Pool Time

It's been a rough week with Taya, but pictures of her always cheer me up, so I decided to post a few. She's going through a phase (well, hopefully just a phase) with sleeping that's driving me crazy. I think it's just separation anxiety, but she just screams and screams when I put her down. Tonight after listening to her scream for so long, I finally went and rocked her to sleep but the second I put her down she started screaming again. Finally she just cried herself to sleep... 2 hours after bedtime! So, once again, if anyone has any suggestions I'll take them!! :)

*These are a few pictures from the pool the other day... Taya loves the water, but they don't heat the pool here so we don't get in very often!

Trying to pick up ants again!

My Little Dancing Queen

Taya started dancing a little while ago so I decided to whip out the camera and take a little video of it. It's pretty cute, doesn't last long, but still cute! Sorry it's a little shaky, I'm probably dancing in the background trying to get her to dance some more :) Not a pretty picture, I know! Also, this is the noise she makes ALL the time!!! Literally! You can imagine how fun it is for me in church! haha. And one other thing, she gets so close to the camera at one point that she looks cross eyed, but I promise she's not! :) ...

CHICKEN LICKIN

This is a recipe from my mom, it was one of my favorites growing up. I guess you could also call it "Chicken Spaghetti" but "Chicken Lickin" is so much more fun! This is one of those really fast recipes that you pretty much don't have to do anything... maybe that's why I like it so much! Anyway, this was a request from Jenna, so enjoy!

Chicken Lickin

6-8 boneless, skinless chicken breast
3 T. butter
1 large onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1 1/2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. paprika
1/2 tsp. ground ginger
1/2 tsp. chili powder
1 16 oz can tomatoes (I use diced)
1/2 C. heavy whipping cream (optional, but I think a must :) )

*Rinse chicken and pat dry. In skilliet melt butter and brown chicken quickly. Stir remaining ingredients except cream in crock pot and add chicken. Cover and cook on low for 8-10 hours or high for 4-5 hours. Shred chicken with a fork and mix everything together. Just before serving, stir in cream. Serve over spaghetti.

*I never brown the chicken, I just throw everything in all together and give it a quick stir!

Summer Fun

Just a few more pictures of the fun we've been having this summer...

I told you the ants were giant in Illinois...

This is at the Morton Arboretum (http://mortonarb.org/). They have tons of giant bugs through the whole place... kind of fun.

This is Taya's friend London... they play really well together, it's so nice! I just think it's so cute seeing two little crawling babies for some reason! London is such a sweet baby and most importantly, she puts up with my sweet princess and her hyperness! :)

Yes, this is Taya picking up an ANT... what is it with ants in this family??

Sweet glasses dude! :)

Happy Birthday Mommy

It was my mom's birthday yesterday and Jenna posted a few pictures. I just wanted to add a few more of my favorites...

I think this was her senior picture... so cute :)

Mom and grandsons, Chandler and Cole
Mom and me at Jenna's Wedding
Mom and Dad and screaming baby Tay. (Right after she was born, before I even got to see her!)

And this is the lovely card I sent Mom for her birthday... Happy Birthday Mommy!...

(sorry taya)

It's Official

I had one of the worst days of my life yesterday, let me tell you about it...

A friend of ours was going to be gone for a few days so they asked me to take their dog out a few times during the day. No problem! ... I had to run some errands so I decided to hurry and take the dog out real quick before I left. I drove Taya over there, get her stroller out of the car, but there are steps to get down to their apartment so I just left the stroller outside and was going to hurry and grab Boomer. I opened their front door and shut it so it was tight, but not completely shut all the way. I walked upstairs, let Boomer out of his crate and he bolted down the stairs and somehow got out of my "shut door". I ran down the stairs and out the door, called his name, chasing after him. He got close but just TOOK OFF! I ran after him for a little while, but he was too far, so I ran back inside, grabbed Taya, put her in her carseat and started driving around the complex like a complete mad man! I caught up to him a few times, got out of the car, he'd start running towards me, then just give me a look like "haha, you can't catch me" then would take off again. I panicked and called Jessie, so she grabbed her two kids and was chasing the dang dog with me. I saw her get out of her car and was yelling at him, so I drove around and tried to corner him, but it was too late. He got out of the complex (which is just a huge circle of townhomes basically) and took off AGAIN!!! He was within my reach about 5 times, that's what made me the most mad. So here I am, freaking out, bawling my eyes out that I lost, not mine, but SOMEONE ELSE'S DOG!!! Jessie and I drove around, outside the complex for probably 20 minutes but ended up back at her apartment. I dropped Taya off with her and decided to keep looking for a little while. I said a little prayer and as I was deciding which way to turn out of the complex I looked right and saw a little mangled brown dog. Boomer is white, but I thought 'how many wandering dogs could there be out here', so I turned right and sure enough that was him. Just wait, it gets better... I flip a U-turn and continue to follow him back to the complex, then he bolts in front of oncoming traffic and forces me to gasp everytime he dodges a car. I turn back into the complex and watch him walk to his apartment, so I park the car, get out and as we're right in front of their apartment, I look at him, call his name, he gives me that look of "haha, you can't catch me" again, turns around and bolts... again. Yes, there are a lot of "again"s in this story. At this point I'm about ready to drop-kick Boomer. So I get back in my car for the 18th time and start chasing the dog again, but he's nowhere to be found. I had talked to Cameron a few times during this whole fiasco and he could tell I was about ready to loose it, so he came back to help me. Maybe not so much help me find the dog, but help me get back my sanity! My stomach was in complete knots and I was about ready to throw up the entire time. When he got there we drove around, but couldn't find him, so we came back to their apartment and decided to leave the door open in case he came back again. Cameron stayed outside looking for him and I waited inside on the couch praying that this little dog would just come wandering through the door. About ten seconds later it happened. The heavens opened and the dog appeared. I sprinted to the door, literally, and shut it as fast as I could. I was in complete shock, I think Cameron was too. Thank goodness he came to my rescue... and Boomer's.

Later that night Taya decided that she wanted to vomit EVERYWHERE, so that was a nice end to my day. After bathing and getting her all ready for bed, she ended up right back in the tub where she started. It was awesome.

My nightmare day is over, thank goodness, hopefully today will be better. Last night my prayers were full of "thank you's" and "I'm sorry's" ... my mouth was probably not the best in that situation, I'll be honest :/ Jessie gets to take Boomer out today, so we'll see how that goes :)

And No, I did not drop-kick Boomer.

10 Reasons Why I Love My Daddy (from taya)

He smiles when he looks at me...

He lets me play with his face... He lets me play with his remotes... He loves flowers in his hair too...
He loves to show me off...

He makes funny faces...

Lots of them :) ...He loves my puppies...
He does a great job feeding me :) ...
He was there when I came into this world...
He makes me laugh...

Hey Cam, just wanted you to know how much I love you and how proud I am of you. You're an amazing father and Taya and I both love you so much! Happy Father's Day!


This was our Father's Day...

And this is how Taya spent most of her day :) ...

Getting so good at crawling...

THAI CHICKEN PEANUT NOODLES

I've been trying a lot of new recipes lately and my sister, Jenna, and I decided we'd start sharing more of them. Whoever thought of this blog thing is a genius, I've found more delicious cooking websites than I ever could've dreamed!! So last night we had Thai Chicken Peanut Noodles and let me tell you it was absolutely fantastic!! (If you like Thai of course) Cameron said it was probably his favorite meal that I've ever made. I found this recipe on http://sisterscafe.blogspot.com/ and stole the picture she had as well (the pictures I take of food never turn out good!). There's a lot of ingredients, but it's actually pretty easy! Try it, trust me, you'll thank me later :) Happy eating! ...

Thai Chicken Peanut Noodles

1 lb whole wheat thin spaghetti noodles (I just used regular noodles, not wheat)

2 Tablespoons sesame oil1 garlic clove, peeled
1 (1 inch) piece of fresh ginger, peeled
½ Cup smooth peanut butter
¼ Cup soy sauce
2 Tablespoons brown sugar
1 Tablespoon rice vinegar
1 scant teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1 Cup hot water

2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
½ Cup finely chopped white onion
½ Cup finely chopped red or orange bell pepper
2½ - 3 Cups cooked, shredded chicken breast
¼ Cup finely chopped cilantro leaves
1/2 teaspoon salt, or to taste

¼ Cup dry roasted peanuts, chopped
2 Tablespoons sesame seeds (I just sprinkle some on top)

*You can cook the chicken however you like, but I put it in the crock pot a few hours ahead of time with about 1/2 cup chicken broth, 1/2 cup water, onion flakes and some onion powder.

Place garlic and ginger in food processor until well chopped. Add peanut butter, soy sauce, brown sugar, vinegar and red pepper flakes. Pulse until well combined and slowly add hot water. Set aside. (I don't have my food processor out here so I just cut everything up and mixed it in a bowl. Takes more time, but it works!)

Bring water to boil and cook noodles. Meanwhile, place olive oil in hot skillet over medium heat. Saute onion and bell pepper for 5 minutes or until softened. Stir in chicken breast, cilantro and salt. Add sauce and stir until heated through. Add chicken mixture to noodles. Toss to coat and garnish with peanuts and sesame seeds if desired. Makes 6 servings.

I Just Don't Share

So I have this really weird thing about me, call it a pet peeve I guess, but I have serious issues with my toothbrushes, my towels, and my blankets. I love my husband very much, but he, for the life of him, hasn't figured this out about me in our almost 3 years of marriage. I just barely bought Cameron and I new toothbrushes, his is the blue one (for boys) and mine is the purple one (for girls). The other day I grabbed my toothbrush, started brushing my teeth and Cameron looks at me and says "isn't that my toothbrush?" I said, "no, honey, yours is the blue one". His reply, "oh, I've been using that one for about a week now, oops". My reply... throw up noises. Yes, we kiss and share the same saliva, but plaque is not the same thing. Sorry honey. Now the towel issue is something that has been going on for 3 years now and probably will continue the rest of our lives. My towel is my towel, and no one else's. I know, I know, you use them when you're clean, but I like to know that it's just being used on my body for some reason. Cameron goes through towels like I go through toothbrushes :) His towel is my towel, my towel is his towel, a towel's a towel to him. So you can imagine me going to dry myself off to an already wet towel almost everyday. Once again, I love my husband, but the other day I had just given him a lecture about it, then watched him get out of the shower, hesitate and point back and forth at the towels... 'brown towel, green towel, brown towel, green towel...?' I watched for a second to see if he could get it and finally said "green towel!" Maybe I should start color coordinating and buy Cameron everything in all the same color! I just thought of that just now, I'm a genius. Now we won't get into the blanket thing too much, in 3 years Cameron and I have shared blankets on our bed maybe 5 times. Luckily he has issues with it also! I just don't share blankets. I like perfectly clean blankets used by only me. Just know that if you ever stay at my house there will always be clean sheets and clean blankets... and they'll be washed immediately after you leave :) Maybe I am a little bit crazy, I don't know, but hopefully one day I'll get over it!

Taya

My mom was saying today how much she misses Taya, so I promised more pictures and some videos! I've been sick a few days this week so we've both been stuck in the house all day, but she's getting lots of practice crawling and is finally starting to get it! These are just a few pictures of our uneventful day...

Love those eyes :)

Giggly girl

I just thought this was a funny face :)

"I found the toys mom!"

Taya and Daddy

Yesterday I was laying on the floor with her and she grabbed my face and started poking my eyes. She did the same thing with Cameron before work, we figured out she just barely noticed our eyelashes! We thought it was pretty cute. She loves playing with our faces, especially Daddy's!

Just a little video I took today of her crawling.

I just thought this was funny... she's my child, so of course everything she does I think is cute :) Don't mind my annoying voice in the background... apparently I talk in a really high pitched voice to babies! haha.

Texas Schmexas

So they say everything is bigger in Texas... but what about Illinois?!? I guess I can't say too much since I've never been to Texas (I'm sure everything is bigger and what not), but let me tell you about a little special surprise I didn't know Illinois came with. And by little, I mean big. Last night we were watching tv and I looked up and saw something (which I thought was a centipede) crawling on the wall. So, being terrified of anything having more than 2 legs and smaller than my fist, I gasped and asked Cameron to kill the bug. I think this is his biggest pet peeve, that I make him do the killing... always :) (That's what hubbies are for, right?) Anyway, he looks at it and admits he actually has the "heebeegeebees" as well... because it's an ANT!!! Yes, a giant ant. Who knew ants even came in bigger sizes? I'm not exaggerating when I say it was probably about an inch and a half long. Sick. So now the ant is long gone down the toilet and I'm a happy girl... until the next one arrives. And then there are the bumblebees. Have you ever seen a bumblebee?? I thought I had... until I moved to Chicago. Holy smokes. They're like these minature aliens with their giant, creepy bug eyes staring at you. A few weeks ago some of the girls and I were going to eat a delicious sandwich at Jimmy Johns and in order to get into this place we had to cross this little fenced area, but this precious little satan of a bumblebee was guarding the path! Every time we tried to walk past, he'd turn around and head straight for us. I swear those creepy eyes were staring right into my soul. And then the legs came out. Usually on little flying things you don't see their legs because they're so skinny and small, but no... picture the landing gear coming out of an airplane. These were his legs. Needless to say, we went all the way around the restaurant, through the mud and all, just to avoid the bumblebee. Don't worry that when we left, he was still there. This time we covered our faces, ducked, and ran. So there you have it, giant ants and alien bumblebees... what's next Chicago? Bring it on.

• I've come to realize that no one really cares (that much) about you once you have babies... they just wanna see the kids. So, once again, here's a picture of my sweet princess. Only, in these pictures I wouldn't really consider her a "princess". Sorry Taya.

This is how most of her feeding sessions end up if I feed her in her chair. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!!! (besides bibs, I know, she should have one on!)

Yummy sweet potatoes!!

Ok, so while I'm on the subject, she is getting soooo stubborn with eating, it's almost a chore to feed her! I don't know if she just likes sweet things now or if she's just over the "mush". If anyone has any advice please help me :)

What a Day...

Sunday was supposed to be a really nice day, so Cameron and I (and Taya, of course) decided to go to the beach with some friends just to relax and enjoy the day. We weren't exactly sure where we were going, but we had to meet up with our friends in downtown Chicago. We were at a stop light and there was a garbage truck on the left of us, so when the light turned green Cameron hit the gas really fast to get aound the truck. Right when he did that we heard a huge pop and thought we ran over something. At the next stop light the car started puttering, luckily just in front of us was an open space to park (not legally, but at least it was off the street!). Cam got parked and the car completely died. We both sat there for probably, what seemed like, a few minutes not saying a word. Being in a city we both aren't familiar with, my first thought was 'who do we call???' but I'm pretty sure Cam was just thinking about how much this was all going to cost us! Meanwhile, our friends came to the rescue... turns out they were just around the corner so Andrew (Cameron's best friend) stayed with him and our car while me and Andrew's wife and kids walked down to Navy Pier (which wasn't too far). Our "relaxing Sunday" turned into not so much of relaxing at all! :( It was sad, but luckily we had a little bit of fun. Here's a few pictures from the day...

Taya's little buddies, Genna and Cammie.

And also, you'll be happy to know that the mechanic called today and there was just a hose that got disconnected in our car so they fixed it and we owe NOTHING!!!! YAY!!! Ok, so you probably aren't that happy to hear that, but you can imagine how happy we were! :)