbey is also named after a NY beer, and the colors of the can were similar to her colors.  Abbey was not a fan of this new addition who wanted to play NONSTOP.  Abbey is a laid back dog and the hyper activity that was Genny (and still is) didn't mesh with her idea of a good time.  However, she got used to it and now they are truly great friends who even occasionally share a pillow at bedtime. =)

Playing at Broadkill Beach, DE, circa 2011

Good dog.  Circa 2011

Genny is a really good dog.  She learned to ring a bell to go outside very quickly and was generally very easy to train.  She's a great retriever and absolutely loves to run and swim and fetch.  She's easily the fastest swimmer I've ever seen and would probably drown other dogs just to get the stick.  Her favorite toy is by far the frisbee, we can't even say the word without her going absolutely nuts.  Genny is really a quirky dog though, because she is afraid of nearly everything.  I know it's my fault, she heard a gunshot too early on in life and now is pretty skittish.  She even flinches when you pour food into her stainless steel bowl, even though it has happened 2 times a day, every day, for her entire life!  I still think we could get her used to a gunshot and she'd be a great hunting dog, but she's 5.5 years old now and we haven't taken her once.  This year's season just wrapped up, so maybe we'll work on it and try it next year.  Regardless, she's a great dog and we love her so much.

Today, our son is 6 months old!!

So hard to believe that time has passed so fast.  It really seems like just yesterday we brought this little squish home.  We didn't think he was so little at the time, born at a whopping 9 pounds 1 ounce, but looking back he WAS tiny (at least compared to now)!  We are guessing he's around 20 pounds these days (his 6 month check up is next week).

Barely 1 day old.

A little about his personality:
He still isn't a big fan of tummy time even though he's always been able to hold his head up really well.  He'll lay there and play and look around quite a bit and then starts to fuss.  He's rolled over from tummy to back several times (a few weeks ago) but hasn't seemed to realize he can do it whenever he wants to.  He can sit up by himself and only tumbles backwards occasionally now.  He is such a happy, easy-going baby.  Always full of giggles and has a big smile on his face.  He sleeps awesome, typically 7 pm - 7 am every night and a couple short naps during the day!  No teeth yet, but we keep thinking they'll show up any day - he constantly drools and spits and sputters.

His namesakes: We chose the name Theodore after our 26th President, Theodore Roosevelt.  Roosevelt was a naturalist and did great things for this country in the way of conservation which is important to Dave and I.  He gets his middle name, Chester, from Dave's grandfather.

Theo and Dave's grandfather, Chester!

Everyday is a new adventure with this little guy, and we're so excited for his future and to watch him grow.   There really is no love like this love.  Even on the hard days, you can't help but smile at this face.  We love you, Theo!


With a full heart,
Missy

(Oh my, I forgot to hit "Publish" last week!!  I'm still learning!)

This week's topic a very cool falcon.  I won't rehash the life history of the bird, you can find that info here.  The American Kestrel (AMKE) is in decline throughout most of its range due to habitat loss.  One of the things we can do to help the AMKE is provide suitable nestboxes in high quality habitat to encourage successful breeding.  Providing new nestboxes and monitoring the AMKE is one of the projects I am starting on the farm where I work.  Last year, we had a bird attempt to nest in an old, broken down nestbox that was put up about 20 years ago.  The box ended up getting taken over by starlings and I am unsure of the fate of the nest.

This is a (horrible) picture of an AMKE with eggs in our old nestbox.

This winter, the guys at the farm have been working to build 3 new AMKE boxes.  I was able to catch up with someone I went to grad school with who now works in Ohio and has been apart of an initiative to put up AMKE boxes to help the population.  She pointed me in the right direction for some good information.




We may do some trapping and banding of the resident AMKEs on the farm and I'll also be monitoring these 3 boxes throughout the summer.  Stay tuned for updates on these awesome birds!

Happy birding,
Missy

Dave and I are avid hunters and typically freeze many cuts of meat each year.  Because of how much meat we store, we have a stand up freezer in addition to our regular fridge/freezer.  Freezing so much of our stockpile is slightly risky because if something were to happen to the freezer or power for too long, we'd lose it all.  My brother is also an avid hunter and introduced us to canning meat to have another storage option.

The downfall to canning meat is it does not have as much versatility when it comes to cooking but it is still very delicious.  Canned meat does not really hold the cube shape so it can't be skewered or stir-fried in the way frozen cubed meat can.  The meat is fully cooked in the can and ends up being very tender and more like a shredded meat.  Regardless, we still find plenty of good uses for canned meat - pasta, chili, casseroles, stews, sauteed with some onions, etc.

Here's how we do it:

First, cut the meat into about 1 inch cubes.

Then, sterilize the lids and jars in boiling water.


After everything is prepped, stuff the jars with the cubed meat.  You should really pack the meat tightly to minimize how much empty space there is. 

Hubs packing jars, he's so dreamy ;-)

This is how the jars should look once packed.   We found that approximately 2 lbs of cubed venison will fit in a quart jar.

Once the jars are packed, put a lid on each one and into the pressure canner!  Following the directions on the pressure canner, vent steam and then bring the pressure up to 10-15 lbs and keep it there for 90 minutes.



 




After the 90 minutes, allow the canner to cool off and the pressure to release.  Remove the jars (carefully, don't tip them!), and allow them to cool on the counter.  Listen and then check for each jar's seal to pop.  If a seal does not pop, store the meat in the refrigerator and use within a week.  Otherwise, store in a pantry!

Finished product

Happy canning!
Missy

The themed-day-of-the-week post seems to a common blog thing, so I'm going to try it out!  I'm calling this series Wildlife Wednesdays.  I'll do my best each Wednesday to bring you some bit of information about wildlife or something nature-y.  Not only is this a topic that I love and consider a hobby, but it's also my career.  I received my M.S. in Wildlife Ecology from the University of Delaware and I currently work on restoring habitat on a privately owned farm.  Feel free to comment with questions or suggestions for topics that you might want to learn more about!


In honor of the cold weather, let's talk about a very common misconception about polar bears and penguins.  Although the wintertime pictures of polar bears and penguins together are adorable, the truth is they live on opposite ends of the Earth and would never naturally cross paths!



Polar bears are restricted to the cold climate in the Arctic; they are found in Alaska, Canada, Greenland, Norway, and Russia.  They rely on the Arctic sea ice to hunt seals.  See a range map and read more about polar bears here.

Photo taken by me during study abroad trip to Antarctica.

Penguins are only found in the southern hemisphere.  Unlike polar bears, penguins are not limited to cold climates.  Some species of penguin live in Antarctica while others live in warmer climates such as those found in parts of Africa, South America, Australia, and New Zealand.  See a range map and read more about penguins here.








Happy hump day!
Missy

I'm blessed with a husband who can cook, and chili is one of his specialties that he has taught me! We love to make this chili, especially during the fall and winter.

So, I don't really ever call this "Choose Your Own Adventure Chili", but as I was making it the other day I realized that you really can make this recipe in so many ways, it may as well be choose your own adventure!  I'm sharing the recipe as I made it recently and along the way I'll let you know where you can change it up (which is pretty much everywhere)!

Ingredients:

• 1 lb. ground venison (or less. or more. or shredded. or cubed. or beef. or chicken. or turkey. or none. you get the point.
• 1 onion (or none. or 2. whatever)
• any combination of any peppers you like, this time I used:
• 1 green bell pepper
• 2 anaheim peppers 
• 1 jalapeno pepper

1 can (14-15 oz.) of each:

• diced tomatoes
• sliced stewed tomatoes
• red kidney beans (drained and rinsed)
• black eyed peas (drained and rinsed)
• black beans (drained and rinsed)
• chili beans
• small can tomato paste (and I usually only use half of it)

The number of cans of tomatoes and beans is totally up to you.  Sometimes I use baked beans, butter beans, pinto beans, whatevvvvvvv.  I just use what we have on hand or what's on sale.  I typically stick with 2-3 cans of tomatoes (diced or stewed), and 4-6 cans of beans.

Spices - you can alter the amounts of all of these, but I really think the combination of them is what gives that good chili flavor.  So, even if you don't like it spicy, a dash of cayenne isn't going to hurt anyone.  I gave a mild suggestion for measurements.

• Salt (1 tsp)
• Pepper (1/2 tsp)
• Cayenne (1/2 tsp)
• Cumin (2 tsp)
• Oregano (1 tsp)
• Chili powder (1 tbsp)
• Garlic powder (1 tsp)

Chop the onion and peppers, toss into a skillet with some olive oil, salt and pepper.
(or don't. I'd suggest chopping them, but you don't have to cook them first if you don't want.)

Brown the meat, Open (and drain/rinse if necessary) all cans of tomatoes and beans (except the paste!), dump them all into a crock pot.

Add the onion, peppers, and meat to the crock pot.  Add the spices.  Stir.
Crock pot for 4-12 hours.  I try to do 6 hours on high.  If it's going to cook longer than 8 hours I put it on low.

I add half of the tomato paste about 4 hours in (or whenever is convenient), give it a good stir and taste.  Then I add more spices if I want.


And for some reason I don't have a picture of the final product...so I'll add that later!


Happy cooking!
Missy

Theo was a great sleeper from the start, and he loved being swaddled until 8 weeks or so.  Then he would bust out of the swaddle every night and end up waking himself up.  So, we took him out of the swaddle, did some sleep training (post to come) and let him use a light, crocheted blanket at night.  We would tuck the blanket around his body and legs and leave his arms free.  It worked great until he got good at moving his limbs and making mommy nervous, so we needed a new sleep answer.

What he really needed was a blanket that would wrap around him and not come off during his night kicking fits - hello baby deedee sleep nest!

There are other sleep sacks on the market, and I did my best to research them to find what would fit our needs best.  I settled on a baby deedee sleep nest because of it's design with the snaps at the shoulders, the front zipper, and the quilted warmth.  I was a bit hesitant because of the price tag ($41.00 for the medium size) but let me tell you, we LOVE this adorable baby sleeping bag!  The biggest difference from other sleep sacks (in my opinion) is the thickness and warmth of the fabric.  This item is truly a little sleeping bag.

The fabric is soft and keeps Theo warm during these winter nights.   We set our thermostat to 63F overnight and Theo never seems cold in the mornings, nor does he seem overheated.  The medium size is recommended for 6-18 months and I've found this to be true for us so far.  It's plenty long for Theo (who is currently only 4.5 months and in the 40ish percentile for length) and has lots of room for him to grow.   Right now, he wears a long sleeve footed sleeper (fleece or cotton) under the sleep sack and wakes up comfortable.  His hands occasionally are chilly to the touch, but his torso and legs are plenty warm.  I am planning on using the sleep nest through the spring and summer but changing what he wears underneath (probably just a short sleeve onesie if its warm in his room). 

I love the zipper on the front and the fact that zips from his neck to his feet.  Although we rarely need to do a diaper change at night anymore, this design would make it very easy to just unzip to his waist, change his diaper, and zip him back up.



Also, the snaps at the shoulders really help getting him in and out of the sleep nest.  We don't have to bend arms and try to stuff him in!  We just unsnap and unzip, lay him on the sleep nest, and then snap over his shoulders and zip it up!

Some of the other sleep bags I researched had options for bags that could be worn in a car seat.  While I understand the value of that, it's not something we needed.  When Theo is asleep in his car seat and we have to take him out to put him in the crib, he wakes up EVERY time.  So, having him already in the sleep sack wouldn't save us from potentially waking him up trying to put him in it.  If your baby doesn't wake up when transferred from car seat to crib, then I doubt very much that the ease of putting on the baby deedee would wake him/her up either.



The sleep nest comes in a variety of fun color combinations, sizes, and even thicknesses.

I have washed the sleep nest many times following the recommendations (washed cold, inside out, tumble dry low) and even dried it on high a couple of times (had to have it ready for bedtime!) and everything has held up well.  The zipper and snaps are fine, the colors are the same, and the fabric is actually softer than before.

Theo in his sleep nest, 4.5 months old.

(I was not compensated or asked to do this review, I just love this product!)