On a Hot and Sunny Day. . .

I try to take the kids out in the morning, before it gets too steamy. I lay out a blanket in the shade so Henry has a safe place to hang out. He loved it. This is about as happy of a look as Henry gets.  :)

For Nick, all it takes to make him happy is a $7 wading pool and some tupperware.

It's funny, though. Nick doesn't spend much time actually in the pool. He'd rather dump out the pool one cup at a time. I'm not complaining. It keeps him busy. Every once in awhile I go over and dump him in the pool, and he laughs. Then he continues emptying the pool.

Yesterday, he was using this cup and pretending to drink coffee. "Mommy, look. I drinking my coffee. It good coffee." Can you tell this kid lives with two caffeine addicts for parents?


So what do I do to make myself happy on a hot and sunny day? I brew a nice cup of iced tea (Earl Grey, of course) and sit next to Henry on the blanket. I've been sitting in the sun, though. I know, I'm naughty. But just a little bit of sun makes my skin stop breaking out, so I indulge. The best part? My Nook works great even in bright sunlight.

I've been reading at an incredible pace this summer. It must be all of the sitting around and breastfeeding. I'm not a TV person, and I have to do something to stay awake. Just since I got my Nook, I've read:

A+ Winter Sea by Susanna Kearsley
A+ Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen
A   The Girl Who Chased the Moon by Sarah Addison Allen
A  The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton
B+  Incognito: The Secret Lives of the Brain by David Eagleman
B+ Bossypants by Tina Fey
B+ Sex at Dawn: The Prehistoric Origins of Modern Sexuality by Christopher Ryan and Cacilda Jetha
B  Germs, Genes, & Civilization: How Epidemics Shaped Who We Are Today by David P. Clark
B  Daffodils in Spring by Pamela Morsi
B  The Reading Promise: My Father and the Books We Shared by Alice Ozma and Jim Brozina
B  How We Decide by Jonah Lehrer
B- The Sweetest Thing by Barbara Freethy

That's not counting the three books I'm currently reading. I think this Nook is going to be addictive. Also possibly expensive.

I do like hanging out in the backyard, though. I have a great view of Nick, I can read, and Henry gets to practice his baby push ups.

June: The Craziest of Months

For my family, June has always been a pretty busy month. Between my birthday, my sister's birthday, and my grandmother's birthday, there are plenty of parties to go around. When you add in Father's Day, my wedding anniversary, and now Henry's birthday, June has truly become the craziest of months.

Yesterday we went to my mom's house to celebrate three of these major June events: my grandmother's birthday, Father's Day, and the second anniversary of my sister's 29th birthday (if you know what I mean). In the picture above, Henry is reclined on Gigi's lap, and I do believe I have never seen him more relaxed. She has the magic touch.

My mother made some really delicious chocolate cupcakes with cream cheese filling. Aren't they gorgeous?

Nick got to play outside in the pool, and his favorite thing to do was empty the pool one bucketful at a time into the grass. I thought this was a wonderful way for him to expend his energy, so I had Greg buy a similar swimming pool for Nick on the way home. We'll see if he does the same thing at home, and tires himself out.

Everybody wanted a chance to cuddle little Henry, but Nick made sure he got his share of the attention. Something tells me that my oldest son will never let anyone else take the spotlight for long. While we were fussing over the baby, check out what Nick did to get our attention. . .

If nothing else, June in my family will never be boring, because of all the celebrations! Greg and I did plan to have a baby this time of year, so I could avoid taking unpaid maternity leave. Nick was more of a, um surprise, so his November birthday wasn't planned. But I do think summer birthdays are nice because everyone can gather outside.

We have a lot to celebrate this year.  : )

A Pretty Good Birthday

The beginning of June is always going to be pretty crazy for me. My birthday is on the 5th, my wedding anniversary is on the 8th, and now our new little boy will have his birthday on the 9th. It ended up being a pretty good birthday, though.

We went to my mom and stepdad's house for lunch and a delicious chocolate cake. Nick's Gigi and Aunt Mandy were there, too, and everybody gifted me with baking supplies from the Wilton Tent Sale. I got cups with straws (for iced tea), new baking pans, cookie cutters and sprinkles (for cookies, of course), and a pan that will make whoopie pies. I can't wait to try them out. I suppose I'll have to wait a few weeks, though.

Nick got to play in the pool and with the hose. Grandpa Ray sprayed him and Nick asked him to do it again and again.

He was thrilled to be out in the sunshine, and ran around for literally hours.

Nick enjoyed sitting in the pool and dumping out all of the water.

He also chased his daddy around the yard, trying to get him wet. He can't run quite fast enough yet. But soon, very soon, Nick will be able to catch his daddy.

There are a family of robins living in one of my mom's bushes, and the babies flew away for the first time today. Here's one of the babies, sitting on the fence. He wasn't sure what to do, since flying was so new to him.







































You want to know what my birthday surprise was. . .? We went to Barnes and Noble, and Greg bought me a Nook!

It's the 2nd generation one, with something called E-Ink display. I had hesitated to get an Ereader, because I spend so much time looking at screens already. But this one looks just like a book page. I will have to play with it, but so far, I love it. It's small enough to fit in my purse, and I already found a bunch of books for free and for $0.99.

I think it'll be great for when I travel (or go to the hospital), because I won't have to carry a stack of books with me. I am a notoriously fast reader, and I'm always running out of things to read. I love how I can read with one hand--this thing is so light! It weighs less than 8 ounces, apparently.

We were in the store for awhile, so Nick spent his time playing with the trains and moving books from one shelf to another. He got to pick out a new book, too.

I had a great birthday, and now I'm going to go play with my new toy.  :)

A Pool, a Party, and a New Puppy (Part One)

Last Saturday we went to my mom and stepdad's house for a triple party. It was to celebrate my sister's birthday, my grandmother's (Nick's great-grandmother, or GG's) birthday, and father's day (for Nick's Grandpa Ray). My sister took a ton of pictures, so I think I'm going to have to do a few posts for this one. Today I'll start with the pool. Can you tell that Nick loves being outside, nearly naked, and wet? When he saw the pool at grandma's house, he got all excited. I can imagine him thinking. . . "You mean I get to play with this water? And you won't get mad at me if I splash it? That is awesome!" Auntie Mandy spent much of the time snapping pictures of Nick, and she got some really good ones.

And splash he did! There were these little squirty balls, and Nick kept getting everyone wet with them--including himself. Everyone just sat around and watched as Nick climbed in and out of the pool, splashing the whole time. He has become our entertainment. After awhile, his diaper started blowing up with water. You'd be amazed at how much those things can hold! So we took the soggy and heavy diaper off and let him run around naked for a little bit. He loved that. I think most toddlers get a kick out of having their diapers off. I guess I'd feel the same way if I had that many thick, absorbant layers on all day, every day.

I think he must've gotten cold after awhile, and about that time Grandma Linda got a big fluffy towel and a cup of milk. The world must be very strange for Nicholas lately, since he hasn't been going to the babysitter's house and the only people he sees are adults. Poor guy.

All of these pictures were taken by my sister, Amanda Wiatr, who is an amazing photographer. Yes, she does do freelance photography work, including weddings and family photography. Mandy is especially good at taking pictues of kids and animals, and her rates are very reasonable. She can be contacted either through her Facebook Page or by email at amandawiatr@yahoo.com if you're interested in getting a quote.

Anyway, after Nick's little swim, we went inside for cake and played with my grandma's new puppy for awhile. I'll write more tomorrow, and show some more great pictures. I'm going to end with this picture, which I adore because Nicholas looks so contemplative. I wonder what kind of deep thoughts he's thinking. . . perhaps he's figuring out the secrets to world peace. Or deciding whether to pee on the patio. Or internally debating the nation's energy policy. Nah, he's probably dreaming of ice cream. If my boy is anything like his mommy, he wastes most of his deep thoughts on food.

Birthday Party Fun

Here I am in my mom's backyard, playing with Nick in the baby pool. He is messing with a boat and making his muppet noise, perfectly content just to sit in the water. Just the place to be at 1 p.m. on a Friday afternoon.

One thing I love about the summer is that I can be out while other people are at work. I can leisurely get an iced tea, shop garage sales, and go for walks. I get to visit the library in the middle of the day, when it's not as busy. It usually takes until about mid-July (like, now) before I stop feeling like I'm playing hooky. Then, just when I'm getting used to being at home, the school year begins and it's all over. I've been a public school teacher for 9 years now (this will be my 10th), and every summer I savor this time. It's particularly special this summer, because I got to spend it with Nicholas.

I'm counting down the days until I have to go back to work. In 24 days I'll be sitting in staff meetings, organizing classroom materials, and planning lessons. I guess I'd better enjoy every moment of my last 23 days of summer. This time is so fleeting. I'll have to get in lots of baby-playing, coffee-drinking, porch-sitting, book-reading, and recipe-experimenting as I can in these last few weeks.



Today Nick and I went to my mom's birthday party. It was in the afternoon, so Greg couldn't come. I think Nick has started to really enjoy birthday parties. We got my mom some children's books to read to Nick, all with a "Grandma" theme. I figure she can read them to him when we come visit, and he'll remember the stories and the time on Grandma's lap.

He sat in my mom's lap while we sang to her, and then he helped blow out the candles. I'm not sure what he thought about the candles, but he liked the singing just fine. Oh, and he somehow stuck his foot into the side of the cake. Not sure how he managed that one. This particular cake is a chocolate one, with green pistachio frosting. Only the edges have pistachios, though, so Nick was able to have some. And have some he did!

My stepdad enjoyed feeding Nick a little bit of chocolate cake. Then, every time he'd bring the fork to his mouth, Nick would open up his mouth, too. This resulted in a happy, cake-covered kid.

Lest you think I feed my child cake all the time, know that this is only the 2nd time this week he's had a bite of our dessert. I think that a little taste of something good every once and awhile makes life worth living. Judging from his facial expression post-cake, I think Nicholas agrees with my point of view.

Nick also got to visit the baby pool in my mom's backyard, and he was extremely excited to splash around in there. He even tried to grab the edge of the pool to try to stand up. Locomotion is getting closer and closer. My grandma commented that maybe Nick would just get up one day and walk, without ever crawling. I could see that happening. I just love his manly little swim trunks, and I think my little guy is going to swim like a fish when he gets older. Here is a video of him splashing around in the pool. He didn't seem to care that he got all wet.




Nick also got to spend some time with my sister. She takes really good photographs, far better than mine. She has one of those fancy cameras with the big lens. So she spent lots of time taking pics of Nicholas. I'm hoping she gives me copies. My pictures are mediocre, at best. But hers are very artistic and truly beautiful. Here is Nick with his Auntie. Her t-shirt made me laugh. It reads: If you don't talk to your cat about catnip, who will?


We want to put together Nick's pool this weekend for our backyard. He just seemed to love the water, and it's such an easy way to entertain him in the hot weather. As I'm typing this, there's thunder and lightning outside, but hopefully we'll have sunny skies this weekend and Nick can enjoy more time in the pool.

I picked this last picture because I think it's funny. Not necessarily the most attractive picture of me, but I was trying not to lose a contact while being splashed. Nick splashed so much water out of the little baby pool that my pants were totally soaked. But he looked so full of joy as he bashed his hands against the surface of the water. He is an easily amused baby. Oh, and the cute little hat he's wearing? Within 2 minutes of sitting in the pool, he'd ripped it off and soaked it with water. I'm not sure how to keep a hat on him for very long, so just in case, we always have to cover his little head with sunscreen.

Delicious Wheat Bread and a Dip in the Pool with a Furry Friend

I think I've finally got it. . . the perfect breadmaker bread. I have been experimenting for several weeks, looking for a soft wheat bread that has flax seed, wheat germ, honey, and molasses. The nice part about trying out new bread recipes is that you get to eat your mistakes. Greg and I have eaten lots of mistakes lately, none of them too bad. But this bread is delicious!

Honey Molasses Wheat Bread

This bread makes about a 1.5 pound loaf. I made it exactly as you see below. For once, I actually measured accurately and wrote down every single ingredient. Really.

1 c. warm water
1/4 c. warm milk (I used skim)
2 T honey
1 and 1/2 T of molasses
2 T butter
2/3 c. all purpose flour
2 c. white whole wheat flour
1/3 cup oats
3 T golden ground flaxseed
2 T wheat germ
1 and 1/4 t. salt
1 and 1/4 t. active dry yeast
3 t. vital wheat gluten

Put in all of the liquid ingredients first. Then put on the solid ingredients, saving the yeast for last. It works best when you make a little well in the flour and add the yeast so that no yeast touches the water before you start the machine. I used the whole wheat setting on the light crust setting. mmmmmm

Here's what it looked like in the breadmaker. Since it's a smaller loaf, it doesn't fill the pan entirely. I always worry when I'm following a recipe that "Maybe it doesn't look right." Thus I've included the pictures, so you know if it looks right.

Then, here's what the loaf looks like when it comes out of the breadmaker. I like this size loaf, since it isn't as tall as the 2 lb. loaves. Perfect for sandwiches or toast. I have been having it with a little Promise Spread and these cherry preserves that a friend sent me last year. I've eaten the whole jar in just a few weeks, what with all of the bread we've been eating.It's funny how quickly my summertime days fill up. Every year I think about how nice it will be to have all that free time, and every year I end up being nearly as busy as I am during the school year. It is my own fault, I guess. Today I started out by leaving the house at 7 a.m. to tutor for two hours. Then Greg and I met in a Walgreens parking lot so that he could pass Nick on to me. I stopped for some iced tea, then went to the bank. Nick and I went home for about an hour, then left again to head up to meet my sister for lunch. We had a nice lunch (yummy potato soup) and then I had to leave to go to my doctor's appointment. Right after that I headed to my mom's house for dinner (and to give them some playtime with the baby). So poor Nicholas got shuffled in and out of his car seat probably 47 times. He was a really good sport, though. When I was in the Panera, he sat on the counter while I was waiting for my food, and all of the guys working behind the food prep area came to see him and talk to him. He was cooing at them and laughing and making them smile. He seems to like being busy. Good thing, too, since I seem to always be busy with something.

Nick and I went out to visit my mom and stepdad today. They have a little pool in their backyard for the dog, and Nick got to go swimming. Or wading. Well, he sat in the pool and splashed, anyway. His favorite part seemed to be when Tigger (their dog) came to visit him. Here Nicholas is giving Tigger a kiss. . . or perhaps it was the other way around. Anyhow, doggie spit was exchanged.

He really does seem to love the water. He made his muppet noise and splashed and played with whatever plastic kitchen thingies my mom was able to find for him. This next picture is me with Nick. He got me all wet because he thought it was hilarious to splash me by slapping both hands on the water simultaneously. I'm wearing Nick's favorite necklace. It was a birthday gift from my mother in law and sister in law, and Nick thinks it is his personal toy. I don't mind him messing with it, but I won't let him chew on it because I don't think it's child safe. So he gets upset when I wrestle it out of his little fist. You can also see part of my mom and stepdad's beautiful garden in the background. I had some more cute pics to post, but I didn't ask my mother or stepfather for permission to post pics of them, so I'll leave those for another time. I think I'm going to buy a baby pool for Nick this week--he loved it so much!