Blessings - Day 2

Here's our family's chosen blessings for today:

S: our house
B: mommy
A: playing with S
L: my girls

I love doing daily blessings :)

And I also love that Sophie is really starting to understand some scripture stories. We have a GAK and had been using that for FHE's but now we're using the new Gospel Art Book and either way, it works GREAT! She loves to look through it and learn about the different stories and then later tell me about them. Tonight we talked about the city of Enoch for FHE. Then later when she was flipping through the book, she goes "remember momma, it's the ark!" She does this all the time. She's such a sweet girl. <>

Thank You's

For the month of November, each of us list something that we are thankful for each day. Seeing as how today is Nov 1st, it was our first day of listing it out on our "Give Thanks" list on the fridge. Here are today's....

Barbies (guess whose that was)
Baby laughs (Daddy)
Snuggles (Mommy)
and Sophie decided that Brielle was thankful for all of her toys :)

A Growing Vocabulary

Brielle is really fussy today. Ok, she has been for the last week. I think it's this cold, plus teething. Anyway, she's been really fussing while I've been trying to get ready - ya know, showered, dressed, my hair combed, etc. Let's not kid ourselves - nothing fancy going on here. I get my pants and shirt on and promptly (not so promptly to her) pick her up, and she goes, "upppp." Ahh, the growing vocabulary of a one year old. Secretly I've been a little sad/worried b/c she hasn't been as quick as Sophie was to pick up new words. Yes, I know all kids are different, but it doesn't make the questioning stuff go away to me. "Am I talking enough to her? Reading enough? Am I spending enough time with just her instead of her and Sophie? ".... Anyway, of course I'm all happy when she says it and repeat it. To which she says, "Upp. Down." We play this game all the time - up, down; in, out; etc. I was so happy!


Unfortunately, Sophie's vocab has also grown in the last couple of weeks with the word "stupid." Uh-oh. Daddy has a tendency to say "stupid dog" or "stupid cat." Well, Sophie has said it probably 4 or 5 times lately and been sent to her room. Awesome. Hopefully it won't last long.

Quirky

So Sophie, my 3 yr old, has to have her spoon match the type of yogurt she's eating. She'll even trade what kind of yogurt she wants based on the availability of a certain spoon. What an odd kid :) I can't imagine how picky she's going to be about her hair and clothes when she's a teenager. Ahh, yeah, already looking forward to that....

Brielle on the other hand knows what she wants, but she's pretty easy going too. I have an inclinking that she'll be the easy(er) teen.

A chipped Smile.

I wish I could have gotten a picture of it, but poor Brielle is not allowing pictures today.... or at least not since the incident. Poor girl.

I was cleaning the top of the stove and she was walking into the kitchen with her blankie. (She loves her blankie. She cuddles it when she drinks a bottle and when she sleeps. It's too adorable!) Well, she must have stepped right on it and slipped b/c she fell FLAT on her face on the floor. No falling onto her diaper-cushioned butt or her knees or anything - just SMACK! on her face. Of course I whirled around, picked her up and started to comfort her. That's when I noticed that she was bleeding from somewhere. I didn't know where exactly at first. There was a lot on her finger so I thought maybe she bit her finger or something. I yelled for Aaron (he works from home, but alas, he was in a phone meeting). Then I ran her hand under cold water, which is the only thing that helped her to stop crying since the SMACK.

Well, it was not her finger, but she did like the water. I had a hard time figuring out where she was bleeding from - I'm still not 100% sure, but I think that she busted a tiny cut on her upper lip. However, I got an ice cube and let her suck on it... however, I thought I noticed something not right in her mouth. Was there blood on her tooth? So, I leaned her over (she likes to be upside down) and checked it out. Nope, not blood. However, her bottom tooth was chipped. Ugh. I said a quick prayer and checked again. Yup, I was right the first time. I ran to get her some Tylenol thinking "wow, that must have really hurt!" And called the dentist. They called right back and had me bring her in right away.

Luckily, it didn't get down to the fleshy part of her tooth, so it's just a comestic issue really. If it would have gotten down the to fleshy part, the only option they really would have had is to pull it! I am SO grateful that was not the case! So, she'll have a chip in her tooth (which they'll try to sand and make a little smoother when she's a little older) until she grows in her adult teeth (in like 7 years!) but it shouldn't affect the placement of her other teeth or hurt her, so it's as good as a chipped tooth can be really. AND it's on the bottom, so you won't be able to see it quite as much as you would if it were on the top.

Ok, I'm not re-reading this, I'm not proofreading it. I'm not doing anything but hitting 'publish.' Please forgive me if it's a little scatterbrained. With all of us being sick, not sleeping (bad dreams, but that's an ENTIRELY different post), and a little drained from the drama around here, my brain isn't fully functioning.

I am so grateful that it wasn't worse than it is. I am so grateful that we have insurance so we can know what to do (in this case, nothing). I am so grateful that Brielle isn't in pain and is napping quietly now. I am so grateful for my beautiful little girls and my wonderful hubby. And I hope this day gets better.

Doing a Few Things Right?

There are moments in the day or week where I think "wow, maybe we're doing something right with this parenting thing..." Of course, there are many days where I think that God is looking down laughing at my stumbles (in a loving way of course) and many more where I am disappointed in myself for not doing more or something different. BUT this is a positive post and I wanted to tell you of a couple of my "right" moments.

I am so happy that Sophie seems to be turning out as a responsible citizen who cares about doing what is right, not always what is convenient. For example, we were grocery shopping the other day and were getting some soda. Mixed in amongst the coke was a pumpkin. Sophie goes "What is this pumpkin doing here? Pumpkins don't go here. Silly pumpkin!" I said something about how someone must have decided they didn't want it after all and before I could suggest that we put it in the cart and take it back to the 'pumpkin section,' Sophie says the same thing. "We need to put it back! Come on little pumpkin! We'll take you back to your family!" Well, we were just starting grocery shopping and Sophie sat in the cart, holding the pumpkin all through shopping and when we got to the 'pumpkin section' she gingerly sets it down (thank you! I was worried about the fight of no - we cannot take the pumpkin home).

Also, last weekend we were at the parade for the Fruita Fall Fest. It was just Sophie and I as the baby was napping and Aaron gladly agreed to stay home with her. Anyway, after the parade ended, I let her eat the sucker that she got during the parade (I wouldn't let her eat it during b/c I was holding her so she could see. I am not a fan of sticky-slobbery-sugar on my shirt. I wonder why). We sat so she could eat it and she saw some trash on the sidewalk and asked what it was. I said "someone didn't put their trash where it's supposed to go." And her automatic answer is "that's not good. We need to put it up for them. You don't leave trash on the ground!"

I just wanted to hug her so tight! What a sweet little girl she is. I guess some things ARE getting through.

(This especially made me happy after seeing some of the kids during the parade. There were quite a few of them standing there, taking the wrapper off their candy and throwing it on the ground... repeatedly. It made me want to put them in timeout and take away their candy. Lucky for them, I am not their mom.)

tasty greenbeans

So, a quick post tonight from my iPod... I just thought I'd share a trick that worked great with my girls tonight!

My girls have never really been into greenbeans. Brielle is good about eating most veggies, Sophie can sense it's a veggie a mile away and consequently shoves her nose in the air as she simultaneously shoves her plate away. So tonight what I did was cook greenbeans first and then cook chili and put the greenbeans directly into the chili (cut up into bite sized pieces) and it worked great! They both ate them! Sophie was even pulling the greenbeans out and still eating them! Miracles of miracles.

Good luck with your kids! (if you need it of course!)

[Posted with iBlogger from my iPod touch]

A few lessons learned

Keeping up with my new commitment...

Here are a few quick lessons that I learned while planning/executing Brielle's party. These might come in handy if you're doing the same anytime soon.

First off, you know those little frosting tubes that you find in the store? They're little and normally come in a package of 4. They say they're used for writing. Well, to make a long story short - don't. I made a cake for Brielle's party and didn't have time to make the marshmallow fondant (you have to let it set over night). The decision came down to 1. Do I use store bought fondant or 2. Do I frost it with regular frosting. Choice #1 would look better. Choice #2 would taste better. So, I called my best friend and my hubby and go their votes and better tasting won out. So I frosted it pink and was going to use the little tubes of icing for drawing on paisleys. (You all know by now that she had a cowgirl party, right?) Well, those tubes of icing STINK. NEVER use them, under any circumstances. 'Nough said.

Second - When moving the cake to the designated spot, make sure that there is someone *holding* the cake stand. My mother put it in the back seat b/c she picked up my grandmother on the way to the park and ... well... it fell over, upside down, and rolled around the inside of the glass lid of the cake stand. At least luckily it didn't get all over her car! And, at the end of the day, it's just cake! My mom was so worried and upset about it, but really, it's just cake. No one cared. Including me.

Third - I should remember to tell parents to bring their cameras. Some of my friends came up and said "you didn't tell us that this was going to be a SCRAPBOOKING MOMENT!!" lol I guess I forget b/c my camera is always with me (most of the time anyway). So, just FYI, if attending one of my parties in the future - - bring your camera. You are hereby warned ;)

More to come on the party (plus pictures) later, when I have more time.

A new commitment

This is my new commitment post - I WILL be starting to blog again, even if they're short ones! :) I've just been too lazy to do it and using Facebook as an excuse, lol. But I'm going to be better! Keep checking back, I'll be updating way more frequently.
Next to come - details and pics of Brielle's 1st birthday party!

long time - no post

Oh my it's been a long time since I really posted. I chalk it up to the fact that most of you who read this are on Facebook... and those of you who aren't should be ;) It's a lot easier to just load pics on there instead of taking the time to do it both places and blogging seems to take more time for some reason. SO, while I wait and let my baby cry for a bit (hopefully going to sleep for nap, otherwise just torturing me), I thought I'd at least give a run-down of what's been shakin' around here.

Aaron and I just got back from San Jose, Costa Rica. It was wonderful, although made me realize how terrible my Spanish really is. We'll probably buy the Rosetta Stone software eventually and hope that it helps us become closer to bilingual. We're planning on trying to get Sophie into the dual-immersion school (and our subsequent children) so that they'll have the opportunity to learn Spanish from very early on and be fluent. Anyway, back to San Jose! :) We got to go zip lining through the canopy of a cloud forest - very cool. We went on a rain forest trek - went boating down the river, hiking in the forest, and on an airal tram through the canopy. It was so neat. You know how when you're in school growing up you learn about the rain forest, you donate to 'Save the Rain Forest' charities, you even wear a "Save the Rain Forest" t-shirt? (Ok, well back in the late '80's and early '90's we did) It was amazing to actually see the place that you've learned about.

It is definitely a place that I want to take our children when they are older. Scotland was neat, but eh - I don't think that it's necessarily a place that I am dying to take my kids back to (although Sophie went with us the first time). Costa Rica is *definitely* a place I want my kids to have the opportunity to go to.

While we were there we also had the opportunity to go to the San Jose temple and attend church at a local ward there (yes, everything was in Spanish). It was a humbling experience and the people were very friendly and welcoming. Most didn't speak any English, although there was a member of the bishopric that was fluent (he lived in the states for quite awhile too) and one member of the Relief Society... who taught, so that didn't really help me out much :) lol We also ran into a senior missionary couple that were from Arizona, but mostly throughout church we were on our own for language wise.

It was a lot of fun and we had a lot of great experiences, but let me tell you - I MISSED my girls! I knew I'd miss them, but I guess I didn't realize how much! And it wasn't all that bad until they started really missing me too. Sophie would say "but I miss you! I want to go to the rain forest with you. Why'd you have to go on a trip?" And whatnot... breaking my heart a little more each time. Ugh.

Sophie is now 3! She's such a big girl and so smart! Brielle is 9 months and we're still having some problems getting to sleep during the day for naps. But when she gets enough sleep she's the sweetest little girl there is! :) And she finds so much stuff funny! I get a kick out of her all the time. She just BUSTS up laughing at the sillest or the most ordinary things. They definitely are my little angels!

Prize drawing!

If you're doing food storage at all... and most of you that read this are in some form or another - you should check out and enter this giveaway from "Shelf Reliance." They are such awesome systems that I would just scream if I won! Of course, probably so would the other 900 people who have entered... but ah well. Someone's gotta win, right? Why not me? Or you?

Official crawling alert!

Brielle just crawled! I mean, she's been getting around for quite some time now, but officially just now she crawled on her hands and knees! Wow - she's getting so big!

8 Months sure went by fast!

Ahh, Brielle is 8 months old today! I simply cannot believe it. Where'd the time go? It's definitely going faster with Brielle than it did with Sophie... maybe because I'm busier, because I'm keeping up with two of their milestones instead of just one, because time flys when you're having fun? Elderly people also regularly tell me that time goes by quicker the older you get. I find that kind of sad. I want to slow-mo the girls most days and keep them this little and young and innocent and full of wonder and adoring love. I know all too soon they won't want me to shower them with kisses or sit on my lap and cuddle. Soon they'll trade in their baby dolls and barbies and favorite blankies for lip stick and cell phones. Why can't I have them little for longer? (Not that I want to be-grudge them growing up. Not at all. It's just it's happening way too fast!)

Brielle is almost crawling! She gets anywhere she wants to go via this army crawl-meets-worm method. And she's getting pretty fast too! She still is the sweetest little girl - always happy and smiling (ummm, until I leave the room) and she smiles with her whole face - this big, gigantic grin that overtakes her - it's adorable! Everywhere we go she is smiling at people so much and so big that they come over and talk to us - tell us about their own kids, or just dote on her. I feel like she's much like an angel would be on earth - happy to see everyone, smiling at them like she knows everything about them, all their dark secrets, and still has nothing but love for them. She makes them all feel special with how much she seems to adore them. I know that I am no where even remotely in the same area code as a Godly love, but my heart hurts when I think of how much I love these two muchkins of mine. It makes me awe at how much our Father in Heaven must love us.

I can't even imagine how quickly the next few years will go. I think I'll log off here and go hug my kids!

I think I may have an artist....

Yesterday Sophie picked up her MagnaDoodle and said "I'm going to draw Ariel!" I 'uh-ummmed' and 'yeah-ed'... and then she brought it over to me to show. Can you believe this? From a 2 & 1/2 yr old? I thought it was pretty impressive to have eyes, a nose, a face outline, and sorta a mouth. She started to erase it from the top (why the eyes are partly gone) before I cried "NO! It's so beautiful - you did such a good job, I'm going to take a picture of it!"

Love

Let's keep it short (for now at least)...

It's crazy how much I love these little pooping-whining-hitting-biting-fussing-never sleep enough -peeing on the floor-cat chasing-sticker eating-crazy girls of mine! :)

Spring time cuties

I love spring! I love how green everything gets. I love how much you love the sun and warmth when you haven't experienced it for four months! I love getting the kids out of the house and letting them run with reckless abandon. I love how everything is new in the spring... new grass, new babies, lovely new-ness all around. It's so fun to share spring with my new baby. She's just old enough that she's exploring everything and curious about everything and notices everything. I take her outside and she just seems to soak it all up. Sharing all these firsts with a new baby - it just doesn't get much better than that!

And for those of you that are curious... Brielle is 7 & 1/2 months now (OH MY GOSH! Where did the time go???) and weighs about 17 lbs... which is roughly what our cat weighs ;) lol She's almost crawling, but not quite yet. She scoots herself forward by pulling with her arms or rolls anywhere she wants to be. She's also getting on her hands and knees and rocking back and forth - she's so close!

She's toothless for the moment, but not for long! She's been cutting a tooth on her bottom front for quite some time now, it just hasn't poked through the surface.

She's such a joy! She doles out smiles and giggles readily and loves completely. She adores her big sister. Sophie can always put a smile on her face by singing or dancing or twirling in circles. Brielle also thinks that sounds are completely funny. You pull packing tape from the roll (and get that kinda squeak) and she busts out with a belly laugh. You sneeze and she giggles. You slide a magnet down the fridge and she can't think of anything funnier (video of this one to follow). She's such a sweetie and finds joy everywhere. I pray that she always is able to keep this quality.

Grumpy Ol' Troll

Ever watched Dora? Well we're big Dora fans around here. If you've seen an episode where they go over the troll bridge, you've heard the grumpy old troll song. If you haven't... you're about to :) Sophie's singing it and even trying to do the gruff troll voice. It's pretty cute (if I do say so myself!).

Kids say the cutest things!

Every night before Sophie goes to bed, we go through the (seemingling endless) bedtime routine...

Bath, a Dora/Diego show (while lotioning up, jammies, milk, etc.), then family scriputre study (aka - reading a short section of the scriptures and trying to explain what happened), family prayer, potty, night-time diaper, brush teeth, book, Sophie's prayer, hugs & kisses, tuck-in, more hugs & kisses, singing, and finally... more hugs & kisses.

We've been saying family prayers and Sophie's prayers for quite some time now and she does most of them herself (her prayers anyway) and sometimes we help just a little. I've been meaning to post one of her night time prayers on the blog for quite some time and I keep forgetting... so here one is. It is SO cute. What a sweet little girl.

"Dear Heavenly Father,

Thank you for Mommy, Daddy, Brielle. Thank you for Grandma & Poppa, Kassi & Joey (her aunt & uncle), and cousins.

Thank you my toe-nail polish. Thank you mom-go-exercise and I go play. Thank you for Dora. And big Dora. And Dora doll. And Diego. (All of these are her 'little dollies' that go with her doll house.) Thank you for watching TV (I promise we don't do this much, it's just one of her favorite things). Thank you for the library.

Help my owie right there (as she lifts up her pant leg and pointing - I guess showing God just which one she means). Help it feel better.

(This is the only place I help) Please help me to sleep. Please keep us safe and healthy.

Name of Jesus Christ, Amen."

How'd 6 months go by SO fast?

Brielle is doing great! She's now almost 6 & 1/2 months now and I just have no idea where the time went! It seems to be going even faster than it did when Sophie was little... I wonder how fast it'll go with a 3rd or 4th kiddo. Maybe that's why those crazy people have 17 of them... :)

She's sitting up like she's been doing it for ages and rolling all over creation. She's also pushing up on her arms but not her knees yet. And she loves eating! lol (As you can see from pictures!!) I nurse her and she gets at least 2, if not 3 bottles a day, plus1 to 2 meals of baby food. lol She's a pig ;) lol She loves baby cereal and sweet potatoes the best. (We haven't done any fruits yet though, just cereal and veggies.) This is also sooo different than Sophie. Sophie would breastfeed and drink bottles, but basically hated all other food. Plus, she was such a skinny-mini. She was always like in the 10th percentile (or lower). Brielle is pretty steady at 50th percentile. (And they both are at the top of the charts for height! :)

What I love the most about her is that she's such a joy. She smiles at practically anyone who talks to her, sneezes, hiccups, dances, laughs, smiles, talks, or breathes. She sits there with me while I bathe Sophie and just rolls with laughter at Sophie's splashing. She had been sleeping through the night for a couple months, but I've been trying to get us on a nap schedule and it seems to be back-firing - she's waking up at night now! ugh. We'll get that figured out though.

Anyway, she's doing great. I don't know exactly her weight - her apt wasn't exactly at 6 months (it's next week), but I'm guessing 16 - 17 lbs. Ahh, what a fun little girl!

My little loves

Ahh, my little loves. Here's an update on them...

As you can see, Brielle is getting to be quite the chunk ;)

Sophie was always (and still is) a skinny little thing, normally coming in at 20% for weight and 90% for height. Brielle is about 90% for height had 50% for weight, although I think that percentage might go up next time we're at the dr! ;)

She's sitting by herself so well now!

And adores her sister. Sophie can make her smile almost no matter what.

Darn, I don't know why this pic posted sideways, it's not in my files that way. I love this one of them. So cute. As you can see, Sophie adores Brielle too! :)


Ahh, my girls. They seem to have the same nose and definitely both of them have my eyes (yay!). The shapes of their faces is different, as are their ears and haircolor. Our opinion - Sophie looks just like me (wow, baby pics of me really show this) and Brielle seems to look like Aaron's sister Sasha.

lol - I tried to geta better picture of this, but the star was not allowing photographs that day ;) She's rocking her pink Dora hat 90's style!

Ahh, she's going to be so pretty as she gets older (I mean, I think she's very pretty now, but I think she'll always be pretty - ya know, not little girl pretty. Oh, why can't I explain what I mean? Arg.)

Here's our cat. His name is Teancum (tank-um if you ask Sophie). He totally is a dog in a cat's body and is soooo protective over Sophie and Brielle. The other day both girls slept over at my mom's house (yes, the first night away for Brielle) and Teancum seriously freaked out the next morning when the girls weren't there. He was running into their rooms, back to mine - meowing loudly, then back to theirs, then to the living room, etc. looking for them. All the while meowing. He was very worried. lol

Yummm, her first bite of 'real food.' Although, I'm not sure if you can count rice cereal as 'real.' (unless you're talking 'real' nasty)

I always bring my camera when I have to take the kids to the dr's office. Its great entertainment. We take pics and then look at them, take video, etc. The camera and the Ipod - wonderful!

Where have YOU been?

We've been here... but you never would have known that with the amount of posting going on around here! I thought I needed to show off a little bit of the girls... wait, that sounded wrong. You know what I mean - my daughters.

They're getting so big! Sophie is potty trained, although we still have a few accidents every once in awhile and we're not trying to night-train for a little bit.

Brielle turned 5 months old yesterday - can you believe it? I can't - it's CRAZY! We're about to start her on solid food (oh that rice cereal looks soooo appetizing!) and also move her from the bassinett to the crib. She's rolling over, putting everything she can get her hands on into her mouth, and still our happy little girl. I hope that attitude carries through with her throughout her life. We have enough drama from our little mama :) (yeah, you know that's not me, right?) Here's a few snaps of the last month or two.

Ahh, Sophie and Mommy. I love, love, LOVE that the girls got my eyes. It makes me smile every day :)

Brielle lovin' her exersaucer (although I think we're going to get a new one - this one just isn't that fun). Sophie seems to play with the baby toys more than the baby does! lol

I know that part of her head is cut off, but come on - can you get a better smile than that?
I HAD to include it! What a CUTIE!

Ahh, the many faces of Brielle, our beautiful Brielle!

She's such a light in our lives!

Cutest little Projects EVER

I was blog surfing tonight and found the absolute cutest little projects - check them out!

I love this little guy. In fact, I had published my post and then came across him and had to go back and put him in. He's made out of an old wool sweater... now I may just have to go to Goodwill and find a wool sweater. I doubt I own any anymore.

Anyway, he's so cute, you'll want to make one too - so here's how.

Ooh, how cool! Check out how to make these clothespin dolls!

A cute activity to do with your kids, or just special treats for a random holiday! :)

Groundhog day cupckes!

And finally, the cutest little monsters!

I am SO doing this when Sophie gets coordinated enough to draw actual things ;) lol

What it is, is over at Little Birdie Secrets - one of my new favorite crafty blogs,
she's taken her kids' drawings and turned them into little stuffed monsters -
what a cute idea! And special too!

yummm... Mostaccioli sauce!

1/2 c. chopped onion
1/4 c. diced celery
1/2 c. drained mushrooms
1/2 clove garlic
1 & 1/4 lb ground beef
1 tsp oregano
1/8 tsp basil
1 bay leaf
1 & 1/2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
2 & 1/2 c. tomatoes
3/4 c. tomato paste
1 beef bouillion cube
8 oz mostaccioli pasta or spagetti squash

Brown beef in large saucepan and drain off fat. Return beef to pan.
Mix other ingredients together, except for noodles/squash. Bring to boiling point, stirring frequently. Simmer slowly for 1 hr. Serve over noodles or spagetti squash.


This is a fabulous dish, I love it. It works great served over spagetti squash instead of noodles for a lower carb option. Try it, it'll become one of your staples.

Making new recipes

Ugh - don't you get bored eating all the same stuff all the time? I know that I do. I like to fancy myself as a pretty good cook, but I certainly can get stuck in a rut... especially when you're worrying about kids and cleaning and drs appointments and whatnot all the time. Also, I run out of fast things to make that are still good and good for you. SO I made up a couple recently and decided I'd pass them onto you, if you want them.

The first is Taco Salad. Of course everyone's had taco salad. It's not like I made it up or anything, pretty much I just figured out how to make our own taco bowls.

1 lb hamburger
1 pkg taco seasoning
2 small cans of chopped green chilies
fresh, crisp, chopped lettuce (iceburg works best but has the lowest amount of nutrients too, so pick your posion)
tomatoes, chopped
sour cream
guacamole
tortillas

Brown hamburger. Mix in taco seasoning and water (follow package directions) and green chilies.

Meanwhile, heat oven to 450. Take your tortillas (I used low-carb tortillas and they worked great) and find a little metal bowl they can be draped over. I used my "ball" cake pan - two sides to a ball and I did two tortillas at a time and it was perfect. Any oven safe metal bowl will work, or you can drape it over an empty food can w/aluminum foil over top.
Spray tortilla on both sides with some spray cooking oil (think Pam) and drape over bowl.
Bake for 6-8 mins. Take out, take off bowls, bake upright for another 2-4 mins until they're nice and crisp and lightly browned.

Then just assemble your taco salad how you'd like! :)


The next is a spinach and feta cheese omelet.

4 eggs
3 tbs feta cheese
1 tbs milk
baby spinach, washed & dried
a dash of pepper
butter, oil, or spray oil for your pan

Put spray oil (or butter or reg. oil) in pan and heat over med heat. I have an omelet pan that I use (SOOO handy) but you can use a reg. skillet.

Mix eggs together and put in pan. Add a dash of pepper and let the eggs start to cook on the bottom.

Mix feta cheese and milk together, crushing all the feta lumps as much as possible. Put into eggs. Layer baby spinach leaves on top (put as much or as little as you like) and cook. With the omelet pan I normally close it at this point (sandwich it together) and cook until eggs are cooked through. Be careful not to cook too long (the butter/oil will burn and the feta will overcook and taste wierd.)
You don't need any salt added b/c the feta is naturally salty. And this is a great beginning recipe to add whatever veggies you like - bell peppers, onions, etc. However, I like it plain and simple b/c of the unique taste of the feta.

Let me know if you try them! I thought Sophie would hate the omelet, but in fact she eats half of mine every time I make it. She loves it!

Ahh, Pre-pregnancy weight, why do you elude me?

The title kinda tells it all. I am still not at my pre-pregnancy weight. Definitely not my pre-pregnancy shape! (although all the moms out there will attest to this - are you ever really the same shape? Sadly, no.) My lovely little round baby is 4 months old today... and has left me lovely and round as well. lol Yes, I know it was worth 'the weight' (as all the OB office propaganda tells you). Yes, I know it took 9 months to put it on. However, it doesn't change that I hate it. I hate it, hate it, hate it. (can you picture me on the floor throwing a temper tantrum like my 2 yr old?) I have been bouncing between the same 4 lbs for at least a month, maybe two. It seems like some of it'll come off, then four days later it's back on. Arrrr at the boomerang poundage. Double Aaaarrrrrrrrr.

Soooooo, today I signed up at a local gym. I convinced my mom to sign up too. I have been eating fairly well for months and yet this last 6 lbs eludes me. And while it'd be nice to get these 6 lbs off, I more accurately need to get more of my muscle back and then get back to my ideal weight. (Seeing as how muscle weighs more than fat...) Anyway, I've been eating really good for about 90% of the time... its the other 10% of the time, when we're at parents' houses for example, that is really screwing me.

I'm 60% excited for the new gym membership and all that goes with it. I'm 15% wondering if I'll make good use for it, 15% scared (of what? Idk), and 10% thinking "holy crap! Do you know how much money I just spent?" Tonight I did about 6 miles on the bike before I had to come home and make dinner and resume mommy duty. I'm hoping tomorrow I can fit in a spin or Pilate's class sometime before or after playgroup. Scheduling is very difficult with a 4 mo old and a 2.5 yr old. I bought a pass to the daycare center there and again have mixed feelings. I am hopeful it'll go well and that I'll have a few hours a day (or an hour) that I can have someone else watch the kiddos. However, I am very scared. I've never left either of them with people that I don't know. Sophie has spent a couple of days at daycare (when we were on vacay), loves the church nursery, and barely notices when we leave her at grandma's house - but we've never left her with someone I don't know! ahhh! And, if that wasn't enough, I'm really worried about leaving Brielle! Ahhhhh. She's only 4 months old. She's never been left with anyone besides Aaron and my mom. I'm freaking out a bit. Whewww - deep breath. It'll be ok... right??????

Some new pics

My baby girl will be 4 months less than a week!

And for fun - here is my other sweet girl playing peek-a-boo.