11 Months Old

Conor turned 11 months old today. Over the past couple of weeks, he has figured out how to walk and has started talking a bit. He loves to wave and say "bye bye." Some of his other favorites are "yeah", "dat" (what's that?), "Dada", and "Mama". He is quite impressed with walking and is determined to keep up with his big sister... much to her dismay (at times).

Conor is also loving eating "real people" food. His favorites seem to be French toast, bananas, oranges, yogurt, and green beans. OH - and goldfish crackers!

Pictures from Our San Diego Trip

Annika enjoying the in-flight entertainment


Conor on his first plane ride


Abby and Annika watering the plants


Anna making cookies


Quiet time


Playing at Del Mar beach with Auntie Suzanne

Annika and Suzanne dipping their toes in the ocean

Conor playing at Del Mar beach

Conor and Uncle Randy

Play Date

Last Sunday, I packed up the kids and we headed to U. Village to meet up with one of Annika's buddies, Collin, and his mom, Vicki, for a play date. We (the moms) decided it would be fun to take the kids to Paint the Town, which is a pottery painting shop.

I'm pretty sure the kids were excited about the painting but were MUCH more excited about seeing each other. Annika and Collin have been friends since they were in the infant room in Annika's former day care. Their birthdays are very close, which meant Annika and Collin would graduate care rooms together. Ever since Annika moved to Christ the King's pre-school last fall, they haven't seen much of each other, but still talk about one another quite a bit. So, Vicki and I decided it was time for a reunion. The kids picked up like no time had passed since they last saw each other. It was a wonderful day and we can't wait to do it again... hopefully soon.


Annika picked out a princess to paint (what a shocker ... NOT)

Collin and Annika having fun painting (Collin REALLY liked the bowl of water)

After painting was done, the kids had a great time burning off some energy in the covered play area at U. Village.

Annika and Collin holding hands as we walked to our lunch destination

What could be a better end to the day than chocolate ice cream??

Snow and San Diego Recap

So Seattle is supposed to get a big snow storm in the next 24 hours (or so). Anyone want to take bets regarding what will truly happen?

It is so hard to believe that just a week ago, the kids and I were barely home from our 4-day trip to San Diego (pictures coming soon). We had an absolutely marvelous time with the Frisches... except when Annika decided to spike a 102 fever - that wasn't exactly fun. Poor little girl spent the last day of our vacation in bed with her stuffed bunny watching movies on our portable DVD player.

Some highlights of our trip include:
1. Seeing my niece (Anna) in her school's production of Fiddler on the Roof. She was AMAZING! So proud of her.

2. Playing at Del Mar beach with Annika, Conor, and my sister (Suzanne). (See photo below)

3. Going to Starbucks with the whole crew. Good family time!!!

4. Teaching Anna how to make and decorate sugar cookies. (Bear, you did a great job! Please send me a picture of your final results!!)



OK - back to looking for Seattle's predicted snowflakes!

A few pictures of some recent baking projects

Fun with cookies and royal icing!


Going away cake (replica of firewall product) for former co-worker


Masquerade cake for the 2010 SIDS Foundation auction

Note: The masks are white chocolate

Lemon Bars

The recipe that I am asked for is for most often is for my lemon bars. So, here it is. Enjoy!!

Lemon Bars

1. Preheat oven to 350 F
2. Spray 9x13 pan with non-stick spray
3. In medium-size bowl, mix together: 1 c. melted butter, ½ c. powdered sugar, 2 c. flour
4. Press flour mixture into 9x13" pan and bake for 20 min.
5. In separate bowl, beat together 4 eggs, lemon juice and grated zest from 2 lemons
6. Add 2 c. sugar, heaping ¼ c. flour, ½ t. baking powder and mix well
7. Pour egg mixture over baked crust and bake 25 min
8. Cool and cut into squares.

Note: VERY good frozen!

Our Little Artist

Conor doing his artwork at day care

"Bye-bye"

Conor has been very busy learning all sorts of new skills lately. Last week, he decided to take his first steps ... and has declined to walk ever since. He has also been very busy learning how to talk. His official first word is "bye-bye" and he loves to say it. Not only is he saying "bye-bye" all of the time, he also waves at himself as he says it.

Conor is also figuring out the art of pointing. We like to play the "where is?" game with him. We ask him where someone is and he likes to point to them. He isn't batting 1000 yet, but is getting pretty darned good at it.

Annika turned 3 1/2 last Sunday. It is amazing to see how she is maturing and developing ... especially her speech skills. Almost daily, she spouts some words or phrases that we didn't know she knew. She's thriving at her preschool and we are very proud of how much she's learning.

Latest cute Annikaism: Yesterday, I was talking with her about our up-coming trip to San Diego and explained that Daddy would stay home so he could take care of our dogs. I told her that the dogs would be very hungry if Daddy wasn't home to feed them. Annika's reply was, "Yeah. They need their doggy cereal."

First Steps!

Yesterday, Conor proved that he is bound and determined to keep up with his speedy big sister. At day care, he took his first steps! He took two steps on two different occasions. Apparently, his day care teach was so excited that she started hooting and hollaring, which scared the heck out of Conor (whoops!). Last night, Eric and I coaxed Conor to repeat his amazing performance and were able to get him to walk 5-6 mini steps from Eric to me. It was a very exciting thing to see and a very strong reminder that Conor is growing like a weed!

Congratulations, little man! We're so proud of you!