Winter has arrived on the East Coast

We were having a hard time getting into the Advent season this year, but we finally received our dose of Christmas weather this week. On Thursday, I was down in Dover for a training when we got our first "real" snow of the season, which was still only an inch or two. It took quite a while to get home that afternoon, as many were unprepared and uncomfortable driving in the snow. They called a two-hour delay for school on Friday... pretty silly when the roads were perfectly fine the next morning, but that's Delaware. Our first glimpse of snow was actually last Friday, Dec. 10 (during last period, which was my homeroom-they were beyond excited).

The first week of Dec. we did get to see Santa arrive in Newark at the Winterfest. Theodore found the event a little strange, but not too frightening.

Last weekend Theodore picked out the Christmas tree with Brian and we set it up. Baby has yet to really bother the tree too much... we'll see if that can be said once we start putting wrapped presents underneath.

And finally, this Saturday we made our second NYC at Christmas time trip. This time we actually braved the traffic and drove right up to Central Park and parked right near FAO Schwartz (with a coupon for the garage!) with less than three hours from our door to theirs. We learned Brian quickly can pick up on taxi driver's techniques after being on the city streets just a few minutes.
There is just something so great about the city at Christmas... I am so glad we dragged our weary, tired selves there and had a great day. Theodore was great, other than being scared for a brief second when he found himself on the middle of 5th Avenue. It was quite a wake-up after his nap in the car. We headed through Central Park (stopping for Theodore's first carousel ride) to the Museum of Natural History. We could have spent a lot longer there, but it was closing around 6 and we didn't get there as early as we would have liked. We had to speed tour a lot of the museum.
Then we walked back through a very calm and quiet Central Park, viewing all of the city lights on our romantic stroll as Theodore napped. Finally, we stepped into FAO Schwartz and entertained Theodore with all the great toys there. It was a great day, and I got to see the Rockefeller tree at night this time, which is definitely the way to go.

Update... 9 months

I have been neglecting my blog.

No excuses, though I have many, it has just been pure neglect. I have started many posts, but never had a chance to finish them. Some of them include:

Pictures from the 4-H Fair in July (Erin's last year.)

Highlights from our August trip to Maine (lobster, lighthouses!!)

What our new camera can do (panorama, quick shots)

Crash! (photos of the Colbalt's last days, and our new Equinox)

Theodore's first camping trip (back to Hickory Run and Jim Thorpe with Gma and Gpa E)

Out hunt for DE creameries (Woodside Creamery!!)

Theodore's first Halloween (Chocolate Chip Cookie), my birthday, Thanksgiving!

10 year anniversary of our first date!

But most importantly I need to update everyone on the little man himself! Theo is doing great.  He is crawling around at lightning speed (especially when dog food is out or the fridge is open), and pulling himself up to standing position on everything. He's got four tiny teeth that he loves to use to take tiny bites of bananas (among everything else). We are still nursing, and he mainly eats cereals and fruit and veggie purees, and tries some table food. He was not a huge fan of butternut squash soup, but he loves his Super Puffs (still haven't introduced wheat, and these are the only ones we could find without wheat).

He is starting to learn the word "no"; loves peek-a-boo, animal noises, music (he still turns on his mobile on his own when he wakes up), and spying the cat.

His 9 month check-up went well- he is about 28 pounds and inches. He didn't even flinch when he got his two shots! He's such a great baby!

Penske List

Lately we have been taking our eating out a little more seriously. Since we are trying to cut back on how often we eat out, every time we do we want to really take advantage of it. We keep talking about places we haven't tried, and decided we should make a "bucket list" of all the places we still want to try. Brian decided a better name for it would be a "Penske" list, since it is everywhere we need to try if/before we move. Both of these places made that list:

Pure Bread: Since its location is right beside Babies R Us we see this cafe often and have talked about going for a while. We finally did, and I was pleasantly surprised to find it is very similar to Panera Bread. Their soup is not as good, but their sandwiches definitely give PB a run for their money. It does seem a little weird to order a "Doberman" or a "Chihuahua", but we like it. We've already made a repeat visit.

Gyro Kabob House: This little shack is only a few minutes from our house, and is unfortunately right next to a dingy looking liquor store. However, my love for gyros and Mediterranean food lured us there. Though the service was ridiculously slow, and they forgot the pitas and hummus appetizer that Brian ordered, I still can't complain about them because their food was pretty tasty. We will be sure to order ahead next time, and check that everything is in the bag before leaving the place, but we will return.

Swinging & Pears On a Last Summer Saturday

Theodore finally got to taste his first fruits this weekend, as we started him on pears. He didn't make any faces at all, just wanted to eat them as quickly as he could. He bangs his hand on his high chair between bites to show his angst.

He also had his first taste of a real swing-we walked the path near DBI down to a park and let him swing away. It was a nice relaxing summer Saturday.

28!

Last Sunday, Brian had his tenth birthday since I met him at the tender age of 18. He says it was his best yet, most likely because he had someone to help him blow out the candles. A little one who was himself a day shy of his half birthday. And he didn't really help as much as he started screaming as soon as I lit the candles. He was already ready for bed. He did great at dinner though, as we went out to Ole Tapas and he charmed multiple waitresses as he sat in the booth between us. He even started throwing his foam block on the floor and had a few different girls pick it up for him. For records sake, I like to post the tapas we tried, so we can remember what we've had as we try to complete most of the offerings on the menu (minus most of the seafood choices).

The Chefs Compliment was a carrot dish, and Brian enjoyed his glass of Riberal.

Then we started with a trio of quesos (cheese), all tasty: Idiazabal (sheep), Manchego (sheep), and Mahon (cow) and the Aceitunas Marinadas (house marinated olives).

Then we had both "of the day" items, in the Coca del Dίa (pizza) and one of my favorites, the Empanada del Dia.

Our fish tapa was a Piquillo Relleno de Bacalao (piquillo pepper stuffed with salt cod) we paired with the surprisingly tasty Lentejas Morunas (moroccan style lentils).

Then we finished with meat and potatoes, including the Croquetas de Jamon (serrrano croquettes), Bocadillo de Cordero (spiced lamb meatballs sandwich with oregano) and the Patatas Bravas (fried potatoes with spicy mayonnaise).

It was a great meal!

And yes, this was way too much for two people. We were a little too full to have birthday cake later. But we managed.

Kiki also celebrated her 5th birthday. She is aging beautifully!

6 months!

Theodore is officially 6th months!

Lutheran Baptism

Theodore was finally baptized into the Lutheran faith on Aug. 15, 2010 at our newly renovated church. It was a unique experience for my family, who are non-denominational Christians that normally wait until adolescence to baptize. We do actually have Lutheran ancestors way back on our Poulson side, maybe I'll write up that story on here someday. I am a very big fan of genealogy, though I have very few posts about it on here.

However, on the paternal side, Brian's great-great-grandfather Martin Phillipp came from Germany in 1893 and was a Lutheran minister in Michigan. So it was very meaningful to see this new generation carry on the Lutheran faith.

Grandma had to let out the sleeves a little for Theodore's chubby arms so he was able to wear the baptismal gown that Brian and his siblings all used. We accessorized with the cap Brian wore, and a new bib and socks.

Brian in Dec. 1982.

Theodore in August, 2010

It was a great time, and we were glad for every single person who could make the trip for Theodore's special day.

Feed Me

We waited almost the whole recommended 6 months until giving Theodore his first bit of cereal. And I'm glad we did. I think it is making him sleep worse! He used to sleep 6 hours and now he's waking up more often. He really likes it though. We can't get it in fast enough.

*The lobster bib was in recognition of our recent trip to Maine*

Nursery Update

So, Theodore has gone from the bassinet in our room to the crib in his own room. I made him a bumper and crib skirt a while ago, and we finally bought his crib and put that together. We added a few more touches- his hand and feet prints on canvases, and some fish hanging from the ceiling for baby to look up at.

Blueberry Adventures (and Other Produce Pursuits)

So this summer, two of our main sources of entertainment have been going to farmer's markets and orchards. Two things I never really did in my own childhood. Since I lived on a farm there was no reason. We could get fresh eggs from an aunt or pick strawberries from my grandmother's patch. We didn't need a market or an orchard to help us connect to our own food supply. But out here in Delaware, we need to.

We've been up to Wilmington for a small farmers market in Little Italy (Saturdays, 9-1, 8th & Bancroft Parkway), headed over to U of D's own market on campus at Mentors' Circle (11-2 on Thursdays), and found the best selection at Newark's own farmer's market that operates every Sunday (10-2, 280 East Main Street) where we can easily head to after church. Among other things, we've gotten a lot of green beans, some rhubarb (made my first strawberry-rhubarb pie-it was fantastic), fresh herbs, and of course baked goods for Brian.

Theodore at the UD Farmer's Market.

Milburn Orchard has also been a favorite destination of ours this summer, and for the first time in well over a decade, my blueberry feign of a husband got to go blueberry picking. It was the orchard's first year for blueberries, and they had three different varieties to choose from. The first variety is probably the reason I mistakenly thought I didn't like blueberries. They just don't hit my taste buds right. But in the following rows, I finally realized that blueberries might not be so bad after all. For years I have baked blueberry pies without tasting them, skipped the blueberry sauce on waffles, and picked blueberries out of fruit salads. I just thought they were not the berry for me. However, by that night around 9:30 pm I had a piece of blueberry pie that made me seriously doubt my behavior. IT was delicious! I can understand now why Brian is always begging me to make this pie for him.

Since we the perfect fresh blueberries to use, I went all out and even made the pie crust from scratch, and watched the blueberries go from this:

We had a fun time at the orchard, though we are still riding this East coast heat wave to the fullest. Theodore and I ended up back in the car in the air conditioning while Brian was still picking. He would have probably stayed out there until his basket was full if I let him.

I've also kind of fell in love with my mother-in-law's garden this summer. I love to see things growing, and her garden has so much variety. She brought us out a bunch of peppers and eggplant and kohlrabi among other things. It's even better than a farmer's market.