Happy 2nd Birthday

Happy Birthday little one. I can't believe how fast two years' has gone. Every phase you have gone through has been better and more fun than the last. I loved cuddling you as a baby, seeing you crawl and hearing your first words. But, I love your capacity to love, pretend play and talk more than I have loved anything yet. You give out hugs and kisses all the time. Whether its getting up in the morning and giving me a hug and kiss or just randomly through out the day; you do it all the time. I love when I am randomly the recipient of these special moments. They are the highlight of my days. You sure do know how to make your Mommy and Daddy feel special. I hope we make you feel as special as you make us feel.

I love how you play. I love the thought process that goes in to moving your cars around or pouring me pretend coffee. Its amazing to see the wheels turning in your head. To see the world how you see it. I love how you get in your car but before you leave, you get out of it and come give me a hug and kiss and tell me bye-bye. I love how you drive the bus around the room, but the people have to be sitting in the seats. I love how you get angry at yourself or the bus if you accidentally hit it and the people fall out of the seats.

I love the words you put together. I love how we are driving down the street and you say "Red light" or "big bus" or "green light go". Some of the word combinations you come up with are just amazing. I am constantly amazed at how smart you are. The way you think to say things or the fact that you are thinking about some things in general always amazes me.

Happy 2nd Birthday! Love you!!


(not at all a Birthday picture, but just one of my favorite pictures of you and I)

Annual Chiefs Game

I'm a bit late in posting about this, but better late than never. Last month, we all went to our annual Chiefs game. Greyson has now been every year since he was born (lol - 2) and we hope to continue the tradition. The Chiefs played the Broncos....Tebow did what he does and we lost. =(

Greyson actually did better than we all thought. He watched the game and ate fruit snacks through the first quarter. He went "night night" or tried to on the ground of the stadium with the blanket. You can all guess how well that worked. =) By the second part of the second quarter he was pretty restless. The whole last half, we pretty much walked the breeze ways. The good part is that I think it will only get better going forward.

Lots of people thought his hat was great. I even had someone proposition me to make more to sell. I'm thinking about making myself one for next year. Better yet, maybe all of us should wear them. That would be pretty funny.

Chicken Pot Pies

Greyson and I made Chicken (Turkey) Pot Pies yesterday for lunch. They were so very yummy! I had pilfered some turkey from Thanksgiving and decided that it would be great in this recipe. Definitely a keeper!





Recipe from adapted from RealSimple

Serves 4| Hands-On Time: 25m | Total Time: 40m

Ingredients
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1/2 yellow onion, diced
1 tablespoon flour
3/4 cup low-sodium chicken broth
1 can carrots
1 can green beans
2 pounds cooked shredded turkey
2 refrigerated 9-inch piecrusts (from a 15-ounce package, such as Pillsbury)
Directions
Heat oven to 400° F. Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion and cook for 3 minutes.
Add the flour and cook, stirring constantly, for 1 minute.
Slowly stir in the broth. Cook until thickened, about 3 minutes. Add veggies, turkey, and ¼ teaspoon each salt and pepper. Remove from heat.
Cut each piecrust in half. Spoon the chicken mixture over one side of each half-circle, leaving a ½-inch border. Using your fingers, wet the border with water. Fold the crust over the chicken. Press to seal. Make three 1-inch slits in the top of each.
Transfer the empanadas to a baking sheet. Bake until golden, 15 to 18 minutes.

**Next time, I will buy two boxes of the piecrust. I stuffed the four individual pies really well, but had enough leftover stuffing to make at least two more pies.

Bath Painting

I saw the idea on Pinterest to mix food coloring with shaving cream and use it to paint in the bath. We tried it earlier this week. Greyson was extremely hesitant at first, because he hates weird feeling stuff on his hands. After awhile, he jumped right in. We will definitely be doing it again.

Silver Dollar City 2011

We went to Silver Dollar City last night with Jordan, Leslie and Preston. I was a bit apprehensive on how well Greyson would do since we were going to be gone way past his bed time. I will have to say, that we had no issues. He did great! He loved every minute of it. When we got there, we went to one of the new areas. We rode the merry go-round first. Greyson rode the horse which was next to the bear the Preston rode. The guys took the boys up in the huge treehouse which has slides and jumping areas. They had a blast in there. We then went and rode the American Shoot Out. I thought Greyson might be scared, but he loved it. Must be a gun thing.

We did a bit of shopping next and had some sweets. Apple dumplings were a big hit. Then, we headed over to another kids area. We tried to ride a few different rides, but Greyson wasn't quite tall enough. He was tall enough to ride the bouncing frogs and the caterpillars that go up and down. He didn't want to leave them either. He wanted to ride again and again. It was so much fun.

After all that, we saw the parade and just walked around.


Jordan, Leslie and Preston on the American Shoot Out


Luke and Greyson on the American Shoot Out



Preston, Leslie, Greyson and I all on the Bouncing Frogs





Riding the Caterpillar with Daddy


Greyson and Preston

Chicken Enchilada Soup

I made this soup the other day and it was really good and simple. I did a crockpot chicken and salsa recipe the day before so that I had shredded chicken to put in the soup. Definitely a keeper.

Chicken Enchilada Soup

1 15-ounce can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 14.5-ounce can diced tomatoes
1 10-ounce package frozen whole kernel corn ( I used a can of corn)
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped yellow, green, or red bell pepper (I used red, which is my favorite pepper)
1 10-ounce can enchilada sauce (I used mild)
1 10.75-ounce can condensed cream of chicken soup
1 1/2 cups milk
1 cup shredded cheese
2 chicken breasts

In a 3 1/2 to 5 quart slow cooker, combine drained beans, tomatoes, corn, onion, and bell pepper. Place 2 chicken breasts on top of mixture. In a large bowl, whisk together enchilada sauce and soup. Gradually whisk in milk until smooth. Pour sauce mixture over ingredients in cooker.Cover; cook on low heat for 6 to 8 hours or on high for 3 to 4 hours. Top with pepper jack cheese and serve. Can also be topped with avocado, sour cream, or crushed tortilla chips. Note: if the soup is too thick for you, just add a little more milk after it’s all cooked.

Recipe adapted from Real Mom Kitchen

23 Months

You weigh 25.2 pounds.

You are still my little eater. You love guacamole and anything Mexican.

You go to sleep at 7:30pm and get up whenever you feel like it. I have been irritated with the time change because for the last month you have been getting up at 6:30am. I have complained quite a bit, and I think you heard me. The last four or five days you have slept till 7 or 7:15am. Naps have been an issue lately. You cry and cry and scream and yell. I just leave you in there. It is really weird, because some days you just go right down and sleep an hour and a half and other days you maybe get forty-five minutes.

You wear mostly 18-24 month clothing with most pants being 18 months. You are still wearing a size 6 shoe, but I think we are going to be moving up soon.

You wear a size 4 diaper during the day and a size 4 overnight diaper at night.

You have found a new love and that is helping us cook. We made cookies the other night and you pretty much did all of it. Daddy or I will usually get the measurements exact and then you will dump them in and stir them. You have helped me all week making dinner as well.

We love driving around with you. All of sudden we will hear "school bus" or "police car" and sure enough there will be one. It has to be one of the cutest things that you have done so far.





Auntie Brittany & You being crazy at Thanksgiving


Grandpa and You at Thanksgiving

Family Photos

We had our family photos taken by Colby Moore Photography here in Springfield. He hasn't gotten them all done, but he gave me some to tide me over. =) We hadn't had family pictures taken since Greyson was 2 weeks' old. Crazy! I have so many great pictures of Greyson that I've taken, but just none of all of us.

Penne with Roasted Asparagus and Balsamic Butter

We did a quick and easy meal for lunch today and it happened to be really good. We cooked this pasta dish as the main meal, but next time we do it we will probably grill a steak to go with it.

Recipe from Food and Wine

1 pound asparagus
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon fresh-ground black pepper
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1/2 teaspoon brown sugar
1 pound penne
1/4 pound butter, cut into pieces
1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese, plus more for serving

Heat the oven to 400°. Snap the tough ends off the asparagus and discard them. Cut the spears into 1-inch pieces. Put the asparagus on a baking sheet and toss with the oil and 1/4 teaspoon each of the salt and pepper. Roast until tender, about 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, put the vinegar in a small saucepan. Simmer until 3 tablespoons remain. Stir in the brown sugar and the remaining 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Remove from the heat.
Cook the penne in a large pot of boiling, salted water until just done, about 13 minutes. Drain the pasta and toss with the butter, vinegar, asparagus, Parmesan, and the remaining 1 3/4 teaspoons salt. Serve with additional Parmesan.


Variations:

• Penne with Roasted Broccoli and Balsamic Butter When asparagus is not in season, cut 1 pound of broccoli into small spears for roasting. Toss them with 2 tablespoons oil and 1/4 teaspoon each of salt and pepper and roast for about 15 minutes. Continue with step 2.

• Penne with Roasted Vegetables, Toasted Nuts, and Balsamic Butter Toss in 1/3 cup of toasted pine nuts, hazelnuts, or walnuts at the end with either asparagus or broccoli.

Mini Me Grocery Shopping

Uncle Truman told Greyson that Dillons got small grocery carts. We had to go try them out. We went Wednesday (which was one of the busiest shopping days ever!) and had a blast. Greyson did really well. He loved it. We almost had one little crash with a lady, but I think if she was rear-ended (really rear-ended) she would have laughed.