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)

Lazy Weekend

It seems like our calendar quickly fills up every year: weddings, showers, parties, visits to friends and family, etc... So it's always nice when we have a weekend to just relax and hang out.

Saturday morning, we went to the mall and got some great deals at Baby Gap & Children's Place...I got some clothes for next winter for Jake (woohoo, I love a bargain!) We let Jake burn off some energy at the play area in the mall, then headed home.

Somehow, Jake took an amazing almost 4 hour long nap (I wouldn't normally let him sleep quite that long or late during the day, but he's had a cold the past few days, so I figured he could use the extra rest...and frankly, this mama needed the extra rest, too.) A lot of times when Jake naps, Brian & I run around doing household chores or some type of organization project....but not yesterday. Brian announced that he was going to go work out in the basement so I took advantage of that, parked myself on the couch, cloaked in my Snuggie and watched the critically acclaimed (haha!) Lifetime movie "The Pregnancy Pact", followed by an episode of the sleaze-tastic "The Real Housewives of Orange County". Everyone felt refreshed by late afternoon!

Today, we did have plans, but we were super excited for them....Melissa ("Aunt Missa"), Dennis ("Nennis") and Ben ("baby Ben") were in town and came over to visit! Ben & Jake had a great time, as always!



It's always easier to go back to the grind on Monday when you had such a nice weekend :)

GO.

Last night, we had Jake's 2 year check up...for some reason, our kid is absolutely terrified of the scale and threw a fit when the nurse tried to put him on it. That was strike one against her. Strike 2 was when she came in the room to give him a shot (the 2nd half of his H1N1 vaccine); he didn't cry or even flinch, but he must have been annoyed by it because after she was done, he stood up, looked right at her, pointed to the door and said "Go."

Other than that, everything went well and everything looked good and right on track. The weight was a big guesstimate, as he was fully clothed with his coat on and had to get an unscientific measurement of Brian getting on the scale with him, then weighing just Brian and figuring out the difference.

27 lbs (30th percentile)
33 inches tall (20th percentile)

1, 2, cha-cha-cha!

Jake isn't a huge fan of being strapped into his carseat, so I normally try to do something silly to distract him while I'm putting him in there. Recently, he's been very entertained by me singing a little song that goes something like this:

Get in the car seat, cha-cha-cha!
Put on your buckle, cha-cha-cha!
How many buckles?
1, 2, cha-cha-cha!
3, 4 cha-cha-cha!
All done, cha-cha-cha!

So, keep that story in mind.

Sunday night, he sat at the dinner table and counted to 6, skipping only the number 4. YAY! Such a proud moment.

Last night when we got home from school, I asked him to count for me and got him started by saying "one" to which he responded, "One-two, cha-cha-cha!!"

Oops.

Party Like a Rockstar

Well, ok, so maybe it wasn't so much a party as it was a small series of events put together to form a celebration of Jake's birthday, but still. We had a fun weekend and that's all that counts.

The festivities started earlier in the week when we received a box from Nana & PopPop...Daddy, er...Jake (yea, it was totally him) insisted that we open it that night, instead of waiting. He got some cool new clothes for his spring collection and a bike helmet!! And, Nana and Aunt Sharon made him a cape with a "J" on the back, which might be one of the cutest things I've ever seen. We must get pictures of him in the cape & helmet soon!!

Friday was Jake's actual birthday, so he went to school and got to bundle up and play outside in the snow. Later that night, he opened up some gifts from us (a puzzle, some books, a bucket of animals and a broom...we start 'em young around here with the household chores)


The next day, it was like a heatwave. You know, all of 45 degrees in January...cabin fever had set in weeks ago, so daddy & Jake took advantage of the weather and went to the park while mommy went grocery shopping.



That afternoon, the little shaggy boy was in dire need of a haircut. This would be his 4th cut...the first one went as to be expected (some crying, not too bad though), the 2nd one was about the same and the 3rd one was just painful, he cried and screamed the whole time. We needed a different tactic, our previous methods of trying to distract him with snacks were failing us.

I'm not above using bribery...but I had to think of something really good to bribe him with. Finally, I came up with a genius solution: a juice box. When he first realized where he was, he promptly threw himself to the floor in a fit of hysterics. But fear not, my friends....once he held that juice box in his little chubby hands, the hysteria subsided into a few hiccups and sobs and all was well. He walked out with a handsome haircut!

The birthday celebrations continued on Sunday, when GG & Pappy came up to celebrate! He got some more cute stuff, including a stepstool, clothes, a beanbag toss game, books, puzzles and a shopping cart!



After testing out all of the new toys, we enjoyed lunch, followed by FunFetti Cupcakes.

"Um...I was told there were going to be cupcakes? What's the hold up??"



Here's Pappy, probably thinking to himself that he was also promised a cupcake...



Make a wish!!



Yep, he's definitely my kid, look at that appreciation of the cupcake!



Gracie says, "Ok, I put this hat on, now where's MY cupcake??"



Thanks to everyone for all of the great gifts and happy birthday, Jake!!

Help Get Them Out of Haiti

I fully admit, I don't follow the news that much under normal circumstances; however, I have been glued to a story involving 2 girls from Pittsburgh who run BRESMA orphanage in Haiti, which was destroyed by the earthquake this past Tuesday.

I can't get those 2 girls and all of those little babies and kids out of my head. Maybe it's because they're from Pittsburgh. Maybe it's because it really drives home the fact that I have a healthy, happy child and it breaks my heart to think of other kids who don't have the same blessings. Maybe it's the fact that there are parents out there waiting to adopt these children, who are now left feeling uncertain about the adoption situation. Our family has close ties to adoption...I think about Brian's parents waiting to bring home his little sister from Korea and about my cousin, bringing home her 2 daughters from China (2 years ago, almost to the day).

Whatever the reason, I've been moved by this story, which is why I'm posting about it on here.

If you live in Pittsburgh, you've no doubt heard about this orphanage situation. But I know there are random people who read my blog (and I know this because one left a comment the other day) which got me to thinking that if just one more person reads about it on here, that's one person who wasn't aware before. And maybe one more person who is willing to donate money or supplies to this cause.

For more information on this entire story, updates and details about how you can help, check out one of my favorite blogs, thatschurch.com

Terrific Two

While he can no longer be referred to as a baby, Jake will always be my sweet baby boy in my mind. It seems hard to believe that 2 years ago today, this little man came into our lives and has since brought us so much happiness...it's such a cliche, but I really don't know where the time went. I feel like I blinked and I am now a mom to a little boy who amazes me every day with how smart, cute and sweet he is.

I forget sometimes just how incredibly tiny he was. He was 6 lbs, 2 oz when he was born, but only something like 5 lbs, 10 oz when we brought him home, which seems unimaginable to me at this point. Here he is shortly after being born and in the hospital the next day:

Look at that first picture, giving us the stink eye already...



Here he is first on his actual 1st birthday, then at his birthday party last year (according to this handy blog where I keep track of this info, he was 21.5 lbs around the time of his 1st birthday):



And here he is now sharing some after-bath smiles with his daddy...not an ounce of baby left (he hasn't had his 2 year check up yet, but the last time we had him at the office about 2 months ago, he was around 26 lbs).



So far, Jake has celebrated his birthday with his choice of breakfast (crackers, a banana and a juice box)....they are planning on going out to play in the snow at school today and tonight we'll open some presents and relax :)

Recipe: Chicken Spaghetti

After a few of my friends raved about this Pioneer Woman recipe, I had to give it a try. I made a few changes, due mainly to laziness (this is the original recipe, I'll note my changes at the bottom).

Spaghetti Chicken

• 2 cups Cooked Chicken
• 3 cups Dry Spaghetti, Broken Into Two Inch Pieces
• 2 cans Cream Of Mushroom Soup
• 2 cups Grated Sharp Cheddar Cheese
• ¼ cups Finely Diced Green Pepper
• ¼ cups Finely Diced Onion
• 1 jar (4 Ounce) Diced Pimentos, Drained
• 2 cups Reserved Chicken Broth From Pot
• 1 teaspoon Lawry's Seasoned Salt
• ⅛ teaspoons (to 1/4 Teaspoon) Cayenne Pepper
• Salt And Pepper, to taste
• 1 cup Additional Grated Sharp Cheddar Cheese

Preparation Instructions

Cook 1 cut up fryer and pick out the meat to make two cups. Cook spaghetti in same chicken broth until al dente. Do not overcook. When spaghetti is cooked, combine with remaining ingredients except additional 1 cup sharp cheddar.

Place mixture in casserole pan and top with remaining sharp cheddar. Cover and freeze up to six months, cover and refrigerate up to two days, or bake immediately: 350 degrees for 45 minutes until bubbly. (If the cheese on top starts to get too cooked, cover with foil).

Changes:

The chicken: I can barely handle looking at chicken breasts, let alone a whole dead chicken, so I stuck with what I knew instead of frying up a whole chicken. I cooked 2 breasts and chopped them up.

Broth: since I didn't cook a whole chicken, I had no broth to speak of, so I just cooked the spaghetti in some chicken broth from cans.

Cream soup: I used cream of chicken, instead of cream of mushroom

Enjoy!! :)

I guess kids don't feel like they're about to get hypothermia...

Unlike their parents, I don't think kids are bothered by the cold (or maybe I should just say unlike their moms, because Brian doesn't seem bothered by the cold either). I spent 3 days this week standing at the bus stop for 30+ minutes waiting for my bus when it was about 10 degrees outside (without taking the wind into account) and I seriously stood there and wondered a few things...how do you know you're getting hypothermia? At what point does frostbite set in? Will the bus driver still bother to stop if I'm laying in a frozen heap at the bus stop and at least have the courtesy to drop me off at a hospital on the way?



Fast-forward to Saturday, when we went to the Children's Museum, where Jake could not.be.torn.away from the water play area. Clearly, he did not share the same fears of hypothermia as his mother, since I had to drag him away from the water after 45 minutes when I realized that his teeth were chattering and his whole face had a slight blue tinge to it.



Needless to say, he loved the museum, we'll definitely be going back again!