Steeler's fan pictures

Sophia recieved two Steeler onesies in the mail from our provider of Steeler gear, Erik's Aunt Chari and Uncle Jeff. How could I not at least attempt to take a picture??

Attempt one turned out ok...

Attempt 2:

attempt 2, originally uploaded by SIMPLY.MADE.

Sophia seems to look like she's slipping a bit... lets try another pose...

attempt 3, originally uploaded by SIMPLY.MADE.

ok, I think they were in kahoots on that one- how else would you get two smiles, but both so silly and mischevious looking?

all right... enough sillyness guys, lets try again...

attempt 4, originally uploaded by SIMPLY.MADE.

Woah- somebody is a little too happy in this picture... and I think I'd be a little shocked if someone's belly were bumping into the soft spot on my head....

attempt 5, originally uploaded by SIMPLY.MADE.

this one is decent... but it's best to be fully clothed in a picture taken BECAUSE of your clothes...

attempt 6, originally uploaded by SIMPLY.MADE.

and then we lost one- and Sophia wasn't going to smile by then... so I gave up too... oh well. The Steeler onesie is still a little big on her, so we should still have plenty of time to try again...

on the way home from WV last week...

sleeping in the car, originally uploaded by SIMPLY.MADE.

It wasn't 10 minutes before Matthew looked like this.
The book was going to be saved for a Christmas present from Mia and Bebop- but Matthew spotted it and was very excited. He fell asleep reading it, and then later when he woke up, looked at it the rest of the way home (30 minutes to an hour).

excuse me waiter...

excuse me waiter..., originally uploaded by SIMPLY.MADE.

there's a lizard in my margarita...

her 1st visit to the zoo

her 1st visit to the zoo, originally uploaded by SIMPLY.MADE.

We headed to the zoo with Susan 2 weeks ago (she left for her job in DC today! *sniff sniff*).

T'was Sophia's first trip there. She did well.

Matthew, er... I mean Batman, loved the park the best.

batman visits the rinos, originally uploaded by SIMPLY.MADE.

While Matthew played, I nursed Sophia. I've come to accept the fact that we'll never go any where unless this is done. With Matthew I was very hesitant, running to the store just after he'd filled his tummy, once leaving a full shopping cart to go to the car to feed him, and then to go home. Not this time- I'd never get anything done, and it's much more practical to just bring a sling and take care of business. I could be kidding myself, but most times, I don't think anyone knows, she's covered well enough that she looks asleep, but you can still tell she's a baby, so there's a little bit of mystery...

Well at the zoo this day it was HOT. No way was I going to be able to cover her enough to leave no suspicion all... but just enough. Any how this lady heads over towards me from the other side of the park, passes two benches and sits down on the other end of my bench. Makes me nervous... what does she want? why is she sitting so close? You know- the deal with personal space??
So any how, she sits there a while, looking at me quite often. I think she maybe thought I was nursing Sophia, but couldn't tell and so she decided to come over and take a look? (weird IMO) So I pay close attention to her with my motherly protective instincts... as soon as she looks away after a little bout of staring, I fix myself up and pull Sophia up to burp her. The lady looks over again, and then stands up to leave. Thank goodness!
I still have no idea what her deal was... was she trying to check it out so she could be rude and tell me about how I should go home? (hope not- we're one of the states where that'd be illegal!)Was she going to give me a thumbs up? who knows. Guess I needed one of these.

in need of a good laugh?

Matthew will provide.

So we're home- and with POWER!
I was downstairs working on the computer, catching up on e-mails when I hear a ...

"i need a go pee pee!"
So I run into the play room and scoop Matthew up- taking him directly to the bathroom where I sit him on the potty... a bit goes by, and he finished up.
"Ma-hoo ah done." then as he stands up "more?"
so I turn him around and stand him on the stool... so he'd be standing up to tinkle...
"oh no!" he gasps "ma-hoo poop on da floor!"

I burst out laughing. What a great observation.
Yes my dear son, if you are stanging up to tinkle, you'd poop on the floor... so lets not do that again

in the dark

well- not this weekend. We still had no power at our house as of this afternoon so we've run to West Virginia for a visit this weekend- HELLO ELECTRICITY!

It's amazing how wonderful cold anything will taste after a week of not having it right at your fingertips... I mean we are fortunate enough to have my parents so close by that we can visit them for meals- but MAN. This morning- I are nothing at all because I had no milk for cereal and no way to toast anything thing... and even if I could have toasted a bagel or a piece of bread- there was no butter or cream cheese to put on it... so really all I could think of for breakfast- crackers or Peanut butter and jelly.... now I LOVE me some peanut butter... but for breakfast.. when not on warm toast?? I dunno...

I'll see if I can't upload a picture or two while we're here so I have something cute to share... this and the last post with no pictures leave me feeling like I need to work on feathering my nest

Good potty news on Matthew- he went one day this week with only making poops (as our friend Lily calls it) in his diaper. The rest of the time? well, lets just say he doesn't realize he needs to go until he's gone... or he only gives a moments notice, like "ma-hoo need a pee-pee..." and then you really only have time to pick him up before he lets loose.... so you can see why we're still wearing diapers... I mean, hey- we have no way of getting our laundry done at our house...

I wonder if Matthew would do any better if we had any of these.

power outage

the power here in town is/ was out for over 300,000 households following a wind storm on Sunday.
We're one of them...
Luckily my parents are not- so we're making a daily visit to get food, do laundry- or watch Super Friends. What oh what would we do with out our daily dosage of super heroes?

Last night we grilled out with Nick and Carrie. Tonight we may grill out again... or perhaps we'll head here to my parents house so that by the time dinner is cooked, we'll be able to see what we're eating.

The stores around here have no milk- their freezer and fridge sections are empty. I talked to a friend today who said that the gas stations by her have signs up that say 'no gas'!!

Matthew learned last night that candle wax is hot- and doesn't feel good on the skin. Luckily he's ok and so is the house- no fires. Just a scare.

We're ready for our power...
What do you do at home for fun- that requires no power?

chocolate mug cake

chocolate mug cake, originally uploaded by SIMPLY.MADE.

This recipe was sent ot me as the most dangerous chocolate cake in the world- since it only takes about 5 minutes to make it.

I made it in one of the largest mugs we had, and used the chocolate chips, since I had some....

I do not think it would be all that great with out the chocolate chips, and as Erik pointed out, it would be much tastier wild still warm when served with a scoop of ice cream.

chocolate mug cake, originally uploaded by SIMPLY.MADE.

yum.

MINUTE CHOCOLATE MUG CAKE

1 Coffee Mug

4 tablespoons flour(that's plain flour, not self-rising)

4 tablespoons sugar

2 tablespoons baking cocoa

1 egg

3 tablespoons milk

3 tablespoons oil

3 tablespoons chocolate chips (optional)

Small splash of vanilla

Add dry ingredients to mug, and mix well .. Add the egg and mix thoroughly. Pour in the milk and oil and mix well. Add the chocolate chips (if using) and vanilla, and mix again. Put your mug in the microwave and cook for 3 minutes at 1000 watts. The cake may rise over the top of the mug, but don't be alarmed! Allow to cool a little, and tip out onto a plate if desired. EAT! (this can serve 2 if you want to share!)

*PS. I tried the recipe with out the cocoa too and it made a decent white cake, though the cake stuck to the sides of the mug a lot.

5 minute batman shirt

5 minute batman shirt, originally uploaded by SIMPLY.MADE.

Another project while Mia visited- the 5 minute batman shirt.

While we were out shopping for Matthew's fall clothes, we found a black batman sweater- and of course, when we got home and Matthew woke up from his nap, he was DYING to wear it...

I had a white undershirt leftover from a 1st birthday project, and some iron on transfer paper left over from making two men and a smoker shirts- so in about 5 minutes, I was able to make this shirt for Matthew. he was thrilled- he wore it for 2 days, and wanted to sleep in it... then it had to be washed... and he forgot about it.
Oh well- it was good while it lasted. :)

little helper

little helper, originally uploaded by SIMPLY.MADE.

On Sunday we had help installing a deadbolt to our front door. Not to keep people out, but rather to keep the little guy in. He'd found that he could unlock the door and escape. The day after he'd followed my mom and sister out the door while I was in the basement (they caught him as they began to head down the road) I woke up in a panic thinking I'd heard Matthew yelling from outside- that he'd gotten out, and then couldn't get back in. So, in order to keep our newborn safe too (because I'm sure whoever comes to take kids away from irresponsible patents would take her too if he were found roaming the streets) the lock was placed high so he won't be able to reach it for, oh, another growth spurt or three.

Thanks Bob for starting the job, thanks Erik for finishing the job and thanks dad for providing all of the tools.

baby cupcakes

baby cupcakes, originally uploaded by SIMPLY.MADE.

here are the cupcakes my mom and I made for the baby shower. Lindsay helped finish up the baby blankets. I got the idea from JustJENN. They were a hit. I made 2 dozen, not 3 like her... (how to here)and I did have people helping me, but it wasn't as difficult as I thought it would be. Hey- I had to do something to keep up my 'Martha Stewart' like party throwing skillz... (right Teresa?)

Over all I think the mom to be was surprised it was a shower for her, and not an end of summer bash... She was told that the guys just needed another reason to smoke (some meats). We had a few surprise visitors too- and the big sister to be was sure to point that out to her mom (before she got in the door to see for herself!!). Oh well... I remember being young and excited too.... besides, she'd already made up for it by being such a big helper in getting things set up for the party before her mom arrived. :)

And what did we give as a gift?

baby gift, originally uploaded by SIMPLY.MADE.

What else? a pint sized smoker shirt.

Sophia in her baptism gown

Sophia in her baptism gown, originally uploaded by SIMPLY.MADE.

Isn't Sophia so cute?

Yeah... I know, I know.... shower pictures.

But I have another excuse... my camera is ALL THE WAY upstairs and I have only one hour to get ready to go to the zoo today- We're branching out people and trying something new here- 2 kids and the zoo. Not completely wild here though- Aunt Susan is coming too. I figured since we've been having some people ask for a play date, I should see how the little guy will do following directions at such a fun place. Also- we want to spend more time with Sue wile we've got the chance, she's planning a move to DC in a few weeks... we won't complain if she'd decide to stay though....

how we ran errands

shopping, originally uploaded by SIMPLY.MADE.

I know I told you that I'd show you the cute cupcakes, but I couldn't not catch you up to my week before last first.... here's how we shopped while Mia was here- in style, with cape and hat...

busy busy

rocking the baby, originally uploaded by SIMPLY.MADE.

Mia came for a visit last week- so we were running errands for the surprise baby shower we threw this past weekend!

More on that tomorrow once I get the pictures up!

We enjoyed having Mia here to help rock babies and fight the joker.. not to mention the great help she was while we ran errands!!

Sophia can...

Sophia Smiles, originally uploaded by SIMPLY.MADE.

SMILE!!

It's still sporatic, but it's a real smile- not just gas!

Life Rule #2

super hero, originally uploaded by SIMPLY.MADE.

Life rule #2 is:
Swap out some of your costume accessories occasionally to keep things interesting...