Does anyone else live like this?

Have a Blessed Holy Week

What are you thankful for?

Holy Cow!

Harry Carey?

We went to Chicago for a babymoon. Another great mini-trip with the Mr. We missed our Boobah, but had a great time exploring the city, and it was good to have some quality time before the arrival of #2.

In chronological order, we enjoyed:

1. In-room strawberries and chocolate (a little splurge!)
2. Giordano's Chicago-style Pizza
3. Room Service

Peaceful.

Lovely orchid.

4. The Field Museum

Jeremy about to get eaten by Sue, the largest T-Rex skeleton in the world!

The Ghost and the Darkness

I'm a little nervy myself!

5. The Big Ten Basketball Tournament! At the United Center.

A great basketball player. And a statue of Michael Jordan. ;)

Go team!

Selfies at the game!

6. Lawry's for prime rib-husby's favie

7. Late-night drinks at the Ritz-Carlton lounge (I had a decaf coffee, ahem)

8. Brunch at the John Hancock Tower Signature Room

Nice view! Breakfast is so relaxing without a constant stream of Cheerios falling on the floor. 

Believe it or not, I shot this from the ladies' room!

Retrospectively, it does seem like we ate a LOT! But brunch is most certainly my favorite meal, and our little lady (arriving July!) seems to be making mommy very, very hungry! And, in our defense, we walked a whole bunch...my tootsies are pouty and my face is smiling. It is good to be home.

9. Now where are my Girl Scout cookies?

The Longest Day

6:10am: Receive text from Jimmer's daycare announcing they are closed for the snow. Rats. This is a huge problem. Baby snow day does not equal mommy snow day. Open window - admire 6" overnight accumulation. So pretty.
6:11am: Receive call from office manager -- "Are we opening today as usual?" Hmmm...lemme ask the boss. Send out text to boss.
6:15am: Stroll downstairs to kitchen to make bottle. Brr its cold. Check thermostat. 66 degrees. Uh-oh.
6:18am: Hear from boss, who is in agreement to open on time. Get busy, Dr. Morris!
6:25am: Rollers into hair.  Makeup onto face. "Jeremy, the furnace is on the fritz." Husby feeds el nino and checks his Twitter feed. Sigh.
6:30am: Text babysitter: "Please come! Dress warmly! Furnace freaking out. We need you or James will be spending the day in a Pack 'n' Play at Olentangy Pediatric Dentistry." Babysitter en route! Phew.
6:40am: Check furnace. Yep, looks pretty nonfunctional. And clearly reads "This unit is equipped with an automatic pilot ignition. Do not attempt to re-light pilot manually." Shoot. That was my only furnace trick.
6:45am: Call furnace people. Service rep will be there by 8:30am. That's like 30 minutes into my first appointment. Guess husby is having a snow delay today, whether he planned to or not.
7:15am: Leave for work. Roads are SCARY CRAPPY in Columbus, but just a little wet in Powell. Yay for Powell municipal services (we will revisit this later). Secretly happy that Jeremy has to wait for furnace service rep so as to not trek out early in his German deathtrap.
8:00am: Arrive at work. Order Chick-Fil-A for Dental Assistant's Week. Its gonna be one of those days. Little did I know.
8:00-4:00pm: Work at office. Great, busy day, despite the snow. Delicious Chick-Fil-A breakfast and Krispy Kreme courtesy of Laura. Hear from Jeremy periodically about Furnacegate. Not one, but TWO reps later we are the proud owners of a shiny new Lennox furnace; sadly, its to the tune of $5000. Gag. Allegedly we now qualify for some sort of Green Energy tax credit. Somewhere in Shelby County Randy Schafer is furrowing his brow in disapproval and making a comment about "liberals". Worry about Jimmer and babysitter at home in cold house. Run toothbrushes to our church over lunch for Honduras mission trip.
4:15pm: Drive home. Pay babysitter. Say hi to furnace installation helpers. Admire the amount of draping they put over floors and the amount of PVC and cardboard littered about. This is a bigger deal than I thought. Feed Jimmer dinner. Read paper. Day is almost over. Or so I thought.
4:50pm: Realize I forgot important dental goodies at work for tonight's at-home dental visit from other babysitter. Pack up Jimmer and head back to office.
5:10pm: Gather dental goodies. Dump impression plaster all over floor of lab, which is like catnip for 10-month olds. Clean mess.
5:30pm: Jimmer back into car. Promptly lock him and keys into running vehicle. This has got to be some kind of test. And I am surely failing.
5:45pm: Friendly Powell police officer arrives and saves the day, as non-judgementally as possible. Hysterical baby in backseat doesn't look so forgiving.
6:00pm: Head home. For the second time.
7:10pm: Other babysitter arrives. Hooray for housecalls. Jimmer hysterical for probably the 12th time today--darn stranger anxiety. How this munchkin can sob and simultaneously stuff crackers into his mouth is a true gift.
7:30pm: Rock Jimmer to sleep. Finally, peace. For both of us.
8:00pm: Jeremy comes home. Ted's Montana Grill takeout!
8:30pm: Finish up babysitter #2 dental stuff and start pulled pork for church dinners for delivery tomorrow.
9:00pm: Couch. Enjoy the warmth from our new furnace and peace that comes from the completion of a crazy, crazy day. Crazy.

Hey, It's Grass!

Waaaay better than snow!

Cake Pops

I enjoy making cake pops. Sort of. Making cake pops is like a dating a high school ex-boyfriend for the second (or third, or fourth) time.

You see said ex at a party and he flirts with you, and he's cute, so you flirt back and think, "that wasn't so bad last time...let's try again..." And forgetting all the misery that was your last go-around, you start dating him again.

Three dates in, you remember all the Ghosts of Relationships past, because they are all still there. Except its too close to prom to breakup, and you'll never find another date in time, and your kitchen is a giant mess, and you still have 25 pops to dip before your best friend's baby shower.

This is where the stories get messy...but they do look pretty cute all dressed up! And yummy, too!

www.bakerella.com for more cake pop inspiration-or is it temptation?