sunday...

oreos & carrots

is it just me or does ivy look 7? 

sweet boy

lunch at the park. 

{the menu}

kevin: spinach salad with chicken, strawberries & toasted almonds

me: minestrone soup and pita chips

ivy: turkey, pretzel goldfish, grapes, pita chips, an apple, 2 oreos, milk and water

eli: 2 carrots and 1 stick

mmmm! 

happy monday.  

8 month photo shoot

kevin: out of town (have i mentioned k is out of town? we miss him. yea for tonight!)
ivy: enthralled in mickey mouse clubhouse
me & e: photo-shooting with an actual camera. no more less iPhone pics!

i am not sure of his height and weight (we'll get his next stats at 9 months) 

but i do know that he is back to his uninterrupted 11-12 hours at night.
(plus 2 naps)

can i get a hallelujah! 

firsts this month:

going to target 

(i am pretty sure today was his first trip there. 

insane. 

ivy had been exactly a million times by now.)

last week was my first time being in the car by myself with ivy and eli.

super insane!

(we are usually just in the car on sundays, and kevin with us.)

first time trying sweet potato puree. 

not havin it.

none of it.

the guy only wants a BOTTLE.

at all times.

ivy said sweetly to eli today: "how's your bottle, buddy? good?"

hahahaha. 

first time pulling himself up to a standing position. 

(holding something of course)

first easter!

first time eating puffs.

loves em.

(the one exception to his bottle)

first time flipping out of his bouncer. 

this never happened to ives, but he's done it 3 or 4 times...

poor thing.

first time in the park swing!!! 

it is soooo cute.

he holds on with both hands. 

oh it's so cute.

he's our little buddy and we love him so! 

espresso brownies

another recipe from giada...i am on a kick! made these this afternoon partly because kevin is out of town (he can't tolerate anything coffee), but mostly for a friend who just had a baby. thought these seemed fitting for a sleep-deprived new mama, no? anyway, they're kinda fancy (but they're from a box) and if you like coffee, i think you'd like 'em!


giada's espresso brownies 
1/3 cup plus 2 T water
1/3 cup vegetable oil
2 large eggs
2 T + 2 t espresso powder (instant espresso)
1 box brownie mix (such as duncan hines)
3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1 t vanilla
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 T butter, room temp

preheat oven to 350 and grease 9x9.
whisk together 1/3 cup of the water, the oil, eggs and 2 T of the espresso powder in large bowl. add the brownie mix and stir until well blended. stir in the chocolate chips. pour into pan and bake 30-35 minutes. let brownies cool completely in pan.

when they've cooled, dissolve the remaining 2 t of espresso powder in the remaining 2 T of water in a medium bowl. whisk in vanilla, then add powdered sugar and butter and whisk until smooth. with the brownies still in the pan, pour the glaze over the brownies and refrigerate until set (about 2 hours). cut into bite-size pieces, arrange them on a platter and serve.

enjoy :)

happy easter!

"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ!

According to His great mercy, 

He has caused us to be born again to a living hope

 through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 

to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading..."

1 Peter 1:3

raspberry-almond tart

for some reason, ivy thinks baking follows nap time. 

like every day.

she always walks straight to the kitchen and pulls up a stool. 

usually i'm happy to oblige.... 

not sure this is good for anyone though!

well today i found this recipe during her nap

and miraculously had all the ingredients. 

it turned out to be really kid-friendly too. 

she brushed the egg on the pastry, 

poked holes with a fork, 

poured the cream and sugar into the mixer, 

spread the almonds on a baking sheet, 

and plopped the raspberries on the final product. 

she was very proud, and

it turned out to be the prettiest little tart! 

i love it.

she strategically only ate the whipped cream,

but i don't blame her. 

this was my first time making it homemade, and it was soo good.

i'm kinda inspired to only make this kind of dessert all spring. 

fruit + whipped cream. 

so pretty and so delicious! 

giada's raspberry-almond tart

1 sheet of puff pastry, thawed

flour, for dusting

1 egg

3/4 cup heavy cream

1/4 cup powdered sugar

2 T amaretto liqueur (i used 1 tsp almond extract)

1/4 cup toasted sliced almonds, coarsely crumbled

2 (6 ounce) baskets of fresh raspberries

unsweetened cocoa powder, for dusting (i skipped this)

preheat oven to 400.

roll out the pastry sheet on a lightly floured cutting board to a 10 inch square.

cut off about an inch-wide strip off each side, set aside.

brush the edges of the square with the egg.

place the 4 pastry strips on top of the edges of the square, overlapping on the corners, and forming a raised border.

brush these borders with egg too.

poke the inside square a LOT all over with a fork.

bake until golden, about 20 minutes. 

let cool.

beat the cream, sugar and almond extract on med-high until firm peaks form. 

fold in the nuts. 

spoon the cream mixture onto the cooled pastry crust. 

arrange the berries over the cream.

dust with cocoa powder or powdered sugar if you like!

also- this would work well with basically any kind of fruit. 

i think a banana one sounds good... 

enjoy! 

funny girl, part 2

a two year old's mind is a funny thing, 

and again, the creativity never ceases to amaze.

 i wish i would jot down more of this stuff, but here's a few of the latest. 

actually, i think this all happened today and yesterday.  

(note - this is mainly to help jog my memory later, so i'm aware it may not make a lot of sense!) 

ivy's "tortillas"

helping in the kitchen 

ivy's latest cooking endeavor is making "tortillas" by rolling up our placemats and putting them in our empty fireplace. it's sometimes a struggle for her to let me borrow them for dinner time, and afterwards, you can bet they are right back in her "oven"!  

also, this morning she took her 5 dvds out of their cases, put them in her play kitchen oven and said she was "making tookies (cookies)".  maybe because they are round like cookies? i don't know. she is always coming up with new material.

earlier today, she rolled up the comforter on our bed until it dropped perfectly on the floor at the end of the bed. she came and got me and eli and asked us really sweetly, "would you like to come see my whale? it is big, two eyes and a big mouth. would you like to ride him?"  interesting.

ivy has been making a huge pile in our den of every pillow in our house, and jumping off the couch and rolling around in them. (so?)  anyway, her and i were sitting in the pile the other day and she blurted out "these pillows are PLANETS!" i don't know what she was saying, but she meant it!

at any given moment during the day, if you have your feet on the floor (say you are sitting on the couch or on a chair like a normal person) ivy might point at your feet and shout "mom! shark!" and then you have to pull your feet up. and she keeps going on about her business. pretty funny.

yesterday, in her time-out chair, she said through tears, "i want grandma at my house!" haha aw :(

one thing that ivy can't quite wrap her mind around is why i have to wash our clothes.
when she walks with me down to do the laundry, we usually have a convo like this.
ivy: "did eli spit up on it?"
me: "no, eli didn't spit up on it."
ivy: "did eli p-u on it?"
me: "nope"
ivy, confused: "did ivy p-u on it?"
me: "no"
ivy: "daddy p-u on it??"
and so on....
i try to explain that we just have to wash the clothes every once in a while to keep them clean.
she's not buying it.

but she's keeping us entertained! :)