I Love My Baby!

There are special moments with Payton that happen every so often and my heart just melts. This morning I had one of those moments. I had just finished nursing Payton and we were just sitting and talking...well, I was talking. :o) Payton leaned forward and gave me the biggest hug. That was the best feeling.

Payton's excited face.

Mom's Birthday!

Today is my mom's __th birthday. :o) Happy Birthday Mom!

It was a nice day all in all. My mom and I have been having breakfast together on Thursdays, so she came over for birthday waffles. Yummy! Then after her "Flex" class she came back and we went shopping for a birthday present. We hit jack pot at the Dress Barn. Mom wanted to find a nice shirt to go with her skirts and the Dress Barn had just what she was looking for. Score! After shopping we stopped by Costco to get some birthday frozen yogurt.

The day has closed with a fun game of "I'm gonna get you" with Payton. She not only was giggling but scream laughing. It was making Dave and I crack up. She is so fun.

Happy Saint Patrick's Day!

Happy Saint Patrick's Day!

So far Payton has spent the majority of the morning sleeping. My poor baby still isn't feeling well.

Dave is feeling a lot better this morning but still is not able to eat. Yesterday he had a half a piece of toast and today he had a half a bowl of oatmeal. Hopefully, he will continue to get better. I don't want the cats to get used to sleeping in the same bed with me again. (They hog up the whole bed).

Giggles, Stairs, and Vomit

Payton has been sick the last couple of days which hasn't been fun. It is so hard when you do not know what is wrong. I wish I could just make her feel better.

Today after I had tried feeding her lunch, she really wanted to try and drink out of my glass. I went a head and let her try. Every time I brought the glass up to her mouth she would start giggling. I love the sound of her laugh. In between giggles she would put her hand in the glass and try to pull out the ice cubes. It was fun, I don't know how long we sat there playing with the glass of water but we both ended up with ice water down the front of us.

Payton has also become very interested in the stairs. Well, our sick little baby has decided that climbing the stairs is no big deal. She can and has climbed the stair several times. I had to keep an eye on her before but now I really have to keep an eye on her. The little stinker will head straight for the stairs.

Dave has come down with the flu. He woke up this morning to a case of violent vomiting. I felt so bad for him he looked horrible all day. I have never seen him so miserable. Keep us in your prayers that Dave will get better soon, that I will not get it, and that I will be able to sleep in my own bed again instead of the guest room. :O)

A Successful Dinner!

The dinner I cooked last night was awesome! It was so good that I am going to eat it again for lunch. :o) It feels good to have at least one meal that tastes really good after you have had so many OK tasting meals.

We had Chicken Cacciatore ( I got the recipe from my sister, who got it from somebody else)

Here is the recipe just in case anyone else wants to try it. Please note my little changes...

4 Chicken Breasts
1/4 Cup Butter
2 tbsp Olive Oil
1 Onion (I used the dried onion flakes that you can get from Costo)
1/2 Green or Red Bell Pepper (I used the frozen sliced bell pepper mix, I probably put in more than half a pepper)
2 Cloves Garlic, minced (I used a tbsp of minced garlic, I just have a jar I keep in the fridge)
1 tsp Salt
1/2 tsp Pepper
1/2 tsp Basil
2 Can Stewed Tomatoes with liquid
1/2 Cup Chicken Broth
Rice or Orzo/Rizo Pasta

Brown chicken in butter and oil. Add onion, bell pepper, garlic, salt, pepper, and basil. Cook, stiring occasionally, until onion is tender. Add stewed tomatoes and mix. Bring to Boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add chicken broth and simmer additional 10 minutes. Serve over rice or pasta. We also like it with garlic bread. Yummy!

You're only a baby once!

I am really enjoying the book "Trees Make the Best Mobiles". The chapter I just read today was about how babies are only babies once and to just let them be babies. It talked about not comparing your baby to other babies and to not let milestones become millstones. I liked the comment "ask yourself who knows better about being a baby - you at twenty, thirty, or eveb forty years' removed, or your 7 month old?" I also liked when it said "No prospective employer is going to look at your adult child's job application and say, "I'm sorry, only people who walked by their first birthday are being considered for the position.""

So I took a second stab at the Chicken Noodle Soup. I have to say that it was a lot better without the Sweetend Condensed Milk. :o) It wasn't as good as I remember it being when Debbie made it. Maybe she has the special touch. LOL

Here is the recipe as requested.

6 - 8 Cups Water
4 Chicken Breasts
4 Chicken Bouillon Cubes
1/2 Tbsp Poultry Seasoning
2 Bay Leaves
Salt and Pepper
2 Large Carrots
2 Stalks Celery
1/2 Onion
2 Potatoes, cut up
1 Can Cream of Chicken
1 Package Chicken Gravy Mix
1 Can Evaporated Milk

Cook 1st six ingredients. Take out chicken, cut up. Add next four ingredients. Cook veggies until tender, then add last three. Bring to boil and add extra wide egg noodles.

*If spliting in 1/2 do it before adding the noodles.
*To make thicker, double soup, gravy mix, and evaporated milk.

Sweetend Condensed Milk and Chicken Soup

I have been desperately trying to improve my domestic abilities by making a menu and making dinner each night. Some of the things I have made I would totally make again and other things...not so much. Maybe now is the time to mention that I have been known to mess up hambuger helper before. Oops! :o) Well, Saturday night Dave and I had Jen and Anthony over for dinner and a little Settlers of Catan. I decided to make this Cream of Chicken Noodle Soup that my roommate Debbie used to make. Yummy! Well, I was adding the second to last ingredient...Condensed Milk? Now that didn't sound right. I asked Dave, Jen, and Anthony if there was a difference between Sweetend Condensed Milk and Condensed Milk and everyone thought that they were the same thing. So I did it, I added Sweetend Condensed Milk to the soup. BIG MISTAKE! Just imagine seeing this savory soup and then tasting it and it being super sweet. Yuck! I was so sad. A big pot of sweet Cream of Chicken Noodle Soup. I called my roommate Debbie to ask about the recipe and the condensed milk was supposed to be evaporated milk. Bummer! I am going to try it again. Wish me luck!

For the Settlers record...

Kimberly -1
Jennifer - 1
Dave - 2
Anthony - 0

Say no more...

Marshmellow Mateys and Door Stops

How many of us while in college were poor and couldn't afford the regular name brand cereal? I know I was. During this time I loved Marshmellow Mateys. I could and did eat them for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Did you know they still made them? I have been shopping for our cereal at Costco for so long that I hadn't even been down the cereal isle at the grocery store in long time. Well, I happened by them the other day and had to get some. Dave even seemed excited about them.

So Payton has found the doorstops and thinks they are the funnest things to plays with. It was really funny this morning, she kept flicking it and then turning around to look at me with a big smile on her face. It really is the simple things, isn't it.

I have been reading the book "Trees Make the Best Mobiles" and yesterday I read something that really made me think. The chapter I was reading was talking about "real" quality time. It said to try and immerse yourself fully in what you child is doing, even for twenty minutes, even just once a day...Don't feel you need to intereact, especially to direct or simulate. Just sit against the wall and watch her gurgle or play. Let her know that she's not competing for your attention with the grocery list or with your assignment for tomorrow's meeting with a client. That single focus is what your child craves.

I always feel like I need to entertain Payton. I never thought to just sit and watch her play. So I did it yesterday, I just sat on the floor with her and watched her play. It seemed that she really enjoyed herself. She played great on her own and kept smiling at me. It was fun.

Gotta love the tights!

Bandwagon? What bandwagon?

I have totally fallen off the blogging bandwagon. I was doing so good too. Well, all I can do is do better. :o)

We (Payton and I) have had a pretty good week. We had a play date at Jessica's house on Monday, a dentist appointment for yours truely on Tuesday, Gage's Birthday party on Wednesday, and nothing but relaxation today.

Payton really enjoys going on little walks. Forget the stroller she wants to walk herself and explore. Depending on how you look at it, unfortunately or fortunately, she can't really just walk by herself yet so someone needs to be holding her hand, which means someone is bent over for a very long time... We have a good time. Monday we just did a little walk out to get the mail and on our way back it started to rain. She thought the rain was pretty cool. Dave and I let it get her hair wet just enough to put it in a mohawk. :o) She will hate us for these pictures one day I am sure.

At my dental appointment on Tuesday I was told I need to have my wisdom teeth removed. Fun for me. I am set to get dumber on March 27th. I believe that is just a week after my friend Jessica is getting dumber. :o) Fun times.

Gage's Birthday Party was a hoot. I love watching babies play together. It is so funny to see their reaction when another baby takes the toy they were playing with. I can't believe Gage is 1 already. My how time flys.

Today my mom came over for breakfast. We have french toast. Yummy! I am so glad to live so close to my parents. I love talking to and spending time with my mom.

Wrestling with an Octopus...

Have you ever wrestled with an octopus? I am pretty sure the experience is similar to trimming a 10 month old's toe nails. :o) I swear she had additional appendages pushing my hands out of the way. Today I will try to trim her finger nails. Wish me luck.

So we had a pretty exciting weekend. Dave has been trying to catch a squirrel that has been living under our deck. On Friday I told Dave that I thought the squirrel was laughing at him, I caught it sun bathing in the middle of our lawn, standing on top of the trap, and peeking through our back window. Well Dave moved the trap, put some cashews in it, and caught that squirrel the next day. Yay! Sunday morning Dave took Payton and released the squirrel in Christmas Hill Park. Dave took video, I think they both had fun.

I am including these pictures because I thought they were cute. Payton loves helping. There isn't much I can find that she is able to help me with that she doesn't cause more harm than good. She is great at sorting my tupperware cupboard. :o) But even better at helping me sort the mail.