My 6th Month Old

My superstar sister snapped some photos of my baby girl last week. She's amazing! Go check out her blog for more pics of Sweet P and some great photo tips.

Face Mug = Awesome!

image from holycool.net

I saw this on holycool.net and cracked up. It also made me realize it's almost the second month into a new year and I have yet to eat a donut this year!

I know, hard to believe. And wouldn't you know it, as soon as I was aware of my lack of tasty pastry eating, I started craving donuts!?

Figures, but now I kind of feel like seeing how long I can go without one.


And this is for Sweet P's aunt! (sorry her face is blurry, I was focused on the shirt)

Happy Friday and have a great weekend!

Embrace the Camera - Photo Booth

For this edition of Embrace the Camera, we had some Photo Booth fun!

And then a "normal" one.

Happy Thursday!

6 Months Old Today

I don't even know what to say. My baby is 1/2 a year old.

It's AMAZING how quickly time goes by with a little one.

Happy half-birthday baby girl! You are beautiful, funny, sweet, innocent, energetic and you melt my heart. Your mommy and daddy love you so much and are so thankful for you.

Getting Crafty for a Baby Shower

One of my good friends is going to be having a baby soon and it's going to be a little girl.

Her sister threw her a baby shower over the weekend and me and P had our longest car ride to date. She did great on the way but cried the entire ride home, for 45 minutes. Boo.

Anyway, I made her a little monthly calendar for the first year. Not sure what to call it. Each month has a little sheet to fill out the basics: weight, height, new for the month and favorite activity. I printed them out, cut each one out and then got a little stamp crazy!

Do you know how much fun stamping can be?

Anyway, here's the start:

Stamp happy:

And finished it with a little ribbon:

And then I customized each one with a monogram on the back.

Download it for FREE here.

Bacon and Feta Stuffed Pork Tenderloin

This is a really easy recipe with few ingredients. I usually made this in the spring when we have fresh spinach and green onions from the garden and we like to grill it so the house doesn't get hot using the oven. But, it's just as good in the oven.

Ingredients:
salt and pepper
1 t. rosemary
1 pork tenderloin - 1.5-2.5 lbs.
several leaves of fresh spinach
2-4 strips of bacon
a handful of crumbled feta cheese or 2 slices provolone cheese (halved)
1 bunch sliced green onion

Here's what you do:
Butterfly the pork tenderloin and season the outside with salt and pepper and rosemary. Then, put 1 to 2 strips of uncooked bacon on one side. Top that with several leaves of fresh spinach, followed by either cheese, then sprinkle the sliced onion over the cheese and top with another strip, or two of uncooked bacon slices.

This one has the spinach layer first but it's better if you start with a bacon layer.


Next you need to close the tenderloin like a sandwich or taco by pulling the sides together. Then you need to run a skewer through it so it stays intact while it's cooking. Either weave a long skewer through the whole thing or take a wooden skewer and break it into several pieces and run each one through. I have found that it's easier to use the wooden pieces.



Now either put it on the grill or stick it in the over. If grilling, cook for about 30 minutes - this will vary depending on the heat of your grill so stick a meat thermometer in it and make sure it's 150 degrees. If baking, cook at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes.

Once cooked, let it rest 5-10 minutes, then slice into medallions and serve!

I'm onto you Kellogg's

Do you remember this cereal?

I loved Nut & Honey Crunch as a kid. I have fond memories of playing with our old neighbor friends and eating it with them for breakfast. One of us would say, "what's going on?" and the other would reply, "nut & honey" (nothin' honey).

Okay, random. Well, one day, I went to the store to get some and couldn't find it. It was no where. Every time I'm in the cereal aisle I look for it. I guess they stopped making it!? But how could this be so? It was so good.

Then, the greatest thing happened this week. I saw this:

Hmm. I'm on to you Kellogg's!

Nut & Honey Crunch vs. Crunchy Nut - Golden Honey Nut.

I was pretty sure it had to be the same cereal but with a different name and fancy new packaging. I bought it, made a huge bowl and am here to report that it is indeed the same.

I think. If not, it's close enough for me!

Embrace the Camera - Snow Day!

It snowed some here last night so I took Sweet P out to see what she thought.

I put a little snow on her tongue.

Not sure what she thought.

And then she was done!

It Requires More than Wings

I was reading some Aesop's Fables and this was the moral to one of the stories.

"It requires more than wings to be an eagle."

I really liked it so I decided to make a little wallpaper graphic for my desktop.

Here's a close up.

Happy hump day!

My Adventures in Baby Food

I never thought I'd be the type of mom that makes her own baby food. I just imagined it to be hard or time consuming.

But guess what! It's so easy!

You can just mash up bananas and avocados and serve. Other stuff requires steaming or baking but it's still super easy and fast. I've been cooking up all sorts of fruits and veggies for Sweet P. And I love it. Who knew making baby food could be so much fun?

This weekend I made her some pear puree and sugar snap pea puree.

By the way, have you ever tried steamed sugar snap peas with a little sea salt? So good.

All I did was steam the peas and pears. Then I just put them the magic bullet (separately) until they were creamy and transferred the puree to an ice cube tray. Done, easy and it actually tastes good.

Now all I have to do is thaw a cube and add a little seasoning for a little snack!

If at First You Don't Succeed

Sweet P finally fits in a dress I wore as a little girl and I wanted to get a couple pictures of her in it.

She sat up for one picture.

Then she saw the lens cap.

But it was slightly out of reach.

So, she tried again.

SUCCESS. 

Now what?

Into the mouth.

And next I will switch hands.

Well. That was fun.

Happy Friday. Have a great weekend and don't give up trying for the things you really want, even if they seem out of reach!

Reeder App for iPhone

I don't know how I didn't know about this little gem before.

If you read a lot of blogs and have an iPhone you must get Reeder. It syncs with your Google account so you can spend more time reading your favorite blogs when you're away from the computer. Here's a screen shot.

Now when I'm in line at the bank or in the doctor's office, I can spend more time catching up and less time playing Angry Birds.

A Handmade Christmas

This Christmas was filled with tons of awesome handmade gifts and I have to brag on my family a bit!

My aunt is a great quilter and seamstress. This year she made the ladies casserole dish totes. Each one was customized with fabric to each person's liking. My sister's was out of Amy Butler fabric, not sure what mom's was and mine was Tula Pink fabric. It's handy and pretty! Oh, and there was her homemade fudge in the pan!! MMM.

My sister, who is uber-talented, made everyone hand-painted plates. I love the paper airplane!

My mom made a little onesie for Sweet P! I love the bling and little ruffles on the sleeves.

Hand on the hip model pose!

Then there's my mom's dad, aka grandpa (and the one that scroll sawed the letters for my drawers), he made this keepsake box for Sweet P. Beautiful.

And, then there's my dad. You've seen this a zillion times now, but I love it!

As you can see, I come from crazy-talented genes!