Runny eggs...

When I was little, my brother and sisters and I would spend most every weekend at my grandparent's house.  While my mom and dad were working hard, we got to spend quality time with my grandma and grandpa.  I know my parents would have probably preferred spending the time with us but they were working to earn extra money so we could do special things.  Turns out that not only did we benefit from them working weekends and getting to do fun things, but mom and dad also gave us another gift, the gift of getting to bond and be so close with our grandparents. 

The relationship I had with my grandmother and continue to have with my grandfather is yet another wonderful blessing in my life.  I love (d) spending time with them and talking to my grandfather each morning and night reminds me that I have so much to be thankful for and what really matters in life.  Sometimes after a stressful day at work, just talking to him and hearing how thankful he is for getting to spend almost 60 years with my grandmother, reminds me to not take the gifts I have today for granted and to enjoy these busy stressful times. 

So you may be thinking to yourself, what does runny eggs have to do with you reminising about your days with your grandparents.  The answer is actually a lot.  Each Sunday morning, my siblings and I would wake up and have a spread of a breakfast with my grandma and grandpa.  Grandma would make sausages, bacon, toast with her homemade strawberry jam, and grandpa would make the eggs.  Those Sunday mornings were wonderful and as the sound of Leo Greico's Variety Time would play in the background my grandma and grandpa would rush through the kitchen making us a feast.  They did everything they coudl to make sure the breakfast was as perfect as it could be.  Grandma knew we'd liked a certain kind of sausage link from the Protovin locker and even better we prefered it without the casing/skin.  So she'd carefully boil the sausages and then peel each one so that it would be just as we'd like.  I ask myself if I'd do the same for my boys and the answer is no, I'd just tell them to eat it with the skin on.  Maybe that is a trait one develops when they become a grandparent.   :-)

And the eggs, my grandpa is the best runny egg maker in the whole United States.  He's carefully cooked the eggs to make sure the yolk didn't break and that the eggs were cooked enough to be perfectly over easy.  My brother and sisters and I LOVED them.  We'd each have several (more than 3) eggs and then when we'd ask for more, sometimes we'd get a yes and sometimes Grandma would say, "Dear you shouldn't have any more, you'll get sick".  That was her way, even when she was saying no to something, it was in the nicest way you didn't even feel like you were being denied the exact thing you were asking for. 

Those Sunday mornings will forever be a happy memory from my childhood.

And runny eggs is what we'd call them then and continue to do today. It turns out, in some strange way, I now get to relive those Sunday mornings on the weekends in our house. When Grandpa Ray visited a few times ago he graciously put his expert skills to work and made runny eggs for the boys. It was a true hit. They love them. They really do! Infact they ask for runny eggs most weekend mornings. And although I can't make them even half as good as my grandpa, I do my best to follow the steps he showed me to make them for my family. And I guess they must be okay becuase the boys scarf them down and ask for them again.

Although I'm not sure the runny egg breakfasts will be as important to the boys as they were for me as a child, but I'm thankful for the chance to get to make them for them.  Not only does it make me feel good that they like my cooking but it gives me the gift of reflecting on the wonderful runny egg mornings with my grandparents.

Until next time,

angie

His first girl's phone number...

There will be many firsts for the boys as they get older and start thinking about girls. Their first crush, their first date, maybe their first kiss.  And all of these things happening at the great age of 18+.

And with that being said you can imagine my surprise today when Gabriel came home to show me a piece of paper with some numbers on it...

He said, "Mom, do you know what this is?"
I responded, "No Gabriel, what is it."
"Mom, this Alexa's phone number.  She gave me her number and I gave her mine so we can call each other to go to the mall together and find some hanitizer (Gabriel's shortened word for Hand Sanitizer). "
"Mom, if she calls your phone can I talk to her?"

Thank goodness Dad had given me the heads up on his way home from picking the boys up, or I'm not sure how I would have responded.  Still, even knowing in advance, I'm not sure I responded the right way.

I realized I'm getting old and the times have changed, but never did I think I'd find my son getting girls' numbers in kindergarten.  Shouldn't that be happening in 5th or 6th grade?  I thought I had a few more years to prepare.  

In some ways I think Dad is proud of him and that he gets along so well with the girls.  As long as it remains innocent fun and really just wanting to go to the mall to find hanitizer, I'm okay with it.   And thank goodness he only knows my cell phone number and not our home number, because this way I can screen his calls.

Oh my so many things to think about, and all so soon.  Where did my little boy go?

Until next time,
Angie

Postino's

There is a great restaurant here that we like to visit with Jarrett's family.  Postino's!  A couple of weekends ago we met up with Jarrett's family, including his aunt and cousins from Chicago and his great-aunt and uncle also from the Windy city.

It was a wonderful afternoon and not only did we enjoy some tasty food, but the company was great also!

Here a few snapshots to remember our fun lunch...

This was the kids side of the table...

and the adults side of the table.

Kat, Aunt Annette and Claire visiting from Chicago

The kids were given some sort of bendable toy to play with.

Uncle Jeremy and the cousins... Bennett, Julia and Alex.

The boys LOVED playing with Katherine, although by this picture it is kind of hard to tell.

And one of my favorite pictures... Michael and Julia are good buddies, close in age, they are great friends.  I can't tell is Michael's expression is one of enjoyment or one of saying "Yeah, I'm a ladies man and I know it."

And another one of my favorites.  In a few year's, they'll probably be embarrassed by these photos.

Until next time,
Angie

2 Months already...

It is crazy to think that Isabelle is already 2 months. Some days I feel like I've been home with her for 6 months and other days it seems like she can't even be a week old.  The truth is though, that the majority of the time I ask myself where is the time going.

Yesterday we went to the doctor for her 2 month check up.  From her first check up the doctor commented on how strong she was and she continues to show her strength.  Isabelle is now holding up her head pretty well and continues to be very alert.  She spends most of the day awake now, only taking short cat naps of 30 minutes or less.  And she seems to have mastered the nighttime sleeping thing.  She sleeps on average for about 6.5 to 7.5 hours straight (which makes mom very happy).

Another thing she is doing often, smiling.  She continues to be a very happy baby and smiles at us frequently.  Her favorite times to smile are after she is changed and has a clean diaper, after she's fed and pretty much when ever she is asked if she can smile, she obliges us.  And she recognizes us.  She smiles at the boys, at daddy and at me.  I tell her and it is the truth, every time she smiles at me, my heart melts with pure happiness and love.  There is something about that toothless grin with her pink gums that gets me every time.

And talking, oh does she like to talk. Her favorite word is "ahgee", followed by a big grin, and if you say it she'll repeat it back to you.   She also makes all sorts of other sounds and likes to gurgle.  There have been several times when she's "talking" that she makes some sort of new sound, which intrigues her and then she makes the "O" face (where her mouth goes into the same of an O) and she looks at me with a face that says, "Did I just do that?"    She also turns her head when she hears certain familiar voices (ahem, I won't mention any particular names, but I think she favors someone whose name rhymes with lama the most. :-)) 

During tummy time I'll lay on one side of her and talk with her.  She pushes herself up and turns her head so she can see me.  Then after a few minutes of talking on that side, I'll move to the other side and call her name. Not that long after, she pushes herself up again, turns her head and looks at me like, "Mama, how did you get on that side of me?"

Is it obvious she has won my heart?  The other new developments we are seeing her do are reaching out her hands to grab things.  Mostly she likes to grab at my shirt or at my hand if it is near her.  Just today as we were practicing tummy time, I laid down next to her  and she reached for my face over and over and over.  It was obvious she was concentrating very hard as she'd stick out her tough with every swipe of her hand at my face and her feet were moving up and out as fast as they could.  It was an amazing moment as I realized she's learned yet another new thing.  Once she's got a hold of something, it is amazing how strong her grip is.  And same thing with her feet, she's learning how to push with her feet to move.  Just this morning I found her at the bottom of the crib as she worked her way from the middle to the end.  It just makes me realize the days of baby-proofing our house, are coming very soon.

And the doctor agrees, after checking her out and observing her behavior yesterday she said, I'm amazed at how strong she is and how advanced her development skills are.  She's doing things most 4 month old do.  And then she instructed Isabelle to slow down so mommy could enjoy the baby stage for as long as possible.  :-)  I think she can tell how much I'm loving these days too.

So as Isabelle moves onto the 3 month mark, here are her measurements.  Her length is 23 1/4 inches which puts her in the 75-90 percentile and her weight is 9lbs 9 oz which puts her in the 10-25 percentile.  So far she's really lean and tall.  She's still wearing newborn clothes although they are getting a little tight in the length department.  When I try to put her in 3 month clothes most of them look like they are falling off of her. So she pretty much wears that same few outfits until she grows a little more and moves into the next size clothing.

So far the 2 first months have been amazing, the no sleep and all.  I look forward to the next month and I hope it doesn't go as fast.  I just want to savor every moment of being able to spend so much quality time with her.

Until next time,
Angie

Easter 2012

The Easter Bunny found his way to our house this year.  The boys were excited for days about Easter and they weren't disappointed on Easter morning.

Here are a few photos from Sunday.  Starting with them waking up, to remembering it was Easter, to searching for eggs to finding their basket and beyond...

What?  It's Easter?

Oh yeah... let me hop right down so I can find some candy eggs!

The Easter Bunny left eggs in our room!

And even in my shoe. No Jack.. not for you!

OH MY GOODNESS! LOOK AT ALL THE EGGS!  (I can't carry them all so I'll shove some in my shoe and just carry my shoe.)

okay I'll use a sack now.

Wait!  Is this my Easter basket?

Awesome!!!!!! A huge chocolate Easter bunny

Oh I found some eggs!

And my Easter basket!

I'm SO excited about this huge chocolate bunny... Mom can I eat it now?

And look I got a bouncy ball.

I love the Easter Bunny.

I love EGGS!

How many eggs did the bunny leave us?

Isn't Easter fun?

Happy Easter!

Until next time,

Angie

Banana bread and Jello jiggler sandwich...

Sounds tasty right?  Although I think most poeple may find this a strange combination, our Michael thought it sounded like a perfect pair.  And so, we let him enjoy his creation... down to the last crumb...

Until next time,
Angie

Please sort the laundry...

That was my request.  Gabriel, can you please help me sort the laundry into piles?  Colors, towels and whites....

He obliged and went into my bedroom where we pile our dirty laundry and started, or so I thought, sorting the clothes.

As I went into the kitchen to start unloading the dishwasher, I heard him open my bedroom door and come out. He said, "Mom close your eyes"

Although usually that means he's goten into something he probably shouldn't have, I agreed and out he came.  Then he said, "Open-  Do you think I look like dad?"

Thank goodness he didn't come out in my clothes right?

Until next time,
Angie