jungle boy & his girls

2012-03-06T05:59:00.000-08:00

Can you guess who is who from these six newborn photos of our three babies? (There are two of each child.)

Photo A

Photo B

Photo C

Photo D

Photo E

Photo F

Answers:

Photo A - Naiya
Photo B - Alexia
Photo C - Noah
Photo D - Naiya
Photo E - Noah
Photo F - Alexia

Noah Allen is Here!

2012-03-06T04:45:00.000-08:00

God gave us the sweetest surprise of a little BOY!

Noah Allen was born on Thursday, March 1, 2012. He weighed a whoppin' 8 lbs. 4 oz and was 19 3/4 inches long.

He is nursing like a champ, only cries when he's being changed or if I wait too long to feed him. Otherwise, he is the most content baby, I told Ryan I could have ten more of him! (His response was "that would be the death of our family"...in regards to me being pregnant ten more times, of course.)

More details about my labor, and about how much I am in love with him and why, to come soon.

For now, enjoy pics of our precious guy:

2012 Lent Praise #2.

2012-02-24T06:58:00.002-08:00

This year I chose to observe Lent in a creative way, find out how here.

****

This morning I woke up to an email from my brother-in-law's girlfriend offering to take the girls this afternoon.

Have I formally introduced her yet? Logan is Ryan's youngest brother, and him and Meg have been a huge help with the girls during this pregnancy.

This past fall, the happy couple invited the girls (and us) to go to a local pumpkin patch. The girls still talk about the pumpkin patch with Uncle Logan and Miss Meg.

Something that is impressive to me is how much it is on Meg's radar to help with the girls. Because I can assure you as a non-mom, non-married girl, it was not on my radar. Even with having a full-time job, her own business on the side, a busy social life and tending to a dating relationship, she still makes the time and has the patience to initiate taking the girls. For a couple months, when I was really sick, she was picking up the girls once a week and getting them away from the tv and outside! They refer to a park we have downtown as "Miss Meg's park".

You have been such a blessing and special friend Meg!

2012 Lent Praise #1

2012-02-23T12:17:00.003-08:00

This year I chose to observe Lent in a creative way, find out how here.
****

We have had a couple from China, Wudan (woo-dawn) & David, staying with us in our basement for this past month. They are friends of our neighbor, who do a golf ministry in China, and will be in the States for a couple years while David goes to school.

We have often opened our home to people, driven mostly by my husband's heart to do so, and if I'm honest, my initial concerns are always, "how is this living arrangement going to effect my comfort level?" Needless to say, my heart and mind went to that exact place after agreeing to this couple staying with us, especially because I'm pregnant and about to have a baby.

But I have been humbled and blessed. They are such a sweet couple, very engaging, feel like friends already. We've shared meals with them, they cooked us a gourmet Chinese dinner (David was a professional chef for four years!), and there is no language barrier in communicating with them, even with deep, meaningful things.

The unexpected blessing is that Wudan has offered to come EVERY day for 30 minutes to an hour to tidy up our main living space: dishes, kitchen, dining room, sitting room and living room. Basically the rooms that get used and abused by us. I can hardly stand that this is my reality sometimes!

In China, pregnant women and moms either have their mom living with them to take care of the house and/or kids, or they put their kids in daycare so they can work and have a housekeeper. Wudan is amazed that I am alone every day with the kids, without a helper, especially being pregnant. What I can't laugh about is, I am pretty low on the totem pole with energy and all that I accomplish throughout the average day, AND I have a lot of help from my mom-in-law. She should see some of my Type-A friends, or friends that don't have either set of family nearby, they would blow her mind!

We are so blessed to have this gift of friendship and help with the house, especially because I am pregnant and about to have a baby. {oh, the irony.}

2012 Lent Challenge of 40 Praises.

2012-02-23T11:37:00.001-08:00

Today is the first day of Lent. How do I know this? Not because I am a diligent observer of Lent, but because I have a friend, Mel, who sacrifices one thing for 40 days in order to practice discipline and dependance on our great God. And it's got me thinking of how I can sacrifice and allow Jesus to change me through that sacrifice during this Lent Season.

I think I've given something up a few years, like caffeinated coffee or sweets, but I thought I would coincide this year's observance with something I'm trying to work on in my personal life.

Having a more positive spirit. One that is quick to praise and communicate things that I'm thankful of throughout my day, rather than be quick to spew out the frustrations of my day-to-day experiences.

I am a cynic at heart. It comes natural to me. My mind actually forms funny, but cynical, thoughts all too quickly. I am a firm believer of keepin' it real, and I enjoy making people laugh, but there is a point where I transform myself into a negative person and effect those around me. And I don't want to be that person. I don't want my daughters to become that either.

So I am committing to recording 40 things I am thankful for this Lent Season. With a baby coming soon, I know it won't be realistic to commit to jotting down something each day, but I desire to keep a log of 40 things where I see the hand of God giving me little or big gifts in my life. I pray it blesses my husband, my kids, my extended family, my friends, and that God would use it in my life to realize just how big of an impact I can have by having a thankful and positive spirit.

Who knows, maybe it will even become natural for me!

As of 37 Weeks.

2012-02-18T16:16:00.000-08:00

Feeling more huge than last week. And my feelings have been confirmed by most people I see out in public. Apparently I'm a spectacle, I had a store clerk say she was watching me walk up to the store (and yeah, I'll go ahead and name drop, Fresh Market) and felt sorry for me and wondering how much longer I have to go. I will admit that I find it slightly encouraging (only if it ends up being true) that when I tell people my due date (2.5 weeks out), they respond with, "Oh, you'll go before then".

At my 37 week appointment, I was 3 cm dilated, but was assured that women can stay at this for weeks. I found it strange though, because with Alexia I was in full blown labor and when we got to the hospital I was only 1 cm dilated (but got to 4 cm within an hour).

So now it's just the waiting game. If I go early like I did both pregnancies (exactly 14 days early for both), we could have a baby this coming Saturday. I have maintained my jaw line up until this last week, much longer than my past pregnancies. But my face is officially swollen. And an additional awesome surprise is I caught some sinus cold that is something serious. I don't remember being this sick (with a head cold) since I was a working woman (5 years ago). I'm praying my body will kick it, before the endless sleepless nights begin, and it turns into something more serious. But then on the flip side, I would like to have a baby sooner than later. Ugh.

My 38 week appointment is on Friday, should be interesting to see what has developed in a week!

Getting Newborn Ready.

2012-02-15T11:05:00.000-08:00

Only because I know I have to, I forced myself to get all the newborn stuff prepared. This is typically an organizational project that is right up my alley, but this pregnancy I have been completely unmotivated to do anything past what is absolutely necessary. Which is: wash burp cloths (this is the first time I haven't used baby laundry detergent, because I got the look of "is that really necessary?" from Ryan when he saw Dreft in my amazon cart), wash bottles and breast pump accessories, get carseat out, buy newborn diapers, get out newborn clothes and blankets from the attic, pack a boy/girl outfit for the hospital, and get the pack n play ready (I don't even care to have Ryan get the crib down from the attic, because it just seems like too much work), and finally, buy my "recovery toiletries". I was so thankful that my sister-in-law shipped clean newborn clothes (returning my girl's stuff she borrowed, and a few boy clothes thrown in), because it eliminated me having to do any laundry! Hallelujah. And that's it folks. Ryan seems to be relieved by what he calls my practical approach.

For a few days, the girls took turns playing mommy/baby.

In these pictures you'll also notice Alexia wearing her newest obsession: ballet leotards, tights and shoes. Not kidding, the girl changes leotards 3-4 times a day. She even slept in her tap shoes. She's in a ballet class with a couple of her friends, and there is even a recital in May. I cannot wait for that.

And I'll leave you with one disturbing picture of another member of our family prepping for a newborn:

I'm trying to pretend that he doesn't have a look on his face that says everything's normal, just another night at the Grossman household.

36 Weeks. Baby Numero 3.

2012-02-11T10:43:00.000-08:00

Four more weeks to go as of February 11th. So close, but still seems so far away. I love that I can start saying in weeks (rather than months) how many more to go. I actually started counting down in weeks at 8 weeks, and felt good about it too, until the buzz-kill stranger at Rite Aid responded with, "Oh, still two more months?" No lady, 8 weeks, thank you very much.

On a more positive note (because I've been trying to work on having a more positive attitude lately), it is amazing to reflect on all the time that has passed already for this pregnancy. And it's even more amazing that I'm still alive. And Ryan too. And our girls for that matter. Okay, I know I don't have to be that dramatic, but it is so nice to think that I'm almost done with being pregnant. I have so many people to thank that helped us literally survive the past 8 months, and a shot out to Dora, Mickey Mouse Club and a new one I just tried out, Jake and the Never Land Pirates.

And without further adieu, here are the 8 months glamour shots. Watch out Olan Mills, don't hate because we don't have a full-length mirror in our house, so I'm standing on our tub to get a full-body shot.

{And just a heads up from a friend to a friend, please don't tell me how huge I am, I have lower back pain, stretch marks and cankles to inform me of that already.}

Here are pictures to compare from my last two pregnancies with one more month to go:

Pregnant with Alexia, April 2008:

Pregnant with Naiya, May 2009:

Top Ten Things I Will NOT Miss About Being Pregnant.

2012-01-24T12:34:00.000-08:00

10. Being asked if I'm sure I'm not having twins. And then having to assure the perfect stranger that there was not a second baby hiding behind the first in my 3D ultrasound. (I actually had this same encounter in my last pregnancy.)

9. Endless vomiting. Although I'm happy to report that the last time I threw up was at 29 weeks, which I think was because of a bug that went through our house.

8. Needing to go to bed at 8pm.

7. Having to rock myself and count to three in order to get out of bed or off the couch.

6. Having a live being inside of me pushing, poking and kicking things like its got as much room as a 10-man tent.

5. Heartburn.

4. Gnawing exhaustion. The kind that can't be cured by anything but having this baby exit my body.

3. The inability to be unaware of my body, no matter what I am doing.

2. Feeling nauseous after a short period of being on the phone, computer or socially engaging with people.

1. Having the tv babysit my children or hoping they play just a little bit longer by themselves, while I lay on the couch.

I am ready to meet this little baby. It seems surreal that we will have a newborn around here again. It's a bit different this time around, because it's been over TWO years since we've had a teeny, tiny newborn. Can any back-to-backers relate? It's eating at me to know if this will be a boy or a girl. So many things to anticipate. At this point, I turn a blind eye at the upcoming sleepless nights, because ~~I am~~ we are SO ready for me not to be pregnant anymore!

Six-and-a-half more weeks...

Happy 4th Birthday Sterling!!!

2012-01-24T12:04:00.000-08:00

This is a special post {yes, I'm back from the dead} to wish our sweet nephew a happy 4th birthday.

Ryan's sister, Tanya, and our bro-in-law, Tim, and their family have been in northern Iraq for the past two years. And we have missed them terribly. Especially as we walk through the same stage of life, it has been sad to not have them near!

But back to the birthday boy....

We can't imagine all of the mischief you and Alexia (and probably Naiya) would have gotten into in these last couple of years if you were near!

(Yes, those are panty liners...)

We miss your super blonde hair and baby blues.

Your mind has always blown us away with what you comprehend at such a little age.

We hope you have a wonderful next year and that God would continue to grow you into a young man that loves your family and friends. And that you would come to know and love Jesus, and experience your prayers being answered.

You are such a wild, rough and tumble boy, and we miss you bringing us joy here!

HAPPY FOURTH BIRTHDAY STERLING!

Christmas Tree 2011

2011-11-26T06:49:00.000-08:00

Every year we go pick out our Christmas tree the weekend after Thanksgiving. For the last few years we have bought our tree from our neighborhood fire station to support them. But this year we went the economical route (we justified that we longer live in that neighborhood anymore) and picked one out from Home Depot. They are crazy cheap there and you can pick out any size tree! So we came home with a monster tree, for half the price of what we've paid in the previous years.

While Ryan took care of getting our tree on the truck, the girls found some puddles to jump in.

Godfrey Farm

2011-07-02T12:13:00.000-07:00

Our good friend, Alfred, grew up on a farm on the eastern shore of Maryland. And recently his father had an accident that left him with two repair surgeries. So in an effort to help him maintain his farm, we brought the Grossman crew out on a Saturday to help. It was such a fun way to help out friends that are constantly helping us, and letting us borrow heavy machinery, taking us out on their boat, watching our kids, etc.!

And here's the happy couple. Aren't they cute? And before I go on any further, Bailey is expecting! Her due is January 25. And we couldn't be more ecstatic to have them join us on the journey of being parents!

Jenna and I somehow ended up doing the most back-breaking work of weeding the holly trees. And I'm pretty sure our husbands cruised around on ride mowers the whole day. Sipping sweet tea and eating bon bons. Not really. But they probably could have and we never would have known. We worked alongside Bailey as she pruned the trees.

And don't hate that Jenna and I requested headbands because sweat was dripping in our eyes because of the fierce sun and the fierce manual labor going on.

And here are some of the dearest women in my life!

Bailey is from Jackson, WY (and proud of it) and we prayed for her long before we even knew her as we prayed for God to bring Alfred his perfect wife. She has graciously adjusted to Maryland after leaving her beautiful west coast paradise. And Jenna, my sis-in-law (married to Ryan's brother), was immediately a friend I could talk with into the wee hours of the night, over coffee of course. And the three of us have been meeting for the past year weekly, going through Beth Moore's study on the fruit of the Spirit. A special gift of our friendships, is that our husbands are intimately part of one another's lives as well. Ryan and I are so blessed!

Back to the farm. The girls even got in on the action. They harvested raspberries with Grandma. And got their share of freshly picked berries.

And the rest of the crew. Logan, Ryan's youngest brother:

Little break from the heat:

And a good friend of Ty's, Caleb, went to the same high school as the rest of the Grossman kids (and Jenna too!) in the Philippines.

And by the afternoon, the girls were ready to go home.

And ready for nap.

It was fun to get out and do some work, be together with friends and family, and then come home for a family nap.

Hosting a Theobald Mini-Reunion

2011-07-02T11:37:00.000-07:00

We hosted our first large gathering at our house. I've been waiting for events like this one to create memories in our new home, to help it feel like home to me.

So starting on Friday afternoon, four (out of twelve, yes, twelve) of my mom-in-law's siblings and their families (totaling to approximately 30 people) all came and crashed at our house. It might sound intimidating or daunting, but the thing to know about these Theobalds is that you will always do less when they're in your home. I'm talking, when they left, my house was much cleaner than when they came. Meals were planned and prepared and a clean-up crew helped after meals. It was so much fun to see so much life going on in our home. Unfortunately, some type of bug got the best of me over the weekend, so I was at a loss of energy for much of the weekend.

The activities that kept most entertained (besides the great conversation and mealtimes), were backyard pick-up soccer games (that left a few injuries), wrestling, and lots and lots of games. I am still sore from the brief time I played soccer on Saturday.

Ryan and I have concluded that Alexia is officially a night owl. She's always been one of those people that feels like she is missing out on something if she goes to bed while people are still here at our house. Doesn't really matter to Naiya so much. Probably one of the few ways Naiya and I are alike: sleep is so much more important. We've fought the good fight with Alexia on many occassions prior to this weekend, and we let our guard down so she could have fun. And what time did she end up staying up until, you ask? Midnight. I'm talking, blissfully happy and playing until midnight. Even when it was just her and Grandma preparing breakfast for the next morning. And what time did our three-yr-old-turned-teenager wake up? Ten in the morning. Thankfully, she is back on a reasonable schedule today.

It was so fun to break in our home in that way. I loved seeing the long line of tables for each meal, full of family members catching up, and getting to know some ones we just met for the first time!

Here are some pics from the weekend:

There was a root beer float stand, which the girls loved:

And Uncle Darryl diligently organized a game show for us on the last night. Contestants were made to wear blindfolds and guess food items using different senses.

And here are the contestants. I won't name anyone that was taking the game a bit seriously. Here's the clap to get himself ready:

A little stretch before game time:

And the onlookers:

Kari and Kevon are godsons of Uncle Paul and Aunt Colleen, who we get the pleasure of spending time with every summer as they come stay with their godparents in D.C.

Some cousins:

And the fun begins. Smell.

Taste.

And the final round each contestant had to eat what was in this cup and guess the nine ingredients. As well as guess one ingredient that does not belong in the salad.

Again, someone took this final round very seriously. I am not lying when I tell you that he chewed the food for a good five minutes. He was even switching the food to different parts of his mouth. Oh how I love my competitive man. He did crack a few smiles when he felt me taking numerous pictures of him.

Thank you Theobalds for the memories!

Quirky Thursday: Squeaky Treats

2011-06-09T17:52:00.000-07:00

I am a huge texture person. My textures of choice are chewy and crunchy.

Flan? No way.

Scallops? Not a chance.

Raw oysters? I think I just puked in my mouth.

But another texture that I'm not quite sure how to categorize, goes on my black list of food textures:

Squeaky.

Like what Lucky Charms marshmallow-y ~~delish~~nastiness do when you bite into a big spoonful of them. Those little marshmallow nightmares just squeak across your teeth. Does anyone know what I'm sayin'?

Gives me the heebie-geebies if I think about it too long.

Meringues are a close second with the squeak factor. I don't think about those too long either. {shiver}

Daughters of the King.

2011-06-09T10:15:00.000-07:00

I've been reading Beth Moore's blog this morning and found my way to a website As Our Own that is countering child exploitation and slavery.

There is a line in one of the girl's stories that touched my heart this morning. Although the story belongs to a girl whose life was redeemed from the darkness of a brothel her mother was kidnapped to be a slave to, it is very applicable to life as a Mama of two girls.

"She's grown up to be a lovely young woman with a strong sense of her identity in Christ as a daughter of the King. She exudes a steady confidence in God's loving care."

It forced me to gain some perspective in my life. God is rescuing little girls from tragic horrors. He is working miracles to turn their little lives from ashes to beauty.

He is giving them life through identifying with Him and not the life that is surrounding them.

It made me have a lump in my throat as I looked over my laptop at my girls playing with crayons and coloring books. So innocent. Unaware of all the things that will soon compete for what they base their identity in. And I had to try and explain to Alexia why tears were streaming down my face. I think they were tears of sorrow, but also thankfulness of being made aware of the the importance of this identity issue. Because I know one of the biggest impacts on who/what they find their identity in will be my example of who/what I find my identity in. First Peter 3:3-4 came to my mind, because it is a painful reminder of what I battle being the source of my identity:

"Don't be concerned about the outward beauty of fancy hairstyles, expensive jewelry, or beautiful clothes. You should clothe yourselves instead with the beauty that comes from within, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is so precious to God." (New Living Translation)

And encouragement comes to me from the reminder of Proverbs 31:30:

"Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised."

Lord, help me to have for myself, as well as teach my daughters, to have a strong identity in Jesus by being made beautiful on the inside, a result of being a daughter of the King. To have steady confidence in God's care for me, rather than inconsistent confidence that comes and goes by how I feel about my appearance. Thank you that you desire for me to have a story that has a praiseworthy ending!

Healthy Popsicles.

2011-06-05T20:10:00.000-07:00

I love when I'm reminded of healthy ideas for my girls. Ideas that I'm aware of, but need to be re-inspired by friends every now and then. So in honor of my friend who convinced her husband to go on a smoothie cleansing diet.....

I made smoothies. Masked as popsicles!

I let the girls help me with what they wanted in their smoothie popsicles and they came up with:

Strawberries, bananas, blueberries, apple juice, and yogurt. And I threw in wheat germ, fresh kale and fresh spinach.

All into the blender, and then into the popsicle molds for the next morning. I promised the girls they could have a popsicle for breakfast.

(A trick I like to do is throw bananas on the verge of being overly ripe, I peel and put in a ziplock and store in the freezer. I've started doing this with other fruit that is about to go bad as well. It's also saved me frustration for the times when the girls ask me for a banana, but only for the fun of peeling it. And then I just use for smoothies!)

And the results?

No melted, spilled popsicle left behind:

Quote of the Day.

2011-06-05T11:58:00.000-07:00

"I'm happy. It's not happy to be sad."

Happy 2nd Birthday Naiya!

2011-06-04T13:45:00.000-07:00

Oh, Naiya where do I even start?

You were the surprise of our lives, when we found out you would be joining us with just one year (and two weeks) between you and Alexia. My pregnancy with you proved to be just as miserable as the first, and many vows of never going through this pregnancy thing again were made. I might have even tried to convince your dad to agree. But he refused to have the conversation, convinced my tune would change once I was not pregnant.

And right he was.

You have been such a joy. Your easy going spirit has been so refreshing. Your ability to make people laugh has been so fun to watch. Your Daddy and I have thought countless times that we should change your name to Joy. You have no inhibitions, taking delight in entertaining yourself as well as others. People laughing with or at you just makes you laugh. Which then makes us laugh even more. I can't count how many times I've heard what an amazing little personality you have and how much fun you are to be around. You quickly win people's affections because of your love of life.

I'm pretty sure you are a verbal genius. And you have shocked so many with your well annunciated sentences coming out of such a tiny little body. You're like the Doogie Howser of talking. There have been so many times where we have directed a question to Alexia, underestimating your awareness, and you have piped in with the correct answer! You have an amazing ability to observe and comprehend. I wish I could take credit for it, but I'm sure it's pretty evident that is not my strength!

You also win the teeth award. Those suckers came in with full force. It felt like you and Alexia obtained a full mouth of teeth around the same time. And you are never afraid to show them:

This one, I just might take credit for though.

You are fearless, crawling into the waves, climbing up onto things, jumping off of things. You keep me on my toes! You want to do things on your own, I can hear you saying, "I do it! I do it!"

I love how cuddly you still feel. And that you still have baby cheeks. I check in quite frequently to make sure you are still committed to staying a baby forever. You're still on board as of now.

You love to sing and will dance to any kind of beat, even me saying over and over, "Go Naiya, go Naiya, go!"

On your actual birthday we celebrated you over breakfast with Grandma & Pops. And surprised you with an honored seat at the table:

You were showered with gifts from your grandparents near (Grandma & Pops) and far (Grandma & Grandpa Griff - my aunt and uncle in CA).

I imagine a day will come where it will be hard to believe that you were as tall as the bottom of the windowsill. But I will not think of such things right now.

We love you so much Naiya. You are truly one of the best unexpected gifts from the Lord to us. I am honored to be your Mama. Happy 2nd Birthday!

Happy Mother's Day!

2011-06-01T04:11:00.000-07:00

This year Ryan started the weekend off with picking up my favorite coffee drink, a vanilla breve, from a local coffee shop on Saturday morning. Then we made a last minute decision at dinner with friends that evening to go camping. I'm thankful it was spontaneous, because had I more time to think about it, I would have come up with enough reasons to not go with two toddlers.

We didn't get to the campsite until it was dark, but there was enough time to get settled in to our tent and then roast marshmallows for some good ol' fashioned s'mores. Yum. The girls, Ryan and I went to bed together and cozied up on the foam mattress and down comforter we brought. Luxury camping. No hip bones digging into rocks on the ground. And the next morning, everyone woke up well rested. I couldn't believe there weren't any tears during the whole camping experience. Except for the one time Naiya was crying in her sleep saying, "I want thaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat!"

And so that it would end being a positive experience, we drove on home in time for naps. And a Happy Mother's Day weekend it was.

And to further celebrate the beloved day, I bought myself my favorite flowers. Ranunculus.

Aren't they the loveliest things you've ever set your eyes on? Like a cross between poppies and peonies.

Monday had come, my happy day of feeling appreciated and pampered had ended, and low and behold....these pretties allowed the celebration to continue throughout the week. Found them at Trader Joe's and bought them for myself. (To Ryan's credit, he said he had looked for them, but couldn't find any.) Didn't feel a bit cheated either. They made my life happy every time I walked into the kitchen and saw them on the dining table. Didn't last long, but were beautiful while they lasted.

Just When...

2011-05-12T12:36:00.000-07:00

I thought I'd get back into blogging, as well as change the unproportioned photo in my header, blogger tells me that I've fulfilled my quota of photo downloads. What? So now I have no blog header. Super annoying.

First Date with Daddy

2011-04-18T11:43:00.000-07:00

Ryan took Naiya on her first date this morning. This has been maybe a monthly ritual he has had with Alexia, but today was finally Naiya's turn.

As expected, there were many tears from Alexia as she watched Naiya and Ryan walk out the door by themselves. And off in the truck they went. That's his thing. He likes to take them in the truck, instead of rolling out in the minivan. Minivan hater. Whatev. He even dumpster dove for a third carseat (Britax, can you believe it?!), so he could put it in the truck. (And don't worry, we found out it was thrown out by a neighbor at the condo who was way past the carseat phase with his kids....I was initially worried that someone threw it out because it was in an accident or something.)

So I tried to make my one-on-one time with Alexia as fun as possible. So as not to be the parent that having to be left behind with equated to getting a tooth extracted. So Alexia and I had a tea party by the fire. It was perfect for the rainy day we had. Tea parties are always shoe-in's because they involve honey and cookies.

And here's my attempt at a self-photo. I thought I'd share because the result made me laugh out loud. Stupid flash. I never did get a good one.

And a moment of "this is what it's all about": Alexia took a few minutes to mimic the way I hold a coffee cup. Observing my hand, then slipping three fingers into the handle of her cup. Then another glance back at me, adjustment to her fingers. I don't even think I realized how I held it. Pointer finger on top, pinky sticking out from the bottom...and voila! Coffee cup holding twins.

Another funny moment came when I was downloading photos onto the computer from our camera, and we of course had to watch all of the videos taken. One of them being of Naiya eating a chocolate chip cookie the other day while Alexia was still napping, and as Alexia was eating the last bite of the cookies we had been eating, she looked at me with such concern, eyebrows furrowed, and whined, "heeeeeeeeeey! Naiya took that cookie off my plate and put it o that 'puter!" as she pointed to the culprit on the computer.

It was great to have alone time with just Alexia, and I'm sure Naiya enjoyed breakfast with Daddy and then a run to the dump afterward. Every girl's ideal date, right? Although I wouldn't be surprised with how many trips to the dump they've tagged along on, if one of them asks for a toy dump truck or tractor soon.

If a Baby Could Have a Baby.

2011-04-13T13:18:00.000-07:00

Have I shown you our littlest girl's belly? It's such a unique thing. We're actually finding a lot of things that God made Naiya unique in. But more on that later. Reminds me of a small-scale pregnancy:

(And if you're wondering, that's playdough strings hanging from her forehead.)

Side view 8-month pregnancy shot (Naiya on left, Alexia on right):

Alexia had to get in on the Cornholio fun too:

Love these girls!

Last Memories at the Condo.

2011-04-13T13:09:00.000-07:00

Here are some moments at the condo before our big move.

I find myself telling the girls, "Isn't Uncle Ty crazy?" And you can see for yourself why. This still makes me laugh. fyi: Ty is 6'3.

And our good friend, Uncle Alfred, tirelessly pushed the girls around in a cooler/car with a steering wheel borrowed from their Little Tyke.

The girls even became self sufficient when everyone else got tired of pushing:

There's been some playdough fun:

Some fights over who gets to go potty:

(For the record, no, Naiya is not potty training. Although she would like to think she is. I initially gave her the benefit of the doubt when she would yell "potty!" and sprint to the bathroom and strip down-diaper and everything-all to have me impatiently sit there for five minutes and then say, "done! fruit snack now?")

We had some great moments at our condo, and I actually really miss it. Moreso for the memories it brings to mind. Goodbye condo!

Naiya's First Hair Cut.

2011-04-13T12:51:00.000-07:00

Naiya has come a long way with the hair growth process. She was practically bald for the first few months of her life. Which was quite the shocker after having Alexia be bow-ready at birth.

This was Alexia getting her first bath of her life at the hospital. She was ready for a full salon wash:

Naiya, not so much:

And soon her hair evolved to this:

Who doesn't love for their daughter to sport a rat tail? And up until recently it had grown into a semi-mullet:

And when I impulsively cut Alexia's hair because of how tangled it always got, I decided I would take the risk of cutting Naiya's as well. I feel like I had some margin of error with Alexia's hair since it is curly, but Naiya's bone straight hair had the potential to be a total haircut-fail. But I went for it anyway. Notice the concentration on my face. Very serious business. A bit stressful, I'm not gonna lie. Don't let her standing still for this photo fool you. She almost got scissor tips in her ears a few times.

I definitely needed Ryan's help to entertain Naiya (and capture the moment on camera). All the while, Alexia is playing with a lighter. Pretty much a torch. Don't judge.

And the finished product:

For the first couple of days, I couldn't help but laugh out loud at how much she reminded me of a little Amish boy. But within a week Ryan and I were in love with her cute little bob. Not that she cares any. But we said goodbye to the whispy mullet.

Here's Alexia's first haircut experience.

We've Moved!

2011-04-12T12:13:00.000-07:00

Goodness, has it been a long time or what? We finally made our move into our long-awaited home. It's been over a year since we began this adventure. I can't believe in that time we: fixed up our old home, put our house on the market, one week later got an offer, one month later were completely out of the home that we brought both our daughters home to, into a friend's condo for ten months, out of the condo, and settled into our new home. Phew! So much has happened, but amazingly it hasn't seemed too stressful. I realized how much I enjoy packing and unpacking....such great organization projects. I love the kind of projects that allow me to stay within my own home.

So before I procrastinate any longer, here are a few pics of our new abode. I'll try to post some before and after pics soon. It just seems too time-consuming to me right now.

From the street:

Front Door:

Back of the house with so much room to run!:

The cool thing about the backyard, besides all the grass (yay to no more asphalt backyards!), is that it backs up to woods and we have deer sightings quite frequently. Alexia has loved it!

Taste of Spring

2011-02-14T18:01:00.000-08:00

Today it hit 50 degrees! Thank you Lord. It was such food for our soul. Especially after a night of tossing and turning because of a pinched nerve in my back accompanied by some type of bug that led to throwing up my pizza dinner.

Oh Spring, you couldn't come any sooner.

A good day to bust out the sidewalk chalk. This too, made me happy.

Please stay warm weather. Pretty please?

Two Little Monkeys Jumpin' On a Bed.

2010-12-15T12:13:00.000-08:00

Did you notice the hair-out-of-the-face move by Alexia? She puts up a big fight when I try to put her hair in a ponytail, and resorts to this move. She'll even hold her hair up from her face with one hand, while eating cereal with the other hand.

Maybe these girls are ready to share a room?

Thumb sucking twins:

Vanilla Steamers.

2010-12-15T11:50:00.000-08:00

I got the idea of serving a warm beverage to the girls from a friend with a funny story about Vanilla Steamers. She explained that in high school her go-to drink from Starbucks was a Vanilla Steamer. She would tell people she needed her vanilla steamer. And it wasn't til later that she realized there was no coffee (or caffeine) in a vanilla steamer.

I enjoyed this story as much as I enjoyed the actual drink!

As an alternative to (the ever sugary) hot cocoa, I was excited to have a tea party with the girls by serving this:

**********************************
Vanilla Steamer
Serves 4.

2 c. milk (I use organic 2%)
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. sugar (I use sucanat)

Stir together all ingredients in a small saucepan and heat on medium heat until you see steam rising from the pan (approx. 10 mins). Serve with cinnamon sprinkled on top and yummy cookies for a perfect tea party!

{sidenote: I am desperately missing my aerolatte (it broke and I also accidentally left it behind on my trip to California last month), this drink would be perfection with some foamy goodness}
*********************************

At our tea parties, I have the girls practice using cloth napkins in their laps and wiping their mouths. It's great to get some more use out my cloth napkins that I love! And, I read in a book the idea to teach your girls proper etiquette. Not that it's an everyday reality (because I rarely serve napkins at meals, special request only!), but so that the girls are familiar and comfortable with social situations that require them to be a little more proper than our normal everyday meals. I told Ryan about this desire of mine, and we both laughed and agreed that I'd better get my hands on an etiquette book to learn for myself!

Here's the inaugural day of Vanilla Steamers.

Getting some fresh, frigid air:

Infamous chokehold:

Ahhhh...and inside for some warmth and comfort drinks:

Vanilla Steamers were a hit!

Home Alone.

2010-12-15T11:30:00.000-08:00

Ryan went away for a long weekend to support a good friend of ours in Q School. So while he enjoyed Florida and pristine golf courses, this is what I was left with:

Yes I Love Technology.

2010-12-15T11:19:00.000-08:00

These girls would make Kip proud:

Looks A Lot Like Christmas!

2010-12-15T11:03:00.000-08:00

Our annual tradition of getting a tree (at our old neighborhood fire house) and having Ryan's homemade chocolate chip cookies and hot cocoa was spent with friends this year. We came home with a six-foot Frasier Fir. I love it!

Here's our crew:

Here's the Peterson crew:

Cookies and hot cocoa at last:

I bought these pajamas for Alexia at a huge consignment sale (Wee Sale) a few months ago, with this particular Christmas Tree evening in mind. Ironically, I went with Anne Marie to the sale.

Here's our tree, at last! And last year's project, the monogram wreath.

Our mantle substitute (since we don't have one here at the apartment):

I use a tradition from my Aunt Debbi, where each Christmas I add a bell onto each of our stockings. This will be our seventh Christmas as a couple, Alexia has 3 bells and Naiya two. This year I bought real pine garland, and a real pine wreath (super cheap at Home Depot!) I've always wanted to, but I'm convinced to just buy the fake garland from the Dollar Store next year to a) save money and b) not have to fuss with putting on/taking off lights every year. Word to the wise.

Here's our Christmas-ed out dining room:

And Dollar Store decor:

Personalized things make me happy. Tip: buy a cheap tree skirt and get it embroidered.

Putting out holiday dish towels used to be something that was never on my radar, and once I did recognize this trend, it didn't make sense to me why anyone would throw in Christmas colors to clash with the rest of their kitchen decor (unless green and red was what they had goin' on). But this year, these TJ Maxx finds made me realize how walking into my kitchen each morning to these festive yet practical items could make my day! I find myself getting disappointed when I've dirtied both of them up before I have time to do laundry.

And here's Trouble:

Hope you are enjoying this Christmas season!

Them Girls Are Funny.

2010-12-14T18:43:00.000-08:00

Hats are funny.

So are chokeholds.

So is snagging your sister's cookie when she least expects it.

Some happy campers when sugar is in the mix.

BFF.

My Little Munchkin.

2010-12-14T18:38:00.000-08:00

This little girl has got me wrapped around her finger. Got me itchin' to have me another one!

This is about my favorite age. Still really cuddly. Still got those cheeks.

And still...

Wants her Mama.

Faceplant 101.

2010-12-14T18:31:00.000-08:00

I forgot to blog about it, but last month Alexia had a run-in with the pavement path we have at our apartment complex. Ugh, it was awful.

It all started off as an innocent walk outside in order to run some pre-dinner energy off. There's an exercise path that loops through our complex, complete with some super old school circuit stops. But they are a reasonable alternative for a playground.

These parallel bars (a.k.a. monkey bars) in the above photo happen to be up on a hill. And when Alexia was done swinging her little heart out, she came running down the asphalt path to where Naiya and I were standing. I took note of her gazelle strides as she gained some pretty good speed down that hill. And just when she got to the bottom, she got tripped up. Internally wincing, waiting for what I knew was about to happen, I was surprised when she landed on her knees, then her side, instead of her chin. But somehow in that nano-second of side-falling, she squared back up and did a full-on face plant. Ugh. It makes me cringe remembering it all. Not only did her face hit the asphalt, but I witnessed her poor face literally bounce off the ground. (I actually feel a little sick thinking about it.)

But good news was: no emergency room trip.

Bad news was:

What better way to ice her lip than with a fudgsicle? (Thank you Grandma for leaving those in our fridge!)

I'm pretty sure sugar is the cure-all, end-all:

As if my story wasn't graphic enough, I would also like to add one more tidbit. Later that day, I went to wipe Alexia's nose (she had been wailing for something or other) and off came a layer of skin with the tissue. Ugh, it was awful! But I am amazed at how quickly it healed. She was such a trooper!

Come To This?

2010-12-09T09:37:00.000-08:00

Not an official Quirky Thursday (looks like those are few and far between). But just a thought for the day.

I just put the last little girl down for a nap. Simultaneous naps are what I live for.

God has been gracious to allow them to both sleep from noon to 2 every day. So about this time every day I walk out into the living room to pure silence, and I am torn between being focused on getting things accomplished around the house and being productive vs. making myself a cup of coffee and sinking into the couch for some good ol' fashioned stay-at-home "me" time.

So today I walked out of Alexia's room and chose to focus. On a "focus" day, I start off by making a list of my priorities for what can be done in two hours. My top three usually consist of doing one house "chore" (so as to avoid living in a perpetual tornado), prep for dinner (to avoid 5:00 meltdowns - those are the worst, most stressful parts of my day if I have procrastinated prepping), and calling/emailing people back.

So today, in all seriousness....before even getting my pen and paper with my top priority list in mind, I made the mental note of:

"I need to shower today. I have to shower today."

Really? When did my life come to this?

That "taking a shower" is something I need to tell myself to focus on, and accomplish? For reals?

Yes, for reals. It's been a couple days. My hair is noticeably greasy. And I have put "Take a shower" as one of my top priorities today.

Awesome.

A Few Things.

2010-11-29T07:18:00.000-08:00

A few things happened this morning. Naiya eating her breakfast, Alexia and I eating a mid-morning snack of crackers and hummus, Christmas music in the background spurned me to dance in my chair. Looking back and forth at each girl for some well-earned (at least I thought) giggles.

Their response?

No giggles.

Naiya shook her head saying, "no, no".

Alexia looks at me in all seriousness and says, "Mommy, please don't dance."

Well then.

And another comment that surprised me this morning. Alexia and I went to go get Naiya up this morning and she asks me, "Mommy, can I hold my sister?" {heart melting}

This is the first time I've heard her refer to Naiya as her sister. Such a sweet thing to see her realize their relationship. Sister, and hopefully BFF.

Oh, and by the way, the detox is over. Life is so much better with caffeine. It ended yesterday. So maybe I could find a happy medium of not having two or three espressos throughout the day. Maybe just one regular cup of coffee in the morning could satisfy.

Go ahead, laugh. All you loyal caffeine drinkers that knew I would come to my senses and be back.

Cheers.

Thanksgiving 2010

2010-11-28T03:22:00.000-08:00

We celebrated our Thanksgiving this year with half of Ryan's family at a house on the water that our brother and sister-in-law are housesitting for. There were only five adults (Pops, Ty, Jenna, Ryan and myself) and two kids, one of our smaller holiday dinners. And since my mom-in-law is out of the country visiting Ryan's sister and her family in northern Iraq (Curdistan region), Jenna and I were in charge of the menu.

Our traditional menu included:

Fried turkey, compliments of my bro-in-law, Ty

All compliments of my sis-in-law, Jenna:
Homemade Rolls
Roasted Veggies
Sweet Potatoes
Green Bean Casserole
Festive Punch

Cranberry Salad, Ryan's contribution
What I busied myself doing all Thanksgiving morning:
Pioneer Woman's Mashed Potatoes
PW's Pecan Pie
Pumpkin Pie *both pies I used Ina's pie crust, and the recipe makes two crusts!
Homemade Whipped Cream (minus the rum used in the recipe)
Turkey Gravy straight from the packet!

Here's some shots of our Thanksgiving table:

It was a wonderful meal, and the boys and the little girls jumped in the hot tub as an after-turkey dinner activity. Alexia had been talking about going in the "bath tub" since the last time she was there last weekend. All Thanksgiving morning she kept talking about getting her "swimsuit-underwear" on (that's what she wore the last time) and going in the "bath tub". I'm pretty sure this picture says it all:

Isn't the waterfront view amazing in the background?

After we all had taken a little break and cleaned up, hot tubbed, and caught some of the football game, we had regained our appetite in time for dessert and coffee! Sadly, I forgot to take pictures of my first pumpkin and pecan pie. But those recipes are keepers!

Alexia even warmed up to the dog there at the house, who's name is Buckwheat. (I'm pretty sure I can't say that without giggling). Buckwheat even got close enough to lick her on the lips. Gross, but funny. Alexia just wiped her mouth and said "ach!" in disgust. And later that night Naiya puked on Ryan, I believe because she ate her weight in whipped cream.

But our Thanksgiving was enjoyed, and there are so many things we are thankful for this year.

Hope your family had a cozy Thanksgiving!

Alexia Antics

2010-11-26T10:02:00.000-08:00

Alexia is talking so much these days. I love hearing her come up with her own thoughts.

One of her latest is when she's trying to figure out what a particular person is doing:

"What's he she him doing?"

And her infamous "What doin?" has now become "What are doing?" I would say this is one of the most frequent questions I hear from her.

Funny girl.

Accidental Detox

2010-11-25T03:53:00.000-08:00

Of all things to come back from the dead and blog about.....this is it.

I have so many blog post ideas running through my head, moments with the girls that have been so funny I knew I had to share, but this is what I got:

I love coffee. I mean, L.O.V.E. coffee. My sister-in-law and I share this thought that if we find out that someone doesn't drink coffee, there's a bit of a let down. As delightful as they are or as much as we hit it right off the bat, a sense of "our relationship will only go so deep" comes across my mind when I think of sipping my hot cup of coffee solo. Okay. Maybe I'm being a little dramatic, but on the flip side, there is such a feeling of nostalgia sitting down with a friend and having deep, meaningful convos. I love it!

Anyway, so now that my affection for coffee is out there, onto my dilemma. I usually accidentally get addicted to caffeine and then detox once I realize it. But since my second child came along, it's been an ongoing year-and-a-half necessity. Which I really am fine with. I'm comforted to know that I am not alone amidst the mama community. Especially with nights like last night, where Naiya was up two or three times wanting to be cuddled in our bed. Which I swore I would never do. But each time she made it into our bed, she rolled around and flailed and babbled, and Ryan would scoop her up and put her back in her crib (which is a pack 'n play in our walk-in closet).

But in the last month, I was a bit annoyed at my addiction. While traveling or being at the mercy of someone else's early morning routine, I found it extremely high maintenance to suffice my need for it. Does anyone else have this problem? For example, I went to visit my grandparents in sunny Palm Springs, CA and they happen to drink decaf each morning. Faithfully drink decaf every morning. But me? I went as far as to bring my espresso maker (goes on the stovetop) and my aerolatte for lovely, milky foam (which I left there..argh). I even thought about bringing a bag of espresso ground coffees, but thought that might be crossing unhealthy coffee-drinking boundaries. But I also ran into being let-down every morning because I didn't have my Coffeemate creamer. My love of my coffee life. Anyone that knows me well, knows my affinity with creamer. And not just any creamer. Only Coffeemate. But all of this accomodation made me a bit aware of my caffeine problem. And coffee snobbery, but that's another post for another time.

So moving on to this last Tuesday morning. I've started meeting with my sister-in-law Jenna, and good friend, Bailey every Tuesday morning at 6 am for a Beth Moore bible study (on the fruits of the spirit). Well, I would normally wake up a tad earlier to squeeze in a cup of coffee before leaving the house. But I slept too long and was left to hope and pray my sis-in-law would have found her way around the house she is housesitting for, in order to brew a pot of coffee. She delivered! And as we sat and drank coffee and talked about what was going on in our lives, I found myself wanting to close my eyes and curl up for a nap. As not to be rude, I kept my eyes open, but knew I had that blank stare going on. I had no idea why I was that tired, and then it donned on me. "I wonder if I'm drinking decaf?" So I went to warm up my cup of coffee and inspected the coffee bags out on the counter. Two bags: Dunkin' Donuts and Seattle's Best. I looked a bit closer to see the tiny, tiny green decaf printed on the Seattle's Best. Then hollered to see which coffee was used. She said, "Seattle's Best, isn't it good?!" Then we all laughed hysterically at the fact that it is decaf and I've been all but falling asleep on the couch because of it.

But I took that as the first step of my detox process. No caffeine for me in two days. I've been exhausted and had some headaches, but hopefully they will pass. They better. I've even taken naps the last two days in the afternoon. I don't remember the last time I took a nap! I sit with my decaf espresso though, and hope to be free from caffeine's bondage. Okay, not really. But I would like to have the alternative of being able to drink caffeine when I've had a rough night, but not need it on an every day basis. We'll see how that goes.

Off to Work She Goes.

2010-11-05T07:19:00.000-07:00

Alexia has been a daddy's girl for most of her life. In distress, she would crawl past my open arms to get to Ryan for comfort. But in the past month she has taken pretty well to waving goodbye from the doorstep to Ryan as he drives off to work. Throughout the day she'll often remind me that "Daddy's workin". And I'll nod my head to affirm that she is correct.

Just a couple weeks ago, she was putting on her boots and looking for her hat, which I thought was just a game of dress-up. The sliding door was open and she was freely walking in and out of the house, saying "bye mommy" every time she stepped outside. Not paying too much attention, I responded with a "bye Alexia" every time as well. But one time, she got all up in my face (I was on the computer), and said "Mommy. Bye." So I finally looked her in the eye and asked, "Where are you going?" Hands in her pockets, she said, "I go to work. Bye!"

And then she came back in again all puckered up for a goodbye kiss.

And then she continued to walk away saying, "Bye Mommy" and waving with a look in her eye that said, "No seriously, I'm really leaving this time."

To say the least, she's quite intrigued with the whole process of Ryan getting ready for work and then leaving.

It's less traumatizing for all of us now that she has embraced Ryan leaving for work every day. But it's also sad to see her being all grown up.

Quirky Thursday: Brushing Teeth

2010-10-28T13:24:00.000-07:00

Because I enjoy reading people's "101 Things About Me", but know that I lack the discipline to follow through in compiling 101 things in one post, Quirky Thursday was born.

*****

This week's quirky Thursday is all about how much I dislike watching other people brush their teeth. I'm not quite sure how to explain why. It might be that I don't like spit. Mine or anyone else's. All I know is that as far back as I can remember, it's made me gag to watch other people slowly foam at the mouth, and even worse, hear gobs of it spatter into the sink. I actually think I need to take a break from writing about it...

Most of my high school friends know not to brush their teeth and talk to me. I even make myself gag when I'm brushing my own teeth if any foam gets on the outside of my mouth. And I never spit toothpaste out before putting a handful of water in to rinse. I'm usually not in the bathroom at the same time Ryan is brushing his teeth. And I've tried, maybe only a handful of times, to brush the girls' teeth. But they're the worst, because they just swallow their foam. {dry heave.} That's become Ryan's duty when possible.

And that concludes another random quirk about myself. So now you know not to try to have a heart-to-heart with me at the bathroom sink. It will have to wait until after personal hygiene activities are over.

October 2010.

2010-10-21T12:51:00.000-07:00

We went to our first real pumpkin patch this year. Alexia's first October we went to a small local nursery and took pictures.

I was just happy to not be pregnant anymore.

And last year was a complete failure. I convinced Ryan to drive out to a pumpkin farm on the eastern shore on a really rainy day, about an hour's drive mind you, all to find out once we got there that they were closed due to the rain. Lesson learned. Call ahead. 2009 would be pumpkins from Safeway.

Eagerly anticipating Fall, we kicked off our October going to a fall fest pumpkin patch at Homestead Gardens. Besides the un-fallish warm weather, it was a great time.

They had all types of pumpkins, although I was hoping for the girls to actually get to see pumpkins still on the vine. Oh well. But Alexia got to feed animals for 25 cents (came out of a candy machine, cute idea).

We came home with a big pumpkin for carving and a baby pumpkin (I learned is called a pie pumpkin because they are sweeter and used for baking.)

And the winner is......this pumpkin!

October is one of my favorite months! Bring on the pumpkin bread, chilly and humid-free weather, and brightly colored trees. This is the beginning of entering into the holiday season!

I was ecstatic to get our fall decor out of the storage closet. There was no way I was putting that in storage. I also pulled out our boots and sweaters, and switched out the girls' spring/summer clothes. One of my favorite organizing activities.

Last year is the first real fall decor shopping I had ever done. And I deemed it necessary to win back the fall spirit that had been stolen from two straight years of nausea. Here's last year's fall preparation.

It is so fun to pull out seasonal decor as tradition. It's one of the things that make me feel like being a mom. Since growing up there really wasn't a woman's touch in our home when it came to decor. (My dad was an amazing single dad. I can't even begin to tell you how he did it.)

Here's some of our festive goodies around our home this year.

Last year's purchases, twig pumpkins:

Leaf dish w/ mini pumpkins (Alexia picked the pumpkins out at Trader Joe's):

Table runner and berry twigs made a comeback. This year I put the twigs in a brown pitcher I had, since last year's acorn vase was a bust. It was so fun to pick acorns with Alexia, but little tiny white worms ended up crawling around in the vase. And if there's anything that can make me puke on demand, it's maggots or anything that resemble them. And the other wild foliage I used ended up being such a mess. Was so cute in the Pottery Barn magazine, and even in my home for the first week. I'll stick to the unnatural this year though.

And this year I splurged and bought this wall decor for $7 at Target:

With this trip to Target I also bought my very own pumpkin shaped peppermint patties. They have been a fun treat for myself with my coffee during the girls' afternoon nap. I also picked up Reeses peanut butter cups just for fun. For Halloween of course. 'Tis the season to start eating comforting goodies.

I put a few ghords on a cake stand on our bookshelf:

And Ryan's mom gives me mums every fall. So Ryan planted those for me, since he's got the green thumb, and I have been very unfaithful to water them. But here they are in their dehydrated glory, with our pumpkins, on our patio.

Alexia and I finally baked our first batch of pumpkin bread this year. Stealing an idea from another blog I follow, we made mini-loaves to deliver to our new-ish neighbors.

My hope is that it will create a sense of community amidst our apartment living friends. I've realized how much people protect their privacy in apartments. Which is one of the things I am craving right now too.

But the reality of the lack of relationship was made apparent to me when a knock came at my door the first month we were here. It was our neighbor that lives diagonally from us (there's four apartments to each floor) and her father who was visiting, and they were looking for a tool to borrow. They introduced themselves and the father explained that he had asked his daughter if she could simply "ask one of her neighbors" for the tool, and she said she didn't know any of her neighbors.

This was wild to me, coming from a neighborhood where we were able to experience such a community in our last house with the families on our street. Ryan pioneered that one, because my natural bent is to want to stick to myself. But Ryan pushed me out of my comfort zone enough times that I was able to experience a relationship with our former neighbors where eggs and sugar were borrowed a lot from one another.

All that to say, it's been my desire to get to know my neighbors. At least to where I know their first names and maybe get to the level where I feel comfortable asking to borrow an egg. Maybe it won't happen. Maybe I'll come across as a really needy and intrusive neighbor. Even if they don't enjoy me stalking them at their doors, I know they will enjoy the pumpkin bread!

Wish you all a Happy Fall!

September Shots.

2010-10-17T12:28:00.000-07:00

Here are some of our September faves.

Have I mentioned that the condo we're renting right now is handicapped accessible? So with that, comes a really open layout of the apartment (which makes it feel really big!), wider hallways, doors, and groundfloor access. We're really content in our home. But we also don't have a bathtub, so the girls have their evening "shower" instead. Thankfully, the shower nozzle detaches and the girls can have an automatic sprinkler at their hands. I've been meaning to post photos of our humble abode, so those are to come too.

So a few things about shower time.

One. Ryan has always joyfully taken this duty. I can't begin to explain how much I appreciate this fifteen minutes of service. To our girls and to me. I know for sure at the end of the day, I could not make the girls laugh as hard and as often as he does during bath time. So many squeels, splashing and a few "Alexia, not in her face sweetie"s are heard. I usually take this "alone" time to clean up the dishes from dinner, when I'm feeling really motivated. Other times, I check my favorite blogs.

Two. Alexia hates water being poured over her head. Ryan has convinced her a few times that pouring water over her head herself is really cool. But most of the time, it's the one downside of taking a bath.

Naiya? Completely different story. Doesn't mind a bit. Why not read a book while water is rushing down your face?

Occasionally, she'll get this bright eyed look when the water takes her by surprise. But no tears. And no fear of more water to come.

And since many of you have asked for photos of my washer/dryer, here they are. Just kidding. No one has asked. But I was doing laundry, and went to put the clean clothes in our bedroom, heard some giggling and came back to this:

My guess is that was Naiya's idea. Since she's the queen of climbing onto and into things.

September was also the month Naiya decided to start taking her first steps. Maybe four at the most. Alexia started walking at around 14 months, but Naiya took her sweet old time and waited until 16 months. Ryan was convinced Naiya would be an early walker, because she has such a go-getter spirit. But the girl has got a mean speed crawl, and I think that was most efficient for her.

Cruisin' the coffee table:

Still cruisin':

There she goes!

And....we're done.

Happy girl. "Side" and "Bubbles" are a fave for this girl. I swear she dreams about being outside and blowing bubbles, because it's the first thing she says when she wakes up.

Not so happy about the photo shoot with her feet in the grass. Although, I will say that this girl rarely cries. Usually only when she gets hurt (it takes a lot) or it's waaaaaaay past her bedtime. But mostly, she has short outbursts of frustration, instead of crying. World of a difference with our older, more sensitive daughter.

Her preference of transportation.

Inquisitive little one too.

And she never. Ever.

Keeps.

Her.

Bow in.

For Alexia's letter of the week, "D", we finally made homemade glazed donuts. Which I just realized, why is donuts sometimes spelled doughnuts? Random. Anyway. We made the dough in the afternoon. And then I fried them the next morning. And got to use my new, handy-dandy candy thermometer. I was quite surprised they turned out. I was fully preparing myself mentally and emotionally for them to be a (as Ryan would call it) boondoggle. I was nervous about the whole rising process. But they came out beautifully airy and warm and glazed and yummy! Although I did catch my husband whispering to his sister something along the lines of not comparing to The Amish Market's glazed donuts. But I don't take it personally, considering most of the amish bakers have probably been making them since before they were potty trained. Just sayin'. Have I mentioned my husband has a donut fettish? He denies it every time I call attention to it. But I'm pretty sure he's on a first name basis with the Amish Market donut guy.

Here are the lovely golden goodies:

Some rainy day September fun, sparked the idea to make a tradition of letting the girls get sopping wet on a rainy day, and then warming up with a cup of homemade cocoa. The thought just breeds warmth, home and nostalgia in my heart.

The Apple Pie Tree.

2010-10-11T13:03:00.000-07:00

A random find at the library, this book has been a favorite at our house. Long after we had to return the book, Alexia asked for this book to be read before bed.

"The Apple Pie Tree" by Zoe Hall is about a little girl and an apple tree at her home. It desribes how the tree changes throughout the seasons, and how in the fall (yay!), the apples are harvested and the family makes apple pie. Could it get any better than this? Genius idea, combining farming and cooking, my current favorite things to teach Alexia. I'm just not sure why there haven't been similar books like "The Pumpkin Vine Bread".

But with this book, and Fall now here (although the sunny mid-70's weather isn't making it feel very fall-ish), and a couple posts like this and this, I was inspired to create a Fall tradition of our own apple pie tree story.

I came across a fabulous website for you-pick farms.

On a weekend where we lost our husbands to golf, my friend Anne Marie and her little boy, Michael, hopped in the van and were off to the apple orchard.

Michael even got in on the apple picking:

There's the now one-year old and his mama:

And here's our clan:

The asian pears were my favorite. And not just because I'm asian.

Funny story from that day. Funny, laugh-at-calamity kind of funny. I have a slight problem with that. I can't help it. I usually feel guilty about it after though. But here's what happened...

On our way to the asian pear trees, we had to walk across a path of mud. We were warned ahead of time to wear boots, because of the mud from all the rain the day before. But even the boots didn't prevent Anne Marie and I, and our front-packed babies from sinking ankle-deep into the mud path. Alexia had not yet walked across, so Anne Marie and I were scoping out firm ground, and Alexia surprisingly took the plunge and courageously started walking across by herself! This is very out of character for her, I for sure thought she would wait for my hand and supervision. So I was really proud of her for taking the initiative. But she only got to her second step, when her foot got stuck and she fell face first into the mud. I hurried to get her, knowing she would be scared and embarrassed (as would I), and pulled her up and stood her on the other side of the muddy path. I admit I did have a blog moment and snapped a quick picture, and I also admit I couldn't help but laugh. Like the silent, open-mouthed laugh. All the while, she was still crying. I feel horrible as I write this. Poor thing. Breaks my heart.

But it is a little funny now. Hopefully she'll think so, too.

The amazing thing about the farms in this area is that they were waterfront property. It seems like the two are exclusive of one another in my mind. I guess I just think farms=midwest=landlocked. But it was like the best of both worlds. The only thing that would solidify my moving there would be a Target within 10 miles. And maybe friends or family next door.

Here's the wagon crew:

Done with pictures:

Little arm action with Michael:

Our hand-picked goodness:

Anne Marie went all-out and completed the day's fall festivities with a homemade apple crisp. So yummy!

And we concluded ours a couple days later with a homemade apple pie.

It was my first time to make a lattice crust, inspired by Mel's.

We didn't use the recipe provided in the back of "The Apple Pie Tree" book. Instead I used my own version of Barefoot Contessa's. (Orange font below are my changes to the recipe).

****

Deep Dish Apple Pie

Ingredients

4 pounds Granny Smith apples, peeled, quartered, and cored (I used about 6 apples, because that's what I had)
~~1 lemon, zested~~ didn't use, it comes out too lemony
~~1 orange, zested~~ didn't use, don't like orange in my apple pie
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice (I juiced half of a lemon)
~~1 tablespoon freshly squeezed orange juice~~ nope, not doing it
1/2 cup sugar, plus 1 teaspoon to sprinkle on top
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon kosher salt
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon ground allspice
Perfect Pie Crust, recipe follows
1 egg beaten with 1 tablespoon water, for egg wash

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
Cut each apple quarter in thirds crosswise and combine in a bowl with the zests, juices, 1/2 cup sugar, flour, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and allspice.
Roll out half the pie dough and drape it over a 9- or 10-inch pie pan to extend about 1/2-inch over the rim. Don't stretch the dough; if it's too small, just put it back on the board and re-roll it.
Fill the pie with the apple mixture. Brush the edge of the bottom pie crust with the egg wash so the top crust will adhere. Top with the second crust and trim the edges to about 1-inch over the rim. Tuck the edge of the top crust under the edge of the bottom crust and crimp the 2 together with your fingers or a fork. Brush the entire top crust with the egg wash, sprinkle with 1 teaspoon sugar, and cut 4 or 5 slits.
Place the pie on a sheet pan and bake for 1 to 1 1/4 hours, or until the crust is browned and the juices begin to bubble out. Serve warm.
Perfect Pie Crust:
12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) very cold unsalted butter
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 tablespoon sugar
1/3 cup very cold vegetable shortening
6 to 8 tablespoons (about 1/2 cup) ice water
Dice the butter and return it to the refrigerator while you prepare the flour mixture. Place the flour, salt, and sugar in the bowl of a food processor (this has come to be one of my favorite wedding registry items, once I learned how versatile it can be from Barefoot Contessa - for biscuits, pot pie crusts, shortbread cookie dough, just to name a few) fitted with a steel blade and pulse a few times to mix. Add the butter and shortening. Pulse 8 to 12 times, until the butter is the size of peas. With the machine running, pour the ice water down the feed tube and pulse the machine until the dough begins to form a ball. Dump out on a floured board and roll into a ball. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
Cut the dough in half. Roll each piece on a well-floured board into a circle, rolling from the center to the edge, turning and flouring the dough to make sure it doesn't stick to the board. Fold the dough in half, place in a pie pan, and unfold to fit the pan. Repeat with the top crust.
Yield: 2 (10-inch) crusts
****
Enjoy with vanilla ice cream and family!

Quirky Thursday

2010-10-07T08:14:00.000-07:00

Because I enjoy reading people's "101 Things About Me", but know that I lack the discipline to follow through in compiling 101 things in one post, Quirky Thursday was born.

This way, I can choose to take advantage of revealing one quirky thing about myself when Thursday rolls around. Or not. But this way, an unfinished "101 Things About Me" post won't sit in the "draft" folder for years, waiting for completion.

So here's to celebrating differences, unique opinions and the ability to laugh at ourselves!

Today's quirk?

I like my eggs cooked well done.

I'm talkin' well, well done.

No sunny side ups. No over-mediums. Don't even let me see the yoke running anywhere. A few years ago I saw a poached egg for the first time, and I about died. I'm a huge texture person, so raw oysters, poached eggs and scallops are high on my list of things I would never eat nor want to look at. {shutter}

Dip my bread in yolk? I prefer butter on my bread, thank you.

I love scrambled eggs. I recently started cooking them on medium heat, per Barefoot Contessa, and they come out incredibly fluffy. But they are still cooked long enough to where there is no moisture running anywhere.

I can do fried eggs too. But I usually reserve that order for home only, because I'm far too picky about how I like them cooked. But I'll show you what my perfect fried egg entails.

Turn the stove to med-high heat and wait til it's nice and toasty hot. Crack the egg into the pan and listen to it sizzle. All things that most egg friers do. But here's where it gets tricky. Watch out now.

Immediately mutilate the yolk with spatula, so that there is zero chance of any piece being undercooked:

Sprinkle kosher salt and freshly cracked pepper on . Then flip once it's nice and brown on the underside. And take the spatula and press the life out of the egg like so:

Making sure that no surface of the egg goes untouched. Whip out those OCD tendencies that I know you have. Or maybe that's just me.

Flip again to make sure all slimy-ness is gone from both sides, and both sides are browned to a crisp. Press down just to make sure.

And voila! The perfect fried egg:

Rome: The Sites

2010-10-06T11:47:00.000-07:00

I know I really should give a brief overview of some of the historical sites we ~~were dragged~~ went to.

The Coliseum.

This one was the most interesting to me. Probably because I could visualize what went on here from watching the movie The Gladiator. I cannot fathom watching people kill one another as a sport. And then cheering at the end, when someone's life is taken. I imagine people brought their children there as well? I learned that the "gladiators" were usually criminals, prisoners of war, and some freedmen looking to prove something (and get some cash). That helped a little in understanding some of the crowd's detachment from the gladiators, but I still cannot imagine watching that as entertainment. I have to look away when UFC comes on. So I doubt you'd find me at that Coliseum.

Lebanese Umbrella Trees.

Soldiers marched (w/ their gear and all) in the early morning before the sun came up and in the evening as the sun was going down, to escape the heat. Until one of Rome's kings came up with a grand idea to import these trees from Lebanon to provide shade for the soldiers to march under. Lucky soldiers. With those trees, they were able to march all day long. So it was interesting to see where those trees were planted as we later drove around Rome and envision the poor soldiers marching.

The Wedding Cake.

This monument devoted to modern Italy's first king, stood out to me because of the two statues on either side. They are statues of Nike, the goddess of victory. Apparently the king had had his first (and only) defeat over another country. But it was an a-ha moment for me as I connected the meaning of the athletic brand Nike. Who would have known?

And here are just massive chunks of granite. Um, can I take that home with me for some countertops?

And that's it folks!

Rome: The Fashion.

2010-10-02T18:20:00.000-07:00

Another thing I delight in....fashion!

I think if I could do it all over again, I would have chosen to major in fashion design. Not that I'm any kind of fashion icon, but it is a big interest of mine in limited doses. Maybe not so much that I ever desired to be a real designer, but more because I would love to sew my own clothes. You know, like rip off other people's ideas and then try and do it myself. And girl's clothes would be fun too!

Before I packed for our trip, I googled "what to wear in Rome" and the common theme was: nice pants, ballet flats or retro sneakers, over-the-shoulder purse, and somewhat modest shirt. Showing too much skin could open you up to cat calls. I also read that looking like a tourist could cause you to receive poor service or being exploited.

So off limit items were: running shoes, shorts, flip flops, or jeans.

Well, those four things are pretty much my everyday uniform.

Maybe those blog posts I read about "what to wear" were outdated. Because, I found out it didn't really matter what we wore. Mostly because there were so many tourists, we just blended in. Maybe if we rocked a fanny pack with khaki shorts and socks pulled up to our knees, we would have felt slightly self conscious. But jeans were completely fine. In fact, that's what most of the Romans were wearing. Granted, men and women alike were wearing "skinny" jeans (some men wore jeans tighter than I would even consider squeezing into). I never ventured out in shorts, but I did wear flip flops (with arch support) and didn't feel like I was being stared at.

Anyway, all that to say....if you're going to Rome and wondering what to pack, you're pretty safe to bring what you would normally wear. The only factor is if you plan to visit a church, women's shoulders and knees must be covered.

So here's what we saw in Rome.

A wedding took place one day, and we saw the bride and her father being dropped off:

And we also stopped to watch some of the guests trickle in. It was incredible seeing some of the women walking in platform stilhettos on that cobblestone. It seemed incredibly impractical, yet impressive.

I guess you might call this Euro Goth. Seemed a tad inappropriate for wedding attire, but entertaining nonetheless:

Another thing I noticed was all of the marketing towards baby and toddler apparell. It was hysterical to see toddler boys running around better dressed than our husbands. (No offense). But really, they were wearing designer-looking jeans with super-trendy Pumas and popped collars. To be honest, it made me exhausted just thinking of all the effort that must go into that. Whoowee. No thanks. I'm lucky if my girls are even wearing shoes when they leave the house.

But the window shopping was fun.

This photo below doesn't do the real thing justice. They were Naiya-size ballet flats. Probably a size 2? I probably would have been tempted to purchase these cuties, but I imagine they were expensive as everything else in Rome. So I didn't even look at the price tag.

So Euro:

So not:

So very Euro:

So very not:

And this? Why, I think it speaks for itself:

To give him credit, he was holding both my cardi and purse as a favor. And I love the confidence with which he posed for this photo opp, knowing full well it would end up on my blog. But I definitely prefer a more rugged man (like my no-frills hubby). I can even appreciate a little bit of effort. But when I feel like my man took more time to get himself together than I did, not such a big fan.

And that wraps up the Going Euro post!

Rome: The Food.

2010-09-29T12:26:00.000-07:00

We are back from our nine day trip to Rome, Italy and Athens, Greece.

We took a trip with our friends, Billy and Heather, leaving our toddlers and babies behind with their grandparents. Ryan's amazing parents agreed to stay at our place, and his mom took off work to be a full-time grandma!

I'm going to share highlights from our trip, from my perspective. So I can assure you this post will not be overflowing with historical sites or museums. Sorry, but my heart for travel lies with food, people and relaxation.

So our trip began with a layover in Geneva, Switzerland. We quickly learned their native language is French. We grabbed a coffee and pastry and enjoyed our freedom to talk and eat without distractions:

Our first night included the most amazing pizza with old friends. We met up with four of Ryan's friends from college (Purdue University) whom are missionaries in Rome. The crust was what made the pizza so fabulous. Each person ordered a (big) personal pizza, and my favorite was the Caprese (fresh buffalo mozzarella, basil and tomatoes).

Next stop, one of my faves of the whole trip, the market:

We decided to buy groceries to make an authentic Italian dinner one evening. Here's what we picked up:

Grapes: tasted like candy, but they do not have any seedless grapes.

Tomatoes: Were just as sweet. We brought home cherry tomatoes on the vine and made bruschetta (which we were forced to pronounce "broo-sket-uh").

Didn't try the artichokes, but aren't they beautiful?

And what I had been waiting for....

Cheese.

So many types of fabulous cheese. We chose a parmesan, pecorino and fresh buffalo mozzarella.

Hello, my love:

And of course we had to try some fresh pasta. Our choice: Fettuccine and pesto:

We also grabbed different varieties of olives, along with some bread and peaches.

Something noteworthy was the cross-breed of broccoli and cauliflower:

Another experience at the top of my list, as well as a greatly anticipated one: Coffee and pastries. And enjoying them at a small bistro table outside. Every morning persons dream, right?

I drank ~~the smallest ever~~ cappuccinos while we were there. And I learned the unfortunate fact that Italians don't really drink more than one cup.

Strike one for Italy.

By the third sip, totally in heaven, relishing the amazing pastries, and poof! The last sip always snuck up on me so quickly and unexpectedly. I'll admit, I never really got past this small Italian flaw.

And here's a picture of the breakfast that we got ripped off on. Ryan didn't do the conversion right away, and realized we paid almost close to $20 for this meal. And it was probably one of my least favorite coffees and the pastries tasted stale. It was challenging to know when and where you would get ripped off, especially at the super-touristy places.

So I pretty much had a chocolate croissant every morning. I'm not a big chocolate lover, so I was surprised to have enjoyed the little bit of sweetness, and as a result, drank my coffee with less sugar. Delicious combo. I think I will think twice about hastily walking past the chocolate croissants at Whole Foods next time. Another perk was the freshly squeezed orange juice.

Still on the subject of coffee, because it is one of my favorites, here's my absolute favorite coffee shop of the whole trip.

It was right by the Pantheon, in case you ever go to Rome. We brought home coffee beans from here, as gifts for people and some for ourselves. And I'm already regretting not bringing back more.

So the way you order coffee (or food) was a bit overwhelming, and made me realize why Italians don't order more than one of anything! You had to go to the cashier and wait in line to pay for your coffee first. Then you had to wait in a second line to give your order to the barista. Then wait for your coffee to be made and served. If you ask me, that's too much line waiting.

Here are the beauties that make the world a better place:

Ryan's usual was the Americano (espresso with water; which I read was created and named to accommodate none other than....Americans). My usual was a Cappuccino. I loved the cute little spoons they came with.

Cheers:

Oh yeah, and seating was hard to find. In fact, very rare in the cafes. There were actually sitting fees at some cafes and restaurants. Me? I rather enjoy sitting down and talking, while drinking my coffee. But no cozy sofas or fireplaces were to be found in Rome.

Here's B&H when we were able to snag a couple seats:

Okay, so on to other bites we grabbed.

I'll give a run down of the ones worth taking pictures of.

One morning we grabbed sandwiches for a brown bag lunch. After touring the Coliseum, we endulged. My sandwich was my favorite. (Of course I had to take a bite and try everyone else's, right?) It was ham and parmesan on focaccia bread. For once I didn't regret my order. I am notorious for being the world's worst orderer.

We stopped at a pizzeria one day, and it was unlike any American pizza joint. Notice the wine cellar and beer going on, on the left side of the pizzeria.

And here was an interesting combo, which I must say made me a little queasy. Eggs and bacon pizza:

But it was redeemed by this beauty:

All that freshness. Love it. I wished I would have tried it.

Instead, I played it safe and went with the tomatoe, pesto and blue cheese pizza with fresh basil on top. Amazing, if I do say so myself.

Ryan and I stopped at this restaurant after a shopping trip down a street lined with department stores called Via del Corso. While the pizza and pasta wasn't the best we'd had there, the dipping sauce for the bread was the best I'd every had. It tasted like the kind I've had here in America, basic balsamic vinegar and oil w/ salt and pepper. But it was a bit thicker, with fresh garlic and grated parmesan cheese. One for the recipe box.

My favorite pasta dish there was one Heather ordered one evening. We were advised to not trust the restaurants that solicited outside. But this one proved that theory wrong. The dish was spaghetti with lobster. I was one step away from ordering the same thing, but was unsure how fresh the lobster would be. The noodles were such a great texture, much different than any boxed pasta I've ever had. And the sauce must have been cooked with the fresh lobster, because it was so rich and tasty. Heather let us all taste her fabulous choice, and I secretly sulked over my order-fail once again.

So on to dessert. Ryan's fave. We've been told that Italian gelatto is drastically different than what we have in the States. So very true.

Unending rows of the creamy goodness:

While they are chincy with their coffee, they are generous with their gelato. A "small" give you three scoops! My fave was pistachio, coconut and hazelnut.

One night, while the others stayed within the gelato routine, I ventured out. Somewhat scary for an order failure like me. But I did it, and it was so very worth it. Let me start off by saying that I am not a huge nutella fan. I'm really not a big chocolate fan. You would be amazed at how many dead stares I have gotten upon disclosing this simple fact. Like I had a third eyeball or something, because I would choose something fruity over chocolate-y. But this one is another one for the recipe box. It was a steaming, hot crepe, that made the nutella spread on it melt into a gooey goodness. With the crunch of roasted hazelnuts. If anything could convert me to the dark side of chocolate lovers, this is it, my friends.

Okay, and this one could too. This was Heather's birthday cake, Profiteroles (pro-fit-er-oles). A pile of cream puffs, filled with custard and whip cream, and covered with a chocolate sauce. I can get down with cream puffs like you wouldn't believe. I once won second place in a cream puff eating contest. I ate 11 cream puffs in one minute. First place ate 16. But I did beat out two, (over)grown men.

Seriously, does it get any better than this?:

And last, and most boring: Water. There was fresh drinking water all throughout the city.

Although, Heather would argue it wasn't so fresh. She was quite sick while in Rome, not realizing until later it was always after guzzling down the city water. The rest of us escaped the same results though.

Alright folks, this concludes the Rome food journal.

Mangia bene!

Beat of Her Own Drum

2010-09-08T13:12:00.000-07:00

This girl is crazy. I find myself saying that a lot about her. It's usually more like, "She's crazy!"

I say it to her. About her. In front of her.

But really. She is.

It seems to me that she's got her daddy's blood running through those veins. I say that for two reasons.

1. Alexia is exactly like me in personality. Quite scary, actually. Very emotional. Zero to sixty. Tears come pretty easily. A sensitive and self-conscious one. Empathetic. Zones in on babies crying and pats them on the back and says, "It's okay." Hates loud noises (she's actually getting better at this). This is all me, to the T. So it's amazing to me how different the girls are.

2. I love all of Naiya's "crazy" qualities, because they're everything I'm not. And everything Ryan is. So many reasons why I love and respect my husband for.

Adventurous spirit (she's always climbing into and onto things, Alexia never did):

Assertive:

She's been pretty opinionated as far back as I can remember. Swatting my hand if she was done eating what I was giving her. Much more picky with food. Squaks loudly if she wants my attention.

But pretty unemotional. She really only cries when she's hungry or tired. Which has been such a gift of grace from God, when we've had to deal with this:

Or this:

And please, let's not forget about this car ride home:

(I'll save this story for a Flashback Friday. Stay tuned.)

Naiya sees something once and she wants to do it herself. And usually can, without my help. Naiya completely skipped over the pureed food stage. She was all about feeding herself with finger foods. (Another one I'll chalk up as a gift of grace, since we had two babies back to back.) That girl's got some determination. Just like her daddy. Not so much like her mama.

Here are some latest and greatest of our baby, baby girl:

Good Times = Priceless.

2010-08-28T19:40:00.000-07:00

This car has been the main attraction at our house. It hasn't gotten old yet and we're on the second week of ownership.

The price you ask?

Free.

Ganked it from my in-law's neighbor. They had it in their driveway with a "Free" sign, and going against every clutter-free-mentality cell in my body, I snatched it up and threw it in our van and drove off. I even got a fist bump from Ryan with an astonished look on his face.

And there's been peace in our home ever since. The girls have even been excited to share it:

Not quite wide enough:

The girls have both used the Dukes of Hazard style of jumping into the car on the side without the swinging door.

Alexia, the push-master.

Got Milk?

2010-08-28T19:19:00.000-07:00

I'm still nursing Naiya once a day, first thing in the morning.

At 14 months old.

And I love every minute of it.

Don't judge.

Since I got robbed of being able to nurse Alexia past five months because I was so sick (guess that happens when you conceive when your first child is 3 months), I was determined to do it as long as possible.

Or until she was able to ask for it herself (not judging anyone else, that's just my personal threshold).

Did I say that I absolutely love nursing?

One of my favorite things. It's actually one of the main things I look forward to with having another baby.

Minus the pain that comes with it initially though. Not one of my faves.

But Canadian Nipple Ointment is one of my faves. It is a lifesaver. (Also referred to as All Purpose Nipple Ointment.) I would be at the top of the pyramid if they had some sort of direct marketing company for it. I am a mad marketer for that stuff.

But anyway, back from my tangent of nursing 101. All that to say, as I'm still continuing to nurse, Alexia is becoming more aware of the whole process. And now wanting to take part.

This past week, Alexia wanted Naiya to "drink mook" from her. Here's the play-by-play.

Alexia getting herself situated. Poor Naiya doesn't know what's comin' to her:

Going in for the kill:

Using brute force to get Naiya to the ground and onto her lap:

And, the flip:

Taking a break to laugh with Mama, who at this point, was laughing so hard she couldn't even breathe:

And back at it again.

Need to make sure both sides are even:

Needless to say, it didn't quite go as planned. Naiya wasn't as willing to nurse from Alexia as she is with Mama. It was well worth the laughs though.

Newmans Are Back.

2010-08-28T18:55:00.000-07:00

Our beloved Newmans are back! Yay!

Ryan's sister, Tanya, her husband, Tim, and their boys, Sterling (2.5 yrs) and Thorin (1.5 yrs) are home for the summer from the Kurdistan region (northern Iraq). Collectively, they are really the Mewmaws, but the running joke comes from the most common way their last name is butchered. They even had to go through the hassle of changing their son's birth certificate because of a clerical error. So Newmans they are. It seems so Seinfeld-ish to me. Maybe because I hear "Newman...." running through my head.

So the first time I could get the boys all to myself, they gave me plenty of photo opps.

For some reason, feminine products are a common attraction for toddlers.

Maybe they look like big band-aids to them?

Thorin and Naiya weren't impressed with the panty liners. Instead, they were taking phone calls.

Oh, it's for you Thorin...

Auntie Tanya having story time with her pregnant self. That's right. Baby #3 due in October. You can hardly tell she's even pregnant, right?

Love this shot:

That would be a Nasal Rinse bottle he's chugging water out of. I'm just going to assume that it was clean when I filled it with water for him. No really, it was. I think.

The Newmans are currently in Indiana visiting Tim's family, but we will be having our 2nd annual Family Vacation (last year's was actually a Staycation) in the beginning of September.

Tot School Homeschooling Practice Week 1, Part B

2010-08-28T13:33:00.000-07:00

To finish out the week, here's what we did:

Thursday

A is for Alligator craft.

The finished product:

Friday

Tot Trays. Alexia only lasted about 15 minutes doing this. A late night left her doomed for Meltdown City. I had planned to go to the airport playground and watch planes land, but both girls needed to catch up on their much needed beauty sleep.

Bows. Onesies. Girls Are So Fun.

2010-08-28T12:00:00.000-07:00

I got the itch to create again.

After catching up on my blog reading, I was reminded of etsy's cuteness. So I headed on over to etsy to steal some creative ideas.

One thing about me is, I love to create, but am not innovative. I prefer to steal other people's ideas and create them for myself (or others).

My current fave is the fabric rosette clip. So I scoured youtube for a tutorial and found the how-to for a fabric rosette.

Here's my attempt:

And I needed some more variety in my life, so I tried this one, too:

Although, for this one I used regular cotton fabric from JoAnn's and cut the fabric into 2-inch circles (I have no idea what she is talking about in the tutorial when she refers to her "sizzle". But I am quite interested if it's more efficient). I do think the bow would be cuter with a more sheer fabric, as she mentioned in the tutorial. But oh well, my creative binges are usually impulsive, so I gotta use what I got. And for simplicity reasons, I just overlapped the circle into quarters.

All this bow making, sparked an idea for a gift for a friend who just had her first baby, Madelyn Marie. Beautiful name, right? Makes me have buyer's remorse for my two girls' names.

So here's a peek at the gift that is ready to be shipped:

I'm hoping to send it before she no longer fits into the onesie. To-be-shipped items typically take up residence for weeks at a time on my counters.

Tot School Homeschooling Practice Week 1, Part A

2010-08-25T19:42:00.000-07:00

Never thought I'd be on this path.

But here I am.

Never say never. (I should start making a list of all the things I've said so far that I never would do, but my girls came along, and it's all been downhill from there.)

Researching for ideas, I came across a blog that I've ripped off an idea or two from. It's what she refers to as Tot School.

So I implemented my own Tot School this week. I'm amazed at how into it I've actually been. I'm even more amazed at how easily Alexia has learned things from just the first exposure. (This may or may not be the first time Alexia's has ever heard of letters of the alphabet.) And I might also add it makes the day go by faster and with less meltdowns. And I'm less prone to hopping on the computer out of boredom or watching Barefoot Contessa marathons. The structured schedule has done my soul good.

Here's a recap of our week so far:

Monday

Tot Trays for 45 mins. (I intended on this only being for 20 mins, but she was really into them)

***I cleared out the bottom row of shelves in our living room to put the trays on. Only, I didn't have trays. I just set the items directly on the shelf. I am only putting them out for "school" and on Tot Tray days (Mondays and Fridays) so that she doesn't get sick of them. I put out four differet trays using things I had around the house. My Tot Trays included:

Cutting - I used strips of different colored cardstock and scissors for Alexia to practice cutting
Transferring - I used an empty ice cube tray, small bouncy balls, small tongs and a tupperware bowl (which she later requested the lid for) so Alexia could transfer the balls from the tupperware to the ice cube tray and vice versa, using the tongs (Naiya liked this one too)

Matching - I used an On the Farm print out and printed two copies. One copy I cut out each item and put them in a tupperware bowl, the other was for the "board" for Alexia to match the items up to.
Small Spaces - I used an empty plastic container that grapes came in (because it had holes everywhere and was clear), and q-tips for Alexia to shove the q-tips into the holes and watch them drop down to the bottom of the container. (Naiya was also a fan of this one)

Tuesday

Introduced the Letter "A". This is our theme for the week. The corresponding themes are: apple, alligator and airplane. (I'm not kidding when I mentioned this is really the first time I've ever explained what a letter is to Alexia. And no, we don't have those magnetic letters or floor blocks. But I would like to get my hands on the magnetic letters soon!)

***I used five methods, and I introduced to Alexia in the following order:

Using Word, I typed the letter "A" (capitol only) and made it huge. I also inserted clip art of an apple and a picture of Alexia.

Letter "A" tracing worksheet
A is for Apple coloring page
Letter "A" youtube lesson (I lost count of how many times we watched this. I also started memorizing the song)
Using a magazine, I asked Alexia to see if she could find any A's. (I swear my jaw dropped when she actually scanned the first page with her little finger, nose practically touching the magazine, and shouted "A!" with a big smile.) So with each "A" that she found, I cut them out and let her glue them onto the Intro page (the Word doc from method #1). This was also her first encounter with Elmer's glue.

Wednesday

took the girls to Trader Joe's and let Alexia push her own mini cart and told her our mission was to find 5 apples. We also got to practice counting with each apple she chucked into her cart. Then we came home and baked an apple crisp together.
went to the library (for the first time) and picked up The Apple Pie Tree (I really like this book!)

One over.

2010-08-17T19:02:00.000-07:00

I think Alexia has been pulling a fast one on me.

Since introducing the lovely bribing technique, I have noticed a pattern. A poop trend if you will. It goes something like this:

Alexia: "Mama! Poo poo!"

Me: "Okay, let's go to the bathroom."

Alexia sits on the pot, and says: "Piece of candy, okay?" (Like she's making sure we're on the same page here. No free poops.)

Me: "Yes. You'll get a piece of candy if you poop."

Poop comes. Candy is given. And suddenly this same thing happens two more times in a row.

Really?

I can't help but wonder if hemorrhoids are possible for a two year old.

Goodbye Key Largo.

2010-08-13T08:38:00.000-07:00

We are officially going to have to say goodbye to our boat. At this present time, it is up for grabs (and a small chunk of change) on Craigs List.

{Tear.}

Our Key Largo served three years as a means of curbing my husband's appetite for the water. I initially thought his request for buying a boat was a bit extreme, but I now understand it's a way of life for him. I guess growing up on a beautiful tropical island does that.

Alexia took her maiden voyage on the Key Largo at just 9 days old. I'm pretty sure that's legal.

And of course we had to follow suit with Naiya.

Alexia tried to show her a good time.

This boat gave us so many memories. Entertaining family and friends visiting, early morning crabbing adventures (with coffee and donuts on the boat, of course), swimming, summer dates for Ryan and I (pre-kiddos), 4th of July tradition of being on the water, and so much more! It definitely gave us a return on investment in terms of fun and memories and pursuading me to see the benefits of being a boat owner. (I didn't grow up on the water.)

Here's to you Key Largo! May you bless another owner as much as you did us.

Ty fishing

Ry fishing

Boating w/ Hurleys (Will 3 months)

Grandpa Seaward's visit for Alexia's birth; Learning to crab

Summer 2009; not so sure about the whole boating thing

Summer 2009

Summer 2010

Summer 2010; very sure about the boating thing

Maryland Blue Crabs

My fave!

Legit Crab Feast...for free!

Preggo Tanya. Gimme more!

Bribes Work.

2010-08-11T09:00:00.000-07:00

They really do. I'll explain what happened this morning in the Grossman household.

I'll preface by saying, Alexia had at one time initiated potty training herself. I didn't feel quite ready to be inconvenienced by her bladder, I rather liked the option to wait to change her if I needed to. But I went with it, and it was impressive to watch her take the lead. She even would tell me when she had to go while in the pool. I mean, let's be honest here, isn't the pool the perfect place to avoid having to go to the restroom? Anyway, her potty training streak ended pretty quickly, and her lack of desire led me to have to clean up three poopy undies. One at the pool, one at Chevy's and the last one/straw was at home. I was able to excuse the public accidents, but the one at home was my indication I wasn't ready to commit to training her yet.

I also want to explain that Alexia doesn't articulate the difference between #1 and #2. Everything is "poo-poo".

So, back to this morning's event.

I put Naiya down for her morning nap, and Alexia and I cuddled up on the couch for our morning activity of watching a "cooking show" (as Alexia refers to it), a.k.a. Barefoot Contessa. I DVR it, so we can blow through all the obnoxious commercials. Every time the Barefoot Contessa herself pops up onto the screen, Alexia gives her a big wave and smile and says, "Hi Ina!" (although it sounds more like "I-Nigh").

Today would be different in that Alexia chose to be diaperless this morning.

I had to get up to go to the bathroom and she followed me saying her usual, "Doing Mama?" So I told her, I was going potty. Of course she felt the need to go too. So she brought her little stool to the toilet and went. This wasn't entirely unusual, so I praised her, and then we got back to watching Ina.

She said she had to go again, so I told her to go by herself, and she did. When she returned this time, I specified that she had jsut gone "pottty", but if she went "poo-poo" on the toilet, I would give her a piece of chocolate.

What does she do?

Bolts to the bathroom. I hear her peeing like a racehorse. And she calls to me and says, "I went poo-poo Mama!" But she says this any time she's on the toilet. Sometimes I won't even see pee even, just a mound of toilet paper in the toilet. So as I was walking to the bathroom I was explaining again the difference between poo-poo and potty, and that she could only get chocolate if she pooped.

Low and behold. The girl had gone poop. She had this big ol' grin on her face and I was beside myself. Her reward? I felt like chocolate chips were a common treat I give her anytime I bake, so I went big. I let her grab herself a mini Reeses peanut butter cup. She did a little dance, and all was good.

Back to watching Ina, Alexia bolts to the bathroom again. Shouting she had gone poop again. Laughing at her valiant effort of trying to get another Reeses, I was silenced by more poop in the toilet and a big grin on her face. Another Reeses, of course.

Ina is still in progress, and yet a third time Alexia races to the bathroom. I kid you not, that child squeezed a third terd out.

And there you have it. Three Reeses within an hour. I should have stuck with the chocolate chips.

But I am convinced, bribing really does work when it comes to potty training.

Pioneer Woman.

2010-08-04T04:57:00.000-07:00

I've found a new blog.

The Pioneer Woman

Well, it's a blog I've known about, heard about, but I recently honed in on her Homemade Donut recipe (I was inspired by you, Di!) and have been hooked for the past couple of days.

I think the first time I checked out her blog, the homepage seemed really busy and it made my head spin. I quickly get stimulation-overload. But after I took some time to poke around her blog, it seems as if she is a jack of all (or at least many) trades, so of course her blog is loaded.

My current mission: to make these babies. My sister-in-law has agreed to bake them with me. This way, I can laugh with her instead of cry by myself if it's a total failure. I have a tendency to make things (as Ryan calls it) a total boondoggle.

My future mission: to take on her photography challenges.

I'm also fascinated by her cowgirl life. I secretly wish I was born in the South. Or married to a cowboy. Although, it's not too much of a secret. I've confessed this to Ryan already. But something tells me my girls won't be wrangling cows. Nor will we don a bull skull on our living room mantle. A girl can dream though.

Watch out Mia Hamm.

2010-08-02T08:48:00.000-07:00

I haven't even started training practices yet. It's all natural talent folks. Not even potty trained yet, and busting out the moves.

Griffin Visit Summer 2010

2010-08-02T08:36:00.001-07:00

Once again, my aunt and uncle made it a priority to come and visit us. Leaving the comfort of the dry climate of California, for hot and humid east coast July weather. Little did they know when they purchased plane tickets well in advance, that we would be living in a 2-bedroom condo. So Ryan and I, plus both girls all slept together in the master bedroom. Naiya in her "room" (our walk-in closet) and Alexia in a crib right beside our bed. It was confirmed again, that Alexia is a high maintenance sleeper. She has to cry it out for a couple of minutes before relenting to sleep, which made it a bit stressful when her crying would wake Naiya up, and then both would be crying. Anyway, Grandma & Grandpa Griff were gracious with all of the crying (mostly from Alexia), and it was a trip where all the memories created made it worth putting up with the few hairy moments of lack of sleep and routine.

Most of our time revolved around eating, a rundown of places we went to: Ledo's pizza, Kilwin's Ice Cream (twice), Chick & Ruth's diner, picnic of Potbelly's subs at the downtown park, we grilled out on a boat with friends and took the boat all the way downtown to get ice cream.

Alexia is really into the driver's seat, pushing buttons and doing what she sees her daddy doing:

Naiya with her Grandpa Griff:

Swimming to cool off:

Climbing up the ladder by herself:

Our friends, the Petersons, joined us. It was so fun for them to meet my aunt and uncle, whom I've talked about being a huge role in my life. And Anne Marie was able to check off her bucket list of seeing two major bridges in our area, from the water's view. Here's Anne Marie, and Michael takes his turn driving:

More shots of our time just hanging out at the house:

Aunt Debbi brought a box full of toys, that came out in intervals to surprise the girls. Until Alexia snooped around their room and found the jackpot, and all the remaining gifts were brought out by her. One of the faves was a rocket balloon set. The balloon, after being pumped up and released, would zoom wildly around making a loud buzzing sound. However, a freak balloon experience that involved Alexia being chased out our bedroom door, down the hallway and thus being pinned to the livingroom wall by a balloon, ended the rocket balloon enjoyment. Both girls now hysterically cry and run away from the balloons if Ryan starts pumping them up. But here's Alexia helping pump one up:

And getting ready to watch the balloon go:

And then a "bankie" break:

Avid baseball fans, my aunt and uncle treated us to amazing seats to watch the O's. Although, they lost terribly, it was fun to be in Camden Yards and appreciate its beauty. And of course, ballpark dogs are always amazing. We had them try Boardwalk Fries, which is essentially regular fries with vinegar and Old Bay (seafood seasoning) sprinkled on.

Their trip concluded with a good 'ol Maryland blue crab feast at Cantler's. Here's Ryan giving a lesson on eating crabs:

Watching. Learning.

Ready to rock.

"The best fried shrimp I've ever had."

The happy couple that truly knows how to have fun with one another:

The best part of the trip was watching Alexia be at an age where she interacts with G&G Griff. She attached very quickly to my aunt, and got to do lots of girly things like paint nails, put on makeup, brush hair, and I would often find her having no problem barging into their room to just be with my aunt and uncle. She referred to them as "Papa" and "Ma" (the same thing she calls her other set of grandparents). And after they left, she asked "Papa, go?" and "Ma, go?" Ugh, the heartache. But we love and miss you already G&G!