She Gets It From Her....DADDY!

That's right - Stella gets all of her "smarts" from her daddy!  My sweet hubby has passed his second exam, the Series 66, to help secure his job as a financial advisor with Edward Jones.  We are SO proud of him and all of his studying and hard work is paying off.  Only one more test after this and he can officially take on clients and help them meet their financial needs.

Not only is Stella smart like her daddy, but she likes to dress like him too. :)  jk!  But she loves to help with laundry and I just couldn't resist putting her in one of his big t-shirts!!  She's such a good sport - and a ham!  Wonder who she gets that from?!?

Hey good lookin'! Whatcha got cookin'!?

I posted this on my MXB's blog, Practical GRITS, today so I thought I'd post on my personal blog as well...


Today was my day off so I have made a promise to myself to get things done on my days off.  That includes laundry, cleaning, errands and having dinner ready for when my hubby gets home from work.  Crock pots are a life saver because they let me do just that - get all my errands and chores done while dinner is cooking away all day and I haven't wasted 3 hours preparing, chopping, cooking, steaming and baking.  Tonight's dinner was Crock Pot Chicken and Black Beans did it smelled delish cooking all day!!  Below is the recipe and guess what - I was a "bargain shopper" on this one because we already had all of the ingredients in our cabinet.  Of course it's Mexican so I knew we'd love it.  It's definitely different but it was a nice change to the tacos and fajitas we usually eat.

Crock Pot Chicken and Black Beans

3 to 4 boneless chicken breast halves, cut in strips

1 can (12 to 15 ounces) corn, drained

1 can (15 oz) black beans, rinsed and drained

2 teaspoons ground cumin

2 teaspoons chili powder

1 onion, halved and thinly sliced

1 green bell pepper, cut in strips

1 can (14.5 ounces) diced tomatoes

1 can (6 ounces) tomato paste

Combine all ingredients in the crockpot and cook on LOW about 6 hours.
I left out the green peppers and I only add 1 1/2 tsp of cumin.  But do what suits your taste.  Now warm some tortillas.  Place your crock pot mixture in the tortilla, add lettuce, cheese and sour cream.  Roll it up and you have a fabulous burrito!

ENJOY! :)

Genius

Of course we're not being biased or anything but we are seriously starting to think our lil princess is a true genius!  Today was Mimi's day to keep Stella and while Mommy and Daddy were hard at work, Mimi was hard at work teaching Stella a new "trick".  When I walked in the door this evening, Stella got SO excited and came crawling to the door.  She is always so excited to see us when we get home from work but today I think she was excited to show me what she had learned.  Once Kyle and Mimi started singing "Patty-cake, patty-cake, baker's man...", Stella began to clap her hands to the beat.  Seriously, our 11 month old daughter now knows how to do "Patty-cake"!!!

This is just one of the many things she's learned to do.  She is so smart and we're so proud of her and can't wait to watch her learn more and more every day.

Energetic at 11 Months

Our sweet lil princess is already 11 months old!!  What a fun month this has been!  She's learning so much every day and is so energetic and happy.  Her energy is contagious.  She always has a smile on her face and is always giggling, dancing and exploring.

Stella loves to mimic anything that you do.  This month she's been a big copycat...

• she's learned to cluck like a chicken
• she knows how to clap her hands really good now
• she's still dancing away but getting so much better - she's actually got rhythm! {she must get that from her mom! ;)}
• she now shakes her head from side to side like she's doing the old school "snake" move - it's hysterical
• she's trying to snap her fingers when she sees us doing it

Like I said, she's a copycat and is constantly watching us to learn a new "trick".

She still has a love/hate relationship with her bottle and boy is that frustrating.  Some days she'll eat for me and no one else and other days she'll eat for Kyle and no one else.  Ya just never know!  Even though she doesn't love her bottle 24/7, she sure does love table food.  She's eating so many new things and really enjoys pretty much all of it.  She eats Yo Baby Yogurt in the morning with cheerios and lately she's been eating the whole container.  She loves diced fruit - mainly watermelon, pears and apples.  She loves peas, carrots, potatoes, sweet potatoes and green beans.  She's even tried pasta!!  Guess she better get used to that since she's got Italian in her blood.  Those D's sure do make some yummy pasta so I don't think we'll have a problem getting her to eat that.  Stella still loves her puffs and yogurt melts and gets SO excited when she sees the container.

While she loves eating table food, she's still a tiny lil peanut.  The last time we went to the doctor {a few weeks ago} she weighed 17 lbs. 2 oz.  She's probably still in the 5th percentile for weight and height but once again, our princess is tiny but mighty.  I have a feeling she's always going to be small but I've always been told "Good things come in small packages!"  And actually I must say "WONDERFUL, PERFECT, AMAZING, INTELLIGENT, PRECIOUS and ENERGETIC things come in small packages!"

I can't believe how fast the months fly by and to think in only one short month she will be a 1 year old!  We can't wait to enjoy this month and get ready for the big 1st ever Royal Birthday Party!  

Four Years & A Day of Fun

Four years ago today, Kyle and I became husband and wife.  We've had an amazing life together so far and have enjoyed our new addition.  Actually we can't remember what our life was like before her.  I know this sounds cliche, but she completes us.  

The D's gave us an attic fan for our anni which we were SO excited about b/c  A) we're hoping it will cool the house off to lower than 80 degrees during the day and B) it will help lower our electric bill!!  Many thanks to the D's - we love our attic fan!

My mom and Steve bought us this beautiful bedding set for our master bedroom.  I've had my eyes on it for a while now but never wanted to fork up the money to buy it, however Mimi surprised us this week and we were SO excited!  It also came with this adorable lil accessory - oh wait, that's Stella!  My goodness she's so cute!

Today we had another reason to celebrate - Kyle had his Series 7 Exam and he passed with flying colors!!  YAY!  So after Kyle came home we thought it would be fun to go to Winthrop Lake as a family and feed the ducks.  I think I had more fun than they did.

What a great day August 12, 2010 has been!  I love my hubby and I love our sweet family!

All She Wants to Do is DANCE DANCE DANCE!

The other day Stella started "dancing"! It is seriously the cutest thing ever! She started bending her knees and bouncing repeatedly and every time we would say "DANCE DANCE DANCE" she would do this...

and this...

Do we have a future So You Think You Can Dance star on our hands?! Of course we think so!! We also think she's going to be a cheerleader, ballerina, valedictorian, soccer player...and the list goes on. But for right now, she's our adorable, precious, sweet lil peanut that likes to dance, dance, dance!