Growing Up

Jane has brought so much joy to our lives since she was born, but just recently we have loved watching her grow up and explore new things.  She loves being a big sister and always wants to "help" Luke and hold his hand, much to the frustration of Luke.  She loves to read and continues to try to communicate with us as best as she can.  We are amazed at how genuinely kind and happy Jane seems all the time, and are so proud of her.

In true Jane fashion, she decided she wanted to potty train earlier than we were prepared for, around 20 months. It is going very well, considering she still can't talk, and loves her "accomplishments".  Through her potty training and other activities, we have seen a new side of her really shining through: her obsessive-compulsive side.  Here are a few examples of what I mean:  she won't put her sippy cup on our coffee table without putting a coaster down (we did NOT teach her this), after going potty she has to fold her toilet paper in a specific manner before using it (also not taught), she won't leave her potty chair until the lid is closed, she won't lay down on a changing pad/blanket until all the edges/corners are laying flat, and just recently I witnessed her run to get something, and knocked over a small toy suitcase in the process - she stopped running and went back to put the suitcase back right-side up, before continuing on.  The unique part is that she doesn't lose her temper or get upset when things aren't in their right spot, she just calmly and casually fixes them until she is pleased with the outcome. 

I have been able to take some really great pictures of Jane recently on my blackberry and wanted to post them here!

Jane absolutely loves putting on all my shoes, especially my high heels.  She actually walks pretty well in them!

This is Jane with her new Princess 'big girl' underwear from Nana.  She kept coming close to the camera, so I asked her to put her hand on the table and smile.  How precious.

I'm not even sure what type of caption this picture would even warrant...
She proceeded to walk around the house with no pants and her huge rain boots.  Very classy.

Jane found this Cubs dress from the summer and insisted she have it on, even though she had already been dressed for hours.  She loves sitting on the hearth and demands someone sit next to her.

This is my most recent absolute favorite of her!  I love her bright eyes and huge smile. 

9 Months

Luke has just recently surpassed the 9-month mark and, like always, we can't believe how fast the time is going.  We are so thankful he is in our family and can't imagine life without him.  He is big and healthy and just got a clean bill of health at his 9-month appointment, minus some skin issues (eczema) that seemed to plague his older sister as well.  He measured 30 1/4" long, and weighed in at 21lbs 13oz!

Luke started taking his first steps this month and can do about 9 steps at a time before remembering he is a much faster crawler and resorting to his hands and knees.  He gets around pretty quickly, and like most little boys (I think) has very little fear of anything. He'd launch himself down the stairs if he could and thrashes his head back to try to fall out of my arms.  Now I finally can relate to what Emily F. was dealing with in cousin Jackson - I think these boys are going to have a ball together!

Luke eats very well and we have started on table food at the recommedation of our doctor.  He wants so desperately to be eating what we are and the only thing that has projected out of his mouth so far is peas - those get projected then pounded onto the tray.  Everything else gets shoved in by the fistfuls.  His fine motor skills are still being developed and he moves things around and picks things up with his entire hand - imagine his hand flat and open, fingers straight and pressed together - as if he were wearing mittens - that is how he touches/grabs/moves everything.  It's really quite adorable.

He talks nonstop and just this month we are noticing more sounds and noises that he has never made before.  He loves to "rough house" and immediately crawls to Evan when he gets home from work, ready for him to crawl around and pretend he is chasing Luke.  Luke squeals with glee and tries to crawl away.  It is the cutest and funniest thing ever.  Luke also has an affinity for stacking cups - he is obsessed with knocking them over (I think he has extra testosterone) or eating them.  He also LOVES some Dora Dominoes that Jane plays with.  We find them everywhere as they are smooth and fit perfectly into his hand, and he can massage them over his gums.  And speaking of, there are no teeth as of yet, but we are praying for some to pop through as he is constantly drooling and has been 'teething' for the better part of 3 months now.

We are so excited for the upcoming holiday season and so thankful for our son!

Birthday and Food

As much as I would have liked to overlook the coming and going of my 30th birthday, Evan did such an awesome job planning a great weekend, I must take a break from kid-land and include it here.  We had so many things going on at the end of the summer, but Evan and I decided to get away for the night and celebrate my birthday in Chicago, and it was awesome!  We drove up on Saturday morning (sans Barney Sing-A-Long, a welcome treat) and headed to Wrigleyville.  We ate lunch and headed into Wrigley Field.  The weather was perfect, up through the 7th inning, when it started pouring, and we decided to make our exit.  We did a little shopping and then got ready for our evening...which is where the "Food" portion of this blog comes into play.

Evan and I don't get the opportunity to watch much tv these days, and when we do, we have found that we both really enjoy watching the Food Network.  I have no idea when this started, but we have a couple of shows that we love, including Chopped, The Next Food Network Star, and Iron Chef.  We have learned so much about herbs, spices, techniques, flavors, etc. and we are starting to semi-become "foodies" if you will.  Naturally, for someone who loves to eat, this fits into my life very nicely.  I have a desire to be a better cook, and Evan and I love talking about different meals, so we have found a wonderful way to hang out with each other! 

Since Rochester's culinary offerings rank slightly lower than that of Chicago, we sought the help of a few friends to point us in the right direction for a wonderful meal, and we hit a home run!  More on our dinner below, but after dinner, we ended our evening with the comedic entertainment of Colin Quinn, of SNL fame.  He performed an hour long show and we laughed so hard!  It was an awesome weekend and I'm so thankful to Evan for treating me to a great and memorable 30th birthday!

Our seats were unbelievable - second row, right behind 1st base.  This was literally our view, with no zoom or anything!

Look how nice it was the whole day!  Can you believe an absolute downpour occurred about an hour after this picture was taken?!

Ok, now - for dinner.  Wow.  I have been so excited to blog about this.  At the recommendation from few Chicago gals I work with, we decided to go to Graham Eliot, a restaurant that has only been around for about 3 years.  This place offered a small traditional menu, but was known for it's tasting menu.  Restaurants like this exist all over, but for those of you not familiar, tasting menu offers a set menu on small, medium, or large scale.  We decided to each order the medium size tasting menu (10 items from appetizer to dessert) that provide smaller "bite size" food.  Don't be fooled, however, by the term "bite sized".  Some portions were completed in one bite, others were like a mini-meal.  We had no idea what we were in for.  They also have the option to do wine pairings where they bring 2oz of the wine they would pair with each dish.  Utilizing my fabulous math skills, I quickly calculated that was close to a bottle of wine per person, and since I'm averaging about 1 glass of wine every 3 months, I chose to forgo that option.  However, my dining partner, never turning down a good experience AND good wine, eagerly accepted. 

I won't bore everyone here with all details of each dish (because you know I really want to - have I mentioned I love sharing?), but I did want to provide a listing of some of the awesome things we got to eat.  Without further adieu....here we go....

- Snack: popcorn with truffle butter, black pepper, and parmesan fluff
- A watermelon, mint leaf, and jalepeno oil consomme (yes, we knew what a consomme was from FN!)
- Steak Tartare (wagyu) with asparagus salad, pommes frites and a bearnaise yolk
- Caesar with gem lettuce, brioche twinkie (unbelievably good) and white anchovy (not my fave)
- Corn chowder with spiny lobster, toasted coquito and vanilla marshmallow
- Sweetbread ($10 to anyone who knows what this is - no googling!) with pickled turnip and chanterelle ragout
- Canape (palate cleanser to prepare us for seafood portion) jamon iberico, toasted hazelnut, and riesling jelly
- Salmon with blis roe, garlic scape and shaved fennel
- Halibut with leek brandade, house bacon, and haricot vert (Hands down the best thing I've ever eaten)
- Chicken with dirty rice, country pate (I almost spit it out) and fried okra
- Bison with baked bean, texas onion and pepper salsa
- Intermezzo to prepare us for dessert - it was a shot of grape juice, purple essence, and soda spritzer
- Strawberry with coriander arlette, fromage blanc, and basil emulsion
- Chocolate with root beer, port cherry, and birch caramel.

Ok, so I lied, I did basically bore everyone with the details of every dish, but I couldn't resist.  It was SOO much fun and so delicious.  Also, of note, this meal took us almost 3 hours to eat and that was with us rushing them along at the end.  You might be curious how I am able to provide such wonderful details.  While I do pride myself on my steel-trap memory, the restaurant provided us with personalized menu cards when we left, of which mine said "Happy 30th Birthday"!  We also received champagne with our popcorn to celebrate the big day.  And here is one last picture to cap off the world's longest blog...

My last dessert.  How awesome is this?!

Way to Go, Katie!

Just recently, my sister, Katie, graduated from the Medical University in South Carolina with her degree as Physician's Assistant (PA)!  This is so exciting for her and I'm uber proud, mainly because I wouldn't have lasted one week in the constant studying/lecture/rounds/rotations scene, let alone 2 years with no break!  She spent a few weeks studying for her boards, and after receiving notice that she passed, she began the arduous task of beginning to look for a job.  Katie spent her last rotation working at the Cleveland Clinic in surgery, and clearly did a great job as she was able to secure a job at one of their hospitals beginning in just a few weeks.  I am so happy for her and know she will be great at her job!  Our whole family (minus Evan and Meagan - they were missed!) was able to travel down to Charleston to attend her graduation and celebrate this exciting time for her!  Way to go, Swing!  :)

The Graduate

SIBS

Watch out Cleveland, here she comes!!

Good Luck Katie - we're all proud of you!

Vacation

The first week of August afforded us the opportunity to travel again to Surfside Beach, SC to stay for a week at our friends Tommy & Tracy Edwards' beach house.  Aunt Leslie joined us like she did last year and we had a wonderful time!  Jane just loved the beach and ocean and Luke handled himself very well, minus getting sick the last 2 days we were there.  It is such a special place for us and we are so thankful to the Edwards for the generosity, and for allowing us to create such fun memories!

Luke enjoying Tracy's undivided attention

Jane eating corn on the cob for the 1st time and loving it!

Aunt Leslie allowed Jane to play in the rain and puddles and she was thrilled.  That's what aunts are for....

Our gracious hosts with the kiddos

I'm not even sure what to say about this picture.  This guy is only 7 months old in this picture!!

Somehow this picture was relocated to the middle instead of the beginning where it was initially, but this was taken at my parent's house before we took off for the middle of the night driving.  Jane, in usual form, telling someone what to do.

Mrs. Hot Stuff

Evan and I enjoyed a date night while on vacation and it was great.  Fresh seafood caught that day!

Although a bit blurry, I love this picture of him and I.

We rented bikes for a couple of days and they were a big hit with the kids.

The tormenting ('loving" according to her) truly started on vacation and really hasn't let up.

I still think Luke resembles my dad a lot, especially in pictures like this....

We got some quality time with Calli at the beach, and also on the way home.  This one was taken on her birthday!

Luke's Baptism

We celebrated Luke's baptism in July.  It was a bit later than we were planning, but life was a little crazier than we anticipated right after he was born.  I feel like I will be saying that same phrase for years to come....

We were so thankful to be joined in NKy by so many great people and the weekend turned out to be a really fun time for everyone.  Luke seemed fairly pleased throughout most of the service until the very end when he just hit the wall.  He showed his frustration at brunch afterward by supplying a blow-out diaper that not only creeped through his diaper, his white outfit, but onto my lovely white skirt as well.  In case you were wondering, I WAS laughing at this point, but did have to rely on my mother-in-law (and Lana!) for immediate help in removing the stain from Luke's outfit, and then my mom for long-term treatment of my skirt and Luke's outfit.  Despite all the craziness, it was a very special weekend for us.

Jane's favorite part of the baptism was the sprinkler

"Hi. My name is Jane.  Could I look any more like my dad?"

The main man is ready for his big day!

A rare photo opp for Evan and I.  My mom hosted a wonderful dinner for everyone the night before and it was great to have everyone in one place visiting!

Lana was the most popular person in the 2 & Under crowd

I promise I only put the bonnet on for a few pictures. It was removed instantly at the request of his father.  (And every other male with a 4-mile radius)

The Godparents, my brother Brian and sister-in-law, Lana.

Luke was mistaking me crossing his forehead with me supplying some sort of food...

July 2011 (still catching up)

I'm still trying to play catch up from a summer that seemed to fly by.  Most normal people would just forgo trying to keep everything in an orderly timeline, however, that would drive me crazy to have a 3-month gap in my postings, so therefore I'm attempting to keep things chronological.  And, of course, there are just too many great pictures to post! 

July was a fun and busy month for us.  We stayed around Rochester for the long July 4th holiday weekend and enjoyed some rest and relaxation.  We spent a lot of time out on the boat and have discovered that our kids (like most I'm sure) love the water!  Luke did exceptionally well with his lifejacket, and it's probably because he's so much bigger than Jane was at this time last year. 

This isn't really the best photo of Luke, but I wanted to illustrate what his hair does on extremely hot and humid days.  Check out those curls!

Learning to smile.  And share.

Living the good life!

Jane channeling her inner Gilligan.

My boys.  Love this picture.

One of my top 3 favorite summertime pictures.  He looks so grown up for being 6-months old in these pictures!

Warm sun, fully belly, gentle rocking of the boat = passed out!

Sunglasses crew.  (Sidenote: Jane is now obsessed with wearing her sunglasses perched right on top of her forehead ALL THE TIME around the house.  We have nicknamed her Amelia Earhart)