Brazil Book

It has been over two years since we went to Brazil. For Christmas (2010), I finally got around to documenting this trip and gave my Mom a book complete with all of the writing that I did while we were there, and countless photos. I custom designed the book in Photoshop and then put it all together in Blurb. I was thrilled with the final product. Here are some pics of the actual book and some of my completed spreads (you can click on the images to see them bigger).

30(ish) weeks & Demo

My littlest brother told me on the phone last week "I haven't seen you in so long, I bet you look really different". Yep, looking different, that's a good way to say it. I took a timer photo for him and posted it on my Facebook, but thought I should post it here too. Ya know- for the record. I will be 30 weeks on Monday, only 10 more to go.


In other news, demo on various part of the house begins this weekend in preparation for NEW plumbing that will be going in NEXT weekend! Jon will be tearing up the master bathroom first, and then parts of the basement ceiling. He's ready to tackle it because this house won't tear itself apart- or will it??

Valentines Day

Valentines Day was celebrated in our traditional fashion. After Cecilia went to bed, Jon and I enjoyed a delicious dinner prepared by yours truly. I made lamb chops with a red wine sauce, topped with blue cheese. Artichoke, mashed potatoes, and an amazingly delicious salad of arugula with walnuts, blue cheese, and a champagne dressing. I also made a homemade cheesecake for dessert :)

After dinner we sat at the table for a while discussing various things. We also took the quiz in the 5 Love Languages book. I finished reading this last summer, and Jon had read most of it. It was neat to finalize what we had learned in the book and to see how each of us communicate love the best. (By the way, I would recommend this book to any couple, at any age, at any point in your relationship). It was low key evening, but so nice to be with my valentine :)

Happy Birthday Pops!

Two weekends ago we headed up the hill to Grandma and Pops' house for Pops' birthday. It was a perfect little getaway filled with cooking, baking, sledding, and celebrating. As always, it was a nice, relaxing, wonderful, and beautiful.

Cecilia helped Grandma make all sorts of goodies: valentines cookies, bread, cinnamon rolls, and the feast for the birthday dinner.


Cecilia got to go sledding for the first time. Overall, it was a hit! Grandma pulled her in the sled, down one hill, and then up the other, and back again. She was darn cute in her snow suit.



We had a delicious birthday dinner with some of my parents neighbors, and Cecilia joined right in with the toasting.


We call my dad a "mushroom" because he is a "fun guy", get it :) So, mom found him the perfect shirt for his birthday.

Mac-N-Cheese

This pregnancy has not been nearly as intense with cravings, but I have had a regular-at-least-once-a-week-have-to-have-it craving: Macaroni and Cheese. The out of the box kind was not going to cut it either, and a baked version, well, that just takes way to long when you have to have it NOW. So, I found this stove top recipe from Alton Brown on the Food Network. Its amazing. I love it. It is almost as good as going to Noodles & Co for their delicious bowl of cheese and noodles, but WAY cheaper. I've modified AB's recipe slightly to fit a lunch portion, with leftovers:

• 1/2 pound elbow macaroni (or whatever pasta you have)
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 1 egg
• 5 ounces evaporated milk (they come in this cute size at King Soopers)
  
• 1/2 teaspoon hot sauce (I use shi ratza)
• 3/4 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
  
• 1 teaspoon salt
• black pepper
• 3/4 teaspoon yellow mustard or dry
• 6 ounces cheddar, shredded
• 1 Toddler (optional)
  

In a large pot of boiling, salted water cook the pasta to al dente and drain. Return to the pot and melt in the butter. Toss to coat.

Whisk together the eggs, milk, hot sauce, Worcestershire sauce, salt, pepper, and mustard. Stir into the pasta and add the cheese. Over low heat continue to stir for 3 minutes or until creamy.

DELICIOUS!!! A staple lunch for sure!

Super Bowl/ Super Busy

So, I'm a little behind. It's been busy around here. Superbowl weekend was especially busy. Cecilia was in the mood for some football! Too bad she didn't have a Steelers outfit, but none the less, she was cute. Jon took her over to her closet and she picked out her only football related outfit. I think it just might fit in the fall.Saturday was the Chocolate Affair in Olde Town Arvada. They had a chocolate chip cookie contest, so I thought I would give it a try. Cecilia helped me bake up a batch of cookies that morning.
My parents came down the mountain in the late morning. Mom and I headed off to Olde Town to drop of my cookies for judging and to see about all the chocolate. We sampled lots of delicious chocolate in various stores. We stopped into Scrumptious and Mom reverted to an 8 year old little girl again. They have lots of candy that you don't see everywhere, and when she spotted the Carmel Cremes, she was transported back to her PA neighborhood. She was so cute! She grabbed them off the stand with both hands, let out a gasp and a huge smile came on her face as she held them to her chest. I had to do a double take and make sure it was my Mom still. She had almost the same reaction when she found the Bottlecaps and Pop Rocks.My cookies didn't place at the contest. There were 26 entries. It was fun to participate, and there is always next year.
Saturday night we had the pleasure of celebrating the 25th wedding anniversary with good friends of the family, Juliette and Kevin. Mom, Dad, Jon, and I had a delightful time!

Sunday morning I helped out at the Hitched in the Highlands 2 race. I did this last year too. It is a race for a $20,000+ wedding that takes place in the Highlands area. My friends at Happy Cakes put it all together, and I was honored to have Fries the Moment Design contribute to it again this year.

Then it was finally time for the Super Bowl. We headed to Ma & Pa's house to root on the Steelers. Sadly, they gave the game away :( It was still fun to be with family and to watch Cecilia play with her cousins. She is especially fond of her cousin Andrew, only 3 years her senior. I think they will be good buddies as they get older.

Happy Valentine's Day!!

18 Months

Cecilia was officially 1.5 years old at the end of January. We had her 18 month check up on the 31st. She is and always will be my baby, no matter how many toddler milestones she reaches. She is growing so fast, in all facets of development: physically, verbally, emotionally, behaviorally, etc. She was right on track with her "words" and her toddler tantrums and her need for Mommy. Here are her growth stats:

Weight: 22lbs, 3 oz.....25th Percentile
Length: 31.5 inches.... 50th Percentile

I am cherishing my time with her. I love to snuggle with her in the late afternoon and catch a Word World. I love to watch her learn to do new things- like put her coat on by herself, or try to climb out of her crib. Music to my ears is listening to her sing me a song, or direct the dog or cat around the house. She has a new found love of olives and pickles. Every time she catches a glimpse of the olive jar in the fridge, she lets me know it, and then gets so so so excited when I get one of those little green morsels out of the jar.

She sure can be a handful sometimes, and I wonder what I'm in for when Sweet Potato arrives. I know Cecilia will be a terrific big sister. Her nurturing instincts are there. She carries her baby doll around with her all the time, and pushes her in her little stroller. She mimics how I love her with her dolly by how she holds her and pats her on the back, and gives her kisses. It is so sweet to watch.

I can't believe that it has been one and a half years of parenthood already. Then again, I look at her, and she looks so big, and I can't believe that it has only been one and a half years of parenthood. We love you Cecilia, C-Bear, La-Bug, C, Monkey Moudle, Baby One, Baby Girl, Toddler (seriously, where do we come up with some of these nicknames???).