Happy New Year!

We welcomed 2012 in a quiet fashion...well, as quiet as Ryan, Zoe, Hayden and two dogs can be at midnight! We opted for a small celebration after BBQ at Shane's Rib Shack, as we were all partied out from Christmas. And, let's face it...we're getting old. And I was 7+ months pregnant. So I made brownies, we watched tv, watched the ball drop and were home in bed by 1am, with an overnight guest in tow. Bella (Eric's dog) spent two nights with us while they were out of town. And, you guessed it...no photos!

Christmas: Part III

After late lunch at my brother's house, we packed up and headed to Gloria's for Christmas dinner. Good for Jay, who can eat all day, not so good for pregnant me, who can only eat a little at a time. Luckily, there was a tiny steak that was just perfect and some DELICIOUS spiced cider that made my belly extra happy.

Hayden was SO excited to get a really cool Cars 2 race track from Grandma, and probably equally excited to open the batteries to go with it. That kid LOVES a battery. He got the basic track, the Big Ben and Eiffel Tower additions and a bunch of cars to go with it. Awesome! By the time we got home, we were all just too tired to put anything together. That meant the next day we had our work cut out for us with a basketball goal, work bench and race track. But he sure was one happy little boy.

And in a fail of epic proportions, I managed to not get one single picture of us as a family, us as a couple, us by ourselves, us with Hayden or really anything but Hayden opening presents and playing. But I suppose that's the most important pictures, right?

Christmas: Part II

This year we had a full plate on Christmas day, but we were excited to see so much family for the holidays! After our relaxing Christmas morning, I whipped up a few side items to take to my brothers' house and we headed over, including Oscar. The kids are always so excited to see each other, and they love to give each other presents. And of course, Bella and Oscar never get tired of a puppy playdate!

Even more exciting for Ryan and Zoe, they BOTH lost a tooth on Christmas day. Lucky kids, they got a visit from Santa AND the tooth fairy in the same 24 hours. They were both really excited about their lost teeth, and about the presents Hayden brought for them. It's so much fun to be back here where they can enjoy each other.

Ryan got a Kinect for Christmas and was super excited for new games to play. I'm sure it won't be too long before Hayden is ready to play along with him, but for now he's content to watch and to play with Zoe's toys, and of course, to pull out a few swords for a duel here and there.

Since the kids were accidentally dressed alike, we were excited to get a picture of them. Of course, Hayden was more interested in perfecting his roar and Ryan was watching basketball, so this is the best I got. How exciting to look back every year to see how much they've grown and changed, and how much they've stayed exactly the same.

Christmas Morning

There are few things in life that are all they are cracked up to be, and totally worth the wait. For me as a parent, I'd say two of those things are childbirth and Christmas morning for your toddler. Hayden knew Christmas was coming and he needed to get some good sleep for Santa to come. So he actually slept in until 7:30 Christmas morning, which we couldn't believe! He came running in our room and said "Is Christmas mommy!! Wake up daddy, IS CHRISTMAS!!!". We headed downstairs to see what Santa had in store for us!

Hayden asked Santa for a baby truck, a monster truck and a football, so he was excited to see his requests were granted. We started with his stocking, which is fun at first but frustrating for little arms who can't reach all the way to the toes!

Once he was all done with the stocking, he set out to open presents, which is no quick task for a three-year-old. Everything he opened he wanted out of the box, out of the impossible packaging, batteries put in, and tested before he would move on to another. After all was said and done, it took him about two hours to open everything!

He is definitely a pro though, and had a blast opening everything and even cleaning up afterwards (see, he is my child!). After that we were starving so I whipped up a quick breakfast treat for us (layer of crescent rolls in an 8x8, 1/2 lb sausage browned, crumbled and drained mixed with a block of cream cheese, topped with shredded cheddar and another layer of crescent rolls, 20 minutes at 400 degrees) and we enjoyed a relaxing morning playing with toys, putting things together and watching new movies.

Christmas gets more and more fun with this little guy every year! Every holiday I'm a little more thankful that it's one more we get to spend as a whole family, and not missing Jay a half a world away.

A quick recipe...

Last night we needed something easy and fast, so I mixed a can of cream of chicken soup with a packet of ranch and poured it over my pork chops. 35 minutes at 375 and dinner was done! I really wanted to make mashed potatoes to go with it but I didn't have quite enough potatoes so we went all green-veggie.

Tonight we need something quick and easy that Jay can cook before class, so I took chicken breasts and topped them with the leftover bruschetta from my baby shower this weekend. Garlic, oregano and peppper, a splash of red wine vinegar (I could have SWORN we had balsamic but we didn't) and some parmesan and it's in the fridge ready for 30 minutes at 375. I tossed some potatoes with olive oil, garlic, onion powder and pepper and they'll roast for an hour to go with it. We are doing comfort food the rest of this week, with spaghetti sauce going in the crock pot tonight and chicken pot pie on deck for Thursday. We'll round out the week with dinner out on Friday with my co-workers for a baby shower, but that's what the Rogers are eating this week!

Christmas Eve

We actually had a quiet Christmas Eve in preparation for our very busy Christmas Day. We went out to eat with Gloria and came home to rest up for the festivities that Christmas would bring. Hayden had long since decided what sort of cookies we were making for Santa (pre-made, pre-cut dough, the horror!) and I obliged by letting him put them on the cookie sheet to bake. It's hard for a control freak mom to not put those perfect little circles in perfect little rows, but he gets SO excited to help I just couldn't correct it.

We even picked up a special plate for Santa's cookies, which Hayden was really excited about.

While the cookies were cooling, Hayden took a quick bath and got into his Christmas pajamas. Once they were cool, he took great care in selecting the cookies for the plate and arranging them in particular fashion. Every once in awhile, he is totally my child.

He went to bed shortly after, but only because we promised that Santa would not come if he were awake. He actually slept in a little bit, waking up on Christmas morning around 730 instead of his usual 6 o'clock hour. I think all the anticipation wore him out. And I think Santa really liked the cookies!

My favorite drop-in of the season

Katie hosted her annual drop-in Christmas party this year and luckily for us it came on the heels of her engagement, so we all got to see the ring and wish them well! I attended solo, as Hayden was in the midst of a GREAT nap and Jay didn't mind staying home to watch him (and watch football). I even got to make my santa hat brownies (brownies made in a mini-muffin pan, topped with cool whip, a strawberry that has been de-greened and placed upside down on the cool whip, a dollop of cool whip atop the strawberry and voila, santa hat brownies!) to share with the crowd!

Always a fun Salem mini-reunion, this year we celebrated two engagements, two pregnancies and basically our general fabulousness.

Mary Eileen and her tiny bump, Tomlin and her always fabulous hair, me and baby Lila-bump, and newly engaged Mary Clayton!

  Salem love! And of course, some of the best C'04 has to offer.



Pumpkin Pecan Loaves

This is another recipe I tried out for my baking adventures for the neighbors. It could NOT have been easier and oh my word, delicious! I actually ran short on pecans so I tossed in some walnuts...and not to worry, my baked goods were all labeled for my neighbors as to prevent any allergy issues!

The recipe below yields three loaf pans; for me it went into five mini-loaf pan and one loaf pan. Perfect, as I have six neighbors (one got a third of the loaf and the rest was for me and Hayden!).

3 1/3 cups all-purpose flour


3 cups sugar

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

2 cups canned cooked pumpkin

4 eggs

1 cup vegetable oil

2/3 cup water

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

3/4 cup chopped pecans

In a mixing bowl, combine the first eight ingredients. Add pumpkin, eggs, oil, water and vanilla; mix well. Stir in pecans. Pour into three greased 8-in. x 4-in. x 2-in. loaf pans. Bake at 350 degrees F for 1 hour or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks.

I will definitely be making this in the bread rotation since Hayden and I loved it. I can "healthy" it up with some whole wheat flour, flax seed and cutting back on the sugar but it was SO yummy!

Decorating for Christmas

So now that I have pictures uploaded, get ready for Christmas OVERLOAD! And by our standards, this year was a quiet one.

There are few things I love as much as decorating for the holidays. I usually drag everything out on Black Friday and have it up before Saturday can even think about getting here. This year, things were slightly different. We got up on Black Friday and I had Jay bring down some of the boxes, but we knew we'd be waiting at least a week before we got our tree. So we slowly decorated, but Hayden seemed to have a blast with it either way.

Hayden and daddy helped with the lights.

Hayden also helped mommy CAREFULLY unpack and unwrap the ornaments. As a control freak, this is the hardest part for me; as a mom, I know it's the most important, to let him help and be a part of it, even if it gives me hives.

Look at that mess I let him make! And, subsequently made him help clean up. It's all part of the growth process (for both of us).

One of the great things about a new house is figuring out where everything should go. Since we had a small artificial tree, and room for two trees (!) I decided "Hayden's tree" could go upstairs on the 2nd floor landing. After about a day, Jay decided it would look better in the guest room because you could actually see it out the window. Hayden picked some of his favorite of mommy's ornaments and wanted those on his tree so I obliged. We also put some of his first ornaments on there since we acquired about a half dozen for his first Christmas. That and some unbreakables and we were good to go!

He also picked his own tree topper, the Santa hat, but kept wanting to take it off to wear it.

We decided to use our "outdoor" lighted garland to give the stairs a little love, and I really loved how it turned out!

To be fair, this was 100% Jay's idea, but I love how the lights and garland filled up that space.

A lit tree is probably on my top five of "Very Favorite Things in the World". There's something about the way that the Christmas lights just make the whole room glow and look warm. Hayden loved to turn on the tree and garland every night, and if it was up to me we'd probably have the tree up until February.

We also decided that Jay and I needed some new stockings, so we picked some up and Hayden loved to try to take them down and put them on his feet! For some reason he understood that his stocking was for Santa, but it seemed perfectly logical that our stockings were actually for his feet.

This year we didn't go all out on the outdoor decor, but next year I think I'll give Clark Griswold a run for his money! We made it work with some wreaths, poinsettias, a few lights and our yard friends. Hayden was insistent upon plugging them in every night ("You do it, make them stand up!") and it never got old watching his face light up as Santa and Frosty got taller.

Caramel Walnut Brownies

Part of the baking I did for my neighbors was to try out a few new recipes, and this one is a keeper! It wasn't terribly pretty but it was delicious (and of course, full of fat!). The holidays are about indulgence, right? And these are so rich you can really only handle a taste.

1 box devil's food cake mix
1 can evaporated milk, divided
1 cup chopped walnuts
1/2 stick butter, melted
30 caramels, unwrapped
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate morsels

(seriously, I told you it was rich!!)

Mix cake mix, melted butter and 2/3 cup evaporated milk. Spread half the batter into a greased 9x13 and bake at 350 for 15 minutes. While the batter is baking, melt down the 30 caramels with the help of 1/3 cup of the evaporated milk. When the cooked bottom layer comes out, sprinkle the chocolate chips atop, and then drizzle the caramel. Drop the remaining batter by teaspoons on top of the chocolate/caramel layer (this leaves room for the caramel to "peek" through) and bake for an additional 20 minutes or until a knife comes out clean. Let cool completely, cut into squares. And have the milk ready!

Here we go!

Well I have a lot of catching up to do in the blog world, but I have to be sitting at the computer with the pictures to update on Christmas so that will wait! For now, we'll just talk about our current crazy life.

We narrowly escaped another battle with strep for Hayden last week, after his Ped confirmed it was a virus. I was SURE we were ready for another round of antibiotics but luckily it was a fluke!

I had two weeks off of work (!) for the Christmas/New Year holiday and it was amazing. I had grand plans for what I was going to do to the house and for scrapbooking and cooking and whatnot. Instead? I napped. A lot. I got up every morning, took Hayden to daycare and came back and napped for at least two hours. And? I don't regret it a bit. My body definitely needed the catch-up and then I had some decent energy for the afternoon and evenings.

Two days before Christmas, we woke up to a strange power situation. We had power in half of the house, and nothing in the rest. Strange for sure! Jay tried all sorts of things with the breaker box, reset buttons in the bathroom, we tried unplugging things, etc. Nothing was working. I started my quest to find an available electrician...after 20 phone calls I was getting discouraged as no one was available before the Tuesday AFTER Christmas or even January 3rd! I finally got in touch with my uncle who got in touch with his electrician who confirmed that if half our power grid was out, it was a Duke Power issue. Relief! Especially since the half that was out included my stove! Luckily not the fridge or the living room lights, but the pilot for our gas (which meant no heat and no hot water!!). I called Duke Power and they sent someone out in about two hours. Turns out there were four houses on our side of the street in the same situation! But no one had called, because they all thought their Christmas lights were to blame. Oh, suburbia.

Hayden and I spent the evening in half darkness, half not as to fix the problem they had to continuously cut ALL the power. After an eventful day, our power was back to full working order by about 2am on Christmas Eve. Just in time for me to bake for my neighbors, finish wrapping and bake Santa's cookies!

I've had doctor's appointments every two weeks to check on the progress of our Lila Bean, and she's doing just fine! Measuring right on track, and after my next appointment I start going EVERY week. Yikes. It's a lot of fun to hear her heartbeat and at our last appointment as soon as the doc asked "Is she moving well?" she responded with a giant kick. She already speaks for herself! No signs of coming early but I'm just past 35 weeks so we're okay with her staying put a bit longer!

This week starts Spring classes for Jay, which will be a horse of a different color. This time he's taking classes in the evening (after 5) so he can stay at home with baby girl once she gets here and I have to go back to work. By summer, he'll have both kids during the day and work at night (since he doesn't need any classes this summer). A definite change from the last time we had a baby and I was a stay at home mom with an Army husband! But I'm really excited for the relationships that develop between babies and caregivers at early stages, and that Jay gets to experience that this time around. We've mostly figured out when he'll sleep but not quite sure when he'll get to eat!

Christmas and house updates to come...

Crock Pot Taco Soup

We like to eat in Financial Aid, particularly when we relocate downstairs for open registration and the drop/add period. We're in tiny cubicles, seeing student after student, and food makes us feel better. We knew this past Friday that the school would not be providing us food so we arranged a quick fiesta for ourselves! Carol made Jason's mexican dip and I volunteered to make taco soup. Anything in the crock pot is ideal for all-day consumption and it was a cold day, so it was win-win. Sidenote: I dished out a small crock pot's worth of the soup before adding the meat so our vegetarian co-worker could enjoy it with us. I think I could even eat it without meat!

Brown 1 lb ground beef with 1 medium, chopped onion. Drain, add to crock. Add:

2 cans diced tomatoes
1 small can diced green chiles
(or)
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can rotel
......
2 cans black beans, rinsed and drained
1 can corn, drained
1 small green pepper, chopped
1 pkg taco seasoning
1 pkg dry ranch dressing
1 can spicy V-8 juice
Salt, pepper, garlic and cayenne to taste

4-6 hours on low, stir as necessary. Serve with sour cream, cheese and tortilla chips!

Crock Pot Chili

New year, no new resolutions. Every day is a day to turn good into bad, and to break a habit right? I figured in the third trimester and in the first six mortgage payment, just getting through it is enough.

However. This week and next are crazy at work, where I have to be there early and don't leave until late. Late as in 7pm. Normally we eat dinner by 6 so Jay can be out the door before 7, so this is a definite uproot for us. Luckily it doesn't last forever. So I've tried to be better about planning meals the weekend before and Sunday night I put dinner in the crock and put it in the fridge. Jay and Hayden were both home yesterday, so I knew Jay could just pull it out and turn it on around lunch time since I most likely wouldn't be home. Chili turned out to be the perfect meal, as the temperature dropped 20 degrees yesterday and it officially felt like winter! Chili is simple but also easy to make boring, so I tried a few new things this time. For once, it was a huge hit for all three of us!

1 lb of stew meat (lightly seasoned with garlic, salt and pepper; not cooked)
2 cans drained kidney beans
2 cans tomatoes (not drained, I used chopped with basil and oregano)
1 medium onion, chopped
1 can tomato paste/1 can water
Garlic, salt, pepper to taste
few dashes cayenne
Hot sauce

Low for 4-5 hours, stir to blend after 2-3 hours. It came out PERFECT! The stew meat gave it a complete different texture and the paste helps thicken it up nicely. I serve it with cheese, sour cream and usually cornbread but last night we were breadless. No one seemed to mind