Donde de la Selfish Emmy

Translation: Spanish for Emmy's Selfish Day (I think)
Reason for a language other than English? Because doesn't everything sound more festive in Spanish?

Anyway-Saturday I went out shopping. By myself. Which meant that I didn't have to push a stroller. Or dig around in my purse for snacks. Or have someone asking me every 5 minutes "Play? Play? Play?" until I start using bribery as a technique to get a certain someone to sit quietly in his stroller ("Do you want to go to the play zone? Ok then, I would suggest that you sit still and let mommy finish shopping....")

To sum it up, it was glorious. I didn't get as much stuff as I would have liked, I think I was being too picky and antsy being in the mall because I knew how gorgeous it was outside. But I did get the following:

Perhaps my most fabulous find, from DSW (sorry, couldn't get the pic to show up without that stuff on the side)


Because it's just not summer if you're not stocked with wife beaters from the Gap:



I also decided to give the "curvy" jeans from Gap a try, they seem promising:


Cute sandals from Target:

And I couldn't resist this Beatles shirt for Jake from Old Navy, even though about the last thing the kid needs is more summer clothes....but just picture this shirt with his little black Chuck Taylor shoes and tell me it won't be adorable.

Belated Happy St. Patty's Day & Favorite Foto Friday

I'm way late on both of these, but here is my Happy St. Patricks Day and Favorite Foto Friday post. I blame the weather.....who wants to sit at the laptop & upload pictures when it's so nice outside?? :)



Jake's fabulous artwork from school:

Recipe: Garlic Cheddar Chicken

I just realized that I've never posted this recipe & it's a favorite around here....enjoy!

Garlic Cheddar Chicken

1/2 cup butter (I don't use quite this much, I just kind of toss some in)
4 cloves minced garlic (I cheat & use the kind that comes pre-minced in a jar)
3/4 cup dry bread crumbs
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
1.5 cups shredded cheddar cheese
3/4 tsp parsley
1/4 tsp oregano
sprinkling of pepper
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts (cut in half)

-Preheat oven to 350 degrees
-Melt butter in saucepan & cook garlic until tender
-In a shallow bowl, combine everything but the chicken
-Dip the chicken into the garlic/butter mixture, then dip into bread crumb mixture
-Bake for 30 minutes

Girl-fwiend

You may remember a post from a few months back of Jake singing a name from school ("Gabby, Gabby, Gabby") and it taking us awhile to figure out what name he was saying. Gabby kind of fell off of Jake's radar for awhile because she moved up to the 2 year old room....but now Jake is in that room as well and it has been a big love reunion.

Cute things that are involved in this relationship:
-When you ask Jake who his girlfriend is, he does this little sly smile and says "Gabby, Gabby" (he always says her name twice, which only adds to the cuteness)
-They greet each other with hugs upon their arrival to the classroom and also give random hugs throughout the day.
-His teachers have reported that sometimes he grabs her bum. Maybe I shouldn't publicize that for fear of embarrassing him later in life? Oh well.
-Gabby refers to Jake as "My Jakey".

All together now: awwwwwwwwwwww!!!!!

Gabby is probably most impressed by Jake's football skills and unique fashion sense:

Always listen to your mother.

My mom & I have a great relationship and we're very close...but sometimes I do accuse my mom of doing things like nagging me. And sometimes my accusations are completely founded...but there have been other times when I might have felt like she was nagging me, but really, she was just loving me and she was totally right.

*stepping up on my soapbox now*

When was the last time you had your blood pressure checked? Been to the dermatologist for a skin cancer screen? Done a self-check exam of your breasts?

Where does my mom come into all of this? She nagged (I mean, strongly urged) me to look into the problems I have listed above.

My mom is a nurse and she randomly checked my blood pressure one day about 7 years ago and it was a bit high. She checked it again a few weeks later, same thing. She then kept on me until I made a doctor's appointment to get it checked out...and I was diagnosed with hypertension and have been controlling it with medication ever since then. Had she not checked it for me and then kept on me to get it checked out, I would have walked around with that condition, probably for years.

The dermatologist part, I'm proud to say, I did all on my own, no nagging from my mom needed :) That being said, I'm now about to nag you....get yourself to a dermatologist!!! Want to see proof why? Ask me sometime to see the scar from the huge chunk of skin that was removed from my back. And clearly, I am not a tanned goddess who can blame years and years of basking in the sun for any problems. I now go once a year for check ups and I take it upon myself to nag/urge everyone I know to do the same. That means YOU!

Would you ever expect to find a lump in your breast at age 25? Probably not. But I did...and I did get it checked out. The doctor sent me for an ultrasound, which did show a lump, but they were not concerned and said it was probably just some fatty tissue. However, there's a family history of lumps so my mom urged me to go to a specialist. At first, I didn't see the point....I mean, someone already looked at the test, all was well, right? I gave in and went to the specialist and (long story short) did end up having to have surgery because it was a tumor. It ended up being benign, thank God. BUT-again, would I have gone to the specialist on my own? Of course not. I won't offer to show you the scar from that procedure, but take my word for it...it's not cute.

Obviously, I'm not a doctor and I certainly don't claim to be an expert....but I can claim to have a wonderful mom who keeps on me to take care of myself. So this is me, nagging you, my loyal readers (ha, that sounds funny to say, like you're all in my cult) to listen to your mother and to me and make sure you stay healthy! (Thanks, mom.) :-)

Hang on a moment, please....

*blink, blink* Sorry for the pause, that was just me trying to get my eyes adjusted to this crazy thing that I'm seeing....they call it "sunshine"????

We always have a great time when we make a trip to VA to visit the Martini Family and the sunshine made it even better, it was nice to get the boys outside for awhile.



The boys played very well together....there were a few moment of "no, mine!" and not wanting to share toys with each other, but of course that's to be expected at their age. They really are just the cutest things together, they will be playing and then just stop & give each other little grins like they have some sort of inside joke. (or possibly some type of plot to overthrow their parents, we're not sure)



It was also Dennis's birthday, so we celebrated by eating cake and ice cream, then putting the boys to bed and crashing on the couch the rest of the night. Ahhh....we celebrate birthdays quite differently at this point in our lives :) Happy birthday, Dennis (aka-"Uncle Nessis")!!

Jumping on the bandwagon: Favorite Foto Friday

I follow a few blogs and noticed a few pop in my google reader this morning with posts of "Favorite Foto Friday"....I followed the links back to the original blog where it started for the explanation and figured I would play along.

Today's theme was "You". This is tough for me, as I am usually the one behind the camera (and based on some of the other blogs I read today, I'm not the only one hiding behind the lens).

I might be cheating a bit, because technically, this is a professional picture by our wedding photographer, but I love it. There's nothing glamorous or posed about it! My shoes had a satin lace that went around my ankle and while walking around Oakland getting pictures, I lost the lace...I was really sad about it and Brian ran around campus and had our shuttle driver circle the block so that we could try to find it, but not luck. I gave up and parked myself up on that ledge, kicked off my high heels and was ready to change into my flip flops (sad about the loss of my pretty shoes, but relieved to slip into something more comfortable) and the photographer snapped this shot right before my maid of honor came to the rescue with my flip flops.

Shower me with memories

I was thinking the other day about how I'm a bad mom & didn't keep up with Jake's baby book, but then I consoled myself when I realized that I pretty much put every milestone in this blog. Eventually, maybe I'll print it out or do something else with it so that we/he has something. I flipped back through a lot of old posts and I think I covered everything, including his birth story/pics of the nursery/etc..., but I never posted anything about my wonderful baby showers.

So Jake, here are some pictures of the 2 baby showers that were thrown for us....one by your Nana and the other by Aunt Missa and GG. Both showers were wonderful.... we are so lucky to have such generous friends & family!

Shower #1:

The pretty tables all set up....


With my sister-in-law, Amy....


And with my mother-in-law, Sally....


And after the shower, exhausted and surrounded by all of the new clothes :)


Shower #2:
Please note that in the 2 week time span between these 2 showers, my face blew up like a balloon as my blood pressure started to soar....I remember being worried for my 2nd shower that I wouldn't be able to cram my feet into the shoes I had planned on wearing. The horror!! what would I have done??? Moral of the story, don't be frightened by my red, puffy face as you look at the pics....

The set up....


With my mama....


With the BFF....


Opening up my awesome diaper cake gift from my super creative friend, Lisa (complete with a stuffed lion wearing an "Oakland Zoo" tshirt!)


And with the best and most loving daddy ever....

Jake & Mama's Day of Fun

Jake's daycare was closed last Monday for Presidents Day, so I took the day off from work...originally, I was thinking the day would just be spent with the two of us hanging out at home, relaxing and playing all day. Then, Snowpocolypse happened the week before and let me tell you, I was not about to spend another day cooped up inside.

So, we decided to head over to E2 Toys to Try (for Pittsburgh moms-it's in Greentree/Mt. Lebo); we had been there over the summer with some friends and Jake had a great time, so we figured we'd give it another try. I'll let the pictures speak for themselves, but let's just say that I think he had a good time and I'm basing this guess on the fact that I had to drag him out over 3 hours later....

Book Review: "We're Just Like You, Only Prettier"

We're Just Like You, Only Prettier (Celia Rivenbark)

This is an awesome collection of sarcastic essays, written about everyday life...she covers everything from southern beauty pageant contestants, to giving birth, to reality television. Here are a few of the essay titles, just to give you an idea of the material:

*Sorry, I can't make it to the recital, I'm planning to poke myself in the eye with a sharp stick that night.

*Your kid's fever's so high, the others are standing around her with marshmallows on sticks.

*SUV's eat the ozone? Hey, we all gotta eat something and I got 27 cupholders.


The author had won me over when I realized that she & I had the same birth plan. She states in the book that her birth plan read as such: "Drugs. Lots of 'em and keep 'em coming".

A woman after my own heart.

DINO-MITE!

The novelty of 26+ inches of snow wore off days ago & cabin fever was still lingering in our house, so we decided to check out the Carnegie Museum of Natural History on Saturday. I hadn't been in years, so I wasn't sure how much of it would be age-appropriate for Jake, but we were pleasantly surprised! He was actually into looking at just about everything, but there were a few things geared toward kids that he loved. Here he is checking out dinos and finding his inner paleontologist by "digging" for fossils.


They had a Discovery Room that was perfect for kids and parents....kids could touch everything in the room and parents could take a breather for a little bit without having to worry about exhibits being knocked over.



We had a great time at the museum and will definitely go back again sometime. Kids under 3 get in for free and if you have an Entertainment Book, there's a coupon in there for buy one, get one free admission.

Super Jake!

A few posts ago, I promised a picture of Jake's new superhero cape made by Nana & our friend, Sharon...and here they are! I sent Nana this idea through another blog that I follow (thanks Cara!)



Love it!!!

What's New at Age 2

I'm sitting here on my couch (still off from work due to the snowstorm) and kind of unsure what to do with myself right now. Jake is napping, the house is clean and tidy, laundry is caught up and I even cooked some meals for later in the week already. I'm looking out the window as more snow is falling and Gracie is keeping my feet warm, enjoying the quiet. (Ok, so The Real Housewives of Orange County is on, but I swear it's just for background noise...maybe.....whatever, keep your judgment to yourself, please.) I figured it might be a good time to do a catch up post on what Jake's been up to lately.

He can repeat anything you ask him to and is starting to string together 2 or 3 words at a time. He's still into Sesame Street, but will now let us mix up his morning TV watching with "Dinosaur Train" or "Mickey Mouse Clubhouse" (for moms who know what I'm talking about, he also walks around the house saying "Oh toodle!", asks us to sing the "hot dog song" and pretends that there are time tunnels in our house.) Here he is playing in the "time tunnel" Daddy built the other day:



He's transitioning to the next room at daycare, which I know he's ready for, but it also makes me sad...it means we're leaving behind some great teachers AND my little boy is growing up & moving on. But, some of his old friends (DOM THE BOMB! BIG REUNION!) are already in the new room, so I'm sure he'll feel right at home.

My parents got him a new step-stool for his birthday, so he's loving this new "big boy" way of brushing his teeth, complete with spitting.


My friend Cortney got him this bike for his birthday last year & he wasn't able to use it too much by himself this past summer, but on the few rare warm days we've had in the past few months, we've taken him down to the park & he's LOVING the bike (and the helmet-thanks Nana & PopPop!) He pedals all over the place and says "round and round and round and round....."



He knows a lot of random things, like what comes next in some of his favorite books & will shout out the lines before I even turn the page. He also (don't tell Brian I'm sharing this fact) loves the Lady Gaga song "Bad Romance" and will find my iPod and say "Gaga? Gaga? Song, Gaga song!" He likes to count and even though he skips some numbers sometimes, he generally does a good job of getting to 8. After struggling with the letter "W" for months, he can finally say it and can I just tell you that his little voice saying "doub-o-doo" is one of the sweetest sounds??

He's finally facing forward in his carseat & very much enjoying the new view! I think he now feels like he's more a part of car trips, he talks to us all the time and I've caught him dancing back there on more than one occasion (especially when Lady Gaga comes on the radio!) :)



That's all I can remember for now, though I'm sure there are lots more. I can sum it up by saying that this is such a fun age, it seems like there's always something new. I'm going to peel myself off the couch now and try to find something productive to do, while hoping we don't really get another 8 inches, like they're calling for!

Recipe: Sausage & Fire Roasted Tomato Soup

Since we've been snowed in, I've been little Emmy Homemaker (what? stop laughing!) and have tried a few new recipes and even made a lasagna and some chili to freeze for later. Go me!

If you love a good soup, head over to my friend Marissa's blog, where she and her husband have "Souper Sundays" and post lots of yummy soup recipes. This recipe for Zuppa Tuscano is up next on my list of things to try!

*Disclaimer-not my recipe, I just can't remember who I got it from, but it was really good, so I wanted to pass it along. :) The page I printed out says that it was adapted from Cooking Light.

Sausage and Fire Roasted Tomato Soup

1/2 tsp olive oil
1 small onion
1 clove of garlic (I cheated & used the minced garlic in a jar)
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper
8 oz 50% less fat pork sausage
2.5 cups less-sodium chicken broth
1 can fire roasted diced tomatoes (I couldn't find fire roasted, so I just used regular diced)
3/4 cup uncooked small shell pasta
2 cups bagged baby spinach leaves
2 tbsp grated Parmesan cheese
2 tbsp basil

-Heat a large saucepan over medium heat; add 1/2 tsp of olive oil to pan
-Add onion to pan & cook until translucent
-Add sausage, garlic, pepper, salt & red pepper to pan; cook for 5 minutes until brown, stirring to crumble
-Add broth, tomatoes and pasta to pan and bring to a boil over high heat.
-Cover, reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes or until pasta is done.
-remove from heat, stir in spinach until wilted
-sprinkle each serving with parmesan cheese and basil.

Lessons Learned from Snowpocolypse 2010

1. Meteorologists don't always overestimate snow, as they're known to do...sometimes they actually underestimate.

2. Piggy-backing lesson #1, sometimes you should listen to the weather warnings and be prepared with things like um, milk. Oops. (hey, at least we had toilet paper)

3. When your husband finally digs the car out of the driveway and you can make it to walmart to get supplies, be prepared for the shelves to be practically empty.

4. Apparently, all parents would consider running out of chicken nuggets to be a state of emergency; this was one of the things that was totally wiped out at the store.

5. Look at the ground before stepping out of the car....slipping on an ice patch while all of your neighbors are out shoveling causes injuries to both knees and ego.

6. Even 2 year olds can get cabin fever.

Snowmageddon 2010

It snowed in Pittsburgh...have you heard? :) The last time I remember having this much snow was the "Blizzard of 93" (remember that? a glorious week of snow days!) Unfortunately, this storm hit during the weekend, instead of a weekday when it pretty much would have been a guaranteed day off of work. But, we made the most of it, bundled up & headed outside!



When we got this sled out, Jake thought it was a pool & asked to fill it with water:



After playing in the driveway for awhile, we moved to the backyard to measure the snow....using Jake as our measure of course :) (for the record, at 9:30am, we had about 20 inches of snow and it came down for another 3 hours after that, not sure what the total is out there now)