7 Months

At 7 months old Dylan is quiet the baby. He sits up perfectly and loves playing with his toys and AJ on his play mat. He rolls over in both directions and we often find him on his belly when he wakes up from sleeping. He eats like a champ - for dinner last night he had some pulsated broccoli and corn and even ate (and loved) some of my homemade chili! He loves corn on the cob, yogurt, ice cream, london broil, chicken, grapes with the skin pealed off, strawberries, bananas, Trader Joe's mac & cheese, chicken noodle soup - the list goes on and on! He is getting pretty good at feeding himself and gets his puffs and other finger foods right in his mouth. He sometimes gets so frustrated while I am feeding him because he desperately wants to grab the spoon and do it himself! He runs around the whole house in the walker - he is so quick we all have to be on our toes and watch out for our feet! Now that he is mobile in the walker, he is into EVERYTHING - so much more trouble then AJ was - he grabs for anything in his reach and gets upset when told no or when we take things away. He loves balloons and we often find him in the playroom trying to get to AJ's birthday balloons. He loves his new seat on the swing set and laughs out loud swinging next to his sister! He puts everything in his mouth and can drool with the best of them but still has no teeth! He loves the pool and kicks his legs and splashes with his hands like crazy. He is still super smiley and is always giggling! We can't wait to see what the next month brings us!

Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms

5 Portobello Mushrooms (stems removed and insides scraped out)

1 onion caramelized

5 TBS fresh pesto sauce

brie cheese

2 slices of tomato (only because I wanted to try some with and some without)

olive oil pam

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place foil on a baking pan and spray with some olive oil pam. Place the mushrooms down and top each with about a TBS of pesto, some caramelized onion, a slice of tomato (if adding) and then some slices of brie. Bake in the oven for about 15-20 minutes! Alex had the ones w/o tomato and I had the ones with - they were both AWESOME but the ones with the tomato were a little juicer!

Fresh Lemon Vinaigrette

1/2 lemon juiced & zested

1/4 tsp sugar

1/4 tsp Dijon mustard

shake of s & p

2 turns of olive oil

Serve over baby spinach & arugula salad with cherry tomatoes, red onion, black olives, fresh mozzarella and some basil & parsley from the garden - SO GOOD!

This was for a salad for 2 - if you are making a bigger salad, double it all!

Happy 3rd Birthday AJ!

Today is AJ's third birthday and I have no idea where the last 3 years have gone! So quickly she is transforming from a baby to a beautiful young lady and I can hardly believe I am the mother of a 3 year old! She is super smart and super sassy - the girl has some spunk, she loves school and playing with her friends, she loves painting, coloring and playing outside and she is such an amazing big sister and he is quickly becoming her playmate! She asks tons and tons and tons of question - ALL DAY LONG! She is very into anything Disney Princess, she only wants to wear dresses, she loves wearing jewlery and is just your typical girly girl! Although I truly believe it's the terrible 3's not 2's, we are getting through all her testing and trying behavior and even getting a good laugh out of it all once in a while.

We had 3 days of celebrating this year - Saturday was her party with all her friends at Wiggles and Giggles. All the kids had a blast!

Sunday, Father's Day, we had a nice day of sun and swimming at Grandma & Pop Pop's and they made sure to have a ice cream cake with a candle so we could all sing and celebrate her birthday again.

Monday, her actual birthday we woke up, opened presents from Mommy, Daddy & Dylan, had cupcakes for breakfast, saw Shane, Fiona & Lola, had lunch with Daddy at work, got BALLOONS from Aunt Lauren, played on the new swing set, got singing phone calls from Mimi & Taylor, got some new DVD's in the mail from Uncle Peter and finished with one last happy birthday song and a cupcake for dessert!

We hope you loved your 3rd Birthday AJ - just like Mommy & Daddy did!!!!

Father's Day 2010

Happy Father's Day to the most amazing husband and father in the world - my Alex! AJ, Dylan and I are so lucky - you are such a dedicated family man, your funny and so much fun to be around and you love us all so much and it truly shows! Thanks for being you - we LOVE you more then words!

This year we went to Grandma & Pop Pops for sun, swimming and lobster tails! We all had a really great day and Daddy even put on a show for us - lots of dives and cannon balls!!!

Healthier Chicken Pot Pie

1 thawed puffed pastry sheet

3 boneless chicken breasts

small onion chopped

2 carrots chopped

1/2 cup broccoli

1/2 cup frozen peas

1/2 cup frozen corn

a few sprigs of fresh parsley (from my garden!) chopped up

salt & pepper

2 TBS whole wheat flour

3 TBS butter

4 cups chicken broth

1 egg yolk beat with 1 tsp water

Bring 2 or so cups of chicken broth to a boil in a medium sauce pan. Add the 3 chicken breasts, a shake of salt, pepper and a little parsley. Boil for about 15 minutes and drain, set aside to cool so you can shred it up. Once you shred the chicken, melt 1 TBS butter in a deep frying pan and cook the onions. Add the remaining 2 TBS butter and melt, whisk in the flour and then slowly add the remaining 2 cups of chicken broth. When the sauce thickens add all the vegetables, some salt & pepper and the remaining parsley. Mix well. Put in casserole dish and cover with puff pastry. Brush with egg wash and bake in the oven at about 400 for about 10-15 minutes (or until pastry top looks done).

SO much tastier and definitely not as bad for you as most of the frozen or pre-made ones! I feel bad the butter and puff pastry but everything else in it is healthy and good for you! Keep your portion of puff pastry small, have it with a big salad, run that extra mile before you eat & ENJOY!

VT Maple Syrup Vinegarette

While in VT we picked up some awesome pure VT maple syrup. Well since I have been eating right and don't eat to many pancakes, french toast or waffles anymore, tonight I had my first go at a different use for it - salad dressing!!!!

For the dressing-

1 TBS maple syrup

3 TBS apple cider vinegar

1 TBS Grey Poupon ground mustard

2 TBS olive oil

a few turns of ground pepper

Mix maple syrup, vinegar, mustard & pepper well in a dish. Add the olive oil and mix again. We had our dressing on a salad of mixed greens with carrots, tomatoes, hard boiled egg, bacon and red onion. AMAZING!

AJ's Graduation!

Last night AJ had a little graduation ceremony at school - they sang songs and wore hats and got a little paper diploma - all so cute. She has loved school since day one and has learned SO much - she knows so many songs, can say her ABC's perfectly, knows about the weather, knows the pledge of alligence, knows all her colors and can count pretty high! Alex, Dylan and I couldn't be any prouder of her! Congratulations AJ - we love you!!!

VT

We went with Grandma & Pop Pop to Smuggler's Notch in Vermont for vacation this past week and we had a blast.

Day #1 - We drove, drove and drove some more - we arrived around 7 and were all pretty exhausted - we ordered in some pizza, drank some wine and went to bed!

Day #2 - We woke up and Alex made an awesome breakfast of bacon & eggs and then we took AJ to the indoor splash playground, pool, hot tub and then drove through the awesome Notch Pass for a wine tasting at the Von Trapp Family Resort and had dinner there - AMAZING!

Day #3 - Back through the pass - took some pics, lunch back at the Von Trapp Resort, Ben & Jerry's Factory for a tour, samples and tshirts, the fun zone and then Heath & Candle to celebrate Grandma's birthday!

Day #4 - Beautiful day today - pleanty of walking around the beautiful grounds, kite flying, playgrounds, hiking, drinking beers and enjoying some fresh VT air!!!

Day #5 - Montreal, the Biodome - so much fun! More swimming back at the resort and take in for dinner!

Day #6 - Awesome time on the waterslides and then out for a nice last dinner!