Here we are, Christmas, 2011. Our first Christmas with little man. Gabriel joined our family on May 20, 2011, and since then, he's captured our hearts. More than that, he has mesmerized his big sister. She is totally smitten, and who can blame her?
LOL. Every time I decide I'm going to start doing my blog again, I update, then disappear. Facebook is such a good way for me to keep everyone up to date, that I just ignore this. However, I love that I have Avery's first year of life documented, especially since I never got around to making her a baby book. So it's almost like her own virtual baby book.
As most of my friends and family know, Avery is expecting a baby brother around May 26, 2011. I'm now about 30 weeks pregnant, so 10 more weeks to go. My hope is keep this blog up to date for now, until at least this little guy's 1st birthday, so I have the documentation of both kiddos here.
In mommy and daddy's lives, a lot has been going on. We bought our first house last summer, and are still not completely moved in, almost a year later. All of our books are still in boxes in the rec room, we haven't painted any rooms, I haven't done much decorating, etc. Part of it is that I don't have the time/energy/money, but the other part is that I haven't decided how I want things yet. Should I have decided this already after a year? Probably. I'm notoriously indecisive.
As for work, Daddy had been having an ok year, but the Ohio government wants to make some major changes to the funding, etc., to education in Ohio and he's been pretty upset (which is an understatement). Much of his energy has been spent on that, as well as working on his thesis. Looks like it will be finished finally this summer! For me, I've recently learned that I will have a transfer at work, which is in the lines of a promotion, but not an official promotion. Basically, I'll get to a job I'll love (hopefully, lol) and not have to travel anymore. I'm ecstatic. I start the new position on April 1st, and will be in the job about 6 weeks before my maternity leave.
Anyway, those are our updates. I'm going to try to do a lot more on here, so stay tuned. :D And of course, you need some more pictures of Avery! 
Ok, I know I know... Toddlers aren't supposed to watch TV. I think the people who are able to enforce that are either saints, or don't own TVs. I mean, really. You're home all day (a day off or something) and you aren't supposed to watch ANY TV in front of the kid? And you AREN'T going to put something on TV for the kid to watch? Even if they're being obnoxious and it will chill them out? Yeah, I'm not that good...
So, what I'm saying is, we're not saints, so Avery watches TV. Not all the time. In fact, I love the fact that her school doesn't have any TVs, so she doesn't get it during the day except when she's home on weekends. However, the TV is unfortunately going in the evenings if we're home, but it makes EVERYONE happier.
Well, now, she has favorite TV shows. She's always liked Stephen Colbert, and Elmo is a fixture around here, but wow... Her new shows? Zaboomafoo and Caillou. (we do Sprout network around here a lot). She calls them "aboo" and "ay-ou", and asks for them pretty regularly. Is this odd, lol?
Anyway, I pulled out my camera and took some pics of her tonight. Got one with Caillou, but also got some cute ones of her trying to take pictures for me... Enjoy!
Ok, so I've been very lax about this blog for the last year, but I have a good excuse. Well, kind of. I broke my camera last May. How did I do this? There was a huge spider crawling towards Avery, and I used my OPEN camera (lens out) to squash it! Broke the lens focus mechanism... Anyway, I finally got a new one! Yay! Thanks, hubby! :)
So, here's some updates from Avery's 2 year doctor's appointment.
She's 34" (in the 56%)
26.7 lbs (51%)
48 1/2 inch CM head, lol... (76%, big head like daddy)
And now they take her blood pressure! She did great with it, and her bp was
88/50, which I guess is normal for a toddler?
And of course, I have some pictures now! Some of these my dad took at her birthday party, and some of these are my first fly with the new camera. Oh, and one of what she's doing right now! Silly kiddo. Man, I missed having a camera. Maybe now I'll be better at keeping this updated. :)
I had a friend ask about this recipe, so instead of just emailing it to her, I thought I'd post it here, so anyone else who wanted it could have it. If you're unfamiliar with Kolacky (or Kolachy, or Kolachi), they are Polish/Slovak cookies. It can also be a roll (like a nut or fruit roll), but I prefer these small cookie versions.
This is from my Grandmother's Slovak-American cookbook (hubby bought me my own copy of the cookbook a few years ago). She has made many versions of these cookies over the years, but this is the one she favors, and is truly one of my favorite cookies.
Cream Cheese Kolacky
6 oz of cream cheese, softened
1 cup butter, softened
2 cups sifted flour
2 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 eggs, well beaten
fruit or nut filling (I usually buy from the bakery at the grocery store... raspberry and apricot are traditional)
Cream butter and cream cheese togther. Sift flower with salt, sugar, and baking powder. Blend dry ingredients thoroughly with cheese mixture. Add beaten eggs. Sir until blended. Refrigerate for 1/2 hour.
Pat or roll outdough on floured board to about 1/3 inch thickness. Cut with floured biscuit cutter, or cut with a pastry wheel into 2 inch squares. Place 1/2 teaspoon of desired fruit or nut filling in center of each square or round, and fold over, sealing the dough shut. Bake on ungreased cookie sheet at 375 degrees for about 12-15 minutes.
Makes about 2 dozen
So that's the official recipe, per Grandma. I usually sprinkle sugar on the pastry board with the flour before I roll them out, so they have a light sugar dusting on the outside of the pastry. Also, when folding them over, I usually wet the the bottom flap and pinch the two layers together to hold them closed.
Just a note:
Grandma's Cookbook
The Anniversary Slovak-American Cookbook, Tylka Printing, Chicago, 1952.
AND
The picture I'm posting isn't mine... These are just what my cookies usually look like (on a good day). :) I got it from this webpage:
http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.polishpierogi.com/images/products/kolacky.jpg&imgrefurl=http://polishcatering.com/&usg=__T1Fejt2rbrwsyvOlW9Q9XIQRC0I=&h=1932&w=2576&sz=656&hl=en&start=2&tbnid=YYcWumkwz3HQfM:&tbnh=113&tbnw=150&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dkolacky%2Bcookies%26gbv%3D2%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DG
Well, it's been 6 months since my last post, and we haven't had tons of pictures of Avery lately, since I broke my camera last spring. Still, here are a few updates:
July: Took Avery to meet her cousins in Baltimore for the first time
August: Moved into our new apartment and Avery started "school"!
September: Lots of time spent with family. Grandpa made a great babysitter (and contributed lots of pictures)
October: Avery's second Halloween didn't go so well, and we didn't get any pictures, due to hatred of wearing a costume.
November: Spent Thanksgiving with Grammy
December: Had our first Christmas show at school!
So, here is a sampling of some of the pictures we HAVE accumulated over the last few months, in no special order.
September: Being babysat by Grandpa
July: at Philadelphia Zoo with Firefly friends
July: Cousin's birthday Party
Remember, click on the picture to see it larger...
Avery and her chair/gifts
Family
Her cake
Eating a cupcake with her cake
No more cake
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