Seven Months

Samuel turned seven months old on the 18th!! Here are some highlights from this month:

*Weighs about 18 lbs.
*Wears 9 month clothes mostly
*Size 3 diapers
*Sits on his own
*Is army crawling (dragging himself with his arms and pushing off with his toes). He can get most anywhere but not very fast yet
*Growling...loves to growl and make other funny noises
*Sammy finally likes his veggies! He loved his first fruits (bananas and apples) and now will eat most anything we give him. I am making his food and loving it! He usually eats bananas and oatmeal for a late breakfast at Courtney's and then a veggie mixed with barley or rice for dinner.
*Drinks water from a sippy cup but not very well yet
*Sammy went on his first airplane ride to Abilene this month! He did a great job, although I don't think the other passengers thought his growling was very funny!
*Samuel got a cousin this month! Hannah Philippa Larkin was born on January 12th. I'm sure they will be BFF!
*Samuel is a very busy little boy. He is always trying to grab something or kicking his legs or playing with something...we are going to be very busy once he starts really crawling!

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!!