Happy Birthday Ethan!!

Today is Ethan's 3rd Birthday...wow! Such a big boy! Here are just a couple cake pictures from his party! I will post some more oparty pictures later!

Brownie Recipe, and they are actually good for you!

Hi. I bought the cookbook by Jerry Seinfeld's wife (oh forget about the lawsuit that she stole the ideas) called "Deceptively Delicious." It basically is about hiding different veggies/fruits on other foods.

My boys...well pretty much refuse to eat veggies. Weird thing is...both boys do eat broccoli. What? I know...weird. So...I will try about anything to improve them eating better.

I have had the cookbook since before Christmas, but decided today to try something. I decided on...brownies! I decided to share the recipe with you because why?? My kids loved them and I think that I have a least one of the pickiest kids EVER!! They taste just okay to me...but my kids love them!! Did I mention they have carrots and spinach in them? Sure do!!! Enjoy.

Ingredients:

3 ounces of semisweet or bittersweet chocolate
1/2 cup carrot puree
1/2 cup spinach puree
1/2 cup firmly packed light or dark brown sugar
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 tablespoons trans-fat-free soft tub margarine spread
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
2 large egg whites
3/4 cup oat flour or all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Coat 8x8 inch baking pan with cooking spray

2. Melt the chocolate in a double boiler or over a very low flame

3. In a large bowl, combine the melted chocolate, vegetable purees, sugar, cocoa powder, margarine, and vanilla, and whisk until smooth and creamy, 1-2 minutes.

4. Whisk in egg whites. Stir in the flour, baking powder, and salt with a wooden spoon.

5. Pour the batter into the pan and bake 35-40 minutes. Cool completely in the pan before cutting into 12 bars.

*These brownies are low in calories (only 133 per brownie) and saturated fat. They are also packed with 3 grams of fiber (which is just crazy for a brownie!), while spinach and carrots provide two powerful antioxidants that help your kids' eyes stay healthy.

The first year....

Here are some pictures to reflect on Ethan's first year.....







Little did he know in this picture what it meant to have a baby brother!!! We announced this day to our friends and family that we were have another baby boy!!! Hard to imagine that was two years ago!!!!

Time has flown by...

Most of you know that Ethan will be 3 years old on January 28th!!! How can that be? I remember that day so clearly! I woke up at 4am and didn't feel so great, and was having some contractions. I walked around in the house for awhile, and the contractions got stronger. I decided to wake Matt up and have him time them for me. I was hesitant about going to the hospital because I had gone 2 weeks earlier for false labor. The contractions kept progressing. At about 7am we decided to head to the hospital. It is such a long trip....1 mile! Ha. I went up to Labor and Delivery to check in. My blood pressure was so high like 180/100, and they asked me to please lay on my left side. Are you kidding me?? Having contractions and trying to lay still on your left side....well...just couldn't do it. Asked for an epidural. When I got to the hospital I was already 5 cm dilated. The epidural slowed things down for awhile except for the fact that I began itching all over due to a minor allergic reaction to the epidural! After two shots of benadryl and an epidural I was feeling great! :) The doctor came and broke my water, and then came pushing! Never realized how hard that would be when you can't feel it! (Had Evan with no epidural...so didn't realize how hard that would be either!) Ethan Jacob Kearney joined our family on January 28th at 2:12p. He weighed 8 lbs 8 oz and was 21inches long. He was such an easy baby!!!!! Here are some pictures of that day! We love you more everyday!!!!

Nothing new....

Just checking in to say...nothing much new. Matt and I have been busy with work...I need to be more busy with work. So easy to procrastinate when your office is at home. The boys are doing good....Ethan is coming down with a cold, and Evan is Evan. He is back to have a hard time sleeping...who knows??? I was really just blogging to say nothing was new....so those of you who keep checking mine and keep seeing the new years pictures...can get off my back.

I will try to post something this week with some substance...okay???

NEW YEARS

The Hoffmans, Clarks, Hess, Maples, and Kearneys all went out this New Years downtown Indy with NO kids! Thanks for all the babysitters!!! We had a great time with each other. It was nice to actually be able to sit down for HOURS and talk without the 10 kids around!!! Below are some pictures....for the crazy pictures you will have to go to YOUTUBE or some "adult" sites! After posting these pictures....it is obvious we have a problem with those sun glasses, and hand signs....totally GANGSTA'!!!!

Great Wolf Lodge

The day after Christmas we went with my dad and family to Great Wolf Lodge in Sandusky, Ohio. They had areas for all ages of kids/adults. Matt and I about killed ourselves several times going down some of the tube slides! Here are some pictures from the trip. They have a little lazy river, bunch of different size/ages of water slides, adult hot tub and a big family hot tub/pool. The Kearneys had a GREAT time!!!!!!



Here is a picture of all three boys playing in the water fountains. L to R (Ethan, Evan and Haider) And Matt.....



Here is Grandpa Gary and Evan! All smiles!!



This is the part of the park that they boys played at the most!



Here is the big bucket of water that dumps out every 10-15 minutes. It is very powerful....the boys didn't go under it, but Matt and I did!!!



Here is Ethan in front of the sign! Actually let me take a picture of him!!! That never happens!


The Lodge was decorated so cool for Christmas/Winter!


This was in the main lobby area. There were a couple shows a day. They were about 15 minutes and it was a lot of music. This was all animatronic...it was pretty cool.



At the end of the show it snowed on all the kids. Here is a picture of Ethan. The snow was actually soap suds being blown out of a machine in the ceiling.

Christmas 2007

I have a bunch of pictures to share...so we will start with Christmas! We spent Christmas Eve day with Matt's parents, and then heading up to my mom's for the evening and the next morning. Christmas morning we drove to my dad's house.....so as usual we were on the road! Here a just some misc pictures from all the Christmas celebrations!!!