Gymboree

Chris and I took Gates to Gymboree this past weekend and Gates loved it! This was not much of a suprise because all he ever wants to do is climb up on stuff. He particularly loves climbing up and down stairs, so of course climbing up the stairs at Gymboree was his favorite. He was not good about the group activities which mostly involved him having to sit, he is way to much of a busy body to for that. We will definitly go back again when we get a chance.

The Last of the beach

This is it of the beach pictures. I took many more but I don't want to bore you. I thought these where some cute ones that I just had to share.

I love these cut out picture things whatever you call them. I am usually a sucker for them. Maybe some day I will find all the pictures I have taken with them and do a blog on it. I think that would be hilarious or maybe just embarrassing.

You didn't miss the chiwawa did you!?

Basil and Tomato Layered Cheese Torta

While at the beach I made a really yummy appetizer I want to share. This would be great for a party. It's really quick and easy but you have to remember to make it ahead of time because it has to chill overnight.

Basil and Tomato Layered Cheese Torta

Ingredients:
8 ounces Mascarpone cheese, softened
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
1 cup basil pesto, drain excess liquid
1 cup Bella Cucina sun-dried tomato pesto, drain excess liquid
2 tablespoons pine nuts, toasted (Pine nuts where to expensive for my budget so I just used sun flower seeds)
1 sprig of fresh basil

Preparation:
In a mixer or with wooden spoon, blend softened cheeses until smooth. Line a 7-inch loaf pan with dampened cheese cloth with enough to hang over each side of the pan. ( I just lined a bowl with aluminum foil and it worked fine.) With moist spatula, spread 1/3 cheese mixture in pan until evenly covered. Top with basil pesto, careful not to blend with cheese. Top with 1/3 cheese mixture by dropping small spoonfuls over previous layer and carefully spreading. Then spread the sun-dried tomato pesto and top with the remaining 1/3 of cheese mixture until evenly covered. Fold cheese cloth over top of cheese. Wrap in foil and refrigerate overnight. To serve, remove foil and cheese cloth carefully and invert onto serving platter. Top with pine nuts and fresh basil sprig. Serve at room temperature with plain crackers and French rounds.

Big NEWS!!!!!!!

We put a contract on a lot to build a house!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am so excited! If things go as scheduled we should no longer be homeless by the end of December. I am trying to not get my hopes up on that deadline because everyone has warned me that they always take longer then they say. This is the picture of the house plan we picked except ours will have a three car garage with a side entry. I am so excited to get to pick out all the details but a little stressed also because we have to have every thing picked out in the next couple of weeks. When I showed my friend Ellen the house she refered to the house as a "parents house," which I responded by reminding her that we ARE parents. We have moved to the suburbs, where we will soon live on a colde-sac, have room to grow as a family, and what kind of parents would we be if we didn't make sure we were in a good school district.

More Beach Pictures

I apologize for not being a very good blogger. I just can't keep up with life lately and unfortunately, I don't see myself being able to take control of this craziness anytime soon. But, that is no excuse for me to deprive everyone of the Gates cuteness. Here are some of the pictures from the beach. I took a lot of pictures while at the beach so don't be surprised if I do another post of beach pictures.

Gates with his uncle Scott.

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11 months (last Saturday)

I have been so busy and over whelmed with work the past 2 weeks that I haven't had a free minute to sit down and post these picture of Gates from Saturday. He is 11 Months now!

Here is a brief summary of what has been going on in Gates' world.

• He is walking pretty much all the time now.
• He has 5 teeth.
• He ways around 21 lbs.
• Claps.
• Does the "Itsy Bitsy Spider," which is his favorite song.
  
  

Family portraits from the beach

Here are some of the portraits I (and the timer on my camera) took at the beach.

Walking

Gates has been taking steps for a couple of weeks but it never seemed to qualify as walking. He would take three steps and then crash on his butt. The past week he has been taking more steps. This is what Gates walking looks like.

First time at the beach

We took Gates to the beach for the first time and he thought it was okay. It really wore him out though. He likes the pool better.

The final Good BYE

Sorry we have been MIA. We did actually survive the move, barely. All last week consisted of trying to get out of the house and getting things done for the closing, which was Thursday. On top of all the craziness of trying to get out of the house Chris and I also had the busiest week with work for me and Chris was wrapping up his last summer classes for grad school. Like I said before we barely made it through the week. The only thing that kept us from loosing our sanity was knowing that we would be going to the beach at the end of the week. So we are at the beach now!!!!!!! We drove down Saturday and will be here till Saturday. I meant to put of the final post saying goodbye to our house last week but the computer got packed and I got busy so it never happened. So, there are no before pictures but there wasn't any big changes after.

Gates' room

The back porch actually was a big project. Chris basically rebuilt the back porch and screened it in. He put a new hardwood floor in and I love it!!!! We spent a lot of time hanging out on this porch. I don't have a picture of it but we also put in a brick patio.




That is it, Good BYE old house!