A baby changes everything!

The past few months have brought many changes into our lives, but by far the most drastic and wonderful is the addition of a new little someone!  Everyone say hello to....

Harmy!

Six weeks ago we welcomed our second baby girl into the world. She is such a great little person, and my heart is already hooked. Thankfully, her older sister adores her and we haven't had too many "incidents." A couple cases of trying to pick up the baby on her own, but for the most part MeMe has been a fantastic little helper! 

 None of Jon's family or my family were able to make it for the delivery. It's the price you pay living so far away from everyone. I was a little down about not having his mom, his sister, my sister, or my best friend there during the delivery or throughout the weeks following. When MeMe was born, so many people flew or drove in to stay with us! We had so much help! This time around, I was scared I would be all alone. 

But I learned that I have plenty of people that care about us right here in our own church! Two wonderful ladies from church came and stayed with us throughout the whole delivery. I was so thankful for their presence! 

Husbands are great, but there are some times you just want a lady friend nearby :-P

After we came home, more ladies from church came over to help drive me around and keep the house picked up. It was fantastic to fellowship with them, and I am so very thankful to God for these wonderful women who gave up their own free time to help us out! 

I will leave you with the first pictures of my new little sweetheart! 

WE LOVE YOU HARMY! I CAN'T WAIT TO SEE WHAT YOU TURN OUT TO BE!

 

 

I'm nesting...

I'm nesting: 

I think all or most preggo women go through this. That time toward the end of your pregnancy when you just can't stop organizing and cleaning! This month has been nuts! I think I'm driving Jon crazy telling him to move this here, sell that, and donate that pile to the rescue mission! Every time I turn around I find something new I want to fix.

The upside is that my house is more organized and put together than it has been for a LONG time. Harmy is due on Monday, and I'm almost satisfied that I'm ready for her to get here! Now if she can just make it past Friday. The local rescue mission is coming to pick up a bunch of stuff, hehe.

She' Sneaky!

Isn't it amazing how devious and sneaky one little two year old can be? I mean, seriously! How can my  cute little bundle of energy that grabs my legs and says, "Mommy, I snuggle you!" be so sneaky to her loving Mommy? 

My daughter has decided that if Mommy can't find her blankie, that means she doesn't need to go to sleep. 2 nights ago, after going through her bedtime routine and tucking her in, I kissed her good night and witnessed as she tucked her blankie down behind her bed. She did it right in front of me! Then she started crying and asking me, "Where blankie go! Where blankie go!?" 

WHAT? You're two years old, my little one! How can you be pulling this stuff already? I gave it back to her, and told her if she did it again she would lose the blankie. Then I left the room. A few seconds later...."Mommy! Where blankie go!" followed by panic stricken cries from her room! Of course, I found the blankie behind the bed and had to take it away from her. 

I THOUGHT she'd learned her lesson, but noooooooooooo. Not my child. The next day at nap time she started crying about her blankie. The first place I checked was behind the bed. It wasn't there. I looked all over the house, but couldn't find it anywhere. So I gave her the backup blankie. That night when I put her to bed, I unzipped her stuffed pony and guess what I found? YUP! HER BLANKIE! She'd stuffed it in her pony and zipped it up so I couldn't find it! 

I'm sure this means she's some kind of genius or something, but can't she find the cure for cancer or start developing musical masterpieces? Why does it have to be evil genius? 

Should I be scared?

Mommy's helper!

I love my little "helper"!

with the dishes....

cooking!

She got almost as much flour in her mouth as she did on the bread!

making cookies!!!!

Fresh Tomato Soup

This recipe is awesome, and so easy! I made it when we were given a bunch of tomatoes that I knew we would never be able to eat before they went bad. It's adapted from several tomato soup recipes because I couldn't find one that I liked. The best part? I've reduced some of the oil, cream, and sugar and removed the flour, so it's only about 100 calories per cup (depending on how much cream you put in)!

FRESH TOMATO SOUP

 Ingredients:

-1 sliced onion

-4 garlic cloves--minced (or a 3-4 TBLS minced garlic)

-1 TBLS olive oil

-4 cups chopped fresh tomatoes

-2 cups chicken broth (homemade broth makes the soup taste better, but you'll add a little to the total calorie count)

-1 teaspoon salt

-1 teaspoons white sugar, or to taste

-Basil, oregano, sage, Thyme-----as desired.

-12 oz tomato paste

-2 Tbls vinegar

-Pinch of Cayenne pepper.

-1/4 cup heavy cream, milk, Coffee creamer, or half and half (optional)--

Directions:

1. Saute chopped garlic and olive oil. Add chopped onion and saute until tender. Then add chopped tomatoes (with seeds and skin) and bring to a boiling simmer.

2. Add the chicken stock. Reduce heat to medium-low and cook for about 20 minutes.

3. Cool completely and add basil, sage, Thyme, etc. (if you have a hand blender you can use that without waiting for the soup to cool. But if you are using a blender or food processor, make sure you cool it to warm before you puree it! I put the whole pot in the fridge for about 10-20 minutes)

4. Puree in a blender or food processor

5. Pour mixture back into pot. Add tomato paste and stir. Heat on medium until it bubbles.

6. Season with sugar, vinegar, Cayenne pepper, and salt. Adjust to taste.

7. For a creamier soup, stir in 1/4 cup  to a cup of milk or cream.

8. Stir well, and serve hot!

 

Serve with crackers, shredded cheese, or a toasted cheese sandwich!  

This recipe freezes very well, and reheats easily. We have found that this amount of soup serves 4-6 easily. For more people, double as needed.

Baked Penne

Ingredients:

12 ounces uncooked penne pasta
2 pounds ground beef
2 jars spaghetti sauce (I used roasted garlic and onion flavored)
2 eggs
1 carton ricotta cheese (15 oz)
2 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese (divided)
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese


Directions:

1. Cook the pasta according to the package directions. Meanwhile, brown beef in a large skillet. Stir in the spaghetti sauce.
2. In a large bowl, combine the eggs, ricotta cheese, 1 and a half cups mozzarella cheese, and Parmesan cheese. Drain pasta and add it to this mixture. Stir it until pasta is well coated.
3. Spoon a third of the meat sauce into a greased 13×9 inch baking dish. Top with half of the pasta mixture. Add another third of the meat sauce, then the rest of the noodles. Top with the remaining meat sauce.
4. Cover with tin foil and back at 350 degrees for 40 minutes. Uncover, sprinkle the rest of the Mozzarella cheese. Bake about 10 minutes longer or until cheese is melted.
5. Let stand 15 minutes before serving.


Serve with: A fresh green salad and garlic bread!There you go! Hope to see a lot of you try it, and remember to leave a comment on how it goes! Other side suggestions are welcome and appreciated!

Chicken Tortilla soup

This is an all time favorite in my house and at church. It's absolutely PERFECT for cold days.

Ingredients:
1 can chicken
1 can corn
2 cans chicken broth
1 can rotel diced tomatoes
38-40oz (a few cans) of diced tomatoes
1 medium onion
2-3 cloves diced garlic
1 tbls butter
Ground Cumin (I don’t really measure, just sprinkle it in until it smells good):
Black pepper 

Directions:
1. Sautee onion and garlic in 1 tbls butter until onions are just browned.
2. In a large pot combine all the ingredients and stir.
3. Bring to a bowl
4. Reduce heat and simmer for 10-15 minutes. It can sit on low heat for a while until you are ready to serve. It is best served hot!

Extras:
Tortilla chips
Shredded cheddar cheese
sour cream
Cilantro

Ways to serve:  Okay, my husband feels that this is very important. We both prepare our bowls differently. You can try it both ways and let me know which one YOU prefer. And to be fair, I won't tell which is which.

1. Crumble tortilla chips into a bowl. Sprinkle cheese on top of the chips then pour the soup over them. Dab some sour cream on top and sprinkle the cilantro over the sour cream.

2. Pour soup into a bowl. Sprinkle some cilantro over the top of the soup. Then sprinkle tortilla chips and cheese over the top of the cilantro. Dab a little sour cream on top of the chips. 


There you have it! I will not influence your opinion one way or the other. You can try it both ways, or make up your own combination.

Cinnamalicious Cake

WARNING: THIS IS NOT A HEALTHY RECIPE!!!!

Ingredients:
1 Box moist yellow cake mix (will also need water, oil, 3 eggs)
1 small box Jello cheesecake pudding mix
1 regular sized container of cream cheese frosting (or you can make your own, if you prefer)
Cinnamon

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 325 Degrees Fahrenheit. Grease 12-cup bundt cake pan.

2. Mix cake mix as directed. Add the Jello mix to the batter and stir until blended.

3. Separate cake batter into two parts. Mix about 2-3 tablespoons of Cinnamon into one part.

4. Poor non-Cinnamon portion into the cake pan. Then poor Cinnamon portion over it, swirling it from side to side. Take a butter knife and swirl them together, but be careful not to mix too much.

5. Bake cake for 30-35 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

6. While cake is baking, separate the frosting into two equal parts. Mix a tablespoon or two of Cinnamon into one portion, so it is really cinnamony.

7. When cake is finished, let it cool completely before decorating.
Decorating: I like to drizzle the frosting over the cake. You can make it look really cool and it’s easy to do. Just get two small plastic baggies, clip a small hole in a corner and poor your frosting in. Then just drizzle each one over the whole cake.


Let me know if you have any questions! If you try it, please let me know how it goes! I hope to add pictures soon.