Byebye NC!

10 months old!

Sunday, May 30, 2010

Where in the world did this month go? I almost forgot that it was her 10 month birthday! Kenley is getting so big. This month I have really realized that she is so not a newborn anymore.

She is definitely starting to show some attitude. When she gets mad she will throw her head back and arch her back. She still loves to eat cheese and puffs, she has definitely found that some foods are not as good as others. We had a battle of the broccoli today :). Just this week she has learned to point.
She loves it when anyone helps her walk around. Still no crawling yet but I think that is because she knows that she can just roll to get anywhere that she wants. She just pulled herself up for the first time the other day so I guess we need to lower her crib! She loves to hold onto peoples thumbs, if she grabs onto one thumb she has to find the other!
I guess it is time to start planning her birthday party! Her first birthday is coming up so fast!!

Help

Does anyone know if I can take a jar of peanut butter through airport security? Or will they take it away from me?

My Summer List

Friday, May 28, 2010

Here are a few of the fun things that I want to do this summer

Make Refried Beans

Make Tortillas

Make Dishwasher Detergent

Make Yogurt

Make Cream Cheese

Make Bagels

Find the perfect Sandwich Bread Recipe


Throw an Awesome 1st Birthday Party for Kenley

Go to the Creation Museum

Harvest Plums

Go to Mount Rushmore

Visit a Honeybee farm

Finally find a good Pizza Sauce recipe

Watch my baby sister graduate from High School

Drive across the country

Fly across the country

Family Pictures at the Beach

Read Nourishing Traditions

Eat at Taco Time

Go on a Motorcycle ride with the Hubbs

Watch Kim and Ian get married!!

Force Kim to eat Baker's Square!!!


Eat Hushpuppies at M&M's

What is on your summer list?


Peanut Butter Pie

Thursday, May 27, 2010


This weeks Sunday Night Sweet is Peanut Butter Pie. This recipe is quick to throw together and is a big crowd pleaser!

Peanut Butter Pie
Makes 3 Pies

Ingredients:
3 Premade Oreo Crumb Crusts
2 Pkgs Cream Cheese
6 Tbsp Milk
1 1/3 Cups Powdered Sugar
1 Cup Peanut Butter
1 1/2 Cups Miniature Chocolate Chips
24 ounces Cool Whip

In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine softened cream cheese and milk. Beat in powdered sugar and peanut butter. Fold cool whip and chocolate chips into peanut butter mixture. Spoon filling into pie crusts and freeze for 2-3 hours before serving. Enjoy!

Oatmeal

Monday, May 24, 2010


I wouldn't eat oatmeal without peanut butter either :)

PB & J Bites

Sunday, May 23, 2010

I have been wanting to try knockoff Larabar recipe for long time now but I just couldn't decide what flavor to make. There are tons of options out there, I think next time I may try to make a Chocolate Covered Strawberry version!

This Peanut Butter and Jelly flavor is spot on though! These little bites taste great and are also picky husband approved!

PB&J Bites
Yield 10 balls

1/4 Cup Chopped Dates
1/4 Cup Dehydrated Strawberry Slices
2-3 Tbsp Peanut Butter

Place dates and strawberries in food processor and blend until mixture is sticky and crumbly. Once dates and strawberries are well combined add in peanut butter. The peanut butter acts to make the mixture bind together so start with 2 Tbsp and add more as needed. Roll mixture into 10 balls and store in refrigerator.

Each ball has 65 calories so eat sparingly and use as you would any other protein bar.

Only in North Carolina!

Saturday, May 22, 2010

One of the fun things that comes along with your husband being the church's guitar player is that you get to attend rehearsal dinners.

This one had a redneck theme and everyone was asked to come wearing camouflage.... yep, really! Melissa's mom actually had bought the outfit that Kenley is wearing when Kylie was a baby! And Mrs. Krissy made the matching bow! Brian and I wore camouflage shirts too, but unfortunately I forgot to take a picture. :)

Here is Kenley hanging out with her pal Lily Kate. I am constantly trying to get a good picture of them together but they never want to look at me at the same time.


Cradle Cap

Friday, May 21, 2010

Since she was a few weeks old, our sweet Kenley girl has had cradle cap. Its kind of gross and annoying and I had developed the horrible habit of picking it off while she nurses.

There are 2 schools of thought on how to get rid of cradle cap. First, brush the babies head with a soft bristled brush often to get the skin cells to slough off. Second, apply baby oil to the child's head to loosen the skin cells.

I tried the first approach for quite some time and it did not work so I decided to go the second route. Instead of using "baby oil" I used organic extra virgin coconut oil because I prefer to go the natural route whenever possible especially when it comes to sometime I am going to put on Kenley.

Apply a bit of coconut oil to your hands and massage it onto scalp and then let it soak in for 1/2 an hour.
After letting it soak in, rinse with water and shampoo. After getting your child out of the tub place them on their changing pad and comb through their hair with a soft bristled brush. The dead skin cells will be loosened and will be very easy to pick out.

I am not going to lie to you, if your child has a lot of hair it will take 3-4 washes to really get all of the grease out. But it is worth it to be free from cradle cap!

And you can do all sorts of fun things when their hair is greasy...
And then, because you think you are funny, place your child by an electrical socket so that it looks like she was electricuted....

haha I'm wondering why my safest mother of the year award still hasn't arrived yet. :)

9 Month Check-up May 20th, 2010

Thursday, May 20, 2010


Kenley girl weighed in at 13 pounds 4.5 ounces. The doctor didn't have much to say other than that she is still way too small for her age. She is hitting all of her developmental milestones, so that is good.

She does look totally skinny in this picture though... She must have been sucking it in for dramatic effect. :)

Bean and Cheese Enchiladas

Enchiladas are a family favorite around here so I thought I would show you how I make them.

Ingredients:
1 can Refried Beans
1 can Enchilada Sauce
4 Flour Tortillas
1 - 1 1/2 cups Freshly Grated Cheddar Cheese

In a small bowl combine beans, 1/4 can enchilada sauce, and 1/2 cup cheese. Evenly distribute bean mixture between tortillas and place rolled enchiladas into a greased baking dish. Top with remaining enchilada sauce and cover with cheese. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 25 minutes.

This is definitely a super quick meal to throw together! I like to serve these enchiladas with corn and sour cream.

(Sometimes...If he has been extra nice to me, I add ground beef and olives to Brian's side of the dish.) :)

6 more years....

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Today we signed our lives over to the Marine Corps for 6 more years. It is kind of surreal that Brian actually re-enlisted, it has always the plan for Brian to stay in the Marine Corps but now its actually really happening.... weird!


I got to be "sworn in" too. They said some stuff about being a support system for my Marine and gave me a little certificate. I done know why but when I get in a room full of Marines I say the stupidest things! My hands were full with Kenley so the Captain couldn't hand me my "award" so he said he would hand it to Brian and I said "Good Job"..... Yeah, I meant to say good idea... Totally embarrassing!
Please tell me that there are certain situations that get you all flustered and you say dumb stuff too! It cant just be me...

Right???

Matching!

Mother's Day Gift Craft

Thursday, May 13, 2010

This year for Mother's Day I wanted to make our Mom's something special with Kenley's footprint on them. I came up with the idea to make them a set of stationary with her footprint on the cards that they can use for baby showers, thank you notes, or whatever. Originally I wanted to use a stamp pad to do her foot but I decided that paint would be easier. Kenley was a champ! She got all the way through 40 cards!

Finally...

Wednesday, May 12, 2010

I feel like such a slacker! Happy Mother's Day!! Better late than never right? I have had an awesome past few days spending lots of family time with Hubs and Kenley.

The garage sale went great! We made just enough to get me an iPhone for Mother's day! I love it!! Anyone else have one and want to play Words with Friends with me? :) I'm hooked!
Here is our Official Mother's Day PictureKenley was actually cuddly with me! I think that she must have known it was a special day because she barely ever wants to cuddle with me! Monday we met with the GI Dr. and Tuesday we met with the Hematologist again. The GI doctor did a cheek swab to check for Celiac disease and a hand x-ray to check her bone density age. We should find those results out toward the end of next week.
(Notice the torture device in the background??? Luckily she didn't have to do that again!)
(Doesn't Daddy look so cute with the butterflies!)

Monday she weighed 13 lbs 10 oz and then Tuesday she weighed 13 lbs 12 oz... So she is gaining!

They still do not know why Kenley's platelet count is elevated but they have ruled out cancer which is a huge praise! Right now they are pretty much saying that they still want to monitor her levels but that she is probably just a small girl! Woooohooo!
Tuesday night Brian took me out on a date! A real one! The Goodfellows watched Kenley and we rode the motorcycle out to Oriental.

Check out the little tiny ferries! They took like tug boats! I am so used to big Washington ferries that these totally surprised me! They max out at 16 cars!
Taking a self portrait on a ferry at night isn't easy. My sweet hubs let me take about 15 tries and this is the best we got... haha
Oriental was such a cute little town! We are already wanting to go back for another date there soon! We ate at M&M's, Brian loved their BBQ Brisket. Their fries are perfect! And.... They have the best hushpuppies I have ever eaten. I usually don't like hushpuppies but these were doughy in the inside and crispy on the outside! Perfect!! I want more.. now!!

What do you think about Hushpuppies? Do you love them? Hate them? Have the perfect recipe that I need to try?

Motorcycle Lessons, Garage Sales, and Sugar

Friday, May 7, 2010

Don't let this picture fool you, I was actually moving. Slowly, but enough to make me nervous!
How embarrassing would it be to drop the motorcycle that your husband has owned for 3 weeks.... in your own driveway! Though our neighbors have already seen me walk straight into our garage door so I am pretty sure that they wouldn't be surprised by anything now.

Last night Brian decided that he wanted to give me motorcycle lessons. I was super hesitant but at that point I would have done just about anything to avoid pricing our garage sale stuff. It is a big bike! My feet could barely touch the ground and I could not lift the thing to save my life! Brian had to help push it over off of the kick stand! After about 2 trips up and down our driveway going about .001 miles per hour I was done and my hand was already sore from the clutch! So Brian hoped on and we went for a little spin around the block! It was so fun it reminded me of before we were married and I rode with him on his dad's bike. Sweet memories!

We are having a garage sale tomorrow! If you are local come on over! Feel free to bring stuff that you want to sell too! As I was looking over all of our garage sale stuff I can't believe how much my style has changed in the past 3 years! Also something that has changed is that I bought most of that stuff at full price.... I never do that now!

So you may be wondering if I have eaten sugar.... The answer is yes and no... I have eaten sugar in the form of ketchup and bagels and ranch dressing and yogurt. Sugar is in everything and it is so hard to find options without it! None of those items are dessert though so I am okay with eating them because my real problem is that I eat too many sweets and not enough real food! I have had a tension headache in the back of my head and because of that been a bit grumpy the past few days. I cant believe what an impact sugar has on our bodies!

Did you take the no sugar challenge with me? How is it going for you?

Before and After

Wednesday, May 5, 2010

8:35 AM

3:35 PM


I am fairly certain that Kenley thinks we got a new dog :)

Quick Project

Monday, May 3, 2010

I scooped it up this cabinet door for $1 and gave it a quick transformation for a special girls sweet 16 room makeover!

Before:

After:I gave the door a quick spray with Krylon Spray Primer in Gray and then I sprayed around the edges with Krylon Nickel Spray Paint and gave the inset 3 coats of Chalkboard paint.

I am so pleased with how it came out! When its up on the wall you can't even tell that it was once a castoff cabinet door!
 
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