Easter Photos, oh boy.

You would think I could capture my boys in a better picture for Easter, but under the circumstances, this was honestly the best we could do.  Winfield wet his pants (at Marriott's) and ended up in size 2 pants that looked like tight knickers on him, plus Jane's underpants (which he called "paneez").  Charles wanted nothing to do with his cute hat my mom gave them when he normally wears it around the house. But wait, the pictures get worse...

Jack holding the newest of his cousins, Madelynn, who is almost three months old.  He is going to be a wonderful big brother to our baby girl.

Nana with the boys.  Again, the best we could do.  This was the only one that they weren't doing fighting/star wars faces.  I guess that is what you get when you holler, "say Darth Vader!"

With the Marriott girls.  We are going to miss them!!!

The Recital

My viola recital was quite an event - for me.  I worked for months to be ready and I really did feel ready.  Admittedly, it wasn't my most impressive program, nor my most advanced playing, but it was the best I could do at 8 months pregnant and I felt very satisfied.  The audience was larger than I dared to imagine and so supportive with flowers and tears!  I think my mom cried the hardest, though.  Although it was only 45 minutes, I was completely spent by the end and grateful to have made it all the way through the Bach Suite.  My dad thought I was going to faint from exhaustion!  

Thank heavens for Megan and Jeremiah who drove up from Evanston to join me in the recital.  Megan was a dream accompanist and Jeremiah made the duet so much fun - for me as well as the audience.  

A serious expression, but kind of funny to think of a pregnant woman playing the viola!

Mom and me after the recital - whew! - in front of the conservatory.  It was such a beautiful hall, inside and outside.  It used to be a residence and then was turned into the music conservatory.

I could not have made it through the concert without my parents.  While I waltzed off to warm up, they cut flowers, arranged desserts, and got everything set up with Christian's help.  It meant so much to have them there supporting me and felt almost like the old days...give or take a few decades.  Adam and Laura picked up David and Abby from the airport and made it to the recital just in time, so I really did have a huge showing from my family alone.  I am one lucky woman!

A Green Day

Charles found the tops of the green cupcakes the only part worth eating.  He got through three before I found him, guilty with chocolate all over his face.  

Thanks to our Paddy, the kids had a ball with the motorized bubble machine, running all around the driveway.  It was a warm-ish day, amazingly, and everyone relished those few hours of sunshine.

Jane and Audrey sporting Leprechaun hats.  Audrey wouldn't take hers off, she loved it so much.

Our three Irish Mitchell boys

What fun are bubbles if you can't add a light saber to them?

I love this action shot of Jack catching the bubbles in his hat.

  It's great to have Irish heritage on both sides of the family.  Raise your hat to St. Paddy!

Caffeine Jitters

It is 12:19 am and I am the only one awake.  After a week-long headache (and I'm not kidding), I decided to go ahead and order a Barq's root beer tonight.  All Utah folk know that Barq's in Utah was caffeine-free, but out here, that isn't the case (such an odd phenomenon, now that I think about it.  How exactly did the Mormons pull that off?).  Anyway, I ordered it hoping a little caffeine would help my headache.  It did!  But, I've got some kind of restless leg/body/arm syndrome.  So what better to do than blog and eat Special K?  I'm sorry I haven't posted more lately, but I will.  I will.  However, no more caffeine for me.  I value my sleep way too much.

Everyone has a Hillbilly Bone

Last night my husband purchased his first pair of cowboy boots.  This is Christian we're talking about here.  The guy who in college wore his "uniform" of jeans and a blue oxford shirt, kept his  hair short, and knew more operas than I did as a music major.  He was so excited about the boots, which we bought at a consignment store in Bay View called Luv 'n Vintage, that he tossed his tennis shoes in a bag and wore the boots out of the store.  I don't think I've done that since I was 8 years old.  I have to admit, he looks pretty awesome in them, and they were such a good buy at $20, especially since they are all worn-in and vintage looking.

This is the second time this week that I wondered if my husband was turning into a country boy.  He bought another country song on iTunes - this one is called "Hillbilly bone" and for the man who only shops at Brooks Brothers, this song hit the nail on the head with him.  I quite like the new hobby.  If only I wasn't pregnant, maybe we'd get out and country swing one of these nights.  Hooray for going hillbilly!

AHH! A GIRL.

It's true.  We are having a baby girl in May.  I knew it the minute I saw the lack of boy genitals on the ultrasound, but I wanted to make sure even then not to get my hopes up.  I let the technician tell us and then asked him to double check, just to be certain.

The real truth is, I knew long before that.  People always ask if you have a "feeling" that it will be a girl/boy, but I haven't ever believed you could really tell just by instinct or morning sickness.  Okay, so I was a lot sicker this time, but what really allowed me to believe it was a girl was how I felt about the name and the frequent thoughts of Georgia.

I would be doing dishes and bam, I'm crying about Georgia.  It happened often, the closer I got to the ultrasound, I just didn't want to admit it, in case we had another boy.  When I asked my mom about using her name, I was surprised at how happy she was about it, just another confirmation to me.  And then there was the morning of the ultrasound.  I was listening to the TAB choir sing Rutter's "What sweeter music" and I felt so close to Georgia, again I knew it would be a girl.  When we found out later that day I told Christian I wasn't surprised, but I would have been shocked if we were having a boy.  I guess there is something to that instinct people ask about.

So, with great joy and satisfaction I am slowly embracing the world of baby girls and tights and bows and (fingers crossed), calmness.  After sitting with the Marriotts at church and holding Audrey on his lap, Christian came home and said, "If we could have a girl like Audrey, I'd be so happy!  She sat still the entire meeting!!!"  It is like getting into a hot tub when you swap wiggly Charles for docile Audrey - my whole body relaxes into my chair.  So if that is the way things roll with a girl, I am so ready.

Thank you, Julia Child

A few weeks ago Christian and I went to see Julie and Julia. We enjoyed it, or at least we enjoyed the Julia Child part of the story (A+ to Meryl Streep, C+ to Amy Adams). Anyway, a wonderful thing has happened because of that movie: Christian has found the buried desire to cook again, and I mean cook without me in the kitchen. He even does the shopping for all the ingredients and makes a noticeable dent in our grocery budget (who would have thought saffron would cost $18 for a tiny envelope of the stuff?). This lovely occurrence happens only on Sunday evenings, but I absolutely LOVE it. I am in heaven - delectable smells come from the stove as I nap, and viola! dinner is served without me lifting a finger. I have to say, I'm glad Julia Child wasn't familiar with a crock pot at the time because it seems to taste better doing it all in the oven. He is, however only on his third Sunday and hasn't quite grasped the idea that a meal is more than just a main dish.

That said, I'll be the last to complain. Who can pass up melt-in-your-mouth porterhouse steaks seared in butter with Madeira sauce drizzled over the top? That one is called "biftek sautee." Or how about pot roast cut and simmered with rice, tomatoes, saffron, onions, bacon, and a slew of other tiny but wonderful ingredients. The meat was tender and perfect. I can't believe I am actually saying this about Christian's cooking, but we all sat there smacking our lips and oohing over the flavors of "boeuf something-or-other." (boeuf a la catalane) He has come a long way from chocolate chip cookies and scrambled eggs.

Christian is actually embarrassed that this new marriage with cooking is because of that so-so movie, but I could care less where it came from, I just don't want it to stop! Here's to inspiration and cooking with butter! Thank you from the bottom of my heart, Julia Child.