JessDMiller

MPM 2/6 - 2/12

2012-02-08T06:46:00.000-08:00

Monday: Meatloaf w/ Green beans and baked beans

Tuesday: Whole Chicken with leftover sides

Wednesday: Chicken Noodle soup with Quick Potato Dumplings

Thursday: Leftovers

Friday: Taco Potatoes

Saturday: Chicken Fiesta

Sunday: Taco Ring

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Mpm

2012-01-22T18:09:00.000-08:00

Monday: Sante Fe Five-Bean Soup (Page 38, Sandra Lee Semi-Homemade Fast-Fix Family Favorites)

Tuesday: Tacos as Lettuce Wraps with Black Bean and Corn Salad

Wednesday: Leftovers

Thursday: Turkey Wraps with Chipotle Mayo and probably leftover black bean and corn salad

Friday: Sweet and Spicy Bacon Chicken and sweet potatoes

Saturday: Leftovers

Sunday: Chicken with Peanut Curry Sauce (Page 94, Sandra Lee Semi-Homemade Fast-Fix Family Favorites) and rice

Last week we ate:
Spaghetti and garlic bread

Mac n cheese (mom at MOPS)

Homemade Buffalo Chicken Strips and Sweet potato fries (didn't eat any the week before)

Steak and Mashed potatoes (didn't get in the week before)

Pizza (Pizza Hut the no cheese pizza so I ate bone out chicken with honey bbq sauce)

Spaghetti Feed at high school

Everyone ate something different :)
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MPM 1/8 - 1/15

2012-01-08T08:58:00.000-08:00

Sunday: Steak and potato patties

Monday: Baked ham and pasta salad

Tuesday: Biscuits and Gravy (using rice milk or maybe soy milk)

Wednesday: Leftovers

Thursday: Coca cola chicken and steak fries

Friday: Sweet and sour meatloaf

Saturday: Burritos (no cheese for me)

Sunday: Homemade chicken nuggets and sweet potato fries

Check out 100s of other menus at Orgjunkie.com

MPM 11/7

2011-11-08T12:29:00.000-08:00

A day late again :)

Monday: Chimichangas from the freezer.
Tuesday: Chicken noodle soup
Wednesday: Pizza. Bought a couple vegan mozzarella cheese. Hopefully they're good!
Thursday: Leftovers
Friday: Homemade Corn Dogs with soy milk
Saturday: Lunch football game. Not sure if we'll be home for supper or not.
Sunday: Undecided

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MPM 11/1

2011-11-01T12:15:00.000-07:00

A day late but I do have a plan this week!

Monday: Halloween. Hot dogs and hot chocolate at the fire hall.
Tuesday: Whole chicken in the crock pot for Adam. Me and kids at MOPS.
Wednesday: Chicken for me and Lauren. Adam supper out.
Thursday: Broccoli Chicken with leftover chicken. I didn't get this made last time it was on the menu.
Friday: Leftovers
Saturday: Homemade Dairy free potato soup. I might use a combination between this recipe and the one below.
Sunday: Undecided

Dairy Free Potato SoupSaute onions and garlic in EVOO. Add chicken stock, some herbs (whatever I have on hand-thyme, dill, oregano etc.) and potatoes. I boil until potatoes are almost done and chuck in some broccoli. I let it go another few minutes and cool. Then puree it all.

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Meet Kate

2011-10-25T07:38:00.000-07:00

Kate Sophia was born on 10/5 at 5:41 in the morning. She was 8 lbs 13 ounces and 21 inches long. A much bigger baby than Lauren was at 7 lbs and 19 in long!

We had quite the night as Lauren was up all night throwing up. She started at 12:30 and stopped at 3:30. Contractions started at 4 and after a mad dash to the hospital Kate was born 29 minutes after we walked through the ER doors. That was even after they kept telling me not to push so we could wait for my doctor.

We are settled in and Lauren loves her new little sister. She wakes up asking for her. I think she wishes Kate could play a little more though :)

First bath:

Leaving the hospital.

Two weeks:

She'll be three weeks old already tomorrow!

I'm getting tired of not having meals planned so hopefully Meal Plan Monday will be back next week!

MPM #3

2011-09-26T14:41:00.000-07:00

Monday: Tuna Helper - special request from Adam, gobbled up by Lauren - totally unhealthy but oh so good! Leftovers for me.
Tuesday: Pig in a blanket - extra for the freezer
Wednesday: Roasting a chicken I have in the freezer
Thursday: Leftover Buffet
Friday: Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup
Saturday: Nachos - Maybe chicken nachos w/ leftover chicken. Not sure if I'll make these for me or not. I bought some Daiya cheese for me but it's expensive so I might sprinkle a tiny on there if I feel like I can't make it tasty enough w/o cheese.
Sunday: Undecided

I didn't get around to making the Dairy free caramel and Granola bars so hopefully I can get it done this week.

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It's Monday again?!

2011-09-19T14:35:00.000-07:00

Where did the week go?

I missed some things on our menu last week so you'll see them repeated here:

Monday: Fish, Broccoli
Tuesday: Chicken Cacciatore, Rice
Wednesday: Burritos with some to freeze (probably rice, refried beans and beef - some w/o cheese)
Thursday: Leftover Buffet
Friday: Mommy eat out at Bachelorette party, Daddy and Lauren fend for themselves. If I had to guess... Pizza
Saturday: Broccoli Chicken
Sunday: Chicken fried steak, mashed potatoes and country gravy made with soy milk

This week I also plan to make Dairy free caramel for my morning coffee and Granola bars so I need to add any ingredients for those to the grocery list.

Check out 100s of other menus at Orgjunkie.com

Menu Plan Monday

2011-09-12T17:34:00.000-07:00

Meal planning is a great way to stay organized, save yourself some frustration/time and even money!

It's taken me a long time to figure out which is the best way to meal plan for me. I think that meal planning is something that is really personal - there is no one size fits all. I usually do a combination of weekly and monthly planning. I love monthly planning but don't always get it done. Monthly meal planning is where you can really save money. You can do one grocery trip for non-perishables. Less trips to the grocery store = less trips to pick up the randoms not on your list that you don't really need.

I usually only do supper but hopefully adding in breakfast and lunch is something I will work on in the near future.

With our new baby due in a few weeks, I am officially dairy free. I haven't drank milk or eaten ice cream (I have cheated a few times) since becoming pregnant, then slowly moved to switching out butter and just recently have stopped cheese. Hidden dairy hasn't been too much of a concern for me yet but I'm cutting it out as of last week. I was also able to have soy with Lauren so while I don't like to include TOO much soy in our diet, I do use it to fill in where I have to take dairy out. So, all my menu's will be dairy free but may not be as strict as some need them to be. I currently have a list of recipes lined up for the whole month ahead but will be posting weekly.

The best site for menu planning is I'm An Organizing Junkie. She has people link up to her site so you can find LOTS of valuable menus and recipes here. Check her out and welcome if you come over from her site!

Monday: Spaghetti, garlic bread (with Earth Balance buttery spread)
I make this spaghetti sauce doubled and free extra portions. This recipe makes two portions for two of us + toddler. We don't care for a ton of sauce though.
Tuesday: Chicken Cacciatore, Rice (New recipe)
Wednesday: Meatloaf, Corn
Thursday: Leftover buffet - Adam has EMT class
Friday: Fish, Broccoli
Saturday: Burritos (some version of black bean or refried bean, rice and ground beef with El Pato sauce) - Making lots of extra's to freeze. I will make some with cheese and some w/o cheese. Usually the seasoning/sauce + toppings add enough flavor I actually don't miss the cheese. Ok, I miss it but it still tastes good w/o.
Sunday: Lauren's birthday lunch! I'm sure there will leftover food for supper.

Check out 100s of other menus at Orgjunkie.com

Fair time!

2011-08-11T10:57:00.000-07:00

Lauren got to spend a little time at the Saunders County Fair this past month. I was able to take her over to look at the animals one day. They had a petting zoo area that had dogs, cats, goats, ducks, rabbits, chicks, etc. She loved the chicks although she kept calling them ducks :)
This is a video - click on it to watch.

From Instant Upload

Another night there was a town parade in Wahoo. She took a little while to warm up but wanted to be right out there in front with some of her cousins picking up candy. Suckers were her candy of choice. It's actually a very long parade and lasted over an hour. She didn't really like the section of fire trucks as they put all the towns trucks together so it made for quite a few minutes of loud sirens and honking.

She got to visit the animals again, watch a best dressed goat contest and rode the carousel. She wasn't so sure at first but quickly wanted a second ride.

Poser

2011-08-11T10:44:00.000-07:00

Lauren likes to walk around with her hands on her hips and the wiggles her little bottom as she walks. It's usually quite entertaining.

The other day she was standing with her hand on her hip and her leg bent with her toes pointed and I got caught her doing a little pose with the camera.

Fun on the farm

2011-06-23T12:52:00.000-07:00

A couple weeks ago we got to spend some time with my nieces. My sister and mom were out of town so I was called in to chauffeur :) Adam got to take a few days off and come with us and we had a great time.

Morning chores at the petting zoo (aka my sisters house):
Bucket calves.

Chasing the kitty.

Duckling.

Rabbits.

Not pictured are the dogs, horses and turtles(that Lauren loved!).

Jumping on the trampoline is one of Lauren's favorite pass times.

Walking around Grandma's new flower bed.

and stopping to pet the kitty as often as possible.

Grandma also has 4 kittens that were a Lauren magnet. Luckily they all survived the death grip of a toddler :)

Last but not least, playing in the river!

No, apparently she doesn't know yet not to eat sand.

Homemade Yogurt

2011-06-21T19:55:00.000-07:00

When I first started thinking about making homemade yogurt, Adam looked at me funny and told me that was something he didn't think I should tackle. So, I went ahead and did it when he wasn't home :) Guess what? It's really easy, tastes like yogurt and contains no sugar/artificial sweeteners!

Making yogurt is actually a really simple thing to do.
In short:
1. Heat yogurt to 180 degrees to kill any bacteria living in milk.
2. Sterilize jar.
3. Cool milk back down to 120 degrees so when you add your yogurt starter you don't kill the good bacteria.
4. Add yogurt starter.
5. Let sit in 120 degree water bath in small cooler anywhere from 4-24 hrs.

I'm no expert but here is what I do.
First you'll need a good helper. And yes, I've been meaning to do this post for a long time. Notice pictures were taken at our old house.

Fill your jar with milk. This is how I measure it :)

Pour milk into microwaveable container and put in microwave. I have tried microwaving the milk in the jar and my jar has sort of warped. Most people heat their milk up in a pan on the stove. Microwaving seems to work for me so hey, why not? I do like 3 min. intervals, taking it out to mix in between. If you don't have a thermometer, I believe once it gets a skim coating on top, you have reached the desired temp. Or you know, you could probably find one for under $5.

Sterilize jar. This is just a good idea when you are wanting the proper bacteria to grow. I don't always do it though. :) I got some plastic lids off of Amazon for my jars. They are very helpful when storing jars in the fridge. Some people report finding them at Walmart. I saw some at our local small town grocery store.

Next you'll need your yogurt starter. This is simply a plain yogurt with active cultures. I believe different yogurts have different types of bacteria in them. You can also get yogurt cultures in powder form. Once you have your first batch of yogurt, you can save some of that batch to use as your starter in your next batch and so on. I have heard some that if you reuse your starter, it can lose it's potency over time. I bought a big container of plain yogurt and froze the extras in ice cube trays. I believe it's 2 T. per quart of milk. One cube = 2 T.

Since I did that I now have to defrost the starter each time I make yogurt. I just put it in a little dish and set in warm water.

Milk's done!

I set in sink of cold water to cool back down.

Pour it into your jar, add your starter and stir. Not too hard, we are dealing with live bacteria here.

Set in cooler with 120ish degree water. Apparently our hot water heater is set at 120 degrees. Lucky for me :)

Set timer and set in corner of counter. This is the culturing. This is where the good bacteria you want grows.

All in all, maybe 15 min. of active work time to make yogurt.

Here's what else you might need to know.
- You can let it sit anywhere from 4-24 hours. The longer it sits, the more bacteria grows. The thickness and flavor may vary depending on how long it sits. I usually let it go 6 hrs.
- Sometimes I'll check on it and rewarm up the water. Sometimes I won't. One time I didn't and when the time was up, I still had milk. I rewarmed the water and let it sit longer and it actually turned into yogurt then! I was kind of surprised. I thought I had ruined my first batch.
- There is usually whey on top of the yogurt when done. I pour this off.

I usually don't add sugar. My last batch was a little tangy so I have added a little.
To flavor I have added pure vanilla extract, pureed strawberry/raspberry/blackberry, plain pureed strawberry, just cut up fresh fruit to put on top, peach, etc. The possibilities are endless. I have also mashed up a banana and put that in. One banana in one PINT and you don't even taste the yogurt. Tastes like a smoothie! I also add fruit fresh in with banana. IDK if it would turn brown but brown yogurt would freak me out. Maple syrup might taste good...

Click on the blog Heartland Renaissance in my blogroll on the side (my computer is running slow) and she showed another method recently to making yogurt!

Good luck! Questions?

It's a girl!

2011-05-27T08:02:00.000-07:00

Lauren is going to have a little sister to have tea parties with!

Few things.

2011-05-25T20:21:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow is our gender ultrasound!

11am! Stay tuned! My "feeling" is boy. Adam is going with the safe bet of girl.

It really needs to stop raining.

From Drop Box

Miller lake is going to reach my garden soon.

From Drop Box

A house tour is coming soon.

I just don't feel like it's done enough to show ya'll, but until our other house sells we are stalled with this one so I'm just gonna have to show you where we are.

Our little girl sure is cute.

Snow boots seem to be something that can entertain her for a long time.

From Drop Box

She waves and says bye when we flush the toilet. She waves and says bye to trains as they go past our house. She sees something new and colorful and exclaims "Wow!" in a really high pitched voice.

Snuggling in bed only happens every so often with this mover and shaker but we love when it happens.

From Drop Box

Deck/Front porch

2011-05-09T20:06:00.000-07:00

Yes, we moved.

Yes, it's been a while.

No, I haven't been blogging. I keep thinking that we just need to get this done and then I'll take a bunch of pictures of the house. Then I think if we just get the next thing done, I'll take a bunch of pictures. It hasn't happened yet.

BUT, something so exciting happened it deserves blog space.

Our deck/front porch has been built. We've had it for two days now and it's amazing. We've already spent a lot of time out there. I LOVE it.

Lauren got to go shopping with a certain special someone and got lots of new toys to enjoy on the deck!
Everything assembled:

She was convinced this was a bathtub, stripped down and climbed in.

Outdoor playroom! I think I might move her playhouse up here as well.

I found the slide on a garage sale this weekend for $1. I also scored her a swingset for $5! We need to go get it from the previous owners, fill her sandbox, inflate her pool and we are ready for summer! (minus the big missing patches of yard but that will just have to wait)

Also note that the house has been painted. The green is "Rattan Palm" by Pittsburg Paints and the trim is Almond white or something like that (I'll update this name later).

**Click pictures to view a little larger.

My first ponytail

2011-04-12T05:59:00.001-07:00

It took a lot of work to get her to let me do this but hopefully some day soon she'll get used to it!

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Moving day is upon us!

2011-03-16T18:23:00.000-07:00

We are moving this weekend!

The house is not yet complete but we hope that by moving in, we can hurry the process along. No more of one of us having to come home at 7 for Lauren's bedtime.

Here are a few pictures I took last night. Apparently my camera is really dirty and they are not very good pictures :(

And yes, this is Lauren sitting in front of one of the doors throwing a fit because she knows daddy and Grandpa are on the other side doing something fun (such as carrying in a washer and dryer).

And yes, she was finally let in. Pure joy!

Lauren falling backward

2011-03-04T06:56:00.000-08:00

This is Lauren's newest weirdo quirk. She'll just randomly start doing this and do it for like 5 minutes. I have no idea where it started. Maybe while she's playing around on our bed watching cartoons?

Make sure you hear the sound effects also :)

Words at 18 months

2011-03-02T19:27:00.000-08:00

Here are some of the words Lauren can say at almost 18 months old!

We forgot the main one she says the most which is tickle. She also says tickle for pickle. Last night she was standing on the couch saying tickle over and over and I couldn't figure out why. Then I looked over and noticed the pickle jar sitting there. Following in her family's footsteps, she's a pickle-a-holic.

She's also always saying that. She points at what she wants and says that. It's very cute and she usually stresses end t so it usually sounds like "daT".

Productive weekend

2011-03-01T06:24:00.000-08:00

This weekend we were able to finish up all the painting in the house, the laminate flooring, entry way tile, and got things cleaned up. We also got a little farther on cabinet install and got the master bath vanity stained.

We bought unfinished kitchen cabinets and are using those in the master. This allows us to have a taller vanity and to customize it more. There will be more drawers on either side of the sink than any vanity available. It was also about $400 cheaper!

Best little helper!

Secondary bathroom

Vanity staining in progress

Master bathroom

Lauren's purple room!

Laundry room and pantry

Entry tile

After I took the pictures we also got the fridge and range moved into the house, vanity set into place, kitchen table and hutch moved over (we wanted them out of our garage), and one of the door stained.

They are coming to measure for carpet on Friday and it should be installed early next week!

Laminate flooring

2011-02-22T11:31:00.000-08:00

We are getting some flooring laid out at the house. So far we have the bathrooms and the laundry/pantry done. We used a high quality stick tile.

For the kitchen and dining room we chose to go with a laminate wood. After looking at a few places we decided to go with Pergo flooring from Lowes. It seems like very good quality and it doesn't have the high gloss finish that many laminates have. It also has the pad attached to the back which does two things: it's easier to install and it is supposed to sound more like real hardwood flooring when you walk on it. The color we decided to go with is the Pergo Heritage Handscraped Hickory. I also love that it's wider planks.

Splashin'

2011-02-16T08:13:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was so nice out it was time for some fun in the sun! Well, more like fun in the puddles.

Lauren was splish splashin' for at least 1/2 hour. She had fun in our alley and then wandered up the street and found another fun puddle to play in.

We'll be spending some more time outside today! So happy to have a few nice days!

Progress and Paint!

2011-02-07T13:26:00.000-08:00

Lots of things have been going on at the house this past week.

The drywall was finished.

The ceiling textured.

My cabinets, washer, dryer and range were delivered. The cabinets are Thomasville from Home Depot. The stain is Tawny and they are oak. I was a little worried that they might be a little too dark but I love them!

Then, we primed the ceiling (yes we had to do the ceiling) and every wall.

We also finished painting the kitchen/hall/laundry areas (all the same color) so that we can start to install cabinets!

This color is Martha Stewart Toasted Marshmallow.
It's hard to get a good picture of the color but here is a closer shot so you can maybe see. Next time I'll take my good camera out to get a better picture. This picture was taken on my phone.

I have a darker color that is really homey that I am doing in the living room and wanted to do everywhere but got outvoted so this color is a few shades lighter.

The electrician has also been hard at work and we now have light in most rooms at the flick of a switch!

Mickey mouse

2011-02-01T11:44:00.001-08:00

Lauren's favorite spot these days is tucked into our bed watching Mickey Mouse. Do not try to disturb her. Especially do not try to climb in and cuddle. Do not even try to touch. You will most likely get shoved away. Other favorites are Monsters Inc and Toy Story 3.

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Heat!

2011-01-28T14:28:00.000-08:00

All the drywall has been hung and the heat has been turned on. It's a totally different house over there.

Living room area.

Kitchen area.

Master.

This is all they are finishing off of the basement because the electrical isn't finished down there.

Going shopping

2011-01-28T08:15:00.001-08:00

Don't mind me guys just doing a little grocery shopping.

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Watching the world pass by.

2011-01-25T19:15:00.000-08:00

Lauren watching Grandpa and daddy clean up all the snow this weekend.

Drywall

2011-01-25T17:59:00.000-08:00

The drywall is going in and it makes the house feel so much more like a house! They are working on the garage and the house at the same time so they first completed both ceilings. The insulation guys were able to come back today and fill in the attic. It's time for some warmth in that house! They are probably 1/2 way done with the insulation inside the house and have started working in the garage.

Getting rid of the bad stuff.

2011-01-23T19:09:00.000-08:00

My goals for last year were simple. Get rid of the bad stuff.

Well, that is NOT a simple goal. There are many aspects to getting rid of the bad stuff, many ways to go about it, so much research to be done, and many different levels you can take it to. So I accomplished a few things and the goal of getting rid of the bad stuff has carried over to this year.

The things I accomplished last year were:

Clean up the cleaning products. I'm talking simple homemade solutions(vinegar, baking soda, peroxide, etc). Those things that I don't make at home are free and clear and from eco-friendly companies. It's taken me a while to figure out what I like and what works and I'm sure that I'll still end up changing a few things here and there.
Make a conscious effort to create less waste(grab Tupperware instead of Ziplocks, Silpat mats instead of parchment paper, of course cloth diaper, wipe Laurens nose with cloth wipes, rags instead of paper towels, etc.) and to be creative in using what I have to do what I want(I want to organize? Use the cardboard boxes I'm always getting in the mail and cut off the flaps instead of buying new matching tubs. Etc, etc, etc.)

My goals for this year are to clean up our food. This I believe is going to be quite the journey. My first goal is: If I can make it, make it I shall. Get rid of processed food. This is a way to get rid of all those nasty ingredients on the sides of prepackaged foods that none of us can pronounce. I think this is first and foremost.

Then,

I may switch out a few things for organic.
I may buy raw sugar instead of bleached/processed sugar. That sort of thing.
Use unsweetened applesauce when recipes call for oil. Hiding veggies in food. That sort of thing.
Slowly, I hope to start making things as healthy as possible. Switching out sugar for other natural sweetners. Soaking whole wheat so your body can process it better. Maybe. Maybe I'll decide that as long as we get rid of all those crappy ingredients we can't pronounce that is all we need.

All those things among others I'm sure.

A lot of these things make sense to me. When you make stuff, all you need are a few basic ingredients and you really can make MANY items. I also like knowing how self-sufficient we can be. Getting back to the basics. Things seem to fall into place. If you make yogurt, it's super easy to then make cream cheese. Guess what? You can also make mozzarella cheese pretty easily. Cool huh? This also means I will be stepping up my gardening/canning/freezing game.

So, I'll be taking you along with me on this journey and showing you what I've cooked. So far this month I've made the following from scratch:

Tortillas (1/2 whole wheat)
Biscuits
Make your own yogurt! Essentially follow this. While looking around I learned a few other things and I used less yogurt starter. 2 T per quart of milk. Also heat milk to 180 degrees to begin and cool milk and keep at 130 degrees while culturing.
Healthy snack. Fruit leather in the dehydrator. Unsweetened applesauce with blended strawberries picked from Adams parents patch.

Use saran wrap, NOT waxed paper. If you use waxed paper it'll stick. In the interest of switching out for something re-usable, I ordered the fruit trays from the dehydrator manufacturer since I hope to make this often.
Pop-Tarts (but eaten for dessert). I put strawberry preserves that I made last summer in as a filler.

That's what I'm up to. Hopefully you'll be seeing more food tutorials this year once again. I haven't done one in a while.

Eatin snow

2011-01-23T09:25:00.001-08:00

Only lucky little girls get their very own bowl of snow to eat!

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Insulation is finished.

2011-01-14T12:36:00.000-08:00

Garage

Hole where the netting was pierced to pump the insulation in.

Up close of what the "netting" looks like.

What the blown in fiberglass insulation looks like

Insulation around the rafters.

All holes were filled with foam

Floor trusses were insulated.

Exterior basement wall insulated.

Drywall starts on Monday!

Insulation!

2011-01-12T13:16:00.000-08:00

Blown in fiberglass insulation. They staple a sort of netting all over the house around each stud and then the hose has a pokey end they just stick through the netting and pump the insulation in. It fills up each hole pretty quickly!

And for fun - Lauren trying to eat with her own spoon.

House update

2011-01-03T18:25:00.000-08:00

Wow it's been a long time since you've seen any updated house pictures huh?

Well, the main reason for this is the the last 3+ weeks, the stuff that has been going on doesn't make a big visual impact. I'm happy to now say that the electrician and plumber are done and the HVAC is almost done. Time for insulation and drywall!

Oh and I guess the roof went on since the last pictures you've seen as well! That's pretty important eh? Garage door too. I'll try and post a better picture of both later. I don't have the best pictures so far.

For the last week however, there has been something picture worthy going on. Siding, soffits and facia!

Lots of other little things have been going on as well.
The footings for the porch were poured.

Drywall between house and garage, garage door and landing/steps.

For now the inside of the house looks pretty much as it has for the last three weeks. With the addition of some very important wires/pipes/ductwork of course.

In other news, despite an ear infection, Lauren had lots of fun at Christmas!

I'll try to post more Christmas pics tomorrow.

(In case anyone tries to google real world pictures of products they want to put on their house like I did, I'll start including specs here so hopefully the search engine will pick up my blog.)
-Ash Gray Premium Pro-Snap metal roofing from Menards
-Fiber cement siding purchased from and installed by Millard Lumber.
-Gerkin casement windows with prairie grill purchased from Builders Supply.
-The front door is Therma-Tru Classic-Craft American Style Collection. 3 light stain-able fiberglass with 4-block dentil shelf. Builders Supply.
-Garage door: North Central Door Company, Northwoods Prestige Collection: Aspen Ridge. White.

Lauren was scared of Santa

2010-12-22T09:11:00.000-08:00

Well, we tried. We went to see Santa. Lauren was already cranky and in need of a nap. Not to mention she's been sick and clingy this week.

She didn't like him at all. Pretty much every kid in the place wasn't happy to be seeing Santa. Poor guy. Hopefully he still likes them though!

After she calmed down:

You can kind of see how unhappy she is here:

Clinging to mommy:

Laurens head is on hinges

2010-12-04T11:20:00.000-08:00

She thinks this is so funny. (which it is of course)

Lauren hulking out

2010-11-29T10:31:00.000-08:00

This is Lauren doing what we call "hulking out". She does this when she gets excited and then people laugh at her and she just keeps on going.

Windows and doors are in!

2010-11-29T07:17:00.000-08:00

Lauren supervising daddy.

The front door will be stained at some point to match all the woodwork inside.

As you can see, we pretty much live at Menards these days

Lauren chillin at home

House is wrapped

2010-11-23T13:22:00.000-08:00

The house wrap is on and the tar paper is on the roof. The windows are supposed to come tomorrow and hopefully we can get this house enclosed! Adam and his dad have also been moving a lot of dirt up and around the house.

Lauren got to ride in the big tractor today and even had her own seat!

Day 54

2010-11-18T18:48:00.000-08:00

The garage is up, the roof is on, all plywood is on and the water and sewer lines are run to the house! Major changes are happening!

As always, Lauren in on the action. Dirt and freezing fingers don't faze her.

Lauren in leaves

2010-11-16T12:54:00.000-08:00

For some reason I'm having trouble getting images to upload so I can't show you the progress being made on the house. The garage walls are up, the sewer line is going in and it's possible that the roof work will start today.

Here's some cute Lauren to hold you over.

Did you know that Daddy's closet isn't a place to hold shoes? It's a place for little girls to play!

Day 48

2010-11-12T06:57:00.000-08:00

The walls are finally up! It went really fast and everything is in place except the garage. There were only a few Oops moments -- like when the realization hit that they had just trapped a few walls inside a room where they weren't supposed to be and when a few walls that had been mislabeled were discovered to have been placed in the wrong spot. All in all it went really smoothly.

Wall Progress

2010-11-11T09:00:00.001-08:00

The walls have finally arrived

2010-11-10T20:25:00.000-08:00

Now we can get to moving on this house!

P.S. The supporting walls in the basement were built last weekend.

Adam the lumberjack

2010-11-08T09:49:00.000-08:00

We had to cut down the second pine tree in our back yard this past week. We thought that it might bounce back after we took down the first one because they seemed to be killing each other. By the end of the summer this tree was all the way dead also.

Walmart Score!

2010-11-05T13:56:00.000-07:00

I just got back from the North Lincoln Walmart and if you need outdoor stuff, back to school stuff or Halloween stuff GO NOW. Halloween stuff is 75% off and all the clearance stuff is an additional 50% off of the already clearance price!

I got Britney Spears perfume, Kenneth Cole cologne, 2 9x13 Wilton cake pans(they're stuck together so I only paid for 1 - hopefully I can get them separated pretty easy), 2 75 foot flat soaker hoses, 4 window box planters, paper, hanging folders, push pins, Halloween baking stuff, Light up plastic pumpkin, couple skirts to start Laurens dress up bin, Halloween socks and gloves to send my nieces next year, makeup (we'll see if it lasts until next year) and a scary mask and blood for Adam so he can scare trick or treaters next year :)

I just looked up the pans, perfume, cologne, and hoses and those alone cost double what I paid for everything!

The total should have been at least (estimating everything that was already on clearance) $250. I got it all for $83.83. Much more than I went in expecting to spend but still awesome :)

AND I easily got my cake pans separated!

Day 36

2010-11-01T10:52:00.000-07:00

Trusses are up and the floor is mostly installed.

Feels like a basement instead of a cement pit!

View from living room window:

View from kitchen window:

Pumpkin carving 2010

2010-10-31T06:49:00.000-07:00

The trusses are here! The trusses are here!

2010-10-30T06:46:00.000-07:00

Now the house can start to take shape!

It's fun to see them unloaded off the trailer. I have a video I'll have to post later of it. There are roller things on the trailer and they turn them on and the trusses just slide right off!

Just a few trusses up and it's already starting to feel a whole lot different out there!

Lauren was happy to help as always.

She loved hanging out under her "fort".

What a mess!

2010-10-28T13:12:00.000-07:00

Lasagna yes I understand. Especially when it's so good you just have to shovel it in.

But chocolate graham crackers?

And cracker sandwiches with cheese in the middle?

How does this happen?

600 wins!

2010-10-27T13:05:00.000-07:00

Congrats Aunt Cindy on winning 600 games in her career!
Article

Lauren was oh so tired but she sure loved sitting on uncle Rob's lap!

Helgoths Pumpkin Patch

2010-10-26T06:21:00.000-07:00

We went to yet another pumpkin patch this weekend.

This was the one I have been waiting to go to because I know that they have all the awesome specialty pumpkins for much cheaper than anywhere I've found around here. 22 cents a pound. Doesn't matter what kind you get.

Lauren is still scared of goats(this one made her cry)

But she loved the chickens.

Hangin out with her little friend Colt

She loved riding the train with Kynzi

Her face is soon going to be permanently stuck like this:

She's pretty indifferent to slides. Even this big one. No reaction.

Big girl just walkin' along.

Noah's ark with more slides that she really could have cared less about.

Charlie Brown!

She walked around and patted every single pumpkin.

Day 29

2010-10-25T06:12:00.000-07:00

Things that have happened at the house since I last posted:

The concrete flatwork was finished (obviously)
The roof trusses were delivered
The rim board was installed
The basement daylight wall was built

Today the floor trusses are being delivered.

Maybe it'll start to come together soon!

Day 19

2010-10-15T08:25:00.000-07:00

The concrete flat work is done!

It's actually a lot of fun to watch concrete going in. It makes such an impact in such a short amount of time.

I didn't get a picture of the basement floor yet but it looks awesome and makes more like a house will be there now.

Day 17

2010-10-13T07:24:00.000-07:00

Today the flat concrete is being poured.

In preparation, on Saturday we finished filling the garage with sand and leveling it out.

Of course we got lots of help from Lauren. She had so much fun playing in a giant sand box.

She even got to go for her very first tractor ride!

The plumber came on Saturday and got things ready for the basement bathroom.

OPPD came on Saturday and trenched a new line for us and set our transformer.

Monday the concrete guys came and packed/leveled the sand and yesterday they got the rebar in and ready to pour!

Checking to make sure everything is ok :)

More pictures to come today of the cement!

Pumpkin patches, apple picking and Day 12 of the house build

2010-10-08T12:29:00.000-07:00

Here goes a weeks worth of blogging in one post.

Vala's Pumpkin Patch
On Monday Lauren and I met up with some friends at Vala's pumpkin patch. While I think that Lauren had fun people watching and participating in the few activities she could, I have to say that I think Vala's is a little too commercialized. It felt like we were at an amusement park instead of having a fun afternoon at the local pumpkin patch. We were there on a Monday afternoon. I can't imagine what that place would be like on a weekend. I don't think I would have even felt comfortable letting her down to run around. There were fields of empty parking lots that are usually full on weekends. Not to mention it's expensive.($13 admission. $9 on Mondays and a few other days. Plus extra to ride the train, etc.) They make enough money in one month to last them a whole year after paying all the workers, building new attractions, etc. That being said, I'm sure we'll go back again and there really are some cute things there. We didn't go through the haunted house or go on the hayrack ride to pick pumpkins. I was a little disappointed in the pumpkin selection also. There weren't any of the fun specialty pumpkins. I was told this morning that they don't grow the pumpkins there - they are shipped in.

If you go in and go to the right and keep walking all the way through the park past the train there are some cute activities. One of them was a bouncy pillow that looks like this:

Lauren loved just sitting there and having the older kids bounce her around.

All kinds of fun cut outs which make for great pictures.

Train rides

Petting zoo area. Lauren was scared of the animals. She was clinging on for dear life :)

A nice big rocking chair.

Martin's Hillside Orchard
We went apple picking this morning. Now this is a great place. Very relaxed but also offers tons of stuff. In addition to apples they have pumpkins (with all sorts of specialty ones), fun gourds, peaches, strawberries, raspberries, Christmas trees, wreaths, etc. Of course all these are dependent on the seasons. It's $4 a person or $15 a family. That money also goes toward any purchase you make. The apples today were $1 a pound for all kinds except Fuji which were $1.50/lb. Pumpkins were 25 cents a lb or 50 cents for specialty ones.

They also have a few fun things for the kids to play on.

House build
Today is day 12 of the house build. Nothing is happening today.

Yesterday Adam took the day off to work on filling in around the house and inside the garage. We put gravel around the base and then will fill in with dirt.

He built up the drive into the garage and started filling it with sand before the flat work can be poured. 120 tons of sand were delivered and we still need some more.

Here is an interesting picture. We didn't see it at first. Adam had initially thought about doing the waterproofing himself but it looks like it's a good thing we had the wall guys do it. They did all kinds of things like set the dump pit into the cement, put a tube under the foundation that hooks up to the outside drain tile and they also did this:

They left a little spot where house meets garage so the entire basement could be waterproofed.

Day 5 - Waterproofed

2010-10-01T14:24:00.000-07:00

The forms came off this morning and the house has been waterproofed.

Now we need the plumber to set a few things, wait until Tuesday for the walls to cure since it's a little chilly out, bring in a bunch of sand for under the garage floor, backfill and have the flatwork poured.

Day 4

2010-10-01T08:16:00.000-07:00

The walls were poured yesterday.

In this picture you can see where the house will sit and how far the basement will stick up out of the ground. We're building up another two feet on the far end so I don't think it will look bad at all. There will also be a screened porch/deck on the majority of the front of the house so you won't really see any basement walls in the front.

The inner workings of the wall.

This will be the final elevation on the end of the house. The basement bedroom windows will be above ground so no water can get in those or snakes in the window wells, etc.

Concrete going in!

Setting the forms

2010-09-29T09:02:00.000-07:00

Random blob of cement on job site

2010-09-28T13:27:00.000-07:00

Let it go to waste? I think not.

New pad in front of garage door. Hopefully people house hunting in Mead will appreciate it!

The rest can get broken up and spread down the driveway.

Footings

2010-09-28T10:49:00.000-07:00

Sump pump

Garage footings

Digging a basement

2010-09-27T12:58:00.000-07:00

It has started! They did the excavation today and are currently laying out the basement.

Here is a 360 view of how our lot looked last night:
360 view of lot

Here's some photos from this morning with stakes where the house will be:

The first cut!

Lauren playing (gotta get a shot of her in)

Watching the excavator

Here's what it looks like. We will have a daylight basement on the side closest. The deepest side is only like 3.5 feet into the ground. We are doing floor joists so all the ductwork will run through those so we are going to do 8 foot basement walls. This means that there will be 4.5 feet sticking up out of the ground. We will build up around the walls in the front of the house and slope it down.

Laurens First Birthday!

2010-09-22T11:14:00.000-07:00

Lauren is finally one! She had a great party and enjoyed all her family being at her house to play with her. She also got some great gifts that she's having so much fun playing with and wearing.

She didn't get too messy while eating her cake...because she didn't eat it. She just played with the frosting and finally ended up smashing it a little.

One Year Photos

2010-09-13T16:05:00.000-07:00

As Lauren's one year birthday approaches it is time for her one year photos.

Because my sister is good at taking pictures, because she has kids of her own so she knows how you have to take photos quickly and because I have a DSLR, and because I know how to work Photoshop, we decided to forgo "professional" pictures.

I really wanted to just let someone else take care of it.

I made an appointment with a photographer.

Then Adam enters the picture and once again reminds me that it's expensive.

Of course it is. Taking pictures of babies is exhausting and frustrating. After an off and on all day photo op, some run-away balloons that didn't even make it into any photos, and a kid who would NOT look at the camera all day, we ended up with over 500 photos and some turned out pretty cute. THANK GOODNESS.

Get ready. There's lots.

Lauren and mommy.

Lauren and Daddy.

The Miller Family.

Whew, there's more of course :) but I think these are the best.

A few photos that didn't turn out so well look ok after "Photoshopping". What do you think? How'd we do?

Gigglefest

2010-09-01T11:24:00.000-07:00

Daddy is just so scary that Lauren has to run away. Sometimes the running doesn't go so well and she face plants. Sometimes she reverts back to crawling to try and get away.

Lots of video here but to cute not to post. Lauren was watching them this morning on the computer today and laughing so hard at herself. :)

My first quilt

2010-08-31T09:20:00.000-07:00

I have finally finished my first quilt project!

What did I learn? Lots of stuff. The main one being: Don't do a king sized quilt for your first project. Anyone with half a brain knows that right?

The reason I did a king sized quilt is because Adam needs a "summer" quilt. One that is thinner and doesn't make him sweat at night.

This quilt has pinwheel squares in the middle. This is one of the easiest if not the easiest squares to make. They aren't all perfect but I think it turned out better than I was expecting it to about 3/4 of the way through. I just got so tired of working on it!

I used old fashioned cotton batting in the middle. This is a little more expensive but I used a 40% off coupon at Hobby Lobby and it wasn't bad. It's thinner and breathes a little better I think.

Finished it off with some floral fabric on the back, tied it and there you have it! Quilt #1 is in the books.

Smiles

2010-08-25T08:12:00.000-07:00

Look at this smile. It's hard to remember the early days when she was in pain because of her stomach and unhappy most of the time. These days, Lauren is a pretty darn happy baby. She almost always has a smile for anyone.

She was playing in her crib yesterday while I was trying to catch some video of her doing something cute (maybe you'll get to see it later if I can catch it!) and what I caught instead was her smiling face. Love it :)

But I also caught this shot which is even more accurate of her personality.

She is still always in motion. Especially now that she can walk. Back and forth. Around and around. She will pick up one item and walk until she finds another. Then she'll carry that around for a while and so on and so forth. Good thing I can hear her little feet walking around so I can easily keep track of her! This personality trait can make her a difficult baby sometimes but that is just something that mom and dad have to deal with. It doesn't bother her one bit - She's still oh so very happy.

A Walk In Daddy's Shoes

2010-08-24T12:52:00.000-07:00

Not literally. Just daddy's favorite KIND of shoe.

Lauren bought her dad a pair of shoes for fathers day. They were for herself but they were superstars. Which is daddy's favorite kind of shoe. She figured he'd like to see her wearing some because a while back he bought mommy a pair also. So now we are a superstar wearing family.

They aren't soft soled shoes so they were a little harder for her to walk in but she got the hang of it. She even scuffed them up. Soon they'll be broken in and she won't want to wear any other kind. I figure even if they are a little difficult for her to walk in they probably have better support so hopefully they will be good for her.

Lauren Walks!

2010-08-21T05:55:00.000-07:00

She suddenly started walking after a nap one day and hasn't stopped since! She also figured out how to stand herself up which she had never done before.

Some videos of the cutie pie

2010-08-18T15:06:00.000-07:00

She's pretty much walking these days. She can walk in between people/things and will let go to walk somewhere if it isn't very far.

Cute noises and faces:

Oh the Tupperware drawer

2010-07-14T08:56:00.000-07:00

It is such a fun thing.

getting more

and we still need some more.

We still have a monkey in this house but we also have a mummy now.

We are meeting the guys who will build the walls for our new house tonight so hopefully soon this blog will be overrun with construction pictures!

Hi

2010-07-06T19:36:00.000-07:00

Apparently I felt like taking a blog break or something. I think this post is going to have to be the last month in photos.

My first trip to the zoo. I loved the aquarium.

First trip to the big kids pool

First trip to the river!

Hangin with my favorite Jersey girl

and my favorite other girls!

I can hold my bottle now.

and I'm quite the monkey these days.

I'm also 9 months old now. I'll save those pics for a separate post.

Nothing a little cleaning can't fix

2010-05-26T19:47:00.000-07:00

Before and after:

All it takes is a power washer to make a neglected fence look like new.

First time in the pool

2010-05-24T06:07:00.000-07:00

Lauren got to play outside all day yesterday while Adam and I worked on our fence. She is usually way happier when we are outside than when we are stuck inside. She played on a blankie but I couldn't stop her from eating too much grass so she got moved into the pack-n-play. After so long in there she got fussy so I took a break and got out her swimming pool!

She didn't really seem to care that she was in water to much. She had more fun chewing on the sides of it and the air valve than anything. It was only 2 inches of water. I'll be interested to see how she acts when we go to a real pool!

8 Months old already and another tooth

2010-05-19T12:07:00.000-07:00

Lauren turned EIGHT months old yesterday. Here are a few shots from our photo shoot.

She also got another tooth in on Sunday. It's her upper left one.

Getting in trouble

2010-05-12T13:20:00.001-07:00

Two of my favorite things. The laptop and remote! Especially the laptop....that one is fun to grab.

Pulling up

2010-05-11T13:52:00.000-07:00

Yup, that's right. She thinks she's pretty cool.

Of course right after I posted that she would soon be standing in her crib she started doing it. Since I haven't posted in a while that means that she is an old pro at it by now. She stands up constantly. She's pretty good at getting herself back down too although we now have a couple head bumps a day.

Next step - walking!

Shed

2010-05-05T13:32:00.000-07:00

We have a shed behind our garage that was....to say the least rough. It used to be an apartment/in-law suite. Then I believe it must have been turned into a garage although it would have been tough to get a vehicle in and out of there.

This is what it started out like a month ago:
Before:

After:

There were windows broken, holes all over and the roof was peeling and falling off.

If you shook this post, it wasn't even resting on the ground. Pretty much the whole southwest corner had one little support.

This garden hose? It's housing wiring.

So we took out the windows and doors, framed it up and filled in the spots with pickets from our fence that was falling down. Environmentally friendly right there folks :)

We put a new metal roof on and made some new smaller easy to open doors.

Power washed it up.

Then it got a new coat of paint to match our house and garage! I am much more likely to store stuff in there now and am no longer scared of the ton of spiders and who knows what else inhabited it.

Sleep issues

2010-05-04T08:57:00.000-07:00

Lauren has decided to throw a fit when it's time to go to sleep these days. Doesn't matter if it's night time or nap time. This combined with her crawling means that every time put her down, she does this:

She crawls to the corner of the crib closest to the bedroom door and whines. One of these days I'm going to go in there and she's going to be standing!

Ba Ba Ba Babbling

2010-05-02T13:59:00.000-07:00

Little Miss Lauren has been babbling away lately. Ba Ba Ba is what she says although it seems she's going to start saying Mamma soon too. :) Mamma before Dadda! Ha! :)

Lauren Crawls!

2010-04-29T06:53:00.001-07:00

She finally figured it out! She started on Tuesday night and of course she's a crawling fool now! Crawling across rooms, getting into stuff she isn't supposed to already :), following mom around a room...

This one is long. Skip to about 1:45 to see some real crawling.

Before she figured it out, the last step was this little frog hop thing. Very entertaining to watch her do this one.

Chicken-etti

2010-04-22T07:11:00.000-07:00

I like to watch 19 kids and counting. A couple of episodes ago they were filming Josh and Anna and Anna made something she called Chicken-etti. I tried to pay attention to what she said was in it but of course I forgot. I knew it was something I could make and we would like. I went to their site the other night and they had it listed! Yay! So in case you would like to make it also I'll repost it here:

Recipe for The Famous "CHICKEN-ETTI"

1 can of Rotel

1 can of Cream of Chicken Soup

1 cup of Milk

1/2 block of Velveeta Cheese

1 package of Spaghetti Noodles

3 Chicken Breasts

2 cups Mozzarella Cheese

Cook Chicken Breasts thoroughly, then slice into strips. Combine first four ingredients in bowl. Heat in microwave and stir until desired consistency is reached, milk may be more/less depending on whether you want sticky or runny sauce. Boil Spaghetti noodles and drain. Pour noodles in 9x13" pan, add cheese sauce and mix thoroughly. Top with Mozzarella cheese and Chicken Strips. Place in oven at 350 until cheese melts. Serve and Enjoy!!!

Zucchini Bread

2010-04-20T19:07:00.000-07:00

Remember when I froze zucchini and had no idea what I was doing?

I finally made some bread a while back. I made a recipe I found on another blog and it was wonderful! I left out the raisins. Yuck. :)

I used the zucchini that I froze w/ the juice and everything worked just fine. I did notice the lady in that blog skinned the zucchini before using it. I didn't. IDK if it makes much of a difference. I will probably skin them next time.

7 months old!

2010-04-19T07:05:00.000-07:00

I'm 7 months old!

Hmmm, what's this thing?

Why'd you put it back there mom?

Let me get that for you.

Does this thing really say that I'm 7 months old?!

Oh there's that paper thing again. I love paper! Let me get that and eat it!

I still can't crawl and it's so darn frustrating. I can get around though and usually can get to whatever it is that I want if I really work at it. I can go from laying on my belly to sitting up and I can go from sitting up to crawling position. Now if I could just GO GO GO!

I'm also giggling so much these days :)

Some images from Easter (a week late)

2010-04-11T08:17:00.000-07:00

Lauren loves the grass

2010-04-06T12:57:00.000-07:00

This is Laurens first experience with grass. She loves it! I kept putting her in the middle of the blanket and she got herself over to the edge a couple of times to play with it. She loves to pull hair and this is kind of like that only better because it actually pulls!

Garden has been started

2010-03-31T13:16:00.000-07:00

The garden is tilled and potatoes and onions planted!

We've also started to fix up this shed.

More to come on that later.

A bib that covers all

2010-03-25T14:01:00.000-07:00

So now that you have seen Lauren feeding herself and the mess that it makes, you can understand my need for a bigger bib than all of the store boughten ones that I have in her closet.

My mom always had a few bibs that were like this in her towel drawer and this shape seems to make the most sense to me.

She usually has food all over her chest, lap, shoulders and arms along with face and hands of course.

I took out some old scraps of fabric which work great for simple little projects like this. I used cotton. I usually have a burp rag and washcloth handy when feeding her anyway so I am not to worried about making the bibs with terrycloth because that would just add a lot unnecessary expense. Like I said, I'm just wanting to keep the food off her, not wipe her off.

First, I made a pattern out of some more scrap material and then sewed it quick to test and make sure everything would work as needed.

I did learn that I needed to cut my material a little more inside the circle for a seam allowance. If you don't do this then your neck hole will be extra large.

Then I cut out the main fabric to the size of a hand towel.

I stiched around it inside out, turned it out and top stitched around it again.

I also added some velcro to the back for a closure.

This bib has much more coverage than anything else we have in the house for $0.00.

I do think that it could be a little smaller for her right now but she will grow into it.

Inch worm

2010-03-24T15:34:00.000-07:00

Do you remember in elementary school when you used to do the inch worm? Or maybe you still do it now as part of a work out. It's where you walk your feet up to your hands and then walk your hands out until you are in the plank position.

This is what Lauren does these days in her attempt to crawl. She just hasn't figured out the hands part. She also doesn't quite realize that she should be doing this on her knees instead of with her feet. I guess she has the whole one foot in front of the other one thing figured out for walking.

Lauren Can feed herself

2010-03-21T07:46:00.000-07:00

Sweet potatoes are a hit once again but this time Lauren won't just sit back and let us feed her. Of course not. That would mean she would be holding still. She has to feed herself and she's actually pretty darn efficient at it!

Also, my seeds finally sprouted yesterday. I was getting a little worried about them but it looks like they're going to do just fine.

Making baby food

2010-03-20T06:21:00.000-07:00

Making baby food is really a simple task that can save you a lot of money in the long run.

A tub of baby food is about $.63/each and you go through one a day in the beginning, and 3 a day eventually. Lauren will be eating 1 a day. If you figure that I did a batch of sweet potatoes for $3.00 (lasts 2 weeks) and I would have paid about $8.75 for this in the store, I saved about $6. Once she is eating 3 times a day obviously this will save us $18 every couple of weeks... or about $40 a month!

**Side note - this is the first time I've ever boughten sweet potatoes or squash. I bought them regular price and have no idea if what I paid is a good deal for them or not.**

Another great thing about making your own baby food is that you can have a much greater variety. Think avacados, zucchini, mango, eggplant, etc.

So here we go:
Cut squash in half.

Scoop out seeds.

Handy Pampered Chef Core and More in action!

Scrub sweet potatoes, poke with fork and wrap in foil.

Stick in oven at 350. Walk away for about an hour.

Squash cut side down in with some water in the pan.

When you pull the sweet potatoes out of the oven, cut them open to cool so that you can pick them up and simply let the skins slide off. Make sure that you keep the foil under them as they are very sticky and I hear it takes a lot of work to get this off your pans.

I used an immersion blender first

and then blended to get that super thin runny consistency for baby's "1st" step foods.

Thin with water, breast milk or formula as needed.

Pour into ice cube trays.

Each cube is approximately 1 oz.

Freeze and then pop out of trays for easier storage in zip lock baggies!

I got 35 oz. from 3.5 sweet potatoes and 30 oz. from 2 butternut squash.

A great resource is WholesomeBabyFood.com.

Happy 1/2 birthday!

2010-03-18T17:41:00.000-07:00

Happy 6 month birthday to me! I just thought I would share my special day with all of you!

I slept in this morning until 7! This time change thing is still hard to get the hang of. I got up and played with daddy while we let mommy sleep in.

Me to Mommy: "You are really going to take pictures of me again?"

I thought it'd be a fun game to not look at the camera. Mommy took about 200 pictures of me today and she only got a few good ones. He he.

Playing with my dress and toes is much more fun than looking at the camera.

What are you doing back there mommy?

Oh I love my blankie.

This finger is so much fun to chew on.

Look! I'm trying so hard to crawl.

Yay! I got to go outside today! 60 degrees! I really don't know what outside is. I've been stuck in this house since I was born. I sure like it though!

Daddy even got to stay home and play with me today. He lifted me up in the air and that is alway so much fun!

Nap time!

I got to go on a nice long walk today! I visited Grandma, Grandpa and aunt Abby. I also got to see Aunt Angie, cousin Trey and Jersey!

(can you see my teeth?!)

We went to check if it really is almost spring. And it is! The iris are coming up.

Then we really got to play outside.

I thought I'd show you my teeth one more time.

AND I got to taste pineapple and applesauce today. Of course I loved them but we are still taking it slow with the foods. The Dr. recommends doing one food for a whole week before moving on to the next one since we already know I have a sensitive tummy with food intolerances. That way if something bothers me, mommy will know what it is. We are still on week one of re-introducing solids - oatmeal. Up next - Sweet potatoes again. I sure loved those last time!

I had a great day today. I sure hope my real birthday is as good as this one was!

Night night.

Unsupported sitter

2010-03-16T15:00:00.000-07:00

We officially have an unsupported sitter. I think she would have been able to do this a little while ago. I noticed her doing it in her high chair a week or so ago but just haven't set her on the floor in a sitting position for a little while. Sunday I set her down to do some practicing and what do you know? She is an old pro at this sitting thing. She will be 6 months old on Thursday.

She is getting really close to crawling also. She can pull her knees up under her and rock back and forth. Yesterday she inched her way over to a toy on the floor by doing her "push up"s and falling.

Plant watch 2010 - grow vegetables from seeds

2010-03-15T19:17:00.000-07:00

Like last year, I am growing most of the vegetables for my garden from seeds. I decided to wait one extra week before I started them because of all of the snow we received this winter. I figured it would take an extra week to dry up.

I planted my tomato and pepper plants yesterday. I use Better Boy and Roma tomatoes and bell, jalepeno and banana peppers.

I want maybe 15 plants of each kind of tomato, 3 plants of each kind of pepper. I needed to buy 2 packets of Better Boy seeds. I got 30 plantings out of those two packets. I plant each seed individually instead of a couple seeds in each spot because when you plant a few seeds in each spot you waste some because you then have to go and thin them out later. This way if the seed sprouts, I can use it. If it doesn't in that spot....oh well. I planted 30 when I want 15 because every seed will not sprout and some will probably die. If I have extras I can give them to family.

Peppers and the roma seed packets come with so many seeds in each packet. You will only need one packet unless you want a TON of peppers. Each pepper plant yields a lot of peppers so this is why you don't need so many plants.

I planted the extra seeds that come in the packets because I figured I had the seeds and am going to spend the time growing them - I might as well plant them and give them to family. Maybe some year in the near future I can start a little mini greenhouse operation. Plants have gotten so expensive to buy in stores that I'm sure I could sell quite a few!

Last year I used peat pods to start my seeds. This year I just put a layer of dirt in the bottom of my greenhouse trays, put seeds in, covered with dirt and misted with a water sprayer. I will then transplant them later into individual containers.

Push up

2010-03-10T06:15:00.000-08:00

Well sort of at least. She still hasn't figured how to roll from stomach to back. She just won't let herself do it. If she starts to go, she pulls herself back over. While on her stomach she usually gets pretty P.O.ed and this may lead to her crawling soon. So far this is what she has figured out to do:

She's going to be one strong little girl. Already getting her exercises in!

Teeth!

2010-03-08T18:14:00.000-08:00

I KNOW this is exactly what you want to see. The inside of Laurens mouth :) BUT, please direct your attention to the arrow. Lauren is now the proud owner of TWO teeth. They came in together on Saturday. I first noticed them last Monday. For once we seem to have caught a break and she wasn't super fussy or drooly.

First teeth: 5.5 months old.

Meet Jersey

2010-03-06T18:03:00.000-08:00

Even though she's already a week and a half old - meet Jersey! Laurens new side kick.

She is the daughter of Adam's sister. Girls are a very rare thing in her husbands family so we were very excited when she made her entrance into the world!

Sippy Cup

2010-02-26T12:57:00.000-08:00

I know she's too early for her sippy cup but I have been giving it to her just to hold and get used to lately.

She has also figured out how to suck water up a straw. She usually spits it right back out but it's pretty cute!

5 Months Old

2010-02-24T06:46:00.000-08:00

Lauren turned 5 months old last Thursday! Prepare yourself for a long post :)

She loves to look at herself in the mirror!

We went to the Dr. for a shot and found out she weighs in at 16 lbs and 9 oz!

At 5 months she can roll from back to front, almost sit up totally unassisted, scootch backwards on her tummy and she wants to grab anything and everything mom or dad is holding.

She has figured out how to throw a fit. If she has something she's focused on and interested in and we take it away - immediately crying. If I lay her on the floor - immediate crying - then when I say her name and snap her out of it she's fine. The other day I was walking past her and she was screeching (I don't think I've told you about that yet. It's fun for mommy.) and I continued walking and she started immediately crying then when I turned back around and walked up to her she started smiling. Stinker.

The Screech

According to the books, by five months she should be able to:

- hold head steady when upright: CHECK

- on stomach, raise chest supported by arms: CHECK

- pay attention to an object as small as a raisin: CHECK

- squeal in delight: CHECK

- smile spontaneously: CHECK

- smile back when you smile: CHECK

- grasp a rattle held to backs or tips of fingers: CHECK

- keep head level with body when pulled to sitting: CHECK

…probably be able to:

- roll over (one way): CHECK

- bear some weight on legs: CHECK

- say “ah-goo” or similar vowel-consonant combination: CHECK

- razz: CHECK
I assume this is what this means - she tries! :):

- turn in the direction of a voice: CHECK

…may possibly be able to:

- sit without support: Getting Close

…may even be able to:

- pull up to standing position from sitting: Just with our hands. She hasn't tried on to grab anything else yet

- stand holding on to someone or something: CHECK

- object if you try to take a toy away: Just starting to throw her fits.

- work to get to a toy out of reach: Just starting

- pass a cube or other object from one hand to the other: She's only done this once.

- look for dropped objects: Not really.... yet!

- rake with fingers a tiny object and pick it up in fist: Not really.... yet!

- babbles, combining vowels and consonants such as ga-ga-ga, ba-ba-ba, ma-ma-ma, da-da-da: Sometimes

She's getting to be a pretty big girl!

Confession

2010-02-19T02:56:00.000-08:00

We have lived in our house for over a year now and I have never deep cleaned our entry way.

I've never scrubbed the tiles and front door and lord knows they needed it. I really should have done that.

Because this winter has been so horrible our entry has finally gotten a makeover. The front door wasn't insulated around the frame, it wasn't set quite square and since I like lots of light we decided it was time to get a new door which spurred the mini makeover. It just needed to be freshened up.

Before: (this pic is after the new front door so it is much lighter than it used to be)

After:

New Front door: