When point and click grocery shopping goes awry...

So, some of you know that I've become fond of online grocery shopping via Peapod. It's pretty handy, and when there's no food in the house and I know I'm just not going to make it to the grocery store, it's a lifesaver. I know, I know - you're saying "how does a control freak like you handle having some stranger shop for you?" Believe me, it's not been easy. I admittedly have some grocery hangups. I don't always like to take the item in the front, especially with refrigerated or frozen items. How do I know someone didn't have it in their cart, wheeling it all around the store, and then deciding to put it back, all melted and spoiled? Plus, I really like to check out my produce thoroughly, making sure I get the absolute best bunch of bananas or the best looking lettuce. Combine that with my penchant for trying out every new product that hits the shelves, and you see my dilemma....

Anyhow, I digress. I have a new challenge these days, in that Matthew's car seat doesn't fit well on the upper part of a grocery cart. It fits just fine in the bottom, but what good is that? I can fit maybe five items around him. Once it's nicer outside, I plan to put him in the Baby Bjorn, but for now, he's just too bundled up for it to be comfortable for him for a full blown trip to the grocery store. Dennis will tell you - I take a long time in the grocery store (reference above comment about trying every new product....). So, my options right now are to shop when Daddy is home, or use Peapod. Last week, I opted for Peapod.

Now, if I were in the store, I'd march myself up to the deli and order 1 lb of Land O' Lakes White American, sliced thin, please. Yum. But, when you're shopping quickly online, this....

looks awfully similar to this....

Yup, you guessed it. I ended up with this....

All I can say is, why? Why do they even make this? It doesn't even taste like regular cheese. I know. I tried it. I even tried making a grilled cheese sandwich with it, but to no avail. For those of you who know my love of cheese, you'll understand why it's taken me a week to recover enough to write this post.

Bundle up, Matthew. We're going shopping.

Rockin' da hizzou

Cute shot I just had to put up. Thanks, Janet, for the awesome rocker onesie!

Massachusetts J. Frog?

I've figured out who Matthew is going to take after. It's this guy.......

via videosift.com

For those of you who aren't familiar with him, he's Michigan J. Frog from Looney Tunes. He had this fabulous talent that you see in the above video, but every time his owner would try to show him off to anyone, he'd just croak like a plain old frog.

Just like Matthew. It seems as soon as I get out the video camera, whatever cute thing he was doing immediately stops. Here's one cute clip I was able to capture. He's extremely fond of a striker plate from the old louvre doors in the living room doorway. This thing elicits the biggest smiles and laughs. We just hope when he's old enough to talk that he remembers why he loved it so much.

Ribbit.

Matthew's First Easter

It's been a while since I posted last, so I thought I'd put up some pictures of Matthew from his first Easter. I neglected to take him to see the Easter bunny - somehow it never crossed my mind. We did, however, color eggs for him, and got him an Easter basket. No candy, of course, but books and finger pupppets and a bear posing as a bunny. He actually seemed to like the bear/bunny - he was looking at it for quite a while sitting next to him on the couch. He also had fun holding on to the chick posing as a frog from Daddy's Easter basket.

We had a great day at Nanna and Poppy's, hanging with family, stuffing ourselves with great treats and enjoying more Easter presents - thanks everyone! Congrats to Dennis for winning Mexican train by a landslide - nice job, babe!

Here are a couple of shots of Matthew with his Easter basket from Mommy and Daddy. He was still in his jammies - he loves to wear nightshirts just like Poppy!


Here he is in his Easter outfit....

And the best part of the outfit - the loafers!!

Thanks to Aunt Denise for taking some family photos for us....too bad Matthew wasn't quite ready to wake up!




We have lots more pictures from yesterday. Check out our gallery at www.kodakgallery.com/kimmer113. I'll hopefully post the rest out there sometime today.

Hope everyone had a great Easter!

Please look to the right....

I wanted to highlight the widgets I've added to the right side of the page. Dennis, Matthew and I will be walking in the March of Dimes March for Babies (formerly WalkAmerica) on Sunday, April 27th, and we hope you'll consider pledging your support.

For many years, I walked in WalkAmerica with a team sponsored by the Savings Institute. Our friends, Jay and Liz, formed Team Squeaks when their daughter, Abby, was born. They now have a son, Wyatt, and we're joining them in raising money to help prevent birth defects and premature births. We've been blessed with a healthy baby (see post below!), but there are so many who aren't as fortunate.

Don't forget - the March of Dimes is a 501(c)(3) organization, so your donation may be tax deductible. (Notice I've said "may be" deductible. Gotta have appropriate disclosure, right, Attorney Egan?)

Thanks in advance for your support!

Our boy has boo-boos!

Today we took Matthew to his two month doctor's appointment. We've had mixed emotions leading up to this appointment. We were anxious to see how much he weighs, and how much he's grown, but we also know he'd be getting several immunizations today.

I'm happy to say that he got a great report from the doctor. He's gained nearly 2 lbs in the past month, and is now 10 lbs 7.5 oz. He's also grown another 1.5 inches, and is 23.5 inches long. He's in the 25th percentile for weight and head circumference, and the 75th percentile for length. Looks like he'll be tall like Daddy. The doctor said he looks great, and gave us the OK to stop waking him during the night to feed him, and just let him wake up on his own. He also said he wouldn't expect his eyes to change color, which I was very happy to hear since they're such a beautiful shade of blue. We even made it through the appointment without anyone getting peed on, although we did have a messy diaper to tend to when we first arrived.

Then, it was time for the immunizations. Fortunately, one was given orally, but he also received three shots. He let out a good yell after each one, and held his breath for a little while, but then settled down very quickly. He was so brave, and I was very proud. He got three cute little Peanuts Band-Aids to cover his boo-boos, and I couldn't resist taking a picture.

Now he's resting, peaceful as a little angel. You wouldn't guess anything out of the ordinary had happened today. As for me, all I can say is thank God he doesn't get any more shots for another two months. I should recover by then....

A Gastronome's Delight

What a weekend. It all started in honor of this man....

Yes, that is Saint Joseph. What you ask does Saint Joseph have to do with gastronomy? Well, every good Italian knows that the feast day of Saint Joseph on March 19th brings with it a pastry that is made only at this time of year - zeppole. Here's a picture of these wonderful creations.......

Courtesy of....

So, we set out on Saturday to Franklin Ave. Now, a trip to Franklin Ave would be incomplete with just one stop, so we made the rounds of Hartford's Little Italy. First stop - D&D market, or to those in the know - "The D&D". We picked up some of our favorites - a slab of ricotta salata, Sicilian olives (which we dug into in the parking lot), a nice soppressata, Sam Maulucci ricotta, some beautiful hot sausages, and some imported pasta. We could just stare at the meat counter for hours. A trip to the D&D reminds me of my childhood - getting a slice of cheese from Sal at the deli while listening to my grandparents (and all the other shoppers) placing their orders in Italian. Fond, fond memories.

On to the next stop - South End Bakery, for Sicilian pizza. Three kinds, to be exact. Sauce and mozzarella, sauce and grated cheese, and anchovy for me. While we were there we picked up some cassata, too. Unfortunately, they were out of Sicilian bread, so it was on to Mozzicato's, with the pizza in the front seat to eat on the way home since we hadn't had lunch.

Mozzicato's was quieter than usual, thank goodness, so the wait was not too long. Here we picked up the zeppole we originally set out for, and also took home some arancini and a pound of cookies. They were out of Sicilian bread, too, so it was on to Ciarcia Bakery, with the cookies also in the front seat for the ride home. Unfortunately, Ciarcia had no Sicilian bread, so we settled for a nice loaf of Italian and headed North. We managed to stuff ourselves pretty good between the ride home and the first hour at home, so we opted to have a light dinner and save the rest of our goodies for Sunday.

We were both struck by people's reactions to Matthew throughout the day. Every where we went, people commented how cute he was, but what struck us was that everyone also said "God Bless You", or "God Bless Him". Love that.

On Sunday, we had a 1st birthday party to attend. There, we had our fill of pizza and birthday cake. We headed home around 3:00, thinking of the fabulous feast we were going to have for dinner. But, our efforts to go straight home were thwarted by this...

Seriously, THE best chocolate frosted donuts on the planet. And with St. Patrick's Day around the corner, it seemed only fitting to make a stop to strike a balance between the Gaelic and the Garlic. Not that donuts are particularly Irish, but there's a celtic knot on the box, so that counts, right? We each had one on the way home, again stuffing ourselves. Later that evening, Dennis made a scrumptious Italian dinner for us - thanks Babe!

As we made our rounds this weekend with Matthew in tow, I couldn't help but wonder if someday he'll do the same, or if any of these places will still exist by the time he's old enough to go on his own. I sure hope so, and I hope they'll bring back fond memories for him, too.

Oh, a final thought - is it any wonder I can't fit in my pre-pregnancy clothes???

A "Loon"y Tune

When my niece Hannah was a baby, she had a lullaby CD called "A Little Peace and Quiet". I loved it, and knew I had to have it for Matthew. He falls asleep to it every night, and since he's currently sleeping in our room, that means we fall asleep to it too. There's one song - "The Loon And The Boy" that has us puzzled. When we hear it, we laugh so hard we have to hide under the covers so we don't wake the baby. Check out the lyrics below and see if you can help clear things up for us.

There's a loon, calling from the North,

gliding 'cross the lake, dark and deep

on a summer night.

There's a boy, standing on the shore,

listens to the call of the loon 'cross the lake

on a summer night.

And the boy, in a loon-like voice

calls across the lake dark and deep.

It's a magic night.

And the loon, hearing his reply

calls out to the boy on the shore 'cross the lake

on a summer night.

By the shores of the lake something is happening.

Hear the loon and the boy becoming friends.

All around not a sound can be heard 'cept their

calling, echoing through the skies.

Listen to their happy cries.

So here are our questions:

1. Just what is a loon-like voice?
2. Why is it such a magic night?
3. Exactly what is happening by the shores of the lake?
4. Just how good of friends are they becoming?

OK, so maybe we're reading too much into this. Maybe we should be approaching the song with the innocence of a child. Guess this is why it's a children's CD, and not a grown up's CD.

Here goes nothing....

Well, here it is....our foray into the blogosphere, albeit reluctantly. Make no mistake - we don't purport to have anything of significance to say. What we do have, though, is a cute new baby, along with a couple of cameras and a video camera. So, here's our opportunity to shamelessly bombard our family and friends with pictures and clips of said cute baby. Here's a sample of what's to come....we hope you enjoy!





Is there anything better than a baby's laugh?