Happy Valentine's Day!

Oh, how we LOVE these precious little boys!

They fill each day with love, joy, & laughter ~ and so many hugs & kisses!

♥ We are so blessed. ♥

I'm a lucky lady in so many ways. Gary surprised me with a dozen beautiful, red roses! Just had to take some pictures and post one so that they'll live forever in my memory! Thank you so much, Handsome ~ I love you and our life together! ♥

P.S. One more photo of my Valentine bouquet -- so pretty with the lilies open! The flowers smell heavenly....

♥ I love you, Gary! ♥

Greta's 2nd Baby Shower

One of my best friends, Maggie - hosted a second baby shower for Greta on February 12th. It was held downtown at Le Cafe de Paris, a lovely French Bistro, known for its irresistibly tasty treats.

Maggie put so much thought into every detail. I love the colors and designs she chose. It was a beautiful, fun-filled, and delicious baby shower/brunch! She had great games and prizes for guests, and scrumptious chocolates for each of us to take home and enjoy.

Ten of us gathered, total. It was a perfectly-sized group. We were able to visit and enjoy each others company over a delightful French brunch served with fresh croissants and coffee. (I wish I'd snapped a photo of the brunch menu and the food itself - it was all just perfect!) Just so I'll always remember, I ordered the Quiche De Jour (featuring shrimp, Havarti, artichoke hearts, and herbs) along with fresh berry compote and a decaffeinated latte.

I regret not taking more photos overall - and the ones I did take were very candid, so they're not the best pictures of my lovely friends. Here are dear friends, Sasha & Lisa. (I meant to get a nice group shot, but we became too busy chatting and having fun & I forgot to take more pictures).

Robbie, Melissa, and Angela

Kate and the fabulous hostess, Maggie

(I missed getting pictures of Hailey and Cara, who arrived shortly after I'd snapped these photos). Below is special guest, Kate's new baby Conor, just six weeks old here. Such a beautiful baby boy!

Greta received so many precious things -- again!

This is going to be such fun, dressing Greta in adorable hats, headbands, hair ribbons, tights, dresses, snuggly pajamas, cute shoes, etc....

Again, I'm overwhelmed and amazed by how gracious and giving our family & friends are - helping to make welcoming our baby girl all the more special! Thank you all so very much! ♥

Maggie ~ I cannot thank you enough for such an elegant and delightful baby shower for sweet baby Greta! You are such an incredible friend; I love you! ♥

Getting Ready for Baby....

After two lovely baby showers (photos coming soon from the 2nd one), and being passed along several boxes of gently used baby girl clothes from dear friends, we are feeling pretty stocked and ready for sweet Greta to arrive! For now, we're using Greta's toy storage rack for her clothes until we get her dresser. These are only some of the clothes she has, washed and ready for her. Blankets, diapers, bibs, ribbons & bows, adorable hats and toys...all smelling so sweetly of Dreft baby detergent.

For the first several weeks, Greta will be in our bedroom - so we've set up her crib in our room. We are so thankful to be in a larger home now. Our new bedroom is much more accommodating for a new baby than the small room we shared with Gordon & Grayson when they were first born, almost six and four years ago. For now, Greta's nursery will remain a guest room for Grammy & Papa to stay in when they visit soon. Then in the following weeks, we'll paint and decorate her room - I'll post photos when her nursery is completed.

Joey watched the boys one evening a couple weeks ago while Gary and I went out and did some baby shopping. We bought this lovely crib set, which includes crib sheet, crib dust ruffle, quilt & crib bumper (which we won't use right away for safety reasons), diaper stacker, and window valence. I love the soft colors and simple, traditional style. We also ordered Greta's baby book from Barnes & Noble, and just picked it up today. It's very sweet.

Greta has received so many thoughtful gifts to welcome her. Among many others, the pink bunny on the left is from some dear friends, Bob & Chris Ealing, the pink 'Little Giraffe' blankie is from Auntie Nenny & Uncle Tony, and the sweet little white prayer bunny is from Grammy & Papa Schueler.

Auntie Lassa gave Greta this adorable bouncy chair.

Grandma Myra made this beautiful, brightly-colored quilt for Greta.

Having precious little Cash (the little sweetheart I babysit) at our house each weekday morning has really helped prepare Gordon & Grayson for welcoming a new baby to our family. We absolutely adore him and enjoy watching him grow each week!

At 8 months old now, he has just recently started sitting up, is eating baby food, loves to laugh and make faces, and is such a joy to have in our midst each morning. He adores the "big boys" and his face lights up when they wake up and join us for breakfast. They truly love and entertain each other in such a sweet way.

We are so grateful for what has been a healthy pregnancy, and look forward to welcoming baby Greta in the next few weeks! We're officially due on March 10th, 3 weeks and 4 days away - but my doctor tells me she could arrive any time now.... Hooray!! ♥

Weekend Breakfasts (a la Cafe de Salzman)

We love weekends around here. Quality family time together, some extra rest, life at a slower pace...and Gary's many delicious breakfast menu items! Saturday mornings often mean scrumptious eggs Benedict, fried egg sandwiches, French toast, pancakes, or egg bake...many of which are made by our own chef, Gary. Well, he's added a new item to his menu ~ this delicious bagel sandwich!

On each toasted bagel he layers - honey nut cream cheese, deli-fresh turkey, fried egg (over medium), American cheese, fresh lettuce, and sliced avocado. On this particular Saturday, he served a side order of sausage patties, along with orange juice & coffee.

It was so incredibly delicious!

This is among MANY reasons we love our weekends.

Special Delivery

No, no...our new baby hasn't arrived just yet (she's due exactly four weeks from today). But a new glider rocking chair from my parents was delivered a few weeks ago ~ a special shower gift from them for rocking baby Greta to sleep. Until Greta arrives, we're using the rocker in our living room, and will move it upstairs to our room...and then eventually the nursery.

Anyway ~ for the boys, the box the glider came in was just as exciting!
Gordon got right to work with his scissors and made the box into a super cool fort, which he happily shares with Grayson.

Peeking out the window

They welcomed the 8 month old baby I watch in the mornings into their special fort as well.

Creativity and lots of fun!

Thank you, Mom & Dad ~ for the comfortable, lovely glider rocking chair...and for the awesome box, in which it arrived! ☺

Snowy Fun in the Mountains

Last weekend we took in a fun-filled, snowy trip to the cabins.
Blue skies, relatively warm weather (compared to our last, very cold visit in December), and a lot of snow welcomed us to our mountain getaway!

Gary and the boys especially enjoyed climbing, sliding, and jumping into the abundant amount of white stuff all around us.

Soaking up sunshine and fresh mountain air!

Large piles of snow had accumulated where it had slid off of the steel rooftops, making some fantastic piles of snow to climb and slide on.

Check out all this snow that slid off the roof! And this is after some melting had taken place in the past couple weeks. It's definitely a good snow year, especially in the mountains.

All smiles.

And here's a happy face with residual chocolate pudding on it.

We love getting away into the mountains!

Cinnamon Rolls, Pink Balloons, & Legos

Just some random pictures of the boys --
Here they are, enjoying some fresh cinnamon rolls right out of the oven.
I absolutely LOVE their smiles.

Here, Gordy and Grayson play with Daddy - building a little Lego car with Buzz Lightyear and Woody from Toy Story as passengers. Notice the big bunch of pink balloons, leftover from Greta's baby shower. They love balloons, and they really loved the leftover cupcakes from the shower as well!

Gary recently retrieved his collection of Legos from his own childhood, a big wooden box filled with Legos! This treasure chest has provided hours and hours of Lego fun for Gary, Gordon, and Grayson in recent days! They just never go out of style.