Michael's Big Baptism Weekend!

On Sunday, February 28th, Michael was baptized.



It was a nice service and we are so happy for him!

We had lots of family here for the weekend and hope everyone had a nice time. Here is a rundown of what we had:
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Saturday night dinner:

• Bruschetta (from Costco)
  
• Lasagna rolls
• Ceasar Salad
• Bread
• Strawberry Cheesecake (from Costco)
• Wine (Frontera cab/merlot from Costco)

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Sunday Brunch

• Individual Quiches
• Turkey Sausage
• Breakfast potatoes
• Fruit salad
  
• Pumpkin and Banana bread (Margie brought)
• Cake (from Costco)
• Coffee/Juice

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I thought everything went pretty smoothly food-wise. It is always hard to plan and prepare meals while I have to also feed Michael. I left to go feed him while our Saturday night dinner was in the oven and it got a little done, but it was nothing a little extra red sauce and parm. cheese couldn't fix! We had lots of wine on Saturday night (a great day at Costco!) and I think that really helped everyone relax a bit. If you can't cook, at least make sure everyone has plenty to drink, right? :o)

Sunday morning went pretty smoothly as well. It was a rush trying to get people out the door by 7:15 for church, but we made it with plenty of time to spare. Margie brought some breads so people could have some coffee and a bite to eat before the service.

The most challenging part was trying to keep all the food warm while we are church, but still have it be ready by the time we got home. I made up the potatoes in the oven in the morning and then put them in the crockpot to stay warm during church. I also had pre-cooked sausage that I put in a crockpot. The quiches I made the night before and microwaved/kept warm in the oven. I had some pots of coffee ready to go before church and they stayed warm in my press pots.

I guess looking back, I didn't need to be in such a rush to get everything ready to go since people seemed to be relaxing after church. It is so hard to know!

As you can see from above, I did lots of my shopping at Costco. They have great items for entertaining. I ordered a cake....so good and only $16.99!! However, it was way too much cake and I ended up tossing lots of it because otherwise I would just keep eating it. :o(

I didn't have a chance to take a photo of Michael in his special baptism outfit, but I snapped a few while he was busy talking to Grandma! Michael had so much fun, he barely napped all day!

Another special day in the books!

So good, I have to share!

This morning I hosted a little mom get together. It was sooo fun. I have been feeling really down in the dumps lately and I just decided to do something about it. A really nice gal stopped in to Scott's office for an insurance quote a couple weeks ago and he thought we would really get a long well so I invited her over along with one of my neighbors. He was right-it was really fun! She lives just up the road from us. It was nice to get together for some mom and baby time and discuss all of the pressing topics in our lives such as baby sleeping, eating, breastfeeding, grocery shopping, husbands, etc!

At any rate, I made this awesome coffee cake and I have to share the recipe with you. Have you ever had coffee cake from Starbucks? This takes just like it. So, so so good.

It is a Barefoot Contessa recipe, and you can find it at foodnetwork.com.

I actually made this recipe two times, the first time I forgot to include one of the major ingredients. I ended up with a brick of a cake...wow, it was terrible. So I was relieved when it turned out fantastic the second time!

I also made some coffee, but it was not as good as I hoped. I think I have lost my coffee making skills ever since I got my new coffee maker. :o(

Now I am off to the store to get everything ready for Michael's big baptism weekend! Stay tuned for the recap!

We are sitting!

Michael has started tri-poding (is that really a word?) and it is so cool!

He can sit like this for a few minutes, but he is not really sure what to be doing once he is up-hence the funny look on his face. He is thinking, "what do I do now?"

Hopefully soon he will be able to sit up without his arms, and then he can really start to play with things!

My little baby is growing up so fast. :o)

Wordy Wednesday

....as opposed to wordless Wednesdays.

I have been feeling pretty blah lately. I think this long winter has finally hit me and I am ready for it to be over with. The inconsistency of snow days and missing school has been hard on me and my students. Adding illness to the mix and missing more days hasn't been great either. It is hard when you are only at school for two days- if you miss one, you've missed half your work week. It is the biggest pain about being part time. Hopefully things will get back on track soon.

This is what my drive normally looks like...I think there has been one day where I've driven to school on clear roads since January. I'm tired of it!! It wasn't snowing, but the wind was blowing all the snow on top of the road and it was freezing with the below zero wind chill. Yay. Hopefully that is cleared up today before I go to work, but I'm not counting it!

(whatever happened to my positive thinking? geeze.)

Scampy knows how I am feeling: he can't even nap in his favorite chair anymore-it's been taken up by other stuff!

Michael has been having a rough go of things lately, which is probably the number one reason for my crankiness. He had a bad day at daycare yesterday and a hard time going to sleep last night. Things had been getting better with the bedtime routine, so maybe this is just a one night relapse.

He has been screaming when he wakes up, not just fussing. It almost makes me think there is something wrong-he also just wants to nurse and nurse. And he seems like he is hungry too, so I really don't know. Don't you think his cheeks look kind of red? I took his temperature, but it was fine. Ideas??

I moved Michael's jump up to the basement so we can both exercise at the same time. It is pretty nice because he will bounce around for a good half hour or so. He thinks watching me do my videos is pretty fun (or funny?).

I have to go to school today for an inservice and I am not very excited about it. My colleague asked me to come early to work on a project with her for a few hours beforehand. She asked me yesterday before I even realized we had an inservice, so that kind of put me in a bind. So...Scott is staying home today to keep Michael but I still need to get on the horn and find someone to do back up daycare for us. I am torn because I hate to send Michael to someone new when being in other people's care is not exactly his forte. I need to check the calendar and see how many days we really have left for professional development-so many have gotten mixed up with all our snow makeup days. Maybe if there aren't too many left, we can swing it without having to take him somewhere else.

Alrighty, I think that is enough from me today! Stay warm out there!

Michael's Funny Face

Michael started making this funny face where he will roll his lips in. He looks like a little old man!
Enjoy!

You.

Have you seen these new Starbucks coffee cups? It's like, "who...me?" when you are drinking out of them!

Michael got some new toys from a seller on craigslist. We got three lights and sounds toys for about $30, which is what only one usually retails for. I seriously had no idea how expensive toys were!!! I am all for the cheapest option possible...speaking of which, have you heard about the netflix-type program for toys?

It is called BabyPlays and you sign up for about $35 a month and can get toys through the mail. You send them back when you are done with them and they send you more from you list. Pretty cool, huh? They have some neat things-even montessori toys!! I might have to consider something like that in the future...even though $35 a month is a little much for my toy budget, it is probably a good investment in my sanity fund. :o)

Did I mention I got an autostitch app for my iphone? Here is a photo I took while waiting for Scott at the dentist...pretty cool! (click to enlarge)

Weekend Wrap- Up

Go Cyclones!

We had a great weekend and Michael went to his first Women's Cyclone bball game. It was awesome...we had great seats thanks to our friends Ryan and Anne and the women beat a higher ranked team than them (Baylor...did not look that great, in my opinion)! Michael had a great time and was very busy watching everything that went on in Hilton Coliseum. Afterwards we went out for burgers at West Towne Pub...yum!

Scott and I celebrated Valentine's Day on Friday with an early movie (Avatar in 3D) and dinner. Our neighbors watched Michael...I hoped it went well! It was a nice treat to get out for an afternoon!

It is another snowy week here...will winter ever end? We have another snow day today, I think this is #12 for my district! I don't think we will know what to do when the sun finally decides to shine and we see green grass again. I had a dream last night about gardening...weird. I have a feeling it is going to be a summer full of pulling all the weeds I was lazy about last summer! Maybe I can teach Michael how to pull weeds....

At any rate, we are looking forward to getting back on our good schedule this week and hopefully I will actually make it to school a day or two! I hope everyone is staying warm out there!