Magic Moments

1. When you are pregnant spaghetti sauce counts as a veggie and ice cream counts as your dairy and calcium for the day. 2. When you are pregnant giving your kid graham crackers before lunch counts as his fiber for the day. 3. I am very thankful for the sun dried tomato basil tortilla chips my mom left at our house and for the 2 liter of Sprite that my mother-in-love left. They are what I have consumed today. 4. My first three points are about food. Sad. I don't even like food right now but it seems to be all consuming. 5. Aiden never stops talking. Never. 6. Having Tom home to entertain Aiden and vacuum the house is like a little bit of heaven. Seriously. I'm so thankful for him today. 7. I have an ultrasound in 2 weeks that I think will help me feel a bit better. Seeing the baby always makes things seem more real and maybe it will make me have a better attitude about being pregnant and feeling miserable. The midwife tried to find the heartbeat this week and couldn't s...

I realize that I have not posted pictures of my darling Aiden hunting for Easter eggs with his cousins. Sadder still is that I never posted a blog for my sweet baby's 3rd birthday! I'm not feeling much like blogging lately....and if you haven't heard it's because I'm PREGNANT! Yes, really and truly. Aiden's pregnancy wasn't what I would call easy so I must be a glutton for punishment as I wouldn't describe this time around as pleasant. I keep reminding myself that in the end it's worth it. :) So there you have it...the reason for my absence. I'm hoping for regular blog posts once I'm able to get off the couch or at least clean my kitchen. Don't look forward to belly pictures or tons of pregnancy details. I'm really just trying to focus on the finished product, survive this first trimester, and not go completely insane trying to manage all day sickness, extreme fatigue, and a very active 3 year old. Disclaimer: I'm aware o...

I'm risking embarrassment and posting a picture of my messy bathroom. Yesterday morning I cleaned (scrubbed) this bathroom. Last night, this is what it looked like. There will come a day when our bathroom will stay clean and I'll probably wish there was a little person to mess it up. So, I'm trying to embrace this mess. In the meantime, I think Aiden could use a little lesson in follow through. :) Today my conversation with Aiden sounded like this: Aiden: "Mama, are you happy that I'm getting to be a big boy?" Mama: "No, Aiden. I'm sad. I want you to be my little boy forever." Aiden: "No! Mama, don't be sad!" Mama: "I am sad. When you are big then you won't want me to hold you as much. I want you to stay little forever." Aiden: "Mama, I'm not your little boy! I'm a big boy! I want you to be happy. When I'm big I can play more and more." Mama: "Ok. I'll try to be happy. Will yo...

We had pizza night tonight! Aiden was telling this to Grandmommy tonight and Grandmommy told Aiden that Daddy needed to get us some ice cream for dessert. Daddy came through! Thanks, Grandmommy! What a yummy idea! Feel free to offer suggestions anytime. :)

Aiden and I cleaned the porch today, washed up the day bed, and brought out all his outside toys. It was such a beautiful day and Aiden spent most of it playing out on the deck and we also took his trike out for a spin. Check out his wheels! He still can't quite reach the pedals. Daddy will have to fix that. Watch out world! I've got wheels! Every boy needs a stick. Quiet time on the porch. He feel asleep in the sunshine today.

With gas threatening to reach $4 a gallon and beyond, My Favorite Things has turned into something like Simple (read: free) Pleasures. Nothing fancy, nothing special, but nonetheless these are some of my all time favorites. 1. Clean Sheets. I LOVE them. I love the softness, the freshness, the way the corners are tucked in perfectly. I love them so much I wash our sheets a couple times a week. Paired with clean jammies all the way around, you'll have the best nights sleep ever...well at least until you wash the sheets again 3 days later. :) 2. Evenings. My most favorite time of the day. I hold evenings sacred. I hate evening commitments. After the supper dishes are done I don't do anything but sit on the couch and hang out with Tom and Aiden. Maybe that's stretching the truth just a tad...a mother's work is never done. I have to make Tom's lunch and usually throw laundry in the dryer that I didn't get to earlier. But still. I savor the hour or 2 that To...

These beauties were waiting when Aiden got up from "quiet time." They were so good he was speechless. But not for long....seeing the inside brought out more smiles. They were good enough to eat. Aiden said the blue part was the best. ;)

Here we go! We made 1 pan of good, ole' fashioned vanilla cupcakes. Our second batch was a bit more creative and a lot more fun. Plain Jane cupcakes...very yummy though! First pick your colors and stir Then stir a bit more...make sure you stir and taste each color. We made 3 colors. I was a tad short on colors since Aiden and Daddy used up my food coloring supply in the bathtub. 3 colors is plenty for a 2 year old anyway. Trust me. Layer up the colors in cupcake liners. Tip: I made one bat ch with liners and one without. There was no difference in the finished product and my pan was lots easier to clean when I used cupcake paper. :) Yum...who doesn't love a little Yellow #5 and Red #3? I never said these were healthy cupcakes, people! They looked pretty when the colors melted together in the oven. More is on the way....

I've been meaning to practice making cupcakes for Aiden's Birthday Party that is coming SOON! I ordered these thinking that they would be the perfect for cupcakes. So, it was time to find the perfect recipe. Box cupcakes seem to always be flat, full of air, and not very big, so I started thinking. I remember having cupcakes at the sweetest little Bakery in NYC, Magnolia's, and lo and behold Nealy had their cupcake recipe posted on her blog. I figured that was a good place to start. And, the verdict isn't out yet, but I don't think we'll be disappointed. My friend Mandi made Rainbow cupcakes with her boys this week and I thought Aiden would love doing that. Thus, we'd have a fun activity and tried a cupcake recipe too. It was win-win. The added bonus is my house smells pretty yummy. We got out the old Kitchen Aide... and of course I needed my trusty sidekick. We tried not to spill too much. We made sure to add the good stuff. It was time for the t...

I love it when Aiden "reads" to me! I love it even more that Aiden believes he is reading. It's such an important early step in literacy. Tiger Trouble is Aiden's FAVORITE book. I think he likes it so much because it's about a little boy who has a pet/best friend that is a Tiger. Aiden loves Tigers and I know he wishes he had his own pet Tiger. Maybe he'll be a zoo keeper someday. Untitled from Jenny on Vimeo .

Last night we took Aiden to his first play. We weren't sure how he would do, but as it turns out he sat on the edge of his seat the whole time! He was just mesmorized by the singing, dancing, costumes, etc. He asked so many questions because he wanted to know exactly what was going on. There were people at the play who told us that Aiden's comments made their whole night. I hope he didn't steal the show. :) Our local children's theater did a great job! Thanks for the wonderful night! Aiden just couldn't wait for it to start. He enjoyed the whole thing! He talked ALL day about wanting to touch Belle and ask her if she liked his hair (Daddy spiked it). When the time came he was just too shy. :) I think he may have a crush on her.