Brigid Grainne

Meet our new cousin Brigid Grainne Hazel born on Tuesday April 26.  She was 8 lb 2 oz and 19 inches.  Baylor was 6 lbs 2 oz and 18 inches at birth.  She is a big girl so to speak but so tiny.  The Hazel family came home today and we were there with lunch and other goodies for them.  I went to see Connor when he was still in the hospital and if we did not go this weekend, we would not see her until June and I could not have that! 

Baylor looked so big next to her, especially his hands.  He was sitting next to me on the couch trying to cuddle her and see her.  He wanted to hold her so I surrounded him with pillows and he held his first baby.  He was so tender and so gentle. And so comfortable for a toddler.  He made no sudden moves, did not try to jump up and drop her like a doll.  He was smiling the whole time he was holding her. 

He gave her lots of kisses.  His hands look so big!!!

He booped her nose several times.  That was something we always did with him, touching his nose and saying boop!  He does it to us now. 

She was a sweet sleeping beauty for most of the visit.  Until she was hungry but they got it together and everything was happy again.

Just chillaxin' with a newborn.  He was drumming his fingers on the pillow. 

Heather told me to try to get a photo of Conner.  She always says Baylor is so good in front of the camera but it has been there since he was born.  I have 10 photo albums of him already and I don't mean the little ones.  Like 300-500 photo albums with extras tucked behind photos so the spines are about to split.  Anyway, she said Connor would not smile or react but I see a bit of a smile in his eyes.  He was eating a chicken leg after all.   

Welcome to the family Brigid.  I may call you Luce but it is not my fault she did not call you Lucille.  I cannot wait to watch you grow up into a beautiful woman. 

Seeing Baylor being so tender and gentle with her really tore me up.  We have not talked about trying again but I wont consider it until I can lose some weight and the last 4 weeks nothing has changed in that department.  It is quite depressing which does not help the emotional eating and neither does all the Easter candy I have not taken to work to have them eat for me.  I will keep trying and hopefully will be able to give Baylor his own baby to cuddle, kiss and boop your nose.   

To Grandmother's house we go

So what does a two year old pack to take to Meme's?  His new duck Peedie, Daisy the kitty cat, Peter Cottontail, Sofia the giraffe, and three woobies. 

All packed and ready to go! 

While wearing a new blue nightgown and new froggy boots.

All leading up to Easter

Last Sunday I made French Onion Soup Casserole for dinner.  And here it is!!  It was delicious! 

Mom and Dad came on Wednesday night to watch Baylor on Thursday and Friday.  Baylor has been going to the sitter for the last two weeks because Lori has been too sick to keep him.  They were coming to watch him on Friday as the sitter was off on vacation and I asked them to come a day early so he could stay at home.  He is not used to going every day and it was getting harder to drop him off in the morning as he was so sad. Baylor spent a lot of time with Grandpa taking him outside and even had him give him a bath one day.  It was good to see him so attached to Dad because the first year of his life he wanted nothing to do with Dad.  Baylor was very happy to show off his pink nightgown!  And colorful stripy pants.

Saturday we made delicious brioche cinnamon rolls! It was a long process but totally worth it.  My assistant baker put the cinnamon and sugar on the rolls. 

A viola! 

He was very proud of them and ate the entire roll, right after he licked off a the icing. 

This week, still cute and in the rain!

My cousin Heather, her husband John and their son Connor came over Saturday for Easter dinner.  I smoked a turkey!!  The Easter Bunny came by early and hid eggs for the boys and they did a good job sharing them.

Heather is beautifully pregnant and is having her on Tuesday.  They have not decided in the name yet but even if they don't decide on Lucile, I will still call her Luce.  Connor wanted to call her Lucy when they found out they were having a girl and I love Luce as a nick name.  He now want to call her Bridget which is what they originally picked out.  We will find out Tuesday! 

Baylor pulled out the car and Connor took them for a spin.  Baylor had so much fun with Connor and it was really good to have them over. 

Easter morning the bunny left a nice basket on the table and Baylor was very happy to pull everything out of it.  He loved the bath paints, the bubbles and of course the chocolate.

Pap and Meme bought him a four wheeler and he loved it.  It goes pretty fast to.  I am not sure if he will ever come inside anymore. 

Baylor was so happy to see his Meme and she brought him many nice gifts, that I hope will find there way back to her house as we have a lot of toys here already.  He is very easy to shop for but eventually a house reaches the saturation point.  We are very nearly there. 

Baylor was ready for his egg hunt with his shopping cart. 

The Easter Bunny hide lots more eggs in the gardens today and we had a good time finding them all. 

The loot ended up in a bucket on the table.  We had some bigger toys to fit on the bigger eggs.  There was a lightening bug flashlight, peep puzzle, a bubble gun and some large bug chocolates. 

He brought me flowers from my garden. Molly bought me a small vase this summer for just such an arrangement.   I think it is the most beautiful gift.

Ever since the picnic table arrived Baylor and Meme have been planing a picnic.  Since it was so nice at dinner, Baylor took Meme outside for their picnic.  

Before Meme left, she read him to sleep.  He was so cute sleeping with hands behind his head.  Lori is taking him to their house tomorrow for a few days.  He will be in Meme Heaven until Wednesday.

Time to catch up

It is raining again.  I have a well for our water supply and I garden so I am cool with it raining.  We need the water.  It is thundering.  Eddy is not so cool with that.  She has great fear of them and usually ends up under my feet or on my head if we are sleeping.  Baylor is napping.  I am totally cool with that as he and I need a little time apart.  We have a lot of fun together but a girl needs some down time.  I am spending mine comforting the dog, making french onion soup casserole, finally working on an a post, and doing laundry.  The house smells wonderful of onions slowing cooking down. After about an hour they are almost to the point of caramelizing.  Yum! 

Lori takes Baylor to a local circus for their adoption anniversary.  We are lucky to live in a state that allows her to adopt him.  It is a small circus at a local Temple.  Lori is not a photographer and usually ends up turning the dial on the camera somehow to some setting that causes dark or blurry photos.  She managed to get a few photos this years.  Baylor loved the clowns especially farmer grumpy with the trained pigs. 

Here they are before the show started.  Are they not the cutest?  Ok to me they are.

They stopped by my office before going home so I could see his painted face.  He is such a cutie pie! 

I went to Chicago on a Thursday for a 2 hour meeting with a customer.  The best part of it was taking photos of airplanes for Baylor to look at when I got home. 

This is what our evenings and weekends are usually like. Baylor pulling around his wagon, riding his cars, raking the dirt, looking for worms, going down the slide... You get the picture.  We are out there until it is too dark or too cold to stay out any longer. 

This was the bed we bought him hoping to maybe entice him to sleep in his own bed in his own room.  It did not work so after over a year of it holding his stuffed toys we sold it to another little boy to enjoy. 

Diane flew in from her new home in New Mexico for a week's vacation and visit.  She stayed at her dad's but she stayed the night Saturday when I picked her up from the airport and came to visit a few evenings.  We played outside all morning after breakfast, of course.  Baylor loves to be outside!!

Ok, he just gets cuter and cuter!  We went to Baltimore to drop Diane off at the airport.  After we dropped her off Baylor decided he wanted to ride a plane.  It was not a fun road trip for a while but I finally came to some construction vehicles and all was soon well again.  Thankfully he is very easily distracted when we are driving.  He loves finding diggers, silos, cranes, motorcyles etc.  We went to Ikea and Wegmans which wore us both out but he was able to nap on the ride home. 

See what I mean. Cuter all the time. 

We meet our friends Julie, Amy, and Cullen at a local play fort.  The boys ran around having fun, and we chatted while chasing them around.  We went to lunch afterward and both boys fell asleep within minutes of leaving.  I think I am seeing a pattern here. 

 Who is coming down the slide?

 It's Cullen!

 April showers bring May flowers.  May should be a veritable bouquet with all the rain we have had.  Baylor loves to wear his rain coat and hat. Again how cute is he? 

A craigslist find for $40.00 a John Deere digger. It is pedal powered. I will love it much more when he learns to pedal because pushing him around is getting old.  But we moved mulch with it and he loved it. 

Thankfully the walk from the mulch pile to the new garden is not very far but after several trips it gets old for a 40 year old.  For a 2 year old, it never gets old!

I know there is some controversy out there about boys and pink.  Baylor has wanted a pick nightgown since Meme was here the last time.  I have looked for one without Disney princesses, Cute as a bug logos, or Dora.  Other than the cute as a bug I would not buy those for a daughter but that is my issue. 

Lori found one online with a pony and he loves it.  Since he does not sleep under covers, he is wearing jammy bottoms too.  Pink is a pretty color!  Even to little boys.

So I am done.  The onions are almost completely carmamelized and Baylor is awake cuddling on my side.  I will be back next time I get a few minutes to myself.  Who knows when that will be!

Life is a picnic

Where do you put the picnic table when it arrives and it is raining/snowing? 

In the living room of course.  And when your Meme is here, you don't have to get dressed all day.  He is eating supper in his jammies.