Steph's Pick | a Milk & Cookies Birthday Party

Did you hear that our little Nora turned TWO last week?!! So crazy to think that it was 2 years ago that we welcomed Nora Marie into the world. Which of course called for a party! ;)

As you know...parties are my thing. I honestly love planning any kind of party. So naturally I couldn't help planning a super fun party for friends and family to celebrate Nora's 2nd Birthday.

Here's a quick recap of the party:

The Theme :: Milk & Cookies!

Food :: Milk & Cookies of course. We had 7 different kinds of cookies. Some homemade and others were store bought. We also had 3 different kinds of milk - Skim, 2% and Chocolate Milk for the kiddo's (and kids at heart).

Guest List :: Lots of little friends (and their parents).

Activities :: Eating yummy sweets and playing in the baby pool and sprinklers in the backyard - two of Nora's most favorite activities.

The Attire :: Matching sister outfits from Nana of course ;)

Thanks Kevin, Joy, Reagan and Elliot for hosting Nora's Party for us! We're so thankful for such great friends who are willing to open their home for such an occasion.

And of course a HUGE thank you to everyone who attended!

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elsie :: two months

We took lil' Elsie in for her 2 month checkup today and here are her stats :)

Weight: 10 lbs, 1 oz (25%)

Height: 23 in (75%)

Don't you just want to eat her all up?!! She's just the sweetest little baby and we're so thankful to have her as a part of our family.

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our little flower girl

Some of you may remember back in January when I was petitioning your help with a "How to Prepare my 2 year old to be a Flower Girl" Mommy SOS post. Thanks for all of your help - I loved all of your comments and suggestions.

Now I wish I could say that we were uber-prepared and started working with Nora in January but we didn't. If we were totally honest - we started a week before Lexa's Wedding(if that). Mostly our practice/preparation included a green tin bucket with some fake petals in it. We tried our best to encourage Nora to walk from one end of our living room to the other while dropping flowers in between. RIGHT!! She's 2 people. :) She was just going to do whatever her little heart desired.

On Friday we headed to the Royal Palms for the rehearsal. Just thinking about Friday makes me smile and get all worked up at the same time. Without going into too much detail let's just say Nora spent the entire hour of the rehearsal running laps around the wedding ceremony room. When it was time for her to practice walking down the aisle Alan would simply "unleash" (not really - but you get the point) her and we'd pray that she'd head in the right direction. Both times she practiced she never walked or even ran down the aisle. We were in BIG trouble!

Saturday was the wedding. Upon arrival we had the task of getting Nora into her dress. Let me tell you - that was a chore... to say the least. Most little girls LOVE dressing up and acting like a princess. Not Nora. After finally getting the dress on her she spent the next 30+ minutes trying to rip it off. She did successfully destroy the beautiful peony (Nora = +1) that was on the front of her dress but thankfully after an hour passed she actually forgot about the dress and stopped yanking on it. Mom and Dad = +1.

The shoes were another story. There is no convincing our sweet little Nora that she is going to wear anything but her Havaiana flip flops. We decided the dress was a battle we were going to pick but the shoes... not so much. Nora = +1.

After finally getting Nora ready, it was time for the ceremony to start. We both said a little prayer that Nora would at least show her face in the room. Thankfully Nora actually did better than we ever could have imagined. She walked down the aisle, holding the basket, smiled and shouted "Flowers" at the end of the aisle. She did AWESOME! And of course everyone thought she was sooo cute. Mom and Dad = +1.

Here's a picture of Nora and the beautiful bride, Lexa.

And of course the flower girl with her mama.

So all in all it was a great night. Both girls made it until nearly 10 pm (yes - I know - that's a pretty late night for a 2 year old) and we were so happy to be able to celebrate with Lexa & Andre.

Congrats to the new Mr. and Mrs. Andre Cotan!!!

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Steph's Pick | A Birthday Blessings Book

In the spirit of extending birthday celebrations as long as possible (which I'm a strong advocate of doing) I wanted to highlight one of the things I started last year that I just LOVE.

A Birthday Blessing Book.

Last year as we were approaching Nora's birthday I was thinking a lot about how important it is as a parent to give our children our blessing. I was reading The Blessing by Gary Smalley and John Trent and was really encouraged to find practical ways that I could give Nora the gift of our blessing.

Although there are plenty of ways to do this, one of the things I decided to do was start a Birthday Blessing Book - Nora's Birthday Blessings (shown above and below).

It's simply a small notebook that I keep in a safe place throughout the year. On Nora's birthday every year I pull out this little book and write a prayer of blessing as a way to document our prayers for sweet little Ms. Nora.

I specifically chose a bible verse that I use to pray over her throughout the year. A yearly theme verse. (If you're looking for a quick and easy reference for how to pray for your children check out FamilyLife's Lifting My Children Through Prayer Card)

Nora's theme verse for this next year is:

"Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord."

- Romans 12:11

I thought this was a perfect verse for Nora as this past year has been a year of ZEAL! (To read a little more about this check out my recent post on Scottsdale Moms Blog - Rejoicing in your Spirited Toddler). Now our prayer is that this spirit/zeal would turn into true spiritual fervor that would show itself in GREAT service to the Lord.

Although we pray for our kids on a daily basis (well - let's be honest - we WANT to pray for our kids on a daily basis but we're not perfect), I thought a Birthday Blessings Book would be a great way to document some of those specific prayers.

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Note: I have no idea when I'll end up giving these books to our children - more than likely it won't be for a number of years. Because you never really stop giving your children your blessing - even when they are grown and have their own families.

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happy {2nd} birthday nora!

It honestly seems like July 13, 2009 was just the other day. Now two years later, we stop to thank God for the sweet gift He has given us in Ms. Nora Marie.

Although her birthday party is scheduled for this coming Sunday (party details to come next week - promise!) we wanted to give a little bloggy love to our sweet little Nora on her actual birthday.

Here's what our day looked like....

We got up nice and early for her 2 year Dr. well check appointment. I know, I know... what kind of mom schedules a Dr. appointment on her birthday??! I won't do it again as I'm pretty sure Nora knew what was coming as this is what she looked like all morning prior to the appointment.

No smiles for the camera from this 2 year old!

Next we got a chance to spend some time with Reagan, Joy and Elliot. Playdates with the Cherrick's are a weekly to-do as the girls just love spending time together (and well, the mama's need some social time too).

After naps we took Nora (and Elsie) to Yogurtology. You may remember how much she loved her first visit to this frozen yogurt shop. You can see pics of that trip here.

Well things haven't changed much as it was nearly impossible to get a picture that didn't involve a wide open mouth and spoon. Case in point...

And lastly, Nora was lucky to have lots of gifts to open up today from various friends and family.

One of the specific gifts was a perfect close to our ice-cream filled day.

Have I ever told you how much I LOVE Melissa and Doug toys? They truly are our favorite toys and the ice cream set Nora received from her Aunt Sara, Uncle Kyle, Aunt Abby and Uncle Nick (oh and her cousins too) was just perfect for Ms. Sweet Tooth herself.

Nora Marie - you truly are a joy to know and love. We're so thankful for your spunk and spirit. You've flipped our lives inside out and all about BUT we wouldn't want it any other way.

We love all that you are and everything that you will be! Blessings to you on this day.

Happy 2nd Birthday!

love - mommy & daddy

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A Co-Ed Baby Shower for Greg & Amy

I love planning/hosting parties. You all know that. And there is nothing better than being able to celebrate the upcoming arrival of a baby with a baby shower for our dear friends, Greg & Amy B.

The minute we found out Greg & Amy were expecting their very first bundle of joy (a boy!) I knew we had to plan an awesome party. So that's exactly what we did!

Amy requested a Co-Ed Baby Shower - which I thought was PERFECT! Laura and I immeditaly went to work on planning all of the details for the shower. Food, decor, invitations... there were all sorts of things that needed to be decided.

So here's what we came up with...

The Theme: We decided on a teal and orange "theme". Mostly because we thought it was fun, co-ed appropriate and boy-ish (for the soon-to-come little boy).

Here are a few pics showing the decorations and yummy drinks. Not to worry guys... there were plenty of non teal or orange beer too. ;)

Sidenote - Have you had these flavored San Pallegrino's? They are delicious! Especially the orange. I actually got a 24 pack at Costco although I've seen them at the grocery store in 6 packs as well. I'd totally recommend them.

Ok...random thought over...next up...

The Food: The best part (in my opinion) - we decided that we'd do a "Make-Your-Own-Pizza" Night. We call Greg the "Pizza-Master" because it is sooo good at making pizza's (that's what previously working at Domino's will do for you). I wish we had more pictures but this was sooo fun. So many fun toppings were available for each attendee to use when making his/her own pizza.

For those with the grocery store Basha's at your disposal, we've found that we LOVE their pizza dough. Just walk right on up to the pizza counter and ask for a dough ball. At roughly $2 they are an awesome way to make yummy pizza in your own home.

And of course we couldn't not take a group picture (minus Alan, Ms Elsie and I - insert sad face)...

Greg & Amy - we couldn't be happier for you two! You will be such incredible parents. Can't wait to meet the little guy here in the next month.

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Steph's Pick | The Flag Page {Adult & Kid Versions}

I'm not ashamed to admit that I'm a total sucker for personality assessments. What's not to love about finding out more about YOU?!

I can remember very specifically the first personality assessment I ever took - The Myers-Briggs (in high school - junior year maybe?). I remember after determining I was an ENFJ - extrovert, intuitive, feeling, judgement - I couldn't help but be thrilled to have some way to better define me.

I realize it's a little narcissistic. But in all honesty, even though you may think you know how you operate - inside and out - there's always something new that can be discovered by taking one of the many personality assessments that are out there.

And these assessments have done wonders for our marriage. For those of you who know Alan and I - we couldn't be more different. We're polar opposites in so many ways - which is only a HUGE blessing. I wouldn't want to marry anyone else. Which is why assessments are so helpful in helping us better understand one another.

One of the specific tests we've taken that we've found to be very helpful is The Flag Page. It's super easy, short and the results are almost scary (in a good way). I remember after printing off my Flag Page and reading through the 6 pages that described my motivations, my talents and my soft/hard tendencies I couldn't believe how accurate it was.

Since taking it we've had several of our friends who have also taken it (and loved it). It's an easy (and cheap) way to help encourage your family relationships and friendships.

And there's more (I realize I totally sound like an info-mercial ... not my intention...sorry)...

The Flag Page isn't only for you but is now available for your kids. So fun, huh?!

The Kids Flag Page is an interactive game for parents to do with their kids. Suggested for kids ages 4-15, it's a must have for all parents.

Read (and watch a video tutorial) more about the Kids Flag Page HERE.

I personally cannot wait to do this with my girls once they get old enough. I think it will give such great insight into their how their little minds operate. :)

Plus I really believe in the ministry behind The Kids Flag Page. Sending some linky love to the Family Matters team.

Here's to learning more about you and your kiddo's.

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a Baby & Bellini's Party

If you've been reading our blog for awhile it's probably obvious to you that we have a group of friends that LOVE to throw a good party. And we're at the stage of life when at least one of our closest friends is pregnant so we're always planning a baby celebration of some sort.

Well I was one of the first to be pregnant with a 2nd baby. A traditional baby shower wasn't necessary. Instead four of my dearest friends (thanks Laurie, Denise, Michelle & Brittany) decided to host a "Sip & See" of sorts. Only they didn't like the name "Sip & See" so they called it "Baby & Bellini's" (which I LOVED - so creative).

This was such a perfect way to celebrate Elsie's birth. Sweet company, delicious food and yummy drinks... oh, and a precious baby too ;)

I apologize in advance... I didn't take any photos (boo for me)... but here is what I do have...

The Evite...

The uber-cute Welcome Sign (made by Britt of course)...

And two of the pics I actually took of people :)

Thanks to all of the ladies who came to help celebrate little Elsie!!!

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flies girls update

Seeings how it's been 2 months since the last Flies Girls Update I figured it was about time to give you a little peak into the lives of our two little peanuts.

Let's start with Ms. Nora...

• Nora is approaching her 2nd Birthday! It seems like just the other day we were planning her 1st Birthday party. CRAZY?!
• busy, Busy, BUSY!! This girl is busy. People say - well that's how 2 year olds are. Well - maybe. But you haven't met Ms. Nora. She takes the word "busy" to a whole new level. She'll run laps around any 2 year old (boy or girl) any day. I often tell people I feel like I have a 4 year old boy on my hands.
• So busy is she that it earned her a trip to the ER this week (boo). Nora was playing so hard (and drinking so little) that she came down with a case of heat exhaustion and dehydration. Needless to say it was a bit scary for everyone involved but after getting some fluids in her via IV she felt much better. **Note: I will certainly be posting about this experience and the heat exhaustion/dehydration signs to look for in your children so stay tuned.
• She still loves her friends Reagan. Yes... if you've missed it in other posts...Nora has two besties named Reagan.
• Nora made her first appearance on live television this week. Check out SMB's ABC15 Interview by clicking here.
• Nora loves her baby sister. So much so that she is always the first one to hear her cry after waking up for a nap. She'll run 100 miles an hour to wherever I'm at and let me know by saying "Baby sad!" Who needs a monitor when you have Nora?! ;)
• Nora's new favorite activity: Flash cards. Yes... you read that right. This girl loves her flash cards. And some of you moms may be feeling all bad that you haven't thought to buy your children flash cards. Well let me ease your mama anxiety a bit. I honestly bought these solely to help distract Nora when I'm feeding Elsie - and it's worked like a charm! Some kids might be cool with coloring or reading for 30 minutes. My busy bee just doesn't want to sit still for longer than 1 minute. So flash cards to the rescue!!! I consider the purchasing of these to be one of my finer mommy-moments.

And how about Ms. Elsie...

• 6 weeks old!!! I'm as stunned as you are. :)
• Still having some tummy issues but we're on the road to recovery. I've been eating dairy-free for a couple weeks now and it has seemed to help a ton. She's also taking a probiotic so we're hoping that helps too.
• Elsie rolls over all of the time. I thought it was a fluke the first time I laid her on her tummy and found her on her back. Nope! She pretty much performs this little stunt every time now. This girl is crazy.
• She's sleeping pretty well at night. Usually goes one 5-6 hour stint and then the rest are always around 3 hours.
• Starting to "coo" and smile more which of course makes this mama's heart melt.

And that's all for now! We're awaiting the arrival of Uncle Erik & Aunt Amy this morning from Iowa - it's sure to be a wonderful weekend! We can't wait!

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Steph's Pick | Gymboree Bubbles

Did you know that Gymboree has the most amazingly super bubbles?!

I had no idea... until recently!

When compared to regular market bubbles, they burst every other competitor's bubble. While regular bubbles quickly fall to the ground and pop upon immediate contact with anything, Gymboree bubbles magically float suspended in the air.

Case in point - we live on the second floor of a condo complex. We blow bubbles out on our patio (yes - even in the 110+ degree heat). Since getting the Gymboree Bubble Ooodles there have been numerous times that after 10+ minutes of blowing bubbles we hear one of our neighbors yell out something to the effects of "It's a Bubble Wonderland out here!" The bubbles just don't pop. No joke. It's amazing.

They are a perfect summer activity for your own kiddo's and a perfect gift idea for any kids in your life. At $5/set they might be a little more expensive than the average bubbles BUT they are still affordable and oh so much better.

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elsie's announcement

Photos: Kimberly Bee

Design: Me!

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How to "Host" a Baby Shower by Mail

One of life's happiest occasions is a baby shower! But what if she lives in ________ (and you don't)? You can still celebrate by instilling the spirit of a shower into a thoughtful care package -- a shower (by mail).

This is exactly what I just finished planning for my dear friend Jess. And let me tell you - it was soooo much fun!

You see Jess and her hubby, Nate, live in California (aka: too far away from me if you ask me). So when I first heard they were expecting a baby in August my wheels started turning about how I could host a shower for Jess. You know how much I love throwing a shower?

But reality sank in fast ...I had forgotten (oops!)...I was also expecting a baby BEFORE Jess. There was just no way I would be able to make the trip to CA to host an in-person shower for her. Grr... I was totally bummed. But Dr. Google pulled through again. I started researching baby-shower-at-a-distance ideas and decided on a Baby Shower by Mail!

Let me tell you ladies... it was perfect! The ladies who participated loved it. I loved it. And most importantly Jess loved it.

So for those of you interested in knowing how to host a Baby Shower by Mail - here's my step by step guide to doing just that!

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How to "Host" a Baby Shower by Mail

1) Start a Facebook Event. Isn't Facebook wonderful?! When planning this event I knew there was no way I wanted to manage it all via email - so a Facebook event it was. Here are the things to include in the "More Info" portion of the event:

- Note if it's a surprise or not.

- Date that gifts need to be mailed to you by.

- Mailing address for gifts.

- Wrapping specifics. (I'll discuss this more below)

- Note for guests to keep in mind that all gifts will be mailed together so it's important they buy smaller gifts (if at all possible).

- Registry info.

- Invite guests to invite additional guests who might also be interested in participating. Hey - no one is FB friends with everyone, right?!

- Ask guests to RSVP via the FB Event so you know who to expect gifts from.

2) Collect Gifts. As gifts came in I kept all of them in one place and was sure to make a note of who sent what. That way it wasn't too overwhelming when it came time to put everything together.

3) Receipt Envelope - I wanted to be sure Jess had all of her gift receipts in one place so as the gifts came in I started a receipt envelope which I included in the Baby Shower package that was sent to Jess.

4) Wrap and Package up Gifts. I decided I wanted the package to look uniform (and cute of course) so I asked all of the "attendees" to not worry about wrapping the gifts as I would wrap them all once they arrived. I chose a couple different colors of wrapping paper and spent an evening (or two) wrapping all of the gifts that came in. I then packaged them in a large box and prepared the box for shipping.

5) Include a few fun/random items. I decided it wasn't a shower w/o some sort of sweet baked good. Now shipping a cake or cake pops is nearly impossible so I wrapped up a cake mix and frosting. Include your own fun random items in your shipment. The expecting mother will really appreciate the extra touches.

6) Ship it.

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And that's it!! It's easy-peasy and a great way to really bless the expecting parents.

Thanks so much to all of you ladies who participated in Jess's shower - she LOVED it.

And this post just wouldn't be complete without a picture of the guest of honor after receiving her Surprise shipment :)

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Steph's Pick | Mr. Clean Magic Erasers

If you've yet to hear (and try) Mr. Clean's Magic Erasers I honestly feel sorry for you. Here are two reasons...

The first reason... I'm sorry I haven't highlighted them on our blog yet. I honestly was STUNNED when I went back through our "Steph's Pick" archives and didn't find these fabulous cleaning gems. To think that I could have helped your cleaning efforts all of these years and didn't.... ugh... it gives me a knot in my stomach (wink, wink).

And the second reason...I guess I just figure everyone has heard about them. So if you haven't - then you really have been missing out. I'll just assume your hubby is the only one who does the cleaning (oh wouldn't that be nice).

So why are they so great? These little erasers really are MAGIC. No marketing ploy here.

Case in point. We just bought Nora a new little table for all of her coloring efforts. Although we color with Crayola Color Wonder Markers a majority of the time, a crayon still comes out a time or two.

Yesterday for example. I was busy doing something (probably feeding Elsie). I knew Nora was up to no good when I hadn't heard from her in 5+ minutes. My suspicions were correct when I came into her room to find her white (yes - we bought a white coloring table - it looks so much better from a design perspective) coloring table covered in Nora's version of Van Gough's "Night" painting. After my miniature mom panic I thought I'd give my little Mr. Clean Eraser a try... just to see if it would display it's magical abilities once again in or home. Well - sure enough. With little to no elbow grease I cleaned up Nora's table in 10 seconds flat and felt so good I gave myself a little pat on the back. For what? For remembering the secret power of the Magic Eraser of course! :)

And these Magic Erasers aren't just for cleaning up coloring tables, but for virtually anything you can think to clean.... tables, chairs, walls, doors, sinks, shoes. You name it. It's really pretty amazing. I have no idea how they do it... but they did... and I'm thankful!

You're welcome ;)

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Nana meets Elsie

If you spent a full day with Nora recently it's safe to assume that you'd hear the following words spoken a number of times: Mommy, Daddy, Barney, Reagan, Caillou, Nana, Bubbles, Papa and Ma.

Nora never ceases to amaze me with how many times she can say one word over and over (and over) again.

Today her word of choice is Nana.

You see, Nana spent the past week with us. Nora and her spent countless hours reading books, coloring and playing all sorts of fun games. (Aka Nana helped Mommy soooo much)

And of course she helped snuggle lil' Elsie too.

Nora was SUPER lucky one afternoon when Nana suggested it was time Nora try Yogurtology for the very first time. And boy did she LOVE it :) We honestly couldn't get a picture that didn't look exactly like this (hence the family pic in this post- hehe).

Here's a little glimpse into how much she enjoyed her time:

And a family pic at Yogurtology of course.

Thanks Nana for all of the extra lovin' you gave to our girls (and us) this past week! I'm honestly wondering what we'll do without you.

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Elsie | One Month

Our sweet Elsie turned ONE MONTH old today! Can you believe it?! We certainly can't!

It really is amazing how fast time has flown. Between all of the extra kisses we're giving and hours of lost sleep, I feel like we've stepped into a time machine and can't seem to slow down these precious days with our girls.

Before calling it a night, here are a few of my One Month thoughts:

- Elsie's stats are as follows: 8 pounds, 8 ounces. 21.5 inches.

- She LOVES her Miracle Blanket. So much so that we're going to go out and buy a second one simply b/c I don't have enough time to wash the one she has.

- She dislikes her car seat (major bummer). Not sure why I have two girlies who strongly dislike their car seat. I'm starting to think it's God's sly way of teaching me patience. :)

- Nora is adjusting as well as a 2 year old can adjust to being de-throned by a little 7 lb baby. Although she is still our little princess, the adjustment to sharing our attention has been hard on Nora. Thankfully each day it gets easier and easier.

- Elsie spends a large portion of her days in the Baby Bjorn or Moby Wrap. It's just the only way this mama can be hands free with a highly energetic toddler.

- Elsie's tummy is a sad situation. i.e. she's pretty gassy and constipated. Needless to say I'm learning how to eat dairy-free and we're praying it helps with her digestive system. Thanks Jordan for all of the great tips.

- For those interested in comparing our two little girls: Click HERE for Nora's One Month info.

- Interested in how we chose the name Elsie? We'll save that for another post ;)

Love you Elsie Grace! We're so thankful for you.

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Steph's Pick | Crayola Color Wonder

Please allow me to introduce you to my new BFF...for serious!

The Flies Blend Reader - Meet Crayola Color Wonder.

Crayola Color Wonder - Meet The Flies Blend Reader.

You see Nora has become very interested in coloring over the past couple months. Great - I know. I'm sure it's a developmental milestone of some sort. But there's a problem with this new found hobby - It can be MESSY. Although I'm learning to be ok with the mess that Nora makes (thanks to Darcy K's encouragement in this recent FM Blog post), I certainly am not going to shun a mess-free toy. :)

Insert Crayola Color Wonder. Thank you to the working mom who is employed by Crayola and suggested the Color Wonder Markers and Coloring Pads (that has to be how this came about, right?). Nora loves to color with them and watch them magically appear and I LOVE them even more b/c they only appear on Color Wonder Coloring Pads (that means not on skin, furniture, TVs or most importantly- walls).

At first I was less than eager to try them out just thinking they were a marketing ploy as they are more expensive then your average coloring book and crayons BUT take it from this mom - they are well worth it!

If you have young children I would totally suggest that you try Crayola Color Wonder markers and coloring pads! Your house will thank me... I have no doubt.

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our little gymnast

I thought a Nora video was long overdue.

Here's her new favorite activity...doesn't she run like she's going to mount a gymnastic vault?! :)

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Steph's Pick | My Goodreads

Where has time gone? I can't believe the last time I did a "Steph's Goodreads" post was back in November of 2009?!!! For those interested, click here to read that post.

So a year and a half later I'm back with another edition...

1. Her Mother's Hope & Her Daughter's Dream by Francine Rivers. When I found out one of my very favorite authors recently released a two part series I immediately requested it at our local library. I couldn't wait to get my hands on it. Thankfully the books didn't disappoint (as very few books of Francine's do) and I would HIGHLY recommend you read them as well. So good.

2. Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosnay. I actually picked this up at Target before heading to Iowa for my G-Gma's 100th birthday party. I'm generally not a person to buy books that haven't been personally recommended by a friend or family member. Well - Sarah's Key was an exception. And I'm soooo thankful I picked it up. This is a historical novel (which I always love) that brings to light a disturbing hidden aspect of French behavior towards the Jews during WW II.

3. Still Alice. by Lisa Genova. I loved everything about this fiction novel about a Harvard Professor that is diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer's at age 50. Genova is also a Neuroscientist and so she writes from years of experience to paint a very realistic picture of what an early onset Alzheimer's patient might go through personally and relationally. I'm also currently reading her most recent book Left Neglected and am also really enjoying it.

4. The Middle Place by Kelly Corrigan. "The Middle Place", as Corrigan describes it, is that unique time in your life where you still heavily rely on your parents admonishment and direction BUT you also have a family of your own who obviously looks to you for those things as well. This book is an excellent novel about the special bond between a father and daughter.

5. The Athena Project by Brad Thor. For those of you who know my reading preferences, this suggestion won't seem odd. But those of you who don't - I'm a quirky reader. I obviously love me some standard "chic-flick" type books but I also love to pick up the occasional espionage/thrilled book. The Athena Project is just that! But what I loved the most about this espionage story is that the "hero's" are a group of undercover WOMEN operatives. LOVED it!

And that's it!! Happy Summer Reading!

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Ma and Papa in AZ

After a week of doing this two kid thing on our own, it was time to call in the reinforcements :) AKA: have the grandparents come into town to help around the house and assist with the girls. I'm not ashamed to admit that I'm always up for an extra helping hand. And two sets of hands are even better!

"Ma" and "Papa" (names selected by Nora herself) flew in from Iowa last Monday and will be leaving in the morning (tear). Their help has been soooo wonderful. It's honestly hard to describe in words how valuable their time here as been to both Alan and me.

Maybe Nora can help give you an idea of how thrilled we were to have their help this week. I think this pic illustrates our thoughts perfectly :)

We spent the week getting out (as much a possible) and resting. Lots of resting. I figure I won't be doing much of that starting tomorrow so I wanted to be sure to take advantage of the extra hands while I had the opportunity.

Here's Ma lovin' up on Elsie-belsie :)

And despite Elsie's funny face in this picture, the girls really do love their Papa.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Ma and Papa. You are such a blessing to us! We could never thank you enough for all of the kindness you've bestowed upon our little family this week.

Now I'm on my own! Ugh....wish me luck...I'll need it.

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Steph's Pick | Ebelskivers

Photo Credit: Jordan Reasy

Yes, yes, yes... I fully realize that this is the first Steph's Pick since May 6th!! I know... I'm just as surprised. But what can I say? The reason(s)...more than likely a lack of ideas and this new little baby we are lovin' on now :)

Now to Steph's Pick -

By now most of you probably know that I'm in a Cooking Club. It's pretty much one of my most favorite things of this year.

Well this past week we met for our May meeting with a theme of "Favorite Brunch Recipe." I for one and am a HUGE lover of brunch. So much so that even though the meeting landed just 5 days after Elsie's birth I couldn't help but go! And I'm so happy I did because I there were some delicious recipes shared.

One of the recipes was for Ebelskivers - a Danish Pancake. Aka: the most delicious thing on the planet!

I'd never actually heard of Ebelskivers but when I saw Jordan bringing them in last Wednesday I knew I was in love. And you will love them too...promise.

Here's her recipe:

Ebelskivers

Ingredients:

2 cups all purpose flour

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp baking soda

2 eggs, separated

between 1.75 and 1.85 cups buttermilk

4 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted (plus extra for cooking)

Directions.

1. Heat the Ebelskiver pan on med heat.

2. In a large bowl whisk the dry ingredients together. In a separate bowl whisk together the egg yolks, buttermilk and melted butter. In a third bowl beat the egg whites until they hold a 2 inch peak (do not over beat the whites).

3. Add the buttermilk mixture to the dry ingredients in a slow, steady stream while gently mixing with a rubber spatula (you should still have large patches of dry ingredients by the time you've finished mixing). Then fold in the egg whites very gently.

4. Place a small amount of butter into each of the pans hollows. Using a spoon, fill each hollow almost to the top with batter. If you're adding a filling, add it on top of each hollow filled with batter and add a little more batter to cover it.

5. When the edges are slightly dry and you see bubbles, use two wooden skewers to turn each Ebelskiver over to finish cooking. Remove Ebelskivers from the pan once they are set or a toothpick comes out clean. Roll in cinnamon & sugar. (See WilliamsSonoma.com for other suggestions for filling & serving)

Enjoy!

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