It’s hard to believe that E is already three months old. I have had a great time staying home with him. This is actually my last week of maternity leave and it makes me sad to think that it is coming to an end. I am going to hold him as much as I can this week

Here are his three-month pictures next to the bear:

Here I was trying to get a picture of his shirt:

It says “don’t wake me, I’ll wake you” – so true!

Some new things he started doing this month:

• Talking more and more. I am starting to hear him use front sounds like “dew” and back sounds like “goo”. Joey doesn’t believe that he is saying “dew” and I can’t seem to get E to do it on command yet (haha)
• Smiling at us when we talk to him
• Trying to laugh
• Interacting more with toys. It’s fun to watch him look at something and try to get it. He’s also starting to grab onto things and hold them for longer periods of time.

Here is our most recent family picture:

Yesterday a package came for Joey and I called to let him know it came. I asked him what was in it and he told me to open it and this is what I found:

I was shocked. He then told me that he pre-ordered the book a month or so ago. What a nice surprise.

Many people who know me, know that I love to cook and try new recipes. Since being home on maternity leave I have done a lot more baking. I have found that I enjoy baking muffins. They don’t all come out the same size (which is probably the number one reason I don’t like to bake – I don’t have the patience or skill to have nice looking baked goods) but they all have been pretty tasty.

Recently I tried a new cookie recipe (Apple Cookies with Caramel) and I didn’t want to make 3 dozen like the recipe called for (again, because I don’t have the patience – cookies are the worst) so I cut the ingredients in half. While I was putting the cookies on the cookie sheet I thought to myself “these look really runny” . Then I started thinking about why they would be runny and realized I used 2 eggs instead of 1. Opps. I don’t know how I messed that up. Anyway. The cookies came out looking horrible but they were (very) moist and edible. In retrospect, I should have just poured the batter into an 8X8 pan and called them Apple Bars.

Well, tonight Joey was nice enough to sit with E while I attempted to make another new recipe, Ricotta Gnocchi, a recipe I saw on “Cook Like an Iron Chef with Michael Symon” .

Here is a picture of the gnocchi I made from scratch:

and the finished product (swimming in butter – how could it not be good?):

Well, I tried a bite, like every good chef does before serving their food, and learned that I am not even close to Iron Chef material. It tasted awful! I must have used too much lemon zest or got some pith (the white stuff under the peel) in the dish. The gnocchi was bitter! Yuck.

Joey didn’t believe me, so he tasted it and he agreed. Then he asked me how we could fix it.

I was heart broken. I had no idea how to fix it. I ruined dinner and wasted money. Good thing Little Caesars is close (and cheap) so I asked Joey if he wouldn’t mind getting us a pizza. He was gone longer than I thought he would be and this is what he came home with:

The card reads:

Sweetheart – I love how hard you work to make us delicious food. It’s okay to get it wrong once in a while. Hope these cheer you up.

I got tears in my eyes. What a great (and understanding) husband I have.

Do I dare attempt gnocchi again?

Last November I came home one day and found this in my front yard:

Totally unexpected. When I called the HOA they said I should have known that they were putting in a secondary water line (irrigation water). Yeah. That was my first thought. Anyway. Little did I know (and they probably didn’t know either) that a almost a year later they would still be working on the secondary water line.

Here are pictures of everything they have added to our yard.

A cover for the hole they made last November:

I am not exactly sure what the white thing is sticking up out of the lawn. I am hoping that it will be covered or hidden somehow.

A sink hole:

Not a planned addition, of course, but something that needs to be fixed now. My dad put the wood in the hole so that someone wouldn’t trip and get hurt.

Valves of some sort (I’m guessing):

and finally this thing:

Probably the best addition, wouldn’t you say?

I’ve talked to the HOA about how bad my yard looks and they don’t seem to understand or care(?). I did, however, have one of the board members come and look at the sink hole (a month ago) and she said “yeah, that will need be to fixed”. The hole is still there.

My whole yard needs to be redone. The ground is uneven and there are dead spots everywhere. I told Joey that we will probably have to sell this place when there is snow on the ground.

Next year I am running to be a board member on our HOA! I’ll whip them into shape (or at least not have to pay them every month!).

Today E and I went shopping with Aunt Christene in Park City. E did fairly well and I was happy to have the extra help. Thanks Christene! I hope you won’t say no next time we invite you shopping.

I found this really cute hat on sale at Old Navy and thought I would try it on E. He wasn’t too happy when I first put it on him

but then he changed his mind and Aunt Christene was nice enough to buy it for him

E had his first cold this past week. It was so sad to watch him struggle to breathe but he was a pretty happy baby for the most part. The sad part was we all shared his cold

In other news, E is talking more and smiling at us when we talk to him. He also enjoys reading books. It’s fun to watch his face light up when we look at books. Here he is reading a book with daddy:

The other day E was sitting on daddy’s legs and smiling. Here is my attempt to get it on camera:

and finally, some cute shoes (the picture is kind of blurry because he wouldn’t keep his feet still):

The other day Joey was putting E down for a nap and I heard him say “do you feel better now?” and this is what I found:

Opps! I also learned that if your husband doesn’t wipe the spit-up off his shirt (before throwing it in laundry), it will stain.

Here’s a picture of E’s “bear” bottom:

Here he is with Opa:

Opa tries to teach him to say “Opa” like you see in this picture:

We’ll see how soon he says that. It better not be before he says “mama”!

Here he is with Aunt Christene:

Christene pointed out that this is only the second picture I have of them together and then I realized I need to take pictures of E with people. Imagine that. So on Tuesday when we went to our “play date” I remembered my camera. Here’s a picture of E with Hannah:

His shirt says “Born in 2010

Here is E in his cute outfit that says “Mommy’s Snugglesaurus”. He wasn’t too thrilled to have his picture taken as you can see.

Then I got this picture:

Later that day (after he had his nap), I put him in his highchair to try it out. He looks so big sitting in it