fathers day.

a little back tracking. with one day to go and the start of labor

that day before father's day, i tried to pretend all was as normal

and that we would indeed make it through father's day. 

we made a silly sign; the kids were so proud of, 

and baked a coffee cake...and filled the fridge with food. 

that way i thought things might speed along. 

little did i know i was in for a long night, day, and another night

before mikey decided to show up. 

anyhow, we were able to celebrate again with the whole fam

 the next weekend and that worked out even better!

Cheers to Dads!

summertime eats.

so i am apparently currently craving an abundance of vegetables

at the moment. in an attempt to find some summertime

food inspiration i came up with this desired meal...

now to find the energy...

grilled veggies and romanesco sauce

this tasty salad full of crunch looks outstanding

ricotta gnocchi and fresh fava beans

and of course dessert

rasberry peach crumb cake

despite the heat.

never mind the insane temps here in phx. 

we try to find out way outside, 

with trips to the pool, playing excessively in the hose and sprinkler,

a popsicle here and there. 

just gotta get in that vitamin d. and keep the kids 

from getting crazy inside!

and then there is a lot of staring out the window....

perhaps hoping for more outside-ness?

welcome mikey!

so believe it or not, i am not pregnant anymore....

after several "you've been pregnant for.eve.eer."comments,

michael patrick mchale

did indeed arrive on june 18th around 4am at a whopping 

7 lbs. 10.8 oz

he has been welcomed home with much more love

than i could ever wish for. 

the kids are over the moon for him.

we hear a lot of this from declan:

'i want to hold him'...'i just love my mikey' or sudden bursts of laughter

at anything 'his baby' happens to do.

ruby can not get enough either; tons of snuggle up time and gazing at him, 

singing him songs, holding and loving on him. 

i must say, the transition is much easier than i had expected 

and a truly beautiful experience. 

one happy crazy family here! 

minus the occasional ruby/declan fights....haha.