Party for Manolis and Debbie

Here we have Amedeo on Friday in our kitchen. I was checking my emails...I hadn't heard from him in a few minutes, so I stuck my head in the kitchen...he was sitting happily in his green chair, watching the microwave operate! He was easy to please. I wonder why some days he requires LOTS of stimulation and why on other days he only needs simple entertainment.

On Sunday morning with Poppy...















At the party with Gail Rust...his newest friend!
Our boy is definitely social!

Here's most of the group from the party...inside with our drinks.

And, dinner out on the deck. We were lucky to have such nice cool weather! Have a great trip back to Greece, Manolis and Debbie!

Oven Poll

So, Ladies, what kind of oven do you have and what do you like about it? The Sears repair tech came this morning and gave us the bad news. The circuit board is bad and needs to be replaced.

Parts + Labor = $500. That's about the cost of a lower end oven. And parts only have a 90 day warranty.

Hmmm. I guess we're going to buy a new oven, sigh. The things that I want in my range/oven are: glass cooktop, convection oven, cakes/bread setting. Looks like we'll be shopping for ovens this weekend. As for the party on Sunday, well, I'm going to get hamburgers and dessert and stuff at Costco. I'll maybe make a pasta salad with the gigantic head of cabbage we got from CSA.

My other question is, what do you like to do with your cabbage? I prefer mine to be cooked, as raw cabbage, um is difficult to digest.

Fun in the sun

Yesterday we had a really active day. In the morning, we went to the Central Library, and after that we went to Lake Kitamakuwundi that's right next door. Amedeo really enjoyed the gigantic fountain. I fed him a little snack and hoped that once I got him home he'd sleep for hours and hours. WRONG! He slept for an HOUR. For $*&! sake! All week I've been trying to get him to take a nice long midday nap instead of two short ones. He is resisting. I'm gonna die if he doesn't start sleeping more. Really.

Here we are in the afternoon at the scrap tire playground. He had a great time and then proceeded to take NO afternoon nap. Yesterday, I think he went to bed at 8pm and slept 'til 5am (we only go in at 6am, so he cries or does whatever.) = 9hrs +1 hr nap = 10 hours of sleep total. This is not enough. The books say it isn't enough. I say it isn't enough. Sleep, dammit!

Today, we went to Walmart in the morning, after which we took an HOUR nap. The ONLY nap of the day. I'm getting tired of this. I ate lunch, Amedeo played with his food and threw it on the floor. I drove over to Breezy Willow Farm for my CSA vegetables. We came back and decided to play in the pool to escape the heat. He LOVES the water. I LOVE sleeping. Maybe I should get him a waterbed. Sigh.

I really want to strangle him sometimes when he doesn't sleep and he doesn't eat. It's a good thing that he's cute.
And it's a good thing that there is tequilla.

Food, Father's Day and Fiascos

I joined a CSA so I could be like all my friends...and now in Casa Bernasconi we're eating a tremendous amount of vegetables every week. Maybe it just seems like more since the veggies don't come prewashed, precooked in little frozen plastic baggies. Lotsa prep work. I'm coming around to it though...the freshness is a definite advantage. Last week, we got beets and I could actually cook the tops, they were so fresh.

My dinner sandwich: manchego cheese, mayo, and sauteed beet greens with yellow squash and mojo sauce. The mojo sauce is from a Rachael Ray cookbook: 1 med onion, 10 cloves garlic, 1 cup olive oil, juice and zest of one lemon, and cumin....blend all ingredients in cuisinart. That sauce helps vegetables of all kinds. I'm not crazy about kale, but cook it with a couple of spoons of mojo, and the kale isn't bitter and yucky anymore.


Salad greens and mushrooms from the CSA. I put the mushrooms on a pizza (from scratch). This here picture is the last meal I cooked in our functioning oven.




Happy Father's Day! I tried to make a cheesy potato dish with my CSA potatoes, but the oven is BROKEN! Arg! Cheese wasted. Milk wasted. Time wasted. We tried cooking the potatoes on the stovetop. Nope. Not cooked. We finally put them in the microwave after we had finished eating the steak and green beans.




Thank goodness we decided to use the grill to cook the meat. Steak in the microwave? As Amedeo might say, "NA NA NA NA!!!"




And, darling child is being a poophead about eating again. He's getting more molars, so I guess that's his problem. Here is Poppy trying to feed him...and he's got the fork in his mouth. Not helpful at all. Poor Pietro, this was not a restful Father's Day. Teething child + broken oven + raw potatoes = angry Brenna.


There's always next year, right?!? I made a repair appointment for the oven with Sears online. They can't come until Thursday and we have a party on Sunday. I really really hope that the oven isn't too difficult to fix. Otherwise I am up a creek. Keep your fingers crossed for me!

Party Day

Today was my day to host the mommies and babies! This past week, Pietro has been away, so we've been going it alone since Sunday. It hasn't been as bad as the previous times. Mainly, since Amedeo sleeps through the night. But, I also think it is due to Amedeo's independence. He seems more content to play by himself. He definitely checks in with me frequently, but is happier in general than he was a few months ago.

There was a large crowd...the two Emilys and Tammy, our long lost mommy.


Amedeo needed a nap and some snuggles. Emily1 does nicely for this! Brooks was jealous. Poor thing!



Christian and Brooks...talking about life...Christian is probably saying, "The easiest way to get out of daycare is by biting. Everyone and everything." Brooks is skeptical, but interested.




Me feeding my tired child a cinnimon roll. Probably enough white flour and sugar to kill a horse, but you need to enjoy yourself at a party!



Our young visitor, Sky! So cute. So happy. Remember when our babies were so little and nice? Awwww.

Denise/Joceyln and Tammy/Christian...

Amedeo and Emily2 (looking mighty tan, I may add)...it seems that a week of just Brenna was not enough. He needed different mommies to change it up a little.



Amedeo and Willow (Sky's bigger sister). Relaxing at the end of the party.


Thanks for coming over everyone! I had a great time!

Partly lazy Friday

This morning, we had a lovely (hot) walk around Centennial Lake with EmilyK and Brooks. I took a shower before we came to the lake, and I took another one afterwards because I was drenched. After the walk, we fooled around on the playground with Denise and Jocelyn. Now, I'm beat, so I think we'll hang out in the backyard this afternoon, if it doesn't rain on us.

This is our boy wearing an outfit chosen by his father.



Hee hee hee. The dialogue went a little something like this:

Me: "So, why did you dress him in that this morning?"
Pietro: "Well, I thought it was cheerful and happy. They both have squares, so it matches."
Me: "Hee hee hee."
Pietro: "What's wrong with it?"
Me: "Honestly?"
Pietro: "Sure, I'd like to know what's wrong with it."
Me: "Well, plaid doesn't go with plaid. Unless you're playing golf."

And now, I understand where Pietro is coming from. Planet Pietro. Obviously! Now, I do an outfit check when Pietro leaves the house. Poor fellow...I expect a rebuttal soon.

Building the Play Structure

Yesterday, we got a big box delivered! Guess what was inside....a Play Structure!!! I took all the pieces out and put them on the grass. Amedeo was delighted with the unassembled pieces.






I managed to get this far...it was TOUGH going...my abs are killing me today, which means two things. 1. I am out of shape. 2. The people who reviewed this product on Amazon lied through their hats when they said assembly was a piece of cake. HA!



Here's poor Pietro putting a few more pieces together at 8:30 pm in the backyard when he should have been doing work work.


Hey, Mom! Look what's in our backyard!


Yay!




And we had a super fabulous time at Emily1's house this afternoon. Amedeo loved the water slide. Thanks for having us all over, Emily!!!