Cinnamon-a-licious

Yes, I made these big beauties. I have been wanting cinnamon rolls for MONTHS now, and I finally got up my courage to make them this week. Can you believe that I make bread 2-3 times a week, but I’ve never ever made cinnamon rolls before? So, I called my Mom for inspiration. Good news: they were easier to make than I thought they would be!

Proof of yumminess. Sadly, these cinnamon rolls weren’t perfect. They weren’t gooey enough for me. So, I coated them in a heavenly glaze, and it helped with the dryness. We shared the love with a few family members, because sadly, 2 1/2 people can’t eat 20 cinnamon rolls before they get stale. Even if they were slightly dry, who can resist a warm bread-y sweet treat?

…not Rose! (indirectly, of course)…

…definitely not Jay!

Jay wasn’t satisfied with the few bites we gave him of our cinnamon rolls. So, he took matters into his own hands: when I left the room,  he climbed up on his box and gouged himself out a treat. I’m just glad that the pan had cooled off by then! I couldn’t bring myself to scold him for his resourcefulness!  (even if he didn’t eat his dinner that night…)

Warmmmmmm cinnammmmmmmmon rolls and hot chocolate = perfect cold day treat. mmmmmmm

The CLAW

Who can resist it? Not Rose!

We have named this baby-hold “the Claw.” Jeff is the master of it because he is always so warm that when he holds Rose in the Claw, it’s only a matter of minutes till she succumbs to the coziness and drops off to sleep.

Every time I see Jeff walking around with Rose in the Claw, I can’t help laughing at Rose’s tranquil facial expression and her little “paws” dangling out.

Clawing it up at the computer. (yes we still have that sweet partially purple desk!) Jeff is such a good Daddy. Jay always hangs out with him when he’s home. They’re buddies, but Jay is pretty good about sharing Dada with Rose every now and then.

love Da da

Who’s Who?

It’s time for the classic family baby picture comparison extravaganza! I’ll let you draw your own conclusions of who looks like who. Get excited. Here we go:

Rose

Jay

Rose

Jay

Sunday Shaina

**We don't have any pictures of Jeff at this age, sadly.**

Sunday Rose

Our sweet little Rose

Brother and sister

…and one more Rose because she’s irresistible!

Life is happy.

Valentine’s Day: five years ago…

…was my LAST FIRST date!

We were just two buddies on the same track team when one day Jeff asked me on a Valentine’s date!

He took me to the fancy Tuscany Italian Restaurant in Lexington, VA for some yummy alfredo pasta…

…and he’s been chasing after me ever since! …ha ha… [confession: in this picture, Jeff is about to lap me for the…7th or 8th time in the 10k race, but I like to think I’m winning!]

Valentine’s Day 2007:  We were at SVU living in our almost 200 square foot “Pad” and finishing our undergrad degrees. We celebrated the day of love with a heart cookie (baked in a friend’s oven since we had only a hot plate in the Pad).

Valentine’s Day 2008: We were in the middle of our 100 day trip across Europe. On the 14th, we were on an all-night train traveling from southern France to fair Verona, Italy so we could go to the theater. We didn’t really do anything in particular to celebrate on Valentine’s Day that year. But going to Italy counts as a celebration in my book!

Valentine’s Day 2009: We were living in the attic of the gift shop at the historic Boone Home in Defiance, MO. We went on our date to the Arch in St. Louis! [we’re inside it at the top of the arch in this picture]

Valentine’s Day 2010: Jay was 9 months old, and we were living in College Place near Walla Walla, WA. Jeff was working on his M.A.T. while I worked on my MOM.

To celebrate Valentine’s Day, we re-lived our first date and made alfredo pasta for dinner at home (after Jay was in bed). Dessert was a big, fresh cookie with ice cream melting on top. Favorite. Then we had our own little dance in the living room. It was a 1-song dance, since we aren’t big on dancing. Then we watched Peter Pan.

Valentine’s Day 2011: We’re living in Grandview, WA in a HOUSE, Jay is almost 2, and Rose is 1 week old! We had a family dinner with our “traditional” alfredo noodles (the sauce was the best we’ve ever made, thanks to Julia Child). Then we put Jay to bed and ate a two-person sized warm cookie with ice cream melting on top, just like last year. YUM. We watched a Netflix episode of the best Superman show ever: The Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman (from the mid 1990’s with Dean Cain and Terri Hatcher). By then, Rose was fed and sleeping, so her tired mommy went straight to bed too.

I LOVE MY KIDS!

I LOVE MY HUSBAND!

Happy Heart Day!

A day with Rose

You may think that all newborns do is eat, sleep, and poo. While there is a lot of that going on around here, Rose knows there’s more to life!

Good Morning, Rose!

Morning torture: dress up time!!

My poor children.

Sibling time! (much happier in warm clothes) Jay is a good big brother. Sometimes he gives Rose a kiss on the head (or in the air near her head)

Play time! Jay keeps hoping Rose will play with him instead of just watching.

Kicking time! I can’t get used to how skinny Rose’s little legs are! I like pulling her thick socks up to her knees.

Bootie time! I love the cutie booties that my sister made for Rose. And all the cute outfits people gave us! This is her Valentine dress.

While I play dress up with Rose, Jay becomes the responsible one and starts a load of laundry.

Sleepy time! (Being this cute is tiring.)

Rose makes our days happier!

Rose

Here’s her story: I went to bed big bellied and achy-backed on Sunday night like usual. Monday “morning” between 1:30 and 3am, I woke up a zillion times and I couldn’t figure out why until nearly 3am, when I felt that crampy superpain seize me by the womb. I thought, “maybe it’s a contraction!” So I got up and sat in my chair to see if more came. They did, and suddenly they were 4 minutes apart and rather intense. At 4:30 am I woke up Jeff, and he took care of details like calling his sister Steph to come babysit Jay. (She’s awesome like that and came right over)

We got to the hospital lobby at 5am, where I realized just HOW far into labor I was already (ahem, when it gets intense, I puke). SO they wheeled me back to a room and somehow I changed into the gorgeous hospital gown before collapsing onto the bed. The nurse checked and guessed that I was around 7cm dilated already! Holy cow. I laid there dealing with labor for a while, and the rest is kind of a painful blur (sans pain medication—I’m all naturale, people). Basically, we got to the hospital at 5am, and I was holding Rose by 7:19am. Whirlwind! [For those of you who are interested in the gory details, they broke my water at 7am, and I dilated those last 2 cm in less than 10 minutes flat, and 2 pushes later Rose was crying!]

As long and unpleasant as this pregnancy was, I’m glad the last laborious part was quick (unless you count the week before Rose’s birthday, when I had 2-4 contractions per hour for 7 days straight! That makes it sound a whole lot longer…) My first thought when Rose was OUT was: IT’S OVER! And I was so relieved. I can’t really describe it. RELIEF. I am not prone to postpartum depression—more like postpartum euphoria!!! Now I get to enjoy the reward from that long 9 months: a Rose!

The token post-birth picture. It has everything: haystack hair, pallid, emotional mother, hospital logo-stamped gown, unbathed baby.

Proud Daddy. I can tell he was proud because he called Rose “cutie,” even though he says that newborns aren’t cute. Except ours, I guess!

Jay and Steph visited later that morning. Jay is already willing to share with his new sister—he tried to feed her a Cheerio! I noticed just in the nick of time, and intercepted it.

Ready to go home!!

To infinity, and beyond!

We played dress up this morning. I’m in baby girl heaven!!

Jay now has a big bed and a roommate! My Mom brought my old bed for Jay to sleep on. It seems huge for him!

Grama Meri! (my Mom) She is here right now and helping SO much! 1000 loads of laundry, doing dishes, cooking dinners, playing with Jay, etc etc etc. I love my Mommy.

We had a photo-fest this morning, and Jay loved it!

 

Jay likes to look at his sister saying “baby! baby! baby!” He also is very generous, and right after this picture was taken, he tossed Piglet onto Rose’s head.

Escaped from the burrito!

Love.