15 month check up

Time is just flying by, I felt like we were just at the Dr's office for his 12 month check up! But there we were again last night for his 15 month appointment. Here are the stats:

Weight: 22 lbs, 7 oz (20th percentile)
Height: 31 inches (50th percentile)

So in 3 months, he gained just about a pound and 1 inch. The doctor that he's right on track for everything, which is always reassuring to hear. Unfortunately, we did find out that he has his first ear infection :( The doctor said it looked new, so at least we caught it in the beginning (and saved ourselves a separate trip to the office!) I felt bad that I didn't realize he even had one, but he really hasn't been out of sorts lately or running a fever or anything like that, I guess sometimes these things just sneak up on you. He's on antibiotics, so hopefully we'll get it cleared up soon.

From The Mouths of Yinzers

Over the weekend, Brian went to our local children's consignment shop while he was out running errands, they were having a 40% off sale (40% off!!) While in there, he overheard this statement:

"Yinz guys need to hurry up! Why do we need to buy all of these clothes for her? Little boys are so much easier to buy for....you buy them a pair of jeans & a few wife beater shirts and they're set".

Perhaps it was the guy we saw at the Steelers tailgate a few months ago with the word "Yinzer" tattooed across the back of his neck?

Now, before wife beater wearing people everywhere start coming at me with torches, let me just say that I don't have a problem with wife beaters. I myself, own some (are they called husband beaters in that case?) My little brother is quite fond of them and sports them around quite frequently (prompting some jokes from me about our family getting ready to appear on an episode of "Cops" with the way he's dressed....just so he doesn't yell at me, he is normally sporting them around doing yardwork or something, not as everyday attire) There's nothing wrong with little boys in wife beaters...in fact, sometimes they can be quite cute, trying to look grown up like daddy. It just struck me as a funny statement that this man seemed to think that they were the only clothes that boys would ever need to own....

Baby, It's a Wild World

One of our Christmas presents from my parents was a zoo membership to the Pittsburgh Zoo & Aquarium, which we used for the first time over the weekend. Of course, we decided to use it on a day that was almost 90 degrees (even in the morning hours!) but we still had a great time. I'll let the pictures do the talking.

The wagon worked out really well, we were able to get him in & out easily when he needed to be lifted up to see the animals...and as you can see, sometimes he wanted to walk & push the wagon (as he should, it was filled with all of his crap anyway!) :)

Jake definitely enjoyed the Monkey House and the Aquarium the best. While looking at the lemur display, one of the little buggers decided to jump right in front of the glass that Jake was standing in front of...he came out of nowhere & poor little man jumped about a foot off the ground and reached out to grab onto me. (he fared better than the little boy standing next to him who burst into hysterical tears)

There was a sting ray tunnel to crawl through...he made it out alive, phew!

I think trying to do the whole zoo in one morning when it was so hot out was a bit much to take on for our first time...we didn't end up making it to Kids Kingdom, so we'll be hitting that first during our next visit. Someone had a slight meltdown after we ate lunch, was a tired, sweaty mess and fell asleep as soon as he was buckled into his carseat :)

Cheap Thrills

Nice Weather + $5 baby pool = Happy Little Man



Bag of Marshmallows: $2
Graham Crackers: $3
Hershey Candy Bar: 50 cents
Enjoying your first S'More: Priceless

Who Wants Baked Beans??

Jake does!!

As I've mentioned in previous posts, Jake likes food. A lot. Here he is chowing down on his new favorite food, baked beans, while making some, um....approving noises.

Ode to Oakland

Ode to Oakland
by Jacob Charles

Oakland, how I love thee
While walking on your sidewalks, I said "weeeee!!"
My parents went to school here & hope I'll do the same,
Mom said if I go to Pitt, she'll pay my whole way.

When I saw Fuel & Fuddle, I got a sparkle in my eyes
The sparkle grew brighter as I ate sweet potato fries.
Then I had some pizza & I said "nom-nom-nom"
Give me some more of that, this place is da bomb!

Next we went to Dave & Andys so that I could try ice cream
It smelled so good when we walked in, it was like a dream!
I really liked the ice cream, it was super yummy
But I could only eat 3 bites, I already had too much food in my tummy!

The end.


At Fuel & Fuddle:


First taste of ice cream!


Thanks for meeting us for lunch, Whitney & Neal!

My Daddy Plays Rugby Better Than Your Daddy

Brian played in his annual Alumni Rugby Game today and we couldn't have asked for a more perfect day, it was 75 and sunny. Jake & I slathered on some sunscreen & went to cheer Daddy on at his game!

Our friends Jen & Scott sent this shirt to Jake when he was born, it says "Danger: Rugby Player, Stay Back At All Times"...it was quite the hit at the game.



He even got some practice time in with a rugby ball :)



Here's Jake last year at the game, look how much he's changed!!

Happy Easter!!

I think it's safe to say that Easter was a success...it had all of the right components of a good holiday.

Gifts left by a large animal upon waking:

New stylish clothes:

The family pet dressed up in bunny ears:

Good times with family and friends:

(Please note everyone's shirt selections....apparently it was green day & no one told me. I was wearing a black shirt, surprise surprise.)

And of course, yummy food!

Thanks to all of the help that I had in the kitchen, the meal was delicious. My helpers decided to uh...lighten the mood with a little sangria but they still managed to pull it together when they needed to & get the job done. :) I also have to give a shout out to Nate's girlfriend, Katie, who did an excellent job of supervising Jake while the rest of us were busy running around getting everything ready. He was completely infatuated with her and spent a good part of the day grinning, flirting and trying to get her attention (and um, trying to dress her up as a bunny.)

I guess I picked a pretty good turkey because everyone said it was one of the most moist turkeys they've ever had. And just a warning...if anyone leaves a comment on here about not having ham on Easter, I will block you from my blog. My kitchen, my food choice :) Another hit of the day were the Garlic Cheddar Biscuits...I stole the recipe from the Spice Rack blog. Thanks to some encouragement from Michelle, (who assured me that the level of difficulty was a 0...and she is well aware of my kitchen skills) I worked up the courage to make them & I'm glad that I did. They were super yummy and super easy. (right up my alley)

I think I'll title this next series of pictures as "Going, Going, Gone!" Sometimes you just can't fight the post-turkey coma.

I hope that everyone had a wonderful Easter!!

A Visit from Nana & PopPop

I figured I'd do a quick weekend-recap post before I gush about Easter, which needs a post all to itself to show off all of the cute pics :) Brian's parents arrived on Friday & they were amazed at how much Jake has changed and learned since the last time they saw him a month ago.

The Easter celebration started out on Saturday when Jake received a surprise gift in the mail from Aunt Melissa, Uncle Dennis & Ben! Here is our little Picasso using his new sidewalk chalk:

Another exciting moment on Saturday was discovering that we had our 1st tulip of the season open that day! Bring on spring!!

That night, we went out to dinner at Claddagh Irish Pub to celebrate Nana's birthday. While the food was good, the service left much to be desired. Fortunately, Jake was very patient (since even his food took awhile to come out, then he had to sit in his chair & wait while we finished our food) so everything was ok. We came home, put Jake into some PJ's & told him that he needed to sleep in so the Easter Bunny had time to come in the morning (HA-always wishful thinking, right??) and Nana read him a story before tucking him into bed. Please note that this is his first pair of "big boy PJ's", 2 piece without feet. Doesn't he look adorable? :) The shirt says "captain heartbreaker".

"Row, Row, Row Your Boat"

While visiting my parents over the weekend, my mom was playing "Row Row Row Your Boat" with Jake (one of his favorite games) by singing and rowing while holding hands. Jake insisted on doing this for a long time (and would sign "more" if my mom tried to stop and grab her hands again) and at one point, we realized that he was singing along with her very softly...so we all got quiet to listen and sure enough, he was singing "row, row, row"! (ok, so it sounded more like "whow, whow, whow" but still!) Super cute and a proud mommy moment.



His words now include: ball (bah), mama, dada, dog (doh), bye bye, row (whow) and whoa. He uses the word "whoa" a lot and always in the right context (like if he pushes his car & it goes really far, his eyes get wide and he says "whooooa!!") I'm pretty sure he's saying "nana" for banana, but it's not all the time yet. He does know exactly what a banana is and will run to them an point if you even say the word!

We had a nice weekend visiting the fam....my mom turned the Big 5-0 last week, so we celebrated her birthday with dinner and cake. Happy Birthday Mom! :) (If you see my mom, tell her she looks more like my sister than my mom, it'll make her day!)



We had great weather on Saturday, so we were able to play outside for a bit...Jake enjoyed roaming the yard & getting to use the swing that's at GG & Pappy's house.



Gracie got a haircut...she was looong overdue and was quite the shagmuffin. Here she is, Extreme Makeover: Gracie Edition.



We were also able to visit our friends Jenn and Tim, who live in Washpa now as well. Jake spent the majority of the time terrorizing Jenn's dog, Noah.



While the weekend was fun, this upcoming weekend we have a lot on our to-do list trying to get started spring cleaning!!

Pizza Party!

We decided that a new tradition in our house would be that we would have a "pizza party" every Friday night for dinner. I'm not sure how much of a party atmosphere actually exists, but hey...we eat pizza and that's exciting enough for me! We were inspired for this idea by my friends Whitney and Neal, who received a breadmaker for their wedding and make their own pizza all the time. After having some super yummy pizza at their house one night, we decided to make our own pizza as well. (just not the dough, we're cheating in that department with store-bought, pre-made crust). We've used regular premade crust and wheat and surprisingly, we prefer the wheat (Boboli brand)

This is our favorite recipe so far:

Buffalo Chicken Style Pizza

1 boneless skinless chicken breast, cooked and cubed
1 cup ranch dressing
2 tbsp butter, melted
2 oz Frank's Red Hot Sauce
1 cup shredded mozz cheese
1 16 inch pizza crust

-Preheat oven to 425
-In a medium bowl, combine the cooked chicken, melted butter and hot sauce; mix well.
-Spread ranch dressing over pizza crust, then top with chicken and shredded cheese.
-Bake until crust is golden brown and cheese is bubbly (about 5-10 minutes)

*A funny note about this recipe, it was the first time Jake has had Frank's Red Hot (we need to get him ready for the upcoming Buffalo Chicken Dip season!) and the kid couldn't get enough! He shoveled it into his mouth so fast, even though you could tell it was hot for him, he was drooling everywhere (more than usual) but loved it!

This week's recipe: Margherita Pizza-YUM!

OMG, it's Mike Clark!!!

If you're not from Pittsburgh (and maybe if you are) you're probably sitting there saying "who??" Mike Clark is a news anchor for one of the local radio stations and is a bit of a celebrity around here...how does a news anchor become a celebrity, you ask? Because of people like my mom :) My mom loves WTAE (aka-Channel 4 Action News Team) and often speaks about them in every day conversation as if they were real life friends. An example:

Mom: So Kelly was talking this morning about her dogs and they did the funniest thing....
Me: (running through my mom's list of friends & not coming up with a Kelly) wait, mom...who is Kelly?
Mom: um...you know. Kelly Frey....on Channel 4.

Silly me.

Back to the story...Jake's school had a "Spring Fling" event tonight that showcased their artwork from the past few weeks, had a bake sale, etc...and promised a Book Reading by a local celebrity. We were hoping for maybe a Steeler, but I must say, I was pretty excited to see Mike Clark since I knew my mom was such a fan. Much to Brian's dismay, I marched up to him after the book reading, introduced myself and asked if he would mind posing for a picture with Jake. I'm happy to report that he was more than happy to do this, had Jake slap him high five then asked if he could hold him....he wasn't even fazed when I told him Jake might rub snot and drool all over his nice suit :)

I thrust my kid into the arms of a stranger, look of terror on his face, while I dug around for my camera. It's not the best picture, but I was bound & determined to get the shot:



"MOOOOOOOOOM!! I don't care who this man is & how much G.G. loves him, get me away from him!!"

Overall, a successful night. I managed to get the picture to show my mom & get Brian out of there before he started quoting parts of the "Anchorman" movie. I could tell he was just dying to start saying things like, "I look good...I mean realllllly good." I am proud that he managed to control himself, very impressive.

Required Reading-and a tag for bloggers :)

I'm a big reader...always have been and probably always will be. Aside from little kids books (Dr. Seuss, etc...) the first books I remember getting really into were The Babysitters Club series....and I mean waaaaay into them. I have memories of going to the mall with my grandparents and being allowed to pick out anything that I wanted...could have been clothes, a toy, a new cassette tape of New Kids on the Block, whatever...but if there was a new BSC book on the shelves, it was coming home with me that day. (for the record, Stacy was my favorite) Also, if you're ever super bored & want to borrow any of my BSC stuff (board game, videos, movie, etc...) you just let me know :)

Does anyone remember the Ramona Quimby series by Beverly Cleary? I was also a huge Judy Blume fan (and later went on to read some of her adult books as well).

Soon enough, I moved into Sweet Valley Twins and Sweet Valley High (who didn't want to be the Wakefield twins??)

Then came high school...and the required reading lists of books. Sure, we had to read some stuff in middle school, but I don't remember it being quite as much as high school. There were times that I resented having to read some of the stuff....like I said, I liked to read, so the required reading sometimes interfered with my personal reading choices! But in hindsight, I am happy and grateful to have read so many books in school. There were some that I didn't care for (The Good Earth) and others that I have read over again as an adult and still love (To Kill a Mockingbird).

I've heard a lot of people say that you don't get anything out of high school english class, it was a waste of time, they learned nothing, etc....but I disagree. If anything, I think it helped to continue my love affair with books and introduced me to some that I would have never picked up on my own, but ended up loving after having to read them for class.

All of that being said, fellow bloggers should consider yourself tagged...I want to see a post with your favorite books of the past! Childhood, tweens, required reading....whatever you want to include.

I listed some of my favorites above already, but other faves include (in approximate chronological order and I'm stopping at the end of HS):

-Sideway Stories from Wayside School

-Harriet The Spy

-Nancy Drew series

-Trixie Belden series

-The Secret Garden

-The Pigman

-Flowers for Algernon

-The Diary of Anne Frank

-Romeo and Juliet (if anyone from my HS is reading this, do you remember having to act this out in Mr. Perry's 9th grade english class???)

-Their Eyes Were Watching God

-Wuthering Heights

-Catcher in the Rye

-To Kill a Mockingbird

-Oedipus Rex

That's all I can think of off the top of my head and I'm sure I'm forgetting some good ones...so be sure to include them in your list :)