Kitchen Failures & A Few Surprises

I've terrible about blogging about new recipes. We have tried so many over the last month and not one has made it to the blog. I'll try to be better in the future.

#1: Pastilla (A Moroccan Meat Pie): It was horrible! It was easy to make and ended up being edible, but definitely not something that we would try again.

#2: Kale & Parmesan Linguine: Again, another non-winner. It was easy to make and was healthy but just didn't have enough flavor.
#3: Stuffed Green Peppers: Loved these! They had sausage, garlic, onions, tomato sauce and a few other spices. They were really easy to make and different than what we normally have. Definitely a keeper.
#4: Breakfast Turnovers: Oh my gosh, these were amazing. The recipe called for zucchini shredded inside, but I had spinach so I used that instead. The outside is a frozen puff pastry and the inside contains: cheese, eggs, onions, garlic, bacon and spinach. These were amazing and you could really make them with anything you had on had. Definitely a keeper!
#5: Vegetable Chowder: Simply amazing. This is the best vegetable soup I have ever had and I'm tempted to say the best soup in general that I've ever had. Both Luke and I were excited to try it because it called for veggies that neither one of us has had. It called for turnips and parsnips as well as many others. I highly recommend this soup.

#6: Banana Pancakes with Almond Butter & Pure Maple Syrup: So yummy! I could go on and on about these. Amazing is all I'm going to say!

Oh Happy Winter Day!

Greyson's first snow angel.

(Click pictures to view Greyson's face)

We had a great weekend with Greyson. It snowed 8-10 inches at our house last Wednesday night. Thursday night, we put Greyson's bunting outfit on him and took him out in the snow. We set him on the driveway and he just sat there. We then helped him make a snow angel. We wasn't sure what to think of the whole thing. Friday night, it snowed some more. On Saturday, we decided to go find Greyson a sled. Walmart was out of them, so Luke tried Toys R Us. We were in luck. He got a toddler sled that has a seat belt. I wasn't sure what Greyson would think of sledding. He loved it. He loved going downhill, loved going uphill, loved sitting in the sled, etc. It was so cute. I think it ranks #1 in the best thing we have all done together.

My 1st Storyboard

So, one of my goals for the business this year is to learn all I can about my camera in general and photoshop. Well, I decided to try to make my own storyboard in photoshop. I found a tutorial online and went at it. I'm pretty excited to say that it went really well. For some reason, the blog is shrinking the template but you can see what it looks like below. I made it to print 10x20. These are supposed to be high selling products for photographers, so knowing how to make them and print them is essential.

**Click on photos to see bigger.

1st Haircut Disaster

Greyson got his first haircut on 01/03/2011. Oh my goodness, you would have thought we were killing the boy. He hated having his haircut. We put him in his highchair so that he couldn't move. Well, he couldn't move his body but he could definitely move his head. He turned it this way and that way the whole time. He cranked, screamed and cried. He was so difficult. We finally decided to quit and try to finish later. It's now two weeks' later and he still hasn't got the rest of his haircut. It looked horrible the first few days, because it is totally uneven. It doesn't look too bad now. Hopefully next time will go better.

2010-2011

I wrapped up my first year of blogging. Stacey, thank you for introducing me to it. I have to say I really enjoyed getting a journal online. I looked back at all the posts the other day and I forgot some of the things that I had posted. I do want to make some changes going forward although. I kind of feel like my blog is all over the place. It has Greyson updates and pictures, cooking trials, bargain shopping, photography, etc. But, you know what? I kind of like that it is just a hodgepodge (sp?) of stuff. I don’t think I’m going to have anyone contact me about putting ads on my page for having lots of followers, but that’s not why I’m doing this. I like the idea of being able to look back on this in a few years and see what was going on. I like having a journal to accompany the pictures incase I forget why a certain picture was taken.

Throughout the year, I posted my coupon craziness. I am here to report about that the goal I made for myself last July about not buying shampoo, conditioner, body wash, etc., for the whole year. Did I make it? Almost! I still have all of the above, but I did give in and buy 1 bottle of Caress Evenly Gorgeous Burnt Sugar Body Wash. I love that stuff. I got tired (about a month ago) of using bar soap and just couldn’t resist. Still, I think I saved about $65 from just using samples and I still have more samples to use. I’m going to continue this trend throughout 2011.

I didn’t do as well as I wanted to in clipping coupons. Once the Thanksgiving and Christmas rush hit, I kind of forgot about doing it. Well, forgot isn’t really the word. I didn’t want to do it. It saves so much money, so I’m proud to say that as of 01/01 I am back on track. I already got some really good deals. =)

Last year, I mainly posted monthly updates on Greyson. I did this partly because we were taking his picture with the elephant once a month for his baby book. Going forward, I’m going to try doing shorter posts about what is going on day to day with him.

Anyways, thanks for following all of my randomness and you can expect to see me throughout the year.

Love you all!

My Baby Boy

My Baby Boy

I can’t believe he is one. It feels like the last few months have just flown by. I will probably be saying the same thing in a few years, but instead of months I will be saying the years have flown by.

How do I feel about today? How do I feel about the past year? How do I feel about having a toddler?

Today, I feel relieved.

I feel relieved that we made it to a year. I feel like I have a tiny little miracle and have been afraid to fully embrace him. I’ve always felt (and so has Luke) that something is going to be wrong. It started with the pregnancy. I couldn’t ever get the point of enjoying being pregnant because after I got used to the idea we had problems. Once Greyson was born, knowing the circumstances of him having the cord wrapped around his shoulders in a knot and him being deprived of oxygen, I just felt dread. I dreaded hearing what complications the Doctors would find. When I was told that I had a perfect little boy, I couldn’t get the thought out of my head that complications would arise. Through the doctor appointments, concerns about weight & height, bouts with pneumonia, small developmental delays, etc., to me it all confirmed my worst fear. Something is wrong with him. It will be at the next doctor appointment that they tell me that they found out what is wrong. Somehow, 1 year later, I feel relieved. I finally feel like I can embrace him and forget about some of those earlier complications. Now that he is a “toddler” and not a baby for some reason all I see is a healthy gorgeous little boy. Today, I feel relieved.

Looking over the past year, I feel sad.

I feel sad that the first year is over never again to be relived. I know that the past year has brought milestones that I can never get back. Greyson will never have that newborn smell again. I will never be excited when he rolls over, takes a bottle, and sleeps through the night. I’m sad that these things which were such big things throughout the first year will be little (to be forgotten) things going forward. Looking over the past year, I feel sad.

Looking forward, gives me joyful anticipation.

I feel like there is so much to experience with him and I want to get to everything. I need to keep reminding myself that we have time to do everything and we need to embrace all the little things. I can’t wait to see him taking his first steps, telling me that he loves me, carting his animals around in his shopping cart, etc. I can’t wait for him to cuddle on my lap while watching a movie, climb into bed with Luke and I on a Saturday morning and help us cook. These things that I can’t wait for will come and I just need to be patient. Looking forward, gives me joyful anticipation.

My goal for today:

To savor the day and what it brings. What he learns, does and experiences. Savor it for what it is and document it with pictures. That is my goal for today.

My baby boy – I love you more than I thought would be possible.

12 months

Here's your life at 12 months:

You weigh 18.6 lbs (3^rd percentile) and you are 29 inches long (25^th percentile).

You eat just about everything we eat. The only thing that we’ve found you don’t like is dill pickles. Every time I try to give you one, you screw up your nose and turn your head to the side. It cracks me up. You are still taking a bottle in the morning and evening.

You still go to bed at 7pm and now wake up pretty consistently at 6:15am. On a great day, you sleep to 6:45 and both your Daddy and I love those days. You take two naps as well. Your naps are between 1 – 1 ½ hours.

Your 6-9 month pants fit great but you are able to keep some of your 6-12 month pants up as well. All your other clothes are 6-12 months.

You wear a size 3 diaper during the day, but you have to wear a size 4 overnight diaper at night.

You have tons of hair. I thought it would be curly but it is straight and fine. You need a haircut and I’m dreading it.

Your favorite part of the day is still bath time. We say, “Greyson, its bath time.” You start crawling to the bath and say “bah, bah, bah”.

You have started cruising. I think it is still going to be another month or so until you start walking, but that is coming next. You finally figured out how to clap. I've been working on this with you forever and you finally did it for Daddy. =(

You talk all the time. Your favorite word is “dada” but you say “ma ma ma” and “bah bah bah (for bath). You love hearing your voice. Whether it is screaming for fun or talking; you don’t care.

You love playing with your toys, being carried around by Daddy or having me chase you. When I chase you, you crawl a few feet and then roll over. I come over and pretend to tickle you and you just start laughing. It is the cutest thing ever.

On your actual birthday. Your outfit cracks me up. We couldn't have you crawling around with short sleeves so Daddy suggested we put your babylegs on your arms.

A picture of your crazy hair.

Playing with my pretend glasses.

Came in the living room and this is what I found. =)

At Silver Dollar City for the 1st time. You took this bottle and then fell asleep.

Rocking your stuffed animals.

Silver Dollar City 2010.

You are underneath the coffee table on top of this. You started crying after this picture because you were stuck.