clap, clap, clap.

yesterday we learned to clap, so this afternoon we did a few clap, clap, claps for your viewing pleasure. i can't believe she is big enough to clap and babble and reach for me and watch mickey mouse clubhouse in the mornings. i mean, don't get me wrong, these days we are having the time of our lives, but also, my heart is breaking.

anyways, back to the claps. here they are...

and please, don't even ask me about the crawling. no, she is not crawling yet and no, she isn't going to crawl anytime soon. i mean, really, she's JUST A BABY!! ;)

have a happy weekend, from us!

all things orange.

at this point, i'm sort of a connoisseur of pumpkin desserts (oh yes i am!).

i am obsessed with them, and have devoted a great portion of my life to baking treats that involve canned pumpkin. this morning i woke up feeling generous (my hair has formed perfect beach waves magically overnight?!) so without further adieu, i give you, my favorite pumpkin recipes of all time (that i sometimes like to pretend are secret recipes, but whatever).

the best ever pumpkin cheesecake that i make every year for halloween & thanksgiving.
listen you need to make your own cream cheese/whip cream topping for this one, okay? it's not hard. there isn't a recipe, but basically all you need to do is combine some whip cream (yes, you can use cool whip, why not?!) and some softened cream cheese plus some vanilla to taste. you can do it! just taste, taste, taste, stop when it's good.

the best ever pumpkin bars with cream cheese frosting.
this is my mother's favorite thing i have ever baked for her in her lifetime. in her lifetime, people! have at it!

and my favorite pumpkin chocolate chip cookies.
this isn't the easiest recipe, so if you want something less time consuming, i also love to use the one that just combines spice cake + chocolate chips + pumpkin. easy peasy.

it's supposed to rain all day long, so let's turn on some tunes, light a candle and get to baking! if you have any other favorite pumpkin recipes will you leave them in the comment box, so i can immediately bake them?

ps. i used to have a picture of the cheesecake (with a chocolate spider web on top) on my blog a few years ago and went to find it for you, but it was erased in the great blog disaster debacle of last month. womp womp womp.

pps. is it just me, or is it SNOWING?!?!

and you guys, thanks for the caffeine encouragement. i think we can all agree "if it makes you happy!! it can't be that baaadddddd!!!!" right?

caffeine tastes good.

earlier today, after evie and i had visited the target (where dreams come true!) and were driving home through the rain, i thought to myself, "it is time for a diet coke".

usually, i feel this way every day around 4pm. i need a diet coke. i need the fizz and the pop and lets just be honest, i need the caffeine!

i called my husband to commiserate. "evie and i are on our way home from target and the security guard at the door thought i was trying to steal a gallon of milk (?!?!) and i bought evie a halloween bag and IT IS TIME FOR A DIET COKE!!"

"it is time for a diet coke" he agreed.
and then the thought came to me "are we addicted?!"

i mean, if the mere thought of 4:00 in the afternoon without a diet coke sends terror to my soul, do i need rehab?! can i join a support group?!

(these are not rhetorical questions. please and thank you.)

i didn't get the diet coke, just so you know.

ps. it should also be mentioned that i went off the caffeine during pregnancy and survived without it just fine, so there's that.

sometimes, at the end of the day, this is what my life looks like.

this is my life tonight.
messy house, dishes in the sink, constipated baby, exhausted mama.

isn't it crazy for me to say that i actually love it? i do, i do, i do.
somehow, this all makes me so happy.

the lawn lounge.

a big part of our daily routine is the lawn lounge. i can't explain it, we like to lounge on the lawn. i mean, afternoons are just a good time to throw your hair in a ponytail (see tiny ponytail please and die with me, will you?) sit your bum down on the lawn and watch the storm clouds roll in over the valley, don't you think?

side note: lately evie is just a miniature version of g. she looks like him and everyone notices it, but for some reason i see a little bit of myself when i look at this one. it's probably the big cheeks and squinty eyes. hello, daughter!

and apparently anytime is a good time to eat some grass. whoops.

date night.

friday night was the big 5th anniversary date, so we lined up a nana-sitter, put on some snazzy outfits, dropped off the evs and hit the town.

we had reservations at 4 separate places because my husband is the most indecisive person who has ever lived and refused to give any sort of input on what he wanted to eat. i spent most of the afternoon calling him and then calling restaurants to schedule and cancel reservations, which eventually led to me talking on the phone with ruths chris while bathing the baby while DROPPING MY PHONE INTO THE TUB AND THEN LEAVING IT THERE FOR TEN MINUTES BECAUSE I DIDN'T NOTICE.

yes.

(and it still works, mothers!!! can you believe it!? we have now declared the olsen bathroom to be a "no phone(or ipad)zone" due to the fact that my previous cell phone was dropped in the toilet (and then continued to work for an entire YEAR), my previous ipod touch was dropped into the sink while hand washing and my current cell phone was dropped in the tub. obviously i am really responsible and not at all accident prone. can you even believe my husband bought me an ipad?!)

moving on....

so the phone went in the tub and i didn't notice for ten minutes because i was busy drying, lotioning, dressing and nursing evie. when i finally went into the bathroom to drain the water i saw it there and proceeded to say the words i always say when such things happen (look, i'm not proud of it either) and so no more reservations or plans where made until the husband came home.

after we dropped off evie i told g all the places that were expecting us and we attempted to make a decision (it's never easy). we finally ended up at tiberon in sandy.

what happened next is a true story.

so we walk into the restaurant and immediately notice how tiny it is. i also notice the fact that it isn't decorated at all and there are no candles on the tiny tables, but maybe i'm just weird for caring about such things? so, we take our menus and get seated in between an elderly couple and a first date. the tables are way too close to each other and we can hear everything everyone is saying and the restaurant looks like a dungeon and the chicken dish costs $39!! what the what?!

g looks at me and i look at him and we're basically saying "hell no" to one another with our eyes because if we are going to spend $50 a plate on dinner i want a cozy, private table, candlelight, music and perhaps a pony or something, i mean, am i right?! i am right. so we left. we got up, i handed the menus back to the waiter and told him thank you so much but some thing's come up and out the door we ran.

there were a few high-fives and go team!'s exchanged in the car and then we headed to a new restaurant where there were peanut shells on the ground, country music in the background and we paid half the price. g ordered the largest steak of his life, the lamplight was dazzling and we scored ourselves a free anniversary dessert.

this is my "here is my dinner!" face and also my "what in the world have i ordered, because i am not a steak-eater and the waiter talked me into prime rib?" face.

(the prime rib was so good, you guys. so so good. who even knew horseradish could taste like that?!)

we spent the rest of the night at the movie theater and out and about town and getting sugar and red-bulls for g's energy levels. he stayed up til like 2am, friends! the whole night was just a triumph. if only anniversaries and best-dates-ever could occur weekly, right? a girl can dream.

the end.

fall festivities.

i love fall.

can i say it again?
I LOVE FALL!

there is something about fall that just makes me happy and content. every year, at the begining of september i make a fall to-do list and then tackle it one day at a time, because who wants to let fall pass by without soaking in every second of it? not me, i tell you. not me!

here are some of the fall festivities that took place last week...

gardner village to see the witches:

yet another trip to the zoo:

 this time was extra fun because our buddies craig, edith and mckenzie came along. we love them.

 last dinner date for burgers, fries and a mint shake:

 and finally, a trip to the swings:

i have a few more things planned, but i have to say, nothing beats the last item on this years list...

and we are heading there in just a few weeks!