Twilight, oh yeah

Over vacation I was introduced to the book series 'Twilight' by Stephenie Meyer. THANKS NICOLE! It's a young adult fiction, I've seen it classified as a thriller-romance. I blasted through all three books in three days, just couldn't put it down. Imagine how elated I was when I found out that they are making it into a movie and it is coming out in December!! I am so there! December 12th...the calendar is marked! For all you Potter fans, Robert Pattinson who is Cedric Diggory, will be playing one of the main characters.

Meal Plans

I know I often feel like I'm in a cooking rut...having the same dinners every week. So here's what we're having for a week. A bit of a disclaimer: We just got back from visiting Nicole and David. We ate well so I'm feeling motivated to cook well and our new kitchen table helps too! Not all weeks are this planned and tasty. I'm also trying the pork fajitas that we ate there that were delish!

Tuesday
Warm Chicken Caesar Salad, Steamed Veggies
This was a recipe I stumbled upon when I needed a quick meal and went digging through my cupboards. I had a box of Rice-A-Roni's Long Grain and Wild Rice. I went to their website and you can search recipes by which of their products you have. This dish is the rice with chicken in it and has caesar dressing mixed in that. You serve it on top of lettuce. Seems a little different than what we're used to, but it was a hit!

Wednesday
I went out to dinner with some friends for a baby shower so Kirk had Tuesday's leftovers. That's easy!

Thursday
Garlic Chicken Farfalle, Salad, Steamed Veggies
I saw this recipe on the website of Becky Higgins. It's about halfway down the page. Anyway, sounds good and it uses a crockpot so I'm totally in. Update since I typed this: it is soo good! I didn't use the whole bottle of marinade, you really don't need to.

Friday
Chicken Pad Thai
We bought the rice noodles at an Asian market. The sauce is actually a jar in the ethnic section of the grocery store, brand is Thai Kitchen. Just follow the directions on the jar. But the basics...we mix chicken, scrambled eggs, bean sprouts, and cilantro in it. Top it with some lime juice.

Saturday
Cafe Rio Recipes...Pork Fajitas, Lime Rice, Creamy Cilantro Dressing
Yeah, just the name sounds phenomenal! It is a great meal (Nicole made it for us). It's a long recipe (and I'm feeling a lil lazy!) so e-mail me if you want it.

Sunday
Sweet and Sour Chicken Packets
This meal consists of chicken, Kikoman Sweet and Sour sauce, green peppers, carrots, red onions, pineapple. It's tossed together and thrown in foil packets for about 25 minutes. Served over rice.

Monday
Spaghetti, Salad, Steamed Veggies, Bread

Tuesday
Chicken Broccoli Bake
Recipe courtesy of Debbie Sev...it's good! We've been serving it over rice. I've been using half white, half brown.

Vacation

We just got back from a great week in North Carolina, hence the dead blog!! We stayed with Kirk's sister and brother-in-law and visited his other sister as well. They live just outside of Raleigh. We expected to have an awesome time and we weren't disappointed! I was nervous about the two hour plane ride with Bruce. Let me just say that this boy exceeded my hopes for a smooth flight. He slept almost the whole time! We arrived last Tuesday with Nicole picking us up at the airport. Nicole meeting Bruce...


We hung out with Nicole, April, and the boys that evening. Watched a little American Idol so I'm up on whose good and whose not...see ya Jason Castro! One morning we went bowling...


Hooray for our date day! Friday morning Kirk and I went to the Raleigh Temple. Then that evening we went to a Japanese grill for some great food and stopped off at Borders to hang out and for me to pick up Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer. More about that later! Thank you so much Nicole and David for watching Bruce. We haven't been out since Christmas just two of us!


We went to cheer on Hayden at his soccer game. His coach is a nice guy, lol...it's David.


Picked Mom Wing up at the airport Saturday afternoon and rolled over to Aprils for some barbecue courtesy of Lauren. Her townhouse is super cute!

I'm glad we got a chance to play a few games of Pictionary and then a game of Settlers with David. Let me say that the girls pulled Saturday night's win in Pictionary from downtown! Kirk and David were at the end and we weren't even half-way through the board. We rocked it!! GG boys!


Sunday we went to church and gathered for a group picture. Too bad David had to teach a class and the boys were in Primary!

So that's our trip in summary. Sad we couldn't visit longer, but glad to be home.

Hooray for Parents As Teachers!

We just had our first visit with our PAT Educator. She's very positive, informative, and great with Bruce! I'm super excited to have this program available.

P.S. We did pretty good on 1 out of 2 naps and bedtime tonight. Not too much fuss! What a difference that had on my day...today was a great day!

Baby Signing

I always aspired to teaching my babies sign language. I thought it would be cool to have a baby that could communicate in another language and helpful in understanding their needs. So I picked up a flip chart style book a few days ago. So far Bruce and I have been working on more, milk, and eat. The bonus is that I'm learning sign language as well, which I've always wanted to do.

Not Just Meat and Potatoes

Lately our ward's Relief Society has been hosting activities around informing and encouraging the use of whole grains, legumes, vegetables, and fruits in our diets. Basically the principles taught in the Word of Wisdom! This also helps us to be prepared to actually be able to use those buckets of wheat in our food storage should the need arise.

It's been a slow progression, but this has really affected the way we eat. We're incorporating more fruits and vegetables in our meals, love Pink Lady apples! Talking about wheat: We get whole wheat bread instead of white. In our cookies we do half white flour, half wheat flour. There is a yummy wheat berry salad (see recipe below) that is a great side dish in our lunches. I've been trying to use honey instead of sugar (there are nutritional differences between the two).

If you're feeling inspired to try this out here are a few things I've learned (I'm by no means an expert!)...

- When opting for the wheat version of foods make sure it says "whole grain wheat" otherwise it's not the real stuff.

- Some groceries stores have fresh wheat available for you to grind yourself. Hy-Vee has one in the organic section. Also, it loses nutritional value the older it is. So freshly ground flour is better than that month old flour or even better than the flour that is pre-packaged.

- If I want my children to eat healthy then I better show them the way!

- I've found that I'm picky about lettuce. Sam's has a package of (6) Romaine Hearts that is usually very fresh and reasonably priced. Speaking of Sam's, the bulk packaging is conducive to eating more healthy. For example, I've been buying the large bag of carrots, pineapples, and oranges from there. I feel guilty when food goes bad so I'm sure to use those fresh items often.

- These recent experiences have really helped me to focus on the do's of the Word of Wisdom in addition to the don'ts. We can receive the blessings promised in the Word of Wisdom not only by avoiding the don'ts, but applying the do's.

- It can be overwhelming if you try to add everything in all at once, but little by little it can be done and will make a difference!

Wheat Berry Salad
from Betty Crocker Whole Grains

Wheat Berries
1 cup uncooked wheat berries
4 cups water

Creamy Vinaigrette Dressing
1/3 cup canola oil
2 Tbs mayonnaise
2 Tbs red wine vinegar
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/8 tsp pepper

Salad
1 cup chopped broccoli
1 cup chopped cauliflower
1 cup grape tomatoes, halved (I omit just cause I don't care for tomatoes : )
1 small green bell pepper, chopped (have made it without this when I haven't had it and it's still been great)
4 medium green onions, sliced (same thing with these onions, I've used red onions, diced)
1/2 cup crumbled feta

Soak wheat berries in water for 30 minutes. Heat to boiling over high heat. Reduce heat to low. Partially cover; simmer 55-60 minutes or until wheat is tender. Drain and rinse with cold water. In a small bowl, stir all dressing ingredients until well mixed. In a large serving bowl, toss wheat berries, salad ingredients, and dressing. Cover; refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

First...

vegetable, yummy carrots last Thursday!

Bruce did just fine with it. He may prove me wrong, but somehow I don't think he'll have a problem eating whatever we give him.

Helmet anyone?

Now that Bruce is more mobile he has managed to acquire several bruises on his head. Poor guy! Whether he's trying to gain his balance and stand up using a wall or is upset in his crib and in his tantrum he's flailing about...his head seems to be a magnet for every hard surface or edge.

On another note, one thing is for sure and that is he does not like his crib anymore. Whether this is a short phase or his new preference I am realizing that the majority of his recent fussiness centers around when he is tired and is getting put to bed. It may be the change in removing the bumper pad and lowering the mattress. It may be the few times I fed him laying down and we napped afterwards. I put him in the crib awake and he bawls. I put him in falling asleep and he bawls. I put him in it asleep and sometimes he wakes up and bawls. Hmm....guess there's no more sleeping in the crib...just kidding, I'm sure we'll work through this somehow.

Something I'm doing wrong?

This is written by a frustrated momma...Since mid-week last week Bruce has had times of extreme fussiness, which is unusual. He's not happy playing on the floor and he's not happy being held unless I'm walking around. When I lay him down for a nap he cries...loudly...and for quite some time. I try to give him a pacifier, which he's always liked before, but to no avail. I anxiously await Kirk's arrival home from work so I can have a break. I know it could be a lot worse (writing this has made me realize that), but it's hard! I'm cashing in a girl's night this week...I need it. What bothers me the most is that I don't know what's causing this. He's not running a fever, has a runny nose, a rash, or is underfed (that I can tell). He's settled down now. Goodness, I hope this gets better soon.

First...

half birthday, Bruce is 6 months old! Some things our little guy is doing now...

Sitting up and crawling around. Of course it's always after those objects that he shouldn't have. Two days ago he spit out a chewed up tag. It was from a stuffed animal he was playing with. Yesterday we found the rest of it...in his diaper. Let's just say, we have a lot of baby proofing to do!

Bruce is much more vocal. He screams sometimes, coos, and our recent favorite is the dadadada that he says with his jaw working up and down.

While I shower, Bruce is content in the bouncer. I remember the days of hurrying as fast as I could because I knew at any moment he would wake up and start crying. Outside our bathroom is a vanity and closet area with mirrored doors. He likes to look in the mirror and smile and will also look at me through the mirror, not directly.

Usually once a week we go up to Kirk's work and have lunch. Bruce is well known there. Kirk really loves to show off his boy!

In the morning and evening Bruce eats rice and oatmeal cereal. I used to put one of those plastic bibs on, but it seemed he was usually more interested in it than eating. Today was his first try with a sippy cup. He did well with that.

Our bedtime routine includes putting on pajamas (they are so cute, love the baby pjs), reading a book (Bruce tries to eat it, but it's beginning a habit right?), then saying our family prayers, and getting tucked in (okay, so there is no tucking...no blankets).

Tonight I was showering, my form of relaxation to what was a stressful afternoon. Thank goodness Kirk was listening to the baby monitor. Something sounded a little funny so he checked on Bruce. He quickly got me to come in and turned on the light. Bruce was standing up holding onto the rail! We hadn't lowered it since he's been in it. Well, that's what we did tonight. He sure is growing up!