a little Italian treat

We decided to pretend that it's not freezing out and after working on our Valentine cards, we headed off for an Italian treat....gelato. Today we went with the tiramisu. It definitely hit the spot, but we're still counting the days for our favorites to arrive, mango and pomegranate.

I cannot believe that it's already Wednesday, it feels like the week just started. In about 5 weeks we will find out if we are having a boy or a girl. Last time almost everyone we knew called on that day to find out and I didn't even expect anyone to remember. We will share this information again, but not the name. This drove everyone crazy last time, including us as we also received so many calls when someone thought they had it figured out. It's not that we don't want to share. It is fun to have a surprise (other than having a new person here), but it's also good not to hear everyone's opinion on the choice until after the fact. This time we are having a hard time and cannot decide on either name. I did feel the need to buy this and E was completely with me here. I barely looked at it and she was grabbing it from the shelf. We'll see, we may be exchanging it for a frog version, but I get the feeling that we'll be needing more pink around here.

cabin fever

This winter weather is getting old! I like the idea of snow and winter, but this is enough for me. My new suede (very stacked heel) oxfords have only left the house a few times due to the ice and snow. At least N felt bad enough for me to offer up Red Lobster ( he tries to avoid it). Sure we may have have been surrounded by others who came in sweat pants, but we had fun. The food was fantastic and so was the service. I had a feast of crab and lobster and I left nothing behind, except shells of course.

winter fun

Last week was not so positive for my family (my beloved grandfather passed) so we're trying to schedule some fun in order to move forward. I just made reservations here.... http://www.carnivalechicago.com/
and cannot wait to check it out.

Luckily E (usually) appreciates our not so family oriented restaurant choices. She became the focus of everyone around us at Blue Water Grill when she joyfully shared our lobster. We proved them wrong as I'm pretty sure they weren't exactly thrilled when they saw that our party of 3 included one under 3. The only real melt down was one time at Pierrot Gourmet, but luckily we were seated outside and her dad quickly whisked her away in the stroller while I finished my fondue in peace. Anyway, I feel like we'll become the pizza hut family once we have 2 to deal with so we're trying to pack in the fun places before time runs out. At least now we can take turns fielding the requests for whatever is in the bottom of the diaper bag while the other one cleans up the spill etc. Maybe we'll go back to organizing an early dinner for the tots and sneaking in our favorite take-outs w/drinks (lots of drinks) while they sleep soundly in their little beds. We did this a few days ago and forgot to destroy one small piece of the evidents. I had to deal with many questions about where the container came from, what was in it and how we got it here.

all girl

I am pretty girlie but not too flashy, I wear make-up and jewelry, but it's subtle. When I use lip gloss, it's just a quick swish/swirl, then I put it away. My daughter, however, has really picked up on all this stuff. From the time she was about 15 months old, she has been trying to wear my shoes and it just keeps progressing. Last week she finally convinced me to buy her a lip gloss of her own. She had been eying them for sometime and she chose a pink cotton candy Lip Smacker. She was literally giggling with happiness as we walked to the car.

We had more errands that day and she made her way through very slowly as we had to keep stopping for her to remove the cap and reapply about every 10 seconds. It has a very subtle scent yet I can always smell it in our house now.

Her 3 must haves before we leave the house: pink mermaid sea-shell phone, cotton candy lip smacker and the new pink sunglasses that she ended up with after spending about 5 minutes with her dad in a store.

The pink mermaid phone has proved to be a useful tool for venting. I was vacuuming and needed her to sit as she tends to sidle up and I almost bump into her. We had a disagreement about this and when I finished, I found her on the pink mermaid phone telling Aunt Brooke that I was mean. It cracked me up, but I tried not to let her know that I had heard any of this.

french fry buffet

Tonight I wanted to make a French fry buffet with seasoned fries, lattice and one other kind also with little chipotle chicken sandwiches. I guess it doesn't seem manly enough because when I ran it by N, his response was, "it's Friday night, you shouldn't cook".

Maybe he did really feel this way, but I have been slacking lately on dinner so he's probably ready for something decent. The French fries will have to wait. Maybe this menu would be appreciated more by my girlfriends with a viewing of something from my new Audrey Hepburn movie collection ( gift from Mom).

This kind of dinner choice may explain why I've gained 10lbs in my first trimester. Luckily I bought the Bella Band and still wear my regular jeans. It's not perfect, but has really saved me. I am not only leaving my jeans unbuttoned, but this last week completely unzipped. I'm not sure how much longer this abuse can go on. Monday morning will be a challenge as I have to dress appropriately for our class and be prepared to sit on the floor, jump up, lean over etc. The band has been known to slip and this kind of activity in tight pants could very well lead to a big split in the center. E is used to these incidents, but the other tots could be traumatized by the things that happen to me. My o.b Dr. has already seen a glimpse of this as my last visit from my first pregnancy resulted in just that, a split in my pants as I was trying to scoot back on the table for one last heart beat check. I did head back to work that day, but left my coat on.

regular clothes

Even though I'm 3 mos. pregnant, I still keep running into regular clothes that I have to have. I won't be able to wear them until at least 2009, but here are two of the latest.......

http://www.jcrew.com/catalog/product.jhtml?id=prod89705231





http://www.jcrew.com/catalog/product.jhtml?id=prod89422231

tea

I am now into my 12th week and still cannot stand the thought of coffee. That and no martinis or red wine has sent me into a tea frenzy. I have quite a stash anyway, but the Republic of Tea Blackberry Sage is my current favorite.

looking back at 2007

*took a break from music class, but started Spanish (and love it!), but miss music so we're doing both this year

*trips to Chicago while N went to class, with a little shopping and fantastic dining

















SushiSamba Rio





*E spent a few days with both grandparents while N and I went to Miami.





Loved the Cuban coffee!




*N graduated ( MBA, with honors and in the top 15% of class) from the University of Chicago! We're very proud of him even though to him it's, "not a big deal".


*attended a family wedding, where E was the flower girl


*E celebrated her 3rd birthday with pink cupcakes and a day of sledding!








*Everyone is very excited about the upcoming 4th member of our family, expected to arrive this Summer!


*We all spent the few days before Christmas with both families and saw absolutely everyone.