Chocolate is my fav-o-rite!

I know it is the New Year, and I should be watching my waistline. But, the weather is still frigid (23 degrees now), and ice blankets the yard. Warm brownies go great with a cold glass of milk, and they make the house smell better than a freshly blown out Yankee Candle. So, little Katie G and Daddy worked hard in the kitchen tonight making Brownies with Caramel. Mmmm...

From retrieving the box from the pantry, to stirring, to finally licking the bowl, Katie kept declaring, "Chocolate is my fav-o-rite!"

Me too, Honey. Me too.

A sprinkle of Pixie Dust please...

For those of you who know our daughter, you know she has been obsessed with the Disney Princesses since she could walk! Thankfully (sense the sarcasm), Disney offered Tinkerbell the spotlight this Fall, and now she is obsessed with Princesses and Tinkerbell, walking around the house in her crown and wings (picture forthcoming). Well, the little Tinker Princess hasn't been doing so well with her breakfast lately, so I had to come up with an idea to peak her interest and EAT! Therefore, this photo is a picture of Kate eating "Tinkerbell Toast with a sprinkle of Pixie Dust". To you and me, it is buttered toast with cinnamon and sugar. She was so excited at the thought of eating pixie dust, she asked me for two pieces today and ate them both! Pop Pop would be so proud! These childhood moments are wonderful. I love her imagination.

Now, if I could only come up with an idea to keep her in her bed at night...

Ten months and five teeth...

As our little man approaches ten months, it is official. His fifth tooth has just broken through on the bottom, and I will officially now loose count of any new ones from this point forward. As you can tell from the photo, he is a proud little fella. They sure grow up fast!

One step, two step, three step, NO!....

I have to say we are lucky. Our oldest encourages and loves on her brother so wonderfully. In fact, some days it is as if she thinks we had him for her. Having said that, her claps of joy and shouts of, "Good job, Conor!" are fairly frequent around here. So, today, I thought nothing of it. She is shrieking, "Go, Conor, go!" (probably because of the endless Diego cartoons that play 24/7). She was laughing, clapping and jumping up and down. I was at the sink washing dishes, and broke a smile at the thought of how close they are. Then, came the ever so familiar, "Look at Conor, Mommy" that usually follows. What I wasn't expecting was what came next..."He is climbing up the stairs!" This is when my heart skipped a beat, and dish bubbles came flying out of the sink. It is amazing how fast you can move when you are in a state of panic!

Thankfully, she is a talker and I caught him on the first few steps. The camera was in reach, so I had to catch a picture of his attempt at mischief. Look at that face! It's as if he was saying, "Look at me, Mom!" Too cute and sooo bad!

The picture below is a bonus for our beloved Uncle B-Rad. Courtesy of B-Rad Fashions...

"Did Darlene come?"

I am not sure if it was the fact that all her toys were picked up off the floor, or that the house was simply clean, but when my daughter walked in the door from daycare today and asked, "Did Darlene come?" I had to wonder what she was really suggesting. Was it that obvious that something was different? Did the house look that bad when she left this morning? I know she is not quite three, but kids speak the truth. Despite how unpleasant the comment, she is usually right. A little background...Darlene comes every other week to help clean the house because, one, that is about as long as it can go without being a complete disaster. Two, my husband and I both work full time and have two kids under the age of three. Three, well, I deserve it! It's my one luxury in life. Yep, no manis and pedis for me. Just send over a nice lady who is quick with a broom and has skill with a vacuum, and I am a happy camper. I did always like Mary Poppins...

Anyhow, I guess I was reminded this afternoon that kids speak the truth, and mine was saying, "Gee, Mom, the house looks great! So clean! I know you didn't do it. Did Darlene come?"

If you're happy and you know it...

SAY CHEESE!

Yes, it snows at the beach

From our weekend trip to the beach to see GrandMom and Pop, we learned two things...
1. It does snow at the beach. In fact, if it is cold enough (and it was), the canal freezes.

2. Little Katie G thinks going to the beach means wearing your swimsuit. We pick and choose our battles in this house, and as you can see...this time she won. Judging by the smile on her face, she knows it!

Mirror, Mirror on the wall, I have become my Mother after all...

As a young girl, I can remember my Mother telling me, "Apples don't fall far from the tree". I remember rolling my eyes in annoyance at her little proverb thinking I would never be like her. Well, I hate to admit it, but like all Mothers, she was right. My own little apple proved me wrong today.

Before we went to bed this evening, our youngest, Katie, stretched out her arm to point at the pile of clothes laying on the bathroom floor, and sternly stated, "Pick up your clothes, Daddy!" As her Dad turned to me in half laughter and half shock at the two foot tall mini-me barking the order, I couldn't help but shrug my shoulders and shake my head. "Apples don't fall far from the tree", I said. Hearing the words come out of my mouth, all I could think of was my Mother, her silly little proverb, and how much truth there was in it. Could I have become my Mother after all? It's a funny thing about apples...

The healing, magical power of band aids...

Hello there. For those of you who have been checking for updates, I apologize for being away for a few days. Unfortunately, our household got on the stomach virus train over the weekend, and are still going strong. In fact, as I write this, I have one toddler lying on my lap, and the other resting upstairs. Those little bugs sure know how to come in and sweep us off our feet. Since Sunday, I have washed six loads of laundry, wiped down the bedrooms twice, served eight or so cans of soup, and have gone through at least a can of Lysol disinfectant spray. I parade through the house with my rubber gloves, mask, and Lysol can like a scene out of Ghostbusters. "I ain't afraid of no bug!" Funny thing though. Despite all the vomit and tears (vomit on a Princess dress is the end to a 2.5 year old's day), I learned something very worthy this week. A simple band aid has a healing, magical power. Whether they be Nemo, Princess, or other character, they can make the tears stop, and my little angel feel better instantly. Thank you Band Aid brand!

"Aunt Patty is Naked!"

If you are a child of the seventies or early eighties, you can appreciate the humor in this picture. Remember those classic air brushed shirts you could find at any beach store from coast to coast? The oversized ones that had a picture of the toned and tanned air brushed bods with big boobs? Well, this is a picture of my sister-in-law, Pat, wearing one as she is pulling something out of the fridge. According to our oldest (who is 2.5), this kind of shirt is not humorous at all. In fact, when seeing it, her mouth dropped and she yelled, "Aunt Patty is naked!" Sorry, Pat. Not sure it was the shirt or the thought of you being naked that appalled her the most. Her response was as classic as the beach shirt itself!

Hello, my name is Jill...I am an addict...

Yes, it's true. I am a blogger. It took a dear friend of mine (you know who you are) a couple of years to convince me that a blog was just the thing I needed to keep her and family everywhere updated on our crazy happenings. Starting this, I can not believe how easy it is to get sucked in. One post, now two...a gadget here or there. Before you know it, I am in full swing and can't get enough. The good news to all of this is after endulging in my new addiction for hours, I don't have the tab associated with previous addictions...Shopping! I bet you thought I was refering to something else. ;) Yes, my name is Jill, and I am a blogger.

3-2-1...Happy New Year!

While many were dressed to the nines, pouring back Martinis, or standing in the zero degree weather that was New York that night, others of us were well...let's just say...exhausted! It is funny how looking back a decade, New Year's Eve was the perfect excuse to wear stilettos, sequence (me not Joe), and score at midnight. Me and the girls would look forward to the event all week, and wonder where we wanted to spend the New Year. Vegas? New York? Austin? Now, I have traded my stilettos for house slippers, sequence for a sweater, and the most I scored was attempting to beat Lisa and her six year old, Ava, at Wii Hula Hoop. This is a testimate to what marriage, thirty years, and two kids will change. Despite the change though, our New Year was just as enjoyable as the days of yester year and a little bit easier to recover from. We spent the evening with the Lisicki Family in Philadelphia, and yes played Wii all night long until Dick Clark rang in the New Year. 3-2-1...Happy New Year!