Gonna Fly Now... Philadelphia!

We recently took a trip to Philadelphia. While we had a fun time, both Adam and I feel like we're all set with Philly. We just didn't enjoy it as much as Boston or New York City. Cities are a little tough with small kids- a lot of concrete and holding hands. I think we made the most of it, though. We saw Independence Hall, the Liberty Bell, Franklin Square, ate cheesesteaks, and took a walk along the Schuylkill River. And, of course, we saw the famous Rocky statue and stairs at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. We also took a side trip off to Valley Forge, but I'll save that for another post. Here is a little movie of our time in Philly!

Football and Soup- Sundays at Chez deMars

Football Sundays at the deMars' house include: sweatpants as the dress code, two televisions in the living room, tons of fantasy football smack talk, and often, a pot of soup on the stove. This past weekend, I made White Bean Chicken Chili, and it was delicious. It is spicy and warms the belly. The best part is that it's ridiculously simple and won't require you to miss much of the football action. I don't know about you, but once I get parked on the couch in my sweatpants, it's hard to be motivated to do much else. I decided to share the recipe and hope you find that it suits your own lazy weekends just as well.

White Bean Chicken Chili, adapted from a recipe that I received from Chelea, who received it from Elizabeth, who has no idea where it came from before that...

Ingredients:
2 tbl olive oil
1.5 lbs chicken breasts, cubed
1 medium sweet onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups chicken broth
3 cans cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
2 4oz cans chopped green chilis
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup whipping cream

Instruction: cube chicken into 1/2 inch pieces; heat olive oil in dutch oven or heavy bottomed pot; add chicken, onion, and garlic to the pot and saute on medium heat, until the chicken is cooked through, stirring often, making sure not to burn the garlic. When chicken is cooked, add chicken broth, beans, chilis, oregano, salt, pepper, cumin, and cayenne. Stir and bring to a boil. Once boiling, turn heat down to med low and simmer for 30 minutes. Add sour cream and whipping cream. Simmer for another 15 minutes or so. The dairy will cool the soup down, so you just want to make sure it's hot again before serving.

*Side note- this is fairly spicy. If you do not like a lot of heat, reduce the amount of cayenne.

Life with Olivia at 3 months

Olivia will be 3 months old tomorrow. We will be celebrating in Philadelphia! Olivia has sure had an exciting life so far- several day trips throughout New York, a trip to Connecticut, and now Philly! I'm sure that when she is older, and has absolutely no recollection of any of these journeys, she'll enjoy reading about them and seeing pictures of herself posed in front of historical landmarks. I shake my own head in disbelief, that I have seen so much in the past couple of years. As much as I didn't want to leave Seattle, this has been an extremely cool experience. Life is really quite exciting- if you allow it to be.

Now, back to the star of my post, Olivia. Miss Liv has a cute personality. Her smile is adorable. Her pout is equally cute. She sticks her whole bottom lip out when she is upset. Gavin used to do the same thing. We laugh because she really demands attention. Some babies will just sit on your lap, content just to be held. Olivia wants to talk. She wants you to sing and play pat-a-cake. I had her sitting in her car seat yesterday, just hanging out on a blanket. Wouldn't you know, she kicked herself right out of it! Thankfully, I had her on the floor. My baby girl has one big attitude! And, I think it's gaining the respect of her big brother. Gavin thought it was so funny that she kicked herself out of her chair. He also likes to play pat-a-cake with her. The verse goes, "and throw it in the oven for baby and me! And Gavin!"

Little girl is still not even close to sleeping through the night. She is up at 10pm, 2am, 4am, then 6am... I call her my little bat. It's ok. I figured that we'd pay the price for how easy we had it with Gavin. We were too cocky. Anyhow, hopefully the sleeping situation will improve by next month...

Here are a few photos of Miss Olivia. Next post will be all about Philly!

Game day! Straight from the hawk nest!

Hanging with big bro in their footie jammies

Can you tell that this is our second baby?!?