an update on christian

Notice all my food posts lately? Gosh, you can tell what I think about when I'm pregnant! (I either know exactly what I want or nothing sounds good.)

So let's talk about my other favorite thing to blog about: Christian.

I haven't given a real update in a while. Here are some quick tidbits:

- He really didn't start stringing words together till after he turned two. Now he comes up with new sentences every day. It's amazing how quickly kids pick things up.

- Until recently he said "yesh" to affirm anything (maybe he heard a little too much of Michael Scott from the womb?)

-He's extremely nimble. He jumps off couches, climbs playgrounds built for kids much older than he is, and can handle jumping on a big trampoline with his eight-year-old cousin.

- His favorite verb of the month: fly.

"I fly," he says and he runs down the hall in his birthday suit after a bath with a towel hanging over his shoulders. "I'm flying," he says as I pick him up and he spreads his arms as I hustle him down the stairs and into the car. "I fly," he says as he jumps off the arm of the couch onto the trampoline or floor.

- I don't think he totally grasps yet that a baby is on the way but he constantly wants to pull my shirt up and look for the baby when I bring it up. This can be quite awkward when he starts to pull my dress up while waiting in line at the grocery store. He also checks under his own shirt for a baby in his belly.

- He refuses to say the number three. He will skip it, saying: "One, two, four, five." I tell him he missed three and he just laughs at me.

- When he gets upset with us he will go in his room and slam the door (like a teenager!). At times we'll even be ready to put him in there for timeout and he beats us to it. We have a really hard time not cracking up in front of him which only makes him more upset.

- The song he requests every night to sing while I rock him before bed? "I'm So Glad When Daddy Comes Home." Again and again and again. Extremely appropriate considering he is constantly asking me, "Where's my daddy?" -- especially since Shane started spending every waking minute studying for the bar. Another favorite: "Jesus Wants Me for a Sunbeam."

- He obviously adores his dad, climbs all over him and wants to play ball and wrestle with him whenever he gets the chance. He's going to be over-the-moon when he finally gets his dad's full attention this weekend, and in the weeks and months to come.

- From the time he gets up till the time he gets to sleep, he is constantly on the go. He definitely keeps us on our toes. But, that means once he falls asleep he sleeps so deeply that I can just about clean his whole room without waking him. Last week he fell with a thump out of his bed onto the floor and Shane dashed in to comfort him, only to find him still asleep!

{P.S. The toys pictured above arrived Saturday morning, just in time to keep him entertained during that awful heat wave. Thank goodness for zulily deals and Melissa & Doug wood toys.}

crossing our fingers

{Christian using my pregnant belly as a pillow last night}

Today and tomorrow Shane is busy taking the Virginia bar out in Roanoke. It's hard to focus on anything else while at work and I keep praying for his success (and Nate's and Dave's and Tristan's).

We'll all be so relieved when it's over, that's for sure. I just hope he doesn't spend the next few months aggravating over what he may or may not have missed since we don't get the results till mid-October!

Either way, Thursday should be the start of a somewhat normal family life for the three (soon-to-be four) of us. Almost seems too good to be true.

'dog days' of summer

my water baby...er, big boy

climbing when he's not supposed to be (as per usual)

blowing bubbles (i hope)

"in" the boat -- he wanted me to come too

We've been spending our Saturdays at the pool or a splash park this summer. It's become the routine, and Christian and I both look forward to it.
However, this week we have a dangerous heat wave in town with a real feel (107 degrees + humidity) of 118 degrees predicted for today and similar conditions tomorrow, along with code red air quality. So, I'm thinking we'll have to skip our weekly tradition and come up with something fun to do indoors instead.

Any suggestions?

phineas & ferb

Christian's show of choice for the last few months has been "Toy Story 3." He'll say "I wanna watch" "show" and "Woody" to get his point across. He could watch it every day if we let him. And it was starting to drive us crazy.

Recently, though, we were granted some relief from Woody, Buzz and friends. Christian has decided that "Phineas & Ferb" is worth watching as well (thank you, Netflix instant streaming!). And Shane and I couldn't be more thrilled for the change in pace.

It's a kids show that adults can enjoy too, thanks to its memorable plots and fabulous one-liners. I can seen now why my brother Tanner got hooked on the show and my parents have enjoyed watching it with him. And now I know get why my sister Katy is always saying, "Yes, yes I did."

So, while I don't want Christian watching too much TV, I really don't mind having this show on in the background if it keeps him entertained for 30 minutes while I attempt to whip up some dinner. And if he insists I watch it with him, I can handle that too.

counting down

This crazy kid comes home in just two weeks and Christian and I will be there to greet him at the airport when he arrives.


I can't wait to give him a squeeze, hear all about his adventures, and make fun of his horrible English and funny accent.

embracing the bump

{Obviously this isn't me. But doesn't she wear the bump well? I wish I could say I'm that cute pregnant.}

Over the past week and a half I've been coming to terms with the inevitable fact that I can no longer avoid maternity clothes. (Although, I do have to say that the "BellaBand" knock-offs I picked up at Target are sheer genius. I can still wear my regular black dress pants to work with the help of one of those babies. Same with my regular jeans.)

Don't get me wrong -- I recognize it's a blessing to be able to carry a child in the first place. I just wish I could be better at channeling the pregnant women around me who "wear" it so well.

Maybe I'm the only who feels so "exposed" during pregnancy? There's just something about when that pregnancy bump becomes so obvious that even perfect strangers know your secret that kind of weirds me out.

On the flip side, it's a relief when you no longer just look like you have scarfed down too many donuts and your stomach has a very obvious pregnant shape.

How's that for looking on the bright side?

pw's fettuccine alfredo

I indulged in some comfort food tonight and it was fabulous.

What I really wanted to make was the Pioneer Woman's vegetable lasagna (it's amazing!) but when I got home from church it was nearly 6:30pm and waiting till after 8pm to eat dinner didn't sound like the best idea for a two-year-old toddler and his pregnant mother.

Now I've never been much of a fettucine alfredo girl but it's funny what pregnancy can do to you. Don't get me wrong, I would probably never turn it down, but I'm definitely a marinara girl at heart (and so is Christian, funny enough). My favorite foods growing up were my grandma's lasagna and my mother's spaghetti.

But in skimming PW's list of quick pastas, this dish called out to me.

Switching gears wasn't too hard. We subbed whole wheat spaghetti (why is it so hard to find whole wheat fettuccine?) and used the end of a carton of half-and-half instead of heavy cream (we were lucky to have even that on hand since I don't stock many dairy products). Tossed with some steamed peas (my go-to green veggie for Christian when I'm in a rush -- especially after discovering my fresh spinach has frozen in the back of the fridge -- so frustrating!).

Long story short, PW is definitely the queen of comfort food in my book and her fettuccine alfredo is fast and oh-so-satisfying when you're in the mood for a creamy carb-fest.

cafe rio comes to virginia

Move over Chipotle (and California Tortilla and Moe's), Cafe Rio has finally come to Northern Virginia. Christian and I trekked out to Manassas early this evening to pick up some grub. The line was out the door but with all the excitement in the air, the time passed fairly quickly.

{What we ate -- me: vegetarian salad with guac and house tomatillo dressing; Christian: kid quesadilla served with a strawberry on the side; bagged up to take home to Shane: pork burrito, enchilada-style. What we drank: ice-cold horchata.}

4th of July in Richmond

Christian and I left Shane alone to cram and drove down south to spend the long 4th of July weekend with my cousin Darla and her sweet family. They just moved into an adorable, new-to-them ranch-style house and Christian was immediately taken with their large backyard (okay, we both were -- after four years of apartment living we will never take a yard for granted again).

June was kind enough to show Christian around her new outdoor digs, which include a trampoline, swing set and very popular garden hose.

We swam, we ate BBQ, we swam again, we brunched, we napped, we ate BBQ again. It was tough but someone had to do it. Oh, and we tagged along with the cousins to a fabulous birthday party, complete with a moon bounce, water games, and a tire swing.

Cole and Christian couldn't get enough of the water games.

Dayne and June swinging their hearts out.

And this photo cracks me up because June is sitting at the end of the slide serenely sucking on a lollipop while Christian goes wild.

I only wish I'd thought to take a picture of us adults so we could look back at it when we're old and gray and think: we really didn't look half bad!

tj's find of the week: strawberry coconut ice cream

{image from That's so Michelle}

Have you tried this stuff yet? We just did this week. And we're all in love with it.

It's non-dairy, soy-free, and so creamy and delicious. Can't wait to try the chocolate version.

Another great find from Trader Joe's.