Supper Swap

Welcome to Supper Swap!
The concept of a supper swap was fairly new to me when my friend Sarah invited me to participate. In a nutshell, you find a few like-minded foodie friends to swap meals with through the week. So, I cook a meal for our family and 2 others on Mondays, and 2 dear friends cook on Tuesdays and Wednesdays (the days I work!). No planning, shopping, prepping, cooking and minimal cleaning up on those days...heaven!
So let me share with you a few of the fabulous meals we've dined on since we started last week...

• Balsamic-rosemary Roasted Chicken with Red Onions and Potatoes
• Gourmet Meatball Subs with Carmelized Onions and Gruyere with Greek Salad
• Italian Sausage, White Bean and Spinach Stew
• Shrimp Risotto with Roasted Asparagus
• 3 Cheese Pizza with Lemony Arugula and a Celery/Walnut/Parmesan Salad
• Meatloaf, Twice Baked Potatoes and Nonna's Salad
  

So now I'm a Supper Swap evangelist.
More to come...

Why I have the greatest mother in law in the world.

This last week my dear friend and college roommate Caitlin got married.
I flew out to Colorado for the wedding (one carry-on and one purse in tow, no diaper bag, pacifiers or baby food), leaving the kids and Andrew at home in the wonderful hands of my mother in law.
The week was amazing and so much fun. I'm pretty sure I don't get out much,...ok, and I'm a mom. So let's just say I enjoyed myself and leave it at that.
And while I LOVED the time away, it was so good to come home to Andrew and the kids. Nothing like going away to appreciate how much you left behind.
The house was spotless, the laundry had been done and my mother in law was planning our (Andrew's and mine) next vacation to Vancouver while she watches the kids.
I'm blessed beyond belief.

Really? On an iPhone?

I've been holding out, but alas...these latest pics, emailed to me at work by the girl watching Emma and Luke, have pushed me over the edge.
This is the month I finally give in and get an iPhone.

3 Years Ago...

...our lives were forever changed when our sweet Emma Grace entered the world.
She has grown into a thoughtful, generous, hilarious, passionate, wonderful girl who also happens to be a total goofball (quite possibly our most favorite trait).Here she is just hours after she was born...3 amazing years later she continues to light up our lives.
*As a side note, this is the outfit she chose to wear on her birthday.Andrew the proud father giving Emma the "big girl bike" he worked hard the night before to put together.
"But it looks kind of small," you ask? Continue reading below...Emma's birthday was full of all the things Emma loves...we started the morning with our friends Ana and Mia eating pastries at 85Degrees Bakery and skipping hand in hand around the District.

Emma requested "hamburgers and sweet potatoes" for her special birthday dinner, and we finished the evening with the "strawberry and blueberry" birthday cake that confirmed my career choice in something other than professional cake decorating.Ok, so remember that bike up above that Daddy slaved over? Turns out it was too small for Emma so...here's round two.

My baby girl looks 3 going on 7 in this picture.
And the good news is that the second bike fits with room to grow!

Love you, Sweet Girl.

Luke Months 5 and 6

Luke Month 5...showing off his 6 pack.

6 Months.

I just had to sneak this one in.

She's growing up...and I'm pretending to like it.

Today Emma's little neighbor friend was out front, playing with her dog Maggie. Since it was an unusually warm January day I encouraged curious Emma to play outside with her friend and their furry companion.
I found them a few minutes later in our neighbor's side yard, and with as must strength as I could muster I asked Emma to make sure to let me know before she went anywhere, so that I was aware of where she was and also to avoid having our neighbors think my daughter roamed the neighborhood at the ripe old age of 3. I explained that she needed to come straight home when the 2 girls were done playing, or when our neighbor's Mommy said our sweet neighbor girl had to come in. "Yes, Mama," Emma responded.
About 10 minutes later the front door creaked open and my 3 (going on 10) year old baby girl had just walked back (albeit 15 feet) from her playdate.
"How was it?" I asked...
"Fine. Ella had to go so I came home," she said.
I smiled and told her how proud I was of her as she was becoming such a fabulous, responsible little girl...but secretly I thought that maybe putting a dead bolt really high on the front door might slow down these attempts at large leaps in responsibility.

Merry Christmas...Happy New Year!

Happy New Year.
We hope you had a fabulous Christmas. Here's what we've been up to.

Dessert for Andrew's birthday at Bruxie, a gourmet waffle stand in Old Town Orange (and a new favorite!).

Luke turned 4 months. He is so full of joy.

Emma proudly displaying her creatively decorated giant gingerbread man.

Andrew's family came into town to celebrate Christmas and to escape the rainy WA weather...unfortunately our CA Christmas looked a lot like home for them (with the exception of this one sunny day...the day they left).

Emma got an Ikea easel for Christmas, the best $15 we've ever spent. She loves anything artsy or crafty. She got a sweet flower head garland too as you can see.

I'm not sure Emma knew what to do when Santa arrived at this Christmas party we went to.

Christmas morning at my parent's house. We had a great day full of amazing food, family and gifts.

Emma thanking her Granny for a Fancy Nancy doll and matching outfits.

Jumping on beds and other fun things

Life feels really full these days and here's why:

We took our first trip as a family of 4 to Oceanside. Emma learned all about how to live it up on vacation, including eating lots of yummy food and drinking juice boxes (something we don't do at home). She also enjoyed riding in the luggage carts.

Jumping on the bed was a regular part of this trip. It was vacation after all...

Emma talked for probably 6 months about being a Kitty for Halloween. In the end she picked Minnie.

We had a pizza party with our neighbors before trick or treating. Oh, and Luke was a clown/jester. We're looking forward to his neck getting stronger.

I sprained two toes, my ankle and chipped a bone in my foot while carrying Emma out of Golden Spoon. She's just fine...and I get to wear a really fashionable walking boot.

Luke turned 3 months! He's such a great, easygoing kid. Emma's loving him too. So much so that she wouldn't move to get out of this shot. Oh well.

Loving the fall...

Ah, the Fall...the Hartmans' favorite season. Usually Andrew gets bitten by the Fall bug over Labor Day weekend and out comes the magical orange, yellow and brown decor.
For our part, Emma and I have been doing lots of baking and making soups. Yum. We also went to the Irvine Park Pumpkin Patch...

Yes, Emma is in fact 2 and a half. Not 5 as this image would lead you to believe.
Exhibit A while Emma is in the 90-something percentile for height.

Luke is 2 months and loves to smile like his Daddy.

Mimi and Papa came to visit and we loved having them here.
Andrew and I got to get out on several dates, including dinner at our new favorite Haven Gastropub and we finally saw Inception (I think we may have been some of the last people on earth to see it).
Happy Fall!

A Month of Firsts

It was a month of firsts for Luke:

First outing - we met Meghan, Wallace and Skyler at Fashion Island on a beautiful sunny day.First bath - he wasn't so excited about this first - but are they ever?

First picnic dinner at Laguna with Mimi and Papa. We do this about every weekend during the summer.First time being embarrassed by Mom and Dad. I'm sure it won't be the last.

First ride in the Great Park balloon. Nevermind Emma picking her nose.First month of life completed - we love you Luke!

Luke Brandes Hartman

Welcome Luke Brandes Hartman!
Our precious son arrived at 2:09am on Wednesday, August 11, 2010.
After turning breech and back again, he kept us on our toes through the entire labor and delivery, finally coming (5 days early) face first and sunny side up.
We hear this happens 1 in 800 births - so rare that my midwife had never delivered a baby this way, and half the Kaiser labor and delivery department came to the room to watch the birth (fun!).

The proud parents.

They explained that with facial presentation births there can be a lot of "trauma" to the face. This was sweet Luke right after birth - quite bruised and swollen! but......Here he is the next day - handsome as ever.

So here are the stats for those of you counting at home:
Luke Brandes Hartman
2:09am, August 11, 2010
6 pounds, 13 ounces
20.5 inches

Pre-Luke Balboa Shoot

A few fun pics from our Pre-Luke Balboa photo shoot with Pops. We had a similar portrait created of Andrew and I when I was pregnant with Emma, so it was fun to bring her back and capture the three of us.

I love this picture, how it captures our family in the busyness of the surroundings.

I can't for the life of me figure out where the last 2.5 years have gone?!

Yeah, we're pretty goofy.

Luke's Roundup

In July my girlfriends threw Andrew and I the most amazing family 'roundup' shower for Luke - complete with lassos, boots, and cowboy trail mix. It was amazing, and Andrew and I felt so overwhelmed by the love and support of our community.

Emma was excited because the shower included lots of yummy treats and several gifts for her.
The details! I feel like the event could have been out of a magazine.

Here we are with Pops and Granny. I love our family.

The spread.

Many, many thanks to Matt, Carly and Ana for hosting such a beautiful event!!
We are so grateful.

Lake Casitas

Last weekend we went camping with friends.
It was surprisingly enjoyable for being 34 weeks pregnant, with 4 toddlers and a baby in tow, without showers, and being surrounded by complete strangers who downed liquor like water and held spontaneous talent shows.

Here our children are enjoying the wonders of nature...the call of the wild...wait, no, that's Clifford the Big Red Dog on DVD. What you don't see are the parents enjoying a quiet moment around the campfire. God bless the Kennedys for planning ahead.

Here we have sweet Emma, just moments before her fishing world came crashing down as a live nightcrawler afixed itself to her neck. This story is best shared in person, by needless to say Emma's first day of fishing was rather traumatic.Did I mention I was 34 weeks pregnant?

Emma was kind enough to look away from the camera, while Meghan and Jonne did their parts by hiding half their daughters faces.

A final shot with with group, just moments before we were plied by a pleasant group of Palestinians with raw garbanzo beans and apple hookah. Seriously, you can't make this stuff up people.