My sister is engaged!!

I am so excited! My sister R is engaged! Her boyfriend B - now fiance - asked me about a month ago if I would be in on the surprise proposal and photograph it. I was of course, quite happy to go along with it. He surprised her on Friday, after she arrived at his place. Normally she heads straight there after finishing with her kiddos (she's a fantastic PT) and gets ready for their evening out. He drew her a map and left it on the door after writing her a sweet note, and she had to follow the map. It was FREEZING, and while B, his brother (who was filming) and I were dressed appropriately (and still cold!!) , R just came over in her fleece jacket. Crazy girl. :) She obvious said yes, although I think afterward she told him her response had been "of course!"  Here are some of the (100+, haha) photos I captured...

Waiting

making sure he has the ring (it's GORGEOUS!)

Her map told her to come down the other size of the street,
and I was looking for her in her wool coat, haha. :)

Seeing B...

Happy girl. (I started getting teary-eyed right about here. I'm a sap!)

He was looking mighty nervous up until about this point :)

Will you?

Yes!!!!! (or "of course"!!!!)

Get that ring on my finger!! 

Oooooh.... :-D 

So happy :)

Congratulations R & B! Love you both so much!

Now let's start planning that wedding! ;)

Veteran's Day

Happy Veteran's Day to my hubby...

Commissioned by his Papa, who also served in the Navy

remembering my Grandpap who also served in the Navy...

I asked him to dance at my Aunt's wedding. :) He told me he was still recovering weeks later, haha.

and thinking all of the men and women who are and have faithfully served our country.

Thank you!!

Halloween recap

For the second year in a row, C was a bumblebee. He liked it, I liked it (it was a hand-me-down so I love the free part even more) so we had a winner. He wore it all day - we went to visit my Grandma in the morning so she could see the kids in their costumes - and took his nap in it and wanted to wear it to bed.

I wasn't planning to take C trick-or-treating - DH was out of town, and my sister R and her almost-fiance B were here to help with the kids and pass out treats. So, C was dressed in his costume and eating dinner and snacks, and at one point during the evening said with much excitement after one group of kids came by that he wanted to go trick-or-treating! He needed his shoes!" Find shoes! Put shoes on! Go trick-or-treating!" My sis said they would be fine if I wanted to take him to a few houses, so off we went!

We went across the street to the sweet older couple (one of the neighbors thinks they are in their 90s - I think maybe mid-late 80s) who had set up some folding chairs in their garage with a big box of treats between them. It was raining outside, and we still got a pretty good turnout. Maybe 30ish kids or more? I forgot to count. (We usually had in the single digits in VA, and some years none at all.) Anyway, back to trick-or-treating. We headed out, and C happily went across the street with his pumpkin in hand. He was so excited; it was very cute! I hadn't officially met the neighbors yet, but they were happy to see us and the woman said she and her husband had planned to stop over when there was a lull to introduce themselves. We chatted for a few minutes and C received 2 bags of chips. After we turned around to leave, C saw some other kids headed to our front door. He headed straight back home yelling "I trick-or-treated!!! I trick-or-treated!!!!" He didn't seem at all interested in going anywhere else, so we just stayed at the house where he ate his 2 bags of chips, and a short while later went to bed.

Happy as a clam with his chips!

Meanwhile, G hung out in her flower costume and smiled, and eventually just hung out in her bumbo. She is such a good baby!

And as I'm typing this, C wanted to come sit with me so he's on my lap, and after seeing the
photos, told me that when R and B came over, he ate hummus. Yup, that was one of the snacks. Oh, the things he remembers! :)

Hope you all had a nice Halloween! Can you believe it's November??

Conversations (3)

Apparently I am terrible at leaving drafts unpublished. I found this one from way back in the fall - hence the Jack-o-Lantern song!... it still makes me smile. :)

C during breakfast:
"I go for a walk.
I find a stick.
I play the cello."

Lately he's been pausing after he finds said stick to sit somewhere while I sing the Jack-o-Lantern song and he plays the air cello.

Yes, definitely the son of a musician! :)

Me to C while feeding G -
Me: C, will you go get G's blue chair for me downstairs?
(DH and I read in one of our books that kids need to take a moment to process things before they can respond, so I waited patiently until I saw his face light up that he understood.
C turned around to head downstairs then he turned back and said "Pleeeeease?" (as a reminder to me to say please!)
Me: Yes, sorry, please!!


C: Bong, bong, bong, bong
Me: Are you a clock?
C: Bong, bong, bong, bong.... good grief!! (And then I think he said something about "o'clock".)
I couldn't figure out for the life of me where he got that... until I was reading a Charlie Brown Thanksgiving and it's in part of the book. Oh, the things they focus on!


C: (looking at one of those black and white picture book for babies) Baby Hedgehog!
Me: What did you say?
C: Baby hedgehog!!
Me: thinking for a minute... oh my goodness! The velcro fastener! He has a touch-and-feel baby animal book and the last page is a baby hedgehog... you guessed it, it feels like a piece of velcro!

October Fun - 2.5 and 6 months!

It's so hard to believe, but our sweet girl is 6 months as of Saturday! She is such an amazing baby - she's calm and rarely fussy except when she's hungry and we're not moving fast enough to get the bottle, and if she's tired or has a messy diaper. Other than that, she's very low-key.

6 months old!

He keeps poking at her cheeks to "help her smile"

C often asks to hold G. It's so sweet. And he never wants to let her go!

Sometimes she grabs his ear, which makes him laugh.

We had fun this past weekend at the pumpkin patch - C loves pumpkins lately and points them out anytime he sees one. :) Here are some shots of our afternoon:

picture of all of us looking at the camera? nope.

he cracks me up :)

He wanted nothing to do with riding in the wagon until we pulled it all the way back down to the car.
At the car he wanted to get in. DH let him ride in it back to the drop-off. Toddlers. :)

Thank goodness for continuous shooting mode so I have a chance of getting at least a few good shots! :) I also purchased a few mini pumpkins and gourds for decorations. C decided that one of the pumpkins needed to take a nap with him. Into the bed it went! Again, toddlers. :)

Stats for G at 6 months:
Still a little peanut but I'm loving her chubby cheeks and chubby thighs! :) Weight - around 14 pounds I think? We'll see in 2 weeks. Still loving her homemade formula but going to try sweet potatoes this week to see how she does! She eats between 6 and 7 oz, 4 times a day. Twice in the morning, once after her afternoon nap, and right before bed. Sleeps - FANTASTIC. I cannot imagine a better baby. She takes a quick 20-30 minute nap mid-morning, another nap in the afternoon for 2 1/2-3 hours and goes down for the night between 7-7:30. And she sleeps ALL night. 12-13 hours usually. She's been doing since almost 3 months old. I wish I was a little more disciplined to go to bed earlier to take advantage of it, haha. :) She's gotten much better at tolerating tummy time, and has been rolling over to her back for a while now, and is so close to rolling from back to tummy. I thought she might have once, but then I wasn't sure if C "helped"! She loves to lay on her back on her play mat. She's been sitting in the high chair next to us at dinner which she seems to like more than the bouncer. Maybe she wanted to be at our level? Like her brother, she's been super healthy, but also like her brother, she is going to need a helmet. She started developing a flat spot around 2 months, and despite repositioning, she has a pretty substantial flat spot. We had it evaluated last week and hopefully will get her star band later this week or early next. Of all the things to be upset about, this is definitely not one of them. I'm going to miss the close snuggles, but cannot complain after seeing what so many parents go through with their children. Also of note, we also had our home study meeting this morning - we had to update our home study since we moved, and we are praying that our attorney will be able to file for finalization in early November. In PA we have to appear in court for finalization (we didn't have to appear in VA), and we are then praying for a court date before the end of the year! This morning's meeting went really well! We have been so fortunate with our agency.

Stats for C at 2 1/2 years:
Height - 3 feet. Weight - pretty steady around 33/34 pounds. Potty training- we tried a few weeks ago, but he was definitely not ready for underwear. He was happy to sit on the potty, get up and wash his hands, then sit back down, but nothing in the potty yet. Since we were using a kids seat on the big potty, I bought kids potty to see if he likes it better. When we brought it home he wanted his underwear, but it was right before nap time so that was out. Our weekend schedule is pretty light in a few weeks so we may try again then when DH & I can both be home all day. Things he likes - hockey (playing with Daddy), soccer (he and Daddy often play after work while I'm getting dinner ready), and taking walks outside. He loves picking up rocks and sticks, and the sticks are still often his "cello bow". He still is content to sit and listen to music - or me play the piano - and "play cello." He found my claves and drumsticks last week and those have entered into the "cello bow" rotation. :) He eats and eats and eats - he has so much energy and loves to dance around. His vocabulary and comprehension is soaring - it's amazing the things he remembers- just the other day he asked me if I remembered something about the old house (in VA). More than anything he loves seeing his aunties and Grandma and Granddad, and Nana and playing with some of my youngest cousins (one is 5 years older than him!). He has his toddler moments - the lightning changes in mood can drive me crazy :) - but overall is just a very happy kid and it is so fun to see him grow and change. He also loves going to Mass - tells me he's taking my keys and car to "go to church". He can say the Our Father without prompting, and most of the Hail Mary and Glory Be. He can never go down for a nap or bed without saying his prayers, and he loves the Guardian Angel prayer too. He finds Crosses everywhere. He saw one as part of the stairwell in a church we visited recently and went over to kiss it. Oh, he melts my heart!!

Happy 6 months and 2 1/2 years to our sweet kiddos! Time is moving so quickly!!

Photos of C and G :)

Aren't you glad it's Friday? This year DH's company changed some of their vacation policies so this year he gets the national holidays off. It was nice to have a short week! :) This weekend we're going to try to get out (as long as it doesn't rain) to pick pumpkins. Other than that, we don't have plans. I'm looking forward to getting a few things hung around the house - a mirror in the dining room and some other art/photos.

And now for a few photos of C & G! I realized I haven't been as good at taking photos of G as I did of C (poor second child) so I've been making an effort to take more. Keeping my camera in an accessible place helped. :) They change so quickly and I don't want to miss anything!

a sweet little girl found her sweet little toes!

tummy time

G, let me help you smile

Stop it, C! (not happy about the help)

See, I can smile when I want to!

Happy Friday - hope you all have a great weekend! :)

HWFD: Chicken Tortellini soup & Apple Cake

It's been a while since I posted any recipes, as but as we head into fall around here I'm thinking more about yummy soups and stews and apple desserts!

Last night for dinner I made an old favorite - one I hadn't made since we went gluten free 4 years ago! It's from the Cooking Light Super Fast Suppers cookbook.

source and recipe here

I purchased these GF cheese tortellini which became available at a local store only recently. The company will ship all over, with their pasta packaged in dry ice. They're expensive, but for the occasional splurge, I felt they were worth it! I served the soup with toasted "pita" bread. I used an Udi's frozen pizza crust, rubbed a bit of olive oil on it, and sprinkled a little of Penzey's Brady Street Cheese Sprinkle on top. Yum!!

For dessert last weekend I made this apple cake recipe. And then, since it was gone 3 days later, I made another one. :) It's super easy and so moist and delicious! :) 

source and recipe here

I did not follow this recipe exactly - I was out of cinnamon the first time I made it, so I used 1.5 tsp of pumpkin pie spice mix to replace the cinnamon and cardamom. It was perfect. I also didn't glaze it or do the swirl exactly as directed; I ran out of time before naptime was over! After I smoothed out the batter in the pie pan, I lightly drizzled honey over the top and shook a little more of the pumpkin pie spice over it. It was sweet enough without the glaze, although it sure looks pretty in the photo! :)

Enjoy!