Spring, Where Are You?

I am officially OVER this cold weather. On my way to drop Emma off at Patty's my car's external thermostat registered at 20 degrees. Sparkling white frost coated grass, roof tops and car windows left outside over night.

I am ready for sunny afternoons spent outside with sidewalk chalk clutched in chubby hands.

I want hampers full of chalky bottomed shorts and bath water dirty from bare feet on the pavement.

I want to pull out all of the brightly colored sun hats and matching bathing suits.

I want to end muggy, hot days by lounging in the cool, green grass.

Is that too much to ask?

Our Furry Kid

Meet Max - our first "baby". And in our opinion one of the best dogs ever. I mean, look at that face. He is so handsome, laid-back and well behaved. And loves my baby girl almost as much as I do - okay maybe the goldfish crackers she feeds him has something to do with it...

Duane and I had talked about the idea of getting a dog. But the circumstances that led us to Max are pretty special. When my dad passed away in Decemeber of 2006, Duane and I had just closed on a house. A house that needed more than a little work. - okay a lot of work. And as a whole, our family was left reeling in the suddeness of Dad's passing. So a few days after the funeral (6 days to be exact) my Aunt Nancy, who was staying with my mom at the time, casually mentioned seeing an add in the paper for Chocolate Lab puppies and suggest that we just go look. Right, just look.

So we drove about 20 minutes east to a horse farm in the country and met a lady who was crazy about her puppies. We waited anxiously in her kitchen as she released the puppies from the laundry room and laughed as they tumbled over one another, tails wagging and tongues licking, into our waiting arms. Max wasn't the first puppy to reach us - in fact he probably was one of the last to make it into the room. But the second I picked him up, I knew he was the one for us. He just melted into our arms, and hearts, with his laid back attitude and warm, wet nose. We were sold. Although we left that evening without a puppy we put a deposit down on Max with the promise to come back to pick him up in a few weeks. Once we got our house a little more inhabitable. At the time we were still living between our apartment in downtown Cleveland and an air mattress in a bedroom at my mom's house. Well, that lasted maybe one day before Duane and Brian got in the car to go and pick up our new puppy. Our therapy. My Aunt is one smart lady. :)

After his first bath, look how shiny!

This toy would last all of 10 seconds these days.

Those first few years it was just the 3 of us. And Max became our travelling buddy. He came with us on his first beach vacation to the Outer Banks in June of 2007. And has come with us every year since.

Family picture - first time in the Outer Banks

What a rough life - this is Max's typical travelling position all decked out in the backseat of the Equinox.

Did I mention how much he loves the beach - specfically rolling in the sand immediately after diving in the waves?

The first year that we took Max with us we stayed in a condo with a shared pool so we weren't able to let him swim. The next year we rented a beach house (much better choice!) - upon arrival as we all checked out the house Max ran ahead into the fenced in backyard and before we could react jumped right into the pool. He lived there the entire trip - Labs are true water dogs.

He came camping in Mohican where he especially loved the river.

We celebrated his first birthday with his very own puppy party!

Duane was fortunate enough to work for an advertising agency, Marcus Thomas, for quite a few years - among many perks they are a dog friendly company that encourages workers to bring their dogs to the office.

This is where Max would wait for his "Daddy" to come back from a meeting.

Playing in the snow is up there with playing in water - the toy in this picture has been replaced countless times.

Emma was born in February of 2009 - Max had just turned two that November. It was perfect timing to add a new additon to the family. Max was past his super crazy puppy stage (although compared to other Lab owners I've heard he was really mild!).

We did all the things that they tell you to do when you have a baby - bring home a blanket with the new baby's scent for your pet to smell. Set up the baby stuff with plenty of time for your animal to get the idea that something is about to change.

But from the get-go Max was in love.

Okay, maybe that's a lie - he was definitely very interested in Emma when we came home from the hopsital. And he stayed by her side pretty much from day one. I think he was a little confused when she woke up hungry multiple times during the night. But he was patient with us as we adjusted to this new little person in our life. And he was right by her side as she grew and changed.

Whenever we would lay Emma on the floor to play with her toys he would lay protectively nearby.

Now that Emma is a toddler their relationship has only deepened. Each day when I pick up Emma from Patty's house we talk about going home to see Daddy...and of course Max! When we let Max outside to go potty she stands perched in the doorway shouting "Max, Come!" when he gets too close to the sidewalk. They are true partners in crime...

She sneaks into the pantry and steals the box of dog cookies - giving Max one, or two, or five...

Or she simply shares her own snack.

She dresses Max up with her bracelets and necklaces.

Or fixes his boo-boo's with a bandaid and a kiss.

We recently took Max to the vet for his yearly check-up and to update his vaccines. We brought Emma with us. She furrowed her brow and watched silently as the vet checked Max's ears and nose. She looked at me worriedly as the vet gave him his shots. And when he was all done and the doctor had left the room, she looked at us and announced, "Max new toy!" So off to Petsmart we went.

I know that some people choose to get rid of their pets soon after they add a baby to their family. And while I totally understand that there are sometimes really good reasons for doing so - I also think that sometimes people use it as an excuse. Balancing a newborn, work and a relationship is a challenge. Throw a somewhat needy dog into the mix, sure it's hard. But I would not trade the love that Emma and Max have for each other for anything.

Like Mother, Like Daughter

It is no secret that Emma looks a lot like me. We have similar skin tone and as a baby I was equally as bald with the same chubby cheeks. It's pretty striking when you look back at baby pictures - so much so that even Emma will see a picture of me as a toddler and say, "Emma!"

Don't believe me, I can prove it...in another post. I'll need to scan in some old baby pictures of myself. :)

It is also no secret that my mom and I look a lot alike too - especially when I look back at pictures of her and my dad when they were first dating/married. Not to say that we didn't also look alike as kids - but those pictures aren't as readily accessible.

Don't believe me? Check out these pictures I found while cleaning out my hard drive.

(This is one of my favorite pictures ever of my parents.)

(Please excuse the cleavage - I was probably at least 6 months pregnant in this picture!)

Definitely a striking resemblance - don't you agree?

I think when you are a pre-teen and people tell you that you look like your mom or dad you kind of groan - I mean that is not exactly what you want to hear, right? At that age you do everything in your power to avoid all connection to your parents.

But as you get older you come to appreciate the comments and even take them as a compliment.

I hope that Emma has the same sentiment someday herself.

My Little Artist

Emma loves to color. She loves holding and sorting the crayons. And also loves peeling the paper from the wax just to watch it flutter to the floor and then shrieking, "Mama! Ca-ca!" until I come and pick it up.

I love watching her gather all the colors in her pudgy little hands, sometimes calling the orange one green or the blue one purple. But she's getting the hang of it and the more we practice the better she gets at identifying all the colors.

I love the serious look she gets on her face, chubby cheeks and furrowed brow, as she concentrates so hard on the series of scribbles on the blank piece of paper.

I love when she points at the paper and says, "E, M, M, momma," - her way of asking me to write her name on the paper for her to see.

I think I could watch her little face all day.

Say Yes To Baby Carrots

Emma hated carrots as a baby. Of all vegetables they were her absolute least favorite. Which is kind of odd - kids typically LOVE carrots as kids (have you ever seen a kids with orange skin and wondered why?). They are a little bit sweet and if steamed just so the perfect texture for kids who are learning to chew whole foods.

Emma's favorite vegetable when she was learning to eat purees was hands down peas. She would squeal with delight at the sight of the frothy green pastelike substance in her little pink bowl. And still, to this day, the girl loves her "peos" as she calls them. So much so that she can often be found hanging from the freezer door, calling "Mama Peos!, until I relent and put a few in her little cup STILL FROZEN. Yep, my girls loves her some frozen peos.

So, when I had a few minutes a couple months back and sat in bed flipping through the latest Parents Magazine I saw an endorsement for a new line of products for babies; Yes to Baby Carrots. Interesting, I thought, and shelved the name somewhere into my already cluttered brain.

Fast foward a few weeks, as I am browsing the baby section at Target I come across an endcap full of the same product. It was priced reasonably, especially when compared to some of the other non-toxic/organic brands of skin care items. So, I tossed a bottle of baby wash & lotion into my cart and was on my way.

Well, let me just say that I think we found a new favorite product.

One would assume that all products on the shelves of our drug and grocery stores are safe - but the truth is the FDA has no authority over products intended for cosmetic use. According to the Environmental Working Group, the average adult is exposed to at least 100 unique chemicals every day. And according to Dr. Oz newborns are born with over 200 different toxic chemicals in their cord blood.

So Why do I like Say Yes to Baby Carrots? Well for starters it is petroleum, SLS & Paraben Free. Why is this important?

1. Petroleum: Petroleum is in everything, cleaning products, personal care items & plastic. It's use is bad for the environment and our countries dependency on it is a daily conversation on the news. It's use in personal care items is downright bad for you. An Environmental Working Group study found that the use of petroleum based products can increase your cancer risk.

2.: SLS or Sodium Lauryl Sulfate is used in any task requiring the removal of oily stains and residues. It is found in high concentrations in many industrial cleaning products including engine degreasers, floor cleaners, and car wash soaps. It is used in lower concentrations in personal care products. The reason being it's an important component to create lather. While there is no know carcinogenic link to this chemical, it is thought to be an eye and skin irritant. And if you ask me, completely unneccessary.

3. Parabens are probably the most alarming chemical preservative added to our personal care products. The reason they are becoming increasingly more controvesial is the fact that low doses of paraben have been found in breast cancer tumors. And because this preservative has weak estrogenic activity which has been linked to tumor growth. While no link between breast cancer and paraben has been established. It is still an on-going topic of research. And when other natural preservatives are available (like grapefruit seed extract) it's something I'd rather my family avoid.

Also, a portion of the proceeds go into the Yes to Seed Fund which is a U.S. 501(c)3 non-profit organization that provides grants to schools and communities to help them build gardens and promote access to healthy nutrition. Now who wouldn't support a cause like that!

Ultimately it's a personal choice. And while the direct links to some of these chemicals and cancer may not currently exists, it's something that I can control. And when a natural alternative is available at an affordable price I am all for it. Besides, I think Emma likes it too.

So next time we are at Target we'll be picking up some more of the Say Yes to Carrots products. Which makes Mommy & Baby very happy!

Miss Emma's Birthday Weekend

My little girl turned 2 on February 19th. And in true Utterback fashion, we made it a whole weekend of celebrating. The weekend before and week leading up to the big bash, we all were feeling kind of crummy - sniffles, coughing and even fevers. But thankfully we all made enough of a recovery to enjoy a lazy Friday morning together. I even made homemade multi-grain blueberry pancakes with flax seed - Emma LOVED them.

Of course I made Emma's into hearts using a cookie cutter. And I made sure she had plenty of "dip dip" - or Emma speak for maple syrup.

Afterwards Emma decided she needed to play with her Yo Gabba Gabba toys in the middle of the kitchen floor. Little did she know the surprise she would have the next day at her party!

Later on we headed over to Grandma's house to prepare for the big event. Lots of cooking, cleaning & setting up commenced. Duane and I also decided that we wanted to give Emma our gift to her that evening. We figured she was probably going to be overwhelmed (not to mention over stimulated) by all the attention and presents on Saturday.

But first, we had to wake up from our nap with an episode of Yo Gabba Gabba.

She got the hang of opening gifts much better than during Christmas. But, she still was pretty fascinated by the first thing she opened - it took some convincing to get her to move onto the next one.

Notice how she is "rocka baby" in this one, and ever so gently lays the baby in the crib - so cute!

I think the dollhouse is a hit. Nevermind the fact that the stove/fridge end up in the bedroom, or the potty on the patio - Emma has such a good time setting up each piece of furniture or little figure just so.

It's no secret that Emma has a love for all things Yo Gabba Gabba. So, even though I always said I wouldn't do a character themed party, the look on Emma's face when she say all of the decorations was totally worth it.


Duane decided that we were going to make our own cupcakes instead of buying them this year. So with a little help from Duncan Hines and Grammy Lu's homemade frosting recipe we were pretty proud of the outcome...even though we were frosting cupcakes at 11:30 the night before. We did have a little help from Uncle Brian & Kristy though - so it really wasn't that bad.

Guests arrived at 11:30am sharp to a feast. Homemade pulled pork or sloppy jo sliders, cheesy potatoes, pasta salad, veggies, hummus & taco dip.

Larry helps to tame Max.

Brian & Kristy spend some time with Taylor.

Check out those cheeks - she might just have Emma beat!

Aunt Nee Nee helps Emma with her second (or third!) helping of pork.

There was a mountian of gifts to be tackled and a stubborn 2-year old who distracts easily. So, we moved onto presents pretty quickly in an effort to get through as many as we could. And she really did a great job - and of course Katie helped to keep her on task.

Emma is truly a girl - everytime she opens a gift with clothing she pulls out the outfit and exclaims, "Oooo, cute!" And she was such a little diva with her new sunglasses.

Katie helped supervise and little Gianna observed - she'll get her turn in just a few weeks when she turns one!

Did I mention that Emma loves Yo Gabba Gabba. So it's no surprise that she loved her oversized stuffed Foofa from Aunt Nee Nee. So much so that Grandma had to take care of her until Emma was all done with her gifts.

Emma's "big" gift from Grandma is an adorable little nursery center for her baby dolls. It is the perfect size and it's so precious to watch Emma put "lotion" on her dolls. She squirts some "lotion" in her hands, rubs them together and then gently rubs it on her baby's arms and legs - just like we do to her.

By the time we were done with all of the gifts we were treading dangerously close to naptime. So it was only fitting when my little diva decided to throw a full blown temper tantrum, complete with kicking, screaming and crocodile tears.

Until Daddy saved the day - with a little help from Emma's Blankie & "me".



And probably because she was tired and just not a big fan of sweets in general (seriously, what kid do you know that throws a fit when we don't have "brocky" with dinner!) she was just not into the blowing out of the candle/cupcake thing. But we did at least get a semi-cute picture of the 3 of us.

As guests left Emma went down for a nap....or so I thought. Maybe 15 minutes after reading her "Night, night Gorilla" I heard her insistent voice on the monitor calling, "Mommy, mommy". And I could tell by the tone that she was just not going to sleep. So, since it was her day I went up to rescue her and let her play with her new toys for a little bit before trying again.

But first she had to try on her new green tutu - just what a girl needs.

After a bit more play time a little, sleepy girl climbed into my lap. This time she was ready which was a good thing, because soon...

...this guy would arrive ready to play. Because of unexpected work obligations the Utterback side of the family couldn't make it earlier for the party - so we just had a party of our own. Who doesn't need TWO birthday celebrations.

So after eating more food (and cupcakes) we left Grandma's house and headed back home for more presents and playing.

Could it be Elmo? Thank you Ryan! (and Uncle Donny & Aunt Kim)

Notice how cutely dressed she is here - well as soon as she opened these cute purple shorts from Uncle Donny & Aunt Kim she insisted on taking off her shoes AND tights.



Hugs from Aunt Steph before the unveiling of the "big" gift from Grammy Lu & Grampy...

...her very own Step 2 Cottage! Another hit and something we have to go down into the basement and play with daily. :)



Notice the purple shorts - she carried them around the entire night.

All in all it was a great birthday extravaganza. We got to see and celebrate with most of our friends and family. Emma's toys have officially taken over the entire house. Not to mention that I now officially have a two-year old who I love more than words can express.

Happy Birthday Emma!!