Tasty Tuesday (one day late!)

So I have totally stunk at doing Tasty Tuesday (and sometimes even blogging in general) since the babe was born, but I have decided to re-commit myself to it. I love sharing recipes, getting new recipes, and cooking; and recently have tried a few new recipes that I am just loving! So wish me luck, sometimes I think my children have abducted my brain but hopefully I will start remembering to do it, even if it is one day late! Here is a new recipe I tried on Monday and I thought it was fabulous! I meet with a group of gals once a month for a card group and we exchange cards, chat, eat, and do a craft of sorts. I couple months back we did a recipe exchange and this little gem was courtesy of Beth. I know summer is dwindling, but I think these would work in the broiler too (or if you have a crazy husband like mine who loves grilling in any season then go for it!)

Asian Kabob Smorgasbord
1 c olive oil
1/2 c soy sauce
1 T brown sugar
1 T toasted sesame seeds
1 T minced, fresh ginger
1 T Worcestershire sauce
1 T fresh lime juice
1 t sesame oil
1/2 t dried crushed red pepper
1/2 t black pepper
4 cloves garlic, minced
Choice of beef, chicken, or veggie kabobs

Whisk together first 11 ingredients. Use as marinade.

For beef: cut 2 lbs sirloin steak into 2 in cubes. Cut 2 lg. green bell peppers into 2 in pieces. Rinse and dry 1 pkg. whole button mushrooms. Pour 1 1/2 c marinade into ziplock, add meat and veggies. Marinade 8 hours.

For chicken: cut 2 lbs chicken into 2 in. cubes. Cut 2 lg. green bell peppers into 2 in pieces. Cut 1 pineapple into 2 in. cubes. Pour 1 1/2 c marinade into ziplock, add chicken and veggies. Marinade 8 hours.

Remove ingredients from marinade. Alternate chicken or steak with veggies on a skewer. Grill beef over high heat 8-10 mins turning and basting with marinade. Grill chicken over medium heat for 8-10 mins turning and basting. Yield: 4-6 servings each.

Next week I'll post the recipe for the peanut noodle salad that goes with it...yum!

Mr. Fireman

Being a boy, Dawson loves all planes, trains, and automobiles. He always points out every tractor, dump truck, garbage truck, fire truck...you get the idea. When we found out you could take a tour of the fire station, we knew our little D-Man would be all over that, so we went last Thursday. We got there and were there for probably 3 minutes when the alarm went off. It went off right as we walked into the garage with the trucks and for a second I thought it was all part of the show until the fireman said "we gotta go, you can come back later!" So we watched them drive off, with Dawson waving. Chris, the fireman giving us the tour, called us back about an hour later and said they were back so we headed over for round 2. When we got there Dawson was in heaven! The fireman Chris told us he could explore as long as he wanted because he had nothing to do that day so we got to take our time and have a personal tour which was so nice! Dawson got to sit in the ambulance and "drive", play with the gadgets, walk around the back of it, and touch anything that wasn't red (aka hazardous.) He then went over to the firetruck and got to sit and "drive", turn on the lights, hit buttons, put on the headphones, play with the radio, sit in back and play with the flashlight and tools, and explore some more. He then got to turn knobs and play with the hose area, try on the real fireman hat, see their tools, and even spray water out of a real hose. The whole time he kept running around looking at everything and asking the fireman "what's that?" what's that?" We tried to have him put on one of the fireman's jackets but he told us it was too big. My logical child, I tell you. It was such a neat neat experience and we had so much fun learning about the fire station!

Emerson at 2 Months!

Emerson had her two month check-up yesterday and everything checked out great! She is 8 pounds 4 ounces (2nd percentile), 22 inches long (31st percentile), and her head circumference is 37 cm (6th percentile.) She is following after her big brother and is little but the doctor said she is following the growth curve, gaining weight, and doing great! Here are a few other little tidbits about our cutie Emerson:

-She is smiling and cooing all the time.
-She sleeps 8 hours straight at night now (10pm-6pm then she sleeps again until 8pm...thank you Em!)
-She loves to be laid on the floor to wiggle and kick her legs.
-She LOVES her "magic" blanket as we call it and her binkie and her swing (that's her favorite combo for her daytime snoozes!)
-She no longer screams while in her carseat...thanks to the binkie!
-At nighttime we lay her vertical in her crib and somehow she manages to wiggle her way to being horizontal, it cracks me up!
-She loves being talked to and has a "conversation" with you.
-She started out in premie and now is fitting her newborn clothes really well.
-She is always girled-out with a cute outfit and a hairbow and bracelet to match!
-She is a really calm, happy baby.
-She isn't the biggest fan of baths yet.
-She perfers to be held up instead of laying in your arms.
-She is a cuddle bug...especially with Dad.
-She has reflux and is on meds for it, and I have learned not to eat anything spicy otherwise the next day it acts up and she fusses while she eats (not fun!)

I cannot believe she is two months already! We are having so much fun with her and Dawson is always in her face wanting to love her (poor girl gets mauled with his love!)

Labor Day Weekend: Park City!

I had told Christopher that I really wanted to do something fun and go somewhere during Labor Day weekend. Well, with him working Friday night and Saturday night, that didn't leave many options, but last minute we decided it would be fun to get away Sunday night and rent a condo in Park City. Even better, our friends the Andrus' came up with us at the last minute! We headed up Sunday afternoon, got settled in, then had a yummy dinner. After our food digested, we headed out on a walk on this cute little path behind our condo. When we got back the kiddos went to bed and we played games, ate junk food, and tried to watch a movie but decided we were all tired and turned in for the night (it's amazing how you get married and have kids and those college nights of staying up til 3am are no more!)




The next morning Josh and Summer made a delish breakfast of orange rolls and breakfast casserole! After that we packed up and headed out to the outlet mall! They had some fabulous sales going on...Children's Place had racks of summer clothes for $.99 and $1.99!! How can you beat that?? I got 16 pieces of clothing for the kids for next summer for $31! If I had paid full price it would of cost me $136! I practically skipped out of the joint! As me and Summer shopped our little hearts away, Chris and Josh entertained themselves and the kids by taking the mannequin doll wigs and putting them on Dawson and Reece and had a photo session. The pics are too funny! After that we went to the Alpine Slides to discover it was a 1 1/2 hour wait to just get on the lift up to the slide, so we had the kids ride the merry-go-round and called it good after that. It was a fun, relaxing little getaway...thanks for joining us Summer, Josh, and Reece!

Boy vs. Girl

Life with our little boy Dawson is:
Fun, energetic, loud, wild, and always entertaining. It's filled with roars, rocks, sticks, getting dirty, being mischievous, cars, motorcycles, dinosaurs, running, wrestling, and potato bugs. His little grins and giggles still make me smile. The other day it was really quiet and Christopher and I found Dawson sitting in his room in the dark. He had both hands behind his back, and a guilty grin on his face. We were told to "shoo." I asked him what was in his hands and from behind his back he pulls out a piece of candy in each hand, grinning ear to ear. We couldn't help but laugh! The kid has constant bruises and scrapes on his legs from going 100 miles per hour from sun up to sun down. At end of the day, this little boy makes my heart melt still, and he is a Momma's boy through and through.




Life with our little girl Emerson is:
Sweet, girly, quiet, pink, and sugar and spice. It's filled with coos, smiles, girly whines, ruffles, hair bows, her cozy blanket and binky, cuddling, and did I mention pink? Her little grins and coos make me smile. The other day when both boys were napping me and Emerson were just laying on the ground chatting. She loves to look around with wide eyes, taking everything in and "talk" back to you by making all sorts of facial expressions and noises. I love those little moments with her. This laid back easy going girl is pretty simple with what she wants- a full tummy, a clean bum, some wiggle time on the floor, followed by being wrapped up all the way up to her neck in her thick cozy blanket (which we call the magic blanket because as soon as she starts fussing you give her that and she is a happy clam) and her binky in her mouth, she is off to la la land for some sweet dreams. At the end of the day this little girl makes my heart melt too and so far seems to be a Daddy's girl with all the cuddle sessions those two have.




I love watching the two of them together! Dawson is always giving her kisses, touching her, sharing his toys, and calling her "pretty girl" (he picked that up from me.) He always wants to see her first thing when he wakes up in the morning. Besides a few incidents, one involving a toy dinosaur biting Emerson's face, Dawson has been pretty good with her. The minute Dawson comes around Emerson she gets really quiet and watches and listens to him, kicking her legs away. She is so alert and calm, making me think she already loves her big brother (or she is just worried about that dinosaur biting her again and is on alert!) I have a feeling when she gets older she will be the boss of him. I am so excited to watch these two grow and see the people they become but at the same time I want to pause time and keep them little! We sure do love these two!

Overheard:

This morning as we were enjoying a family breakfast of warm cinnamon rolls and orange juice and watching it rain, I grabbed Dawson's nose and pretended that I was holding it in my hand with my thumb (ie I got your nose game) when he looked at me and said: "No Mom, nose is stuck." I tired to further do it and say no look, I have your nose right here but to no avail he in all seriousness touched his nose and said, "No, Mom nose stuck on face." Apparently I have a very logical 2 1/2 year old. Well there goes that game.

A Little Catch Up

As I am a a bit behind on blogging, here is a random sampler of whats been going on around our neck of the woods:

-My family came out a week after Emerson was born to meet her and help out. It was definitely crazy with 6 extra people in our house but we had a lot of fun and they were a big help. Dawson had someone to play with non-stop and was pretty much taken care of. There was always someone wanting to hold Emerson and my house got cleaned and dinners were made. I got to sleep in and rest and take it easy which was so nice!






-Since then things have gotten back to routine with Emerson now thrown into the mix. It was crazy at first figuring out how I was gonna manage with two kids, but I feel pretty ok with things. Emerson so far is a pretty good baby and Dawson has been good at entertaining himself when needed. I have learned to take it day by day and sometimes hour by hour and it makes me not feel overwhelmed. If it's a day where Dawson needs to watch more tv, the house gets dirty, or I shower not until who knows when that's ok. I feel like things are going pretty good...knock on wood, right?




-My husband is awesome. He is such a huge help. He works 3 or 4 12 hour shifts a week so when he gets home at 8pm after being gone since 7pm I am tired and I know he is but he right away steps up and holds Emerson or plays with Dawson and gets him ready for bed. On days he is home he does laundry, helps around the house, plays with Dawson, changes diapers, and holds Emerson. He has boundless energy and I don't know where he gets it from. I am one lucky gal!


-Dawson is such a little comedian and says and does so much now. I can't believe he will be three in a few months! It's amazing how at this age he asks what something is once and then remembers. They just soak everything up. I think the funniest thing is the little sayings he picks up. Lately when I ask him something he will sometimes tell me, no mom, I'm fine. It cracks me up. He also says "oopsies" all the time and I have no clue where he picked it up from. He is also such a little momma's boy which I won't complain about!