update

Almost 17 months...yep, that's HG on the horizon. A little update is definitely in order :)


At (almost) 17 months..Hadley:
- Is almost running or hopping (she says 'hop hop' ) everywhere
- Has so much personality, she definitely knows her likes and dislikes and is not shy to tell you


- Can say; hello, bye bye, go, all of her body parts (eyes, mouth, teeth, arm..etc.)oatmeal, ball, dog, choo choo, moose (random, I know), shoes, bless you (when you sneeze), drink, snack, cheese, hat, socks, truck, yucky, ouch...ok, get the point, the girl likes to talk :) She copies any word we say..except (gram or glam..the two most important).
-The girl likes jewelry and purses. She is always wearing a bracelet or necklace. When we go shopping she is completely content if I give her a necklace off the rack to wear while we look around.


-Her favorite toys right now are; balls, spoons (she walks around stirring things), books, lotion, lip gloss (she pretends to rub it on), bob the tomato, and Josh's old cell phone. Here she is putting her gloss on;)


-She likes anything with music. If a cartoon is on, she will run from the other room to see if a song is on. Veggie Tales are still her favorite movies
-Only takes a morning nap and then goes to bed really early at 5:30. She wakes up around 6:30am.

-Her favorite foods are- oatmeal, blueberries, green beans, puffs, Greek yogurt, oatmeal pancakes. We are working on expanding that list. Baby steps:)

Her hair if finally long enough to put in pigtails. Surprisingly, she doesn't pull them out. I am excited to be able to pull it up to get through this shaggy stage, plus they look pretty darn cute.


Saying 'no'



This is one morning with her 'hat' that she found. She insisted on wearing it. Notice the necklace and bracelet;)

Big pink ball

Hadley and I go to Walmart every Monday to do our weekly shopping. We passed by these big balls today and decided we needed one...a pink one of course;)



She even wanted to hold it while she watched a movie

Tasty Tuesday: Cheddar Chicken Chowder

Ok, it is definitely soup weather and that is was I'm making/craving if you haven't noticed;). I had found this recipe a few years ago and it is still one of my favorites. Yes, it's from Cooking Light, but they did it again with this tasty soup! If you make it you will not be disappointed, unless you don't like cheese or chicken;).

Cheddar Chicken Chowder

Tip: Buy skinned, boned chicken breasts and preshredded cheese.

Yield: 7 servings (serving size: 1 1/2 cups)
Ingredients
2 bacon slices
Cooking spray
1 pound skinned, boned chicken breast, cut into bite-size pieces
1 cup chopped onion
1 cup diced red bell pepper
2 garlic cloves, minced
4 1/2 cups fat-free chicken broth
1 3/4 cups diced peeled red potatoes
2 1/4 cups frozen whole-kernel corn
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
2 cups 2% low-fat milk
3/4 cup (3 ounces) shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
Preparation
Cook bacon in a Dutch oven coated with cooking spray over medium-high heat until crisp. Remove bacon from pan. Crumble; set aside. Add chicken, onion, bell pepper, and garlic to bacon fat in pan; sauté 5 minutes. Add broth and potatoes; bring to boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 20 minutes or until potatoes are tender. Add corn; stir well.

Place flour in a bowl. Gradually add milk, stirring with a whisk until blended; add to soup. Cook over medium heat 15 minutes or until thick, stirring frequently. Stir in cheese, salt, and pepper. Top with crumbled bacon.

Nutritional Information
Calories:
306 (22% from fat)
Fat:
7.5g (sat 4g,mono 2.2g,poly 0.6g)
Protein:
25g
Carbohydrate:
33.7g
Fiber:
2.9g
Cholesterol:
58mg
Iron:
1.6mg
Sodium:
376mg
Calcium:
193mg
Cooking Light, NOVEMBER 1996


Hope you enjoy!!!!

Hadley's new ride

Our sweet friends from church gave Hg this awesome wagon and we were so excited to try it out. Saturday was the first sorta warm day we could try it out! She loved every minute of it!



While we were walking, this little girl was in her driveway with a bunny hopping around. Random, but since HG really likes bunny's and says 'hop hop' anytime she sees a picture, I asked the little girl if we could stop and say hi. She said the bunny was afraid of people so we hung back, but as you will see we still made a very good cat friend;)



The cat followed us for quite a ways until we hit a yard with dogs;)




I never knew how awesome a wagon could be...I'm so excited to use it this summer and I see many trips to the pool in it!

First snow

Hadley woke up from her nap and said 'ahhh' as she saw the snow outside. She was so excited and intrigued. Josh was going to go out and bring her some snow to touch, but instead she just went with him.

These pictures tell it all, from my point of view on the porch;)















Getting a cozy hug to warm up;).

Working with daddy

Yesterday I had been cleaning the house all day when Josh had to make a quick trip to the warehouse. We needed to get out, so Hadley and I tagged along. We had soooo much fun. It was such a simple thing, but being together is always fun!

Josh had just cleaned out the warehouse, so there was plenty of room to run. Needless to say Hadley was happy to 'go go go' as she says;)


Hopefully, I will get a non-blurry picture one of these days.





She is ALWAYS moving



Unless her daddy picks her up;). Aren't they the cutest?


Can't get enough of these two!!


These are our new shirts, so if you are needing a new one, head on over to Nrgxlabs to get yours;)

Tasty Tuesday

I made this recipe last week because I know how much Josh likes black beans and I really like cilantro. It is super easy to make, it just takes a little time to cook. I did it on the stove instead of the crockpot and it was perfect. After we ate, Josh said this is his new favorite. We ate it for lunch and for dinner we liked it so much;).

I told my mom about the recipe and she tried it last week too. She said that it had way to much lime in it for her. So, if you are not a big lime person, cut back and serve with a lime wedge.

I served with cornbread..shocker..but it's also good with crackers.

Hope you enjoy!



http://kalynskitchen.blogspot.com/2006/12/black-bean-and-rice-soup-with-lime-and.html

Movie Monday

I'm so thankful for video because it is almost impossible to get a non-blurry picture of HG....we were playing last night with the video on my phone where you can look at yourself while you film. She was confused at first and then got the idea...


We tried again this morning because I wanted her to tell me her animal noises, but her movie was way to important;)

Friday favorites

Such a cute Necklace


Look at these cute calendar pages that you can print. Just goClick hereto make your own.

Playing

Braving the cold is so worth it for the 10 min of fun;)


She had so much fun just walking in circles in the front yard and getting the ball.


Playing outside is so much for fun when you can walk;)

'gam'pa

Josh's dad lives in Alaska so he only comes to visit us once a year around Christmas. We love having him and getting to spend time together. We were so sure Hadley would be thrilled with meeting her grandpa Gerry, but after he made a grand entrance it startled her (she was expecting her daddy), so he had to work hard for her to warm up. Lo and behold she did;). The laundry basket always gets the fun going.





They were attempting the mountain of laundry;)


He brought her this sweet dress. It is what the eskimo babies wear.


Look at her smiling at him..cute;)


Hadley said 'gam'pa the second day he was here. My mom and Josh's mom were not happy considering she hasn't said gram or glam;).


Love you gam'pa...thanks for coming!!!

Tasty Tuesday

Not sure if I have mentioned how much I enjoy my Cooking Light subscription, but ever since my mom bought it for me last year and then again this year, I look forward every month to new recipes.

Last week, I was looking through the Jan/Feb issue for dinner. I wanted something quick, so I tried this one. So glad I did, because it is awesome! I did modify with rotisserie chicken and store bought salsa. Seemed faster and just as tasty, although I bet their salsa is really good too. I would highly recommend getting a smoky salsa if not making theirs.

I couldn't find a picture online, so I took this one out of the magazine to show you how yummy it is (ours was all gone before I could take a pic).


Mexican Chicken Casserole with Charred Tomato Salsa

Salsa:
8 plum tomatoes, halved and seeded
3 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
1 small onion, peeled and chopped
1 seeded jalapeno pepper, quartered
Cooking spray
1/3 C chopped fresh cilantro
3 Tbs fresh lime juice
1/8 tsp black pepper

Casserole:
1C chopped onion
1C fresh or frozen corn
1C diced zucchini
1C chopped red bell pepper
3 C shredded cooked chicken
1 Tbs minced garlic
2tsp chili powder
1 tsp ground cumin
1 (10oz) can green chili enchilada sauce
1 (4oz) can chopped green chilis
12 (6 in) corn tortillas
1 C shredded Monterey Jack
1 C crumbled feta cheese

Preheat broiler. To prepare salsa, combine first 4 ingredients on a baking sheet coated with cooking spray. Broil 20 min or until charred, stirring once. Remove from oven; cool slightly. Place tomato mixture in a food processor; add cilantro, lime juice, and pepper. Process until smooth. Set aside

Preheat oven to 350. To prepare casserole, heat a large nonstick skillet over medium high heat. Lightly coat pan with cooking spray. Add 1 C onion, corn, zucchini and bell pepper; sauté 6 minutes or until tender. Add chicken and next 5 ingredients ( through green chiles); sauté 2 minutes or until thoroughly heated. Remove from heat.

Spread 1/2 C salsa over the bottom of a 13x9 in baking dish coated with cooking spray. Arrange half of tortillas over salsa. Spoon 2C chicken mixture evenly over tortillas. Top with 3/4C salsa. Sprinkle with 1/2 C of cheese. Repeat layers, starting with remaining tortillas and ending with remaining cheeses. Bake 350 for 25 min until bubbly. Yield: 8 servings

Calories: 331. Fat 12.3.

Sorry if there are typos in this, but I had to type it out on my iPad instead of copy paste;)

Enjoy!!

Movie Monday

Christmas was so much fun this year! It was fun setting up...





..and fun watching HG discover her presents.


This blow up thing could have been the only thing she got because she had no interest in opening her other presents or her stocking. We kept trying to show her that she had more to open, but all she would say was 'ball!'.

This is when she first saw it and would not go in. She still had to warm up to that idea;) she

Then she decided to hop in...




The only picture of Josh's family I got that day, oops;).


And yes, the blow up thing has become a living room staple... totally goes with my decor... but as I've said before, it is so worth it;)