Can you wave BYE-BYE??

This is Ryan learning to wave bye-bye!! It's so sweet even if I do say so myself. It's so fun to watch him learn new things and get excited

I've been bag tagged x2 since I carry a diaper bag and a wristlet
I tag Karen, Katelyn, Steph and Mel

This is my diaper bag and I LOVE IT!!
Let it flow...
Okay, we can play I SPY...

I spy something dirty...

I spy one little black shoe(don't ask how there's only one and where the other one might be.)

I spy chipotle(mmmm my favorite)

I spy thank you cards I need to mail from Christmas.

And my camera is always in my bag but I had to use it to take pic's



This was a great opportunity to clean out my bag which it needed badly!Good thing I didn't get this tag on Sunday, this bag becomes like Mary Poppins never ending bag.



I have to say I"m so thankful that Jen sent this to me because I went to take pictures and I couldn't find my wristlet--okay so panic set in and I looked everywhere. Still I couldn't find ikes!! I called my friend who I had run errands with earlier in the day and she didn't have it. I called Marshalls to see if by sheer luck and chance someone had turned it in...to my luck and amazement someone had!! I was so thankful and glad that I had gotten this email to make me look for my purse! Anyways thanks Jen!

This is my wristlet-Jared got it for me for Christmas and I love it!! It's so awesome because it fit's great in my diaper bag and I can take it with me if I go somewhere without the baby(which isn't very often.)


I'm to embarrassed to included ALL of my receipts

Babystyle-Love their clothes; but only on sale very expensive

Potterybarn-Receipt from my new dishes for Christmas

Target-I save ALL my receipts from Target because their return policy sucks!

Walmart-Everyday stuff

MAC lip gloss-I love it!!

I love to laugh, loud and long and clear, Ilove to laugh so everybody can hear.

This is the first time he has really belly laughed, and he did it for a really long time-we were both dying-I love it when he has these first when Jareds home so that he can experiance that joy too! Jared kept bouncing that soft little ball off of him and he just loved it!!

I love to bounce!!

In just the last day or so Ryan has really figured out how to bounce, and he loves it. It is great in the morning or early afternoon when I'm getting ready to leave the house and I can put this in the door way and he can see me. Sorry the video is side ways I forgot that it was a video!

Brie Burger!

I guess lately I've really tried to cook different things, especially since I've tried to use all my goodies from the farmers market. So today I was using sweet potatoes and zucchini. I made zucchini bread which was delicious, and then I made the picture above. Jared isn't fond of sweet potatoes so I was attempting to make something other then baked or mashed so I made match stick sweet potatoes fries. I baked them with olive oil, sea salt, and a little chili powder.(Jared like them.) The burger was made with melted brie cheese and sauteed mushrooms. I think we might get fatter if I keep cooking like this. They say to keep a food dairy to keep track of all the calories that you have eaten- but I don't think this is helping-now I'm trying to create the prettiest meals possible.

Living the American dream!!

I LOVE AMERICAN IDOL!!! Jared and I were so excited for American Idol to start. He started reminding me last week that it was coming on. Also with the writers strike it really make seeing new tv fun!! This guy was my favorite! I couldn't believe that Simon didn't let him sing even after he went and got it all waxed!!! Only in America!! I think this year will be fun! Ryan even really enjoyed watching and hearing all the people sing, I had a hard time feeding him his peas and cereal.

Chicken Cacciatore-This was to die for!!

6 red bell peppers

Extra-virgin olive oil

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

2 tablespoons garlic powder

1 tablespoon dried oregano

1 egg

2 cups milk

1 (3 1/2-pound) whole chicken, cut into 8 pieces

6 garlic cloves, halved lengthwise

1 onion, sliced thin

2 ripe tomatoes, coarsely chopped

1/2 lemon, sliced in paper-thin circles

3 anchovy fillets

1 tablespoon capers

1 teaspoon red pepper flakes

1/2 bunch fresh basil, hand-torn (1/4 bunch to flavor the base, 1/4 bunch to finish the dish)

1 cup dry white wine
Start by preparing the peppers because they will take the longest. Preheat the broiler. Pull out the cores of the red peppers; then halve them lengthwise and remove the ribs and seeds. Toss the peppers with a little olive oil, salt, and pepper. Place them on a cookie sheet, skin side up, and broil for 10 minutes, until really charred and blistered. Put the peppers into a bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and steam for about 10 minutes to loosen the skins. Peel the peppers and roughly chop into chunks; set aside.

Season the flour with the garlic powder, dried oregano, and a fair amount of salt and pepper. Whisk the egg and milk together in a shallow bowl. Dredge the chicken pieces in the flour and tap off the excess. Dip each piece in the egg wash to coat and then dredge with the flour again. Place a Dutch oven over medium heat and pour in about 1/4-inch of oil. Pan-fry the chicken in batches, skin side down, until crisp, about 8 minutes. Turn the chicken over and brown the other side about 10 minutes longer. Remove the chicken to a side plate, pour out the oil, and clean out the pot.

Put the pot back on the stove and coat with 1/4 cup of oil. Add the garlic, onion, tomatoes, lemon slices, anchovies, capers, red pepper flakes, half the roasted red peppers, and half the basil. Season with salt and pepper. This part of the recipe is going to be your base. What we are looking for is a fragrant vegetable pulp, so simmer for about 20 minutes, stirring often, until everything breaks down.

Add the remaining roasted peppers and the remaining basil. Tuck the chicken into the stewed peppers and pour in the wine. Turn the heat down to low, cover, and simmer for 20 minutes, until the chicken is cooked.

This was a little time consuming, but it was delicious!! I think this is Jared's new favorite meal. I used chicken breast instead of chicken pieces and it was so tender it just fell apart on your fork.

Crunchy Carmel Corn That You Can't Put Down

I made this Carmel corn for enrichment and everyone loved it!! So here is the simple recipe.

I pop 3 bags of microwave popcorn-you can pop your own corn if you like. 3-4 quarts of popped corn

1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup butter
1/4 cup karo syrup


1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon vanilla

Spray a brown grocery bag with Pam-cover the whole bag. Pour in popped corn.

Boil sugar, butter and Karo for 3-4 minutes in medium sauce pan. Add baking soda and let bubble up and add vanilla-STIR QUICKLY-Pour over popcorn and fold bag over and shake vigorously until corn is covered. BE VERY CAREFUL NOT TO GET THIS ON YOUR HANDS IT WILL BURN. Microwave for 30 seconds take out of microwave and shake from end to end with the top still folded. Microwave and shake 2 more times. Remove to greased cookie sheet and let cool.

He's getting so big!!!

Sporting his Gonzaga outfit!!
Chilling with Ruby! She makes a great chair! She is very gentle and willng to let Ryan hang all over her.

Ryans First Six Months!

Thai Curry Chicken

This dinner was very tasty, and super easy.

2 Chicken breast

1 can coconut milk

1/2 to 2 teaspoons red curry paste

1/2 can bamboo shoots

1 red bell pepper

1/4 cup basil

1/3 cup chicken broth

1 to 2 tablespoons brown sugar

Chop up chicken into bite size pieces, put in hot saute pan with slat and pepper. Saute until golden brown. Take out of pan so that the chicken doesn't dry out-set aside while getting everything else ready.

Put coconut milk and curry paste in the same pan and simmer for about 5 minutes. I don't like things spicy at all and I can tolerate about a 1/2 a teaspoon of the curry paste. The original recipe call for 2 tablespoons!!! Now you can add the bamboo shoots(I bought the sliced ones) sliced red bell pepper and chopped basil. Let that simmer until the bell pepper becomes a little softer. Now add the chicken broth, brown sugar and add back in the chicken. Let that all simmer for 10-15 minutes.

Serve this with jasmine rice!! It really makes a difference and taste so good. The rice is a little fragrant and sweet so it goes well with the chicken.

You can buy the bamboo shoots, rice and coconut milk in the Asian aisle in the grocery store. The red curry paste might be a little expensive but it should last you FOREVER!!

This is enough to feed two people and is very quick. Start your rice first so that everything will be done at the same time.

This is my lame attempt to recreate something at the Thai Kitchen-even though it taste nothing like anything there.

Also these are my new dishes that I got for Christmas!! I love them.

My house was clean yesterday so you missed it!!

Okay so those of you who know me, know that I'm not a very organized person. With this new year I made some goals. The first one was to clean out my closet. I should have taken a before picture, but that would be WAY to embarassing!!! So here are the after shots, now I like to just stand in my closet and look around! I's also like everyone to know that I did this all by myself without any medication. The very scary part is that I removed 1o bags of clothes from my closet, and as you can see I still have plenty of clothes!
What an incredible invention!!! A shoe rack!!
I've always had one secret--I've always color organized my hanging clothes!! If they weren't separated by color I'd NEVER be able to find anything!!

So my closet has been like this for 1 week now and I love it-but my problem has always been follow through, so we will see what it looks like in and month or six months from now--Everyone place your bets!!! I'll keep you posted!

Bath time and Bedtime!!

Ryan loves to be in the water! Bathtime is always a blast! I hate taking him out because he is just so happy in there.
We are still trying to catch up from the holidays and the new church schedule(9am, that even early for me!) Ryan fell asleep last night while I was feeding him dinner. He slept there for about 30 minutes.
We are so blessed to have such a happy baby. I can't believe that he will be 6 months old this week. The time has truely gone by SO fast. I've loved every moment of being a mother!!
It looks like we've got a double chin going on there!! It's he getting so big!!

The Best Christmas Pagent Ever!!!

Ryans first Christmas!!! He was pretty happy!
Baby Jesus and Mary
Do angels get any cuter?
Jared even dressed up as Joseph--all those years in theater really paid off!
Isn't she angelic?!!!

Katelyn sewed all these wonderful costumes for mom as her Christmas present. It was really fun and will be a great family tradition for years to come.