Monday, December 21, 2009

Happy Birthday and Winter Weather

We celebrated Abby's birthday on Saturday. We were suppose to have a small party with Micah's parents and sister and brother in law. However, the snow weather put a damper on the plans. So we celebrate with just the three of us!






Saturday, November 21, 2009

Two out of Four

Today, two of our four new appliances were delivered and installed - the fridge and mircowave. The dishwasher was supposed to be installed, but there was a measuring issue and it didn't fit. lovely. Micah already made a trip back to Lowe's to order a different one. It is a special order and will take a few more weeks to arrive. We are hoping that the stove will be delivered next week. Fingers crossed. We are hoping to have everything in by December 19th, we are hosting a Hanukkah party that evening.

Here are some pictures of our new fridge!!! I love it!!




Friday, November 20, 2009

Thanksgiving recipe updates

So taking the leads from my aunt, i'm listing some of the recipes I'm planning on making next Thursday.  In addition to the traditional menu items, I'm also doing a few new ones, including a new starters and a new dessert. I found the starter recipe while watching the Food Network last weekend. It was a Sandra Lee show, I don't normally like her recipes, but this one caught my interest.


 Sweet Onion Tartlets

Ingredients

4 tablespoons butter
1 Vidalia onion or other sweet onion, diced, about 3 cups
1 box (15-ounce) refrigerated pie crust (recommended: Pillsbury)
3 large eggs
1 1/3 cups half-and-half
1 (1.3-ounce) envelope golden onion soup mix (recommended: Lipton)
1 tablespoon fine herbs (recommended: Spice Islands)
1/2 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese

Directions
Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.

Melt butter in a large frying pan over medium heat. Add onions and cook until golden brown. Set aside to cool.

Unroll pie dough 1 at a time. Use a 2 1/2-inch round cutter and cut as many rounds as possible (about 14 to 16), reserving scraps repeat with second pie dough. Gather together scrap dough and cut out as many rounds as needed to make 36 in total. Fit dough rounds into cups of mini muffin pan. Place in the oven and bake for 10 to 12 minutes. Remove and set aside.

In a small bowl, whisk together eggs, half-and-half, golden onion soup mix, and fines herbs. Set aside.

Divide onions among tartlet shells, about 1/2 teaspoon each. Top each with 1/2 teaspoon of cheese. Stir egg mixture and fill tartlets. Bake for 45 to 50 minutes.

The next recipe is for my brother-in-law, Miles. He requested pumpkin pie for dessert. If you've ever been to Thanksgiving dinner with our family, you'll know that pumpkin pie is not a speciality of ours. So I've been looking for recipes and this one looks yummy. It is from http://www.kraftfoods.com/.


Turtle Pumpkin Pie
Ingredients
1/4 cup plus 2 Tbsp. caramel ice cream topping, divided
1 HONEY MAID Graham Pie Crust (6 oz.)
1/2 cup plus 2 Tbsp. chopped PLANTERS Pecans, divided
2 pkg. (3.4 oz. each) JELL-O Vanilla Flavor Instant Pudding
1 cup cold milk
1 cup canned pumpkin
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg
1 tub (8 oz.) COOL WHIP Whipped Topping, thawed, divided

Directions
Pour 1/4 cup caramel topping into crust; sprinkle with 1/2 cup nuts.

Beat dry pudding mixes, milk, pumpkin and spices with whisk until well blended. Stir in 1-1/2 cups COOL WHIP; spoon into crust.

Refridgerate 1 hour. Top with remaining COOL WHIP, caramel topping and nuts just before serving.

Thursday, November 19, 2009

Creep yhotel

I'm a sad excuse for a hotel in McHenry, Maryland. For those of you who are familiar with Maryland, it is in the tail of Maryland, near West Virginia. I'm here because I have a presentation tomorrow morning at a high school at 8 am. And I'm about 3.5 hours away from home, much too far for me to try and do it at 4am. So I'm in very creep hotel, but I'm trying to look past it since I'm only here to sleep. I'll be out in less than 12 hours.

I'm so looking forward to the weekend!!!

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Lame excuse for a post...

It is 10:40pm. I got home about thirty minutes ago.... I'm so tired. It was a long day. Sorry for the lack of a meaningful post. But I'm tired, my brain is fried. I promise for a 'real' post soon.  To these lame posts cost as me posting on the blog each day? Probably not, but at least I'm attempting, right.

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

What to post...

I'm out of things to say today. It has been a long day of meetings.It has already been an really long week and it is only Tuesday. I always feel that the week before a vacation week is really, really long. Only five more days of work before we head to Nashville to visit with family! yeah!!

Monday, November 16, 2009

The New Jew

A friend of mine writes a blog on Jewish family living. She posted a great post last Friday that got me thinking. She asked her readers, how are you making Judaism an important and meaningful part of you life and identity??

See I told you, it is an thought provoking question. I've asked myself this question before. What do I do? We celebrate the Jewish holidays, have shabbot dinner with family and friends when time allows. We joined the JCC and plan on enrolling Abby in the daycare/pre-school when she turns two. We gave our daughter a Hebrew name, and it was important that her name was the same in English and in Hebrew.

I wish we had the time, or more like made the time to do shabbot dinners every week, went to shul on a regular basis, even kept kosher. But I guess at the moment, these actions are not as important to us as other things. Most Friday nights, Micah, Abby and I spend the time together. We have dinner, play and begin our bedtime routine. Many times over the past couple of months, we have be on the road, visiting family and friends is cities far away, because it is important to us to spend time with the ones we love.

My follow-up question  would be, do not doing or doing these activities/religious practices make me more or less Jewish?  I consider myself Jewish, it is something I identify with, and if asked, I would consider myself a Jewish American rather than an American Jew. Regardless of how 'practicing' I or my family are, or how many of the 'rules' I adhere to, I'm still a Jew.  I've morphed the religion to fit my needs at right now. In the future, I might need more, but for now, it works for me. It works for us.

Sunday, November 15, 2009

Thanksgiving planning

This year, we are heading to Nashville to have Thanksgiving with Jill, Miles and Molly. Mom and dad, Grampy and Grampy Goldman, along with Miles's mom will also be joining us. Mom and I are putting together the menu and doing most of the cooking. (Jill has all but insisted that we cook. I think it might have something to do with a stuffing incident that happened last yeat.) Mom and I have had several 'conference' calls to plan the menu and I think we are about finished.

As we are melding many families, I'd like to have at least one dish that is a favorite of each person. There haven't been too many off the wall requests. So here is my request to all my blog readers, answer this question. Thanksgiving wouldn't be thanksgiving without....

Saturday, November 14, 2009

New appliances

A couple of weekends ago, Micah and I painted the kitchen/den (one might call it a great room). The room is almost complete. Pictures are hung, curtains are up. Now all we needed were new appliances. But consider that done. After two painful hours at Lowes, a new fridge, stove, microwave and dishwasher have been ordered and will be delivered next week.

All of the appliances, with the exception of the fridge, are the basic, bottom of the line. So the upgrade is very welcome. And even better, I got to pick them out, so they are what I want and what I like. :)

The two most important items for me are the fridge and oven. The fridge is a three-door model, french doors on the top with the freezer on the bottom. And stove is a flat-top electric with a convection oven. I'd love to have gas, but since that isn't an option, this was the best I could get. Micah was more interested in teh dishwasher, and we did get a quieter one, which is important since we spend most of ourtime in this one room and when the dishwasher is running, you practically can't hear a thing.

They all come next weekend. I'll be sure to post pictures once everything is in and in its rightful place.

Friday, November 13, 2009

Technology

Can you believe the technology these days? Last night I posted to this blog by sending a text message from my phone. Tonight I'm posting from my email account (again from my phone). I'm in love!!!!

I'm also addicted to the iPhone. There is so much cool stuff to play with. I can play games, check my email, use facebook and even update my twitter account ( yes, I have a Twitter account. I've posted twice
and gave something 10 followers. They must be waiting with baited breath for me to update.)

With all these cool devices, I feel that I might be too connected. Do people really care what I'm doing right now? Do they always need to know what my status is? Is what I ate for breakfast that exiciting that someone might want to know how it taste?

I think for the first time, technology has surpassed my interest.

Guess I'm off to tweet about tweeting.....

Thursday, November 12, 2009

iBlogging-- I'm blogging from my new iPhone. How cool is that! I know you are all jealous. :)

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Thank you...

Two simple words that are not said enough.   Thank you to all the men and women who have served, representing, defending the honor of our country. Thank you to my brother in law, Miles. Thank you to my father-in-law  and grandfather. Thank you to the thousands of sons, daughters, wives, husbands, father, mothers, aunts and uncles that leave loved ones behind to all us the freedoms we enjoy everyday.

Thank you


Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Welcome Molly!!

My beautiful neice was born just about three weeks ago on October 17th. I can't wait to meet the newest member of the Sizemore/Miller family over Thanksgiving. Only two more weeks until I can hold this beautiful girl!

Welcome Molly Gwendolyn Miller!


I'm going to call her MJ (Miles Junior) - he he. She looks just like her dad!


I love sleep smiles!

Monday, November 09, 2009

On top of spaghetti

Okay it was ravoli, but either way Abby loves it.





Can you tell?

Sunday, November 08, 2009

10 years

Last night was my ten year reunion for high school. I wasn't able to attend, but from the pictures on facebook it looks like everyone had a good time and we had a pretty good showing from the class. I can't believe that it has been ten years since I graduated from high school. I feel so old, but then I look back and I've done quite a bit since high school - went to college, moved to Boston, attended game 2 of the World Series in Boston (2004), worked with Diana DeGarmo (American Idol runner up), met Micah, moved to Baltimore, got married, realized that I love working in healthcare - specifically non-profits, sold and bought a house (something I don't think like to do again, but sure I will), had Abby, went to London, became an aunt.  This is just a quick recap, I'm sure I missing some things.

And in honor of my reunion, here is one of those 'quizzes' from facebook.


Here's one I've not seen before.... Fill this out about your SENIOR year of high school! The longer ago it was, the more fun the answers will be!!

1. Did you date someone from your school?
Yes. Jeff Carpenter

2. Did you marry someone from your high school?
Nope!

3. Did you car pool to school?
No. Unless bringing Jill and Chris counts...

4. What kind of car did you have?
Mom's mini-van or the cavalier

5. What kind of car do you have now?
Mini-van (odd how ten years later, I'm still driving the same type of car...)

6. It's Friday night...where are you? (then)
Hanging out at Jen's house

7. It is Friday night...where are you? (now)
At home...

8. What kind of job did you have in high school?
Working at Valley Home Center and a very short stint at Dunkin

9. What kind of job do you do now?
Community Relations and Hospital Services Manger, The Living Legacy Foundation

10. Were you a party animal?
Ah, no.

11. Were you considered a flirt?
Nope.

12. Were you in band, orchestra, or choir?
yes.

13. Were you a nerd?
Yes and I'm proud of it!

14. Did you get suspended or expelled?
Nope

15. Can you sing the fight song?
Did we have a fight song...

16. Who was/were your favorite teacher?
Mrs. Noyes

17. Where did you sit during lunch?
In the hallway

18. What was your school's full name?
Hillsboro-Deering Co-operative High School - I think

19. When did you graduate?
1999

20. What was your school mascot?
The Hillcats

21. If you could go back and do it again, would you?
No way

22. Did you have fun at Prom?
Loved Junior prom... senior program was all right

23. Do you still talk to the person you went to Prom with?
Nope

24. Are you planning on going to your next reunion?
If you have one...

25. Do you still talk to people from school?
Only through facebook

Saturday, November 07, 2009

Nothing much to say

I'm only seven days in to this challenge of posting everyday and I feel like I've run out of this to say or even post about.  This is sad. My life is very boring...

So here is a few pictures of Abby in the HUGE tub in our hotel room in Atlanta a few weeks ago. She didn't know what to make of it at first, but by the end, she was kicking and splashing like normal.




Friday, November 06, 2009

The best answer to a long Friday...

Chocolate peanut butter cookies!

These days I normally make cookies from scratch (it honestly isn't that much more work and they taste SO much better).  However, when you are in a pinch and need a quick sugar rush, Betty Crocker cookie mixes work well.






Thursday, November 05, 2009

Weeknight dinners - Creamy Dijon Beef with Mushrooms

I'm always on the look out for quick, easy and nutrious meals to good during weeknights (and weekends to be that matter).  Some recipes I make exactly, most of them I adapt to our likeing.  This one comes from CampbelKitchens.com.

Creamy Dijon Beef with Mushrooms
(served over rice)

1 cup of rice
2 cups cooking liquid
3/4 lb beef (I used a sirlion already cut into chuncks)
1 med. onion
2 cups mushrooms, sliced (to cut down on time, I used canned mushrooms)
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1/2 cup water
2T dijon mustard
1 1/2 cups broccoli (steamed)

First start the rice. I used a short grain white rice, but you could use any rice of your choice. When cooking rice, I almost always use chicken broth, it gives to more flavor.  Here I used one cup of rice in two cups of chicken broth, brought to a boil, then covered, simmered for 20 minutes. (A quick note: don't peak, just let the rice cook for 20 minutes and then fluff with a fork.)



After starting the rice, melt 1 1/2 T of butter in a non-stick pan. Once melted, add onions and cook until transulcent.



When the onions begin to carmelize, add the mushrooms. Cook until mushrooms are warmed through, then transfer veggies to plate.



In the same pan, add the beef. Cook until evenly brown and cooked through.


Add the can of  cream of mushroom soup, 1/2 cup of water and 2T of dijon mustard. Stir and bring to a slight boil.




Serve over a bed of rice. I added broccoli, which added great color and a nice crunch.



A yummy meal for a cool, rainy night.

Now, if you don't like or eat beef, you could always make this with chicken. It could probably also be made without meat as well, however, if this was the case, I would use a variety of fresh mushrooms to add more flavor.

Wednesday, November 04, 2009

funny twitter page

This will be a short blog post.... I'm tired, it was a long day of traveling (it took me more than 3 hours to get home from Philly).

This is a very funny twitter account. I'm sure all my English major, writing friends will enjoy!

http://twitter.com/fakeapstylebook

Tuesday, November 03, 2009

10 Favorite Sounds

To help get my creativity juices going, I did a quick Google search for writing prompts and found this very interesting site and tool, the impagination prompt generator. One of the prompt I got (yes, I admit I clicked it a few times until I found a prompt that inspired me) was list my 10 favorite sounds. So here goes... in no particular order

10. Joe Castiglione's voice - there is nothing like listening to Joe's voice calling a BoSox game on a warm summer night.
9. Peepers on a warm summer night - one of the few sounds that can immediatly bring me back to my childhood, trying to fall asleep during warm summer nights.
8. The sound of rain on the window at night, the soft tapping of rain drops often lulls me to sleep on raining nights.
7. The sizzle of chicken in a hot pan. I love to cook (and bake). It is a way for me to be creative. It is a way for me to relax.
6. A snow plow outside early in the morning. Growing up it normally meant that school might be delayed or even better, cancelled. And when I pull back the curtain and peek outside, I know I'll see a blanket of white covering the ground.
5. A text message ding - I like getting text messages. They are normally from family or friend and mostly a funny message from my good friend Lauren.
4.The sound of the front door opening and Micah saying hello after I've been home alone with a baby and a very friendly dog for week. (Am I bad mother for admitting this?)
3. The sound of thunder -  It reminds me of warm summer nights watching thunderstorms on the backporch with dad
2. Camp songs - I loved camp and nothing says camp more to me than camp songs. We sang them all session long. Micah and I even sing them to Abby now. It always surprises me that we went to two different camps many miles and years apart - and yet we still know many of the same songs.
1. Abby's laugh. I love it when she laughs. The laugh that comes from deep in her belly and then the slight sigh she lets out when she is done, trying to catch her breath.

That was a lot harder. Now it is your turn...

Monday, November 02, 2009

Day 2

Bet you thought I wouldn't make it to even the second day of this month long challenge. However, I squeeked  in with two hours remaining. And I'm even doing my blogging from the comfort of my hotel room in Philly. I'm here for a conference on hospital development. (I know you are all thrilled to know that...) In my two plus hour drive up, I had thought of just about a million different things to post about, but know that I'm sitting in front my computer, and it being 10 pm, it has all gone from my head.

So you might ask, why did I drive up to Philly so late?? That is because I couldn't leave until Micah came home - which didn't happen until 7pm. I was going to write a scathing blog post about how hard I work at being a mom and wife, all while having a successful career, but then thought that wasn't worth it. Every woman is superwoman, supermom, superwife. I don't do any more that the average mom, either working or stay at home, I just do it in a different way. I'm not going to complain, I'm just going to take this day like everyother and put on my pants one leg at a time (how many cliches can I fit in to one paragraph???).

It's late. I'm tired. 6:30 am will come calling sooner than I'd like. I promise to be a bit more positive tomorrow (or at least I'll try...)

Sunday, November 01, 2009

National Blog Posting Month

I've made a commitment to myself, well and those at the offical National Blog Posting Month site, that I'd post something on my blog each day for the entire month of November. It is the first day of the month and I'm already at a lost for words. Not sure where I should begin...

I'm sure over the next 30 days, I'm sure I'll be posting lots of recipe ideas, (I've already have a handful of recipies I want to share with everyone), pictures of Abby and hopefully some of my creative writing (wish has gone by the wayside since the arrival of the newest Gelman). 

So, because I can't think of anything else to write at the moment, here is a quick recap of our weekend, which can be done in one word. Painting.  We painted the 'great room' - the room with the kitchen and television. And before many of you already say it, yes we just painted the room when we moved in just two years ago. However, it was a very light green color, which made it seem a little cold. Since we are planning on getting new applicances (fridge, oven, dishwasher) for Hanukkah, we thought it would be best to paint now if we wanted to change the color. So in just under 48 hours, we went from a very light green to a very bold gold and soft cocoa brown. It was a drastic change, but makes the rooms look much warmer.  And with a new rug, a few new paintings and draps, it feels very homey. (I'll post pictures soon, I'm just too tired to get the cord to plug in the camera.)

Late yesterday evening, we finally got everything put back together and I got my kitchen back (and if you've ever been without a kitchen with a 10 month old, you will understand how excited I was.) This afternoon, after I went grocery shopping, we put the finishing touches on the rooms and have just a few more things to add before we can label this room complete.

Oh, and on top of it all, we celebrated a soggy Halloween. The weather held off the tricker or treaters and we only got about six visitors, which was disappointing. But we did have the cutest little leopard stop by. They are rare, but we did have a spotting and here are the pictures to prove it.








Hope everyone had a safe and fun Halloween... and watch out for those pink leopards :)

Sunday, October 18, 2009

Food Review - The Black Olive

I haven't done a restaurant review in a while, actually it has been a whole year with out a review. (I wonder why... I think a new addition is to blame :) ) My in-laws came down last night to allow Micah and I some time alone to go out for our anniversary. And to The Black Olive we went.

The Black Olive is located in Fells Point, a historic neighborhood near the Inner Harbor. The owners renovated the old Fells Point grocery store and put in an organic restaurant specializing Greek/Mediterranean food with an amazing fresh fish menu. The restaurant is also highly touted for its wine list.

For starters, Micah and I shared two small plates, stuffed calamari on the grill and hummus. The calamari, was an amazing combination of textures and could honestly be one of the best things I've ever had. The fresh calamari was stuffed with manouri and feta cheese then grilled. When you bite into them, the warm, melted cheese create a flavor explosion in your mouth. Yum. The hummus was all right. It was a little heavy on the parsley, which I didn't care for, but I've had worse.
For the main entree, Micah had the tuna steak and I had the sea scallops. All of the fish is grilled and lightly seasoned. The scallops were cooked perfectly, and seasoned perfectly with a light touch of olive oil, salt and pepper. I had a quick bite of the tuna, which was grilled rare, and was also great. The chef choice side of red Swiss chard was another story. I thought it lacked flavor. It may really be that I'm not a fan of Swiss chard, but either way, I could have passed.

I'm not really a huge dessert fan, but after a quick look I notice it featured loukomades, Greek honey balls. I recently saw this dessert featured episode of Diners, Drivers and Dives on the Food Network, so I had to try them. The light fried dough balls are drilled with Greek honey and garnished with walnuts. I thought they were good, but could have used more honey since the dough itself was lacked flavor.

Overall the food was great. The service was fine, the kitchen was a bit slow, but we were there during the height of the Saturday night dinner rush. If you are looking for a Greek food escape, I'd highly recommend The Black Olive.

Monday, October 12, 2009

It must be in the genes

Looks like Abby inheriated a special gene from her mom's side of the family...



wait for it...



It's getting closer...



The Sizemore tongue!!

When she concentrates really hard on a toy or trying to climp up, well just about anything, out comes her tongue.

I'm sure it it is one of the many embarassing traits she will get from her mom...

Sunday, October 11, 2009

Dirty Dishes

In our house, it takes three of us to load the dirty dishes into the dishwasher...
Reese has always helped with the dishes. It is his thing. He can be sound asleep upstairs and if he hears the water running in the kitchen, he comes running. A lot like Misty and the tuna can. (hehe). And now that Abby is mobile, she like to help too!! So now in our house it takes three of us to do the dishes... or at least monitor the situation.

Monday, October 05, 2009

Happy Fall Y'all

I can't believe it is October already. I feel like Labor Day was just yesterday. I won't bore you all with details of what we have been up to... it includes a wedding, the Jewish holidays and several long weekends without Micah... so here are some pictures of the Abster.


Happy Fall Y'all!!

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Still here

I'm still here. And to say life has been crazy, might be an understatement of the year. I promise to get back to bloggin on a more regular basis... maybe when the weather gets cooler.

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

30 day shred

Many of the moms (or moms to be) of some of the blogs I read are doing Jillian Michaels' 30 day shred. It is an intense 20 minute workout program that include cardio, strength and abs. One mom, Mayday, has had great results from it.

So last week, I won the bake-off contest at work. The prize was a $20 gift certificate. I decided to use it at Target and purchase "the shred" today. When I got home, put in the DVD. Holy moly - talk abouot a butt kicking!! I'm not sure I've ever sweated so much in a 20 minute in my life. I'm going to do it everyday or at least try. Over the next two weeks I'm traveling a lot, but I'm going to make a committment to work out at the hotel on those days.

Let's see what I look like in 30 or so days!

Tuesday, June 02, 2009

Make-up and coffee

I hate to admit it, but I love watching the "Tori and Dean" shows. Totally a guilty pleasure. The fourth season (I think) just started and I was watching it on Comcast 'On Demand' this morning. The entire episode was focused on both Tori and Dean trying to balance their professional life and being parents. Tori had the harder time with it. I think a lot of moms do - trying to balance being a mom and a wife while still trying to be true to herself. As a new mom, I can totally understand where she is coming from - trying to balance being a working mom. It is two full time jobs (add in being a wife - which is a part-time job at the minimum and it is surprise I have time to sleep.)

She was talking to a friend who is a stay at home mom, asking how if she missed it working. Her friends comment rang true to me as well. She said that she was just working until she was able to become a mom. Once that happened she realized that was what she was meant to do. When Tori looked at her, feeling almost guitly that she didn't feel the same way and how that might reflect on how she was as a mother, her friend told her that the choice to stay home was right for her, but is not right for every women. Tori than made a comment about her friend always looking so put together and asked her how she did it. Her answer: "Make-up. Make-up and lots of coffee." I'm sure every mom can agree with that statement.

Everyday I struggle with the same internal conflict that Tori Spelling did on this episode (and I'm sure still stuggles with today). How do I be fill the need to be a professional and be the best mom ever? There are days when I just want to cry. I feel like I miss so much of Abby growing up, but on the other hand I also want to be a successful working woman. Part of me knows that going to work each day helps me be a better mom because I'm doing something for me (plus with a second income, we are able to provide things with Abby ( and us) that we wouldn't be able to without it) . The other part wishes I could be with her every moment because I don't want to miss any part of her childhood.

Not sure I'll every overcome this struggle, just hope I can keep life balanced.

Saturday, May 30, 2009

Baseball memories

Yesterday at work, while we put pins are nearly 400 number bibs for today's Family Fun Run, the conversation turned to baseball. Baltimore is really only a two sports town - baseball and football. And some might say B-more is only a one sport town consider how bad the O's have been the past seasons (okay 15 years).


However, last night the talk of the town was the O's and the Major League debut of baseball's number one prospect, Matt Weiters. So with a bunch of sports fans in our department, you can imagine this is what the talk turned too. Some one mentioned that they don't really like baseball, but don't mind taking in a game or two a year saying that baseball was better in person. We all agreed, but I did mention also liked to listen to a game on the radio. My younger colleagues just looked at me, like it was stupid to listen to the radio when you can watch the game in HDTV.


HD - shamashD. To me there is nothing better than sitting on the porch watching the sun go down, listening to the game on the radio. I can picture it now, sitting on the back porch, Dad sitting in one of the chairs listen to Joe Castiglone call a Red Sox game. Just the sound of Joe's voice brings me back to those nights, when the porch seemed to be coolest place in the house and we watched the heat lighting dance across the sky from a distance. Brings a whole new meaning to summer nights.


Thursday, May 28, 2009

Food Fight

Abby has been eating solid foods for a little over a month. I use the word 'eating' lightly. She isn't really a fan. Not sure if it is spoon or the taste of food. Although know that I think about it. She puts every thing else in her mouth, so I'm not sure that it is the spoon thing. Must be the taste.

Tonight we had carrots for the third time, and she didn't spit most of it back out at me. yeah! We've had success with oatmeal, bananas and sweet potatoes (however, sweet potatoes don't really agree with her, so we've moved that to the don't list). Things we don't really like yet are green beans, squash and peas.

I'll keep trying. I'm trying to get her to like more veggies before we start with the fruits cause I'm afraid that she'll like those and never go back. ;)

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

I'm still here

Life has been crazy and like my Aunt just wrote on her blog, I too have not abandoned my blog, it just seems that life has gotten in the way. I have tons of pictures and I swear, on my way to work, I think of at least 2-3 things to blog about. But by the time I get leave work, pick up Abs, get home, feed Reese, play with Abby, start dinner, change Abby, eat dinner, play with Abby some more, bath the Abster and then help Micah put her to bed after her bottle... I'm exhausted.


We've been busy and it appears the summer is shaping up to be just as busy. So here, for those you haven't heard, is what we've been up to. Over Mother's Day weekend, Abby and I headed up to NYC on the train to spend time in the Big Apple with Mom (Savta). We stayed at the Waldorf Astoria, which oddly enough doesn't have an elevator in the entrance lobby. We had a blast. We shopped and ate our way through the city. Abby made her first visit to Canal Street looking for knock of bags and then rewarded herself with a corned beef sandwich at The Stage Deli. Well okay, she didn't eat, but Mom and I sure did. Thank goodness we walked nearly the five miles from the hotel to Canal Street.

On Sunday, (Mother's Day) Abs and I headed back to Baltimore and arrived just in time to get cleaned up and head out to dinner with Bubbie and Zayde... oh and Ashley and Josh came up to. We went to the Wine Market in Federal Hill... great place, will have to go back again.


The following weekend was Ashley's bridal shower in Harrisburg. I had spent a lot of time planning it, and it was nice to see everything come together. I think Ashley enjoyed herself
In between all of this, we painted the sitting room off the kitchen. It came out really well. I'll try to take some pictures soon. Oh yeah, Micah had a nasty stomach flu in the meantime... and I'm telling you that almost put me over the edge... it was like having two babies.

Last weekend, we headed to that lake for the holiday. We were so lucky and had great weather the entire weekend. It was 79 degrees and sunny. Beautiful! Abby went on her first boat ride and loved it. She isn't really a fan of the PFD, but the rocking of the boat put her right to sleep both times. Ah, my little water baby.

And rest of the summer is pretty much like the last four weekends. All three of us are off to St. Louis on June 13 (I'm going for work, Abby and Micah are playing) and we are home for a day until Micah and I head off to London. Abby is staying home with Savta. Then we have a Bar Mitvah and a few weekends at the lake, a long weekend in NH/ME in July, a Red Sox/O's game, a wedding in August and Ashley's wedding on Labor Day weekend. Add in a few summer festivals that I have staff for work and I think Fall will be here before I know it. Does time ever slow down??
Okay - I'm done with my month long update. Here are some pictures as your reward!

Hey look at this toy... looks some different sitting up.

Did you know that I have feet?

All smiles sitting on Dad's lap. I think it was Bubbie make me laugh!

This toy looks interesting.

Hanging out on my tummy.

Friday, April 24, 2009

Four months

Abby had her four month well visit on Wednesday. She is growing right on track. She is now weighing in at 15.4 lbs and is 24 inches long, putting her in the 75th and 50th percentile respectively.

The doctor also said we could start to introduce solid foods. So we started yesterday with some rice cereal. Abby doesn't really like it. She will put it in her mouth, but then tends to spit it back out. I've done some reading on some of the online message boards and other moms suggested putting fruit or veggies in the cereal to add a little more taste. We will try that this weekend.


Here are some pictures of our first 'solid food' experience:

Monday, April 20, 2009

Heading north...

We've picked a date and purchased tickets... we are coming to New England from July 17 - 20. We fly into Boston and other than that it the schedule is up in the air. We will make it up to Maine, hopefully to spend a night with the McDonalds in Kport (if they will have us) and make a trip up to Portland to visit Uncle Mitch and Aunt Geri.

And hopefully we can stay with Ciolinos inbetween or something like that. :) I'll keep you all posted as we solidify plans!

Thursday, April 16, 2009

How did it get to be April 16??

Where did time go?? I feel like it was just a few days ago that I posted last. I'm a bad blogger. It probably doesn't count, but I'm I have been thinking about a lot of posts and I have them all in my head. If only I could find the time to write them all day.


A short recap of what has happened the over the last two weeks. Passover started last Wednesday night and ended tonight (Yeah for bread!!). On the first night, we were up in Harrisburg - just for the seder. Then we went up to Philadephia on Saturday night for the big Goldman family seder. We met up with Gram and Grampy Goldman. They were so excited to met Abby for the first time. And it was great to see all the Goldman family members.

This weekend is yard upkeep weekend. We are planting flowers and putting down mulch. It is suppose to be in the 70s on Saturday. (We are so excited - it has been cold and raining for the past week). I know I shouldn't talk, since we didn't really get any snow this winter. Guess I'm getting spoiled by the Maryland weekends.

I promise I'll post more. I'll have to make a time each night...

Here are some pictures of the Abster!