Busy Week and 4-month appointment

Yesterday Gus had his 4 month appointment. His appointment was at 8:30 in Amarillo, so I had to get up around 6 to get there on time, which is a lot earlier than I usually get up! We were the first appointment of the day so we finished very quickly. Gus weighed 18 lbs. 2 oz (90th%) and was 25 in. (50%). I knew he was a big boy! He did really well with his shots, and only cried a little bit. He even gave the lady who gave him the shots a smile afterwards. He was so cute when the doctor walked in the room, he gave her a big smile. We got the ok to start cereal right now! We gave him a little last night, and he liked it! I will try to get some pictures of him eating soon. Our doctor wanted us to wait until he is 5 months to start food, which is only about 2 weeks away. Here is Gus all ready to leave the house

After his appointment we went to Target and then to see my grandparents. Gus is so social. He will let anyone hold him.

His PawPaw Forbus can always make him smile and laugh.


We had to go to the pet store for some dog food while we were in town. I saw this girl walking in with her Yorkie, big handbag, and a drink from my favorite place. In my head I thought, that was me two years ago! My how things can change quickly, but I would go back for anything!

On Tuesday night I made a new recipe- Meatball sandwiches. It was very easy and they tasted very good! I found the recipe on All Recipes (well actually Josh found it and asked me to make it). I am not a huge meatball fan myself, but I enjoyed them too. Gus was a little helper in the kitchen.

It was a year ago today I found out Gus was on his way. I woke up really early that day and took the test. I was so excited, I couldn't fall back to sleep. I didn't want to wake up Josh because he was working that day. So I waited a couple of hours and then woke him up and told him. We were both just so excited. Our lives changed that day.

This weekend we are going to Taos, New Mexico. My parents are renting a house there for vacation so we are going to stay with them for a few days. I am excited to get away for a little while and to enjoy some cooler weather. Today I will be busy cleaning, washing clothes, and getting ready for us to go!

Love

I am going to make this a really short post today. I worked this morning while Josh stayed home with Gus. I must confess this afternoon I feel really tired! Gus has been kinda fussy and is now down for a nap. Sometimes when he naps for a long time, I find myself missing him :) Does anyone else do that? Today I was noticing how I know and love all his smells, the smell of his breath, and even don't always mind his diapers because they smell like him. I am trying so hard to soak up each stage of his growing, but it happens so fast. I struggle not to cry on a daily basis when I think about how much I love this precious gift I have been given. I think these last few months have been some of the most emotional of my life. How can I bottle up this time so I can remember each beautiful time I get to hear my baby boy try to talk or each beautiful smile? Being a mother has given me such a more vivid idea of God's love for us. Everyday I am more thankful than the day before to be able to spend my days with Gus. Ok, enough of the sappy stuff :) Tomorrow is Gus' 4 month appointment and I can't wait to find out how much he has grown! Love and cherish your family today!!

Inheritance and Growing

As I wrote a few months ago, my grandfather (my dad's dad) passed away in May. My grandmother passed away back in 2004. She left a set of china dishes to me, since I was the first born grandchild (and a girl). My mom packed these and brought them to me last week. I have always thought these dishes were beautiful. My grandmother was a very elegant lady. I love having these as a reminder of her. I look forward to using them too!


The china on the top shelf is what I registered for when I got married. The second shelf is my grandmother's.

There are eight full sets. There are dinner and salad plates, teacups and saucers, bowls with saucers, demitasse cups and saucers (which are little teacups), a teapot, two sugar bowls, a creamer, platter, bowl, and candy stand! Here are pictures of a few of the things close up. I love all the colors.





I feel so special to have these dishes and look forward to using them in our home for years to come. I believe if you do not use china, what good is it?? We use our china for holidays and when we have family visit.

My grandmother collected roosters. I always looked at them when I went to visit her. We gave her a very small one as a gift one year. I have it sitting with my china, as a reminder of my grandmother.


Gus seems to be growing and learning so much every day!!! This weekend he reached for my Sonic cup and opened his mouth!! He likes to suck on my face sometimes too. Sometimes he sits in my lap while we eat dinner, and now he is longing looking at the food thinking that he wants some. We let him taste some refried beans and he really liked them! He did really well and did not spit them out. So, I think we are ready to try food very soon! We have his 4 month appointment finally this Wednesday and I will talk to the doctor about starting foods. He has grown out of so many clothes. I took a picture of him this morning because he has pretty much outgrown this outfit, but it was one of my favorites.

Gus looks like.....

From the moment Gus was born, I thought he looked like his Daddy. As he has grown older, I look at him sometimes and think he might look like me. So over this last weekend I finally got out some baby picture of me. WHOA!!!!! Gus looks like me when I was a baby. See what you think???

This is me:

This is Gus:

These next few are of me....
I am still amazed when I look at these and see how much we look alike. I know the older he gets the less he will look like me. He already is looking different, but it is fun to know your baby looks like you.

This last week has been a big week of firsts for Gus!! He sat up on his own for several seconds! He is getting better and better everyday. He also found his feet and grabs them a lot.

His words have changed a little lately. He now says "ahhh-gooo" more than anything. It is very cute and I will try to get a video of it soon. He is taking all his naps in his bedroom in his crib. He laughs sometimes which is fun. He loves my dad. My dad has a goatee, and Gus likes to grab it. I think right now he makes him laugh more than anyone.

Hope everyone has a great weekend!!!

Dedication to the Lord and Friendship

My parents have been visiting all week so I have gotten behind on my posting, so I will be catching up over the next several days!

Last Sunday at church we had a dedication for Gus. I had seen this done at other churches and wanted to do it for Gus. Although we go to a Methodist church, we did not baptize Gus. The dedication was a time for us as parents to say we were determined to raise Gus in a Christian home and teach him so one day he can come to know the Lord for himself. It also was an opportunity for the church to say they would help us in this endeavor. Our pastor did an amazing job. At some services I have been to they just read a couple of scriptures and that is all. Our pastor spent about 5 minutes talking about it. It was very special. It reminded me of the HUGE responsibility we have in raising Gus. We are so blessed to have him in our life, and I pray everyday that we do it in a way that is pleasing to God.

It was also a blessing to have my parents and grandparents with us. They all serve as wonderful role models for Gus as people who love the Lord.

It was pretty dark in the church so this picture did not turn out too well, but I thought I would put it up anyway. Another thing our pastor did was he held Gus and walked around the church so everyone could see him really well. We attend a very small church, and everyone loves to see Gus. Their kindness to us is overwhelming.

This week also included a visit with an old friend! Ande and I have been friends probably since we were about 10 years old. We both homeschooled at that time and would see each other once a month at homeschool skating or bowling parties. We also wrote letters to each other- this was before the days of email..... :) We both ended up going to the same college our freshman year- Oklahoma Baptist University. We connected again after college on facebook. We then ended up getting married a week apart and having our babies 3 weeks apart. It was so much fun to catch up and find out how similar our stories were. I love to read her blog. She is one of the sweetest people I know and is a wonderful mommy to her beautiful little girl Naomi. Gus enjoyed getting to meet someone his size.
My mom was still visiting so she went with us and took all these pictures.

New Recipe

Last night our pastor and his wife and grandson came over for dinner. I had to come up with something gluten free, so I decided to make some tacos I had seen on tv.
http://www.cookingchanneltv.com/recipes/kelsey-nixon/shredded-pork-and-pineapple-tacos-recipe/index.html
I am sorry I don't have any pictures, but we were busy getting ready for company!
I did not make any of the toppings in the recipe but just cooked the pork. It was amazing! I put it in the crock pot at around 8:30 in the morning and took it out around 5:30. I could barely get the meat out because it was so tender it just fell apart. It tasted delicious! I made homemade pico de gallo, cheese dip, refried beans, guacamole, and then cheese and sour cream. I also had corn and flour tortillas since the corn ones are gluten free. Making a gluten free meal scared me at first but it was actually fairly easy with this meal. For dessert I made panna cotta.
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/giada-de-laurentiis/panna-cotta-with-fresh-berries-recipe/index.html

This is actually very easy to make. I also often half the recipe if it is just for me and Josh. It takes about 10-15 minutes and then you just put it in the fridge. This time I tried making them in cupcake holders, but they wouldn't come out of the paper like I wanted. I put blueberries and raspberries on it. If we don't have fruit, I will just sprinkle some cinnamon on top. It tastes like a custard. I also add a little vanilla for extra flavor. The pork recipe tasted so wonderful and would be an easy meal for a mom. And the dessert is very easy too! Happy Cooking :)

Sweet Sleep

One thing Gus has really enjoyed is his swing. Every morning he usually eats between 5-6, and afterwards I put him in his swing and he sleeps until 8 or 9. I picked this swing because of the lights and mobile that turns. He loves to look at the lights and little bear. Sometimes during the day I also put him in his swing if he is just unhappy, and he enjoys it. Gus has slept about 6 hrs straight every night for about 5 days. He is finally starting to sleep longer which is really nice for me!

4 Months!

It is hard to believe our little Gus is 4 months old!! We already are surprised when we look back at picture of him when we brought him home of how much he has changed and grown. I was looking at one of my baby pictures today, and I think he is starting to look a little like me.

Growing: Gus has not had his 4 month appointment yet, but I weighed him last week, and he weighed 17 lbs!!! We knew he was a big boy and this confirmed it. He wears size 3 diapers and is even starting to grow out of some of his 6 month clothes

Eating: Gus still eats every 3 hours unless he is asleep or distracted. We have his 4 month appointment in about 2 weeks, and we are going to talk to the doctor about starting some food then. I have stopped nursing Gus so he is on full formula now.

Sleeping: Gus slept for 9 hours this last Saturday night, but that is the first time he has done that! He still wakes up to eat several times. I am hoping that with the formula and maybe cereal soon, he will think about sleeping more at night. But now I am so used to him waking up I will probably wake up even if he doesn't! He naps several times a day. Normally he gets fussy after he has been up for about 1 1/2 hours and needs a little rest, but again it just depends on the day. I think he has been growing or teething and so everything has been a bit off the normal schedule.

Playing: We got him a new toy, but he is not too sure about it yet. His feet don't touch the ground, so I think he will enjoy it more when they do. He likes to lie on his mat. He loves to have us talk to him. He is starting to reach for the dogs. Sorry this picture is a bit blurry.
He has rolled over from his belly to back 3 times. He is still getting used to being on his tummy. He thinks he would rather just walk first. Today he started taking steps like he was walking.
He still loves to talk, but his new thing is screaming! Sometimes it is just for fun but he also does it when he is mad.

Sometimes I get worn out caring for this little guy, but with one smile he can make my day! It is the most amazing thing to watch him learn and grow. I have the best job in the world!!!

Recent Cooking

We have been really busy over the last two weeks with work and having company, so I have not spent a whole lot of time in the kitchen. But I did have a couple of things to share.

A couple of weeks ago we made shrimp po' boy sandwiches. They are really easy to make and taste great. I used frozen shrimp, thawed it by running it under cold water. Then dip the shrimp in an egg (beaten) and then dip in a mixture of corn meal, flour and seasoning (we used cajun seasoning). Fry it in a oil on the stove (enough oil to a little more than cover the bottom of the pan). For the bread we used hoagies from the store. Place some lettuce on one side and tarter sauce on the other. And that is it! A tasty and easy dinner.



The next item is sangria wine. Now if you do not drink alcohol, just ignore the rest of this post! I tasted this a few years ago, and then I started making it at home. You really can make it any way you like. I usually use the cheapest bottle of red wine I can find because it does not really matter.

First, cut up a bunch of different fruit and place them in a pitcher. I always use limes. This time I used limes, lemons, oranges, strawberries and blueberries. I have also put apples in it before.
Then pour the wine over the fruit and then add orange juice. You can add as much or as little orange juice as you want- depending on how strong you want the wine taste to be. If you want it really sweet you can also add some sugar although I usually don't. Cover the pitcher with plastic and chill in the frig. The longer it chills the better it tastes, so 6 hours is a good time to try for. You can serve this over ice or just by itself. Don't forget to eat some of the fruit, because it will have a wonderful flavor.

These are just a couple of things I am enjoying this summer. I hope everyone has a great weekend!

Birthday Weekend

This weekend we celebrated my birthday and the birthday of our country! Josh made my birthday very special. One of the other pharmacists offered to work the afternoon so Josh got off at 2. He showed up at the front door with these:

The flowers were all purple- my favorite color. The cake was chocolate ganache and delicious!!! We went to lunch at the new restaurant in town and then spent the rest of the afternoon getting ready for my parents to come.


My mom and dad brought me these balloons. I had a great day!


We did not do too much over the weekend, just relaxed. My Dad left on Monday, but my Mom stayed until Wednesday so I could work on Tuesday and half a day Wednesday. I was so thankful she could stay and take care of Gus!

Gus had a fun time with his MiMi.

The dogs enjoyed having my parents' dogs visit. Doodle (black labradoodle) has lots of energy and likes to play in our backyard.
We put some new pots in the backyard for flowers. Josh loves to work in the yard. Someday Gus can help him :)

Breakfast Muffins

So I was inspired by Kelly's Korner blog to share a breakfast recipe that I love. A few posts back I wrote about storing blueberries that I buy in season. Here is one of my favorite muffin recipes that I use the blueberries for.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/sunny-morning-muffins-recipe

I have made these Sunday Morning Muffins many times, and they are delicious! If I don't have strawberries I just make them with only blueberries. It is also a good recipe if you have bananas that are about to go bad. (if you have blueberries in the freezer you can always just pull them out at any time!) Since blueberries and strawberries are in season right now, I thought this would be something good to share! Enjoy :)