Missing you

i don't know if people read this anymore and that's fine with me. I just need to get my thoughts out. I've been missing my mom a bunch lately. I'm sure it's part of the PPD that I seem to get a bit of. I have so many things I wish I could tell her about the life that I've been living, and advice I wish I could ask her about. So many things. I want to know if she knows I have kids now. I wonder if she can watch over them. I want her advice when it comes to relationship stuff.   Elise will be christened soon along with jensen and I want to know if she sees the outfit I've chosen. I want nurse advice  when we are sick. Or even someone to complain to when I need to vent. I have an amazing support system of my best friend and other friends and neighbors, but sometimes all you want to do is talk to your mom, the one who knows you best. And as any daughter knows, you can't talk to your dad about things the same way. And lately, I don't know, I feel like it's harder for me to talk to my dad and know he's being himself with me. It's like he is filtering things and I can't say what I want to him when I want to. I miss my honesty with him.

Year 2

Jensen will be turning 2 tomorrow!  It is a great time to reflect on the past year.  I must say, year one was very difficult, and I think year two was very fun!  We had tantrums mixed in with the fun times, of course, and lots of teeth and late nights, but I have fully enjoyed this second year of his life.

He learned quite a vocabulary this year, and is learning more each day.  He is starting to string words together, and my favorite is Hi Mama (Eye Ma!).  He also has a new favorite activity, throwing rocks into the lake, and he loves to splash in the bathtub and swim at the pool.

Jensen and I flew to Virginia to visit with Maria for a couple days, and then we all went to New Jersey for my cousin's wedding.  He had a great time, and everyone thought he was super cute (I agreed).

Last summer was full of excitement with the baby pool and the hose, and his first vacation.  We went to the beach!  He absolutely loved it, he wanted to be in the ocean all the time.  It was actually calm enough for us to take him out one day too.  He got to see a baby sea turtle and go to the aquarium there.

We also had a very fun Christmas, visiting with cousins and meeting them for the first time, and playing at Top Golf back home.  He understood presents this time and enjoyed opening his gifts.  We got him pajamas and a book for the Christmas Eve, and a little chair his size for Christmas Day.  He also received lots and lots of other gifts from family and friends; he was quite the spoiled boy this year.  I think his favorite gift was the balloon though, closely followed by his new wagon.

A zoo trip was in order also, and we took him to the zoo one day.  He liked the reptiles the best, I think because they were close to his level and easy to see.

New foods he tried included popcorn, which is now one of his favorite snacks.  He also had pie for the first time, and that was a big hit too.  His favorite thing is to eat the salsa at mexican restaurants.  He dips his chip in to get giant bites, and then just licks the salsa off the chip and reuses it until it's too soggy to use again,

Learn to Crochet!!!

I did!  That means I accomplished my New Year resolutions!  The makings of a hat!

Crockpot Chili

A classic recipe

Grilled Chircken with Avocado Salsa

Mmmmm new recipe again!  I'm doing well with this resolution!

Crock Pot Lasagna

New Recipe again!

No Bake Lasagna noodles

Meat sauce with 1 cup water mixed into it

16 oz Ricotta with eggs, salt, pepper and basil

Mozzarella

Parmesan

Start with sauce on the bottom, then noodles, ricotta, mozzarella, sauce, and more noodles.  End with sauce and mozzarella on top of the last noodle layer.  Cook on low for 4-5 hours.

Yum!

 

Beef Stew in the Crock Pot

Tasty new recipe!

Stew Meat (2lbs)

beef stock

Stew seasoning packet (I was lazy)

Carrots

Onion

Celery

Potato

Cut it up and put it in the crock pot with seasoning, broth, and meat.  Low for 7-8 hours!

Street Tacos and Mexican Corn Salad

Mmmmm, new recipe!  I made street tacos with avocado, onion, cilantro and cotija cheese.  Then I made the Mexican corn salad with cotija cheese, paprika, chili powder, onion, garlic, cilantro, and lime juice.  It was very tasty.  

New Year, New Resolutions

Every year, people start anew with resolutions to lose weight, exercise, eat better, etc.  I think that most people should just strive to be the healthiest person they can be, no matter what time of year it is, beginning or end.  With that said, I have made a couple snon-fitness resolutions, since I exercise frequently anyway.

#1 Be more adventurous in my cooking.   I used to cook a lot before baby was born, and it's much more difficult to do that now, especially with working full time.  I would like to get back into it though.

#2  Learn to crochet.  I've always admired people who can make cute hats/scarves, and I want to try my hand at it.  

Advent Calendar

I made a cute advent calendar for Jensen.  It took FOREVER to sew it together, but I love it, and the patterns I chose for the fabric.  He loved putting it together this year also.