Bruschetta Chicken Bake and more...

I just made this Bruschetta Chicken Bake, and it was soo cheap, easy, good, and pleasing to the eye that I had to post about it. I think it's company worthy, if your company likes the taste of good stuffing. I am a Pepperidge Farm snob myself, so I used that. And I upped the amount of water to about a cup because I hate dried out stuffing. I also just mixed everything together and dumped it in a slightly smaller dish than a 13x9, instead of layering and putting it in a larger dish. Try it out!

We had a good, low key New Year's Day. Seth was in a great laughing mood. He's in those more and more these days, and it's so sweet. We decided that the start of the New Year should also be the start of... da da da dum.... weaning. If today is any indication, I think we're going to be ok. We've been using a Nuby cup and whole milk, and he's been playing with it and having a little bit at each meal for a couple of days. Today, David took him straight to his high chair for his dinner without the usual couch nursing detour, and he didn't seem phased in the slightest. I hear the morning and evening feedings are hardest to give up, but we have awhile before we try that.

Right now, I feel good about this. I know that it's going to KILL me when I quit entirely. I have loved nursing Seth, and I don't really want to give it up in a lot of ways. But with our desire to have more children one day, and with my stated desire to ensure that no child of mine is ever able to say "Milk! Now!" while grabbing at my chest, we figured it might be time to start. I hear that weaning is a lot harder once they're older than a year. Sigh. I'm sure you'll be hearing more about this before it's all over.

So... anybody have any good ideas for creative outings that you can have with children that don't involve driving long distances, money, or the outdoors during winter? I feel like we're fresh out. We like to get out of the house, but there don't seem to be a lot of free places to go in the winter. Fortunately, the weather was good enough today that we did the good ol' standby, the greenway trail. Tips anyone?