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!

Happy Saint Patrick's Day!

Whether you're Irish or not, we hope you had a great time celebrating St. Patty's Day :-)

Now if you'll excuse me, my husband just walked through with a 6-pack of beer for him and a box of popsicles for me, so any words I had planned to type will have to wait for later .... mmmmmmm, popsicles.....

Halfway there!

Last Monday marked my 20th week of pregnancy. For you non-preggo types, that's the halfway point, as most typical pregnancies are 40 weeks long. I cannot believe I'm now closer to the end than the beginning - I have no idea where the time went!! So now, as I'm writing this at 21.5 weeks pregnant, we're now counting DOWN to the day we meet our little girl, as opposed to counting UP to the date.

We've been busy, still getting the house in order, painting, light construction and updating. And one of the rooms in desperate need of paint is the nursery. It was a gawd-awful shade of banana peel yellow (I wish I would have taken a picture of it in all its hideousness). And I just couldn't look at it any longer, especially since we had the furniture all in and set up. So last weekend, while Erik was in Miami on business (rough life, huh?), I got ambitious and decided to paint. And I have to admit, it was a little nerve-racking -- it's definitely AQUA. Really, really aqua. But now that I'm over the shock, I love it.




It's serene and calming and I can't wait to see how it looks with Baby Girl's bedding, which is on backorder until May (boo). The nursery is still a work in progress, obviously, and there are a ton of half-finished projects (like the paper mobile hanging above the chair) that'll keep me busy for the next 18.5 weeks. But it's getting there, and I'm loving it. Now it just needs a sleeping, beautiful little girl :-)

Because I've had a couple of requests from friends far away or those I may not see on a regular basis, here's a 20/21 week belly shot. I'm enjoying my pregnant belly much more this time, with Graham I carried much lower and wider, aka "not so cute or flattering". This time around, my bump is higher and definitely protrudes more, and I'm having fun looking pregnant this time around!

So here's hoping the last half of the pregnancy goes as smoothly (and as quickly!!) as the first half did