Fun Giveaway..check it out

Alright all you pregnant girlies. A sweet blogger, Megan, at http://www.inthiswonderfullife.com/ is hosting a fun giveaway for c-u-t-e maternity clothes. Go over and check it out!

Its been a LONG time...and so much has happened : )

Wow! I don't even know where to start. I've missed blogging but once you've been gone awhile its hard to get back into it...know what I mean?

So we moved like 6 months ago...ha. Its kept us busy, but we love it. We are so close to so many of our friends and John Mark is much closer to work which is great for all of us. We see him more and thats great!

Our other surprising news came a few months after we moved in...we are going to have another baby ; ) It took us awhile to get over the shock but we are very excited. Its a girl, Isabella Kate a.k.a Ella Kate and she should make her debut sometime around March 11th. I think she will come a little earlier than that (wishful thinking).


So you can see that our life is still as busy as ever.

It helps me to post this little "catch up" maybe it wont be so long before i update

Its been a LONG time...and so much has happened : )

Wow! I don't even know where to start. I've missed blogging but once you've been gone awhile its hard to get back into it...know what I mean?

So we moved like 6 months ago...ha. Its kept us busy, but we love it. We are so close to so many of our friends and John Mark is much closer to work which is great for all of us. We see him more and thats great!

Our other surprising news came a few months after we moved in...we are going to have another baby ; ) It took us awhile to get over the shock but we are very excited. Its a girl, Isabella Kate a.k.a Ella Kate and she should make her debut sometime around March 11th. I think she will come a little earlier than that (wishful thinking).

So you can see that our life is still as busy as ever.

It helps me to post this little "catch up" maybe it wont be so long before i update

Changes Changes Changes

We are a busy household lately. Most of you know me and know that we have been excited about the month of March and not because its our birthday month, but because we were planning on putting our house on the market. Well we did indeed list, but decided for a host of reasons leasing our home was a better fit for now for us.

I'm a stresser. I worry and fret about everything, but I have prayed hard about all this that God would bring everything about in perfect timing and I have had a lot of peace about everything. We found a house almost immediately. Its much closer to JM's work, larger which gives us a lot of growing room, and very nice, AND in our price range. We fell in love. So we started praying hard that we could find good lessors, we ended up making an offer before signing a lease, but the next day some super sweet girls looked at our home and definitely wanted to lease it from us. I know these girls and they are AMAZING girls and I'm so excited to have them as renters.

I didn't expect to get emotional over moving but I have. Roman has a mural in his room that Nana painted for him and the girls mentioned painting the room, of course, thats fine with me but I told them they had to do it. I just couldn't and as I was telling them I felt like my throat was swelling and I wanted to cry. This home has the most special memories. We were just newlywed when we built it and didn't have a clue what we were doing : ) We have accomplished and lived so much in this home. We've made babies in this home, I told JM I was pregnant all four sweet times in this living room, most important and special we've brought home both of our sweet babies to this house. This is our home, it feels like home, it smells like home, and it will be weird to make home somewhere else.



That being said I have much more emotion than I thought I would, but I'm so excited about our move. A new home, new design, and fresh start and clean slate. I'm excited to be so much closer to so many friends, most importantly closer to JM work therefore seeing him much more. It's going to be great!!!

That is why we have been so busy a lot has happened in 18 days : ) Our offer on this house was accepted and we will hope to close on or if we are really lucky a few days before April 30th. Please pray everything goes smoothly and there are no kinks.

Here is a picture of our new house aka Ro Ro's bunny rabbit house ( A bunny currently lives in the backyard). Roman today was talking about sleeping in his bunny rabbit house, I just hope that bunny will like Zeus and Midas...I'm thinking not : )

Roman 2 years 8 months

Roman Carter you are getting so big. You are a TALKER!!! You never stop and none of us know where you get that from : ) Every stage of your life has been my favorite, but I'm having a lot of fun in this stage. You are growing so much so quickly which is a little sad, but talking to you and having you talk back is so mucg fun. I can see you figuring things out moment by moment. What I mean by that is for example, the other day we met your dad for lunch and you put on his badge. You were sitting there looking at his picture and back at him and back at the picture. You kept saying "Walmart", John Mark explained that he worked at Wal-Mart. It was like we could literally see a light bulb go off. So now EVERYTIME you see the Walmart flower design you say " Wal-mart, daddy's work."

You LOVE Ice Age the movie and have learned how to work the DVR you have a favorite part and you rewind it and rewind it and rewind it. It's cute seeing someone so young work the remote : ) Its funny to because you know commercials and movies by heart. The other day the Kay jeweler commercial came on and you sang " Every kiss begins with K." Or you will say "Don't get mad, get glad".

You are very in tune with your emotions along with everyone else's. Today I was getting on to you and you said, "Momma happy." It worked I cracked up.

You are so sweet and such a genuine kid. You are so kind to your sissy. You love to kiss on her and talk to her. You help me out all the time. You'll throw a diaper away, give Avery a paci, talk to her when she's upset and this week you even fed her...ha. I hadn't planned that, but when I got up to go get something I turned around and you were feeding her. I had to take a picture so you did it for a minute or two : )

Nothing is secret anymore around you. If you or someone else toots you let the whole room know. You think its so cool (thanks to your dad). You sing ALL the time, and this week we learned if we want you to eat we have to sing, "if your happy and you know it eat your sandwich" and you grab it and take a bite, so needless to say we've been doing a lot of singing.

you love to pray and your favorite part is saying AMEN. You love it!! It's so sweet.

I could go on and on with cute and funny things. Mostly I hope you know how much joy you bring to my life you are so sweet and I love you so much.

Mom






This I never want to forget! The way you look when you sleep and everytime you just wake up you rub your eyes and shake a little. Its so sweet!!

Avery Claire 6 Months

Mini photo shoot with Ave




We have been so incredibly busy around here and I'm ashamed to be so late do my monthly "updates" on the kids. I will share more on our crazy life later, but for now check out Miss Avery at 6 months.

Avery,

This month has been WONDERFUL!! You have always had a personality and I wouldn't want to make it sound otherwise, but this month you have really become more independent and so happy. When you were a month old we were in Hobby Lobby and all I wanted to do was look at the fabric. You screamed bloody murder the WHOLE time and Roman was frustrated and let me know about it the entire time we were in there. When I got to the register I must have looked so frazzled and I wanted to cry. Honestly I wanted to leave you both there...ha. Not really, but I was so completely overwhelmed I thought I could burst out in tears. Anyways, this sweet lady came over to me and put her hand on my shoulder and said, "Sweetie just get her to 6 month, everything changes at 6 months." Well secretly I have thought about that ALOT over the last few months, and you know what she was right. 6 months is THE month ; )

You are very happy and most of the time very content. In fact its usually just when you are sleepy and hungry that you fuss. You are eating everything. Your favorite food is applesauce and sweet potatoes and I mix them together a lot and you love love love them.

I've been trying to wean you but it has been with no luck...ha. I don't have the heart to let you cry and get really hungry so you'll take a bottle so....we haven't had much luck with that. At first i thought you just didn't like the bottle, but after putting juice in it and seeing you suck it down I concluded you HATE formula. Oh well, we'll get there it just won't happen overnight like I was hoping.

I took you to your 6 month checkup 2 weeks ago and you are 20 pounds and 27 inches long. I think you are going to be tall ; )

Some little facts about you now are--

You have two bottom teeth. They are so cute and I love seeing them when you flash your cheesy grin

You can roll over from your stomach to your back super easily. The last two days you have rolled from your back to your stomach, but you haven't figured it out as well yet. Soon you will be scooting around. I hope you do the worm/army crawl--I love that!!!

You wear mostly 12 month clothes

You wear size 4 diapers

You're simply precious and absolutely gorgeous. You are so fun. You bless our life so much. You daddy and brother adore you. The other day we were in Gabriella's ( a mexican restraunt in our town) and the man next to us was eating and talking to his wife and you kept smiling at him, but he wasn't looking at you so you started making this loud grunting noise (and you never took your eyes off him), when he finally looked at you you smiled really big. Cracked us all up. When he looked away you would start the noise again. It was so funny. Daddy and I always laugh about how detremined you are. You can't be distracted when we take something away you will bend and contort to all kinds of uncomfortable to find it again. You're a girl who knows what she wants, and honestly thats a good way to be, it just might make daddy and I crazy...ha.

This next month of life is going to be crazy, but you will do just fine.

I love you Avery Claire and can't believe in 6 short months you will be ONE. Time flies when your having fun and I'm certainly having fun with you.

Mom

Adoring daddy



Helping mommy sew and modeling your new dress!!!





Finally just day to day!!

Pampered Chef

Well I did it and I'm super excited about it. I am Stephanie Laney, Pampered Chef Consultant.

I love that I have the opportunity to stay home with Roman and Avery, but I think I'm like alot of SAHM in that I miss adult interaction. I also wanted a little mad money to spend on whatever so I went out looking for something to do. I started with the medical field (since I'm a nurse), but everything that you do requires a lot of time and set schedule so I marked that off my list. Then I decided to look at all the "home business ideas" like Mary Kay, discovery toys, Arbonne, and on and on. As I was thinking about other businesses, Pampered Chef popped into my mind....Ahh.. this was perfect. I love to cook, and I love fun kitchen gadgets and appliances so I researched and really liked what I saw so I signed on up. And ya'll wouldn't believe what came in the mail...ha. I expected some Pampered Chef supplies. It was better than Christmas...a huge boxes LOADED with goodies. Everything from stoneware to a garlic press. HEAVEN : ) So needless to say I'm having fun and have been blessed with good friends helping me get started (thanks guys).

If you are interested in hosting a cooking show or doing a catalog party let me know. I promise it will be fun.

Show Us Your LIfe - Beauty Tips and Favorite Products

So I'malways thinking about doing Kelly's Friday Show us your Life, but always forget on Friday then by the time I remember its like Tuesday so I never do it. But today I remembered and ita on Beauty Tips...ha...whatever I need beauty tips, but here I go.

First I have very fine hair I think there is quite a bit of it (although I'm losing alot recently...post pregnancy), but because its so fine it just lays flat and looks thin. Anyways one thing I have found is a hair thickener or works really well. I use whatever. Right now it Garnier Fructis Texture paste, but I'm sure there is better ones out there.

Second a root boosting spray like Big Sexy hair, but that stuff is EXPENSIVE (at least for the cheap like me ) so I use TreSemme Root Boosting Spray and it works really well. Finally my flat iron and a big fat round brush. After lots of work it looks decent but I'm really wanting a change. Usually I go chop it all off, but my goal is a real fun layered cut so I will let it grow grow grow : )

As for Make-up I pretty much have no idea what I'm doing and stick to the same 'ol stuff. My two favorite things is a bronzer and mascara...for sure!!! I'm looking forward to reading everyone else that posts because I need some good ideas : )

Simple Pleasures

One of my favorite blogger friend, Kelly, is doing a blog today about her simple pleasures. It got me to thinking and here are some of my simple pleasures.

Avery's cooing in the early morning

Roman saying Thank you mama and love you mama

Coffee with a friend

A clean house

Freshly washed sheets and a made bed....ahhhhh

The smell of Spring and fresh cut grass

going to the movies

The smell of coffee

Reading blogs (which I spend entirely too much time doing)

Spending the night with my grandma (still my favorite place)

The sound of our loud dishwasher and dryer...especially during naptime : )

Naps

Thunderstorms

A good book

Here are a few. What are your simple pleasures?

Avery Claire--5 Months

Well here we are 5 months later...I can't believe it!! It's hard for me to believe that next month you are 1/2 way to a year. Crazy!! Time flies when your having fun.



You are starting to be quiet the ham especially at the sight of Roman. You love him!!! It's sweet. When you get excited you get all stiff and shake. Pretty cute!!


Up until the snow storm you were getting on a pretty good nap schedule, but the snow through our schedule all off. you are getting better about being put down, unfortunately you cry so we've been trying the "cry it out " method. I stink at it so i rescue you often : ) It might take awhile.

Some milestones from this month are :
You weigh 19 pounds and are 26 inches long
You wear size 4 diapers
You are in size 9 months and some 12 month stuff
you are rolling to your side so I think you may roll over this month (we'll see).
you have started teething--you constantly chew on your hands and you drool all the time. You are pretty fussy. You very much hate any discomfort...thats ok so do I.



Some things you really enjoy:
The bumbo-you are sitting in it very well. It's vey helpful I can put you up on the bathroom counter and get ready in the morning and I sit you on the kitchen counter while I'm cooking. It buys me a lot of time as does the high chair you love it too. You don't use your bouncy seat much anymore. You usually will sit in it for about 20 minutes in the morning while I'm getting Ro ready but thats about it.

The mirror--I put the mirror by my desk when I'm on the computer and you sit and smile at yourself. It's very sweet. I always wonder what your thinking about that person in the mirror : )








I stopped feeding you rice because of bathroom problems, but you eat pears, applesauce and bananas like an old pro. I fed you a bite of avacado and you seemed to like it then i rememebered avacado allergies run in the family so we stopped at a bite until you are a little older. I think you are pretty much going to like anything that we put in your mouth. Yay for being unpicky : )

You are a blessing and I sure do love you. I'm looking forward to Spring and the pretty weather. I know we will enjoy many park days and having fun outside. I love you Pumpkin!

Roman 2 years 6 months

Roman you are the bomb. It just continually gets more and more fun with you. Today you were a total ham and kept jumping in front of the camera to get your picture made. This makes me extremely happy because for the last 6 months its been like pulling teeth to get a picture.



You are talking all the time, and you can and do repeat most everything. You are quick to say thank you and love you. You will come up to dad and I randomly and say "love you momma" and "love you dada". I love it. Its funny because if you do something for us and we don't say thank you you are quick to say "thank you Roman".



You can count to 17 and say your abc's. Your favorite show is still Kai-lan (ugg..really ready you to get a new favorte). You love Charlotte's Web...which you call "spider pig"...ha. You LOVE to sing...you sing all the time. Your favorite songs are, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, ABC's,We will Rock you, Happy birthday, and any song from Kai-lan. You LOVE church and I can't describe how happy that makes me. On Sunday's we wake you up and tell you its church day and you smile real big and say, "yeah, church".

You are getting tall and looking more and more like a little boy and less like a baby : ( Although the time is going way too fast I sure am enjoying this age. I love your independence and being able to conversate (is that a word?) with you. You are a light to my world. You're a gift and I cherish you so much. I love you Roman

Avery Pics...because I haven't already posted enough

Avery is growing like a weed. I decided to see if she could sit in the highchair last week. I figured she wouldn't really like it...well I was WRONG. She loved it!!!





One of my new favorites



This picture cracks me up...I think its her huge eyes, whatever it is its funny

Jalapeno Lime Fettucini Alfredo

Again this recipe needs to be tapered to your tastes. I don't like super hot, JM loves it, and yes this is a bit of a problem, but thats another post. So, I'm going to give you the ingredients and sorta the measurements but everything is give and take.

First, grill three chicken breast, season with whatever sounds good (I'm sorta cracking myself up with my lack of instruction here, you will never see me writing a recipe book : ) ) garlic, pepper....whatever. JM put some lemon pepper on them and it was good.

Secondly start your noodles a boiling (my cousins who are english majors are cringing about now)

For the alfredo sauce
Blend 1 package of cream cheese, a cup of milk, a jalapeno, fresh cilantro (as much as you like), 1/2 c of parmesan cheese and about 1/4 cup of lime juice in a blender them put it in a small sauce pan until a creamy smooth consistency. I had to add a little milk and more lime juice to smooth it more and take away that cream cheese flavor.

Chop up the grilled chicken and mix everything together.

Serve with a salad and fresh french bread.

Bon Appetit

Spicy Jalapeno Ranch

This can be used as a salad dressing or a dip. Its super good to dip chicken in. In fact Foghorns, a local restraunt, has a chicken tender that is coated in this sorta thing. Thats actually what we were trying to copy. Ours wasn't nearly as hot but I was a little chicken so I didn't put the jalapeno seeds in it, next time I will. Alright here it is-- oh btw I started with only half a bottle of ranch but really this recipe is give and take with your taste. I'm not a measurer so just add as you go and as needed for your taste.

1/2 bottle of ranch dressing (I used GV buttermilk ranch)
1 jalapeno
Some green chilis ( I used a couple of tablespoons of rotel...I liked the tomatoes in it)
and a couple of sprigs of fresh cilantro.

Blend together in blender and your done. Its a nice twist to traditional ranch

Day at the park and the longest post ever!!!

Last week we had some gorgeous days. Seriously it was like Spring had arrived. the kids and I went to the park for a picnic. Not surprisingly Roman ate his lunch in the car on the way home there was no way he was going to stop playing to eat. Avery just sat and cooed...she loved it!!!











As I'm sitting here I am listening to Avery "cry it out" in her crib. Let me just say I HATE it. John Mark is strict about it, "let her do it", "Don't pick her up", but if you are a mom you realize why I am ready to scream and pull my hair out. Although I'm the one who suffers when she doesn't sleep and I would really like to see her sleep better it still makes me crazy listening to her scream, but she is settling now. Hopefully this works...and FAST. This is no way to spend your evenings.

Went to Barnes and Noble today with Avery. It was WONDERFUL!!! Does anyone understand when I say I love the smell of that place? Its seriously one of the reasons I love it so much. The smell of books mixed with coffee is delightful. I sat and looked at craft books and sipped a White chocoloate mocha (yummo), and my daughter was angelic (I wasn't sure it would be a success, but she did great!).



Can you tell she adores him? Yep pretty obvious and its very mutual!!



I need more money...shocking I know, but while i was there I saw about 2 million books I needed. I really needed them. I guess thats the good thing about the library, but if I'm honest I would say ,I mine as well buy the books because I always have late fees. I don't know what it is but I CANNOT get books back in 2 weeks. I usually finish reading them in a few days, but for some unknown reason I'm pretty incapable of returning them on time. I'll blame it on being a mother of two, why not? That excuse usually works : )

Shewt she was asleep and now she's crying again....CRAP!!!! What do you do now...continue to let her cry? THIS SUCKS!!!!!!!!!!!!

Tonight I plan on posting several post. So don't think I'm crazy for posting one after the other.

She's back asleep--maybe the hubs is onto something...hopefully

Anyways, I'm trying a lot of new recipes over the next two weeks. I'm a girl who LOVES to cook, but was really starting to dislike it. I was getting so bored with the same recipes. So I challenged myself to make at least 2 new recipes a week...so far so good. Tonight we had jalapeno lime chicken alfredo. It was delicious. I'm going to post the recipe...try it. Then I made a jalapeno ranch dressing and we ate it with chicken tenders and it was delicious. I forgot to take pics so it just the recipes but I promise they are worth trying (if you like spicy..that is).

I made Roman a "giraffe" blanket. Super easy and its really cute and soft.





Alright I'm going to post some pics and start my recipe post : )

P.S. This is Roman's Smiley face. Isn't it cute? I Love it!!

Mexican lasagna

I get so tired of the same recipes over and over again. So I've challenged myself to make 2 new or newer (ha) recipes a week. So this week I made mexican lasagna. When I lived at home we ate this some and it was one of my favorites. It's been forever since Ive eaten it and let me tell you it is the BEST. I guarentee you will love it and it looks pretty. The sausage and cilantro make this dish. Try it...you'll love-I promise!!!

Mexican Lasagna
1/2 pound of ground beef
1/2 pound of mild pork sausage
1 (15 ounce) can of jalapeno ranch style pinto beans
2/3 cup of canned diced tomatoes and green chilies ( I used a can of rotel, drained)
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp of garlic powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp of pepper
1 can of cream of celery
1 can of cream of mushroom
1 can of enchilada sauce
9 corn tortilla
2 c. of shredded cheddar cheese ( I used sharp cheddar...yum)
1 cup of shredded monterey jack
1 medium tomato (diced)
4 green onions 1/4 cup fresh cilantro chopped
1 medium avacado


Cook sausage and ground beef together in large skillet over medium high heat, until no longer pink. Drain. Stir in beans and next five ingredients. Cook thoroughly until heated.

Stir together soups and enchilada sauce until hot

Spoon 1/3 of sauce mixture on bottom of lightly grease 13x9 baking dish top with 3 tortilla. Spoon half of beef mixture and 1/3 of sauce mixture over top sprinkle with half of the cheddar cheese. Top with tortillas; repeat layering and end with tortillas. sprinkle with monterey jack and last three ingredients.

Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes

Serve with fresh avocado on top and chips.

*delicioso*

Oh Glorious Day!!!

It was such a beautiful day here today. After it being below freezing for over a week the 50 degree weather made me feel like the kids should be in shorts..ha. it was so nice. I took the kids outside and they LOVED it. Avery sat in her bumbo and everytime the wind would blow she would open her eyes real wide and act excited. It was pretty windy so Ave and I didn't stay out long, but Roman stayed out there off and on for about 2 hours. he needed it bless his heart we have been cooped up for too long. Come quickly Spring...please : )

Before I was a mom the colder months were my favorite...although I don't like to be cold. i just love the coziness of the colder months...the candles and fires, the cute clothes, and all the yummy comfort foods. Now as a mom I'm all about spring and summer. The easy clothes (summer dress, shorts and t-shirts ), flip flops, bbqing. Its so much easier.

You know I actually opt to stay home so I can avoid getting coats on and off. It's so much work to get them in their coats, to the car, in the car, coats off all to get somewhere to do it all over again. Ughh....too much work..its true..sad I know...but so true. Anyways, today was a much needed break from the cold.

Here are some pics from today....

My new favorite. I'm blowing it up for my living room. Aren't they precious? I do think so : )


Miss Avery being all cute


Roman about to throw Midas his ball. See his lion and zebra? My child and his
animals. This year we are doing a safari party...I think. Its a wee bit early to start thinking about it, but when I'm laying in bed at night I do and I've decided that would be a fun party...don't you think?