Recent Recipes

I have in fact been baking and cooking, and quite a few new things I might add! It has been great and kept us from eating out. At this time in life I don't take the time to photograph the steps or even the end result as I did in years past. But since some of the recipes we've tried recently have been pretty stellar I thought I'd at least share where I found the recipe so you can try them too, especially if you are in a rut like I was. Bon appetit!

Buffalo Chicken Quesadillas 

Baked Sweet & Sour Chicken - Both Jeremiah and I agree that if we wanted Chinese takeout, we could make this at home and our craving would be satisfied. Zeke even asked for more! 

French Dip Sandwiches 

Double Chocolate M&M Cookies

Spaghetti Sauce

Bow-tie Lasagna

Chipotle Chicken Chili

Red Velvet Sheet Cake

Chocolate Sugar cookies - I loved these! I think I shall make these every year for Valentine's Day!! 

Garlic Mashed Potatoes

I told you I was on a roll! Most of these I've made in just the past 2 weeks, and even twice! Try something new this week!

To life... full of new recipe wins! 

Moving on up!

This week has contained quite a bit of change for our little family! 

First I put up the rest of Levi's newborn clothes and most of the 0-3 month ones as well. I think it was even harder this time around! In part because down in TX, Zeke wore several adorable short/sleeve outfits that Levi hasn't had the chance to here. But there are tons of cute 3 month outfits I'm excited to put him in! 

On Tuesday night we decided to cut Zeke's hair. I had let it grow all winter in hopes that it would turn curly again. It did some, but nothing like those baby curls before his first cut :/ 

Jeremiah did a good job cutting it! And now Zeke looks like another year older! Agh! My little boy is growing up, but it's ok. With it comes exciting changes and developments! Like counting to 13, saying his ABCs, following multiple step directions, bringing me the broom, singing songs with me, and feeding the cat! I'm a proud Momma! 

To life...full of hair cuts! 

John Deere Man

Who is this grown up boy? 

And when did he learn to be such a cute little model?

Happy Friday! 

Two Months Old

Levi, you are two months old!

-You weigh about 11 lbs.! You are wearing size 1 diapers and 0-3 and 3 month clothes. Most of the newborn ones have been put away already! Some of them you only wore once or not at all! 

-You snort a lot! When you're angry, crying, upset, and such. One time you snorted so loud when you were sleeping it made both of us jump and you woke up!! 

-You are awake, alert, and happy for longer stretches of the day now. You sleep best when I'm holding you and in your car seat. With the exception of one Sunday, you've slept from the time we arrive at church until after we get home!

-You are starting to coo a lot more. You gives us lots of smiles and are enjoying your baths!

- You are a great eater! Typically nursing every 2-3 hours. At night, just once or twice between 10 pm - 6 am!

- You can find Mommy, Daddy, and your brother in the room now. You look for us! I love it when we make eye contact.

- Your family came from Kansas City over the weekend. Your cousins and uncle were excited to meet you for the first time! 

-You prefer the swing over the bouncy seat. And you like laying on your tummy mat and swinging at the octopus and sea horse.

-Your head is getting strong and you are doing well at tummy time!

Levi, we love seeing your personality develop! You are a great baby! I look forward to each day with you. Love, Mommy 

Up Close & Personal

Happy Valentine's Day! 

He found a hat...

Check this out, Momma! 

Happy Friday! 

Through the Camera Lens

When my kids draw a picture of me in the future, I don't want it to be with a phone in my hand--- a recent thought I had. I am trying to experience the life in front of me instead of the lives of others via the internet. --- I'm also working on enjoying the moment through my eyes instead of through the camera lens. Sure, I want to have pictures to remember my kids and our family by, but sometimes I feel like I'm missing the best moments by trying to get a good shot instead of experiencing everything firsthand. On Saturday, for instance, Zeke and I played outside in the snow for 45 minutes. I watched the snow fall, pulled him around on the tube, shoveled snow, attempted to make a fort, showed him how to lick the snow and picked him up when he face planted as he tried. We laughed and played and I tried to capture the moment in my mind to store away as a precious memory. No, I don't have a picture to share with everyone of this moment with my 2 year old, but today he felt all of my attention. He got to look his Momma in the eyes instead of staring at her yellow phone while begging him to force another smile. He got to follow me around in the snow instead of waiting for me to play while I uploaded his picture to Instagram. Today the two of us shared a memory, just for us. Without distraction. Without 9 "likes" on Facebook. Here's to many more technology-free, fully-experiencing-the-moment, memories!