20-months of Laughter!

Today, we celebrate 20 months of Miss L! Or in better words - 20 months of laughter, joy, giggles, smiles and fun!

It seems like just yesterday we brought her home from the hospital and yet today, she is busy climbing the mountains called couches and chasing Mr. Cole around our home.

Ironically, she had an impromptu visit with her pediatrician today as she has been fighting a cold the past week, which turned into a non-stop discharge in her bloodshot eyes. Poor thing looked miserable while we spent the recent weekend bouncing around Chicago.

Turns out she has her first ear infection, which also included an eye infection. We were thankful it wasn't pink eye and she is already looking much better after two doses of medication today.
Her weight check today: 25# 8oz - about 50th %tile

She surprises us daily with a new word learned or a new phrase exclaimed. I think her biggest "thing" right now is saying Please and Thank You! Her polite ways quickly extended far beyond retrieving/accepting food, and she correctly applies them to nearly everything. Tonight, she was sitting on the lap of J, so I threw her "silky" blanket to them and she responded naturally, "thank you, mommy."

She also understands and uses "hot" and "cold" correctly.

Our new favorite snack is a slightly thawed, frozen Go-Gurt {Yogurt on the Go!}. She'll almost always eat pasta, corn and anything with peanut butter.

Despite being sick, we managed to have some fun in Chi Town - see pics below...

Playing on the play-airplane at MSP Terminal 2.
Both MSP Terminals are well-equipped with kid-friendly activity centers.

Lunch at Tesori, while visiting my former boss



Visiting "The Bean" with Daddy! It was super windy! Surprise?

 

Too bad Miss L was sick...would've been a super cute photo!

Our lil' water bug

Riding the "moving walkway" at MDW...entertaining a 20-month old AND the rest of MDW passengers! :)

Goodnight, Chicago! (Oh, we bought that book to add to our collection)

Carrabba's Bread Dipping Mix

On a recent Italian dinner at home, I got ambitous while searching Pinterest for some inspiration and came across...a copycat recipe of Carrabba's Bread Dipping Mixture. Carrabba's is one restaurant we love and miss dearly as the closest one is likely hundreds of miles away!

I meticulously followed the directions from the recipe on Pinterest and the recipe was a huge hit! It really did taste like I was dipping bread while sitting at Carrabba's! I accompanied the dip (which is served with extra virgin olive oil drizzled on top), with a loaf of French Bread by Pillsbury. It is our favorite type of bread in the dairy fridge.

Carrabba’s Bread Dipping Spices
Source: www.recipelink.com
Makes 1/4 cup

Ingredients:
2 tbsp. chopped Italian flat leaf parsley
1 tbsp. minced garlic
1 tsp. dried thyme
1 tsp. dried oregano
1/4 tsp. dried basil (or 1 tbsp. fresh-if using fresh reduce parsley to 1 tbsp.)
1/8 tsp. dried rosemary (or 1/2 tsp. fresh)
1 tsp ground black pepper
1/2 tsp. kosher salt
1/8 tsp. ground red pepper (or 1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes)
1/2 tsp. extra virgin olive oil
1/8 tsp. fresh lemon juice

Directions:
Place all ingredients except olive oil & lemon in a blender or food processor and chop until all ingredients are similar in size. Stir in the olive oil & lemon juice.
For Serving:
In a small dish, place 1 1/2 tsp. spice mixture. Pour 3-4 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil over top of the spice mixture. Serve with french bread for dipping.

 

 

 

 

Hoppy Easter

I hope everyone had a great Easter, celebrating our risen savior.

Our day started with an Easter Basket and indoor egg hunt.

After a nice church service, we had about 45 minutes to kill prior to our brunch reservation. With that said, Miss L fell fast asleep within 3 minutes of leaving church. So we stopped at home to grab a few things, make a grocery list and allow her to take a cat nap in her carseat.

We enjoyed brunch at the same restaurant as last year - Morgan's on Nicollet - as they had every item on their buffet we could ask for and then some!  Miss L sat in her high chair with the tulle from her dress overflowing! She ate very well and then also spent time playing, too!

 

 

Here comes Peter Cotton Tail...

 

Love List - March

Although we are not loving on long and snowy this winter has been...we definitely continue to enjoy life with Miss L.

This month's "Love List" includes:

Loving: seeing the snow melt! Slowly, but assuredly! Weekly Zumba class with my friend Kelly - such a great, fun workout. It just so happens to take place at a local dance studio and it makes me real excited for Miss L to participate in dance class...just as I did. Lastly, brown sugar in my coffee. I had this at a Wild NHL game last month and it was delicious. Now, it is my staple.

Below are some photos from our 8" of powder on March 5th, 2013. Notice the "spring" wreath on the door with the snow-covered spruce tip topairies next to the door. Oxymoron.

We concluded our shoveling with cocktails...phew!

Miss L is LOVING eating rice, and also these new mini-crackers with peanut butter from Target...or anything with peanut butter. She knows the difference between hot and cold, yes and no, and is quickly identifying Mr. Cole as her new bestie. He is so patient with her.

Watching: As always, Kim & Kourtney take Miami tops the list (any Kardashian show is a reminder that my family isn't "that" crazy!). We also recently re-negotiated our cable bill and rec'd HBO, Starz, Showtime, etc. free for a year. With that said, I am certain we will gain an addiction in some new series.

Miss L is watching Poppy Cat, Chica, Thomas and more - all on our favorite new TV channel Sprout!

Anticipating: Seeing my family next month when we make a trip to MI to visit.

Listening to: Justin Timberlake's new album The 20/20 Experience, is a bit jazzy-blues-ish and we are fixated on the song: Suit & Tie

Planning for: Preparing our taxes...yep this on my list LAST month! 15 more days...eek!

Working on: Planning a girls weekend away later in the year with my high school/middle school long-time girlfriends! It seems as if a trip to SW Michigan is in-store...so I'm researching wineries and spas...as well as cottages with a hot tub! It is a reminder of how wonderful that side of Michigan is and there is a reason they call it "Napa Valley of the Midwest."

Wishing for: warm weather soon! A new job for J!

Vacay Recap

After having experienced 3 all-inclusive resorts with the Sandals brand, we were a little cautious about trying a different brand of AI resorts. After our vacay, I can say Karisma Resorts delivered on many aspects of the AI experience, particularly the family-oriented aspect.

Resort: Azul Sensatori
Location: Puerto Morelos, Rivera Maya, Mexico

I'm going to spare you the details of sitting on the tarmac to be de-iced TWICE while Miss L screamed bloody murder...or her carry-on having to get gate-checked and then failed to arrive at Cancun Airport...but instead, focus on the fun things at the resort, like...

We arrive and receive glasses of bubbly and a fresh towel just inside the contemporary lobby. They upgraded us to the Premium Building, which was oceanview, of course! We had a large jacuzzi tub in the suite and a nice balcony which Miss L loved to play on.

Our room was stocked with a real crib, toys from the toy lending library, a stroller, baby monitor and a few other baby goods such as a baby bottle warmer, bottle sterilizer, and baby bath tub. It was so nice knowing we didn't have to pack a ton of things, especially a stroller!

After day 2, we quickly realized we had been excpecting so much of an 18-month old - things out of her element that she wasn't used to; so we decided to sample the childcare on-site. The resort partners with Fisher Price to outfit a clubhouse called Azulitos House with a Doll Room, Theater, Arts & Crafts area, sports items and plenty of Fisher Price toys.

Miss L loved the Doll Room - it was her heaven on earth!

We could accompany her to the Azulitos House anytime to play, but we also began arrangements for "childcare." Just $15/hour to let her have a blast doing kid things and mommy & daddy walked on the beach and escaped to the adults-only swim-up bar. We really had her there for an hour every day and then also one evening while we dined at a 13-course French restaurant {adults-only of course}. The staff could not have been more attentive with her, acknowledging her by name as we saw them around the resort. Without a doubt, it was the best money spent on our vacation.

One day of the week they hosted a huge Kid's Fiesta Breakfast with the Little People {I don't know names, but the Fisher-Price Little People}...dancing, balloons, face painting and more! It was a zoo, but Miss L loved it!

With the help of this childcare arrangement, we created quite the vacation "routine." As we are not a family big on "schedules," this was an easy thing for all of us to adjust.

Daily Routine:

8am wakeup, most days

Breakfast in one of 3 restaurants offering breakfast - my favorite was the Carribbean restaurant and Jeremy enjoyed it too, as they had Eggs Benedict {his fave}. I became particularly fond of Baileys in my coffee and of course Malibu & pineapple juice.

Stroller walk around the resort followed by playtime on these large queen size beds suspended by a rope in a huge thatched-roof gazebo which contained a coffee bar, soft-serve ice cream and cookies!

Miss L goes to Azulitos House, Mommy & Daddy have fun

Lunchtime, followed by naptime {2-3 hours} for Miss L...and sometimes also for Mommy & Daddy
   *She would usually nap in the stroller under a nearby tree or umbrella

Pooltime or time spent on the beach...Miss L did not like the sand at first...let's say it was an acquired feeling on her feet!

Dinner was at one of the seven restaurants, we found ourselves going back to the Carribbean restaurant most often.

After dinner each night, we would head up to the rooftop garden to see the scheduled entertainment. It was a week full of great performers - from a "Lion King-style" theatrical dance show to a Michael Jackson Tribute - everything was impressive and very entertaining. Below is Miss L playing with her laptop at the rooftop garden.

Mommy & Daddy "powered-off" but Miss L needed to update her Facebook status!

Mommy & baby dancing on stage!

The restaurants were all pretty good and the bars offered top shelf liqours. The housekeeper was very attentive to our needs and made all of the fun "towel-art" to entertain Miss L. A few of the staff members made our trips to the swim-up bars really special by offering a serving of apple juice disbursed in a shot glass...thus, looking like tequila! It was quite the site, even random strangers at the Bar flipped out their cameras to take photos of Miss L casually sipping her juice with one hand, as she was belly up to the bar! "Raymundo" was awesome and helped to create memories forever embedded in our minds.

Another bartender made her a "Senor Pina" - aka Mr. Pineapplehead

 
Our vacation with a toddler was noticably different than past trips to an all-inclusive. We both felt that Miss L forced us to Sllloooowww down, relax more and do absolutely nothing...which is practically our idea vacation.

 Adios!

March Sadness

I must apologize...it has been nearly 6 weeks since my last post. Wow!

February, a short month, flew by as expected with us dashing off to warmth and sunshine in the Rivera Maya for a week {posts to follow, I promise!}.

Thus far, March has been filled with sickness {like every other household}...and loads of work and even more loads of snow. The white stuff just keeps on falling. For an entire week, we had just an inch every day. An inch doesn't sound like much...but it sure adds up.

It is no secret that I dislike winter. I admit I can appreciate it on occassion about 4-5 times per season and the special occasion of having a "White Christmas" or playing in it on a warm{er} day with Miss L...but for the most part, I would be a happy camper without the white stuff at all.

I think this never-ending-winter has really got me feeling blue, despite the carnival of green this past holiday weekend. Between the single-digit temperatures, constant snowfall, overflowing inbox{es}, taxes, housework and intense work load...I am spent!

We are also trying to decide how to give our Master Bathroom a facelift - enough to enhance the home for"resale value" but not enough to loose our shorts on the job. If this was our forever home, we would have our way with it with lots of fun, modern enhancements...which always = $$$.

Being the optimist, I am trying to combat the sadness with plans for a exciting and positive things:

• Short trips to Chicago and Detroit in the near future
• A Girls-weekend with friends from high school to celebrate our big 3-0 milestone year
• I started taking a weekly Zumba class with a friend - 60 minutes of pure "me time" and joy!
• I still LOVE my job...which feels so great.
• I need to work on the following: blogposts {lots of vacay photos and recipes to share}, staying hydrated, maintaining my workout regimine at the gym and maintaining Miss L's baby book. 
• Happy thoughts about relocating somewhere warm...crossing my fingers for anywhere but here {Don't get me wrong, it is beautiful here (6 months of the year) and the Cities have a lot going for them...but we agree this is not where we wish to live the rest of our lives.}

As Miss L would say: "Night, Night!"

Love List - February

Happy February! Man, that January was a loonnnnggg month! I welcome the shorter month ahead and getting just a tad closer to Spring!!

Another blogger that I follow at Macaroni & Cheesecake started a monthly "Currently Loving" post outlining what she is "loving" at this moment. I thought I would follow suit, afterall, this blog serves as my "back-up" for the baby book and helps me keep track of a lot of things in this household.

Right now...

Loving: My new dry erase board at work. I already made mention in a previous post about how I created this...but it definitely makes my chaotic work world just a little more enjoyable.

Watching: J and I are enjoying The League (a semi-improv sitcom based in Chitown surrounding a Fantasy Football League), Kim & Kourtney take Miami (any Kardashian show is a reminder that my family's crazy factor could be worse!!) and the Wedding Band on TBS (which is a funny Brian Austin Green sitcom about...you guessed it, a wedding band). Miss L is starting to love some shows on Sprout TV.

Anticipating: Vacay!! We are heading to Azul Sensatori in Rivera Maya in the near future. It is ultra-modern, is considered a gourmet all-inclusive and has partnered with Fisher Price to offer a "Toy Library." This uber-family-oriented resorts boasts cribs, baby monitors, step stools and baby bath robes...to name a few!!

Listening to: Red Hands by Walk off the Earth, all of the Of Monsters & Men album and most anything on Alt Nation radio station.

Planning for: Preparing our taxes

Working on: getting fit - hit the gym at least 5x this week!

Wishing for: an early spring
 

Happy Birthday Sis!

Twenty years ago today, our family grew from 5 to 6, as we welcomed my youngest sister - Jener Delane Katherine. Then, I was ready to continue my role as "big sister-caretaker-2nd mother."

Growing up, Jener was always my "baby sister," and being ten years my junior will make that happen naturally. However, in the past five years, the 10-year gap has felt much more narrow and the "caretaker" role has been replaced with friendship.





This transition has happened overnight, or so it seems. Jener has grown into one of the sweetest, most thoughtful and generous people I know. She also is a wonderful Godmother to Miss L and serves as a great role model being one of the most mature and responsible 20-year olds around. Regardless of her Godmother role, she is a wonderful Auntie to Miss L - spoiling her with love and encouragement, teaching her and guiding her to grow and have fun!



As a typical "under-funded college student" - she somehow finds a way to work hard for the money to send Miss L gifts, cards and buy her fun things like snow boots for sledding and a tent from IKEA for which she can run around or just sending her care packages, just because.




As she exudes passion in her education, community involvement and her future career path, I know she is on track for great success and to ultimately leave a legacy here. All of it makes me so proud to call her my sister and my friend and excited to see what the coming years have in store...

Cheers!



You might say she is my "mini-me!"

Whelmed!

Where did the month go and yet...when will it be over?! It seems like "months ago" when we went up north for NYE...nope just 30 days ago! This month has been so busy, fun, cold, and just a tad bit long!

Remember the line{s} from 10 Things I hate about you {high school Rom-Com starring Julia Stiles, Heath Ledger, et al.}:

Chastity: I know you can be overwhelmed, and you can be underwhelmed, but can you ever just be whelmed?
Bianca: I think you can in Europe.

Well, I am feeling whelmed these days, maybe I live in Europe or maybe I am just confused. Afterall, I am still trying to figure out just how or why I live in this frozen tundra called "The Cities."

I am not at a point of feeling overwhelmed...just yet, but I fear it is around the corner.

These days it just seems like once I hit the road in the morning, my day is a whirl wind. My work day is jam-packed and filled with meetings, phone calls, endless emails and projects. On any given day, my sent box has a solid 50 sent messages. Just yesterday, my calendar included meetings at 10am, 11:30am, 1pm, 1:30pm, and 3pm. Crazy, right?

The moment our cars arrive into the garage our evening goes as follows: change clothes, hit the gym for just shy of an hour, come home and make dinner, clean-up and play, time for Miss L to go to bed around 8:30 and then before we know it, we look at each other and say "where did the night go?"

Soo much for completing "Christmas Thank-You Notes" or replying to an email or phone call from days, weeks (er, month or so) ago! I'm ready for a shower or bath and bedtime!

Visits to the gym nearly all four weeknights per week may be scaled back after our vacay, which will be helpful. I have been trying to do one crock pot recipe a week, we also have been trying to meal plan together and also make one entree salad each week - tonight was a typical "Black & Blue Salad" with steak and blue cheese atop a bed of greens and veggies.

I am trying to streamline as much as possible at work. I have a "New Member Checklist," a "Newsletter Checklist," a "Marketing Touchpoints" Reminder sheet and so on... And I have secured a part-time intern for the summer...which makes me real eager for June to arrive!

Recently, I put a Pinterest project into action and made a very pretty dry erase board.
I bought a framed piece of art at Goodwill for $8.01.
I bought 4 pieces of gray with small white polka dot pattern paper at Michael's for < $2
Replaced the art with the paper and ta-da...a nice looking writing surface to manage everything:
To Do, Reports, Prospects, New Members, etc.....

 

 

 

The nice thing about being a working mom, it definitely forces one to leave at the end of the day...regardless of how messy the desk is or how many voicemails are sitting their blinking on your phone.

Look at this goofball, running circles around baggage claim at DTW in December!

 

 

Anyone have any grand ideas for making more time?

All kidding aside, any suggestions for striking a better home/work life balance? 

Burden Time: 3 Hours

It's official - the L family has booked an escape from the subzero frozen tundra. This getaway to Rivera Maya, Mexico happens to be scheduled in the near future...so we quickly came to the realization that lil' Miss L needs a passport! (didn't factor in THAT expense into vacation plans!) So, we research and research the requirements, fees, expediting stuff, etc...and decide we need to act NOW!

I printed the paperwork and was working on the application part...which at the top states "Time of Burden: 85 minutes." The U.S. government has determined it may take approximately 85 minutes to collect any necessary documentation, photo, review paperwork and complete the application.

I have news for them...the Time of Burden when preparing an application and photo for a toddler is over twice their suggestion!!

J spent a good hour, trying to review past photo files for a pic that "could" be used...Strike One!

Then, we decided to take our own photo - this would be at least 90 minutes of sitting her in the bumbo with a white sheet behind her on the couch. The lighting was poor. Strike Two! So then we tried doing this on the stairwell with better light; meanwhile, bribing her with animal crackers!

So off we go to the Passport Services counter at our local governement building with our photo in hand of Miss L with a neutral expression, with a light background. The kind lady informed us that our sheet is a bit wrinkled and not really white and the photo would likely be rejected. Strike Three!

We are forced to pay the $9.99 for their staff to take a picture. I thought to myself "Alright, let's see THEM take a decent photo of this wiggle worm!" I'll show them.

They put her on a chair, put a white blanket behind her and on the first attempt - DONE! A nice, clean photo just what was needed. You have to be kidding me? We spent 3 hours trying to save $10!

For your own knowledge, passports for tiny people cost just as much as big people.
$80 for the passport + $25 to the county for a processing fee + $10 (optional) photo + $60 (optional) expediting fee

Thank GOODNESS she still flies for free and also will eat free for the week at this all-inclusive resort.

Also, she just got a cute cover-up sent her from one of her grandmas...which got all of us excited for vacay!!

Below is a photo of the little eskimo barbie this morning:

Cinnamon Chips & Fruit Salsa

While home for the holidays, my mother-in-law had made this Fruit Salsa & Cinnamon Chips recipe which I thought was amazing, so I decided to make it for our friends at the cabin for NYE.

It was super easy and takes about 20 minutes total!

First, cut flour tortillas into wedges...brush on some butter and dust with some a cinnamon- white sugar mixture. Bake for 10 minutes or less at 350 degrees.

Next, dice up the fruit in tiny pieces for a nice mixture. I altered it from my mother-in-law's recipe - based on my grocery store availability. I combined one golden delicious apple, blackberries, raspeberries, and strawberries. Complete the fruit with two tbsp of brown sugar to help marinate the salsa and bring out the juices and flavors.

Serve warm chips with fresh salsa and enjoy!