#542 - IT Crowd

Our whole family loves watching the IT Crowd on Netflix...it's a British comedy about people working in the IT department.   FUNNY!  Ok, I have to admit, when I first watched it, I wasn't hooked...but hold out...it's funny!

#408 - What will the new baby look like?

Yes, I also photoshopped this photo again to reflect what I think our new baby will look like.

During 2 ultrasounds, 2 different techs said the baby has lots of hair.

So, I think this baby is going to look a lot like Pepe with a slight hint of me. (notice the baby's shirt above...dark stripes like the dad, with just a few tiny stripes from the mom)

Pepe said he doesn't think the baby will look like Oster(aka Baby O) at all. He feels bad for the new baby because he's going to look like us...thanks a lot hon...what are you sayin? :)

#404 - What's in a name?

walking through the streets of DC with his uncle BT

Did you know that Baby O didn't have an official name until 7 weeks after he was born?

Well, guess what? He's getting a name change (don't freak out mom). I'm changing his name on this blog, not in real life.

He's no longer a baby and we are going to have another baby soon.

Drum roll please...his new name is....

"Oster"...pronounced like, "toaster". Phonetically it would me "o" "stir".

Yes, I realize 50% of the people who stumble on this blog will probably call him "oyster" with a thick Boston accent. And they'll think what was she thinking when she named him?!

But, whatever...

Also, I'm messing around with my blog a little bit, not sure if you've noticed the links right below my blog heading...here's the link to the "who's who" on my blog.

#403 - 3 Things, 3 Hours, Philly

When BT and Kar (my siblings) were here, we went to Philadelphia, PA for 3 hours and we decided to do 3 things.

Here they are in no particular order (well, I guess the order in which we did them, but not the order of my preference):#1 - Philly Cheese Steak
*We went to Jim's Steaks
*Cost about $10, but we split it between the 3 of us (Baby O didn't want to eat it)
*My siblings are super healthy, that's why we got a cheese steak with all those veggies
*If I were to order it, I would have gotten it authentic with Cheesewhiz (notice the look on my face to the far right...I'm thinking "where's the Cheesewhiz?")
#2 - Liberty Bell and Independence Hall
*Independence Hall is where the Declaration of Independence and US Constitution were adopted
*Liberty Bell wasn't crowded at all (we went during the week)...which was great for Baby O
*Loved the big grassy area...glad my siblings were there to entertain Baby O
*My pregnant belly makes an appearance again...about 35 weeks here...it's as big as the bell!#3 - Rocky Stairs
*Baby O was sleeping, so I stayed in the car, while Kar and BT ran the stairs and hung on the Rocky Statue
*Philadelphia has a beautiful skyline

The one thing we missed was "West Philadelphia". Kar wanted to see where the Fresh Prince was born and raised...and the playgrounds where he spent most of his days.

Have you ever been to Philly? Any good recommendations of what to do?

#401 - How Genetics Work - polka dots aka recessive jeans

How Recessive Genes Work
When Baby O was born almost 2 years ago, I felt like this picture! (more on this later)
Just pretend the mom & dad in this photo are wearing polka dot underwear...

that's what I call recessive jeans.

I saw the original photo floating around the web a few months ago and I thought to myself, I've got to photoshop this to reflect my Baby O.
Do you notice the 2 changes I made (yes, I know the polka dots are obvious, but do you see the other change)?

#400 - Happy Mother's Day! ~ a post for mom

OK, so I'm doing one better, I'm not just tweeting or facebooking, but I'm blogging about my mom on Mother's Day.

In fact, it's a blog from all of us (kids and grandkids.)

Why We Love You Mom ~

I love how you are always positive. - Brian aka BT

You befriend anyone no matter who they are. - Karli aka Kar

I love your positive attitude through all of life's roller coasters. - Casi

You are a strong, independent woman and you stand up for what you believe in. - me aka tvmom

We love that you are a giver. You always have something to give everybody. It makes us realize that you are always thinking of us. - Jordan and Rachael.

I also really love that you treat others with so much respect and kindness, that has been a great example to me of how to live my life. - Brian

You are a great example to look to. - Casi

I love how you are always thoughtful and thinking of others. - me

You send me postcards in the mail, play puzzles with me and skype with me. - Baby O

Memories Growing Up With You As Our Mom

When growing up I would remember riding the bus home, but I LOVED the days when I would see the blue suburban parked on the street because I knew mom was there to pick us up. Happy days. Love you Mom!!! - Casi

I remember mom would always get the end of a pen and tickle my face when I was younger. I also remember we put our bikes in the trunk and go on bike rides to the trail that goes along Highway 95. I also remember she would take me to go roller skating all the time when I was younger. - Karli

I remember (and still love) the back rubs, the tickling...just feeling relaxed and taken care of. - me

After Mae was born, Mom came down and stayed with Rachael and me for a week. She made dinner for us, she cleaned for us, and she watched Mae for us so we could get some sleep. Rachael and I were both so appreciative of her willing to sacrifice for us. I am very grateful for Mom and the example she is to me. -Jordan

We love you!
Casi, Jordan, Brian, Karli, Baby O, Mae, Pepe, Rachael, Pedro and me

#390 - artist in the making

Baby O got a hold of the polaroid camera this morning and started snapping pictures in the car (Pepe thought the camera was empty, so he just let him snap away). He got some pretty artsy shots...I also think the film and/or camera is going bad.

Then before lunch, we decided to try some painting with edible paint...kept Baby O entertained until I finished lunch. Guess what, he wouldn't eat the marshmallows, but was super proud of his paper plate art.

#388 - Baby O stuff

picture taken at a weird angle b/c it is hard for me to bend down, but perfect for my blog :)

Baby O is growing so fast, so just want to document 9 more things he says/sings/does:

`says "a bug" or "ewwh, that's a bug" - he loves to find bugs so that Pepe will zap them with this
`says "baska hoop" - he's trying to say basketball hoop which he calls any type of ball (football, baseball, basketball, tennis ball)
`says "i wanna go outside" - it could be 9pm at night, but he still wants to go outside to ride his bike and play with his shovel

~sings "Farmer Takes a Wife" over and over (he's singing Farmer in the Dell)
~sings the Elmo/India Arie version of "ABC's"
~sings "Twinkle, Twinkle" and his new favorite "Happy Birthday" a lot!

+loves to wear hats...especially the one he's wearing in the picture (it's from my work)
+loves pineapple, strawberries, cheese, chicken and "cake" (ie: anything sweet)
+loves to be cuddled up next to someone when he sleeps...just the other morning I woke up to him tickling (softly) my neck...too cute!

His favorite and only adjective he uses, "GREEN". (ie: what color is that? what shape is that? what type is that?...)

#386 - "ewwh, baby turd"

The other day we were flipping through this book with Baby O to try and explain to him about the new baby coming to our family.

When he saw this page (above), he said, "ewwh, baby turd" - he was talking about the dried up umbilical cord. I laughed...but then I want to know who taught him the word, "turd", cause I sure don't use it...

#380 - flying baby

happy Sunday
this picture above reminds me of this
picture taken by my lovely sister, Kar

#379 - morning thoughts

photo of my belly and lovely feet

i woke up this morning...too early for my liking because I had to use the bathroom (i wake up at least 4-5 times a night to do this)...and my first thought was, "i can't wait to not be pregnant so that I can (and I thought of at least 10 things right off the bat that i want to do)."

so, thought i'd list off some thoughts about my pregnancy....

things I'll miss when I'm not pregnant...
1...feeling the baby move/kick
2...eating whatever i want and not feeling as guilty
3...pregnancy sympathy (ie: people open doors for you, carry things for you, etc.)
4...wearing maternity clothes (they are comfy...i'll still wear them after i have the babe)
5...pepe rubbing my back for longer than 30 seconds
6...having a reason to have a big belly
7...great hair and nails

things i won't miss...(k...it's not really 10 things - as of 4/28 it's 10)
1...having to go to the bathroom every 10 minutes (at least it seems like that)
2...not being able to sleep on my stomach/back
3...remembering to take my vitamins
4...swollen body parts
5...not being about to bend down easily
6...having to catch my breath
7...being so tired
8...not being able to hold Baby O for very long :(
9...having too much of this :) (hope that's not too graphic)
10...heartburn...i didn't have it that bad with Baby O, maybe this baby will have lots of hair?

#378 - Deceptively Delicous Banana Bread

Here's another recipe I love from the book Deceptively Delicious. We try to make it at least once a week with all our ripe bananas. I of course tweaked it just a little, so here's my recipe:

Ingredients
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup olive oil or canola oil (I usually use olive oil)
2 eggs (the original recipe just calls for 2 egg whites)
2 cups well mashed banana (the original recipe calls for 1/2 c cauliflower puree, but I just put more banana)
1 tsp vanilla extract

Directions
Preheat oven to 350.
Spray a 9x5 loaf pan with nonstick spray.
In lg bowl, mix the sugar and oil with a wooden spoon until well combined. Mix in eggs,then banana puree (it's about 4-5 bananas), and vanilla. And flours, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon. Mix until just combined.
Pour batter into pan, bake until a toothpick comes out clean, about 55-60 minutes. Let cool on a rack for 5 minutes then turn out onto rack to cool before serving.

It's our new banana bread recipe! And Baby O even helps me mix it all together...we're making progress in the kitchen.

#375 - lilacs and butterflies

Recently Baby O gets really excited when he sees a flying insect, especially butterflies (he even thinks moths are butterflies). Sometimes I'll catch him staring at a plant for a long time and then I realize that he's looking at a bee/butterfly/moth.

Picture above is of our lilacs in bloom . . . i love lilacs, they remind me of my grandpa.

#373 - tryin'

Since the weather has gotten nicer and I get home when it is still light out, Baby O and I have been "tryin'" to go on walks down our street. We both love it!

Some things I want to remember about this photo:

~Pepe brought Baby O back his hat from a conference he attended~

~Baby O's "smart cookie" shirt from Aunt Wendy~

~Wagon we got from Freecycle~
~Sportin' a bib since he had a runny nose that day~

#370 - Easter egg hunt

baby O with his Opa and Oma searching for eggs...he got to use his Opa's Easter basket from when he was a kid...also notice his monkey pants and shovel (2 of his favorite things)

the boys were having fun trying to do this

a few of my cute nieces and nephews (pepe took these shots)

#369 - egg photos

Just some of my favorite egg photos I took on Easter.

I loved Michelle's idea of dying letters onto the Easter eggs, so I did the first initial of each of my nieces and nephews, plus Baby O's for our hunt.

I used painters tape (we've been remodeling) and cut out each letter (my cousin's way is much faster.) The tape wasn't super strong, so it left a cracked/tie dyed look on the eggs...I sort of liked it.

Most of the kids found their eggs, but Baby O seemed to have a lot of eggs with "O's" on them. Turns out that when other people dyed their eggs and left them to dry, they created a circular pool of the color...making an "O".

Pepe hid this egg up in a tree (wait, of course you know it is a tree.)

Just sharing the above picture of me taking photos of the eggs...this is probably the closest you'll get to seeing me 8 months pregnant :)

#363 - 4 ingredient Peanut Butter Cookies (easy)

I've never been a huge fan of peanut butter cookies, not sure why. But, I tried these flourless peanut butter cookies since there were only 4 ingredients (ok, 5 ingredients if you count the 2 types of sugars).

We really liked them and they are so easy to make.

Flourless Peanut Butter Cookies (yield 24 cookies)

The Gourmet Cookbook via Joy the Baker (I made some small modifications to the directions, see below)

1 cup all-natural chunky or smooth peanut butter

1 cup sugar (1/2 cup brown sugar and 1/2 cup granulated sugar)

1 egg

1 teaspoon baking soda

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a baking sheet (I don't think I did this). Combine sugars, egg and peanut butter (it will seem runny at first) until well combined, about 2-3 minutes. Add baking soda and mix for another minute.

Roll into walnut sized balls and create a criss-cross pattern with a fork. (Baby O loved doing this!)

I added jelly to some of them, but I liked them best without the jelly.

Bake for 6-8 minutes (Joy cooks them for 10 minutes, but I like my cookies on the gooey/soft side), until lightly browned.

Enjoy! Note - they do break apart easily, but since I undercooked them a little, they mostly stayed together.

#358 - Week of Quotes - 2 Things You Can Give Your Kids

After a long winter, Baby O was so fascinated by the sun streaming in our windows...he thought he could grab it.

"There are only 2 lasting things you can give your children. One is roots, and the other is wings."

-Hodding Carter

Also, I like what Mother Huddle has to say about raising kids:

"Raise them with respect, discipline with a gentle hand, and a few specific words “they are a gift, treat them that way.”"

more of my favorite quotes

More good parenting quotes

#353 - First Day of Spring

It's the first day of spring....finally!

My Plans?

~clean the house (when is this not on my list?)~

~push Baby O on a swing at the park~

~head over to Rita's for a free Italian Ice. Too bad they don't give out custard for free...that's good stuff~

~maybe help Pepe tear down the wallpaper in our bedroom~

~make crepe batter for Sunday breakfast (it has to sit overnight)~

What are you doing to celebrate?

*photo of Baby O taken last summer.

#352 - Stuff from around the web

1...cute hat perfect for St. Patty's week
2...loving this retro poster of DC
3...these little people are fun to look at
4...great advice for loving a kid (via)
5...twister game for a table cloth...might use this idea for Baby O's birthday
6...really need to get my hands on these animal cookie cutters...ikea trip in the near future?

Also, wish I had time to do this.