Jacob 9 Months

Wow, in three short months our little guy will be a year old!  Here is Jacob on the 25th of August at 9 months old.  These were taken while he was sick, poor little dude!  Thankfully, he is all better now...

Matthew's 1st Day of Preschool

Matthew is loving going to preschool so far.  He had his first official day on August 23rd.  He is attending Rockford Christian, and is in the Pre-K 3 program.  He goes on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 8:15 to 11am.  Mrs. Hanna is his teacher, and we couldn't be more happier with her.  She is the best!  He can't wait to go to school on school days...

Here are some pics from the morning of his first day...

Here he is as we are picking him up...he is so excited to see us, he is running away from Mrs. Hanna...

Lincoln Park Zoo

A couple weeks ago (yes, still WAY behind on blogging), we had a fun family day going downtown Chicago, and visiting Lincoln Park Zoo.  It was fantastic.  Matthew of course was so excited to see all the animals.  He loved every minute of it.  He even walked the whole zoo by himself!  We topped the day off with a trip to Molly's Cupcakes.  A sweet ending to a sweet day!

Ready to go into the zoo!

Chris and his boys...

Matthew watching the bears...

Matthew loved the train ride!

Some of the animals...

Family pic at Molly's Cupcakes...

Mmmmm, delicious!

Bath Time

It is so fun now that Jacob is old enough to take a bath with his brother!  There are lots of giggles in the tub now... :)

Jacob in his new 12 month sleeper...he is wearing some 18 month stuff as well!  Growing too fast for me...

Festa 2011

Oh my...time and blogging have gotten away from me again!  Here are some pics from a couple weekends ago when we went to Festa Italiana, our yearly celebration of all things Italian!  We all had a good time, and of course since Matthew was old enough to ride some of the rides this year, he just thought that was about the best thing ever!

Driving a car...

The carousel...

The Granita Stand...

Another weekend, another bouncy castle...

Jacob and me...

Farm Fresh Veggies

I recently signed up to start getting a weekly basket or "share" from Anderson Organics Farm.  I am loving all the fresh organic veggies so far!  Everything is so good, and I love that it is fresh, local, and organic.  We are trying really hard in the Doherty household to eat right, and that includes eating more vegetables.  I love the challenge the shares give me each week to come up with fun and creative ways to use what we have.  This past week I came up with a easy, yummy, summer meal going off of a couple different recipes I saw in magazines, and it was a hit!  So much so, that when I shared the pics with Kelli from the farm, she asked if she could use them and the recipes in their weekly newsletter! Here is a link to the newsletter and my recipes.

Grilled Arugula Bruschetta...

Our dinner...

Our first couple of "shares" from the farm...

Lake Party

This past weekend we had fun celebrating our niece, nephew, and cousin's birthdays up in Lake Mills, WI.  It was a perfect day weather wise, and Chris's Aunt Wendy totally out did herself with a blow-up bouncy castle, and cotton candy machine!  There was even a huge water balloon contest for the kids.  Fun for all!

The bouncy castle...

Matthew going down the slide...

Yep, even I got in on the action...

The awesome cake Aunt Wendy made...

Happy Birthday Anna, Ian, and Calista!

Cotton Candy!  Matthew was loving it...