The Perfect Evening

I know I have not kept up with this blog recently. . . but this evening some things happened that filled me with so much joy that I just had to get my lazy self in gear to share.

Chris is with his "fwend" Taylor this evening, off to see The Hunger Games. I have enjoyed an evening playing with my boys, and some sweet things happened.

First, I was on the floor, holding Allen up while he played with his tool bench. James came right over and sat down, eager to entertain Allen. Out of the blue, without being prompted, James leaned over, hugged me tightly, and said, "I lue you, mommy." I held him right back and told him how much I loved him. He gave me a big kiss and then ran off to another toy.

What really touched my heart, though, was this evening as I was reading James his bedtime stories on my bed. Allen woke up (Chris and I usually lay him down to sleep while James is in his bath), and I went to go get him. I brought him back with me and sat back down next to James. I propped Allen up on my chest, and James scooted closer to me, reaching around to hug Allen. He kissed Allen and whispered, "I lue you." He then scooted away and snuggled in on my other side. We sat like that, Allen on my chest, James snuggled up on my left side, for the entire time I read bedtime stories. I just wanted to keep both my boys there forever. . . or at least the rest of the night!

I am just amazed as I watch James and see the little boy he is becoming. I am so thankful for his kind heart and how he shows love to me, Chris, Allen. I love to see his enthusiasm for and desire to make Allen happy-- to get him to stop crying, to get Allen to laugh. Allen already has a best friend and a great role model to look up to.

Day By Day

The Little Things

One of the main reasons I started blogging again was to remember all the little things that go on each day. Here are some:

On Tuesday evening, James and I were playing with his wooden alphabet blocks, building train tracks by lining the blocks up. We then took his wooden Thomas trains and let them travel on our tracks. They would fall off, though! (because what toddler can line up alphabet blocks in a straight line?) James took me by surprise when, once they fell off, he stopped, placed his finger on his cheek, and said, "Hmmm, let's think." He then tapped his finger to his cheek while he thought, then, once he had figured it out, he held his arm up and said, "I got idea!" I know this is something he picked up at daycare, and it is the coolest little thing.

My little problem solver at work! If you look carefully, you can see his tongue sticking out as he works. It's something both Chris and I do when we are concentrating, and it looks like James has picked it up as well!

Allen, recently, has begun to do something so precious whenever he drifts off to sleep. Chris and I will place a pacifier in his mouth, and Allen will reach up and grab our hands as we place the pacifier in his mouth. He will grip our hand or finger and pull it to him, holding it tightly and not letting go. It is so sweet and special, and Chris and I talked about it in the car today as a little thing that can so easily be forgotten. I want to make sure that doesn't happen! Even though I cannot convey the depth of emotions I feel when his little hand grabs and clings to mine, I can at least capture the special moment in a picture.

Our Family of FOUR!

On Saturday, we took our first family of four pictures. I wanted to share!

"I wowe you, mommy!"

James and I were sitting quietly at the table, munching on our typical, snacky, Sunday night dinner. He was playing with a cheerio, making it "run the bases" on his baseball placemat. I am sad to admit that I was wrapped up in a game of Words with Friends while munching on my cereal,but a simple phrase pulled me out of that game and left an imprint on my memory.

"I wowe you, mommy! I wowe you, mommy! I wowe you, mommy!"

To those of you who do not speak toddler, that is my sweet, sweet boy telling me he loves me. Unprompted. Out of the blue. Totally and completely precious.

I immediately looked up from my phone and looked right at his sweet face. "Oh, sweet boy, I love you, too!" I exclaimed back at him.

I constantly tell James that I love him, and sometimes he says it back. This is the very, very first time that he has randomly, out of the blue, said it to me without being prompted to say so. I can't wait to hear him say it again, or, as he would say, "aaaaahhgin!"

Brothers: My sweet boys!

Allen is stretched out on our living room rug, trying his hardest to turn himself over on his tummy, stretching his long body out. Chris is stretched out on the floor as well, and I scooted myself onto the floor to be a part of it all. James stood up, spying Allen's green blanket, and quickly exclaimed, "Allen blanket!"

James toddled over to grab the blanket draped on the arm of our sofa, and plopped it down on Allen. James then grabbed Allen's "pa pa" (pacifier), and he held it up, yelling, "I get it! Allen pa pa! Here go, Allen!" He then dropped the paci next to Allen.

I gathered James into a big hug and thanked him for being so sweet to his little brother. James looked at Allen and pointed and said, "Brother!"

I nodded, always excited that he makes that connection. James then pointed at himself and said possessively, "MY brother!" He quickly got down on his knees and proceeded to baby talk to Allen.

James loves his little brother, and I cherish every sweet moment James has with him.

A Pizza Worth Posting

I am blessed in many ways by my husband, and he demonstrated two of those tonight. First, he loves to cook... way more than me, so he is mostly in charge of our meals. 99% of the time I am incredibly thankful, and then there is the 1% where I feel a little shameful, like I am less of a wife for letting him prepare the meals... but that is always quickly forgotten as I devour his culinary creations. Another way he blesses me is by supporting me and encouraging me. I recently joined weight watchers in an effort to shed weight I have gained steadily since joining the real world back in 2007, and he is all about digging up recipes and meals that help me meet my points goal for the day. The one he made tonight is totally worth sharing.

I am a pizza addict. I eat it at least once a week. I blame a good portion of my weight gain on that fact. He made the most delicious home made pizza I have ever eaten, and I am bold enough to say that it gives Amici's a run for its money, but that is just my humble opinion. Here it is:

Ingredients:

Publix pre-made pizza dough from the refrigerated sections (though I am sure any dough would work!)

Publix pizza sauce (though I am sure, once again, that any reasonably healthy pizza sauce would suffice)

2 cups part skim shredded mozzarella cheese (an entire bag, pretty much)

Parmesan cheese

olive oil

garlic salt

Cornmeal

non stick cooking spray

Preparation:

*follow all directions on package for dough preparation*

preheat oven to 400 degrees

Once preheated, place cookie sheet in the oven for 5 minutes to warm it up

Pull cookie sheet back out

Spray sheet with nonstick cooking spray

Dust cornmeal on cookie sheet

Lay crust out on sheet

Glaze edges of crust with olive oil

Bake crust for about 3 minutes

Pull crust back out

Prepare your pizza with sauce and cheese (feel free to add any of your own ingredients here!)

Place back in oven for 5 more minutes

Pull back out; glaze crust with olive oil again and sprinkle garlic salt and Parmesan cheese around crust

Let pizza finish baking for 13-18 minutes (whatever the dough directions say!)

Eat and enjoy (we sure did!)

When I entered it on my weight watchers recipe builder, I could not believe my eyes! When split into 8 servings, each slice is 3 points each; 2 slices is 5 total points!

We were once regulars at Amici's... we might become strangers there now! Hope you enjoy the recipe as much as we did!