Waiting for Viviana

What to do when you can't stand waiting another second?

Bake cookies.

Fresh, hot, ooey-gooey chocolate chip cookies!

And they'll come running...



Big Cookie Monster



Little Cookie Monster



These sweet boys have made me smile and brought me so much joy this week. Yes, they drive me crazy at least twice a day, but other than that, they are my little loves!





Devon has stepped it up and been the "man of the house," feeding Dean his yogurt, keeping an eye on him and even tickling him to make him giggle.



There really is nothing in life that compares to looking at your children. Loving them so much and feeling so lucky to have them. And this picture makes my heart melt...



We have been waiting and waiting for little Viviana to make her debut. She will be the first baby girl to be born in the Sherman family in 3 generations, so this is a big deal. Three generations of mothers dreamed of cute little dresses and bows around pigtails, but we had boys, boys and more boys! So, little Viviana will be LOVED! That's for sure. She will be spoiled rotten by everyone. :) Watching someone ELSE give birth is the best thing in the world. It's the biggest possible honor to be invited to be in the room and to be there when life begins. Better than an invitation to walk the red carpet at the Oscars! I am so excited to be there and to see this beautiful baby born. I know Court and G will be so happy to have her here and to feel that pure love and joy, just seeing her sweet face.



Court, I love you so much and can't wait to be there on your big day and to welcome little Viviana with a kiss and a snuggle from her Aunt Julie. Oh, and also for her to dislike me just a little because I will dress her up in all kinds of outfits and make sure we get LOTS of cute pictures!



It's any day now. We're waiting...

A Clean Start and a Sweet Ending

It's 2012. A new year. I looked around the house and saw...

Piles and piles of laundry. The remnants of an overly busy 2011. Overflowing laundry bins everywhere. Kids running around in mismatched outfits and pants that are 3 inches too short, because everything that fits is dirty.

I'm the last person to volunteer my day off for cleaning, but it was neccessary. A deep clean of the house and a fresh start to the new year. It felt good. So, we spent almost two days cleaning and making up for the month of December.


Dean is my expert sock sorter. He loves to find and categorize, just like his big brother. Thank God for some help around here! Is 19 months too young for chores?

Ahhh... a sigh of relief to have loads and loads of kids clothes cleaned, sorted and folded.



When I wasn't looking, some little magpie was hoarding socks and building themselves a comfy nest in their fort...



Can I digress...

Socks that pill and look completely GROSS after just one wash should be illegal! Seriously, why would companies even make socks that do THIS?



And no, Gap, you are not off the hook here. Your baby socks are the WORST! They look so soft and cozy when you buy them and then one wash later, it looks like they have been passed down through four generations. Wish I had a picture, but I have thrown them all away.

After the house was sparkling and candles were flickering, we got to head outside in the cold, crisp January air for a little walk.


Now that I just bashed Gap, I have to say... I love Old Navy and Gap baby clothes. They are just the best and the cutest. Old Navy - your 75% off sale ROCKS. This down jacket at $5.99... yes, please.


I love cute baby hands, fingers intertwined.




How many pictures can I have on this blog of Dean and his stick? Best baby toy ever.


Beautiful baby lashes.

One of my first meals of the new year and I was feeling nostalgic. Food is love and it holds memories for me. The last meal my Grandma Marge made for me was about 8 years ago, before she passed away. That dinner is still near and dear to my heart. When I found out Debbie had the recipe, I had to make it again and remember that special dinner made by the best cook in the world.



Warm chicken salad (recipe straight from 1950), with Chinese Napa Cabbage Slaw and dinner rolls. Grandma Marge wasn't drinking Veuve Clicquot, but we were!



And another new year's resolution... to eat cake everyday. Is that healthy? Hmmm, don't think so.


Lemon bundt cake with fresh lemon zest and vanilla cream drizzle. Yummmmmmmmmm!

Later in the week...

It was a very cold night, with fog in the air. But the moon was shining bright over the trees.



And Devon was rocking his new stylish boots. We may not have 3 feet of snow, but this is Georgia winter and we are going to wear our good boots, gosh darn it!


Fog on the street, hard to capture in pictures. Made it seem dark and spooky outside.





My handsome little one doing his best modeling poses...


This one is my favorite... could be straight out of a J.Crew ad.



And finally, our sweet ending. Lollipops for all...



Dean can hold his own lollipop. And don't you even try to take it away!



This is the happiest lollipop face he could possible make! Happy, Happy, Happy Boy!!

Makes Me Happy

Why am I writing this blog?

Because it makes me happy.

It's my creative outlet. My place to put all the fun things I love... pictures of Devon and Dean, pictures of all the amazing food I ate or cooked, great memories throughout the year, hopes for the future. I made it through my first full year of blogging. Staying up late and posting pictures and writing stories is what makes me happy.

I know people from around the world have clicked over and gotten a peek into my life. Even though I don't know who these little clicks are from, it feels good to share my happy little blog. But I mainly do this for myself. For my horrible short term memory. Because one day I can make this into a beautiful coffee table book and I'll flip through it while drinking coffee and eating a piece of cake and I'll show it to my grandchildren (yes, when I'm old) and I'll tell them my stories.

Anyways, if you're reading this, leave a comment. Say hello. Comments show that you care. One of my New Year's resolutions is to leave comments on all the blogs I love and to tell them "hey, I'm out here and your blog inspires me and makes my day better when I see an update." Because I love blogs and I love peeking in on the lives of other creative, inspiring and amazing people around the world. Even if I don't know them, I feel like we're somehow friends because of our common bonds. If you want to see what inspires me, check my list to the right.

Happy 2012 to my little blog. Oh how you've grown...















I'm learning as I go and can't wait to see what this year holds for my little blog!

Favorite Things - Christmas 2011

"I simply remember my favorite things...
and then I don't feel so bad."
- Sound of Music

Here were a few of my favorite things from this Christmas...

A Family Picture


With all the photos I take, you would think I would have hundreds of amazing family photos to chose from, right? No. If I'm lucky, I remember to ask someone to take our photo maybe once a year. And this photo only happened because Courtney offered. Hey, we even look half decent.

Time with my Coco Loco!

Court, are you an angel? Cause I see a halo right over your head! Awwwww.....

I'm always so happy when we can be together, sharing our holiday joy!

My cool nephews in their skinny jeans.


These kids outfits make my boys look like sir-frump-a-lots. Hey, it's ok. My sis has style. And her boys always look straight out of a cool & edgy kids magazine. It's ok to have baby clothes envy! Maybe I'll let Devon wear something other than his pajamas this week.

Gifts from the other side of the world.


Firoze's sister Rumi sent Devon the best Christmas gift ever. The present that officially made her the coolest Aunt on the block. An enormous egg (anyone ever read the book? Anyone?). Yes, we read the book and Devon has secretly dreamt about finding an enormous egg that would hatch and he would have a real pet dinosaur. Well, this egg started hatching with a little help...

Brothers helping brothers.


Any toy that makes both boys stare in wonder for a good ten minutes makes my favorite things list, for sure! They were mesmerized by the little triceratops hatching from this egg. This is pure kid wonderment.

And speaking of favorite things, how could I forget all the insanely wonderful gifts we have received this season. There were too many to count, but here are a few that come to mind...

My favorite turtlenecks in the world, in all the colors I crave. (from Firoze)
A house full of delicious smelling candles (from Firoze).
Bulgari Perfume, YSL Cologne. (from him to me and me to him - yes, we smell sexy)
A very dapper suit. (for Firoze)
A box full of dinosaurs with the only iguanodon figurine known to man (for Devon)
A drum (from Santa - way to go big guy!)
A lump of coal (for Dean, JUST KIDDING)
An imersion blender (for me - hooray! from Mom & Dad).
A talking, rocking horse (for Dean, from Mom & Dad).
A magazine subscription collection (for us, from Court & G).
A traveling sound machine (for our sanity, from Court & G).
A plastic baby nativity set (for hurling baby jesus and not breaking him, from Bethany & Aaron).
A gorgeous light fixture and a handyman (from Bethany & Debbie).
A set of my french style plates, so I can slowly morph my home into Barefoot Contessa's! (from Rebecca).

These were just a FEW of my favorite gifts, but we were blessed beyond measure this year.

As if all this were not enough, God made a Christmas miracle happen for me at work. Let's just say that my Christmas dreams came true.

And just in case I had any doubts, God gave me a sign that I'm in the right place...


Do you see what I see? Look left.


Ohhh yeahhh. It's the truck stop jewelry store baby! Get your classy jewelry here. Or just get a lottery ticket and $10 worth of gas. Whatever.

God just made my work one of my favorite things! All it took was a quick pit stop for gas to make me realize just how good I have it.

Hope you got all your favorite things for Christmas! If not, there's always 2012.

Visions of Sugarplums - Christmas 2011

Christmas... the holiday that always brings us all together.

For years and years, we've gathered around the tree, read the Christmas story from the bible, opened presents for hours, and enjoyed being together as a family. We've added new ones to the family and each year, there is a new baby in the family to welcome in to our traditions. The traditions we've cherished are becoming part of their story.

This December, work pushed and pulled us in every direction at a frantic pace. It was hard to catch my breath some days. Stress, stress, stress is the name of the game. The only cure for this stress is to desperately hold on to the fleeting moments of a Christmas movie with the kids, opening the first presents that come in the mail, feeling the chill in the air and cuddling up in our warm and cozy house. As the days rushed by in a blur, we finally made it...

...to 6pm on Christmas Eve.

That's when all the rushing came to a stop. The car was packed full of presents, a "ready-to-go" Dada, an extremely tired Mama, and two kids excited for Santa to come! We were ready to make the drive to Charleston, but first we took a Steak N' Shake break. Nothing a little strawberry shake with a cherry on top couldn't fix! Now we were ready to start driving.

Best Present of 2011

Seeing all these little cousins together, hugging, playing and running like crazy with excitement!


It's official, I'm addicted to baby boys in stripes. I had to have all these cuties in stripes!

Worst Present of 2011

Dean insisting on cuddling next to me, wrapping his arms around me and breathing on me, cozy in my bed for the entire month of December. Not in his crib. In my bed. Not "our" bed anymore... Firoze has decided sleeping with a baby is for the birds, so he flew the coop and ran away to the peaceful bed downstairs. Santa, take this gift back!



Mom helped to create the Christmas magic, making sure there were cookies for Santa when we arrived at 1:30am. This photo was taken on Christmas morning after Santa had his snack break!





Opening the first gift... Christmas jammies!




Go Chelsea!

And even some baby girl clothes for little Viviana, coming soon!





Mom - making her famous Christmas breakfast pizza!



New traditions - Christmas tattoos! (Thanks Court.)





And we had pirates...



And swashbucklers...



And amazingly cute heart breakers!



And Dean truly enjoyed antagonizing Haley. He meowed when she meowed. He poked. He petted. He got swatted and hissed at. But that didn't stop him!



After all that present opening, playing with cousins, chasing each other around the house for an hour... this little Santa looks dazed!



And then there was the Baby Snuggle-off 2011.

Contender #1 - Dad peacefully snuggled...



Contender #2 - Guillermo snuggled and tickled...



Contender #3 - Court takes the victory with a snuggle and a perfect smile!


Dean hearts his Aunt Coco!

Presenting Pork Grandmaster G...


Stirring a big pot of collard greens and... pork!

Seriously, Guillermo is the king of pork. He made a fresh ham, made from scratch. I had never seen one of those, but it was stuffed and rubbed with all kinds of fresh garlic and herbs and baked for 5 hours and it was AMAZING!

We had a full table of Christmas joy, with mac n' cheese, Pioneer Woman short ribs (out of this world delicious!), ceasar salad with fresh dressing (with real anchovies!), collard greens, green bean casserole and lots of other Puerto Rican pork goodies!





And the whole family got together for the Christmas feast!



We even continued the tradition of the "kids table." Remember sitting at the kids table? Man, it seems like I was there just yesterday and now it's my kids at the kids table! Crazy.



How do you end a perfect family Christmas day? With four little elves in a bubble bath!




When you are 3, you don't need to suck it in. Oh, I want to be 3 again!



Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!