Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Two Tickets To That Thing You Love

Happy Day-after Valentine's y'all!  I hope you enjoyed  a day full of love!  One of my Facebook friends reminded me that February 14th isn't just about whether you have a "Valentine" or not, it's about celebrating love in all it's forms.  And I am SO thankful for all of the friends and family in my life who love me, and I want all of you to know that I cherish and love you all dearly :} 

Ok...enough mushy stuff.

Yesterday was the first day we left Cameron at day-care or the CDC as we call it here in Army Land (no, not the Center for Disease Control, which, of course, I can't help but think about every single time!...the Child Development Center).  Josh and I had plans to go to lunch at a sushi restaurant, so we dropped him off around noon.  I was feeling pangs of guilt as I walked in the building, but as soon as Cam laid eyes on the nice ladies who were going to take care of him, he was all smiles.  So that made me feel tons better :}  Josh and I said our goodbyes and went out to enjoy a very nice lunch, coffee, and a bit of shopping at the PX before we went to pick up the little one.  I couldn't wait to see him and hear how he did.  We walked in, looked around and saw a tiny little baby sleeping in a bouncy seat, facing away from us.  We thought "he can't possibly be ours...he's too small" (the different outfit didn't help either...he had apparently spit up all over the outfit we brought him in and they had to change him!).  But, sure enough the lady picked him up and he stretched and yawned and looked over at us and smiled!  It reminded me just how small and precious he is :} The ladies said he did great...no problems at all! Yay! That really put my mind at ease, and now maybe I won't feel as guilty when I leave him there. No, I'm sure I will  :/  As we were leaving, I looked in the diaper bag and found a sweet surprise ( Caution: it's about to get mushy again)...Cam had made me a Valentine:

 Melt!  I'd say it was a successful first day :}

So, since the hubby and I went out for lunch, I decided to cook him a nice meal for dinner.  We had mini Beef Wellingtons, roasted veggies, and garlic parmesan mashed potatoes.  Then we had apple crisp for dessert.  Here's what dinner looked like:

It was delish!  As we sat there eating dinner, complete with our bottles of water (fancy-schmancy), while Cam was asleep, I was thinking about just how happy I am...then Josh gave me my Valentine's gift, which was presented on  a homemade Valentine (yes, he even used the Cricut!! He probably didn't want me to share that :/ ).  Two tickets to Cirque du Soleil: Dralion for Thursday night!  His sister will be in town and she has already volunteered to babysit :}  I'm beyond excited!  I'm pretty sure I have the best son and husband in the world! :}

Sunday, February 5, 2012

February Photography Update

It is now day 5 of the February picture project and I have more pictures! I have not taken a a picture on "Auto" mode since way back in January; this makes me pretty proud of myself even if I am nowhere near mastering my camera!  Here's what I have so far:

Day 2- Words
Day 3- Hands (I actually have two for this one...)

Day 4- A Stranger
Day 5- 10am (if you had seen the lighting conditions in this room, you'd be impressed!)

So that's it so far! Loving this project :}
P.S. Happy Superbowl Sunday!

Wednesday, February 1, 2012

Miscellaneous

It's been a month since my last blog.  So today, I'm just going to get it all out!  Be prepared to jump from topic to topic in seconds flat!

First, I know you're all dying to hear about my weight loss progress.  I've lost 3 pounds.  Not stellar, but it's three less than I started with.  The really frustrating thing is that I lost those 3 pounds within the first two days of the diet during the "jump start" phase!  I guess I should consider it a success that I've actually kept them off!  I did really well at first with the healthy eating; it was about 2 weeks before I started to slip down the proverbial slope.  But this week, I've gotten back on track.  Last night we had pretty amazing turkey lettuce wraps (recipe to follow)!  The 10 minute workout videos aren't going so well either.  That lasted about a week :{  But I'm going to try to start those again.  However, Jessica and I are going to start going to the Power Pump class at the gym (hopefully twice a week).  I went with her last week and was sore for 3 days!  She's been 3 times now and is starting to get some muscle definition...she's definitely a beast :}  I haven't been more than the one time because I've been trying to get Cam registered with on-post child care.  Which is hopefully complete now and I can start taking him.  I'm extremely nervous about it.  I wasn't at all before, but the more I think about it, the harder I think it is going to be to say goodbye to his sweet face!

Speaking of Cam...this leads me to the second topic :}  I haven't talked about him much on the blog, and I just wanted to let everyone know what he's up to these days...he's quite the busy four-month-old!

Milestones:
Smiling (at pretty much everything and everyone!)
Laughing
Rolling from back to tummy (almost ready to go from tummy to back)
Sitting up with his hands propping him- "the tripod" :}
Reaching and grabbing
"Babbling" (he seems to have a lot to say!)
He's just starting to hold his bottle by himself

Favorite Things:
Eating his hands
Playing with and eating his toes
"Flying"- throwing him in the air or running around the room while making swooshing sounds
Dancing with Mom (especially if it's to Yellow Submarine!)
Blowing raspberries (hilarious!)
High pitched squealing
Playing and spending time with Mom and Dad

He's such a good baby :}  So much fun...exhausting, but fun!!  This week has been tough because it's the first time he's been sick.  I think he just had a little stomach bug.  Subsequently, this brought on our first experience with diaper rash, too.  We were just about to start adding rice cereal to his bananas when he got sick, so I stopped the solid food altogether until he get's well.  So, more to follow on the solid food adventure!

Thirdly, as some of you know, I've been really into getting my house decorated.  It's going really well and it's pretty exciting!!  I actually can't wait to have visitors (i.e. my Sister-in-law in two weeks!)  My recent projects have been the dining room, laundry room, my bathroom, and the living room.  Here's what I've done so far (with some help from Josh :} ):











And finally, during the month of February I'm going to start taking a picture everyday.  A pin on Pinterest has a list of "subjects"- one for every day.  I'm so excited to practice my photography and use my awesome zoom lens that my hubby got me for Christmas! Today's subject is "Your view today."  Here's my pic:
It's called "Positive."  I view today with positivity :}  I like the way it turned out, except that it's slightly blue tinted.  Any photography tips?

So, thanks for hanging in there for the entire post!  I promise to blog more often so they're not quite as long :\  And now, for those who are interested, the recipe:

Quick Sriracha Beef Lettuce Wraps
(Makes 3-4 servings or 6-8 lettuce wraps; recipe adapted from Nigella Fresh.)

Ingredients:
2 tsp. neutral-flavored oil like grapeseed or peanut oil
1 lb. lean ground beef [I used ground turkey and it was delish!]
1 T fish sauce (I like Three Crabs Fish sauce by far the best)
1-2 T Sriracha Sauce (depending on how much heat you want)
1 T water
zest from one large lime
juice from one large lime (about 1 1/2 T juice)
1/4 cup thinly sliced green onion (or double that amount if you're not using the cilantro)
1/3 cup chopped cilantro
1 head iceberg lettuce

Instructions:

Heat the oil in a heavy frying pan, then saute the beef until it's cooked through and starting to brown, breaking apart with a turner as it cooks.  

While beef cooks, mix together the fish sauce, Sriracha Sauce, and water in a small bowl.  Zest the skin of the lime and squeeze the juice.  (You may need two limes to get enough juice, but only use the zest from one lime.)  Thinly slice the green onions and chop the cilantro.  (Most iceberg lettuce doesn't need washing, but if yours does break the heads apart gently and wash and dry the lettuce.)

When the beef is done, add the Sriracha Sauce mixture and let it sizzle until the water has evaporated, stirring a few times to get the flavor mixed through the meat.  Turn off the heat and stir in the lime zest, lime juice, sliced green onions, and chopped cilantro.

Serve meat mixture with iceberg lettuce leaves to fill with meat and wrap around it, to be eaten with your hands.

Recipe courtesy
Kalyn's Kitchen

El Paso friends: I have fish sauce and Siracha if you would like to borrow them :}