The Wilke Report

One of the parents from Emma’s class gave us this recipe after Emma’s birthday party. We finally made them tonight. Be careful when you make them that you don’t eat them all in one night.

Cocoa Fudge Cookies

You can mix these incredibly easy, fudgy cookies right in the saucepan. When
freshly baked, these thin cookies have crisp edges and chewy centers. You
can make them with either Dutch process or natural unsweetened cocoa powder. We mixed our Dark Dutch Cocoa and Black Cocoa from King Arthur Flour, just like we do in our hot fudge.

1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon salt
5 tablespoons butter
7 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa
2/3 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
1/3 cup plain low-fat yogurt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Cooking spray

Preheat oven to 350°.

Lightly spoon flour into a dry measuring cup; level with a knife. Combine
flour, soda, and salt; set aside. Melt butter in a large saucepan over
medium heat. Remove from heat; stir in cocoa powder and sugars (mixture will
resemble coarse sand). Add yogurt and vanilla, stirring to combine. Add
flour mixture, stirring until moist. Drop by level tablespoons 2 inches
apart onto baking sheets coated with cooking spray. (We did not use the cooking spray, but our cookie sheets are well seasoned, and food rarely sticks.)

Bake at 350° for 8 to 10 minutes or until almost set. Cool on pans 2 to 3
minutes or until firm. Remove cookies from pans; cool on wire racks.

Emma and Sarah went for checkups today. Emma for her five year checkup and Sarah for her nine month checkup. Emma is 42 1/2 inches tall and 40 pounds. Both of which are right at the 50th percentile. Sarah is 29 inches tall and 15 lbs. 8 ozs. That puts her in the 90th percentile for height and 5th percentile for weight. Weight wise that is getting better. There was a point where we were worried because she did not appear to be gaining weight fast enough. There does not appear to be anything wrong with her, and over the last month she has gained at a good rate. Hopefully Sarah can get up to a more average weight. Especially given her height.

We had Emma’s birthday party yesterday at Northshore Gymnastics. She asked for a chocolate chip cookie cake, so we took our favorite basic chocolate chip cookies, and made a cake with that recipe. I decided it was worth sharing, so here you go.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

2 1/2 cups All-Purpose Flour
1 cup Packed Dark Brown Sugar
1 cup Butter Softened
1/2 cup Granulated Sugar
2 tsp. Vanilla Extract
2 Eggs
1 tsp. Salt
1 tsp. Baking Soda
1 12 oz. Bag Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Cream butter and sugars. Add eggs and
vanilla. Mix well. In a separate bowl mix all dry ingredients. Add
dry ingredients to creamed butter and sugar, and mix. Add chocolate
chips. Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheet. Bake
for 10-12 minutes, or until lightly browned. Cool for 1 minute before
moving from cookie sheet to wire rack.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Mix batter the same as above. Spoon into
deep pizza pan or jelly roll pan lined with parchment, about 1/2 inch
thick. Bake for approximately 30-40 minutes. It should be golden and
somewhat firm. The cookie bar recipe we looked at said that a toothpick
inserted in the center should come out clean.

The parchment slides around a lot as you spread. If you have a good way
to keep it still, let us know.

We had extra batter left over, so we cranked the oven to 375 after the
cake was done, and baked a tray of cookies.

Yummy!

It has been ages since I tried to get caught up posting pictures to the blog.  I have put some new pictures up since Sarah was born, but I have  a huge backlog of pictures from before she was born.  Amazingly enough, it looks like the last time I posted was after our Orange Beach vacation in 2008.  So here goes.  This first set is going to have some pictures that my dad took.  One from a visit at his house, and a few from a trip to the zoo for Zoobilation, with Susan and Emma.

You can tell this is an old picture, Emma was in her stroller.  She was three when they went to Zoobilation.

Susan said they took a picture of this mountain lion because it appeared to be staring all of the kids down.  Almost like it was stalking prey.

She always has been a climber.

Sarah just turned five months.  It seems I forgot to post the stats from her four month check up on September 1st.  She was 25 1/2 inches tall according to the nurse.  Susan thinks they under measured, and when we measured at home it looked more like 25 3/4 inches.  Even at 25 1/2″ she is very tall for her age.  If she keeps this up she will be 6 feet tall.  She was 12 lbs 9.5 ozs.  Her head circumference was 15 1/4″.  She has had a couple of immunizations, and has had no adverse reactions.  She cries when she gets the shot, which is different than Emma, but she does calm down quickly.

We introduced rice cereal and oatmeal cereal over the last few weeks, which hasn’t gone very well.  She seems to love the taste, and gets excited when we serve it to her, but she has gotten sick the last three times we have tried to give it to her.  We can’t figure out if we are not getting the bottle/pump sterile that Susan is using, or if she is having a reaction to the food, or what is really going on.  It is heart breaking to know that something we are doing is causing her to get sick though.  We have taken a break, and are going to start trying to figure out what the cause is so we can try to introduce the cereals again, and then move on to other foods.

Emma and I made brownies this evening.  Unfortunately I pulled them out too early, and had to put them back in the oven after they had cooled.  They seem to have survived my overzealousness to make sure they weren’t overcooked.  If you want some dark, rich brownies, give these a try.

Ingredients:

• 6 Tbs. salted butter
• ½ cup sugar
• ¾ cup dark brown sugar
• 4 ½ oz. bittersweet chocolate
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• ¾ cup flour
• 2 Tbs. black cocoa
• ½ tsp. baking powder
• 1 cup bittersweet chocolate chips

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Butter 8 inch square baking pan.
• Combine butter, chocolate and sugars in a saucepan over low heat.  Let cool.
• Mix eggs and vanilla extract in a large bowl.
• Whick cooled chocolate mixture into egg mixture.
• Mix flour, cocoa and baking powder together.
• Fold flour mixture into batter.
• Add chocolate chips.
• Pour into greased baking pan, and bake for approximately 25 minutes.

The last time we bought Susan some coffee ice cream, it didn’t seem as good as it used to be.  I decided to make some from scratch.  Here is the recipe I came up with:

1 cup whole milk
1 1/3 cup heavy cream
2/3 cup dark brown sugar (packed)
6 oz water
5-6 Tbs ground coffee
2 eggs
1 egg yolk

1. Mix coffee and almost boiling water, and let steep for 20-30 minutes (I use a french press.  If you do not have one, you will need to pour the coffee through a filter to remove the grounds.)
2. Mix eggs, egg yolks, and dark brown sugar in a large bowl.
3. Mix milk and cream in a sauce pan and bring almost to a boil.
4. Slowly pour 1 cup hot milk mixture into egg mixture while stirring briskly.
5. Mix egg mixture and coffee into hot milk.
6. Cook until the mixture starts to thicken, stirring constantly over low heat.  It should be thick enough to coat the back of the spoon.
7. Pour the mixture into a bowl, cover with plastic wrap so that the plastic wrap touches the top of the mix.  This will keep the mix from forming a skin.
8. Place in the refrigerator until completely cool.
9. Freeze according ice cream maker instructions.

I folded about a cup of broken up Oreos in after I took it out of the ice cream maker.  It probably could have used a cup and a half.

Sarah rolled all the way from her back to her stomach today. She has been getting close for a while, but has not been able to get her arm out from underneath her body. Today she did it. She isn’t happy for very long once she is on her stomach, but it was exciting while it lasted.

Totally unrelated…Susan puts Sarah down in Emma’s papasan chair sometimes, particularly when we are tucking Emma in. We decided she looked cute in it. (And yeah, the camera in the blackberry is crap)

Emma started at a new school on Wednesday, and they wanted a picture of her for her cubby (easy), and a picture of our whole family for the bulletin board (not so easy, somebody has to hold the camera).  Over the weekend I pulled out the flashes, set up a backdrop, put the camera on a tripod, and we did family portrait.  Here are he results.

First a couple of Susan, Emma and Sarah while I was checking on exposure and positioning.

What a ham!

Then Emma wanted a turn with the remote.  As you can tell, I was checking my position, and didn’t have the delay timer turned on yet.

Now we have the timer going.

Hey, Susan, you have to hide the remote.

Emma, when you hide the remote, let’s not put it under your dress.  We can tell you are hiding something.

That’s better.  Good job Emma.

Ok, all done.  Time for pictures of just Emma.

And maybe a friend.

I want to see the picture!

I know it is a little late, but Susan wanted me to create an ‘Official’ birth announcement.

Just a short note to say that Sarah rolled from her tummy to her back today. \o/ She still hasn’t figured out how to roll from her back to her front. She does roll to her side from her back.

After much procrastination, here are some pictures from the beginning of May through the end of June.

We took some pictures of Sarah in a pretty dress before we left the hospital, hoping to get something like we got of Emma when she was born.  They didn’t come out quite as well.  Here is one we did like.  May 4, 2009

Emma loves holding Sarah.  She is such a great big sister.  May 11, 2009

Mamere and Nannie came over for a visit.  The only picture I got of Mamere where she didn’t blink I was focused on the blinds, and Mamere and Sarah were blurry.  oops…. May 16, 2009

Sarah getting some tummy time on the Boppy.  May 24, 2009

Sarah has a hold of Emma’s finger.

This is Sarah’s first bath.  It took a really long time for her cord to fall off.  One of the nurses told us that using alcohol on the cord wasn’t necessary, that it would fall off either way.  We didn’t realize that it meant it would take an extra three weeks.  Emma wanted to help, so we gave her a bath at the same time.  June 8, 2009

She brought her bath doll in so she could give her a bath as well.

Sarah has not been a big fan of the bath.  This is about as calm of a bath as we have ever had.

One morning I went to get Sarah when she woke up.  Susan wasn’t up when I got back, so I put Sarah in bed with her.  It didn’t last long, Sarah was ready to eat.  That blue thing is a sock on Sarah’s hand.   June 12, 2009

Mamere, Sarah and Nannie  June 13, 2009

They are always so cute together.  June 16, 2009

Susan and Emma went shopping, and Emma got this great sailor outfit.   When I got home from work, she had to put it on to show me.  She was so excited about it.  I wish I had the camera out when she first came running in the room.  Her face lit up the room.  June 19, 2009

Emma and Sarah on the Boppy.  June 25, 2009

The girls having a chat.

Emma decided to read her Bob the Builder book to Sarah.  We had been reading it a lot, and she had it memorised, so she ‘read’ the whole thing to Sarah.  Very, very cute!  (Emma is wearing a “I’m the big sister” shirt with matching bow that a neighbor gave her.  Now we have 2 shirts, and she loves them!)

Sarah went for her two month checkup on July 1, 2009. Everything is looking good. She is 23.5 inches tall, weighs 11lbs. 2ozs., and has 15″ head circumference.

I have a bunch of pictures that need editing. Hopefully I will get to them soon. My evenings seem to be full of playing with/taking care of Emma, and I am not being productive once the girls are in bed.

I did buy Emma a plastic bat and balls recently, and she has been doing really well.  After watching LSU win the College World Series she was ready to give it a try. She has also been doing a lot of swimming. Grandpa has taken her to Uncle Chris’ since my last post, and she is now diving to the bottom of the pool to get things. She also started lessons this Monday. She will be going four days a week for four weeks. I can’t wait to see how she is doing after she finishes her lessons.

Here is a recent picture I snapped with my phone when Emma and I went out for beignets on Sunday, July 5.

Also I have been painting my house, which is quite an ordeal. It is no longer that awful brown color. I still need to have to trim done, and another coat of house color, but here is a quick pic.

Yesterday I broke down, and bought Emma a bike that fits.  I was hoping to find something decent on Craigslist, or the like, but no such luck.  I also bought new tires and tubes for my bike, which had rotted from many floods and lack of use.  This morning I finished getting my bike rideable, although it still needs some help.  I will need to figure out how to adjust the derailers to get it to shift a little smoother, but it is good enough for today.  Once my bike was ready to go, we got to go for a ride TOGETHER, without me running along with her.  She did great, although her stops need improvement, and she can’t quite get started without a little help.  One of these days I will get some pictures of her riding her new bike and post them.

No new pictures to post, but I had to share some of Emma’s weekend.  We had to big days.

On Saturday we were invited over to Uncle Chris’ house for a swim.  This was the first swim of the summer.  The last time we went for a swim was when we were evacuated in Texas for Hurricane Gustav.  She was doing great then, but everytime she tried to take a breath she would stop kicking, and she would sink.  On Saturday, without spendin a day in the water since last year, she managed to swim the width of Chris’ pool, while taking breaths the whole way, without any help.  Half the fun for her I think is ‘diving’ in.  Diving is really a glorified belly flop, just look at the Hurricane Gustav pictures.  She has swimming lessons starting in July.  One or two more days at Uncle Chris’, and she will be at the head of her class.

Today was a big day on her bike.  A neighbor gave us a bike that is a size too big (a 20″) about two weeks ago.  It didn’t come with training wheels.  I had to be the training wheels, and have done my best to only hold on when I need to.  Just enough to keep her balanced.  I think it actually worked better than having training wheels, because she couldn’t depend on me to hold her up.  I put a hand on either side of the handle bars to balance her.  When she was balanced and going I would not touch the handles.  When she started to tip I would let the handle bump my hand, and I would straighten her back up.  The last time we went out was a few days ago, and she was going about 15-20 feet without me having to catch her.  Today she took off like a bat out of hell.  I had to sprint to keep up with her.  She was a bit out of control, but that’s not a surprise.  The bike is too big, and hard for her to steer.  She doesn’t make very good sharp turns, but does ok on gradual ones.  Hopefully I can find a nice 16″ bike for her soon.

We went to the pediatrician today, and everything looks good.  Her weight is back up to 8 lbs.  She is on track to be back up to birth weight by the end of her second week, which is what is expected for a breastfeeding baby.  She measured 21 1/4 inches long, which is an inch longer than what they said at the hospital.  I guess we will have to measure ourselves, and see who is right.

While we were in the hospital for the birth of Sarah, Emma stayed with Grandma and Grandpa.  Here are a couple of pictures from her visit.

Every morning Grandpa has to stretch out his back, so he sits and reads the paper while he is doing it.  Emma joined him.

On Tuesday they brought her to the park at Koop Drive before they brought her home.  It looks like she had a good time playing in the sand.

My dad gave me these pictures that he took during our trip to Orange Beach a while ago, but I did not get them posted when I posted the ones I took.

Emma and Daddy, August 26, 2008

Mommy, August 26, 2008

Grandma and Emma, August 26, 2008

Grandpa and Emma, August 26, 2008

Uncle Chris and Aunt Lani got a condo near ours for the same week.  We met them for a boat ride on August 27, 2008.  Other than Emma thinking it was a little loud we had a great time.  The highlight was the little beach Uncle Chris found for us to play on.

Emma being silly, August 27, 2008

On August 28 we went over to Chris and Lani’s condo for a visit and dinner.  Emma had a great time on Lani’s raft.

She also had a blast on their beach.

We then enjoyed a nice dinner together.

We are at home as of late last night.  Sarah is still sleeping really well, lets hope she keeps keeps it up.   Susan is doing well.  She is tired, but that is to be expected.  Other than being slow getting in and out of bed, she is moving around great.  I will be home with the family this week, and then it will be time to return to work.  I will update with more pictures as I get the chance.  I have some older pictures that need posting as well, and will get to those as time permits.  Thanks to everybody who has wished us well since Friday.  We really appreciate it.

The nursery was nice enough to call us and tell us when they were giving Sarah her first bath.  This was after we had a chance to have her in our room with us for a while, and Susan had a chance to try to nurse.  They even brought Sarah into the recovery room so Susan could try to nurse pretty quickly after the birth.  They were much slower bringing Emma out.

Sarah’s first time getting her hair washed.

Mamere and Nannie came to visit on Friday, May 1.  Mamere went in to work early so that she could get off early and come visit.  Mamere holding Sarah

Nannie holding Sarah.

This seems to be Sarah’s favorite passtime right now.  She wakes up to eat, but doesn’t stay up long before she is out again.  May 1, 2009

Grandma and Grandpa have been bringing Emma over twice a day.  Emma always wants a turn to hold Sarah.  These two are from Emma’s second visit.  May 1, 2009.

Mommy kissing Sarah, May 1, 2009

Emma snuggling with Mommy and Sarah, May 3, 2009

We headed to Joan and Neil’s place in Frankston, TX for Hurricane Gustav.  Another evacuation that was more like a vacation.  I guess a hurrication?  When we arrived,  Joan and Neil and their family were there for Labor Day.  Joan and Neil were nice enough to let us use their room, and they returned to Dallas to be with their son, daughter-in-law, and their new baby, who were evacuating from the New Orleans area as well.  The rest of their clan stayed though, and we had a great time.  Emma had a blast having other children to play with.

This first bunch of pictures was taken by Joan and Neil’s grandson Miles.  I only managed to take a few, but he got a bunch of great pictures.  They were all taken August 31, 2008.

This is Sydnie

Casey, Shelley, Jenni and a turtle

Miles also took a bunch pictures of us in the pool.  Emma was doing a great job diving in and swimming.  If only she remembered to keep swimming when she came up for a breath.

First she wanted to be caught, so she didn’t go under the water all the way.

The girls had some sticks that they were diving for.  Emma had a blast throwing them — even when the girls were done fetching.

Here is one of her fabulous dives.

Her legs are kicking before she ever hits the water.

It always made me a little nervous when she went under water because it took a second for her to pop back up.

She always came up swimming though.  Even if it wasn’t pretty.

Another great dive!  The arms are already going.

A little assist climbing out from  Mommy.

Mommy trying to show her a real dive.  She is sitting on the edge of the pool.  Susan is trying to get her to hold her hands together, and then just tip into the pool.  The swim teacher had commented that this is the way they begin teaching children to dive.  It worked — she went straight to the bottom!  I pulled her up quickly.

Here are a couple that I took.  September 1, 2008

The girls showed Emma that she could pick beauty berries.  You can kind of see the bunches of tiny purple berries in the background.  Emma had a great time picking handfuls, and then throwing them over the fence.

I am making and freezing a bunch of food so we have some easy meals once the baby is here.  Just made a huge pot of grillades.  We will be having some over grits for dinner.  If you want some, here’s my recipe:

Hal’s Grillades

4 lbs. Chuck Roast

Cajun Seasoning

Flour

Olive Oil

1 Bell Pepper, chopped

1 Large Onion, chopped

2-3 Stalks Celery, chopped

3 Cloves Garlic, chopped

3-4 Cups Beef Broth

3 Bay Leeves

¼ teaspoon Thyme

worchestershire

1 can Stewed tomatoes

¼ cup fresh chopped parsley

Slice the Chuck Roast into ½” – ¾” thick slices, and cut into two or three pieces. Season with Cajun Seasoning and then dredge in flour. Brown in Olive Oil and remove from pan. Make a medium to dark roux in the remaining oil. If there isn’t sufficient oil, add more. Add bell pepper, onion, celery, garlic ans tomatoes to the pot, and cook till softened. Return meat back to the pot, along with any collected juices. Add worchestershire, beef broth and thyme. Cook for about two hours. Until the meat falls apart and the gravy has thickened. Add the chopped Parsley shortly before removing from heat.

We went to Orange Beach for vacation this year with Grandma and Grandpa.  We stayed in the same condo as last year, and had a great time.

These were taken on the balcony of our condo.  Emma and Grandma were playing with the ball.  August 25, 2008

Lunchtime after a morning swim.  Emma said she saw her reflection in the camera lens; so Susan leaned in to look.   August 25, 2008

Playing on the sofa with Grandpa!  August 26, 2008

A snuggle with Grandma, August 26, 2008

Smile!  August 26, 2008

Emma practicing her headstand.  August 26, 2008

We had a great time swimming in the Gulf.  We got this life jacket for Emma and it’s very comfortable.  She had a great time swimming by herself in it.  She had four weeks of swimming lessons before we went, but it wasn’t quite enough for her to actually be swimming by herself .  We will do more this summer before vacation, and we think she’ll get it.  (If she would keep swimming when she takes a breath, she would have it.  Instead she stops swimming and sinks.)  August 27, 2008

She was swimming back and forth between us.

What fun!!

Today we went to Hammond to see a specialist for a more diagnostic ultrasound.  Susan’s doctor recommended it because she is 38.  One of the risks at her age is for Down’s Syndrome.  They were able to get a good look at the heart which frequently has defects in a Down’s Syndrome child, and said that everything looked good.  The ultrasound was very clear and easy to see, and both the ultrasound technician and the doctor were very informative and kind.  Unfortunately, they did not have the capability to record the ultrasound to dvd, so all we got were a few pictures.  Here are the two best.

She was pretty active through the ultrasound, so we saw her hand moving quite a lot.  The tech caught this picture when her hand was right in front of her face.

In this one, it looks like she is touching her nose.  You can also see the slightly darker grey area in the middle of her body which is her heart beating.  We saw some really excellent views of the heart today.  The ultrasound tech pointed out the four chambers, as well as the arteries leaving the heart.  It was very cool.