Sunday, July 31, 2011

From Hayes...

Hi! My name is Hayes Patrick. I am five months old!


I like to sit up and play like a big boy. I really like to freak mommy and daddy out by getting up on all 4s like I'm going to crawl. I think I will wait a little longer before I start, though:)


I like all food! If mommy let me, I would eat everything she eats right out of her hand!


I am a morning person. I am full of laughs and smiles when I wake up.


I like giving mommy sloppy, wet kisses.


I am the cutest boy in the whole wide world. That's what mommy and daddy tell me every day!

Saturday, July 30, 2011

Ahhh...the weekend!

I am sitting here in my super quiet house on this beautiful, sunny Saturday enjoying my frozen strawberry lemonade from Panera. I highly recommend these...they are perfect for a summer day.


Sweet Hayes is sleeping in his room and the handsome hubby is painting our bedroom. Relaxing, quiet moments are rare these days. Instead of napping, I decided to catch up on some blogging.

First things first...Roasted Ricotta Roma Tomatoes! This recipe came from The Pioneer Woman, of course. I actually tweaked the original recipe a smidge. Here is the link to her recipe. And here is mine!

8 whole Roma tomatoes
1-1 1/2 cups Ricotta cheese
fresh parsley
fresh basil
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
1/4-1/2 cup seasoned bread crumbs
balsamic vinegar
parmesan cheese

Cut your tomatoes in half and scoop out the pulp. [I used the recipe for two meals, so I only prepared 4 tomatoes at a time.] Throw away the tomato pulp. Sprinkle some kosher salt in the tomatoes and lay them face down on a paper towel. This gets rid of some of the juices. Next, mix your ricotta cheese, garlic, and chopped parsley and basil in a bowl. I just thew in an amount of herbs that looked good to me. I wanted lots of green in my mixture. I used a spoonful of ricotta cheese for each tomato half. I went ahead and made the mixture for all 8 tomatoes. When I made the second round later in the week, half the work was already done! Fill each tomato half with the ricotta cheese mixture. Top with seasoned bread crumbs and drizzle balsamic vinegar over the tomatoes. Pop in the oven and cook at 400 for about 25 minutes. Pull the pan out after 25 minutes and top with parmesan cheese. Broil the tomatoes for another 2-3 minutes or until the cheese is good and melty. Enjoy! We ate ours with tuna melts. It was a super easy supper and we had leftovers for later in the week.


Next stop...home decor/baby proofing.

In "carpet room,' our TV storage is not ideal for little people. The cable box sits under the TV and is easily accessible. We debated finding a new TV stand with doors, but couldn't find one to fit with this monster of a TV. We found these great shelves at Ikea a few weeks ago...and problem solved! The DVR box is now way out of baby's reach.


The shelves and brackets they sit on cost a little under $50. I had lots of decorative items stashed away that filled the shelves up.


 I'm glad we got this done now. Hayes is now getting into the crawling position and lunging forward. It isn't official crawling, but it's close enough for me to start moving things off the floor.

We are in the process of re-doing our bedroom. Ryan is painting this weekend. We are getting a new bed, bedding, and curtains and maybe another new piece or two. Once it is done, I will have before and after pics!

It's party time! Brady, my super cute nephew, turns 2 in September! He has a new sister on the way as well. I decided my sister didn't have time for planning a party with the new baby, so I am helping out. She gets final say, but I am having so much fun planning a Pirate Extravaganza. I found this cute cupcake set at Marshall's that inspired me.


I found this Pirate Party and I love the color scheme for Brady's party. I also like the idea of finger foods in cute containers with fun pirate-inspired names. We will definitely have a jar of whoppers labeled "cannon balls."


Our beautiful niece, Landen, turns 1 in one week! We will be attending her ladybug party and I promise to take pictures of the cuteness Kristie creates for her big day.

I will do another post with more 5 month pictures of Hayes, once we have some. Here is one for now. It isn't great, but look at our big boy sitting up!


By the way, the BBQ restaurant mentioned in the previous post is City BBQ, of course. I thought everyone knew about my obsession with that place:) Enjoy the rest of your gorgeous weekend!

Monday, July 25, 2011

Super Easy Supper!

This is a no frills post...like my no frills recipe. (no frills means no pictures...because this mama didn't have time to take pictures while eating and feeding Hayes at the same time)

We have a favorite local BBQ restaurant not far from our house. We loooove their smoked meats and corn pudding...and BBQ sauce. We had several containers of their sauce in our fridge left over from take out orders. So this morning, we put a pork loin in the crock pot and poured in our BBQ sauce. It cooked on low for about 9 hours. By the time we got home, the house smelled like BBQ heaven. The pork was so super tender and juicy! Ryan shredded it with a fork and we put it on top of baked potatoes with some shredded cheese and a little sour cream. Delicious! It would also make great pork sandwiches. We have tons of leftover meat, which will be nice for more low maintenance meals during the week.

Later this week...Roasted Ricotta Roma Tomatoes!

Saturday, July 23, 2011

Blog Spotlight...Team Tabby!

This week, I will be spotlighting a very special blog. It is a blog powered by CaringBridge. CaringBridge allows people facing significant health challenges to share their journey with friends and family through a free website. The CaringBridge page that has become close to my heart is this one, Team Tabby.

I went to school with Tabby from Kindergarten through 12th grade. We had lots of classes together over the years. Funny story...we were pretty special kids in elementary school. Tabby and I were in the Gifted and Talented program together. A few of us in this program created small imaginary friends who we would make up stories about. I can't believe I am admitting this to the blogging world...but all kids do silly things, right? Maybe we were just soooo smart that we had extra brain power not being used...so we honed our imagination. That's the story I will stick with. In high school, Tabby and I were on yearbook staff together. Ahh...so many fun memories. We didn't create imaginary friends then, but we did drool over the baseball team. Tabby is now a Sports Writer for the newspaper in our home town. I occasionally read her articles online...she is quite the sports wiz.

Tabby was recently diagnosed with a very rare form of cancer...or chiquita as she is now calling it. The C word doesn't deserve to be used so often. It is so amazing and inspiring and humbling to read Tabby's blog about this journey. First of all...she is a great writer. Second of all...her attitude is amazing. I know she won't always have good days, but I appreciate how she is "keeping it real." She uses lots of sports analogies to describe her journey which I love...it is very fitting for her. Team Tabby is growing in numbers everyday and Tabby has a great team on her side to beat down this opponent. Chemo starts on August 3 and she will be done in November. She is in my prayers and I hope you will add her to your prayers as well. Team Tabby!!!


Sunday, July 17, 2011

5 Months Old!

Sweet baby Hayes is 5 months old today! I can't believe how fast this time is flying by. Hayes is teething like crazy. We are hoping the tooth/teeth that are giving him such a hard time come in soon. He likes to chew on EVERYTHING. His fingers, your fingers, burpies, blankets, toys, my nose....he doesn't really discriminate against what goes in his mouth. He is starting to sit up on his own! The longest he can go without falling over is about 15 seconds, but it gets longer every day. He is getting very good at scooting across the floor. His laugh is adorable:) I haven't taken too many pictures yet, but here are a few.

Nice drool, right?


This smile makes my heart melt.


I made some fun with birthday presents this past week! This first set is for a sweet girl who just turned 1! I am sure she wasn't as excited about this gift as I was about making it...but hopefully she will appreciate it one day:)


This frame is for my Mother-in-law! I love the gray and yellow color combo. We are actually re-doing our bedroom in these colors.



We spent this weekend at Maumee Bay with Ryan's family. It was so great to spend a weekend with family, especially people we don't get to see often. Hayes didn't get to enjoy the pool this summer, but I know he will be a little fish next year. This week holds....a 5 month photo shoot and a new Greek Salad recipe!

Thursday, July 7, 2011

Bloggy Love and Shrimp Love!

Time for my bloggy love shout out! This week I am giving kudos to 1 blogger...with 2 blogs! I went to college with this blogger's husband and I am so happy that connection led me to her blogs! Rachel is a new mommy, event planner, crafter, vegetarian, and the list goes on! Bliss Events by Rachel is a blog dedicated to Rachel's event planning business...which includes weddings! I loved planning my wedding. I kinda wish we could get married again each year so I could plan more. Her blog is a great source of inspiration for not only weddings, but parties, gifts, and decor as well. The Leafy Green is Rachel's other fun blog! In this blog, she posts fun updates on her adorable baby girl, pictures of her home decor, restaurant reviews in the Baton Rouge area, green products used in her home, and amazing vegetarian recipes! Our house is not meat free, but I love her recipes! They are all so fresh and light and healthy!

Check out these fun blogs, you won't be disappointed!

I have blogged about this recipe before...Shrimp Pasta in a foil package. It is a Pioneer Woman recipe and here is the link. I am so in love with this meal. It is super easy, makes tons of food for yummy leftovers, and has a great flavor. Everyone should try it out!


Hayes hopes that everyone had a wonderful Fourth of July!


By the way...used the word "blog" 11...well now 12 times in this post. Is it possible to use that word too much?