Ready for Spring?

I think Lola's trying to tell us something. She climbed right into her stroller this morning and let me buckle her up. Yes, baby--we can't wait to take you on walks around the neighborhood. We just have to wait a wee bit longer. Last March, we were swinging on the swings at the park. And wouldn't you know, TOMORROW IS MARCH!

She gets the best seat in the house.

Chicken Soup with Escarole and Beans

On the way to the grocery store this morning, John suggested I make soup this week for dinner. "Damn!", I thought. I suck at soup. Now, I consider myself to be a better-than-average cook. But soup and I just don't agree. I've tried twice to make "home made chicken soup" and it just hasn't turned out well for whatever reason. Well, I stumbled across this recipe on the back of a chicken broth box and according to my husband, I knocked it out of the park. I can honestly say it tasted just like the one my mother-in-law made while we visited in December. It was so good, I felt proud enough to run a bowl over to my Papa, who just got out of the hospital.

2 lb. boneless skinless chicken breasts
2 cartons (32 oz. each) chicken broth
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 cup chopped onion (1 medium)
1/2 cup diced carrot (1 medium)
1/2 cup diced celery (1 medium stalk)
1 cup crushed tomoatoes (from a 28-oz can)
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 dried bay leaf (I just sprinkled in some crushed)
1 cup uncooked pastina pasta
2 cups escarole (I added it to the bowl and then poured the hot soup in so it was just wilted enough)
1/3 cup shredded Parmesan cheese (again, just added a handful atop the bowl of soup)
***I added one can of white cannaneli beans--drained and rinsed.***

1. Place chicken in 12-inch skillet. Add 1 carton of the broth. Heat to boliing. Reduce heat; cover and simmer 20 mins. or until juice runs clear.

2. Meanwhile, in stockpot, heat oil over medium heat. Add onion, celery and carrot; cook 8-10 mins., stirring occasionaly, until veggies are tender.

3. Drain chicken, reserving broth; set chicken aside. Strain broth; add to veggies. Stir remaining carton of broth, tomatoes, salt, pepper and bay leaf into stockpot. Heat to boiling. Stir in pasta. Reduce heat, cover and simmer 15 minutes.

4. Shread chicken; add to soup. Serve and enjoy!!!

Chicken simmering--
Veggies cooking---
And the final result. Delicious!

My chef's assistant is never too far. Here she is, sampling the chicken.

Pretty White Shoes

Lola & I headed up to Northbrook today so Mommy could go shoe shopping--not the kind you may be thinking, though. We went for new ice skating boots. I've been wanting to get back on the ice for awhile, so we headed up to Rainbo Sports so I could get fitted, since I seem to have outgrown the last pair I bought 5 years ago. The fitting took almost an hour (it's a little involved to ensure the right fit) and Lola sat happy and content in her stroller the entire time watching. So to thank her for being so perfect, we went to the Kohl's Children's Museum and ran around there for an hour.

The best part of the new boots is that I get to keep my original blade. My dad bought these blades for me over 15 years ago and to this day, they're still one of the best the industry offers. My mom commented that I seem to want to get back into skating every time the Winter Olympics come on. She's right. It reminds me time and again how much I love that sport. I look forward to hitting the rink at 6 am on Saturday mornings again. Yes, I know I'm nuts.

Happy Lent

Well, it's Lent. If you asked me my favorite part about Lent, it'd be the Stations of the Cross on Good Friday. My second favorite. Fish Frys, of course!

Years ago, I used to hang with my Bragie & Papa alot! I loved being their third wheel. I had more fun with them then I did with my friends sometimes. I knew my time with them was limited and I cherished every moment of it. Often, we'd "Go for fish." with their good friends, John & Alice, at the VFW in New Lenox. Well, I quickly grew to love John & Alice and formed a friendship of my own with them. And then through our Pre-Cana, John did, too. Unfortunately, we don't get together with them enough, but tonight we did--at our favorite spot for Fish.

Mrs. Ficker (Alice) gave Lola two gifts--a little red Corvette (that she loved!) and an awesome new board book about Shapes (our favorite topic.)

80 years old. Almost 60 years married. 7 children. Countless Grand-children. And their first Great Grand-child on the way. To be this blessed...
Take this kid anywhere and she's a perfect angel--the entire meal.
A new favorite, french fries.
Hugs for John before we leave.
And a happy little monkey on the way home.

Seriously Simple Salad

We eat alot of salad at dinnertime in this house--so sometimes we get sick of lettuce. This is a great, healthy and, best of all, easy alternative on nights we've got a taste for something different:

1 can of garbanzo beans/chick peas, drained & rinsed
1/4 red onion, diced
2 Roma tomatoes, diced
balsamic vinaigrette dressing, to taste

And I love how a Tupperware bowl and a spatula will entertain a toddler long enough to get dinner somewhat started. Can't imagine that will last forever!

Ice Cream & Love

Enjoy the new videos of Lola--it's been awhile!

Video 1: Lola taking a taste of Daddy's ice cream. The look she gives him is priceless.
Video 2: Mommy & Lola practicing "I LOVE YOU". The silly thing with her tongue at the end of the clip is what she kept doing after we gave her tastes of the ice cream!

18 month stats....and ouch!

We just got home from Lola's 18 month physical--she's in perfect shape, despite a bad case of eczema. So, to rule out any food allergies, we had to get a blood test done, on top of a shot in the thigh. Double ouch!

She cried so much during the blood test my arm was soaked with tear drops by the time it was over. Thankfully I brought along a Bink, so she recovered almost immediately. She's good like that. Because she was such a trooper, she gets to keep the Bink as long as she wants for the rest of the day--which is special because now it's strictly for nap/bedtime (and that's made for some interesting car rides!)

She's 50% on the height, weight and head charts.
24 lbs. 2 oz
32 in.

Playdate with Preston

On Monday, my friend Tiffany and her adorable son Preston came over to play. We had so much fun coloring and sharing toys--and us Mommies enjoyed catching up and chatting the usually Mommy Chat. Tif is one of my dearest friends from high school--we were cheerleading buds and spent so much time together over the span of 4 years and have some great memories. It's so great that now, we get to experience this fun part of life together too, with our beautiful babies being only months apart--and still living in our hometown!

Tif captured all these great pictures of the kids--and this one might just be the best Lola smile EVER caught on camera.

Oh, she adored Preston--And this Mommy loves his mohawk!
They were very lovey to eachother :)
Preston knows what to do with Crayolas. Lola, however, has decided to experiment.
Aw, shucks.
There's nothing better than a Melissa & Doug chunky puzzle.
Preston braking it down on the Elmo Mic.
Taking a break to read.
And cuddles on the rocker before it was time for "bye-byes".

The Dog Whisperer

Super big CONGRATS go out to our sister Brittany, who landed her "dream" job today! She has been wanting to work at PETSMART's PetsHotel for quite sometime, but had to wait until she turned the big 1-8 to apply.

She was offered the job on the spot and it's really no surprise--she's been whelping puppies since she was 4, has been volunteering at P.A.W.S. for the past few years, has made several trips to Missouri to help out a friend on her Great Dane farm and never met a 4-legged friend she didn't LOVE. The sound of excitement in her voice is so genuine--we couldn't be happier for her!

A love of books.

Lola is so in to "reading" at the moment, that she will sit in her room for long stretches of time just thumbing through all her books. I was very hesitant to let her be somewhat unsupervised with the non-board books for fear she'd rip the pages right out, a la Ellie from "Up!"--thankfully, she hasn't even attempted it.

So here's our adorable girl, how you might find her on any given afternoon, hanging out in her room, surrounding herself with her favorite stories. Lucky for us Auntie Leah is a Kindergarten teacher and Mommy gets to order from her monthly Scholastic order! We already have a great collection started thanks to Auntie Leah's awesome gifts!

*Lola also added a new word to her vocabulary today: READ. Fitting :)*
Here she's looking at "Bubbles, Bubbles" so she'll make the "B" sound. For "Princess Pigtoria and the Pea", she'll make the "P" sound as she reads...
I LOVE this series "The Night Before..."
"Llama Llama, Mad at Mama" just might be the best book ever written. But be careful, your toddler may want you to read it to her over and over and over....again!

*L*O*V*E*

We hope everyone enjoyed the love they found in their mailbox from Lola this Valentine's Day! She's surrounded and showered with *L*O*V*E* from all her family and friends each and every day of the year and she loves you all very much! XOXO

Life with Lola is Sweeter than Sweet

"It's a girl...a little beauty, an angel, and I'm madly in love with her." -Henry Miller-

Sponge Rollers

I wish I could put into words the feeling of walking through the door every Tuesday & Thursday after work. I come home to the happiest of babies who no doubt had a fabulous day with her Grandmas and is over the moon to see her Mommy. It is a high like no other. It's at that exact moment that I realize I have the best of both worlds--days that I have her all to myself, and days that her Grandmothers have her all to themselves! (And Mommy can make a little extra $)!!!

Today was an extra fun day because I got an awesome surprise when I walked in the door--my toddler in sponge rollers! Now, you have to understand that as a child, I spent A LOT of time in sponge rollers so my mom could give my very straight hair a little curl. I couldn't believe my mom got her to sit still long enough to get them all in, but then again, that's part of her magic. I hope I can be as lucky, because as Lola's hair continues to grow, she will most likely spend the same amount of time as I did in these glorious little rollers.


How cute is that?!

Elmo--meet Lola.

Every year around Valentine's Day, Elmo comes to visit at Ed n Joe's Pizza in Tinley. Ed n Joe's is legendary--and has been around forever (Ronnie & I used to celebrate there after T-Ball games, so there ya go!)

Grandma found out when he was coming and wanted to take Lola, so of course we were very excited! It ended up being an interesting experience--while many kids tend to freak out the second they see the characters they love in real life, Lola lit up like the firecracker she is with sheer joy and excitement for her beloved. "HI ELMO! HI ELMO! ELMO! HIIIIIIIIIII!!!!!"

But when Elmo had to walk away and go visit the other tables, a Lola meltdown ensued...like I have never seen before. How dare any of the other children want time with Elmo?!

Coloring with Grandma before the red one arrives.
Elmo has arrived!
And here is Lola's amazing reaction.


WHAT?! Why is he leaving?!
Watching him from across the room.
She had the opportunity to give him two hugs. But when I had to pull him off of her, you'd think he was her mother!

With each go-around of the restaurant, the meltdowns lasted shorter and shorter, and she ended up eating a good dinner and a delicious cupcake (from the same bakery Leah & Phil are using for their wedding--excellent sweet treats!)

My Funny Valentine!

Is it April yet?

It's hard to believe that in less than 2 months, we'll be headed to Ireland for our second tour of the country. We'll be spending the majority of our trip on the West Coast...

We'll arrive in Dublin on Friday, April 2--from there we'll pick up our car and drive westward across the country to Doolin. We'll be staying at a quaint B&B that came highly recommended from one of John's class participants (her family owns it!) While in Doolin, we'll tour the Cliffs of Moher, visit the Aran Islands and, of course, attend Easter Sunday Mass. Doolin is the Irish Folk Music capital of the country so I'm sure we'll run across a great live session in a pub.

(View of sunset from Ramblers Rest, our Doolin B&B)

On Monday, we'll head a little north to the (what we hear) awesome city of Galway. We're staying at a townhouse-style hotel in the city centre, so it should make exploring all Galway has to offer quite simple.

(Eyre Square Townhouse)

After Galway, we'll head north again and settle in Westport for an evening. We found a great B&B with awesome reviews that we just booked. Our plan for Westport is to enjoy the town and climb Croagh Patrick.

After Westport, we'll head back east to Dublin, where we'll spend the weekend. We'll do the must-see sights, including St. James' Gate and Temple Bar (which is also famous for it's traditional Irish music!)...and attend Mass at St. Patrick's Cathedral. We flew in on a Sunday and out on a Sunday our last trip, so we didn't have the chance to attend Mass our first go around. It goes without saying that Ireland has some of the most amazing Churches in the world, so we're looking forward to that.
And while it's going to be difficult to be away from Lola that long, we know she'll be in the best of hands with ALL her Grandparents taking shifts and giving lots of love!