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Monday, May 31, 2010

I hate days like today....

Just having one of those days....it's been a while so I guess it's a given. Neal had a strange day today working a mid day. It really messed up our day not sure what to do and hard to plan anything. ANyWhOooo, I'm just kinda bored out of my mind but not motivated to do anything, know what I mean! Even the kids are acting a bit odd. They went down for their nap but woke up an hour later grumpy and so we snuggled up on the couch and they both fell back a sleep we will see for how long. Conner has decided today that he will not eat at all and has not since he woke up so that does not help things. You can tell that he wants to eat but just doing the stubborn thing that he does like he's punishing me or something. I'm trying to ignore it but I know that he would just feel so much better if he ate something. I have tons and tons of pictures and recipes to share. It looks like it will be a rainy week so who knows I may be able to get a little of those on here. Better go sounds like both the boys are starting to wake up!!!

Sunday, May 16, 2010

My blue eyed prince.....

Yes he still makes my heart skip a beat.......my blue eyed prince!!!

Friday, May 14, 2010

Waking up to sunshine.....

It should be a good day.....the sun is shining!!!

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Pretty flowers.....

I never posted these pictures either....here are some of the pretty flowers that I got pictures of at my momand dads. Their garden is more beautiful then ever this year :)
 Blueberry bush!!!
Apple tree!!!
Baby cakes playing ball with g'pa...
G'ma with the babies...

Hoping...

That the sunshine and warm weather will come back soon....
So we can go and play outside again soon....
and wear short sleeves again....
and cute shorts.....
The rain was nice for a while and we needed the rain to make things green but now it can go away please!!!

we have a new tooth.....

Poor baby Ethan has been pushing this ONE tooth for what seems like months....ohhh wait it has been months. I'm hoping that now that it's through we will get a LITTLE break from teething even if for a few days.
A few good nights of sleep and a few days of less crying and fussing and throwing temper tantrums.
That would make this mama really happy :)

Sunday, May 9, 2010

Happy Mothers Day Mothers.....

I sure hope that all my Mother readers had a fabulous Mothers Day. Mine was nice but a little lonely cuz my hubby spent the day working. I did have a nice day with my babies though. I was hoping to get a few pictures taken before meeting because my boys looked so handsome but well that did not work out. I did get a couple shots of them on their own though :)
Not a very good picture not a very happy little boy!
Same story with Ethan. 

I also made myself an awesome Mothers Day treat check it out by going to my food section!!!
A little preview!!!

Saturday, May 8, 2010

this and that.....

So lately I have been really house dreaming. I'm a little frustrated with myself because I know that it's not even a possibility right now or even anytime in the near future. I know it's just spring fever and it will soon pass, at least I hope. The last three days have been super lazy for me and the kids. It's been rainy and gloomy and I have not been in the mood for anything that involves packing the kids up and going anywhere. So we have been moping around the house. Thursday we did meet Neal's mom and dad in Janesville for supper which was super nice even though Conner threw up in the restaurant and then was sick all night long......it's been a long time since he has done that....poor baby. This morning we were feeling a bit cooped up but it was raining all morning and with Neal going to work in the afternoon we never got to do anything :( I was even lazy for supper and ran out to get the kids and I some Culvers. Just did not feel like cooking does not help that we are super low on groceries but I'm hoping to last till next Friday before I go!Time to get CREATIVE...hehe!!! It's kinda fun to do that and empty out the freezer and cupboards.

Haha Conner is in the other room calling his friends (Mallory and Tommy) telling them that he has cake for them. I love this stage that he is in....the creative play. It keeps him busy and well imagination is an awesome part of a child world, at least it was mine! I have a big goal for tonight after the kids go to bed. I have 2 pictures that I have to draw and for some reason I'm really nervous about them. Probably because I'm actually doing it FOR someone and that scares me. I've been putting it off but I need to just get them done.

Well this post really turned into a bunch of nothingness....ohh well sometimes things are just not interesting but I'm liking it that way for now!!!
I forgot to mention this in the previous post which surprises me because it was the HIGHLIGHT of our trip to Chicago. a simple box huh?!?!?! Well inside is a GREAT treasure!!!
We searched and we searched and finally we found a bakery in Chicago that carried these little beauties. I have been obsessed with these little treasures for quite some time but did not want to attempt baking them till I knew what they tasted like. From what I had read about them I knew they were fussy little things.....they were right :)
 They were $1.50 each which is very pricey for a quarter size cookie. Worth every penny. You can order them online usually $18.00 or so for 6 cookies....all different flavors. Or you can try making them and you can find my recipe and tips HERE!
Our favorite was the rosewater one and coconut lime!!!
This is where we bought ours if you are ever in the Chicago area stop by it's a cute little bakery!!!

Thursday, May 6, 2010

This may get a little long....

Yes we are still here. Sorry for my lack of effort to keep you updated lately.  I'm not even sure where to start with this post that's how busy things have been so I will just  tell you about the highlights. Back in April (I can't believe that it's May) Neal and I planed surprise getaways for each other for the same exact week. Neither one of us knew that the other was planing the surprise....yeah we think alike. This was the first time that we really left the kids with anyone overnight other than when we were in the hospital in labor with Ethan. I was really nervous but in the end I'm glad we were able to do it. I did not plan anything special thinking we could book something last minute in case Neal was not to excited about the idea. I'm glad I did not book anything because he had booked a 2 night stay at a hotel downtown Chicago for his surprise. Neal's mom and dad watched the kids for the first 2 nights ( my surprise) and Angie and Derek watched the kids a few days later for the 2nd 2 nights (Neal's surprise). Crazy huh!!!! Well it was all fun and we loved all the quality time we were able to have alone without the kids but I'm done leaving them for quite some time. I think they did well for the most part except the last night with Angie. I guess Ethan woke up in the middle of the night and knew something was up and mom and dad were gone and would not stop crying so Angie, poor woman, had to drive around in the car in the middle of the night to settle him down. Ohhh boy did we feel terrible.

THANK YOU GUYS AGAIN for watching our babies.....we really appreciate it!!

Sunrise in Chicago.....this was one of the views from our room. It was really great. Also had the view of the city. We had so much fun strolling the streets of Chicago. We take for granted being so close to such an amazing place. We went on a boat architectural tour which was really cool, it made us appreciate the city even more. Also went on the ferris wheel which I have wanted to do for quite some time. It was just a really nice time.

Ethan had his w1 year check up in April. Once again I had the big bold scary words on his growth chart .....FAILURE TO THRIVE. That just sounds so terrible. He dropped off the scale just like Conner did and I'm so worried about the next appointment. Now that he is running around I'm sure I will have an even harder time trying to fatten him up. It's just so surprising because he is such a good eater and so was Conner. I do have to say though that this time around I'm doing what feels right to me and not listening to the doctors so that we do not go through the same eating struggles as we go through with Conner. He is still putting on weight and growing and eating well, our kids are just little and that is that. He is also anemic :( I just hope it's not something that he gets from me as I struggle with anemia constantly. Baby Ethan has also been supper crabby lately. I'm assuming he's getting some more teeth. He's just up to no good no good at all. Every time I turn around he's into something or ON TOP of something. We got rid of our coffee table because he is just so clumsy. We never had this problem with Conner (other than his broken leg.....hehe) he has always had good control and hardly ever bumped into things or fell over. Ethan on the other hand looks like he's been beaten, with a black eye at the moment and bruises all over his forehead from falling into things. One thing that I am loving though is that he is still in his crib....HEAVEN. Conner learned how to crawl out of the crib at 10 or 11 months so we had to put him in a bed. I am MILKING this crib thing as long as I can. SO that is what Ethan has been up to!!!
 See up to no good at all :)

Conner is the same ol' rambunctious 3 year old. Talking, talking, talking and running around like the crazy little boy that he is. He is quite the pro at the bike now and loves going for rides when it's nice outside. Still rather protective of his little brother. He has also been doing fantastic with eating probably better than he has done in a long time. He loves to cook with me in the kitchen. We got this cool like children's cookbook with some wooden spoons and a little rolling pin. He just loves to help his mama mix things and breaking the eggs and putting things in bowls for me. It's been nice making cute little lunches for my lil' men knowing that they will actually eat them and enjoy them. Conner is really growing up now and is so much more independent now. I'm loving the fact that he can eat on his own, go to the bathroom on his own and wash his hands on his own. Well that's about all about Conner.


We have been enjoying lots of time at the beach. The kids love playing in the sand and we can't wait till it's actually nice enough to go swimming. It will be a few more weeks though.
 Ohh yeah we also had my nieces 1st Communion a few weeks ago. I made a cake for her which you can see HERE. I also did both the girls hair.....so fun. Here are a few pictures that I took!

food blog which you may have noticed. I'm really enjoying blogging about my food adventures and sharing the recipes with others. I'm not sure if I ever mentioned on here but I ended up selling the 50mm f1.8 lens that I got a while back. It was all manual and I just could not find the extra time to learn it all. I am looking into getting a new auto/manual f1.4 soon to help with the food photography. I'm getting better at the photography part of it though as long as I have lots of natural light.

I finally used up my Mothers Day day present from last year....haha. A day at the spa....wow it seems like that was so long ago now. It was great though. I had a manicure, pedicure, massage AND a facial. Wow it was great!!!! Do I have the best husband or what.

So somewhere in between all this we have made many trips to Rockford and the sandy beach and trips to the park and manage to squeeze in running and baking and trying lots of new recipes and keeping up with the house and kids.So as you can tell we have been staying busy in our nook of the woods. Good busy though!! Today is actually the first time in a long time that I'm a little bored. I'm not sure that I like this feeling!!I like to stay busy. I am a little ready for things to slow down just A LITTLE. I would LOVE to spend a little more time teaching my kids a few things and doing some creative things with both of them. So this is kinda my goal this month.

I think I will leave this post at that otherwise I may bore you all to death. Happy days everyone summer is near :)Ok well here are just a few more pictures :)