Introducing Julia Annette!

Nana introducing the cutest little munchkin to be born on 12-23-2008 ever...

The OB is letting me hide, I mean stay, at the hospital for one more day before I have to go home and face 3 kids under 5. Eek!

Welcome Julia Annette Beyer!

Julia arrived safely this afternoon around 2pm. She weighed in at 7 lb and 9 oz and measured 18 inches making her our biggest bundle of joy yet. She's quiet a chunky money and you should see her cheeks. We'll be at the hospital until Friday and I'll work on getting some pictures posted tomorrow. What an incredible Christmas present!!! Thank you for all the prayers and well wishes.

--Todd and Erica

Ballerinas and bags

Lucy started ballet lessons this month. She has an afternoon class with two of her friends, and then we have a pizza night with them afterwards. Lots of pink everywhere.

And here's a photo of my latest sewing project, Julia's diaper bag. It's reversible and has six pockets inside. It was a super easy project so send me a yard each of two fabrics you like and I'll make you a custom tote!

And Isabel's request to take a picture of her.

And finally...peace. She's just fallen asleep while I was formatting all these pictures. I better take advantage of the down time. I'm cooking and freezing casseroles this month for Julia's imminent arrival. Please send me any easy, freezable recipes that will appeal to the whole family. Thanks.

Just 5 more weeks...

Boo!

Sorry for the delay, but here's Princess Fiona. Lucy had a long day of Halloween celebration and candy binging that started at 8 am at school. They had a parade and then treated us to a muscial performance in the auditorium. Very cute.

Isabel refused to wear her costume but decided the candy was alright. What a long day! Now I know why Halloween only happens once a year.

Happy Birthday Auntie!!!

We hope you have a fabulous weekend! The girls adore the ground you walk on and wish you a happy, happy birthday!

Leaf Hunt 2008

I took the girl out on a leaf hunt this morning with some friends. They had a blast and did some leaf identification and rubbings. Here are some fun pics.

Before:


The official leaf hunting crew:

Great shot of Lucy:

And last but not least, Isabel:

Favorite new fall recipe

This has been a huge hit around here lately. It's not too sweet and perfect with coffee. The girls love it. We made some whipped cream with cinnamon and vanilla to go with it. Yum!

Pumpkin Buttermilk Bundt Cake

2 sticks unsalted butter, softened, plus additional for greasing bundt pan
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour plus additional for dusting pan
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground allspice
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cups canned solid-pack pumpkin (from a 15-oz can; not pie filling)
3/4 cup well-shaken buttermilk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
3 large eggs

For glaze:
2 T butter
1 cup powdered sugar
1-3 T cream or milk

Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter and flour bundt pan. Combine together flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, allspice, and salt in a bowl. Whisk together pumpkin, buttermilk and vanilla in another bowl.

Beat butter and granulated sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer at medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, 3 to 5 minutes, then add eggs and beat 1 minute. Reduce speed to low and add flour and pumpkin mixtures alternately in batches, beginning and ending with flour mixture and mixing until batter is just smooth.

Spoon batter into pan. Shake a few times to be sure to remove any bumps then bake until a wooden pick or skewer inserted in center of cake comes out clean, 45 to 50 minutes. Cool cake in pan on a rack 15 minutes, then invert rack over cake and reinvert cake onto rack. Cool 10 minutes more.

To make glaze, heat butter until melted. Stir in sifted powdered sugar. Mix in cream or milk 1 Tablespoon at a time until desired consistency. Drizzle over cake while it is on a wire rack so excess falls through.

Enjoy!

Where has September gone?

September has come and gone in the blink of an eye. We've started and settled into the school routine. Lucy is lovin' school, Mrs. Stevens and Mrs. Medley and all her all chums. Here are pics from her first day.

This one cracks me up because it's shades of her teenage years to come.

We packed the kids up and headed to the cape for a long weekend in the middle of September. We. love. the. cape. We spent most of the afternoons out exploring the tidal flats looking for hermit crabs, fish, snails and shells. The girls thoroughly enoyed the flats and kept asking to "go walk in the mud" again.


Here's Isabel showing us her hermit crab. She was the fastest hermit crab catcher in the family. She has no fear. Lucy wouldn't touch them.

Here's an enormous horseshoe crab that Todd spotted.






We packed in a round of putt-putt golf before we left.





And here's what ultimately happens when you take a 2 yo to play putt-putt:



We stopped by my favorite lighthouse on the drive out. Lucy was asleep in the back, so Todd snapped some pictures of Isabel at the lighthouse. She's about the same age Lucy was when we took pictures of her at this light house.



And last weekend we planted mums and cabbages around the house. Here's Lucy showing off her freshly transplanted mums.

Isabel has been adamant about dressing herself lately with some interesting results.

The last hoo-rah

Good-bye, August. Helllllllloooooo, September. The leaves are already showing hints of color changes here. Fall is in the air. I love this time of year. We had a beautiful Labor day. Low 80s, breezy and not a cloud in the sky. We took the girls to the park this morning. Here are some end of summer pictures of them.

Thursday Lucy starts school and Isabel is starting her first gymnastics class.

Ack!

OK, so I really need to update this blog. Bad mommy, bad mommy.

For all those that haven't heard we're expecting another girl. Estrogen continues to reign supreme in this household. Poor Todd. I officially gone into nesting mania and I'm repainting half the house. I painted the entire kitchen yesterday. Looks great! I'm cleaning and taping off the downstairs hallway, stairway and upstair halls this afternoon. I've book a sitter tomorrow and Friday so that I can get them painted. Then there is the nursery (still undecided on how to decorate it) and Lucy is insisting on painting her room too. If anyone stands still too long I might paint them too. Watch out.

Lucy starts school next Thursday. Whoo-hoo! I'm looking forward to having a schedule again. I'll definitely get some first day of school pics. No big plans for the holiday this weekend. I think Todd is covering the service, but we do have a date night planned for this Saturday.

PGA 2008

We went to another birthday party this weekend. We celebrated Sean's 5th birthday with a round of putt putt golf, pizza, ice cream and cupcakes. Lucy loved it. She perfected the push and drag putting technique. Isabel gave up on putting and just went directly to the holes and slam dunked her golf balls. I only got a few pics because Isabel kept running off. Lucy thoroughly enjoyed the party and catching up with all her school friends. Several moms commented on how much she's grown this summer. She has shot up an entire size this summer. All that sun and fun I guess.

Awesome chicken salad recipe

I picked this up at a playdate this summer. It's an easy, too yummy chicken and spinach salad. I make a batch of the chicken/pasta, refrigerate and toss a spoonful of it with a handful of spinach for lunch and viola -- a quick, healthy and delicious lunch for several days.

6 oz. bowtie pasta cooked
1/4 cup sesame seeds
1/2 cup EVOO
1/3 cup soy sauce (I tend to use more like 1/4 cup, start with less and soy to taste)
3 TBS sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
3 cups cold shredded cooked chicken (I use a rotisserie chicken)
8 cups baby spinach leaves
Optional (1/2 cup chopped parsley and sliced green onion)

Cook pasta and drain. Rinse with cold water and drain again.

In small frying pan combine sesame seeds and 1/4 cup of EVOO. Cook over med-low heat, stirring occasionally until seeds are golden (several minutes). Let cool. Stir in remaining oil, vinegar, sugar, salt and pepper. Pour over cooked pasta, add chicken and toss gently. Cover and chill at least 2 hours or until next day.

To serve toss with spinach (parsley and onion)

Enjoy!

And exhale. . .

We just returned from a week in Wisconsin catching up with Todd's side of the family. The girls thoroughly enjoyed the visit, and Todd and I are exhausted from the traveling. Traveling with kids under five is an extreme sport. Mix in Chicago's notorious O'Hare airport, and I can tell you exactly why they don't allow families to sit in the emergency exit rows -- they know you'll jump at some point.

Here are some pictures from our adventures. Every visit to WI includes a stroll on the boardwalk through the WI preserved marsh lands. This is the old road the Grandpa Beyer (Herbie) used to brave to visit Florence when they were a courtin'. Al says he used to drive an old Ford model T down this very road.


Here's a little WI marsh scenery:



Lucy-Goosey and Grandma Beyer on the boardwalk:
This is Isabel's latest pick-me-up tactic. She's rolls up like a pill bug and refuses to move.

Outcome of pill bug tactic:

And they say two year olds are unsophisticated. Haha.

Alan and Heidi:

The other 6 citizens of Waupan WI:

Profile of my favorite 2 yo:

Then it was onto boat rides around Fox Lake, WI.

The captain:

The co-captain:

The first mate:

This is a piece of cake!

Hmmm...I knew the co-captain should have taken a nap.

Look out Lucy!

Yikes. That was close. Maybe you should actually drive with your eyes open. Something to ponder.

OK, now about that nap.

Then we headed to the WI dells to take a duck ride. It was one of those old WWII amphibious vehicles. We loaded up on lollipops and hit Lake Delton. The girls had a blast and I snapped some shots of the cool rock formations on the lake.

The jolly rancher lollipops lasted and distracted the girls for the entire hour ride. I give them a 5 out of 5 and would highly recommended them for duck rides with kids under 5.

This final shot is off of Al and Judy's back deck in the early hours of the morning. It gives you a feel for the peaceful calm that they wake up to each morning. Lucy caught the one and only cat fish but I couldn't get the picture to rotate and upload. You'll have to take her word that it was "this big" and "huge!"

I failed to break out the camera during the Kraus family reunion activities. Too busy eating roasted corn I guess. I'll paste some of Judy's pics when she sends them. The girls had a blast eating, swimming, roasting smores and we caught one firefly.

We're getting resettled and already looking towards preparing for school next month. This summer has flown by.