Picture and a Sneak Peek...

Here is a fun picture from last week and a sneak peek of my first attempt at Baby K's birthday invite. There are some changes I want to make and I will be adding a very recent never before seen picture to take up most of the space on the left. You will notice I put fake information on the invite as well since I am posting it here for all the world to see.
anyway...on with the pictures. :)

Stuck

I'm stuck. I've been thinking about what would be the best way to buy music and play music for my sweet baby.
Here is my struggle, small CD player or MP3 player & doc?
I'm not technical at all. I have a cell phone that is a year old. My computer is 8yrs old or more. I do not have an Ipo*d or anything like it. I had a blu*etooth for my old phone but my new phone won't pair up to it, so I don't use it anymore. Until I got married 2 1/2 years ago I didn't even have a digital camera. LOL

I want to have more music playing in our house for Baby K to enjoy. We do have 3 children's CDs for her and I play them in my computer sometimes (but it's old & running the CD makes it tired like 2 songs in so the fan kicks in and is SO loud you can't enjoy the music or hear it in the next room)

Baby K's birthday is coming up in like 6weeks. What should we get her?
Mp3 player? docking station - can we find good kids music to download? Where do you get yours? is it crazy to get a baby an Ip*od?
CD player? I'm for this b/c it's cheap! Well, kind of it's cheap, you have to buy CD's and then you have more junk laying around the house...

What are your thoughts?
What music do your kids listen to?
Any suggestions on music to buy for our sweet Baby K who I know would love to boogie if she just had some good tunes! ;)

Thanks for your thoughts!
This frugal non tech wife/mommy needs help.

Mommy, can I wear your shoes?

For weeks now Baby K keeps finding my shoes around the house and tries to put them on her feet. The funny part is she has only wore shoes a few times to church - like less than 5 times. She's a smart gal & knows these flip flops are for feet but is angry she can't get them on HER feet!
Watch this funny video.

Yummy Summer Dinner

I cannot take credit for this picture. It is from the blog Chaos in the Kitchen and there is a link to the recipe later in this post.

I've been trying some new things for dinner this summer. What I've learned about myself is that mexican food almost always sounds good to me in the summer and I have a new found addiction to cooking with Chipotle Peppers in Adobo Sauce! I knew I liked those peppers but I am cooking with them every chance I get these days. The sweet, the smokey, the spice - glorious! :)

Last night I made Quesadilla Pie. Check out the recipe and know that you can fill it with whatever you would like. I used some leftover chicken we had, tomatoes, green onion & red onion, black beans, cheese, tomatoes & chipotle peppers in adobo sauce (because I'm in love with them! I'd marry them but Adam snagged me 1st! lol)

You can find the recipe and step-by-step pictures at
http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/quesadilla_pie/



For dessert we had Quesadilla S'Mores.
http://chaosinthekitchen.com/2008/10/do-you-want-smore/
I found these through Foodgawker and have been wanting to try them. The recipe didn't list exact portions of ingredients and I WAY WAY WAAAAY over did it on the filling! Better luck next time I guess. So ours were kind of gross - Chocolate & Marshmallow oosing out the sides, all over my fingers in a sticky MESS!
HOWEVER, if made correctly (filled in moderation) I really believe these easy yummy treats are a great summer dessert and would be even better if served with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Happy Eating!

Silly Baby...

Our daughter is funny! Here are some pictures of her and all her cuteness in the past few days.
Today Baby A is at our house and while she was playing in the exersaucer Baby K decided she wanted to play underneath it! Also today, Baby K pulled up all the way to her feet to stand under the table. She has done this once before but I missed it - today I caught it on film! And finally some pictures of her eating blueberries and yogurt but the best part is that she was sitting leaning back in her chair with her foot up all casual - then she started laughing when I started taking pics and laughing at her laid back approach to breakfast.

Yes, PLEASE!

I was looking up recipes for cookie bars tonight in hopes of finding something wonderful to get out of the rut of the recipes I've made dozens of times (hee hee pun intended!).
And I found this jewel.
At least I hope it's a jewel, the ingredients look more than promising! Check it out...
Sadly, there were no pictures.
Do I want to try these? Do I want these for my birthday (less than a month away now!)?
Yes, PLEASE! (although I'm thinkin' leave out the walnuts, what are they in there for?)

Coffee Bars
The rocky tops on these luscious bar cookies come from chocolate-covered coffee beans and crushed toffee bars.

3/4 cup butter or margarine, softened
3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 egg yolk
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon instant coffee granules
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
2 tablespoons butter or margarine
1 tablespoon Kahlúa or strong brewed coffee
1 cup chopped walnuts
1 cup chocolate-covered coffee beans, chopped
1 cup coarsely chopped English toffee-flavored candy bars

Beat 3/4 cup butter at medium speed of an electric mixer until creamy; gradually add brown sugar, beating well. Add egg yolk, beating well. Add flour, coffee granules, and salt, stirring just until blended. Using greased fingers, press dough into bottom of a lightly greased 13" x 9" x 2" pan. Bake at 350° for 20 minutes. Set aside.

Combine sweetened condensed milk and 2 tablespoons butter in a saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat; cook 5 minutes, stirring often. Remove from heat, and stir in Kahlúa. Pour mixture over prepared crust. Sprinkle with walnuts.

Bake at 350° for 10 to 12 minutes or until golden. Remove from oven. Sprinkle with chopped coffee beans and toffee bars while still warm. Cool completely in pan on a wire rack. Cover and chill until firm. Let stand 5 minutes before cutting into bars.

Yield: 3 dozen

Our Big Girl!

Our Baby K is getting so BIG! Most of the time we feed her unless it's a finger food like bananas or cereal O's and lately she's been eating those things from the table. I had a place mat down for her to eat off of. I've been afraid to give her a plate because I envision it ending up on the floor - food and all! Last night I thought let's give it a shot because most of our food could be eaten with fingers. Catfish, baked beans and mac n cheese.
I almost cried! It was as if she has eaten from the table forever. She did a great job and never tried to pick up her plate! I will say she needs major supervision on her handfuls because she will try to put as much food in her mouth as possible so she needed some help with portion size but we'll get there. It was nice to eat without hearing her holler every time we take a bit because she wants to always be the one taking a bite.
Here's some pics of our Big Girl with her very own Big Girl plate! (excuse me while I go cry in my pillow a bit - she's growing up too fast!)

Cool Resource!

Check this out!
http://www.safetytat.com/

You know how kids LOVE the temporary tattoos?
Well these tats say, "If lost please call #"
or they have allergy alert tats, etc.

One of the little girls at church was wearing one. She is a quiet shy little girl and her mom said she puts them on the kids when they go to the zoo or a carnival or something like that in case they were to wonder off. This is great. I can't imagine this quiet little girl telling a stranger what her mommy's name is and she may or may not be old enough to remember a cell phone number.

Aside from safety they have several neat designs.

All parents should check these out. Most of all I pray that our children are NEVER lost and no one Ever needs to actually use these things.

GG's Birthday

My grandma, Baby K's Great Grandma, is GG. Saturday was GG's birthday so I dressed Baby K in her 4th of July outfit that GG had bought for her and we drove down to have lunch and homemade ice cream (so yummy!) and get some cuddle time in with our GG!
Here are some pictures I took of Baby K in GG's yard on a very hot and muggy day.
Also you will notice a bruise on Baby K's cheek - lear*ning to crawl is hard work and she did a faceplant the other day onto the bathroom scale and got her first offical "Owie". Poor baby! I just think it looks so sad, but she doesn't seem to mind it.


Has anyone noticed if you type certain words, ie "learning", that blogger allows some thing/one to make it a link to something totally unrelated to your post?! Grrr...anyway that's why I had to type lear*ning above. Anyone know how I can keep this from happening?

And...SHE'S OFF!

It's offical...July 1st, 2009 at approximately 2:00pm Baby K started crawling. She crawled across the kitchen floor, slapping her hand down one at a time like a stomping dinosaur! It was a hoot. I called daddy right away. She is getting faster every day.
One of these days I will take the time to learn how to post a video on here. Sorry I'm too lazy to try. :)
Here are some pictures from Sunday night July 5th. Baby K's last day of being 9 months old! By the time most of you read this she will be a whoppin' 10 months old - time flies when you're having fun.

See the post below this. I posted several pictures from our 4th of July weekend.

Our Sweet Spot...Baby K

Well, I have several pictures to post. Not tons, but several. Baby K just gets more and more fun every day, and even though she and I both had a cold this past week she was smiles most of the time and after a couple of sleepless nights we were back to normal for the most part.
The 4th was a great time with friends and of course I had fun dressing Baby K for the celebrations - including a mother/daughter matching pedicure!

Here are pics of her all dressed up - the sun was BRIGHT and she was ready for a nap. I will try and take pictures again when she is more up for it.

Some friends of ours have 2 boys and are expecting their 3rd child, A GIRL! The boys love Baby K and her friend Baby A and I know they are going to make amazing big brothers! Baby K LOVES these boys - thanks little guys for being so sweet to her!
And their mommy is great with Baby K too, she's holding her in the pic.

Does anyone have...

Does anyone have a Wilton 3D cupcake cake pan I can borrow or rent? They cost $30. YIKES! And I don't want to spend that much to only use it a few times. I looked on Eb*ay and although they have some for $17 by the time you pay outrageous shipping costs it is more than $30!
I looked at Am*azon and found the same problem as e*bay. Craig*slist did not have any listed for the area. I called the local cake supply store and they only rent discontinued pans.

If I do buy it does anyone want to "rent" it from me for $5.00? Perhaps I could give you a deal and make back some of the ridiculous cost of a cake pan I will have little use for after Baby K's 1st birthday party.

Thoughts?

Overheard...

My friend Tricia and I went to get shaved ice the other night. We happened to be there just before closing and it also happend that the daughter and grandkids of the owner came to visit their Grandpa.
The kids were very good kids, or so it seemed to me. The mom was very friendly as well.
After sitting at the picnic table enjoying our "snow cones" my friend and I found out the youngest grandson was a hoot! I'm tellin you he was funny and had some sweet things to say. He was like maybe 5 years old. He made up his own flavor of shaved ice too - Rootbeer & Sour Apple. No matter how cute he is, I will not be trying that anytime soon! LOL

I heard the mom talking to the grandpa and telling him a story about the youngest son and something he had said earlier in the week. I HAVE to share it. It keeps making me laugh.

They were at a fast food restaurant. The boy was insistent to his mother that he wanted to tell the cashier his order, all by himself! She told him that was fine and to go ahead and step up and tell the guy what he wanted. In a very Matter of Fact kind of voice, in all seriousness he ordered...
"I want a hamburger. No cheese on that. You can save that for the next guy."

And finally a side by side shot.
I had my hair color changed this week. I'm enjoying it. Here are some before and after shots.

Pictures of what we've been up to...

I thought you might enjoy some pictures of the last week.
There are a couple of slide shows
Father's Day we had a Fish Fry with my husband's family. It was a lot of fun, lots of food & Baby K had loads of fun with her cousins, Grandma & Grandpa, & uncles.
Swim Class with Daddy (last time you only saw pics of Baby K and Mommy at swim class), this was her last class and she was very tired! We had already been swimming earlier in the day and she had a 2.5 hour nap & dinner then we were at swim class - she was having fun but didn't show as many smiles as usual.
Finally some pics of Baby K peeking out the door while I watered plants & pictures of Baby K's new friend Baby C! We are so happy for the arrival of Baby C and had a great day celebrating her with several friends in Manhattan. Can't wait to spend time with them again.
Ok, now for the pictures because they are much more fun than reading my ramblings. :)

Money Saving Fabulous!

Coupon Savings made easy
Grocery List made easy
I'm trying this for a month and seeing how it works out but I THINK I may have just stumbled upon something truly fabulous!!

Shortcuts.com

found it thru Dillions.com links and at the site above you can register your grocery store costumer card number (many stores participate not just Kroger stores)
this site lets you choose coupons from their site, then you do not print them, they just are registered to your shoppers card! You don't have to remember to cut them, or bring them with you! You don't have to waste your printer ink!
You can even make your shopping list on their site including items they are not giving you a coupon for and if they have a coupon for something on your list they will let you know you missed it and ask if you want to add the coupon! Are you kidding me?! This is GREAT for a busy mom if I can just remember and find the time to type my list up on their site. Even if I forget as long as the coupons are on my card that is great for now.
Also their site tells you if you have a coupon about to expire so you can use it before you lose it.

WOW! I am amazed at technology! I only wish Wal-mart had a shoppers card so I could do this there as well!
Anyway, you have to check this out. I'll keep you posted on whether or not I like it.

Requested Sugar Cookie Recipe

I got the recipe from a blogger I found through foodgawker.com here is the link to the blog address for other fun ideas and below is also the recipes I used.

http://chiccookiekits.blogspot.com/2008/11/cookie-dough-and-frosting-recipes.html

Also a special note about the frosting - Wilton makes a product called "Icing Color" it comes in "White-White" it comes in a 2oz bottle, it is liquid and looks like white-out, not joke! The frosting will look cream or off white b/c of the vanilla extract - this product will turn your frosting WHITE WHITE, WHITE as clean snow in a blizzard! I LOVE IT! Here's a pic - you can buy it at Hob*by Lobby or Walm*art or other craft stores.


Also after chilling the dough I roll it out by using 2 dowel rods, one on each side of the dough, the rods are 1/4" thick and I just roll the dough until my rolling pin touches the rods and then I know my dough is exactly 1/4" thick.
There are special bands you can get that go on each end of your rolling pin that will serve the same purpose.

Sugar Cookies:
2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
1 cup confectioner's sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 tsp almond extract
2 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp salt

Cream butter and sugar. Add egg and blend well. Add extracts and blend. Mix flour and salt and gradually add. Chill dough for about 2 hours before rolling out and cutting. Bake cut out cookies on parchment lined baking trays at 375 for 12-14 minutes. (the cross cookies I only baked for 7 min using a silicone baking mat on my cookie sheet - got the mat at Wal-mart in the baking section)

Frosting:
Note: This frosting is similar to royal icing, but I add shortening and flavoring to make it taste delicious. Thus, it dries hard enough to handle and pack when left overnight, but not rock hard, like traditional royal icing. The consistency is NOT the runny kind used for flooding. It's stiffer. Take a spoonful, turn it over the bowl. The frosting should cling to the spoon and slowly fall into the bowl. That's the right consistency.

4 tblsp meringue powder (available at many supermarkets and in most craft stores)
1/2 cup water
6-7 cups confectioner's sugar (may need more or less, see the consistency advice above)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup Crisco

Whip the meringue powder and water on high speed for a looooong time, several minutes, until it's fluffy and peaks form. Gradually add the rest of the ingredients to desired consistency.
(**Note from me...I sometimes have to add water to get the right consistency, just depends on the day I guess)
Store at room temperature in a sealed container for up to a month.

Happy Father's Day!

I just love my wrinkly newborn resting in her Daddy's hand - so cute!

There are 82 pictures in this slide show so I understand if you don't want to watch the whole thing.
However, in honor of a Great Dad to a sweet little girl here are pictures of Baby K with her Daddy over the past 9months. It's been a lot of fun and Baby K sure has her daddy wrapped around her little finger!

Happy Father's Day Babe! I hope you feel really celebrated today!
We Love YOU!
Mommy & Baby K

Pee Your Pants Funny! Happy Father's Day...

Oh my here are some really funny pics!
I found out about this today and it is hilarious! I had to share...
www.ManBabies.com

GET MORE AT ManBabies.com!

GET MORE AT ManBabies.com!

GET MORE AT ManBabies.com!

I think this one is my favorite. It is so well done and the manbaby looks so gay running across the water. I can't stop laughing at his little legs and his facial expression. FUNNY!

GET MORE AT ManBabies.com!

GET MORE AT ManBabies.com!

Oh I just found the "Most popular" tab on their website. Prepare your stomach muscles for the hilarity!

GET MORE AT ManBabies.com!

GET MORE AT ManBabies.com!

GET MORE AT ManBabies.com!

GET MORE AT ManBabies.com!

GET MORE AT ManBabies.com!

And the Winner is...

I forgot to choose a winner on Friday - sorry about that, distracted mom syndrome strikes again!
I used random.org to generate a winner, that was sure handy!
I assigned a number to each person according to the order you entered the giveaway.

And the Winner is...
JENNI

I couldn't believe it! She's going to have a baby any day (or week, hee hee) , I just got to see her and as of recently she is able to eat ice cream again for the first time in years! So Congrats friend - your prize is on the way!

Playgroup Pics - YUMMY!

Here are some pics of the kids making their cookies. There are some pretty tasty treats being created! ;)