Flour tortillas!

This morning Analese helped her Daddy make HOMEMADE flour tortillas! He found a recipe that does not contain lard or hydrogenated vegetable shortening. The fat in this tortilla is good 'ole EVOO! They were very delicious. I made yummy quesadillas for lunch, including a dessert quessadilla with butter, cinnamon and sugar! These tortillas taste so much better than any store bought ones. Analese's job was to take the dough ball and press it flat so that Lee could roll it out with the rolling pin. We are going to buy one of those neat tortilla press gadgets next.

Braided Analese's hair . . .

This morning while we were sitting on the couch watching her Cedarmont Kids, I decided to attempt to braid Analese's hair. It is not perfect by any stretch, but she likes it and I will keep practicing!

Christmas Cookies in May!

Analese always draws some inspiration from her monthly issue of Highlights High Five Magazine for preschoolers. This month there was a cute illustration of a raccoon dipping a cookie into a glass of milk accompanying a poem called Milk and Cookies. Analese informed me that she wishes to dip a cookie into some milk. So we did a sugar cookie baking project this morning. I only had red and green sprinkles, so they do look a bit like Christmas cookies. They do taste fabulous. Nothing wrong with a little Christmas in May, right? Here are some photos of our little baker at work:






Enjoying the fruits of her labor. Getting to experience milk and cookies:

Mariele fell asleep playing on her mat!

Notice the drool!

Swimming fun!

Analese and I were having a blast in the pool this afternoon! We would hold hands and jump into the deep end, then swim to the other side. Here are 2 short videos. Ignore my husband's phone conversation LOL!







Me and my girls!

Would have been an awesome date night . . .

if we had gone WITHOUT the kids! We went to The Melting Pot yesterday for a late Mother's Day dinner for me. I've been pretty excited about going. We got there and I was so impressed with the atmosphere of the restaurant. It was VERY quiet and intimate. The row of booths in which we were seated had only a wall on the other side and each booth was partitioned off from the next one. So really complete and total privacy! We had cheddar cheese fondue with vegetables, bread, and Granny Smith apples. The apples were my favorite in the fondue. We enjoyed wonderful salads. Then we ordered vegetarian entrees. We cooked the vegetables, tofu and raviolis in court bouilon broth. Dessert was dark chocolate fondue with oreo cookie crumbles mixed in. We dipped bananas and strawberries (my favorite). I also dipped the brownies. Lee declared dipping brownies in chocolate a little too chocolaty for him. Analese enjoyed the strawberries and the rice krispy treats. There was also a slice of cheesecake and some marshmallows. I left the marshmallows (not a fan) and could take or leave the cheesecake (I took it, just because I ran out of things to dip in the chocolate fondue LOL)! I think I would have liked a big plate of just fruit for dipping. Analese was NOT very well behaved and Mariele was fussy from her shots and being at the pediatrician's all afternoon (their schedule was all jacked up and we were there from 2:15-4:00 UGHH). Finally between the entree and dessert courses, Lee gave Analese his iPhone to watch sesame street podcasts. That settled her down (sadly, that is the only thing that would). Mariele finally relaxed and nursed so I was able to enjoy the dessert in relative peace and quiet. But honestly, I crave conversation with my husband even more than fondue. I kept imagining what it would be like to linger over the fondue and then to linger over the salad, entree and dessert and just talk and talk and enjoy each other's company. Instead, Lee had his hands full with Analese and I had my hands full with Mariele. On some yet undetermined date in 2010, we WILL have a date night. It will be when Mariele has weaned down to just a couple of feedings a day. In the meantime we are just trying to keep our heads above the water being good parents. We each know that this phase of life WILL pass. I'm glad that our marriage is strong enough to survive. Maybe we can go for a walk on the beach in September. Ahhh dreaming . . .

Mariele's 4 month check-up . . .

A little early. She went to the doc yesterday, but she does not turn 4 months until the 20th.

Her stats:

14 pounds 4 ounces (70%)

23.75 inches (25%)

Head: 16.25 inches (60%)

She got two shots, one in each leg :(

Still waiting to outgrow the GERD and the "goopy eye."