Pic of the week

Hmmm....maybe it is time to lower the mattress????

Birthday Dish

I love fall. October is the best month of the year, in my opinion. It unofficially kicks off the holiday season for me. I get to decorate with pumpkins and gourds. The weather changes from hot and humid to cool and crisp. The colors change from green to yellow, red and orange. October not only welcomes Indian Summer and football, it also kicks off with my hubby's birthday.

Our little family spent the weekend celebrating Gabe's birthday. Gabe's mom, Bonnie, came down and we had a bona fide FEAST on Friday for the Birthday Boy. I made Beef Burgundy and Broccoli Casserole (thanks Paula Deen!) and yellow cake with dark chocolate frosting (thanks Martha!). This was my first attempt at baking a cake from scratch. I have to say, while my decorating skills leave something to be desired, it came out pretty darn good!

Of course, no birthday party is complete without candles and a little Happy Birthday sing song. And while I won't give away his age, I will say that there wasn't enough room to fit all the candles on the cake. :-)

Saturday, Gabe and I stole away for a quick movie - Julie & Julia. GREAT movie. Sunday, Gabe's mom made her famous Chicken n' Dumplings. Gabe's brother Michael and his family came by and we spent the afternoon watching the Chiefs dig themselves into a deeper hole.

Sunday afternoon, the house was quiet again and we were left wishing we had one more day to celebrate life. Alas, we can't play forever.

For now, I leave you with a little Mia treat - trying on Grandma's glasses...

Pic of the Week

And so it begins...

Gotta love that

Pizza! Pizza!

Yesterday was one of those days you wish you had every day. Productive.

It started out with Mia's 6 month check-up which went really well. She is now 17lbs and 27 inches. A tall girl! The biggest surprise was when the Dr. said her bottom two front teeth were getting ready to pop out. Could be any time now. No wonder she is drooling like a bull dog! She also got her first flu shot which didn't make for a fun night.

Anyway, later in the day I tried my hand at my first homemade pizza with organic, whole wheat pizza dough. I was nervous about it, but it came out awesome!!!! We topped it with zucchini, red onions, green bell peppers and fresh mozzarella. yummmm!!!

Then I went to the gym for a Zumba class which was a BLAST!! Then I came home, watched The Biggest Loser and did a little homework.

While I was revelling in my productiveness, my poor husband was dealing with a very crabby child who was feeling the effects of her flu shot.

Today, Mia is still crabby and running a temperature. Guess it was too much to hope for 2 days in a row?

Super Hero

So last night, I was finishing up homework while Gabe was giving Mia her bath. Gabe appears in the office door with a bundle of wet baby and exasperated look on his face.

"Well, that was a nightmare", he said.

"What happened?" I replied.

Turns out a black wasp had somehow gotten in the house and as Gabe was preparing to wash her hair, this black wasp was gingerly walking up her arm and on to the top of her head.

In a panic, Gabe frantically tries to come up with a plan. Does he take her out of the room and risk giving her a chill, or worse, sending her into a full blown fit? He can't kill the wasp and keep a safe eye on her in the tub. What to do?

By now, the wasp has flown from her head to the light fixture. He takes a towel and swats it.

It falls into her bath water.

I can't remember the exact details of the next few minutes, but it something to do with her bath toy, the bathroom sink, cutting its head off with the bath toy and watching it wash down the sink, stinging away. All while Mia was happily and cluelessly playing in the water.

All I could say was Thank GOD it was him and not me.

Daddy is a super hero.

Meanwhile...

I spend all day with Mia. We have fun, we play, we frolic, we sing and dance. We sleep. Then Daddy comes home. She smiles and give him a baby hug. And the fun stops there.

Mia seems to be going through a "I only want mommy" phase. She freaks out when I hand her off, or when I walk out of the room, or when I walk into the room. She really knows how to work it too. Before we caught on to her sneaky ways, I thought she was sick, or gassy or something was seriously wrong with the horrible "I am gonna die" wails. Worried, I take her from him and she stops crying and is happy again.

So, Daddy's evening is spent enduring a very angry cries of a little girl while mommy disappears and tries to drown out those terrible wails.

Daddy is a super hero.