Their chariot awaits

The other day^* we decided to take the kiddos out for a walk. This may^** have been motivated by my impatient desire to try out our new "kid chariot" - our Bumbleride Indie Twin. I've been drooling over this stroller since Graham was itsy-bitsy, and I was pretty convinced this was "the" stroller I "needed" as soon as I found out I was going to have two under two. And it did not disappoint!

The Bumbleride gets Graham's approval!!

We ended up walking down to our corner market and grabbed some bagels and (much needed) coffee.

Smiling and drinking coffee. Coincidence?? I don't think so :-)

Eating a 'nana (yes, in his jammies!!) and lovin' it

Graham takes his milk drinking very seriously

After our al fresco breakfast, we continued on down the road to what will be Graham's elementary school. They have an incredible playground!!

SEE?? And this is only half of it!!

We were highly impressed with the elaborate play structures, and even moreso by the fact that the elementary school is a "green" school, with on-premises recycling and a playground composed of recycled plastic :-)

Enjoying the fruits of mom's recycling obsession ;-)

I give the day, the stroller, AND our first outing as a family of four a BIG THUMBS UP!



^* and by "the other day," I really mean "many, many days ago. Like 14. Or maybe 21. I'm a little behind on my blogging. I plead "newborn, nursing, sleep deprived" insanity. K?"

^** and by "may" I mean "absolutely it was!"

She's here!!

Introducing Cecilia ClaireBirthday: July 7, 2010 (5 days early!!)

Weight: 6 pounds, 2 ounces
Length: 20"
Hair: Blonde, and lots of it!

More details and birth story to follow, but for now, I'm too busy enjoying my perfect little Button :-)

Splish Splash

Discovering the sprinkler - a pictorial:

So, Graham, whatdya say, was the afternoon a success??

Bananas over Breakfast

I occasionally give myself "domestic challenges." You know, something to keep me on my toes (because two dogs, a toddler, cloth diapers, a new house and a hubby aren't enough for 9-months preggo me!). Some I've done pretty well at: staying on top of laundry, make-ahead freezer meals, going to the library regularly. And some, well.... let's just say I'm still working on them - like one of Erik's biggest peeves, picking up my shoes (sorry, honey!!).

So enters my newest challenge: I HATE letting perfectly good food go bad. But I really, really don't like leftovers. And don't even get me started on the amount of fruits and veggies that wrinkle and change colors in the often-overlooked produce bins. So, I'm attempting to use up food we have in the house in new, creative ways.

Aside from shoes scattered everywhere (again, sorry honey!!!), Erik really cannot stand overly-ripe bananas sitting around. And because I'm such a huge fan of banana bread, it's pretty safe to assume that there's always a black banana or nine floating around my kitchen/freezer. Like the ones this morning. Which I promptly made into THE.MOST.DELICIOUS.PANCAKES.EVAH!!!!!!!! You know, since I already have three loaves of banana bread in my freezer (hey, I TOLD you I love the stuff!).

I used the perfect pancake recipe from one of my favorite blogs, Rumble in the Kitchen, adding two small smashed bananas and a tsp of vanilla to the egg mixture, and a sprinkle of cinnamon to the flour. This recipe was doubly useful, since I have a plethora of whole wheat flour in my pantry, thanks to forgetful-pregnancy-brain at its finest.

These ARE the perfect pancakes. The batter was so fluffy, airy and light. It cooked up like a dream, and the pancakes were perfect - fluffy on the inside but nice and crisp on the outside. Never will I go back to Bisquick pancakes again. These were fan-freaking-tastic, and with the added bonus of healthful whole wheat flour, you really can't go wrong. We topped our banana version with a drizzle of honey, but I can't wait to try these with some good Vermont maple syrup!

I promptly placed all leftover pancakes in a freezer bag and tossed 'em in my freezer. They'll toast up great for a quick, homemade breakfast. Post your favorite pancake flavor in the comments, I'm going to fill my freezer for some easy breakfasts while I'm on maternity leave!

To quote one of Graham's favorite shows*, "Try it, you'll like it!"

Before:

And after:

* bonus points if you can name the show!

Nursery? Check!

Cecilia's room is finally done, done, done! After much obsessing careful consideration about baby bedding, I finally decided on the gorgeous Sophie collection from Pottery Barn Kids. Combine that with the robin's egg blue walls and the butterfly accents, and I'm really happy with how her room has turned out!

This is the best pic of the actual wall color, and I LOVE how her name decal turned out over her crib!!

I learned my lesson the first time around, and got a comfy chair for those late night feedings!

Changing station and a dresser full of diapers and jammies :-)

See?!?!? A drawer full of adorable butt fluff :-)


Toy box, adorable Boppy cover and the great butterfly picture hook I found at PBK!

A closet full of clothes. Thanks to our insanely generous friends, I hardly have to buy anything for Ceci to wear her first year!

And some of the little details that I love:

Butterfly nightlight	Paper butterfly wall decor	Girliest lamp ever!

How is it June already?!?!

Um...wow... has it really been an entire month since I've updated the blog?? And how in the world is it June ALREADY?!?!? It's so surreal, we get to meet our baby girl next month - Cecilia is due in just 37 days :-)

35 weeks pregnant, ready to head out to our fantastic sprinkle!

For Memorial Day, we all went up north to Traverse City to visit Graham's Grammy and Grampy. Graham had his first adventures playing in sand and the lake. And I think it's safe to say he enjoyed both! I don't have any pics of him swimming in the lake, I was too busy trying to keep my little fish afloat, but I did capture some of his grins in the sand:

Enjoying the view of the lake

"Here, Mommy, stop taking pictures and play with me!"

Soaking up the rays after a long swim

(don't worry, he was slathered in sunblock!!)

Another first for Graham was his visit to the zoo with our friends Melissa and Hailey. We had a great time, Graham really enjoyed running around the monkey house and loved the lions. If you ask him what the lion says, he'll tell you "rawr". Ah-dora-ble!!


And for *some reason* the kangaroos reminded me so much of our Maggie and Gibson, I just had to take a picture. Ahhh... nature at its finest ;-)

B-I-G

As yesterday's entry mentioned, G is now a year and a half old (a fact I'm sure you're sick of hearing by now!). To commemorate his 18th month with us, we started using his Batter Up Growth Chart my friend Joleen so fabulously picked up for us during her recent trip to Chicago. The growth chart comes with markers for each birthday ("I turned 1 today"). Since we didn't have the chart to measure him when he turned one, we started at his 18 month "birthday" by adding a "1/2" after the 1!!!.

I wasn't sure if he'd stand still long enough to actually measure him and take a picture, but I think we got pretty lucky. He's a shortie, just like Mommy and Daddy -- all torso and no legs -- measuring at 31" exactly.

I'm looking forward to his upcoming pediatrician appointment to see how much weight he's gained, I'm guessing he's right around 24.5 pounds. He's wearing size 24 month or 2T clothing, size 6.5 wide shoes (my little square footed kid!) and is a strong little bugger - always pushing furniture around the house and building those muscles!!

He's not the only one getting big around here. Only 9 weeks, 4 days to go now!



Me and Cecilia - 30 weeks

Closer to 2 every day

At what point do you stop thinking of your baby as a "baby?" When he starts to walk? Talk? Tie his shoes? Go off to college? Get married?

My "baby" turned 18 months old Sunday. And my head is reeling from the reality of it all. That's a year and a half that our baby has blessed our house with laughter, entertainment, and more than a few tears. I have no way to comprehend where the time has gone, he's grown up so much in that time. And yet.... yet, he's still my baby. The smooshy little boy who loves to give hugs and kisses, both on request and spontaneously. He's the goofball who gives you the side-eye, just for laughs. The perfect little man who fills my heart with love and joy every time I look at him, the amazing creature who made me "Mommy".

And now I look at him and marvel at how he's closer to 2 years old than he is to 1. Astounding. So when does he stop being my baby?

Something's telling me that the answer is "Never".

Yummy Deliciousness For a Sick Boy

G hasn't been feeling well** the last few days, so today, to try to entice him to eat somethinganything, I made some Cinnamon Cola Coffee Cake.

photo courtesy of Alice

3 c. Flour

1 1/2 tsp. Salt
1 1/2 tbsp. Baking Powder
1/2 c. Sugar
1 can Coke (Root Beer or Dr. Pepper would work too)*
1 tbsp. cinnamon

Struesel Topping:
1/2 c. brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
2 tbsp. softened butter

Pre-heat oven to 375. Spray bread pan with non-stick cooking spray.

Mix struesel topping in small bowl and set aside.

Mix all bread dry ingredients in bowl. Add soda and mix until blended.

Pour into prepared pan, top with struesel topping and bake for 30 – 45 minutes. Check at 30 with a toothpick to see if it comes out clean.

*I had to use a little more soda (about another 1/4 can) to get the dough to mix. You might need more too depending on climate and flour.

** Found out today my little bear has a double ear infection, eye infection AND sinusitis. And yet, he was still smiling and waving to everyone at Target while we waited for his prescriptions to be filled. My little trooper!

Baby Bedrooms

We've been working full force over the last few weeks to really give both of our babies a great space that's all their own.

I've already published pics of the nursery in progress already, but we've added a few more touches, so I hope you don't mind seeing the cuteness that is Cecilia's room again :-)

Of course, not to be left out, Graham had to get a stellar big boy room redo as well!! I'm so in love with his baseball themed room, it's by far my favorite room in the house!

Nom Nom Nom

Tonight was Lasagna Night. Do you think maybe Graham enjoyed it?

Why yes, yes he did!!

Mommy's Little Helper

Having two kids under the age of two is going to be a piece of cake, thanks to the little Mother's Helper I have at home:

He sweeps up after himself...

...feeds himself....

...helps Mommy bake cupcakes....

...and does his own laundry...


Isn't he just hands-down the cutest little helper you've ever seen!