Festive Fun...

This past weekend was a busy one! We spent lots of time as a family getting in the holiday spirit! On Saturday we finished up the last of our Christmas shopping downtown and then we took a horse drawn carriage ride around the Old Port. Henry loved riding through the town looking at all the shoppers and lights. Afterwards we went up to Freeport to the LL Bean outdoor stage to see our friends Nance and Greg perform "A Christmas Carol". Nance and Greg run Shoestring Theatre, which is a puppet troupe that does incredible work. It was chilly, but totally worth it! What a fun time Henry had listening to the music and watching the huge puppets float across stage. Sunday we headed down to Newburyport, MA to be with some of Matt's family. Henry had fun watching his cousins romp around and make an amazing gingerbread village. Erin and Killian whipped up an unbelievable brunch and fun was had by all. It was great to see everyone! We also managed to make several batches of Christmas cookies and a homemade wreath (see picture)! This week we are taking it easy getting ready for a big Friday night! We are really looking forward to spending our first Christmas ever in Portland and our first as a family of three. We can't wait to create our own Welch tribe traditions! Enjoy the photos from the weekend.

Happy Holidays to All!

This free digital ecard customized with Smilebox

Momo Comes to Town!

Momo arrived on Friday and what a wonderful visit we had! I feel like I didn't get to spend much time with her, but that's only because she babysat Henry all weekend so Matt and I could have time to ourselves. What a luxury it is to go out to dinner without your eight month old! On Friday night Matt and I went up to Freeport and had a lovely dinner at a cute Italian bistro. We then did some late night Christmas shopping at LL Bean. It felt really weird to be without Henry for a few hours. On Saturday Momo treated me to an afternoon of "mommy pampering" at the spa at the Inn By the Sea while Matt went to work in his studio for the afternoon. Then Matt met me for another romantic dinner last night. What a treat! I almost fell asleep during my massage..imagine that! Thank you SOOOO much Momo! I know Henry appreciated his one on one time with you and I am glad you got your Henry fix too! Momo's flight got cancelled today due to the stormy weather on the eastern seaboard so she ended up having to take a bus and then a train back home to Connecticut..what a trooper! Thanks again mom for such a wonderful weekend, we appreciate it!

Because I wasn't around Momo too much this weekend we didn't get that many pictures of her and Henry. We'll make sure to fix that when we see her over Christmas. But, we did manage to take a few cute pictures over the last few days of our big eight month old!!!

Henry Gets a Steel Drum!!!

We had a very exciting afternoon. When we went down to pick up the package that had arrived for Henry today we had no idea it was going to be the neatest, coolest and most appropriate gift ever! Grandma and Grandpa Welch sent Henry his very own steel drum for Christmas. Okay, we opened a Christmas gift up early, I know...we're bad parents!!! But, we couldn't resist:) When Matt came home from work tonight I set Henry up in front of his new instrument and we serenaded Dad as he came up the stairs. You should have seen Matt's face! He immediately sent photos to his steel drum band. I think Henry will be the youngest steel drum player there ever was!! Matt and Henry have plans to play their first gig together as soon as possible. Enjoy the photos of Henry and his new cool drum set straight from Trinidad.

Getting in the Holiday Spirit

After a long week of illness and recovery, we were happy to get out and about on Friday night. We took Henry up to the Portland Museum of Art for a night of caroling and art. They had the entire sculpture garden aglow and we met up with some of our friends to enjoy some Christmas music. We then walked down Congress Street with hundreds of others out for the First Friday Art Walk. Maine College of Art was having their holiday craft sale, so of course we had to hit that up! On our way back we stopped at the Christmas tree in Monument Square and had our picture taken. Saturday Henry and I went to a holiday party with some of Henry's friends. It was so cute to see all the little babies dressed up in their holiday outfits! Matt had a steel drum gig with over 200 spectators...wow, he said it was awesome! On Sunday we went to pick out our Christmas tree and decorated it with all the many ornaments we have been collecting for the past several years. It was fun to finally hang them all up! Henry is enjoying all the lights and holiday glitz up around the apartment. It was a full weekend, but a great one to kick off the holiday season! We hope you are enjoying this beautiful season as much as we are. Peace to you all!

I know... I am a blogger slacker

Hello friends and family,

I have been notified on several occasions in the last few days about my failure to update the blog in the past week (haha!). I am sorry for being such a blogger slacker. We had a minor set back right after Thanksgiving which was not very enjoyable and made blogging (or anything for that matter) nearly impossible. We were hit with the nasty, icky, yucky stomach bug and it took quite a long time for everyone to recover. I am happy to report that we are all back to our normal selves! It was not fun there for a few days...

So, now that I have my energy back I will get back to photographing and reporting on my lovely little Henry. Because he was looking a little peakish there for a few days I didn't think it was the best time to be taking photos of him. I did take some excellent shots of him yesterday on our morning walk, but I am saving those for the holiday card...so stay tuned!!!

We have a busy holiday weekend ahead with lots of fun things planned, so I will make sure to bring my camera along. Hope you all had a wonderful and healthy Thanksgiving. Happy December and Happy Winter!!

Fun in Boston

The Welch tribe had a busy weekend! On Saturday we headed down to Boston to celebrate Brian's 50th birthday with the entire Welch clan. The Welch family are known for their great parties and open mike nights. This party was no exception. Anne threw an amazing party at a French brasserie in downtown Boston. Henry and I stayed for the cocktail hour and the beginning of the open mike session but had to make a speedy exit as soon as it got to be too much for Henry. So, we headed back to the hotel while the rest of the gang partied on. On Sunday Ellen had us all over for a delicious brunch. Henry enjoyed his time so much in Boston that he could hardly sleep (4:30 wake up call on Sunday morning after going to bed at 10 pm!) and chatted up all his aunts, uncles and cousins. Henry is so lucky to have five older cousins who will show him the ropes and be wonderful babysitters some day (ha!). Grandpa and Grandma Welch will come up to our house tomorrow for Thanksgiving so we didn't get too sad when we had to say goodbye. We are really looking forward to their visit.

Happy Birthday Brian! Enjoy the photos of Henry and his extended family.... Thanks for such a wonderful visit everyone!

Rainy Day Fun...

Rainy days with a baby are fun! It's the perfect excuse to stay inside and play all day. This morning Henry and I awoke to pouring rain and wind. So, instead of bundling up and facing the weather outside we decided to have an indoor play day! Last night Matt and I began the "child proofing" project. We ordered all kinds of heavy duty fancy gates and outlet covers. We took a trip to Babies R' Us and got a mat (as well as many other fun, irresistable items) for the kitchen floor so Henry can spend time rolling, crawling and moving around the kitchen while we cook, eat, hang out, etc.
If the rain lets up we'll head out to story hour at the library a little later...For now, we are cozy, listening to some music and enjoying this lazy, rainy day together. Not a bad life at all!!! Hope you are all enjoying the day as much as we are.
Enjoy the pictures of Henry playing and eating his yummy pears and plums.

PS: We also got some very exciting news this morning...Auntie Lauren and Auntie Robin got engaged! We are so excited for them and can't wait for their special day..let the countdown begin!! Congrats to a wonderful couple!

Popham Beach

Yesterday was a beautiful day here in Maine... I think it reached 60 degrees! Matt and I wanted to show Henry one of our favorite spots on earth..Popham Beach. So we packed up the car and headed north about an hour. It was a perfect day for a hike on the beach. There were tons of people out walking and playing in the sand. We even ran into some friends who were also out enjoying the day. We took Henry on a nice, long hike by the ocean which of course made him very relaxed and sleepy! On our way home we stopped in Bath to have lunch at a nice, little pub. It was such a perfect fall day! I hope you all enjoyed it as much as we did. Enjoy the pictures of Henry getting so big and looking more and more like a little boy these days.

I have included two recipes which I am making today (both from Stonyfield Yogurt webpage)...perfect for a fall harvest feast. I am really looking forward to gathering up all my recipes today to get ready for Thanksgiving. We are hosting here, so it should be an adventure!



Roasted Red Pepper Dip
Wonderful with veggies, pretzels or your favorite crackers, this creamy dip is rich with the robust flavor of roasted peppers.
makes: 16 servings
Ingredients
1- 6oz jar of roasted red peppers
1 small onion, peeled and halved
Cooking spray
1 whole head of garlic
1 cup Plain Oikos Organic Greek Yogurt
1/2 cup fat-free or reduced-fat cream cheese
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1/8 teaspoon ground red pepper
1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
Directions
Preheat oven to 400°F. Coat a baking sheet with cooking spray. Remove the skin from the head of garlic and wrap in foil. Place the garlic and onions on the baking sheet. Bake for 15 minutes turning onions over half way through. Remove onions and set aside. Return garlic and cook an additional 15 minutes.

Let garlic cool for 10 minutes. Separate the cloves and squeeze the garlic out, discarding skins.
Place roasted red pepper, onion and garlic in a food processor, process until fairly smooth. Add cream cheese, cumin, ground red pepper and process until smooth. Fold in yogurt. Spoon the dip into a bowl and stir in parsley. Cover and chill until ready to serve. Yields 2 cups. Serve with whole-wheat crackers or sesame breadsticks.

Spiced Apple Cake
Even a novice baker can make this delicious, quick and easy cake. Use any crisp and tart apples, like Cortland or Macintosh.
makes: 12 servings
Ingredients
2 cups sugar
1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1 cup whole-wheat flour
4 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 eggs
1 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup orange juice
1 cup Stonyfield Organic Lowfat Vanilla Yogurt
4 cups Granny Smith apples (4-6 apples) cored, peeled, and chopped
1 cup walnuts
Directions
Preheat oven to 325°F. Prepare a bundt pan with cooking spray. In a large bowl combine dry ingredients and set aside. In a medium-size bowl, whip eggs until frothy (3-4 minutes). Add oil, orange juice and yogurt. Mix together. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and fold together until well combined. Fold in apples and walnuts. Pour batter into cake pan. Bake for 1 hour or until toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean. Let cool before removing from pan. Serve warm with a scoop of Stonyfield Organic Gotta Have Vanilla Frozen Yogurt.

Henry is an Eater!!

Well Henry is now officially an eater..of solid foods. He's unstoppable with sweet potatoes and carrots. He even managed to get some peas down tonight. Enjoy the fun pictures of him enjoying his carrots tonight. It was an all around hands-on experience for Henry (as you can tell from the photo). We have had a nice week so far. Highlights include going to our weekly music class, going on a hike with friends and finally making it to the new Trader Joes. Today Matt was home so we enjoyed the day as a family. We took Henry out to one of our favorite spots, Two Lights State Park and hiked around by the ocean. The waves were huge! Afterwards we took him to the playground. This was Henry's first time to a playground and boy did he love it. We put him in the swing and by the look on his face we couldn't tell whether he would like it or not. But, after a few minutes he was smiling and giggling. We look forward to taking him to the many beautiful playgrounds the city of Portland has to offer. Henry is beginning to adjust to the daylight savings, but the first few days we were getting up very early! We're happy that he has figured it out and is now waiting until at least 5 am to stir. This weekend we are looking forward to taking Henry to another one of our favorite spots in Maine, Popham Beach, for his first ever hike on this spectacular beach. We will also have our friends Anna and Bill over for supper on Sunday, so it should be a fun weekend all around. Stay tuned!!