18 months

G babe turned 18 months old this month! I feel like things are getting easier around here. He's running all over the house, but he squeals and laughs everywhere he goes. If you've seen him lately, you've probably had a good conversation with him. He has his own little language, however, we are finally starting to hear some real words lately too! He says a handful of "real" words, can count to five (thanks to Bunny), and he sings too! Check out the video at the very bottom of him and Mary singing Twinkle Twinkle. What a sweet little duet!


The registrar at Mary's school told me a few weeks ago that they had a spot available if I wanted to send Garrett. I had debated keeping him home full time all year, but I "cried UNCLE" this week. It is so much easier to get things done with a stretch of time during the day. He happily started on Tuesday and he will go one day per week! He ran right in the room screaming "BALL BALL BALL!" and never looked back...such a third child.

Sheww....long day mom! This picture wasn't actually taken on his "first day" (I actually missed his picture that day), but I do love that he walks around with his favorite "blankie" on his head.


Back up! That's Allie at 18 months. I can't help but think these two look so much alike, but I haven't found anyone to agree with me to a great extent. Garrett's "18 month tantrum meter" is much better than Allie's was. He is very easy going and gets over things quickly. He literally laughs all day so he's very fun to be around and will probably get away with murder....or he already does for that matter.


Now look at her! She's getting so big on me. This morning was her Thanksgiving fest at school. She wanted to be an Indian, and is happy to show off for the camera.

She had her school picture made this week as well. I snapped one outside before school.

If you've made it this far, don't forget this snippett of Garrett and Mary singing!

Remembering my friend

...a wife to John,

a mom to Kyle and Benjamin,

a friend to many,

a child of the King.

Eight years ago, hubs and I moved to upstate NY to complete his job training. I had never lived more than a couple of hours away from my parents and being newly married, this was a stretch to move more than 20 hours away from "home". Wow what an adventure it would be! We loved loved loved the people we met and became dear friends with many. They were our "family" away from home.

I graduated from pharmacy school only 2 weeks prior to our move. As any new graduate, I was very nervous about starting a new job in a new place. New York's requirements for pharmacists are a little unusual. I was "boarded" in my home state after passing the national pharmacy exam and our state exam, but NY was unique in that it required a "practical" exam to receive a license there. Apparently if you weren't "native" to NY, it was a very difficult exam. I studied and studied, and I showed up to take my exam for the FIRST time. As I was standing in line, of course I didn't know a soul, a familiar face walked toward me. She said, "you look very familiar to me, but I don't know where I know you from." I agreed that she looked familiar, but I thought it was nothing more than that. She asked me where I graduated from, and I told her. Crazy ENOUGH she finished pharmacy school at the same school 20 hours away but was in the class ahead of me. She was from NY and had just moved back to settle there with her husband who was from my home state. She was immediate comfort to me....just to have someone else to stand in line with was a RELIEF! I hadn't met anyone yet, but to find a friend from a common background was so exciting. We chatted and she informed me that this was her second go around on the exam. She gave me some pointers, her phone number, and wished me luck!!!

I found out a few weeks later that I had failed the exam and that I wouldn't be able to take it again until December. Kelly found out she had failed for the second time. She was so discouraged. (The average out of state graduate passed this exam on the third try usually) We had to drive 5 hours to take the next exam, so the two of us drove across NY state in December through a snow storm. We shivered in a hotel room together, nervous as new puppies about this dumb test. She helped me over that 6 month period to get ready for this test because she knew by then what the state board was looking for to pass. I made a very nervous and dumb mistake (it was not a written test; we had to make capsules and creams in front of an examiner), and yes I failed again. Kelly finally passed though. She was ELATED!!!! She kept encouraging me and helping me, and in the summer (a year after we'd moved there), I took the exam for the third time and passed.

Through our failure and success we became friends. I became pregnant with Allie and 4 months later she announced she was pregnant with her first son Kyle. He was born on mother's day of that year:) We had very different work schedules but were able to get the kids together fairly often. Her husband stayed at home with Kyle while Kelly worked full time, so when we would get together, John was always around. He is a GREAT dad. He knew all the moms in the neighborhood and loved his job as a stay at home dad.

We moved south after having lived there for 4 years. Right before we moved, I found out I was pregnant with our second and before we moved, I received a phone call from Kelly that she was also pregnant again. Her second son Benjamin was born the summer after Mary was born, and ironically he was born on father's day. Both her boys have cotton top hair with big blue eyes.

I was able to visit Rochester 2 years ago, and I spent a day in Kelly's back yard while the kids played. Her kids were 1 and 3 by then as were mine. It was nice to catch up. At the time she was fine. Only a short time later, she would be diagnosed with breast cancer. I did not receive a Christmas card from her that year, so in January I called to check in and she gave me the news that she was already almost through with chemotherapy. Of course I was shocked. How many 30 year olds have breast cancer?? We remained in contact and she responded to the treatment and was doing well. This past summer, however, the cancer returned. I was saddened to learn last week that she was doing very poorly. I received a text this morning with the news that she had died.

It is hard to wrap my mind around. She was a sweet friend whom I haven't seen regularly for years, and the last time I saw her she was a happy working mom. It's hard to picture her any other way. I'm not sure why I'm sharing all this except that I want to remember her. She was my friend and a friend to so many. She loved her family and her boys; she was a very hard worker. She worked all night shifts and would flip back and fourth to play with the boys during the day, and she never complained. I ask you to pray for her husband John and their 2 little boys who are now 6 and 3. She is with Jesus, but they need your prayers. I can't imagine what they are going through.

I read this scripture off of Katie's blog today. It is my prayer for this family tonight.

I pray that you...may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ...

Ephesians 3:17-18

Too Two tired princesses

What a week?! We took the girls to Disney World this past week.....the happiest place on earth:)....where kids are throwing fits in their stollers and parents are yelling "SIT DOWN AND BE QUIET!!!" at every turn. Ha! The kids had a blast, but it's one of those situations where you feel like you have to work it all in, but there is no time to rest. It was "normal" by the end of the week for the girls to fall asleep right in their chairs at supper time......

...taken after plopping Allie down on the bed after supper. Lots of the little girls wore princess dresses around the parks. We took the dress up clothes we had and let them pick what they wanted to wear. By the end of the week Mary confidently stated...."I just want to be Mary today." I'm glad she just wants to be her!

This was not staged; I looked up from my book, and she was clutching her magic wand as she slept. We accidentally left "blankie" at Bunny's house, so this was the "not so soft" substitute.

I forgot to mention, we met our good friends down there to spend the week with them. We've known these guys for years, (the guys went to grad school together) and the kids got along GREAT. Thanks Rinal and Snehal for going with us! "Clark" and I had a can't wait to do it again:) he he he.

Thankfully, Garrett stayed behind!!! I missed him, but it was nice having two kids in tow that act somewhat civilized. He had a great time with Bunny and Pappy!!!! It's sad but this was the best pic I could get of the three of them. I can't get him to be still for two seconds. Now you know what kind of week they had! :)

Will have to get this recipe:)

Too busy for blogging this week I guess. I got this great video of Garrett. My friend over at the Lion's Den brought over a pumpkin cake for dessert....DELICIOUS. My little man agreed with me:)



I always blog "firsts" because I forget to write them down anywhere else. It took almost 4 years for Mary to have enough hair to french braid. She loved it and didn't whine once...unlike someone else around here:)

We ambitiously bought a bike for Mary's 3rd birthday. She's STILL too scared to ride it. So she and Garrett fight over the hot wheels.

Just liked this pic of Garrett smiling. Too bad I can't get a pic in front of him.

Good thing we gained an hour....

....because by the time you look at all these pictures, you will have needed it. Em and Adam and friends came over tonight to walk around the neighborhood with the kiddos.


My best attempt at getting all three in one frame. Garrett is impossible these days!

The girls picked out their costumes, and Garrett's too.

Ribbit

Abbott was sad b/c her hair piece was out of place. She was princess Leia while her sidekick, Jake was Darth Vader. They received quite the laugh as they strolled through the neighborhood.

The last kid that rang the doorbell was dressed just like Allie. They both started laughing. Allie said, Hey we are twins...take our pic! So there is the pic of random Dorothy!

Alone with four kids....but eating like a queen!

I've noticed the hubs is not really eating many left overs lately. Finally I just asked...."why am I throwing this away?" Now don't get me wrong; some people aren't "left over" folks, including myself, but hubs will eat pretty much anything.

He politely replied, "well...I'm really not a fan of that dish anymore." After the third time I received this response, I decided, maybe I should get out the old recipe book.

I found a fancy recipe indeed!!! I was actually looking for a chili recipe to blow the neighbors out of the water in the "cul-de-sac chili cook off" which will take place this Sunday. I don't have a chili recipe in my bag of tricks except for the chili packet from the store, with tomatoes and water to add to it! I remembered the MIL (mother-in-law) passing along a white chicken chili recipe several years ago and also that it was a great success among our Rochester friends.

Ok....so this post is not about white chicken chili. Sorry for the lack of brevity on my part. I'm typing this post on my lap top while "watching" a webinar on my desktop. I have to renew my pharmacy license this year, and unfortunately this conference is about GOUT! How "painful" is this lecture? What a better way to remedy that than to blog while listening. I'm such a rebel I know.

As I was searching for the white chicken chili recipe, I was hungry, and I ran across a FAVORITE FOOD WORD!!!! Mushroom...ahh..you love 'em or hate 'em. Hubs and I LOVE 'em. So if you don't like mushrooms, you can stop reading....NOW.

Before I give you the recipe, please understand the following. This recipe may seem "fancy". I am a VERY typical, thirty something, mom of three kids, don't make it if it's not in my pantry, don't make it if I have not heard of an ingredient, don't make it if it takes longer than an episode of Sesame Street. So stay with me, I put on my best oven mits and decided to tackle this despite its intimidating composition.

Roast Pork with Mushroom Sauce
1 (3 pound) boneless rolled pork loin roast
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1/3 cup apple cider or apple juice
2 tbsp vermouth (ver....what??)
1 cup chicken broth
1 cup whipping cream (now I didn't say it was healthy)
12 oz fresh mushrooms, sliced
2 tbsp butter or margarine

For the roast pork ...ALERT THE FOLLOWING IS AS PRINTED IN THE RECIPE BOOK and then I'll tell you what I did differently

• Preheat oven to 450 deg
• Sprinkle the roast with the thyme, salt and pepper
• place in a 9 x 13 -inch baking pan. Roast for 20 min. Reduce the oven temperature to 325 deg and roast for 1 1/4 hours longer.
• Remove from the baking pan to a serving platter, reserving the pan drippings. Let stand for 10 min before slicing.

I altered the pork part. I am not familiar with pork roasts but am very familiar with pork tenderloin. The MIL passed along an "IDIOT PROOF" pork tender recipe years ago, and it always turns out.

Follow the first two steps above. This is also key....buy a hormel original flavor pork tenderloin. They all have a standard weight of 1.7 pounds. If you use this, I promise it'll be as tender as chicken.

Now do the following with the meat after you've sprinkled it with the above directions.

• Place tenderloin in a PRE-HEATED 450 deg oven, and turn the timer on for 20 min. After 20 min, turn the oven OFF. DO NOT OPEN the oven door. Leave the meat in the oven for 50 more min. I always check the temperature when it's done, but it should safely be above 165 deg. (Emily I wrote that part for you:)

Ok that is the only thing I changed. The rest is as follows.

• Combine the reserved pan drippings with the apple cider (I used apple juice), vermouth, chicken broth and whipping cream in a medium sauce pan. What in the world is vermouth? It is a type of liquer. I put my sister on the assignment to find it b/c she is a frequent flyer in the local liquer strore. Ba ha ha...just kidding, the store was closer to her, and she's breast feeding, so I knew she wouldn't go crazy in the liquer store. Here's a picture of what it looks like. I only needed two tbsp so if you are local, come on by, and I will pour you some...as long as you WALK home with it.
  
• Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Cook for 20 min or until the mixture thickens, stirring frequently.
• Saute the mushrooms in the butter in a small skillet until tender. Add to the sauce. Cook until heated through.
  
• Serve over the sliced roast.

Now I didn't say this was the fastest dish to whip up, but on a test run, I did it with an extra kid in the house, and a hubs who was gone to work. Thank you play pen; thank you Sesame Street. I served it with brown rice and green beans.

The kids ate it up. Hubs hasn't tried it because he's still at work, but he's in for a treat. I licked my plate when no one else was watching.




Recipe taken from "Apron Strings" (a publication of The Junior League of Little Rock, Inc.)

Parade of Costumes

Today is the crazy day of the year where a couple hundred parents scramble like crazy fools a few days before Halloween to find every piece of that costume which is not quite ready yet and rush off to preschool barely before 9am to watch their precious pumpkins walk around the school all the while calling it a "parade". The parents are actually the ones to be photographed as they hover around screaming "SMILE" while the majority of kids probably would rather be on the playground! WHOOAAA where is the attitude coming from....there is truth in all sarcasm, and so I am halfway serious, but the kids do enjoy showing off their costumes to their friends....except for Mary...... :)


She does well for the before school pictures only because I bribe her with CHOCOLATE!

Cutest Strawberry Shortcake I've ever seen:)

...and HERE is what I was talking about. All this attention is complete misery for Mary...unlike big sis who always loved the parade.

She perked up when she saw Adam, Em, and Abbott....she LOVES baby Abbott.

Couldn't quite get Abbott to look.....in this one....

...but in this one that I took last week, I got quite the sweet smile!

Mary and her knight in shining armor, Campbell.

I only posted this one because Garrett actually sat down in front of the fall scenery. These days I NEVER get a picture of this dude. He's just too fast!