Get It Together!

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh! I have got to get it together! I am talking about my house! Ya'll it's bad! I can't seem to keep up, and when I do I can't seem to stay ahead...and I say I want another baby! ha!  My hat is off to you moms that have more than kiddo, especially my momma who had 6 of us, and our house was NEVER dirty! Come to think of it I do remember her vacuuming my room at 2am when I was a youngster.  Geez, 10:00pm rolls around I'm ready for bed!  Please mommas, tell me how you do it?!?  As soon as I get off work I am in play mode, super cookin', bath time, story time and then bed time...O then I have to clean my house...no thanks! haha!

I will say, I have a couple ideas that I am really excited about.  Thank the Lord for pinterest! I have put my own spin on some things that I just cannot wait to share with you.  I have a wonderful idea for working mommas. Ekkk I feel like I am about to burst but I'm gonna wait to share so I can take pictures and have it all together.  I have always been an organized person, always, but once sweet Carter entered my world it's a lot harder to stay on top of things.  I will be staying up tonight (with my Diet Coke) working on my new little projects (yes, it's plural) so get ready for some organizing post in the next few days!

In the mean time, I'm trying to figure out Carters' little Halloween costume.  I know this sounds a little odd but I found the cutest pattern for a stop light costume but I can't talk Matt into that one sooo...plan b.  Do ya'll have any ideas? Carter hates wearing stuff on his head so it kinda limits me.  I need help!

O one more thing before I go...I have the best recipe mommas for your little ones and yourselves.  It's white bean soup(I guess I will call it that) and it is A-H-MAZING and also vegetarian! Call me a bad blogger but I don't have a picture for this one...ekkk sorry :(  Plus it's not like my food pictures are pretty anyway haha!  I can't get Carter to eat chicken so I revamped my white bean chicken chili recipe so I hope you enjoy.

White Bean Soup
Ingredients:

*32oz of Vegetable Stock

*2 cans of northern white beans (drained and rinsed)

*1 can of white corn (or yellow) you could even use mexican corn if you want

*4oz green chilies (NOT drained)

*A couple stocks of celery (whatever your heart desires:) chopped

*Same consistency of carrots as celery. chopped

*1medium onion. diced
*1 lime

*Salt & Pepper
*1/2 tsp oregano
*1/2 tsp cumin
*1 tsp cilantro

Directions:

*Cook your onions then once cooked add your stock, white beans, corn, celery, carrots, green chilies, oregano, cumin, & cilantro

*Bring to a boil

*Once you bring to a boil add the juice from a whole lime and add S&P. I let mine boil for about 5min to make sure my carrots are cooked all the way through.

*Simmer for about 20-30min 

*ENJOY! :)

A little thing I learned off pinterest...I would make double and what you don't eat freeze in silicone muffin pans.  Once frozen store in zipploc freezer bags.  Then you have the perfect amount to feed your little kiddo for lunch or even take with you to work :)

Here's my little love helping momma in the kitchen

(please excuse the blurriness, it was taken with my phone)

Givin' Lovin'

I am having to come to terms with Carter growing up like crazy.  I really had a break down around his 1st birthday.  We took him to get his 1st hair cut and after that, O MY GOODNESS, he looked so much like a toddler instead of a baby and it just broke my heart.  Once I (kinda) got use to the new hair cut I tried to embrace the fact the my baby is turning into a toddler.  Yes, bitter sweet for sure!  My growing baby boy feeds himself, walking, and trying to talk.  I LOVE to hearing him trying to talk, it's hilarious!  When he says momma momma momma it for real makes my heart smile.  His little jumbled up words, that reads like this hnlkj sdflj;sd jskfs;djfe hsjhf, gives him such a personality already! He has so much to say!

Even tho my baby isn't a infant baby anymore I still find my self holding him like I just brought him home or grabbing a bottle every once in awhile to feed him milk before he goes to bed. (Hey no judging, it's not like he has a bottle all day everyday. You know I'm not the only one).  Even tho I have a hard time with all this growing up stuff I find myself loving it more and more everyday.  Like when I say smooches he gives you kisses with his mouth wide open, or when I say Eh, Eh, No, No he looks at me like I just crushed his dream (then it's already followed by his head in between his hands on the floor crying).  But my favorite, my all time favorite is give momma lovin' and he lays his little head on my shoulder or puts his head to my head, places his hand on my back, and has the biggest smile on his face.  That right there is why I get up in the morning.  The love of a child is pure, innocent and selfless.  He has no worry about the world, finances, or hate, he loves all, just like God loves all.  I know for a fact that as he keeps growing I will continue to make mistakes, and more of them, but what I hope he knows is that I will always love him.  My momma always told me, "you won't understand how much I love you until you have a child of your own." She is 100% correct.    

My Precious Carter Love...Will Always Be My Baby

Givin' Momma Smooches :)

Speechless

I wish I could explain how amazing it is to be a momma, but honestly I'm just speechless! And sometimes you don't need a story...

Those Eyes

He Wouldn't Take His Hand Out...

Cuddlin' With Momma & Puffs

Aunt Cassi & Carter Got Ahold Of Mommas' Camera

Mommas' Little Helper

My New Passion

I lovvvvvve cooking! I'm a little shocked in myself that I am shouting that.  I have to say I have never really been a big cook.  Not because I didn't know how but more because I was kinda afraid.  Normally when you cook you are cooking for other people.  I was so scared that my food would be gross and nobody would want to eat it and then I would be known as the girl that can't cook.  Then I was afraid that everybody would always think..."poor Matt, I bet they are always having to eat frozen food" haha! Can you tell I have put a lot of time into what everybody would think about my cooking haha!

 My new passion came when I had Carter.  I had my mind made up that Matt and I were in control of what goes into his precious little body and I wanted to teach him healthy eating from the beginning.  But wait, that meant I need to start eating healthy.  I didn't want us to be the family where I made Matt and I one thing for dinner then Carter something totally different because it was more healthy.  What would that teach him? That def wouldn't teach him healthy eating.  So I really needed to change this.  I had to get over my fear of my cooking being gross. It all started with me making Carters baby food.  That became my new found hobby! Once Carter got a little older that's when it really kicked in.  I started making food that we could all eat.  Trust me, I havn't bought frozen chicken nuggets in a really really long time.  He is becoming a little more picky but I refuse to give in and feed him junk food everyday.  I thought because I have 2 full time jobs (yes, mommy and at a real estate office) I would never find the time to make him wonderful food to eat.  I was going to prove myself wrong...and I did! :)  I want to share with you how easy making baby food is.  I know I have shared my info in the past so please check it out because I give some great websites to check out but I will show you how I made applesauce that even I can't get enough of.  This is how easy...

5Apples

Slice them and put on the stove with just enough water to barely cover them

3 strips of lemon peel

Sprinkle a little cinnamon or you can even use cinnamon sticks

Once you are done boiling (long enough to poke a fork through) remove lemon peel and cinnamon sticks

Put apples in a food processor and add a little water and then blend to your desire.

And...YOU'RE DONE

How easy is this!?!

How about some more goodies...

Spinach Lasagna Rolls

9 Lasagna Noodles

10oz of Spinach...Drain GOOD after cooking

15oz of fat free Ricotta Cheese

1/2 cup of grated Parmesan Cheese

1egg

1/2 tsp of Minced Garlic

1/2 tsp of Italian Seasoning

salt and pepper to taste

32 oz of Tomato Sauce or Spaghetti Sauce

Shredded Mozzarella Cheese

Preheat oven at 350

Combine spinach, ricotta, parmesan cheese, egg, garlic, Italian seasoning, salt and pepper.

Pour 1 cup (I did a little more) on the bottom of a 9x13 baking dish

Place wax paper or a cutting board on counter and lay out lasagna noodles. Make sure your noodles are dry

Place 1/3 cup of spinach mixture on the middle of the noodle (I did a little more :)

Roll up and place the seam side onto the baking dish.

Once you get your rolls done poor as much tomato sauce and mozzarella cheese as desired on top of your rolls.  Cover baking dish tightly with aluminum foil and bake for 40min. 

I know I don't have the best pictures.  Keep in mind I am NOT a photographer :)

Twice Baked Potato Casserole

5lbs of Potatoes

10 pieces of Bacon

8oz of Cream Cream

Just a little bit of Butter (sometimes I don't measure)

1cup of Sour Cream

.25 cup of Chives, minced

2 1/2 cups of Shredded Cheddar Cheese

Salt and Pepper to taste

Preheat oven at 350

Peel and cut potatoes and boil.  Cook until tender.  Normally for about 20min. 

While those are cooking cook your 10 slices of bacon.  After cooking bacon crumble into piece.

Using a mixture starting mashing your potatoes.  I wanted mine to be a little chunky because it is a casserole.

After mixing for a minute start adding cream cheese, butter, and sour cream and mix until you have your desired consistency. 

Then add chives, 2 cups of cheddar cheese, half the bacon, salt and pepper.

Stir until well combined

Cook in a buttered 3 quart baking dish.  Top with remaining cheddar cheese.

Bake until top is golden and potatoes are heated through. About 30 minutes. 

After cooking add the rest of your bacon.

This is it before it went in the oven.  I'm a bad blogger...I didn't get a picture before we all dug into it!

I hope you enjoy these delicious treats, I know I did and so did my guys!  I got all the wonderful recipes from pinterest.  Let me know how yours turned out. Happy Cooking! 

Every Second Counts

Well, I'm sure you have noticed a few changes here at my good ole blog! Yes, I went through a couple name changes and designs. I hope you like!
Now to get to the good stuff.  It's no surprise that I work two full time jobs, mommy and at a real estate office.  That was my whole reason on starting my little blog, and to clear the air on a few misconception on working mommas, but anyway.  Even tho mornings come early, and I mean early, it is still my favorite part of the day.  I don't go to bed till late because after my Carter love hits the sack I stay up and clean, get my things done, and get his stuff ready for the next day.  I get up before him and try to pull myself together quickly because I know the only time I get with him is when he wakes up and when I get off work.  Even tho mornings are busy, I don't just sit Carter in front of the tv so I can get ready.  He loves the bathroom, so I take advantage of that! It's also play time with me and him, even tho I'm putting my make up on.  We play lots of peek-a-boo in the mirror and he likes to hand me all of my brushes, clips, and headbands.  I turn the bathtub water on and he loves to play with the running water.  We sing lots of songs and have quite time rocking.  It's important that I take advantage of these few moments I get here and there because even tho he is little every second counts.  This morning, I didn't have a lot of time to take a whole lot of pictures but I took a few and I'm sorry because a couple of them are a tad blurry...I hope your morning are just as fun! What are some fun things you do? Maybe Carter would like them too :)

 He loves handing me everything

Bathtub toys are also great because he doesn't play with them through the day so they are almost like new when he sees them in the morning. 

He knows he's funny!

He loves playing with water

A Laughing Matter

Hahahahahah! O the thought of me plus a day to go shopping, pre bundle of joy, makes me chuckle.  Only because I completely forgot what that is like! Trust me, I'm not complaining because I would much rather be crawling around on the floor all day but I actually have the chance to go shopping this weekend and I feel like it's a REALLY BIG DEAL! Before I wouldn't have thought anything about it but now I'm thinking about what to wear when I go haha!  If you knew me pre baby, you are probably getting a nice laugh. I was (still am) always talking about clothes, make up, how much I Love shoes and anything that sparkles.  The only thing I would ever read was Vogue and Cosmo and now when I get the chance it's Pottery Barn Kids.  It's funny how your priorities change.  My true love is spending time with my family.  Call me lame, but I never want to do anything else.  I hear all the time, "it's important you take time for yourself" and they are right but "myself" time is always being spent with my cute little family, and that's the way I want it.  I guess it's different because I have to work but I truly think either way I would still want my "me time" spent with my adorable little family...
Now back to this shopping thing! Yes, it's only Wednesday and I'm already thinking about what to buy! Sad isn't it?!? I can see it now...ruffles, stripes, a new skinny belt! I can't wait to get in that store and go a little crazy! Carter will be with me and that's okay he can give me his opinion.  I just pray I don't walk out of the stores (like how I made that plural?) with another pair of shoes or boots now that it's about to be fall.  I was talking to my best friend the other day and she made the best statement ever.  She explained to me why she always buys shoes and this goes for me too, "shoes look great no matter what ya look like"! O my isn't that the truth. 
I'm so happy bold colors are in for the season.  Of course you can never go wrong with black but I can't wait to walk out of the stores with a few of these...

          #1 Gotta Have...Red Jeans!

Need a new white ruffle shirt for work...and I want one like this

Colored tights can change a outfit sooo much and they are so cheap!

Really want & need a jacket like this...should've had this a long time ago

Ok, I know I said no shoes but I really do need a new pair of boots...I'm over my Peter Pan boots, and yes I will take these Tory Burch :)

A vest like this would be A-H-MAZING...adds great texture.

And sure I will buy a pair of these Saturday...pocket change! O Christian Louboutin, one day I will have you :)

Birthday Extravaganza

MY BABY IS ONE!!!  I have been gone for little over a week because I was planning what felt like a tiny wedding, aka Carters' 1st Birthday Party...which I might add was a HUGE success!  It went wonderful! We had about 35 of our closest family and friends come out to celebrate with us.  What a beautiful day it was.  Carter showed up to the party happy as can be and stayed happy, which I was really nervous about because you never know.  It helps that I have a child that is overly happy most of the time.  I am so thankful to be blessed with such an amazing little boy.  The joy he has brought Matt and I this past year has our hearts over flowing with happiness.  I could never imagine my life without my two boys.  Till this day I still can't believe he's mine.  I get to see his glowing smile everyday.  I get to hear his laugh everyday, and I get to cuddle with him every night.  The Lord has blessed me with the most wonderful child! 
His birthday was on a Thursday and we had is party on Saturday.  Thursday was filled with lots of fun things to do.  (Those pictures are soon to come).  We woke up and Matt fixed Carter some blueberry pancakes (blueberries are Carters' favorite) and then we took him to get his first hair cut because he had a MAJOR rats tail and his hair was in his poor little eyes.  Carter then took a wonderful 3hr. nap and when he woke up we took him to the zoo! Which he LOVED the underwater part with all the fish, snakes, and frogs.  He Is Alllll Boy!  Later that night we met up with both familes and had a wonderful dinner and Carter was acting sooo silly at dinner and had all of us laughing so hard!   
Saturday quickly approached where his birthday party consisted of smiles smiles and more smiles.  I hope he looks back at all the pictures when hes older and sees all happiness that went on that day (and the hard work).  The theme for his party was "Cute As A Button" so everything was button themed.  I have a few pictures to describe the day...

The tables turned out much better than what I could have imagined.  This table was lined with different styles of blue ribbon decorated with his name spelled out with buttons.We also had wooden spools with buttons that served as picture holders. :) Super Fun!

These are so super easy and fun! All you need is a flower pot, styrofoam ball, and the type of suckers you wanna use...yep, it's that easy! And kids LOVED them!

These turned out soooo cute!  All you need is wire, buttons, and a little extra time. Put the wire through one side of the button and then out the other.  I just placed them in a vase of dum-dum pops and it was the center piece for the food table

Frog Cookies! Oreos, Pretzels, Icing, and M&Ms, use the icing as glue and WALLA!

Button Cookies! Couldn't have been easier...We chose sugar cookie cookie dough, bake them and use a straw to make the button holes. I had made some really cute button suckers but I missed a picture of those...o well!

We had some fun things for the kids to do and one was a bounce house, and Carter LOVED it!

OOOO the Cake! Boy did he love that...I think that was his favorite part of the party! Some nice info I would like to share if that's okay...his diaper, when he woke up the next morning (at 10:30, that was so nice) was as BLUE as his cake!!! It gave me a good laugh.

This is his little plate Matt & I got him for his 1st birthday.  He can eat his cake off of it every year. :) I thought it would be a cute little keepsake...

 I won't lie, present time was a little akward but we made it through it.  Carter had a little interest at first but lost it real quick haha! He loved playing with the tissue paper and ribbon. We are beyond thankful for all the wonderful things Carter got. 

 Of course we had to attempt one year old pictures the weekend before his party here are a few pictures from that...Enjoy!

I wanna give a HUGE HUGE HUGE thanks to my FABULOUS seester-in-law Kt-boo for taking all of these wonderful pictures! She really came to my rescue on the day of the party and helped me out with all the photography! Thanks Yo Homeeeee :) Loves you!

Simply Momma

Description: It was 3:19am (yes in the morning) and I hear this big cry coming from the next room.  I lay there praying harder than I have ever prayed, "Lord please just let him fall asleep". Then I realized, He is somewhat answering my prayer from last night, ("Lord please allow me to have more time will my sweet Carter Love...PLEASE"). God does have a sense of humor you know...So I get up and stumble into his room and I see his little hiney stuck up in the air and his face burried into his blanket, and I thought for a second, maybe he will go back to sleep, wrong...again! I picked him up and instantly he stops the tears. We started rocking back and forth and by this point he becomes calm as can be and I can't help but wonder did he have a bad dream, do I need to take his temperature, does he not feel well and then I thought maybe he simply just wanted momma.  My heart begin to get all warm and I think "I could sit here all night", and we did.
At one point he pats my back and strokes my hair and plays with my ratty ol t-shirt and right then and there I begin to truly understand the love of the Lord.  I grew up in a christian home so I was always surrounded my "God is love" and "Jesus loves me" but as I'm rocking back and forth it clicks...The love of the Lord goes much deeper than the love I have for Carter and that is almost unthinkable.  I truly understand unconditional love.  My biggest prayer for Carter is he will truly experience Gods' love and salvation.    
He then begins to lift his head and stares at me for abour five seconds and then he laid his tiny little head back down (that's where he starts to stroke my hair) and he does this about five times.  All I can think about is how he simply just wanted momma.  While he starts to doze off the thoughts starting flowing, I wonder what kind of friend he will be.  He better be a hard worker.  I wonder if he will be a preacher or a tattoo artist.  I wonder if he will be scared on his first day of school or score the winning touchdown at his last game as a senior.  That was our quite time, bonding time, perfect time. The time were I truly understood Gods' Love.    

My Thoughts Keep Going & Going & Going

My Carter Love went to bed pretty early tonight.  Sad, because again, I only got 2.5 hours with my little love, but it did give me a chance to sit down and prop up my feet, (def needed that after the heels I wore to work today ha!), and let my mind start wondering.  I started thinking, my goodness how much Carter has grown just this weekend, and how we are planning his 1st birthday.  Also, I recently found myself having to defend myself as a working mom and how much that lowered myself confidence and sucked out alot of my energy.
I find myself having to defend myself alot.  The only thing worse than not getting to stay home with my little Carter is explaining myself to a stay at home mom (or anyone) and why I have to work.  I mean it already hurts enough.  Having to explain why I'm a working mom is like shooting myself in the foot! I'm curious on why a dividing line has been created between working moms and stay at home moms.  I think what I despise the most is when one thinks that their "job" is greater or harder than the other.  I feel as if both are equal.  It frustrates me so much!
On a much lighter note...We are planning Carters' 1st birthday! ahh! I hope it's going to be cute.  There really isn't a theme, but we have some good ideas so I can't wait to let you know how it goes.  I'm a little worried about his nap.  I thought I was planning his party at a great time and then he started this 2 naps a day thing again and of course he is making his 2nd nap right at the same time as his party...ahhh! I'm just in awe that he is growing up so fast.
Thinking back on this weekend, I feel like he grew up so much.  He ate off of a big boy plate and didn't try to throw it across the room.  He is drinking out of real sippy cups and he isn't dependent on formula anymore.  He eats big boy meals: breakfest, lunch, and dinner and snacks in between.  Which now that he eats regular meals it has made me want to cook much more healthy.  Remember, I'm going to be one of those health nut moms haha! I have so much fun cooking and I would love to be the next Paula Dean (but of course I wouldn't use as much butter, but that's another post in it's self).  Carter also had a lot of fun this weekend poking a whole in his bag of Cheerios and spilling them all over the floor! haha! I love making messes with him and playing with toys...I just know we will always have fun playing together :)  Looking forward to Friday because that means the weekend with my boys :)

 I know he needs a hair cut, I just don't wanna lol!

 His little mess of Cheerios :) I helped him...

 His Big Boy Lunch...

 Where's Carter...

...There he is!