Normal Weekend

Last weekend was just a normal weekend around here.  We ran some errands, finished up Christmas present shopping and bought groceries.  Nevertheless, these two always make it interesting.

Cookies and Cowboys

Yum

Look at my little guy eating his sandwich like a grown up. Even JT doesn't eat his sandwiches like this yet. K is growing up way too fast!

Ugh

So, I'm going to try very hard to pull this blog out of the neglected nether regions where it has languished for the last year. There are a lot of great pictures and updates that have not made their way here. I am resolving to do better. But if nothing else, at least Mr. Sassy Pants is getting his chance to say hi.

Ouch!

Lately, K has been walking around chewing on his board books to soothe his teething pain. The other day, a book bit back.

Poor baby!

Our Newest Addition

We put together this headboard for J's bed in just a few hours this weekend. It was much easier and turned out much better than expected.  We'll have to see how it holds up to abuse.

Friday random

I'm going to ignore the incredible time gap since my last post and say that the lack of posts makes me feel something like this...

(If I was getting enough sleep to process any feelings, that is.)

Anyway, a random picture of JT playing with his bib at dinner--apparently bibs are the new hat.

Happy Friday, everyone!

Randomness

Has anyone else seen the new BHLDN weddings line by Anthropologie?  OMG.  Gorgeous.

I wish I could get remarried and purchase every piece.  And you better believe I'll be wearing one of their dresses for all future weddings that I have to attend. 

 

Or not...They're kind of expensive.  But gorgeous.

Anyway, this post is kind of off-topic but that is because:
a) we haven't sold the house yet and being in limbo isn't very exciting, and
b) we have a doctor's appointment tomorrow so BIG NEWS IS COMING.

Ok, that's all.

Jo

Easy Oven Eggs

So I know this post isn't in line with my usual posts, but I came up with this easy way to make eggs in the oven and I wanted to share.

First, let me preface this post with a little back story...

In contemplation of going back to work in December, I have been trying to work out my schedule. One of my concerns is what to do for breakfast.  I learned during my pregnancy that it isn't good to have dairy or fruit before noon, since your body's sugars are already high in the morning.  So I decided that pre-made breakfast sandwiches were the best option for me.

However, I have a baby.  And I don't have uninterrupted time every Sunday to spend an hour on the stove cooking eggs and sausages/bacon in a frying pan. As a new mom, one of the first things you learn is that anything that doesn't require constant attention or can be done one-handed is a winner. So I tried to find a way to make eggs easily and one-handed.  Here is my solution...

First, find a baking tin that has some kind of mold to it.  You could use a cupcake tin.  I used a tin intended for whoopie pies.

Throw our tin in the oven and turn the broiler on high.

Give the broiler a few minutes to heat up.  I gave mine 5 minutes.  Once its reasonably pre-heated, pull out your oven rack and crack an egg into each of your molds.   Push your oven rack back in and wait 5 minutes.

Waa-laa!  Oven made eggs in under 10 minutes.

They work perfectly for breakfast sandwiches.

I bought sandwich thins at the store, put an egg and a flat sausage on each one and stored them in the fridge.  In the morning, I nuke them for 1 minute in the microwave and they are good to go.  Quick, easy and one-handed. You can also make these with just egg whites for an even lower-calorie meal.  Enjoy!

Sandy, oh Sandy

So I'm a bit backed up on posts.  Hurricane Sandy has had me out of sorts.

Luckily, we didn't have any damage.  We did, however, have to relocate for a few days due to a lack of power.  For the day and a half that we remained at home without power, it looked like this:

Don't worry--most of those are fake LED candles.

After the temperature in the house dropped below 60 degrees (and we ran out of firewood), we moved in with my mother-in-law.  We finally got power back on Wednesday (a week ago) late in the evening.

Hopefully this next nor'easter will be as kind as Sandy was...

An Unusual Visitor

The other night when we were taking the dogs out, we found an usual visitor at on the door.

Unfortunately, my camera battery died right after this picture, so I wasn't able to photograph the other side.  It looked like a salamander to me, but I don't really know my amphibians(?) that well.  Either way, it mostly looked doomed.  That was one of our last warm days before the cold front hit.  I'm pretty sure Mr. Lizard isn't native to this part of the country and I'm also pretty sure that he's not designed to survive sub-freezing temperatures.  Poor Mr. Lizard.

Ladies Night Out

Luckily for me, while we were in the great state of Wisconsin, one of my best friends from high school had a 30th birthday party and invited all of her gal pals.  Before we went out, though, we all gathered at her parent's house to do some child show-and-tell.  I won't show the group pictures, since I know some folks don't like having their children's pictures on the internet, but I will show a montage of John's awesome poses in each of the shots.

  

  

 

Feel free to add your own thought bubbles for John in each shot...

For the 30th birthday party, we started the night with a dignified Italian dinner at one of the city's finest establishments.  We then ended the night with some undignified activities at a local dueling piano bar. Let's just say that some "big butts"  and some "remix to ignition, hot and fresh out the kitchen" made an appearance.

All in all, a good time was had by all. Except John.  He was clearly not feeling it!

I Can't Even Think of a Title for this Post

Cooking

Sometimes, JT likes to help us out in the kitchen.

His cuteness adds some extra sweetness to the food. Lol.

Cuteness

The Love Affair

I am a failure at keeping up with the blog and watching the baby.  But let's face it--JT is way more exciting.  I'm not yet ready to work on the how-the-baby-arrived post but I will post about that one day.  Today, let's stick with something light...

Let's talk about Chase's love affair with his new brother.  He literally has to be in whatever room JT is in.  As I type, Chase is sleeping on the couch next to the Pack 'n Play where JT is sleeping.  Chase cannot get enough of the little guy.  As examples:

JT was not always as enamored of Chase, unfortunately...

But they've worked out an understanding (licks = tickles = kicks and squirming).

 

Let's all just imagine the trouble these two will get into five years from now...or let's not.  I don't need that kind of stress!

15 Days and Counting

As of this minute, I have worked 41 hours this week. Yes, its Wednesday.

The countdown to vacation has become a matter of survival at this point. *Sigh.

Can't wait.

Earthquake

So, I'm sitting in the most boring meeting ever on the 42nd floor of our building when suddenly the room starts to shake. Now, the building shakes periodically due to strong winds but this was different. The shaking was more severe and it was prolonged for probably a minute.  The lights started to swing back and forth above us and the blinds were swinging away from the window.

We were in a corner conference room, with glass compromising two walls, so I tentatively peaked out the windows, praying that I wouldn't see smoke (the post-9/11 generation--always worried about bombs and terrorists).  I didn't see anything, but sirens blaring from all over the city. 

It was cr-a-zy.

Finally, the building maintenance came on the emergency response system to inform us that there had been "an event."  Obviously, that was not helpful.  They then came back on to say a "seismic event."  Much better.

Either way, my Partner-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named continued working throughout the whole thing, completely ignoring the shaking walls and potential for the building to collapse beneath us.  It obviously takes a special type of person to become partner.

Anyway, I'm alive and it was definitely an experience.  What a bizarre day!

Update: Just received an email from my firm's alert system.  Subject line: Earthquake Notification - 8/23/11.   LOVE it! 

Why are you taking pictures of me?

Happy Birthday, Dad!

As a surprise, we got Dad a cake for his birthday. Of course, we had to put his favorite puppies on it.

No, not Riley and Chase.  That's actually Mac and Odie--Mom and Dad's dogs.  Yes, they look a lot like our dogs.  There will be much more on that later.