Dana Burland

Instead of traveling across the state for this year, Thanksgiving came to us. At 33 weeks pregnant I’m feeling just too pregnant for cross-state travel. My in-laws came to us, with a turkey in tow, and I made the sides. And I have to say, while it was sad staying home meant we didn’t get to see more family members, I was excited by the chance to make so many Thanksgiving dishes myself. I took several shortcuts to make the process easier. Here’s what I made, and what I’d recommend if you find yourself looking for simplicity in hosting a holiday meal. Menu “Potatoes Deluxe” (classic cheesy potato casserole) This is a total dump and bake recipe. I made it from start to finish on Thanksgiving Day and it was no more than 7 minutes of hands on time. Instant Pot mashed potatoes These are some of the best mashed potatoes I’ve had, and they could not be easier. Bonus points for not needing the holiday-in-demand-oven/stove. I’d even consider traveling to a host’s house with my Instan...

On Sunday we played on the grass in mid-40 degree weather. Monday morning there’s no grass to be seen. It’s all covered with snow which continued to fall all day. Winters come fast around here. Not only do they come fast, but unlike the other seasons that bat back and forth at each other for a bit, winter comes definitely on its own terms and sticks. The new snow made me nervous and excited all at once. Last week I hit 30 weeks in this pregnancy, but somehow that felt unbelievable and maybe even insignificant compared to the drastic view out my kitchen window. This hearty thick blanket of snow means we’re in baby season. This is the white blowing powder we’ll eventually drive to the hospital in. These peaceful snowflakes are what we’ll see out the window when we’re swaddling up baby warm and cozy inside. This is the season. This is his season. We’re here now and better be ready for it.

Last night a sweet little toddler escaped from his daddy-led bedtime routine to tell me he was growing baby brother in his tummy. He’d like to name him either “baby sister”, or “pizza”, he told me. Then he told me he loves kisses and thanked me when I gave him a peck on the cheek before he ran back to his room ready for bed. Oh that sweet and silly little boy--the one who likes to tuck his stuffed animals in to play sleep and gives them unprompted hugs and kisses, sometimes afterward saying “thank you I feel better now”. He will make the very best big brother there ever has been.

We had a standard busy-without-actually-doing-much family day on Saturday. Without trying to I spent the majority of it on my feet and ended the day in a regretful recline. Oopf. I just can’t hang like I use to at toddler-plus-29-weeks pregnant. Luckily dinner tonight was super hands off. It’s one I’m going to have to remind myself of as this pregnancy progresses, as said toddler’s play needs continue to increase, as this pregnancy ends resulting in TWO babes needing attention, as we enter the cold just-give-me-something-cozy meal days, and heck for the semi-regular can-someone-else-please-just-be-in-charge-of-dinner days. I love to cook and make an epic mess of our kitchen, but also love a day with few dishes, little effort and a meal at the end that still feels healthy(ish) like so many convenience dinners don’t. Pinch Of Yum’s Instant Pot Mac + Cheese Notes: Not sure if the boys in my house would eat whole wheat pasta or not, I used regular elbow noodles and this turned out ...

So it snowed, and rained, and was blustery cold for us this Halloween. That hardly mattered to our 2-year-old who was excited about his costume (which by an unplanned, happy accident fit beautifully over a winter coat) and the "parade", which he kept calling Halloween night. This year C was a slice of pizza for Halloween--his favorite food! I made his costume based a new-sew Pinterest tutorial , which took about 30 min to make, set me back less than $10 and only resulted in a few first degree hot glue gun burns. He got some good wear out of it too! He wore it when we were up north to the local early Halloween parade downtown, he wore it at daycare and he wore it trick or treating through our neighborhood last night. We went to 6 houses, at each he said "trick or treat!" and "thank you". I think he would have happily kept going but we didn't want to stray too far away from home in the gross weather and thought he might enjoy seeing kids (all 5 of...