Easter Visitors

We had such a fun impromptu visit with Uncle Kenny, Auntie Cheryl, Jess & Kylie on Saturday night! They stopped over to drop off Lola's little Easter gift (always so thoughtful) and they stayed for a good hour and a half. We had a blast catching up and being entertained by Lola. She LOVES having people around here--especially new people. Mommy & Daddy get boring after awhile!

Here she is saying Hi to her cousins. I just LOVE this picture.
Her Easter basket was filled with some very fun Gymboree accessories--including this great pair of shades.
Lola insisted that everyone try them on--they were all great sports :)
I'm apologizing now to Uncle Ken for this one--I know he's going to get razzed at the shop for this. But I couldn't resist! We love you Uncle Kenny!
Isn't she something?
Lola had a blast decorating our living room carpet with the raffa.
Her addiction continues--this time it was Kylie's Ugg boots.

Cooking for Auntie Cheryl.

Thanks again for stopping by you guys--LOVE YOU!

Cousin Charlene

John's cousin Charlene has been doing research @ U of Chicago's DCAM for the past month, so when she called last week to see if we were free for lunch this weekend, we were so excited! I suggested Le Creperie on Clark St. and I was so glad she really enjoyed her crepe. I love nothing more than sharing this hidden jewel. John and I got our typical--chicken curry for him, fruits de mer for me--and Charlene got a mushroom & asparagus crepe. We brought Lola's lunch, but we didn't leave her out of the "French" experience--she had some fries...Ha!

Catching up with Charlene was awesome. It's a bummer to be family with someone like her and not get to see eachother whenever we want. We're hoping for a fun weekend in the city this summer, though!
Cousins!
Sweet smiles with Lola.
"Cousin Charlene, would you like some juice?"
(As I post, Lola is sitting on my lap, waving, saying "Hi Dada!" when she sees this picture!)
Purse snatcher.
Goodbye Kisses.

Cell Phone Pics

Just by chance, I figured out how to get pics off my phone this morning. I usually just text message them to Mom, but I'm glad I figured it out since I had some pretty cutes ones stored in there! These are OH SO RANDOM...

Practicing her super-starness in the aisles of Wal-Mart
Sleeping in Papa's car on the way home from a Baldwin Park shopping trip
First time @ Red Robin
First time @ Aloha Grill on Clark Street in the city

Palm Sunday

Before Mass this morning, we gave Lola her Easter basket since we'll be in Ireland next Sunday--just a little something, but Mommy had so much fun picking out a few things I knew she would enjoy. A new Mickey & Minnie plate, a Minnie shirt, some Crayolas for the bath and a bucket of cotton candy. Daddy decided to give Lola a little taste of the cotton candy at 7 am this morning--Daddies are so much more fun than Mommies that way! Hey, if you going to put a kid on a sugar high, might as well do it first thing, right? :)



We then headed to Church for the Palm Sunday Mass. Lola enjoyed waving her palm branch through the air--and made it through the 7 page Gospel reading without a hitch. And since it was nice, we stopped to say HI to Mary on the way out. Lola LOVES Mary--she picks up the statue we have of her off her dresser in the morning and says hello and gives her a kiss and a hug. So seeing Mary this size was very exciting. The way she says her name is so sweet--it sounds like "Mar-ree".

just because...

Play with Easter Eggs

Lola loves playing with her plastic Easter Eggs--which she insists on calling "balloons"--probably because they are round and colorful!


But sometimes--a phone call interrupts your fun and you've just got to take it. Usually, it's TiTi Lola is chatting with on the line.
"June is just around the corner Titi...I'll be there soon! Give everyone a kiss for me!"

Shoe Addict

She is so obsessed with shoes lately I'm starting to worry we might have a problem in the future! I picked up a cute pair of ballet flats at Old Navy last weekend and made the mistake of leaving them out--Lola quickly claimed them as her property.

And, of course, she had to let Baby wear them, too! I tell her it's my job to take care of her because she's my Baby and it's her job to take care of her dolly because she's her Baby--and she does it so well.

Chick Pea Curry

This recipe made me realize I don't cook with spices enough and I really, really should! It was so full of flavor and so easy to make. Thanks to my friend Natalie for passing it along.


INGREDIENTS:
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 large yellow onion, diced small
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon curry powder
1 cinnamon stick, 3 inches (I substituted this with 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon)
1 pinch of ground cloves
2 cans (15 ounces each) no-salt-added chickpeas, rinsed and drained
3 tablespoons ketchup
1 teaspoon course salt
1/4 teaspoon ground pepper
2 cups water
chopped cilantro and lemon wedges (optional), for serving

DIRECTIONS:

1. In a large straight-sided skillet, heat oil over medium0high. Add onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until dark brown around edges, about 6 minutes.
2. Add garlic, curry, cinnamon, and pinch of cloves and cook, stirring until fragrant, 30 seconds.
3. Add chickpeas, ketchup, 1 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon pepper, and 2 cups of water.
4. Bring to a boil; reduce to a simmer, cover, and cook 20 minutes.
   
5. Uncover and increase heat to medium0high; cook until sauce is slightly reduced, 5 minutes.
6. Serve topped with cilantro, with lemon wedges along side if desired.

two words

Lola is really starting to put her words together. This morning while I was changing her diaper, I asked her what color her jammies were. I told her they were "pink with stripes". She pointed to my shirt and said "Mama pink." Yes, the shirt Mommy was wearing this morning was pink, too.

Oh, the fun doesn't stop there. This weekend she pointed to her diaper and said "poo-poo". You bet when we went to go change her there was a surprise in her diaper for us! That's a big step closer to getting ready for the big P. T.

Food Drive

Over the past month, our little trio has been running a food drive to benefit Catholic Charities. Our reasoning for running the food drive was to earn a free Disney day. We’re headed to Florida in June and while we’re there, we’re going to take Lola to meet Mickey & Friends for the first time at Walt’s Magic Kingdom. The food drive was fun and easy to facilitate--we’re hoping to run another one again later in the year. Volunteering is so important and is a quality we hope to instill in Lola. This little Disney activity has reminded me just how fulfilling volunteering is. When we tell her about her first trip to Disney, we’re going to tell her just how we earned it--and that makes it even more special.

We put out a request to our family and friends for donations and the response was incredible. So many people donated to our efforts. Mom, Lola and I headed out to East Chicago, Indiana to drop it off this morning. When we dropped it off, the woman who runs the pantry estimated we were donating over 300 pounds of food!

So these pictures are for the many of you that donated--you know who you are!!! THANK YOU SO MUCH!


Yesterday, Mom & I went to Sam's to buy food with the money that had been donated--we were able to fill up the trunk of the car.
The back seat was filled with the bags of food that had been donated. Lola kept them company on the trip over.
And a few of Lola, of course. Could a post be complete without her?! I was putting the camera in my bag and asked her to say "cheese". She beamed and showed me all her pretty white teeth.

Prom 2010

Tonight is my BEAUTIFUL sister Brittany's "prom". It's actually P.A.W.S. annual fundraiser at the Orland Chateau. Her date is her good friend John and by the way she looks, there's no doubt she's going to have a fantastic evening. As usual, she lights up the room.

Nothing brings out the smiles like a trip to the park!

Sweet Baby Ayla

Yesterday, Lola and I headed into the city to spend the afternoon with our wedding photographer, Kristina Carter, and her sweet new family. Her beautiful daughter Ayla is just like her Mommy--sweet, kind, happy and very adventurous. She's only 9 months--and is walking!

Lola was so well behaved as Kristina and I chatted--and lit up when Ayla woke up from her nap, ready to play. The natural light was incredible in their condo/studio--I'm so jealous--so of course I had to snap of few of these two. We can't wait to play again this summer. No doubt Ayla will be running at that point!
Lola is so good at "nice" these days. We wondered if she'd every grasp the concept during her flailing-hands-to-the-face stage as a baby.
And the mommies--can you spot us both? :)

Corned Beef & Cabbage

Lola got to enjoy this year's corned beef & cabbage dinner that we made on Saturday. She liked it very much! I think I'm the only person not making this dish tonight--but we're still sticking with Irish fare (Shepard's Pie). I did pick up another Corned Beef though for tomorrow night's dinner. I love making it in the Crock Pot. And since tomorrow's my long day, you just can't beat coming home to dinner DONE!