Uncle Poppers

Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow

BEFORE ~ AFTER

Happy 8 Months, Little Girl!

Personal Pan Pizzas

New Arrivals

Ladies, watch what you're drinking... It's in the water lately...

Over the past couple weeks, I know one person that just had a baby and 4 more that announced they're pregnant!

I think I'm going to stock up on bottled water... just in case!

Butter Bell

Matt's excited - we finally have our very own Butter Bell

Easter 2008

We had a very enjoyable Easter spent with the Bromka side of the family. Here are a few photos...


(I will post more Easter photos on Picasa. There are also a few more 7 month photos - the last ones since Madison will be 8 months in a few days!)

The Latest

A few of Madison's latest new accomplishments and discoveries include...

- Crawling (usually about 3 or 4 crawl 'steps' at a time)

- Raising both hands over her head

- Waving with one hand

- Nodding her head (boppin' to the music)

- Saying 'Mamamama' (maybe??)

Making Memories

Moments for which we moved to NY...

Madison learning her first piano lesson from cousins Lily & Natalie

Things We Miss

Three of the things we miss most in Nebraska...

Happy Easter!

Happy Resurrection Day!

Cupies

Few more photos on Picasa

Visiting

Visiting with Auntie Alyssa & Auntie Jenny -- and 'cousin' Marcos.

Undercover

Cheerios

Madison has been super challenging lately -- very fussy and very clingy most of the time. She's not content to sit and play by herself for even 2 minutes. However I have found a new distraction and interest for her. She's definitely a food girl and loves her fruits and veggies. I recently started putting the tray on her high chair and putting broken cheerios on top for her to practice picking up & eating. She doesn't quite have the pincher finger concept down but she is determined to figure it out & get those cheerios into her mouth. Lately this is the only time she will let me set her down and walk away to do something else without her throwing a fit about it. Well, thank God for cheerios I guess! I'll take whatever works at this point!

A Little Sowing & Reaping

"Vengeance is mine; I will repay, says the Lord." (Romans 12:19)

"Do not be deceived; God is not mocked: for whatever a man sows, that shall he also reap." (Galations 6:7)

FOX NEWS - Breaking News: "Quit Or Be Impeached"
Scandalized N.Y. governor told he has '24 to 48 hours' to resign as new reports surface of call girl trysts.


It's a beautiful thing really, that headline... couldn't ask for a better 'welcome back to NY' gift. O:-)

Cranberry Chicken

Per the mysterious anonymous request left in my comments, here's the recipe for my cranberry chicken (courtesy of the Finger Lakes Christian School's 'Kitchen Keepsakes' cookbook):

FAVORITE CHICKEN

8 oz can whole cranberry sauce
8 oz bottle French salad dressing
1 env onion soup mix
8 chicken breast halves
4 cups cooked rice

Combine cranberry sauce, salad dressing and soup mix in 9 x 13 inch pan. Arrange chicken on top of mixture, spreading some of the mixture on top of chicken. Bake 30-40 minutes at 325 degrees. Serve over rice.

Apartment Tour

I finally took some pictures of our new Fairport apartment. I decided to post them on Picasa instead of here because it's been SO slow to upload pictures onto the blog lately. Enjoy!

Upside Down

Madison has decided she prefers her pacifier upside down. Now, this pacifier is the type that is dentist designed to allow for proper tooth development... if used right side up, of course. Matt's afraid it will cause her teeth to grow in goofy if she keeps this up.

Madison is on the verge of crawling. She's done it several times but I don't think she realizes yet what she's doing or she'd probably do it more. We've seen her put one hand in front of the other then one knee in front of the other to crawl, but she never keeps going. She'll stop, look at us & cry usually. I guess progress can be a scary thing.


In this picture she scooted, twisted, and 'crawled' over to the entertainment center and discovered the big flashlight that should could pull off the shelf and chomp on. Let the houseproofing of the child begin!

She's also almost pulled herself up to a standing position several times. She'll be sitting next to the coffee table and see a toy on top she wants. She pulls herself up to her knees and usually gets one foot standing underneath her but never pulls the other one up.


I have added a few more baby pics on the Picasa site -

Weekend Dinners

Matt made dinner on Friday night - a special bacon/mushroom/heavy cream concoction he cooks the pork in. Very yummy.

I made Caryn's cranberry chicken recipe last night, served with brown rice. One of my favorites.

Top it off with chocolate chip cookie bars that shouldn't still be around to tempt me. (I forgot to take them to share with the family last weekend, so I put them in the freezer to take over this weekend. Of course, in getting them out to thaw, I had to make sure they still tasted OK. :-D )

Blizzard!

So much for that heat wave! Welcome back to NY winters - might as well get used to it. We're pretty much snowed in for the weekend. Heavy wet snow and little ice balls have been coming down all day leaving an icy slushy mess. We could have up to a foot of snow by morning. Looks like we'll be doing church at home tomorrow.

Heat Wave!

Spring! Well, for today anyway. It's only here for one day, but it makes me itch with spring fever. Weather.com says it's only 45.... but it feels like it could easily be 60. Madison & I went for our little walk. I pulled out a new hat for Madison since she doesn't like bright sun, wind or cold -- and she got a good dose of the first 2 out there anyway.

NY Weekend

It's amazing how quickly we're getting to experience the typical NY winter. It figures -- right after we move, NE is getting 60 degree weather and we're getting snow and cold. Oh well - such is life in upstate NY.

This weekend was a blast though, despite the winter weather. As Matt said, we didn't really have the opportunity to enjoy snow & cold in NE. It was just a nusaince. Driving through the Finger Lakes though on a cold, crisp, sunny day past tall trees and gentle hills is a refreshing and beautiful sight. Sundays have been our day to visit my parents after church and yesterday was no exception. In addition to my parents and sister being there, my brother came over with his family along with another family we're friends with. Between the bunch of us, we had 5 little kids to keep track of (all 6 and under). At one point we took a walk up through the fields to the woods. Even though it was cold, it was sunny & warm on our faces. Trudging through 6 inches of snow gave us a good workout. The kids started getting tired so we ended up pulling them back on sleds. After a sledding break at the Big Hill (which is behind my grandma's house), we continued our walk to the 'ocean' as our friends' little girl called the lake. We walked along the shore, across a temporary frozen pond covered with goose footprints. The guys had a snowball fight. It was such a lovely day and a fun time. It's for moments such as these we came back to NY and are enjoying every minute.

The apartment is getting more in order all the time -- I hope to get some pictures up soon. Madison & I are going for a walk this afternoon since it's so nice out. I'm hoping Madison cheers back up again soon... she seems in a funk since we've moved to NY. I think she was happier as a Nebraskan. ;-) She still seems extra fussy much of the time, very clingy to Momma and smiles are much less frequent. In feeling her gums, she may have a tooth coming through on the top -- but nothing has popped through yet, so maybe she just has lumpy gums. If it is a tooth though, that could account for some of her grumpiness and hopefully will pass soon.