Faux-hawk Fun

Happy Earth Day

"We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children." - Native American Proverb
Look for ways to reduce your carbon footprint, today!

She has something in her pocket.

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8 Months

So, our little linebacker turned 8 months yesterday!
Yeah, you heard me right, 8 months! WOW!

Lots of changes going on over here. Big boy changes.

If you can believe it, we've graduated to size 4 diapers. Gasp!
I buy diapers by the box, and I knew we couldn't make it through another month in size 3. So, I bought a box of size 4 and they fit him so much better. Ava never wore size 5, but I can assure you, her brother will. =)

Lots of exploring going on. Creeping along, rolling around, pushing off. I see determination in his eyes. And, don't even try to take the remote control or telephone away from him!

As you know, we've enjoyed the waving, swinging & clapping firsts.

I almost forgot...Dean has started having little conversations with us back and forth. Lots of things qualify. It may be a strong "ack" sound. Back and forth, back and forth. It could be a chuckle. Back and forth, back and forth. Whatever it is, it's highly amusing. I'll have to ramble up a video for ya soon.
We've also introduced the sippy cup. He's starting to catch on, but he is still a rookie. Big sissy is very eager to provide lots of help in this department.

Speaking of Ava, it is adorable to see their little relationship and bond continue to grow. He's always been crazy about her, but it seems like they somehow get closer everyday. It's sweet.

We took both kiddos to get their first "studio picture" together. It's a spring-ish photo. Next comes the full family photo...one of these days. If you can believe it, we've never had one before, even with just Ava and us. Stay tuned, that won't be till sometime this summer. So, that's it.
Our little D-man has two-thirds of a year under his little belt.
Happy 8 months!

Happy Birthday, Bridget!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!
And many more......
(pic taken on your bday, 4/16/04)

Little Waver

Chet has a ritual when he gets home from work.
It goes a little something like this:

he greets all of us,
hangs up his coat,
washes his hands,
picks up the little man,
signals big sissy...
and then they all head upstairs to change out of his "work clothes."

It's a nice break for me to fix dinner, or whatever. The usually linger up there for a little while, which is much appreciated by me and highly anticipated by the kiddos.

Anyway, on Monday night when Chet came home from work, things went a little differently...

As he was carrying the little guy away to head upstairs,
Dean started waving at me!

You know the wave. That really cute baby wave where they make a tight fist and then open their fingers up really wide. Over and over. So cute! He was waving bye-bye to his Mama!

Of course, we all chimed in, and he just kept right on. First time, captured by the whole family, what could be better!

I have to likely attribute this new learned behavior to Nana. She is forever trying to teach little babies to wave and we were just with her on Easter Sunday. So, kudos, Nana, your lesson paid off!

Dean is a little waver now, and it really is adorable!
Funny how these little baby gestures can melt your heart...

Papaw

THIS ONE'S FOR YOU, PAPAW!

Happy Easter!

HOPE EVERYONE HAD A VERY HAPPY EASTER!

Guess who loves to swing?

DEAN DOES!

Happy Bday, Uncle Jason!

We hope you have a wonderful bday!! Miss you bunches!
Love, The G Family xoxoxo

4 Year Update

Ava had her 4 year check-up today. Everything went great.
It's official, she's really growing up on us!

I don't know why, but once again, I was surprised by how tall she is!
She certainly doesn't take after her Mama in that department!

Height: 3ft. 6in. - 90th percentile
Weight: 35lbs. - 50th percentile

(Chet thinks Ava looks like him in this picture...so I thought I would post it.)

Applause

A little video of Dean's first solo clapping!
This was literally the first time I'd ever seen him do this by himself.
I think he surprised himself! So cute!


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Park Days

Today was a perfect park day.

When I was tucking Ava in last night, I told her we were going to the park in the morning. She was all excited. Remember folks, springtime in the NE can deliver a mixed bag of weather, so not everyday is a park day. The forecast looked good, and we were ready.

Originally, the Moms group had a play date set up for 10am at the park, and we were going to join them. Only, plans changed at the last minute because it rained yesterday, and nobody likes riding on wet slides. Rats!

When I delivered the news to Ava, she was less than thrilled. There was a back-up play date scheduled for the library, but we were just there, so we decided to try our luck at the park anyway.

I’m so glad we did. We were having a great time with some new friends, when Miss Stacey, Camdyn & Declan joined us as well. We didn’t end up leaving till after 2pm. Long day when you get there around 10am. Ava had a great time and the weather was just lovely.


We finally made our way home when Miss Bridget called and wanted us to meet her and Maddie. Why not, right? Back out we went, just down the road this time. Ava and Maddie had a little park fun too.


After a long winter, thank goodness for nice park days.

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For the Love of Beans

If you know me at all, you know that I have a deep love affair with mexican food. I'll admit that I crave it. Often. I truthfully can't seem to get enough of the stuff. I could eat it every day. Seriously.

You would laugh if I told you some of my salsa stories. When I was at college in California, my Mom would bring my favorite restaurant salsa from Texas with her on the plane. In large quantity. Seriously.

She even attempted mailing me frozen salsa once. Seriously.

To this day, when I go home to visit, my Mom has a large quantity of my fave salsa, front and center in the fridge. I eat it for breakfast when I'm there. Seriously.

I am forever trying salsa recipes, and to date, I have some pretty good ones. I will never stop making salsa & trying new recipes.

Anyway, this post isn't about salsa. It isn't about California "taco-shop" mexican food, which I absolutely adore. It isn't about Tex-Mex, which I love, love, love. It certainly isn't about my local, Upstate NY mexican food, although I can happily avow has come a long way.

This post is about beans. Refried beans, to be exact. I too, love them. I have tried making them as well, with some success. Problem is, all the recipes I've tried make a large batch. Why not half or quarter the recipe, you ask? Well, it's kinda a pain in the first place and making just a little would seem somewhat senseless to me.

So, most often I buy my beans in a tin can. However, this bothers me, as I am always trying to avoid the tin can as much as possible. I'm always on the lookout for refried beans in packaging other than a tin can.

Well folks, I had a happy little discovery at my local Co-op.

Dehydrated refried beans. Seriously!

Sound gross? Well, I'm happy to report that they are delicious! Not a tin can in sight! A little hot water, and voila! Yummy refried beans that I, and my family love! If you are a refried bean lover like I am, give 'em a try. You won't be sorry.

And, on a sidenote, anytime you have a delicious mexican food recipe, send it my way. Seriously!

Don't Be Fooled