Tummy Time, Laughing, New Park, and Pork Roast

On the plate:  Pork Roast

Soundtrack to cook to:  Motown's #1's.  It's definitely one of my favorite albums because it's filled with some really great and soulful jams that will encourage you to get up and dance.  It reminds me of my childhood when my mom would play these songs and my sister and I would have an impromptu dance party with her in our basement.  I put on these songs during Alexander's play time at home, and we've had some dance parties of our own.  I love carrying this on with our boys.  Some of my favorites on this album are:

• Ain't Too Proud To Beg by the Temptations
• Ain't Nothing Like The Real Thing by Marvin Gaye
• Rhythm Of The Night by Debarge
• Ain't No Mountain High Enough sung by Michael McDonald (but I personally prefer the Marvin Gaye version better)

HA!  Now that I look at it, apparently I love songs that start with "aint" in the title.  Too funny.

Here's our William Billiam at 11 weeks old.
It's been pretty chilly here, so we've made sure
to keep our little guys in their warmest clothes.
William is wearing a thermal onesie with some sherpa booties.

Here's William getting in some quality tummy time
with his big brother Alexander helping out.  William's
doing pretty well with holding his head up.

William has been laughing up a storm ever since he turned
about 6 weeks old.  But of course, I've never been able to
catch it on video until now.  This is one of my favorite videos
because William is rocking some pretty great belly laughs.
This one makes me smile every time I see it.

This past weekend, our little family ventured out into
the cold, since it stopped raining for a minute.  There
was a HUGE park renovation right down the street from us
and this video is of Alexander and Joseph checking out
the tire swing for the first time.

Lately, I've been having to depend on my slow cooker to cook our meals.  I've needed something quick, easy, and didn't require a lot of time to do the prep work.  

I had a 3 1/2 lb pork tenderloin that I patted dry,
seasoned with salt and pepper, and seared all of the sides.

Then, I cheated.  :-/  Normally I would mix up my own seasonings,
but I absolutely love this brand of seasonings because it always turns
out the most flavorful pot roast or pork roast every time.

Place the seared pork roast into a crock pot along with the seasonings
mixed with 1 1/2 cups of chicken stock.  (The instructions say to use water,
but I used stock in order to add a little more flavor.)
I then cut up 1 lb of new potatoes, sliced 1 onion, 4 stalks of celery,
and tossed in about 2 cups of baby carrots for good measure.
Then cook the pork roast and veggies on high for 4-5 hours.

The result is a delicate, savory, and delicious pork roast that melts
in your mouth and warms your soul.  It's comfort food at its finest
and is very lean and good for you.  We served it over a bed of brown rice.

It was very chilly the past weekend.  My sister had brought over these "magic beads" that you soak in water and they become these squishy little balls (that you would normally use for floral pieces).  I poured those balls into a container and Alexander's dinosaurs had an adventure in the "land of grapes" (because the balls were purple) as he called it.

Here's Alexander playing with his dinosaurs in the land of grapes.

He had a lot of fun driving his cars through the grapes as well.

Here's a little picture of our beautiful boy, William.

I love that gummy little smile and his gorgeous blue eyes.

Our big boy at 11 weeks old.

Awww, look at our chunky little guy getting in
some quality snuggle time with mommy.  :)

Alexander and Mommy making silly faces.

Me and my boys.  I'm absolutely loving this time
that I've been blessed to have with them.

Here's William mimicking what I'm saying.  He's

Mr. Ah-goooooo.  :)

That's all for now.  Stay warm and have a great rest of the week!  Until next time...

Love and kisses,

Nikki

2 Month Old, Zuppa Toscana, Dinosaur Discovery, Naked PlayDate, and Lentil and Sweet Potato Stew

On the plate:  Zuppa Toscana and Lentil and sweet potato stew

Soundtrack to cook to:  Norah Jones' Come Away With Me - makes me think back to my college days.  I remember going on a cruise with my family that summer.  At night, floating in the ocean near the Bahamas, I would listen to Norah Jones' haunting and soulful music while standing at the head of the ship and looking up at the stars.  *Sigh*  To be young again...

William is 2 months old!  Where has the time gone?  Here's his stats:
Height:  24 1/4 inches
Weight:  14 lbs 12 oz
Head Circumference:  44.1 cm
Eye color:  Bluish gray
Abilities:  He can coo, say "ah-goooooo", smile, laugh, track things
with his eyes, aim and swat at things held above him.  He loves looking
at his brother and lights up when he hears Alexander's voice.
*Fun fact:  He's exactly the same size at 2 months, as Alexander was
at 4 months!  We've got a little bruiser on our hands.

Enough looking at an absolutely adorable and chunky baby...time for some food!  :)  I was checking out my Pinterest board for a recipe and found an easy and yummy looking soup that would definitely provide enough leftovers for two meals (perfect!).

Brown 1 lb of chicken sausage and remove the pieces from the pan.
*I opted for chicken sausage as a healthier, less calorie dense option.

In the same pan, saute 1 diced onion, 4 cloves of minced garlic,
and 1 head chopped broccoli (I added the broccoli to include a few more
vegetables into the soup).

Joseph picked up where I left off so that Alexander and I could
go to a play date at the neighbor's house.  Thanks for watching William
and cooking dinner, babe!

Add 1 lb of diced new potatoes, 3 cups of chopped kale, 3 cups
of chicken broth, 2 1/2 cups of water, and the sausage back to the pot.
Let the soup simmer with the cover on for 20 minutes or until the
potatoes are fork tender.  Then add 1 cup of milk (or heavy cream if you'd like),
salt, pepper, and 1 tbsp Italian Seasoning.

We like to top the soup with a little parmesan cheese.  The result
is a delicious, hearty, and healthy soup that you can definitely
feel comfortable getting a second bowl.

Alexander LOVED the soup, too!

It's been pretty tough getting out of the house and we haven't done so unless there's been family visiting.  However, one day, as I was looking through facebook, I noticed that my friend Suzie had posted that she was going to take her son to this "Discovery the Dinosaurs" exhibit at the Seaport World Trade Center in Boston.  I thought that this would be a great way to get out of the house and plus, Alexander LOVES dinosaurs.  This was just the motivation that we needed to get out and about.   Thanks for the inspiration, Suzie!  Another added bonus was that we had enough time to go out to dinner at Legal Seafood and had a wonderful time.  Woo hoo!!  We made it through our first outing with our little family!  Success!  :)

Me and Alexander at the entrance for the "Discover the Dinosaur" exhibit.

"Stegosaurus, mommy, stegosaaaaaruuuusss!!"
He was very excited to see all of the dinosaurs.  

Alexander loved going up to some of the exhibits and pushing
the buttons to make the dinosaurs' heads move and make noises.

Alexander and Joseph posing with a T-Rex.

Lol, Alexander looked somewhat startled by the teeth.

Alexander with the dinosaurs

More dinosaurs!!

Things are so hectic in the morning with Joseph getting ready and then getting Alexander ready for school, that I unfortunately haven't been able to take William to meet my co-workers yet.  I'd really like to, but I'm just so tired by the time Joseph and Alexander leave the house.  After they leave, I only have time to walk Oscar, shower, eat breakfast, feed William, eat lunch, put William down for a nap, put away the dishes, and then it's time to pick up Alexander.  Thus, it was such a treat when my friend and co-worker Suzie decided to bring her adorable son Coda over to our place for a playdate.  (Notice that I said "Naked PlayDate" in the title of this blog post.)

Let me just say that it's amazing how much mothers know their own children.  Both Alexander and Coda were quite shy at first when they saw each other.  However, about 20 minutes into the play date, they began to become more comfortable.  Coda asked to use the bathroom, and did so successfully.  Then, about 10 minutes later, he asked Suzie to use the bathroom once more.  She asked him if he wanted some privacy, to which he said, "Yes, please."  Coda went into the bathroom, and then Suzie walked up to me and said, "Nikki, look.  I bet you that Coda is getting naked right now."  I looked at her with amazement, but she explained that when Coda feels comfortable at someone's home, he takes off his clothes.  I shrugged my shoulders, waited for the little man to walk out of the bathroom, and sure enough...  

Naked play date time!!!  Coda was absolutely adorable, walking
around our living room and playing in his Diego underwear.
What a funny and adorable kid.  Alexander stopped, took a look
at Coda, and continued on with his playing.  Too funny!

My friend Suzie, reading a book to Coda and Alexander.

Thanks so much for coming over, Coda and Suzie!!  We had an
absolute blast with you two and can't wait to have another one soon!

Oscar, William, Alexander, and Joseph, chilling on the couch
at home.  Before William was born, I found these adorable dachshund
shirts at Janie and Jack and just couldn't resist getting them
for the boys.  William is already growing out of his onesie,
so I had to take a picture of the two of them wearing their
shirts together.

Our beautiful boys :)

Me, William, Alexander, and Oscar, hanging out at home.

I don't usually watch television shows at their normal time, because we don't have the TV on a lot when the boys are awake.  Thus, I get caught up on my shows when the boys are asleep....thank you DVR!!  One of my favorite shows to watch is The Chew, which is a talk show that centers around food.  I saw this healthy vegetable stew and already had the vegetables in the refrigerator, so I threw this dish together.

Finely chop the following ingredients:
1 yellow onion
7 carrots
4 celery ribs
3 garlic cloves

In a Dutch oven, saute the onion, carrots, celery, and garlic with
olive oil, and season with salt and pepper.

Once the vegetables have become translucent (~8 minutes), pour
in 2 cups of rinsed lentils, 2 tsp cumin seeds, 1 tsp coriander,
1 tsp chipotle pepper and toast the lentils for about 2 minutes.

Then, pour in 6 cups of water (in this case, I did 6 cups of chicken stock
for a little more flavor).  Bring the broth, or water, to a boil,
reduce the heat to a gentle simmer and cook for 10 minutes with the cover on.

Carefully stir in 1 cup of finely diced sweet potato and 1 bunch of kale

that has been finely shredded.  Cook the stew for another 15 minutes

or until the lentils are cooked through.

*We like our food a little on the salty side, so I put in 2 chicken 

bouillon cubes as well.

The result was a delicious and hearty winter stew.  We drizzled a

little bit of balsamic vinegar over the top of the soup and that added

a nice tart and tangy taste to the sweet and smokey (because of the chipotle

pepper) soup.  Another home run!

Here's one more shot of William...I couldn't resist.
He's 2 months, and this kiddo is already wearing
clothes for 3-6 month olds! 

We're going to try our best to continue to venture out of the house as a family.  It's a challenge, but it's worth it, because OY VEY, I'm feeling like Rapunzel stuck up in the castle!  Cross your fingers and hope for the best for us.  Until next time...

Love and kisses,

Nikki

Thumbs Up!, Gingerbread Cookies, Christmas, Gingerbread Train, Ice Skating, and Crock Pot Chicken Parmesan

On the plate:  Gingerbread cookies and crock pot chicken parmesan

Soundtrack to cook to:  Alexander's Disney music mix

Joseph's had a pretty laid back schedule this month and last, as he's doing research right now and is able to be home by 2 or 3 in the afternoon.  It's been lovely having him home so much and he's getting some quality bonding time in with the boys.  Here's a few pictures (that I thought were hilarious) and just had to share:

Alexander, Joseph, and I were hanging out in the kitchen and
Joseph said, "Hey Alex!  Thumbs up, dude!"  To which Alexander
stuck both of his index fingers up in the air and said, "Thumbs up, Daddy!"
Joseph and I just both died laughing and Alexander was so pleased
with himself.

Here's the two guys doing "thumbs up" again.  We'll work on it.  :)

During the holidays, I'm in a total baking mood.  I was excited to find a new recipe that didn't look too terribly naughty and decided to try it out.  Plus, I LOVE gingerbread, so I was doubly excited to find a recipe that wasn't too labor intensive.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the following ingredients:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

In a standing mixer, mix the following ingredients:

• 1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 1/2 cup applesauce
• 1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup molasses
• 1 large egg
• *The recipe called for 1/2 cup of vegetable shortening and I
• substituted that for 1/2 cup of applesauce
• Then, incorporate the dry ingredients into the wet mixture.
• Spoon the mixture onto a greased pan or a silpat.  Bake the 
• cookies in a 350 degree F oven for 12 minutes.

Voila!  The result is a delightfully spicy, sweet, and soft gingerbread
cookie.  These satiated my cravings for holiday cookies and went along
quite nicely with an ice cold glass of milk.  An added bonus was that
while they were baking, they made the house smell Christmasy.  :)

On December 23, my mom and I took William
and Alexander to go and see Santa.  I was so proud
when Alexander told Santa that he wanted a book for
Christmas.  The teacher in me was beaming with pride.  :)

Here's Santa, reading a book to the boys.

The official picture with Santa Claus.  I LOVE
that William has such a pensive look to him, like
he's deep in thought.  Too funny!

The boys with Santa Claus 2012

Alexander, playing around

We wanted to continue our little family tradition of going ice skating and having hot chocolate afterwards.  Joseph and I took Alexander, while my mom watched William at home.  It was pretty chilly that day, but we had so much fun.  We made it around the rink 3 1/2 times (the same as last year) before we had to call it a day.  Hopefully next year, Alexander will be able to balance and skate a little bit more. 

Mommy and Alexander, ready to get our skate on.

Alexander and Daddy, balancing on their skates and
waiting for the zamboni to smooth out the ice.

Alexander and Joseph "skating" on the ice.
We mostly just dragged Alexander across
the ice (he was in between the two of us,
holding our hands), but he really did have a lot of fun!

Mommy and Alexander skating together

Mommy and Alexander skating together

Drinking hot chocolate...Mmmmmm!!!!!

Since my sister had to spend Christmas Day with her boyfriend's family,
we decided to have our big Christmas dinner on Christmas eve.
We were very fortunate to also have my friend Vena come over to
help us dig in.

Here's our lively table.  I cooked the same exact meal for Christmas Eve
as I did for Thanksgiving.   :)  I still maintain that my stuffing is
my favorite of all of the leftovers.

Merry Christmas 2012!!!  Here's our little Christmas tree with all
of the presents ready to be unwrapped.  We were so happy to see
that it was a white Christmas morning with beautifully light and fluffy
snow falling.

Before Alexander got into all of the presents....

This was the scene that Alexander woke up to in the morning.
It's so much fun being a parent and seeing Christmas through a
child's eyes.  I think I was more excited than he was for all of this.
There was a note from Santa Claus and Santa's footprints for Alexander
and William in the morning.

Santa's note and footprints

The little man, digging into his presents.  He kept going through
and pointing to all of the presents saying, "Present for Alex...present for
Alex."  This little guy is such a character.

Alexander unwrapping presents while Joseph, my mom, William,
sister Kristen and her boyfriend Pete watch.

Alexander was very excited to see what was inside each of the boxes.

"Present for Alex...present for Alex."  :)

William, laying in the bouncer with his beautifully monogrammed
playmat from the Long family.

Alexander playing with his Bounce Bounce Tigger toy.

The Christmas chaos

Oscar is modeling his collar and tie that he got for Christmas.

Our beautiful boys on Christmas day

Woo hoo!  It's my first Christmas!!

Our little boo boo bear :)

Alexander loved looking through all of his books.

Alexander playing with his toys

Since it was snowing and chilly outside, I thought Alexander
would have fun decorating a gingerbread train.  I figured a train
would be much more appealing to him than a typical gingerbread
house.  I bought a little kit and this kid had a blast!  It held his interest
for a solid 30 minutes!!  He's never worked on a project for that long.

Here's Alexander smiling, mid-decorating.  It was interesting
to see how detail-oriented and methodical he was in putting
the candies in their respective places.

"Mommy!  I like this special activity!"

Alexander decorating the gingerbread train

He loved this so much that he started singing to himself

The finished product!!  He was seriously SO proud of himself
for decorating the gingerbread "Thomas" train, as he dubbed it.

"Cheeeese!!"  Hooray!  He actually looked at the
camera this time.  :)

That same day, my sister Kristen and her boyfriend
Pete came over to watch William so that Joseph and I
could take Alexander sledding for the first time this year.
Here's our little guy all bundled up and ready to play
in the snow.

Joseph and Alexander, getting ready to go sledding.

The Franses men sledding

Mommy and Alexander, ready to fly down the hill

Here we go!!!  :)

This is how the guys play together with one another.  :)

Here's our smiley guy at 8 weeks old.

We've been in somewhat of a food rut recently and I wanted to try a new recipe.  It needed to be something that didn't require a lot of prep time but was still delicious.  I was looking on pinterest, and funny enough, found a recipe that I had pinned while I was in labor.  (Since I had such a LOOONNNG labor, I decided to look on Pinterest for some quick and easy recipes and pinned quite a few.)  Smart, huh?

1 1/2 cups of panko bread crumbs, 1 tbsp Italian seasoning,
2 tbsp parmesan cheese, salt and pepper

Take 2 lbs of boneless skinless chicken breasts and butterfly them.
Beat one egg and dredge each of the chicken breasts in the egg,
then coat the chicken breasts in the bread crumb mixture.
Coat the bottom of a crock pot in olive oil and place the
breaded chicken breasts in the bottom of the pot.

Take about 3/4 cup of shredded cheese and sprinkle  it on top
of the chicken along with some freshly chopped basil.

Top the chicken with 1 jar of your favorite marinara sauce.  I prefer
any type of Rao's marinara sauce.  Put on the lid and then you can turn your
crock pot on low for 5-6 hours or on high for 3 hours.

Since there were no vegetables in the recipe, in a separate pan,
I cooked up some onions, peppers, mushrooms, and broccoli
that were seasoned with salt, pepper, and garlic powder.

Ta-da!!  The chicken parmesan is so soft and tender and melts
in your mouth!  So good and incredibly easy to make!

I took some of the sauce from the crock pot and mixed it in with the
vegetables to serve alongside the chicken.  Dinner was a success!

Here's another little gem from our 8 week old
William Billiam Boo.  :)

Alexander being a sweet older brother

William being cute

Joseph and I were watching a movie while trying
to get William to sleep.  I looked over and this is what
I saw - my two men, fast asleep and with their mouths
wide open.  Too cute!

William getting in some tummy time while
his big brother Oscar watched over him.

Since we didn't toast the tree with egg nog when
we put it up, we toasted the tree with egg nog
when we took it down.  Here's Alexander and Joseph
saying, "Cheers!"  Alexander loved the "egg not" as he called it.  :)

Little William, out cold.

Joseph holding William while Oscar gives him
a nice kiss.  Oscar really loves our two boys so much.
He's such a sweet dog.  :)  We still refer to him as our first born.  

We had such a great holiday season and were surrounded with loved ones, carried on traditions, and started some new ones of our own.  I absolutely love this time of year!  Until next time...

Love and kisses,

Nikki