One trick baby

Jackson's latest (and only trick so far) is that he dances when we sing. It's the cutest thing ever. He's definitely our kid!

Sew Kind of Wonderful

My friend Jenny is doing her first giveaway on her blog, Sew Kind of Wonderful (http://sewkindofwonderful.blogspot.com/). Isn't this square adorable? Go to her blog to find out how to win it!

Best. Salsa. Ever.

Today has been such a busy day, and I didn't even leave the house! Between cleaning, laundry, work, and Jackson, I kept myself pretty darn busy. Did I mention that our basement and garage flooded a couple week ago?!?! Not only did we have to rip out the carpet and spend hours and hours cleaning up (mostly Brett), we also had to bring most of the stuff from downstairs to the main level. As of today, we finally have all the stuff back downstairs and everything cleaned up on the main level. (The garage and basement are another story!)

In the midst of my busy day, I did have time to make some amazing salsa as part of our dinner. I fell in love with the salsa at my sister's New Year's party. I think it might by my favorite salsa ever!

Recipe:


Mix the following ingredients and let cool in the fridge for 1/2 hour before serving.

• 1 package Zesty Italian Dressing Mix
• 1/4 cup white vinegar
• 1/4 - 1/2 bunch of cilantro
• 4-6 green onions
• 1 can black-eyed peas
• 3 large diced tomatoes
• 2-3 diced avocados
• 1/2 bag frozen white corn
• Salt, garlic salt, and pepper to taste

Crochet Headband

It's no secret that I've been all about crocheting lately. After being inspired by a crochet head wrap from Anthropologie (which cost around $35) I decided to make this one for myself. I quite like how it turned out. I found the pattern for the headband online, and kind of improvised for the flower. Next time I'm going the actual headband part more like the one below. That way it can me more of an accessory and less for use in cold weather.

(Don't mind the super cheesy pictures of myself above. I felt like a 15-year-old taking a Myspace profile picture!)

Chicken Alfredo Pizza, Ashley style

Have you ever had the delicious chicken alfredo pizza from the Olive Garden? It's good, right? I bet you didn't think it could get better, but oh, it can. Our friends made us some chicken alfredo pizza tonight that was even better. Seriously, so good. The sauce and seasoning were amazing, thanks to Ashley, and the dough for the crust was from Winco of all places. Just another reason for me to love Winco. I didn't get a picture of the actual pizza, but it looked a lot like this. I see some pizza making in my future.

Here's the recipe: (I didn't write it down, so I hope this is right.)

• Cook the chicken in oil and garlic powder.
• To make the sauce, heat 1 stick of butter, one cup of heavy whipping cream, 1 cup of parmesan cheese, and some ground red pepper.
• Roll out the pizza dough in a little bit of flour and cover with the sauce, chicken, mozzarella cheese, sliced green onions, ground red pepper, and garlic powder.
• Cook according to the instructions on the dough package (I assume). Enjoy!

And here are our handsome boys playing together...

(Jackson and Pierce are only 5 weeks apart.)

The boys are wearing the shirts we made them, but I'll tell you all about our shirt-making binge in another post. Good night!

Bed Head

Check out this bed head. He doesn't have a lot of hair, but the hair he does have gets a little crazy sometimes. I love it. And sometimes, if we're not going anywhere, I just leave it like that. :)

Tie Shirt

I used some scraps from my quilting fabric to make Jackson this cute little tie shirt. It's super easy (and quick) to make and I love the way it looks.

If you're interested in making one, here's the how-to:

Supplies: Wonder Under (or other fabric adhesive), fabric for the tie, a t-shirt or onesie, and some thread.

How-to:

(1) Print and cut out the tie pattern found here (or draw up your own).

(2) Iron the Wonder Under to the back of the fabric you want to use for the tie.

(3) Trace the tie pattern onto the Wonder Under and cut it out.

(4) Iron the tie onto the shirt.

(5) Stitch around it the outside of the tie.

I have so many more ideas of appliqued shirts I want to make (like the guitar found here), but I'm not talented enough yet to stitch around all those curves. I think I'll stick to straight lines for now!

Girls' Night Out

I went out with some of my girlfriends tonight to celebrate one of their birthdays. Dinner was crashed by Jackson (since Brett wasn't home from work yet), but he was mesmerized by the fire and knife throwing at the Japanese place where we ate. And I was mesmerized by the fried rice. Yum!

After dinner we went to see Red Riding Hood. I wasn't super excited about seeing it because, honestly, it looked a little strange, dark, etc. However, I was pleasantly surprised that I actually enjoyed it (a lot). It was a little dark, but very suspenseful, mysterious, and fun at the same time. Maybe a little corny and Twilight-esque, but still good.

Here's a picture of Jack Jack. Just because.

Have a great night!

First post on the new blog

I've been talking about moving to a non-private blog for a while and I finally have it all set up. Woo hoo! Now I just need to get the few followers I had to follow me over here. :) I imported some of my posts from my private blog so this one isn't quite so bare.


I always think of a million things to blog about, but they all escape my mind as soon as I actually sit down to write. Ooops. More to come later.

9 Month Update (and picture overload)

Jackson is 9 months old today. Can you believe it? I can't. He's growing up way too fast. So, here's what he's been up to in the past month:

• Babbling a lot, only now he says ma ma and mom. I'm pretty positive he knows that means me because he says it when I enter or leave a room. Mostly when I leave the room. :) He's also added wa wa to his vocabulary, but as far as I can tell that doesn't mean anything to him yet. Brett is still (not so) patiently waiting for him to say da da.
• He now dances (most of the time) when we start singing and/or clapping. It is the cutest thing ever! He gets his whole body into it. I'll have to post a video of it soon.
• He's comfortably wearing 12 months clothes, and wearing 18 month clothes a little big.
• He's still loving everything we feed him, which is mostly fruits and vegetables. I'm hoping that lasts.
• He occasionally sleeps the whole night through. Last week he slept 12 hours straight for three nights in a row. Too bad he didn't keep that up!
• He loves seeing Brett and me. After not seeing him for a couple of hours today during church, he squealed when he saw me. He gets ecstatic when he sees Brett after work. I'm sure he would be singing, "I'm So Glad When Daddy Gets Home" if he could.
• He LOVES music. He'll start fussing as soon as we stop singing to him.
• He's pretty close to crawling, but no there quite yet. He's always getting up on all fours and he's constantly scooting himself backwards and in circles.
• He still loves to be held, but isn't cuddly. Although, he did fall asleep in my arms last night after drinking a bottle. I was in heaven.
• He wore his first real tie to church yesterday. Brett said he was dressed "baby professional."

Progress

Here is part of my quilt all laid out. It was too big to fit in my living room. I've sewn some strips together since I took this picture and I'm loving how it's turning out, but I still have so much more to do!

Sunriver

Jackson and I spent last week in Sunriver with my parents and my sister's family. It was cold and lots of fun. We took walks, played in the snow, played lots of games, shopped, and hung out. Thanks for the fun trip, Mom and Dad!

I finally made a hat for myself. It has a bow on the other side that's pretty cute. :)

Jackson with his Nana and Papa. My dad just LOVES how happy Jackson always is!

Cute little guy fell asleep on our walk.

My nephews playing in the snow. There wasn't much left, but it was enough for some sledding.

Peyton.

Brittan.