First Words

Here they are... our Sammy's first words!


1. Da-da.

He was saying this at about five months old. Not entirely impressed with this as the mom but it's pretty adorable whenever he says it.

2. Mumma.

This is relatively new, at around the 9 month mark. And he only says it when upset.

3. Ball.

It sounds more like "baul", but he is saying it when holding a tennis ball, wiffle ball, or his stuffed basketball and footballs.

4. Book.

Again, this sounds like "bouk", but he is using it correctly - when grabbing a book from the shelf for bed time stories.

5. Doggy.

Doggy was gifted to Sam by my friend T who lives in NYC. Sam LOVES this thing and sleeps with him every night! When he is calling for him it kinda sounds like "dugg" but in a panicked tone because doggy isn't immediately in his hand. 

Salted Caramel Whoopie Pies

My aunt makes whoopie pies for many family gatherings. They are divine. I always assumed that they were difficult to make, so I never attempted.

Salted Caramel Whoopie Pies ready for Thanksgiving dessert!

But then I found a new ecipe. A delicious, easy, impressive recipe. Salt and chocolate. 
'Tis the season for a sweet treat!



You'll Need:

1 box chocolate cake mix

1/2 cup veggie oil

2 eggs

1/4 cup water

store bought vanilla frosting

1/2 cup caramel topping 

1/2 tablespoon Kosher or Sea Salt plus a little more to garnish

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Combine cake mix, oil, eggs, and water in bowl.

Drop by 2 tablespoons onto lined cookie sheet (leave about an inch between each cookie - 2 tbsp. gives you MASSIVE pies, for smaller pies use 1 tbsp. and adjust your cooking time.)

Bake 9-10  minutes. Cool on pan 5 minutes, move to wire rack and cool 15 more minutes.

To make the frosting, combine frosting with caramel topping in a mixing bowl. Stir in 1/2 tablespoon of sea salt. Take one cookie and place a tablespoon or so of frosting in the center. Press another cookie on top. Sprinkle a little more sea salt over the top for garnish. 

Enjoy!

Recipe courtesy of Mix & Match Mama. 

Thanksgiving Weekend

In the past four days, we've spent two feasting and two dressed in jammies. All day long, in PJ's. Delightful. 

We spent Thanksgiving Day with family - the meal was absolutely delicious - impressive when you are eating with 25 adults and children. Yes, that's right. 25! I could not imagine hosting 25 people at my house but my Gram does it year after year. The kitchen is lined with crock pots filled with vegetables and potatoes. I was asked to make a green bean casserole and also made kugel, a traditional Jewish casserole, as Thanksgiving coincided with Hanukkah this year. 

We wrapped up the day with desserts at my aunt's. Sam was so good all day - smiling, laughing, WALKING. 

On Saturday, we headed to my parents for Thanksgiving Part Deux. This tradition started years ago when it was just my mom, dad, and me. We have a mini-Thanksgiving meal with our own turkey, taters, veggies, stuffing, the works. When you do not host the meal, you don't get any leftovers! Through this tradition we get quality time AND leftovers.

Here are some photos of our weekend. 

Sam's first Thanksgiving Day.

It's become increasingly difficult to get a photo of this boy. He is always on the move.

Day after turkey. While we got Sam dressed he caught up on some emails.

Don't worry - I wasn't abandoning him on the changing table. Less than six inches away.

Boys watched the Bruins & Rangers game. 

While I made chocolate chip cookies. The only way to get even more cozy when you are in your PJ's all day is to bake a sweet treat! 

  

These two. Spent all of our Thanksgiving meal part deux just giggling at each other.

He certainly knows how to make himself at home at Gram and Gramps!

For an active little guy, he always takes some time to sit with his Gram. Sweet boy.

Or, maybe he just wants to drive her chair!

Attempted a family shot. No luck!

On Saturday we turned on to our street and this house was glowing. GLOWING. This photo doesn't do it justice - it's lit up brighter than a Christmas tree. This neighborhood certainly gets into the spirit of things!

Sunday - Watching football and reading books. I love Sam's face while reading Peekaboo Baby!

Sunday was an odd one - a mystery smell from the fridge that was luckily discovered - don't ask!, a malfunctioning smoke alarm, and a bad cut from the blade of our food processor wrapped up the day. This week we are prepping for another airplane ride and a visit to Nana & Grandad's! Here we come!

Happy Thanksgiving

We are celebrating Sam's first Thanksgiving today. We are incredibly thankful for a healthy, happy, and sweet little boy who has changed our lives in the greatest way forever more.

Enjoy your meal and your friends and family.

Happy Hanukkah!

Tonight kicks off Hanukkah - the festival of lights, and Sam's first year celebrating. We will light our menorah and have weekend filled with delicious recipes including roast, latkes, kugel and matzo ball soup. 

My girlfriend prepped me with a Jewish cook book when I married G. The kugel recipe has been tested and approved!

And, fortunately enough, Sam is lucky to open eight presents, one for each night. Tonight, he will be gifted his first menorah.

Sam's first menorah, first dreidel, and some goodies to be revealed later!

We are happy to be safe and NOT traveling in this nasty weather - although Sam didn't seem to mind the traffic or falling snow yesterday!

Ick.

Happy Hanukkah!

Blessed.

My hubby travels for work. It's not constant, but it is a lot. And I know it's a lot for him, and it's a lot for me. And we are determined to make it easy for Sam. Of course as he gets older he will miss his da-da, and we understand that and will need to find ways to navigate those times. 

But as G "read" Mortimer over speaker phone to Sam last week while he was away, and both Sam and I stared back and forth from the phone to the book that da-da "read", I know how blessed I am.

And another night when G got back from Boston and raced upstairs in his suit and thanked me for keeping Sam up to say goodnight; and Sam stood straight up and stared at his da-da after clasping his hands in front of his little body, his sweet face smiling with excitement, I know that I am blessed.

And when Sam cuddles up to his da-da for bed time books, I look over and my heart swells with happiness. And I know that I am blessed.

My husband spends more nights at home than he does away on business. He is not missing Sam's milestones, and he has been there beside me through the thick and the thin of bringing a babe into this world, including midnight feedings, early morning wake-ups, frustrations, joys, smiles, first steps and giggles.

My husband is making a difference in this world and I am so proud of the work that he does. I am so blessed to have an incredible partner and amazing father for my son, an example of hard work, commitment, and loyalty. We sleep soundly at night in warm beds with full tummies because he works so hard.

And, I am pretty lucky for a hubby who has memorized Mortimer so he can "read" it from Denver, or New York City, or along Interstate 95.


"Read" is in quotes because Mortimer has been permanently memorized. We read it every. single. night. 

Buffalo is Back!

Our annual girl's Thanksgiving took place this past weekend in Boston. This is our sixth year of gathering at my girlfriend's house, bringing our favorite recipe, wine, apps, snacks, dessert, and feasting while playing games and catching up. 

I made a new dish, sweet potatoes with Parmesan and pecans from Real Simple. The toasted pecans were super yummy atop the potatoes. An easy, flavorful side that accompanied our turkey "Buffalo", skillet cornbread, cream cheese mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, mac'n'cheese, stuffing, biscuits, salad. Wowzers. Whole lot of carbs - whole lot of goodness. 

Sometimes you just need some girlfriend time. It's good for the soul.

Yes, we are wearing matching t-shirts created for our annual feast.

A thank you to my wonderful pal La'Vie Jaime for letting me crash at her place, for sharing wine, lots of catch-up chit chat, and delicious sushi on Saturday night. 

This was my third night away from Sam in his 10-month old life. It's hard to be away from that lil Mister. He was missing me too - thanks to my old driver's license, he wasn't without a photo. 

I love this face. 

You may notice in the photo above that Sam has a nice bruise under his eye. He collided with the TV stand. He will have a nice black eye on his first Thanksgiving! These injuries happen when you have a WALKER on your hands.

Yes, Sam is officially walking! Not well, not all the time, but very frequently. About 6-8 steps before plopping down again. It's AMAZING to see this little boy grow. 

And he is growing. My 10-month old baby is currently in 18-month clothes. He wore his PUMA track suit to school - and is looking so big!