Earth Day

Yesterday was

BeAuTiFuL WeAtHeR 

SuNnY sUnNy DaY

sHoRtS tO cHuRcH (for the baby)

LoTs Of WaLkS

VeRy HaPpY fAmIlY

LoVeS hIs DadDy

LoVe ThOsE LiPs

LoVeS tHoSe ThIgHs

lOvE mY bLuE eYeD bOy.

Hair cut

I never understood why women always cut their hair after they had babies. I loved my long hair and I swore I wouldn't be like everyone else and cut mine too...

Then I had a baby. All of the sudden I felt like I got it-it was just always in the way! Smothering the poor little baby while nursing, sticking to me as I got sweaty and frazzled from a crying baby in public, constantly being pulled by the little guy, and finally just being put in a pony tail most days.

But I figured I would regret it if I cut it and so I kept it long. Then it all started falling out, and my once thick, thick hair felt thin and lifeless. And almost nine months after having my little baby I just knew I needed a change.  Because my hair had just changed and it just isn't the same hair I had before I had a baby. (Also helping in the convincing process was when I saw Conda on Biggest Loser, and even though I don't like her I loved her haircut.) So...that was the long explanation to say that I now get it. And I cut it.

Freezer Foods

When Marcus gets busy, he can eat pretty dang crazy.  Not eating anything until late in the afternoon, and then eating whatever is available.  He loves capri sun and pudding snacks, so I really try to have good food around the house that is easy and quick for him to grab.

There have been so many pins on Pinterest lately about freezer meals and taking all day to cook and freeze the meals, but I've been somewhat overwhelmed by it all.  I have tried a few freezer recipes from Pinterest but haven't been too impressed by them, so I decided to cook a few of the things that I have already made before or else heard good recommendations from people I know.

So the plan was to cook all day.  (Obviously with breaks in between when Asher was awake to play with him.)  A few people have asked for the recipes and I fully recommend all of them.  Here are the links.

Everything went well and I got so much done in the day, the only bad thing was that the very next morning my fridge and freezer went out.  It completely died and everything was starting to thaw.  I was seriously in a panic (ok and to be honest, tears) to get all of our food to someone else's freezer so that I didn't lose it all.  So that's the only thing I would recommend if you do this -- don't have your freezer go out the next morning. :)

I started with some breakfast foods:

Mini ham and egg cups

I made a double batch and ended up with 26 of these to pack in the freezer for breakfasts.

 Baked Oatmeal Cakes

These seemed perfect to go along with the egg/ham cups for a pretty complete breakfast.

I made one batch with apples and another with berries, and came out with 24 muffins plus a small pan of dough that I put in the freezer to bake later.  I personally preferred the batch with apples.  My muffins were starting to fall apart as I took them out of the pan, so I just placed each cooked muffin in a muffin liner so that if it fell apart it was all there together.

 Next up:  Coconut Lime Chicken with Chilies 

I made this (super easy!) and froze individual sized portions of it over rice for Marcus to take to work for his lunches.

Next:  Baked Creamy Chicken Taquitos

I made a double batch and filled them really pretty full and came out with 24 Taquitos, filled fuller than they needed to be.

I also cooked extra chicken and froze it in individual baggies for future dinners that need shredded chicken.

The last thing I made: Honey Lime Enchiladas

 I forgot to take a picture of mine so this is the picture from The Sisters' Cafe.

 I had cooked pork in the crockpot the night before and it was ready in the morning.  I made 3 pans of these to freeze, and ended up taking them to people who had just had babies for a quick meal.  It's perfect because they can keep them frozen and cook whenever they need a quick meal.

I also made Healthy Mama BBQ Chicken in the crock pot while everything else was cooking.  I didn't do it as a freezer meal, but just made it to try out.  It was good, simple and full of vegetables so it will be added to my list of recipes to stock the freezer with!

So do you guys have any favorite freezer recipes?  I would love to have your recipes!

Easter Pics

We had a wonderful Easter and loved spending it with my family.  My dad spoke in church so we were able to go hear him speak and then have a big Easter dinner with our family. 

Marcus was in sweats by the time we took pictures, and he didn't want a picture in them.  haha.

Asher has the cutest cousins and he just adores them.  Thanks Katie for getting these darling pictures!

Matching shirts!  Asher reminds me so much of Miles.  And that is such a good thing because Miles is just so cute and has so much personality.  He is the funniest little seven year old I know.

Sassy little Lola.

Life Lately

(Brought to you by...Instagram)

Asher is always on the move.  I feel like things have already changed now that he is always scooting around somewhere.  I can't just plop him down on the blanket and have him stay there and play.  No more phone chargers just sitting out either, he scoots right to them and eats them.

We have been painting our kitchen and dining room.  We painted the ceilings white first which has been a total pain, but at least it is done!  Now we have three different shades of tan on our walls that we are trying to decide between.  We think we've finally decided and will paint the walls this weekend.  I am anxious to have this mess cleaned up!

Conference weekend.  Asher and Lise look so much alike with their matching dimples!

Asher has loved this spring weather and getting to play outside.  He loves going for walks and runs with me and is so good in his stroller.  He loves just sitting on the grass and picking up little pieces of it.  At first he was nervous to let his toes touch the ground, but he got used to it pretty quickly.

Such a sweet little boy to still take his nap in the car if I need him to!  He can be so accommodating.  (At times, when it is good for him...)

Shopping and dinner at City Creek with these lovely ladies.  No purchases for me but a late night hanging out and catching up.

8 Months Old

Asher is eight months old!

Wow, our little baby is growing up. At eight months:

-Asher sleeps from 8 to about 7:30.

-He takes usually two naps a day, but they are not always consistent in length. Some days I only get about an hour other naps are over two hours.

-He has gone on a food strike and didn't want any baby food at all for about two weeks. If I got it even near him he would bat away the spoon or spit the food out. He seems to be liking it better now so we are working back up to eating 3 meals a day.

-He loves eating what we are eating. Bread, black beans, rice, or little pieces of fruit and vegetables.

-He is way too busy to want to take a bottle. He is so distracted he will only drink a few ounces and then want to play. It takes a good 30 minutes to finish a bottle, if he even does.

-He spits up a lot.  I am really hoping he outgrows this soon.  It has mostly been since we switched him to formula.

-He goes from sitting to the crawling position really well and all day long.  

-He can army crawl. It is so cute the way he drags his belly along the ground!  He does a combination of this and doing a plank, up on his toes and hands to get around.

-He got his second tooth.
-He can wave "hi" and "goodbye".  He especially waves "goodnight".

-He loves balls, wooden puzzles, and any kind of cords right now.  He will play by himself for really long amounts of time.
-He loves to drink through a straw.
-He likes to read books now.  He only likes one or two at a time, but several throughout the day.  He likes to pick them out and seems to love the brighter ones.

-He loves to play, especially with little kids and with Marcus.
-He loves giving big, open-mouthed, slobbery kisses.  He is somewhat selective with who he will give kisses to, but after he gives a kiss he gets a big cheesy grin on his face and looks so proud of himself.

-He is still such a happy, curious, social and fun baby!

see last month here.

And just for fun, two cute ones:

My mom's broken leg/surgery/cousin time

My sweet mom broke her leg skiing and had to have pretty major surgery on Tuesday to fix it. It has been rough and so far a hard recovery.

Asher and granny a few days before her surgery

I'm pretty sure most everyone thinks this but I have the best mom. She is the most kind and caring person and always taught me to think of others and take care of everyone around me. Growing up I remember coming home from school all of the time and there was a bundt cake baked and decorated. We would always want to eat it but it would be for someone else.

My mom was always taking things to people for their birthdays, as a get-well-soon, or just as an 'I am thinking about you.' I honestly hated it because I wanted it to be for us, but my mom taught us all such a good lesson to always be thoughtful and sweet to everyone around us.

It is hard to see her hurting and stuck in bed, and I wish I could do more to help. My mom taught me so much and always taught by example.

She told me the other day that now that I have Asher and love him so much I can understand how much she loves me. Which is true. I am lucky to have such a good mama who loves all of us kids so much.

On Thursday and Friday me and Asher spent the day to help take care of her and get some things done around the house. Katie also was down with her girlie girls and Asher had so much fun hanging out with his cousins.

  Asher played in the grass while granny napped and we waited for Katie, Lola and Stella to get here.

Asher got lots of attention and loves from his cousins Lola and Stella. Stella is one busy toddler but would take the time to come and giggle at Asher, hold his hand, or nestle her head on his shoulder while they were sharing a shopping cart.

Marcus came after work to meet us for dinner at Chipotle.  Asher just wanted to push Stellie's stroller.

So much fun!