Crazy Nap Hair

A nap can turn a bad day around.  It is a proven theory, at least in this house.  A little pickle called Ethan has been taking two naps a day lately.  I'm throughly enjoying the extra time I get when he naps and I'm loving what a happy baby he wakes up to be.  These pictures were taken seconds after he walked out of the bedroom after one of his naps.  We were dancing to the Bean Bag Rock.  It's a pretty awesome after nap song :)

Chicken and Wild Rice Soup

This recipe was given to me by my sister-in-law who shall remain nameless on this blog.  Her husband, however, has made it clear that if he ever appears on the blog that he should be called Richard so we can just call my SIL Mrs. Richard for now.  I've always loved going over to Mrs. Richard's house for dinner.  It just feels so good to be surrounded by cheerful people who love and care about you.  It's an added bonus that she always makes healthy and yummy food.  Her kids are amazing eaters; they prefer salads over french fries and love food from all cultures, including Indian food.  Hopefully, Ethan will grow up to be a good eater like the little Richardians.

This soup is soul warming; perfect for a cold or rainy day.  I usually just get a rotisserie chicken from Costco and shred it.

{ Chicken and Wild Rice Soup }

From my SIL

1 onion, carrots and celery, choppped (about a cup each or more if you want)
1/2 cup butter
2/3 cup flour
6 cups chicken broth
2 packages Rice-a-Roni long grain and wild rice (prepared as directed on the box)
3 to 4 chicken breasts, cooked and shredded
2 cups half and half
Salt a pepper to taste

Melt butter and saute vegetables until tender.

Add flour and stir until vegetables are coated .  Slowly add some broth and stir vigorously until flour dissolves.  Add remaining broth.

I bring it to a boil at this point.  

Add the remaining ingredients and simmer on low until well blended or put in a crock-pot on low until ready to serve.

To The Park We Went

Never did I expect to find so much joy at a park again since I grew out of being a rambunctious child. But, thank heavens, joy is contagious and that's why I keep this little cupcake around and take him to the park almost everyday.  It's been said that we don't have very much good weather left and when the heat decides to roll in I'm going to throw a grieving party.  We will all wear black and weep.

So You Think You Can Pose

This little bug is cute, which is a good thing, but the trouble is that he seems to know it.  He poses and makes goofy smiles for pictures.  I've even caught him posing in front of mirrors. I wouldn't know what to do if he turns into a narcissist.  Heaven help me.

He was not sad in the above picture; 

he was just contemplating about... I don't know... Marshmallows?

A Rude Lunch Date

Or maybe I am the guilty party for being a boring lunch date.

Here is a link if you would like to watch the video on a larger scale.

Valentine's Picnic

For Valentine's day this year, I asked one of my new girlfriends if she would be interested in throwing a surprise lunch picnic for our husbands.  This is what we did...

We each made a map puzzle for our husbands and told them to open the envelope at 12:30pm the next day.

We set everything up right before the guys got to the park.  It was a beautiful day, perfect for a picnic.  My friend made these fancy basil pesto sandwiches for us and she even wrapped them up all cute with twine.  The little ones had fun running around on the field and blowing bubbles.  Ethan had the best lunch of his life: bread, crackers and dip with corn in it (he luuuurvs corn), grapes (Oh my goodness, graaapes!), and juice (gasp!).  He was practically in heaven.  And to top it all off, he ate a strudel all by himself for dessert.  Rest assured we brushed his teeth super thoroughly tonight :)

We should definitely go on picnics more often.  Happy Valentine's Day!

It's Snack Time!

A typical day with the mini consists of breakfast, lunch, nap, snack, dinner, bath, and bed.  And then of course there are the playdates, errands, and chores that we try to cram into our schedule.  Other than going on walks with the tiny tot, one of my favorite parts of our normal day is snack time.  It didn't use to be an enjoyable moment for me when Ethan was a little younger because I had the hardest time coming up with different healthy snacks to feed him, but with some help from cookbooks and pinterest snack time has turned into something that we both look forward to.  E's favorite snacks this month are crackers (Trader Joe's makes some really yummy muti-grain and wholegrain crackers), ginger cookies, pomegranate, cuties, kiwi, dates, dried mangos, dried cherries, cucumbers, carrots, hummus, cashews, and most kinds of cheeses that I offer him.  He is also loving almond milk.  Things that he doesn't like so much are madrigal and red bean soup (紅豆沙).  And since you haven't seen nearly enough pictures of my child in his highchair, here are fifty more :)

Happy snacking!