Mitch’s Visit to the South

We had a great time when Doug’s cousin Mike visited Georgia for business a few weeks back.

When Doug and I were dating, the first time I met Mike, Tracy (Doug’s sister) and Doug kept calling him “Mitch”. When I called him by name and seriously referred to him as “Mitch”, everyone started laughing. So, “Mitch” it is. :-)

Before Mike came to Atlanta recently, he and Doug figured out that Mike’s training class was two buildings away from where Doug works. So they got to carpool to work together for four days. How crazy is that? Carpooling with your grown-up / out-of-state cousin for a week.

Mike even got to drop the kids off at day care with Doug on those days. I think he got a kick out of the babies in Liam’s class getting excited to see Liam when they arrived every morning. In their own baby language, the babies all expressed they were happy to see Liam, and vice-versa.

Uncle Mike, Doug, Liam and Ava before dropping the kids off at day care
























Ava having fun at Chuck E. Cheese (establishment codename: Charles E. Fromage)
















Uncle Mike and Liam - he even carried Liam while playing skeeball!
















Ava enjoying a ride on the horse at Chuck E. Cheese





















Everybody hop in!























Liam "gunning it" and trying to win some tickets (with a little help from Dad)...
















He is "all boy", isn't he? :-)

















Doug and Liam

Ava really seemed to enjoy having “Uncle Mike” around. He gave her a fun gift every night after he and Doug got home from work. Mike even pacified us by going to Chuck E. Cheese with us one night. (The one request Ava had while Mike was in town). What a sport Mike was! Liam seemed to enjoy Mike’s smiles and every hug. J Liam always seemed to spit-up on him…poor Mike!

After his time spent with us, Mike commented on just how much work kids can be. Not that Ava and Liam are bad kids by any stretch of the imagination, kids are just WORK! I’m sure he appreciated Bosley (his dog) that much more upon his return home to Pittsburgh.

Uncle Mike, the kids (and Doug and I) miss you already!

With love,
Shelly, Doug, Ava and Liam

Thanksgiving 2008

We had a nice, peaceful Thanksgiving at home this year. Instead of traveling to Michigan, we decided to stay put in Georgia so we can spend more time with family around Christmas.

I. HAVE. NEVER. MADE. A. TURKEY. IN. MY. LIFE. I admit it! So, I thought this was the perfect opportunity to cross that item off of my "bucket list". :-) With a little help from Martha Stewart, I brined, chopped, diced, peeled, whisked, basted, baked, boiled, rouxed, stirred and seasoned.



















The spread


















Making holiday dessert on Thursday morning

I went the ultra-traditional route this year. We served up a brined turkey filled (YES FILLED!) with stuffing, extra stuffing on the side, green bean casserole, mashed potatoes, gravy and a yummy salad. I made everything from scratch (short of growing and snapping the green beans myself!). We had a Marty Salad like they used to serve at the Family Buggy Restaurant in Rochester, MI. For dessert we had a Black Forest Trifle, completely avoiding a "caloric coma-inducing" pecan pie. Ava helped make (or should I say eat!) the dessert.

Not normally one to appreciate stuffing INSIDE the bird, I had to do it. Once. For tradition's sake. Check. I do think brining the turkey definitely made the difference in how nice it tasted. Next year, I think a Honeybaked turkey is the way to go, unless I find some shortcuts!

It was nice to fill my own home with the scents of a holiday meal this year, I must admit. :-)

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These are the recipes from this year's Thanksgiving, for posterity's sake:

-Marty's Salad
-Martha's Perfect Roast Turkey
http://www.marthastewart.com/recipe/marthas-perfect-roast-turkey?xsc=stf_MSLO-RECIPE
-Gravy
http://www.marthastewart.com/recipe/gravy?xsc=stf_MSLO-RECIPE
-Simple Stuffing
http://www.marthastewart.com/recipe/simple-stuffing?xsc=stf_MSLO-RECIPE
-Mashed Potatoes topped with Parmesan Cheese
-Green Bean Casserole
http://www.campbellskitchen.com/recipedetail.aspx?recipeSource=search&recipeID=27303&page=0&index=1&SearchText=green+bean+casserole&advSearchParams=&LastIndex=false -Black Forest Trifle
*************************************************

On Friday we put up the tree and holiday decorations. I'm loving the cable channel that plays holiday music! It's nice to work from home and be cozied-up near a Christmas tree all day.

Ava and Daddy decorating tree

Hopefully I will be posting more blog entries soon to catch up. Ava has amazed us with the sweet prayers she now likes to say aloud at the dinner table. I guess when I say "let's pray", she thinks SHE should do it. Her sweet prayers put a smile on our faces. She prays for "the children" and names many friends and family members. I'm amazed at how grown-up her prayers sound! They're too cute.

Until next time...
Peace, love and leftovers,
Shelly, Doug, Ava and Liam

Liam is Four Months Old

Liam turned four months old on November 7th. He continues to be such a sweet, loving little guy! He now knows the meaning of the word “kisses”, and will give them freely when we ask for them. It’s hilarious…he grabs my face with both of his hands and lunges toward me as if he’s going to give me a head-butt…only to affix himself to my cheek with his mouth open for five minutes at a time. Slobbery Liam kisses. Some days if I haven’t held him too much, he requires his “kiss Mommy” time. Nothing could be better. :-)

















He is HUGE. He is in the 95th percentile for height, 95th for weight and 95th for head circumference. He weighs over 18 lbs and is 26 ½ inches long. He now eats cereal and within the past week is eating pureed baby food. BEFORE YOU SLAP MY HAND… I must admit that he seemed absolutely ready for it. The doctor said he could start with yellow and green vegetables. And he has caught onto the whole eating with a spoon thing VERY quickly! He is a bottomless pit. Until a few weeks ago, he stayed on some semblance of an eating and sleeping schedule. (He was sleeping soundly from 7:30 p.m. to 7:00 a.m. without waking-up at all). Within the past two weeks, he hasn’t been able to adjust to the time change well, and seems to be hungrier. (He now wakes up at 6:00 a.m.) I’m about ready to let him borrow the car… he’s that grown!

He really enjoys his activity seat and has become very good with dexterity in his hands. He grasps things and will reach for things. He likes to bang things on his high chair tray. He HATES having his mouth or face wiped. He really enjoys holding your finger / hand. He always has a ready smile, even if he just awoke. His smile could melt the biggest of icebergs, I think. He can sit up by himself if we surround him with a Boppy pillow. He LOVES to play “piano”, too.

I think he will be crawling very soon. He is super wiggly and VERY strong. He pulls his bootie up in the air and can push off with his feet, but he ends up going sideways instead of inching forward. He seems frustrated that he can’t move forward. The other day placed him on a blanket on the floor and left the room. When I came back (only a minute later) he was four feet away from where I put him. I still don’t know how he got there…

His “machine-gun rapid-fire” giggles are infectious to the core. When he and Ava both get going together, the sun shines in my soul. :-) I can’t imagine what will happen in the future when Liam is more mobile and he and Ava are in cahoots. Watch out world! :-)

When he looks at Ava, it’s adorable. He looks up at her with these googly and completely loving eyes and round smiling cheeks. Ava loves her little brother. She enjoys making him laugh and likes to hold, hug and kiss him. She does seem curious of the toys with which Liam is now able to play, thinking they’re the best thing going…She doesn't like to let the other kids in her day care near him, either. I think she thinks he is "her" baby, when around her classmates...

I think by the next “monthly” update on Liam, he will be sitting up completely on his own (without the assistance of the Boppy) and “scooting”. At Liam’s four month appointment, the doctor said he will most likely be walking before 9 months. Ava walked at just under 9 months (Christmas Day two years ago), so it will be interesting to see what Liam does.

I asked the doctor if Liam is “too big”. She assured me “No, he is completely fine and just a big, very strong boy.” I told her I was surprised that she thought Liam would walk so soon considering how big he is, and that I felt Ava could walk early and do things earlier because she was tinier. The doctor told me that, “although Liam has mass, he definitely has the strength behind it to move the mass…” I got a chuckle out of that, questioning how many people have heard the term “mass” when referring to a four-month old.

He continues to light up our lives and world. Happy four month birthday, little pumpkin!

All our love,
Mommy, Daddy and big sissy Ava :-)

corn maze pictures

Uncle Shuck's Corn Maze

I am SO FAR behind on posting blog entries, it's not even funny! With the world of Facebook and so many pictures I could post, it's overwhelming. I do want to be sure to document all I can from Ava and Liam's "happenings", though.

We went to Uncle Shuck's corn maze with the Baillairges last Saturday. The kids (Ava, Alana and Liam) all did very well in the car on the way there and back. Melissa is pregnant with Baillairge baby #2, due in mid-February. She seemed unfazed by the pregnancy and did so well traipsing around a corn maze! :-)

We first went through the kid's corn maze, which was fun. We then ate lunch and entered into the Republican side of the corn maze, as the staffers told us the Republican side was 2 miles (versus the Democrat side, which was 2.6 miles). We took Liam's jog stroller, which was definitely a good call, considering the bumps along the maze. He actually ended-up falling asleep in the maze. It was such nice weather, Ava took her sweater off and ran around in a tank top and jeans (on November 1st, Michiganders!).

I don't believe any of us had been to a corn maze previously. It definitely surpassed my expectations. We had a map that we hole-punched at each of six stations along the maze's paths. The girls seemed to have fun running through the maze together, giggling all the while.

The Baillairges were nice enough to share their pictures with us, along with the video they took. I will be sure to post our pictures later, as well.

Peace, love and awww shucks!
Shelly, Doug, Ava and Liam

Fall in Marietta, Georgia

Trick or Treating

The Great Pumpkin
















Ava seemed to have a great time trick-or-treating this year. We met the neighbor kids in our cul-de-sac when it got dark and ventured out for tricks-or-treats. Before that, we took pictures on our front steps. Our neighbors' little girl - Olivia - was a sweet dinosaur. I don't think I got a picture of Matthew, who went as a baseball catcher. After we had gone to some houses, our friends the Hoffmans came over with their son Mekhi, who finished the rounds with us. Liam went for the first half or so (in the jog stroller) and then got a little jealous of Ava's candy (kidding, kidding...he was just tired), so I brought him home while Doug took Ava to the remaining houses. We had so much fun!

Liam looking like a French pumpkin...
















The princess and the pumpkin
















Pumpkins can roll downhill, so I had to keep an eye (and hand) on him. :-)
















Ava
















One happy pumpkin

Olivia, Ava's buddy from our neighborhood

Ava and Olivia. They must be conversing about which house has the greatest stash of candy. That, or who they're going to vote for in the upcoming election... :-)

Ava and Olivia... Olivia doesn't want to waste any more time... Let's go trick-or-treating!!!
















Ava and Olivia

Ava and her buddy, Mekhi Hoffman. (Ava is 9 months younger than Mekhi).

















































What a fun Halloween!

Peace, love and goblins,
Shelly, Doug, Cinderella and her stagecoach :-)