Sleep

I have been cooking and baking like crazy. I usually do a lot of my writing when both boys are having their afternoon naps. Lately they have decided not to have much over lap, so less time to write. 

Baby sleep is a funny thing, in that it isn't funny at all. I have never had those babies that slept through the night as soon as I brought them home from the hospital. Hudson started sleeping through the night at around seven months. Sawyer is approaching seven months (2 days away...what!?) and appears to be getting worse. We went through a nice stretch where he was only up only once in the night, lately 3-4 times...yawn. I keep checking for teeth...nothing new. 

I was staying with my aunt when Hudson was quite young and waking frequently in the night. She said she liked the night feeds, enjoyed them no less. This is a woman that had five children, I was sure her brain was fried. But it is a funny thing the second time around. Day time feeds are surrounded in chaos: noise from oldest yelling, oldest climbing on me like a jungle gym, oldest waiting until mid-feed to declare he was to go pee...right now. I don't get a lot of time to gaze into Sawyer's eyes or marvel at his downy blond hair. At night it is just me and him. It is quiet, he is still and cuddly. We rock in the glider and he gets showered in kisses before I lay him back down. Am I tired most days? Yes. Could I do with this interaction once instead of three or four times a night? Yes. Is this going to be over soon? Probably. Will I miss it? For sure. Add me to the fried brain mom list.

I was going to make Salsa Stuffed Mini Meat-loaves for dinner the other night and was looking for a side. I decided to try a Southwest Quinoa Salad.

Ingredients:
1 cup quinoa
2 cups low sodium chicken broth (or veggie stock to keep it vegetarian)
1  diced bell pepper
1/2 cup diced red onion
1 cup corn (fresh, frozen or canned)
1  can black beans, drained and rinsed
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
1 large tomato, diced (I used cherry tomatoes)
fresh lime juice from three limes
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 cup light feta cheese
salt and black pepper to taste
A splash of your favorite hot sauce

Directions

1.  Combine quinoa and chicken broth, bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, and simmer until the quinoa has absorbed all the broth, about 15 minutes. Cool quinoa in refrigerator at least 10 minutes.
2. Mix together bell pepper, red onion, corn, black beans, cilantro, tomato, lime juice, red wine vinegar, olive oil, hot sauce, and feta cheese in a large salad bowl. Lightly stir in the quinoa, and season with salt, pepper, and additional lime juice to taste, if desired. Chill the salad at least 30 minutes before serving; serve cold. Adapted from here.

Loved everything about this salad. Lime, tomato and cilantro, always a winning combo. I couldn't wait to eat the left overs the next day, tasted even better. This really could be a meal in its self, and can be served as an entree salad. It was a good compliment to the mini meat loaves. I could steal the 1/2 cup of black beans I needed and use the rest in the salad. Don't like cilantro, try parsley or basil. Increase the heat with a diced jalapeno or more hot sauce. 

I would love to post with more regularity, I miss my once a week writing slot. Sometimes when the boys are napping at the same time I need a nap too. That way I can handle the frequent night wakings and even take some joy in them.