Rain, Rain Go Away!

Despite our highs being in the 80's for most of the week, the weekend called for cooler... actually way cooler...temperatures and rain. We decided if we were going to be stuck inside we'd rather be stuck inside at the lake. So Friday evening we headed to the lake. We prepared our shrimp kabobs/skewers, grilled them, and chowed down.

Saturday we got up, I decided to go ahead and give Bryce his first taste of solids, which I chose avocado mashed and mixed with breast milk.
Here he is sitting in his Chicco Hook On chair while I was preparing his meal. Of course he's chewing on it. He became a little fussy so instead of feeding him in it, Nic held him during our first feeding adventure.

Here's the first bite. Sorry it's not the greatest picture. I was trying to take the picture and feed him at the same time, apparently my finger was over the flash.

Despite the above picture he really really liked the avocado and ate more of it than I was expecting.

Smacking his lips.

It was a cloudy day Saturday and was starting to rain. We decided to go down to the covered docks and try our hand at fishing. Here's Bryce fishing for the first time...somewhat.


He napped a little, then enjoyed a bottle. Daddy lost a fishing pole when he had it just sitting on the dock and a fish took his minnow and dragged the pole in with it. That's what he gets for not paying attention. When I finally sat down on the dock with Bryce, I threw my line out with a bobber and a minnow and watched patiently. My bobber started moving and bobbing up and down a few times so with Bryce in one arm, I grabbed my pole and just hooked it slightly...sure enough I caught a fish...and it was a crappie too! I wish I had gotten a picture of us with the fish but I didn't. I'm sure this spring there will be many opportunities for us to get a picture with one of the fish we catch.

Saturday night the rain picked up and it rained pretty much all day Sunday. I guess it is April afterall...April showers bring May flowers.

Tasty Thursday: Donna's Chicken Divine

As much as I love to constantly post about Bryce, I fear it can be a little monotonous to some (of course not me). So in addition to Monday Memory I'm going to try to do another 'feature'...I can't guarantee it will be every week, but it will be on Thursday. Therefore Tasty Thursday is born.

Before I start on the recipe, I do want to mention that Bryce did much better sleeping last night than the previous night. He's still not sleeping until 3:30 or 4am like he was before, but I was able to atleast sleep 3 hours straight.

So on to the food.

I REALLY, REALLY enjoy food, which is why you will probably never catch me doing a full fledged diet. If I get a craving for something I HAVE to have it. So naturally I enjoy cooking whether it's for a party we're hosting, for meals, or just baking. I have many favorite recipes but I'm always finding and trying new recipes. So most weeks I'm going to attempt to feature some type of food I made during the week.

This first recipe I made this evening for dinner. It's a recipe my Mom found and introduced me to, she made this for us after we brought Bryce home from the hospital. So every time I have it I reflect on those first few days of his life. Oh nostalgia! It's easy to put together but requires about an hour of cooking time. You can click below for the actual recipe. As with any recipes I'm sure it can be modified to be lower in fat.

Donna's Chicken Divine.

We just add one addition to this recipe. You'll see what it is.

Please bear with me as I learn to take better photos of food.

I start by placing my chicken in the middle of the dish. I prefer to have 4 smaller breasts or even tenders instead of 3 larger breasts, but this is what I had.

This is what Bryce did while I was cutting up the potatoes. I can do most anything holding him, but cutting up vegetables with a knife is definitely not one of them. Thank goodness he loves his walker, it has freed up my arms many times.

I prefer red potatoes, so I cut up probably 8 or 9 small red potatoes about 1/2 to 1 inch in size. Now place the potatoes on one side of the chicken.



Then take a can of WHOLE green beans (juice and all) and pour into the other side of the dish.

The uncooked dish looks like this.

Melt a 1/2 cup or 1 stick of butter.

To the melted butter I added dry Italian dressing mix and mixed them together. Then I poured it over the potatoes, chicken, and green beans, using a rubber spatula to scrape any remaining dressing mix and butter.

Here comes the special ingredient my mother and I add. Head Country Seasoning. I love this stuff and use it in a lot of other recipes. We sprinkle it over the entire dish.

Here's what it looked like just before I covered it with aluminum foil and place it in the oven.

Cover with aluminum foil and place in the oven, which was preheated to 350 degrees.

So while the dish was baking in the oven Nic, Bryce and I all went outside so we could pull weeds in the garden. Here's Bryce on a blanket next to the garden...of course Sophie is in his hands and mouth.

About an hour later the dish came out of the oven and looks like this. Be careful not to get burned by the steam when removing the foil.

Tonight we're going to grill some shrimp and vegetable skewers. Hopefully I'll be able to share that next week.

Sleep strike and Sophie

Last night our sleep situation went from bad to worse! He normally goes down around 8 with no problems and before would sleep until 3:30 or 4am. Recently he's been waking during the 11pm hour, then every couple hours. Well last night he woke up at 9:30, then was up EVERY hour until 3am, where from 3-5:30 we had our longest stretch of sleep. He wasn't really all that cranky, he just didn't want to sleep. That's one thing, it doesn't matter how much sleep or lack of sleep he gets, he remains in a good mood. Very rarely is he a cranky baby...of course when it comes to his bottle that's a whole different story.

So this evening I was dreading another night like last night. Once again Nic was working late, so I gave Bryce a bath, then we went to sit outside a little bit while his bottle warmed up in the Avent Bottle Warmer (which I love!). As soon as he saw me get his bottle out of the warmer he starts kicking and fussing for it, as he usually does. He takes his bottle well at first then starts pulling off of it then fusses until I put it back in his mouth, and this cycle repeats. Finally we get finished with the bottle, which he's usually passed out by this pointm and he's still wide a wake. He's just staring at me like he's telling me he's not going to bed. Of course I take a picture!

Fortunately I stayed patient with him and he finally fell asleep without any fussing. I couldn't resist taking another picture. These days I very rarely get pictures of him sleeping.

Fortunately when I went to bed at 10:40pm he was still sleeping, he would even giggle every once in a while in his sleep. It's nice to know he's having happy dreams.

Here's some pictures I took earlier in the evening.

This morning I had sat Bryce on the floor in front of me so he could watch Blue's Clues while I pumped and put my makeup on. He knew I was behind him so he pushed himself back over his boppy and smiled at me. I asked Nic to get the camera so I could take a picture. He looked in my purse and of course couldn't find my camera. So I missed a cute picture opportunity. Later I checked my purse and guess what was in there?? My camera! Geez!

So this evening I sat Bryce in his boppy again and I said his name, sure enough he did it again and I did get a picture this time.

Here I was trying to get a picture of him sitting up and of course he leans towards me. At least it turned out cute and you can really see those baby blues!

Another cute one!

Bryce hasn't really had an interest in any of the teethers we have, he doesn't hold on to them well and really doesn't seem to like to chew on them. Instead he would rather chew on my fingers. I kept seeing posts about Sophie the Giraffe on Baby Center, so I became curious and did a little research.

I also made another purchase today. Back in October when I was still pregnant with Bryce we had gone to a restuarant and I saw this portable high chair that was hooked on the side of the table. I liked it because to me the restuarant high chairs seemed like they can accumulate a bunch of germs on them.

Sophie almost has a cult like following, a little strange but I was still interested. It's an expensive toy with a list price of $22, especially compared to other teething toys but I was able to find it at Amazon.com for $14.95 and decided to go ahead and buy it. I was able to get free shipping by also buying a some bowls for Bryce to get my total over $25.


We received Sophie on Monday, I rinsed it off and gave it to Bryce. As everything does, he put it immediately to his mouth and started chewing, and continued to chew and hold onto her for quite a while. Sophie squeaks and looks (and feels) like a dog toy, so naturally I have to keep Fara from taking it from Bryce. It isn't one of my most practical purchases but I'm definitely pleased with the toy.

I had really forgotten about it until one of the little boys at the lake had one and it hooked perfectly to the dinette inside the travel trailer and the picnic tables outside. So I caught the actual name: Chicco Caddy Hook On Chair and with one of my many Babies R Us 20% off coupons in hand I went and bought it. Fortunately, or it could be unfortunately, I only work 2 miles from a Babies R Us store, so I can quickly run by there on my lunch hour.

One last photo for today...my sweet boy after his bath. He's staring in awe up at the ceiling fan.

We've got a teething monster...

Okay really he's not so bad that he's anything close to a monster, but I'm convinced he is teething. He's had more dirty diapers than normal (and looser than normal), the buckets of drool, the constant chewing (especially my fingers), what looks like little bumps where his teeth are, and restless nights. I wanted to get a picture of his gums and potential teeth but Nic got home too late and I definitely need more than one hand to hold our squirmy little guy.

The last week most nights have been pretty rough. He's been going to bed at his usual time of around 8pm, then he's been waking up at 11pm, then 2:30am then 3:30am then 5am. I'm exhausted for sure! Fortunately he has not been real cranky.

Sorry about my squished eye!

Currently I have a couple decisions that I have been going back and forth with. Actually when I think about it, almost every decision I have made when it concerns Bryce I have gone back and forth.

First is when to stop breastfeeding. The goal we decided on since we spent 2 evenings last September in a breastfeeding class was 6 months...which is fast approaching. I'm very proud that as a fulltime working mom that I have been able to continue this long (via my Medela Freestyle pump). I have no indications that I will lose my supply anytime soon, and because of that I feel guilty about choosing to stop. My guilt is based a lot on the fact that I'm very fortunate to have had no problems whatsoever breastfeeding and there are many mothers that would like to, but cannot for whatever reasons. It's also a nice perk to not have to buy formula!

So at this point I've decided that sometime next month I will reduce my pumping sessions to 3 times a day from the current 4. I also have been maintaining/rotating about 400 oz of frozen breastmilk in the freezer. So it looks like I will continue past 6 months but at that point he will be starting solids...if not sooner...which leads to my next internal debate: when to start solids.

My pediatrician recommends that we wait until he's 6 months old. Studies show that waiting can help prevent food allergies, along with some other benefits. However since Bryce seems to have gone backwards on the whole nighttime sleep situation, I'm starting to wonder if it's not only teething that is preventing him to sleep as well. I know it's not true that cereal helps babies sleep better, but you can't help but wonder if it would. However, he doesn't seem hungry after his bottle and he usually leaves about a 1/2 of an ounce. But he does drink a 6.5-7 oz bottle about every 3 hours, and at bedtime he'll take down 8-9 oz. I'll note that he weighs about 15 lbs, so he's not a big baby. I really would prefer to wait til 6 months and start with something like avocado that will provide more nutritional value than rice cereal. And yes, I do plan on making most of our own baby food. Right now I'm going to weight another week, when he'll be 5 months and reevaluate.

So on to things that are more fun...

My vegetable garden! About a month ago I planted the onions, some red onions, but mostly yellow onions. I cook with A LOT of onions so I love it when summertime rolls around and I always have an onion if I need it. There's a little bit of grass in there that I need to pull, however Nic has been so busy that he hasn't been home much to help me keep Bryce entertained while I go work outside.

So I have waited patiently for April (and the reduced risk of a freeze) to roll around so I can plant my tomato plants. Last Thursday I quickly planted 6 Goliaths and 6 Jet Stars, while Bryce sat in the stroller watching me. This year I decided against Cherry tomatoes as they completely were out of hand last year.

I usually have pretty good luck with my tomatoes and have plenty to share. So let's hope this year will be no different. Below is a picture of one of my Goliath plants.

 

Here's the overview of my garden. Onions on the left and tomatoes in the middle. I have reserved the area on the far right to plant squash...I just have to find time to go get the seeds. That's all I'm going to plan this year. I'll mention that my garden is round because we previously had a pool there, which was taken out because we never used it since we spend so much time at the lake.

Friday evening we headed down to the lake hopeful for a relaxing weekend. After using our hand-me-down pack and play the previous weekend, and realizing how much room it takes up in the travel trailer and the fact that the bottom will not lock, we decided we had to figure something else out.

So with one of my many 20% coupons from Babies R Us we decided to go buy the Graco Travel Lite Crib. It's 20% smaller than the normal pack & plays, and this particular 'crib' has 2 levels for the bassinet. It's also easier in my opinion to put together. The size does make a lot of difference in the travel trailer and I think we'll at least be able to use it through the end of the summer, if not some next summer. Here's Bryce laying in it while I was frying some potatoes.

Saturday we planned on doing a little crappie fishing and taking a cruise on the pontoon. I even went ahead and bought a 5 year fishing license on Friday. It cost $88 compared to the $25 it has cost me for the past several years. Unfortunately I did not quite need my fishing license this weekend, as Bryce decided he would take over a 3 hour nap for me, something he has NEVER done for me (but is common for my Mom). Oh well, that's one thing I have learned is that he's the boss and makes the final decision on our plans. Nic did go ahead and fish a little without us, but he didn't have any luck. Therefore I wasn't too upset about it.

So after Bryce woke up from his nap, we enjoyed a little time outside in the shade. I put on some new Old Navy flip flops I bought him last week, but they didn't stay on because they are still a little big.

Here's Nic and Fara

Here's a zoomed view from our travel trailer.

Sunday morning Nic had another guy that owed him a couple hours work for him so we could stay the night Sunday night. However, he had to leave the lake by 8 so that left Bryce and I alone to clean and get packed up before we headed back home for the week.

Here's Bryce looking out the screen door while I was getting things ready. He really is enjoying his walker so I bought an extra one so we could leave one at the lake. The less I have to take back and forth makes it much easier on me.

We made it home Sunday around 11am to find my a couple of my Tree Peonies in full bloom!

Last year I think this one had maybe 3 blooms, but this year it's probably got a dozen.

Here's the other one that was blooming. Sorry about the mess surrounding this one. I'm in the process of cleaning and trimming my flower beds. Several years ago my mom gave me a start to Campanulas. Unfortunately they have gone crazy and instead of pretty plants with purple flowers, they look like weeds! So I'm constantly battling them.

Wow! This is a long post! I really need to get better about updating this more frequently.

Today was Bryce's day with Ashley and the girls. I decided when I picked him up this evening I would take a couple pictures of him with them.

When I got there to pick him up he and Delaney were sitting in the recliner. As soon I pulled my camera out Delaney decided to give him a kiss!

And a goodbye kiss!

Then Cambrey tries to give him a kiss, but she tries to crawl in his carseat to do it.

Some other random photos.

Monday Memory

I've been seeing some cute weekly 'features' on some other blogs so I thought about creating my own to mix it up a little. So every week (hopefully) I'm going to take some time to reminisce. We'll see what other features I can come up with and what I will have time to do.

So for our first Monday Memory why not start with our wedding? Nic and I were married on January 18th, 2003. At that time we had been together for over 3 years and had been engaged for almost a year.

Our original plan was to get married in May 2003 (I think the 24th to be exact) in Eureka Springs, AR. We had chosen the Circle of Light chapel with Beaver Lake in the background view. We were going to keep it small and only invite our immediate family and very close friends. I can't even remember if we were even going to have a Bestman/Maid of Honor. SMALL was the goal.

Here's a pic from the Circle of Light website. I have blurred the faces to protect the innocent. ; ) (Especially since I don't know who they are!)

However, we got word that Nic was going to be hired on the fire department. If that was the case there was NO WAY we would be able to go to Eureka Springs in May because he would be on probation and would not have any vacation. Since they work 24 hours on and 48 hours off (7am to 7am), he would only be able to be away from home for 1 night. Instead of moving it back and waiting another year, we decided to move it up and have it be just he and I.

We found another place to get married and we decided on Hidden Acres. The package we chose included the 2 nights in a cottage, the photos (and negatives), a video of the ceremony, the flowers, and a small wedding cake. I chose lavender roses since purple is my favorite colors.

I bought a dress off of ebay and had it hemmed at a local tailor shop, I'm short what can I say. Then we rented Nic's tux. Gloves weren't really anything I had ever wanted but I thought being in the middle of winter they actually were appropriate.

Yes, there was snow on the ground when we got to Eureka Springs and it even snowed on the day of our wedding...it was January after all.

The ceremony was fairly eventful, besides being the day we committed to being together for the rest of our lives. That alone is a pretty big deal.

I locked my knees and held my breath, I started swaying when we were lighting the unity candle and Nic had to help guide my candle. Needless to say I almost passed out and they had to stop the ceremony! Boy, was I glad it was just he and I! Unfortunately this wouldn't be the last time I did this during a wedding. Also Nic was sick, I'm surprised he doesn't look green in the photos.

So we were married. Fortunately he did get the job and started 3 days after we were married. We also had a cruise planned for our honeymoon which we had to cancel, however over a year later we did get to take a honeymoon.

NOTE: The pictures are very bad quality, when I get a change I'll get out my external hard drive and upload better pics.

Bryce new obsession...er...discovery

This past week Bryce has officially discovered his feet...and he is slighty OBSESSED!