A Boy and His Mom

He knows.

Autumn has Fallen

and it's time for a new centerpiece.

My mom made this lovely green velvet table runner for me for my birthday. It's the kind of color that makes me want to paint the walls. I immediately matched it to our green tea light holders and when DG brought home these colorful gourds from the grocery store, I turned into Martha Stewart's less talented step sister and created a display on top of a cake platter that we got as a wedding gift.

Now the real question is, will I have the energy to decorate for Christmas when the time comes?

The IPod Onesy

When Joy and Mark were here, they brought a little gift for Baby G. It is so cleverly appropriate for us. DG is already talking about when the baby will receive her first nano, or shuffle, or ear implant or whatever Apple's next technology will be.

Peanut Butter and Jelly French Toast

Here's another example of something that I would never make, if I were not pregnant.

This recipe came to me during a midnight snacking frenzy on Friday. I had gone 6 hours without eating and I needed a quick snack for Baby G before going to bed. So I took a small slice of bread from a leftover baguette and put a teaspoon of peanut butter on it to tide me over. As I was standing in the kitchen, by myself, guiltily eating the bread, I knew what I was making for breakfast in the morning.

Peanut Butter and Jelly French Toast

Ingredients
1/2 french baguette
Organic Peanut Butter
Bonne Maman Strawberry Preserves
4 eggs
3/4C skim milk
1TBL sugar
1tsp. vanilla
1tsp. cinnamon
dash of salt together
1-2 TBL each butter and vegetable oil

Slice the baquette in the morning and make 3-4 peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Mix together the rest of the ingredients. Let each sandwich soak in the egg mixture for a couple of minutes on each side. Cook up on the stove in a combination of butter and vegetable oil until golden brown.



Serve with real maple syrup, NOT Mrs. Butterworths. Shame on your for even thinking of it.

Out on the Town

DG and I have headed out on the town for a nice dinner twice in the past seven days. Each time, our dinner companions took a picture of us. Both are remarkably similar. Ok, quick, in 10 seconds, what's the same but different?




1) We are in a restaurant booth (more comfortable for sweaty bellies sticking to legs)
2) I am on the outside (easy access to bathroom)
3) I am in the same outfit (crap)
4) DG shaved his flavor saver.

Canned Meat - A Review

DG and I met Erin and Michael for dinner this week before attending opening night of Spamalot. On her blog, Erin gives a great review of the restaurant we went to (gag) and the show as well. You'll also find that I have copied all of Erin's pics. Thanks Erin!



When I was a band geek and Dungeons and Dragons player in high school, I hung out with other geeks who LOVED Monty Python. Through these cute tuba players and level 5 wizards with 12 sided dice, I learned to appreciate the humor of movies such as The Holy Grail. Twenty years later, and the material, with a modern twist is still enjoyable. I knew every skit from Spamalot. The picture above is the Knights Who Say Ni! If you are a fan, The I'm Not Dead Yet skit was my favorite scene from this musical.

I can see the end of my belly button.

What used to be a cavernous hole, now has an end in site. Right now, it is the perfect size for an ear bud. We have started to play Baby G music from the Ipod through my belly button. DG only wants to play Mozart for her. I've slipped in some John Coltrane, but would really just like to sneak in Tool. I mean, she might as well get used to it now.

Maternity clothes, here I come!

About two weeks ago, I finally made it through the 10 cases of maternity clothes that I have been lucky enough to receive. I had fun modeling some of the prized pieces for DG. The rejects however, are enough to fill the entire trunk and back seat of my car. Ok, I have a Honda, but still. This little number, for example kills me. I'm not sure where this dress came from, or what decade it was worn. Beyond the style (gag), the color (super gag), and the material, let's look at the size. Maybe I'm fooling myself, but I don't care how pregnant I am, I will NEVER fit into this dress.

I've really only been wearing maternity tank tops and have just a week ago purchased my first 2 pairs of maternity pants. Not an easy task as Baby G doesn't like being constricted by anything. This worries me a bit as we begin to move into the fall. With the change in weather, I can't wear sun dresses for much longer. Though my new issue with the sun dress is that when it is warm, my belly sticks to my legs. EW.

Fun Week-end

You may remember Joy and Mark from a year ago when we went to their wedding on Monhegan Island in Maine. You may also remember Joy as MBFITW3, or from here, or here and here. They flew in on Friday for the week-end.

Our week-end started when we took the lightrail downtown to meet DG and get a tour of his office building. After dinner, our beautiful night ended with eating Spring Fling (our wedding cake) on the back patio late in the evening.



Saturday, we got up early and headed up to the mountains for a beautiful hike. DG posted the best shots here. After the hike, we grabbed sandwiches in Dillion and had a picnic on the lake there. Gorgeous. It's one of my favorite things to do.

The Guests are Coming, The Guests are Coming!

Floors vacuumed - check
Toilets scrubbed - check
House dusted - check
Dishes washed - check
Snacks in the fridge - check
Ingredients for Pumpkin Pancakes - check

Joy and Mark are flying in this afternoon for a week-end visit. DG and I are so excited. Joy has seen Denver many times before, but Mark was only here for roughly 24 hours for our wedding. So we want to give him the proper tour. Tonight, we're going downtown! Tomorrow, the mountains.

Oh and I've promised to give Joy her brown socks back.

The Drooler

Gibson has a new charming trait. Since we have moved into our new home, we have been trying to act more like 'leader of the pack' with the dogs. You know, let them know who rules the roost. One behavior we changed is that we do not feed them as soon as we wake up in the morning. The end result being that they no longer wake us up at 5am to feed them.

Also, when we feed them, we make them sit and wait outside the kitchen for 1-5 minutes after their food bowls have been put on the floor. Tica just sits eagerly wagging her tail until she is given the ok. Gibson on the other hand stares with such concentration at his food bowl that he begins to drool all over the floor. DG finally got it on video the other day and posted to his blog. It makes me laugh to tears. Try to ignore me prattling on in the back ground about dinner.

Gratuitous Dog Shots

It all began quite cozy and cuddly.


And slowly morphed into this. I love the leg hanging out of the bed.

The 2 Generation Baby Blanket

One of the baby blankets that my mother gave to me is made of crochet squares, half made by my Nana, half by my mom. My Nana was an amazing seamstress and crocheted blankets for the elderly to the very end. As the story is told, my mother arrived in Texas to say good-bye to her mother (my Nana) on a Tuesday. Nana passed away 3 days later. But when she arrived, Nana was crocheting squares to make a blanket and she asked my mother to finish them for her. My mother agreed and took all the squares and yarn home with her.

Years later, my mother has finished the rest of the squares, put them together, and made a baby blanket for me. *sniff* Could it bee any more touching?

Handmade with Love by Nana

Since before conception, my mother has been working on gifts for her first grandchild. When I was visiting last week, I received two blankets, a sweater and two sleepwear outfits. All handmade! This sweater might possibly be the cutest piece of clothing I have ever seen. I want to curl up in it right now. Isn't she amazing? The color is a bit washed out in the picture, but it is a beautiful green. The tags in each item say "Handmade with Love by Nana". It's so sweetly precious it just makes me want to....excuse me I have to compose myself. Go on, read ahead without me.


And how about this little snuggle fest? The snowflakes are for DG and mom made a pink fleece one as well. I can see Baby G going to sleep in this at least one night a week before she spits up on it and I have to wash it.

You Know You're Pregnant When...

it's 9:00 p.m. on a Saturday evening and on your way home from registering at Babies R Us, your husband crosses 4 lanes of traffic on the highway to exit after seeing an IHOP. We were delighted to learn that it is Pumpkin Pancake season.

Changing Table - CHECK!

I found this changing table on craigslist.org last night and immediately wrote in to see if it was still available. We had a bit of a drive, but score, we got it for $40.

Now I just need to find some decorative baskets to hold diapers and such underneath.

I love bargains.

Campbell's Bakery

I thought that when I moved out of my parent's house years ago, that I had taken all of my belongings. In addition to my hopeless chest, and hand-me-down furniture, all of my memories were packed up in bins, and moved out to Colorado. However, every time my parents came to visit, they brought more of my things. Then, 2 years ago, when my parents were getting ready to move back to Connecticut, I was instructed to go through the attic one more time to see if there was anything that was mine. I found a closet of 80's clothes (score!) and my grandmother's china, which I had inherited. Again, I took this, thinking that it would be the last of it.

So as my dad was cleaning house this week-end, in addition to pulling out the stuffed animals, he also pulled out a vacuum packed bag of my old t-shirts. Totally random, but again very fun to look at. In particular, I enjoyed my Campbell's Bakery t-shirt from approximately 5th grade farm league baseball. I made a joke that after my pregnancy, I would lose weight and get to wear that t-shirt again. My parents scoffed at the idea. Of course I had to prove them wrong by showing them that the tshirt fit just fine now. It's my new materinity wear.

Good-Bye Old Friends

As you may have read on my dad's blog, over the past 35 years, through 6 moves, my mother had saved my childhood stuffed animals for me. They even made it through the last move, when my dad hired the dumpster that sat outside their home, and was filled and emptied frequently. The baking sheets didn't even make it through that move.

But through whatever threats were made, the stuffed animals were moved again. This week-end, as my dad pulled them out of their vacuum sealed packaging, he begged me to take them off of his hands.

Even though they wouldn't fit in my suit case, I decided that these toys needed to go. Though still fun to look at, they smelled like they were full of toxic mold. My skin itched from them being in the same vicinity as me. I don't even think our dogs would see fit to tear their little heads of. A funeral was definitely in order. We talked briefly about each animal and their original names, Bunny, Monkey, Turtle, Squirrel and Wormy. I'm pretty sure my mother named them all. After all, such the bright, talented, cute, genius of a kid that I was, I could surely have come up with something better than Bunny, like Ethel, Hoppy, or even Peter.

Now whenever I feel the need to be nostalgic, I can watch the funeral video, which will be available for the rest of our lives on this thing called the internet.

Life is Good

I just got back from spending an amazing week with my parents. I was not at all ready to leave. *sniff* In case you missed me while I was gone, you can check out my dad's blog here. He posted a picture and video of me saying good-bye to my childhood stuffed animals.