5 years; 2 months

This little guy turned 2 months old this past week.

And this big guy turned 5 years old!

Holy cannoli how does the time fly by so quickly?

Our little Teddy Bear is thriving. He is already up to 14 lbs (that's 2 lbs more than his brother and sister at the same age).
Teddy Bear is such a beautiful, chubby baby. He has big hands and feet, so we already know he'll do great things. He smiles and coos a lot these days and has been crinkling his nose up in the cutest way since birth. As compared to Buddy and especially Jellybean, he is fairly undemanding. That said, he still eats every two hours day and night. He is pretty cuddly, but is starting to want to be held upright rather than being cradled. He seems to really enjoy music. There have been several times where playing music seemed to calm him. He gets especially expressive when I sing to him as well. We still don't know what color his hair is. It was looking pretty red at birth, but now the top looks more blonde.  I must be the luckiest mom in the world since he tends to nap at the same time as his siblings. (thus, I am able to type right now.)

Buddy and Jellybean love their baby brother. He mostly tolerates them and he also enjoys listening to them play and talk around him. They really are good with him. Jellybean is a champion binky retriever and Buddy loves reading to Teddy Bear.

Buddy is a pretty cool 5 year old. He is really excited for Kindergarten this Fall. His current interests include: Super Heroes, Star Wars, Transformers and of course anything alphabet related. He has become obsessed with alphabets that are very different from our own. He loves the Hebrew, Greek, Arabic and Korean alphabets (to name a few). In fact, he can recite and write the entire Greek alphabet. He is also very interested in Morse Code and Braille. We are glad that his new school will have a Spanish immersion program. I think he'll do very well in it, I only wish it started in Kindergarten and not First Grade. His imagination has absolutely exploded since Preschool. He still loves to read, has an excellent sense of humor and loves to tell jokes. When he discovered that most of the words in Jabberwocky were nonsense, he laughed and laughed over how funny that was. (Maybe we should send him straight to college)

Buddy is, for the most part, kind and tolerant of his little sister. In fact, they make great play companions. Buddy has become a bit bossy, but mostly, he really enjoys pretending and being silly with Jellybean. She will miss him in the mornings when he starts school again. Jellybean didn't want to be left out of the photo taking, so here she is wonky sock and all.

I thought I ought to say a word about Buddy's birthday. He requested a cake with the Superman logo. (He likes Superman, but thinks he should call it a "Super Sigma.") He was also very specific about having all of the Greek letters on the cake as well. So, here's what I came up with.  He was thrilled.

He got to celebrate twice with family and enjoyed a trip out to the Planetarium with his cousin.  He loves space as well. That's why we ended up naming our new mini-van "The Eagle."

So proud of my two boys!

Have a Happy Day!

~MJ

The Birthday Crown

I've been meaning to put up some photos of Jellybean's birthday crown.  Birthday crowns seem to be fairly popular. I've seen them around a lot. Jellybean saw one and asked if I would make her one "right now." So, I did.

I asked her two questions: What color would you like it to be and would you like a number or a letter on it. She was very definite in her answers.

Cutting and laying out. Yes I did use my camera lens cap for the small circle.

Stitching it up and adding the elastic back. You can see my beautiful stitching on the back.

She looked sweet in her crown. It was a nap time well spent.

Have a Happy Day!

~MJ

Linking up:

Monday Kid Corner

Happy Third Birthday!

Today Jellybean turns 3 years old. That means that there will be a lot of blog posts dedicated to my sweet girl this week.

Yesterday, we celebrated her birthday with family.

She had the cake of her choice and seemed to enjoy it.

We are so proud of our Jellybean and so grateful for wonderful family to celebrate with.

Have a Happy Day!

~MJ

German Chocolate Cake

One of my favorite cakes (and my husband's) is German Chocolate Cake. I make it a couple of times a year. Once for D's birthday and once just for fun. Now, unfortunately, both times I make it will involve heartbreak over Buddy's tree nut allergy. Sad.

I'll grant it that this is not an authentic german chocolate cake. I use a boxed cake mix. I do, however, think that the recipe for the frosting is pretty darn good, so I thought I'd share it.

German Chocolate Cake Frosting

Ingredients:

1 Cup Sugar
3 Egg Yolks
1/2 Cup Walnuts
2 Tbs. Butter
1 Can Evaporated Milk (not quite the entire can)
1 Cup Coconut
1 Ts. Vanilla

Method:

Mix all ingredients together in a medium saucepan (I like to use my non-stick sauce pan). Bring to a medium boil. Stir constantly for 5-10 minutes. Let cool. Frost one recipe of german chocolate cake. 

Yum!

Have a Happy Day!

~MJ

Sweet Halloween Treat: Ghosts in the Graveyard

Wow, two recipe posts in two days! My sister-in-law made the cutest Halloween treat for our Sunday family get-together, so I had to share.  We were celebrating my nephew's birthday and it was so fun to have a sweet treat.  She got the idea courtesy of Kraft and mustered her creativity. I do believe that the substitution of Milano cookies was pure genius.  Didn't she do a great job?

Buddy checking it out.

My mother took one look at the dessert and called me over to take photos for the blog. (Thanks, Mom!) It is such a fun idea for a seasonal dessert.  Plus, it's easy and delicious.
I'm pretty sure my nephew was happy about it, too:

He was hamming it up during the birthday song.

Here's the link to the Kraft Ghosts in the Graveyard recipe.

Have a Happy Day!

~MJ

WW- A Birthday at the Dinosaur Museum

A little rewind/cell phone dump from last month: A peek at Buddy's birthday visit to the Natural History Museum.

Walking in.

Fun was had by all. Especially the birthday boy.

Join in the Wordless Wednesday fun and Have a Happy Day!

~MJ

The Boy Turns Four

So, let's review: 

Here is what Buddy looked like at 1 month old:

and here is what he looks like now:

Pretty incredible, right? It always amazes me to look back at those first photos and to see how much a person can change in such a short span of time.

A little about Buddy at four years of age:
-He loves, loves letters and reading. It's an on going love affair that shows no sign of slowing down. He reads for at least an hour before naps and before bed time. He has a growing collection of alphabet posters on his wall. The books he likes to keep in the bed are threatening to take over the bed altogether.
-He loves super heroes. He wants to be a super hero. His little sister is getting tired of being put in jail.
-This year, after a lot of tears, Buddy became a really big kid. He's busting with pride over his new set of Batman underwear. The new set is slated to beat out the old set of Star Wars underwear.
-This kid is a sliding machine.  After two years of major trepidation when it came to slides, he has conquered his fear and now Loves a good slide. 
-He is starting preschool this Fall.  We are all very excited.

Happy Birthday, sweet boy!

Have a Happy Day!

~MJ

Jellybean Turns Two

On Sunday, my little girl turned two!!

Here she is as a newborn:

One year ago:

And here she is now:

We opened a few presents after church. The vacuum was a hit:

Then we drove to my inlaws' for dinner.

Please, no more pictures!

I baked a "sunshine cake" for the occasion.

My attempt at a pretty cake.

Look at those pretty ringlets!

Delicious cake! Who needs a fork?

I had to snap a photo of Jellybean and her Great-Grandmother. She knit the beautiful sweater that Jellybean is wearing.

This was well after bedtime, but the photo op could not wait.

Here's a lot more about Jellybean.  She is two years old and I'm telling you now, here comes trouble...

- She absolutely must touch (or lick) EVERYTHING!
- I swear that she barely eats, but guzzles milk like crazy. A common phrase around the house: "Milk, milk, my milk, milk!"
- She likes to tease her older brother and I have even witnessed her do so until he cries.
- In her mind, every gift she receives automatically has a baby doll in it. 
-She absolutely must do everything by herself stating,"my turn" at every opportunity. (i.e. getting into her own car seat, "cooking" with me, "cleaning" with me, and even getting "dressed").
- I rue the day that she realized that the step stool from the bathroom is also useful for looking over and taking things off of kitchen counters, reaching light switches and even an easier way to climb onto the kitchen table.
 - If she sees a set of animals together (think three cats), she will dub them Mama, Dada and baby regardless of age or gender.
- When she takes off her shoes, she will put them neatly away with the socks tucked into them. I wish she was as tidy with her toys.
- She likes to choose what she wears and has very particular taste.- She says the following almost every morning to indicate what she wants me to carry out of the crib for her, "Owl, other owl, big owl, my bear." Though, with the addition of a new play kitchen the first thing she says in the morning is, "my kitchen!"
- She dances around like a maniac when she is excited and especially when she gets to put on underwear.  (think "She's a Maniac" from Flash Dance)
- She LOVES Caillou.  In fact, she is incapable of staying still unless she is watching that little bald boy on the TV. - I love to hear her sing along to songs on the TV and in the car. She'll also sing along to her favorite songs with me. (Lullaby, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and The ABC Song)
- She can often be caught raising her shoulders, a habit that we're pretty sure she learned from her Daddy.
- Wrestling with Robbie is a fun pastime.
- When Daddy comes home from work she'll whisper, "hide" as he's opening the door to come in. Hiding is one of her favorite things.
- She has decided that she loves her Grandpas and she especially adores her Papa B. I'm pretty sure it's because she can order him around.

She truly is a sweet, fiery, wonderful girl.  We love her!  Happy Birthday, Jellybean!!

Have a Happy Day!

~MJ

My Sweetheart

Today is my Sweetheart's birthday. After nine years of V-days together, I have gathered from him that nothing will inspire a dread of Valentine's day like being born on Valentine's day.

From the time we began dating, I would purchase him birthday gifts on this day and he would buy me flowers. I'll be honest, I have always felt guilty about receiving flowers on a day that should be all about him. (Though, I do enjoy receiving flowers, don't get me wrong.)

This year I heard on the radio, that flowers are practically given away on the day after Valentine's. While I should have realized this years ago, I rushed home to tell my Sweetheart that he wasn't to purchase me flowers on V-day and that if he enjoys buying me flowers that he should do it on the day after. He just smiled and pretty much stated that if it was what I wanted he'd do it. I guess we'll see if he sticks to this or not.

When we were having our family holiday pictures taken, I realized that I couldn't remember the last time that we had had a photo taken of the two of us; just the two of us. I was really pleased with the result.

Happy Birthday to my love! I hope it is a good one.

~MJ

Today is Jellybean's first birthday, so I thought I'd share a couple of things I found for her special day.

1. Child's First Birthday Signature and Fingerprint Tree 11 x 14 via Your Keepsake Co.

This shop sells the cutest personalized items. I had already purchased my daughter's first Christmas ornament from here and then I fell in love this fingerprint tree. It's really lovely and such a sweet idea to fill the tree with the fingerprints and signatures of all of the people who love her. The shop owner was kind enough to change the font to one I liked more. I think it will look wonderful framed in her room.

2. Sweet Red Headed Doll via Heart Felts.

My daughter already owns two other dolls from Heart Felts (One is named Sunshine and the other is named Lolli, imagine that.) and I purchased two others besides for nieces. These are the most adorable dolls! She owns a blond and a brunette. Jellybean is a red head, so I had to get one that looked like her, right?

I wish I had the imagination and energy to throw a birthday party for my daughter like the one I found here. Unfortunately, I don't. We plan to celebrate with mini cupcakes on two different weekends with both sides of the family. She won't get any decorations, but she'll get two parties, so I guess that makes up for it. :)

Have a Happy Day and Weekend!

P.S. I thought I'd let you know that I have received no compensation from the shops that I highlight. I just love their stuff. :)