This is how Easton eats applesauce.


All gone!

Easton's bath after applesauce. Sometimes we blow bubbles when he's in the bath.

And yes, he does drink his bathwater.

(Son, you'll love me for this picture later. Just be thankful I didn't post the one where you're actually drinking the water from this cup. It was a little more than you'd appreciate me showing the world. But I'm definitely gonna show it to your girlfriend one day.)

Easton's first Jello

Easton's first Oreo.

(Just for you, Jenni!)

I think it's a hit.

Shortly after this picture...Easton's first sugar-induced overload. He asked for a bath (completely his own idea but that's where we were already headed.), had a meltdown when we put his pj's on and then crashed as soon as his head hit the bed. We will definitely be keeping the Oreos for an only every once in a while thing. :)

Remember that crazy dream I had about the tomatillos and the enchilada recipe?

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/tyler-florence/chicken-enchiladas-with-roasted-tomatillo-chile-salsa-recipe/index.html

Well I finally got around to making that recipe 2 nights ago. It was a LOT of work but oh my heavens, it was worth it! I am totally convinced though that a big star like Tyler Florence has not husked that many tomatillos lately. Those little buggers are HARD to get the husk off of! When you buy them in the store they have a papery green husk that you have to remove.

Tomatillos - straight from the store

Under the husk, the tomatillo looks like a little green tomato. But between the husk and the green tomatillo skin, there is some sticky stuff that makes the husk REALLY hard to get off. It took me forever to husk 18 tomatillos!

After peeling off the husk and scraping all the sticky stuff off under running water.

I took a few pictures of the roasted tomatillo salsa part of the enchiladas but after I got the salsa made, I quit with the pictures. At this point in my pregnancy I'm already having to sit down on one of our barstools to do all my cooking, so taking pictures of every single step of the whole recipe would have taken forever.

Inside of a tomatillo

The tomatillo salsa turned out to be AMAZING!!! I will definitely be making this recipe again but probably only for special occasions. It takes forever! Also, I learned I don't like the taste of turmeric. It's kind of an earthy spice that I'm sure in the right recipe I would like but this was NOT that recipe. The rice that went along with this enchilada recipe turned out OK but only once I added some diced tomatoes w/green chilies to cover up some of that turmeric taste. The black beans that are also in that same recipe turned out great. I will definitely be making those again!

Tomatillos, onions, jalapenos and garlic ready to roast.

After roasting the vegetables, transfer to food processor and add lime juice, seasonings and cilantro. Pulse until blended but still slightly chunky.

Finished salsa. DELICIOUS!! I added some diced tomatoes (from a can) because I just had to have some tomatoes in my salsa. But would have been just as good without it. YUM!

Taking hints from the comments on the Food Network site, I doubled the tomatillo salsa recipe, used corn tortillas and left everything else the same. It made two HUGE pans of enchiladas, a big pot of rice and a big pot of beans. We are still eating leftovers two nights later and the leftovers taste even better than on the first night I made this recipe. I even had some filling leftover to freeze and will be making more of these enchiladas when my mom comes. (Which is next week! Yipee!!!)

So the verdict on the tomatillos? Delicious. If you only try part of this long, very involved, complex recipe...try the roasted tomatillo salsa. It is DEFINITELY worth the work!

Easton,
Today Mama took you to your first story time at the library. You had a pretty good time. There were lots of other kids there and you made sure to say hello to all of them. You crawled around and were so social that I wasn't even sure you were listening to the story until the librarian was reading a part of the book where a bear growled. You let out the loudest growl I've ever heard! It's like you wanted to make sure everyone in the room knew you knew how to growl. Everyone laughed and thought it was pretty cute. You had fun dancing to the music and bouncing up and down when they played Raffi's song"Shake your Sillies Out".

After that we met Daddy for lunch and you had your first Cheetos. Mama will make sure you have some veggies tonight but EVERYONE has to try Cheetos sometime, right? Yesterday you had your first Oreo. You thought it was delicious. The day before that you tried Jello for the first time. You loved that too. You're a pretty good little eater. You eat pretty much everything mom and dad eat now and get very mad if we're eating something too spicy and you can't have any.

You have a new fascination with Momo (Elmo). We're not really sure why because we hardly ever watch Sesame Street. (Looks like we'll have to start!) You have an Elmo phone, an Elmo ball and an Elmo book but we haven't really made a big deal out of saying "Look, Easton. This is Elmo". You're just a smartie and figured it out all on your own. Since you were so good at story time and because I realized you LOVE Momo and we have so little of him in our house, Mama took you to ToysRUs today and you got to pick out an Elmo for your very own. You chose one that talks and is really fuzzy. Just the one I would have chosen for you if you weren't with me.

It's fun now that you're old enough to choose things for yourself. I really enjoy seeing you study your options and really seem to think about your choice before you finally decide. Also, you LOVE music! We were shopping and went by a display where they were playing big band music. You started bopping up and down in the cart and smiling real big. It was pretty cute. Also, today you heard some rap music and did the same thing. I'm glad you enjoy a wide variety of music, little man, but Mama would much prefer if you didn't like rap, OK?

Thanks for being my sunny, funny boy.
Love,
Mama

P.S. Hopefully anybody reading this isn't thinking I totally feed my son junk all the time. He really eats lots of fruits and veggies, I promise! :)

If I could just muster up a portion of the enthusiasm for my homework as I have for shopping online, life would be good. Seriously. I know I said when I started these classes that I can do anything for 5 1/2 weeks but bleh! This ethics class I'm in just totally does not do it for me.

Sociology was just as boring and I escaped with a C+. I'm disappointed about that grade but that was one class I was just glad to be done with. Plus, I was sick as a dog for most of it and I think I just did the bare minimum just to get by. But I made up for it the next class with an A so all is good. Right now I'm taking "Philosophy of Human Conduct". Next up is "Intro to Ethics and Social Responsibility". ZZZZZzzzzzzzzz!!!!!! Come on! This is basically just a repeat of what I read about in sociology!

Can't I take some fun classes yet? Intro to Early Childhood Ed? Children's Literature? Language Devlopment? Something, ANYTHING but more sociology/ethics/philosophy classes! And in each class you have to do a minimum of one research paper per class. This class I have to do two papers. So every 2-5 weeks I'm doing a research paper. Even the times I don't wait until the last minute I still dread writing these papers about as much as I dread going to the dentist.

Oh man. I can't finish this boring stuff fast enough. I'd really much rather be doing anything other than writing an essay today but off I go. Wish me luck. I'm gonna need it.

Well, we've got baby2's potential arrival date scheduled. I'm scheduled for my pre-op visit Weds May 27th at 9:15 am and then I'll have my c-section the next day (time to be announced at the pre-op visit). I'm excited we can start planning when people will be here to visit. We're really hoping to have someone here all the time for the first few weeks. My mom is coming out for the big day (and hopefully once before too!) and might get to stay until about June 6th or so. Anyone else want to plan a trip? Come out on June 6th and we'll just make one trip to the airport! :) Let us know if you want to come out and we'll make sure we have an empty guest bed. We really truly want everyone to come out that wants to, so don't be afraid we'll be overwhelmed with too much company. And want a hint? Tuesdays through Thursdays are cheap travel days if you fly Southwest. If you're coming from OK, OKC has a non-stop flight to BWI (Baltimore-Washington International) that you can usually find a decent price on if you book early. Dulles is about the same distance from our house but usually way more expensive.
Just let us know. We can't wait to see you!

Thanks to my friend Mandy for reminding me about this. I never followed up with a post about using my Restaurant.com gift certificates. So far we've used them at three different places and never had a problem with any of them. The server just takes $25 off of the bill and I just smile to myself at all the money it saves us. You should try it!
As a matter of fact, I think they're running a special again for 80% off.

Here's part of the email I get from a site called couponmom.com:

Save 80% on Restaurant.com Certificates with code DINE

Pay only $2 for a $25 gift certificate. Be smart,
at this price get a $100 certificate for
only $8. Certificates do not expire
for a full year, stock up now! It's not too
early to think about Mother's Day
and Father's Day gifts at this price.

Trying to figure out how to use this new spice I bought, I did some research. Wanna know more about turmeric? I can hear you saying an excited "Yeah!" right now. :)

The following info was taken from http://hubpages.com/hub/Turmeric-milk-pickle-Recipes

Turmeric also known as the Indian Saffron is a member of the ginger family and widely used because of its anti-inflammatory, antioxidant and antiseptic
properties. Turmeric is a perennial shrub that is grown in India and other tropical areas of Asia. This spice is also used as food color and to add flavor in Indian cuisine. Turmeric is a significant ingredient of most curry powders, beauty creams and antiseptics. In India turmeric is considered to be auspicious and also have a religious significance. Turmeric is used in hindu religious rituals. In some parts of India turmeric and milk mixture is offered while doing Snake worship. There is also a tradition of haldi ceremony where turmeric paste is applied to bride and groom before marriage in some places of India, Bangladesh and Pakistan.
The active chemical component of Turmeric is curcumin which is believed to reduce inflammation by reducing histamine levels and also stimulate the adrenal glands and is effective in treating joint pains and artheritis. Research has proved suggest that turmeric protects the liver from the bad effects of certain toxins, including alcohol. It
is also said to protect against heart attacks and strokes. Turmeric is also an
excellent digestive aid.Research on Curcumin as also showed some anti-cancer
properties. It is also said to be good for Alzheimers's Disease. Turmeric mixed in warm Milk is said to strengthen bones. Turmeric milk can also be used for treating colds, Asthma and for reducing pain associated with arthritis if consumed 2-3 times a day.

Ooh yeah. Let me just go mix up some turmeric milk right now. YUCK!!!! Guess I'll only be using it for this one dish. Just as I feared. Good thing it wasn't expensive!

Has anybody ever noticed I tend to forget to put enough spaces between my sentences? Yep. I usually only put one space when I'm supposed to put two. I know. Now that I've noticed this about myself it drives me crazy. Does it bother anybody else? Probably not. I'm just weird like that I guess. But if it DOES bother anybody, just know it is a VERY hard habit to break. I'm working on it. :)

Whew! I'm tired! I had such a good day today though. Sometimes I have tons of energy and can go all day long almost like I used to before I was pregnant and other times it's all I can do not to sleep the whole day away. This morning, I got up before my alarm went off, ate breakfast, got dressed (with hair and makeup no less! holy cow!), got Easton up and got out the door all by 8:30 am. That is no small feat for me, let me tell you!

I had an appointment today but it wasn't until 10:15 so I went to Target to shop for baby stuff and stuff to organize my office and scrapbook supplies. I found some great stuff at Target but didn't really buy much because I wanted to take Jason and get his input before I bought any of it. We left Target and then went to pick up Jason at work.

I had my appointment (just a checkup-nothing too exciting.) and everything looks good. I get to call on Monday and schedule my c-section. I'm looking forward to having a date to meet this baby! And that way we can start making plans for visitiors too! Anybody want to come visit? We're trying to schedule it so we have people here for quite some time after the baby is born. I am kinda freaking out about not being able to pick up Easton for 6 weeks after the c-section. Poor little guy! I don't think he'll be able to understand why mama can't pick him up and I'm feeling a little guilty about that. I'm sure we'll manage though and hopefully he'll come out of it needing little to no therapy. :)

After my appointment, we all went to lunch at Texas Steakhouse. Oh my goodness, it was so good!!!! Probably TOO good. Now I'll be wanting to go back again really soon. Delicious! After lunch, Easton and I dropped Jason back off at work and I went to pick out some new glasses. My current ones are all scratched up and I am several months overdue for a new pair. I ordered some new ones (very similar to the ones I'm wearing now) and then we went to Walmart.

Easton was such a sweetie in Walmart today. He did about drive me BANANAS by saying 'nana over and over and OVER again! I bet he must have said 'nana 75-100 times during the course of our LONG Walmart trip. I finally stopped the cart and said "YES Easton! We have bananas! See?!" I wasn't mad at Easton, I just wished with all my heart that he would pick another word already! Then I laughed at myself for getting so worked up about it because I am THRILLED that he is talking at all! :) Yep Dad, you were right. You DO spend months trying to get them to talk and the rest of their lives trying to get them to shut up! haha

After Walmart, I drove home, put Easton down for a nap, put the groceries away, made dinner, and helped Jason give Easton a bath and put him to bed. Then I shopped for a bit online (baby2's registry at Target -FUN!) and then finally settled down to do my homework. Now it's midnight and I'm totally exhausted. Thankfully we have nowhere to go tomorrow and nothing to do except hang out at home.

By the way...what do you all think about registering for a 2nd baby? I'm not sure how I feel about it. I wasn't going to at all because we have most everything baby-related that we need. We sure are lucky to have such generous friends and family. I was overwhelmed by all the gifts we received before Easton was born! Thank you everybody!!! I certainly don't want anybody to feel obligated at all to buy us stuff just because I did that but several people have asked about it and I figured that would be the quickest way to answer their questions...just be able to say "yes, I'm registered at Target".

If Baby 2 is a boy, we certainly have the clothes part covered! The only thing is that this baby will be born at the end of May and Easton was born at the end of October. I'm not sure if the seasons will match up to the sizes of clothes we have but I'm sure some will work OK. Of course, we have to get a crib. Easton's grows with him all the way to a full-sized bed so we needed a 2nd one. (Thanks, Dad and Tina!) And I'm determined to deck out Baby 2's room just as much as Easton's is so there's no hurt feelings over Easton's room being more "done" than this little one's just because Easton was born first. (See, kids? Mom tries REALLY hard already to make sure things are fair and Baby 2 isn't even born yet!) Anyway, opinions or thoughts about this would be appreciated. Is it greedy? I hope not! Is it the smart thing to do? I hope so! Let me know.
Good night and happy weekend!

P.S. I bought lots of tomatillos at Walmart today. Guess what that means? Expect a review of that much anticipated enchilada recipe some time next week. I think I'll be making it on Sunday. It better be good! I'll let you know.

Baby 2,
Like that nickname, little one? Looks like you'll have it for at least another month or so. I went to the doctor today and tried like crazy to get them to take a look at you and tell me whether I should buy you pink or blue clothes but they decided they wanted to keep me in suspense for another month. I did shop a lot for your nursery anyway today. I think we'll do something with lots of yellow and brown and ABCs and 123s. That way we can hurry up and get your room done without waiting til close to the end. I get to call the doctor on Monday and schedule the day you might get to be born. That's a pretty exciting thing, if you ask me. What do you think about May 27th or 28th? That's about the time they told me to expect. We'll see though. I may go ahead and schedule it but you may have other plans in mind. Just whatever you do, make sure you're really good and ready, ok? We are very anxious to meet you but you just take all the time you need to make sure you're healthy and ready to meet us, OK?
I love you, little one! I'm thinking of you all the time and can't wait to see your sweet face.
Love,
Mama

Easton,
You said "car" for the first time today. Yesterday you were only able to say "k, k, k" but we knew you were saying "car". This morning, we were eating breakfast and I was telling you about our plans for the day. I said "want to go for a ride in the car?" and you said "car" just as plain as day. I am continually amazed at what you can do. Just the fact that today you can say one more word than you could yesterday just tickles your mama to death. You were such a trooper today! We ran errands all day long and you didn't really get much of a nap until very late in the day. But throughout the day, if you were tired, you never even made a peep about it, you just went along for the ride, talking up a storm the entire day. When we went to Walmart, you said "'nana, 'nana, 'nana" about a million times until I finally showed you that YES we have bananas in our cart! You love those 'nanas! :) The day before yesterday, you had your 15 month check up. In the last 3 months you gained 3 pounds and grew two inches. No wonder you outgrow your clothes so fast!
I love you, my little man!
Love,
Mama
P.S. Now for the embarrassing part...quit pooping in the tub!!! It's really gross!

Update on the previous recipe:
Tonight we tried the mocha version of the coffee freeze. YUCK! Normally we LOVE mochas around here but not for this!
Our favorite was the original version but made w/french vanilla pudding mix and 2 tbsp coffee instead of just one. Delicious!

I love recipes that essentially save me money. I really like those fancy coffee drinks that cost a fortune. Most times I don't treat myself because we're trying to really cut down on all extras to put away money to pay bills and buy stuff for Baby 2. But when I was visiting www.kraftfoods.com, I lucked into finding THIS:

Cool 'n Creamy Coffee Freeze

Prep Time: 5 min
Makes: 4 servings, about 3/4 cup each

What You Need
1 cup milk
ice cubes
1 cup COOL WHIP Whipped Topping (Do not thaw.)
1 pkg. (4-serving size) JELL-O Vanilla Flavor Instant Pudding
1 Tbsp. MAXWELL HOUSE Instant Coffee

POUR milk into 1-qt. glass measuring cup. Add enough ice to measure 3 cups. Pour into blender. Add frozen whipped topping, dry pudding mix and coffee granules. BLEND on high speed until smooth. POUR into four glasses. Serve immediately.

• Try our Healthy Living version of Cool ‘n Creamy Coffee Freeze. Made with fat-free milk, COOL WHIP LITE Whipped Topping and JELL-O Fat Free Sugar Free Instant Pudding, it saves 80 calories and 2 grams of fat per serving.
  
• Mocha Freeze: Prepare as directed, using JELL-O Chocolate Instant Pudding.

Now, I can afford to have my fancy schmancy coffee drink and feel like I'm really not spending all that much money. Woohoo! Gotta love that!

I blame YOU, Tyler Florence!

Pregnancy has always brought (for me anyway) crazy CRAZY dreams. To add to the weirdness, I've been watching a LOT of Food Network lately. I watched Tyler make his Ultimate Chicken Enchiladas with Roasted Tomatillo Salsa and couldn't help but be intrigued by an ingredient I've seen in the store but never used - tomatillos. I looked up the recipe and even printed it out to add to my "to make soon" recipe pile. (That is one SERIOUSLY big pile of recipes. Somebody stop me!) Then I thought I sorta pushed all thoughts of tomatillos and enchiladas out of my head for a while...at least until I could go to the grocery store and get the ingredients.

While I was printing the recipe out online, I checked out some of the comments to see what others said about it. Most people poopoohed Tyler's use of flour tortillas instead of the more traditional corn. They said that in most traditional enchilada dishes use corn and leave the flour tortillas for making burritos. I like flour but I resolve to try this recipe with corn if that's what the comments say should be done. Also, I bought a new spice just for making the yellow rice that accompanies this dish. Turmeric. I wonder what else I can use this new spice for. I HATE buying a spice if it's something I probably will not use again. It seems such a waste of space in my spice drawer and money too. I bet you I'll be doing an ingredient search for turmeric in the near future to find other uses for my newly purchased spice.

Fast forward to last night. I had a dream (dreamed? dreamt?) that I was cooking this recipe for my huge family. Only it turns out that now my family is Hispanic. I'm the only white girl in this whole entire family and they're all looking at me like "What's your problem? What do you mean you don't know how to husk and chop a tomatillo?" And yes, every other sentence included the word "tomatillo". I guess subconciously I love that word. Tomatillo. Say it with me now "tomatillo". Just rolls right off the tongue, doesn't it? :) My huge hispanic family then proceded to tell me how I'd better not even THINK of using flour tortillas in this dish, nevermind the fact that when I make tortillas I LOVE the way the flour tortillas get all lightly browned and slightly crunchy on the ends...YUM!!!

Anyway, I woke up from this very bizarre dream laughing at myself for being such a weirdo. I mean thankfully this dream was about something funny instead of the normal pregnancy-induced shoot-em-up, bloodbath dreams I usually have where everyone I love ends up being killed by some psychopath. I'll take dreaming about food and Tyler Florence anyday!

Here's the recipe that inspired my tomatillo love-fest dream:
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/tyler-florence/chicken-enchiladas-with-roasted-tomatillo-chile-salsa-recipe/index.htmlp://
You should make it. I know I'm going to. I'll be sure to post the results when I do. :)

Happy Friday the 13th! Thought I'd do something special in honor of the day.
I found this idea on a blog I read and really liked it.
http://asimplewalk.blogspot.com/2009/02/13-lessons-motherhood-has-taught-me.html
Here's my list:

13 things Motherhood has taught me

1. There is nothing sweeter than the sound of your baby calling you mama.
2. It's inevitable...the only doctor's office appointment available will be during your child's nap time.
3. People really are basically nice. I've had more doors opened for me while pushing Easton's stroller than I ever imagined.
4. Old historic homes do not make good doctor's office buildings. Try getting a stroller up a flight of stairs.
5. No matter how many times you sweep the floor, you will still step on at least one Cheerio or goldfish cracker every time you walk through the kitchen.
6. Real live goldfish can go an extremely long time without being fed. (SORRY Mr. Fish! Won't happen again!)
7. No matter how many times a day your child says a new word, it's guaranteed they'll quit the minute you pick up the phone to show off to their grandparents.
8. A fifteen month old can eat more food in one sitting than you would have ever thought possible. Sometimes even more food than YOU can eat!
9. Something as simple as a favorite food (a banana) can make your kids so happy they giggle.
10. The dirtiest diapers ALWAYS happen away from home.
11. Since having E, I now know where almost every single baby-friendly restroom is in Winchester, VA and which places to avoid at all costs. GROSS!
12. It is possible to change a squirmy baby's dirty diaper on your lap. Possible but not always pretty.
13. Even when you're completely worn out, all it takes is one smile or sweet gesture from your child and suddenly you're not quite as tired as before.

One class down, 14 to go. I just turned in my research project and finished up my Computer Literacy class. Today I start an Ethics clss that should prove to be interesting. Most days I'm feeling great. I've been going to see my amazing chiropractor Dr. H. I've been having a lot of low back pain if I stand too long. He says nothing is out of place and that it's just muscle spasms from carrying Easton around and probably from the growing belly from baby number two. Wondering why you haven't seen a picture of that baby belly? I try to stay as far away from cameras these days as I can. Sorry to those of you who are anxiously awaiting that picture. Some day I'm sure I'll let Jason take one or two and if they're decent they may end up here but seriously? I'm NOT a fan of showing off my belly, pregnant or otherwise. :)

Easton's keeping me busy these days. He's walking a few steps at a time but mostly prefers to crawl because it gets him where he's going faster than that scary old walking stuff does. He's talking up a storm. Mostly he just jabbers away but he's learning more recognizable words every day. His favorite thing to do is look out the dining room window. It's just the perfect height for him to see out of without standing on anything. He'll stand there for a long time just looking out at the world and jabbering away. It's pretty cute.

Baby 2 is very active. Kicking and moving a LOT more than Easton ever did. I'm tired a lot of the time. I mean REALLY tired!!! Sometimes I take 2 little naps or one very long nap while Easton sleeps. I'm taking that extra sleep wherever I can get it these days because when the new little one comes along, there will be much less time for that!

The weather is warming up a little. I'm sure winter weather will be back and just as ugly as before but I am truly enjoying the warmer days when they come along. I can't WAIT for spring! I am SO not a cold weather person at all! On Sunday it was nice outside so I got out and trimmed up our rose bushes and cut away all the dead plants in the front yard. It was nice to be out in the fresh air and get the front yard looking good but that's all I got done because I just can't do too much without getting worn out. And the bad thing about that? I was sitting down to do all that hard work! :) Just shows how out of shape I am and how easily I get tired now that I'm 6 months along. Wow! 6 months already? This baby will be here before we know it. Boy, we've got a lot of work to do to get ready before then! I'm tired just thinking about it. :)

Easton,
Holy cow! You said three new words in one day yesterday! In the morning you said "yogurt" (gogo) , later in the day you said "sock" (soc) and when Daddy came home you cracked us up when you said "star". It came out more like TAR over and over but by golly you finally said it. Too cute! You have quite the vocabulary now. You say "nana" (for Nana and also banana), "bo" (which can mean book, bear, or ball), of course "mama" and "dada". You can tell us what a cow says (mmm), what a monkey says (ooh, ooh, hoo), what a snake says (ssss) and what a lion says (roar). I love at the end of every book when we close the book and you say "the end". You are so smart! It's just amazing to me when I think about all the new things you do. Where is my little baby? In some ways I kinda miss that sweet little snuggly boy but I am so excited to see who you are growing up to be. You are constantly in motion these days. It's a very special thing when I get to snuggle with you or when you let me rock you a few minutes and sing to you. Most of the time you just really don't want to be still enough for that but those rare times you decide you need some cuddle time with Mama are the highlight of my day.
I'm trying very hard to quit calling you my "baby" because you are growing up more every day.
I love you, my little man!
Love,
Mama
P.S. Thanks for being a good napper! Mama takes a nap when you do and these days I really need it!

Hey, look! I got an award! :) My aunt Lynna over at Okie Sister http://okiesister.typepad.com/ awarded me the Lemonade Award for attitude and/or gratitude.

Instructions: 1. Put the logo on your blog or post. 2. Nominate at least 8 blogs which show great attitude and/or gratitude. 3. Link to your nominees within your post. 4. Let them know that they have received this award by commenting on their blog. 5. Share the love and link to this post and to the person from whom you received your award.

Hmmm...now let's see if I can get all these links to work. I'm not so great at that but I'll try. :)

And the award goes to...

1. Jenni from http://keepinupwiththejoneses.blogspot.com/ and http://p90xourjourney.blogspot.com/

2. Gayle from http://grace4gayle.blogspot.com/ and http://grocerycartchallenge.blogspot.com/

How do they have time to keep up with 2 blogs each?! I can barely keep up with this one! :)

But I do love keeping up with all four of these great blogs. Gayle inspires me to try to feed my little family on the cheap (I am still in awe of her fantastic bargains every week!) and my friend Jenni inspires me to get off my booty and get movin'! (Jen, I wish I lived closer...I'm gonna need a workout buddy after June!) Both of these ladies have such great attitudes and fun blogs. Check them out if you have a chance.

Baby,
(you know, I'd really like to be able to call you something OTHER than just "baby" one day soon!)
Mama and Daddy have started reading to you already. It feels funny reading to my big belly but I'm pretty sure you like it. You get really still. It's almost like you're listening to us. I read one of Easton's favorite books to you..."Moo, Baa, La la la" by Sandra Boynton. I'm sure you will love it too. Most kids I know do. You're still kicking up a storm in there. You didn't really like it when I went to the chiropractor yesterday and laid on the table on my belly. Sorry if I squished you a little but trust me, I needed to!
I'm trying to be better about what I eat. Eating more vegetables and less junk. Drinking more water and less caffeine. Hopefully you like what I'm eating 'cause, well, you pretty much don't have a say in the matter right now, do you? :)
I love you already!
Love,
Mama

Easton,
Sweet boy, it is 9:08 pm and I can still hear you in your room next door talking to yourself. I know you don't want to go to sleep and miss all the fun you think Mama and Daddy are having but Daddy is watching Glenn Beck on tv and Mama is working on a research paper. Trust me, you are not missing anything! We had such a fun day today playing in the living room and being silly but if you don't go to sleep soon, you'll be cranky tomorrow for sure! Go to sleep!
Love,
Mama
P.S. On second thought, the later you stay up, the later you're likely to sleep tomorrow. Mama's gonna be up for a while working on this paper and might not get to bed for a while. Go ahead and stay up as long as you want but just make sure to sleep later and not be cranky tomorrow, OK? :)

P.P.S. I got an award! More on that when I am not procrastinating writing a research paper. But I just really wanted to say "Wowee! Thanks!" to Okie Sister. Love you!

Happy SuperBowl Day! (Jason says this should be a holiday.)

We were invited to two Super Bowl parties but Jason's been working so much we decided we didn't feel like going anywhere. Sometimes it's nice to just hang out at home. We made my sister's Super Bowl Rollups, spinach dip and chili cheese dip and just plan on lounging around on the couch eating junk and hanging out. Jason will watch the game and I'll watch the commercials. Even Easton will get to see a little of the game. Easton says "Go Cardinals!"
I went to the grocery store today to get a few items to make the above mentioned junk food and you should have seen the place! It was PACKED! And almost every single person there was wearing some sort of Steelers t-shirt or hat. I don't have a Cardinal's shirt but if I had been wearing one I think I might have been beaten up...or at the very least would have been tarred and feathered. These people up here are some serious Steelers fans! Me? I don't care one way or the other really but I usually cheer for the underdogs and since the Cardinals have never been to the Super Bowl, they're my pick.
Here's the recipe for my sister's yummy Super Bowl Rollups. Enjoy!

Bonnie's Super Bowl Rollups

2-3 pkgs tortillas (large size)
1 small can olives, chopped
1/2 jar jalapeños, diced
2 pkgs taco seasoning
2 8oz pkgs cream cheese
16 oz sour cream
2-3 green onions, chopped
salsa for dipping

Mix all ingredients in food processor. Pulse until well blended.
Spread a thin layer onto each tortilla. Roll. Cut into slices.
Serve with salsa for dipping.

***This makes a LOT of rollups. You could probably cut this recipe in half pretty easily if you’re not making this for a crowd.