70 Degrees in January.

I am in love with the weather today. Shorts weather in January!!! (None of the Ludwigs actually wore shorts, although I did roll my jeans up into capris). It was a glorious, fabulous day. We took full advantage of the weather with a long walk and then a photo op for our little green bean. Thank goodness I am signed up for this, because my photos were WAY better in theory than in actuality. I'm going to blame my uncooperative subject AND my only semi-cooperative subject-holder for at least 50% of the problems with these pictures, though.

For example, too much arm:


Too much baby:


Too much sky:



You get the picture. But just wait until I take my photography class. I WILL perfect this shot.

It was also an eventful day for Max today; he had his first meal of "solids!" I have to put that word in parentheses because what he ate today absolutely does not count as solids in my book. Rice cereal is not really an appropriate name. A more apt name would be "tiny crumbs of rice mushed up in milk." But I guess that doesn't really sound as appetizing.

Here's the little green bean waiting for his rice cereal to be prepared (with remnants of his liquid meal on his sleeve).


Just about to begin his meal - looking somewhat leery.

Looks rather like gruel, doesn't it?

His technique wasn't too bad.

But I'm pretty sure his bib ate more of it than he did.

Dad tests out his technique too...



And for dessert...Sophie.

Now, wave goodbye to your adoring fans, Max.

Martha Stewart I Am Not.

Would Martha Stewart approve of this outfit?

Weight Watchers is going pretty well. The scale is going down, ounce by ounce which makes me really happy. I still need to have some dessert from time to time though (ok, every day). While I would love to have one of Chris's famous marble cakes, I have been forced to settle for Fat Free Angel Food Cake. I like Angel Food Cake, but let's face it...there's no chocolate in Angel Food Cake.

I bet I'd like chocolate!

I've never made an Angel Food Cake. I was a bit taken aback and unnerved by the very adamant instructions on the box, such as: DO NOT GREASE THE PAN and DO NOT OVERBEAT and DO NOT UNDERBAKE. (And yes, they were in all caps like that.) I also discovered that we do not have a "tube pan" as required for the baking of an Angel Food Cake. Oops.

Not one to be deterred from having my dessert, I packed up Max and Bailey and headed over to Mom's. I remember her baking Angel Food Cakes in the past; she must have a tube pan. But, sadly...it was not to be. The best I could find was a bundt pan, dirty in the sink. I'll take it! After researching whether a bundt pan can be successfully used to bake an Angel Food Cake, I was feeling slightly doubtful about a positive outcome for this endeavor. Apparently, an Angel Food Cake MUST be inverted for cooling...which is possibly the point of the tube pan. I thought to myself "WWMD?" (What Would Martha Do?) And so, I did this:

Martha totally would NOT do this. Martha would have a tube pan. Duh.

So, after the cooling period, we had this: (I was feeling hopeful again, until I remembered that I had used a NONSTICK bundt pan when the box clearly said DO NOT GREASE THE PAN.)

I might look good now, but you'll never get me out of here in one piece.

But, lo and behold....I did it! Looks pretty good here:



But looks even BETTER here!




A baking success, and a Weight Watchers friendly dessert to boot...seems like a win-win to me. TAKE THAT, MARTHA!

What's For Dinner?? (Not Feet)

As cliche as a January diet may be, I have started Weight Watchers. I wish to dispel any and all rumors/old-wives'-tales that breastfeeding magically melts off all the weight gained during pregnancy. Not true. Believe me, nobody is sadder about this fact than me.

I started the diet on January 13th. I will not reveal my starting weight, but let's just say that I needed to lose 12 pounds to get back to pre-pregnancy weight and 20 pounds to get back to where I'm really happy with myself. That's quite a bit on a munchkin like me. But I can do it! So far I'm down 3 or 4 pounds...it's not as much as I would like, but it's something. I made it past the first week without caving or making any Chick-fil-A runs, so I'm feeling pretty good about it.

Coincidentally, right after I joined Weight Watchers, we got a letter in the mail from Bosch offering their associates a very discounted membership to Weight Watchers, so guess who is hopefully going to be joining me on this journey?


(the guy on the left...but the guy on the right is pretty happy about it)

This diet means one thing for sure: more cooking. This probably makes Chris happy. Me, not so much. But I'll do what I have to do. So tonight, dinner was "Gourmet Pizza". I was somewhat leery of a pizza with no pizza sauce, but it still looked good in the picture on the web site and that's how I choose recipes to try. So, I gathered my sous chef and my ingredients



sauteed the onions




cut up the tomatoes




and before you know it, I had this:




It looked pretty good as it came out of the oven. I was hopeful. And ... it was good. Really good. Maybe I can do this diet thing after all.

Speaking of diets, Max's hasn't changed much. We still haven't started him on solids. I keep thinking that I'll do it, and then I keep not doing it. Does this look like a boy who's unsatisfied with his current meals?



He has been spending quite a bit of time attempting to eat his feet, however. (Got to stick to that New Year's resolution to stay flexible, after all).



Now, if I could just get him to work on that resolution he made about sleeping....

Oh well. Now I'm off to distract myself from my hunger for the rest of the evening, since I've used up all my points for today on that yummy pizza. I guess if I get hungry, I'll just have to munch on these cheeks.

Maximilian Allen Ludwig: International Fashion Icon.

The Golden Globes were this week. I don't care about the Golden Globes, but it was sort of fun watching the Red Carpet. So, in honor of the Red Carpet...I give you Maximilian Allen Ludwig, International Fashion Icon. (The picture above is Max practising his Red Carpet pose. This is his "back-to-the-camera-with-a-coy-glance-over-the-shoulder" pose.)

Outfit #1, submitted for your appreciation:



Here Max is modeling a lovely "day gown" - meant for a 3 month old. He is 5 months old. But I think he still rocks it.

Outfit #2, on loan from Rogers design house:



This is Max's "Man-Around-The-House" look, perfect for days spent lounging on the couch watching football and eating hot wings. He accessorizes this look perfectly with the peekaboo diaper and navy blue socks.


Outfit #3:



This was a true Man-About-Town outfit that Max sported to his very first car show. The color coordination here is stellar.

And finally, outfit #4:



Max is modeling an adorable onesie with babylegs leg warmers. Chris calls this his "throwback-to-the-80s" look. I love this look. Chris is not a fan. It's a house divided.

So, pretend you are a member of the Hollywood Foreign Press, or better yet, a fashion blogger. Vote in our poll and let us know which of Max's Golden Bottle looks is your favorite.

PollPub.com Vote

Which one of Max's outfits would you feature on the cover of Babies Weekly?

Outfit #1 - Baby Loungewear
Outfit #2 - Don't Sweat It.
Outfit #3 - Mad About Plaid.
Outfit #4 - Rock the Socks.



View Results

Poll powered by PollPub.com Free Polls

Playing Catch-Up

Apparently I was MUCH too busy over the past week (3 days of which I was snow-bound) to do any blogging. But, oh, what an exciting week it was. Max got to experience his 2nd snow already! The "Snowstorm of 2011!" Dun dun dun....I totally wish I had measured the snow depth, but I think it was about 6" and regardless, it was the most snow around these here parts since 1988.

I never EVER believe the weather forecasters around here when they call for snow. I remember far too many occasions when I was hugely disappointed as a kid, waking up early in the morning on a school day just positive that school would be cancelled because the weathermen had assured us a huge snowfall overnight...and, nothing. Granted, I think our weather forecasters have improved greatly since my childhood, when the local news channel once was so excited that Charlie the weatherman had correctly predicted something for once that they adopted as their slogan "Charlie said it would, and it DID!" for quite some time. However, I still don't believe it until I see it. So, I was actually surprised when I got up at 2 AM on this past Monday to an already white yard and snow falling in massive quantities. It made me almost as happy as I was when I was a kid.

I sent Bailey out first, to check on conditions. This was shortly before 7 AM. She reported "cold and treacherous" and "nowhere to go to the bathroom."



Next Max and Chris checked out the snowfall, and Max got cold just thinking about going outside.





"Ok, I'm warm now, let's go play in the snow!"


While Max doesn't have much snow-gear, we were able to cobble together a suitable outfit for his brief snow outing, compliments of Julie (hand-me-down adorable blue bear outfit) and Chris (his mittens from when he was little). On his first foray into the snow, we didn't venture very far from the house:







Chris couldn't resist dusting off the old Jeep and taking her for a spin around the neighborhood. I didn't think this was the greatest idea, but he just couldn't resist. "Hey, I've driven in the ALPS, this is no big deal." (he didn't really say this, but he has said it before) ... but I was afraid he might be under-estimating "The Snowstorm of 2011." So, I took a few pictures in case this was the last we ever saw of him.







Amazingly, he made it back in one piece. We decided to load up and go for a walk. But first, we had Bailey check the conditions again. "Still cold and treacherous, but if you want to take me for a walk, I'll risk it."



Max was such a good sport -- and before anyone reports us to DSS, he had on MULTIPLE layers,and before the end of the walk, his face was covered with a blanket.







And while Bailey initially found the conditions less than ideal, she did contemplate going for a swim. We had to remind her that our neighborhood pond is not, in fact, supplied by a hot spring but by dirty neighborhood runoff.



When we got back to the house, Max could not resist making his very first snow angel. We think he did a pretty good job for his first shot.









I was a little bit sad that this snow didn't seem to lend itself to snowman-making, but it would have been tough to top George anyway. And while Max was OK with being out in the snow,




he was definitely happy to end the day warm and snuggly inside.