New Recipes

I am totally having an evening to myself right now and LOVING it!! Matthew went out with some guys after dinner, Samuel has been asleep for about an hour, and I have been making our grocery list and planning meals. AND re-runs of The Office is on! I love nights like this!! Anyway, I decided that I'm going to document what new recipes I'm trying and how they turned out/what I could have done differently. This week I tried two.

Country Steak with Gravy
1 (1 1/2 pound) boneless top round steak
1 (12 oz) jar beef gravy
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme

1. Cut steak into 6 equal pieces; place in a lightly greased 4-quart slow cooker. Combine gravy and remaining ingredients; pour over steak. Cover and cook on HIGH 1 hour; reduce to LOW and cook 5 1/2 to 6 hours or until meat is tender. Makes 6 servings.

I made this on New Year's Day and Matthew and I really enjoyed it. I also made mashed potatoes and green beans (which I also made for Samuel, which he didn't really like). I don't really think I would change this recipe at all. Oh, I also made strawberry champagne smoothies for New Year's Eve. They were really yummy!

Dijon Chicken
Okay I'm tired of typing out the recipe. I"ll just remember this all came from the same cookbook that I'm using right now.:) I think I cooked the chicken too long on this one. It was okay but not great.

I'm looking forward to trying three new meals this week!!

2012 Resolutions

I always make New Year's Resolutions and I love it! I think it's fun to try to be better and start the new year off right. So here are my 2012 resolutions:

1. Have more of a positive attitude about certain things and people.
2. Try new recipes.
3. Always be on a bible-reading plan and improve my prayer life.
4. Keep our home organized and clean.

Also, I am addicted and LOVING Pinterest. Yes, I am WAY behind on this but I am finally on the bandwagon and it's great. I already decided that my project for this summer is to make all my cleaning supplies environmentally friendly. It also doesn't hurt that it's healthier and cheaper! I don't think I'll have time to tackle this right now, but you better believe I will be working on it all summer!

Happy New Year!!

Christmas

We had such a wonderful Christmas. We are very blessed with precious families and Samuel was definitely spoiled!! Right now I am sitting at my parents' house while Sammy and Nana take a nap together, Matthew, Rob, and Dad are watching Modern Family and I am on the computer. Such fun! Here is a run-down of our Christmas celebrations:

Friday, Mom drove up from Abilene and Rob flew in from New York. We picked him up from the airport and hung out for a while. That night Matthew and I went to a family get-together from his side of the family. We got to see several of his aunts and uncles who live out of town. Lots of fun.

Saturday morning we got up and went over to Grandma's house to celebrate with my side of the family. We always have tons of fun and this year was a blast...laughing and watching everyone play with Samuel.

Sunday morning (Christmas) we woke up to find that Santa had made a visit to Samuel!! Sammy had fun playing with his new toys.

Mattthew and I exchanged gifts as well. Then, we all got ready and headed over to Matthew's parents' house. There we had fun looking at the train, eating, opening gifts, and hanging out.

That evening we went over to Matthew's aunt's and had Christmas with the Driscoll's. Sammy got really sleepy and fussy so we left a little early.

Monday morning we got up and left for Abilene. We had a wonderful time and it went by way too fast!!

Samuel actually slept well last night for the first time in over a week! I know he's happy to be home and in somewhat of a routine. I have a huge to-do list for these next couple of days but I am not going to let it get the best of me. I need to enjoy the time I have with Samuel before school starts.

Better get to working while he's napping!



6 Months!!

I can't believe I haven't posted in a month. Oops!! I will try to be better!!

My precious baby turned 6 months old yesterday. I can't believe he is half a year old!! Goodness, I love him!! Here are some highlights from month 6...

*Weighs 17 lbs, 11 oz and is 26 inches long (50th and 48th percentile)

*Got his two bottom teeth almost a month ago
*Can almost sit up on his own
*Samuel had his first Thanksgiving this month and had too much fun. He is definitely loved by many!

*Sammy definitely found his feet this month! He loves sticking those toes in his mouth!

*Samuel ate his first solid food this month. I can't say that he was a fan at first, but he loves his oatmeal now! We are planning on starting him on veggies next week.

*Samuel helped us put up the tree! He loves looking at the lights.

*Samuel still LOVES his bathtime. He will kick and play until we take him out because the water has gotten cold. He loves playing with his toy whale and his toy crab.

We love our baby boy so much and we can't wait to show him off to family over Christmas!!

Five Months

Our sweet boy is five months old today (yesterday now)! It's hard to believe that five months have passed. We are having so much fun with our little man. He is growing like crazy and is always learning new things. Here are some highlights from month 5:

*Samuel is wearing 6 month clothes.
*He weighs about 15 1/2 to 16 pounds.
*He rolls over both ways now and does it constantly.
*Matthew got rid of his truck this month to trade it in for a more family friendly car. Here are my two boys in the truck for the last time (and first for Samuel!)

*Sammy talks all the time. He loves to hear himself make noises and loves to be tickled. We love his little giggle!
*We have been filling up his little bathtub for bath time and he loves it! He will just kick and kick at the water.
*Samuel sits up with help.
*Samuel was a frog for Halloween and was so cute! We got lots of good pictures at the Arboretum.

*He still sleeps through the night! I do still wake him up at 2:00 for a feeding (for my sake mainly) but he goes right back to sleep. On Saturdays he will usually let us sleep until 7:30 or 8:00.

*Samuel enjoyed meeting his Great-Uncle Phil for the first time this month.

*We think he is teething but can't be sure yet. He's been a little fussier lately especially when he is chewing on a hard toy. We've given him baby orajel once and let him chew on plenty of soft teethers.

*Samuel is such a good baby. He really only cries when he is hungry, sleepy, or dirty/really wet. He is so much fun and we love seeing his little personality come out.

Halloween

We had such a fun Halloween weekend!! Halloween is Matthew's favorite holiday so we usually celebrate a lot. And this year was special because it was Samuel's first Halloween!

Here are some pictures of all the fun we had:

Happy Halloween!!

Four Months!

So I can't believe it's been a month since I've updated last. I'll try to catch you up in this post!!

Sammy turned four months old on October 18th.

He is so much fun!!! Here are some highlights from his fourth month:

*At 4 months, Samuel is 15 pounds and is 25 inches long.
*He is talking and laughing a lot. He is becoming very ticklish!
*Samuel went to his first Rangers' game!!

*He has also watched plenty of games from home and has seen the Rangers to the World Series!!

*Samuel went to the nursery at church for the first time and did great.
*He has his first Halloween costume and can't wait to show it off!
*Samuel was dedicated to the Lord this month. What a special day.

*He went to the State Fair for the first time. He had a great time until he crashed!!

That's pretty much it for this month. This month went by so fast and was very busy. I'm hoping time starts to slow down a little bit!! I just love my little man!!