brothers don't shake hands.

Brothers gotta hug!
They seriously melt my heart. I only hope we can raise them to stay as close as they are right now for the rest of their lives.

Too cute, right?! Happy Friday!

what we've been up to.

Yesterday, Tom took the day off and we all headed on an adventure to the Norwalk Maritime Center.  While Rowan really enjoyed looking at all of the fish and the sharks, Andy was way more interested in the dinosaurs (which I have no idea how they are connected, but thank god they were, because if there's one thing Andy could care less about -- it's fish). 

planting fields picnic.

Today, the boys and I did some local sight-seeing here.  We were starting to go stir-crazy staying inside because of the heat, so we figured we'd better get outside today before the temperature goes up again by the end of the week. We brought our pb&j's (of course) and took time to smell the roses. . . literally!

at least someone is enjoying this heat.

Happy Friday!

backyarding.

We've been spending a lot of time close to home because it's just too hot to be far from the comfort of the air conditioner.  Hope you are finding ways to keep cool, too!

forgive me, i am not a food photographer.

But I am an expert food eater, so I can promise you that the dishes we made with our market finds tasted way better than they look in some of these photos!  Let's just say you'll have to trust me on this one!

I'd say the biggest surprise was the arugula salad we made with a recipe for Radish Salad from The Book of Tapas. It was a hit! The dressing is made with plain yogurt, so even though it looks rich (which it is), it's not as heavy as it would be if it were made with mayo or some other creamy base. We added walnuts to the salad for some extra crunch. They worked nicely with the pepperiness of the radishes.

We also sauteed some brussels with pancetta and the sweet onions that we picked up from the market

grilled the corn

and made a potato, parsley and scallion salad.

Like I said before, the pictures really don't do it justice. The ingredients were so fresh they made all of these simple dishes something more special than they usually would be. Wish we could have shared them with you!

Oh, sweet, sweet, summer!

mama went to market.

We moseyed on down to the huntington farmer's market this morning, and the bounty was plentiful, if not a little random. We picked up some pickled tomatoes;

a bread made from white, wheat and rye flour with a chardonnay starter (see above); and a beautiful bunch of lavender that I plan to hang in my closets.

We're planning on putting our creativity to use this evening by working as many of our fresh veggies into our dinner as possible. . . right now we're leaning toward tapas. We'll see where we end up tonight!

Andy's Party.

Anyone that knows me knows I love the chance to get my Martha Stewart on! Andy's party was so much fun to plan! The theme of the party was really just "Things Andy Likes".  So we had a little bit of summer/ beach, a little bit of Toy Story, and of course, as requested, a Curious George cake.  The weather could not have been better.  The party itself was very laid back and all of the kids seemed to  have a really great time! Hooray!

THREE!

Today our little Andy turned 3! I'm amazed at how much he has learned over this past year. His vocabulary has expanded from a few words into well-thought-out sentences. He gets knock-knock jokes.  He can process when he's done something wrong and apologize afterward.  And he can empathize with others when they are sad or hurt. It's truly unbelievable to see how much he has grown.  He's really made the leap from a baby into a little boy.  We are so proud of the person he is becoming and so excited to continue to learn who he will be over this next year!

Yet, as excited as we are for him to move forward, there are definitely those "Andyisms" that I'm sure he will outgrow over the next year that we're going to miss:

- When I tell him what we are going to do next: That's a great idea!

- When something goes wrong: Oh, dear!

- When I ask him to do something: Not yet, but toon (soon)

- When I tell him we are going out: We going in da big car?

- When I change my clothes:  Mommy, you look great!  or my other favorite, You look tow (so) cute!

- When Tom calls him Andy-boy: Okay, Daddy-boy.

- When he asks what something is and you tell him the name of it (for example, a screwdriver): I YOVE da crewdriver! (I love the screwdriver)

- When we are baking together and are ready to move on to the next step: Toe now. (So now)

Happy Birthday, Andy! We love you so much!

we've come a long way, baby.

Today marks the fourth anniversary of the day that we purchased this house. It has taken a lot of work, money, and time to turn this place into a home that we are proud to call our own. It's amazing to think how far we've come since that day in 2007, because the house is not the only thing that's undergone a major transformation. Our lives have changed so much in this house. We've become parents, we've experienced the anticipation of meeting each of our babies as we rushed to prepare the house for each of their arrivals -- first the upstairs, then the kitchen. We've changed jobs, bodies (well, me, at least. hello, stretchmarks!) graduated from grad school. . . and started preschool with Andy -- all in these four years. There have been more times than I can count that we've regretted buying this house. If only we had waited six months, the market would have changed. If only we knew then how much we were going to want: a garage, a fourth bedroom, a house that didn't require updating in every nook and cranny, a neighbor that didn't have a giant boat in his front yard. . . .The list goes on. But in spite of all of these complaints, this house has been the home where our earliest family memories were created; and for that, it will always be a very special and very wonderful house. So, happy 4th anniversary little house! It's been quite a journey!

Some of our proudest moments since July 12, 2007. A day that seems so long ago, and at the same time, like yesterday:

show off.

Look at me, standing while I drink my bottle.

home sweet home.

Well. . . maybe bittersweet. We had the most amazing vacation we could have hoped for. The sights were beautiful, the house we stayed in rocked our collective socks, and we just got to enjoy spending time with each other without all the chores and monotony of daily life.  So, while it really is great to be home safe and sound, I think Andy pretty well summed it up for all of us this morning:

"I wanna go back to Block Iwand howwwse!"