Carter's Cooking Class

Chef Carter is getting ready to cook!

Whisking away......

Tasting our masterpiece...YUM!

Measuring out some oil

Uhhhh....taking a break. This whole cooking job is hard work!!!

This summer I decided to sign Carter up for a cooking class at the Kid's Table. Since he loves to pretend cook or cook real food with daddy, I thought this would be the perfect type of class to try out with him. On Monday we made nachos and much to my surprise Carter ate several pieces of onion!!! Today, we made oatmeal muffins and Carter loved the dry pieces of oatmeal he sampled. He kept asking the teacher Ms. Angela for more! The class was very hands on and all the children got to use real life cooking utensils. Carter loved "whisking" his egg and all the muffin batter. He also enjoyed grating his cheese and mincing his garlic. We both definitely learned a lot from the class. Even me! I had no clue that all buttermilk was made up of was whole milk and lemon juice! Anyways, we of course got to sample our goods and take some leftovers home. It is definitely a class we will try out again!

Thank You Aunt Knee-Knee for my "Crabby" outfit

What a handsome little devil...or shall I say "crab" all dressed up and ready to go for a walk with mommy. Gavin and I just love when we get a chance to take a long stroll together. Today I dressed him in an adorable little Ralph Lauren outfit that Aunt Kendra "Knee-Knee" bought for him.

Say "Cheese"

The "backseat" driver cheesing it up for the camera with his cool green shades on!

Gavin's 1st hat

Baby Gavin doesn't like the sun in his beautiful eyes, so mommy got him a new hat. It finally "sort of" fits! Too cute!

Blue Eyes & A Blue Tongue

Leave it to Carter to get a hold of a blue sucker!

Gavin John's Baptismal

Our little angel all ready for his special day!


Me and my little angel!

Our beautiful church were Gavin was baptized.

Before the ceremony a very sleepy Gavin hangs out with brother Carter and cousins Callie and Mallory

The Godparents with Gavin

Proud daddy holding baby G.

Baby Gavin was baptized on Sunday, July 19th at Saint Mary's of the Angel's Church. Fr. Hilary performed the beautiful ceremony. Fr. Hilary is also the priest that baptized Carter and married Darrell and I. He holds a very special place in my heart. Uncle Micah and Aunt Maureen are Gavin's godparents. After the ceremony we hosted a nice Italian dinner at Lucia's restaurant for all our family to help us celebrate Gavin's welcoming to the catholic religion. Gavin did a great job! He never cried once, even when Fr. Hilary was pouring the water on his head!

A Great Quote.....

"As our world changes it is important for us to remember that the world is round and the place, which might seem like the end, may also be the beginning. "

Big Sister/Little Sister & Big Brother/Little Brother

I just love this picture of me, Carter, Gavin and Kendra.!~

I am 2 months old today

Gavin stats:

11 lbs. 5 oz

23 1/8th inches long

Healthy and happy little baby!!!

The Brothers

As I was taking these pictures I was cracking up laughing because Carter just kept making the silliest faces. Of course baby G just kind of "posed" the same every time. Both boys look so cute in their matching brother t-shirts!!!

Cupcake Face

Someone just lovessssssssssss chocolate!

Cool Carter

A total MIRACLE

July 11th.... a date in which I will not forget. Other than being Ildiko's 30-something b-day........it is the first day that Carter actually sat in his stroller and took a long RIDE! This may come as a total shocker to some of you, but my child REFUSES to ride in a stroller. Hasn't wanted to since he was able to walk on his own. So basically for the past year it has been a battle. We decided to not spend a bunch of money on an expensive BOB double stroller because we knew we would not get our money's worth. So we opted for this Joovy double stroller that has a sit or stand option for the bigger child. We went to the West Town Festival yesterday and went prepared with a sucker (yes, we bribe our child!) in hand and the commitment to be "firm" with him and not allow him to get his way and WALK. So thankfully it worked!!

BYOB

Bring Your Own Bottle....says Gavin! Love the shirt and the little guy wearing it! lol!

Carter & Paige

Our family went out for a "kid" friendly dinner last night with our good friends Jon & Megan Spychalski and their daughter (Carter's girlfriend) Paige. All 3 of the kids were SO well behaved that mom's and dad's were all able to enjoy appetizers, dinner and a few beers. We had dinner at ROCK'S restaurant/bar and sat outside on their patio. Beautiful weather and great company. We plan to make this a monthly event. Just because we all have kids now, should not mean we all can't go out every now and then and have fun!

Sleepy Baby G

So this is a "mommy totally bragging post!" I have to tell all that my sweet little 7 week old is a GREAT SLEEPER!! Boy did I score lucky in this department. For the past week, Gavin goes to bed at 10:30-10:45pm and sleeps till 5am. He then quickly gulps down a bottle, falls back asleep and sleeps in till anywhere between 7:30-8:30am. He is still sleeping a lot during the day too, which makes it easier on me when running Carter around to various activities. Gavin's typical "wake time" is from 6:30-10:30pm. What a great pattern thus far!

Daddy & Baby Gavin

What a cute picture! Typically after Carter goes to bed, daddy then gets to spend some quality time with Gavin. Now that we have the two boys, it can be a challenge at times to make sure we each feel like we snuggled, kissed/hugged or got to play with each boy "equally." Big brother usually plays pretty hard with daddy when he gets home from work. There are lots of piggy back rides to be had and wrestling around. So I think Darrell enjoys the fact that Gavin just likes to "chill." He is the best little baby to lay around with!

Stamping

Well, I have to say kuddos to all the Melissa & Doug toys! Carter seems to love all of them that he has. As much as he loves their puzzles, he loves their wooden stamps! My friend Colleen had purchased a set on Amazon for her son Luke and recommended them. Carter really enjoyed playing with Luke's stamp at a playdate, so I purchased 2 sets. One is a set of animal stamps and the other is transporation stamps. He will sit at the table and "stamp" for a 1/2 hour. Again, a great indoor, calm activity for us all to do. He gets super excited when he does a stamp just "perfect!" The ink pads are totally great because the ink washes right off. Another mommy favorite!

Gavin: 7 weeks old

Today our "little brother" is a whole 7 weeks old!!! Time is flying by and he is getting SO big. He is truly a joy to be around. A very calm and happy baby!

Mommy's Boys

I just love this picture. It is my desktop saver now. I sure do have 2 cutie pies!

ABC Puzzle: Carters FAVORITE thing to do these days

These days Carter has really enjoyed putting together his ABC Animal Train floor puzzle that he got for his birthday this year. He will spend a whole hour working on it. He can complete the puzzle all by himself and does a really good job at it. It is the best puzzle ever for three reasons. 1. It makes him sit for a long period of time and really "focus" and is great for his small motor skills. 2. He is learning letter recognition, animal recognition and reciting the alphabet now. 3. He gets super excited when he makes pieces of the puzzle fit together and feels really "proud" of himself. He definitely gets a sense of accomplishment when he completes the puzzle and little brother Gavin and I cheer him on! It is a "calm" activity that I can do (or shall I say "juggle") with both boys. Come to think of it.....puzzles maybe mommy's favorite thing to do these days too!

4th of July

Happy 4th of July says Uncle Sam.... I mean Mr. Carter!!! Thanks for the hat Tricia. I loved it!

Carter still sporting the festive hat and a sucker from Rose. Thanks Rose you always remember to bring me the best suckers ever!

Baby Gavin's first 4th of July! Too cute!

Mommy and Carty getting ready to watch the fireworks.

Me, baby G and Tricia. Thanks Tricia for remembering the camera!

This year we decided to let Carter stay up and actually see the fireworks! We celebrated the holiday at Riverview where Aunt Kendra currently works. We reserved a table out on the patio with a prime view of the fireworks. We took baby Gavin along too and both boys sported matching little Old Navy flag t-shirts. Our friends Tricia, Dan and Chase sat with us and both sets of grandparents were there too. Saying Carter liked the fireworks would definitely be an understatement. Carter absolutely LOVED the fireworks!!!! He was so excited to see all the beautiful colors flash before him. He was jumping up and down and screaming "fireworks, more fireworks!" He also danced the night away. They had a DJ and a little dance floor were Carty enjoyed dancing with both of his Noonie's. Complete strangers kept walking up to Darrell and I and commenting on how funny Carter was and how great of a dancer he is. The kid just loves music! I keep telling Darrell we definitely have a musician on our hands. He has the love and hopefully the talent for it too! Baby Gavin also stayed up to watched the fireworks and was very content just being held and cuddled!