Welcome Garret!!!

Garret Richard Leo Lassonde was born on Monday March 8, 2010 at 3:50pm weighing in at 7lbs 4oz and 20 inches long! I can hardly believe my little brother is the father of two!

Here's shot of the little guy only a few hours after he was born.

It was a Monday. Jeff and Melissa had come into the hospital in the early morning hours. And this little guy was wanting to come- think: minimal pushing :) In fact, he came out so quickly that he had some bruising around his nose and mouth area, though fortunately that went away pretty quickly.

Dad called to meet me for dinner, and I assumed we were going home from there but apparently a text Jeff sent never got through so I didn't know little Garret was born! Thankfully I met Dad {Mom & Riley joined us shortly after} and we all went up to meet the little man.

Riley was thrilled to meet her little brother!! She just wanted to touch him and hold him and love on him! It was really sweet.

And in typical Riley fashion she also wanted to direct the activities. Once she'd "held" Garret for about 12 seconds she'd say "Grammy's turn!" or "Pepere turn!" or "Auntie Jen turn!" or "Daddy's turn!" or "Mommy's turn!"

Though 9 times out of 10, it was deemed "Grammy's turn!" A kiss for her baby brother.
The proud Grammy!
And the proud Auntie.
Garret looks a LOT like Jeff did as a baby, for those of you who haven't seen the thousands of pictures. It was a little unreal. The whole first night when I was holding him and looking at him, I literally had a hard time associating the fact that Garret was his own being and not in fact my brother. Very strange I realize especially since I wasn't old enough to remember Jeff at birth... but the images of him at that age are so ingrained in my head that Garret was just little Jeff to me for a few hours.

Doesn't he look so sweet and peaceful?

This hat was compliments of Daddy who has deemed him a Red Sox fan apparently :)

Yet another perk of working where I do is that I can easily go see the patients here, so I got to visit on Tuesday and again on Wednesday before they were leaving the hospital. As we did with Riley, we got some pictures of Garret on his way out into the world for the first time.

My goodness he looks so tiny in that big car seat! Melissa toting home many gifts and flowers.
Leaving Ellison 13 with Garret all snuggled in, with the blanket I made for him.
And ready to walk out into the world.
Its crazy out there, Garret, I'm not going to lie to you, but you've got lots of people who love you more than you'll ever possibly know and so we'll do our best to guide you and keep you strong. Make us proud little guy :)

the FACE!

Saturday March 27th

This little noodle is exactly 11 months old. Her hair is still faint but distinctively red. She is very verbal (trying to keep up with her big brother if I had to guess). It took awhile but now she's eating like a champ. And she has a ton of personality!

the funniest of all is "the face"

if you say to Aila "Make THE FACE" she'll scrunch up her nose and close her eyes until you are laughing your butt off.


She does have a perfectly sweet and normal smile too. Did I mention that?

And she's getting into all kinda of big girl things- walking with the tractor- and on her own.

Still crawling a lot of the time-- and in the couple weeks following this photo she started bear crawling which is hysterical, her big diaper bottom up in the air!

And of course putting things in her mouth.

Love you noodle!!

Berkshires mini vacation

Mom and Dad cashed in their timeshare for a week in the Berkshires, Vacation Village at the Berkshires in Pittsfield, MA. I took off Monday and Tuesday so I could join them, and get in some skiing with Dad.

We arrived in Lee on Saturday February 28th and hit the outlets and a local restaurant before venturing the last few miles to the hotel.

We checked in and were amazed by the view of Jiminy Peak which was literally right across the street! This photo was taken as we drove down the long, hilly driveway of the resort- van door open, which was fine since we were stopped... then someone came up behind us and Dad had to start driving. Therein the van's safety features failed. Turns out you can't open the door unless the car is in "park" but you also can't close the door! oops!We ventured out that night for dinner at an Irish Bar- Matt O'Reilly's- a hot spot for the snow mobilers who came across a lake to drink and diner there too! Considering the location and the crowd, the food was actually really good.

On Sunday we went to Jessica and Joel's to visit. None of us had seen their house (which is gorgeous). Dad went directly to Man Town in the basement and we all hung out there most of the day. Its a place where a Red Sox fan feels right at home! :)

Jessica prepared a delicious italian dinner and made homemade ice cream for dessert!

Her parents and Albert came over to join us.

They all had so much fun that the Lansings invited my parents to dinner on Wednesday night!

And Joel couldn't get enough of us either- he drove back to MA with us to come skiing with Dad and I on Monday (his 4 straight snow day if I remember correctly)!!! Being a teacher does have some perks.

We skiied all morning and then Mom came to visit for lunch (camera in hand).

Joel and me.

After resting our legs, warming up and getting some yummy food in our bellies (they had vegetarian chili mmmm), we headed back out onto the slopes!

I think we could have skiied until 5p but we were all pretty tired come mid-afternoon. I think Joel called it quits around 2:30 and Dad and I lasted just a little longer than that. As a reward for all our "hard work" we got in our bathing suits and soaked our sore muscles in the outdoor hot tub, while waiting for Jessica to get out of work. Around 6p she met us for dinner at John Harvard's at the base of the mountain.

The food was amazing- though probably not out done by the company! Its so nice to see old friends! :)

And just like that, my mini-vacation was nearly over. On Tuesday we headed to another small town, whose name is escaping me right now. Almost nothing was open (including the knitting store which I was so excited to visit). We did find one store that Mom had been raving about and she found some cute things there. Then we had lunch at a delicious little bar/tavern before I headed home.

A great weekend. Just enough time away to enjoy family and friends, relax, ski, knit, be worry free- before heading back to the grind!

Tunnel Time!

Tuesday March 23, 2010

Both kids are still sick, ooze dripping out of their noses in a steady stream.
But in better spirits than last week.

When I arrived, Aila was at the tail end of a 3-hour nap. Willy and I put a new outfit on Teddy Ruxpin while Kris got ready for work. Then Willy bust into Aila's room to see what Mama was doing in the bathroom and Aila woke up- something he proudly took credit for "Aila's awake because of me." Hit that nail on the head buddy! But it was time for her to be awake. She ate, then Kris headed to work, and we got busy with the kids' giraffe tunnel.

They both had a ball crawling through there- usually together. One would head in and the other would head in after, ready to tackle, tickle or love on the other!

They really are sweet together.

Other activities included dancing and singing along to the music table, and of course playing race cars. Willy learned to say Matt Kenseth pretty well and was awfully proud of that fact.

Look at the grin! Its TOUGH getting this guy to give me a decent smile these days, so even if its a little put-on, I'll take it.

Before we knew it, Matt was home, and the workers arrived to scope out the plumbing situation with their shower that needs to be replaced. And Scott Mazerall stopped in to catch up with Matt. We all hung out for a few, and then I headed home for the second best part of the night- Rescue Me, Season 5 on DVD care of the library (read: FREE)! Unfortunately its usually more fun than it was that night since the old Dell laptop contracted a virus and I spent most of the time multitasking trying to get rid of it (unsuccessfully). Ugh.

Oh well. It was a great day anyways.

March 4th- A&W

I didn't babysit on Tuesday as usual because I was on my way home from the Berkshires, but I came over to play on Thursday instead.

Aila is so unique and beautiful in so many ways and yet she's just like every other child. See lens cap. Put in mouth. Enjoy.

Its so much fun to watch these 2 interact now that Aila is getting older. Willy loves his sister so much! I changed Aila shortly after Kris left and then went to throw the diaper in the trash. Willy wanted "to come with" but then Aila started fussing. From the kitchen Willy yells out "I'll be right there noodle!" sooo sweet.

Willy also loves playing with her! They spent at least a half hour chasing eachother back and forth across the livingroom and squealing with delight once the chaser caught the chasee.

and repeat...

gotcha!

Aila looking super cute in her hood!

She was delighted by it!

Then Willy wanted a hood, but wasn't wearing one. So we got the blanket out and made him a hood... which then turned into "Tent time." Insert more ridiculous squealing! They loved it. Every second. "Do it again" Willy would say and we'd raise the blanket, rippling it like a wave.

then some solo playing time. Willy got his trains out.

and Aila found some music and balls to play with

Another fun afternoon!

Love both these noodles :)

Adventures in Sunday Cooking

Sunday March 21st

The Martinsville race was on TV and Dan invited his brother and the fam over to watch. Any excuse to get together right? Plus I've gotten into a great habit of cooking up a storm on Sundays and its always great to have people you love there to share it.

I started with the Applesauce. Basic but delicious and I know Kris loves it. And yes, while it is more of a dessert, even Dan likes it.

The skins and cores become compost to fertilize our land

{whenever we get around to needing that}

and then into the crockpot. 4 hours later and mmmmmmm applesauce. I use this recipe, though I usually add more apples and more cinnamon but not much more of anything else on the ingredients list. comes out perfect every time.

and my favorite oatmeal.

i make this nearly every week. its great for breakfast at work- simply add some milk and heat in the microwave. it gives you that divine homecooked hearty feeling that lasts for hours.

my newest territory is ice cream making.

i got a steal of a deal at Marshalls on a stainless steel Cuisinart puppy that i couldn't resist... and while I'm trying to eat healthy as much as i can, we all have our weaknesses right? and if i'm going to eat junk food, I'd at least like to know what's in it and what's not:

so what's in this ice cream?

organic milk

organic cream

organic sugar

vanilla

no preservatives or additives or coloring of any kind. now there's a treat i can feel good about!

so what's the verdict?

um yeah. safe to say this little guy LOVED it.

in fact, i looked over shortly after this to find Willy tipping the bowl up to drink the rest of what had melted. he didn't want to miss a drop! it was a hit!

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And on Wednesday of that week- 3/24/10- Kris and I picked up our first farm share delivery of the season. Last year I purchased a Spring, Summer and Fall Share and chickened out for the winter, but now that I'm picking up weekly again I remember what a wonderful part of my life this is.

What's better -- this year Krissy and Matt are joining me! Kris has been doing more of her own reading and watching on the subject of food purity (and mostly the lack thereof) and is now fully into the organic cult-- and I am so happy to have her on my team!

She told me last week that as much as I'd been trying to tell her this stuff, it just finally clicked with her and she's really excited about the idea of having the opportunity to give her kids organic/hormone free food right from the beginning of their lives! It is pretty cool if you think about it. Krissy is also a fantastic cook and I hope that together we can find some new recipes and creative uses for the bounty we'll pick up each week. The first week we received: Baby Bok Choi, Red Kale, Baby Spinach, Salad Mix, Romaine Lettuce Grapefruit, Apples Barley Flour Bunched Beets, Sweet Potatoes, Red Potato, Carrots Summer Squash, Zucchini Squash

MMMMMmmmmmmmm!

Looking forward to many more recipes and good times with family ahead this season!