what a relaxing day...

Since I got most of my work done early this morning, I have been able to really enjoy today. I was able to spend time with my nephews. I LOVE snuggling in my bed watching a movie with them. All four of us [me, holden, asher, and john robert] squish together on the left half of the bed with Bob [our pillow pet] and every stuffed animal holden owns. We tuck them in bed on the other side of the bed to nap while we watch a movie. Then Lori came back and we went on a walk around Savannah, ending up at me & holden's favorite park. 


Now I'm setting up to do a bit more work while holden naps and enjoying my Green Monster Smoothie. 

-Little Wife Power House

Easter Cookies

I have a hard time not eating all of the dough before I bake the cookies normally but it was especially hard yesterday with this recipe. The dough was amazing! These are perfect for Easter. Crushed up Cadbury Mini Eggs?! Yes, please! Get the recipe here and get to cookin'!

-Little Wife Power House 

Breakfast Fuel

Okay, so I'm not a great foodie photographer but I hate blogging without a picture. I really ought to take a photography class but I have one too many things on my plate as it is. One day I will! Anyhow, I'm having one of those days. I'm not feeling great, I really need to catch up on work but I've been so tired this week that it's been so hard [ahem - getting up at 3AM two days in a row]. I needed something to work today and I knew cooking was the answer! I made these amazing blueberry muffins from scratch. It's amazing to taste the difference of ACTUAL BLUEBERRIES compared to the box mix. I highly recommend this recipe! And honestly, they weren't any harder than the mix. I hate having to open the can of blueberries and spending five minutes rinsing them! These will be perfect fuel to get me going tomorrow morning when I re-do our guest bath :) 

Happy weekend everyone! The hubby surprised me and is taking me on a date while Grandpa watches Holden :) What a perfect way to start the weekend. I need some hubby time.

Oh yeah, find the recipe here! I left out the crumble topping because I was feeling lazy but I bet it tastes yummy.

-Little Wife Power House

Happy 7 Monthday, Holden!

HAPPY 7 MONTHDAY TO THE H MAN. 

Okay, so your 7 month birthday celebrato/dinner was a little more stressful than it could have been. We had Gigi & the Guerrero's over [as usual]. I've been wanting to try this Philly Cheesesteak Sandwich recipe and thought this would be the perfect occasion. I went grocery shopping on Tuesday, purchased all the deli bread, meat, peppers & onions, provolone cheese, etc. Then the morning of your "party" I realize I bought ground beef, not cube steak. Don't ask how I got the two mixed up. I'm serious about this - I've lost my mind since having you. Then right before I'm about to start cooking...I realize ALL of the deli bread I've bought has gone moldy! UGH! This was one day when I was too prepared. It bit me right in the butt. Luckily, I had a few heros of the day who got me the right meat & bread. Phew. I'm lucky to have people like that! 


The recipe says to set the oven to broil and stick the assembled sandwiches in to melt the cheese. Okay, let me tell you. Only put them in for like 30 seconds. I burned the first batch [luckily not too badly...still edible] but I'm like REALLY?! Could anything else go wrong with this recipe? Haha...it's really a pretty easy recipe - I was just having one of those days. We all have those days where nothing goes right. Please say I'm not the only one! The recipe was yummy and I will definitely be making it again. Hopefully with less hiccups next time...


Gigi brought a cookie cake AND homemade creme puffs [which were DELICIOUS!]. What a perfect way to celebrate your 7 month birthday. I can't believe you're 7 months already. I loved you as a little tiny baby...holding you...but you are so fun now. I love interacting with you and watching you learn. You are so smart already and I know you are going to do great things. I can't wait to see what those great things are! We love you to the moon & back. 

Nicknames: Booger, Bubba
Temperament: You have become an even more of a momma's boy in the past month. You are a lot more playful. You are not as serious [although you are still serious] and you like to play. You give people smiles every once in a while now and it's like gold to them!
Things I Could Do Without: Skipping naps. There was one week in the past month that was amazing...you were taking two naps and sleeping through the night too. Unfortunately, that was short lived. Now you sleep for about 40-60 minutes during the day TOTAL and wake up once in the middle of the night. You're often times cranky when we're out and about trying to be social. It's tough to have a fun time when you've got a cranky baby.  
Item/Toy We Love The Most: The Ball Bopper [these balls get shot out, go back in, and get shot out again]. Dad chose this one!  
Item/Toy You Love The Most: The activity center. You play with every single toy on it now and can turn yourself around and around. You've even figured out the toys that have little quirks. 
Things I'm Loving Most Right Now: We love how you watch yourself open & close your hand. You love to see how things work and figure things out for yourself. Dad loves how you bite his nose and hold on tight. We love how you lay in bed with us [Saturday & Sunday morning snuggles are the best!]
Things You're Loving Most Right Now: Backyardigans. Squash. Rolling. Your stuffed monkey. Going on walks. My necklace with yours & daddy's names on it. 
Milestones: You've learned how to turn off the light switch. You went swinging for the first time and [as always] you were just trying to figure out what was going on...how were you flying?

Go HERE for The Philly Cheesesteak Sandwich recipe. I recommend it! If you're not a space cadet like me it will be a breeze!


-Little Wife Power House

still getting organized for 2011...

You guys have all read my crying about how busy I am. I know - get over it...we all are! This week I feel more on top of things. I've been using some new things to help me stay on top of things as well as working on Holden's schedule. Here are a few things I've been utilizing to help me keep on top of things. 

The Whiteboard Calendar 

I love this for most of the obvious reasons. It helps me keep track of appointments, birthdays, commitments I've made, etc. It reminds me when we get paid and when certain bills are due. You can erase it after the month's over and start with the next month's busyness. I'm a big fan of crossing things off when the day is over [loved doing this with my planner] and I get to cross it the day off here since I no longer use my planner. [Why don't I use my planner anymore? Well, I used to look at it all the time when I was working full time on break or whenever - frankly because I was bored - and now I just don't ever remember to pull it out.]

The Weekly Activities Sheet

Aren't those magnets adorable? Heather got them for Holden [he loved the packaging of course] but I may have stolen them for my own use :) You can find them here made by NookNook. My friend, Staci, came up with this excel spreadsheet for weekly "activities" [don't you love that she didn't use chores? makes it a little better, eh?]. I love excel spreadsheets and checking things off. It gives me a sense of accomplishment. Find her post about her spreadsheet here. I had her e-mail it to me, tweeked it to fit my schedule/house chores, and laminated it so I could use it over and over again. I hung it right on my fridge to constantly remind me that it's better to get a few things done every day than have a HUGE cleaning day [usually on the weekend. ugh!]

Cork/Magnet/Chalk Board 

Don't you love Target?! I find the best things there. This was only $20 and I've already gotten a lot of use out of it. I'm going to be using the cork board to pin my Market Street coupons for the week. Right now they usually go in the laundry room and sometimes I forget them in there. This board is right in our main hallway so I walk past it like 20 times a day. No longer out of sight, out of mind! These hangers are perfect for my Chalkboard Hearts, aren't they? It will be fun to find all the places we can hang them. I like this chalkboard for the things I wanted to get done that day that I just...didn't. So I can get to it tomorrow, right? ;) The thing I like best about this board? It's where I put Allan's chores :)

Hope this gives some of you ideas on how to get things under control for 2011. I'm sure you guys are already on top of things though! 

-Little Wife Power House

PS. Want to try a yummy black bean chili recipe? Go here! It's what we're having for dinner tonight.

what we've been up to lately...

Sorry I've been MIA. We've been busy bees trying to get our house in order. Remember how I was so stressed? Well, I may or may not have had a mini-stress breakdown. Sometimes you just need a few tears to make yourself feel better. I do at least. I felt like I didn't have enough time to be the best wife I could be, the best mom I could be, the best employee I could be, the best church member I could be, etc. I think my standards were/are maybe too high. Allan saw how stressed I was so he jumped in where he could and offered to help me clean the house this weekend! My hero!!

My house has been a MESS. Yes, I've been organizing things but everything else has been chaos. I wanted to be to the point where I just had to do light cleaning each week...not a massive day of cleaning every few weeks. Who wants to do that on a weekend? Not us! We cleaned the house from vacuuming, mopping, laundry, to bathrooms, dishes, etc etc. I feel SOOO much better. 

Now that my life is somewhat in order, I can blog about what we've been up to lately! 

Lori & her boys came over to make Pocket Pop Tarts. They're essentially home-made pop tarts! And the best part is that you can control what goes into them! We used nutella & strawberry & grape jam. The nutella was a-maz-ing [even though I only got to have a bite]. The jam leaked so we're gonna have to work on that. Lori's idea was to freeze the jam in ice cube trays and use that in the oven so it doesn't melt as easily. I'll keep ya posted!

 

Happy Half Birthday, Holden!

Nicknames: The Captain Cappy, Professor Holden
Temperament: You are becoming a mama's boy. I have to admit, though, that I kind of love it. You'll be crying with someone else and come to me and be fine. You watch me walk up the stairs, walk out of a room, etc. You got your feelings very hurt the other night when I passed you to daddy [silly holden. but it was really funny.] You love to laugh and smile still. You are a tough cookie to crack. People will sit in front of you doing really weird/silly/funny things to make you laugh and you basically sit there and stare them down. My little, stoic baby. You are very inquisitive. You don't just like to [for example] touch the cup I'm holding, you want to see what's inside. 
Things I Could Do Without: You're teething so you have been extra fussy lately. Biting...'nuff said.   
Item/Toy We Love The Most: Baby's First iPod aka Baby Einstein's music on-the-go.  
Item/Toy You Love The Most: Your crib piano. You will stay in your crib for 30+ minutes in the morning just kicking it and listening to the music. Thanks for giving Mom and extra 30 minutes rest some mornings! It helps! 
Things I'm Loving Most Right Now: You are wonderful in your car seat and stroller!! HALLELUJAH! I took you on a walk in the Joovy yesterday and you loved it. Finally I can use our amazing stroller [thanks RTR]! I'm loving you reaching for me. You really do know I'm your momma now.  You have the adorable gummy smile now. 
Things You're Loving Most Right Now: You know, I'm reading from last month and you love the same things but times a million now. You loved the bath before but now you are a wild man in there! You splash, kick, squeal, get water all over mommy's glasses. I loved bath time before but seeing you in there now is way funner! Dad calms you down by singing "Pancho and Lefty". Since when do you love old country? You can also stand for a really long time!
Milestones: You can now roll both ways [front to back, back to front]. You have started to do "push ups" more and more. Prepping for crawling! You can sit up [and by sit up I mostly mean hunched over bent in half. but still!] You've also started solids. So far we've tried green beans & peas. Peas aren't your fav but you still do pretty good with them! This past week you've slept through the night for 5 nights straight! Lovvve it.

Ferguson/Anderson Slumber Party

You know our friends, Sallie and Garrett. The ones that just got married. They're back in town for their second reception on Saturday and they came to our house last night to have a slumber party! 

We started off with ROSA'S ! I'm still so happy they built one closer to us & that my Mom gave us Rosa's gift cards for Christmas FTW! Of course we had to play a game [Killer Bunnies] & watched Easy A. Throw in some peanut blossoms & Sallie after 10pm [totally silly] and you get a really fun night.   

[told you. here is an example of sallie after 10pm.]

Gingerbread Houses

I know, I know...I just posted...but I wanted to post about the Gingerbread Houses we made on Saturday before I had too much to write about that they just fall by the wayside...


I found this homemade gingerbread house tutorial here at Oopsey Daisy [love her blog]. I can't wait until Holden is old enough to help me build and decorate the gingerbread houses. I think it will be much more enjoyable next year since I worked out a few quirks. 1) the recipe says to chill for 3 hours. DO NOT make the day before and chill overnight! The dough gets rock hard and dry which makes it almost impossible to work with. That's after letting it sit out for a long time and adding a little warm water. 2) keep the glue [aka burnt sugar] warm on the stove while building the house. 3) cut your pieces as straight as possible! It really, really makes a difference. I used a pizza cutter and my houses were still a little "special." I'll try harder next year...

 [casey&joe building their house and allan in the early stages of construction]

[the finished products! yay for gingerbread houses!]

[the proud participants]

The tree idea was also from oopsey daisy. I can't take credit for anything [like I said - no creativity bones in my body]. They are just ice cream cones turned upside down, smothered with icing, and decorated. What a great idea!

Hope you guys are getting into the Christmas season as much as we are! I will be be prepping all week for our annual Ugly Christmas Sweater Party on Saturday. Check in next week for pictures!

-Little Wife Power House

homemade rice cereal

Lori & I were talking about rice cereal yesterday since H was at the age where I can introduce him to it (even though my pediatrician says 7-8 months...crazy!) We found a recipe on the internet for homemade rice cereal. Since I've been dying to make him some baby food it was the perfect opportunity! It was so easy. Ridiculously easy [THANK GOODNESS]. Here it is along with some pictures:


Ingredients: 
Short grain brown rice
Water
I used breast milk as well

Directions:
Blend rice into a powder [I finally got to use my Magic Bullet!]
Sift rice powder
Bring 3/4 c water to a boil
Add 1/4 c powdered rice
Whisk continually (while it simmers) for 10 minutes

Easy, right?! It's good in the fridge for up to three days and 3-4 months in the freezer. 

I found that it was VERY thick...especially since this was going to be his first go with rice cereal. After I put his portion in a separate bowl, I added breast milk to thin it out. He did pretty well! He wasn't too sure about the actual rice cereal but boy - exploring that spoon thing sure was fun! I had to use the bigger size spoon because I couldn't find the small ones but he loved chewing on it so it worked out anyways. Here are some pictures:

Next I will be using the ole MB to puree some fruits and veggies. Should be fun! I never would have pinned myself for a baby food making, cloth diaper using mom...just goes to show you can never predict what kind of a mom you'll be!


-Little Wife Power House 

Happy 4 Monthday, Holden!

Nicknames: Bubbles, Bubba, Holdenbear 
Temperament: You are really interactive now. You laugh and smile a lot when I kiss you and make fart noises [very mature of me] on your tummy. You laughed for the first time this month! You're still a little particular but I think you're getting better. You put a smile on everyone's faces when they see you. 
Things I Could Do Without: Lately you've been getting up 3+ times in the middle of the night (I think you're hitting a growth spurt). You started to clamp down during nursing! OUCHHHHH! I tell you "NO!" and you just smile at me. Urg. You started peeing in between diaper changes again...twice today. Your skin is still having issues and I worry every day about it. 
Item/Toy We Love The Most: Your alligator. I love to see you take it apart. You figured it out right away [ahem, baby genius]. 
Item/Toy You Love The Most: The newly discovered Pooh Bear book. It crinkles...it has teether parts...it has a handle...what's not to love? Oh, and your hands still. You actually prefer your hands over nursing now-a-days! 
Things I'm Loving Most Right Now: You hug me now when I'm holding you. You smile when I say "momma." Your laugh. Doing mini-Superman with you, tummy time [still], cuddles. I love how you follow me with your eyes when I walk out of a room. 
Things You're Loving Most Right Now: Standing. Sitting up. "Rockabye Baby." Rolling from your stomach to your back [multiple times a night]. Kicking in the bath. Talking [Dad had to leave a meeting we were having with the other Primary teachers because you just had so many opinions you wanted to share!] 


We started Holden's 4 Monthday Celebrato with a cranky H. I passed him off to Uncle Robert [who apparently moonlights as a baby whisperer] and his usual birthday pattern followed...

falling asleep before the party begins!

Allan took a break from his 5 day homework binge for a little family time:

H loves Daddy time!

We had burgers, fries, and pumpkin cheesecake muffins [click on that link for the recipe...it is soooo tasty! PeRfeCt for the holiday season.] 

[Happy Birthday to Holden...]

Look how good he has gotten at sitting up! I'm so proud of him! We ended the night with some Mario Cart and H played with the Tesla app on my iPad...addicted already! :)

We always love having the Guerrero's over to our house. We're lucky to have such great family! I got to see my good friend, Sallie, today. I love her. She's so much fun, so sweet, and one of my good friend's future wife. He is lucky to have found a girl like her...and that he somehow got her ;) JK GARRETT! We also took some family pictures this morning with Allan's side. 18 people total! It went a lot smoother than I imagined. Everyone did exactly what the photographer asked of them so it was over very quickly! I'm excited to see them. Our little family took some pictures alone with some goofy props...hello Christmas card picture! 

[sweet picture of H and grandpa]

All in all it was another successful birthday celebration. I know some of you might think it silly to celebrate monthly but I love it. It's an excuse to get together with family, cook a yummy meal, and play games. What's better than that?! 

-Little Wife Power House