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!

Sweet Baby

I heard this song on a fellow bloggers page a while back and fell in love with it. It's so sweet and peaceful. For the past few days I've captured precious pics of our sweet Stella sleeping and this song is perfect for this post.

Sweet Baby By Michelle Featherstone

Sweet, sweet Baby

I said maybe

Maybe you should stay with me

Sweet, sweet Baby

I think maybe

Maybe you shouldn't leave

Sweet, sweet Baby

I go crazy

Crazy when I think of you

Sweet, sweet Baby

I go crazy

If I come cuddle up to you

So Baby, oh Baby, please don't go

Yeah Baby, oh sweet Baby, please don't go

You're the only one (for me)

You're the only one

You're the only one for me

You're the only one (for me)

You're the only one

You're the only one for me

Sweet, sweet Baby

Can you save me

Save me from a night without you

Sweet, sweet Baby

Can you save me

The way that I am going to save you

So Baby, oh Baby, please don't go

Yeah Baby, oh sweet Baby

You're the only one (for me)

You're the only one

You're the only one for me

You're the only one (for me)

You're the only one

You're the only one for me

**I finally got the playlist to work at the bottom of our blog so you can listen to the song while you read all about the D's!**

JuRaSsiC PaRk!!

My FAV and my BF {her son, Christopher} came to stay w/ us this past weekend {and I'm a slacker and am just now blogging about it!} and oh boy, did we have fun!! I had heard about a place called Lazy 5 Ranch and I thought it would be a perfect outing for us to do while they were here.

The front gate said "Enter at Your Own Risk"!! Uh oh - what were we about to get into?!

Of course, Kelly and I had to wear our cutest outfits for the animals!! LOL

We thought since Stella loved the ostriches so much at the zoo that she'd love seeing the ostriches at the Lazy 5 Ranch up close and personal. And she did! She loved all of the animals!

They had over 750 animals at the ranch and you can purchase a bucket of "feed" and actually feed the animlas. It was wild but so neat! They came right up to our car and ate from the bucket - so cool!! However, when you see an animal like this - you don't necessarily want to stick your arm out and offer "feed" to it because your arm might actually be what he wants to eat instead!

Hence these signs they had throughout our journey!

Even though it was a little scary at times, we had the best time feeding the animals, laughing, screaming and giggling all the way around the 3.5 mile safari ride through the Lazy 5 Ranch!

After we got home, we went to Christopher's favorite restaurant, CHILI'S, and then headed home for some relaxation!

What a great weekend w/ my FAV and BF! Can't wait for them to visit again soon! Love ya'll!