Keep scrolling down and looking at previous pages - we've added a lot!

Tuesday, September 28, 2010

More birthday fun...

 We celebrated some more at Tyson's parents on Sunday since some of his family weren't able to make it on Thursday.
 Her favorite part was taking all the stickers off of this box!


 Brenna and Easton had fun hanging out together later that evening - I love it when she wants to hold him and how they laugh together...

and I love how it always ends like this:)

ZOO!!!

 We took the kids to the ZOO last Saturday as part of Brenna's birthday celebration. She loved it! Easton wasn't to impressed.
 Brenna's favorites were the giraffes and the tigers. She also really liked the train that we were to cheap to let her ride:)







 Brenna went crazy in the gift shop - she wanted to hug everything!


On the ride home, Brenna studied the zoo map - I think she was planning her next trip!

Monday, September 27, 2010

We have a TWO year old!

 Brenna turned TWO on the 23rd! (I don't know why it's called the "terrible two's" it should be called the "terrible 1 1/2's") She's still as sweet as can be, but boy you don't want to get on her bad side or catch her while she's sleepy because BOY DOES THIS KID HAVE A TEMPER!! Yep, the tantrums are still in full force, especially in the nursery at church.

I think the paper they gave me at the Dr.'s office pretty much sums her up. "Is always in motion, tires easily, runs & climbs, may have trouble settling down at bedtime, gets upset and impatient easily, shows anger by crying or striking out, gets frustrated when not understood, wants own way, may assert self by saying "no",goes back to acting like a baby at times, is upset when daily routine changes, has sharp mood changes, likes to imitate others, enjoys playing among, not with, other children, does not share, may not eat well, claims everything is "mine", may scratch, hit, bite, and push other children, cannot be reasoned with much of the time, etc.etc. etc. It really made me laugh because they pretty much described our little Brenna bug.

BUT she's SO much more! She says Thank You ALL the time, she loves to snuggle and give hugs and kisses and "bonk heads" with you. Her "Lambie", blanket and pacifier still go everywhere she does (we're trying to work on the pacifier thing). She dances automatically when she hears any music, loves to jump and play with her stuffed animals. She loves to play in the dirt and thankfully she LOVES bubbles and taking baths:) She LOVES Elmo, Curious George, Arthur, Super Why, Word World and Dinosaur Train. She would live on strawberries, grapes, ice, Popsicles, popcorn and candy if we let her! She LOVES her baby Easton. We are SO blessed to be her parents - she's (usually) such a joy to be around. I LOVE how the tiniest things are so exciting to her and seemingly ordinary things can become magical in her big beautiful blue eyes. We sure love her and are so happy she's ours! Happy Birthday Brenna!

We celebrated that night with family and had Elmo cake of course.
This girl LOVES her jammies - so she celebrated by wearing them almost all day:)








 Easton wasn't to impressed with the party - he got pretty bored:)


 I wanted a cute "mother/daughter" picture - she didn't.

 This was after everyone left - I think she had a good day!

Thanks for the gifts everyone! She LOVES them.

Randomness...

My brother Jesse finally took a break from eating bacon in Arkansas and decided to come visit us to meet Easton - we're sure glad you were able to come!

 Brenna does this EVERYDAY - she sure loves her Elmo
 Sweet smiley boy

Monday, September 20, 2010

Pasta with Tomato and Almond Pesto (Pesto Alla Trapanese)

Do you have 3 million extra cherry tomatoes from your garden that you can't seem to use up fast enough??? If you do, you NEED to try this recipe from America's Test Kitchen! It's SO good - easy and fresh - try it tonight! I've even made the pesto without the pasta and put it in the freezer for later:)


1/4 cup slivered almonds
2 1/2 cups cherry or grape tomatoes
1/2 cup packed fresh basil leaves
2 medium garlic cloves (pressed)
2 pepperoncini (hot peppers in vinegar), stemmed, seeded, and minced (similar to the pickled banana peppers)
1 tsp. salt
pinch of red pepper flakes
1/3 cup olive oil
1 pound pasta, preferably linguine or spaghetti
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, grated, plus extra for serving (I've been leaving this out since I can't eat dairy and you can't even tell - seriously)

1. Toast almonds in small skillet over medium heat, stirring frequently, until golden and fragrant, 2 to 4 minutes. Cool to room temperature.

2. Process cooled almonds, tomatoes, basil, garlic, pepperoncini, salt and red pepper flakes in food processor until smooth, about 1 minute. Scrape down sides of bowl with rubber spatula. With machine running, slowly drizzle in oil, about 30 seconds.

3. Meanwhile, bring 4 quarts water to a boil in large pot. Add pasta and i tablespoon salt and cook until al dente. Reserve 1/2 cup cooking water; drain pasta and transfer back to cooking pot.

4. Add pesto and 1/2 cup Parmesan to cooked pasta, adjusting consistency with reserved pasta cooking water so that pesto coats pasta. (sometimes I have to use all the water, sometimes I don't use any of it). Serve immediately.

Wednesday, September 15, 2010

4 Months!

Easton is four months old already!! He is SUCH a good baby and just SO SO sweet.

his stats:
17lbs. 5oz. - 86%
26 inches - 80%
head 17 inches - 70%

Brenna cried more than he did when he got his shots - she's VERY protective of him and she hates doctors! (boy I can't wait until HER 2year apt. in a few weeks!)

I'm still not eating any dairy and he's doing great - the Dr. said I could try to eat something to see how he does, but I don't know if I'm brave enough yet! He's sleeping in his crib now and tricked us and slept through the night three nights in a row - but he's now back to eating about twice a night - c'mon buddy - we're tired!






Brenna has LOVED showing Easton her old exersaucer. He's still trying to figure out if he likes it or not.






Well, if he doesn't - Brenna still does:)





"WHAT??!!! I could be eating solid foods but you're going to make me wait until I'm 6 months old???!!! C'mon I can handle it!!" Sorry Buddy, I don't want to play that game quite yet.


"You know you're in love when you can't fall asleep because reality is finally better than your dreams" ~Dr. Seuss