April so far...Paul & Carolyn's visit

We have had a busy but good month. At the beginning, Paul & Carolyn came for a visit. Within the first few minutes of them being here, Ezra was calling for papaw to come play with him. They babysat while Chad and I went out on a date, took Ezra shopping for his birthday (which isn't until July but we'll be at camp then), and other fun stuff. Paul's birthday was that next Monday so we decided to take them out to the arboretum and do a little photo shoot with Ezra. Here are a few pictures from the weekend.

April menu and an easy dessert recipe

Here's what we're eating in April... (yes, we eat a lot of chicken.)

Chicken cordon bleu
Sticky chicken wings (this marinade/glaze would be great on chicken thighs or breasts too)
Creamy chicken taquitos
Hamburgers
Pizza
Roasted lemon chicken
Southwest chicken & corn cakes
Sour cream chicken enchilada casserole
Steak & baked potatoes
Lemon chicken soup
Jalapeno popper tacos
BBQ Baked potatoes
Taco pile-up
Sub sandwiches
Honey-balsamic glazed chicken

I started making this recipe when I was in junior high--that is how easy it is. But it is so good too and the cheesecakes come out really cute. Enjoy!

Mini Cheesecakes (makes 20)

20 vanilla wafers

cupcake liners

3/4 cup sugar

2 eggs

2 8oz pkg cream cheese, softened

2 tsp lemon juice (I just juice one whole lemon)

1 tsp vanilla

Put liners in tins.

Put one vanilla wafer in the bottom of each liner, round side up.

Combine all ingredients. Beat until very smooth.

Spoon filling on vanilla wafers about halfway full.

Bake at 350 for 20 minutes.

Let cakes cool completely before removing papers carefully or leave decorated liners on.

Top with cherry pie filling or filling of your choice. Fresh fruit in season may also be used.

20 months

Ezra is 20 months old today! Just 4 short months until he is 2. He gets more and more mischievous and fun and funny by the day. The other day he was keeping me company while I was getting ready and I left for a minute to get something out of the bedroom, and when I came back Ezra had the biggest deer in the headlights look on his face. He had rummaged through the bottom cabinet, found a brand new tube of mascara (still in box), opened it and started giving himself a makeover. So this month marks his ability to unscrew containers by himself. So proud of himself
Ezra got hit by another tummy bug this month. He's not feeling too well in this picture. Chad felt fine, though in this picture it might appear otherwise.
Wearing his cowboy boots that used to be Chad's
The other day I heard him rummaging through his room and this is what he looked like when he came out. He always has a little smirk on his face when he thinks something he's doing is really going to crack me up. Unfortunately, the smirk is hard to see since he always has his "pass" in his mouth these days.

Chowing down on some corn on the cob this evening
At 20 months, Ezra is
-communicating better every day. He gives me a running commentary of everything he sees on our walks and barks back at the dogs we pass.
-growing FAST. He eats a lot more and can tell me what he wants. I don't know how many times I've heard "eat, eat, eat" in the past couple weeks. It's the first thing he says when he wakes up, usually followed by "pancake?" or "waffle?"
-LOVES to read. He has started to memorize some of his books, namely Goodnight Moon (he always says "mush" and whispers "hush" at the right times) and The Going to Bed Book.
-has started testing his limits much more. He gets this coy look on his face when he knows he's doing something he's not supposed to be doing, and has spent a lot of time in the time-out corner lately. At this point though, he is still pretty good at obeying us.

I still have some videos to post. Maybe I will finally get to that this week.

19 months...overdue

Ezra turned 19 months about a half a month ago...maybe I should just wait until he's 20 months to do this post. He is such a boy. This is not chocolate around his mouth...it's dirt. And snot.Peeking through a hole in the fence with daddy on the other side
In his Mavs shirt and cowboy boots (used to be Chad's when he was little)
With his newest obsession, Elmo, and his oldest obsession, "pass"
Good oral hygiene is important.
He loves his cowboy hat.
And Elmo. And Trevyn.

Sucking down a smoothie.
Month 19 was the month of the musical instruments. Ezra is a regular performer on the piano, the electric drumset, and the harmonica. Video of him playing the harmonica coming soon.
I found these cars on the floor lined up just so. It's a good example of how detailed Ezra is in many ways. He also lines up all his toys on the edge of the bathtub while he's taking a bath.

Not a great picture, but Ezra and Trevyn were holding hands one day while we were running an errand. It was so cute.
I can see that in the next few months it will be hard to keep up with all the ways Ezra has changed. He is just not a baby anymore. He talks all the time--not just jibberish but real words and phrases. He identifies so many things and has memorized parts of songs and books. He walks around the house with his hands up above his shoulders, palms up, asking questions. He puts on his cowboy hat, climbs on his rocking horse, and says "yeeee-haw!" He gives us lots of hugs and kisses and says "love you" when we tell him we love him. He is goofy and silly and hilarious. He is completely obsessed and addicted to his "pass" (pacifier). He also loves the word "no" and shaking his head vehemently when he doesn't want or like something. Month 19 has been the month of the characters--he now knows Buzz, Woody, Nemo, Elmo, etc. Now, he hasn't actually watched those movies, he just has the toy characters and knows their names. He really has no attention span for tv or movies at all. Chad and I are just constantly saying how fun he is. His appetite has gotten better and he is eating more things. In the mornings he wakes up and says "pancake?" The rest of the day when he wants a snack he says "Cracker?" When we get near the vicinity of the backdoor, he says "side?" as in outside. He loves being outside and does not love coming back inside. At night our routine is read a few books, sing a couple songs, and then say a prayer. As we start to end our prayer, he says "a-MEN" very loudly. During our prayer at dinner he says "a-MEN" through the entire thing. He is just so happy, and fun, and silly, and joyful, and we are so blessed to be his parents. We love our sweet little boy. Videos to come.

March menu

Ezra turned 19 months yesterday, which means I need to do his 19 month post because it's full of all kinds of crazy Ezra antics that are really just funny to Chad and me but I document them all anyway. But it also includes numerous videos that I have yet to upload because it takes a lot of time that I haven't had lately. So I'm just going to post my March menu and find some time in the next couple days to complete the 19 month post, reminding myself that it is not at all urgent to any of you and that you had no idea Ezra just turned 19 months and will probably forget in a couple of days that I said I needed to post about him turning 19 months.

Chicken cordon bleu (I made this tonight for dinner. DEE-lish.)
Chicken lasagna
Hamburgers
Baked potatoes w/ barbecue pulled pork
Lemon roasted chicken
Pizza
Crock pot santa fe chicken
Smoky honey mustard pork tenderloin
Chicken enchiladas
Thai fried rice
Sandwiches
Chicken with honey & balsamic glaze
Grilled marinated flank steak
Breakfast for dinner (chocolate chip pancakes, bacon, eggs)
Chicken ropa vieja
Southwest chicken & corn cakes w/ guacamole (Ezra LOVES these and will eat up all the leftovers...I substitute mexicorn, 2 eggs, 1/2 cup breadcrumbs and 1/4 cup mayonnaise for the corn souffle, leave out the green chiles and red peppers, and coat in panko crumbs. To lighten them up I make the cakes, spray with cooking spray and bake in the oven. One of my favorite recipes.)
Jalapeno popper chicken skillet
Strawberry waffles (basically frozen waffles with a strawberry yogurt sauce)
Fill in the rest of the days in March with Chick-fil-a, pizza, leftovers, and "out."

My weight watchers plan is going well. I have lost 7.6 pounds in the last few weeks. So yay! I am about halfway to my goal.

Also, not to be all "does anyone read this???" but, does anyone actually look at the recipe links? I will keep posting the menus because it's easy for me to go back when I am planning and get ideas for what to cook, but it does take a little time to do the links. So if nobody uses them then I won't do them anymore.

2011 so far

I've got some time today to post pictures since it is so cold outside. These are totally random from the past month or so.

Somehow Ezra got a graham cracker stuck to the back of his head.
He loves ketchup these days and has started just dipping stuff in ketchup and then sucking the ketchup off (does the same thing with yogurt).
Here's a picture from when we went to Searcy. Ezra liked the snow for about two seconds but refused to wear gloves or a hat, so he got miserable pretty fast.
On new year's day we went over to the Parrishes to pick up Ezra (he had spent the night) and they made fried shrimp for lunch. Then we opened presents and at chocolate pie. Ezra's favorite part was the pie, I think. He licked the plate.
Ezra playing in the papasan with Woody and Buzz. I love that big, squinty grin. I've started keeping Ezra's buddy Trevyn a couple days a week. These two love each other and it's nice that Ezra has a playmate on days like today when we aren't leaving the house. Ezra has started trying on our shoes whenever he can. The other day we went to the science spectrum and I was on the phone when we got home. I turned around and found Ezra like this:At the time I thought it was funny that he was so tired he was laying on a pillow on the floor, but I put him down for a nap and he woke up with a fever. Turns out he had a virus and an ear infection. Then I didn't feel so great about taking a picture of my sick kid.

That's 2011 for us so far. Stay tuned for videos...but first I have to go through them and pick a few that I want to post. Maybe tonight.

February menu

Here's what we're eating in February. I've started weight watchers again (lost 3 pounds last week! Yay!), so most of these recipes are from the ww website and all are rated 5 stars. I think if you want the recipe, you can go to the ww website and look it up, even if you are not a member.

Buffalo chicken fingers
Chicken with balsamic honey glaze
Beef fajitas
Coconut shrimp
Pizza
Hamburgers
Spicy Asian-style pork
Cheesy chicken enchiladas
Shanghai chicken & noodles
Greek style pork loin
Ham w/ peach glaze
Rosemary beef tenderloin
Baked ziti
Cheesy chicken shells
Honey mustard pork chops (From the Our Best Bites blog)
Grilled steak
Egyptian-style pot roast
Moo shu chicken quesadillas
Indonesian-style mini meatballs
Moroccan meatball stew

Speaking of Weight Watchers, I highly recommend it. The new program is awesome. I hate the idea of being on a "diet" and Weight Watchers allows us to eat "normal" food, whatever that is, just making better choices, watching portions and cutting out a lot of the mindless snacking, plus I can eat all the fresh fruit I want without it counting toward my daily points. I also don't like the idea of having to eat something different from my family, so my goal is to cook meals that Chad and I can both eat, but he doesn't feel like HE'S on a diet. I cook a lot at home, but I can still eat out and just make good choices. So if anyone reading this blog would like to lose some weight but not really feel like you are sacrificing a whole lot, I think Weight Watchers is the way to go.

Happy February!

18 months

Ezra's 18th month has been full of lots of ups and downs. It seems like our household has been sick for about 2 months straight, and everyone at different times. Ezra had a stomach bug and ear infection last month, and has been sick for about a week but is better now. I did find out yesterday that he has another ear infection. Oh well, that's life.

We went to the doctor for Ezra's 18 month checkup yesterday, and he is a whopping 22 1/2 pounds and 32 inches long. Skinny little guy. He is still growing at the same percentile that he has been, he just doesn't have any chubbiness on his body. It makes him really look like a little boy and not a baby anymore, although he never was a very chubby baby.

This month Ezra has really started to develop his little personality more and is picking up words. His favorite words these days are "no," "up" (as in, demanding to be picked up or put in his high chair to eat--recently he has started saying "up please" but only when prompted), "Pass" (pacifier), duck, dog, MOOOOO (when he sees a cow), "thank you" when he hands you something, "daddy," "side" for outside, "play," "ball," "bye" (he says this as soon as we get in the exam room at the doctor's office), and "two." When you ask him how old he is, he holds up one finger and says, "TWO!" I guess he is rounding up. He knows his name, and when you ask him, he will point to himself and say "Ez." he drops the last half of almost every two-syllable word he knows. Lately, he has been saying "Ma" for mama and "Bay" for baby. He can point to his body parts when you ask where they are and say some of them, like "eyes."

Ezra is really goofy, which he gets from his dad. He will play the music on his little toys and start bustin' a move. He might have got his dancing rhythm from me though, and that is not a brag. These days he also likes to pretend play more, like holding his cup up to our mouths and making a drinking noise, making a vroom sound with his toy cars, pretending to eat play food, etc. I mentioned that he says no a lot these days...he especially enjoys pointing his finger and saying "no" to his friends when he sees them being corrected by their own parents, or just when they are playing with something that he wants. Little bossy boy.

I really need to post some videos. I will do that when I get a little more time. I haven't even uploaded pictures from the last month, so I'll do that soon too. Just wanted to get my update down before I forgot everything.

Visiting Searcy

We left last Friday to visit Chad's sister Emily, her husband Joey, and their little girls. Emily gave birth to twin girls in November, making five daughters total. We always have fun when we're with them and this weekend was no exception. We flew to Little Rock and then rented a car and drove up to them. They are dorm parents at Harding University so we stayed in a boy's dorm room and Ezra stayed in the room next door. It was actually a really nice arrangement, because we were right there with them but weren't infringing on their living space by needing a place in their apartment to sleep.

We were only supposed to stay until Monday, but the weather was supposed to be bad on Sunday night and into Monday, so our airline was offering a free flight change. We ended up leaving on Tuesday. This was better because we got to play in the snow on Monday, and Chad was feeling better--he had been feeling bad all weekend. We don't get to spend near enough time with these guys, but when we do it is always fun. Our nieces are so sweet--Riley is thoughtful and so grown up, Josey is sassy and sensitive (and loves Ezra the most, I think), and Lucy is just crazy and hilarious. She refers to each separate baby as NorahandJune. She doesn't quite have them identified correctly 100% of the time. :) And little Norah and June are still blossoming and I'm looking forward to getting to know them and their little personalities better.

Ezra was able to follow his cousins around and play with them, but he also spent a lot of time around the twins. He knows the word baby (though he really just says "bay"), and he would say something that sounded like "little baaaayby" over and over again when he was around the babies. At first, I could not get him to stay out of their bouncy seats and you can see how close he got to them, but by the time we left he was a lot better about respecting their personal space.

Lucy and Ezra hanging out in the twins' room
Josey calming Norah down
Josey and Ezra giggling

Little June
Lucy doesn't like it when the babies cry. She always goes and picks them up. Here she is comforting Norah...
...right before Emily got her a chair to sit in.
I have some video and a few other pictures (these pictures are from Emily's camera). I will post more later.

Lucky number seven

Seven years ago today, Chad and I began our lives together as husband and wife. On our fifth anniversary, I posted pictures of our wedding, and today, I thought I'd go back a bit further. Nothing makes you feel older than scanning pictures of yourself. Oh, and looking at the pictures, and seeing how young you were.

This picture was one of the first we ever took together. Summer of 2000, age 18. I love this picture...we worked together as potwashers that summer and that's how we met. Chad asked me to buy him an alarm at wal-mart (which he still uses today), and he taught me how to sweep.
Fast forward to 2002. We had lost touch, and became counselors together at Blue Haven.

We were brother and sister cabin most sessions, so we did a lot of hiking together. Below, your fearless leaders. I actually don't think we ever got lost on a hike that summer. Can you believe that Vance Crowe hired us? Such goofs. (Still are) I love that the dates are on these pictures, because I would have never known when exactly they were taken, and it's fun to look at them and think that almost exactly 7 years later (well, and one week), I was giving birth to our first-born child. God is so good!Stopping at the Bullok's cabin on a hike. It must have been raining that day.
On the porch of the Bent Nail, 4th session 2002. Wasn't my hair so cool, with the pigtail knots at the bandana? I thought you would say that. But let's talk about Chad's hair instead.
Another fave. This was before Chad let me chop off all his hair.
We never did officially date during that summer, one, because camp rules say staff can't date (and nobody EVER breaks that rule, right guys?) but mostly because Chad was leaving to go to school in Arizona that fall. Well, he decided he couldn't live without me, moved back to Texas, and it all went from there. (We would move back to AZ for him to finish his bachelor's less than a year after we got married).

After 3 months of dating, we were all googly-eyed.
July 17, 2003...we're ENGAGED! This is at "The Rocks" at camp. Chad set the self-timer on the camera and ran over to get in the picture, tripped, almost poked his eye out with a stick, and still got there in time to take the picture. I yelled, "Hurry!" I've never been known for my sympathetic tendencies.
And less than 6 months after that, we were married. We were looking at how young we are in these pictures, and I'm sure our parents had their reservations, but they were very gracious. Today, I thank God for putting Chad in my life. He is a servant, a leader to our family, an awesome dad to Ezra, and a Godly man that I am proud to call my husband.

Here's to 77 more years.