The Great Outdoors!

It's January 30th and 64 degrees outside!!!! Of course, I finally thought it was warm enough to let Emma explore the great outdoors!

I'm going to attempt to tell the future.... I think Emma is going to love summer and helping me with our gigantic yard! Check out the footage.

Hopefully she'll be a great helper picking up sticks this summer.

This was about an hour after we were outside....

I think I am going to like her burning some of the crazy amount of energy she has this summer too!

After lunch, we went back outside! (my hope was that the fresh air would tucker her out again and she'd nap well... we'll see)

It wasn't a phase. She picked up leaves after lunch too!

Can you say, "Cutest kid alive!"

Leaves, leaves, leaves...

Beautiful!

Her feelings towards snow.... (mine too!)

Hmm....

An after lunch snack....?

....yes.

Then, we took a stroll in the driveway. She's not much for sitting, so we'll see how the stroller goes this afternoon. So, I thought letting her wander in the driveway was good enough for now!

This last weekend was a big weekend.... for me. I spent my first night away from Emma, and I'm still alive!!!!! I was a bit nervous leaving her and I don't think it mattered who took care of her... she's our baby. Jay's mom came down and watched her and did such a wonderful job! I made myself not call or text her because I have all the trust in the world in her. Emma and Grandma did great and I know I'll be 100% more comfortable the next time after the results this time!

Wearing her 'Grandma's Crazy About Me!' shirt!

I forgot to explain why we went away! Jay's Holiday Party for work was Saturday night in Ames. We had such a enjoyable night, eating, chatting, and enjoying some dueling pianos! It was wonderful to finally meet a lot of the people Jay works with and put some faces with names!

We forgot to take a picture before we went to the party, so this is at 12:15am....
but none-the-less it's a picture of our first night away!

This is for MaryBeth!! I grew my nails out!!

I asked Emma to smile this morning with her kitty!

Tippy Toes!

Snack time!

Last, a recipe!!!! 

Found, of course, on Pinterest!

Cheesecake Factory's Raspberry Lemonade

Ingredients

1 cup water

1 cup white sugar

1 1/2 cup fresh or frozen raspberries

1 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice

Directions

1. Bring the cup of water to boil. Add sugar and stir constantly until sugar is dissolved. 

(doesn't take that long)

2. Put raspberries in blender and add mixture from #1 in. Puree until smooth.

3. Put lemon juice into a 2 quart pitcher. Add #2 mixture to it. Then, add enough water to fill the container. 

4. Chill before serving. Sugar the rims for the extra cute look. :)

Tip: Strain the mixture if you can, there's lots of raspberry seeds that most people probably wouldn't want to drink.

I can't wait for summer to drink this in the backyard with just about anyone and bask in the sun!!!!!

Hope you are enjoying the weather today!

Cookin' Up A Storm!

I honestly think that Pinterest has given a lot of confidence in the kitchen! I'm a visual person so when I would look up new recipes to try, they 'sounded' good, but I could never imagine what they looked like. Therefore, I LOVE Pinterest for this reason!

Next week, I'll be trying quite a few from my Recipes I'm Going to Try board, but this week I remade one. You can make these in a muffin tin, but there was too much dough and not enough meat for our family when I made them this small.  

BBQ Beef Pies!

Ingredients

1 lb Beef

BBQ Sauce

Green Pepper, chopped

Onion, chopped

1 Roll of Biscuits

Cheese, if desired (who doesn't want cheese!?!)

Directions

1. Brown the beef. Add as much BBQ Sauce to the meat as you'd like.

2. Saute the green pepper and onion in some olive oil. Mix with beef when done cooking.

3. Take the biscuits and flatten them a bit. 

4. Place beef, pepper, onion mixture onto biscuit and add cheese to the top. Then take another biscuit and place onto of the other one. Press the outer edge of the biscuits together. 

5. Bake in the oven at 350 for 10 minutes. Flip and cook for another 5-10 minutes until brown. I added a little cheese to the top of our for the look aspect of it, but you don't have to. 

I normally eat one and am full!

And here is Miss Emma.

Wearing her new vest I had to get her at Target a while ago!!

I think Emma loves being in her high chair. 

She is sooooo smiley in it and no where else!

She kept leaning in toward the camera. Check out those eyes!

And eyebrows!!!

Look at all my teeth!

She was really excited to play with this empty pill bottle. 

And then she did this.... which means it's not a toy anymore.

Emma has started wearing jeans!!!

3 Ways Emma is Like Her Daddy

People always ask, "Who do you think Emma looks like?" Unless it's really, really obvious in a baby, I can't really tell. But lately, I've been seeing things in Emma that reflect both of us. Here is the top 3 list of how Emma is like her daddy so far.

1. She is really strong! Every toy she has she insists on picking up. Even her 4-5' long kitchen Jay's parents brought her. She squats down, just like daddy, and tries to lift it. She hasn't accomplished lifting this kitchen up, but I'm sure she will sooner than later!

  Up and over the head, focus, and tear it apart!!!

Here's another video showing off her muscles. My favorite part of this video is at the beginning. Look at those top two teeth coming in!!!!!

2. Eggs.... but there's a catch. We let Emma try eggs with us at breakfast this weekend. AND....... She loved them!!!! I made some for her last night for supper, and she wouldn't touch them. Now, I was a little confused. But, I remembered that when we eat breakfast on the weekends we put hot (or in my case mild) sauce on our eggs. Jay got me hooked on it and guess what................. Emma is hooked too! I put some mild sauce on the eggs and she ate them right up! Crazy kid! 

3. Another food one. Emma would rather eat a good, hearty meal than sweets. 

There is more to this post than just the list! Jay's parents came down Saturday to celebrate Emma's birthday. Here she is opening her present.

Lifting it up!

A baby!!!

She loves her already.

Giving Baby Stella her bottle. 

They do such a great job at picking out presents for her. The pacifier and bottle are magnetic to the mouth of the baby. Emma LOVES carrying her around. Hopefully when Baby #2 comes Emma can care for Baby Stella while I care for Baby #2!

And a chatty video of Emma.

Strutting her stuff in her new outfit and shoes!

She's growing up so fast!

Last, my 2 favorite pictures I've taken in quite a long time. We love this little girl so much!

Font-O & Enchiladas

Well, it wasn't a typo but at least 3 people have asked me if the big cupcake tin took fifteen (15) boxes and it didn't. Praise the Lord! It took one and a half (1.5). I think the font I'm using makes the periods twenty thousand times smaller and makes it even hard for me to see. So it wasn't a typo; it was a font-o.    :)
Oh smiley faces look weird too, but I just love the font too much to find another one quite yet.  

On to the new recipe!

Easy Chicken & Cheese Enchiladas
Ingredients:
1 can (10 3/4 oz) Cream of Chicken Soup
1/2 Cup Sour Cream
1 cup Picante Sauce (or Salsa)
2 tsp Chili Powder ( I didn't use this)
2 cups Chopped Cooked Chicken
1/2 cup Shredded Monterey Jack Cheese
6 Flour Tortillas
1 Small Tomato, chopped
1 Green Onion, sliced

Directions:
1. Heat oven to 350F. Stir soup, sour cream, picante sauce, and chili powder in medium bowl.

2. Stir 1 (one) cup soup mixture (from step 1), chicken and cheese in large bowl.

3. Divide chicken mixture among tortillas. Roll up tortillas and place seam-side down. Pour remaining soup mixture over filled tortillas. Cover baking dish.

4. Bake 40 minutes or until enchiladas are hot and bubbling. Top with tomato and onion.

Wala!

Some tips: I baked the chicken and then pulled it apart and did all of the mixing during Emma's nap. That way all I had to do when it was about time for dinner was put the mixture in the tortillas and put it in the oven. I was going to try getting the dish completely ready, but I think the soup/sour cream/salsa mixture may make the tortillas soggy if I did that part a head of time.

Also, I always ask Jay what he thinks when I make new recipes. Both of us thought there was a little too much sauce (the step 1 mixture). So next time, I'll use probably 1/2 the amount OR just make twice as much!!!!! 

Hope this helps. Oh and to give credit when credit is due, this is a Campbell's recipe. 

Mmmm, Mmmmm good!

Happy 1st Birthday Emma!

The day started out with breakfast. Emma wanted to pick out her own strawberries from the container, and I thought since it was her birthday, I'd let her. 

She proceeded to only eat the 'greens' of the strawberry!!!

Hello eyebrows!!

Big smile for the birthday girl!

Mmmmm Daddy's favorite lunch dish. It's all mine!

A little tongue spitting out.

 The festivities!!! 

Thank you Jennifer (and Colleen, I believe) for the decorations!

One day, at Bed, Bath, & Beyond, Jay saw a giant cupcake mold and insisted that we get it for Emma's birthday. Here is what it makes, only 1.5 boxes of cake required!

Happy Birthday!!

I think she was a little afraid of the cupcake, not the response we thought we'd get from her. 

Yikes!

And she wasn't very happy about the frosting on her fingers. 

After a bath, it was present time! Emma's big present from us was a pair of shoes. She's going to wear them out soon enough with all the walking she's doing! 

It's crazy to think that almost to the minute a year ago Emma was born. We love you little lady and can't wait to see how you grow in the next year!