Our Weekend...

We had a busy weekend! Alex and I had a rehearsal dinner for two of our sweet friends/church members on Friday evening. I was so excited for them. I knew from the time that Jen started dating Will that he was the one for her. :) Since Amelia was at home with a babysitter, we went on a hot date to Target after the rehearsal dinner. HA!

We got up on Saturday and started getting ready for the wedding. Alex was officiating and I played wedding coordinator. Amelia came to the wedding with us and did so well. This was us afterwards...we were hot and sweaty by this point.



My Aunt Sandi was sweet enough to hold her throughout the wedding. It was outdoors and very warm, but Amelia sat on her lap through the entire thing.



Here's the lovely couple. Jennifer was such a beautiful bride!



It was such a pretty setting for an outdoor wedding. That's Pinnacle Mountain and Lake Maumelle in the background.



Here's Amelia giving Belinda sugars after the ceremony. :)



Amelia with her Aunt E at the reception!



After the wedding, we flew home to change into our Razorback attire.



We took Amelia to her Nana's house and we headed to the game!



Here's me and my sweetie at the game. Sweating some more.



Even though we won, it was a frustrating game to watch. I'm hoping we get our act together before this coming Saturday!



Sunday is our favorite day of the week...we get to go to church!! Even though Amelia is almost 11 months old, she has never been to Journey Kids. I always keep her in the service with me. She usually takes her bottle and will play on my lap for the entire service. While I'm singing with the worship team, she sits with a friend or family member. Sometimes I get up and walk her in the back of the sanctuary, but it hasn't been an issue up to this point. We're a family-oriented church...very laid back. We encourage parents to keep their children with them in service for as long as they want. If they get upset, you can take them to the nursery. This was my week to work in Journey Kids, so Amelia came with me. She had the best time! She would just sit and watch the other kids. She LOVED this little toy where she could stand and play. Yes, my child is barefoot. She still refuses to wear shoes. I'm praying that by the time it gets cold, she'll let me put them on her feet. She was so tiny last winter, she wore those fake "shoe-socks." She's a little old for those now. HA! Anyway, look at that sweet face...she was having the best time.



I went today and bought her a couple of new toys. I looked for the Leap Frog table that people told me about and couldn't find it, so we settled for this Fisher-Price table. She loves it!



I also bought her a Melissa & Doug wooden puzzle. She takes them out, slams them back down, chews on them, and repeat! She looks so big in these pictures.

Rainy Day...

When Alex got home from work last night, I hadn't even started on dinner. Lucky for me, last night's dinner only took 30 minutes from start to finish. To make these chicken strips, you just crush up some sour cream & onion potato chips (or whatever flavor you prefer). Dip your chicken tenderloins in butter and then coat them in the potato chips. Place them on a lightly greased cookie sheet and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. I usually flip them half way through, so they are nice and golden brown on each side.



It was dark and rainy this morning. I woke up at 9am and realized that I hadn't heard a peep out of Amelia. I always pick up the monitor and turn it off and on to make sure it's still working. It was. Her room stays so dark on days like this...guess it just makes her want to sleep late, which is fine by me! I stayed up late making 3 lemon ice box pies for a catering job. Alex and I are most always in bed by 10pm. He has to get up early every morning and I'm up not long after him with Amelia. Though it's tempting to stay up late, I feel so much better the next day with a couple of extra hours of sleep. So early bedtime it is! :)

Joy came over a little after 9am this morning and made me aware that our English Mastiff was roaming the neighborhood. There is a hole in our fence (that he created) and he found a way to fit his extra large body through that hole. So I put on my rain coat & rain boots and found him in our neighbor's yard. Becca, if you find any "presents" in your yard from Dies, just let me know. I'll send Alex over to pick them up. (LOL)



After I was back from taking care of Diesel, Amelia woke up. I fed her and then she sat in her high chair, watching me and her Aunt Joy in the kitchen. She sat there for the longest time and then decided she wanted a snack. We were putting the lemons on the lemon ice box pies and I decided to let her have a piece to chew on. I know this is terrible for your teeth, but she only has two at the moment, so I'm not that worried. :) We found out a couple of weeks ago that the child loves lemons. She doesn't even make a face when eating them. She will squeeze them in her fist to get more juice out and then continue to chew on the rind. She gets this from her Granny. She too is a lover of lemons.



Joy brought over some of her homemade cinnamon rolls for me to try. I think she saw the picture of my Pillsbury cinnamon rolls that I fed Alex over the weekend. She felt sorry for us. I tried one after she left and I have to say...SO MUCH BETTER than the doughboy's!



I was asked how to make frito chili pies from my last post. I cheat and use chili magic.



I've used this for years. You just add a pound of hamburger meat, a can of diced tomatoes and you're done! I actually add a half packet of chili mix to make it spicier and a half can of crushed tomatoes as well. There are spices in the chili magic though, so you don't have to add anything else to it. Just layer your chili on top of your fritos, top with a little grated cheese & sour cream and enjoy!



I'm going to look for Amelia some new toys this weekend. I don't buy her new toys very often, but I feel like she's getting too big for what she has. If you're 10 month old has/had some favorites, feel free to let me know. One of my blog friends recommended the Leap Frog toys, so I'm going to look at those. Also, thank you for the snack recommendations. I'm going to pick up some of the things you mentioned this weekend!

Love to all,

Lead Me...

It's Labor Day and Alex had the day off! Alex and I were both up before Amelia this morning. She slept until almost 9am. I got up and made Alex some cinnamon rolls. By make them, I mean that I took them out of a can. Thanks to Pillsbury.



We've had the best day as a family. Amelia played so hard with her Daddy. He has chased her all over the house. She took a couple of really good naps because of it!

During Amelia's nap time, Alex and I sat and talked and just shared our hearts with one another. Lots of laughter. Lots of tears. I've had the sweetest time with my husband. While we were talking, he wanted to share a song with me. A song that I had never heard, but that he listens to often. It's called Lead Me by Sanctus Real. It really reminded me of how big of a responsibility he has in being the leader of our home. In being a husband, a father, a pastor.

I love my man. He has the sweetest heart.



The Hogs played on Saturday evening - our first game of the season! I went to put one of Amelia's Razorback outfits on her and it was too big. They were all too big! We're going to have to pick up a few things for game days. We were going to run some errands, so we all had to wear some red in support of our Hogs. I grabbed this hat and as you can see by her face - she didn't like it one bit. (LOL) She's not like her Mommy...I love to wear a ponytail and ball cap!



She was much happier with a red & white bow, which went with the outfit better than a ball cap. :)



We watched the game from home and ate frito chili pies.



I'm making a point to cook more. We had gotten into the habit of eating out a lot during the summer. So much money can be saved by me cooking every night. I made a menu for the week and we went to the market on Saturday. I bought an entire week of groceries for around $70! That's what we spend on eating out just a couple of times.

Last night was Chicken Quesadillas. They look a little burnt because they WERE a little burnt. Alex said they were perfect. Like I said, he's a sweet man. I thought they were okay. I won't be putting them on the menu every week. Maybe every other week. And I won't burn them next time.



Tonight I made pan-fried hamburgers w/a side of roasted potatoes.



What's on the menu for the rest of the week?
Tuesday: Baked Sour Cream & Onion Chicken Strips
Wednesday: Tacos
Thursday: Stuffed Bell Peppers
Friday: We have a rehearsal dinner to attend
Saturday: Kitchen Closed - Eating Out!

I've been looking for some new snacks for Amelia. What do/did you give your 10 month old to snack on? I've tried giving her diced apples and carrots that are really soft. She's not a fan of those yet. She does have a new one that she loves. They're called cinnamon-maple crunchies. After eating them, she smells like pancakes for the rest of the day. :) The last pic is what she does when they're all gone-gone. So sad.

Click on picture to enlarge



I hope you had a relaxing Labor Day and enjoyed some time with your family.

Love to all,

Photoshoot with Teresa Lee...

We received our pictures from Teresa a while back and I'm not lying when I say that I loved all of them. It was so hard to choose which ones I wanted to hang on the walls in our home. I wanted all of them! I have yet to get them framed. I went and priced the custom framing and it's expensive. I will have one or two framed a month, I think. We've been waiting on a CD of pics to arrive, so I could share them with you. I was excited to see it in the mail today! Here are a few of the pictures that we ordered. Amelia did really well in front of the camera. She loved Teresa and her husband, Robert. She smiled and made the funniest faces!

Click on pictures to enlarge.

We had to order some of her in the tutu & flower hat. I do not put things like giant bows and flowers on Amelia's head, so it was surprising that these were some of my faves!





This was Joy's favorite. I'm so glad that I ordered this in a fairly large size. I love it.



Love the dimple. :)



I'm going to hang this collage over her crib.



I wasn't planning on being in any of the pics, but Teresa wanted to take a few of the two of us together. I'm glad I agreed. I ordered these two for our office/sitting room area.





My Mom doesn't think this one looks like her, but I've seen this silly face more than a few times. It makes me laugh out loud!



Another that makes me laugh. :)



This is so Amelia. Fingers in the mouth. Smiling. Oh how I adore this child.



Have a great weekend!

Love to all,