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.