Late night craving

Levi was demanding fruit tonight at 10pm, so of course I had to go to the store.  I came home with more than enough fruit, as you can see!

I suppose I will share some with Moose and Branden, too.  But the majority of the watermelon is ALL MINE!

Dancing on a chair

Apparently chairs are for dancing on! Plus they are handy for getting books off of the counter!

Relaxing with Grandma

Oops!

Last night Moose was being very wild climbing all over the toys at Branden's work.  I was filming him for a minute when his playtime had an unexpected end!

Playing with Grandpa

Moose is a stuntman

Moose and I are waiting down at Branden's work so we can go to dinner. Moose is busy playing in the kids area and is being a stuntman. He is headed for many falls in the next few years. What can a mom do though! Boys will be boys!

Hard at work

Monkey baby!

Moose has learned how to climb up on chairs. Oh no!

Simple BLTs

Simple BLTs

3 pieces of bacon, cooked until crispy

2 pieces of wheat bread, toasted

2-3 slices of thinly sliced tomato

lettuce

mayonnaise

salt and pepper

Spread mayonnaise on both pieces of the toasted bread.  Break the bacon in half and arrange evenly on one piece of bread.  Top with tomato slices and lettuce.  Sprinkle salt and pepper on the other piece of bread.  Place on top to make a sandwich.  Tastes great served with chips and fresh fruit.

Coca-Cola Roast

Coca-Cola Roast

2 lb. beef roast(bigger or smaller depending how much you want)
1 mini can of Coca-Cola
2 small cans of cream of mushroom soup
1 envelope of onion soup mix

Put the roast in a crockpot.  Sprinkle the onion soup mix over the top. Glob on top the mushroom soup. Pour the Coke around the edges. Cook for 5 hours on high or 8 hours on low. Serve the roast and gravy with mashed potatoes.

Artwork for Da!

Moose was very busy this evening finger painting a picture for his Da!  He was very proud of what he made! :)

A day in the life of Moose.

Getting ready to unload his dresser (again).  Look at those cute little legs!

Just finished finger painting.  That was a huge mess!

Reading his "moo" book.

Wheeee, can't catch me!

Where did those peas go?

A couple of nights ago Moose and I spent the night out at my parents' house.  Branden came out in the evening to eat dinner with us.  We put some peas on Moose's tray, since he tends to like those.  He was eating them, and then they seemed to be disappearing fairly quickly.  We started to watch him, and noticed he was dropping them over his shoulder, and some of them were going down his shirt.  After he finished eating, we checked, and sure enough...there were the peas!

On another note, both Moose and I have a cold.  We are trying to get plenty of rest and are laying low for a few days.  He has a runny nose, some wheezing and fatigue.  Poor little man!  I just feel run down and have a runny nose and congestion (don't you hate it when you have both at once?).

I really hope that this doesn't turn into one of those 1-2 week long illnesses.  I REALLY want to go to my MOPS group a week from Tuesday.  We are having "spa day" with massages, paraffin hand masks, and lots of give aways.  I had to miss it last year due to being sick, and I am going to be so mad if I have to miss it again this year!!  I know, I have a whole week and a half until MOPS, but with the way my immune system works (it doesn't very well!), it makes me nervous.  I'll keep sipping green tea with honey, drinking plenty of grapefruit juice, eat a lot of soup, and hope for the best!  (Fingers crossed that Branden doesn't get sick, too!)

Today he learned to sweep!

Moose really enjoys helping me with housework.  Today he learned how to sweep all on his own.  So cute!

Overly Easy Chicken and Gravy

Overly Easy Chicken and Gravy

1 package of chicken pieces (we prefer drumsticks)

1 envelope dry onion soup mix

1 can of cream of chicken soup

Lay pieces of chicken single layer in the bottom of your crockpot.  Sprinkle onion soup mix on top, then spread the cream of chicken soup on top of that.  Cook on low for 8 hours.  Serve gravy over mashed potatoes or rice.

(This was so good!  Unfortunately we gobbled it all down and I totally forgot to get a picture.)

Baby loves music!

Clapping along with the music on his train!

Mommy's little copycat

Moose threw some fish crackers around on the floor, so I got out the dust pan and broom to clean them up. He sat in his high chair and watched.  I cleaned them up and shook them into the trash, then put the dust pan and broom away.  I got Moose out of his chair and went back to eating my lunch.  I heard a banging noise, and couldn't help but laugh when I saw what he was doing.  He is quite the little helper!

Happy Meal!

I was craving chicken mcnuggets tonight (as usual) so we went to dinner at McDonald's.  Moose got a cheeseburger happy meal and ate the whole cheeseburger then drank all of his chocolate milk.  I was surprised he ate so much!  Branden snapped a picture of him right after the meal, and you can see that Happy Meals really do make for happy babies! :)

Another trip?

Looks like Moose wants to go on another trip!

Easy Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Cookies

Easy Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Cookies

1 cup peanut butter
1 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup mini chocolate chips.

Mix first four ingredients well, then stir in the chocolate chips.  Drop by teaspoonful onto ungreased cookie sheet. Flatten with fork in criss cross pattern.  Bake 10-12 minutes at 375 degrees.

Naughty Moose!

Moose was having a grand time running around being naughty this evening!  He thinks it's the funniest thing in the world when we tell him "no."  That's not good!

On another note, he got his first bloody, fat lip tonight at 15 months old.  He was being wild in the bathtub, fell, and smacked his mouth on the side of the tub.  Then he wouldn't let me clean it up, so I basically comforted him until it quit bleeding, then cleaned him up.  Poor little guy!  It hasn't slowed him down any, though.  He is getting more and more wild every single day. Ahhhh!!  I can't wait for Levi to be born just to give Moose a diversion.  I cannot imagine the trouble they will get into together!

I wanted to add that in the last 5 minutes he proceeded to scrounge up a bag of noodles, open them, scatter them over the kitchen floor, then try to eat them.  All the while giggling like a little maniac!!  Branden cannot get home soon enough if you ask me! :)  In the meantime, I have a Moose for loan...anyone want to be "entertained" by a wild little hooligan for a while? *laugh*

We are having....

A baby boy!!

Levi Nathaniel!!!!  

We are so very excited, and already I am saying "the boys" all the time!!

Yup, he's a boy!

His darling skinny little arm, back and head!

Meal Plan for Week of February 6

Monday:  Spaghetti, green salad

Tuesday:  Leftover spaghetti, banana pudding

Wednesday:  Fried chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy, roasted Brussels sprouts

Thursday:  Tri-tip out at my parents' house

Friday:  Tortilla crusted tilapia, baked potatoes, sauteed asparagus

Saturday:  Scrambled eggs, french toast, bacon

Sunday:  Chili-cheese dogs

Easy Spaghetti with Meat Sauce

Easy Spaghetti with Meat Sauce 

1 pound Italian sausage (or ground beef if you prefer)
2 tablespoons chopped red onions
(1) 24 ounce jar of prepared spaghetti sauce (we like Classico Fire Roasted Tomato and Garlic)
(1) 8 ounce jar of tomato sauce
garlic and herb seasoning
1 pound whole wheat spaghetti noodles, broken into pieces and then cooked according to package

Brown the Italian sausage in a large skillet.  When nearly done, add the red onion and stir for a minute.  Drain the excess oil.  Add the spaghetti sauce, tomato sauce, and garlic and herb seasoning.  Simmer for 15 minutes.  Stir together with the cooked spaghetti noodles and serve topped with Parmesan cheese.

We are home!

 We finally made it home!  For the most part everything is already put away, and things are back to normal.  It was great to be able to relax in our own place last night, and Moose was happy about sleeping in his own crib.  We miss everyone in California, and I am looking forward to our next visit!

Moose was playing peek a boo in the car just before we got home!

Raton, NM (still on the way home)

We ended up staying in Raton for 2 nights, and had such a fun time.  We stayed at the Best Western Plus, which was excellent!  Everything was beautiful and the food was great.  It was a lovely little break before getting back to daily life!

Going Home (Part One)

We're still on our way home (delayed due to a storm), but I wanted to put up some of the pictures that we've taken so far.  This has been a fun trip!

Passing into Arizona again!

Mmm...In-n-Out Burger in Kingman, Arizona! 

Snoozing!

Travel Monkey checking out the scenery in Arizona.

We stopped to put a tarp on our stuff, as it was raining and hailing!

So cute at a rest stop in Arizona.  We love his Moose sweatshirt!

Daddy and Son stretching their legs together.

This is a great picture of my boys together!

Uh oh...better slow down!

Travel Monkey isn't worried about the weather!

Moose loves Travel Monkey!