Taking the summer off.

Just a quick announcement that I am shutting down the blog for a couple of months so that we can enjoy the summer and get some things done around the house.

I'll try to post again when the new baby arrives. So we hope to see you in September!

Have a fabulous summer and stay safe!

p.s. I should mention that I will continue to update our Flickr albums on a regular basis. So if you are interested in new photos of the boys please click on the Flickr link, located on the right sidebar.

Easy-peasy Pico De Gallo

I used some of the beautiful cilantro that Dylan grew. It was so great having it in my backyard and snipping a handful. Usually I buy a small bunch at the store and end up throwing half of it away, which is so disheartening!

We had tacos tonight and the fresh pico was a delicious addition to the tacos. A real burst of sunshine.

Farmer Dylan.

The recipe is basic: tomatoes, onions (red is best, imo), garlic, limes, salt, pepper, jalapenos, cilantro, a little honey, red wine vinegar. Mix and let sit for 15 minutes. Enjoy!

High notes

We're back...and since we have been away for so long I won't bore you with all the gory details of our lives. Here are a few of the high notes.

We are really lovin' the warm weather and have been busy inside and out of the house.

The boys have really come into their personalities in the last few weeks too. Matthew turned 18 months old, and I swear is already in the "terrible twos". He is outgoing, curious and BUSY. At his 18 month check-up he measured in the 90th percentile for height, and 50th percentile for weight. He is about and inch and a pound smaller than Dylan was at the same age. The weight thing surprised me because he is a super good eater. He eats pretty much everything, not fussy at all. He loves to sing and dance and climb. A very good climber, actually. His vocabulary is exploding. He loves animals and squeals with delight whenever we come across a dog, or any animal, bug or creature. He knows all the animal sounds now. Knows also where his eyes, nose, ears etc. are. He gets into everything and I can barely keep up with the housecleaning because of him. He is exhausting and a handful but so darn cute.

The thing about boys is that they are non-stop. There is never a quiet minute. They are very physical and active. And loud. God help us when the third boy arrives.

Over the Memorial Day weekend we took a day-trip to New Buffalo, Michigan. Matthew did not like the sand on his feet. It took him about 15 minutes to finally surrender to nature. After that he was fine. Dylan went through the same phase.

Here are the brothers, cheesin' it up for the camera. Matthew - 18 months old and Dylan - almost 4 1/2 years old.

My pregnancy is, well, blossoming. I am huge! At my 25 week appointment I learned that I have gained about 28 lbs. Which is par for the course for me. Actually, looking through my past charts I have gained a little less in this pregnancy. But I am carrying differently. People are constantly asking me if I am having a girl. I am big all around this time.

Luckily for me I have been able to get out of a lot of projects around the house. Poor Joe is busy busy. So far in the last month he has painted the stucco on the outside of our house. He re-landscaped our backyard and he is now gearing up to repaint all our bedrooms. What a man! He actually has a "to do" list that is over 60 items long. I didn't write "honey-do list" because I didn't put the list together - he did. Again, what a man. It is going to be a busy summer!

I wish I had taken a "before" photo, but here is an "after" photo of our backyard that Joe redid. We transplanted the hostas from some mature plants that we had around the house.

Joe painting the house.

Here is Dylan and Joe playing war. He was able to understand the card sequence in the very first game they played. That is impressive to me because I don't understand cards at all. Dylan is now on book 5 of the BOB books. I haven't been able to stick with the program as consistently as I'd like, but I am very proud of his progress. His confidence has really exploded since starting the books.

Remember these seedlings? This photo was taken about 2 weeks after we planted the seeds (about the end of March).

Check them out now! I transplanted them into planters and they are thriving.

These are the carrots and bok choy. We will probably harvest the carrots next week. Dylan can't wait!

Here is my cilantro and cucumber. And a few herbs which were just recently planted (dill and chives). I can't wait to make some homemade salsa with the cilantro. Also, a lot of Asian food!

As many of you know, we have had a heck of a time getting Dylan to stay in his own bed through the night. Basically, he has been sleeping with us all his life. Until this weekend. We had a breakthrough! He is finally sleeping through the night in his own bed. I basically sat him down a few nights ago and had we had a heart-to-heart conversation about the sleeping situation. How is he too big (literally) to be in our bed and how mommy can't sleep very well when he is taking up so much space (especially since I am bigger now too)!

Lo-and-behold something must of clicked because he has been staying in his own room ever since. We are keeping our fingers crossed that this will stick. As a reward, we got him a "big boy" bike. It is his first bike with training wheels.

Last summer he was riding the tricycle around and he was probably ready for a bigger bike at his 4th birthday, but since it falls in December we didn't think it was fair to get him a bike that he couldn't ride until summer. Anyway, he is still trying to get the hang of it (the kid is so uncoordinated!)

I saved the best news for last. The LeFort family were vacationing in the region and we got to spend a little time with them. I am so sorry I didn't get more photos but here is one of their beautiful children, Anna and Alex, with Dylan. Thanks for a nice visit Fran!

Here is a sure sign of summer - sandals crowding the doorway. Bring it on, we can't wait, it is going to be fun and hectic and our last as a foursome!

Sorry no blog!

Spring is such a busy time! We have been working in our garden (it's looking good!), doing lots of Spring cleaning around the house and gearing up to do more remodeling. Is it me, or do we seem to do most of our remodeling when I am pregnant?

We have also been enjoying the weekends with Joe's family (like a birthday or family event every weekend, almost). Needless to say, I have been too busy to blog.

I have, however, taken lots a photos along the way so will try to post a big update this week. Especially, since we have hit a few milestones: Matthew turned 18 months old and Dylan is now reading on his own! With the help of BOB Books, we are well into the third book, and he is doing pretty good, although it is hard to keep his attention for more than 4 minutes, especially if we are reading at night. I'll tell you the story of how I got turned on by these books in a later post. I highly recommend them so far.

Another milestone is that I am now in the 6th month of pregnancy. Time flies, right!?

Check back with us later today or tomorrow..until then, checkout what the pregnant lady has been eating at Del*ish. As usual, it is always spicy around our house.

Catcha later..

Monkey boy

Matthew loves to hang - off beams, monkey-bars, anything really. He can even do the zip line by himself at the playground. Yeah my heart stops for a second every time Joe attempts this, but Matthew really does love it. He is our little daredevil, nothing fazes him. I better start stocking up on hair color for all the grey he is giving me!

Sibling love/hate. If one kid is happy, the other is usually sad. When one kid has a toy, the other usually wants it. Sigh. It is exhausting. Matthew is giving us a run for our money these days. He is very assertive and confident, poor Dylan usually just sits there and takes the abuse.

Family Road Trip

We packed up the truck on Thursday night and headed to Indianapolis for a quick family getaway. We didn't get into Indy until after 2:30 am due to a horrible 90 minute detour, but after a few (short) hours of sleep we seized the weekend and had a blast visiting the zoo, Children's Museum, some family and even some of Joe's high school friends. We had lots of yummy meals and burned off the calories with lots and lots of walking and chasing after the kids.

Thanks to everyone for taking the time to meet up with us! It was a wonderful trip and my first time to Indianapolis, I really liked the city and will definitely visit again. 

Checkout our slide show..

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Happy Easter 2009!

Easter egg hunt and visit with the Easter Bunny at the Sportsmen's Club with Joe's family.






Dylan was a little apprehensive about approaching the bunny, but finally gave him a high five and was fine after that.

Matthew couldn't wait to meet him! He wasn't scared at all. Unlike Dylan at about the same age.

Hunting for eggs Easter morning (at 6:30am!)

Springtime!

Look how fast Dylan's "garden" has grown in just three weeks! I'll be planting the peat pots into the backyard soon, can't wait to see if we will get some yummy vegetables in a few weeks (months?). We are also planting our own pumpkins this year. It will fun to watch them grow!

Chicago is a great city for sports, especially baseball - check out the Picasso sculpture in Daley Plaza.
Joe and I have always been Cubs fans, but recently Dylan pronounced his preference for the White Sox. I couldn't believe it. He will only wear a Sox cap. Too funny, I mean, who is raising this kid?! I got to the bottom of it and found out that his day care teachers are die-hard Sox fans, as well as his little buddy Eric. Talk about peer pressure! I think it is great that he has strong opinions about something, even if it is for the Sox!

Dylan and Joe decorated the Easter eggs this year. I was too pooped to participate. They did a great job! We did a marble effect and tie-dye with glitter. As Joe said in his Facebook status today, it probably wasn't a good idea to decorate Easter eggs with a 4 year old using glitter, especially in a newly renovated kitchen. And especially without mom around.

One of his friends called glitter "the herpes of craft supplies". Hilarious!

Happy Easter everyone! 

Chef Dylan hard at work..and an 18 week belly shot.

Dylan has been talking about making fruit salad for a few weeks, so I finally got all the ingredients (he was very specific about which fruits make up a fruit salad!) and we got busy on Saturday. He loves to cut up stuff. The salad was delish! 

We had it for breakfast with a side of "magic" oatmeal,  which is oatmeal with sprinkles on it.

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Saturday night was also pizza night! It is usually on Fridays, but since it is Lent we did it on Saturday so that Joe could get his favorite ingredient - sausage!
It is amazing how inexpensive and easy it is to make pizza. I used the Jiffy pizza dough mix and it was seriously so easy. I also use Pillsbury pizza dough, but I think I like the Jiffy stuff better.
Toppings this time were, sausage & pepperoni; mushrooms, onions & goat cheese; pepperoni and pineapple. 3 pizzas for under $10!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

I couldn't resist adding this picture of happy Matthew. He is almost 17 months old!

Check back in a few days to see our Easter egg creations!