Happy Father's Day and A Surprise

Happy Father's Day to this great daddy!  Jackson and I love you so much and appreciate you!

AND...

Andy will be a Father to TWO children on Christmas Eve 2012!!!

We're thrilled to announce that Baby York #2 is on his/her way, debuting 12-24-12. (And we have a good guess on the gender but won't announce to the "Internet world" until my  next ultrasound in four weeks.)

Hope you all are having a blessed day, appreciating our fathers, and more importantly reflecting on our Heavenly Father's unconditional love for us.

Deuteronomy 7:9  
Know therefore that the Lord your God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commandments.

Vegetables and Toddlers?

Is the title of this post an oxymoron?

In my life, it is an oxymoron.  I'm open for suggestions for how to overcome a toddler's picky moods and get some veggies in my boy! So send thoughts and ideas my way!

I have been opening up my Juice Plus capsules in his cottage cheese on a rare morning.  And we're obsessed with these organic fruits and vegetable packs.

 They can be pricey, but Babies-R-Us is having a mega sale on them now, and I stocked up. They are perfect to take to a restaurant, when you're out and about and on the go, and you're ensured your child is getting "butternut squash and pear" or "quinoa, plum, and apple" mixture.

When we were at Nabeel's today with Katie and McNeill, I ordered their fabulous hummus to appease Jackson (and myself) until our Grilled Chicken Feta Wrap came.  Jackson gobbled it right up, and I realized it was time to make the good ole' faithful Black-Eyed Pea Hummus. Maybe he'll eat it with our first summer produce from our garden?

 Jackson and McNeill at lunch today (one month apart in age). They were so cute together.

Stud muffin, sporting his new sunglasses that I couldn't resist buying at Babies-R-Us.


Cooking/baking is not on my radar these days, as it's really hard chasing a toddler, keeping him away from the burners on the stove (on the rare nights I am cooking), etc,  and so I've saved this baking recipe for after he went to bed.  I'm trying out a new recipe for Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bread  to take to a friend who just moved.  And you'd better believe I'll be taste testing the second loaf this makes.  It smells so good in the oven now!

Happy Weekend!

Family Photos

We recently had Lynze Prater take these great family photos of us at the Botanical Gardens.  I was really pleased in how they turned out!  (And if anyone in my area is looking for a great, reasonable, quick & efficient photographer, let me know and I can get you her contact info).  Also note, Jackson skipped his morning nap this day, so I am very impressed in how these turned out   :)

Celebrating in Atlanta

This past weekend, I planned a quick surprise getaway trip for Andy's 30th Birthday.

My parents were awesome and watched Jackson for us, which we really appreciated.

I chose Atlanta because it is a quick and easy drive, and because

was being performed at the Fox Theatre. Andy and I had always wanted to see this in NYC, but we never had time to go watch it.  We really enjoyed the performance, and I'm glad I was actually able to surprise Andy :)

We also enjoyed an AMAZING Italian meal at Ecco.  We feasted on everything from fried goat cheese slathered in honey, to a tasting of meats and cheeses from around the world, to a fabulous pasta and for me, a grilled flatbread pizza with arugula.  Delicious.  And we topped it off with olive oil ice cream, with bits of chocolate chips and sea salt.  Simply amazing.

I'm sad to say the one picture I remembered to take turned out incredibly blurry, and the wind was blowing our hair (and my dress) in all sorts of crazy directions. I'll spare you the dreadful blurry picture.

We topped off our weekend with the Jamisons, eating a wonderful lunch at their country club, and hanging out with their two precious kiddos.

 Throwback pics from Will and Margaret Gaither's wedding 2 years ago. Peyton to the right of Andy.  Megan below to the right of me.

Needless to say, we had a fun and much-needed getaway, and we enjoyed celebrating Andy's 30th.

16 Months & 30 Years

Happy 30th Birthday Andy!  Jackson and I love you so so much, and you are the most wonderful husband to me and the BEST daddy to our son.  I hope you feel so loved and celebrated today.

And for his birthday cake, I made this delicious

Three Day Coconut Cake
 (you make it 3 days in advance so the flavors all have time to meld together, hence the name)

1 Duncan Hines Golden cake mix
14 – 18oz bag of coconut
16oz sour cream
1 cup sugar
8oz cool whip

Make cake and use 8”pans (2). Cool and cut in half to make a total of 4 layers.
Filling:
1. Mix sour cream & sugar in a bowl, then add all the coconut except 1 cup.
2. Frost between the layers.
3. Add 8oz of cool whip to the 1 cup of reserved coconut and frost the top and sides.

Put in sealed tupperware and refrigerate for a couple of days for best flavor. This is great frozen
(pre-slice and wrap so you can pull out a few pieces at a time).

As for this 16 month old, we've been doing alot of this lately (thank you Rogers Howell for the fireman hat. It's a big hit around our house these days!).

Note the pillows scattered everywhere.  Pillow forts are the latest big hit. Jackson likes to tackle and wrestle with us on them. (and note unbuttoned Jon Jon...that can be life these days)  Jackson is still such a ham, always a happy baby (yes, I still call him my baby), into EVERYTHING, picky some days in what he eats, has discovered our DVD player in my car and points at it every time we get in, and he loves to hug, or hit, dog Tucker.

We are loving life with this busy body, and every day he does something else new and funny.  We are so grateful for this blessing God has given to us!

Movies

Here are some awesome movies we've watched lately, and I'd highly recommend them to you.

"Courageous"
Great movie, especially for men to see, as it speaks a good bit on fatherhood.  Done by the church that did the movies "Fireproof" and "Facing the Giants" (except this one doesn't have quite as cheesy acting as the other movies). Have some tissues nearby!

"The Iron Lady"
Academy Award Winner Meryl Streep (won best actress for this film), as she portrays Margaret Thatcher.  I really enjoyed it, and now that I know all about Margaret Thatcher, I love and admire her and her leadership of Great Britain.  I've also enjoyed reading her famous and true quotes on various websites.  She is one wise woman. (i.e. "Being powerful is like being a lady. If you have to tell people you are, you aren’t.")

"Downton Abbey"
Amazing PBS series. Check it out.

Avocado Toast

Picture courtesy here

Oh my, I just made this Avocado Toast for lunch. 

Simple and Easy.

Find the recipe here.