Banana Bread

For the record, I am not a baker. I do not enjoy the process and I do not enjoy following recipes to a T. I like to be able to improvise and add in things as I see fit which is why I prefer to cook. That said, this is a very good banana bread. I usually make it into muffins since the kids think they are getting a super special treat when they have anything remotely shaped to a cupcake!

Ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose flour (you can substitute whole wheat flour for all or some of the flour to make it healthier)

1 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 cup butter (I usually do 1/4 cup butter and 1/4 cup applesauce to make it healthier)

3/4 cup brown sugar

2 eggs beaten

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 cups mashed bananas (I do not measure this but usually use 5 bananas).

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350. Lightly grease loaf or muffin pan.

2. Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl. In a separate bowl cream together butter and sugar. Stir in mashed bananas, eggs and vanilla extract. Stir banana mixture into flour mixture --- do not over stir, just moisten. Pour batter into loaf pan.

3. Bake in a preheated oven for about an hour if you are using a loaf pan. Approx 25-30 minutes for muffins.

4. Cool & Enjoy.

You can also add other things into this banana bread to make it even more delicious. Fresh blueberries are good and chocolate chips are even better. You can never go wrong with a little chocolate. At least not in my kitchen. ;)

Lately

Here is a bit of what we have been up to lately -- courtesy of my phone pictures.

A few pictures from a children's museum. Ryan asks to go to a children's museum about once a week. He really enjoys all the fun stuff they have to offer.

They had this chair from Ikea at the museum. Owen played in the chair for at least 15 minutes. I am thinking this could be a good Christmas or birthday gift idea!!!

I think it is time to go to the next shirt size. How is this little 16 month-old already needing 2T?

Ryan's cheesy little smile. LOVE!

Ryan was telling Owen about the cows at the farm. I love that Owen has a mixture of Cheerios and Kix stuck to his rear end.

Paci addict. He literally had 4 of them in his hands and couldn't figure out which one he wanted the most so he just kept rotating. hahaha

Cars Party!!!

We celebrated Ryan's 3rd birthday with a Disney Cars themed party. Thanks to the work of my crafty Mother-in-Law, Sister-in-Law, Dad, husband and a little of my own elbow grease, we had fabulous decorations to go with the party! :) I found a few ideas from other blogs, but several things I came up with myself. We had a great time and I think our friends did as well.

Flo's V8 Cafe - we served pizza (during lunch time, had a stack of chocolate donuts (tires), fresh fruit and drinks.

Coke & Sprite

My awesome SIL made us cupcake holders but they were too big. I was SO sad not to use them. :(

Since it was such a nice day we moved this game outdoors once the party started. Luigi's Casa Della Tire Toss.

At Ramones House of Body Art the kids painted unfinished wooden cars and received temporary tattoos if they wanted them.

We also had a pin the tire on Lightning game but I don't think I took a photo...uhoh!

Thanks to my super duper Mother-in-Law...

Front door...

The cars. We got this idea here we tried to somewhat recreate it. The kids loved the cars!!! We only made 5 -- they were a ton of work.

Grandpa J blew bubbles -- Owen's favorite!

Then it was time for pizza & cake (what 3 year-old doesn't love this combination??) Owen LOVED the cake!

We finished off the party with the pull-string pinata. We had so much fun and so did our little ones! :)

BIG HUGS from my sweet birthday boy!!!

Grandpa J and his little grandsons..they are so glad to have him here and so am I!

Baby 3!!!

I am sure that most of you know by now that we are expecting our 3rd baby! Baby Abbott #3 is due 9/10/11 but will likely be born about a week before that date. I am currently 14.5 weeks along and I feel like I look about 20 weeks. I guess the 3rd time the belly just knows what to do because it is definitely starting to pop. In fact, I tried on my maternity pants last week out of desperation. Unfortunately they are HUGE. I am not sure what my next move will be. It is still to cold to wear capris, skirts or dresses. I guess I will be a fan of leggings and yoga pants for a while.

Jeff and I are so excited to welcome another baby into our family. We are thinking that we will not find out the gender this time as we really do not care either way whether we have a boy or girl. For the record, Jeff thinks it is a girl and I am certain that it is another little boy. We haven't told the boys yet. Mainly because they would think that means a baby is coming tomorrow. Once my belly is really noticeable we will tell them. I am excited to see how Ryan and Owen react to another baby. I think Ryan will be more into it this time and really want to help. I think Owen is going to have a bit of a difficult time adjusting as he is very much a Mommy's boy.

I need to come up with something to call baby 3. B3? I don't know. It doesn't seem to flow the same way that B2 did with Owen.

500th Post

I started this blog almost 3 years ago. As I sat down to write Ryan's 3rd Birthday post, I noticed that I was on number 499!!! I am so glad that I decided to document this big adventure for our family. I have a terrible memory so this blog really does help me remember the times we have had, good and bad! :)

Looking forward to the fun in store for my next 500 posts. :) My pace has dramatically slowed in the past year or so. It might take me 8 years to get through the next 500.

Happy Birthday Ryan!!!

Ryan turns 3 years old today. Three years. How is that possible? I remember, in detail, the day that I found out that I was pregnant with him. I remember Jeff talking to my belly every night and watching as Ryan moved all over the place the entire time. I remember the moment that I saw his sweet face and the overwhelming love I felt in my heart when that moment finally arrived.

At 3 years old, Ryan is such a good boy. He is a joy to be around, has an infectious laugh and smiles pretty much all the time. He loves to be silly, loves to scream at the top of his lungs, loves to play tag, loves to boss his little brother around, loves to be a helper in any way that he can, loves to play with my iPhone all day long, loves to watch Jake and the Neverland Pirates, loves to cuddle, loves chicken nuggets, loves going to the play ground and being as daring as he possibly can be, loves his Fluppy dog, loves to play with his friends, loves to look at the toys every time we go to Target, loves chocolate milk and pretty much anything else any other 3 year-old enjoys to do.

He constantly says the funniest things. He takes after his Dad and is very, very silly. I am actually a little afraid of some of the things in my future! In Ryan's words, today is his "Three Birthday". We look forward to celebrating with just our family tonight and with some friends and family on Saturday!

I say this all the time but I have been so blessed. I was chosen to be Ryan's Mommy and I could not be any happier. There have been many long days, many days where I thought my patience had been pushed to its limits. I know that those days will be plenty in my future. There is not one single thing that I would do differently. I am amazed that no matter how long some of those days may seem that the years seem to click off at warp speed. My little boy is growing so fast and becoming more of a "big boy" every single day! I love you Ryan and I am so proud of you. I look forward to seeing what is in store for you in the future!!!!

A quick (well not so quick really) walk down memory lane.

1st Birthday

The day we brought Owen home from the hospital...

2nd Birthday

1st day of school..

yesterday...

***I am so glad that I am a crazy mom with a camera. I have taken over 10,000 pictures of Ryan in 3 years...actually way more than that. I have 10,000 on this computer alone! ha! I cherish the memories!***