Oh, what a party!

This past weekend we had a double birthday party for Mira and Amelia. Amelia turned one year old two weeks ago, and Mira's 4th birthday is on Memorial Day this year. We had our families over and it was a wonderful day! Thanks to everyone who came! It was so great to see you all. And the presents were too much. The girls enjoyed playing with them for a long time after everyone had left. Here are a few pics from the party. There are a lot!

Here's photos of the birthday girls!


Mira received an ESPN batting practice toy, and really loved playing with it!


Here's Amelia on one of her new toys. She'll have so much playing with them all this summer!

Here's Mira in her fairy dress, mailed all the way from Australia. Thanks, Kelly, Duey, Chesney, and Logan!


Grandma Martha and Grandpa Bob give all their grandchildren an Amish-made rocking chair for their first birthdays. Here's Amelia on hers:



The girls each had their own cake. Mira picked a Little Mermaid cake, her favorite character:


Uncle Jeff with Amelia and Nicholas:

We borrowed a bouncing castle from a neighbor to keep the kids entertained. They really loved it and were nice and tired by the end of the party. Thanks to the Branham family for the afternoon of fun you lent us! Amelia even tried it out and loved it!


Here's everyone enjoying the porch!


Amelia and Grandpa Randy:

Spending our days . . .

I just wanted to share a few more photos since I've been so bad about posting lately.

This is what happens when Mira has "quiet time" in her room, and I'm working downstairs. She took Amelia's duck tub and filled it with all it could hold, then topped it with an Easter bonnet!


Amelia enjoys a little time on the porch, discovering the flowers:


Mira enjoys a little time on the sidewalk with her chalk:


And our newest addition to the porch, Flowers the Duck:


Mira is excited, over what I don't know:


Big birthday party is on Sunday! All of our families will be there so we are looking forward to seeing everyone. Wish you could make it, Kelly and family!

And if anyone can tell me why our camera is suddenly giving most of our photos a magenta tint, I'd be delighted to know!

Nothing much.

It's been a quiet week on the homefront. Not much really going on. No new photos, no big news regarding the girls. We are having a double birthday party for the girls on Sunday, so that should be fun and provide some photos!

Here's a photo from today. Not real exciting, but shows the girls' personalities pretty well. Now I'm off to sit on my porch!
Michelle

More birthday photos

Here's a little more of how Amelia spent her first birthday:

Showing off her lullaby seahorse she got from Mira:


Enjoying a first taste of her birthday cupcake:


Sitting on the porch with Mira:


Having a "chat" with Grandpa Randy:

And just a cute photo of Mira:

Happy 1st Birthday, Amelia!

We want to wish a happy first birthday to our baby girl. Amelia, we can't believe the year has gone by so fast! What a wonderful baby you have grown into. It's a true joy to spend each day with you.

Here are a couple of photos from our celebration today. The official party is on May 18, but we couldn't let the day go without a few presents, a birthday crown, and a balloon!

Kisses from Amelia

This weekend Amelia started giving kisses. It's so cute! I'll say, "Kisses. Kisses." And she'll lean in with her mouth wide open, all slobbery and sweet.


Here's a photo of the girls from this week. Mira has been so helpful with Amelia lately, playing with her and wanting to hold her (only allowed to on the floor!). I don't think Mira remembers anymore what it was like before Amelia was born.


Look at those eyes! I'm hoping they stay blue. But Mira's were blue until she was 2 years old, then they turned hazel, so we'll have to see. Looks like Amelia will have blonde hair, though!


What a smile! Can you believe Amelia will be one year old on Tuesday? The year went by so fast, I don't know where the time went. Mira turns 4 years old in just a month. It's a busy May at the Cook household!


Chris and I celebrate our 7-year anniversary on Monday. We're going to sneak away for a romantic lunch since finding a babysitter is more trouble and expense than it's worth. We'll find a nice restaurant downtown and celebrate our love in 60 minutes or less!

Yeah. This looks real inviting.

I guess I won't spend this afternoon on my porch after all.

My favorite room in our house . . .

. . . is outside our house. Oh, I love my porch! I sit on it in the summer evenings when the street is quiet and just enjoy the breeze. With an Arnie Palmer on my side table and a great book or magazine, I can really enjoy the simple pleasures of life.


So, come on over. Take a walk up my sidewalk,


pull up a chair and sit with me. You are all invited.

Nearly done with the CranioCap!

Amelia had her 11-week appointment for her CranioCap today. The therapist thinks its done all it can do, so now we can phase out the cap by having Amelia wear it only overnight. No more daytime! I think that will be so nice for her since the weather will be getting warmer. She has her final appointment on May 9. See how excited she is?


Mira had her Kids in Motion class today. They brought out the parachute, which is always a bit hit with the kids. Other than that, a rainy day. Hope you are all well.

New recipe: Honey Pecan Pork Chops

I'm a big magazine reader. And I have this habit of tearing out any recipe that looks like it might be an interesting meal or dessert for my family or for any get-together, like my monthly Bunco night or one of my book clubs. So today I was looking in my cookbook cupboard and saw this huge pile of ripped out magazine pages and online recipes I had printed out. Obviously, once they left the magazine, the recipe never really made it as far as my oven or stovetop. I decided to put an end to that today. I'm now on a mission to cook or bake one new recipe a week in an effort to cut down on the clutter these pages have created. If you know me, you know I hate clutter.

I'm happy to say my first recipe was a huge hit and can now officially be entered in my cookbook. It was so good, I had to share it with you:

Honey Pecan Pork Chops
You need:
4 boneless pork chops, pounded thin
1/3 cup flour
salt and pepper to taste
2 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup chopped pecans

Mix together flour, salt and pepper. Dredge pork chops in mixture until completely covered.
Melt butter in a frying pan and add the pork chops. Brown on both sides, transfer to a plate.
Add the honey and pecans to the pan drippings. Stir well until heated through.
Pour mixture over the pork chops. Delicious!

No photos to post. We did take the kids to the park and even remembered to bring the camera, but the battery was dead. Bummer!
Michelle

Cold weekend

What a bummer weekend! Cold, windy, crappy. It was me and the girls, and we were pretty sick of the house by this afternoon. Mira did take the opportunity to go outside and play on the deck a little:



And here are a couple of cute photos from Easter of the girls with their Easter bonnets. In the first one, Mira looks a little over-excited, while Amelia just looks really annoyed.


Oh, how I wish this one wasn't blurry!

Hope you all had a great weekend. We are really looking forward to spring officially coming and staying! We'd better enjoy the slow pace of April because May is a crazy month for us: Our 7th wedding anniversary, Amelia's 1st birthday, Mother's Day, Mira's 4th birthday, Memorial Day. Tiring! June will be a welcome month!

True story.

The following events actually occurred as I have written them.

Chris: Mira, what do you want for dinner?
Mira: Broccoli. Just broccoli. Broccoli, please.
Chris: So, what else besides broccoli?
Mira: Nothing. Just broccoli.

Ever wonder how I do it? Well, 2 teaspoons olive oil and a little minced garlic into a saute pan. Add broccoli. Saute for 3-4 minutes. Add a little chicken broth to soften just a touch. Add a sprinkle of kosher salt. It's a recipe I serve at least twice a week. Also works great with sugar snap peas.

Now your kids will ask for broccoli too!

Random stuff

After a nice lazy weekend, I thought I'd post a few happenings.

I finally got a photo of Amelia's upper tooth. It's a good 1/2 way through, so she's trying more solid foods now.


We also got the go ahead to start Amelia on whole milk. Connie at her daycare tried it for the first time today . . . no go. Amelia was not at all thrilled with the change. Maybe it was the temperature. We're going to warm it more and see what she thinks, or we'll try some bottles of 1/2 milk, 1/2 formula and see what that does. Either way, she'll be on whole milk completely soon. Here she is showing her exitement!


Chris's dad came by yesterday to visit. He read books to the girls, which they love!


And here's a photo of our "hockey girls!" They both were very interested in the hockey stick Chris was taping.


I think Amelia has taken a strong interest in my stability ball. I've been exercising with one lately, so Amelia did a "move" with Mira's hippity-hop.


Hope you are all well!

2 kids + 2 ear infections = 4 crabby people

Uggh. BOTH Mira and Amelia have ear infections. Amelia was tugging on her ears the past couple days, and last night Mira woke up and said her ear hurt. I took them to the doctor this morning and, yup, both had ear infections. They are both on a 7-day course of antibiotics.

We used the money we were going to use for my sister Kelly's birthday present on copays and medicine instead. Sorry, Kelly! Maybe next year . . .

Two more teeth on the way!

It looks like Amelia has 2 more teeth on the way! Her two bottom teeth are starting to poke through. She's nearly 11 months old already, crawling like crazy, and pulls herself up to a standing position on furniture. It seems like her motor and physical skills are growing by leaps and bounds lately. She even signs "more" now when she eats.



And, for some reason, it suddenly seems like she "gets it." Do you know what I mean? She smiles at things she didn't used to smile at, like she's just now making the connection. It's a wonderful thing to see!

Hey, blue eyes!



Mira is doing great too! She's really loving all the things she's been learning in day care and always comes home with a new story or fact to share. She's discovered audio books and listens to "The Cat in the Hat" and "Green Eggs and Ham" before bed. Trust me, you haven't really heard "The Cat in the Hat" unless you've heard Kelsey Grammar read it to you. I found a great version on iTunes. It's worth the $2.95 I paid!