Abby's Debut

We had a girls night out at the Olive Garden to welcome baby Abby and congratulate mom, Jennica. All the way on the left is Megan holding Abby, then Shay, Anya, me, Jennica, Amy and Mandi with baby Lily hiding under her nursing drape.We essentially closed the place down. Most of us rarely meet our girlfriends outside of moms group so it was fun to gab without a zillion toddlers.

Jennica and Amy

Amy and Mandi (Lily hiding again)

Megan with Abby and Shay

Anya and me

The Nursing Gang: Jennica with Abby (April 20), Amy with Austin (May 24), Mandi with Lily (April 11)

All these little, little cuties may well inspire a baby fever!!!

THE BIG 3-0

Kyle turned 30 on Thursday the 22nd. I've been moaning about 35 forever and he says oh it's no big deal, but a couple nights before his birthday it finally hit him. 30 is old, officially adult, the "carefree" 20s are gone. Actually carefree was probably gone way back, but now the expectation is gone too, replaced by the expectation of fat and bald. So to celebrate the joyous event he got the day off and we went to Indiana Jones at the theater. Yesterday we headed to El Sombrero for the traditional birthday dinner with the Gutierrez clan. Reese was quite in awe of the birthday sombrero.

He couldn't quite get over it. Now that I think about it I don't think Dad shared his fried ice cream with the boy.

But Reese did try on the hat...he was not particularly hot for the idea at first.

Poppop distracted him long enough for him to get used to it.

He was a bit of a turd at the restaurant. In fact the other day we tried to go to Red Lobster, but we had to pay for our 2 sodas ($5.15!!!) and leave before we even ordered because Reese just screamed like a fool. AND I am not willing to be that family that everyone else in the place says "geez they need to take that beast home" about. So the days of easy restaurant dining may be passed for a bit.

Hot Saturday

We started the day with pancakes. Generally I put food on Reese's tray in increments, so less goes on the floor. The second round of pancake didn't get on his tray fast enough so he bent over and licked the tray (syrup was there)!! Of course by the time I got my camera from downstairs he wouldn't do it anymore. But you can see how pleased he was with his breakfast.He flatly refused to wear his glasses while playing.

Mommy and Daddy had a hard time getting going. We were still lazing on the couch when I realized I don't hear anything. He must be doing something bad. What did I find but my sweet boy "reading" Dr. Seuss in his bedroom.

After lunch we walked to Baskin & Robbins for some ice cream then came home for some art time. I found triangle shaped crayons so they won't roll on the floor and Reese tried them out for the first time today. Here is his masterpiece on the fridge:

He woke from a super late nap and was a total sweatball. He ate a bit but the kitchen was sweltering and he got super fussy, so Daddy gave Reese a bath while Mommy cooked dinner (foolishly in the oven) at 9:30 pm. he never wants to get out even after the water has been drained.

Now we are trying to get the boy in bed for the night. Yard work tomorrow!

Mommies Group Grows

Baby Matthew is a BIG BROTHER to Austin Charles. Reesie can't wait to meet his new playmate. I guess I forgot to tell you Charlie is a BIG SISTER to Abigail Hope. Abby was born April 20th and Reese has already played with her at the play town in the mall. He really wanted to pet her head.

catch up

so, what have we been up to.......well, as I've mentioned I moved my computer downstairs so I can't hop it on it continuously throughout the day. I used to get on for 5 minutes here and there while Reese played. I could just leave it open and come back to it later. Now we have to go downstairs together or I wait for him to nap. Also I keep forgetting to take photos so I keep thinking "oh I'll take a photo of thing x and then blog"...well clearly it hasn't been happening. SO....Saturday we barbecued at my parents house since Uncle Travis came home from college. Sunday we did yard work ...we were hot and yucky and tired so we went to Boston's Pizza in downtown Bremerton. Reese really liked it!Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday Daddy worked days for a training class. So he got home about 4:15pm everyday and we had the whole night to do stuff. We did laundry.

and played with the cool computer stuff.

Thursday was Daddy's 30th birthday. He's feeling very old. He got an accessory stand for his Bowflex and Reese helped him put it together.

He thought it was pretty great fun.

Wednesday we went to the Sylvan Library storytime. Reese squealed and laughed! He loved the Wheels on the Bus song. Then we went to visit with Matthew and his mom, Amy. Reese and Matthew played while the mommies caught up on life happenings. Matthew may have a baby brother as I write.
We used our economic stimulus money and father's day/mother's day, birthdays to get new laptops. Kyle got an HP with a blue cover and some swirly circle design. I got a Dell-this pink one with flowers on it. So we spent some time getting it set up. We actually had my computer friend come over and link up our wireless router with both our new laptops and the wireless printer and Kyle's old Laptop(we'll keep it upstairs for emergency look ups and recipe printing.) I'm packing up my old Dell desktop until Reese needs a computer.
We also saw Indiana Jones and the whatever crystal skull. I must say it was not my favorite of the series, but I did like it. Now we are anxiously awaiting Sex and the City:the movie. CAN"T WAIT!!!

email addresses

hi--changed computers and misunderstood the procedure to move my address book. Apparently comcast doesn't acknowledge any addresses I've added to the list in incredimail--which is basically all of them.
So, please email me at hbenza@comcast.net so I can save your address in my address book.

ps mommies group: amy is at harrison now--Baby Austin to arrive any time!!

a bit of homekeeping

Today's weather was great! Hot, but not sweltering. I feel confident there will be no more frost and the soil was definitely warm so I planted my veggies. This is our raised bed--that's the neighbor's garage and house in the background.

Here's a close up of the squash. We planted beefsteak tomatoes, jellybean tomatoes, squash, bell peppers, brussel sprouts, zucchini, carrots and green beans.

This is our "doomsday" food---dry beans in case we can't afford to drive to the grocery store or in case we can't afford to buy any of the food they may have for sale. haha!

We hung this shelf above the sink to hold my Bauer bowls that candy Gram gave me. We intended to hang 2 but it became a pain because one side was on a stud and the other wasn't. SO we will put art above it. Probably from the watercolor lady at Pike's Place Market.

We also hung shelves in the man room above the new computer set up. The computer is out of the second bedroom to get it ready to be a big boy room.

The boxes are because Kyle likes a bare desk and now we'll be sharing, so I need to hide my office supplies.This is our time as art wall---got this idea from a catalog we just got in the mail.
Reese really likes to play in the man room!

May 16 = 15 months old!

Reese is 15 months old and busier than ever. While putting his clothes away I noticed a missing knob...low and behold there it was in his hand. I thought oh he must've been working at this for months and suddenly it was loose and came off. Oh silly Mommy--he worked diligently on every single knob once Daddy screwed the loose one back on. Then he moved on to the door stop. This provides endless entertainment until he eventually pushes the door closed and then he is not pleased.

Hmmmmm...what other mischief can I rustle up?

Having some yummy yummy chicken! Trying hard to get greasy fingers on the camera lens!

This was a shockingly sweltering day, so we went for a stroll around the neighborhood. Not sure if he actually looked at any of the sights because the sun was abnormally bright for his vampire eyes.

UW High Risk Infant Clinic Followup

I need to charge the battery in my camera so no photos. Yesterday we went the the University of Washington High Risk Infant Clinic for Reese's 12 month corrected age appointment. My due date was the first week of May so from the moment of conception he is now as old as a full term 12 month old and hopefully should have developed as such.
We saw a developmental pediatrician who determined Reese's reflexes, muscle development and coordination were normal. He has not gained any weight since his mid-April appointment which concerned them. He was about -3% on the regular growth chart but he maintained a consistent RATE of growth (smooth arc on the graph) so the pediatrician was satisfied with his growth. Compared to other 29 weekers he was at about 25% now he is only 5%. But the point is he should not plateau, so a nutritionist will call us in the next few days with some suggestions to eliminate wasted calories like juice and get good high calorie choices like...?..we'll see what she has to say.
We also saw an audiologist. They test the function of the ear drum. And it is working as it should, so we do not need another hearing test unless we think something is amiss. We feel he hears just fine. He also ignores just fine.
We took a lunch break at 12:30 (we started at 10:45 am) where Reese sucked threw a straw for the first time. He sucked so much and Daddy wasn't expecting it that most of the liquid fell out of his mouth. Which was fine since it was Satan's juice a.k.a. Coca Cola.
Then we saw a pediatric psychologist who did a variety of games and play-like tests to determine he is at about an 11 month level which still falls within normal because there is a fairly large range of "normal" like walking can happen typically from 9-15 months and be "normal."
SO the results are that Reese is blissfully average....except he stopped gaining weight so we decided to check and see if Ben and Jerry's at Gig Harbor Uptown opened AND it was friends and family night: $1 cone, $1 milk shake. So we spent $2 on $8.95 worth of treats and Reese furiously practiced his new straw sucking skill and inhaled a good portion of Daddy's Phish Food shake.
I am charging the battery and will post photos in time for Reese's 15 month birthday tomorrow.

Meal Plan Monday

Happy Mother's Day! My mom invited us to El Sombrero so we didn't have the Pork Chops tonight. Kyle just informed me he really hopes we have that meatloaf from last week again soon. It's funny though because he said it like "gee I hope the kitchen fairie brings it for us" instead of we're the parents now and get to make the decisions so let's have meatloaf...hahaha.
MONDAY: hamburgers on the grill and salad
TUESDAY: baked ravioli from my mother's day cookbook, let me just give my 2 cents worth: love this cookbook! It's got a full page photo of every recipe--which I really like. It's laid out very nice, good index. JUST LOVE IT!!! and it's at Costco for cheap right now.
WEDNESDAY: UW cafeteria--Reese has his high risk infant clinic one year corrected age appointment with the developmental pediatrician, audiologist and child psychologist.
THURSDAY: chicken and pork risotto, broccoli
FRIDAY: leftovers
SATURDAY: pork chops, sweet potato, brussel sprouts
SUNDAY: meatloaf, betty crocker potatoes (i have a box about to expire that I want to use up), green beans

check out menu plan monday at organizing junkie for more ideas.

Afternoon at Mimi's

First we went to the mall to play in the playland area with John Paul, Matthew was with his Grandma so his mommy came alone to visit with us. Then Reese headed to Mimi's. Here Madison is anxiously standing by the lunch tray. Rewarded for her patience!!

Then Reese is off on an adventure.

Are you watching?

whew.....that's a lot of stairs

Movies, movies, glorious movies!!

I went to the kitchen for a nanosecond and returned to find that Reese opened the DVD cabinet and was digging through the movies. I ran downstairs to get my camera and by the time I came back I found practically a whole shelf of dvds on the floor. He's checking out the blurb on the back of The Iron Giant. Holding on to it just in case, but really must continue perusing.

Oh wait, the most awesome modern day western ever! Tombstone it is.

Actually he does not yet watch tv, though he enjoys the blip sound the tivo makes as we flip through the choices and fast forward. He always looks when he hears the sound. I put in the Jungle Book the other day. He liked when I sang the songs to him, but he really never looked at the screen. So for now he will continue to enjoy movies in the box.

P.S. speaking of movies, Kyle and I went to the new Galaxy Theater in Gig Harbor to see Iron Man and we sat in the 21+ theater...so lovely to watch a movie with all grownups!! I must grudgingly admit it was pretty awesome. Stay for the bonus scene after the credits.

Meal Plan Monday

I don't understand how we have so many leftovers. Last week I planned fewer meals to allow for the leftovers, but this week we still skipped the garlic quinoa salad (just wasn't in the mood), meatloaf, skewers. The weather has been so blecky that skewers seemed inappropriate. Instead of quinoa on Monday we had fish basted in A1 New Orleans Cajun steak sauce, with mashed potatoes and the jolly green giant's immunity boost veggie mix:
I intended my potatoes to be red potatoes whole but 2 were big and after I cut them in half they got kind of water logged so we had mashed with sour cream, but no gravy and it was quite yummy. The butternut Longaberger plate makes it look so pretty.
We're having last week's meatloaf on MONDAY but I think the Tyler's Ultimate looks a bit more involved that I was hoping for, so I scoured foodnetwork's other choices and I think I'll dabble a little in Tyler, Ellie, Emeril and Paula's choices to make my own concoction. Sweet potatoes and broccoli as the sides.
Tuesday: Ham casserole: cooked noodles with cooked mixed veggies (corn, peas, green beans, lima beans, carrots) and cubed ham steak mixed all together with cream of mushroom soup, sprinkled with bread crumbs baked at 350 for about 25 minutes.
Wednesday: Leftovers--my eye doctor appointment
Thursday: Teriyaki chicken with brown rice and peas.
Friday: homemade pizza
Saturday: quesadilla a la Kyle or sweet potato/black bean burritos--sounds gross, but it was in Rachel Ray mag as quesadilla. I find it easier to just zap my leftover potato and beans in the microwave and roll it in a tortilla for my meal while Kyle is at work and I must say it is surprisingly delicious!!!!
Sunday: pork chops, brussel sprouts, some kind of rice or noodle or potato thing. I'm not the least bit hungry now so nothing really grabs me as a particularly yummy accompaniment.

Check out some other meal time options at I'm an Organizing Junkie

MEATLOAF update: Kyle deemed it the best meatloaf ever. I used a pound of ground turkey and a pound of 95% lean ground beef, 1 can of diced tomatoes mostly drained, worchestershire sauce--a few good shakes at least a tablespoon, maybe even 2, some dry mustard about a teaspoon and a half, garlic and herb Mrs. Dash about a tablespoon, 1/2 cup italian bread crumbs, 1/2 cup bbq sauce, salt and pepper. baked 1 hour 15 minutes at 350. yum!! it was very moist and flavorful!

Everyone Else's Stuff is Fantastic

Reese seems to really enjoy everything that is not his own. Today he was quite taken with mommy's drink. Though the glass was too tall for him to get to the liquid.He was enthralled with the cat's food. He had no difficulty getting handfuls out to throw around the floor. Surprisingly he did not try to eat any.

Tara was experiencing more than mild distress that her food was compromised.

Reese REALLY likes the dishwasher and everything in it. He loves the keyboard, mouse and router. He likes the cable that connects my camera to the computer. He likes my nail files --- he thinks they are for sharpening his teeth. He has great fun with the drain cover in the basement floor. He likes the dryer and he LOVES to try to catch the steam from the stove top.
He plays with his toys too of course, it just doesn't seem quite as exciting.