2 Weeks of Fun Coming to an End

I'm going to pay for the fact that it is 11:15 and I'm still up not tired at all in the morning when my clock goes off at 5:45. I'm going to think it is a bad dream and want to roll back over but it will be a reality. I will have to rise and shine and go to Sand Hill.  Don't get me wrong I love my job but I love sleeping in with Saylor and playing so much better. I'm very sad my 2 weeks of fun are over and while I don't want to wish my life away I'm very excited for my next break. 

Today after church and Saylor's nap we played together in her toy room and watched Elmo. This is Saylor seriously into Elmo. I thought it was hilarious and it reminds me of her daddy sitting on the couch watching football or Top Gear.

Nothing eventful to talk about today but here are a few pictures of my favorite times over the break.

Weekend Fun

So, far this weekend we have had lots of fun. We've spent most of our time around the house playing and spending time with friends and family. Last night we had a late Christmas get together with our friends Rick, Belinda, Grace, and Bryce along with my family. We ate spaghetti and brownies and just took some time to talk, hang out and relax, and share gifts. Saylor had a great time playing with Bryce, Grace, and Stone.

Today we had to take down our Christmas decorations and it made me a little sad.  I'm always sad when the Christmas season is over. It's so exciting to see the lights outside and the tree always seems to make it a little brighter. This Christmas was especially good seeing it through Saylor's eyes.  Today, after we took down everything and cleaned up we went and played with our friend Leona. The little girls were artists and they had such a good time.

Tonight we made another delicious crock pot meal from http://www.sixsistersstuff.com/ blog. If you like Asian food you might want to give it a try.

Slow Cooker Asian Glazed Chicken

Ingredients:

1/2 cup soy sauce

1/2 cup balsamic vinegar

4 teaspoons sugar

3 cloves garlic, crushed

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

1 tablespoon Sriracha hot sauce* (more of less, depending on how hot you like it)

1/2 cup water

3-4 boneless skinless chicken breasts (or thighs)

2 tablespoons cornstarch

1 tablespoon water

2 tablespoons green onions, finely chopped

1 teaspoon sesame seeds

Directions:

Spray slow cooker with non-stick cooking spray. Place chicken in crock pot.

Combine soy sauce, balsamic vinegar, sugar, garlic, ginger, hot sauce, and 1/2 cup water in a bowl and pour over chicken. Cook on low for 6-8 hours OR high for 3-4 hours.

Once done cooking, pull chicken out and place on large plate. Mix together cornstarch and 1 tablespoon water in a small bowl and pour into remaining liquid in the slow cooker. Turn heat to high (if it wasn't already) and cook for another 15 minutes (or until sauce thickens a little bit).

Shred chicken and add back into liquid in slow cooker.

Serve over rice, topped with green onions and sesame seeds.

*Sriracha hot sauce is available at most grocery stores and Wal-Mart. It is a Thai chili sauce with amazing flavor. It cost me about $3 for a huge bottle of it and it is totally worth it. The flavor it adds is so yummy.



Doctor Day

I'm running a day behind but yesterday we spent our day visiting doctors. First, Saylor had her 18 month well baby checkup. I was glad to finally get her to this appointment because we had already canceled one time because she was a sick baby instead of a well baby.  At our appt. we learned that Saylor is still very tall for her age she is 33.8 inches tall and weighs 26 pounds.  Saylor was wearing boots yesterday so I think she only weighs 25 pounds (this is what she weighed a week ago). Anyways, that puts her 91% for height and 68% for weight.  She's definitely not getting her height from me. I think she will be my height when she is 8.

I also found out at the appointment that I'm letting Saylor control me when it comes to her eating habits (yes I'm a pushover I admit it). Saylor's eating habits are not awful but they could be better she does hate to try new things (she tried chicken nuggets after we left the doctors, it was almost like she understood what Dr. Behm was saying, eerie).  We also learned that Saylor has an astonishing vocabulary for a child her age. The doctor says that they want kids her age to know 20 words. I lie not Saylor knows at least 100 words. Ok, I will stop bragging about my baby girl but check out her boots because they are precious and she rocks them.

The second part of our day was spent at the ENT's office where we decided it was best for my Saylor bug to get tubes. She will be getting tubes on January 17th and I would appreciate prayers that this would be a smooth operation for her and the tubes would be successful in alleviating her many ear infections. We were at this appointment for 2 hours and Saylor was so good. She had to take a  hearing test and have the doctor look at her ears and throat and I was so proud of how well she tolerated everything.

I ended the day with an outing to Bonefish and Cold Stone with my former bookclub friends. They are all still my friends but now most of us all have kids so we are to busy to read the books so we are now the get together once a month club.

I'm truly thankful for my friends.
I'm also thankfu to the doctors that tended to Saylor today. God's gift of intelligence to the men and women who work in the medical field amazes me and I'm thankful for power of medicine and its ability to make our lives better.

Clumsy Me

I constantly watch Saylor walk into walls, tables, doors, couches, etc. and try to to deny that she got her clumsiness from me. But, being in denial is very hard when I do things like fall down the last few steps of my stairs. This is what I did just moments ago. I've got a feeling I'm going to be a little sore tomorrow.

 

 

Well today has been another great day off. Eric had to go back to work today and Saylor and I missed him being home. But, since he was gone we decided to sleep in (I finally had to wake Saylor up at 9:30 - yeah). We then ventured off to storytime at the library. Saylor enjoyed the alphabet stories with her friend Leona. Here are the girls, "shaking their sillies out".

 

We always have a great time at storytime.

 

We ended our day by going to church and learning about prayer. Saylor likes to say "Amen" at the end of prayers and I think it is precious. My super bonus for today was tonight when I was laying down with Saylor and she said, "I Love Mommy" and "I Love Daddy". I love my little girl so much!

 

 



Bummed

Okay I'm a little bummed tonight because when I sat down to write today's blog I discovered that all of the pictures I took today didn't save to my camera because my SD card is full. I guess I should be happy that this happened today and not Christmas. So, Saylor and I will be off tomorrow to purchase a new card. Oh well, live and learn.

 

I hope that you and your family had a wonderful New Year's Day. My family certainly did although we didn't eat your traditional New Year's Day meal. Today we switched it up a bit and had crab legs, (yum yum - Henry did a terrific job) grilled zucchini and onions, black eyed peas with rice (one traditional side), garlic bread, and for desert monkey bread. It was delicious and thank goodness eating better is not one of my resolutions this year (although it should be) because I would have broke my resolution the first day.

 

Speaking of resolutions - What are yours?  Anyone care to share...

 

These are mine - 1) To keep up this blog so I can track how Saylor is growing and changing. 2) To live more frugally. 3) To plan meals better so I don't come home from work wondering what we are going to eat. 4) Most importantly - To walk closer to God and share my love of Jesus with Saylor.

 

I would love to know what my friends and families resolutions are for this year so if you want to share please do so in the comments, you can do it anonymously if you don't have a google account.

 

Well, since I don't have any pictures from today to share I'm going to post some of my favorites from the past few days and Christmas.

 

 

New Year's Eve

My day and night have been wonderful. I've played outside with Saylor and our neighbor friends Mrs. Joyce, Leona, and Sage. I've cooked chicken casserole for dinner, watched football (okay I wasn't watching it was on my tv), talked with Mom and Dad, and watched Backyardigans (this I really watched with Saylor). I know my New Year's Eve is the envy of all but I wouldn't change it for the world.

 

 

One of my favorite things that Saylor is doing right now is singing the B*I*B*L*E song. It is precious, its very hard for me to catch on video because she does it at random times. But, the other night when we were looking at Christmas lights she was singing it in the car. While you can't see her you can hear her sweet voice. I want to always remember this because this is one of the first songs she has sang.

I hope that all of my friends and family have a wonderful New Year's Eve night and New Year's day! May you enjoy your time with the one's you love and thank God for his blessings.

2012 Coming to an End

Well I can't believe that 2012 is almost over this has definitely been a roller coaster of a year. I've so enjoyed my year with Saylor but my Mom's battle with cancer has definitely been a challenge for our family. I pray that 2013 brings good health to Mom and to my entire family and to your family.

This weekend has been pretty low key we have hung out around the house and played with all the new Christmas toys. Last night Saylor and I went and hung out with Betsy, Henry, and Stone while Eric went to a movie with his dad. This is Saylor and Stone playing on one of her new toys from Mimi. They had a blast.

 

I tried a new soup recipe from one of my favorite blogs www.sixsistersstuff.com. For those of you who don't know I love to cook and try new recipes but only things things that are easy with ingredients I've heard of. This is the recipe I made.

 

Slow Cooker Nacho Grande SoupIngredients:
1 lb ground beef
1 medium onion, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 (1 oz) package taco seasoning (I used low sodium)
1 (10.75 oz) can condensed cheddar cheese soup
1 (10 oz) can diced tomatoes and green chilis, undrained (I used mild Rotel)
1 1/2 cups milk (I used 1%)
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Directions:
In a skillet, cook ground beef, onion, and garlic over medium-high heat until thoroughly cooked; drain.
Spray slow cooker with non-stick cooking spray. Place cooked meat mixture in slow cooker. Add taco seasoning, cheddar cheese soup, tomatoes, milk, and shredded cheese. Stir together and cook on low for 3-4 hours. This soup can also be kept on a warm setting for an additional 4 hours (I have a digital clock on my slow cooker and as soon as it is done cooking for the set amount of time, it automatically switches to the warm setting).
Stir before serving. Top individual servings with crushed tortilla chips, shredded cheese, and any other toppings you want.

**You can also make this just on your stove top. Brown the beef, onion, and garlic over medium-high heat until thoroughly cooked. Then in a large pot, add all ingredients and heat over medium-high heat for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir well before serving.

Serves 4-5 people.

 

Well, my time is up for tonight but I really hope to post a video tomorrow of Saylor singing the B*I*B*L*E. She just started doing this and its the first song she has sang (well the first where we really know what she is singing).