Auntie Katie's Sick (but still cute) Nephew

So Aiden has had a fever since yesterday afternoon. I am still trying to figure out if it is from him teething (his first tooth is still slooooooowly breaking the surface of the gumline), or if he has a cold/flu. Joel said, worse case scenario, it could be meningitis (or was it encephalitis?). Thanks honey, for your positive reinforcement... and that is why I like him better as an orthopod and not a pediatrician. :) I feel awful not being able to give him anything besides some acetaminophen and vitamins (and silver shield- shhhhh). I best hit up Target for some infant probiotics.

Side Note: Have you read the ingredient list of infant fever reducers lately? Sheesh. No wonder kids lose their fever but still stay sick!

Ok, I'm off my soap box.

My dad says we've been sick more down here then we were ever up in Michigan. I'm starting to wonder if that is true. It doesn't help that the boys pass germs back and forth to each other (the negative result of sharing toys, hugs, kisses, and whatever else transfers saliva and the like).

Anyways, he's been pretty lethargic here the past couple of days. Meaning it's been nice in a sense, because he is not wandering everywhere, but worrisome in the sense, that literally, he does not move more then a foot or two from where you place him. He's mostly lying prostrate, and it's hard pressed to catch sight of him standing. Pretty pathetic, really. The poor guy.

He still tries to talk every once in a while and smile. And I caught a bit of it on camera.

So here's to Katie, who talks about how much she misses the wee one.

Oh, and if you think about it, we could use your prayers! :)

A Guest Post from your Neighborhood Toddler

Hi, this is Liam here.

I am an aspiring chef. I've pretty much almost over taken Mommy's skills, though I do make a bit more of a mess in the process. Recently, there had been a sale at Publix for Pillsbury biscuits and we bought some, because I love biscuits. Well, after making homemade biscuits up in Michigan, I didn't much care for these. Mommy said we couldn't waste them though, so what were we to do with the other cans...?? After Mommy thought about it a bit, she decided to teach me how to make monkey bread... but why not make it in personal portions- and thus we made monkey muffins.

But it gets better. You see, it is such an easy recipe, that ANY toddler can do it pretty much by themselves. So this time I did. (Except I allowed Mommy to help me to save time).

And we made them for Nana. But unfortunately, since Nana doesn't seem to want to fly back into Tampa just yet, I thought I would just give Nana the play-by-play on how to make them. We didn't really follow a recipe this time though (Daddy took the iPad to work with the recipe!), so we kind of made it up! That's how real chefs do it anyhow.

The ingredients: biscuits, sugar, cinnamon, coconut oil/butter
(please note... the first time we only used butter. The second time, Mommy thought we ought to make it a bit healthier with a coconut oil/butter mixture. You get the same gooey butter/sugar sauce, but don't have to feel as bad!

 

 First, you want to cut the biscuits into quarters. Kind of like playing with play-doh!
(And it's good to have a snack close at hand so you don't eat the dough- my snack of choice was cinnamon yogurt pretzels, yum!)

 

It's beneficial to be photogenic and friendly towards the press... 

 

 Next, you take your biscuit quarters and dip them in a bowl of cinnamon sugar mixture.
Make sure to get them good and coated. Unless you want a low sugar version, then do what I do, and just coat one side ;)

 

 Take turns placing them into the "tins".
It's a great way to count and make sure each one has the same amount!

Mommy loves educational lessons that are yummy for our tummies!

 Fill them evenly. Depending on the size of muffin, you can make more then 12, but Mommy only brought down a couple of muffin tins.

 Make sure you are teaching as you work... O-R-G-A-N-I-C says "Coconut Oil" :)

 Spoon the hot buttery/cinnamon sugar mixture over the muffins.
Normally we use the stove, but this time Mommy cheated and not only just used normal sugar (as opposed to brown sugar), but she also just used the microwave- one less bowl to wash she said!

 Make sure you get every last drop of buttery goodness-
this is the syrup that will coat the bottom of the muffins (or if you make bread, the top of it!)

 Do what the best chefs do... taste the goods before serving to others. In this case, the cinnamon sugar mixture- I had to make sure it wasn't stale! :)

 Bake them in the oven at 350 for about 15 minutes
(The oven portion should be performed by an adult!)

Ta Da!

Please note: the slightly overdone browness isn't necessarily ideal, but is prone to happen when the younger brother wakes up and is playing near the oven and Mommy has to remove him (and wipe his snotty nose) before pulling the muffins out!

And there you have it! I don't know if we will make them again while we are out here since we are out of biscuit cans, but maybe we will try again at home with homemade biscuits again. Nana, hope this helps you know how to make them!! I love you!

Happy Birthday Daddy!

I could probably write some sweet things right now to praise my husband, but I ate cappucchino gelato and now can't quite focus straight. Nevertheless, I'm so blessed to be able to celebrate another birthday with my husband, and even better- he wasn't on call! Although we don't always get time together, it was fun to spend a couple evenings in a row (such a rare occurrence!) and see the boys interacting. They love their Daddy- almost as much as I do... Happy birthday, Babe!

As a precursor to his birthday, we went to Oishi for some sushi (his attending was on call tonight, so he may have needed to go in). Liam ate about a whole roll himself, along with my salad and a half bowl of miso soup and edamame. He also mopped the floor, after punching his straw through the styrofoam cup... this and forgetting Aiden's pacifier made Joel realize that our "going out" days may be numbered... I'm happy he is finally feeling a bit vulnerable! ;)
Of course for dessert we hit up Joel's favorite Tampa place- yogurtology!

 Allergy free chocolate cake (thanks to a box mix and the addition of EVCO) and homemade dairy free chocolate ganache... sounds maybe not so pleasant, but it was AMAZING!!
I had to improvise with the loaf pan though, as I didn't think to bring down a round cake pan.

 Joel had to help me make his birthday dinner... the result of me finding a recipe, but not noting that the serving size was quadruple what I needed- a little bit much, especially since I didn't bring my wok!

 For dinner I made some of Joel's favorites...
shrimp pad thai, fresh champagne mango and crab cakes- an eclectic dinner combination for sure!

 I was pretty impressed with my wrapping skills... both were wrapped with Elmer's glue since I didn't have tape on hand!

 Liam's present to his Daddy: a puzzle for them to do together!

 All week Liam knew it was his Daddy's birthday. And he was adamant that we make cupcakes and have candles too... After we had made them, he was in charge of putting on the candles. As you can see, he felt it necessary to have a candle too!

Aiden cracked up every time they would blow out the candles... which was at least 5 times!



A Week with the Widmers

So sad to see them go! Liam is especially disappointed. He calls Parker and Eilash his "cousins"- it must be because they are so much fun. This morning he again prayed for his "cousins- Dakota, June, Coty, and Parker"... glad to know there was a representative from each of family of his real relatives! :)

We were able to spend time together at the Big Cat Habitat and Wildlife Refuge Sanctuary, Siesta Key Beach and Liam's favorite... Lake Village Trailer Park ;)
Thanks for a great time, Steve and Lisa! Can't wait to see you guys again at the end of April!

We Love Visitors!

I failed to blog about Aunt Ruth and Mary visiting Grandpa and Grandma down in Sarasota a couple of weeks ago. We enjoyed seeing them too :)

Getting Acquainted with Your Reticulated Side...

I'm actually surprised he didn't shy away from the giraffe. Maybe it's because it was one 2-yr old feeding another 2-yr old... which is why I couldn't get better pictures. He was barely tall enough to go over that section of the fence, even with his supposed 18in tongue. Liam loved it though... and I have a feeling it has beaten out feeding the koi and the goats (although he is still determined to feed the rhinos "next time").

And if you happen to talk to my son, and he tells you he rode "a dragon (like hiccup boy)"... well, he isn't lying, per se...