16 Months

It's hard to believe my baby is 16 months old today. Watching him learn and grow is humbling. This week he has acquired the skill of whispering. At meal times he and his father have interesting conversations in hushed tones. They even have secret whispered meetings under blankets occasionally. My boys are just so cute together. I just wish we could transfer the whispering skill to church... We'll work on that. I can hear my child talking half way across the church during primary. His voice carries like his grandpa's. I am grateful it is usually happy musings I hear.

Josh's parents were able to come visit over the break and we had so much fun just relaxing. Tate loves having friends in the basement to enjoy and entertain him, especially grandpraents. Josh and I joked about road tripping home this week because we were so spoiled with family here we just wanted more! We are so grateful they came! Their flights were nightmares, hopefully it won't scare them away from visiting again.

What a Week

Helping with the housework after successfully losing his shirt by emptying a cup of water down the front of him.

Tate's first Oreo experience to celebrate daddy's completion of finals.

Someday I hope to be as riveting as Curious George.

I can't believe how fast my baby is growing up! This week he has added 5 new words to his vocabulary (including ready, set, go), learned to set the table, and started labeling his teddy bear's facial attributes. We went shopping on Wednesday and after letting him out of the cart he demonstrated some serious understanding. After letting go of the cart I warned him I would pick him up if he didn't come back, and he promptly returned. I had a very proud mommy moment. Five minutes later he decided if would be more fun to make a game of it and run but took the consequences of back in the cart like a champ. I can only imagine what next week with bring!

Dinner Time Discoveries

Dinner time is always a highlight of my day; it means we survived the day, we get to eat food (that is usually delicious), Josh is there, and I never know what Tate will have in store. Last night he discovered grapefruit and man did he love it! My child likes the strangest things. He ate half of mine and then decided he wanted to drink the juice too. He even took a few bites of the peel and practiced his letter M sound with delight. My fifteen month old is growing up so fast!

Another of Tate's new talents is taste testing. He is growing increasingly more interested in cooking with me, simply because it means he gets to taste the food. Yesterday he sampled the enchilada sauce, green chiles, and cheese. The cheese was the only thing he wanted more than once, but he is a better taste tester when we cook than when the dinner is on his plate. I'm hoping if he keeps helping me cook he'll be interested in eating more than pasta and omelets for dinner.

Last nights dinner was recipe 5 of 7 in our week of new meals and it was the second winner we have had. Here is the recipe after I doctored it (cut out cream cheese because I didn't have it and left out cayenne pepper so Tate could eat it). For the original click on the link. We will definitely be having this again!

Enchilada Pasta Casserole 

Ingredients:

1 can chicken

1/2 tsp. chili powder

1/4 tsp. cumin

1/4 cup light sour cream

1 can (10 oz.) enchilada sauce (I used the green sauce)

1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese, divided

1 cup shredded monterey jack cheese, divided

1 can of corn

1 can (4 oz.) diced green chiles

12 ounces egg noodles

Salt & pepper, to taste

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a large pot, bring water to boil and cook egg noodles according to package instructions.
3. In the meantime, in a very large skillet, heat the chicken. Then add the chili powder and cumin. Stir to combine.
4. In the skillet, combine sour cream, enchilada sauce, half the cheddar cheese, half the monterey jack cheese, corn kernels, and diced green chiles. Stir to combine. Let simmer for 2-3 minutes.
5. In the meantime, drain your pasta. After you’ve drained it, add the pasta to the meat mixture. Make sure everything is coated in the sauce.
6. In a large casserole dish, pour in the pasta mixture and top with the remaining cheese.
7. Bake for 15 minutes or until cheese has completely melted.
8. Serve hot. Keep in airtight container for up to 1 week.

Wait there is more.... Just to many good memories :)

Last week Tate had the thrill of his life so far: a morning at Monkey Joe's. This is the place where my child's dreams came true. From the moment he stepped onto the first inflatable to the hundreds of moments he wiped out running around on them he was one ecstatic little boy. I have never seen him run so fast, fall so hard, or laugh so deep. He LOVED it. He even tried to reenact it on our air mattress over the weekend. I love to see this baby smile! When we got home he was so tired he slept 4+ hours and I finally had to wake him up. Such a fun day! We are excited to return with Daddy over the break!

Who knew a train going in a circle was so cool?

Beating the Winter Blahs

I am not a winter fan. I need warmth, sunshine, and a couple hours outdoors daily to function at my optimum. Lately 2 minutes outside is enough! Grocery shopping is even losing its appeal because it requires getting in the car, going into the store, and the reverse. With my little man this is pushing it! And all he wants to do is play in the freezing snow with wind howling by. I need to be a better mother and let him. The snow only holds enchantment for me as I watch it fall from inside a safe warm window. Once it stops falling and someone decides to walk in it and ruin the beauty I am done.

Anyway, in an effort to beat the blahs I decided to cook seven new meals this week. Due to the recipes I chose, and the amount they produce, it is looking like this could take two weeks to try them all. We are still eating Sunday's soup, which is SUPER delicious. Here's the recipe and the link to where I found it:

Crockpot Cheese Tortellini

Ingredients:
1 bag of frozen tortellini
1 small bag of fresh spinach
2 cans of italian style diced tomatoes
1 box or 4 cups or chicken broth
1 block of cream cheese
1 lb. of roll sausage

Brown the sausage and put all of the ingredients in the crockpot, chunking up the cream cheese. (When I do it again I will start with everything but the pasta and add that for the last three hours. Josh would prefer the pasta not so soft)

Cook on low for 5-6 hrs.

I wish I had pictures, but that is the last thing on my mind on a fast Sunday when I get home from church at 4:45 and my house smells delicious. So we simply ate it. Tate even loves it - double score!

And here are the pictures of Tate; the real reason people frequent my blog :) Tate's first attempt to fill Daddy's shoes.. Someday!

Crazy Windy

Tate LOVES his spaghetti!!!

Yesterday my new nephew was born!! I have been there to visit my sister in the hospital for the other 4, but I am missing number 5. :( But with the help of amazing technology and my sweet mother-in-law I was able to Face Time her today! Not quite like holding the baby but as close as Iowa can get I guess. He is adorable! I am so excited for their family.

 After Tate's rough wake up from the late nap, we had a wonderful evening. It started with some 27 mile an hour winds that resulted in some apartment remodeling; simply hanging Josh's flannel sheets from childhood across our sliding back door and clipping them all on with binder clips. Tate thought this was the most fun game ever. He hid behind the sheets, used a pillowcase like a gunnysack, and played peek-a-boo with our building materials. He even adopted a pillowcase for a hat for about 10 minutes. When we had hung everything up he started bringing his blankets into the kitchen to play with there. Apparently bedding is much more fun in the kitchen. Who knew? Then we moved to the front room where we proceeded to climb in and out of buckets, give Josh short synopsis of all our adventures, and play a four keyboard piano like Ray Charles. Tate sure has soul when he jams. He is even capable of being his own band. His belly plays the piano while he leans over his musical table and plays the trumpet and the drums with his other two hands. What an amazing little man!

An Early Morning

It's amazing how many times in a day I find myself playing with Tate and thinking, "I always want to remember this." And then I sit down to blog and can remember thinking that, but not what Tate was doing. Oh well. This morning Tate was up at 5 a.m. That's a little early even for him. We were both ready to get out by 8, easy. So we tried to go shopping, but found that most places wouldn't be ready for us until 9 a.m. Those lucky souls who get to sleep in. Since we were already out we headed to the grocery store; we get 24 hour success there. At Hyvee they have shopper in training carts for little tikes. Tate was in heaven pushing ours until I put blueberries and bananas in, then he thought he should eat them. Upon me telling him no, he decided to help load the cart. When he didn't win at that, I ended up carrying him while leaning over to push our little lime green cart. What a sight we were I am sure. After finishing at the grocery store we still had 15 minutes to kill before anything else opened. To enjoy the 60 degree rainy weather we took a walk, inspected the side walk, looked at the store walls, relocated our car, and sat and watched the rain. It was an adventure. The worst part is the store we were waiting for didn't even have what we wanted!!! But the morning did wear Tate out and we both enjoyed a wonderful mid morning nap.

Here are some pictures of our afternoon festivities.  (I couldn't figure out why Tate always had his mouth open in a state of stupor until it hit me, he can't breathe through his stuffy nose!)

A Night in Nauvoo

 Last night we took a mini family vacation to Nauvoo. Third time is truly the charm. The last two times we've planned to do it, plans have fallen through, but we finally succeeded! In the off season there are some pretty nice condos in Nauvoo that you can stay at for $50 dollars a night. They are 2 bedroom/2bathroom and perfect for two families. We went with some friends and swapped babysitting while we went to the temple today. It was brilliant, except for the part where Tate was up from 2 a.m. to 4:30. But we lived... Josh may need a couple extra naps this week from one night of bad sleep. There is a reason moms take care of the babies in the night. If not the world would not be able to handle all the tired, low-functioning men. We did stop at Culver's on the way home which brightened everyone's mood. Tate even blessed our ice cream so I'm sure it was a healthy choice.

Yesterday morning one of my dreams came true... I am now the owner of an SLR camera!!!! And it's even red! My first subject I ever photographed with it was the Nauvoo temple! Here is my favorite shot from my 2 minute photo shoot poking out the car window as Josh drove slowly around the temple.