a million baby kisses

Meet Emelia

2012-02-15T14:02:00.000-06:00

Emelia Michaela Haag

February 9, 2012

7 lbs 5 ounces, 20.5 inches long

Its been less than a week and I'm so in love.

Delivery was very different this time around--having a scheduled C-Section is a very surreal way to "deliver" a baby--if you can even call it that!

I woke up early that morning and took a shower and spent a few minutes cuddling with Oliver in his bed. Oliver had a low grade fever (arond 101) and a yucky cough for a few days and when he woke up on day three and still had a temperature I knew we had to send him to the doctor.

I called my sister and let her know she wouldn't be taking Oliver to daycare but would need to take him to the doctor instead. The C-section was scheduled for 9:30 am, and I was able to get Oliver an 8:00 am appointment.

We left Oliver with Auntie and headed to the hospital with strict instructions to keep us posted. We went to the maternal assessment center. They took my vital signs, monitored the baby's heartbeat and then I basically sat there for two hours waiting to walk back to the OR.

Those two hours were horrible because my emotions were swinging between being excited and anxious about meeting the new baby, and being worried about Oliver. Susan called, as instructed and Oliver had pneumonia and the flu, and (obviously) would not be able to come see me and the new baby until he had been fever free for 24 hours.

My heart was breaking because Oliver's wasn't feeling good and just wanted to be with his Mama (and Papa) and instead his world was about to change in a major way! Autie was awesome, and took good care of Oliver, but of course, it is not the same as Mama and Papa.

I walked to the OR that morning swimming in feelings of guilt, excitment, sadness, stress and anxiety. Like I said, it was surreal.

The C-section itself went very smoothly. Andy got to be the one to tell me "it's a girl" and I cried, it was an emotional release I really needed.

Here are some pictures from the OR.

I love how her weight is displayed over her soulder. She showed off a healthy set of lungs, screaming angrily the entire time she was being cleaned up. The nurses and the doctors all commented on how fiesty she was.

Thats my girl!

And that is how our little family of three became a family of four.

Dear Oliver,

2012-02-08T14:34:00.000-06:00

Today is the last day you will be my only baby, Oliver.

I can't believe how much fun we've had together in the last two years. You are such a smart, silly and sweet boy! Tomorrow, you will be a big brother and I know you are going to be so good at it!

Before we talk about you being a big brother, I want to talk about some of the things you are doing now. You ask so many questions, you are curious about every new thing you see. Your vocabulary has exploded and you are talking in full sentences. You REALLY like to pretend to cook, so much so, that it is hard for Mama and Papa to cook when you are around because you drag a chair all over the kitchen and get into things you shouldn't. Sometimes I distract you by letting you read my fancy cookbooks.

You are the most active little boy I know, running, jumping, dancing. It seems you never stop moving. You love to count busses on the way home from daycare, distinguishing between school busses and city busses like an old pro. You seem to understand that some big changes are coming--but I'm not sure you know what to think.

So many of the things that I love most about you are going to make you a great big brother. You are very affectionate and loving, and your new baby brother or sister will soon be the recipient of that affection (gulp). You love singing and having us sing to you, and I think the baby will too! You are also very helpful. Like this winter, the two times it snowed, you were happy to pick up a shovel and do your share.

While you are all boy, and very rambunctious, you also have a sweet, nuturing side that melts my heart. You love babies right now and I think that you will be very protective of your little sibling and will be good at helping to take care of him or her. However, while Mama likes the game where you pretend to be a lion, and Mama pretends to be scared and crys so you comfort me with lots of hugs, and kisses and your blankie, the baby probably won't like being scared by a lion.

You've been changing your toy's diapers for a while now, and lately you've been working on your feeding technique.

I have tried, over the last few months, to make sure that we have had lots of quality time together. And with the new baby, I will be sure that we still get to spend plenty of time together, just you and me.

Lots of things are changeing, but I promise you this, my Oliver.

I love you through and through. Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow too.

And I always will.

Christmas Re-cap

2012-01-02T15:24:00.000-06:00

Today marks the end to a busy and wonderful holiday season filled with cookies and turkey, friends and family. I wanted to do a quick Christmas season re-cap.

We've got two traditions we've stuck to--the first is hosting Christmas Eve, the second is roasting a turkey and having friends over on New Years Day.

Christmas Eve at our house was fun this year, Andy's immediate family came along with my sister and her boyfriend Ryan and my dad. We decided to make home-made fettucini alfredo and it was a hit! Andy made the pasta and I made the sauce. I think we'll definately do it again next year, but next I'll plan for somthing other than cheesecake for dessert--that was a bit heavy!

After dinner came the best part--at least as far as Oliver was concerned.

Hey little man--do you know what time it is?

It's time to open presents!

Oliver had fun passing out the presents (with Auntie's help) and then ripping into his (rediculously large) pile of gifts.

(Oliver got a lot of clothes for Christmas, to which mama and papa said "yea!" and Oliver said "meh... next" you can see his discard pile here)

In this picture Oliver is saying "big train" as he opened one of many "Thomas the Tank Engine" gifts.

(Pardon the over exposure...still trying to learn my new camera).

Christmas morning he was very excited to wake up to find more presents--he dug right in.

I honestly think I had as much fun watching Oliver open his presents as he had opening them! When it comes to Chrismas I'm truly a kid at heart.

Eventually-he'd had enough. When he got to his stocking, he carried it up to me and said "I no want this."

I guess there is such thing as too much of a good thing.

Holiday Fun!

2011-12-10T12:59:00.001-06:00

Today Oliver, Auntie and I went to the annual Holiday Party that my employer puts on for families. Oliver had a lot of fun, he fell asleep at 10:45 in the morning, it is now 12:45 and he's still out!

Oliver got his face painted... this is supposed to be a ginger bread man.

Right before we went in to see Santa, there was a very merry elf blowing bubbles--I think this was Oliver's favorite part of the whole event.

(It looks like he is trying to eat the bubbles,

but really he was just squealing with delight)

His reaction to Santa was pretty much the same as last year... meh.

When Santa asked Oliver what he wanted for Chrismas,

Oliver responded "a cookie."

He had fun dancing with Auntie to the Best Buddies Band, at cookies and ice cream before lunch, and took time to take a picture with the Grinch.

By the way, I got a fancy new camera as an early Christmas present. I've been watching a digital SLR for years, and I've been having fun. The last picture is really washed out because my flash went and so did the professional photographer's that was roaming the halls capturing pictures. Oh well.

Photo Card

2011-12-07T21:35:00.001-06:00

Garland Wishes Christmas

Send Christmas cards personalized with your family photos.

View the entire collection of cards.

First Snow

2011-11-29T16:20:00.000-06:00

It was cold outside, Oliver's friend Henry came over to play. While he was here, it started to snow. They had so much fun watching the snowflakes fall!

Then they painted:

Gabrielle came too-- isn't she sweet! (She looks so much like her brother).

Oliver thought she looked sweet too, so he tried to taste her.

Sometimes I find myself hoping that baby #2 is a girl so she and Gabrielle can be buddies the way Henry and Oliver are!

First haircut!

2011-11-18T15:06:00.000-06:00

Oliver's hair was getting a little mangy...

I've been hesitant to cut his hair because I love the way it curls in the back--

but it was time.

First we wached Papa get his hair cut so Oliver could see that it was fun!

Doesn't Papa look like he's having fun!?

Oliver sat in the big chair with a booster and got to wear a

fancy "cape" with cars on it!

The cape distracted him long enough for the sytlist to comb out his hair.

My little Goldilocks!

Oliver was very brave. He spent most of his time trying to flirt with the stylist.

Ready for the big reveal? Here's Oliver's new look:

So handsome.

And silly.

He got his first sucker and loved it!

How to read a magazine (with illustrations)

2011-11-08T09:00:00.002-06:00

The key to reading a magazine is being able to effectively turn pages.

First, slightly wet the tip of your finger like so:

Now use your finger to turn the page.

**Oliver is reading my Cooking Light magazine. I had been reading it, and left it on the sofa, he took over where I left off, licking his whole hand before turning the page. So funny the things they pick up on! **

Walking a mile in Auntie's shoes

2011-11-06T13:00:00.000-06:00

She loves me...she loves me not.

2011-11-03T19:31:00.000-05:00

Did you ever play that game as a kid--where you pluck the petals off of a flower one by one saying "he loves me" or "he loves me not?"

Oliver does, or at least that is what I imagine he is doing.

One-by-one he plucks the petals off the flowers. He could do this for hours, or at least until the flowers ran out!

Treats please... thank you.

2011-11-01T19:24:00.002-05:00

Oliver was a monster for Halloween this year.

I wasn't sure whether we'd make it trick-or-treating or to the Halloween party at the park. After spending part of his day in the costume last Friday at day care he decided he'd had enough.

I had to bribe him with a cookie to get him into the costume on Sunday--the day my dad came and we all carved pumpkins.

I've taken a picture of a costumed Oliver with our carved pumpkins for the last two years and I was determined to do it again!

Oliver surprised me and was actually excited to put on his costume again on Halloween, maybe because I told him we could go play outside.

The local rec center at the park was having a Halloween party with little stations set up where kids could trick-or-treat. Oliver thought that was pretty cool, here he checks out his loot.

Then we met up with Oliver's buddy Henry to do a little trick-or-treating.

Oliver had been practicing the phrase "trick-or-treat" and did pretty well! In fact, after the first house he caught on and I had trouble keeping up with him as he marched to the next house!

Oliver got tired of trying to get out the entire phrase "trick or treat" so he shortened it to "treat please" and then said "thank you" every time!

Here is the whole crew, aren't they cute!

Then when we got home we had the classic yet not-so-cute post-sugar enduced meltdown. Here is what happend when we put the candy away I call it Oliver's "Monster meltdown":

In case you didn't catch that he is saying "Ollie trick-or-treat."

Poor kid.

Happy Dirt-day!

2011-10-27T19:43:00.001-05:00

Ever since Oliver's Birthday, this is what we are treated to any time Oliver has dirt-day cake (also known as cupcakes, a piece of cake or muffins!)

Apple picking and other fall fun.

2011-10-26T11:17:00.001-05:00

Oliver and I took a trip to an apple orchard recently on a cool and sunny day.

Oliver was immediately drawn to the pumpkins--he loves pumpkins.

Then he got busy collecting rocks. He filled up the pocket on the hoodie, and both of my coat pockets. "Look Mama, another rock!"

I just love the colors in this picture.

They had a little mini farm set up--Oliver loved sitting on the tractor (but he wasn't quite strong enough to move it).

Here he is checking out his shadow--so cute!

Then we took a hay ride behind a real tractor out to the apple orchard!

I don't have many pictures of the actual apple-picking. I was trying to tote a camera, a diaper bag, a basket for apples while trying to keep up with my toddler which is difficult enough without the gear due to my growing belly!

Here is is my favorite,

Oliver showing me the apple he picked himself ("Ollie do it!)

Doesn't he look proud!

Actually it looks like he is scoping out more apples!

Oliver leading me back to the main trail.

We picked regent apples and we've made apple pancakes, apple muffins, apple pie and apple crisp with our harvest.

We also took home some honeycrisp for eating. Yum!

Tiny Dancer

2011-10-24T10:23:00.001-05:00

You can be sure that if you play an upbeat tune, Oliver will bust a move. We were dancing in the kitchen the other day while I was making dinner, and I was teaching Oliver the classic "shake your booty" move. When I stopped to get back to cooking Oliver said "Peas Mama! More booty shaking Mama!"

He didn't understand why I thought that was so funny.

Here is Oliver showing off some of his dancing skills this summer.

Look at his hair blow in the wind!

Oliver demonstrates his own version of the robot.

Whew... dancing makes me tired.

Summer re-cap (a little late)

2011-10-21T09:50:00.034-05:00

One of Oliver's favorite things is to be outside. They daycare provider that Oliver goes to has the kids outside almost everyday, and he just loves it.

Here is a random collection of warm-weather snap shots:

Oliver helping to shuck sweet corn Grandpa Mike (a.k.a. "Grandma Pike") grew. (Love the look of pure concentration in this photo! Oliver can't get enough corn on the cob. My dad would come over toting a big blue cooler full of sweet corn and we'd have fun peeling it open. When Oliver finally got to the yellow corn he would squeal with delight! Now, when Grandma Pike comes with that blue cooler Oliver asks him if its corn!

Grandpa Mike brings us lots of good stuff from his garden. Oliver liked the ground cherries almost as much as the corn (ground cherries look like small tomatillas and are sweet).

Here he is hiding in the flowers with his bag of loot. As you can see, I still can't bring myself to cut his hair... it took him so long to grow it!

After carrying the ground cherries around the yard, he found the perfect spot to stop for a little snack. Ground cherries are a very fun snack because you get to unwrap each one individually (which means we are working on those fine motor skills that I can't get him to slow down long enough to work on!)

Perfect pout.

A cool drink of water.

While we were gone...

2011-10-18T09:04:00.001-05:00

I can't believe it has been so long... but we've been really busy here at Ollie's House. Oliver turned two at the end of September and we had a small birthday party with family and close friends. Oliver had a blast! His favorite part was when we sang "Happy Birthday" to him. He kept demanding more... we'd finish singing and he'd say "more happy dirt-day!" and we'd sing again.

And again.

Oliver requesting an encore.

And for the record, he is the only person in the world who actually wants to hear me sing more!

For kiddo-entertainment we blew up a bunch of balloons and let them run through them, they loved it! Best $6.99 I ever spent.

After all the festivities Oliver was tuckered out. So, he took a nap in his new big boy bed, which he loves! Sometimes he takes me by the hand and drags me upstairs to "Ollie's bed" and says "Mama sit Ollie's bed" and we do.

It goes without saying, because moms everywhere say it, but I just can't believe my baby is two. He changes and grows and learns more every day.

I just adore him!

Little fishy

2011-08-02T13:53:00.000-05:00

Oliver just finished his first round of swimming lessons. It was a parent and tot class that he did with Andy, for the most part, he loved it!

The lessons were at the Jim Lupient Water Park in NE. The pool there is zero depth, so the little ones can walk right in.

Oliver was always really excited to go in, he always went running right in, most days he'd run until he couldn't any more and then would fall face first right into the water. Here he is well on his way.

As part of the swimming lessons they sang songs and played games. Oliver and Papa had a lot of fun!

Oliver's specialty is floating, front and back floats.

Olvier wasn't keen on blowing bubbles,

and didn't like jumping off the edge at first, but by the end of the session he was riding down the big water slides with Papa!

Yes, we are still alive.

2011-07-28T13:13:00.000-05:00

You may have noticed that we've been out of touch for a while.

You might have also noticed the new header....

we have good news, Oliver is going to be a big brother!

As you can see, he is very excited. Every time we ask Oliver, he says the baby is a girl. I think so too!

With Oliver, I had a pretty tough time with morning sickness. But nothing compared to this time. I haven't worked since the begining of July and that is the reason for the lack of Oliver updates.

I will try to be better going forward. In the mean time, Oliver was posing for the camera--these are some of my favorites.

This is his new favorite, his monkey face.

New Development: Pretend Play

2011-06-23T20:09:00.000-05:00

These days, Oliver is engaging in pretend play more and more.

One of his favorites is pretending to cook with mama. We pull a chair up to the counter and he measures with measuring cups and spoons and mixes with wooden spoons. He is quite the litte chef.

This weekend Oliver had Andy and I cracking up as he imitated my morning "routine." We usually all leave the house at the same time. When I am ready to walk out the door, I've got my keys in one had and Oliver in the other. We all walk out the the car and I get Oliver in his car seat. I kiss Oliver and say "bye" and I kiss Andy, who is usually standing right next to me and say "bye" before walking (with keys still in hand) to my car.

So this weekend, Oliver found my car keys. Andy and I were sitting on the sofa and Oliver marched right up to me and gave me a kis. Then he gave papa a kisss. Then he said "bye" and walked to the back door. After about 15 seconds he came back into the living room to start it again.
Kiss. Kiss. Bye.

But, my favorite pretend play scenario so far is this one.

The one where he licked the plate...

2011-06-15T21:43:00.001-05:00

This weekend we had a bar-b-que at our house.

Actually, we had three. One planned, and two impromptu.
But who's counting?

Grandma Sherri came to one. She brought strawberry pie.

We gave Oliver a slice. Needless to say, he liked it!

A lot.

Naturally, he asked for more. Or as he puts it... "mo mo"...

And when we said no, he did the next best thing.

Outside boy

2011-06-09T21:22:00.000-05:00

Its been a while. Mostly because we've been really busy. Partially because we were without power for almost a week.

For some reason, it has been hard to pick back up.

We have been spending A LOT of time outside (or, as Oliver says it, aoside). He is talking more and more every day and I find this time so exciting! I feel like I say that with every new milestone and I can't believe how much fun we have.

He is also really good at keeping himself busy (and getting into trouble!).

Here are some of my favorite recent pictures.

Hey--let's go for a walk!

2011-05-23T13:54:00.001-05:00

We have a pretty sturdy backpack carrier that we use when we take Oliver for long walks. he loves it, perched up behind us he can see everything! We keep it in the corner of the dining room tucked between two bookshelves.

The ohter day I was folding laundry in the livingroom when I heard this little voice saying "mama! mama!" so I got up and wen t into the dining room.

THis is what I found:

Not exactly subtle.

don't forget my hat!

2011-05-21T13:42:00.000-05:00

Oliver really likes to wear hats.

Every time we get ready to go outside he pats his head to remind us that he needs a hat. I dug out this one last weekend. Andy and Susan say it looks silly,

but I love it!

He got the straps onder her chin all by himself.

He's so proud!

I love the way his nose wrinkles up when he smiles.

Oliver loves pointing out airplanes. Every time we are outside in the yard, we see a few. Oliver can hear them before he can see them--so he looks all around until he spots it (cloudy days drive him crazy!).

After he finds the airplane he throws his arms wide and yells "ba-plane"!

That is what he is doing here.

So far this spring, he has been so fun. He is perfectly content to hang out and explor the yard while I work in the garden. I think we are going to have a good summer together!

A day at the (Minnesota) Zoo

2011-05-03T15:37:00.000-05:00

One sunny Saturday in April, Oliver and I went to the Minnesota Zoo with Grampa, Auntie, Ryan and my friend Shannon and her son Sawyer.

Here is Auntie and Oliver, smiling for the camera, outside of a big cat exhibit.

Here are Shannon, Sawyer, and Oliver outside the same exhibit. Did you notice Oliver's cute leather jacket? It was a gift from Grandpa!

Oliver had fun dragging Grandpa all over the zoo!

We headed over to the farm babies exhibit. Oliver and Sawyer loved the goats best--but at first Oliver didn't know what to think.

Eventually both Oliver and Sawyer worked up the courage to go pet the goats. They were so tame and Sawyer was so gentle.

Oliver--well he wasn't so gentle. See how his hand is a blur as he excitedly "pets" the goat. Lucky the goat wasn't fazed at all--he must be used to excited children. After the boys got their fill petting this goat they got to see a baby goat that was just a few days old--this time we made sure Oliver was more gentle.

After the baby goats, we decided to go outside and see how the boys did feeding the goats. Oliver was so excited to see the goats up close again--but he didn't quite get the idea of feeding the goats.

He ate the goat food instead!

With a little help from his mom, Sawyer got the hang of it pretty quickly.

After the Farm Babies Exhibit we went to see the shark/fish exhibit in the aquarium house and Oliver loved it! I think he remembered the fish from our trip to the MOA to see the fish exhibit! After that Oliver was worn out and fell asleep in the stroller.

Me and my Auntie

2011-04-20T15:07:00.000-05:00

When Mama and Papa are both home, and I hear someone at the back door--it can only mean one thing... Auntie's Home!

Oliver is a very lucky boy.

He has two parents who think he is the greatest thing in the world.

Grandparents who adore him.

And an Auntie that thinks he is pretty darn neat.

{here they are cheering for the home-town team--GO TWINS}

But seriously, I feel so lucky to have my sister living in our basement. Not only do I get to enjoy her company on a regular basis, but we also have a built in babysitter when Andy and I decide at the last minute to celebrate our six [6!] year anniversary (thanks again, sis).

As an added bonus, Oliver gets to see her nearly every day. I think it is really good for him to have so many adults that he loves and trusts in his life.

What a lucky boy.

The one about sleeping

2011-04-20T14:44:00.000-05:00

Generally speaking, Oliver is a pretty good sleeper, thanks in no small part to this. Occasionally he wakes up very early in the morning and we bring him into our bed.

I absolutely adore these times. I cuddle up with him and smell his head, which smells half like my baby and half like my little boy. I feel his warm breath on my cheek and drift off to sleep.

Unfortunately, sometimes Oliver coming into our bed means that Andy leaves it in favor of the spare bedroom. Here is why:

He ::might:: get that from me.

Dancing while sitting

2011-04-14T21:31:00.003-05:00

Oliver is spending a lot more time entertaining himself these days. Sometimes I catch myself watching him and wondering how 18 months have passed so quickly. Other times I have to stifle giggles while I fumble for the camera. Here is an example of the latter:

Who wouldn't want to kiss that face?

2011-04-06T21:31:00.000-05:00

Smiling on command is Oliver's newest trick.

Last night we had very mild weather so the three of us went for a walk. As we were getting close to home again, we let Oliver out of the wagon so he could run along the sidewalk. He was having so much fun.

[points] Uh. Uh. "Yes honey, that is a rock"

[points] Uh. Uh. "Oh, do you see a bird?"

And so on. And so on.

Then we came to a yard with a chain link fence with three little kids. When they saw us coming they ran up to the fence to say hi. I think they were about 5, 4 and 2 1/2-- the youngest one was a girl.

Oliver went right up to them to say hi. He liked the little girl, she had a puffy pink coat and braids with barets it her hair.

Before I knew it, he walked right up to her and kissed her through the fence. Her emphatic response? "I love you baby!"

I about died.

Apparently we are kissing strange girls we meet on the street.

I guess there could be worse things!

What a heartbreaker.

This boy will sleep anywhere

2011-03-31T08:55:00.000-05:00

This is a very tired boy at Grandma's house.

I tried to put him down for a nap in Grandma's room with no luck.

Grandma had better luck than I did...but she was willing to read. Endlessly.

Here he is, sound asleep.

Hmmm... something is not quite right about this picture.

Let's take a look from another angle.

He fell asleep while crawling off the bed. Good grief.

Trading places

2011-03-29T09:35:00.000-05:00

Oliver had so much fun on papa's shoulders during our family date nights,

that he decided to give Andy a turn.

Family date night--part two

2011-03-27T09:51:00.003-05:00

For our second family date night of the week we went to Sea Life Minnesota Aquarium. We had so much fun looking at all the different sea creatures.

I think we blew Oliver's mind.

{Octopus. Cool.}

{In awe at the coral reef display}

{Shark}

{Shark tail}

{lots of sharks}

{shark belly}

{smiling at the fishies}

{Oliver and mama}

Thanks for the fun time, papa!

Family date night--part one

2011-03-25T19:51:00.000-05:00

Last week Andy was on spring break and as a result, Oliver got some quality Papa time. They both had a lot of fun all week and are looking forward to lots of Papa-Oliver time this summer.

We had some nice family date nights as well.

One night, we decided to head to the Mall of America for dinner and some fun. We ate at CRAVE and it was yummy. I heard mixed reviews, but everything Andy and I had was good.

We started with prosciutto wrapped scallops with wilted spinach and spiced edamame. Andy had a pasta dish and I had a flatbread pizza and we shared with Oliver. And, I had my new favorite cider, Crispin.

Then we went to Nickelodeon Universe, where we took Oliver on his first-ever rides! Oliver thought it was pretty neat.

He had his first ride on a merry-go-round.

Then we rode the ferris wheel--at first Oliver was a little nervous.

{Oh. Hello handsome husband! Don't they look alike! No wonder I'm so smitten with Oliver!}

But, eventually Oliver warmed up to it and had a lot of fun pointing out all the "balls" (any circular shape) and the rest of my pictures are blurry.

How the tables have turned

2011-03-22T21:41:00.000-05:00

My best friend, Katie, has a little girl named Abby.

She is all girl, and very sassy.

For example, she does not tolerate interruptions during story time.

See--sassy.

Last summer, when Oliver was about 7 months old, we went to visit Katie and Abby.

Oliver was smitten and insisted on kissing Abby. He would put his hands on her face and plant a very wet one on her (this was the open-mouth-wipe-slobber-on-you kind of kiss). Abby H-A-T-E-D it. And she let him know by shreaking and brushing him away. Later in the day she would shriek and say no-no! if he came near her.

Abby came over last week and --ah hem--

came to her senses and realized that Oliver is adorable and she decided to cash in her kiss rain checks.

Exhibit A:

Exhibit B:

After they were done kissing eachother, they went around

kissing other things.

Stuffed lion. kiss. kiss.

Abby's doll. kiss. kiss.

Plastic zebra. kiss. kiss.

I can't wait to show this to them when they are in high school!

Pizza. It's what's for dinner.

2011-03-20T17:03:00.000-05:00

There really isn't much that Oliver won't eat. He loved the corned beef and cabbage we had at a St. Patrick's Day party, and thought Grandpa's rubens and Irish stew were yummy. He is pretty willing to try anything.

He has his favorites. Ice cream, for one. But the boy also loves pizza. The lighting was really good in my dining room the other day so I thought I would take advantage of the natural light, and Oliver's pizza fueled silly-ness.

At first he just looked at me like "Mama, I'm eating."

But then the smell of the pizza got to him and he dug in.

Nom nom nom.

Newman's Own organic, nitrate-free uncured peperoni pizza.

Don't worry mama, I have not bitten off more than I can chew.

{Hmm... wonder if he knows he has pepperoni on his shoulder?}

What? It's good!

Who knew pizza could be so much fun.

I was just so mad...

2011-03-11T08:51:00.001-06:00

Do you know the Mercer Mayer critter series books? One of Oliver's (and mine) favorites right now is a book that is called "I was just so mad" and that about sums Oliver up in this picture:

If you look closely, you will see his cheeks are wet with tears and there is a big fat one rolling down his right cheek.

I had to wake Oliver up from a nap! I know--bad idea. Especially where Oliver is concerned...waking up is never very easy. But it was 7:00 pm, he had been asleep for 5 hours and hadn't eaten dinner. I had to do it.

But I had a plan: muffin-pan dinner. I have seen this idea a couple of places, most recently on Meg's blog. I've done this for Oliver before and it's been a big hit--especially when what Andy and I are having for dinner isn't really appropriate for Oliver at this stage (i.e. soup or salad).

Oliver cried and cried and cried when I woke him up. When I showed him that Ba-pa was home (he had been gone all day) it didn't cheer him up. Finally, I plopped him in his highchair in front of his muffin pan dinner and for an instant, the corners of his mouth turned up. He caught him self though, and continued to cry his protests through his first three grapes. Andy and I had to work hard not to laugh.

In the end, he forgave me.

Talking up a storm

2011-03-09T20:50:00.000-06:00

Oliver added three new words to his vocabulary this weekend:

bye-bye

ma-nana (which is, of course, banana)

and stinky.

When I mentioned that third word to a few friends they all had the same reaction... "that is good--he's getting ready to potty train."You see, they all thought that he was saying "stinky" to alert me to an issue in his diaper.

Unfortunatley, we call him stinky. As a nickname. So when he said stinky, he was referring to himself! Oops. We are going to have to start calling him Oliver. We've been practicing Oliver with him, but so far he's only got "Ol"--I guess it is better than nothing.

Oliver still loves wearing our stuff. Shoes, hats, mittens. Here he is wearing Andy's volleyball jersey:

Baby Poseidon

2011-03-01T20:10:00.000-06:00

After Oliver's bath Auntie made it stand up all over. I think he lookes like a baby Poseidon.

An empty wrapping paper roll makes an excellent trident.

And this is what Baby Posiden looks like with dry hair. It was completely unruly for two days!

Sometimes I can't believe how red his hair is getting!

Drool Fest 2011

2011-02-27T19:59:00.000-06:00

We were babysitting Oliver's best friend Henry recently. I think they were both teething--they both had trails of drool running from their chins all night.

Here is Oliver--he is actually working on his canine teeth.

And here is cute little Henry.

I HEART his big blue eyes and thick shiny hair!

And here is my sweet husband, reading to the boys.

Oliver is starting to show a bit of a preference for his Papa.

Some nights, he only wants Papa to put him to bed.

Yesterday, Andy was gone playing volleyball. At some point during the day Oliver and I went upstairs, and the door to Andy's Work-out Room was closed (as it often is when Andy is working out). Oliver ran right up to the door, pounded on it and yelled "ba-pa ba-pa!"

He looked so sad when I opened the door to show him there was no Papa.

Memory lane...round three

2011-02-18T09:20:00.004-06:00

Oliver has been, since the very begining, a very silly boy. Here is proof.

Occasionally, he is also a sad baby.

These pictures break my heart.

Starting at the top left; in the hospital with RSV, Croup and a double ear infection; tummy time; being frustrated with a toy; in the hospital again with a fever of 105.3; a little scared of grandpa (but they are best friends now!).

Memory lane...second edition

2011-02-16T08:51:00.003-06:00

A number of the pictures that I recently downloaded from Andy's cell phone were of Oliver on his tummy. The others, you may have seen here.

And in his car seat.

The two pictures on my left are two of my very favorites.

Let's take a walk...

2011-02-14T11:00:00.003-06:00

down memory lane, shall we?

I just downloaded a bunch of pictures from Andy's cell phone.

Brand new Oliver Thomas

Holy cow. I can.not.believe. I just put a picture of my ginormous stretch-marked stomach on the internets. glup.

Bathtime Oliver.

Look at the upper-right and lower-left-hand corners.

My bald little baby!

what happens when...

2011-02-11T19:08:00.001-06:00

you are transitioning to one nap a day and try to distract your toddler

with a trip to Target...

please ignore my messy purse. geez.

Same situtation, different day:

Not even the promise of a brand new ball could rouse him.

But we got him one anyway. It is super bouncy!

This is what happens at 7:00 pm, in the living room, with the TV blaring

when you happen to keep your toddler on his new one-nap-a-day schedule:

The only time I see my "baby" anymore (rather than my "little boy")

is when he is sleeping.

sniff::sniff

enough with the camera already

2011-02-11T19:04:00.000-06:00

16 Months Old

2011-01-31T19:02:00.001-06:00

Oliver is sixteen months old and continues to grow and change every day.

He loves emptying containers.

The basket where we keep his books? Empty.

The basket full of diaper changing supplies? Empty.

The laundry hamper? Empty. Toybox? Empty.

The container of wipes? Almost empty (I managed to stop that one.)

You get the point.

He likes to read books. He also likes to put on our stuff.

He has grown a (relatively) full head of hair.

Which is turning strawberry blond.

Did I mention he likes wearing our stuff?

Sour then. Sour now.

2011-01-24T14:30:00.000-06:00

In my family, there are two classic baby food moments that you have to get on video, lemons and pickles.

Last summer Andy's cousins came to visit and we went out to eat. Oliver leaned over and swiped the lemon right of the edge of Andy's glass! Despite his face, I think he liked it!

Oliver was about 10 months old in that picture,

I can't believe how bald he was!

A couple of weeks ago I gave him a pickle, the reaction was not nearly as funny as the lemon, he ate the whole thing!

Papa's little helper...

2011-01-13T13:36:00.000-06:00

In this picture, Andy is figuring out how to keep Oliver out of a drawer while making sure we could still get in. Since it is a crappy hand-made drawer the standard baby-proofing gadgets didn't work. Which is also why Oliver has been walking for 4 months and we still don't have this particular drawer baby-proofed. I guess we were just lucky it took him this long to figure out he could open it. But once he did....

So back to Andy, and his little helper.

Hey, Ba-pa. Whatcha doing?

I don't get it. Why do you want to make it so I can't open the drawer?

Oh. I see.

Maybe if we do this...

look who's talking

2011-01-11T21:02:00.000-06:00

There. He said it. On command!

In addition to "ma" "ma ma" and "ma ma ma" he also says "mo" which is Oliver-speak for "more." "Ball," "ump" (jump), "ba-pa," ha-ha (breath sounds, not vocalized) which is the sound of a dog panting and "eeeh" which is "meow" currently round out his list.

One year down...

2011-01-04T22:12:00.001-06:00

Lately, my thoughts keep coming back to the fact that I've been writing this blog for almost exactly a year. I'm not sure why that is.

On some level, I suppose I did not think I would keep it up this long, but I enjoy it. Blogging is a creative outlet for me. All this thinking has me resolved to keep at it.

One of my favorite things to do is to go back and read past entries. Every time I do, I remember something I had forgotten about Oliver. Like how long it took him to figure out rolling over. Or the kissy face he made when he was one month old. Or how dang little he was.

I can't imagine not having this blog. I hate to think that the small moments I've captures could have been forgotten for good.

With that, here are some cute pictures of Oliver over the holidays.

We wore festive hats!

This is Oliver in the Chrismas Elf PJs that our daycare provider got him. All the little ones were dressed in matching PJs with their names on them when Andy picked Oliver up!

This is Oliver playing in his favorite toy. It is a box. See. Fun.

You're not going to be able to get in there buddy. But good try.

Oh. Ok. You did it. Good job!

Oliver spent a lot of time talking on the phone.

We hope you had a joyous holiday season.

Best wishes for the New Year!

Santa? meh.

2010-12-21T12:03:00.002-06:00

I took Oliver to visit Santa hoping to get a good reaction. I was hoping to use Oliver's first Santa picture for our Christmas card this year. I figured either he would think Santa was hilarious or would be terrified by him.

Either way, I get a good picture. Right?

Wrong.

I got this:

I think it says "Don't touch me"

So, Santa was a no go.

Maybe the Grinch? Oliver has a stuffed grinch doll at home that he likes, maybe the Grinch will be a better photo op...

Hmmm...not exactly what I was looking for.

I was going to have to go with plan B.

I did get some cute pictures of him in front of a huge ornament display.

Frosty the Snowman

2010-12-19T16:02:00.000-06:00

One of Andy's co-workers made an adorable Frosty the Snowman outfit. I couldn't wait to put it on Oliver.

I told Oliver if he put on the magic hat he'd turn into a talking snowman.

He was a little skeptical but he humored his mama and put it on.

I love the buttons. And the scarf. And the hat!

Oliver does too, he's decided he wants to wear them all the time.

Here is the view from behind.

I think he makes a pretty darn cute Frosty!

Happy Holidays!

2010-12-11T13:02:00.001-06:00

Simply Snowflakes Christmas

Shop Shutterfly for unique, personalized Christmas photo cards.

View the entire collection of cards.

Monkey business

2010-12-08T21:22:00.000-06:00

Oliver has a toy monkey. Its hands velcro together, so they have been...uh...inseparable.

I love this picture--it illustrates Oliver's constant motion.

Oliver and Monkey, building with blocks. They play really well together!

Oliver said "mama" today-- he's been working on it for a while but today he meant it!

The boy can accessorize

2010-12-03T21:42:00.000-06:00

Oliver has been entertaining himself lately by experimenting with different accessories--and let's just say I think he is quite talented.

There is the classic headband:

Then he tried on fall colors by getting decked out in Mama's sweater:

The most interesting of his fashion choices has to have been the kernel of corn.

In. his. ear.

Welcome to toddler-hood.

What the cat dragged in

2010-11-12T19:12:00.000-06:00

Oliver has a buddy at day care, his name is mojo. He is a mello, long-haired white cat that has a very high tolerance level for children.

At least, he had a high tolerance level.

Apparently Oliver is a bit much for him.

Mojo is used to kids grabbing his head, his tail, even fist-fulls of hair.

Apparently, however, he does not like to be picked up by his hind legs.

Here is the proof:

He looks like a bad-a** doesn't he!?

Apparently he didn't cry at all. He looked at our day-care lady like "what's up with the cat?" and toddled off.

All I can say is I'm glad I wasn't there to see it. I don't think I would have tolerated it as well as Oliver did.

It's SCARY how late this Halloween post is

2010-11-11T21:09:00.000-06:00

Last year at Halloween, Oliver was one month old.

My dad came to visit and my sister was here too. We carved pumpkins. I dressed Oliver up in his sundae outfit (with a cherry on top) and propped him up between our pumpkin creations.

That has become one of my (many) favorite pictures

and I decided to make it a tradition.

This year we dressed Oliver up as a lion. He had a tendancy to cry when we put it on him. Then he was the cowardly lion. he he he.

Hmm... let me see that.

I've never seen a ball like this before but I bet I can still throw it!

Maybe next year mama will actually do something fun like take me to a pumpkin patch or trick-or-treating rather than just dressing me in something silly and making me sit with the pumpkins.

Busy Bee

2010-11-03T09:43:00.001-05:00

Oliver's first words

2010-11-02T21:42:00.001-05:00

Oliver ocassionally says "mama" or "dada" but we are not really sure they mean what they mean because we refer Andy as "Papa" and not Daddy.

So, here are some hints for his first word.

See if you can guess.

{look at that fuzzy bald head!}

{ignore the obnoxious wire display}

If you guessed "ball" you'd be right. He usually says it when he comes across one of his 20 or so balls that he as temporarily forgotten about. Needless to say he doesn't forget about the giant orange one.

Now, word number two. Here are your hints:

Click here

Yes, he is all boy. Is second first-word is "jump" or actully it is more like "ump" or "yump."

Most of Oliver's favorite games to play involve "yumping." Is favorite is when Papa holds him tight and jumps really high over and over--he squeals with delight. Now he'll walk up to Andy with his arms out and say "ump ump ump." It is adorable.

Can't wait to hear what is next!

Giving kisses

2010-10-28T22:04:00.000-05:00

Every time Oliver reaches a new milestone, I think "this is my favorite stage." Cooing, social smiling, giggling, holding the bottle by himself, rolling, sitting, standing, walking.

They are all great, but my favorite, my absolute super most favorite is giving kisses.

At first it was open-mouthed and a little wet. He would basically just plant is sticky little mouth on my face. But now he puckers. He looks a me with pursed lips and leans in. He gives hugs too!

See, look.

Ok, so that picture is funny. And he doesn't exactly look like he's in to kissing Mama, but he does.

Really. I swear.

His first boo-boo

2010-10-24T22:12:00.001-05:00

I am actually surprised we made it as long as we did before Oliver got his first real boo-boo. His chin met the concrete steps at daycare.

He seems to have forgotten about it already, and he won't slow down enough for me to take a picture.

Birthday Cake

2010-10-21T20:01:00.001-05:00

To sum up the whole experience...he.hated.it.

I was so prepared for the money shot.

The baby, covered in frosting and cake goo.

Smiling like he knew he was getting away with something, the glimmer in his eyes foreshadowing the post-suger-high-meltdown to come.

I had my camera, of course.

I had 1 vinyl tablecloth, 1 diaper-clad one-year-old, one 6" square cake that I made myself, and sprinkles.

We had already opened presents. When I set him down he looked at me, looked at the cake, looked back at me, and smiled.

He tore into the cake. He ripped the first layer of frosting off so fast that I started to feel bad. I think he thought there was a present in there, too.

Instead, it was more of the same, which he didn't care for the feeling of. Squishy, sticky, crummy hands?

No, thank you.

At this point, he still hadn't tasted it.

He didn't get that the cake was food. I tried to show him that he could eat it. Nom nom nom...cake. He looked at me, his big brown eyes saying "I'm going to trust you, mama."

And he tried a bite.

He promptly spit it out and shuddered. We all laughed at him, of course. At which point he decided he'd had enough.

I'm outta here.

About a second after I took this picture he put his hands down to stand up, they slipped because of all the frosting and he landed his knee and foot in the cake.

Its his party, he can cry if he wants to.

I took him upstairs to shower off while Papa removed the offending cake.

The birthday loot

2010-10-13T19:22:00.000-05:00

Oliver, I am sorry for the lack of updates. Someday when you read this you will notice the gap, but it is not because I didn't have anything interesting to write about, on the contrary, you've kept Papa and I extremely busy.

For the record, I started a new job, then Papa got sick with viral meningitis and had to be hospitalized but he's all better now.

Now on to birthday post part 2.

Oliver definately liked the opening-the-presents-thing a lot more than he liked the smashing-and-eating-the-cake-thing.

Here is a monkey that he got from Grandma Betsy.

It is soft, so naturally he likes it!

He got something soft from Grandma Sherri too, here is is taking it for a test run. Or a test cuddle.

Yep. That'll do!

He also got this microphone, which he loves!

It makes eleventy-bajillion-and-one different sounds. Thanks. Grandma.

Here is the fire truck he got from Auntie. If you haven't watched him open it yet, you should, it is worth every second. Especially the grin at the end.

He got some other great gifts as well, from his friend Henry and my friend Katie. Overall it was a good day. Stay tuned for the cake reveal!

Oliver opens presents.

2010-10-05T21:06:00.000-05:00

A year ago today

2010-09-28T21:53:00.000-05:00

A year ago today I woke up at about 9:30 and felt funny. I was two days overdue. I really had to pee. I heaved myself out of bed (literally) and waddled my way to the bathroom. Then I peed myself. At least, that is what I thought at first, it was just a little trickle.

After about ten minutes in the bathroom, I still wasn't sure. I yelled for Andy.

"I think my water broke."

"What do you mean think? How do you not know?"

"It's just a trickle. It stops and starts."

So we waited. I wasn't having any contractions. I hadn't even "dropped" yet so I was not expecting my water to break. After about an hour I was convinced enough that my water broke to call the labor line.

My birth plan was to labor as long as possible at home before going to the hospital, to skip the drugs, and to trust my body, because the way I see it I was made for this. Well, you know what they say about the best laid plans.

Fast-forward six hours later to 4:00 pm, still not even a hint of contractions; 20% effaced and zero cm dialated. My midwife suggested I try a low dose of pitocin to start things going. After thinking about it and talking to Andy we decided to try a very low dose, but I was insistent on no pain meds or other drgs. I was worried that if I didn't start having contractions soon, I would start having contractions at midnight and I'd get no sleep and have to labor the next day (and possibly more) on little to no sleep.

Well, a low dose of pitocin was more than enough and by 5:00 pm I was having strong contractions every 2 minutes. At 8:00 pm they checked me again and I was maybe 50% effaced and 0 cm dialated. The contractions felt really strong to me. Up until this point I had been trying to walk around and sit on the yoga ball, but the baby monitor kept losing the baby's heart-rate so I was told to stay in bed.

Once they had me strapped into the bed, they were still having trouble tracking the heartrate. They decided to put in an internal heart rate monitor (also not on my plan) and something to measure the strength of the contractions, which were now coming every minute.

The good news was that the contractions were really strong. Like transistion strong. Horray. The bad news was baby's heart rate kept dropping. My midwife told me I was doing a good job and that giving how well I was tolerating the pain, she thought I would be able to keep the rest of my birth plan in place.

Unfortunately, baby had other ideas. His heart rate kept dropping. An army of nurses and midwifes stormed into my room every ten minutes or so to roll me this way or that and give me an oxygen mask. Thinking back, it was a scary situation but I wasn't worried at the time. I was in a very zen-like state, totally focusing on my body and I just knew everything would be alright.

At about 10:00 pm, the midwife checked me agian. I had made no.progress.

Wait, what? I've been having strong contractions for 6 hours now, and I'm not even a centemeter dialated?

Maybe "a dimple" my midwife told me, trying to be helpful. She told me she'd be back in a minute. I told Andy that I was getting tired, and at this rate I would not be able to make it. I wanted the drugs.

When the midwife came back, she had the doctor with her. They gave me the talk. Baby was in distress. I was making no progress. Water broke over 12 hours ago. I would be having this baby very soon, but not the way I wanted to.

I didn't argue. I knew it was the right thing. I tried. I tried to work with my body, to breath through the pain. I stuck to my guns. But, sticking to my guns was no longer reasonable. My baby needed me. My baby needed me to do what was best for him, to put him first. So I did.

Then:

Now:

It turns out, Oliver was kind of askew (not completely transverse, but tilted with his ear, rather than the top of his head, on my cervix) and was not putting pressure on my cervix. Which is why I didn't dialate. I also had a "thin" or "weal" umbicicle cord, which was one of the reasons his heart rate kept dropping.

Andy was the first to see him. Andy told me he was a "he" and that we had our Oliver. My sister was the second to hold him, when Andy was walking him up to the special care nursery. Oliver is so lucky to have so many people who love him so much.

I really struggled for a while. I felt like I was less of a woman. Not really a member of the mom-club. I felt like I took the easy way out. Like I ordered a baby off of e-bay and had it express delivered. But, Oliver and I quickly fell into a routine, and I learned to respond to his cries.

It is not the labor and delivery I wanted, but in the end it is our actions in raising a child that makes us moms, not how we brought them into the world.

Happy Happy Happy First Birthday Oliver!

You are so loved.

A prince and his throne.

2010-09-26T21:04:00.000-05:00

More time with Grandpa

2010-09-19T21:03:00.000-05:00

Oliver has had a lot of Grandparent time lately. Both with my dad, and with Andy's parents. A couple of weekends ago, my dad came down and we took Oliver to a local park to play. He was just starting to take a couple of teetering steps at this point, but he sure wanted to go, go, go.

Here is a picture re-cap:

After all that fun playing in the fresh air Oliver was worn out and fell asleep on the way home. Grandpa got him out of the car. Oliver opened his eyes for a second, looked at Grandpa, and then snuggled in to continue his nap. I'm not sure who was more happy about it!

No words

2010-09-15T07:59:00.001-05:00

I tried to think of something clever, but sometimes you have to let the picture speak for itself.

He is so silly. Yesterday our daycare provider told me that Oliver always has them cracking up. He loves making people laugh, and the fact that he knows he can makes it even more funny!

Thinking

2010-09-10T07:54:00.002-05:00

and swinging

The one that got away

2010-09-09T07:48:00.001-05:00

If you know me or my family you know we are big baseball fans. Big as in Fan with a capital "F." We've been to a handful of games at the new stadium, my sister and I even went to opening day (which was AWESOME!).

On our most recent trip to Target Field my dad's friend Ken came along. It was his first trip to Target Field. I was excited to show him Tony O's Cuban Sandwiches which is named after Cuban Baseball Great Tony Oliva who played his entire career with the Twins. I was pointing out the stand (yum) when my dad said "There he is! The man himself!" Sure enough, there was Tony Oliva! Probably one of the nicest, most humble professional athletes to ever live.

Now, for Twins fans like us this was akin to a left-winger spotting Bill Clinton, or a child spotting Santa in a month other than December.

We. were. star-struck.

Tony was shaking hands and smiling for the camera with fans. He seemed almost bashful about all the fuss being made over him. On the way out of the house that day I had grabbed our small point-and-shoot, so I told my dad and sister to go say hi. They worked their way up and shook hands with Tony Oliva. When they turned around to take a picture, I felt like I was looking at a giddy 12 year old version of my dad!

I pushed the button to take a picture.

!!Battery fail!!

The batteries were too low to take a picture. Before I could whip out my cell phone some woman ushered my dad and sister out of the way to get a picture of her kids. The look of disappointment on my dad and sisters face when I told them I didn't get the picture was heart-breaking.

As I write this I'm getting upset agian. Sniff sniff.

The amazing thing about the Twins Organization is that they are able to recruit genuine and loyal guys (Joe Mauer, anyone?) and I am sure there will be more opportunities to see Tony Oliva at Target Field, especially since we are getting season tickets next year!

For now Dad, Susan, this will have to do:

Tony Oliva

Opening Day at Target Field

April 12, 2010

credit

I can't wait to bring this guy to a Twins game next year!

Oliver. Walking. Gulp.

2010-09-07T21:13:00.001-05:00

Oliver has something he wants to show you.

In just a handful of days he's gotten so much better. Its so fun to watch him develop his confidence, learn to balance and be amazed at what he can do. This is such a fun time. Here is another shot of him tonight. Clearly I forgot that you can't "rotate" a video. Cute anyway.

Mama's little helper

2010-09-02T09:42:00.003-05:00

All this time home with Papa this summer has taught Oliver some good habits. For example, he helps with the dishes.

And when I say "help" I mean that he spreads the clean food storage containers all over my ... ahem... not so clean floors.

He also helps with the mopping.

And by "help" I mean that he pulls it down and drags it around the kitchen.

As for those dirty floors. The way I see it, the fact that I know they need to be cleaned, and have gotten the mop out counts for something. Right? Right?

By the way, I absolutely cannot believe that Oliver is 11 months old. Eleven? Where did the last 10 go?

This kills me.

2010-09-01T08:38:00.000-05:00

Seriously. When he makes this face... I die. And kisses ensue!

100th Post!

2010-08-31T09:05:00.002-05:00

{Hey--did you know it's my mama's 100th post!}

{I think that's pretty cool}

As a present for you, here is my home-made spaghetti sauce recipie. I think I might have gotten a little carried away with the pictures. Sorry about that!

Start with a bunch of these:

I used about 20 and made 2+ quarts of sauce. Wash the tomatoes and set aside. Start a large pot of water to boil. While you wait for the water to boil, heat 2 T evoo and 2 T butter in a large dutch oven. While the oil and butter heat, chop a fennel bulb and add it to the pot to start to soften. You could skip the fennel, but trust me, you don't want to.

Now, realize that you forgot to pick onions. Go out to the garden and pick two (because they are kinda small).

Chop. Chop. Chop. Into the pot with the fennel. Add salt and pepper to taste.

By now your water should be boiling so prepare an ice bath in a large bowl. This is the quickest way to peel tomatoes. If you want to make a vegitarian version, skip the next step. Carnivors, follow me.

I like my pasta sauce with sweet italian sausage, but you can use spicy sausage, or ground beef or turkey. If you use ground beef or turkey, I suggest adding additional salt and pepper at this point along with some oregano (about 1T) and 1 tsp fennel seeds.

Using a slotted spoon, remove the onions and fennel from the pot. Slice the sausage length wise and remove the casing. Roughly chop the sausage and add to the pot to brown. You can add the onions and fennel back in when it looks like this:

Now the messy part: peeling and chopping your tomatoes.

Start by placing a thick kitchen towel underneath a cutting board near the boiling wather and icebath. The towel keeps the cutting board from slipping around when the tomatoe juices start to run, and absorbs the tomatoe juices. Also, have a colander on a bowl or in the sink.

Make a small "x" on the bottom of the tomatoes using the point of a paring knife and place them in the boiling water.

It won't take long to loosen the skins, maybe 30 seconds at most. Scoop up the tomatoes with a slotted spoon and drop them in the ice bath.

After about 30 seconds in the ice bath they are ready to come out, and the skins should just skip off.

Now, chop your tomatoes up and put them in a colander in the sink or on top of a bowl. This will allow some of the extra juice to run off so you don't have to cook the sauce as long to get to the desired thickness. As you can see I used yellow and red tomatoes for my sauce.

Pour about 1/2 cup of balsamic vinegar to the pot with the sausage, fennel and onion and give it a good stir to incorporate.

Once your tomatoes are all diced (I used about 20) add them as well. Add salt, pepper and crushed red pepper to taste. Also add two handfuls of dried oregano. Finally, grate in 2-3 garlic cloves using a microplane.

I don't have anything to say about this one...

2010-08-28T09:25:00.000-05:00

I just love the picture.

Holy cow are these ever cute!

2010-08-27T09:00:00.000-05:00

And the fact that they are real leather is only slightly creepy. Yikes.

Zucchini pizza

2010-08-26T21:22:00.003-05:00

Please forgive my absence! I have been busy.

If you are like me and you have a garden you probably have zucchini and tomatoes coming out of your ears. Well, I have the answer. Today Zucchini pizza; tomorrow freezer tomato sauce.

I got the idea for this recipe here, but I made it my own.

I started by caramelizing some onions. I had 3 small yellow onions that I sautéed in 2 T evoo and 2T butter on medium-high heat. Make sure to add some salt (and fresh ground pepper), it helps the onions cook faster. Cook on medium-high stirring every couple of minutes for 10-15 minutes or until they start to brown and smell sweet and delish! Then, turn the heat to low and leave them to do their thing, stirring every two-three minutes until they are golden brown.

While the onions cook, get your ricotta ready. I took 1 c. part skim ricotta and added salt and pepper. Then I grated in 2 small garlic cloves using my microplane.

Next, grate 2 small zucchini, and mix with the zest from 1/2 a lemon (again with the microplane) and set aside (btw, I only ended up using about 3/4 of this mixture)

For the crust I used refrigerated crescent rolls, but if you are super ambitious like her, you could make your own. Spray a small cookie sheet with non-stick spray, then spread out the crescent roll on a cookie sheet and smoosh (that is a word) the perforations together and stretch it to fit the cookie sheet.

Cover the crescent roll crust with the ricotta mixture. Now, grab your onions. You didn't forget about them, did you? Fold the onions into the zucchini mixture and then spread on top of the ricotta cheese. Dot the top with fresh milk mozzarella and feta cheese. Bake at 375 for about 20 minutes or until crust turns golden.

Yum!

Look, Oliver liked it:

He liked it a lot, hence, the food coma. I think it's nap time!

Mama, I ate too much.

sleep and awake

2010-08-15T20:59:00.000-05:00

Two of my favorite times of day revolve around a single event: naptime.

I love when Oliver is ready for a nap, because he is such a busy-body that when he is ready for a nap, I'm ready for him to take a nap!

This is how I know its time:

Then, two hours go by and I start to miss my little man. I start listening to the baby monitor to see if he's started talking to himself. When he does, I go get him in all his post-nap cuteness and snuggle for a couple of minutes until he's ready to get busy!

What happens at daycare...

2010-08-13T08:49:00.000-05:00

When Andy brought Oliver home from daycare today, he was not the same as when I sent him. Take a look:

Can't see it? Here is anoter clue:

Yes, that is nail polish.

Apparently some highschool girls who live next door to our daycare provider are smitten with Oliver {who could blame them} and the girls know that Andy teaches at their rival highschool. They thought it would be funny to paint Olivers fingers and toes their school colors.

Red and Yellow! I think it is hilarious! But I don't think Oliver got the joke, but then again, given that I did this to him, who can blame him.

Zoo-per fun!

2010-08-09T21:55:00.001-05:00

Last Friday we went to the local free zoo with our buddies Colleen & Henry.

And here we are:

Henry is just 10 days older than Oliver, but he has a lot more hair! I actually did not know Colleen, despite the fact that she is my neighbor, until after Oliver was born. Oliver and Henry (which sound more like two old men than two babies!) are best buddies, they love to wrestle, and take turns stealing from eachother. This time it was Oliver's turn to take Henry's bottle, sippy-cup, food--basically anything within reach.

The boys had fun looking at the animals, these were some of their favorites:

We rented a double stroller, and at first I was a little worried,

but the boys were great and seemed to love it!

p.s. can you tell I recently started using some free photo editing software that lets you make collages?

Bad influences

2010-08-06T09:54:00.002-05:00

The naughty game we learned from Auntie.

Can you guess what it is?

You Capture: Summer

2010-08-05T11:56:00.000-05:00

My first thought, when I heard that this week's You Capture theme was "Summer" was BASEBALL! But there were two problems, I don't have ticktes to a TWINS game, and I've done that one before.

So, as I stood in my kitchen thinking of what Summer means to me, I looked out my window and saw this:

{my unruly garden}

To me, summer is when I get to reap the benefits of all my spring-time hard work.

Right now I have zucchini coming out of my ears, a two basil bushes that I can't keep up with and in about a week, I'll have more ripe tomatoes than I can eat.

I'll be making a lot of spaghetti sauce. Stay tuned for my recipie.

Now head over to I Should Be Folding Laundry for more "Summer" pics.

To Grandmother's house we go.

2010-08-03T22:08:00.001-05:00

This past weekend, we went to visit Grandma (my mom). We went over the river and through the woods. Then over the river again, up US 71, through a lot more woods, and finally arrived in Bemidiji, MN.

Despite the fact that Oliver was tired because he hadn't taken much of a nap:

he was happy and excited to see his Grandma.

He showed off all of his talents, like clapping, waiving, the "no-way" headshake and giving kisses. He has the.perfect.pucker. See.

{how could you not kiss this face?}

We did lots of fun things when we visited Grandma. Oliver's favorite part was the playground.

Ok, so at first, he wasn't that excited (see, he was a very tired baby--because he would.not.nap). And it took a bit of convincing:

{you woke me up for this?}

Eventually, he warmed up to the idea and thoroughly enjoyed himself.

We also visited a well known Bemidiji landmark, Paul Bunyan. Here is a picture of Oliver with Paul:

Oliver also really enjoyed eating out a lot. He had pancakes, eggs, and his new favorite, Pizza. For the first time he had little to no interest in the baby-food we brought for him and wanted to just eat big people food. He is growing so fast. Sigh.

You Capture: Play

2010-07-29T22:13:00.001-05:00

This week's challenge from I Should be Folding Laundry was simple, play. This one was really fun, as Oliver is very playful these days. It was hard to pick which photos to use, I'll have to use the others in later posts.

Balloon. Round 2.

Note to self: when you are using sport continuous mode (you know, so you don't miss a single grin) sit between the window and the baby.

Sheesh, you think I'd have learned by now.

Now, head on over to Beth's and see more photos of Play!

One small step for Oliver...

2010-07-24T21:24:00.000-05:00

Actually it is several small, assisted steps. Cute nonetheless.

Look at the thigh rolls, couldn't you just eat them up!

Baby gates

2010-07-23T21:42:00.000-05:00

I know they were invented with good intentions.

Baby gates keep babies out of trouble.

See, had my baby gate been closed, I would not have a picture of Oliver holding a bottle of creme de menth.

{Of course I did not race to grab my camera as Oliver bee-lined it to where we keep the liquor. wink.wink.}

Anyway, baby gates. I know the thought behind them is a noble one, but I can't help but feel sad for Oliver when he is penned in.

I do the best I can to be eco-friendly. We used cloth diapers.

I make my own baby food.

But I do not have a free-range baby.

I know--it is hard to believe.

Something tells me Oliver doesn't like it either.

Witness, the evil eye.

Disclaimer: No babies were harmed in the making of this blog post.

Especially not mine.

You capture: vehicles

2010-07-15T15:10:00.000-05:00

My husband, adding gutters to our fixer-upper.

Now head on over to I should be folding laundry and see more of You Capture.

Did I just say that?

2010-07-15T07:21:00.000-05:00

Another example of something I never thought I would say...until I became a mom.

"Oh, poor baby. When we slip in our wee it means its time to put on a diaper."

Oliver. Clapping.

2010-07-09T20:41:00.000-05:00

It's not what it looks like

2010-07-07T21:14:00.002-05:00

That is not a picture of Oliver caged in a pen.

Ok, maybe it is.

But it was not to corral him, it was to corral Bun-bun.

As you can see, Oliver was very excited about Bun-bun.

He laughed at how quick the bunny was.

On another (disgusting) note, yesterday Oliver was eating dinner when he decided he needed to go #2. Poor little man was working so hard geting it out that he threw up! It was coming out both ends!

Summer afternoon

2010-07-02T21:00:00.001-05:00

One of my favorite things about being a mom is watching as Oliver explores things with his fresh little mind. Here is what we looked at today:

long grass

some leaves

a bird on the fence

and Oliver's favorite

Mama's camera

Now go see more: