Happy Half Birthday Rose!

I must always say this every month with each of my girls, but I can hardly belive that Rose is 6 months old already! Where did the time go?!  I feel like it was just yesterday that it was Augutst and I was 40 weeks and 5 days pregnant with her, waiting for her impending arrival ;) 

Boy, was I ever ready for her to come! 

She is doing so many new things these days and is looking so much older! She has been such a sweet addition to our family! If anyone even talks to her or looks in her direction, she smiles and babbles like there is no tomorrow! She has such a mild and sweet nature! We love you so very much Rose!

I enjoyed the little stroll down memory lane as I wrote this ;)

Newborn

1 month old

Halloween- 2 months old!

Pumpkin pie for thanksgiving- 3 months old

Christmas in PA- 4 months old

Christmas Dress - 4 months old

Valentine's Day -5 months old

Playing dress up with Madison. She is our little sunshine - 6 months old!

Things our sweetie can do now:
* Sits up briefly by herself, then topples over.
* Reaches for anything in front of her (including coffee -yikes! Gotta get used to this one!)
* Officially started eating baby food this month and has done so well with it! She opens her mouth very wide and  So far she has had rice cereal, oatmeal, carrots, peas, apple sauce, and mashed bananas (WHY oh WHY do I think of "The Wiggles" song when I write "mashed bananas"!? I must have a 2 year old - haha!)
* Has found her voice - that is for sure! She has started screeching and screaming like her sister! She also makes some great babbles, coos, and raspberry sounds too! I love hearing she and Maddy "chatting" to one another ;)
* Rolls over from back to front almost as soon as I lay her on her back, but not so quickly or  as often as from front to back (probably she is a back sleeper unlike her sister).
* She loves her sister most of all! She cranes her neck to find Madison and smiles, giggles, and babbles at her! It's so sweet seeing them to start to interact! The other day I put an inch of warm water in the bath tub and laid Rose on her back and threw Maddy in there with her and they both kicked in the water happily while giggling, screeching and smiling. It was such a fun moment for me! They absolutely adore one another and I am unbelievable thankful for that!

Her schedule: 
*She is on a 4 hour schedule: Wake, Eat, 2 hours awake, 2 hours asleep - repeat ;)
* She has been having her last feeding at 8pm, stays awake til 9 or 9:30 and then wakes up at 9am! It's been wonderful! Sometimes she wakes at 5am, but if I put her pacifier in, she falls right back to sleep. the only bummer is that Madison often wakes up and in my sleepy stupor, I have to sing to her to get her back to sleep - but she always falls back to sleep within 5 min!

Here are a few of her 6 month stats from her pediatrician visit today:
Height: 26 1/4 in - I can already tell she may be taller than her sister when it's all said and done! We will have to wait and see ;)
Weight: 12.8 pounds
Head: 42cm

As I did for Madison on her half birthday, I would like to write a little letter to my sweet Rose.

Dear Rose Lillian, 

I didn't know how much I would come to love you. You have become part of the fabric of our family!

Your Dad, sister and I love you more than we could have ever imagined! You are a sweet blessing from the Lord! Your nature is sweet and easy going. You are almost always happy and content. I could learn a lesson or two from your spirit :) Your joyous squeaks and squeals make us all so happy when we hear them! What would we do without you?! The Lord gave you to us and we hope and pray that you will come to know the Lord as your personal Savior and grow to love him and live for Him with all of your heart and life. 

We pray for you every day and we will do all we can to help you to grow physically, emotionally, intellectually and spiritually. We LOVE you and can't wait to see the impact your little life has on our world!

Love always, 

Mom

Kale Chips

Ok, so even though yesterday's post about Chipotle may not seem like it, I have been making some serious changes to my diet and exercise regimen since January 1, 2011 and I have been feeling SO much better! Oh and BTW when I do Chipotle, I do half of the burrito bowl and save the other half for another meal ;)

My goal is to lose the baby weight and get healthy again. So far I have lost 10 lbs! Some weeks have been better than others, but I am on the slow and steady progression DOWNWARD ;) Perhaps I will blog about that journey another day, but today's post is about KALE CHIPS! I found this recipe on one of my new favorite blogs called "Snack Girl" that my friend Abbey turned me onto. It's a blog all about healthy snacks. She has some really great and practical ideas.

Kale chips are one of my new favorites. I have to admit, I didn't think that I would like them, but for a whole bowl of these crispy salty chips it is only 100 calores and you are getting some major nutrients too! You definitely should try them. They're super easy and oh so yum!

Kale Chips
(Makes 2 servings)
1 bunch kale (or 1/2 pound)
2 teaspoons good quality olive oil
salt to taste
Preheat oven to 375 F. Line rimmed cookie sheets (also called hotel pans) with parchment paper (see note below). Tear the leaves off the thick stems into chip sized pieces. An easy way to do this is to fold the leaf in half and just rip toward the stem. Spread pieces out on cookie sheets. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle salt to taste. Bake 8 minutes or until edges are brown and kale is crispy when moved in pan.
If you don't have parchment paper, you can use aluminum foil or neither. The idea here is to make clean up easy (just toss the paper and then you have less work to do).

If you LOVE Chipotle...

...then go to this website and watch a 90 second video promo for "America's Next Great Restaurant" and you will get a coupon for a FREE burrito, bowl, taco, or salad with the purchase of one. The only catch is that you have to use it by 3/12/11, so you'll have to hurry! 

Tim and I LOVE Chipotle and will definitley be cashing in on this deal!

Thanks to my friend Lisa for the heads up via e-mail :)

Happy eating!

GIRLS :)

I LOVE having girls! This morning before church, Maddy watched me as I tried on shirt after shirt only to throw one after another into a pile on the bed with a grunt. Then she pointed to one and said, "Try this one mom!" 

And low and behold it was one that worked :)

My 30th Birthday Surprise!!

Tim did a fabulous job this year for my Birthday. It was the big 3-0 and I was feeling a bit ambivilent about it. Whatever -we all get older right.? The actual day was on January 13th on a Thursday night, and I thought we were just going to celebrate quietly with homemade pizza Thursday night and a dinner out just the two of us Saturday night. It turned out to be MUCH MUCH MORE!

It all started with Friday afternoon when he told me that He and his friend Ryan would be coming over to the house around 2pm to hang out for a bit and catch up. Which to me meant that I wanted to make sure the house looked half decent and that I am not in my sweatpants and a tank top or nursing a child when they walk in-ha!

Well, he walked in by himself (said Ryan would be there later) and he handed me a card that said a lot of sweet things, but ended with the idea that this would be a Birthday that I would never forget -hmm... Then he said my present was out in the hallway! I was like, WHAT?! What would he get me that was too big to bring in and wrap?  So I opened the door and saw my best friend DAWN from Boston was standing in the hallway! I flipped out!!! I was screaming and hugging Dawn and then hugging Tim - yahoo!!! What a wonderful surprise! You may have seen the video that he posted on facebook - that I will not post here. I looked a bit too ridiculous ;)  He had worked out all of the details with her husband and Nate agreed to fly Dawn out here and to watch the kiddos for her. Thanks Nate!

It was so wonderful because we got to to hang out and catch up for a few hours before we left for dinner. Tim had told me that he had planned reservations for Dawn and I to have dinner at one of my favorite restaurants here in Chicago-  Hot Chocolate.

 So we drove out there together casually ad when we walked in, the hostess walked us the whole way back to the this little curtained in room and I noticed familiar faces just as everyone yelled -surprise! I was SHOCKED for the second time that day! I had such a lovely time with all of my girlfriends enjoying some fabulous food and warm fellowship. My dear friend Kelly had helped to organize it all for Tim and had decorated our little room so beautifully!
Thanks Kelly for all of your help!

The whole gang - so fun!

Kim and Helen

Katie and Claire

Stacey and Kelly!

Dawna and I :)

To DIE FOR Mac and Cheese!

Great Burger Dawn got

Fabulous Chocolate Dessert and Hot Chocolate of course too!

Then  Saturday night Dawn watched the girls so that Tim and  I could go out for dinner just the two of us! Tim knows me so well and planned the best weekend ever for me with all of my favorite things ;) It will certainly not be a Birthday that I will soon forget ;) Thanks baby - you're the best!

Rose is 5 Months old!

Rose is growing up so quickly. We have just been loving these days with her. Her personality seems very laid back and happy ;) She is very patient for the most part and hardly ever cries unless she REALLY needs something or has been injured by her sister ;()

Here are some of Rose's fun facts for the FIFTH MONTH of her life :)

* Early in the month she rolled over from back to front one time. But then this morning, she rolled from her back to her belly, then over again (in the same direction) from her belly to her back. I found her across the room! I was laughing so hard. She is getting to be on the move!

* Still her favorite thing is to lay on her back and kick her feet straight in the air and make the best noises!

* She has found her toes! She will grab her feet with her hands (when lying on her back) and pull her toes into her mouth. Maddy did the same thing and it just cracks me up!

* She is loving the exersaucer and the bumbo these days. She seems to like the upright view without having to hold herself up by herself.

* We have NOT started cereal or baby food YET. I am dragging my feet on this one - not totally looking forward to it -haha!

* She has been making the best sounds lately Lots of looooooong sounds some b's - but mostly "ahhhhhhhhhhhh" -not yelling or screaching though - just cute sounds - I LOVE it!

* Each morning when I put her on the changing table to get her dressed and change her, Maddy pulls up her little read plastic chair and watches the process. It's adorable because both girls are head to head and Maddy will say, "Good Morning Baby Rosie!" and Rose will just SMILE and SMILE! That is one of my favorite times of the day!

* Unfortunately she has finally reached the stage of not sleeping anywhere anymore. I blame that on sleep training and I guess her age too. She sure does love her bed! But I suppose the benefit of sleep training is that she won't cry when I put her down and usually gets herself to sleep in about five minutes!

 Notice the toys piled around her? Maddy wanted to be sure she had plenty of things to play with ;)

*Again, unfortunately, she has been waking up around 5:30 or 6 (when she used to sleep in until 7:30!) But that has only been for a few weeks - so I a hoping it's just a growth spurt. Fortunately though, I can sneak into the girls' room, grab her, bring her into bed, nurse her and then lay her back down in the bassinet in our room and she will fall right back asleep and Maddy doesn't even wake up. Or if she does, she will go back to sleep. So I am thankful for that!

Rose - you are such a blessing from the Lord to our family and we are so thankful for you :)

A Chicago Christmas

I know Christmas is long gone already, but I just had to post some pics of our fun day we had downtown during the holidays. First, we stopped by Macy's and looked at all of the Christmas decorations inside and tried to warm up a bit before our next stop. 

 Then we looked at all of the window displays outside.

After that, we walked a few streets over to the "Christkindl Market" here in Chicago. It's a Traditional  German American Holiday Market.  It was freezing, but we still had a blast! It was so cool  because it was like a little village down beneath all of these towering sky scrapers!

WE got some hot chocolate and a apple pecan pastry and walked around the shops. They were so quaint an fun. I really enjoyed myself. It was not Tim's thing, but he was so sweet to tough it out ;)

 The girls and I went inside of "Santa's Workshop" to get a picture with Santa. I was glad there was a bit of a line because the "workshop" was heated! Here is Mrs. Clause ;)

Merry Christmas - haha!

Chicken Roulade from "Food Loves Writing"

I just tried a new recipe that I found on "Food Loves Writing" - one  of my all time favorite food blogs! Shanna T'koy is  a friend of mine and she is a talented writer and chef! I always enjoy reading the blog posts and come away with some amazing and practical ideas!

This Chicken Roulade really wasn't too hard to make - it took a little bit of time, but it was WORTH it!  Tim, our friend Ashton, and I just LOVED it! Tim rated it a 9 out of 10 - which doesn't always happen! You should totally try it.

I did use spinach and actually just used grated Parmesan/Romano (you know from the can) that I had in the fridge. I also made a double batch of the spinach filling and tossed it with some tri-color spiral pasta along with some more parmesan for a side dish and it was really great.


Here is the recipe  from "Food Loves Writing" if you want to copy and paste it into a word document like I did!

Chicken Roulade
Adapted from Spinach Tiger
Serves about four.
Notes about this recipe: I really wish I had used Pecorino cheese like Angela did, but I was trying to work with what I had on hand, and that was mozzarella—I would def do the Pecorino next time. Also, although I used spinach, I think chard would give a sharper flavor contrast.
Ingredients:
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts, flattened*
Olive oil for browning meat
Flour (I used white spelt)
1/2 large onion, finely diced
1 clove garlic, minced
2 teaspoons nuts (Angela used pine nuts; I used slivered almonds)
2 teaspoons dried fruit (I used cranberries), soaked in water
1 bunch spinach (or chard), washed and chopped finely
2 teaspoons pecorino romano cheese, freshly grated
Sea salt, black pepper to taste
Directions:
*To flatten the chicken, put them in a big Ziplock bag and use a cast iron pan or something similar to flatten them as much as you can. Then, salt them and set aside so they come to room temperature.
Prepare the filling: Heat diced onion and oil in pan. Once onion is softened and almost golden, add the garlic and cook for about a minute, being careful not to burn. Add nuts to toast, stirring pan. Drain dried fruit, dice and add to pan. Add in stalks of greens and cook for a few minutes until softened. Add in leaves, continuing stirring pan, incorporating all ingredients. Turn heat off. Greens will continue to cook. Do not overcook. Allow to to come to room temperature.
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
Assemble the chicken: Sprinkle cheese on flattened chicken breasts and then top with the prepared greens mixture. Roll up as tightly as you can (don’t stress about it like I did; it will all work out) and tie each with three strings of kitchen twice, one in middle and one at each end (or however you want to tie them to keep these babies closed).
Roll the tied chicken in flour. Pan fry until browned, turning to each side. Finish in hot 375-degree oven for 10 to 20 minutes.
Allow chicken to rest at least 10 minutes before slicing.

Healthy Girls

I am thankful for two healthy girls today. We came home from a wellness visit at the pediatrician and Maddy is two and 34 1/4 inches tall and weighs 22 lbs. Rose is 4 months and is 25 inches and weighs 11 lbs.  2oz. The doctor says they look fabulously healthy and that makes a mama happy :) Plus the colds and Pink Eye are gone. Praise the Lord! I never seem to be as thankful for health until after we have all been sick, ya know?

"Rosie Rose" and a bit of "falalalala"

Rosie Rose (as Madison says) is 4 months old! Seriously?! 1/3 of the way to ONE?! Time seems to be flying by these days with two little girls.

We are on vacation in PA right now and enjoying every moment with family and friends. WE head back Sunday. It’s been so fun to watch the girls with their cousins. The craziness has grown exponentially over the years.

Here are some of the Baylor cousins(there are 8 total now)

 And here are some more (we didn't get a photo of all of them together at once this time)

Here are the Jordan cousins:

It has been a wild time, but so fun watching all of the kiddos play together!

Rose 4 month updates:

• She has found her hands and loves to look at them and suck on her fist/fingers/or thumb (no preference at this point). She also likes holding both of her hands together in front of her –it looks like she is praying – so sweet!

• Started grabbing at toys and putting them in her mouth

• She LOVES lying on her back and kicking like crazy until she spins around. She coos and makes fun noises that Maddy loves.

• She loves her sister and giggles and smiles at her a lot. This is the two of them Christmas morning! This picture shows how easy-going she is. She is literally rolling off of Madison's lap and she is just as happy as can be ;)

• She loves to bounce on Daddy’s knee and squeals and giggles

• She purses her lips together and make a “B” sounds while blowing little bubbles – Maddy loves it and I have to admit, it’s pretty cute!

• She is on a 3 hour eating schedule and sleeps from about 8/9pm to 7:30 am in her sister’s room. Although, I usually wake her still to give her one more “dream feeding” around 10/11 before we head to bed. The girls have been doing great still sharing a room at night. They don’t wake up til morning! They don’t share during nap time though; I still have a bassinet in our bedroom for Rose during the day, so that Madison can still play in her own room.

I will be taking Rose to the pediatrician this next week, so I will have to give some new updates on her height and weight, but I have a feeling she is growing faster than Maddy did – but we’ll see! 

We love you "Rosie Rose"! You are a very happy, easy going, and sweet baby girl and we are so glad you area a part of our family ;)

Merry Christmas!

May we all be reminded of the incarnation and be filled with Joy that Christ came to the world as a baby and went to the cross to save sinners such as us. Merry Christmas!