Penne alla Gorgonzola

This is by far, one of the easiest pastas you will ever make and it's sure to be a hit for any of you cheese-lovers out there.

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon butter
3/4 cup crumbled gorgonzola cheese
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
grated parmigiano cheese
penne pasta
salt to taste

Bring water in saucepan to boil and add pasta. Once pasta is close to your desired texture (we prefer ours just a bit past al dente), place butter in another saucepan. Once butter is completely melted, add gorgonzola cheese and the heavy whipping cream until well-blended. At this point, your pasta should be to your liking, drain pasta and return to pot. Add melted cheese mixture to pasta, sprinkle in grated parmigiano cheese and serve. Buon Appetito!

Amish Country

Despite the rain today, the three of us spent the day in Lancaster, PA a.k.a. Amish Country and had a really fun time! As always, our first stop was the Good 'N Plenty where we feasted on homemade fried chicken, baked ham, mashed potatoes, corn, chicken salad, cottage cheese, stewed tomatoes and fresh bread. And that list does not take into consideration the yummy homemade desserts of ice cream, fruit jello and an assortment of pies including shoofly pie.

After all that goodness, we had plenty of energy to walk around the outlets of Lancaster County and found some great deals!

One year old and already loves bags!


Our signature shot

Thank you Theodore Roosevelt

Yesterday we visited the American Museum of Natural History in New York City and had such a fantastic time! Antonio, Sofia, Anthony and I drove up to NYC for the day and roamed the halls of this massive stone building that houses over 30 million specimens in over 40 exhibition halls - pretty impressive, right?

Antonio was up with us for the weekend and the night before we all watched Night at the Museum to get us geared up to go the next day. While the movie was definitely cute (bad description of a movie, I know), it was nothing compared to what we saw in person.

Just arrived and already giving the museum a thumbs up!



Antonio, Anthony and Sofia in the Theodore Roosevelt Memorial Hall



Oh, the things we'll see today...where to next Sofia?



Antonio in the Milstein Hall of Ocean Life



In the Hall of Northwest Coast Indians



Sofia and I monkeying around in the Hall of Primates



Antonio, Sofia and I with the Moai - Easter Island Statue



The 63-foot long Haida Canoe - carved from a single piece of wood



If you could have your pick of these amazing gems...



Antonio taking a break in one of the Fossil Halls



After an incredibly fun day, ready to head home


*BTW, Theodore Roosevelt was one of the founders of the museum - just in case you were curious about my acknowledgment in the title

Who needs toys, when you have Post-its?

All the money that is spent on toys and a $1 pack of Post-its is all a 1-year-old needs to entertain herself. I think for Christmas this year we're going to upgrade to a legal notepad for the little one.





Side note: If Sofia ever runs for President, these pictures should assure victory...cute and knows how to save mommy and daddy money!

Finally! A step in the BPA-free direction!

Just with speaking to friends and family with little ones, it's a huge concern amongst all of us the possible risks our children are faced with daily. And we're talking about more than falling and scraping a knee, not watching where they're crawling and winding up head-first into the corner of the door, etc. With all the talk lately in the media of Bisphenol-a in baby and children products it is nice to finally see some change taking place...better late, than never I suppose.

Check out this article from The Washington Post about a big chain attempting to make strides in the right direction and take the concern of parent's seriously. Hopefully other chains will follow suit and step up to the plate when it comes to the health of our future.

Paradise Awaits

Anthony and I just finalized our plans for Aruba!!! This year is our 5 year wedding anniversary and we're heading back to the happy island the end of May for a few days. While the Wyndham Hotel (where we stayed during our 2 week honeymoon) has since changed to the Westin, it will be exciting to visit the same place we did not so long ago. Of course, our stomachs are already grumbling thinking of the delicious meals we had and looking forward to re-visiting restaurants and maybe even finding something new! I've attached some pictures from our honeymoon - almost 5 years ago!

Unfortunately, this will not be a family vacation...Sofia is staying with her Nonna and Nonno in Maryland. I can not wait to take her there one day to splash in the pool, play at the beach and hopefully take her snorkeling!!

On our way to dinner one night

Getting ready to soak in the sun and play in the waves

At Pago-Pago restuarant in our hotel - delicious!!!

Playing with the tropical birds by our hotel pool

Happy Earth Day!

The sun was in and out from behind the clouds this afternoon, but Sofia and I managed to get out for a walk and played in the backyard for awhile. I'm still trying to get her used to the grass and she's doing better...slowly, but surely. She was playing with the blades of grass I had in my hands and picked out the clover leaf...she then tried to eat it!

Wind in your hair

Not a particularly gorgeous day outside, but we did get out to run some errands and then hung out in the backyard for awhile in the shade of our blooming chestnut tree. Sofia loves the wind and gets so excited each time a gust comes by and swooshes through her hair. She's still not to keen on the grass, but is slowly coming around. I took her shoes off while we were sitting outside and she would not put her feet down - just held them up in the air so as to not touch the prickly grass below! It was so funny and then I felt bad for her and put her shoes back on...immediately she rested her covered toes down.

Congratulations Hannah Caroline!

Today we had the honor of attending the baptism of friends of the family's daughter, Hannah Caroline. She will be 4 months old this coming week and did so well throughout the ceremony with only making the tiniest of peeps one time!

Reading with Nonna Maria during the ceremony

Hanging out with Uncle Dan

The Yeagers with baby Hannah and the proud godparents - Paola and Dan

Walking down the aisle with Daddy...not that walk down the aisle just yet!!

Sofia and I on our way to the reception

Ethan and Sofia go to town

Yesterday afternoon we went to the Smith Memorial Playhouse & Playground in Fairmount Park with Ethan and Maria. They had both been before, but it was our first time there and it was a lot of fun! The playhouse is a huge old mansion centered in the middle of Fairmount Park and the playground has every outside toy imaginable AND boasts The Giant Slide which was originally built in 1905! (Don't worry, it's been rebuilt since then and while I was too chicken to go on, Maria and Ethan had a great time!) The different levels of the playhouse have hundreds of toys for every age group, was totally kid-friendly (safe - so mommies don't have to worry too much) and the best part...it's FREE! We will definitely be heading back there - maybe next time I will have the guts to go on the slide!!!

Caterpillars are fun!

She's used to grocery shopping since she goes with mommy all the time!

Maria and Ethan playing - he is SO adorable!!! (Future prom date maybe?)

Getting so tall

Honestly, they are SO cute!

Ethan loved the plane toy

Snack time!

Cruise Control

No, this post will not be about Tom Cruise or about huge ocean liners...it's about Sofia enjoying crawling and cruising very much and not even thinking about walking! I know, I know, there is no rush and she will walk in her own time and I'm fine with that - I actually think she looks so cute moving around coffee tables, sofas and chairs holding on with her two little hands and not wanting for a second to let go and take off. We've done a fair share of "baby-proofing" in the house and so we're ready whenever she is...now we just need to make sure the video camera is charged and ready to go!!

Dancing Queen

"You can dance, you can jive, having the time of your life
See that girl, watch that scene, dig in the dancing queen"

She's not dancing to Abba, but she isn't picky about her songs and LOVES to dance!

The Grapes of Kindness

I had to share this story from lunch today...after eating her asparagus and tomato pasta, Sofia gobbled up her favorite new fruit, a handful of quartered grapes, (didn't want you to think I was giving them to her whole yet). I was eating some as well, just not cut up into tiny pieces, and after she would eat a couple from her highchair, she started picking them up and motioning them towards me. Thinking she didn't want them anymore, I stuck my hand out and she giggled and quickly stuck the cut-up grape she had grasped in her tiny little fist into her mouth! What a stinker!

This game went on for a few minutes more and then I guess she felt bad for me and began motioning them towards me again. But she didn't want to put them in my hand - she placed the rest, one-by-one, into my mouth! It really was so cute to see how she changed her mind and wanted to share her grapes with her mommy!

Loves to play

Playing with her duck - BTW, 'Duck' is her first real word


Reading to her baby doll


Tossing the ball with mommy - it's very soft, so it's ok...for now

Calling all Pampers Mommies (and Grandmommies and Caregivers)

Sofia is napping like a little angel this morning, bless her heart, and I was able to get a bunch of stuff done around the house...including catching up on my magazines. Just leafing through my latest Parenting, I came across a nice little tidbit of information. Whenever you buy a pack of Pampers with the logo you see below now through June 30, one pregnant mom in Africa or South Asia will get a tetanus vaccine from UNICEF. Along with a million other things we can do to help others, I thought this was an excellent way to support other moms and unborn children around the world.

A Walk in the Park

Yesterday afternoon we took advantage of the almost 70 degree weather and went to the Ridley Creek State Park not too far from our house. Sofia rode on a swing (which she loves) and down a slide with daddy (I think Anthony had more fun on that than she did) and went horseback riding...j/k, just checking to see if you're paying attention. She did not go horseback riding, but she did get to see some horses. We had a fantastic time and I started to get really excited for warmer weather and getting out and about with her more often.