9th Anniversary!

Daniel and I celebrated our ninth wedding anniversary today. Daniel was off work so we took the boys to the babysitter and had a day just enjoying being together as a couple. We enjoyed lunch at Reata (one of my favorite places!) and then saw a movie. We did a lot of laughing and talking and being silly. It was great to just hang out and not rush around! We spent the day reflecting back on that day nine years ago when two kids said "I do" and all the ups and downs life has thrown at us since. I could not be me without him and vice versa. He is my one true love, my soul mate if you believe in that kind of thing, my soft place to fall. I fell in love with him when I was 17. I know I will still get butterflies over him at 97. He is everything I want my boys to grow up to be. I love you Daniel and I love us. Here's hoping the next nine years together are as exciting, wonderful and rewarding as the last nine have been. Happy anniversary baby! I'd marry you all over again!

The Babycook........5 Stars!

I am the proud owner of the Babycook! After you get past the lame name, which sounds to me like you are going to cook the baby, you can appreciate its true awesomeness! Because my friend Kelli suggested it and because I am never one to disappoint, here I will chronicle my first baby food making experience with The Babycook. Who knows, maybe there is someone out there reading this that is considering this contraption....read on my friends as I give my review!

A little background: I made a LOT of James' baby food. It took a LOT of time and a LOT of effort and made a LOT of mess. I wanted to make B's baby food too. I am big on making sure Brendan does not get the shaft just because he is not the firstborn. So far I must say I am pretty proud of myself for how I have done.....pregnancy journal for B, check. Baby book for B, check. Photo sessions of B, check. And the list goes on. So of course, when it comes to baby food I want to do the same. But I admit that I was dreading it, because it is such an ordeal! If I never see a foodmill again in my life is will be too soon. Enter.....ta-da......The Babycook!

I heard about it from a friend at work who is expecting twins and made her toddler homemade baby food. She shared in my misery of it after the newness and excitement of it wore off. The benefits of homemade baby food are obvious: 1.)tastier by far 2.)contains more vitamins and good stuff 3.)leads kids to like/tolerate veggies better as toddlers and children because they veggies actually taste good as baby food (green stuff CAN taste good!) 4.) saves you a ton of money in the long run and 5.)makes you at ease because you know that nobody is recalling your food.

I checked it out online and told my parents about it. My fabulous dad who is big into cooking like I wish I had time to be, thought it was a great product and wanted me to be able to make B food too. He knows that with a toddler underfoot that it would be more challenging to make the good food like before. He ordered it and it arrived, wrapped up in pretty William Sonoma wrapping paper. Tonight I used it for the first time. I made butternut squash puree with hardly any mess, cleaned up and got the food into the freezer in about 25 minutes (15 of that I spent playing with my cutie-patootie). Check out my play-by-play, inspired by the Pioneer Woman (a blogger I love, check her out under blogs I follow) and the cool way she has her cookbook designed.

The butternut squash. Total price: $1.50. The Babycook cost $150 (gasp!) but I am here to tell you, it is worth EVERY PENNY! I plan to use the tar out of this thingee and I will not be retiring it with Brendan. I'm already planning to keep using it as a steamer because it is faster and easier than any steamer I have seen and I bet it makes some rockin' apple sauce!

All diced up. FYI - Butternut squash is a great thing to buy if you need a veggie to go a long way! I have enough left to make lots more baby food, to put in tortilla soup (delish AND authentic Mexican cusine!) and to roast up for James and me (Daniel won't touch it!).

In the Babycook, ready to go!

The Babycook steaming the food. It took about 15 minutes.

The puree after The Babycook pulsed the diced squash.

The nifty freezer storage container. It is silicone and once frozen, the little food "cubes" just pop out to be stored in a freezer bag. I am making up more squash and sweet potato to freeze tomorrow.

Tomorrow's serving, all ready to go!

Anything for you B!

THANK YOU NANA AND GRANDDADDY FOR THE BABYCOOK! IT IS WONDERFUL!

I'm dreaming of a white Christmas......

Merry Christmas from the Duffy Family!

We enjoyed a white Christmas which was just unbelievable. James liked playing in the snow, especially scooping it up and throwing it at Daddy. Daddy tried to show him how to pack up snowballs, but he didn't have much luck making them just yet. He did run around collecting already formed snowballs that Daddy made for him. We could only stay out a few minutes because it was SOOOO cold! I do not know I survived the 5 winters I spent in Illinois! Brrrrrr! Nana showed Brendan the snow from the window and I swear he just looked and looked. The snow just kept falling and before long there was quite an accumulation of both snow and ice. This made it difficult for Nana and Granddaddy to get back to the hotel. They saw many cars that had run off the road. I imagine that many, many people did not end up being able to get to their families house or church this Christmas. With two little ones and the cold we did not make it to church. Next year when J and B are a little older we cannot wait to take them to the 5pm Mass for Children with Christmas Carols. Gathered warm and safe around our table we gave thanks to God for the opportunity to be together to celebrate the birth of our Messiah. It was a wonderful night.





We had tortilla soup and tamales for Christmas Eve dinner, a family tradition, and then buttermilk pie in honor of James' birthday. We had made so many cookies and treats the last few days that we were kind of tired of sweets, so we waited to make his birthday pit until last night. It was nice. In our family it is custom for each person to get a birthday pie. This was started by my grandmother. We chose buttermilk pie for James because we discovered a few months back that he loves it! Later on we opened up presents from family. The big gifts from family for 2009 were:

James: Remote Control School Bus and an animated Thomas the Train
Brendan: the Babycook (more on this on a later post!) and Your Baby Can Read
Lauren: the Flip and a new camera lens (50mm, 1.8)
Daniel: money for a tatoo and a combination BCP and Hymnal (What a combination, huh?!)





Santa came during the night and these boys must have been good because he left all kinds of loot! An excersaucer, Crawl through Barn Door, stuffed animals, a musical elephant and stocking stuffers for Brendan and a shopping cart, vacuum, easel, Tag Jr. and stocking stuffers for James! Each boy got a movie from the Disney vault.....we hope Santa continues that tradition! Mommy can't wait to watch Pinnochio and Snow White. Needless to say, the Duffy house is full of new toys and books and movies for the coming year. Can you say spoiled rotten?

We explained to James about the reason we are celebrating and read him beautiful stories about the birth of Christ. A little over his head for now, but we plan to continue with the explanations each season so our boys grow up with a giving spirit.....to see that giving is ALWAYS better than receiving. All day long I have imagined the face of 5 year Ethan, whom I have never met, opening his presents this morning. He is the child we adopted through our church for Christmas. He and his mother will be spending Christmas in the Battered Women's Shelter which devastates me. But the good news is that Ethan's mom got to give him a new bike, and many toys and clothes today. He even got a stuffed stocking. Being able to do that for another mom is the BEST feeling. It is what I would want someone to do for my children if I were ever in need. So Merry Christmas Ethan!




Today we are still in our new Christmas pjs and playing with all our new goodies, watching Christmas movies and I will be starting our Christmas dinner in a while. On the menu: apricot dijon pork tenderloin, potato casserole, scalloped corn, crustless broccoli quiche, creamy carrots and blueberry lemon phyllo tarts. YUM!



Well, must run for now and see if I can upload my new Flip videos. Merry Christmas to your family from ours!!!!

A little out of order, but.....

life can be hectic with two little ones. Wonderful! Spontaneous! Delightful! But crazy!!! So, I promised more birthday pictures of James and I intend to follow through on that but first a quick post about my sweet B, my cuddles, my booper looper, my baby, my Brendan.

When I eventually print this blog as a book to serve as a keepsake it is going to be a little out of order and there might also be some repeats, but I think (***hope***) it will show my boys that I tried to document the big things for them, and some of the little things as well. I think it will be a nice addition to their scrapbooks and photobooks. So here are some pictures of Brendan at 4.5 months. I need to come back and post his 3 month pictures and his stats from his well baby visit.

At 4.5 months old Brendan's favorite thing is......drumroll please.........ME! What a momma's boy I've got and I am LOVING every single minute of it. He is PURE JOY! What a good-natured baby! Daniel and I swear that in his whole life he has not cried for more than 10 minutes all together. Seriously! How wonderful is that!?! Pretty darn wonderful I am here to tell you! Brendan enjoys cuddling and just sort of melts into you and is so comfortable. He seems so light to me, but that could just be in comparison to James' 30 lbs. His personality is so calm and so curiously sweet. I think these pictures from Nell at Cowtown Camera Girl just capture him perfecly. He is a complete doll!

James and the Cozy Coupe, one of his favorite birthday presents!

Hard to believe the Cozy Coupe has been around for 30 years! I never had one and wanted to make sure our boys did. Nana and Granddaddy gave James this for his birthday. Daniel put it together so it was waiting for him when he woke up, hence the pjs and crazy Jamer hair! To say he loves it in an understatement. The ones with the hat crack me up. Daniel always wears his Auburn hat in the car. So, I guess James thought he needed one on too! More birthday pics coming soon....

Happy Birthday Dear Jamer, Happy Birthday to You!

Jamer is two! Well, he will be soon. How can this be possible? How can that little bundle we brought home really be turning two? It seems impossible. But, yes, this loving, giving, hilarious, stubborn, feisty ball of energy is about to be two years old!

We celebrated his birthday yesterday with a party at Build-A-Bear. James got a kick out of the whole thing (except the singing to him part! A little overwhelmed I guess!) and it seemed to big a big hit with the other kiddos as well. We would highly recommend a Build-A-Bear party. The guy who led ours did a good job entertaining all the kids and by the time they left, each child had a bear (or monkey, or frog, or bunny!) to take home with them. James picked out a horse. We named him Mr. Ed. Super creative, huh?!

Our friends are good sports for braving the mall during the Christmas season! It was a little crazy at times, but when is it not when toddlers are involved! Daniel and I had a blast watching James enjoy himself. He really got into it. And Brendan is the world's best little brother! He didn't make a peep during the whole party.

Short on time, so just posting a few pictures of James from the party. More pictures to come soon!

9 Things for Which I am Thankful - Thanksgiving '09

No. 1
My toddler's tantrums, because that means that I know the joy of having watched a child grow to feel independent.

No. 2
My baby's diapers that need changing, because that means I know he has enough to eat.

No. 3
My mortgage, because that means I have a roof over my head and a place to call home.

No. 4
The full hamper in my closet, because it means we have clothes to put on our backs.

No. 5
The medical bills we have, because that means there was a doctor there to treat us when we were sick.

No. 6
The never-ending to-do list, because it means I have a full life and am needed by the people who love me.

No. 7
The alarm clock ringing early, because it means I have a job to get to.

No. 8
The pair of tennis shoes abandoned where they don't belong, because it reminds me that I share my home with my best friend.

No. 9
Starbucks, because it reminds me that if I were less tired, I wouldn't be living life as much as I am!





Change the way you look at things and you can change your world!

Marked as One of Christ's Own Forever

I love this line that is a standard at the end of baptisms in the Episcopal church. I am a little behind in posting this, but Brendan was baptized on November 1st which is All Saint's Day. We had many family and friends in attendance and I was overjoyed to share the special day in the spiritual life our of son with those we love. Our priest, Father Crary, mentioned Brendan several times during the homily, which focused on how we can all be saints in our daily lives. We are all familiar with "the big saints" but he reminded all of us that there are millions of saints who were just ordinary people who lived simple, good and Godly lives. We sang the same hymn that was sung at my own baptism, "I Sing a Song of the Saints of God". It is one of my favorite hymns ever. It is written for children and I just love singing it. When the priest was pouring the water over Brendan's head I got teary and just felt so overwhelmed by God's love and grace. I got goosebumps thinking about what was happening at that very moment. Brendan's godparents were chosen because we knew that these people love us and love him deeply and will help us raise him to know God. We chose my cousins Donna and Jamie Sharp and two of our closest friends, Kelli Merrill and George Flint. After the ceremony, we celebrated the occasion with a very casual BBQ lunch at our house complete with a cake, beer and a little college football. Our family, friends and neighbors presented Brendan with beautiful and thoughtful gifts including books, picture frames and crosses for his room. Overall, I would say it was a wonderful morning!


The proud Godparents and the newly baptized baby Brendan!



A family shot, sans James, who just couldn't cooperate enough for a family photo. Gotta love toddlers!



Nana and Granddaddy with Brendan. I like how Brendan is giving a little wink here! He is saying "Thank you Nana and Granddaddy for buying me this beautiful heirloom baptismal outfit that I can pass down to my sons!".



The cute and tasty cake we chowed down on after the yummiest BBQ.

A Snowy Morning

This morning we awoke to snow! We got out the camera and the video camera to catch James' reaction to it. He LOVES rain, so we knew that the snow would amaze him. Look at this face!

No Words, Just Love for These Boys