Thursday, December 31, 2009

Why am I so excited about this? / New Years Recipe

I don't know why I got so excited about this, but I did. I have to confess that I always thought I would have all boys because that is what I wanted, but little girls are so much fun! Her clothes are so cute, the girly toys and everything about her is amazing. The Lord definitely knew what he was doing and we are so blessed with our little one!

One thing I had been looking forward to since day one, is doing my little girl's hair. It was a struggle, but one day before school I was able to get her hair in pig tails. I had forgotten about how excited I got until I was looking through my pictures for my previous blog.

Trust me, this was not easy.. she said several times.."mommy, hurts". I wish you could hear how she says hurts (she doesn't say her "r" good).. it is cute. We both survived and with the help of a lot of hair spray we got pig tails. {Don't worry, I won't turn into one of those Toddlers and Tiaras moms.}

Here was the result...






Now, how cute is that? I hope you have a wonderful New Year! If you need a recipe for your party tonight, here is my favorite dip...

Bacon and Blue Cheese Dip

Ingredients
7 slices bacon
1 Tablespoon Bacon grease
2 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1 cup half-and-half
4 ounces blue cheese, crumbled
2 tablespoons chopped fresh chives

Directions
-Place bacon in a large, deep skillet. Cook over medium high heat until evenly brown. Remove bacon from skillet, drain on paper towels and crumble.
-Place garlic in hot bacon grease. Cook and stir until soft, about 1 minute. Remove from heat.
-Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Place cream cheese and half-and-half in a medium bowl. Beat with an electric mixer until blended. Stir in bacon, 1 Tablespoon of bacon grease, garlic, blue cheese and chives. Transfer mixture to a medium baking dish.
-Bake covered in the preheated oven 30 minutes, or until lightly browned.
-Serve with warm crusty bread.

It is so good, even for those who are not huge Blue Cheese fans.

Be careful and have a Happy New Year!

Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Miss Me??

I actually have a few faithful friends who have asked me to start blogging again. We are a couple days away from the New Year and I promise to not go three months again without updating this blog on my exciting life:).

Wow.. how time has flown. I went out of town and the Holidays happened. I have not written about so much that has happened and I am disappointed with myself and will try to get caught up. This blog is mainly for me.. and my terrible memory. I want to remember this amazing time in my life with my babies and my best friend.

A recap of the past few months.. and pictures to follow...

September is a blurrrr...

Half of October was spent in Florida on the beach... celebrating my Grandma's (mom's mom) 80th birthday and having a fun "girl's weekend" with my friends from college otherwise known as "feminazis". My husband was so sweet to let me go home for so long!

November was busy for me and my little store (http://www.chicgiving.com/) getting ready for the holidays, doing shows etc. We also went to Missouri to celebrate an early Thanksgiving with Justin's family (I am such a dummy and forgot my camera). Then my aunt and dad came up to NC to spend Thanksgiving with us.

December.. wow it went by in a blink. I can't believe that Christmas is here and gone. Kate loved it. She opened up all her gifts (very slowly).

Now here comes January 2010... we are expecting Child #2 - a little boy in March and we are SO EXCITED and SCARED!! Seriously, I don't know how I am going to handle 2 kids, but I know I'll figure it out.

Here are some pictures of my precious little one.. over the past three months...
Kate and Silas at our party for the FSU / Miami Game. He is the cutest little boy and truly a miracle. He has been through several surgeries and is the happiest baby I have been around!



Kate swinging at Beckham's birthday party. She loves to swing.

Kate with my mom and grandma at the beach.



We spent Halloween at my uncle's house. Kate dressed up as Tinkerbell. That look was the look on her face the entire night.. I could not get one smile out of her...I guess she was taking it all in.

My cousins Katie and Chris took Kate around the neighborhood. My uncle's neighborhood was definitely the place to be. They had over 500 kids for Halloween. I had never seen anything like it.

Kate made a costume change into a Buccaneer Cheerleader. October in Florida = HOT! Here she is with her Papa (my dad).

Kate with her Princess Pumpkin.

Kate picking out our Christmas Tree.

This is a little recap for now... more to come later. Thanks for being a part of our little life.

Friday, September 18, 2009

What's the second step to being an efficient wife?

This is the final day of the efficient wife theme on my blog.. I got one encouraging comment from the last post.. so I thought.. OK.. I'll keep it coming. Obviously I am not an expert.. and need a lot of work in this area. But... I thought I would share that I am currently updating my IPhone while writing this blog.. so, multi-tasking = efficient.

Man, I have ADD - That is not the second step.

The second step is getting on a SCHEDULE and STICKING TO IT! Especially when it comes to housework. Meal planning is definitely easier than this, trust me. If you saw my house right now, you would immediately tell me to STOP BLOGGING and CLEAN. Well, I am doing laundry while blogging - so, again I get stars for multi-tasking.

The expert in the area of making and keeping a schedule (specifically housework) is Fly Lady. If you haven't been to her site.. GO, READ, LEARN...DO. She recommends to start with baby steps (which I love). Two things I try to definitely do are... clean the sink / run the dish washer every night and unload it in the morning. Secondly, put one load of laundry in each morning. I think those are two things that can pile up.. and most women HATE doing. I also love how she breaks up the house into sections.. her plan would even work well for women who work, not only SAHMs.

Here are her 11 Commandments.. we all need to go by!
  1. Keep your sink clean and shiny.
  2. Get dressed every morning, even if you don’t feel like it. Don’t forget your lace-up shoes.
  3. Do your morning and before bedtime routine everyday.
  4. Don’t allow yourself to be sidetracked by the computer.
  5. Pick up after yourself. If you get it out, put it away.
  6. Don’t try to do two projects at once. ONE JOB AT A TIME.
  7. Don’t pull out more than you can put back in one hour.
  8. Do something for yourself everyday, maybe every morning and night.
  9. Work as fast as you can to get the job done. This will give you more time to play later.
  10. Smile even when you don’t feel like it. It is contagious. Make your mind up to be happy and you will be.
  11. Don’t forget to laugh everyday. Pamper yourself, you deserve it.
I do so much better when I put myself on a schedule and stick to it... so I thought that would help us all. When your home is in order.. life is so much less stressful!

BONUS - FREEBIE FRIDAY - over on our giveaways site, we are giving away a Beaba Babycook - Babyfood Maker. It is valued at $150 - enter at http://www.chicgiveaways.com/.

Have a great weekend!!

Thursday, September 17, 2009

What's the first step to being an efficient wife?

Yes, I love themes.. and due to the recent google search that landed some poor soul to my little blog.. this week's theme is on being an efficient wife. This is the theme for two reasons.. first of all, it gives me something to write about and second of all, I need some efficiency in my life! Especially since I am pregnant with our second child.. YES!! YEAH!! Can you believe it? We are so excited!! After reading my friend's blog post about all her kids and the craziness --I don't know if I can handle it, but it is too late for that!!

My sister-in-law and niece came to visit this past weekend. We had so much fun with them. My niece and Kate's age difference is the just about the same as Kate and our new little baby (due March 28th). Justin and I were talking about it... and man are we going to have our hands full!! (BTW.. no, I didn't take any pictures of when they were here.. yes, I am mad at myself).
Anyway.. back to my efficient wife theme / step one - MEAL PLANNING. I was thinking about this and something I wanted to get back to was meal planning. One of my best friends growing up (and to this day) had/has the most efficient mom I have ever met or known. Her family was like a second family to me, so I did get to learn a little from her and her mom. Oh, and yes I still call her and ask her for advice.

This mom was very much into meal planning. In fact, she would plan meals for the month. As a bonus, she only went grocery shopping once a month. Did you hear that? ONCE A MONTH. I did this when Justin and I were first married, but I got out of the habit. I am determined to get back into it. I have decided to try to meal plan for two weeks, instead of the whole month and go shopping twice a month. I'll let you know how it goes.

To help you out, I thought I would post the meals I have planned for the next two weeks along with links to the recipes (if they have a recipe). Also, as a tip.. always get your family involved in this and ask them what they would like to have on their menu. Justin always tells me some meals I forget about. I would also suggest compiling a list of your family's favorite recipes so you have something to choose from each week. Try one new recipe each week. We can get so boring and repetitious in what we make.

This week I was reading another blog who made The Pioneer Woman's Marlboro Man's Favorite Sandwich and I decided to make it.. let me tell you.. it was AMAZING!! I am definitely adding this one to our list of favorites!!

Here are the meals I have planned for the next two weeks. I write them on our family calendar, so everyone can see it. It helps tremendously with grocery shopping!! I hope this helps you!

9/17 - Meatloaf with mashed potatoes
9/18 - Leftovers
9/19 - B-Day Party
9/20 - Enchiladas with rice and corn (use recipe on store bought enchilada sauce can)
9/21 - Salmon with broccoli
9/22 - Grilled Chicken and sauteed veggies
9/24 - Tacos with rice and corn
9/26 - Steak with Gorgonzola & baked potatoes
9/27 - Eat Out
9/28 - Smithfield's Pre-Seasoned Pork Tenderloin (grilled)
9/29 - Spaghetti (Justin makes this - I'll have to get his recipe to post)
9/30 - Leftovers
10/1 - Grilled Lemon Pepper Chicken with corn


Monday, September 14, 2009

Need an introduction for an efficient wife?

I was just checking my google analytics and found that someone searched for an "introduction to an efficient wife" and reached my blog from that search. Although I long to be an efficient wife and I wish had a great story for your introduction to an efficient wife.. sorry mister.. you won't find that here.

What you will find... pathetic titles posed as questions... lots of stories and pictures about my little girl, Kate (sorry, I can't help it) recipes and other random things like this post.

Maybe that does make me an efficient wife... I can cram all that stuff into this little blog. My new goal along with being an excellent wife (Prov. 31), I am adding an efficient wife. Now that I think about it.. the Proverbs 31 wife was efficient... I have a lot to work on!