Cooking

Since I last posted I have been in the kitchen a few times to try out new recipes.
The first was this recipe for homemade mac and cheese: http://www.marthastewart.com/316867/worlds-best-mac-and-cheese. It was touted as the "worlds best", I thought that it was just ok. I didn't use the Gruyere cheese, opting for more cheddar.
Next up was this recipe for chicken roll ups: http://www.plainchicken.com/2009/08/chicken-rollups-2.html. They were awesome! I got it from pinterest and one person did comment that they were going to change the amounts of spices used. One thing you should know if you are grabbing a recipe from me is that unless it is a pertinent ingredient I don't measure it, i.e. salt, pepper, garlic powder, etc. I shake it till I like the way it tastes. I highly recommend this one!
This past weekend I made this recipe for jalapeno stuffed chicken and had the parents over for a Sunday meal: http://cassiecraves.blogspot.com/2009/05/jalapeno-popper-stuffed-chicken.html. It too was fantastic! Everyone loved it and it was another great recipe to try to use up the jalapenos from the garden. Everyone did agree that I should have put more jalapenos in it.
The last new recipe that I tried was for fluffy sugar cookies:http://www.singforyoursupperblog.com/2011/09/02/soft-frosted-sugar-cookies/ We used our pumpkin cookie cutter, orange icing, and green sprinkles. It was a really good treat and a fun activity for Little Lady to decorate. I didn't cool for an hour, I popped the dough in the freezer for about 20 minutes because I had an anxious 2 year old that wanted them done - STAT!

Recipe Review

This week I made only one new recipe. The first was a great one to do with the left overs from a great Sunday night meal. Sunday Big A smoked a salmon and we had baked potatoes. It was delish. It left us with about a half of a salmon fillet. So, Monday, I whipped up this bad boy called a smoked salmon pizza. I got it from this website - http://thatssomichelle.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2011-09-11T14%3A21%3A00-07%3A00&max-results=7. You have to scroll down to it. It was wonderful. I made a few adjustments to this recipe since I had not a clue what a shallot was. I had to google it and that can't be a good sign. Wikipedia said it was like garlic and the picture of it looked like an onion so I came to the conclusion the garlic powder and onion powder would do the trick - and it did. I also could not find capers at my local Target so we went without. This thing was amazing and when I say amazing I mean the hubs called it "gourmet." I suggest this to anyone that loves salmon and cream cheese. Again, I will say this thing was amazing.

I also made the jalapeno poppers with this recipe again - http://aisletoaloha.blogspot.com/2011/01/pop-em-like-theyre-hot.html. I have so many jalapenos from our garden that made more than the recipe called for. They were eaten in a day and again were absolutely delish.

Meals In Review

As a proudly proclaimed Pinterest addict I have found a new love and it's in the kitchen. This is a huge step for me as I have never been one to enjoy cooking or to do it well for that matter. Pinterest has changed that for me and I feel like a more accomplished mom and wife at the same time. I have found that cooking and providing good meals for my family is highly rewarding. We aren't eating out as much and we aren't living in an endless circle of hamburger, tuna, chicken helper on repeat. This week was a very tasty week that in my opinion needed review.
Monday: clean out the fridge day. Going to be keeping this beauty around. I came up with a fantastic meal in no time with what I had on hand and left over from the week before. I put a roast in the crock pot, chopped up some yellow and white squash from the garden, found some carrots that I needed to chop up. Put it all in the crock pot together, added a cup of water, some salt, pepper, garlic powder, and Cajun powder and let it cook all day. It was fantastic over some mashed potatoes that evening.
Tuesday: turkey hot dogs and jalapeno poppers. I used this recipe: http://aisletoaloha.blogspot.com/2011/01/pop-em-like-theyre-hot.html for the poppers. They were amazing. I also used jalapenos grown in our garden so it was even better since they were FRESH jalapenos!
Wednesday: I took the night off from new adventures and we ate a late lunch so I just whipped up some roast beef sandwiches which kept us from heading out to fast food.
Thursday: Another crock pot day. I made sweet and tangy meatballs using this recipe: http://sixsistersstuff.blogspot.com/2011/06/slow-cooker-sweet-and-tangy-meatballs.html. I served it over rice and it was delicious. My picky step daughter even liked it!
Friday: Taco Pizza using this recipe: http://realmomkitchen.com/5301/taco-pizza/. I forgot olives at the store so that was missing and my step-daughter doesn't like green onions so I left those off. It was very good. The only thing that I plan on changing on this recipe in the future is that I think it needs a little more spice. So, after I add the refried beans I think that I will add a layer of salsa before adding the rest of the ingredients. And, I will definitely remember the olives. Little Lady loves olive but my step-daughter doesn't so I will do olives on half.

Chores

This week is Little Lady's first week of completing her chore chart. I found two very helpful websites while perusing Pinterest: the first is http://parentingsquad.com/45-chores-young-children-can-do and the second is http://www.money-and-kids.com/age-appropriate-chores.html. I used a few ideas from both and a little creativeness of my own and knowing my daughter and came up with what I thought would work best for her. I decided to give her two chores that would remain the same for the entire year she is two adding another when she is three another at four...The two that will remain the same for this year are making her bed and putting clothes in the hamper daily. I will also give her one more chore that will change weekly. This week it is using the sticky roll on the couch and the kitchen table chairs. She already likes to do this so I thought it would be a good thing to kick off her chart since she will be rewarded for doing so. She has to complete this chore whenever I vacuum the downstairs this week. I made her a chart on construction paper that I will re-do every Monday with her permanent chores and her changing chore. I made five squares next to each chore and she will get a sticker when she completes them. I am choosing to only make her to do them Monday through Friday and give her the weekend off - since I don't even typically clean on the weekends. If she completes her chores and fills her chart with stickers then she will get to visit the $1 bin at Target and pick something out. Some weeks I may choose to give her $2 (her age) in cash as a reward, but again, until she gets the hang of it I will choose the Target option for now. I'm really thinking that this will be a good thing for her especially to start it now so when she is 9 I won't hear as much whining and to teach her the responsibility of picking up after herself and helping around the house.

She's Here and Life Now

She is here and she is wonderful. Her birth was beautiful and uncomplicated...birth story to come later. There are no words to describe becoming a parent and definitely none that come close to describing the experience a second time. She completes our family and while things were a little hectic with a newborn and a slightly jealous, slightly confused two year old, I feel like I'm finally getting a groove and settling into my new life. Bug nurses and sleeps like a champ. Little Lady is back on track with potty training and loving school...more to come on that later. Life is just good. And while my house may never again be as clean as I want it to be and my to do list may never ever get done, I love it and absolutely wouldn't want it any other way!

Things I Wish I Would Have Known

There are a few things that I wish I would have known two and a half years ago when I was pregnant with Little Lady about parenting...
1. I wish I wouldn't have bought a crib. I'm an avid co-sleeper and I love it. And although sometimes the foot in the face or the head in the back isn't the most comfortable way to sleep, I wouldn't trade it.
2. In a bit of an extension to number 1, I wish I would have bought a more expensive/nicer pack and play. I bought a second hand one and while it's nice, I really wish I had one of the fancier ones. Since, we didn't use the crib much (I do plan on putting it up for Miss L because I do use the crib when I'm cleaning;)) I used the pack and play A LOT. It's where Little Lady slept when she was a tiny baby. It's where she played when she learned to crawl and I needed to corral her. It's where she slept when we went camping. That thing has been everywhere. I plan on using it more with Miss L too because as much as I love co-sleeping and even though I have a king size bed, I'm hoping that she really REALLY likes sleeping in it.
3. Kids stick everything in their mouths. From when they are really little and it's the first sign that you have that they are teething to when they are two and for some reason they are still going to want to stick things in their mouth. It's grosses me out. It freaks me out. I have a huge fear of choking. But, they will be ok. They might get sick. But, they are still going to do it.
4. Being a parent gives you irrational fears. From checking to make sure the house is locked 5 times before going to bed because someone might come in the house and take them. To not turning the ceiling fan on high because it might fall off the ceiling. Like I said completely irrational. The other day we were driving behind a truck that had the American flag attached to the bed of the truck with some flimsy stick and my thought was that I hope that pole didn't break because it could come through the wind shield. Who thinks of this stuff, apparently I do.
5. They grow up way to quickly. As I ready myself to watch my step daughter walk through the doors of high school to watching Little Lady walk through the doors of a local church to her first CDO/2 year old pre-school, it reminds me to soak them up. Treasure them. Love them. Tell them that every day. Take mental pictures of them every day because they do grow. WAY.TOO.QUICK. My step daughter was 7 years old and in 2nd grade when the Big A and I started dating and now she is starting high school. I remember when she would wear orange athletic pants and a red t-shirt with bright green nikes and she could have cared less if it matched. Now she has to be put together to run to Target with me for pull ups at 9:55 at night. So yes, I have seen it happen to my husband first hand.
I'm sure there are others and I'm sure I will come up with other list for it in the future because if there is something I'm good at doing, it's making lists. Now, onto my to-do list!

Am I ready?

Am I ready? It's a question I get asked every day, multiple times a day. My answer to the person asking is always yes, because really what else am I supposed to say. In my head, the truth is I don't know. Are we ever truly ready for a big change in our lives? This summer has been one of twisted emotions for me. From watching my little girl blossom right in front of my eyes to my step daughter becoming a true blue American high schooler. From going to a sorority sisters funeral to hearing of a high school class mate that lost her son after having him with her for only a month. It leaves me wondering how these parents do it. How lucky I am. Am I too lucky? It's been a summer of I don't have time to blog because I need to spend every waking moment with my family- because as I have seen this summer - a perfect life can quickly change. And seeing these tragedies and being pregnant at the same time has truly changed the way I think. It leaves me in a web of emotions for my sweet girls. One is here and I do my damndest to protect her from the evils of the world. One is still inside me and sometimes I think she is safer there. The truth is I can't wait to hold her, kiss her, nurse her. I already love her - so much. I can't wait to see my girls with each other. I can't . It's the knowing that I can't protect them from everything. I can't protect all the ones I love. I think when you become a mom that instinct grows ten fold. You don't just learn a new love for you child, you learn a new love for all the people you care about. The mother instinct isn't just in play for your own kids, it's there for your husband, your parents, etc. So, as I got about my day, knowing I'll get asked if I'm ready, I guess the real answer is yes. I'm more than ready to see the face to the heart I already know. Am I ready for what life has to bring me - are any of us?